Do we believe that it is easy for the Triune God to mingle Himself with us? If I want to mingle flour with oil, the flour does not struggle with me. It is "obedient" and "submissive." But when the Triune God comes to us to mingle Himself with us, do we agree? Most of the time we are like naughty children. When a mother wants to give a dose of medicine to her child, the child may refuse to take it and struggle with her. We are like this with the Lord. Who is submissive among us? Do we submit ourselves to our circumstances? Do we submit ourselves to our environment? Usually, we do not go along with our circumstances. We are not submissive. Instead, we are altogether rebellious. This is why the divine mingling of the divine persons with us does not go quickly. I can testify that the Triune God has been mingling Himself with me for over sixty-six years, but this mingling has not yet been consummated. The mingling revealed in Ephesians 4, the mingling of the Divine Trinity with us, does not go so smoothly.

Ephesians 4 shows us the divine mingling and the building up of the Body of Christ. On the one hand, the divine mingling is going on. On the other hand, the building is taking place. Mingling and building are inseparable. They are like two feet. If the divine mingling stops, the building stops. From God's side, we need the mingling. From our side, we need the building.

Much of the time we resist the Triune God's efforts to mingle Himself with us. This is why it is so difficult for the elders in the churches. To be an elder is very demanding because all of us children of God are naughty children. Sometimes I wondered why God begot so many naughty children. It seems that God chose all the naughty ones of mankind. In a meeting, we may behave ourselves as ladies and gentlemen, but when the meeting is dismissed, we immediately begin to misbehave.

Since this is the case, how can the churches be built up? When can we see the building consummated? The mingling cannot go smoothly, and the building is very difficult. Is everything so sweet and pleasant in the local churches? Are the mingling and building going on smoothly? Is every day a clear day or a cloudy day? I would say that it is probably more than cloudy. In the church life in the Lord's recovery, we have periodic storms. This shows that we need to give ourselves to the Lord so that the divine mingling can proceed and so that the building of the Body can be consummated.

Paul received a vision of this mingling and building. He received a trance, and in that trance he saw all these things. Therefore, he prayed for us that we might also have a trance, that is, that we might have a spirit of wisdom and revelation (Eph. 1:17).