The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1967, volume 2, contains messages and fellowship given by Brother Witness Lee from May 11, 1967, through January 23, 1968. As mentioned in the preface to volume 1, Brother Lee visited SanF rancisco, Seattle, Vancouver, and Sacramento in May before returning to Los Angeles at the end of the month. He then visited San Francisco in June and returned to Los Angeles at the beginning of July, where he remained until the end of October. In November and early December he spent time in San Francisco and Los Angeles and also visited Modesto, California; Corvallis, Oregon; Vancouver, Canada; and Sacramento, California. There is no record of his speaking in the latter four cities. He remained in Los Angeles from mid-December through the end of the year. The contents of this volume are divided into thirteen sections, as follows: 1. Five messages given in Seattle, Washington, and Vancouver, Canada, on May 11 through 17. Four of the messages were spoken in Chinese and subsequently translated into English. The five messages are included in this volume under the title The Ground of the Church and the Law of Blessing for the Church. 2. Five messages given in Sacramento, California, from May 21 through 23. They are included in this volume under the title Sacramento Conference. 3. Three messages given in Los Angeles, California, from May 26 through 28. They are included in this volume under the title Los Angeles Meetings. 4. Two messages given in San Francisco, California, on June 2 and June 30. They are included in this volume under the title Preaching the Gospel and Bearing Fruit among College Students. 5. Ten messages given in Los Angeles, California, from July 23 through 30. They have been previously published under the title An Autobiography of a Person in the Spirit. 6. Three messages given in Los Angeles, California, from October 19 through 22. They are included in this volume under the title Fellowship on Beginning the Work among Students. 7. Fifteen messages given in Los Angeles, California, from October 10, 1967, through January 23, 1968. They are included in this volume under the title Bearing Fruit in a Living and Coordinated Way for the Building Up of the Body of Christ. 8. Six messages given in Los Angeles, California, from October 8 through November 19. They are included in this volume under the title Messages Given on the Lord's Day. 9. Three messages given in San Francisco, California, on November 3 through 5. They are included in this volume under the title Enjoying the Lord in the Word to Bear Fruit. 10. Four messages given in San Francisco, California, on December 6 through 10. They are included in this volume under the title Enjoying Christ to Be Built Up as the Body of Christ and the Mutual Abode of God and Man. 11. Seven messages and times of fellowship given in Los Angeles, California, from September 27 through December 30. They are included in this section under the title Various Los Angeles Meetings. 12. Seven messages given in Los Angeles, California, from December 22 through 25. They are included in this volume under the title Enjoying the Riches of Christ to Become the Body as His Fullness. 13. Six messages given in Los Angeles, California, from December 29, 1967, through January 1, 1968. They are included in this volume under the title The Experience and Enjoyment of Life for the Building Up of the Church.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, Letters and Gleanings, volume 2, contains miscellaneous messages given by Brother Witness Lee in 1965 through 1971. The contents of this volume are divided into thirteen sections, as follows: 1. Eight messages given in Taiwan in 1965. These messages are included in this volume under the title Miscellaneous Gleanings, 1965. 2. Two messages given in Tyler, Texas, in February 1965. These messages are included in this volume under the title Messages Given in Tyler, Texas. 3. Seven messages given in Los Angeles, California; Taiwan; and Hong Kong on May 6 through November 5, 1965. These messages are included in this volume under the title Additional Notes by K. H. Weigh. 4. Fifteen messages given in Taiwan in 1966. These messages are included in this volume under the title Miscellaneous Gleanings, 1966. 5. Four messages given in Taiwan on October 5 through 15, 1966. These messages are included in this volume under the title Taking the Way of the Lord's Recovery. 6. Fifteen messages given in Taiwan in 1967. These messages are included in this volume under the title Miscellaneous Gleanings, 1967. 7. Eight messages given in 1968. Message 1 was given in Taichung, Taiwan. The rest were given in an unknown location. These messages are included in this volume under the title Miscellaneous Gleanings, 1968. 8. Nine messages given in Vancouver, Canada, on December 4 through 12, 1968. These messages are included in this volume under the title Experiencing and Enjoying the Riches of Christ to Function in the Meetings. 9. Two messages given in an unknown location in 1969. These messages are included in this volume under the title Miscellaneous Gleanings, 1969. 