Although the language of the Gospel of John is simple, this book is deep and profound. In this life-study, Witness Lee shows that the Bible is a book of life and building and that the Gospel of John also is focused on life and building. The Gospel of John reveals that in Christ, the Word of God, is life; that He came that man may have life; and that He Himself is life. Furthermore, this Gospel shows that Christ is the bread of life; that He has the water of life; that He gives life to man; and that He even lives in man as life. The Gospel of John also unfolds the divine building. In 1:14, we see that Christ in the flesh was the tabernacle for God’s habitation among men on earth. In 2:19-21, Christ’s human body was also the temple of God on earth. Through His death, His body in the flesh was destroyed, and in His resurrection, He raised up His mystical body, the church, to be the enlarged temple of God. This is God’s building in the universe. Furthermore, this Gospel reveals that the believers are to be built up to be the Father’s house, the dwelling place of the Triune God. This is adequately and fully disclosed in John 14. According to that chapter, all the believers will be built together as God’s eternal habitation with many abodes. Thus, as the Lord’s last prayer in John 17 indicates, all His believers must be built up into one. The first section of the Gospel of John, composed of the first 13 chapters, is on the coming of the Lord Jesus to bring God into man and to declare God to man. The second section, composed of the last eight chapters, is on the Lord’s going in death and coming back in resurrection to bring man into God and to abide in and with man for God’s building.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1975-1976, volume 1, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from February 18 through August 31, 1975. During 1975 and 1976 Brother Lee spoke two hundred fifty seven messages that were published in Life-study of Genesis, Life-study of Matthew, Life-study of Mark, Life-study of John, Life-study of Romans, Life-study of Hebrews, and Life-study of Revelation. These Life-study messages are not included in The Collected Works of Witness Lee. From the beginning of the year until the end of March, Brother Lee ministered in Anaheim, California. Messages that he gave up to February 11 are published in The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1973-1974, volume 2. From the end of March through the first week in April, Brother Lee was in Washington, D.C., where he gave the life-study training on the Gospel of John. From there he went to New York City and remained there until the middle of April. He then returned to Anaheim and ministered there until the end of May. At the end of May and on the first day of June, he held a conference in Chicago, Illinois, after which he was in Anaheim until the end of the third week in June. He then traveled to Spokane and Seattle, Washington, and returned to Anaheim and ministered there until July 3. From July 4 through 6 he held a conference in Berkeley, California. He then ministered in Anaheim until August 4, after which he traveled to Taipei, Taiwan, and conducted conferences and trainings there until September 11. The contents of this volume are divided into fourteen sections, as follows: 1. Three messages given in Anaheim, California, on February 18 and 25 and March 4, 1975. These messages were previously published in a book entitled Fellowship with the Young People. 2. One message given in Anaheim, California, on March 2, 1975. It is included in this volume under the title Fellowship concerning Baptism. 3. Two messages given in Anaheim, California, on March 11 and 18, 1975. These messages were originally published together under the title A Word for the Sisters and later published as separate booklets entitled The Serving Sisters in the Church Life and The Loving Mothers in the Church Life. They are included in this volume under the title A Word for the Sisters. 4. Nine messages given in New York City on April 8 through 13, 1975. They were previously published in a book entitled The Seven Mysteries in the First Epistle of John. 5. One message given in New York City on April 11, 1975. It is included in this volume under the title The Crucial Function of the Sisters in the Church Life. 6. One message given in Anaheim, California, on May 11, 1975. It is included in this volume under the title Brother Lee's Personal Testimony concerning Calling on the Name of the Lord. 7. One message given in Anaheim, California, on May 18, 1975. It is included in this volume under the title Fellowship concerning the Preparation of Meeting Halls. 8. Five messages given in Chicago, Illinois, on May 30 through June 1, 1975. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Flesh and the Spirit. 9. Four messages given in Spokane, Washington, on June 21 and 22, 1975. They were previously published in a book entitled The Building of the Church. 10. Eleven messages given in Seattle, Washington, and Berkeley and Anaheim, California, on June 23 through July 13, 1975. They were previously published in a book entitled The Testimony of Jesus. 11. One message given in Berkeley, California, on July 5, 1975. The edited message was divided into two chapters, which are published in this volume under the title The Truth concerning the Triune God and Crucial Points of Truth and Practice. 12. Six messages given in Anaheim, California, on July 23 and 24, 1975. One of the edited messages was divided into two chapters, and the seven resulting chapters are included in this volume under the title Fellowship with Elders. 13. Five messages given in Chinese in Taipei, Taiwan, on August 19 through 23, 1975. They were previously published in Chinese and English in a book entitled Living in the Spirit. 14. Four messages given in Chinese in Taipei, Taiwan, on August 26 through 31, 1975. They were previously published in Chinese and English in a book entitled Living with the Lord.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1977, volume 1, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from January 2 through July 10, 1977. In 1977 Brother Lee spoke ninety-nine messages that were published in Life-study of Genesis, Life-study of Matthew, and Life-study of Revelation. The Life-study messages are not included in The Collected Works of Witness Lee. From the beginning of the year until the beginning of April, Brother Lee ministered in Anaheim, California. From early April through mid-April he ministered in Stuttgart, Germany. From the middle of April until the beginning of May, he traveled to Rome, Italy; Neuchatel, Switzerland; Blackpool, England; Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and the Galilee, Israel; Athens, Greece; and Madrid, Spain. There is no record of his speaking in any of these cities except Blackpool. At the end of the first week in May, Brother Lee held a conference in New York City before returning to Anaheim, where he remained until August 18. The contents of this volume are divided into ten sections, as follows: 1. Seven messages given in Anaheim, California, on January 2 through March 24. These messages were combined into four chapters and included in this volume under the title Weekly Elders' Meetings in Anaheim. 