Vessels of Recovery I — Stephen Kaung

Thank God for gathering us together here tonight if You still remember Last time when we were together We fellowship on the God of Abraham of Isaac and of Jacob. Here you'll find a trio Abraham Isaac and Jacob and God is the God of Abraham of Isaac and of Jacob.

We find that the lives of these three people are very closely related and the work of God upon these three are definitely with a Sequence. In the life of Abraham we see the altar which represents the cross.

In the life of Isaac we see the well which represents the spirit of life and in a life of Jacob we see the pillars which represent the testimony. So you find that out of the cross comes abundant life and Out of abundant life.

You'll have the testimony of Jesus. So these three people they form a trio. There is a very definite sequence you can see in these lives. Now in the Bible you'll find There are a common number of trials.

In other words in the Bible you will find people whose lives are so Related and the work of God upon these lives are of Sequence you can see very definitely what God is doing. So God willing this time as we are together again, we would like to see another trio Samuel David and Solomon.

God's Promise and the Need for Recovery

You know God promised Abraham Isaac and Jacob That he will give the land to their seed. Abraham Isaac and of Jacob were to possess inheritance that God had promised to them. These are people out of Egypt forgiveness through Joshua.

God let his people into the promised land. But you come to the end of the book of Judges up to the time of Samuel. As you find the X chapter 13 add to 450 years Till God raised up Samuel. So people of Israel had never really Possessed their full possession.

They were delivered out of Egypt. They were led into the promised land but the promise of God had given to Abraham Isaac and Jacob Was never fully fulfilled on the contrary. You'll find a spiritual condition and Of course their political condition.

We're going down and down and down. Instead of possessing their full possession They were often being oppressed by their neighbors. Their conditions were very poor to a speaking as well as critically speaking as if God's promise Was not going to be fulfilled.

Through these people, but when they were in their lowest end God began the work of recovery. God began to raise up three people Samuel David and Solomon and through these three people God was able not only to restore what had been left but to recover To the original promise of Samuel, David and Solomon that the children of Israel finally came into the full possession of God's promise.

You know when God does any work of recovery It always is In this fashion. He recovers more than that which was lost. He always recovers back to his original purpose and intention and That is what you'll find in these three lives.

God raised up these three people To bring in that full recovery Into the full purpose. So I feel that probably it is of the Lord That we should spend some time together Looking into these three lives Not studying them as studying some life history but We study them together some important principles Out of which God today will be able to do his work of recovery.

Vessels for the Recovery of the Church

Now as you all know brothers and sisters We are living in the days of recovery Much that God has originally intended for his church Seem to have lost. But before the return of our Lord Jesus There is bound to be recovery not only to restore what has been left but to recover back to God's original intention.

Concerning his people today that is concerning his church but to do that God has to raise up Man to work with. Now this is a marvelous thing. You know in the work of creation God did not Require any Cooperation from man.

When God made the creation he did it all alone. That was of course before man was. In the work of new creation God always seeks for man. If he could get the right person He will do his work. To God man is more important than work.

No work of God can be done if there is no man of God. But if your God should get his man, then his work shall be done. So I do believe brothers and sisters. This is what God is looking for today. He is looking for man.

He is looking for proper vessels. He is looking for people whom he can use in recovering His original purpose concerning the church and I do believe that It is our desire That we should be Such people.

This time we would like to study together a little bit on this matter let's read a Few passages from 1st Samuel. 1st Samuel chapter 1. We are reading from verse 9 through verse 11. 1st Samuel chapter 1 verse 9 through verse 11.

And Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh and After they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon the feet by the doorpost of the temple of Jehovah and he was in bitterness of soul and Prayed to Jehovah and wept much and he died a vow and said O Jehovah host if thou will indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid and Remember me and not forget thy handmaid But will give unto thy handmaid a name child.

Then I will give him to Jehovah all the days of his life and there shall no razor come upon his head. Chapter 3 verse 1. And the boy Samuel ministered to Jehovah before Eli and the word of Jehovah was rare in those days.

A vision was not frequent and it came to pass at that time. When Eli lay in his place now his eyes began to grow dim he could not see and the lamp of God had not yet gone out and Samuel lay in the temple of Jehovah where the ark of God was.

