Being in the Blending Life of the Body for the Reality of the Body, the Building of the Body

We need to follow in the Apostle Paul’s footsteps to bring all the saints into the blending life of the entire Body of Christ for the reality of the Body of Christ so that the God of peace would crush Satan under our feet shortly. Amen!

The matter of blending is mysterious, deep, and intrinsic, and blending is very much needed in the spiritual realm so that the Body of Christ would come into being in reality and actuality on earth.

We all need to personally be before the Lord concerning blending and allow Him to blend us; God has blended the Body together, and we need to be willing to be blended.

This means that we need to not only meet with the saints, visit other localities, go on blending trips, or attend conferences, but as we do all these things, our inner being needs to be open to the Lord to be blended together with the saints.

The reality of blending, the intrinsic meaning of the blending, is that we allow the cross to operate in us, we exercise our spirit to do all things by the Spirit, and we do everything to dispense Christ for the sake of the Body.

As we fellowship together, as we open to the Lord and to the saints, the cross of Christ operates to be applied to our natural being, our self, our flesh, and our independent soul.

If we allow the cross to operate in us, we experience the blending; however, if we remain the same and the cross does not touch us after meeting with the saints or after a blending time, we merely had a good social time with the saints.

May we be saved from merely having social gatherings which we call “blending time” or “blending conferences”; may we exercise our spirit, learn to open in spirit, and allow the cross to operate in us to put to death our self and our natural man, so that we do all things by the Spirit to minister Christ to others. Amen!

In fellowship, as we blend together, the Lord has a way to touch us and to also touch others through us; this doesn’t mean that we should touch others in our natural man but rather, we need to exercise our spirit, learn to fellowship in a frank and honest way, and allow the Lord to operate in us.

May the Lord have a way to bring us all into the blending life of the entire Body of Christ so that the reality of the Body would come into being, and so that the God of peace would crush Satan shortly under the feet of the builded-up church!

May we learn to open to the Lord both personally and when we meet together so that He would apply the cross, break through our natural being, and flow out freely to others for the building up of the Body!

And may we receive other’s portion, other’s sharing, to enjoy the Christ in others as we fellowship together!

Being Brought into the Blending Life of the Body for the Reality of the Body of Christ for God to Crush Satan under our Feet Shortly

Romans 16, the last chapter of the book of Romans, seems to be an addendum, an additional chapter; the book seems to end with ch. 15, but then ch. 16 is there with a lot of greetings.

In ch. 16 Paul wrote a lot of words of greetings and recommendations, and he mentioned twenty-seven names.

In those days, when transportation was not so convenient, there was no mobile phones, text, Whatsapp, internet, or TV, he spent an entire chapter greeting the saints. He greeted the saints generally and also one by one, mentioning a lot of names.

He had a considerable amount of knowledge, understanding, and care with regard to each one of the names he mentioned.

We may read these recommendations and wonder what do these mean; what they show is the mutual concern among the saints and the mutual fellowship among the churches.

Paul brought all the saints into the blending life of the entire Body of Christ by recommendations and greetings in order that, as he pointed out in the very last verse of this chapter, the God of peace may crush Satan soon under our feet, and we may enjoy the rich grace of Christ (Rom. 16:1-6, 21-23, 20).

As we fellowship and are being blended together, as we enter into the blending life of the Body, God has a way to build up the church as the Body of Christ, and He as the God of peace will crush Satan under our feet, as we enjoy the rich grace of Christ.

It is by the churches’ fellowship in the Body that the church is built up, and under the feet of the built-up church, God will crush Satan.

The last three chapters of Romans show that we need to reign in life in the matter of bringing the local churches into the fellowship of the Body of Christ (14:3; 15:7-9, 25-33) and in following the apostles’ footsteps to bring all the saints into the blending life of the entire Body of Christ (ch. 16).

We need to be brought into the blending and fellowship of the Body life through receiving the saints according to God and Christ; just as God and Christ receive us, so we need to receive all the saints.

May we learn from the apostle Paul’s pattern to be brought into the blending life of the Body for the reality of the Body so that God would crush Satan under our feet shortly.

For us to enter into the blending life of the Body doesn’t mean that we need to organise more blending trips for us to visit this and that locality or this or that country.

Being brought into the blending life of the Body doesn’t mean that we go to visit the church in a locality or go to a blending conference; there has to be an inner reality in our inner being.

Our inner being needs to be open to receive others, learn of others, and be crossed out in our natural man so that our spirit may flow out.

The purpose of blending is to usher us all into the reality of the Body of Christ.

As we live the church life in the local churches, we need to be brought into the reality of the Body as the goal, by being blended together in the Body.

We can say that the local churches are the framework, the outward structure, and the procedure that the Lord takes in order to gain the reality of the Body of Christ.

We need to live the local church life and enter into the blending life of the Body for the reality of the Body to come into being so that God would crush Satan shortly under our feet.

