This issue of The Ministry of the Word contains the remaining eight messages given during the fall 2018 term of the full-time training in Anaheim, California. The general subject of this series of messages is "The Central Vision." There are three aspects of the central vision. The first aspect is God as our contents, the second aspect is Christ as the mystery of God, and the third aspect is the church as the mystery of Christ. Christ is the mystery of God, the church is the mystery of Christ, and Christ and the church are the great mystery.

This issue of The Ministry of the Word contains the eight messages of the international training for elders and responsible ones hosted by Living Stream Ministry on March 27-29, 2020. The messages were provided via webcast from Anaheim, California, and the mutual fellowship, prophesy­ing, and studying by groups were practiced locally in the various churches that participated. The general subject of this series of messages is “The Will of God.” God created the universe to fulfill His eternal purpose based on His determined will. Ultimately, God’s will in the universe is to head up all things in Christ through the church as the Body of Christ. God’s working throughout the ages according to His economy will issue in the heading up of all things in Christ in the new heaven and new earth for eternity. We can know God’s great and lofty will and participate in His economy to head up all things in Christ. In order to be headed up in Christ, we need to grow up into Christ, the Head, in all things, in big things and small things, both in our daily life and in our work. The way we participate in God’s will and work together with Him to carry out His will is by our prayer for God’s will to be done on earth. God’s people must pray before God will move on earth to accomplish His will. Whenever God’s people place their will in harmony with God’s will, the will of God will be done on earth as in heaven. Since God’s great will is to head up all things through the church as the Body of Christ, the believers in Christ need to practice the Body life, that is, to have the living of the Body of Christ. We need to live a life according to God’s heart and will by daily enjoying Christ as the reality of all the offer­ings for the divine goal of the Triune God. The will of God is also our sanctification. To be sanctified is to be made holy, which is to be separated unto God and saturated with God as the Holy One. Sanctification is for sonship; actually, sanctification is God’s “sonizing.” The divine sanctification is the holding line in the carrying out of the divine economy to divinely sonize us, making us sons of God that we may become the same as God in His life and in His nature (but not in His Godhead) so that we may be God’s expression. We need to do the will of God in the realm that carries out His will—the kingdom of God. We do the will of God in the kingdom of God, of which the central government is the enthroned Son of Man, Jesus, who is Lord of all. When we do the will of God in the kingdom of God under the government of God, the church becomes the Israel of God, which fulfills God’s commission to subdue the earth, to exercise dominion, and to represent God with His authority. As the Israel of God, we represent God, exercise His authority, and carry out His administration on earth for the fulfillment of His purpose. If we take the Father’s will upon us as a yoke and learn from Him, we will find rest for our souls. Hence, in the church age we need to enjoy Christ as our rest—our perfect peace and full satisfaction—in order to be His expression and representation on earth. When there is a situation on earth in which man expresses God and represents Him, that situation is a Sabbath rest to God. Everything of God’s economy is not a heavy bur­den but an enjoyment. The Lord’s yoke (the Father’s will) is easy, and His burden (the work to carry out the Father’s will) is light. It is a divine princi­ple that God does not ask us to work until we have had rest and enjoyment. It is in a full enjoyment with Him and of Him that we can work together with Him. A central aspect of God’s will is the church, which is the assembly of the called-out ones. As such, the meetings of the church are crucial to the carrying out of God’s will. Our doing God’s will depends on our knowing His will, and it is in the meetings that God makes His will known to us. Since the Christian life is a meeting life and much of the Lord’s work is carried out in and through the meetings, we should regard the meetings as being of great importance. The goal of our meeting together is to exhibit Christ; therefore, our Christian meetings should be an exhibition of our experience of Christ in our daily life. Since the Father’s eternal will and the desire of His heart are to build up the church as the Body of Christ, we do His will by functioning in the meetings according to the scriptural way to meet for the building up of the Body. The Announcements section at the end of this issue contains a list of upcoming conferences and trainings hosted by Living Stream Ministry and a website link for information related to similar events in Europe.