10. Six messages given in various locations in 1970. The last four messages were given in Taiwan. The locations for the remaining messages are uncertain. These messages are included in this volume under the title Miscellaneous Gleanings, 1970. 11. Five messages given in Hong Kong on October 17 through November 13, 1970. These messages are included in this volume under the title Messages Given in Hong Kong. 12. Five messages given in an unknown location in 1971. These messages are included in this volume under the title Miscellaneous Gleanings, 1971.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1967, volume 1, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from February through May 1967. For the first three months of the year, Brother Lee continued his six-month visit to the Far East begun in the previous year. He spent the first two days of the year in the Philippines and then traveled to Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia before returning to Taipei. There is no record of his speaking before his return to Taipei. Brother Lee returned to the United States in April and remained in Los Angeles until early May, after which he visited San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, and Sacramento before returning to Los Angeles at the end of May. The contents of this volume are divided into six sections, as follows: 1. Fifteen messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, from February 9 through March 5. They were previously published in Chinese under the title Experiencing Christ as the Portion of the Saints. 2. Six messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, from February 9 through 13. They were previously published in Chinese under the title Basic Knowledge on Service. 3. Twenty-one messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, from February through April. They were previously published in Chinese under the title Serving in Coordination and Washing in Love. 4. Five messages given in Los Angeles, California, from April 21 through 23. They were previously published in The Stream, volume 5, number 3, August 1, 1967, under the title Pray-reading the Word and have been revised for inclusion in this volume. 5. Five messages given in Los Angeles, California, from April 24 through May 29. They are included in this volume under the title The Service in the Church for the Expression of the Body. The first two messages were combined into one. 6. Fifteen messages given in San Francisco, California, on May 3 through 9. They are included in this volume under the title Enjoying the Lord in His Word by Pray-reading for the Building Up of the Church in Oneness. Two of the messages were combined.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1986, volume 2, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from March 14, 1986, through April 11, 1990. In the first week of March 1986 Brother Lee traveled to Taipei, Taiwan, where he remained until the beginning of June. From Taipei he returned to Anaheim, California, and was there for a few days before traveling to Irving, Texas, after the third week of June. The contents of this volume are divided into five sections, as follows: 1. Nineteen messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on March 14 through June 1, 1986. They were previously published in Chinese and English in a book entitled Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord's Recovery, Book 1: The Vision and Definite Steps for the Practice of the New Way and are included in this volume under the same title. 2. Three messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on March 14 through 21, 1986. These messages were previously published in Chinese and English in a book entitled The Vision of the Age. They are included in this volume as chapters 1 through 3 of the section entitled Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord's Recovery, Book 1: The Vision and Definite Steps for the Practice of the New Way. Therefore, they are not reprinted in this section. 3. Twelve messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on March 18 through June 3, 1986. They were previously published in Chinese and English in a book entitled The Economy of God and the Mystery of the Transmission of the Divine Trinity and are included in this volume under the same title. 4. A message given by phone from Taipei, Taiwan, to a gathering of saints in Stuttgart, Germany, on May 25, 1986. This message is included in this volume under the title God's Economy and the God-ordained Way. 5. Eight messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on June 1, 1986; May 10 through August 6, 1987; and April 11, 1990. They were previously published in Chinese and English in a book entitled A Blessed Human Life and are included in this volume under the same title.