It is good to offer the Lord prayers related to this, even opening our being and telling Him,

Lord Jesus, we want to be brought into the blending life of the Body of Christ for the reality of the Body of Christ. Bring us, Lord, into the blending life of the Body together with all the saints. May there be the reality of the Body of Christ brought in by our blending with the saints and with the churches. Save us from merely having blending trips or visiting other churches without the reality of being blended together. May the churches have fellowship in the Body of Christ and may we receive all the saints even as God and Christ receives us. May there be the mutual concern among the saints and the mutual fellowship among the churches. Amen, Lord, gain the reality of the Body of Christ through our entering into the blending life of the Body so that the God of peace may crush Satan under our feet!

Blending is High, Deep, and Mysterious; Blending is for the Building up of the Universal Body of Christ Consummating in the New Jerusalem

The thought of blending is very strong in the Bible; the type is seen in the Old Testament with the meal-offering, and the fulfilment is seen in the New Testament.

In Lev. 2 we see the meal offering made of fine flour mingled with oil, frankincense, and salt; this meal-offering signifies not only God’s food but also the church as the one loaf for God’s satisfaction.

Paul refers to this in 1 Cor. 10:17 when he says that, seeing that there is one bread, we who are many are one Body, for we all partake of the one bread.

How can we be the one bread? Well, first of all, Christ is the unique grain of wheat with the divine life contained in Himself; He came and died, and in His death and resurrection we were produced to be the many grains as the increase and duplication of Himself (John 12:24).

As the many grains of wheat, we are ground to powder and blended together with oil (the Holy Spirit), salt (the cross of Christ), and frankincense (the ministering of Christ) for the building up of the Body of Christ.

The Body of Christ is a blending, one bread; in the Body, we all lose our distinctions, for in bread you don’t see any particular grain standing out – everyone is rounded, blended, and mingled together.

We as believers in Christ are the many grains so that we may be ground into fine flour for making the cake, the bread, of the church.

This implies blending, the losing of distinctions, and the harmonizing, tempering, balancing, and mingling, to the point that we become together one loaf for God’s satisfaction.

The truth of blending is in the Bible, but not man speak concerning it because it is so high, so deep, and so mysterious – yet so sweet, so practical, and so enjoyable.

When we enter into the blending life of the Body, we enjoy the sweet fellowship among the saints and the churches, and we are blended together into the Body of Christ.

This is not a physical matter; it may be that we take a trip to go somewhere to visit the saints, or we may just fellowship in our local church, in our vital group, but the reality is in spirit.

Blending is not a physical matter – the significance of our blending is the reality of the Body of Christ.

What the Lord wants to gain is not only strong churches or solid believers; He wants to gain the reality of the Body of Christ manifested in the local churches.

Our being together, our doing things together, our having a meal together, or our visitation of different localities or countries may not mean that we blend; the Lord needs to bring us into the mysterious, high, and deep significance of blending.

The blending is for the building up of the universal Body of Christ (Eph. 1:23) to consummate the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2) as the final goal of God’s economy according to His good pleasure (Eph. 3:8-10; 1:9-10).

Our entering into and enjoying the blending life of the Body is for the reality of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem.

A good way to check if we are being blended is how much did we pass through the cross, how much we exercise our spirit, and how much Christ we minister for the building up of the body of Christ.

If after our picnic with the saints, after our outing and visitation of other churches, there’s no cross being applied to our being, no exercise of our spirit, and no intimate concern for the saints in the Body, then we had a good time with the saints but didn’t enter into the blending life of the Body.

May the Lord gain this in us and with us; may we enter into the blending life of the Body for the reality of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem.

Lord Jesus, bring us into the mysterious, high, and deep significance of blending. May we enter into the blending life of the Body for the reality of the Body of Christ. Amen, Lord, may we realize that blending is for the building up of the universal Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem. We give ourselves to You, dear Lord, and we want to enter into the blending life of the Body not merely by outwardly visiting, meeting, and travelling but even more by inwardly allowing the cross to operate in us, exercising our spirit, ministering Christ, and building up the Body. Amen, Lord, may all the saints enter into the blending life of the Body by allowing the cross to operate in them, exercising their spirit, and dispensing Christ to others as they fellowship together!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by James Lee for this week, and portions from, Practical Points concerning Blending, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Vital Factors for the Lord’s Recovery of the Church Life (2021 ITERO), week 7, The Factor of Blending for the Reality of the Body of Christ.
• Also recommended: Blending for the Reality of the Body of Christ (outline here), The need of the Blending for the Building up of the Body of Christ (portion here), and the conference in South Africa on Living in the reality of the Body of Christ (see here via Joseph Storehouse).
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Blend us, Lord, blend us, Lord, ’til we are in one accord. / Hallelujah—the saints going on! / Blend us, Lord, blend us, Lord, open hearts we can afford. / Hallelujah—the churches go on! / As the members of / His organic Body, / We need the others to go on. / As local churches, / We do also need / One another for our going on. (Song on, Blend us, Lord, Blend us, Lord)
  – Once Thou wast the only grain, Lord, / Falling to the earth to die, / That thru death and resurrection / Thou in life may multiply. / We were brought forth in Thy nature / And the many grains became; / As one loaf we all are blended, / All Thy fulness to proclaim. (Hymns #203)
  – And now the corporate life we live— / Christ in His Body known; / Where every portion adds more Christ, / Until the whole is shown. / O Hallelujah, one new man! / Our portions blend as one; / In one accord, express the Lord, / And He will quickly come. (Hymns #1182)