From January until March 1955, Brother Witness Lee remained in Taipei, Taiwan, to continue a series of Bible studies that he began the previous year. These studies were on the books of the New Testament from Matthew through Revelation. They are included in volume 1 of this set. After he completed this series, he traveled to the Philippines, where he remained until August. There he conducted another Bible study on the books from Matthew through Acts and gave messages on several chapters of 1 and 2 Peter. He also gave messages on a number of topics, including how to be useful to the Lord, the living and principles of the kingdom people, reward and punishment, the way for a Christian to mature in life, and the central work of God and the proper spiritual experiences. These messages are included in volumes 2 and 3 of this set. In September he traveled to Hong Kong and remained there until the end of December. During this time he conducted another Bible study on the New Testament from Romans through Colossians, perhaps as a continuation of the Bible study that he had conducted in the Philippines. He also gave a series of messages on the mingling of God and man and the principle of resurrection, another series of further talks on the knowledge of life, a training on how to conduct meetings, as well as messages on other topics. During his visit to Hong Kong, saints from Southeast Asia came and joined the meetings. As a result, he had some times of fellowship with these saints. Brother Lee's speaking in Hong Kong is included in volume 4 of this set. At the end of November, T. Austin-Sparks visited the Far East for the first time and held meetings first in Hong Kong and then in Taiwan. Brother Lee remained with Brother Austin-Sparks during his entire visit. The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1955, volume 1, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee in 1955. Historical information concerning Brother Lee's travels and the content of his ministry in 1955 can be found in the general preface that appears at the beginning of this volume. The contents of this volume are divided into three sections, as follows: 1. One article that was published in the hardbound edition of The Ministry of the Word in 1955. This article is included in this volume under the title The Ministry of the Word, Miscellaneous Messages, 1955. 2. Four messages that were originally published by the Taiwan Gospel Book Room in August in Twelve Baskets Full, volumes 8, 9, and 12. These messages are included in this volume under the title Miscellaneous Messages from Twelve Baskets Full. 3. Forty-two messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on January 12 through March 5. These messages are included in this volume under the title A Study of the New Testament in the Light of Christ as Life.
At the time of regeneration, all believers receive the divine life and are begotten as children of God. Yet, this life most grow and it does so by regulation unto maturity and function. This regulation comes from revelation and issues in obedience. This word is crucial for our progress and training in the divine life for our maturity and function in our living and service to God.
The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1955, volume 2, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee in March through September 1955. Historical information concerning Brother Lee's travels and the content of his ministry in 1955 can be found in the general preface that appears at the beginning of volume 1 in this set. The contents of this volume are divided into six sections, as follows: 1. Diary entries and notes written in the Philippines in March through September. The first three might have been written in Taiwan, before Brother Lee's visit to the Philippines. These diary entries and notes are included in this volume under the title Witness Lee's Personal Notes. 2. Fourteen talks given in Manila, Philippines, on March 27 through April 8. These talks, based on 1 and 2 Peter, are included in this volume under the title The Living under God's Governmental Administration in His Salvation and the Provisions of the Divine Life. 3. Four messages given in Baguio, Philippines, in April and May. These messages were previously published in a six-chapter book entitled How to Be Useful to the Lord. During the compilation of the messages for The Collected Works of Witness Lee, chapters 4 and 5 from the previously published book were moved to the section in volume 3 entitled The Way for a Christian to Mature in Life. The remaining four chapters are included in this volume under the title Concerning How to Be Useful to the Lord. 4. Three messages given in Manila, Philippines, on April 5 through 12. These messages are included in this volume under the title Concerning How to Do Things in the Service of the Church. 5. Thirty-seven messages given in Manila, Philippines, on April 13 through September 13. These messages are included in this volume under the title Seeing Christ as Life in Matthew through Acts. 6. Ten messages given in Baguio, Philippines, on May 1 through 8. These messages are included in this volume under the title The Future of the Church.
The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1955, volume 4, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee in September through November 1955. Historical information concerning Brother Lee's travels and the content of his ministry in 1955 can be found in the general preface that appears at the beginning of volume 1 in this set. The contents of this volume are divided into ten sections, as follows: 1. Twenty messages given in Hong Kong on September 21 through October 2. These messages are included in this volume under the title The Mingling of God and Man and the Principle of Resurrection. 2. Three messages given in Hong Kong in September. These messages are included in this volume under the title Fellowship with Saints in Southeast Asia. 3. Twenty-one messages given in Hong Kong in October and November. These messages were previously published in a book entitled Further Talks on the Knowledge of Life and are included in this volume under the same title. 4. Ten messages given in Hong Kong on October 3 through 18. These messages are included in this volume under the title A Record of a Bible Study on Romans and 1 and 2 Corinthians. 5. Seven messages given in Hong Kong in October and November. These messages are included in this volume under the title A Bird's-eye View of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. 6. Seventeen messages given in Hong Kong on October 3 through November 3. These messages are included in this volume under the title Concerning How to Work for the Lord. 7. A message given in Hong Kong on October 8. This message is included in this volume under the title Concerning How to Meet. 8. A message given in Hong Kong on October 10. This message is included in this volume under the title Concerning How to Cultivate One's Character. 9. A talk with Brother K. H. Weigh in Hong Kong on October 16. This talk is included in this volume under the title Knowing Christ as Life and Seeing the Light concerning the Tree of Life. 10. Three messages given in Hong Kong on October 19 through 25. These messages are included in this volume under the title Concerning the Practice Needed in the Meetings.
