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.

“We must realize that we Christians are a meeting people. A Christian is a meeting person. Without meeting, there is no Christian life and no church life. It is rather difficult for any Christian to grow without attending the meetings. There is no way for any Christian to serve God without meetings, and it is impossible for Christians to express Christ if there are no meetings. The church life is a meeting life.” In How to Meet Witness Lee offers much precious and practical guidance related to the biblical way to meet as Christians.

The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1969, volume 1, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from February through May 1969. Brother Lee remained in Los Angeles until the end of March, after which he made a brief trip to Waco, Texas, and then returned to Los Angeles. At the beginning of May he made a brief visit to San Francisco and then returned to Los Angeles, where he remained until the end of the month. The contents of this volume are divided into six sections, as follows: 1. Five messages given in Los Angeles, California, from February 4 through March 4. These messages were combined with three additional messages given in Altadena, California, on July 18 and 25 and August 1, 1963, and were previously published in a two-part, eight-chapter book under the title To Serve in the Human Spirit. The three messages given in 1963 are also included in The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1963, volume 3, as chapters 1 through 3 of Basic Principles for the Service in the Church Life. 2. Twenty-three messages given in Los Angeles, California, during periods of informal training from February 5 through May 21, 1969, and from April 1 through May 13, 1970. These messages were previously published in a book under the title How to Meet. 3. One message given in Los Angeles, California, on May 28, 1969. This message is included in this volume under the title A Testimony concerning Christ, the Local Churches, and the Spirit. 4. Sixteen messages given in Los Angeles, California, from February 7 through May 16. They were previously published in a book of fifteen chapters under the title The Experience of Christ as Life for the Building Up of the Church. 5. Two messages given in Los Angeles, California, on March 11 and 18. They were previously published in The Stream, volume 7, number 3, August 1, 1969. They are published in this volume under the general title Serving the Lord by Seeing the Heavenly Vision. 6. Eight messages given in Los Angeles, California, from February 16 through April 13. These messages are included in this section under the title Miscellaneous Messages.

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."

"The entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, shows us that God is our enjoyment. God also has His fullness (Eph. 3:19b). He is full for us to enjoy. His fullness is the expression of the riches of Christ, and the reality of Christ is in the Spirit. We know this by the revelation of the Word. The riches of Christ are revealed in the Word. Furthermore, we can realize God as our enjoyment in our spirit (John 4:24)."

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.