New Releases by Witness Lee

In The Life and Way for the Practice of the Church Life Witness Lee speaks not only of our need to know Christ but also of our need to receive a vision of the church, His Body. Enjoying Christ as life will lead us into the proper practice of the church life. In the proper church life we all live and move as members of the Body, guard the genuine ground of oneness, and experience Christ in order to present His riches in the meetings for the building up of His Body.

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.

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.

In this brief work, The Speciality, Generality, and Practicality of the Church Life, Witness Lee sets forth three vital items for the maintenance and growth of the church: the speciality—the faith held in common by all believers; the generality—the general attitude practiced by the apostle Paul in Romans 14 regarding practices not common to our experience; and the practicality—the practical way for the church to grow.

The Lord''s move today is to recover the proper and practical church life for His full expression. In the church life the first and basic item of its practicality is the meeting life. Besides our experience and enjoyment of Christ, nothing is more crucial and vital than the meetings of the church. God''s people are a meeting people and every gathering should be a wonderful exhibition of the Christ each one daily experiences and enjoys as well as a testimony of His victory over Satan and of the oneness of His Body, the church. It should also be a most pleasant time, one that is refreshing and nourishing to all the saints and one that is living, rich, uplifted, and full of rejoicing.

Although the kingdom occupies a very crucial position in the Bible, many Christians have not understood it properly, accurately, or adequately. The messages in this book, given in a conference in 1972 in Los Angeles, present mainly the life side of the kingdom. While some chapters touch the doctrinal and objective side, the primary burden is the life side. May these chapters cause the Lord''s children to soberly consider their responsibility toward the kingdom and to aspire to live today in the reality of the kingdom by the divine life so that they may enter into the enjoyment of the kingdom in its manifestation with the Lord in the coming age.

Throughout the centuries of church history the Lord has progressively carried out His work of recovery. In this book, Witness Lee shows that the Lord''s present advance is to recover the priesthood of the gospel, the organic building up of the Body of Christ, the perfecting of the believers, and the speaking of God''s word for the building of the Body of Christ. He concludes with help as to how we can practice these four matters.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1932-1949, volume 2, contains personal notes and messages given by Brother Witness Lee in 1936 through 1949. 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 The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1932-1949, volume 1. The contents of this volume are divided into five sections, as follows: 1. A collection of message outlines, personal notes, and diaries written in 1936 through 1949. They are included in this volume under the title Witness Lee''s Personal Notes and Diaries. 2. Five articles written in 1947. These articles were published in the periodical Words of Grace and are included in this volume under the same title. 3. Sixty-two messages given in 1947 and 1948 during the resumption of Watchmen Nee''s ministry. These messages were previously published together with messages given by Watchman Nee in a book entitled Messages Given during the Resumption of Watchman Nee''s Ministry. The messages given by Witness Lee are included in this volume under the title Speakings Given during the Resumption of Watchman Nee''s Ministry. 4. Seven articles that were published in the periodical entitled The Way from August 1 through October 1, 1948. These articles are included in this volume under the same title. 5. Five articles published in the periodical The Ministers in July through November 1948. These articles were previously published in The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, volume 55, and are included in this volume under the same title.

According to the Bible our experience of Christ as life is both progressive and practical. In our experience, we must progress from being in Christ to abiding in Christ, and from Christ abiding in us to ultimately being full grown in Christ. In The Experience of Life, Witness Lee presents these and many more practical principles to guide our spiritual growth and development along the proper path to knowing Christ in a deeper and fuller way.

