In 1974 I began to write the notes for the Recovery Version of the Bible. I have written these notes to expound the books of the Bible for a few purposes. The main purpose is to bring you into the truth. As of January of 1985, we had trainings over the entire twenty-seven books of the New Testament. Those of you who have been trainees in the trainings should have realized that the first purpose of the notes of the Recovery Version is to present the truth. I do not believe you can find as many basic truths in other books as you have found in the Recovery Version. Other expositions and commentaries, for example, do not correctly point out what the main truth in the book of Matthew is. The Recovery Version clearly points out that this is a book on the kingdom of the heavens and it gives you a proper definition of the truths concerning the kingdom of the heavens.
The first purpose of the notes is to present to you the truth, and the second purpose is to minister to you the life supply. Many of you can testify that you do not get as much nourishment from other expositions and commentaries as you can from the Recovery Version.
The third purpose of the notes is to help us to solve the common and hard problems in the New Testament. In nearly every book of the New Testament there are some questions which are hard to answer and some problems and points which are hard to understand. The notes in the Recovery Version are also an attempt to solve the hard problems in the Bible to help the readers get through them. I have had much experience as a young man studying the Bible. I came to a certain point in the Bible that I could not understand and I became stuck on that point. For instance, 2 Peter 2:4 refers to the gloomy pits to which the angels who sinned were delivered. When I read this in the Chinese version as a young man I got stuck on this point. I did not know what the Chinese meant by a gloomy pit. In the Recovery Version, however, there are adequate notes to help on problems such as these (see note 42 in 2 Peter 2 and note 193 in 1 Peter 3). For problems such as these in the Bible, I spend much time to go to the original Greek, to the lexicons, to the concordances, and to others’ expositions in order to get a proper understanding. By the Lord’s mercy, I believe and thank the Lord that I received such an understanding. Therefore, for each of these problems I have given you a proper interpretation to help you to understand them properly. This means to remove all the obstacles on your “driveway” that you may have a clear route and highway for a drive in your Bible study. Today we have a Recovery Version of the New Testament with nearly no obstacles on the driving way. You can drive your “study car” through any book of the New Testament without stops. If you have a problem you can refer to the notes for help.
The fourth purpose of the Recovery Version with the notes is to open up the books of the Bible. After the Recovery Version of a book had been published, that particular book of the Bible was opened to us. Because we have a Recovery Version of the entire New Testament, we must testify that the books of the New Testament have been opened to us. We have an open book. Some teachers of the Bible admit that Revelation is a closed book and that it is too deep. Also, a number of believers were told not to touch Revelation and to stay away from it. To most believers Revelation is a closed book, but when you get the Recovery Version of Revelation you cannot say that it is a closed book. It is an open book. The Recovery Version of Revelation gives you a very brief and concise interpretation of the book.
I have made an attempt to open every book of the New Testament to you, but I have left the further digging to you. I have only “opened up the mine,” and I have not dug that much. The foundation which Brother Watchman Nee laid in China helped me greatly. During his time, however, he told me that the Lord had not permitted him to write any expositions. Through the messages I heard personally and directly from him, through the publications put out by him, and through many direct talks with him for over at least eighteen years, I received a very solid foundational word to build on. As a result, I picked up the burden to write the expository notes for the Recovery Version to open each book of the New Testament to the seeking saints. Both Brother Nee and I did not have that much time to dig further. I want to dig further and I am still digging, but I do not believe that I can do that much. Therefore, I leave this further digging matter to you.
The basic truths have been presented to us, and much life nourishment has been put into print, especially with the Life-study messages. Also, the obstacles have nearly all been removed. We now have a clear way for our study, and every book is open to us. In mining, the hardest thing is to open the mine. Once the mine has been opened and the treasure is exposed, it is easy for someone to dig out the treasures. I have left only this one matter of further digging to you. I believe the Lord will continue this digging work either through you or through some others. After a period of time I believe that many of you will be “good diggers.” The intention and the goal of our publishing of the Life-study messages is to open up the mine for you to go in and dig.