The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1986, volume 2, contains messages given by Brother Witness Lee from March 14, 1986, through April 11, 1990. In the first week of March 1986 Brother Lee traveled to Taipei, Taiwan, where he remained until the beginning of June. From Taipei he returned to Anaheim, California, and was there for a few days before traveling to Irving, Texas, after the third week of June. The contents of this volume are divided into five sections, as follows: 1. Nineteen messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on March 14 through June 1, 1986. They were previously published in Chinese and English in a book entitled Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord's Recovery, Book 1: The Vision and Definite Steps for the Practice of the New Way and are included in this volume under the same title. 2. Three messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on March 14 through 21, 1986. These messages were previously published in Chinese and English in a book entitled The Vision of the Age. They are included in this volume as chapters 1 through 3 of the section entitled Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord's Recovery, Book 1: The Vision and Definite Steps for the Practice of the New Way. Therefore, they are not reprinted in this section. 3. Twelve messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on March 18 through June 3, 1986. They were previously published in Chinese and English in a book entitled The Economy of God and the Mystery of the Transmission of the Divine Trinity and are included in this volume under the same title. 4. A message given by phone from Taipei, Taiwan, to a gathering of saints in Stuttgart, Germany, on May 25, 1986. This message is included in this volume under the title God's Economy and the God-ordained Way. 5. Eight messages given in Taipei, Taiwan, on June 1, 1986; May 10 through August 6, 1987; and April 11, 1990. They were previously published in Chinese and English in a book entitled A Blessed Human Life and are included in this volume under the same title.

This issue of The Ministry contains a complete record of the nine messages given during the International Training for Elders and Responsible Ones, held in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, October 5-7, 2006. The general subject of the training was "Shepherding the Flock of God." These messages are a continuation of the training given in the spring of 2006 (see The Ministry, Vol. 10, No. 5). The burden of these messages is not about the technique of shepherding but about what we are in our person and how we behave in the church. This is according to Paul's word to the elders in Ephesus in Acts 20. He said, "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock" (v. 28). We first need to take care of ourselves, to be shepherded in our own person before we take care of all the flock. Messages 1 and 2 show us that our shepherding must be according to the plan of God and the word of God, according to the teaching of the apostles, and according to God. These form the basis of our shepherding. Messages 3, 5, and 7 show us that our shepherding is in our living by the grace of God, in an organic way according to His initiation and with our cooperation, and in dealing with peculiarity. These are the conditions of our shepherding. Messages 4, 6, and 8 show us that our goal must be to shepherd the saints into the faith of the truth, into a life of living through dying, and into a life of prayer for the organic practice of the God-ordained way in the vital groups. Finally, in Message 9, if the elders are constituted with the basis, the conditions, and the goal of shepherding, the flock of God will be shepherded to know the Body of Christ. May the Lord speak to us His light-shedding and life-imparting word. Last of all, we include letters and reports concerning the recent gospel move in the Russian-speaking world.

This issue of The Ministry of the Word contains the three messages from the Southern California Blending Conference and Messages 4 and 5 from the special conference held in Anaheim, California, respectively, on June 10-11 and February 17-19, 2017. The general subject of the blending conference is "The Vision, Ministry, and Ministers of the Age." In every age there is a particular vision given by God, a specific ministry of that age, and a minister or ministers used by God to fulfill their commission to bear, release, and trumpet the ministry of that age. In every age God gives a particular vision that guards, controls, and governs His people so that they may serve Him according to the vision of that age. The governing vision of the Bible is the Triune God working Himself into His chosen and redeemed people in order to saturate their entire being with the Divine Trinity for the producing and building up of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem. The vision that the Lord has given to His recovery is an all-inclusive vision--the all-inheriting vision of the age. Our vision extends all the way from Adam's vision of the tree of life in the garden of Eden to the New Jerusalem with the tree of life. The ministry of this age builds up the Body of Christ, which is to build up the New Jerusalem; prepares the bride of Christ, which is to prepare the New Jerusalem because the New Jerusalem is the bride of Christ; and brings in the kingdom of God, the ultimate manifestation and consummation of which is the New Jerusalem. Therefore, the ministry of this age fulfills the direction of the Lord's move today. The ministry of the age ministers the present truth to God's people. The present truth, the highest peak of the divine revelation given to us by God through the ministry of this age, is the revelation of the eternal economy of God. God becoming man so that man might become God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead is the essence of the entire Bible, the "diamond" in the "box" of the Bible, the eternal economy of God. God and man will become one entity, and that one entity is the mingling of divinity with humanity, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem, the conclusion of the entire Bible. The ministers of the age are those who have the vision of the age and the ministry of the age and know what God is speaking and doing in the present age. The ministers of the age are patterns to the believers so that they may be perfected to do the work of the ministry for the building up of the Body of Christ. The ministers of the age have four characteristics: First, they are men who allow their natural ability to be terminated by the cross so that all their ability is in resurrection. Second, they are tree-of-life persons. Third, they know the central work of God. Fourth, they pay more attention to life than to work. The general subject of the special conference is "Special Fellowship concerning the World Situation and the Lord's Move." Messages 4 and 5 of this special conference were spoken in English and therefore are included in this issue. The following statement encapsulates the burden of the conference: 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 book is intended as an aid to believers in developing a daily time of morning revival with the Lord in His word. At the same time, it provides a limited review of the semiannual training held December 26-31, 2022, in Anaheim, California, on the “Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.” Through intimate contact with the Lord in His word, the believers can be constituted with life and truth and thereby equipped to prophesy in the meetings of the church unto the building up of the Body of Christ.