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1969, volume 2, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from April 4 through August 9, 1969. As mentioned in the preface to volume 1, in early April Brother Lee made a brief visit to Waco, Texas, and at the beginning of May he visited San Francisco. At the end of May he traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico; and then to Erie, Pennsylvania; Toronto, Canada; and Erie, Pennsylvania, a second time. Regrettably, there is no record of Brother Lee's speaking in his first visit to Erie and in his visit to Toronto. He returned to Los Angeles at the beginning of July and remained there until the end of August. The contents of this volume are divided into nine sections, as follows: 1. Six messages given in Waco, Texas, on April 4 through 6. These messages are included in this section under the title Experiencing and Enjoying the All-inclusive, Compound Spirit for the Building Up of the Church as God's Dwelling Place. The recording of one of the six messages appears to have been lost. 2. Seven messages given in San Francisco, California, on May 2 through 4. They are included in this volume under the title Praising God with Christ as the Content by Our Experiencing and Enjoying Him. 3. Nine messages given in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from May 31 through June 5. These messages are included in this volume under the title Practicing the Church Life by Exercising the Spirit. 4. Two messages given in Erie, Pennsylvania, on June 28. These messages were given near the end of a longer conference that began on June 19. Regrettably, there is no record of Brother Lee's speaking from June 19 through 27. The two recorded messages are included in this section under the title TheRecovery of the Local Churches with the Sevenfold Spirit. 5. Ten messages given in Los Angeles, California, on July 4 through 13. They were originally published in The Stream, volume 7, number 4, November 1, 1969; and volume 8, number 1, February 1, 1970; and number 2, May 1, 1970, under the title The Seven Spirits for the Local Churches. 6. Eight messages given in Los Angeles, California, on July 4 through 12, 1969. They were originally published in The Stream, volume 8, number 2, May 1, 1970; number 3, August 1, 1970; and number 4, November 1, 1970, under the title The Recovery of God's House and God's City. 7. Eighteen messages given in Los Angeles, California, from July 16 through August 15, 1969. They were previously published in a sixteen-chapter book under the title The Crucial Revelation of Life in the Scriptures. 8. Five messages given in Los Angeles, California, from July 17 through August 14. These messages are included in this volume under the title Further Speaking on the Crucial Revelation of Life in the Scriptures. Two of the five spoken messages were combined. 9. One message given in Los Angeles, California, on August 9. This message is published in this volume under the title The Structure of the Book of Psalms.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1968, volume 2, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from August 6 through December 29, 1968. As mentioned in the preface to volume 1, from late July through the middle of November, Brother Lee visited the Far East. From July 25 through August 22 he was in Taiwan, where he was joined by over one hundred forty brothers and sisters from the United States and Canada, along with some saints from Brazil, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Denmark, and West Germany. He then visited Manila, Philippines; Singapore; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Hong Kong. There is no record of his speaking in any of these places. He returned to Taipei in late September, where he remained until early November. Subsequently, he visited Toyama and Tokyo, Japan, before returning to Los Angeles in the middle of the month. There is no record of his speaking in Japan. He remained in Los Angeles for two weeks and then visited San Francisco, California; Vancouver, Canada; and Seattle, Washington, during the next two weeks. There is no record of his speaking in Vancouver or Seattle. Brother Lee remained in Los Angeles from mid-December until the end of the year. The contents of this volume are divided into eleven sections, as follows: 1. Twelve messages given during a training for young people in Taipei, Taiwan, on August 6 through 10. These messages were published previously in Chinese under the title The Lord's Recovery and the Fulfillment of God's Desire. The last two spoken messages were combined. 2. Nine messages given in co-workers' and elders' meetings in Taipei, Taiwan, on August 13 through 17, and in a farewell meeting on August 22. They are included in this volume under the title Turning to the Age of the Spirit. 3. Three messages given to the co-workers and elders in Taiwan in August and September. These messages are included in this volume under the title Fighting for the Truth. 4. Ten messages given in Taipei, Taiwan. The first seven messages were given in island-wide elders' meetings in late September, and the subsequent two messages were given in a church meeting on November 3 and a service meeting on November 4, respectively. Of the first seven messages, the second was previously published as chapter 6 of the book entitled Character. The final message, which appeared in Church News, number 15, November 1968, consists of a report concerning the background of the two messages given on November 3 and 4. The ten messages in this section were published previously in Chinese under the title The Motive, Coordination, and Function of the Lord's Serving Ones. 5. Several messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, in September and October. These messages were compiled and published as a single message in The Ministry of the Word, number 211, January 1969. This message is included in this volume under the title The Practice of the Pray-reading Meeting. 