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.

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.

Two things are the key to the real experience of [the divine] life: our flesh and our spirit. On the negative side, we have to know the flesh. On the positive side, we have to experience our human spirit, which has been mingled with the divine Spirit (Rom. 8:16; 1 Cor. 6:17).

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, 1986, volume 1, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from January 4, 1986, through March 11, 1989. In 1986 Brother Lee spoke sixty-six messages that were published in The Conclusion of the New Testament. These Life-study messages are not included in The Collected Works of Witness Lee. During the first few days in January Brother Lee was in Irving, Texas. He then returned to Anaheim, California, and with the exception of a brief visit to Cerritos, California, he remained in Anaheim until the beginning of March. In the first week of March Brother Lee traveled to Taipei, Taiwan, where he remained until the beginning of June. From Taipei he returned to Anaheim and was there for a few days before traveling to Irving after the third week of June. He spent about two weeks in Irving, and from there he returned to Anaheim and ministered there until the end of August. The contents of this volume are divided into seven sections, as follows: 1. A message given in Irving, Texas, on January 4, 1986. This message is included in this volume under the title Spreading the Truths in the Lord's Recovery to All of God's Children. 2. Six messages given in Anaheim, California, on January 11 through August 25, 1986. These messages are included in this volume under the title Various Elders' Meetings in Anaheim. 3. Two messages given in Anaheim, California, on January 26 and 27, 1986. These messages are included in this volume under the title Avoiding Both the Exercise of Control over the Saints and the Cultivation of Natural Affection with Them and Having Genuine Oneness in Order to Enjoy the Lord's Blessing. 4. Eight messages given in Anaheim, California, on February 17 through 19 and March 2, 1986. They were previously published in a book entitled Elders' Training, Book 7: One Accord for the Lord's Move and are included in this volume under the same title. 5. Eleven messages given in Anaheim, California, on February 19 through 22, 1986. They were previously published in a book entitled Elders' Training, Book 8: The Life Pulse of the Lord's Present Move and are included in this volume under the same title. 6. A message given in Chinese in Cerritos, California, on March 1, 1986. This message is included in this volume under the title The Center of the Bible, the Center of the Universe, and the Center of the Human Life. 7. Twenty-two messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on March 10 through 12, April 16 through 18, and June 2, 1986; April 15 through August 13, 1987; April 20 and 21, 1988; and March 9 through 11, 1989. These messages were previously published in Chinese and English in a book entitled Three Crucial Matters for the Increase and Building Up of the Church--Begetting, Nourishing, and Teaching and are included in this volume under the same title.

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.