But Jehovah called to Samuel and he said here am I and he ran to Eli and said here am I but thou callest me and he said I did not call lie down again and he went and laid down and Jehovah called again Samuel and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said here am I for thou callest me and he said I Did not call my son lie down again.

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord. Neither had the word of Jehovah Yet being revealed to him and Jehovah called again the third time Samuel and he rose and went to Eli and said here am I for thou callest me and he I perceived that Jehovah was calling the boy and Eli say to Samuel go lie down and it shall be if he call thee that thou shalt say speak Jehovah for thy servant hear it.

So Samuel went and lay down in his place and Jehovah came and stood and called as at the other times Samuel. Samuel and Samuel say speak for thy servant here. Chapter 7 verse 1. And the man of Kirtland Aaron came and fetched up the ark of Jehovah and brought it into the house of Abinadeth on the hill and hallowed Eliezer his son to keep the ark of Jehovah and He came to pass from the day that the ark abode in Kirtland Aaron that the time was long and it was 20 years and all the house of Israel lamented after Jehovah and Samuel spoke to all the house of Jehovah of Israel saying if you return to Jehovah with all your heart put away the strange God and Astaroth from among you and apply your heart unto Jehovah and serve him only and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines and the children of Israel put away the Baal and Astaroth and serve Jehovah only.

And Samuel said gather all men to Mishpah and I will pray Jehovah for you. Chapter 13. Chapter 12. Chapter 12. Verse 18. And Samuel called to Jehovah and Jehovah sent thunder and rain that day and all the people greatly feared Jehovah and Samuel.

And all the people said to Samuel pray to Jehovah thy God for thy servants that we die not. So we have added to all our sins the wickedness to ask for ourselves a king. And Samuel said to the people fear not.

You have done all this wickedness you turn not aside from following Jehovah and serve Jehovah with all your heart and Turn ye not aside for it will be as the vain things which cannot profit nor deliver for they are vain.

For Jehovah will not cast away his people for his great name's sake. Because it has pleased Jehovah to make you his people No matter as for me far be it from me. But I shall sin against Jehovah in ceasing to pray for you, and I will teach you the good and right way.

Only fear Jehovah and serve him in truth with all your heart. So see how great things he has done for you, but if he do wickedly he shall perish both he and your king. God raised up Samuel As a vessel for recovery.

Samuel as a Vessel of Revelation

Samuel was a man he was a man who saw and who heard. He was a man of vision and of revelation. He was a man of prayer. We find that God used him not only to turn the tide But even to change the time because it was through Samuel that the days of the judges Came to an end and the day of the Kings.

Now if you read the book of Judges You find that during that long period even though God raised up judges to deliver His own people had oppression from time to time. Yet the spiritual condition of the children of Israel as a whole was summed up in the last sentence of the book of Judges during the time of the judges there was no king and Because there was no king.

Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. In other words during the time of the judges Even though there were differences and yet the people of God were a scattered people. They were not united unified under a king.

There was just a weakness inherent weakness In the system of and it was through Samuel. That you'll find the time was changed. He was the last judge of Israel and he was the one who brought in the King and It was under King David and King Solomon.

That you'll find the whole nation was united into one and was restored to God's full intention. So brothers and sisters as you read the life of Samuel You'll find there was one point which was predominant in his life and That was he was a man of vision a man of revelation.

Now as you know Revelation is the first basic In the things of God. If there is no revelation There can be no beginning in spiritual things. Everything that pertains to God begins with revelation. We have to see if we do not see.

If we do not see God's purpose. If we do not see our conditions if we do not see what God is after. Then we miss the whole point the first basic thing in spiritual life. Is this matter of revelation? We have to see.

That is the first thing and Samuel represents revelation in his life we can see those principles that govern revelation. How does revelation come? Into our life the function of revelation. How revelation is connected with other things?

Now all of these you will find in the life of Samuel. So brothers and sisters let us at the very outset just mention this. And that is in the recovery work of God the first thing. Essential thing is revelation.

Now, of course. Just to put in a word of caution by revelation in the scripture. It does not mean Vision it does not mean something you see physically. That is not the basic thought or vision or revelation.

The basic concept of vision or revelation in the scripture Is an unveiling of God's mind to your spirit. You know that deep down in your spirit you are able to see God. Aim to see God's mind to see God's heart.

Now, that is a revelation moreover. The revelation that we are talking about is to be a progressive continuous process In our lives. And yet it is never something extra Additional to what God has already revealed In the scripture.

We are not talking about new revelation. Which is so new that you cannot find it in the scripture. No. If anyone should pretend to have such revelation, he must be a false prophet. By the revelation.

It may be new to you And it should be fresh and many.

To those who receive that revelation and yet you find it is already in the scripture But the Holy Spirit Renewed it to our spirit. Therefore it seems to those who receive it as new. It is new and yet it is not new.

So I think if we remember these words of caution, then we will not go off the tangent. But anyway, I will stress once again that in God's work of recovery The first important thing is revelation. Without revelation, there can be no recovery.

But therefore the God we use today Is one who sees. Who sees as God sees. Who can see what God sees? Now that is Embodied in the life. We must know something of the background Of Samuel. I think the background of Samuel is very well summed up in the first few verses in chapter 3 of 1st Samuel.

Because there you'll find it is said verse 2 and it came verse 1 and the boy Samuel ministered to Jehovah before Eli and the word of Jehovah was rare in those days. A vision was not frequent. The word of Jehovah was rare in those days.

And a vision was not frequent. That was not like a God. It was not God's will That he should not speak. It was not God's desire that he should give no vision. Certainly God wanted to speak. God wanted to reveal himself to his people.

But we'll never find. These were days That the word of the Lord was rare. A vision was not frequent. Why? It was not because God did not want to speak. It was because God could not speak. The ears of the children of Israel were so dull.

Their heart were filled with threat. They could not hear. They were blind. They could not see. In a sense they limited God. They hindered God from speaking From revealing himself and it came to pass at that time when Eli lay in his place.

Now his eyes began to grow dim. He could not see. Eli was the priest. He was the judge. He was supposed to lead the people of Israel. But here you'll find he was a feeble old man. He lay in his bed. His eyes were dim.

He could not see. He was blind. Now if the leader was blind He was the blind leading the blind. And they were all turned into the sick. And that was exactly what he was. The condition of Eli, the condition of the priesthood, the condition of the judgeship.

The condition of the priesthood at the time was such He represented the condition of the children of Israel. They were feeble. They were blind. And the lamp of God had not yet gone out. The lamp of God was not supposed to go out.

It had not yet gone out, but the light was flickering Was wavering Was dim Almost. Brothers and sisters, when you read these words You can visualize the spiritual condition of the people of Israel at that time.

It was clear that the condition was at its lowest ebb. It was true. The testimony of God was not quite gone out yet. But it was always gone. Only if you read later on You'll find the priesthood was at abomination.

Both to the eyes of God and to the eyes of the people. Because Eli's two sons were sons of the Lord. That made the priesthood a response to God's people. And they were found by God at the time of very superstitious.

Very superstitious. They thought that by bringing the ark to their neck they could overcome their ugliness. That's superstitious. Well, their own condition was contradictory to God. And finally even the ark of the covenant of God.

The glory of God was taken captive By the enemy. Now brothers and sisters, can you find a situation, a condition, a state that was worth More than what you could find at this point, at this moment? It seems as if God's promise to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob could never be fulfilled.

It was further and further away. Could God fulfill his promise to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. It was a measure not only that people of Israel would lose their inheritance. But it became a matter of the honor of the Lord could not deny himself.

Man may fail. God remains faithful. God cannot deny himself. So here you'll find When the people of Israel fell into sorrow God began secretly preparing a vessel. It was God's move. God's move against a situation.

Was always a move of preparing a suitable vessel. Samuel was the vessel. Samuel was the very opposite of the condition of the children of Israel at that time. Yes, because to the children of Israel the word of the Lord was rare.

But Samuel had the word of God. The condition was not frequent to the children of Israel. But Samuel was a man of vision. Samuel was strong, not feeble. Samuel was a seer who saw. His eyes were not blind.

And it was through Samuel that the testimony of God was recovered. So brothers and sisters you'll find in Samuel the very opposite Of the condition of the children of Israel. And that was the vessel that God raised up for recovery.

Hannah's Travail and Samuel's Birth

The birth of Samuel. How Samuel was born. You know Samuel means Ask for of God. Or heard. You know Samuel was born supernaturally. Because God showed up His mother's womb, Hannah. Which means grace, strength.

God showed up Hannah's womb. She could not give birth. And because of that she was afflicted Persecuted, ridiculed, mocked. She was put into deep Every time the family went to Shiloh To repent of God, to worship God.

It was a time that she was definitely being persecuted. She wept much, she prayed much. She had a need. In order to meet that need She attempted to cry to God. Because it was God who shut up her womb.

And she vowed a vow before God. She was so desperate that she said God, if you will give me a main child A son I will give him back to you for life. Maybe in the beginning Hannah felt her own need In order to be delivered from her affliction From her persecution From her shame.

She needed a son. If only God would give her a son Then her affliction will be gone. Her shame will turn to glory. But as she prayed and prayed and prayed You'll find she must be instructed of the Lord.

Because in the beginning she was asking for a son for herself. But it ended up Out of desperation. She was asking the Lord to give her a son for the Lord's sake. In other words, her need became occasion of God's need.

In the supply of her need God was able to supply his own need. These two needs seemed to be merged into one. You'll find the same thing In the beginning of the New Testament. Another turning point in history.

In the case of Zachariah and Elizabeth. You know, Zachariah and Elizabeth, they had no child. And they were both old. It must be Their prayers That God would give them a son. They prayed and prayed and prayed and no answer.

And then finally one day, Zachariah Was given the privilege Of bringing in saints in the Holy Temple. It was a high privilege. He was representing the whole people of Israel To present their need to God and to pray For the nation And to pray For God.

The Bible did not say what did he pray at that moment. We can be sure As a priest representing the whole children of Israel He was all alone in the temple. Everybody was in the court. A complete silence.

When the priest was bringing the infant He was alone in the temple. Everybody was praying outside In the court. And surely he was not praying for himself. He was praying on behalf of the nation of Israel.

And what was the need for that nation? That was the prayer of the nation. He must be praying for the Messiah. Because at that time, you know, Israel Was under the control of the Roman Empire. They were slaves.

They did not have liberty. They were looking forward to the hope of Israel In the person of the Messiah. And the angel appeared to him and said Your prayer was answered. How? You will get a son. He will be a Nevarite.

Right because he will be the forerunner of the Messiah. So here again we find The need of Zechariah Between the occasion of God's need. And in the supplying of that need God's need was supplied. Brethren and sisters We have many needs As children of God.

Why should we have needs? The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Does he not know how to take care of us? The prophet said even before you ask He knows what you need. So why ask? Why not just give before you ask?

Brothers and sisters Very often we try to separate Our need from God's need. And that is our problem. Because we only see our need. Therefore God cannot hear our prayer. Because if God should hear our prayer We will be the most selfish people In the whole wide world.

But do you know why God sometimes Allowed us to have needs? Whatever that need may be He is trying to show us That our need is the occasion. For the supply In supplying our need He is able to supply his own need.

He is able to bring in His purpose His plan His will His kingdom His glory. Now if you can see this Then in our needs become occasions of glory. We will not be struggling just over A little need of ours.

We can see That it is God who shut up the world. Because God has a need. And that need can only be supplied Through prevailing prayer. This is what prayer really is. When we pray It seems as if we are praying That God will supply our need.

But in actuality It is only when we are brought to see That it is God's need in our need. And we are asking God to supply His sake. Then your prayer is answered. Samuel was born Out of the asking The prayer The travail Of his mother His birth To revelation Through travailing.

Revelation Comes from God and Through Prayer

You know one thing Revelation Or vision Is given to us Sovereignly by God. In other words you can do nothing with revelation. You can do everything with anything. But In the matter of revelation What can you do?

Sometimes brothers and sisters will come to me And say brother. How can we Get revelation? How can we see vision? How can we see? The only answer I can give them is We cannot do anything If it pleases God To reveal his son in you.

Thank God for that. It is sovereign. Revelation is sovereign. It comes from God. It pleases God. That's all. It is the pleasure of his will. We cannot do anything with it. That is absolutely true. But at the same time Why does God give more revelation to certain people?