The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1955, volume 3, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee in May through September 1955. Historical information concerning Brother Lee's travels and the content of his ministry in 1955 can be found in the general preface that appears at the beginning of volume 1 in this set. The contents of this volume are divided into six sections, as follows: 1. Eight messages given in Baguio, Philippines, on May 7 through 12. These messages are included in this volume under the title Reward and Punishment. 2. Seven messages given in Baguio, Philippines, on May 8 through 15. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Living and Principles of the Kingdom People and are included in this volume under the same title. 3. Twenty-one messages given in Manila, Philippines, on May 22 through September 11. Chapters 8 through 21 of this section were previously published in a book entitled The Way for a Christian to Mature in Life. During the compilation of the messages for The Collected Works of Witness Lee, five more messages were discovered and were added to the beginning of this section. In addition, two chapters were moved from the previously published book entitled How to Be Useful to the Lord and inserted at the beginning of this section. The resulting twenty-one chapters are included in this volume under the title The Way for a Christian to Mature in Life. 4. Twelve messages given in Manila, Philippines, in June and July. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Central Work of God and Proper Spiritual Experience and are included in this volume under the same title. 5. Five messages given in Manila, Philippines, on June 29 through August 31. These messages are included in this volume under the title Concerning How to Lead the Meetings of the Church. 6. Twenty messages given in Manila, Philippines, on July 2 through September 5. These messages are included in this volume under the title Concerning How to Enter into Fellowship with the Lord.
When God created man, He placed him before two trees: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. In warning man to avoid the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God indicated His desire for man to eat of the tree of life, signifying that man should receive God as his life supply. Witness Lee unveils in The Tree of Life that God is not looking for well-behaved Christians; He is looking for those who will experience and enjoy Christ as the reality of the tree of life.
“We must realize that we Christians are a meeting people. A Christian is a meeting person. Without meeting, there is no Christian life and no church life. It is rather difficult for any Christian to grow without attending the meetings. There is no way for any Christian to serve God without meetings, and it is impossible for Christians to express Christ if there are no meetings. The church life is a meeting life.” In How to Meet Witness Lee offers much precious and practical guidance related to the biblical way to meet as Christians.
This book presents a vision of Christ and the church. It then goes on the emphasize the need to experience this Christ as the Spirit in our spirit and to practice the church life on the ground of oneness.
This book traces "the New Testament service in the Gospel of Matthew from its beginning with the conceiving of Christ of the Holy Spirit, to finding Christ by following the heavenly living star, on to testifying of Christ in a living way, and then to the matter of following Christ. Finally, [it considers] the matter of life and the matter of work in the New Testament service according to the parables of the ten virgins and of the talents. In all these aspects, it is a governing principle in our service in the church life that the New Testament service is a service of coordination in every step to fulfill the Lord's purpose."