This issue of The Ministry of the Word contains the eight messages given during the international training for elders and responsible ones held in Anaheim, California, on April 5 through 7, 2019. The general subject of this series of messages is "The Development of the Kingdom of God in the Christian Life and the Church Life." The kingdom of God is a wonderful person--the Lord Jesus Christ, who as the Sower sowed the seed of the kingdom into the soil of our heart. This kingdom seed, which is Christ Himself as both the King and the kingdom through the word, needs to grow and develop in our inner being to become God's ruling realm. The kingdom is the realm of life for the divine life to move, rule, and govern so that life may accomplish its purpose. The kingdom that is developing is not only divine life but also Christ Himself as a wonderful person expanding within us. Before there can be the manifestation of the kingdom with the Lord's coming, there must be the reality of the kingdom inwardly and the practicality of the kingdom in the Christian life and the church life. In our Christian life, we live the kingdom life by living a hidden life. Because the kingdom has been sown as a seed into us, the development and manifestation of the kingdom must come from the hidden growth of the roots within the soil. The kingdom life is a life in the depths, a life that can "take root downward and bear fruit upward" (Isa. 37:31). The principle of the kingdom people is that they live a hidden life, not performing their righteous deeds before men. Messages 1 and 2 emphasize the Christian life, particularly the inward reality of the kingdom that is developing and the matter of learning to have a life hidden in God so that the kingdom life may deepen in us. The kingdom is the reality of the church, and the church is the practical expression and representation of the kingdom. Apart from the kingdom life, we cannot live the church life. The genuine church is the kingdom of God in this age. Today the believers live the kingdom life in the church. Messages 3 through 6 focus on various aspects of the kingdom and the church. Message 3 directly concerns the kingdom and the church. Message 4 is on relationships in the kingdom. In particular, it is on the seriousness of living a forgiving life so that we will have no issues before the Son of Man that will cost us the kingdom reward. In Message 5 we see the need for shutting up the gates of Hades through the exercise of the keys of denying the self, taking up the cross, and losing the soul-life. Message 6 focuses on the responsibility of the church to engage in spiritual warfare, mainly through prayer, because of the conf lict between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. The responsibility of the church is to bring the kingdom of God to the earth in glorious manifestation. Message 7 is concerned with our being watchful in life and faithful in service. For life, we need oil, the Spirit of God, even His filling, that we may be enabled to live the virgin life for the Lord's testimony. For service, for work, we need the talent, the spiritual gift, that we may be equipped as a good slave to accomplish what the Lord intends to accomplish. Message 8 concludes this series by releasing a burden on proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom throughout the entire inhabited earth and discipling the nations. The gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations before the end of this age. We have the authority, commission, and position of our resurrected Christ to disciple the nations for the spread and development of the kingdom of God. The Announcements section at the end of this issue contains a list of upcoming conferences and trainings hosted by Living Stream Ministry and a website link for information related to similar events in Europe.

This issue of The Ministry of the Word contains the complete record of the twelve messages given during the semiannual training held December 24 through 29, 2018, in Anaheim, California, as the first part of the crystallization-study of Numbers. The banners in the following section embody and summarize the crucial truths and main burden in these twelve messages. These training messages are being published immediately following the training in order that they might benefit the saints participating in the many video trainings that are held throughout the earth. The Reports and Announcements sections contains "An Update concerning Europe," "A Burden for the Spread of the Lord's Recovery in the United States," "Announcement concerning The Collected Works of Witness Lee and Ministry Digest, a New Publication," and "Announcement concerning the 2019 North America College Training." Also included is information concerning the upcoming conferences and trainings hosted by Living Stream Ministry and a website link for information related to similar events in Europe.

This issue of The Ministry of the Word contains the first seven messages given during the fall 2018 term of the full-time training in Anaheim, California. The general subject of this series of messages is "The Central Vision." The central vision of the completing ministry of the apostle Paul is composed of three major items--God as our contents, Christ as the mystery of God, and the church as the mystery of Christ. The completing ministry of Paul revealed in his fourteen Epistles is an expansion of what he saw concerning what the Lord spoke to him at his conversion. The heavenly vision of Paul's completing ministry must be seen by us, and this vision must be renewed in us day by day.

