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, 1978, volume 1, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from January 22 through December 11, 1978. In 1978 Brother Lee spoke seventy-five messages that were published in Life-study of Genesis and Life-study of Ephesians. The Life-study messages are not included in The Collected Works of Witness Lee. From the beginning of the year until the end of April, Brother Lee ministered in Anaheim, California. From the beginning of May through the middle of May, he visited Boston, Massachusetts, after which he returned to Anaheim. Except for brief visits to the nearby cities of Costa Mesa, Irvine, and San Diego, California, he remained in Anaheim from the middle of May through the first week in August. The remaining messages included in this volume that were given after the first week in August were all spoken in Anaheim. The contents of this volume are divided into nine sections, as follows: 1. Six messages given in Anaheim, California, on January 22 through December 10. These messages are included in this volume under the title Experiencing Christ as Life and Being Constituted with the Truth for God's Building. 2. Nine messages given in Anaheim, California, on January 26 through October 19. These messages were consolidated into five chapters and are included in this volume under the title Fellowship with the Church in Anaheim. 3. Seven messages given in Anaheim, California, on March 23 through April 9. They were previously published in an eight-chapter book entitled The Exercise of the Kingdom for the Building of the Church and are included in this volume under the same title. 4. Twenty-two meetings for fellowship with the serving ones in the Living Stream Ministry office in Anaheim, California, on March 27 through December 11. Brother Lee's speaking in these meetings was informally published as nineteen individual messages under the general title Fellowship with Serving Ones. These chapters are included in this volume under the same title. 5. A message given during a time of fellowship with college students in Costa Mesa, California, on April 6. The edited message was divided into two chapters, which are included in this volume under the title Bearing the Testimony of Jesus by Living a Crucified Life in Resurrection. 6. A message given during a time of fellowship with leading brothers in Orange County, California, on April 15. This message is included in this volume under the title The Lord's Recovery of His Testimony. 7. Five messages given in Anaheim, California, on April 16 through May 21. These messages were previously published in a book entitled Basic Training and are included in this volume under the same title. 8. Twenty-three messages given in Boston, Massachusetts, and Anaheim, California, on May 1 through June 25. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Experience of Christ and are included in this volume under the same title. 9. Twenty-three messages given in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 1 through 12. They were consolidated into nineteen chapters and are included in this volume under the title The Present Need among the Churches in the Lord's Recovery.
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.
The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1978, volume 2, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from May 13 through November 26. After returning to Anaheim, California, from Boston, Massachusetts, in the middle of May, Brother Lee remained in Anaheim through the first week in August. During that time he also ministered in San Diego and Fullerton, California. During the second week in August he traveled to San Jose, Sacramento, Berkeley, and San Francisco, California, and returned to Anaheim for a few days. After the third week in August Brother Lee ministered in Boston, Massachusetts; Washington, D.C.; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Toronto, Canada; Cleveland, Ohio; and Chicago, Illinois, until the end of the third week in September. He then returned to Anaheim and remained there until the end of the first week in November, after which he visited Spokane and Moses Lake, Washington; Vancouver, Canada; Seattle, Washington; and Dallas, Texas. At the beginning of December he returned to Anaheim and, except for a one-day visit to Irvine, California, remained there until the end of the year. The contents of this volume are divided into eight sections, as follows: 1. Two messages given in Costa Mesa and Irvine, California, on May 15 and 18. These messages are included in this volume under the title Living Christ for the Lord's Recovery. 2. Six messages given in Anaheim, California, on May 13 through June 22. These messages were edited into eight chapters and are included in this volume under the title The Experience of Life and Oneness for the Lord's Recovery. 3. Four messages given in Anaheim, California, on June 27 and 28. These messages are included in this volume under the title The Testimony and Way of Life in the Lord's Recovery. 4. Forty-five messages given in Anaheim, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, and Berkeley, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Washington, D.C.; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Spokane, Moses Lake, and Seattle, Washington; Vancouver, Canada; and Dallas, Texas, on July 9 through November 26. They were previously published as part of a three-volume set containing messages given by Brother Lee during the years 1978 and 1979. The messages in this volume were previously published in a forty-one-chapter book entitled Life Messages, volume 1, and are included here under the same title. The other two volumes of the three-volume set were previously published as Life Messages, volume 2, and Truth Messages. They are contained, respectively, in The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1979, volume 1, and The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1978, volume 3. 5. A message given in San Francisco, California, on August 15. This message is included in this volume under the title Contacting Christ by Receiving the Word and Touching the Spirit in Order to Experience Christ's Death and Resurrection. 6. Three messages given in Anaheim, California, on July 27, August 17, and November 2. These messages are included in this volume under the title The Present Need in the Lord's Recovery. 7. A message given in Fullerton, California, on July 30. This message is included in this volume under the title Living, Growing, and Producing Christ as Branches in the Vine. 8. Eight messages given in Boston, Massachusetts, on August 23 through 28. They were previously published in a book entitled Crucial Principles for the Christian Life and the Church Life and are included in this volume under the same title.
