The Life of Abandonment — Stephen Kaung

Philippians 2 and Psalm 131: The Call to Abandonment

We will please turn to the letter to the Philippians, Philippians chapter 2, the letter to the Philippians chapter 2, verse 7, Philippians chapter 2, verse 7, just the first clause, but ended himself, but ended himself, verse 17, the first clause, but if also I'm poured out as a libation on the sacrifice and ministration of your faith, but if also I'm poured out as a libation on the sacrifice and ministration of your faith.

Psalm 131, Psalm 131, a song of degrees of David. Jehovah, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty, neither do I exercise myself in great matters and in things too wonderful for me. Surely I have restrained and composed my soul like a weaned child with its mother.

My soul within me is like a weaned child. Let Israel hope in Jehovah from henceforth and forevermore. Let us look to the Lord in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee that we may continue in Thy presence, beholding the glory of the Lord and listening to what He has to say to us through Thy word.

Our Father, we do open ourselves to Thee and ask that Thy Holy Spirit will reveal Thy word to us, reveal Thyself to us, lead us into all truth, draw us into Thyself, that we may see Thee as we should, that Thou mayst be able to be glorified in our lives.

We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. I would like to share with you, dear brothers and sisters, this morning on something that I feel it is most emancipating, liberating, freeing, powerful. And that is absolute abandonment to God.

The Freedom of Total Abandonment to God

Well, it may be a surprise to you. There is nothing in the world that is more emancipating than total abandonment to the Lord. There is no life more powerful than the life of total abandonment. Now, it is true, we find it very difficult to abandon ourselves.

We find it difficult even to abandon things that we have. So difficult to give up things. How much more difficult it must be to give up ourselves. How we hold on to ourselves. We are afraid of losing ourselves, because we think that if we lose ourselves, we lose everything.

To the flesh, this is true. But to the spirit, this is just the opposite. Unless we know how to abandon ourselves to God, we will not be able to enter into a life that God has ordained for us to live.

I believe we all desire to be disciples of Christ. We want to follow the Lord. We want to be where the Lord is. We want to live as He lives. But what is the life of our Master? If you see the life of our Lord Jesus, you will discover that His life is a life of absolute abandonment.

A life totally abandoned to God. We are familiar with that passage in Philippians chapter 2. He who was equal with God, and that is not something to be grasped at, because He is the eternal Son of God.

He is equal with God from eternity, and yet He emptied Himself. He gave up as God, gave up Himself. He took the form of a slave, the likeness of a man. He humbled Himself, being obedient to God, His Father, even unto death, and that's the death of the cross.

The abandonment of our Lord Jesus to God is total. He never, throughout His life, demands for His rights. I can do nothing by myself unless what the Father is doing. I cannot say anything by myself unless what I have heard of my Father.

Throughout His life you will find that He has abandoned His freedom, His liberty, His rights. He abandoned His whole being to God, and let God have Him all. This is the life of our Lord Jesus. But what a life it is!

You find in His life there is no worry, there is no strain, no hesitation, reservation. A life that is beyond and above all temptations, because He has abandoned Himself completely to God. It is a life so powerful.

He has not only overcome sin, but He has defeated the enemy of the centuries. A most beautiful life, a most glorious life. And this life is characterized by one thing, self-abandonment. Our abandonment to God is very different from fatalism.

Fatalism is passive. If this is Allah's will, what can I do? ...themselves to fate. Now this is very passive. It is not a teaching of the scripture. Self-abandonment, or abandonment to God, is very positive.

Why? It is to give ourselves to God in such a way, able Him to show His will in us. We do not abandon ourselves to God. God is not able to work out His will, His purpose in our lives. The only way that God can work out His will in our life is that we give ourselves to Him completely.

Not just giving up things, but giving up ourselves. Not just giving up, it is giving to Him. Abandonment to God. If you read the lives of the saints, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament records, you will find there is a common trait in their lives.

One to whom God has borne witness to, has this characteristic in their lives, and that is they have all abandoned themselves to God. Job, a perfect and upright man, who feared God and abstained from evil.

