The Last Vision of Moses — Stephen Kaung

Moses Sees the Promised Land from Mount Nebo

Will you please turn to Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 34. We will read the first six verses. Deuteronomy chapter 34, begin with verse one. And Moses went up from the plain of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho.

And Jehovah showed him the whole land, Gileadon to Dan, and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the innermost sea, and the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, Jericho, to Zohar.

And Jehovah said unto him, This is the land that I swore unto Abraham, and to Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it. I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.

And Moses the servant of Jehovah died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of Jehovah. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Torah. And no man knows his sepulcher to this day.

And please turn to the book of Acts. Acts chapter 26. We'll read from verse 17 through verse 19. Acts chapter 26, verse 17. Taking thee out from among the people and the nations to whom I send thee, to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and inheritance among those of them that are sanctified by faith in me.

Whereupon King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. And finally, Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. We'll read from verse 11 through verse 14. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 11. In whom we have also obtained an inheritance, being marked out beforehand, according to the purpose of him who works all things, according to the counsel of his will, that we should be to the praise of his glory, who have pre-trusted in the Christ, in whom ye also have trusted, having heard the word of the truth, the glad tidings of your salvation, in whom also, having believed, ye have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance to the redemption of the acquired possession, to the praise of his glory.

Let's have a word of prayer. Dear Lord, as we remember thee at thy table, our hearts bow in worship. Who can love such sinners as we are? And who is able to love to such an extent as to give up all for us?

Lord, as our hearts are touched by thy love, we pray that thy word will enter into our hearts and enable to allow thy work to work in us, that thy word may be fulfilled in each and every one of us to the praise of the glory of God.

We ask in thy precious name. Amen. Brothers and sisters, we have been sharing of Moses as the servant of God. Thank God we who are saved by grace, we are all called to be God's servants. You remember when God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt?

Saved to Serve God's Purpose

He sent Moses to them to challenge Pharaoh, saying, let my people go that they may serve me. So in other words, we are saved to serve. We are saved, not that we may go to heaven and escape hell. We are saved that we may serve God.

God has a purpose in creating man. His purpose in creating man, that we may serve his purpose. So dear brothers and sisters, how can we be contented just to be saved? That is to say, we will be so selfish.

All we want is for ourselves. But God does not save us to make us selfish. Far from that. God saves us that we may serve God's purpose. But serving God is not a simple thing. Because we are serving the highest, the greatest, the creator, God, our Father.

So in serving him, we need to learn how can we really be of service to him. As a matter of fact, when we are first saved, I believe we all have that inward understanding. We want to serve God. But without waiting for God to reveal his way to us, we probably will just start to serve.

And of course we know when we do that, we serve according to our will, to what we think God should be served. And evidently, it takes some time before we realize that's not God's way. I remember when I was first saved, I was 15.

But I was so touched by the love of God that he could save such a person as I am. So self-righteous. Before I believed in the Lord Jesus, I came from a family. I believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

But I feel I did not need him because I'm such a good student. When I was in school, I was good with everybody. Not only fellow students, but even the servants. So I often thought, let God save the world, but not me.

Until the Lord is so gracious to me, he began to reveal to me my sins. It was not anybody talking to me. Just the Spirit of God began to touch me and enable to see me. There's nothing good in me. Everything from my head to my feet, there was nothing good.

And when I was under such enlightenment, I began to really seek for salvation. It spent me a whole year of earnest seeking. Why? Because I was brought up in a Christian family. I knew it all, as it were.

So it took me longer than most people. Until finally, he met me. And when I was saved, I was so grateful. I was willing to go anywhere to preach the gospel. As a matter of fact, I chose Mongolia because that was the furthest, the most difficult place, so far as a Chinese was concerned.

And it was real to me. That was my last year in high school. I prepared myself for going to Mongolia. I read anything about, everything about Mongolia. I decided not to go to college because to me it was a waste of four years.

I decided to go to a Bible school, prepare myself to go to Mongolia. But brothers and sisters, this was my way of serving God. Thank God for changing my plan, that I may be able to serve Him according to His plan.

