Most Popular Books by Witness Lee

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.

Much of what is preached and taught among Christians today concerns the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus, that is, the work He did during His life on the earth. However, just as the person of Christ has two aspects, so does His ministry. While He was on earth, He was the man Jesus. Since His ascension into heaven, however, He is the glorified Christ. His earthly ministry lasted for only a limited time, but His heavenly ministry is eternal; it will never end. What is Christ doing now? In this book, Witness Lee answers this question, opening up the second part of Christ’s ministry, the heavenly ministry, the ministry that continues today.

God’s eternal purpose is that we as a group of people would be regenerated, transformed, and built up together to be a Body for Christ and a house for Himself. For this, we have been created, predestinated, chosen, called, regenerated, and sanctified, but these are not ends in themselves. They are the processes and procedures by which God can attain His purpose. Paul’s Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians reveal this eternal purpose of God, and they also speak concerning the new man. Once we see God’s eternal purpose, we can see that the new man is a corporate man, the Body of Christ. Practically, the way to put on the new man is to put off the old man. If we are going to put on the new man, the Body of Christ, the church, we must realize that the old man, our self, has been put to an end. Thus, “from the time of our baptism we must always deny, reject, and renounce the self…. On the other hand, having realized that the Triune God is living in us as our life and our everything, we must live by Him, in Him, and with Him.”

In order to be the Lord’s up-to-date expression, the church must never become old. Rather, we should be renewed day by day to be new in the spirit, in life, in the Lord’s testimony, in His way, and in His leading. We should never be the same as we were before. We must forget the things which are behind and pursue toward the goal. As the up-to-date expression of the Lord, we need to pay our full attention to three matters. First, we must pay attention to the divine life and the growth in life. Second, by the Lord’s mercy we must do whatever we can to help every member to participate in the practical church service. Third, we must help every member to function in the meetings. This is the way to be the church in reality: by having the growth in life, by every member participating in the practical service of the church, and by every attendant in the meetings functioning in a living way.

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 5-7, 2019. The general subject of the training was “The Development of the Kingdom of God in the Christian Life and the Church Life.” 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.

Our service in the church must be in fellowship with God. In order to serve God and His people, we need to fellowship with Him. This is the first basic and fundamental matter related to our service. However, we also need to realize that we should serve in fellowship with one another. We are in Christ and in the new creation as members of His Body. Thus, we cannot do anything by ourselves in an independent way, because each of us has a different function in the Body of Christ. The building up of the Body of Christ is the primary matter. All the service and work of the church are for the purpose of the building up of the Body of Christ.

The entire New Testament, from the first chapter to the last, reveals the Spirit and the church. Although we may be familiar with the fact that the New Testament unveils Christ and the church, we also need to see that the New Testament presents the vision of the Spirit and the church. The church is absolutely a matter of the Spirit. It was born of the Spirit and brought forth by the Spirit, and it exists with the Spirit. Moreover, the church is built up by the believers’ growth in life through the increase of Christ as the Spirit in them. The church is not built up by any human organization, doctrinal teachings, or miraculous gifts. Instead, the church is built up by the ministry of the Spirit, in which we mutually minister life in our spirit to one another for our growth in life. Thus, the church is absolutely a matter of the Holy Spirit in our human spirit.

In Matthew 13 the Lord Jesus gives a parable concerning a treasure and a parable concerning a pearl. These two parables present the positive condition of the churches in the Lord’s recovery. The testimony of the treasure and the pearl is the gospel that we preach, and the local churches that we establish bear this testimony. If we truly see the testimony of the treasure and the pearl, we will give our all for this. “We should stand firm in faith and preach the gospel of the kingdom…May many saints rise up and be burdened by the Lord to preach the high gospel and establish the testimony of the treasure and the pearl in every town and village. May the Lord have mercy on us.”

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 March 24-26, 2023. The general subject of the training was “Knowing, Experiencing, and Living the All-inclusive Christ for the Genuine Church Life.” 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.

In this booklet taken from Life-study of Luke, Witness Lee fellowships concerning the answer the Lord Jesus gave to the Pharisees when they asked him when the kingdom of God comes (Luke 17:20). “The Lord’s answer indicates that the kingdom of God is not material but spiritual. It is the Savior in His first coming (vv. 21-22), in His second coming (vv. 23-30), in His overcoming believers’ rapture (vv. 31-36), and in His destroying of the Antichrist (v. 37) to recover the earth for His reign (Rev. 11:15).”

