The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1965, volume 3, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from August 24 through September 4, 1965. The last two sections of this volume contain messages given in 1963, 1965, 1967, and 1969. The contents of this volume are divided into six sections, as follows: 1. Six messages given in Los Angeles, California, from August 24 through 28, 1965. These messages were previously published under the title The Enjoyment of Christ. 2. Six messages given in Los Angeles, California, from August 28 through September 2. These messages were previously published under the title Christ as the Spirit in the Epistles. 3. Eleven messages given in Los Angeles, California, from August 26 through September 1. These messages were previously published as a nine-chapter book under the title Enjoying Christ as the Word and the Spirit through Prayer. 4. Six messages given in Los Angeles, California, from September 2 through 4. These messages were previously published under the title The Heavenly Vision. 5. Ten messages given in Los Angeles, California, in 1963, 1965, and 1969. These messages were previously published under the title Our Human Spirit. Chapter 8 is included also in The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1963, volume 3, as chapter 9 in Basic Principles of the Experience of Life. 6. An unknown number of messages given in Taiwan in 1965 and 1967. They first appeared in The Ministry of the Word in 1966 and 1968. These messages were translated from the Chinese and previously published under the title The Spirit in the Epistles. From September 12 through 19, 1965, Brother Lee visited Toyama and Tokyo, Japan. Regrettably, there is no record of his speaking in those cities.
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.
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.
"The entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, shows us that God is our enjoyment. God also has His fullness (Eph. 3:19b). He is full for us to enjoy. His fullness is the expression of the riches of Christ, and the reality of Christ is in the Spirit. We know this by the revelation of the Word. The riches of Christ are revealed in the Word. Furthermore, we can realize God as our enjoyment in our spirit (John 4:24)."
The Collected Works of Witness Lee,1969, volume 3, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from July 17 through December 28, 1969. Brother Lee remained in Los Angeles through the month of July until the end of August. He made a brief trip to San Francisco, California, and then rested nearly the entire month of September. At the beginning of October he visited San Francisco, California; and then traveled to Phoenix, Arizona; Mesa, Arizona; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Las Vegas, Nevada; and San Francisco, California; a second time. After returning to Los Angeles for one day in the middle of November, he visited Yorba Linda, California; Louisville, Kentucky; Toronto, Canada; East Hartland, Connecticut; Boston, Massachusetts; New York City; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Erie, Pennsylvania. He returned to Los Angeles at the end of December. Regrettably, there is no record of his speaking in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Louisville, Toronto, East Hartland, and Boston. The majority of his speaking in Pittsburgh and Erie was recorded in handwritten notes. The contents of this volume are divided into fourteen sections, as follows: 1. Twenty-six messages given in Los Angeles, California, from July 17 through August 21. These messages were previously published in a twenty-four-chapter book under the title Christ and the Church Revealed and Typified in the Psalms. 2. One message given in Los Angeles, California, on August 16. It is included in this volume under the title An Additional Word in Response to Testimonies concerning Five Secrets of Life Revealed in Second Peter 1. 3. Five messages given in Los Angeles, California, on August 22 through 24. The first four of these messages were previously published in The Ministry magazine, volume 2, numbers 4 through 7, April, May, June, and July 1998, and the fifth message was previously published in The Ministry magazine, volume 2, number 8, August/September 1998, as one section of a compilation of Brother Lee's speaking on migration during the years 1969, 1970, 1971, and 1972. The entire series of five messages previously published in The Ministry magazine appeared under the title Migration in God's Move. 4. One message given in Los Angeles, California, on November 16. This message is included in this section under the title Fellowship on Migration. 5. Seven messages given in San Francisco, California, from August 29 through September 1 and on October 3. They are included in this volume under the title Exercising the Spirit and Walking according to the Spirit to Build Up the Church. 6. Three messages given in Los Angeles, California, on August 21 and 22. They are included in this volume under the title Denying Our Soul-life and the Living, Walking, and Abiding in Our Spirit for the Building Up of the Church. 7. One message given in Los Angeles, California, on September 25. This message is included in this volume under the title Helping the New Believers to Be Properly Grounded in Their Salvation and to Grow in Life. 8. One message given in Mesa, Arizona, on October 15. It is included in this volume under the title Needing to Live in Our Spirit in Order to Meet in the Proper Way. 9. Six messages given in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on October 17 through 20. These messages are published in this volume under the title Enjoying the All-inclusive Spirit in Our Human Spiritfor the Building Up of the Church. There is no record of the first two messages. 10. Four messages given in San Francisco, California, on November 7 through 9. They are included in this volume under the title Fall Conference in San Francisco. 11. Eight messages given in Yorba Linda, California, on November 27 through 30. These messages are included in this volume under the title The Two Trees in the Christian Life. Two of the messages were combined. 12. Four messages given in New York City on December 18 through 21. They are included in this volume under the title Enjoying and Ministering Christ for the Fulfillment of God's Purpose. 13. One message given in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on December 22. This message is included in this volume under the title The Lord's Recovery of the Practice of the Church Life. Its contents were taken from the personal notes of an attendee. Brother Lee spoke two additional messages on December 23, but there is no substantial record of his speaking. 14. Thirteen messages given in Erie, Pennsylvania, on December 24 through 28. These messages are included in this volume under the title The Lord's Recovery of the Church Life. Of the thirteen messages spoken, only two were recorded. The content of the remaining chapters was taken from the personal notes of a conference attendee. Some messages were combined to form the nine chapters in this section. In addition to the above, Brother Lee gave six messages in Los Angeles, California, on August 16 through 21. These messages, together with messages given in 1963 and 1965, were previously published in a book under the title Our Human Spirit. This book in its entirety is included in The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1965, volume 3.