Moses Learns to Wait for God's Way

And here you find Moses, the same thing. Evidently, his mother was able to put in his heart that he was saved for a purpose, to save God's people. So when he was 40 years old, he went out to see his own people.

And he was mighty in word and in deeds. So here he just used what he had learned. He beat an Egyptian unto death and buried him. He thought nobody would know it. But the next day, he discovered he was known by everybody.

He had to flee for his life. In other words, he tried to serve God by what he learned in the world, by his natural strength, wisdom, power. But God had no need of such things. I think Moses must be surprised that God should reject his offer.

It took him 40 years to realize that was not God's will. He had to unlearn everything he learned in that 40 years in Egypt, until finally he became a nobody. He dared not think anymore of doing something for God.

He was contented to just shepherd a few sheep. That's all. He was to the end of his life because he told us himself in Psalm 90, if a man's life is 70 years old, if he is strong, he may be 80. And Moses was 80 at that time already.

So he came to the end of his life. But dear brothers and sisters, we often say man's end is God's beginning. And how true that is. So first of all, brothers and sisters, have you come to the end of yourself?

If you have come to the end of yourself, then I believe God will begin to reveal to you how you can serve God. And by what are you going to serve God? So we find that before God sent him to Egypt to save the people, God gave him a vision, the vision of a burning bush.

God's Presence in the Burning Bush

Brothers and sisters, sometimes we are expecting to see something great, uncommon, spectacular, and then we say that's God's vision. But to your surprise, God often revealed his mind in simple, small things, daily things.

But even in daily things, it's different. Because burning bush is a common sight in the wilderness. In the wilderness, it was so hot, the bush would caught fire itself, and it would be burned very quickly.

And Moses has seen that, I don't know, hundreds, thousands of times already. But strangely, in this common sight, there was something uncommon. Moses noticed that this burning bush was not burnt. There was something strange.

So he went forward to look at it, and then a voice from the burning bush said, Moses, this is holy ground. Take off your shoes. In other words, God was in that burning bush. Instead of being burnt, it glows, it gives glory, because of the presence of God.

God was in charge. So brothers and sisters, the first lesson we have to learn is that we are nothing, nobody. But thank God, he is now in charge. And that's the beginning of serving God. And there God revealed his mind to Moses.

The Tabernacle, the Church, and God's Dwelling

So we remember, after Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, he led them to Mount Sinai. And there God revealed to them how to be God's people. And being God's people, what is God's desire for his people?

There Moses was given the law, and with the law, the tabernacle. You will be surprised that Moses, as you read, there are more chapters God revealed on tabernacle than his revelation on the law. Probably in our mind, when we think of Mount Sinai, the matter of the law impresses us most, and we tend to forget the vision of the tabernacle.

But what will be the law if it's not for the tabernacle? The law is just a process, a preparation, that the God's people may be his people, and he may dwell in their midst in the tabernacle. So there you find God show Moses how to be God's people, and what God's people is meant to be.

And brothers and sisters, we find we need the same vision. But thank God, it is no longer law, it is grace. It is grace that makes us the people of God. And after we be the people of God, what is God's purpose for making us his people?

That he may dwell in our midst. That is where the vision of the church comes. The law says, I will build my church upon this rock, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. So dear brothers and sisters, we need to know what grace is, and we also need to know, being God's people, what is God's purpose in us, that he may dwell in our midst.

In the building of the church is what God is after. Now this morning, we would like to go to the last vision that Moses had, and it was his vision at the Mount Pisgah. We know when God called Abraham, he gave him two promises.

Moses' Vision of the Promised Land

One promise was about the seed, and the other promise is about the land. And you can find that in Genesis chapter 15. God will raise up a seed through Abraham, and then God will also give the children of Israel a land.

And here you'll find the reason why God delivers the children of Israel out of Egypt is because God wants to lead them into Canaan. In other words, salvation is not just negative. Salvation is very positive.

God has forgiven our sins, delivered us from eternal death. To us is good enough, but to God, that is just the beginning. What God wants in man is the land. So you'll find after God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt, he wanted to bring them into the land, the promised land.

