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.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1957, volume 3, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from September through December 1957. Historical information concerning Brother Lee's travels and the content of his ministry in 1957 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 ten sections, as follows: 1. Six messages given in Manila, Philippines, and Hong Kong in September through December. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Living God and the God of Resurrection and are included in this volume under the same title. Chapter 3 was previously published in English in a book entitled The God of Resurrection. 2. Two private talks given in Hong Kong on October 30 and November 16. These talks are included in this volume under the title Two Private Talks in Hong Kong. 3. Six messages given in Hong Kong on November 3 through December 22. These messages are included in this volume under the title The Fellowship of Life and God's Work in Man. 4. Three messages given in Hong Kong in November. These messages are included in this volume under the title A Word to Young People. 5. Eight messages given in Hong Kong in November and December. These messages are included in this volume under the title The Supply of the Word, Shepherding, and the Administration Needed for the Building Up of the Church. 6. Nine messages given in Hong Kong in November. Four of the messages were previously published in a book entitled The Kingdom and the Church. All nine messages are included in this volume under the same title. 7. Four messages given in Hong Kong on November 17 through 30. These messages are included in this volume under the title The Ground of the Church. 8. Twelve messages given in Hong Kong. These messages are included in this volume under the title The Ground of the Church and the Ministry That Builds Up the Church. 9. Eight messages given in Hong Kong on December 4 through 21. These messages were previously published in a book entitled Service for the Building Up of the Church and are included in this volume under the same title. 10. Three messages given in Hong Kong in December. The second and third of these messages were previously published in a book entitled Men Who Turn the Age. The first message was added at the time of the compilation of this volume. The three messages are included in this volume under the same title.

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 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.

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.