This issue of The Ministry of the Word contains the final nine messages given during the spring 2019 term of the full-time training in Anaheim, California. The general subject of this series of messages is "The Wonderful Christ in the Canon of the New Testament." In these nine messages we continue to consider aspects of the wonderful Christ in the New Testament. In Message 9 we see that Christ is our new Husband. Our old man has been crucified to the law through the body of Christ so that we might marry another husband, Christ, who has been raised from the dead. This joining indicates that in our new status as a wife, we have an organic union in person, name, life, and existence with Christ in His resurrection; now we are married to Christ, our new Husband. Since Christ is our Husband, we must depend on Him and take Him as our Head, our person, and our life. In Message 10 we see that the Man-Savior's ascension was His inauguration into His heavenly office. In His heavenly ministry in ascension, Christ is serving us by dispensing Himself as the reality of the New Testament jubilee into us for our enjoyment. In Message 11 we see that because Christ is the reality of God with the divine attributes, the reality of humanity with all the human virtues, and the reality of every positive thing in the universe, God's intention in His economy is that this Christ would become everything to us. The will of God is one person--Christ; one way--the cross; and one goal--the church as the Body of Christ and the one new man. The way we should take is the way of opening our being to the all-inclusive, extensive Christ and allowing Him to make His home in us, saturate us, permeate us, reproduce Himself in us, and fill us to overflowing until we put off our culture and every natural element so that Christ is all and in all. In Message 12 we see that we need to know and experience Christ as our kingly and divine High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek. As the King, He has the scepter to rule over the earth and to manage our affairs, and as the High Priest, He is interceding for us and taking care of our case before God. As the kingly High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek, Christ ministers to us the Triune God, who was processed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection, signified by the bread and the wine, as our life supply so that we may be saved to the uttermost in order to fulfill God's eternal purpose. In Message 13 we see that we should live a Christian life under the government of God. It is Christ who enables us to take God's governmental dealings administered through sufferings. As we live the Christian life under the government of God, we experience the pneumatic Christ as the Shepherd of our souls, who oversees our inward condition, caring for the situation of our inner being--our mind, emotion, and will and our problems, needs, and wounds; restoring our soul; and giving rest to our soul so that we may have the full enjoyment of Him. In Message 14 we see that Christ as the faithful Witness of God, the testimony and expression of God, is for the testimony of Jesus, the church as the corporate expression of the Triune God. As such, the church is the reproduction of the testimony and expression of God in Christ. The testimony of Jesus is the seven golden lampstands. The golden lampstand symbolizes the Triune God--the Father as the substance is embodied in the Son, the Son as the embodiment is expressed through the Spirit, the Spirit is fully realized and expressed as the churches, and the churches are the testimony of Jesus. Hence, the seven golden lampstands are the enlarged, corporate expression of the Triune God. In Message 15 we see that Christ is the Lamb whom the firstfruits, the living overcomers, follow. The firstfruits are the earliest among God's crop to reach maturity and will be raptured to the house of God in Zion for God's satisfaction and enjoyment. In order for us to follow the Lamb and go on to maturity to become the firstfruits, we must walk with God by faith to escape death and obtain the testimony of being well pleasing to God. In Message 16 we see the Lamb-God on the throne within the holy city. The throne of God and of the Lamb is the center of the New Jerusalem. Out of the throne of the Lamb-God flows the river of water of life. When we are under Christ's kingship, headship, lordship, and authority, we enjoy the river of water of life and the tree of life. The highest point in our spiritual experience is having a clear sky with God's throne above it; to reach this point means that we allow God to have the preeminence in everything and are completely submissive to His authority and administration. In Message 17 we see the ultimate revelation of Jesus Christ and the vision of the enthroned Christ as the Administrator in God's universal government. As those who seek to know Christ and experience Him, we have not only Christ but also the revelation of Jesus Christ. The book of Revelation unveils a vision of the enthroned Christ as the Administrator in God's universal government. Christ is the center of God's administration according to God's eternal economy. In His economy God administrates the universe to fulfill His purpose. The unveiling of God's universal administration shows that the will, the purpose, of God in His creation is to have an eternal habitation--the New Jerusalem--for His satisfaction and expression. The Lord Jesus has been enthroned to execute God's governmental administration in the universe. The Announcements section at the end of this issue contains a list of upcoming conferences and trainings hosted by Living Stream Ministry and a website link for information related to similar events in Europe.