But unfortunately, we find the children of Israel, how they rebelled against God again and again. They were unfit for the land. They were finally had to wander in the wilderness for 38 years until their generation all passed away.

And with the new generation, God will lead them into the land. But now brothers and sisters, let us notice the attitude of Moses. He knew about the land because God has promised Abraham of the land. And then we also find that when he was sent to deliver the children of Israel in Exodus chapter 3, we are told that God told him that he would lead his people out of Egypt into the land, a good land flowing with milk and honey.

So Moses knew about the land. He knew that God's purpose is not negative. It's not just that we may be delivered out of eternal death. God's purpose is that we may inherit our inheritance in Christ Jesus.

That's God's purpose. Positive. So we find that Moses throughout his life, how he admired that land. Now we wonder, how did Moses know that land so well? He was never in the land before. Now of course, we know first of all, he knew about the land because God told him, it is a good land flowing with milk and honey.

Not only the basic of life, but even the luxury of life. And moreover, I believe God continued to reveal that land to Moses. And Moses also learned about the land from the spies because the spies went back and told everything about the land.

It was a good land, but it was occupied even by the giants. And furthermore, we find throughout Moses' life, even to the very end of it, God showed him the whole land. So there arose in Moses' heart a real desire for the land.

Brothers and sisters, when the children of Israel seemed to despise the land, Moses admired, wanted to enter into the land. You remember how in Deuteronomy chapter 3, Moses pleaded with God to allow him to go into the land, but because he did not honor God at Meribah.

Because at that time, you remember, the children of Israel murmured for water. And Moses was told by God to take the rod from the tabernacle and go to that rock, spook to the rock, and water will come forth.

But Moses was so disturbed by the children of Israel. So you'll find how he got angry. And he said, I will give you water to drink. And he used that rod, that butt, to strike against the rock. And in that, he did not honor God.

For that reason, Moses was not allowed to enter into the land. Brothers and sisters, God is strict with those who are near to him. Even though Moses admired the land so much, he pleaded with God to let him go into the land, but he was not allowed.

It's a discipline of the Lord. But brothers and sisters, did Moses eventually enter the land? If you read the New Testament, what did you find? You find that in Matthew chapter 17, when our Lord Jesus took three disciples to go to that Mount of Transfiguration, the Lord was transfigured, full of glory.

And then two men appeared to him. Who were they? Moses and Elijah. So in other words, even after he died, evidently he was risen from the dead, and he was able to be brought into the land because he was in that Mount of Transfiguration.

And number two, you find in Revelation chapter 11, God will send two men to strengthen the faith of the faithful children of Israel during the Great Tribulation. And who were these two men? The Bible did not mention their names, but by the miracles that they were to perform, you know it was Moses and it was Elijah.

So in other words, even after his death, because of his desire before the Lord, the Lord was so gracious that he was allowed to be in that land. So you can see how Moses admired that land. God finally said, you cannot go into the land, but go to Mount Pisgah, and God showed him the whole land.

Salvation Includes a Positive Inheritance

Brothers and sisters, do we have such a desire for the land? You know, as we read the New Testament, all of you read Acts when Paul bore witness to Agrippa. You notice that he said, to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins.

Now that's the first thing we notice. When we heard the Gospel, it told us of the remission of our sins before God. But that's not all. And he said, ye may receive remission of sins and inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me.

So in other words, brothers and sisters, salvation is not just negative. That we may have our sins forgiven, that we may not go to hell, but go to heaven instead. No. Salvation is very positive. So there is a positive side of salvation that oftentimes we neglect.

We seem to be so satisfied with the negative side of salvation that we forget there is a positive side, which is far better. And the positive side is about inheritance. So do you know that you who are saved by grace, you have an inheritance prepared for you.

And we know this inheritance is mutual. On the one hand, we have an inheritance in Christ. And on the other hand, Christ has his inheritance in us. It is mutual. But brothers and sisters, are we thinking about inheritance?