2. Two messages given in Chinese in Anaheim, California, on January 19. The translated messages are included in this volume under the title Fellowship with Young People concerning the Course of the Recovery of the Church. 3. Five messages given in Anaheim, California, on February 9 through March 9. They are included in this volume under the title Fellowship and Questions concerning the Gospel. 4. Three messages given in Anaheim, California, on February 13 through March 6. They are included in this volume under the title Various Lord's Day Morning Meetings. 5. Brother Lee's speaking during a time of fellowship with Walter Martin, president of the Christian Research Institute, in Brother Lee's home in Anaheim, California, on February 21. It is included in this volume under the title Brother Lee's Fellowship with Walter Martin. 6. Twenty messages given in Stuttgart, Germany, on April 8 through 17. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Kernel of the Bible. 7. Five messages given in Blackpool, England, on April 22 through 24. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Producing and Building Up of the Church as the Totality of the Divine Sonship. 8. Five messages given in New York City on May 6 through 8. They were previously published in a book entitled The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age. 9. Six messages given in Anaheim, California, on May 13 through 22 and on June 9. They were previously published in a book entitled The Lord's Recovery and the Present Situation of Religion. 10. Three messages given in Anaheim, California, on June 12 through July 10. These messages are included in this volume under the title Various Meetings in Anaheim.

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.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1985, volume 2, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from January 6 through September 22, 1985. In early January Brother Lee returned to Anaheim, California, from Irving, Texas. He visited Irvine, California, on January 5 and then returned to Anaheim before traveling to Taipei, Taiwan, a few days later. He returned to Anaheim near the beginning of March and remained there until the beginning of April, at which time he went again to Taipei for about two months. At the beginning of June he returned to Anaheim and, except for a brief visit to Berkeley, California, at the end of August, he remained in Anaheim until the end of September. The contents of this volume are divided into seven sections, as follows: 1. Seven messages given in Anaheim, California, on January 6 through September 22. These messages are included in this volume under the title Various Lord's Day Meetings in Anaheim. 2. Eight messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on January 22 through 25. These messages were previously published in Chinese and English in a book entitled The Proper Aggressiveness of the Lord's Serving Ones. They are included in this volume under the same title. 3. Eight messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on January 28 through February 1. These messages were previously published in Chinese and English in a book entitled The Fullness of God. They are included in this volume under the same title. 4. Five messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on April 8 through 12. These messages were previously published in Chinese and English in a five-chapter standalone book entitled On Home Meetings. The contents of this book were taken primarily from outlines and handwritten notes. After the publication of this book in 1986, audio recordings were located that provided a fuller record of the content of Brother Lee's speaking. The edited transcripts of these recordings are included in The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1985, volume 1, as chapters 10 through 14 in the section entitled Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord's Recovery, Book 6: Everyone Functioning for the Increase of the Church. These updated chapters replace the contents in the previously published edition of On Home Meetings. Therefore, the chapters printed in The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1985, volume 1, are not printed in this volume. 5. Twenty messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on April 8 through May 3. These messages were previously published in Chinese and English in a book entitled The Vision, Living, and Work of the Lord's Serving Ones. They are included in this volume under the same title. 6. Fourteen messages given in Taipei and Taichung, Taiwan, and Anaheim, California, on April 16 through July 8. These messages were previously published in Chinese and English in a thirteen-chapter book entitled The Propagation of the Gospel and the Administration of the Church. They are included in this volume under the same title. 7. A message given in Taipei, Taiwan, on April 18. This message was translated from Chinese and is included in this volume under the title Fellowship with Elders and Co-workers in Taipei.

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 semi-annual training held December 21-26, 2020, on crystallization-studies of Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. 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, 1984, volume 2, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from February 6 through 18, 1984. During those two weeks Brother Lee held an international training for elders and responsible brothers in Anaheim, California. The messages that were released at that time were published in four volumes, which are included in this volume of The Collected Works of Witness Lee. The contents of this volume are divided into four sections, as follows: 1. Six messages given in Anaheim, California, on February 6 and 7. These messages were previously published in a seven-chapter book entitled Elders' Training, Book 1: The Ministry of the New Testament and are included in this volume under the same title. 2. Twelve messages given in Anaheim, California, on February 8 through 11. These messages were previously published in a thirteen-chapter book entitled Elders' Training, Book 2: The Vision of the Lord's Recovery and are included in this volume under the same title. 3. Nine messages given in Anaheim, California, on February 13 through 15. These messages were previously published in a thirteen-chapter book entitled Elders' Training, Book 3: The Way to Carry Out the Vision and are included in this volume under the same title. 4. Nine messages given in Anaheim, California, on February 16 through 18. These messages were previously published in an eleven-chapter book entitled Elders' Training, Book 4: Other Crucial Matters concerning the Practice of the Lord's Recovery and are included in this volume under the same title.