Brother Witness Lee began 1961 in the month of January by giving a conference to the church in Taipei, Taiwan, in which he released messages on the vision of the church, and by holding a series of meetings with the elders and the co-workers, in which he spoke on being in one work under one leadership. After the conference, during four days of service meetings, he conducted two prayer meetings with the laying on of hands for the co-workers. From the end of January until the first part of April, Brother Lee held various meetings with co-workers and serving ones in the districts of the church in Taipei on various subjects related to coordination, the priesthood, prayer, changing the way of meeting, and how to lead the young people. On February 6 through 18 he held a conference for university students and high-school graduates over the winter school break. A summary of the contents of this conference is included in Church News in volume 1 of this set, but there is no detailed record of his speaking in this conference. On March 12 through 14 he conducted a three-day conference in Taipei and gave messages on the priesthood and God's building. These messages, along with a number of other messages, are included in volume 2 of this set in the section entitled The Priesthood and God's Building. At the beginning of April, Brother K. H. Weigh visited Taiwan and had private times of fellowship with Brother Lee. On April 11 Brother Lee traveled to the Philippines. During his time there he held a training for young brothers and sisters in Baguio on April 14 through 28. In this training he spoke on life and building in the book of Ezekiel, from Ezekiel 1, 37, and 47. On April 30 through May 19 he gave messages in Manila on the priesthood and prayer. At that time a spiritual storm was brewing in Manila in which the leading co-workers rebelled against Brother Lee's leadership in the work. On May 20 he traveled from the Philippines to Hong Kong and stayed for one week. During that time, beginning on May 21 he conducted a conference concerning the ministry of the priesthood. After his time in Hong Kong, Brother Lee returned to Taipei on May 27. In June Brother Lee gave a series of messages in Taipei on the subject of the exercise of the spirit and the building of God. On August 3 through 19, in the morning he held a conference in Taipei on Ezekiel, and in the evening he spoke on how God becomes man's enjoyment. At the end of October he traveled to Manila and remained there until the middle of December. At the end of November and the beginning of December, he held another conference in Manila on the book of Ezekiel. There is no record of his speaking in this conference. The messages on Ezekiel given in Taipei in 1961, along with another series of messages on Ezekiel given in 1971 in Los Angeles, California, are included in the Life-study of Ezekiel and are not included in The Collected Works of Witness Lee. During his time in Manila he also conducted a study on the book of Galatians and gave messages on various other topics. There is no record of his speaking on these occasions. He departed from Manila on December 14 for the United States. Brother Lee remained in the United States from the middle of December 1961 through the entire year of 1962. He stayed mainly in New York City until March 1962, at which time he moved to Seattle, Washington. While he was in New York City, he held a series of special conferences on the weekends. During the same period of time, he also visited Washington, D.C., for two days on January 6 and 7 and San Francisco, California, for three days beginning on February 16. There is no record of his speaking in Washington, D.C. After moving to Seattle in March, Brother Lee visited the San Francisco Bay Area and held meetings on two occasions, in April and July. On August 31 through September 3 he conducted a conference in Los Angeles. More than thirty brothers and sisters from San Francisco and Sacramento, California, joined the conference. The subject of the conference was the experience of Christ for the building up of the church. On the last day of the conference many renewed their consecration to the Lord. During the time when Brother Lee was residing in Seattle, he met privately with a few Chinese students from the Far East together with twenty or thirty other Christians. On November 11 the saints in Seattle began to break bread. Although conferences had been planned in which he would speak in Taiwan, prior to these conferences Brother Lee received a clear leading from the Lord to not return to Taiwan but remain in the United States and begin the work of the Lord's recovery there. This was a significant turn in the move of the Lord in His recovery on the whole earth, especially in the spread of the recovery to the Western world. Around the third week in November, Brother Lee traveled from Seattle to San Francisco and Sacramento. After spending three days in Sacramento, he traveled to Los Angeles at the end of the month. There is no record of his speaking in Sacramento. Beginning on December 22, Brother Lee conducted a ten-day conference on the all-inclusive Christ. This was the first major conference after the Lord initiated His recovery in the United States. The attendees at this conference included an American brother from New York City; three responsible brothers from Louisville, Kentucky; one sister from near Chicago, Illinois; five or six Caucasian brothers and sisters and two Chinese saints from Sacramento; more than twenty from San Francisco; plus the local saints and some Caucasian visitors. During this conference Brother Lee conducted four meetings each day, starting at 6:30 A.M. The second morning meetings and the evening meetings were on the subject of the all-inclusive Christ. The first morning meetings and the times of fellowship in the afternoon were on miscellaneous topics. The conference ended on the last day of the year and was followed by fasting and prayer that lasted past 1:30 the next morning. The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1961-1962, volume 1, contains messages given and letters and personal notes written by Brother Witness Lee from November 26, 1960, through September 17, 1961. Historical information concerning Brother Lee's travels and the content of his ministry during this period can be found in the general preface that appears at the beginning of this volume. The contents of this volume are divided into eight sections, as follows: 1. Six issues of the periodical Church News published on January 22 through September 17, 1961. These issues contain letters and reports written from November 26, 1960, through August 23, 1961. They are included in this volume under the same title. 2. A set of personal notes written from December 31, 1960, through an unknown date in 1961. Most of the notes are undated. These notes are included in this volume under the title Witness Lee's Personal Notes. 3. A message given in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1961. The date of the speaking is unknown. This message is included in this volume under the title A Strong Spirit and a Good Deposit. 4. Six messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on January 10 through 31, 1961. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Blueprint and the Ground for the Building Up of the Church and are included in this volume under the same title. 5. Ten messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on January 15 through 24, 1961. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Vision of the Building of the Church and are included in this volume under the same title. 6. Thirteen messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on January 25 through April 11, 1961. These messages are included in this volume under the title Coordination in Service. 7. Sixteen messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on January 31 through April 10, 1961. These messages are included in this volume under the title Exercising the Spirit in Prayer for the Priesthood. 8. Five messages given in Taipei, Taiwan. Messages 1 through 3 were spoken on February 15 through April 8, 1961. The dates for Messages 4 and 5 are unknown. These messages are included in this volume under the title Words concerning the Young People.
