The Ministry Vol 02 No 01

The three previous issues of The Ministry contained a series of messages entitled “Vision in God’s Economy,” comprising Brother Lee’s fellowship with the elders and co-workers in Taipei in March 1986. Following this enlightening and crucial word concerning the vision that matches the age, Brother Lee began to speak concerning the present practice in the Lord’s recovery. His speaking, which we include in this issue, was a continuation of his desperate fight, begun in October 1984, to overturn the old traditions among the churches and bring in a new way, the God-ordained way, to meet and to serve. In this message, our brother emphasizes the practice of the new way: to preach the gospel, build up the small groups, and teach the truth, while not forsaking the larger church meetings on the Lord’s Day morning. Six other messages in this issue are taken from the Thanksgiving Conference in November 1997. The general subject of this conference was “The Sevenfold Intensified Heavenly Ministry of Christ.” Christ’s work in the stage of His intensification is to intensify His organic salvation, to produce the overcomers to build up the Body of Christ, and to consummate the New Jerusalem. We must advance from a work in the stages of incarnation and inclusion to the work in the stage of intensification. The Lord’s speaking in this conference through His ministry was instant and intensified, showing us the way to become lovers of Christ, martyrs for Christ, and eaters of Christ for the ultimate consummation of God’s eternal economy, the New Jerusalem. The Lord is advancing in His move to propagate Himself in Eastern and Western Europe. In this issue we include a report on the Lord’s move there, providing some details of the work to distribute our publications, the Full-time Training in London, an international meeting of brothers, and upcoming international blending conferences in five European countries.

The three previous issues of The Ministry contained a series of messages entitled “Vision in God’s Economy,” comprising Brother Lee’s fellowship with the elders and co-workers in Taipei in March 1986. Following this enlightening and crucial word concerning the vision that matches the age, Brother Lee began to speak concerning the present practice in the Lord’s recovery. His speaking, which we include in this issue, was a continuation of his desperate fight, begun in October 1984, to overturn the old traditions among the churches and bring in a new way, the God-ordained way, to meet and to serve. In this message, our brother emphasizes the practice of the new way: to preach the gospel, build up the small groups, and teach the truth, while not forsaking the larger church meetings on the Lord’s Day morning. Six other messages in this issue are taken from the Thanksgiving Conference in November 1997. The general subject of this conference was “The Sevenfold Intensified Heavenly Ministry of Christ.” Christ’s work in the stage of His intensification is to intensify His organic salvation, to produce the overcomers to build up the Body of Christ, and to consummate the New Jerusalem. We must advance from a work in the stages of incarnation and inclusion to the work in the stage of intensification. The Lord’s speaking in this conference through His ministry was instant and intensified, showing us the way to become lovers of Christ, martyrs for Christ, and eaters of Christ for the ultimate consummation of God’s eternal economy, the New Jerusalem. The Lord is advancing in His move to propagate Himself in Eastern and Western Europe. In this issue we include a report on the Lord’s move there, providing some details of the work to distribute our publications, the Full-time Training in London, an international meeting of brothers, and upcoming international blending conferences in five European countries.

The purpose of this monthly digest is to help to encourage and assist in the daily reading of the ministry in the Lord’s recovery. Its two specific goals are: (1) to help the saints to enter into the riches of The Collected Works of Witness Lee and (2) to provide ministry content for the churches in their corporate weekly pursuit. The Collected Works of Witness Lee comprises one hundred thirty-nine volumes arranged chronologically by year. In this digest we will focus primarily on specific topics from many of these volumes and introduce selected readings on these topics to saints who do not have access to the printed volumes. It is our desire to help the saints get into the riches contained in The Collected Works of Witness Lee topic by topic. This publication will help the saints and churches develop a taste and deepen the desire for reading the ministry in a consistent way. It is intended to supplement and not replace the Recovery Version of the Bible, the Life-study messages, The Holy Word for Morning Revival, and The Ministry of the Word magazine. Each issue of Ministry Digest will be divided into four sections with four messages in each section. The first issue begins the following four sections: 1. The History of the Lord’s Recovery 2. Words for New Believers 3. Maturing in Life 4. The High Peak of the Divine Revelation

This issue of The Ministry of the Word contains a complete record of the twelve messages given during the December 2023 semiannual training, held in Anaheim, California. The Key Statements on the following page embody and summarize the crucial truths and main burdens covered in these twelve messages.

