Today's message comes from our most popular series called Legacies of Light. Stephen has a new book. Legacies of Light Volume two We're sending that as a gift to those who make a special donation to our ministry during this series. We need your financial support to make this ministry possible, and this new book is our way of saying thank you. I've put a link in the show notes that gives you all the information you need.
Now, here's Steven. About the time he finishes this translation work, war breaks out between England and Burma. And all of the English missionaries are immediately suspected of being spies. for the British government. There was trouble.
in the air. Five years after baptizing. their first convert. On June 8th, 1824, Burmese officials Suddenly broke into their home, threw Adenarm to the ground, tied him up, and dragged him away. to prison.
In John's Gospel. the Lord Jesus is speaking to His disciples. And he is foretelling his Death and his resurrection and his coming glory or glorification. And the Lord is not only speaking prophetically. of his own death.
But of all those who Surrender. In fact, to this day, those who surrender their lives to following Jesus Christ. No matter what. Look at verse 24. There, this will be the life verse lived out by the individual I'm going to introduce.
you to uh tonight perhaps in a in a little bit deeper way. But the Lord says in verse 24 of John 12, truly, truly I say to you, Unless a grain of wheat Falls into the earth and dies. It remains alone. But if it dies It bears much. Fruit.
Jesus certainly implies here that suffering and fruit bearing go hand in hand. In fact, there seems to be some parallel, doesn't there, between suffering much. and influencing much. For the glory of Christ, Have you ever wondered why it is that people were still reading about today and people were still studying? in the Bible and throughout church history.
People who accomplished so much. Suffered.
So much? In fact, it seems like the more they suffered, The more they are studied, To this day. The words of our Lord as he enters Jerusalem. Knowing that within days he is going to be crucified. Still echo.
to this day with this lasting principle. A legacy of spiritual fruit. belongs to that man or woman. young person. who effectively says to Jesus Christ, Here am I.
Barry. May. If there was anybody in church history that seemed to fit this description, at least in modern church history, of a fruitful life of surrender, it would be the man who would become America's first. foreign missionary. He would suffer incredibly.
He would bury all but one of his children. He would dig graves for his first wife and then his second wife 19 years later. Many of his associates would die. as well from disease and difficulty. In fact, long after becoming a living legend, Adnar M.
Judson would write this kind of appeal to potential missionary candidates. Ready for this? I quote Remember. A large proportion of those Who comes out on a mission here to the east die within five years after leaving their native land?
So. Walk softly. Death is narrowly watching. your steps. How's that for a recruiting strategy?
Are you willing to be a seed planted in the ground? By suffering, even dying, bear a harvest of fruit for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Well, as I mentioned, this missionary's name was Adam Aram Judson. He was born into a pastor's home. in seventeen eighty eight in Boston, Massachusetts. By the age of three, He was already revealing that he was a rather precocious child, a quick learner. His mother was Abel.
To her surprise, to teach him how to read In one week. My mother had the same problem with me and it's a cross I have to bear. Oh. It was during a week while his father was away preaching, and Adenarm surprised his father upon his return. By reading an entire chapter to him from the Bible.
Three years of age. No, that wasn't me. I don't know about you. At age three, I was climbing up the stairs to see how far I could go up and jump and still survive. That was my level of intelligence.
That was me. When he was 16, His Father enrolled him in Rhode Island College, now Brown University. He did that because his father, although his father graduated from Yale, considered at that time Yale and Harvard to be Too liberal. If only he could see them now.
Well Ad Direm would go to Brown University. He'd be at the top of every class. throughout college, and he would graduate valedictorian In eighteen oh seven.
However, he would keep a secret. That would not be revealed for at least a year. And when he revealed it. after his twentieth birthday. It would break his parents' heart.
Adnarm had been heavily influenced. by a fellow student named Jacob Eames. Jacob Eames was popular. Brilliant. Artistic And he was an unbeliever.
Jacob became one of Adnaram's closest friends, and he introduced Adnaram to what was called then free thinking, which is basically atheism. French skepticism. And it ultimately denies the deity of Christ and the gospel of atonement. By the time Adnan Judson graduated from Brown University, he had abandoned the Bible he'd learned how to read at the age of three. And he'd also abandoned the gospel.
After informing his parents of his unbelief, With their hearts shattered. He attempted the tutor for a year. And that didn't work out, and so he set out to tour New England on horseback. He eventually joined a group of actors in New York City where he lived what he called a reckless. Vagabond life.
He would write that they would find lodging in an inn, run up the score, and then slip out in the middle of the night without paying any of their bills. But after only a few weeks in New York City with these actors, he kind of grew tired of their undisciplined lifestyle. And he struck out on his own again, roaming. without any purpose, without any meaning. Searching.
