Witness Lee

Witness Lee (1905-1997) was a faithful and fruitful servant of God for over 70 years. He was born in 1905 in northern China and raised in a Christian family. In April 1925, at the age of 19, he received the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior and immediately immediately consecrated himself to preach the gospel for the rest of his life. From that day forward and for the rest of his life he loved the Bible.

Early in his Christian life, Witness Lee became familiar with the writings of Watchman Nee, who was becoming an increasingly well-known preacher, teacher, and writer among Christians in China. He soon initiated a correspondence with Watchman Nee. From Watchman Nee's books and his fellowship with Watchman Nee, Witness Lee began to realize the need to know and experience the life of Christ which he had received through his regeneration. In 1933 the Lord called Witness Lee to become a full-time servant of the gospel. From that time on Witness Lee became an intimate co-worker of Watchman Nee, laboring together with Watchman Nee under his direction. In 1934 Watchman Nee entrusted Witness Lee with the responsibility for his publication operation, called the Shanghai Gospel Bookroom.

The Lord's blessing was manifestly on the work of Watchman Nee in China. Many truths of the Bible were opened to him with fresh light and power. By the time Watchman Nee was arrested in 1952, approximately 400 local churches had been raised up in China through his life and ministry.

In 1949, because of the developing political situation in China, Witness Lee was sent by Watchman Nee and his other co-workers to Taiwan so that the things delivered to them by the Lord would not be lost. Based on Watchman Nee's instructions, Witness Lee set up the Taiwan Gospel Bookroom to continue Watchman Nee's publishing operation. The Taiwan Gospel Bookroom has been publicly recognized as the publisher of Watchman Nee's works outside China. Witness Lee's work in Taiwan once again manifested the Lord's abundant blessing. From a mere 350 believers, newly fled from the mainland, the churches in Taiwan grew to 40,000 in five to six years.

In 1962 under the Lord's leading Witness Lee immigrated to California. During his 35 years of service in the U.S., he ministered in weekly meetings and weekend conferences, delivering several thousand spoken messages. Much of his speaking has since been published as over 400 titles. Many of these have been translated into over 14 languages.

Over a period of 20 years he expounded the Bible book by book from the perspective of the believers' experience and enjoyment of Christ as their life for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ. The resulting Life-Study of the Bible is a treasure store of the ministry of life for the Lord's seekers. After finishing the Life-Study of the New Testament, he initiated a series of messages entitled, "The Conclusion of the New Testament," in which he expounded the great truths of the New Testament as they related to seven key topics-God, Christ, the Spirit, the believers, the church, the kingdom, and the New Jerusalem.

As he conducted the Life-Study Witness Lee also wrote extensive footnotes and compiled cross references for the entire New Testament. These were incorporated into a new translation of the New Testament, the Recovery Version.

To those who knew him Witness Lee was a pattern of a servant of the Lord. He labored ceaselessly to carry out the Lord's interest. He constantly sought to bring the churches under his ministry into a condition that matched the New Testament revelation of God, not just in letter but in vitality and reality. His ministry sought to bring believers to know Christ as the one living in them, to make them functioning members of the Body of Christ, and to work out the oneness of the Body of Christ in a practical way according to God's heart's desire. He gave his last public conference in February 1997 at the age of 91.

The fruit of Witness Lee's ministry is undeniable. It has brought light and nourishment to hundreds of thousands of seekers throughout the world. When he went to be with the Lord in 1997 there were over 250 local churches in the United States and 2,300 local churches worldwide, not including mainland China. Today these churches are continuing to dive into the riches of Christ revealed in the Bible and presented to the Lord's children through His servants, Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. The churches are also seeking to develop every member as one who knows Christ, knows the great truths of the Bible, and serves God according to the measure of grace they have received. In doing so, they are seeking to propagate the full gospel of Christ to the world and to carry out the building up of the Body of Christ.

To learn more about Witness Lee, his life and ministry, visit www.witnesslee.org.