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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 3:6, 9; 2 Cor. 5:20; John 15:4-5
John 15:4 says, “Abide in Me and I in you.” We abide in the Lord, and He abides in us. It may be that we will never be clear whether it is He abiding in us or we abiding in Him. The word abide in Greek has the meaning of “staying,” “remaining,” and “living.” For example, to say that we abide in a house includes, of course, the sense that we live in the house. When we say that we abide in the Lord, it means that we stay, remain, and live in the Lord. In the same way the Lord stays, remains, and lives in us. His abiding in us is the mingling of God and man.
According to God’s New Testament economy, the relationship between God and man is a matter of the mingling of God and man. On the one hand, we are in Him; on the other hand, He is in us. When the two are added together, we have the mingling. For example, we may have flour dough here. It is the result of mingling oil with flour. The flour is full of oil, and the flour is mingled into the oil. The northern Chinese make tasty nut cakes out of this kind of dough. Another example is tea added into hot water. After a few minutes the water turns into the color of tea. The tea element in the tea has entered into the water, and the water has entered into the tea. The first mingling is a mingling of oil with flour. The second mingling is a penetration of tea into water, “tea-ifying” the water.
As early as the second century, there were people who saw the truth concerning the mingling of God and man. But at that time, they did not see that the mingling of the divine nature with the human nature does not take away the original element of each nor does it produce a third element. This mingling is not a taking away of the nature of God or the nature of man. Neither are these two natures turned into a third nature. The two natures still exist; there is no change. We will never become God through this mingling. This mingling only makes us partakers of His life (1 John 5:12) and nature (2 Pet. 1:4), thus making us the children of God (1 John 3:1). This is the same as a son and a father having the same life and nature. It does not mean that the son’s having his father’s life and nature makes him the father. In person the son is still the son, and the father is still the father. But in nature the two are the same.
John 15 says that the Lord is the true vine and that the believers are the branches. As such, the believers have to abide in the vine. Because of the way this is said, it may appear that this is an illustration. But 1 John 4 is definitely a fact. There it says, “In this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, that He has given to us of His Spirit” (v. 13). The Spirit given by God who abides in us is the witness in our spirit, testifying that we abide in God and that God abides in us. Here man is mingled with God. This is the principle of incarnation. In the whole universe at least there is One among all of God’s creation, Jesus of Nazareth, who is a product of the two natures of God and man. He is God, yet He is also man. He is the God-man. God is not only with Him but is mingled with Him. They share the same life, the same living, the same move, and the same work. Thus, in heaven or on earth the Lord Jesus walks and works together with God. This togetherness is not only one of being alongside one another but is also one of being mingled with one another.
All of Christianity talks about working for God and serving God but fails to realize that to co-work with God is a matter of mingling. Brother Andrew Murray once said that the best prayer is one in which the Christ within prays to the Christ in heaven. The best prayer is one where the heavenly Christ prays to Himself from us, the earthly people. In other words, the highest prayer is one where Christ prays with us by putting us on and “wearing” us. Romans 8:26 says, “We do not know for what we should pray as is fitting, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” When this verse says that the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered, does it refer to a groaning without or a groaning within the believer? Doubtless, this groaning of the Spirit refers to something within. We may have never realized that while we are groaning, our groaning is the prayer of the Holy Spirit. In our experience sometimes we have a feeling and a burden toward a certain matter, but there is no word for utterance; we can only groan. Actually, this groaning affords an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to express the feelings within us. We cannot utter this groaning. It is something that even we ourselves do not understand, but God understands. God, who hears our prayer, understands this groaning.
If we read these verses carefully, we will see that God’s New Testament economy is to work Himself into man and to work man into God so that God and man would be mingled as one. All of man’s worship and service to God and all of his work for God are a matter of living, walking, and laboring together under this principle of incarnation. Everyone in the church, whether they be old or young, must learn from the start of their service to God that a worker for God is just a man in God. When you step into a car, He steps into the car with you. When you are happy, He is happy with you. When you are sad, He is sad with you. When you lose your temper or when you do something that makes Him suffer or gives Him a hard time, you are working alone. When your spiritual condition is normal, you should not do anything alone. Rather, you should work together with God. Let me repeat — the togetherness here is not one of being alongside one another. It is not an outward togetherness. The togetherness here is one of being mingled with one another. It is a togetherness in mingling.
Perhaps you are well-blended with the brothers and sisters. But no matter how well you get along with them, your togetherness is not a mingling. In us, however, and in all the brothers and sisters, there is One who is mingled not only with us but with all the saints. We are all mingled with Him. In the end we are all mingled with one another. When you are mingled with God in a normal way, you are also mingled with all the brothers and sisters. You can say that you are in the brothers and sisters and that they are in you. This is like saying that electricity is in the power station and is also in the meeting hall as well as in every light bulb. We can also say that the power station is in the hall and that the hall is in the power station. Through the electricity the light bulbs are all in one another. By themselves every light bulb is separate and independent, but in the electricity they are all mingled together and are inseparable. God is Spirit. He is like the electricity. He is in us, and we are in Him. In this way we are also in one another.
