A Great Cloud: Adoniram Judson

Christ Is Worthy of the Nations

Texts: Matthew 28:18–20; Romans 10:13–15; Revelation 5:9–12

Big Idea: Jesus Christ is worthy to be worshiped among every nation, and therefore no sacrifice made in faithful obedience to bring His gospel to the nations is ultimately wasted.

Revelation 5:9–10 “And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.””

Romans 10:13–15 “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!””

Matthew 28:18–20 “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

We need to be a missions people

Go

Send

Give

Pray

But there is a cost….

I want to tell the story of Adoniram & Ann Judson. Who counted the cost and went anyways

Younger years

Born in Massachusetts 1788 to his mother Abigail & his father Adoniram Sr who was a congregationalist pastor

Adoniram was brilliant

Brown university at 16

Graduated top of his class

At brown, he became close friends with Jacob Eames

Jacob was a skeptic & a deist

With much of Eames influence, Judson eventually rejects christianity

You can imagine the pain of his parents, the pastors child abandons the faith

God wasn’t done with him yet

In 1808, shortly after his 20th birthday, Adoniram was traveling to NYC.

Like many other 20 somethings, he wanted to travel the and explore and start his life

On the way he stopped at rural inn to stay the night. Little did he know this night would shape the trajectory of his life

After getting to his room he could hear the groans of a man in the room next to him. It so happened that this man was gravely ill

As he listened to this man dying next to him, he began to think about death himself

“Is this it?”

“Is there anything beyond the grave”

“Is Jesus the Christ”

“Is Christianity true?”

He was embarrassed over his fears and imagined what his friend Jacob would think about it

The next morning he learned the man had died… who was it, he asked?

Jacob Eames

His heart sank… The one who influenced him away from the faith. The one who he thought of as he contemplated death.

He couldnt ignore eternity any longer

He enrolled at Andover Theological Seminary and began to study the scriptures

November of 1808 he was saved.

December 2 1808 he made a complete dedication of his life to God

Judson decides he will become a missionary and take the gospel to the nations

Ann

The next year, Adoniram meets a young woman named Ann Hasseltine when he was preparing to be sent as a missionary

He fell in love and wanted to marry her

This was a big deal

This wasn’t marrying a doctor

Or a lawyer

Or even a local pastor

This was marrying a man who was going to the mission field

Disease

Danger

Persecution

Murder

Prison

Asked her father deacon John Hasseltine for permission

"I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter early in the next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the perils of the ocean; to the fatal climate of Southern Asia; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death; and 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 Zion and the glory of God?Can you consent to all this, in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory, with the crown of righteousness brightened by the acclamations of praise which shall redound to her Savior from heathen saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair?"

On February 5, 1812 they were married

She was 22

He was 23

Twelve days later they sailed from America

They would never see America again together

The voyage

Traveling at this time wasn’t like today. No planes. No phones. No facetime.

The journey was long, dangerous, and uncomfortable

During the trek, Ann gets pregnant

But the baby is a stillborn. Their first child is born dead

No family

No friends

No one they know

Newly married and tragedy strikes

Eventually, after multiple legs of the travel and hang ups in other countries, they arrive in burma approximately 17 months after they left

Ann gets pregnant again.

She gives birth to a boy; Roger williams Judson

8 months later, baby Roger dies

2 dead children

The work

Their grief doesn’t stop them from the work they set out to do.

Adoniram begins to learn Burmese in order to preach and write and translate into their native language

He studied for years in order to be able to effectively communicate with them.

They are doing the work but not seeing any fruit

Year 1: No one is saved

Year 2: No one is saved

Year 3: No one is saved

Year 4: No one

Year 5: No one

Year 6: No one

Then, in 1819, after 6 years of labor, Judson baptized his first Burmese convert.

One. After 6 years

would you have quit?

Would have thrown in the towel?

Would you have thought, maybe God wants me somewhere else?

Imprisonment

in 1824, war between Britain and Burma breaks out.

All foreigners in Burma were thought to be spies

One night, officials barge into his home and take Adoniram and imprison him

He was thrown into a room that was crowded with other prisoners

It was filthy

There was disease, hunger, insects, filth, and not knowing what would happen

His feet were bound and raised up on a pole at night so that only his head an shoulders touched the ground

While Adoniram was experiencing this, Ann was pleading with officials to let him go

Explain he wasnt a spy

Eventually she bribed someone and was able to come visit and bring him food and supplies.

She then tells him the news, she is pregnant with his 3rd child

Ann gives birth to their baby girl Maria while Adoniram is in prison

Eventually, after nearly a year and half, Adoniram is released

The work continues

Anns Illness & Death

Because of his fluency in both english and burmese, officials use Adoniram to act as a translator and negotiator for peace talks during the war.

