Serving the Lord From Vision — Stephen Kaung

Will you please turn to the book of Hebrews? Hebrews chapter 3. Just one verse verse 5. Hebrews chapter 3 verse 5. And Moses Indeed was faithful in all his house as a ministering servant for a testimony of the things to be spoken after.

Let's have a word of prayer. Dear Lord as we continue in thy presence our hearts Are wide open for thee Lord speak Whatever is on thy heart and enable each and every one of us To hear thy voice Lord we are here for thee.

And pray that thou will be glorified in the midst of thy people. May all thy will be done in and among us as it is in heaven and we Give thee all the glory in thy precious name. Amen. Brothers and sisters We are saved to serve.

Saved to Serve God's Purpose

We find in the scripture when God Was to deliver his children of Israel out of Egypt He sent Moses to them To speak to Pharaoh in Exodus chapter 8 verse 1 he says Let my people go. Why? For what? That they may serve me.

You know the words When God created man he created man with a purpose and The fact that purpose is That we may serve him. So brothers and sisters None of us are saved For our own sake. Thank God that because he has saved us Our sins are forgiven Because he has saved us.

We have eternal life. We have hope but this is not the main purpose that God Has saved us. He saved us because he wants to use us. He wants each and every one of us To serve him. I don't think we read need to remind brothers and sisters That it is not a few of Those who are saved to serve but every brother and sister.

Young and old as long as you are saved remember You are saved to serve God and this is God's purpose for each and every one of us in spite of the fact that We do not all serve in the same way. God may call You to do this for him and he to do that for him nevertheless It is to serve his purpose.

Now, how are we going to serve him? I think this is a basic and tremendous Problem. I don't think I need to remind you as long as you are saved. I think you know within yourselves That you are saved to serve God's purpose.

You are not to live any longer for your own self. We used to do that and what a miserable life we have lived but immediately after one is saved I Believe God has put in each and every heart the thought of serving him in many different ways.

Nevertheless, the purpose is the same. We are saved to serve. So the problem with us today is How do we serve? In what way are we going to serve? I remember my own Experience After I was saved. I was so grateful to God.

Serving God in Our Own Strength

I wanted To serve him and I tried to serve him according to the way That I knew we tried to start some meetings in our school. We have prayer readings we have meeting for ministry. And young as we were I Was only 15 at that time.

We led a prayer meeting and We pray and we also preach the Word of God. The way I preach the Word of God is to go to my father's study and Find a book. I still remember vividly it was Dr. Jarrett at that time was a famous preacher in this country so I got his book and Translated one chapter which is on Noah's Ark.

I Translated into Chinese and memorized every word of it and on that day I went to preach. You know after I preach I felt good. The only thing I regretted was nobody praised me. That was the way we tried to serve God and I still remember I led a prayer meeting and when the students as well as some teachers came I Gave a short message on prayer again.

I Copy it from my father's book. And then I asked everybody to kneel down and pray but you can see nobody prayed and instead of that some students began to laugh and I Severely scolded them. I say we were in the presence of God.

There should be reverence there. Brothers and sisters, I think we all try to serve him in the way that we think He should be served. It takes some time for me to realize That serve God is not a simple matter.

Now suppose you are called to serve the President of the United States. Do you think that you can serve him in the way That you think fit? Do you feel that you should learn how to serve? And strangely among God's people it seems as if we are all experts.

As soon as we are saved and as soon as we start to serve We know how to serve and what God should be pleased with. Can you imagine that? How can we serve God? He who is the creator The Redeemer the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Do you think we need to learn how to serve and because of that I'm thinking of Moses. Because in the Old Testament You find Moses God called him my servant. Moses in the Old Testament Represents God's servant.

So I think we have lots to learn from Moses. How did he serve God. Basically I will say he tried to serve God when he was 40 years old. Evidently his mother While milking him was able to impress upon him That God has saved him for a reason.

Moses Fails When He Acts in His Own Way

Because he was born during at a time when Pharaoh Commanded That if any Hebrew woman Should give birth to a male child He should be killed Thrown into the River Nile and Moses lived Under the sentence of death.