Job's Trials and the Meaning of Surrender

One day the sons of God, that is the angels, gathered before God, and Satan came in their midst. Then God challenged Satan and said, What have you been doing these days? Do you know what Satan said? He said, I have been going to and fro up and down the earth.

He is a world traveller. He has been travelling up and down, throughout the whole earth. But he is not a tourist. He is travelling with purpose. So God said, All right. Have you observed my servant Job, who is perfect and upright, who feared God and abstained from all evils?

Have you observed him? Well, certainly. Of all the people in the world, there was no one that Satan observed more carefully than Job, because Job will be a very nutritious food for him to devour. Such a good man.

Satan observed him very carefully, but could not find a loophole. I often wonder whether God can use me to challenge his adversary. I am not worthy. Can God use me to challenge his adversary? Can God use you to challenge his adversary?

But God could use Job to challenge Satan. Oh, how subtle Satan was. Did Satan say to God, No, of course. There is every reason for Job to fear you. Why? Because you put a hedge around him. Now, everywhere Satan went, he tried to approach from the east, from the west to the south and the north, and from every direction, and he found the hedge was around Job.

He could not get in. So Satan said, Now you put a hedge around him. You protect him. You bless the work of his hands. You prosper him. Who will not fear you? He does not fear you. He wants your blessing, that's all.

If you take away all these things, he will curse you at your face. God said, All right, I'll take up the challenge. You can do anything you like with him, but don't touch his life. And immediately Satan went out and in one day destroyed everything that Job had.

Not only all his properties, he was a rich man, but also all his children were gone. Job rose up. He reigned his garments, shaved his head, and worshiped God. He was in great pain in his heart. He suffered a great deal, and yet he worshiped God.

He said, Naked I came, and naked I shall return. God gives, and God takes away. Blessed be the name of abandonment. Another day, again the sons of God gathered before God, and Satan was there. And God again challenged Satan and said, Now, you have done it?

What happened? Satan was. He said, Scheme for scheme. A man would rather give up everything for his life. You touch his life, and he will curse you at your face. God said, All right. You may touch his body, but you cannot take away his life.

And immediately Satan went out and smote Job with bowls all over his body. He sat in a heap of ashes, scratched his wounds. Even his wife came and said, Curse God and die. Oh, Job said, No, you don't know.

If God gives what is good, can he not give what is bad? He said not. A man who was abandoned. Abandonment was not easy. Job was strong, but when he was surrounded by his friends, his abandonment to God was not.

Cain, trying to comfort him, ended up with arguing with him. And then you'll find Job began to say, It is true. If God shall slay me, I will still believe in him. But I demand a hearing. I want an explanation.

I do not understand why such things should happen to me. I'll accept it. I'm willing to die, and I will not give up my faith. But I demand a hearing and an explanation. Now, is that the attitude of a person who was totally abandoned to God?

If you are totally abandoned to God, you don't ask for an explanation. God is your explanation. But through the trials, when you come to the end of the book of Job, chapter 42, you find that Job entered into the spirit of absolute abandonment to God.

Listen to what he said. He said, God, you can do anything you want to. There is nobody that can hinder you using these words. Your purpose, I've heard of you before. But now I've seen you. These are too wonderful for me.

But now I have seen you. I repent in dust. And when Job came to that point, he entered into the spirit of total abandonment. He did not even ask God for an explanation. He was satisfied with God. Total.

Abraham's Faith and the Cost of Letting Go

And you know, at that point, God gave Job a double portion of blessing. Abraham, read the life of Abraham. You'll find the whole life of Abraham is a call to abandonment to God. You know what is faith?

What is faith? It is giving up yourself to God. And trusting God for everything. Now that's faith. A life of faith is a life of abandoning to God. And therefore, a life of receiving God for everything.

When Abraham was in Ur of Chaldea, a country, and to go to the place that God will show him, he was haunted with faith. By faith, he left his native place and kindred, abandoning his country and his kindred.

He came out of Ur of Chaldea in Haran for a number of years, until God took his father Terah away. And again, God appeared to him and called him. And he abandoned Haran. He came to the promised land, and there was famine.

He went to Egypt for food. And again, God called him out of Egypt. He abandoned Egypt. He came back with riches. And he and his nephew Lot had so much cattle, they could not graze on the same ground. And their herdsmen began to quarrel.

