In this issue of The Ministry we begin a series of messages given by Brother Lee in Taipei, Taiwan in April and May of 1950. These messages concern the salvation of God; a brief presentation of the history, content, and outline of the Bible; the person and work of the Lord; and the history and ground of the church. In the first message, Brother Lee reminds us that although human society esteems self-improvement and religion, these things have no place in God’s salvation. Rather, God’s salvation is simply God Himself, the One who is able to deliver us from the things that we are not able to overcome by our resolve. God’s salvation is inward, in spirit; not outward, in letter. The six messages that follow were given in the 1999 Thanksgiving Conference in Irving, Texas. The general subject is A New Revival— Reaching the Highest Peak of the Divine Revelation. Message One shows us that God’s intention in His economy is to build Himself in Christ into our being. Message Two presents the great question, the great answer, and the great way to fulfill the answer. Message Three presents the “diamond” in the “box” of the divine revelation from the aspect of the gospel of God. The main subject of Message Four is 2 Samuel 7:12-14a, which is the unveiling of a prophecy through typology showing us that we need God to build Christ into our intrinsic constitution so that our entire being will be reconstituted with Christ. Message Five shows us that God in Christ is within us to build Himself into our being and to build us into His being. Such a Christ who is built and constituted into us is both God’s house and our house. Message Six concludes with the charge that the intrinsic element of our work must be to minister the building and builded God into others so that the Triune God may build Himself into their being for His corporate expression. Last of all, we include reports concerning the Lord’s move in Romania and in Armenia among the young people, and a recent conference in Thessaloniki, Greece.

In this issue we will continue four lines of ministry. The first line--The History of the Lord's Recovery--contains chapters 35 through 38 of The Recovery of the Church according to the Pattern on the Mountain, which are in volume 1 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1950–1951. This section includes fellowship concerning how to meet, visitation, building a large meeting hall, and the future of the church. The second line--Words for New Believers--contains chapters 51 through 53 of Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, Volume 6, which are in volume 4 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1932–1949. These chapters cover the subjects of the church, angels, and the devil. The third line--Maturing in Life--contains chapters 41 through 44 of The Kingdom, which are in volume 2 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1972. These chapters cover the Lord's dealing with the Gentiles and the Jews at His coming back, the Lord's judgment of the Gentiles after the war at Armageddon, the growth and harvest of the reality of the kingdom, and the growth and harvest of the appearance of the kingdom. The fourth line--The High Peak of the Divine Revelation--continues with chapters 14 through 17 of Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans, which are in volume 1 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994–1997. These chapters cover the Spirit of life, the human spirit of the believers, and the most marvelous, excellent, mysterious, and all-inclusive transformations of the eternal and Triune God in His becoming a man.

This issue of The Ministry contains the messages given during the Spring 2005 International Training for Elders and Responsible Ones, held April 10-12 in Anaheim, California. The general subject of this training was the churches, the ministry, and the work. The Body is the governing law of the life and work of the children of God today. The church, the ministry, and the work are on the ground of the Body. The basic principle of the churches is the Body, the basic principle of the ministry is the Body, and the basic principle of the work is the Body. The churches are the Body expressed locally, the ministry is the Body in function, and the work is the Body seeking increase (Acts 13:1-2; 21:19). Concerning this subject, in fellowship with a few co-workers on December 15, 1995, Brother Witness Lee said, "I ask you to render to this work the highest cooperation. When I say 'the highest cooperation,' I mean that you must dive into these things, as I did, day and night. Second, you have to experience them. Third, you have to live a God-man life. Fourth, you have to be an overcomer to keep every principle of the Body." May the Lord enlighten us concerning every principle of the Body! Last of all, we include a report concerning the Lord's move in Israel.

In this issue of The Ministry, we present the last of the series of The Way to Bear Fruit. In this message Brother Lee shows us the practical way to continue our fruit-bearing with newly saved ones to help them to consecrate themselves, realize the all-inclusive Spirit, exercise their spirit, read the Word, enter practically into the Body, fellowship with all the members, and begin to bear fruit themselves. Brother Lee reminds us that we are on the earth for the spreading of the Lord, the spreading and enlargement of His kingdom by the way of fruit-bearing. This is the main part of our Christian living and our commission on this earth. To this end, his unique burden was that we abandon the expectation of a big revival, which is in our blood from our traditional background, and become small seeds and small branches bearing fruit by personal contact with people. The next three messages are the conclusion of the Crystallization-study of Revelation, given in the summer training of 1999. Message Ten shows us the vision of world history from Christ’s ascension to the end of this age and the prayer of the martyred saints for the carrying out of God’s economy. Message Eleven presents two crystals: Christ as another Angel and the finishing of the mystery of God. In the book of Revelation Christ is called “another Angel,” the unique, special Angel, because He is the One sent by God to carry out His economy. Message Twelve brings clearly into view that God is recovering His right over the earth to make the whole earth His kingdom. This kingdom is Christ Himself; the Triune God in humanity (Col. 2:9) is the seed, the gene, of the kingdom of God to be sown into God’s chosen people that He might grow in them, live in them, and be expressed from within them to develop into God’s ruling realm (Mark 4:26-29; 1 Cor. 3:9). Last of all, we include reports concerning the Lord’s move in Russia, India, and Mexico.

In this issue of The Ministry, we continue to see that what the Bible reveals is not the improvement of our behavior but the salvation of God. Man’s salvation is God Himself; that is, God saves us not only by His power and His work but also by coming into us to be our salvation. Since God as our salvation comes to us freely by grace, we should not bring anything to Him except an empty heart. If we come to God, we should put ourselves aside, contact Him, let Him do everything according to the law of the Spirit of life, and give thanks and offer praises to Him. Then, as a result, we become one with Him, and what we live out will be something not of ourselves but of God’s nature. We have also included the first six messages of the Crystallization-study of Revelation held in the winter of 1999 in Long Beach, California. Message One covers two crystals: the temple with the ark and the principle of the man-child. The temple with the ark governs what is unveiled in Revelation 12—22 and relates to God’s expression through His building. The principle of the man-child is that God will choose a group of overcomers who will attain to His purpose and fulfill His demand. Message Two indicates strongly that the book of Revelation is a book on the overcomers, the man-child, God’s dispensational instrument to bring Christ’s kingdom to the earth. Message Three, concerning the firstfruits, the harvest, and the late overcomers, gives a complete view of the coming rapture. To be raptured is to be taken into the Lord’s presence; in order to be taken into the Lord’s presence, we must be in His presence today. Message Four unveils the source and essence of Babylon the Great—religious and material, and Message Five reveals the principle of Babylon. Message Six presents the marriage of the Lamb as the issue of the completion of God’s New Testament economy. Last of all, we include reports concerning the Lord’s continuing move through the radio broadcast in London, England and a recent conference in Stockholm, Sweden.

Volumes for 1898-1968 include a directory of publishers.