6. Four messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, from October 19 through 22. These messages are published in this volume under the title Gospel Messages. 7. Five messages given in Los Angeles, California, from November 22 through 24. These messages are included in this volume under the title Growing in Life and Serving the Lord for the Building Up of the Church as His Testimony. The final two messages were combined. 8. Fifteen messages given in San Francisco, California, from November 28 through December 1. These messages are included in this volume under the title Various Meetings in San Francisco. 9. Eight messages given in Los Angeles, California, on December 19 through 21. These messages are published in this volume under the title Speaking Christ to Build Up the Church for the Accomplishment of God's Eternal Purpose. 10. Thirteen messages given in Los Angeles, California, from November 17 through December 29. They are included in this volume under the title The Significance, Practice, and Present Situationof the Local Churches. Two of the messages were combined. 11. Two messages given in Los Angeles, California, on November 17 and December 17. They are included in this volume under the title Miscellaneous Meetings in Los Angeles.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1977, volume 2, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from May 28 through September 5. Brother Lee remained in Anaheim, California, until August 18, after which he ministered in Boston, Massachusetts; New York City; and Cleveland, Ohio, before returning to Anaheim in early September. The contents of this volume are divided into twelve sections, as follows: 1. Five messages given in Anaheim, California, on May 28 through 30. They were previously published in a book entitled All Ages for the Lord's Testimony. 2. Three messages given in Anaheim, California, on June 2, July 14, and August 4. They were combined into one chapter and are included in this volume under the title Principles regarding the Lord's Move to Gain the University Students. 3. Four messages given in Anaheim, California, on June 5 through 26. These messages are included in this volume under the title Various Lord's Day Morning Meetings. 4. Three messages given in Anaheim, California, on June 15 through July 27. They are included in this volume under the title Meeting from House to House. 5. Six messages given in Anaheim, California, on June 28 and 29. They are included in this volume under the title Being a Person in Life for the Advance of the Lord's Recovery. 6. One message given in Anaheim, California, on July 22. This message is included in this volume under the title Jacob's Prophecy concerning Judah, Zebulun, and Issachar. 7. Two messages given in Chinese in Anaheim, California, on July 23 and 25. These messages are included in this volume under the title Pioneering for the Testimony of the Church. 8. Two messages given in Anaheim, California, and Boston, Massachusetts, on July 27 and August 22. These messages are included in this volume under the title Practicing the Church Life by Contacting the Lord Unceasingly. 9. Five messages given in Boston, Massachusetts, on August 19 through 21. They were previously published in a book entitled The Two Great Mysteries in God's Economy. 10. Two messages given in New York City on August 23 and 24. These messages are included in this volume under the title The Human Spirit and the Church Revealed in Ephesians. 11. Twenty-one messages given in Anaheim, California, and in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 10 and August 26 through September 5. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Spirit and the Body. 12. Seven messages given in Cleveland, Ohio, on August 27 through September 5. They are included in this volume under the title Fellowship regarding the Eldership in the Local Churches.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1981, volume 2, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee on November 2 through December 11, 1981. From December 23, 1981, through January 2, 1982, Brother Lee spoke twenty-eight messages that were published in Life-study of 1 Corinthians. The Life-study messages are not included in The Collected Works of Witness Lee. From the last week in October until the end of November, 1981, Brother Lee traveled to Seoul, South Korea; Hong Kong; Taipei, Taiwan; and Tokyo, Japan. He returned to Anaheim and ministered there until the end of the year. The contents of this volume are divided into two sections, as follows: 1. Twenty-eight messages given in Hong Kong and in Taipei, Taiwan, on November 2 through 24. These messages were translated from Chinese and are included in this volume under the title The History and Revelation of the Lord's Recovery. 2. A message given in Anaheim, California, on December 11. This message is included in this volume under the title The Center of Paul's Completing Ministry.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1978, volume 2, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from May 13 through November 26. After returning to Anaheim, California, from Boston, Massachusetts, in the middle of May, Brother Lee remained in Anaheim through the first week in August. During that time he also ministered in San Diego and Fullerton, California. During the second week in August he traveled to San Jose, Sacramento, Berkeley, and San Francisco, California, and returned to Anaheim for a few days. After the third week in August Brother Lee ministered in Boston, Massachusetts; Washington, D.C.; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Toronto, Canada; Cleveland, Ohio; and Chicago, Illinois, until the end of the third week in September. He then returned to Anaheim and remained there until the end of the first week in November, after which he visited Spokane and Moses Lake, Washington; Vancouver, Canada; Seattle, Washington; and Dallas, Texas. At the beginning of December he returned to Anaheim and, except for a one-day visit to Irvine, California, remained there until the end of the year. The contents of this volume are divided into eight sections, as follows: 1. Two messages given in Costa Mesa and Irvine, California, on May 15 and 18. These messages are included in this volume under the title Living Christ for the Lord's Recovery. 2. Six messages given in Anaheim, California, on May 13 through June 22. These messages were edited into eight chapters and are included in this volume under the title The Experience of Life and Oneness for the Lord's Recovery. 3. Four messages given in Anaheim, California, on June 27 and 28. These messages are included in this volume under the title The Testimony and Way of Life in the Lord's Recovery. 4. Forty-five messages given in Anaheim, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, and Berkeley, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Washington, D.C.; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Spokane, Moses Lake, and Seattle, Washington; Vancouver, Canada; and Dallas, Texas, on July 9 through November 26. They were previously published as part of a three-volume set containing messages given by Brother Lee during the years 1978 and 1979. The messages in this volume were previously published in a forty-one-chapter book entitled Life Messages, volume 1, and are included here under the same title. The other two volumes of the three-volume set were previously published as Life Messages, volume 2, and Truth Messages. They are contained, respectively, in The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1979, volume 1, and The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1978, volume 3. 5. A message given in San Francisco, California, on August 15. This message is included in this volume under the title Contacting Christ by Receiving the Word and Touching the Spirit in Order to Experience Christ's Death and Resurrection. 6. Three messages given in Anaheim, California, on July 27, August 17, and November 2. These messages are included in this volume under the title The Present Need in the Lord's Recovery. 7. A message given in Fullerton, California, on July 30. This message is included in this volume under the title Living, Growing, and Producing Christ as Branches in the Vine. 8. Eight messages given in Boston, Massachusetts, on August 23 through 28. They were previously published in a book entitled Crucial Principles for the Christian Life and the Church Life and are included in this volume under the same title.

This issue of The Ministry of the Word contains the eight messages of the international training for elders and responsible ones hosted by Living Stream Ministry on October 2-4, 2020. The messages were provided via webcast from Anaheim, California, and the mutual fellowship, prophesying, and studying by groups were practiced locally in the various churches that participated. The general subject of this series of messages is "The Christian Life, the Church Life, the Consummation of the Age, and the Coming of the Lord." The present age--the age of grace, the age of the church--is the age of mystery, and the consummation of the age, the end of the age, will be the three and a half years of the great tribulation. In the dispensations from Adam to Moses and from Moses to Christ, everything was unveiled, and there was no mystery. It will be the same in the dispensation of the millennial kingdom and in the new heaven and new earth. However, in the dispensation from the incarnation of Christ to the millennial kingdom--the church age, the age of grace--everything is a mystery. During the church age, the age of mystery, Christ is building up the church, the Body of Christ, to be His bride. We need to see the signs of the Lord's second and imminent coming. The greatest sign of the end of this age, the last three and a half years of the great tribulation, is the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom to the whole inhabited earth. To be taken by the Lord, we need to be those who are watchful for His imminent coming and prepared and ready to be His bride so that we may be raptured before the great tribulation. Every day we need to be watchful