To prophesy in the sense of 1 Corinthians 14 denotes to speak for God and Christ and to speak forth God and Christ. To speak forth God and Christ is to minister and dispense God and Christ to people. This book helps us to see the basic knowledge concerning prophesying, the patterns of prophesy, the basic constituents of a prophecy, and the obstacles to prophesying.

There are three main aspects in God’s eternal plan for the church: the expression of God, the defeat of God’s enemy Satan, and the heading up of all things in Christ. For all of this, the church must be built up. In this classic booklet, Witness Lee fellowships concerning how the church can be built up. Contrary to what some may think, it is not by knowledge and gifts. “It is only by the inner experience of Christ as life that we can have the reality of the church life. The inner man must be strengthened so that Christ will make His home in our hearts and we will grow up into Him in all things. Then we will be filled unto all the fullness of God, by whom we will be built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.”

In 1927 Watchman Nee published his spiritual classic on Christian growth and progress, The Spiritual Man. In that book Nee presents the seemingly simple biblical truth that man is composed of three parts--spirit and soul and body--as a central and necessary revelation for believers to grow and make progress in their spiritual life. In The Economy of God, Nee''s closest and most trusted co-worker, Witness Lee, builds upon this foundation in order to unveil the central revelation of the Bible--that God wants to impart Himself into man for His full expression in the church. This is God''s plan, God''s economy. In The Economy of God, Lee clearly reveals the move of the Divine Trinity according to His economy and gives believers practical ways to cooperate with Him for the fulfillment of His eternal plan. Step by step, Witness Lee shows how to deal with obstacles to spiritual growth so that Christ may fully make His home in our hearts, that we may be filled unto all the fullness of God.

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 Thanksgiving weekend conference held in San Jose, California, November 24-27, 2016. The general subject of the conference was “The Direction of the Lord’s Move Today.” 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.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1960, volume 2, contains messages given and articles and personal notes written by Brother Witness Lee in April through December 1960. Historical information concerning Brother Lee''s travels and the content of his ministry in 1960 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. Nine messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, in April through August. Chapters 1 through 5 contain messages given in July and August, and chapters 8 and 9 contain messages given on April 1 and 2. The dates of the messages that constitute chapters 6 and 7 are unknown. All nine messages were previously published in a book entitled The Sufficiency, Pursuit, and Learning of the Lord''s Serving Ones and are included in this volume under the same title. 2. Four messages given in a training for young people in Taipei, Taiwan, in April. These messages are included in this volume under the title God''s Plan and Christ''s Redemption. 3. Three sets of personal notes written in 1960, probably beginning on April 26. These notes are included in this volume under the title Witness Lee''s Personal Notes. 4. Fifteen messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1960; the exact dates are unknown. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Elders'' Management of the Church and are included in this volume under the same title. 5. A message given in Taipei, Taiwan, probably after the messages contained in the previous section on the elders'' management of the church. This message is included in this volume under the title Concerning the Arrangement of Church Meetings. 6. A message given in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1960. This message was originally published in the periodical The Ministry of the Word in September. It is included in this volume under the title Balancing the Church Service and the Goals of the Church Service. 7. Five messages given in Taipei, Taiwan. These messages were originally published in the periodical The Ministry of the Word in October 1960 through January 1961. They were previously published in a book entitled The Law of Revival and are included in this volume under the same title. 8. Ten messages given in New York City on October 14 through November 20. These messages are included in this volume under the title The Nature and Building Up of the Church. 9. Four messages given in New York City on November 24 through 27. These messages are included in this volume under the title Practicing the Building Up of the Church on the Proper Ground. 10. A letter and two sets of questions and answers given in Los Angeles, California, on December 5 through 7. This section is included in this volume under the title Fellowship in Los Angeles concerning the Ground of the Church.

This book clearly defines two critical terms in the divine revelation—the ministry of the New Testament and the teaching and fellowship of the apostles. A proper understanding of these terms is crucial to our remaining in the unique move of God and to our maintaining the oneness 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 Thanksgiving blending conference held in Dallas, Texas, on November 23-26, 2023. The general subject of the conference was “The Enjoyment of Christ and Our Growth in Life unto Maturity.” 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.