One night he He stopped to spend the night at an inn he'd never stayed at before. And the innkeeper apologized to him when he arrived that he would more than likely have his sleep. interrupted by a young man next door in the in the room next to him. who was violently ill. Sure enough, during the night, The moaning and the crying and the groaning Of the young man in the next room kept him awake.
The man seemed to be on the brink of dying. His moaning and his groaning and lamenting and crying. kept Ad Niram lying awake on his bed. I'm a storm eight. Add and Iron wondered About this young man's soul.
Where would he spend eternity? What was his hope after death? And in fact, he realized he shouldn't even be asking those kinds of questions because he didn't believe that anymore. In fact, he would recount later that he himself lay there thinking the same thoughts about his own soul. And if he were that young man.
Eventually the moaning stopped. And Aden Iram's slipped off to sleep. But early the next morning, Adarm got up and he asked the innkeeper about the young man's health. The outcome. And the innkeeper confirmed that the young man had indeed died.
Hours earlier. Had no masked him. Do you know who he was? And the innkeeper said, oh yes. His name was Eames.
Jacobins. And Adenarm could hardly move. He would stay at that inn for hours pondering. The death of his friend, And he would later tell a friend, and I quote, To think that hell should open up in this country inn and snatch Jacob Eames, my dearest friend and guide, from the next room, this could not, simply could not be pure coincidence. And of course it wasn't.
In the sovereign grace of Christ, in fact, Argent realized that God was on his trail, he said. Yeah. He immediately returned home. and to the joy of his parents a few months later trusted Christ for his personal salvation. and devoted himself.
To the Lord. He would be marked forever by that event. that God so dramatically used. Two years. Later, he was wrapping up some seminary studies and he applied for missionary status with the Congregational Church.
A Congregational Mission Board. As a student, he had heard a sermon that illustrated the mission fields of Burma. China India And he determined to give his life to serve Christ in that part of the world. Which is then interesting again that his parents, who were thrilled with his conversion, were not happy with his desire for missionary service overseas. And in fact, he had been offered a faculty position at Brown University.
which he declined, much to the frustration of his father, He was offered a paid pastoral position in a church nearby, his family home, which he declined. to his mother's tears. On the same day, he presented himself to the Congregationalist Mission Board. He met a young woman named Ann Haseltyne. And over the next few weeks, they quickly fell in love.
Adnar was clear about his life's goal. He told her and everybody else he was heading for Burma. That's located between southern India and China. a land that we now call Myahmar. She turned out to be just as committed.
to the gospel as he was.
So one month after meeting her, Again, this is not what you want your children to hear. Uh one month after meeting her He asked her father if he could marry her. His letter to Ann's father is revealing. And I'm going to read some of it to you. Because it reveals his passion for the lost, and it's almost prophetic.
in detail. The letter reads. By the way, dads. Imagine Some young man wanting to marry your daughter and his proposal sounding like. This.
1800s English. I quote. I have now to ask you. Whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring. to see her no more in this world Okay, that's a period for me.
Yeah. Think about it. Listen. Whether you can consent. to her departure for a heathen land.
Her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary's life. Whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean. to the fatal influences of the southern climate of India. To every kind of want and distress, To degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this for the sake of him who left his heavenly home and died for her?
And for you, For the sake of perishing immortal souls, for the sake of heaven and the glory of God, can you consent to all this in the promise of meeting your daughter in the world of glory with a crown of righteousness brightened by the acclamations of heathen now saved through her means, who will there be praising her Savior? How's that for a proposal? Man, imagine I'd like to take your daughter away from you to a heathen land where she'll probably suffer every deprivation and, more than likely, a violent death. You could see, can't you, in this young man. No holds barred.
This is what I'm going to do. This is where we're going to go. This is what matters most. Am's father. said yes.
And so did she. In a way, Anne. Her father. Mother Really, we're all saying the same thing to God, just in different ways. Here am I.
Barry Maybe. Two weeks after their wedding, They are on a ship bound. for India. The voyage would last four months. And I want to bring up one thing because it creates problems, and again, it shows you a little bit of their character.
It's going to create problems with their congregationalist supporters back home and their family. Remember, his dad is a congregational pastor. You see, during this voyage, they spent a lot of time ransacking the book of Acts. The Gospels studying the word on subjects related to church planting. And they came to the conclusion That salvation should precede baptism.
And they also concluded that baptism, correctly understood, literally translated, could only mean. Immersion. In that voyage, they changed their entire view and their affiliation.
So Which means, and by the way, this is no small thing, they departed from America as Congregationalists and landed in India as Baptists.
Now the problem was there was no American Baptist Missionary Board. He's the first missionary from America.