Humanly speaking he was not allowed to live. But somehow his parents Sense Something in that child. They tried to save his life, but after three months his crying will be too loud. So they had to do something for him and you remember how the mother make an ark Of acacia wood And put Moses in it And by the River Jordan of Nile and God in his providence Allows Pharaoh's daughter to come by.

He saw that ark. He asked, she asked a servant To bring it to her and when they opened the little ark He saw a little boy there and he cried. And you know the cry of a baby Touched the heart of a woman.

That's how Moses was saved and evidently His own mother impressed upon him that you were saved for a reason. You were saved to save the children of Israel. And he in spite of being 40 years in the Egyptian palace And learned all the learnings of Egypt at that time Egypt was the greatest nation in the world.

He learned all the learnings. He was mighty in words and in deeds and yet The impression His mother put in him Was there. So when he was 40 years old He went out To see his brethren how they fared and you know how He saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite so he looked around and saw there was nobody there.

So he was mighty in deeds. So he beat that Egyptian to death and buried him under the sand. The next morning he went out again To look after his brethren and saw two Israelites Were fighting each other.

And he was mighty in words so he tried to separate them. And he was rejected even By his own people he had to flee for his life. In other words brothers and sisters at that time Moses tried to serve God According to himself by his words and deeds In his own way.

Thank God God allowed him to fail. What if he should succeed? Brothers and sisters Can you see the picture? When we are saved probably I don't think there will be anyone here That are able to serve God in his way.

I don't think so I think Everyone when our heart is turned by God is Touched by God and we want to do something for him we all try to serve in our way and by our own strength and Wisdom. Now if the Lord shall allow you to succeed What will happen?

Because you are not serving God you're serving yourself and thank God if he Makes you fail. Have you? Been a failure if you are Thank God for that, but if you are successful Who to you? Because you will continue in that way.

And you are just serving yourself Instead of God. So brothers and sisters we are saved to serve. But that doesn't mean That we should serve in our own way in our own wisdom depending upon our own self.

Now if you want to serve God you have to serve him in his way By his will. So this is an important lesson for each one of us to learn. Thank God for Putting in us that inward desire to serve him because that is what it should be.

When God created man He did not create man for man's own reason. He created man for his own purpose. And it is but right When we are saved we have the desire to serve. But let us remember we cannot serve God by ourselves.

We can only make things worse Instead of fulfilling the will of God. So first of all you find Moses learned this important lesson of all people in the world. Moses who are so learned Mighty in words and deeds He should be the only one the first one who succeed.

Whatever he wanted to do. We were told that he was a great general in Egypt at that time. He was powerful, but it was God who allowed him to fail. Because He tried to serve God in his own way. He tried to deliver his brethren by his might and by his eloquence.

The Wilderness Training and the End of Self-Reliance

So God allowed him to fail. He fled. He spent another 40 years in the wilderness Looking after a few sheep. And brothers and sisters After he had done that for another 40 years. No wonder when God really wanted him to go.

He said I cannot because I'm nobody I Do not have eloquence. Now if you have spoken to a sheep for 40 years All your eloquence will be gone and all your might will be gone. Because you cannot use your strength.

Otherwise all the sheep would die. So in those 40 years in the wilderness Moses unlearned Everything that he had learned in Egypt before brothers and sisters. If you are naturally gifted. Or if you have received such training do nothing that this is a plus to you.

In serving God as a matter of fact, it is a minus because God had no need For your help. We have to serve God according to his will and by his strength. And how can we do that? Where does it come from.

It comes from vision. So brothers and sisters We feel that it is Basic and not only basic. But important To know that we cannot serve God If we do not have vision. By vision it simply means God has revealed himself to you.

God has revealed his mind to you. He has shown you Where you are and what he can do with you. So you remember Moses when he was 80 years old. Now if you have read Psalm 90 You find in Psalm 90 verse 10 he said How long a man will live.