And Abraham had to ask Lot to leave, and let Lot choose whatever he wanted to. He had to abandon Lot. And while he was sojourning in the promised land, he had no son. God promised to give him seed as the stars of the heaven, yet he had no son.

And finally, he got Ishmael for Haggai. He loved Ishmael. And yet, he had to abandon Ishmael. God said, let Ishmael go. And finally, God gave him a son, Isaac, the son of promise. All the promises of God were sent upon that son.

And yet, in chapter twenty-two of Genesis, God called Abraham, God tested Abraham, and said, Abraham, go to Mount Moriah, which was three days journey, and offer your son, your only beloved son, Isaac, as a burn offering.

A burn offering is a total offering. Offering is offered. You have nothing left but ashes. And God said, present your son, Isaac, as a burn offering. And here you'll find Abraham, without any hesitation, he rose up early in the morning.

He traveled three days journey, had enough time to think about it, to ponder over it. There was no looking back. He went to Mount Moriah. He built an altar, found his son, took the knife. But God said, that's enough.

Jacob's Struggle to Surrender Himself

Total abandonment to God. Contrast. You'll find Jacob. When Jacob was born, he came out following his brother, holding his brother's heel. He wanted to get out first. He was a supplenter, a heel holder.

Throughout the life of Jacob, you'll find he tried to hold everything in his own hands. He tried to grasp everything. He cheated his brother of the birthright. He cheated his father of the blessing of the birthright.

He outmaneuvered his father-in-law, and got the riches of his father-in-law. He tried to bribe his brother, Esau. He devised a plan for his family to escape. You'll find throughout the life of Jacob, he was trying to hold on to everything for himself.

If there is anyone in the world that holds on to things, holds on to himself, that is Jacob. But God was dealing with him. God was dealing with him to abandon himself. But he would not. Even at Peniel.

Oh, how he wrestled with the angel of the Lord the whole night. And he prevailed. Until the angel touched his thigh, and he was crippled. It wasn't until that time that you'll find he abandoned himself to God.

And what a blessing he became. In his old days, he even blessed Pharaoh, the greatest king in the whole world at that time. God was working in his life for that abandonment. That is the thing that God is at.

Abandonment in the Lives of Mary, Joseph, John, Peter, and Paul

I can illustrate with many people in the scripture. Take a few from the New Testament. Think of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Chapter 1, when the angel appeared, you know. I think it's chapter 2, when the angel appeared and said, you shall conceive and bear a son, the Holy One, the Holy Seed of God.

And you know what Mary said? He said, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Be it as thou hast said. Now, if you understand the situation, you know that it wasn't that easy. Why? Because she was a virgin. She was betrothed, engaged to Joseph.

But he wasn't married yet. And if he should conceive and she should bear a son. Now, what would the world say? Nobody could understand. Such thing never happened before. And people would say, certainly she must have committed adultery.

And according to the law of Moses, the first one to throw the stone upon her, not only she would lose all her name, but even her life. Everything would be lost. But here you'll find a sister who was so abandoned to the Lord.

She said, I'm just a handmaid of the Lord. Do whatever you want to. It's up to you. She was not thinking anything of herself, just of the Lord. Now, often times we think of Mary, but we forget Joseph.

Actually, you know, Joseph, it was just as difficult to Joseph as to Mary. Joseph was a righteous man. He heard about it. He tried to go around the law. He didn't want to expose Mary. He didn't want to kill Mary.

He tried to find a way secretly just divorce her, let her go. You know, because humanly speaking, he wouldn't want Mary anymore, no matter how he loved her. But when the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him that it is the Lord, what he did?

He took over Mary. Cover her. Protect her. Until the child was born. Total abandonment. Think of John the Baptist. Baptist was in prison. He's sending disciples to the Lord Jesus and to their Lord. Are you the one that we are waiting for?

Or are we waiting for somebody else? Now, it wasn't that John's faith failed. Defied? That this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world? He saw the Holy Spirit descended upon him and God said, now this is He.