So they effectively declined, walked away from all of their support. and their supporters. I bring that issue up because it reveals something about them early on, both of them, their willingness to confront their religious past, their willingness to potentially upset their families, their willingness to lose all their financial support, all for the sake of biblical conviction. Which reveals quite a bit about the metal of their character that'll be put to the test. Adnirm and Ann Judson were baptized by immersion soon after landing in Calcutta, India.
by the son of William Carey, Felix was his name with whom they stayed. When they arrived. They would trust God and Frankly, never looked back.
Now, the good news was. When news reached America of their changed position, Baptist churches rallied. Evidently, they're a little slower than the congregation listen. They created the American Baptist Missionary Union and promptly began supporting them.
Now there were other changes ahead for them. They expected to settle in an area where they were not allowed when they arrived. They had to move several times. And eventually they settled on an area known as Rangoon, Burma, just north of Thailand. There they would spend the next ten years.
of their lives attempting to learn the Burmese language. They had to learn it without a teacher. Without a grammar, Without a dictionary, Without any other believers, without a church. Without any help. Adnar had to learn and his wife Anne by literally creating His own Burmese grammar.
See how God wired him at three. to prepare him for what he would be doing at 23. And so he would spend several years. Creating his own grammar, learning the language, it would take six years of study. before he was able to preach his first Sermon.
Finally, Seven years after arriving, Adenaram led the first Burmese individual to faith in Jesus Christ.
Now think about it. Seven Years. Before one convert. to Christ. I mean, that doesn't really sell all that well to the supporters back home, does it?
But they stayed with it. Part of the problem was in Burma converting from Buddhism was punishable by death. And little wonder, it would take Judson twelve years. before he had 18 people baptized and in the church. Twelve years.
18 people. On one occasion, Adder Nehram and another missionary traveled to see the Emperor of Burma to petition for freedom. to preach and for people to convert without losing their lives or be or being threatened of the loss of their lives and He not only disregarded their requests, but he threw the gospel tract. that Adonirm had written to the ground after reading only a few lines. In the meantime, Roger William Judson, Their little boy died at eight months of age.
Back in their home region, Ann Judson continued serving along with her husband. She had been able to befriend the wife. of the political leader in Rangoon, sort of like the governor in our culture. and begin to make inroads and Before long a printing press arrived and And materials that Adam and Iram had translated into Burmese were now being printed by the thousands. Still, no real fruit, but they were now coalescing into printed materials that they could distribute, and they were being distributed.
It included a full and complete translation of the Gospel of Matthew. Eventually, Adam and Iram would complete the entire New Testament. In into Burmese. About the time he finishes this translation, war breaks out between England and Burma. And all of the English missionaries are immediately suspected of being spies for the British government.
There was trouble. In the air. Five years after baptizing. their first convert. On June 8th, 1824, Burmese officials suddenly broke into their home, threw Adenarm to the ground, tied him up and dragged him away.
to prison. He was placed in a prison building with 100 other inmates, male and female. They were all lying on the floor, their feet in stocks and iron chains weighing fourteen pounds. And in fact, Adoniron would wear the scars of those chains For the rest of his life, At night, he records, a bamboo pole was passed between the prisoners' shackled feet and then hoisted up by pulleys so that the prisoners literally hung upside down. At a height which allowed their shoulders to rest on the ground while their feet were pulled above their heads all night long.
After some time, Adeniron was moved to a cage. that once housed a lion. Not High enough to stand, not broad enough. to lie down. During this time, Ann delivered their daughter Maria.
She would walk to that jail every day, bringing Adenirm food that she would beg the jailer to pass along to him because the prison supplied no food. Food. Inmates simply starved to death.
Soon she became ill. and unable to nurse her baby. And finally, if you can imagine this, the jailer had mercy on them and actually let Add and Iram take the baby each evening into the village and beg for some nursing mother. to give their baby Milk. Finally, suddenly, Add and I was released from prison almost two years in there.
He was evidently needed to translate between the English and the Burmese. They found a use for him. By the time he returned home, Anne was dead. A few months later, Their little Maria. died.
A few months after that, he received news that his father, had also only recently died as well, and he was crushed by it all. It just all bored down on him. He entered a deep depression. It would last nearly three years. He dropped his translation work.
He retreated from anything that might promote any sense of happiness or pleasure. He refused to eat. with those outside the mission station. He renounced his honorary doctorate that he had been given from Brown University. He gave all of his savings.
Away to the Baptist Mission Board and ask that his salary be reduced. He then built a hut Some distance from his mission compound deep in the jungle, dangerous. And alone, where he moved in, he even dug next to the hut an open grave. Where he expected to be buried, and he would sit in that grave for hours contemplating. the decaying of his own flesh.
He would write in his journal, though, And on one occasion during this time he wrote these, words of utter spiritual desolation He said, and I quote, God is to me the great. Unknown. I believe in him. But I cannot find him. Is it possible?
But God in his timing waited. until this seed had truly Yeah.