He said it is three scores and ten years that is 70 years old. But if you are strong You may be four score years 80 years old and remember Moses at that time was 80 years old. So so far as he himself is concerned He considered himself as dead.

No use. He's already 80 years old. What could you do with that? But man's end Is God's beginning. So when he came to the end of himself God began To use him. Brothers and sisters Have you come to the end of yourselves.

Are you still thinking great about yourself? Mighty in words and deeds. Or do you come to the point when you realize there is nothing in you That God can use. You have to unlearn Everything you have learned in the world in order to allow God To begin his work in you.

So you find in the case of Moses When he was 80 years old God waited for him waited for him for 40 years To unlearn all he has learned in Egypt. Because God has no need for such things at the end of himself.

That's the beginning of God. Dear brothers and sisters how difficult it is for us to come to the end of ourselves. The more talented you are the more educated you are. The more experience you have The less you are able To see the end of yourself the more you would depend upon yourself.

Brothers and sisters God had no need of you. He has to be the beginning and the end. So thank God If one day we come to the end of ourselves. Because this is where hope really begins. Moses He was 80 years old.

I think he has given up the idea of saving his people. It took 40 years for him to give up his ambition. Now he is nothing. And he's ready to go. But it was at that time that God's calling Came to him.

The Burning Bush and God's Presence in the Commonplace

You know in the wilderness It was so dry it was so hot. So only bushes Were there but these bushes Are of no use and they burn up very easily. Because of the heat they suddenly Were burned by itself and when it is burned it is gone.

You cannot eat use it even as a fuel. Because it's gone so quickly. Nothing. No use. It is a common sight in the wilderness. Moses must have saw this seen this for many many times. But Moses was a very observant person.

One day as he was keeping the sheep He saw a bush burning. Strangely It was not burned. Now there was a miracle. So that caught his attention. He draw near to see what had happened. It was most unusual and As he approached that burning bush that was not burned.

The Lord called him from the burning bush. Because the Lord was there and because the Lord was in that bush. So when it burned it is not burned but rather it glows. It glows Brilliant glory and God said put off your shoes.

Because this is holy ground. Dear brothers and sisters We need such experience. We need to come to the place When we can see something Which is most common. You know, we sometimes expect something Spectacular and say now because it is spectacular God is in it.

No God is in the very common thing. But because God's presence is there it becomes uncommon. It should be burned. But the presence of the Lord kept that bush instead of burning aglow with glory. And you know That vision of the burning bush speaks of Moses himself.

He usually considered himself as the cedar of Lebanon high up glorious. But now God show him you are but a bush in the wilderness. Bush will be burned very easily. The reason why You are not burned but rather aglow with glory is because of the presence.

Becoming Nothing for God's Glory

Dear brothers and sisters What do you think of yourself? I think we all familiar with the story of how Mary Took a nod took about pound of nod in an alabaster flask. He came to the Lord out of a grateful Gratitude to the Lord.

Probably that was the only worthy thing that she had. Probably it was accumulated for her marriage. But because Of what the Lord did to her brother He was so grateful. He must be thinking what can I do to the Lord to glorify him.

She had nothing else but that alabaster box of nod. So he came. He broke it and let the nod fill upon the Lord and the fragrance filled the house and you know how the disciples especially Judah He said that can be sold from for 300 denarii.

That is 300 days wages of a man. And why do you waste it on the Lord, but the Lord said he did a good thing brothers and sisters. Do you consider yourself as an alabaster or do you see yourself just a flask?

Nothing. Are you willing to break yourself and allowed what the Lord has done in you to pour out? For the glory of God and I believe God taught Moses a very precious lesson so throughout his life you can see In spite of the great things that he had done the Bible say Moses was the meekest person In the world, you know, we often thought of Moses when you see a picture of Moses.

That's imaginable. All these pictures must be a most masculine person, but he was the meekest person in the world think of that. Why. Because he has been given a vision that he was just a bush in the world less than a bush a burning bush here for a minute and there.

Dear brothers and sisters. I think the greatest lesson that the Lord has us to learn is to see That we are nothing. We always want to be somebody and we try to be somebody. But in the sight of God We are nothing.