He goes on a trip to work out these peace talks

Judson receives a letter in the mail that is sealed in black wax - traditional sign of mourning

Judsons heart sank as he thought of his little Maria

He opens the letter

“We regret to inform you that after falling ill with a severe, violent fever, your wife, Ann, has passed away”

She was 36 years old.

It wasn’t his daughter, it was his wife.

Judson rushes back to Burma to bury his wife and care for his 2 year old daughter, Maria.

6 months later. Maria joins her mom in heaven

Judson has now buried his wife and their 3 children.

He is alone in Burma

Judson Dark Period

Judson enters into a very dark period in his life

He isolates himself

He questions everything is he doing

He wrestles with guilt

Was i doing this for fame?

Was it just my ambition?

Was I looking for recognition?

Fearing he was doing this for pride, he destroys most of his journals and records and reports. Not only that, he destroys all of the letters between him and his wife Ann

He gives his life savings away.

He sinks into a deep depression

He feels completely abandoned by God

"God is to me the Great Unknown. I believe in Him, but I cannot find Him."

He digs a grave and sits next to it for hours on end as he contemplates death

Sarah Boardman

Years later, Judson eventually emerges from the darkness.

He meets a woman named Sarah - the widow of the missionary George Boardman

Adoniram and Sarah have 8 children together

Their 4th, Henry, dies at age 1

But they continue the work

Judson completes the entire translation of the Bible into Burmese

He works on a Burmese-english dictionary

He preaches the gospel

He teaches

Sarah falls ill…

While it doesn’t look good, their only hope is to sail back with her to the states

They make the tough decision to leave the 3 youngest children with a fellow missionary family in Burma and take the 3 older ones on the journey

While the are away, their 7th child, Charles, dies at age 2

Ann doesn’t make it. She dies on the trip and is buried at sea

Ann.

Sarah.

multiple children

Dead

In the states

When they arrived they found that Adoniram was famous

Churches welcomed him

People wanted to hear him speak

Missionaries were inspired to go by him

He would be asked to come speak to a group

When there he would simply tell them the gospel

The crowds were dissapointed

They wanted the thrill of the stories overseas

The drama

The mystery

A pastor made Judson aware of the disappointment of the people because they wanted to hear something new and exciting from someone who lived on the other side of the world

"I presented the most interesting subject in the world, to the best of my ability."

When pressed that they wanted a story he replied:

"Well, I am sure I gave them a story—the most thrilling one that can be conceived of."

The pastor replied - “But they had heard it before. They wanted something new of a man who had just come from the other side of the world."

Judsons famous reply: "Then I am glad they have it to say, that a man coming from the other side of the world had nothing better to tell than the wondrous story of Jesus' dying love."

Emily Chubbuck

While in the states, Adoniram meets Emily

He soon marries her and they return to Burma with the children.

Adoniram will never see the states again

They return to Burma and continue the work.

Preaching

Teaching

Evangelizing

Translating

Emily gets pregnant and has a baby girl

A few years later she gets pregnant again with a boy, Charles

About this time, Adoniram gets sick…

Doctors recomend he take a sea voyage in hopes the open air and sea climate will help him recover

He boarded a ship, leaving behind his pregnant wife and daughter

It was unsuccessful.

On April 12, 1850, Adoniram Judson died at sea. He was 61 years old.

No monument over his grave

No impressive tomb

No final gathering of church and family

But an ocean burial alone.

Ann would deliver their son 2 weeks later but he would die that same day.

The harvest

When he went, it took 6 years of laboring to see their first convert.

When Adoniram died, there were thousands of burmese converts that had come to faith either directly or indirectly from the mission work

Today, there are and estimated 4 million christians there today.

Was it worth it?

Would it have been worth it for 1?

Would it have been worth it if none came?

Just simply being faithful

We don’t always get to see the fruit, but we plant and water and let God do the growth

So let this inspire you. perhaps to leave the country and go to the unreached peoples across the world

Or maybe your unsaved neighbor across the street

But we don’t want to end with “be like Adoniram”

Couragous

Work hard

Dont quit

Suffer well

Count the cost

Lay it all on the line

Because the reality is, Adoniram did this work, and we do this work, not because were worthy, not because the people are worthy, but because Christ is worthy

Brilliant American with bright future “throw it all away”

Because Christ is worthy

Spend years learning Burmese

Because Christ is worthy

Preach for 6 years without a convert?

Because Christ is worthy

Return to ministry after prison

Because Christ is worthy

Keep going after burying 2 wives and 5 children

Because Christ is worthy

Revelation 5:9–10 “And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.””

So we go church… Because Christ has sent us, and he is worthy