Of course, John wasn't doubting. But he sent word. Why? Because, he said, well, you have been doing all these things. You set the prisoner free. You opened the eyes of the blind. You raised the dead. Now, why do you leave me in prison and not do something for me?

And the Lord said, he who is not offended by me is blessed. I'm not going to do it. I just leave you there. Will you be offended? If you are not offended, you are happy. You are blessed. And John the Baptist was not offended.

He gave his head up because of this. Think of Peter. There was Peter. He killed James and found the people were happy about it. So, he sees Peter and it was the time of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread.

So, he put Peter in prison, thinking that after the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, which is seven days, were over, then he would take out Peter and behead Peter. So, Peter was in prison for seven days.

And on the last night, because it was the next day that he would be taken out and be beheaded. And now, brothers and sisters, if I were Peter, and I was in prison for seven days, and I knew that the next morning I would be out to be beheaded, do you think I would sleep at all?

If I'm not murmuring, I would be praying. But here you'll find Peter was sound asleep. His sleep was so sound that even after the angel had took him out of prison, he was still in a dream. Now, what a sound sleep that must be.

He sleeps so soundly, knowing that the next day he might be beheaded. Total abandonment to God. He left himself to God completely. Think of Paul. He wrote 2 Timothy. He wrote 2 Timothy just before he was martyred.

Infant he was. He said, I have fought the good fight, I have kept the faith, I have finished my course, and now there's a crown of righteousness waiting for me, not only for me, but for all those who wait for the coming of the Lord.

How could it be? Total abandonment. You know, this is the kind of life that God is calling us into. This is the kind of life that His Son, our Lord Jesus, lived. This is the kind of life that throughout the centuries, those whom God has borne witness to, have all entered into this life of self-abandonment.

The Cost of Holding On and the Sin of Unbelief

They abandon themselves to the Lord. It is not passive. It is very active, because through self-abandonment, God is able to do what He wants to do with these lives. You know, Brother Watchman, he was helped greatly in his life, in his early life, by a dear sister, Margaret E. Barber.

Now, Margaret E. Barber was a very strong character. She was not a weak person. She had strong opinion. But, one day, she was praying with Margaret Barber. Margaret Barber, at that time, had a controversy with God.

God had a demand upon her, but she had her own idea. Then, Brother Nee heard this prayer. She prayed. He said, Lord, don't give up yet. Just wait for me. I will come back. I will give you. He was giving at that time.

He told her not to give her up. She was giving. We tend to give up. It is not easy for us to give up things. And how much more difficult to give up ourselves. We think if we give up ourselves, that's the end.

But remember, it is give up reason why. God is not able to do what He wants to do with us. God is not able to work with us as He wants to. It is because we are not willing to abandon ourselves to Him.

We hold on to ourselves. We hold on to things. We will not let this go. And because of this what kind of life we live? We worry all the time. We are anxious. In anxiety. We strive. We struggle. There is no rest.

There is no peace. There is no joy. Isn't that the life we want to live? Now, why is it that we do not abandon ourselves to God? Why? I think the one reason why we do not abandon ourselves to God is because of unbelief.

You remember in Hebrews chapter 3 verse 12 it is said, Brethren be careful, lest there be among you the wicked heart of unbelief. To turn away from the living God. Now our God is a living God. But we turn away from Him.

Why? Because we do not believe. We believe in ourselves. We think that if things are in our own hands we can manage them better. We think that if we hold our life in our own hands then we are more sure about it.

If we let go and let God, well, what can God do? We circumscribe God with our limitations. If we cannot do it, we think God cannot do it. We do not trust Him. We do not believe in Him. It is unbelief.

The greatest sin that we ever commit is the sin of unbelief. And this is, I believe, the sin that Hebrews mentions in Hebrews chapter 12. He said, Lay aside the sin that entangles us. Now, what is this sin?

It is the sin of unbelief. We do not believe Him. Therefore, we will not give to Him. We will not give up ourselves to Him. We will not let go and let God. May the Lord deliver us from such unbelief. Now, brothers and sisters, how can we abandon ourselves to God?

Considering Christ as Apostle and High Priest

I think there are three things we can share about. One, I will call it, consider. I will give you three C's again. Number one is consider. Apostle and High Priest of our confession. Consider Jesus Christ.

