At the time of regeneration, all believers receive the divine life and are begotten as children of God. Yet, this life most grow and it does so by regulation unto maturity and function. This regulation comes from revelation and issues in obedience. This word is crucial for our progress and training in the divine life for our maturity and function in our living and service to God.

This book presents a vision of Christ and the church. It then goes on the emphasize the need to experience this Christ as the Spirit in our spirit and to practice the church life on the ground of oneness.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1956, volume 3, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from May 2, 1956, through January 21, 1957. Historical information concerning Brother Lee's travels and the content of his ministry in 1956 can be found in the general preface that appears at the beginning of volume 1 in this set. The contents of this volume are divided into eleven sections, as follows: 1. Two messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on May 2 and 3, 1956. These messages are included in this volume under the title Comments on the Testimonies of the Trainees. 2. Two messages published in The Ministry of the Word in 1956. These messages are included in this volume under the title A God Who Hides Himself. Chapter 1 of this section is an unabridged version of the message included in volume 2 as chapter 1 of the section entitled The Ministry of the Word, Miscellaneous Messages, 1956. 3. Two sets of personal notes written in July 1956 and in October through December 1956. These notes are included in this volume under the title Witness Lee's Personal Notes. 4. A talk given in Hong Kong on August 15, 1956. This talk is included in this volume under the title A Talk concerning Wedding Meetings. 5. Eight messages given in Hong Kong on August 21 through 30, 1956. These messages are included in this volume under the title The Inner Operation of God and the Salvation of Man's Tripartite Being. 6. Nine messages given in Hong Kong on August 22 through 30, 1956. These messages are included in this volume under the title Transformation and Conformation in God's Salvation. 7. Five messages given in Hong Kong beginning on September 2, 1956. These messages, which appear as four chapters and an appendix, were previously published in a book entitled The Meaning and Purpose of Prayer and are included in this volume under the same title. 8. Fourteen messages given in Hong Kong on September 5 through October 4, 1956. These messages are included in this volume under the title Guidelines for the Experience of Life. 9. Ten messages given in Hong Kong in September and October 1956. These messages are included in this volume under the title Guidelines for Service. 10. Ten messages given in Hong Kong in September and October 1956. These messages are included in this volume under the title Critiques Given during the Practice of Giving Messages. 11. Six messages given in Manila, Philippines, on December 31, 1956, through January 21, 1957. These messages are included in this volume under the title The Testimony of Jesus and Our Overcoming.

When God created man, He placed him before two trees: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. In warning man to avoid the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God indicated His desire for man to eat of the tree of life, signifying that man should receive God as his life supply. Witness Lee unveils in The Tree of Life that God is not looking for well-behaved Christians; He is looking for those who will experience and enjoy Christ as the reality of the tree of life.

This book traces "the New Testament service in the Gospel of Matthew from its beginning with the conceiving of Christ of the Holy Spirit, to finding Christ by following the heavenly living star, on to testifying of Christ in a living way, and then to the matter of following Christ. Finally, [it considers] the matter of life and the matter of work in the New Testament service according to the parables of the ten virgins and of the talents. In all these aspects, it is a governing principle in our service in the church life that the New Testament service is a service of coordination in every step to fulfill the Lord's purpose."

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.