And I believe it is the first lesson if we want to serve God Is to see that we are nothing. We are nobody and if there's anything That is done It is not because of us. It is because of him because he dwells Within us and That's the reason why The bush is not burned but aglow instead.

So I think In order to serve God brothers and sisters We may serve in many various different ways As the Lord is pleased. But the principle of serving God is the same. We have to come to the point To see that we are but a burning bush, but thank God he is in the mist.

Israel's Deliverance and the Promised Land

Now secondly, I think this burning bush also is a revelation from God concerning the work that Moses Was sent to do. So far the children of Israel goes They are also like a burning bush. The children of Israel Were beloved of God Because of their ancestors and yet in themselves They are nothing but like a bush in the wilderness very common and worse than that They are burning bush.

Israel was supposed to die. Under the command of Pharaoh Israel as a nation was to be annihilated. But the reason why Israel was not annihilated it is because God is there. He watches you watch over them and this is the mission that God has given to Moses To go back to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt, but more than that Into the promised land.

This is the mind of God. Brothers and sisters God's purpose with us Is more than negative Just delivering us out of trouble. But his purpose with us is positive. He wants to bring us into the promised land and of course we know Our promised land is Christ.

He wants to bring us into Christ Not just have Christ But being foregrown in Christ Christ in you the hope of glory. Now, how was he going to deliver the children of Israel? Moses said who am I to go to see Pharaoh?

What can I do to deliver the children of Israel. So God said What is in your head? And he said a shepherd's rod and God said Threw it down. He did and he became a serpent. And Moses fled from it and God said Took it by the tail Upside down and he took it and it became a rod, the rod of God.

Surrendering Skills and Profession to God

Brothers and sisters, what does it mean? You know a shepherd's rod is the shepherd's skill it is his Instrument of Keeping the sheep and yet we do not know that what we depend on For our life and livelihood.

Actually is a serpent. We have to take it upside down and then it becomes the rod of God. So, you know other words so far as our profession is concerned If you consider your profession as your rod to make a living out of it.

Remember it is a snake a serpent. The enemy is using it To trap you, but if you hold that upside down Then it becomes a rod of God. In other words God can use your skill your profession To perform his miracles.

That's the first lesson That Moses had to learn and then the second lesson God has, God said put your hand into your bosom and he when he took it out That hand was leprous and God said put it in again And it becomes whole.

In other words, it is not only your skill your profession That you have to hold it upside down. It is your own life. By yourself, it is leprous Full of sin, but by the grace of God It can be a hand used by God and how you God used Moses not only His rod, but especially his hand to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt Through the wilderness to the border of the promised land.

So dear brothers and sisters Whatever seems to be natural to us Has to hold it upside down twice Before these can be used by God. So put it in another way. It doesn't mean that everything you have learned in the past And what is of yourself? is absolutely Unusable to God on the contrary If you handle that in the right way God can use these things to accomplish great things.

May I suggest? Unless Moses Who had learned all the learnings of Egypt? Do you think God can use him? To lead such a people out of Egypt 40 years in the wilderness Who can do that? Humanly speaking it is something beyond Man's ability.

But you see if you are really yielded to the Lord And in consider yourself as nothing and depending upon the Lord the Lord can sanctify these things and Use it for his glory. So this is a way That God prepared his servant to serve in his house.

So dear brothers and sisters none of us should think That we are of no use. He saves us Because he wants to use us. The only thing is what you think about yourself if you think of yourself as great God said Nothing to me.

If you think of yourself as nothing God said I Can't use it. So this is the lesson That I feel we all need to learn. Let us pray dear Lord Bring us to nothing That you may be everything to us. We want to praise and send thee that thou will not use one Who consider himself as great but thou dost use The one who knows himself is nothing.

Oh thou art a great God. So we just commit ourselves to thee and say Lord reduce us To nothing and never nobody and out of that nothing Lord Glorify yourself With each and every one of us do pray That this lesson will be learned By each and every one of us we ask in thy name.