The Apostle and High Priest of our confession. The reason why we cannot give up ourselves is because we do not consider Him. We consider ourselves. We consider our circumstances. Consider circumstances, consider people and consider all these things except God.

You find yourself getting tighter and tighter and holding tighter and tighter. But, oh brothers and sisters, if we learn to consider Him, the author and finisher of our faith, if we can only see Him, if we can see the One who is invisible, then all these visible things will not get in the way.

You know, our problem is we see all these visible things and these things blind our eyes to see the One who is invisible. When Job saw the Lord, when the glory of the Lord appeared to Job, Job said, now I see you.

Once he saw, he abandoned himself completely to Him, to God. No more questioning. No need for explanation. Because God is there. Abraham was able to abandon and abandon and abandon. It is a life abandonment.

It will get deeper and deeper and deeper. And when it gets deeper and deeper, it gets higher and higher. It is because the Lord of glory appeared to him. Moses was able to despise the riches of Egypt.

And the riches of Egypt at that time can be compared with the riches of this country. He despised the riches of Egypt, the wealth of Egypt and was willing to bear the reproach of Christ with His brethren, slaves.

He did not have fear of Pharaoh. Why? Because he saw the One who is invisible. Dear brothers and sisters, what we need is a seeing of the Lord. Consider Him. You know, our problem is we talk a lot about Him.

We heard a lot about Him. But do we see Him? When we consider the Spirit, He who is invisible, dear brothers and sisters, there is nothing more logical, there is nothing more reasonable, there is nothing easier than to abandon yourself to the Lord.

Not to do that will be foolishness. It is not something that you can just convince yourself with your mind. It is something you have to consider Him and see Him. A sight of Him. That's all you need. All these things will drop off yourself to Him.

Constrained by the Love of Christ

Number two, constrain. Not only to consider Him, but when you consider Him and you see Him, you will be constrained by His love. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 14 and verse 15. We are constrained by the love of Christ, knowing that One who has died for us, we all died.

And now we live. We live for the One who has died and lived for us. Dear brothers and sisters, how we need to be constrained by the love of Christ. You know, in Christian life, duty is not good enough.

Christian life does not live on the level of duty. Christian life lives in the level, in the atmosphere of love. Unless we are constrained by the love of Christ, dear brothers and sisters, you won't be able to abandon yourself.

You may be able to give up a little of something, but you will never be able to abandon yourself. The reason why Christ died on the cross is because of love. It is not duty. Duty does not require of Him, but it is love that constrains Him to do what He did.

We need to be constrained by the love of Christ. Whenever we lose our first love, everything becomes external, superficial, routine. It loses all its spiritual value. We need to be constantly constrained by the love of Christ.

Composed Souls and the Rest of Christ

And number three, compose. You know, in Psalm 131 He said, I am restrained and composed, like a winged child on his mother's breast. I love Psalm 131. It is a beautiful psalm. You know, it is a most unnatural psalm.

It is supernatural. Why? Because the psalmist began and said, Jehovah, my heart is not hearty, nor mine eyes lofty, neither do I exercise myself in great matters and in things too wonderful for me. Now that is not natural.

What is natural? My heart is hearty, my eyes lofty, I exercise myself in great things and in things too wonderful for me. That is natural. No matter who we are, no matter what we are, even the humblest man in the world, the poorest man in the world, the most ignorant man in the world, you will find naturally our heart is hearty.

Now do not tell me you are humble. Our heart is so wicked it can deceive us. Only God knows. And God knows our heart is hearty. Our eyes lofty. We always like to delve into things too wonderful for us in great matters.

Now that is what we want to. How come that the psalmist, hearty, mine eyes not lofty, neither do I exercise myself in great matters and in things too wonderful for me. Now how did it come about? This is the secret.

Surely I have restrained and composed my soul. That is the answer. That he is not hearty and lofty. How come that he is not after great things too wonderful for him? He becomes so simple. He becomes, you know, like a child.

How does it come about? He said because I have restrained and composed my soul. Like a weaned child with its mother. Now a child is mother or he is weaned. I will give you a very different picture than the picture you can imagine here.