This issue of The Ministry of the Word contains the nine messages given during the international training for elders and responsible ones held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on October 4 through 6, 2018. The subject of this series of messages is "Propagating the Resurrected, Ascended, and All-inclusive Christ as the Development of the Kingdom of God." We are propagating a person—the resurrected, ascended, and all-inclusive Christ, who is emphatically revealed in the book of Acts. To propagate Christ is not merely to spread the truth concerning Him; it is actually to reproduce Him, just as a husband and wife propagate by bringing forth children who are the same as they are in life and nature. Today we are the reproductions, the increase, of the resurrected Christ as the firstborn Son of God. The propagation of Christ can be carried out only by His witnesses, by those who have seen Him. In the book of Acts the Lord charged His disciples to be His witnesses. In the New Testament the meaning of witness is primarily to bear a living testimony of Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. We need to live by the divine life in our human life so that we would be witnesses, those who bear a living testimony of the resurrected and ascended Christ in our human life. Through death Christ entered into another realm, the realm of resurrection. The reality of resurrection is the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. Thus, the realm of resurrection is the realm of the Spirit, which is also the divine and mystical realm. We all have been begotten, regenerated, in Christ's resurrection, and we all have been ushered into the same realm. Moreover, the church is in this realm; the church exists in the realm of resurrection. Christ's resurrection was the focus of the apostles' testimony. The Lord's ascension was His initiation into His living and ministry in the heavens; this initiation brought Him into a new realm, that is, into the heavens where He now has His living and is ministering there. Whereas resurrection is a matter of life, Christ's ascension is a matter of position, and position is a matter of authority. The resurrected Christ is in the heavens executing God's administration. The resurrected Christ ascended to the heavens to be exalted by God and to be given the kingship, the lordship, and the headship over all things. The ascended Christ has also obtained the throne, the glory, and all the authority in the universe. The ascended Christ is God's Anointed to carry out God's commission to work out the spreading of the gospel and the building up of the church. The Christ revealed in Acts is the all-inclusive Christ. He is the Author of life, God's Servant, the Leader and Savior, the Son of Man, God, the Lord of all, the Judge, and the object of the believers' faith. The resurrected, ascended, and all-inclusive Christ whom we are propagating is the kingdom, and we are propagating Him as the development of the kingdom. The development of the kingdom of God, that is, the kingdom of the divine life, is the spreading of Christ as life into His believers to form a realm in which God rules in His life. The kingdom of God is the main subject of the apostles' preaching in Acts; this is indicated by the fact that the resurrected Christ, in His appearing to the apostles through a period of forty days, spoke to them concerning the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the Savior as the seed of life sown into His believers, God's chosen people, and developing into a realm over which God can rule as His kingdom in His divine life. The entrance into the kingdom of God is regeneration, and the development of the kingdom is the believers' growth in the divine life. The kingdom of God is the church life today, in which the faithful believers live, and it will develop into the coming kingdom as a reward to be inherited by the overcoming saints in the millennium. Eventually, the kingdom of God will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal kingdom of God, an eternal realm of the eternal blessing of God's eternal life, which all of God's redeemed will enjoy in the new heaven and new earth for eternity. What kind of Christ can be reproduced through us depends on what He is to us in reality. If we know Him as resurrection and the power of resurrection and if we know Him in His heavenly ministry with His supreme authority, realizing that He is the center of God's governmental administration in the universe, we will announce and propagate this kind of Christ. If we realize, know, experience, and enjoy the all-inclusive Christ, spontaneously this Christ will be reproduced through us. The Reports and Announcements section at the end of this issue contains a report entitled "The Ministry of the Word Literature Exhibition." Also included is a list of upcoming conferences and trainings hosted by Living Stream Ministry and a website link for information related to similar events in Europe.