Enjoying The Riches Of Christ For The Building Up Of The Church As The Body Of Christ

This issue of The Ministry of the Word contains the first eight messages given during the spring 2018 term of the full-time training in Anaheim, California. The general subject of this series of messages is "Enjoying the Riches of Christ for the Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ." The goal of God's economy and of our enjoyment of the riches of Christ is the organic building up of the church as the Body of Christ. This goal is God's purpose, God's will, and His good pleasure. The building up of the church as the Body of Christ is simultaneously the maturing of the one new man and the preparation of the bride.

This issue of The Ministry of the Word contains the final nine messages given during the spring 2018 term of the full-time training in Anaheim, California. The general subject of this series of messages is "Enjoying the Riches of Christ for the Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ." These messages continue to emphasize the enjoyment of the indescribably rich and all-inclusive Christ as everything to us as seen in the New Testament. In the Gospel of Matthew, we see that we need to have a pure heart to see God, which is to gain God so that we may become God in life and nature. The more we experience and enjoy such an all-inclusive Christ, the more we will become the building material for and even the builders of the church, fulfilling the greatest prophecy in the Bible to bring in the kingdom of God.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1988, volume 3, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from April 18 through September 18, 1988. In the first few days of April Brother Lee visited San Jose, California, for two days, and in the second week of April he flew to Taipei, Taiwan, and remained there until early June. He returned to Anaheim, California, and remained there through the third week of July. In the remaining days of July he visited a number of cities in the California Bay Area, including Berkeley, Hayward, San Jose, Los Altos, and San Francisco. In early August he visited Spokane, Washington, and at the end of August he visited Seattle, Washington. In the last few days of August he visited Alhambra, California, and in September he traveled to Cleveland, Ohio, and Atlanta, Georgia. The contents of this volume are divided into seventeen sections, as follows: 1. Two messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on April 18 and 25. These messages are included in this volume under the title The Proper Learning and Desire for the Practice of the New Way. 2. A message given in Taipei, Taiwan, on April 27. This message is included in this volume under the title The Reason for Changing the System and the Practice of the New Way. 3. Three messages given in Anaheim, California, on July 8 and 9. These messages were previously published in a book entitled A Timely Word and are included in this volume under the same title. Chapters 2 and 3 were included as chapters 4 and 5 in Elders' Training, Book 9: The Eldership and the God-ordained Way (1) and also appear in The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1986, volume 3, in a section with the same title. 4. Three messages given in Berkeley, California, on July 22 through 24. These messages were previously published in a book entitled Our Urgent Need--Spirit and Life and are included in this volume under the same title. 5. Seven messages given in Berkeley and Hayward, California, on July 22 through 25. These messages are included in this volume under the title The Local Churches and the Body of Christ. 6. A message given in San Francisco, California, on July 30. This message was previously published in a booklet entitled Treasuring the Teenage Years for the Lord and is included in this volume under the same title. 7. Four messages given in San Jose and San Francisco, California, on July 26 through 31. These messages were translated from Chinese and are included in this volume under the title The Apostles' Relationship with the Churches and Their Perfecting of the Saints. 8. A message given in San Jose, California, on July 27. This message is included in this volume under the title The Need for Revival in the Lord's Recovery through Prayer. 9. Six messages given in Los Altos, San Jose, and San Francisco, California, on July 27 through 31. These messages are included in this volume under the title Building Up the Body in Oneness. Two of the messages were combined into one chapter. 10. Eleven messages given in Spokane, Washington, on August 5 through 7. They are included in this volume under the title Being Perfected to Build Up the Body of Christ. 11. A message given in Seattle, Washington, on August 18. This message is included in this volume under the title Being Trained in Our Character, Our Experience of Life, Our Knowledge of the Truth, and Our Skill of Shepherding to Gain People for the Building Up of the Body of Christ. 12. Five messages given in Seattle, Washington, on August 18 through 21. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Body of Christ and are included in this volume under the same title. 13. Two messages given in Alhambra, California, on August 27 and 28. These messages were translated from Chinese and are included in this volume under the title The Salvation of the Lamb and the Dove. 14. Three messages given in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 2 through 5. They are included in this volume under the title Caring for the Church according to the New Way in the Organic Union with the Lord. 15. Five messages given in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 2 through 5. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Organism of the Triune God in the Organic Union of His Divine Trinity and are included in this volume under the same title. 16. Two messages given in Atlanta, Georgia, on September 16 and 18. They are included in this volume under the title Cooperating with the Lord to Carry Out the Scriptural Way of Meeting and Serving for the Building Up of the Body of Christ. 17. Four messages given in Atlanta, Georgia, on September 16 through 18. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Building Up of the Body of Christ and are included in this volume under the same title.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1971, volume 1, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from early January through April 11, 1971. In 1971 Brother Lee spoke twenty-four messages that constituted The Visions of Ezekiel, which were later published in Life-study of Ezekiel. These Life-study messages are not included in The Collected Works of Witness Lee. From the middle of October 1970 until the middle of January 1971, Brother Lee was in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Then he visited Manila, Philippines; Singapore; Surabaya, Indonesia; and Melbourne, Australia, before arriving in Auckland, New Zealand, on March 1. Brother Lee traveled to San Francisco on March 17 and then went to Los Angeles at the beginning of April, where he remained until the end of May. The contents of this volume are divided into six sections, as follows: 1. Ten messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, in January. These messages were previously published in a book entitled Shepherding the Church and Perfecting the Young People. 2. Ten messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, from January 5 through 9. They were previously published in a book entitled The Meaning of Human Life and a Proper Consecration. 3. Three messages given in an unknown city and in Singapore from the end of January to the beginning of February. The date and place of the first message are uncertain. The last two messages were given in Singapore in February. They are part of an eight-day conference held in Singapore at the end of January and the beginning of February. The records of only two of the messages given during that conference have been located. The three messages in this section are included in this volume under the title The Abolishing of Ordinances and the Making of Peace. 4. Twelve messages given in Palmerston North, New Zealand, on March 12 through 16. These messages are included in this volume under the title Experiencing Christ for the Church as the New Man, the Body of Christ, and the Bride of Christ. 5. Five messages given in San Francisco, California, on March 19 through 21. They are included in this volume under the title Experiencing Christ for the Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ and the New Man. 6. Seven messages given in Los Angeles, California, on April 8 through 11. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Life for the Preaching of the High Gospel.

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 semiannual training held December 25-30, 2023, in Anaheim, California, on “Laboring on the All-inclusive Christ Typified by the Good Land for the Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ, for the Reality and the Manifestation of the Kingdom, and for the Bride to Make Herself Ready for the Lord’s Coming.” 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 moment we believe in the Lord, we should set apart the early morning for fellowshipping with God and for contacting Him. Song of Songs 7:12 shows us that the early morning is the best time to fellowship with the Lord. To fellowship means to open up our spirit and our mind to God and allow Him to enlighten us, speak to us, impress us, and touch us (Psa. 119:105, 147). During this time our hearts are drawn near to God, and we allow God to draw near to our hearts. This series of Holy Word for Morning Revival on Topics for New Believers is especially designed to help introduce newer believers to the basic principles of the Christian life, which should help them establish a solid foundation on which to build a Christian life and church life of living and loving the Lord Jesus for the building up of His Body.

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 Leipzig, Germany, on October 5-7, 2017. The general subject of the training was “The Recovery of 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.