A baby that is still the mother's breast. When you put that baby, immediately you find how he will agitate, how he will struggle and try to find the breast and try to suck as much as he can. In other words, it is a restless picture.

But after a certain period, it is time for the child to be weaned. Why? Because the child is growing up. The mother's milk is not sufficient for his growth. He needs something more, something more solid.

But the child does not understand. So weaning is a very difficult process. Weaning cause lots of tears. Not only the tears of the child but tears of the mother too. The mother has to use some kind of device, some kind of tricks, you know, to wean the child.

Maybe put something hot on the breast or something, you know, to make it difficult for the child. And how the child will kick and cry thinking that the mother does not love him anymore. And that hurts the mother very much.

But gradually, when he is given some solid food or some other food, and gradually as he begins to grow, he comes to a point that he begins to restrain and compose his soul. In other words, he accepts the discipline, control, self-control.

When he comes to that point and he is weaned from her mother's, his mother's breast. All right. Then when you put that child to the mother, what will happen? You find instead of seeking the mother's breast, the child will just rest in the mother's arms.

Maybe just look up at the mother. He has no demand. He doesn't want anything. But there you find a flow of mutual love, mutual affection, mutual understanding, flowing back and forth from the mother and the child.

It is a picture of peace and joy and harmony. A weaned child with his mother. Dear brothers and sisters, this is what God is trying with us. At one time we were babes. Nothing wrong with babyhood. That's where we come from.

You cannot escape babyhood. There is only one man who came out full grown, and that's Adam. Aside from Adam, we all grow up from babies. But we cannot remain babes. It is the will of our God, our Father, that we grow up to be full grown.

And that's the reason why he has to wean us from holding on to things. He has to wean us from holding to ourselves. Our soul has to be composed and restrained. You remember the Lord said, come unto me all you who labour and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon thee, and learn of me from my lowly and making heart, and ye shall find rest in your soul. Oh, our soul refused to rest. Our soul is always struggling and striving. Think of our emotion.

Think of our mind, our imagination. Think of our wills and desires. You will find that these things are just like waves, just like rolling seas. It never is at rest. But dear brothers and sisters, the Lord said, take my yoke upon you, and learn of me.

I make a loading heart, and you will find rest in your soul. That's a weaned child. Brothers and sisters, have you been weaned? If you have not been weaned spiritually, then you receive much from the Lord.

But the Lord hasn't got anything from you. He cannot use you. You know His grace, but you don't know His purpose. It's only when we are weaned, when we really abandon ourselves, then we can look up to Him, and there will be a flow of love, of understanding.

Hope Through Abandonment to God

That is the life that God calls us into. Let Israel hope in Jehovah from henceforth and forevermore. Now, isn't that strange? After David himself had experienced that total abandonment to God, then he said, let Israel hope in God.

In other words, his own personal experience is for whole Israel. The Lord shall lead you into a life of abandonment to God. You will find you will affect the household of God, and help the household of God into that blessed hope.

You know, hope comes from abandonment to God. We may think if we abandon ourselves, then we are hopeless. Oh brothers, if we abandon ourselves to God, then hope, because our hope is in Him. He is the hope of glory.

Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth and forevermore. What are you hoping for? Whom do you hope? Are you looking for yourself? Or for other people? Or for your circumstance to change? Is there where your hope is?

That's sinking sand. Hope in God. But how can you really hope in God if you are still hoping in yourself? We have to abandon ourselves to God. And then we find all our hope is in Him. Who trusts Him will find Him.

So may the Lord help us, dear brothers and sisters. There is only one life that is worth living. It is a life, like our Lord, of absolute abandonment, because our God is worthy. Shall we pray? Our Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee, for Thou dost call us to live a life like Thy Son, because it is Thy Son who lives in us.

It is a life of total abandonment to Thee. O Thou art so worthy. Is there anything that Thou dost not deserve? And Father, we praise and thank Thee, because Thou dost call us to abandon ourselves to Thee, that Thou mayst give Thyself to us to be our all.

O Father, do by Thy Holy Spirit speak to us and lead us into Thy truth, that Thy name may be glorified. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus.