The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1963, volume 3

Book excerpt: The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1963, volume 3, contains the messages and fellowship given by Brother Witness Lee from July 13 through September 1, 1963, with the exception of messages he gave in a series on the Gospel of John, which are published in Life-study of John (not included in The Collected Works). The eight sections that constitute this volume are composed largely of messages that were given during the summer training held in Los Angeles and Altadena, California, from July 13 through August 22. The training covered four main areas: life, truth, the church, and service. The messages on life and on truth were given in the evening of each Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday, and the messages on the church and on service were given in the evening of each Thursday. The messages given in the evening focused on these four main areas, and the messages given in the morning were devoted to fellowship concerning personal problems, spiritual problems, the church, the local churches, the Lord's Day gathering, practical service, prayer, and Christian practices. The contents of this volume are as follows: 1. Eighteen messages concerning life given on July 13 through August 20 as part of the summer training. These messages have been published under the title Basic Principles of the Experience of Life. One message, chapter 9, is included also in The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1965, volume 3, as chapter 8 of Our Human Spirit. 2. The five messages on truth given on July 13 through 22 as part of the summer training. Four of these messages have been published previously under the title The Building of God. However, in researching for The Collected Works, a fifth message was discovered. 3. Six messages on service given on July 18 through August 22 as part of the summer training. These messages have been published under the title Basic Principles for the Service in theChurch Life. Chapters 1 through 3 are included also in The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1969, volume 1, as chapters 6 through 8 of To Serve in the Human Spirit. 4. Six messages on the church given on July 18 through August 22 as part of the summer training. These messages have been published under the title Basic Principles for the Practice of the Church Life. 5. Messages 6 through 13 of the messages on truth given from July 23 through August 3 as part of the Summer Training. These messages have been published under the title The Work of the Holy Spirit. 6. Messages 14 through 18 of the messages on truth given from August 6 through 13 as part of the Summer Training. These messages have been published under the title A Brief Definition of the Kingdom of the Heavens. 7. Fourteen miscellaneous messages given in Los Angeles between July 16 and September 1. These messages are included in this volume under the title Miscellaneous Messages. 8. Miscellaneous fellowship given by Brother Lee to the saints in the Los Angeles area from July 19 through August 24. These messages are included in this volume under the title Miscellaneous Speakings. The contents of this section were composed from personal notes taken by brothers who were present in the meetings. Brother Lee gave four additional messages in Los Angeles during this period of time--on July 26 and August 9, 14, and 20--for which no record has been found.