When Peter stood up with the eleven apostles on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14), something unfolded in the universe — the God in heaven joined Himself to man on earth. Through this, heaven and earth were joined as one. When the twelve stood there, they stood as one. They were one entity. That was a tremendous mingling. This is the situation that the church should be in today. In the future when you go to the villages, what you need is this vision. Those who participate in the outreach should have the understanding and perception that they are not going out alone but are going with Him. They go out in a mingling in which He puts them on and now abides in them. Not only are they mingled with Him, but they spread by going down to the villages and by mingling with all the co-workers and all the brothers and sisters. If you understand this mingling, your faith will increase. This will be your capital as well as your boldness in the work.
Peter was such an example. On the day of Pentecost the Galilean fisherman was afraid of nothing but was bold to speak the word of God in the great city of Jerusalem in front of all the noble and dignified people. His boldness came from this mingling. Peter had followed the Lord Jesus for three and a half years; he saw with his own eyes the Lord being crucified and buried. After the Lord resurrected, he visited the empty tomb. Later, the resurrected Lord appeared to him and breathed into him, telling him to receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:22). By then the resurrected Christ had become the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). From that day on, the resurrected Lord entered into Peter and changed him entirely. Peter in the four Gospels was a foolish man full of the natural constitution and the flesh. He even argued with the eleven disciples concerning who was the greatest.
But by Acts 1 there were a hundred twenty people there. Not only were there brothers, but there were sisters as well. In that complicated situation Peter did not argue. Not only did Peter and John have no argument; even the hundred twenty there had no disagreement (v. 14). They were all in one accord, persevering in prayer for ten days. All of a sudden Peter stood up and spoke. That Galilean fisherman began expounding Psalms. Peter was the first expositor after the Lord Jesus. Although he had not attended any Greek college, nor had he been taught at the feet of Gamaliel, the Spirit was in him. Peter’s exposition was too wonderful on that day. While he was praying to the Lord, he was already mingled with the Lord. Under this ideal condition Pentecost came. A noise came from heaven, and the Holy Spirit was poured out upon him. The Spirit had been in him prior to that. Now in addition, the Spirit came upon him outwardly to strengthen him. He was released and had the boldness to work with God.
When Peter stood up to speak, doubtless he was working with God. While he was standing there, he was joined to heaven and earth. At that moment heaven and earth were all joined in him. It was as the Lord Jesus had said, that all authority in heaven and on earth was given to Him (Matt. 28:18). I hope this scene that I am describing today would become your vision. Next year you should go out to spread the gospel under this vision. Peter’s gospel preaching was not a teaching of doctrines but a matter of being joined to God and being one with the Spirit. Under that kind of circumstance the one hundred twenty left no ground for opinion, disposition, and temper. They were all in the same Spirit and the same breath. Everyone was responding to the words of Peter with loud Amens. This is what you should do when you go to the villages. When you go out two by two to knock on others’ doors and to speak with people inside their homes, do not forget that heaven and earth are joined to you. There is no need for you to call upon heaven and earth; heaven and earth will follow you because you are there working with the Lord.
In 1 Corinthians 3:6 Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.” According to our concept, Paul planted first, then Apollos came later to water, and finally God caused the growth in life. Actually, Paul was mingled with God, and Apollos was mingled with God. But that was not all. These two distant co-workers were also mingled with one another in the One with whom they were mingled. Had the two co-workers not been mingled in God, there would have been no possibility for these two, who had not crossed each other’s path, to plant and to water separately. The fact that they were doing this was surely due to their being in the same Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 4:15 Paul says, “In Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” The begetting here is the planting. Paul preached the gospel in Corinth. When the Corinthians received the word that Paul preached, the seed of the gospel of Christ was planted into the Corinthians through him. What was sown into them was the seed, and what grew out was the tree. As far as the seed is concerned, it is a planting, and as far as the tree is concerned, it is a watering. Throughout the process neither Paul nor Apollos was working alone, but they were working with God. While Paul sowed, God was there dispensing life, and while Apollos watered, God was there adding more life. This is what Paul meant by saying that he planted, Apollos watered, and God caused the growth. This is to work with God.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:20 that we are ambassadors sent by God to beseech and to entreat others on behalf of God to repent to Him, to be reconciled to Him, and to be one with Him. Although this work was not conducted by God Himself directly but was entrusted to Paul who carried it out as His ambassador, Paul wanted the Corinthians to know that his work was actually God’s work. God was working within His ambassador. The two were one. When Paul went to Corinth, God also went there. The beseeching and entreating of Paul were the beseeching and entreating of God. Paul brought God along with him. He was a co-worker with God. This is a very fundamental point. No matter how young you are, you have the right to claim the riches in this matter. You have the right to say to God, “God, when I go out today, I am not working alone or by myself. Rather, I am co-working with You. I am going out with You.” This understanding and realization will become in you your vision, your experience, and your ground. Daily you can stand on it and live in it.
