The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1987, volume 3, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from August 12, 1987, through January 2, 1988. After the first week in July 1987, Brother Lee traveled to Taipei, Taiwan, from Anaheim, California. He remained in Taipei until the first week in December, after which he returned to Anaheim briefly before going on to Irving, Texas. He remained in Irving through the remainder of 1987 and the first few days of 1988. The contents of this volume are divided into seven sections, as follows: 1. Three messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on August 12 through November 4, 1987. These messages are included in this volume under the title Being Delivered from Organization and Living in the Spirit to Have the Living of the New Way. 2. Fourteen messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on August 20 through November 29, 1987. They were previously published in a book entitled Being Up to Date for the Rebuilding of the Temple and are included in this volume under the same title. 3. Two messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on August 23 and 30, 1987. They are included in this volume under the title Fellowship concerning the Gospel in the Academic and Medical Fields. 4. Seven messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on November 11 through December 3, 1987. They are included in this volume under the title An Evaluation of the Change of System in the Church Life. 5. A message given in Anaheim, California, on December 14, 1987. This message is included in this volume under the title Fellowship concerning the Practice of the New Way. 6. A message given in Chinese in Irving, Texas, on December 19, 1987. This message is included in this volume under the title The Secret to the Success of the New Way Being the Spirit. 7. Twenty-nine messages given in Irving, Texas, on December 23, 1987, through January 2, 1988. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Scriptural Way to Meet and to Serve for the Building Up of the Body of Christ and are included in this volume under the same title.

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.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1987, volume 1, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from January 3 through June 13, 1987. In 1987 Brother Lee spoke seven 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 traveled to Anaheim, California, and remained in Anaheim until the end of January. At that time he traveled to Taipei, Taiwan, where he remained until the middle of June. The contents of this volume are divided into nine sections, as follows: 1. A message given in Irving, Texas, on January 3, 1987. This message is included in this volume under the title Building Up Basic Factors That Qualify the Believers to Practice the New Way for the Lord's Present Move. 2. Two messages given in Anaheim, California, on January 11 and 16. These messages are included in this volume under the title The Lord's New Move in His Recovery according to the Holy Scriptures. 3. Three messages given in Anaheim, California, on January 15 through 17. These messages were previously published in a book entitled Being Desperate and Living Uniquely for the Gospel and are included in this volume under the same title. 4. Five messages given in Anaheim, California, on January 16 through 24. They are included in this volume under the title Taking the New Way in One Accord to Baptize People, Nourish Them, and Teach Them the Truth in Their Homes. The message in chapter 5 was spoken in Chinese. 5. A message given in Anaheim, California, on January 18. It is included in this volume under the title Going Forth and Bearing Remaining Fruit. 6. Two messages given in Chinese in Anaheim, California, on January 24 and 25. These messages are included in this volume under the title Bearing Fruit by Door-knocking and Meeting from House to House. The second message was previously published in Chinese as chapter 7 in a book entitled The Proper Way for Believers to Meet and to Serve, but it was not included in the previously published book by that title in English. Hence, it is included in this section. 7. Thirty-one messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on January 28 through June 13. These messages were previously published in a twenty-nine-chapter, two-volume set entitled Bearing Remaining Fruit and are included in this volume under the same title. Chapters 1 through 18 were previously published as volume 1, and chapters 18 through 29 were previously published as volume 2. 8. Three messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on January 29 through 31. They were translated from Chinese and are included in this volume under the title Dropping the Oldness to Practice the New Way. 9. Three messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on February 7 and 14. These messages were translated from Chinese and are included in this volume under the title Practicing the New Way Universally to Arrive at the Whole Body Serving.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1953, volume 3, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee in 1953 through 1968. Historical information concerning Brother Lee's travels and the content of his ministry in 1953 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 three sections, as follows: 1. Fourteen messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1953 and 1954. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Knowledge of Life and are included in this volume under the same title. 2. Nineteen messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1953 and 1954. These messages were previously published in a book entitled The Experience of Life and are included in this volume under the same title. 3. Seven messages given in Manila, Philippines, and Taipei, Taiwan, in 1953 through 1968. These messages were previously published in a book entitled Character and are included in this volume under the same title.

Our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, ministers not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:5-6) Second Corinthians may be considered as an autobiography of the Apostle Paul. In it we see a portrait of a person who lived in the Spirit. For us to enjoy and experience Christ in a rich way we must be persons in the Spirit as symbolized by ten aspects in 2 Corinthians—captives, letters, mirrors, vessels, ambassadors, co-workers, a temple, a virgin, lovers of the church, and tasters of Christ. It is by all of these aspects that we can be thoroughly wrought by God and with God and be constituted the ministers of the new covenant for the building up of the church.