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.

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 17 through 20 of The History and Revelation of the Lord's Recovery, which are in volume 2 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1981. Chapters 17 and 18 speak further of the trials of the churches in Taiwan due to the dissension of a group of younger co-workers and the lessons learned from these trials, including the danger of a misplaced emphasis on "spiritual pursuit." These two chapters are then followed by a positive recounting of the advance of the Lord's recovery in Japan and the beginning of the Lord's recovery in the United States. The second line--Words for New Believers--continues with chapters 12 through 15 of Lessons for New Believers, which are in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1959. These chapters speak of various meetings related to prayer, the exercise of gifts, the study of the Bible, ministry, and the preaching of the gospel. Following this, the biblical view of the church is contrasted with natural and religious concepts related to the church. Then the expression of the universal church in localities is presented. Finally, the expression of the oneness of the church is contrasted with the causes of division that damage the oneness. The third line--Maturing in Life--continues with chapters 17 through 20 of The Way for a Christian to Mature in Life, which are in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1955. The first two chapters speak of maturing by turning our heart to the Lord and by being filled by the Spirit and of our need to turn to the Spirit for the transformation of our soul. The final two chapters in this section speak of the freedom, liberty, and glory that issue from walking according to the Spirit. The fourth line--The High Peak of the Divine Revelation--includes chapters 1 through 4 of a new title, The Divine and Mystical Realm, which are in volume 4 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994–1997. These chapters examine the inadequate theologies of traditional Christianity that have limited our understanding of the Spirit, who is Himself the divine and mystical realm that is our spiritual provision. It then develops a fuller understanding of the mystical realm of Christ's heavenly ministry that is carried out by Christ as the life-giving Spirit. As such a Spirit, Christ is both consummated and pneumatic so that He can bring us all into His divine and mystical realm. Last, eight aspects of God's organic salvation, which is carried out in the divine and mystical realm, are presented.