And less? Is God partial? Certainly not. Then why? Because you find on the other hand Revelation is given for. You remember the prayer of Paul? In the book of Ephesians May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ give you The spirit of wisdom and revelation to the full knowledge of God.

Now if revelation is simply Sovereign of God Paul will not ask. Will not pray the prayer for the Ephesian believers. What's the use of praying the prayer? But look at what Paul pray. He pray for the Ephesian believers.

That God will give. God will give the spirit of wisdom and revelation to the full knowledge of God. In other words If you seek, you shall find. If you ask, it shall be given to you. Not because God does not want to reveal.

It pleases Him to reveal. In other words, revelation is sovereign. But it is the sovereign pleasure of God to reveal. So what is left is. Do you want it? Do you seek for it? Do you ask for it? Are you travailing?

Why travel? It shows the preciousness Of the thing you desire. Why do you desire it? Do you desire to have revelation of vision? That you may be a great man? A good woman? Your prayer will not be heard.

But if you seek revelation Seek to see. Seek to know God's will. God's eternal purpose God's counsel God's plan. If you seek to have light Not for your sake. But that God's need may be met in this day.

Then your prayer will be heard. Brothers and sisters There is no need greater than this That God's people may see. Everywhere you go You get an impression. You find many of God's people Do love the Lord.

But somehow And because of that You find God's people are dissipating. In Proverbs chapter 29 it says. Where there is no vision The people cast off restraint. Or to put it in another way The people. Why is it that God's people today Seem to cast off restraint?

Why is it that God's people are scattered? Dissipated? You see many of God's people Are being stirred up, raised up by God. They love Him. And yet after a while They do nothing. The blind is leading the blind.

Everybody is falling to the pit. What is necessary today is revelation. People who sleep With spiritual insight Spiritual discernment. Who can see God's mind God's will, God's purpose. And brothers and sisters Nothing unites more Than vision And revelation.

Nothing will strengthen a goat of our loins Than vision and revelation. This is the one need. But how does it come? What are we seeking? Do we see that our need Is God's way Of bringing us to see Him?

Do we see that in seeking For revelation. It is for God's sake And not for our own sake? Do we see that It is Through the caviar Of our soul That we enter into. It is not something cheap It is something cost.

And that's how Samuel was born. He was born a Nazarite. That's what revelation is. It is to set us apart. But after Samuel was born After he was weaned As Hannah had promised Samuel was lent to the Lord.

She brought Samuel to the temple And left him there Ministered In the house of God. And if you read the Second chapter Up to the third chapter Of first Samuel You will find the boy grew Grew up In wisdom In favor with God and man.

He as a little boy was clothed with ephod That was a priestly Clothing. And he ministered Even as a little boy In the temple Minister unto the Lord Before. But he had no personal Knowledge of God yet.

The word of God Had not yet come to him. And he did not know God. So one day While he was sleeping He heard God's voice. But he did not know where God was calling him. So he got up And ran to Eli His master.

He said here am I. You called me. But Eli said no my son I haven't called you. You go back and lie down. So he went to sleep. And God called him the second time He did the second time He ran to Eli. And the third time You know Samuel had no experience.

He did not know God's voice. But Eli however Weak he was However blind he was. You know he had a heart for God. He had a heart for the ark of God. His heart was trembled For the ark of God. And he had experience.

When the third time came Eli knew God was calling. So he told Samuel you go. And if you heard The call again You say here am I Lord Thy servant. And this was the way That Samuel first heard The voice of God.

And from that time onward The word of Samuel never fell. God said to it That the word that he gave to Samuel Always was fulfilled. So all Israel knew That God had established Samuel As a prophet of God.

And God began to appear again Because he had found. Now that was Another stage in the life Of brothers and sisters. It pleases God. It has pleased God To reveal his son Eli. In a sense you know We are children of light.

We are no longer in darkness. We are supposed to be people Who see and who hear. In a sense this is our birthright. Why. Because in him that is in Christ Is light and the light is the light of man. If we walk in the light As he is in the light We are fellowship one with another.

And the blood of Jesus Christ the son cleanses us From all our sins. In other words we who have become Children of light Should have light all the time. We should be walking in the light All the time.

