God has an eternal plan which spans from eternity to eternity. His plan is to gain many sons. Many people do not realize how great the matter of sonship is. But we have to realize that God's goal is to have sons. God's plan involves sons. Galatians 4:6 says, "And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father!" This shows us that God has put the Spirit of His Son in us for the purpose of making us His sons. Hebrews 2:10 says, "For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in leading many sons into glory." This shows us that when God reaches His goal, many sons will be in glory. God is leading many sons into glory. His purpose is to gain sons. He calls these sons His inheritance. In Ephesians 1, God shows us, on the one hand, that He has predestinated us to be sons (v. 5), and on the other hand, He has predestinated us to be His inheritance (v. 11).

What is God's inheritance? God's inheritance means something that belongs to God. God has predestinated us unto sonship, and He has also predestinated us to be His inheritance. Every one of us belongs to God. Paul prayed that the eyes of our heart would be enlightened to know the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. What is this glory? This glory is to be the same as God is and to glorify God. This is what God desires. He has chosen us to be His people, His inheritance, and His sons. May the Lord open our eyes to see what a glory this is!

Not only should we know Him, we should also know His work, His plan, and His goal. In order to have this knowledge, we need a vision. Without a vision, we will see little; it will be limited and temporary. Concerning spiritual works, we are often burdened with the little projects in our hands. We are happy when we see good results from our works, and we are sad when we do not see good results from our works. Our view is limited to a small sphere, and we do not see the greater things before the Lord's eyes. What we see is indeed trifling. We are like a small child with a ten dollar note in his hand; he is overwhelmed by the note. It is his total possession. Many times, our views are just as small; we do not see the eternal things. We have to realize that God's view is from eternity to eternity. He desires to open our eyes and deliver us from being narrow. Man is too narrow. We are too narrow, and the works in our hands are too narrow. God wants to deliver us from this narrow realm. He wants to show us the hope of His calling and the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. This is not merely a matter of man's need, but a matter of God's need. Why do we have to preach the gospel? We preach the gospel not only because man has a need, but because God has an even greater need. Do not think that the gospel of grace and the gospel of the kingdom are two different gospels. No, they are not two different gospels; they are one gospel from two different angles. On man's side, it is the gospel of grace. On God's side, it is the gospel of the kingdom. God wants to gather many people unto Himself and have many people to fulfill His purpose. For this reason, we should not base our work on man's view only, but on God's view. God wants to gain a people; He wants to gain men to glorify Himself. Our preaching of the gospel and our gaining of men are for the purpose of meeting this need of God. Hence, God's children need a vision, a vision of eternity. A vision will change our work, our view, and our Christian life. Once we see a vision, we can no longer remain in our trifling work. We cannot hold on to our past views and methods, and we cannot be concerned all the time with our trifling gains and losses.

Some brothers and sisters have heard of God's plan and purpose. But when they turn around to work and preach the gospel, they say, "I do not know how to relate my work to God's plan. When I become busy with my work and when my hands are on my work, I lose sight of what I have heard concerning God's eternal plan and purpose. His eternal plan and purpose fade away and disappear. While I was hearing about them, I was very clear. But within a short time I forgot all about them." We have to realize that what we hear can be easily forgotten, but what we see is not easily forgotten. It is easy to forget doctrines, but it is not easy to forget a vision. The question therefore lies in whether or not we have seen something, and whether the eyes of our heart have been opened. If God has opened the eyes of our heart, and if we truly see God's calling, His inheritance, His plan, and His purpose, we will spontaneously see that all our works, both great and small, must be related to God's plan. If they are not linked to His plan, they cannot be considered God's work.

We need God to open our eyes and give us a vision. This will be a great deliverance; it will deliver us from ourselves and from our narrow world. We will feel that as long as the work of eternity is not finished, it is impossible for us to rest. As long as God's eternal plan is not fulfilled, it will be impossible for us to be satisfied. The commitment of our heart, the burden on our shoulder, and the work in our hands will be nothing less than what God wants to do. Even the moving of a little piece of stone should be toward the building of that one work which spans from eternity to eternity. May the Lord grant us grace to remain in this vision. How easy it is for us to lose sight of this vision. How easy it is for our work to come short of this vision. God does not necessarily want us to do great works. Yet whatever work we do must be within that great realm, must be joined to that great goal, and must be a part of that great work. It is hard to say if our life's work consists merely of the little that we are doing. But if this little is what God wants us to do, it is actually a great work because it is surely a part of the work which God is carrying out from eternity to eternity.