The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1978, volume 3, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from August 22 through December 31. From the beginning of this period until the end of the third week in September, Brother Lee ministered in Boston, Massachusetts; Washington, D.C.; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Toronto, Canada; Cleveland, Ohio; and Chicago, Illinois. He then returned to Anaheim and remained there until the end of the first week in November, after which he visited Spokane and Moses Lake, Washington; Vancouver, Canada; Seattle, Washington; and Dallas, Texas. At the beginning of December he returned to Anaheim and, except for a one-day visit to Irvine, California, remained there until the end of the year. The contents of this volume are divided into ten sections, as follows: 1. Five messages given in Boston, Massachusetts, on August 22 through 28. The contents of these messages were taken from personal notes taken by attendees in the meetings. The messages were edited and combined into four chapters. They are included in this volume under the title The Vision in the Lord's Recovery--Christ as Life for the Church as His Body. 2. Four messages given in Washington, D.C., on August 29 through September 1. These messages were previously published in a book entitled Crucial Principles for the Proper Church Life and are included in this volume under the same title. 3. Six messages given in New York City on September 1 through 4. They were previously published in a book entitled Crucial Elements of God's Economy and are included in this volume under the same title. 4. Nine messages given in Atlanta, Georgia; Miami, Florida; and Toronto, Canada, on September 5 through 14. They were previously published in a book entitled The Healthy Word and are included in this volume under the same title. 5. Eight messages given in Cleveland, Ohio, and Chicago, Illinois, on September 15 through 20. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Recovery of Christ as Everything in the Church and are included in this volume under the same title. 6. Eleven messages given in Anaheim, California, on September 29 through December 16. They were previously published as part of a three-volume set containing messages given by Brother Lee during the years 1978 and 1979. The messages in this volume were previously published in an eleven-chapter book entitled Truth Messages and are included here under the same title. The other two volumes of the three-volume set were previously published as Life Messages, volume 1, and Life Messages, volume 2. They are contained, respectively, in The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1978, volume 2, and The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1979, volume 1. 7. Two messages given in Dallas, Texas, on November 24 and 26, 1978. They are included in this volume under the title God's Economy to Obtain a Building in Spirit. Additional messages given in the same conference were previously published as part of Life Messages, volume 1 (see The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1978, volume 2). 8. A message given in Irvine, California, on December 8. This message is included in this volume under the title The Church Life in the New Creation. 9. Seventeen messages given to a gathering of elders in Anaheim, California, on December 14 through 20. They were previously published in a book entitled Basic Principles concerning the Eldership and are included in this volume under the same title. 10. A message given in Anaheim, California, on December 31. This message is included in this volume under the title Crucial Revelations in the Epistle to the Ephesians.
The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1979, volume 1, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from January 4 through December 11, 1979. In 1979 Brother Lee spoke one hundred twenty-four messages that were published in Life-study of Exodus, Life-study of Galatians, Life-study of Ephesians, and Life-study of Colossians. The Life-study messages are not included in The Collected Works of Witness Lee. During the first week in January, Brother Lee ministered in Anaheim, California. In the second week Brother Lee traveled to Tulare and Fresno in Central California and then to Hayward, San Francisco, San Jose, Pleasant Hill, and Berkeley in Northern California. From the middle of January to the middle of April, Brother Lee remained in Anaheim. He then made a short visit to Berkeley, after which he returned to Anaheim and ministered there until the end of the first week in May. On the weekend of May 11 through 13, Brother Lee ministered in Austin and Houston, Texas, after which he returned to Anaheim and remained there until the Memorial Day weekend. On that weekend Brother Lee gave a conference in New York City. After returning to Anaheim, he remained there until the end of September. During that period he made brief visits to Cleveland, Ohio, and Berkeley, California. On the last weekend in September Brother Lee traveled to Seattle, Washington, after which he returned to Anaheim and remained there until the first part of October. From that time until the first week in November, Brother Lee was in the Far East, where he visited Taipei, Taiwan; Quezon City and Manila, Philippines; Hong Kong; Singapore; and Tokyo, Japan. Brother Lee returned to Anaheim and remained there until the middle of November. Near the end of the month Brother Lee ministered in Dallas, Texas. He returned to Anaheim and ministered there until the end of the year. The contents of this volume are divided into seven sections, as follows: 1. Thirty-six messages given to the serving ones in the Living Stream Ministry office in Anaheim, California, on January 4 through December 11. These messages were consolidated into twenty-five chapters and are included in this volume under the title Fellowship with Serving Ones. 2. Eight messages given in Anaheim, California, on January 7 through September 16. These messages are included in this volume under the title Fellowship during Various Lord's Day Meetings. 3. Thirty-five messages given in Tulare, Fresno, Hayward, San Francisco, San Jose, and Berkeley, California; Austin and Houston, Texas; Taipei, Taiwan; Quezon City, Philippines; Hong Kong; Singapore; and Tokyo, Japan, on January 9 through November 4. They were previously published as chapters 42 through 75 in a thirty-four-chapter book entitled Life Messages, volume 2, and are included in this volume under the same title. Life Messages, volume 1, is contained in The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1978, volume 2. 4. A message given in Pleasant Hill, California, on January 13. This message is included in this volume under the title God, the Word, the Spirit, and Life. 5. Three messages given in Anaheim, California, on March 9 through 17. These messages were consolidated into two chapters and are included in this volume under the title Miscellaneous Messages to the Church in Anaheim. 6. Five messages given in Anaheim, California, and New York City on May 20 through June 1. These messages are included in this volume under the title Various Meetings and Fellowships from Personal Notes. 7. Twenty messages given in Anaheim, California, on February 5 through November 12. These messages were previously published in a book entitled Basic Lessons on Life and are included in this volume under the same title.
"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)."
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.
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.