We should have revelation all the time. We should be able to see all the time. This is our birthright In our experience Our history Of revelation. You will find Revelation increases In the measure Of the increase Of our life With the Lord.

The boy had to grow As he grew in life As he ministered To God Under Eli. Then God began To call him. You know in reading The first two three chapters of You're almost like reading Luke. Almost like reading Luke Chapter two Our Lord Jesus When he was a boy You know it's almost there.

Such a similarity there. The child grew In grace and in wisdom And in statute In favor of God and man. It is true Revelation is our birthright. God does not mean that we should walk in darkness. God wants us to see His purpose.

God wants us to see his heart His mind What he is doing What he intends to do What he is after. God wants us to see that. We are children of light. But that does not automatically mean That you will see light.

It depends very much Of your growth In your life with the Lord. Samuel waited That is what minister unto the Lord means. He waited upon the Lord. As a little boy He grew. There was that. And as he grew God began to call him.

How important for us to see That we need to grow In spiritual life. How do we grow in spiritual life? By waiting upon him in the temple. By having A hidden life with the Lord. As we commune with him As we Abide in Christ As we live before him As we wait upon him.

You will find gradually Our life will grow. And as our life grows Revelation. Not only that Samuel strength to think Was to Be trained under Eli. Who was Eli? We just mentioned Eli was an old man Blind Feeble.

And yet it pleased God To put the vessel Of his church Under the Direction of the old man Eli. Now suppose I am Samuel. And I was looking at Eli and said Who are you? That you are able to Have authority over me.

The word of God did not come to you anymore. You were blind. How could you have me? But here you will find The obedience and the diligence Of the boy Samuel. You know our boy When he fell to sleep He could hardly hear Anybody calling.

And if he should try to get up the first time And found that there was nothing to it. Certainly he will Neglect the second time. But here you will find the obedience of Samuel. Whenever he heard He got up He went to Eli and said Here I am.

You called me. How obedient he was. How diligent Training and the discipline. And through training and discipline He was able to grow Through obedience And diligence He was able to grow up. Brothers and sisters In growing spiritually God not only put us Before him.

But very often God put us Under somebody. That somebody may not be. That somebody may be very imperfect. And yet somehow In that somebody There is some experience. Other people's experience Can help us To grow in the Lord.

But remember only indirectly Not directly. Nobody's experience can help you directly. Not even your own experience. Why? Experience is the past history Of past revelation. You know Where do you come experience?

Your experience. Your experience comes from past revelation. God reveals To you something. And so you experience something. So experience actually Is the history of past revelation. It helps Helps to direct us to God.

But it cannot substitute. Because God is to Lead you on. If you depend upon Past experience You will remain behind While God is going forward. You will live in the past. However That past may have revelation in it.

But you will be living in the past That's experience. But experience does help us To direct our attention to God Because we have some experience. Therefore we Will go to the Lord And say Lord here am I Thy servant Speak thy servant here.

So you find all That Eli could do Was to direct Samuel to God. He could not give to Samuel The oracle of God. It had to come from God. Brothers and sisters The past experience of God's people Even your own Past experience do help.

They help us To direct us to God. But remember They don't help directly Only indirectly. Anyway Sometimes God so arranged We are in the process growing That God will put us under the authority Of some Who are older More experienced.

Maybe That we may learn obedience Learn diligence. And if we Learn it that way Then you will find The word of God Will come to us. In other words Revelation increases As life. By the way If you want to know more about this matter of authority There is a new book here.

I am not advertising it But I found that it is. I feel that it is something very important To us today. If you read it You may find more But I just mention it. Anyway Here you will find. This is how Samuel Began to grow And began to be able to receive More word from God More revelation.

And this is also true with us today. After the Ark was returned From the Philistines It was in the house Of Abinadab In Kurgeger In the forest. But during those 20 years The heart of the people of Israel Began to turn to the Lord.

Now how? I personally believe Happily it was due to the During those 20 years God's word came to Samuel. And Samuel Gave God's word to God's people. And it was through Samuel That you will find the heart of the children of Israel Began to turn to God.

So after 20 years When Samuel said that the heart of the people Of God will turn to God. Then he said alright let's all gather together At Mizba Before the world and I will pray for you. And you remember how the people Of Israel gathered together.