The reason so many preachers in Christianity are weak and poor is that they have not seen this vision. They have not taken this ground and are not exercising their rights on this ground or claiming the enjoyment that is properly theirs. I hope that you will all have this fundamental understanding. When you have this vision, all your concepts, actions, and attitudes will be changed. For example, before you are married, you live a bachelor’s life. However, after you are married, you live together with your spouse as a couple. If you do not change your lifestyle, you will be in trouble. When you consider how your lifestyle has changed, your actions are affected by it.
In the same way, for you to work together with God and for Him to be with you, you cannot do just as you please. In everything you have to ask Him. As far as He is concerned, everything is ready, but as far as I am concerned, many times I am unaffected when He has already gone on. On God’s side He was ready long ago. It is we who are lacking in cooperation. Here we have to learn a lesson, which is to fellowship with Him in everything. Whatever we do, we should look to Him, seek Him, and discuss with Him. This practice will calibrate you. You do not realize how much trouble you have caused by being hasty. After you fellowship with God, He will act faster than you do and will “stop your car” and rescue you. Sometimes, however, you need to be adjusted the other way because you are too slow. I can tell you that God is the One who can best balance you.
I have told people that it is not difficult to work together with man but that it is very difficult to coordinate with God. Sometimes, for the purpose of training us, God becomes very difficult with us. When we want to be fast, He insists on being slow. This is why some have experienced being angry with God. It is like Martha when Jesus came to her. She complained, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21). According to Martha, the Lord delayed until her brother was dead, buried, and stinking. What was the use to come then? Martha’s complaint was her anger. Paul says in Philippians 2:14, “Do all things without murmurings and reasonings.” To murmur is to be angry, and to reason is to argue. To be without murmurings and reasonings is to be without anger and arguments. We say that the best church in the New Testament was the church in Philippi, and the best believers were the Philippian believers. But Paul gave this charge to them. I would say the same thing to you today. When you go to the villages for the spread of the gospel, do not murmur and do not reason. It is not a sweet thing to murmur or to reason.
God can accomplish things in a speedy way, but for the purpose of training us, He would not do things that way. Even when He does, He will only do so for others but not for you. I say this so that you will have a deep impression. Today you are involved in the Lord’s business. It is different from all the business in the world. In all other lines of business, we do things by ourselves. But when you go to preach the gospel in the villages or in the communities, you are not doing this alone. Rather, you are doing this together with the Lord. As long as you can coordinate with the Lord, you will have no problem in co-working together with the other brothers and sisters. If you have a problem with the brothers and sisters in your room or your team, it proves that you have a problem with the Lord. Not only do you have to learn this lesson from man, but you also have to learn this lesson from God.
Can you coordinate with God? Is there a problem between you and God? Or does God have a problem with you? If you do have a problem with Him, your prayer will be hindered. When there is a gap between you and God, it is like a couple whose relationship is strained; it will be difficult to strike up any conversation. The relationship between the husband and the wife is entirely not a matter of reason but of love. When there is love, everything is all right. When there is no love, no reason will suffice. The right and wrong between a husband and wife depend not on facts but on feelings. The problem is the same with us in our service before God. When there is a harmonious feeling between us and God, there will be no problem.
Hence, you have to remember that this One is not only beside you, but He is even in you and is active within you all the time. He is with you every day — in your eating, sleeping, and everything that you do. It is a sweet word to say, “The Lord be with us.” But this continual presence is at times tiresome, bothersome, and hard to bear. Here is a lesson that we have to learn. If your relationship with the Lord is good, if He and you get along with each other well, and if there is no problem between you and Him, you will have no problem in coordinating with the other brothers and sisters. In the past there were many problems in our coordination. We thought that the young ones were the problem or that the old ones were the problem. Actually, neither the young ones nor the old ones are the problem. The root of the problem lies with your compatibility, your relatedness, and your oneness with the Lord. If this relationship is properly fostered, the work will prosper. If not, the work will be difficult.
Let me repeat again. Our co-working together with the Lord is not one in which we work side by side, nor is it one in which one works outside and the other works inside. Rather, it is one which is a mingling of the two. We are so one that there is no possibility of coming closer. The two are mingled as one. In this way we become the most free as well as the most bound persons. God has become our freedom as well as our bondage. You must learn this lesson before you can become effective and long lasting in your work. If you are not properly mingled with the Lord, by the time you go to the villages for the gospel spread, you will have no interest or taste for whatever you do. And when you see no fruit in your work, you will be easily frustrated and will turn back. The mingling between us and the Lord is a necessary lesson for everyone who serves the Lord.
