In this issue we will continue the four lines of ministry that began in the first issue of Ministry Digest (vol. 1, no. 1). The first line--The History of the Lord's Recovery--continues with chapters 3 through 6 of The World Situation and God's Move, which are in volume 1 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1981. These chapters speak of God's ultimate move to carry out His eternal intention, His ultimate recovery, and the world's ultimate situation. The second line--Words for New Believers--continues with chapters 3 through 6 of Basic Lessons on Life, which are in volume 1 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1979. These chapters speak of God's intention in man, Satan's plot to spoil man, the real significance of man's fall, and the salvation of life. The third line--Maturing in Life--begins a new book with chapters 1 through 4 of Knowing Life and the Church, which are in volume 1 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1953. These chapters speak of life being the goal of God's creation and redemption, life being God Himself enjoyed by man, the obstacles that God's life encounters in man, and the subjective obstacles encountered by God's life in us. The fourth line--The High Peak of the Divine Revelation--continues with chapters 5 through 8 of The God-man Living, which are in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997. These chapters provide a word of definition concerning the God-man living and then continue to speak of the first God-man's living.

In this issue we will continue four lines of ministry. The first line--The History of the Lord's Recovery--contains chapters 8 through 11 of The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups, which are in volume 2 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1993. These chapters cover fellowship on awaking and arising from the dead and Christ shining on us, having a little power and having constant contacts with people, our need to rise up and take action, and abiding in the Lord and walking according to the spirit to flow rivers of living water.The second line--Words for New Believers--contains chapters 8 through 10 of Ten Lines in the Bible, which are in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1959. These chapters cover fellowship on the line of dispensations, the line of man, and the line of Satan. This section then continues with chapter 1 of a new book, The Basic Revelation in the Holy Scriptures, which is in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1983. This chapter covers fellowship on God's plan.The third line--Maturing in Life--contains chapters 35 through 38 of Perfecting Training, which are in volume 1 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1980. These chapters cover fellowship on how to be released from the law of sin and of death, having our being according to the spirit, being according to the spirit by minding the things of the spirit, and practicing to set the mind on the spirit.The fourth line--The High Peak of the Divine Revelation--contains chapters 16 and 17 of The Christian Life, which are in volume 2 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1991–1992. These chapters cover fellowship on being conformed to the death of Christ and the living of the processed Triune God as the consummated Spirit. This section then continues with chapters 1 and 2 of a new book, The Triune God's Revelation and His Move, which are in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994–1997. These chapters cover fellowship on the Triune God, His word, His revelation, His vision, and His move, and the sequence of the arrangement of the Bible.

This issue of The Ministry contains the final eight messages given during the 2006 fall term of the full-time training in Anaheim, California. The general subject of this series of messages is entitled "The Reality of the Body of Christ." The Body of Christ is crucial in relation to God's economy. In short, God's economy is to constitute us with Christ and thereby make us the same as Christ in life, nature, and expression. Therefore, God's goal is the Body of Christ, which is simply the enlargement, increase, duplication, and reproduction of Christ. God in His economy wants us to experience Christ and be filled with Christ in our daily lives, yet His ultimate goal is to gain the Body of Christ for His expression and dominion. Furthermore, His Body is also His bride for His satisfaction in love. We need to be infused with a burden concerning the reality of the Body of Christ, and we need to become the Body of Christ in reality in order to hasten our Lord's return. Last of all, we include a report concerning the recent international conference in London, England. In addition, we include a letter from the Russian-speaking churches to all the churches in the Lord's recovery.

This issue of The Ministry contains a complete record of the eight messages given during the 2006 International Training for Elders and Responsible Ones, held March 31--April 2, 2006 in Anaheim, California. The general subject of the training was "Taking the Shepherding Way to Preach the Gospel and Revive the Church." Three important matters in the ministry will bring in a genuine revival: the high peak of the divine revelation, the God-man living, and shepherding according to God. This third matter--shepherding according to God--is the subject of this entire volume. Shepherding touches the heart, burden, and concern of the ministry. Shortly before he passed away, Brother Lee wrote down six points that were intended for the Elders' Training of April 1997. These points which all relate to shepherding include: 1) not lording it over God's allotment, 2) be willing to be a slave to the saints, 3) humble yourself under the saints, 4) elders should shepherd one another and love one another to be a model of the Body-life, 5) take care of the saints in everything and in every way for the dispensing of Christ into them, and 6) contact and visit the saints and invite them to your homes for meals. May the Lord grant us grace to take the shepherding way to preach the gospel and revive the church. We also include reports concerning the Lord's move in Poland and in the Czech Republic.

This issue of The Ministry presents the last eight messages given during the 2005 fall term of the full-time training in Anaheim, California. The general subject of this series of messages is entitled "The Overcoming Life as Portrayed in Song of Songs." Four stages of the overcoming life are portrayed in the Song of Songs. In Messages 1 through 8 of this series, the first two stages of overcoming were presented: In the first stage the Lord draws us to pursue Him so that we can be fully satisfied and fully delivered from this world, and in the second stage the Lord calls us to be delivered from the self through our oneness with the cross by the power of His resurrection. In Messages 9 through 16, the last two stages are unfolded. In the third stage we are called to live in ascension as the new creation in resurrection and to overcome everything of the old creation. Finally, in the fourth stage we are called to live within the veil, entering into God as our sanctuary to become the same as God in life and nature and to become the sanctuary of God, the building of God, and the bride of Christ as the Shulammite, the duplication, enlargement, and full expression of Christ for Christ's satisfaction. In this stage we are qualified to work together with Christ, and we have a hope and a longing to be raptured. Last of all, we include both a report concerning the Lord's move in West Africa and an announcement concerning the upcoming international blending conference in July 2007 in Accra, Ghana, West Africa.

This issue of The Ministry contains the final group of eight messages given during the 2004 fall term of the Full-time Training in Anaheim, California. The general subject for this line of messages is the intrinsic significance of the Lord's recovery for the building of the church as the house of God and the city of God. With the first message of this volume, six crucial words are introduced which are related to the intrinsic situation and need in the Lord's recovery. The first three words--purification, education, and reconstitution--are related to the ministry of Ezra, who not only enriched the recovery but, in particular, purified the recovery. The other three words--separation, protection, and expression--are related particularly to the ministry of Nehemiah with its pure, absolute, and aggressive leadership. The ministry of Ezra with the elements of purification, education, and reconstitution make up the intrinsic need in the Lord's recovery today. The leadership of Nehemiah comes after the ministry of Ezra. Nehemiah principally took the lead to build up the wall. The wall is the intrinsic significance of the city. To build up the wall and the temple is to build up the church as the house of God for the expression of God. To build up the wall with the city is to build up the church as the kingdom of God for the dominion of God. Both of these aspects of building up the church as the house of God and as the kingdom of God were so that God could have a corporate man in His image to express and represent Him with His dominion. These are for the full accomplishment of the economy of God, that is, to build up the Body of Christ, to usher in the kingdom of Christ, and to consummate the New Jerusalem. Last of all, we include reports concerning the distribution of the ministry in Romania and in Poland.