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The Eternal Purpose of God - Part 4
Stephen Kaung

Stephen Kaung (1915 - 2022). Chinese-American Bible teacher, author, and translator born in Ningbo, China. Raised in a Methodist family with a minister father, he converted to Christianity at 15 in 1930, driven by a deep awareness of sin. In 1933, he met Watchman Nee, joining his indigenous Little Flock movement in Shanghai, and served as a co-worker until 1949. Fleeing Communist persecution, Kaung worked in Hong Kong and the Philippines before moving to the United States in 1952. Settling in Richmond, Virginia, he founded Christian Fellowship Publishers in 1971, translating and publishing Nee’s works, including The Normal Christian Life. Kaung authored books like The Splendor of His Ways and delivered thousands of sermons, focusing on Christ-centered living and the church’s spiritual purpose. Married with three children, he ministered globally into his 90s, speaking at conferences in Asia, Europe, and North America. His teachings, available at c-f-p.com, emphasize inner life over institutional religion. Kaung’s collaboration with Nee shaped modern Chinese Christianity.
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This sermon emphasizes the importance of understanding and aligning with the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God, highlighting how our perception of God's will can be distorted due to our unrenewed minds. It explores the concept of God's purpose, which was established even before the creation of the world as a mystery waiting to be revealed at the appointed time. The sermon underscores the idea that God, who is beyond human comprehension, desires to be known and reveals Himself and His will to those who seek Him with a spirit of wisdom and revelation.
Sermon Transcription
what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. It is because our mind is deranged. Therefore, sometimes we think the will of God is bad. You know, at one time, when I was working with young people, I asked young people, what do you think is the will of God? How do we know this is the will of God? Well, one answer is, whatever is against me is the will of God. It is not good, not acceptable, not because God's will is not good and perfect and acceptable. It is because our mind has not been renewed. Whatever comes out of God must be perfect. Thank God for his will. And out of that will comes his purpose. The Bible said he purposed in himself, even before the foundation of the world. There, before he created the world, before there was time, God exercised his will. According to his good pleasure, and he purposed a purpose in himself. There was nobody there. He was all by himself. So, he can only purpose in himself. And that purpose, that will, the Bible called it the mystery of his will. Now, why is it called a mystery? You know, a mystery doesn't mean something mysterious, something bad. No. Mystery simply means a secret. God has a secret. He secretly made up his mind, even before the creation of the world. And he kept his secret so well. You know, we are not able to keep any secret. Especially if that secret is so glorious, so good, so perfect, so pleasing. We cannot keep it back. We want to tell it to all. But God knows how to keep secret. He has a top secret. And he has hidden it in himself throughout the ages and generations, until the fullness of time. A secret waits to be revealed. Sometimes we say the greatest mystery is God. Now, who knows God? He is so above us. He is unlimited, infinite. How can we know him? So, no wonder with the Greek, they have an altar called unknown God. God cannot be known. In one sense, that's true. But in another sense, thank God, he can be known. Why? Because he loves to be known. A mystery, a secret, waits to be revealed. There is only one way to know a secret, and that is when it is revealed. Brothers and sisters, we do not know God. He is way beyond us. So far as our natural man is concerned, there is no way we can know him. But thank God, even though his will is a mystery, and he has hidden it throughout the generations and the ages, and yet he is just waiting for the right moment to reveal it. In the fullness of time, he reveals it. Our God is not a God who hides himself. You remember in Genesis chapter 16, Haggai, he fled from her mistress, and an angel of the Lord met her and told her to go back. And she will bear a son, shall be called Ishmael. And God will, and then you'll find Haggai said, he is the God who reveals. He has revealed himself to me. Our God is a God who reveals himself. In Galatians chapter 1 verse 15, the apostle Paul said, it has pleased God to reveal his son in me. So you know that our God has a secret, and he is able to keep his secret, but until the right time, and secret will be revealed. So brothers and sisters, when you come into this matter of the eternal purpose of God, remember one thing, we need revelation. Without the spirit of wisdom and revelation, we are not able to enter into God's eternal purpose. We are not able to get that true knowledge of God. So we need to cast ourselves upon Lord, not trying to depend upon our own ability. I think from the very outset, we need to have a right attitude. As we are faced with the eternal purpose of God, we need to acknowledge that so far as we ourselves are concerned, this is something beyond us. No matter how we try, we will not be able to really understand it.
The Eternal Purpose of God - Part 4
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Stephen Kaung (1915 - 2022). Chinese-American Bible teacher, author, and translator born in Ningbo, China. Raised in a Methodist family with a minister father, he converted to Christianity at 15 in 1930, driven by a deep awareness of sin. In 1933, he met Watchman Nee, joining his indigenous Little Flock movement in Shanghai, and served as a co-worker until 1949. Fleeing Communist persecution, Kaung worked in Hong Kong and the Philippines before moving to the United States in 1952. Settling in Richmond, Virginia, he founded Christian Fellowship Publishers in 1971, translating and publishing Nee’s works, including The Normal Christian Life. Kaung authored books like The Splendor of His Ways and delivered thousands of sermons, focusing on Christ-centered living and the church’s spiritual purpose. Married with three children, he ministered globally into his 90s, speaking at conferences in Asia, Europe, and North America. His teachings, available at c-f-p.com, emphasize inner life over institutional religion. Kaung’s collaboration with Nee shaped modern Chinese Christianity.