According to the available records, Brother Witness Lee ministered in the Philippines until near the end of January 1957. After Brother Lee returned to Taipei, Taiwan, Brother T. Austin-Sparks visited Taiwan in February for the second time (his first visit was in 1955). After visiting Taiwan, Austin-Sparks went to Hong Kong in March for a short visit. Brother Lee accompanied him during the entire time. The result of these visits caused much confusion concerning the practice of the church, in particular concerning the truth of the ground of the church. After Austin-Sparks left the Far East, Brother Lee spent about six months in Taiwan, where he conducted conferences and trainings on the truth concerning the church. Near the end of September he went to the Philippines and spent about a month there. At the end of October he traveled to Hong Kong again and stayed until the end of December, conducting various conferences and fellowships, many of which were to clarify the confusion concerning the truth of the church. In January 1958 he again visited the Philippines and remained there about a month before returning to Taipei via Hong Kong. In the 1957 set, volume 1 comprises Brother Lee''s messages and personal notes given during his travels in Taiwan and throughout Southeast Asia, including fellowship and messages given during the visit of T. Austin-Sparks to Taiwan and Hong Kong in February and March. Volume 2 continues with Brother Lee''s speaking in Taiwan on topics related to the church. Volume 3 is composed of his speaking in Manila, Philippines, and in Hong Kong from the end of September through December. The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1957, volume 1, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee in January 1957 through January 1958. Historical information concerning Brother Lee''s travels and the content of his ministry in 1957 can be found in the general preface that appears at the beginning of this volume. The contents of this volume are divided into ten sections, as follows: 1. Eighty-seven personal notes written by Brother Lee during his travels in the Philippines, Taiwan, and Hong Kong from January 1957 through January 1958. These notes are divided into seven chapters and are included in this volume under the title Witness Lee''s Personal Notes. 2. Seven messages given in 1957. The place and time of the speaking of the first three messages are unknown. The last four messages were spoken in Taipei, Taiwan, in January 1957. These messages were originally published in The Ministry of the Word in February through August 1957 and were previously published in a book entitled God''s Need and God''s Goal. They are included in this volume under the same title. 3. Eight messages and private talks given in Taiwan and Hong Kong in February and March 1957. These messages and talks are included in this volume under the title Fellowship Given during the Visit of T. Austin-Sparks. 4. Two messages given in Hong Kong on March 31 and April 4, 1957. These messages are included in this volume under the title Messages Given during the Visit of T. Austin-Sparks. 5. A letter written probably in Taiwan on April 25, 1957. This letter is included in this volume under the title A Letter concerning the Ground of the Church. 6. An article written in 1957 and published in the periodical The Ministry of the Word. This article is included in this volume under the title The Ministry of the Word, Miscellaneous Messages, 1957. 7. Five messages given in 1957. The place and time of the first three messages are unknown. The last two messages were given in Taipei, Taiwan, in April. The five messages were published in 1957 in the periodical The Ministry of the Word and were also published in a book entitled God''s Plan concerning the Church. These messages are included in this volume under the same title. Portions of the last two messages are included later in this volume in chapter 2 of The Ground of the Church and the Service of the Body. 8. Seven messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, in May 1957. These messages were originally published in the periodical The Ministry of the Word in 1958 and were also previously published in a book entitled The Faith, Testimony, and Ground of the Church. They are included in this volume under the same title. 9. Eleven messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, in May 1957. These messages were originally published in the periodical The Ministry of the Word in 1958 and are included in this volume under the title The Recovery and Practice of the Testimony of the Church. 10. Nine messages given in the Philippines and in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1957. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Ground of the Church and the Service of the Body and are included in this volume under the same title.

This book is intended as an aid to believers in developing a daily time of morning revival with the Lord in His word. At the same time, it provides a limited review of the International Training for Elders and Responsible Ones held in Anaheim, California on April 12-14, 2013. The general subject of the training was “The Experience, Growth, and Ministry of Life for the Body.” Through intimate contact with the Lord in His word, the believers can be constituted with life and truth and thereby equipped to prophesy in the meetings of the church unto the building up of the Body of Christ.

Today we need the intensified Spirit because of the degradation of the church. When the book of Revelation was written, the church had become degraded. The Lord became the intensified Spirit because of the degradation of the church. The history of the church tells us that even in the last part of the first century while the apostle John was still alive, the church had degraded from the Spirit to religion. The church had fallen from the living Spirit to dead religion. It was in such a situation that the Lord wrote this book to the seven local churches, using the title of the sevenfold Spirit. Under the degradation of the church, what we need is not religion or doctrines but the intensified Spirit.

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.

“Don’t think that since Christianity has the Bible, everything is well. Don’t think that since Christianity today preaches Christ, everything is fine. In the ancient times the elders of Judaism had the Bible, and they also taught something about Christ. But Christ Himself was there, and they did not care for Him.” The calling of every believer is to come to the living person of Christ, leaving behind all religious forms and dead doctrines. In Christ versus Religion Witness Lee examines the life of Christ in the Gospels. In both word and deed, Jesus astounded and even offended the religionists of His day. When confronted with questions related to religion, politics, and even the interpretation of the Scriptures, He exposed their preoccupation with dead knowledge and pointed people to His living presence. Even today the influence of religion, especially Christianity, frustrates the expression of Christ through the church, His Body. Christ versus Religion echoes our Lord’s call to come out of everything that is not Christ Himself.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1954, volume 3, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee in 1954 through 1956. Historical information concerning Brother Lee''s travels and the content of his ministry in 1954 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 three sections, as follows: 1. Seven messages given in 1954. The place and time are not accurately known. These messages were previously published in a book entitled Dead to Law but Living to God and are included in this volume under the same title. 2. Six messages given in Manila, Philippines, and Taipei, Taiwan, in 1954 through 1956. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Service for Building Up the House of God and are included in this volume under the same title. 3. Two hundred sixty-six outlines compiled from messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, in October 1954 on gospel subjects from the Old Testament and the New Testament and various special topics. These outlines were previously published in a book entitled Gospel Outlines and are included in this volume under the same title.

This book is intended as an aid to believers in developing a daily time of morning revival with the Lord in His word. At the same time, it provides a limited review of the International Chinese-speaking Conference held in Anaheim, California, February 15-17, 2013. The subject of the conference was “The Recovery of Christ as Everything in the Church.” Through intimate contact with the Lord in His word, the believers can be constituted with life and truth and thereby equipped to prophesy in the meetings of the church unto the building up of the Body of Christ.

This book is intended as an aid to believers in developing a daily time of morning revival with the Lord in His word. At the same time, it provides a limited review of the Memorial Day weekend conference held in Atlanta, Georgia, May 24-27, 2013. The general subject of the conference was “The Completing Ministry of Paul.” Through intimate contact with the Lord in His word, the believers can be constituted with life and truth and thereby equipped to prophesy in the meetings of the church unto the building up of the Body of Christ.