A VISION OF THE MINGLING BEING THE CAPITAL AND THE BOLDNESS IN OUR WORK
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 this hall as well as in every light bulb. We can also say that the power station is in the hall and 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. His 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 said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God made to grow.” According to our concept, Paul planted first, then Apollos came later to water, and finally God gave the growth in life. Actually, Paul was mingled with God, and Apollos was mingled with God. 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 said, “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 were working alone but 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 made to grow. This is to work with God.
(Messages in Preparation for the Spread of the Gospel, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee)