Are we just satisfied if only, as a brother said, my two feet will be within the gates of heaven, I am satisfied? Well, you are satisfied, but Christ is not satisfied. He will not be satisfied until you receive the inheritance that he has prepared for you.

To put it simply, to receive the remission of your sins is by confession of your own sins, and repentance, and belief in what our Lord Jesus has borne in his body, our sins on the cross. But that's only the beginning.

As a preparation for something far greater. And that is, we who are saved by grace, we are destined to inherit an inheritance from God. And this inheritance can be put in many different ways. For instance, in Romans chapter 8, you find that whom God has foreknown, he has called.

Whom he has called, he has justified. That's not the end. Whom he has justified, he has sanctified. So, brothers and sisters, there is sanctification there. And sanctification is unto inheritance. As justification is unto our sins forgiven.

So, sanctification is the purpose of inheritance. We who believe in the Lord Jesus, brothers and sisters, there is a land God has prepared for us. And what is that land? That land is not heaven that we are thinking.

It's more than that. That land is none other but our Lord Jesus himself. God wants us to have Christ. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily. That is our Christ, our lamb. We cannot phantom all the fullness of the Godhead.

We only know a little bit of the wholeness of the Godhead, such as his love. How does he love us? The most unworthy ones, the sinful ones. But he loves us to the uttermost. And we do not know yet what that love is.

To the uttermost. We are still experiencing it. We do not know which is holiness. We only know he is holy. And we have to learn gradually in our life how holy he is. Be holy because I am holy. We only know a little bit of the fullness of the Godhead.

But all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily. What God is, Christ is. No more, no less. And God gives Christ to be our inheritance. Brothers and sisters, we have the greatest inheritance that you can ever think of.

The Holy Spirit as the Seal of Our Inheritance

Christ is your lamb. And how do we know it? Well, in Ephesians chapter 1, we are told, because we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit. You know, in the old days, when people go to the forest to buy woods, what do they do?

They will carry their seal with them. And whichever tree that you want to buy, you'll put your seal on that tree. That is to say, this tree belongs to me now. I'm buying it. And nobody will take it away from you.

So that is the seal of the Holy Spirit. When we are saved, you know what happened? God put his spirit as a seal upon us. We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit. In other words, God has claimed us as his inheritance, and vice versa.

Because of that, we are able to claim Christ as our inheritance. We who believe in the Lord Jesus has the indwelt Holy Spirit. You know, people today seem to pay more attention to the so-called baptism of the Holy Spirit.

But baptism of the Holy Spirit is outward. It is for gift, that by these gifts we may serve God. But there is something more basic in the work of the Holy Spirit in us, and he is to be the seal that seals us for God.

Every one of us who believe in the Lord Jesus has the indwelt Holy Spirit. When you read the history of that, you remember before our Lord left his disciples, go to the cross, and then resurrected, and go to heaven.

The disciples, when they heard about that news, they were worried. Why? Because our Lord was their comforter throughout the three years as they followed him. That is to say, our Lord would take care of everything for them.

He is their comforter. He was alongside with them. He took care for them. Then our Lord was leaving, so no wonder they felt very sorrowful. Now who will take care of us anymore? So the Lord gave them a promise.

The Indwelling Spirit as the Continuing Comforter

He said, I go, but I will send the Holy Spirit to you. He will be another comforter to you. Same comforter, but another kind, and that is when Christ was the comforter, he was with them, but he can only be alongside with them.

Because he was in the body. So when he was sending his disciples out, and he said, I will go afterwards, they were separated. But the comforter that he promised to them, he said, he will come and dwell within you.

And because he dwells within you, he will never leave you, nor forsake you. Wherever you go, he goes. Even if you offend him, he will be offended, but he will not leave you. He will still be in you and continue to please with you.

Brothers and sisters, this another comforter, in a sense, is a better comforter than our Lord Jesus was to his disciples on earth. Because he will never leave you, nor forsake you. But the problem is, if you do not obey him again, again, and again, then you will hear his voice smaller and smaller and smaller, until finally you cannot hear him.