The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1963, volume 3, contains the messages and fellowship given by Brother Witness Lee from July 13 through September 1, 1963, with the exception of messages he gave in a series on the Gospel of John, which are published in Life-study of John (not included in The Collected Works). The eight sections that constitute this volume are composed largely of messages that were given during the summer training held in Los Angeles and Altadena, California, from July 13 through August 22. The training covered four main areas: life, truth, the church, and service. The messages on life and on truth were given in the evening of each Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday, and the messages on the church and on service were given in the evening of each Thursday. The messages given in the evening focused on these four main areas, and the messages given in the morning were devoted to fellowship concerning personal problems, spiritual problems, the church, the local churches, the Lord's Day gathering, practical service, prayer, and Christian practices. The contents of this volume are as follows: 1. Eighteen messages concerning life given on July 13 through August 20 as part of the summer training. These messages have been published under the title Basic Principles of the Experience of Life. One message, chapter 9, is included also in The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1965, volume 3, as chapter 8 of Our Human Spirit. 2. The five messages on truth given on July 13 through 22 as part of the summer training. Four of these messages have been published previously under the title The Building of God. However, in researching for The Collected Works, a fifth message was discovered. 3. Six messages on service given on July 18 through August 22 as part of the summer training. These messages have been published under the title Basic Principles for the Service in theChurch Life. Chapters 1 through 3 are included also in The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1969, volume 1, as chapters 6 through 8 of To Serve in the Human Spirit. 4. Six messages on the church given on July 18 through August 22 as part of the summer training. These messages have been published under the title Basic Principles for the Practice of the Church Life. 5. Messages 6 through 13 of the messages on truth given from July 23 through August 3 as part of the Summer Training. These messages have been published under the title The Work of the Holy Spirit. 6. Messages 14 through 18 of the messages on truth given from August 6 through 13 as part of the Summer Training. These messages have been published under the title A Brief Definition of the Kingdom of the Heavens. 7. Fourteen miscellaneous messages given in Los Angeles between July 16 and September 1. These messages are included in this volume under the title Miscellaneous Messages. 8. Miscellaneous fellowship given by Brother Lee to the saints in the Los Angeles area from July 19 through August 24. These messages are included in this volume under the title Miscellaneous Speakings. The contents of this section were composed from personal notes taken by brothers who were present in the meetings. Brother Lee gave four additional messages in Los Angeles during this period of time--on July 26 and August 9, 14, and 20--for which no record has been found.
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."
In the Lord’s recovery during the past five hundred years the church’s knowledge of the Lord and His truth has been continually progressing. This monumental and classical work by Brother Witness Lee builds upon and is a further development of all that the Lord has revealed to His church in the past centuries. It is filled with the revelation concerning the processed Triune God, the living Christ, the life-giving Spirit, the experience of life, and the definition and practice of the church. In this set Brother Lee has kept three basic principles that should rule and govern every believer in their interpretation, development, and expounding of the truths contained in the Scriptures. The first principle is that of the Triune God dispensing Himself into His chosen and redeemed people; the second principle is that we should interpret, develop, and expound the truths contained in the Bible with Christ for the church; and the third governing principle is Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. No other study or exposition of the New Testament conveys the life nourishment or ushers the reader into the divine revelation of God’s holy Word according to His New Testament economy as this one does.
The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1950-1951, volume 3, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee in 1951 through 1965. Historical information concerning Brother Lee's travels and the content of his ministry during the period of 1950-1951 can be found in the general preface that appears at the beginning of volume 1 of this set. The contents of this volume are divided into five sections, as follows: 1. Seven messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1951. These messages were previously published in a book entitled Being Apt to Teach and Holding the Mystery of the Faith and are included in this volume under the same title. 2. Nine messages given at an unknown time and place. These messages were originally published in separate issues of the periodical The Ministry of the Word in 1951, 1954, and 1957. They were also previously published in a book entitled Changing Death into Life and are included in this volume under the same title. 3. Nine messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1951. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Path of Our Growth in Life and are included in this volume under the same title. 4. Eight messages that were first published in the periodical The Ministry of the Word in 1951 through 1954. These messages were also previously published in a book entitled The Spirit and Service in Spirit and are included in this volume under the same title. 5. Eleven messages given in various places and originally published in the periodical The Ministry of the Word in 1951 through 1965. They were also previously published in a book entitled The Operation of God and the Anointing and are included in this volume under the same title.
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.