In this issue we will continue the four lines of ministry that began in the first issue of Ministry Digest (vol. 1, no. 1). The first line--The History of the Lord's Recovery--continues with chapters 3 through 6 of The World Situation and God's Move, which are in volume 1 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1981. These chapters speak of God's ultimate move to carry out His eternal intention, His ultimate recovery, and the world's ultimate situation. The second line--Words for New Believers--continues with chapters 3 through 6 of Basic Lessons on Life, which are in volume 1 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1979. These chapters speak of God's intention in man, Satan's plot to spoil man, the real significance of man's fall, and the salvation of life. The third line--Maturing in Life--begins a new book with chapters 1 through 4 of Knowing Life and the Church, which are in volume 1 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1953. These chapters speak of life being the goal of God's creation and redemption, life being God Himself enjoyed by man, the obstacles that God's life encounters in man, and the subjective obstacles encountered by God's life in us. The fourth line--The High Peak of the Divine Revelation--continues with chapters 5 through 8 of The God-man Living, which are in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997. These chapters provide a word of definition concerning the God-man living and then continue to speak of the first God-man's living.

In this issue we will continue four lines of ministry. The first line--The History of the Lord's Recovery--contains chapters 12 through 15 of The Vital Groups, which are in volume 5 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994–1997. The chapters in this section speak of nourishing people with the unsearchable riches of Christ in His full ministry in the three stages and of how to contact people. The second line--Words for New Believers--continues with chapters 3 through 6 of Basic Principles of the Experience of Life, which are in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1963. The first two chapters in this section speak of the first experience of life and the way to experience life. The final two chapters then focus on the three lives and four laws within every Christian generally and on the law of life particularly. The third line--Maturing in Life--continues with chapters 21 through 23 of Knowing Life and the Church, which are in volume 1 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1953. This line then continues with chapter 1 of a new book, The Subjective Experience of the Indwelling Christ, which is in volume 1 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1983. The first three chapters in this section speak of the result of the work being based on the worker, of needing to be earnest and not loose in working for the Lord, and of the church and service. The last chapter in this section begins by speaking of the experience of Christ as life. The fourth line--The High Peak of the Divine Revelation--continues with chapters 3 through 6 of The Practical Way to Live a Life according to the High Peak of the Divine Revelation in the Holy Scriptures, which are in volume 2 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994–1997. The chapters in this section speak of seeing the unveiled truth of Christ's resurrection for the ultimate goal of God's economy, of living Christ for His magnification by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, of being conformed to the image of God's Son so that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers, and of building up the Body of Christ by growing into Him, the Head, in all things.

The purpose of this monthly digest is to help to encourage and assist in the daily reading of the ministry in the Lord’s recovery. Its two specific goals are: (1) to help the saints to enter into the riches of The Collected Works of Witness Lee and (2) to provide ministry content for the churches in their corporate weekly pursuit. The Collected Works of Witness Lee comprises one hundred thirty-nine volumes arranged chronologically by year. In this digest we will focus primarily on specific topics from many of these volumes and introduce selected readings on these topics to saints who do not have access to the printed volumes. It is our desire to help the saints get into the riches contained in The Collected Works of Witness Lee topic by topic. This publication will help the saints and churches develop a taste and deepen the desire for reading the ministry in a consistent way. It is intended to supplement and not replace the Recovery Version of the Bible, the Life-study messages, The Holy Word for Morning Revival, and The Ministry of the Word magazine. Each issue of Ministry Digest will be divided into four sections with four messages in each section. The first issue begins the following four sections: 1. The History of the Lord’s Recovery 2. Words for New Believers 3. Maturing in Life 4. The High Peak of the Divine Revelation