He is still speaking within you, but you cannot hear him. Brothers and sisters, our Christian life is based upon the indwelled Holy Spirit. If it had not been the indwelled Holy Spirit, we cannot live a Christian life.

He is the seal upon us. He will make sure that we will get the property, the inheritance, both ways. Because when he works in us and enables us to make Christ our inheritance, at the same time, we become the inheritance of Christ.

So, brothers and sisters, the importance of the work of the indwelled Holy Spirit is beyond measure. How we as Christians can neglect the voice of the anointing within us. As you find in 1 John 2, verse 27, you have the anointing within you.

The anointing is the anointing. And the anointing is the indwelled Holy Spirit. He is like an ointment within you. Because when he speaks, it is like applying an ointment on your wounds. It is not like a big rain or the great rain or the earthquake.

That's the work of the devil. When he speaks to you, it is in a still, small voice. If you are quiet enough, you will hear him. And I think, brothers and sisters, it is important that you hear him. You know, once I asked a group of young people, how are we going to dwell, to abide in Christ?

The Lord said, abide in me and I in you, and you will bear much fruit. Now, how can we abide in Christ? The young people gave me different answers. Some said, we have to spend more time in prayer. Now, of course, we need it.

Or others say, we need to read the Bible more. Or others say, we need to attend all the meetings because if the Lord should come and we are absent, what will it be? Now, that was the ambassador used by God in the Welsh revival in 1904 and 5.

We find that in Wales, there was a great revival and the instrument used by God was a minor. A young minor. But he attended every meeting. He never missed any meeting. Why? Because he said, if the Lord should come, if the Spirit would come on that meeting and I was not there, what a loss it will be.

And then the Lord greatly used him. And there was a great revival in 1904 and 5. Even the judges, we were told, were white gloves because there was no case. Even the donkeys that worked for the miners couldn't understand the miners because the miners used to curse and do these things and the donkeys understand them.

But now, they are completely changed. So, the donkeys didn't know what they were saying. Brothers and sisters, even in 1950, I was invited to New Zealand and I met the people that were the remnant of that Welsh revival.

The Lord did a great thing with Evan Roberts. A simple minor, but because he was listening and he heard. Brothers and sisters, I cannot describe the importance of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Our Christian life depends upon your attitude towards the indwelling Holy Spirit.

If you learn to hear him, he will teach you in all things, not only big things, but also in small things. We think things are too small. I do not need to listen. I know how to do it. But brothers and sisters, even in small things, learn to listen to the voice of the indwelt Holy Spirit.

For he is teaching us in all things. Remember this, teaching us in all things. And if you follow the teaching of the anointing within you, you abide in Christ. You are sure you are in Christ. It's very simple.

It's a daily thing. Brothers and sisters, Christian life is not a hundred yard dash. It's a long distance, obstacle race. And it behoves us that daily we be quiet before the Lord and learn to hear his voice and cooperate with him.

And as we do, then we will get our inheritance. Christ is our inheritance. You know, to the Apostle Paul, he knows Christ is inheritance. So therefore, when you read Philippians chapter three, you find that he was willing to let go everything in order to gain Christ, to know him and the power of his resurrection, fellowship of his suffering, that he may enter into the out resurrection from among the dead.

And he said, even when he was in Philippian prison, in Roman prison, he still said, I'm not saying I've already obtained. I'm just forgetting what is behind and press on towards that which is before me, that I may gain him.

Brothers and sisters, it's a mutual thing. When you gain Christ, Christ gains you. You will be his property, his inheritance, and he will be your inheritance. So this is something, brothers and sisters, we as Christians must pay daily attention to it.

Whether you will obtain your inheritance or not depends on your daily relationship with the indwelling Holy Spirit. So brothers and sisters, it is very simple, but that is the truth. So it is our prayer that we are not here just to be saved.

We are here that we may gain Christ and Christ may gain us. That is the will of God. So may the Lord encourage us. Shall we pray? Dear Lord, we commit this simple truth into your hand and pray that thy people will hear.

Do not allow us to be satisfied with being just saved, for there you have far greater blessing for your people. You want to be our inheritance and in turn we be your inheritance. So may this be so.