by paying the price to buy the Spirit as the golden oil so that we may supply the churches with the Spirit for the testimony of Jesus and be rewarded by the Lord to participate in the marriage dinner of the Lamb. If we want to save our soul-life, we will lose it, but if we lose our soul-life for the Lord's sake, we will save it. If we allow our soul to suffer the loss of its soulish enjoyment in this age for the Lord's sake, we will cause our soul to have its enjoyment in the kingdom age; we will share the Lord's joy in ruling over the earth. If we lose our soul-life, we may participate in the rapture of the overcomers. The salvation of our soul is our receiving the end of our faith. Those who would receive the end of their faith are those whose faith has been proven by fire in this age, that is, proven by all kinds of circumstances, environments, and sufferings that cause the loss of their souls. The salvation of the soul means that our soul will be saved from sufferings into the full enjoyment of the Lord at His coming back. We must be faithful in service in the Lord's commission to give God as food to the members of His household so that we may win Christ as our reward in the coming kingdom. God has set faithful and prudent slaves over His household as household administrators, stewards, channels of supply, to give His people food at the proper time, that is, to minister the word of God and Christ as the life supply to the believers in the church. Furthermore, we must be faithful in service in the Lord's gifts to make a profit for Him so that we may enter into the joy of the Lord in the coming kingdom. The prayer of the age is the prayer of the church as the Body of Christ, the prayer that exercises the authority of Christ as the ascended Lord and Head of the Body, for the fulfilling of God's economy. To fully enter into this kind of prayer and be able to exercise the authority given by the Head to the Body, we need to realize that we are members of the Body, and we must live, act, and move in the Body. In His heavenly ministry Christ is interceding, ministering, and executing God's administration, and we need to be those who respond to Christ's activities in His heavenly ministry by our prayers in the church as the temple of God, a house of prayer. We need revelation to know the reality of the Body of Christ and to enter into the realm and intrinsic significance of the reality of the Body of Christ as God's heart's desire and His ultimate purpose. Only a revelation from God will usher us into the realm of the reality of the Body of Christ, and only then will the Body become our experience. In order to live together with other members in the reality of the Body of Christ, we need to have a consciousness of the Body of Christ. The overcomers typified by Zion are the reality of the Body of Christ and consummate the building up of the Body in the local churches to bring in the consummated holy city, New Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies as God's dwelling place in eternity. We need to follow Paul's pattern of having an overcoming life of fighting the good fight, finishing our course, and loving the Lord's appearing. To fight the good fight of the faith means to fight for God's New Testament economy; in particular, it is to fight for Christ as the embodiment of God and for the church as the Body of Christ. A proper Christian life involves running the course, the race, for the carrying out of God's economy according to His eternal purpose. We need to seek out the journey that the Lord has ordained for us and faithfully walk on it, paying any price to wholeheartedly continue on our journey until we reach the end. The journey that the Lord has ordained for us is the race that we must run with endurance by looking away unto Jesus as the Author and Perfecter of our faith. As those who love the Lord Jesus, take Him as our life, live Him, and magnify Him, we should await His coming and love His appearing. This should be our heart's desire and our living as those who hope to enter into His joy, be saved into the Lord's heavenly kingdom, and receive the crown of righteousness. God's desire is to end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom. In order for God to accomplish this, He must have His dispensational instrument. All of us should look to the Lord and pray that we will have dispensational value to God. Because the church has not attained to God's purpose, God will choose a group of overcomers who will attain to His purpose and fulfill His demand; this is the principle of the man-child. The man-child consists of the overcomers who stand on behalf of the church, take the position that the whole church should take, and do the work for the church. The rapture of the man-child to heaven, the casting of Satan to earth, and the declaration in heaven that the kingdom has come signify that God's gaining of the man-child is His greatest dispensational move because it brings an end to the church age and introduces the kingdom age. The Announcements section at the end of this issue contains a list of upcoming conferences and trainings hosted by Living Stream Ministry and a website link for information related to similar events in Europe.