The good life of a dead seed
Series: Adoniram
Speaker: Nick Freestone
Date: 17th January 2023
00:00:00 --> 00:00:00 Let's pray.
00:00:03 --> 00:00:06 Heavenly Father, would you glorify your name this morning?
00:00:07 --> 00:00:11 Would you speak through me as I bring these words to these people?
00:00:13 --> 00:00:17 And would you continue the great mission that Jesus began
00:00:17 --> 00:00:21 when he heard some people, some foreigners,
00:00:22 --> 00:00:24 wanted to hear from him?
00:00:24 --> 00:00:31 I thank you that your son came to die for all people.
00:00:32 --> 00:00:37 And as a room full of non-Hebrews and people from all over the world,
00:00:38 --> 00:00:43 I ask, Father, that you would glorify your name in this place.
00:00:44 --> 00:00:45 Show us Jesus.
00:00:45 --> 00:00:47 Bring people from darkness to light.
00:00:48 --> 00:00:50 Equip us as his followers.
00:00:50 --> 00:00:57 And give me your grace as a flawed man as I preach.
00:00:57 --> 00:00:58 Amen.
00:00:58 --> 00:00:59 Amen.
00:01:00 --> 00:01:01 Amen.
00:01:02 --> 00:01:03 My name is Nick.
00:01:03 --> 00:01:06 I'm on the pastoral team here at St. Paul's.
00:01:06 --> 00:01:10 I'm probably a little loud because I can hear myself bouncing off all these walls.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:14 Maybe you just turn me down a bit, Greg, because my voice is warming up.
00:01:17 --> 00:01:20 Do you want to live a good life?
00:01:20 --> 00:01:23 Everyone does.
00:01:23 --> 00:01:24 Right?
00:01:25 --> 00:01:27 But what is a good life?
00:01:28 --> 00:01:29 Shut your eyes.
00:01:30 --> 00:01:34 Imagine what your life looks like.
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 Have you left a legacy?
00:01:37 --> 00:01:39 Is it full of great successes?
00:01:39 --> 00:01:42 Did you will an inheritance to your family?
00:01:42 --> 00:01:44 Did you share great memories?
00:01:45 --> 00:01:46 Live great experiences?
00:01:47 --> 00:01:48 Secure comforts?
00:01:48 --> 00:01:50 Passed down wisdom?
00:01:50 --> 00:01:51 Showed respect?
00:01:52 --> 00:01:53 Enjoyed friendships?
00:01:55 --> 00:01:56 No regrets?
00:01:58 --> 00:01:59 You can open your eyes.
00:01:59 --> 00:02:07 The world will tell you how to pursue the good life.
00:02:07 --> 00:02:09 Your family?
00:02:09 --> 00:02:11 Your culture?
00:02:12 --> 00:02:13 Media and advertising?
00:02:15 --> 00:02:22 A good life from your youth to your death is defined for you.
00:02:23 --> 00:02:27 It might even change generation to generation and year by year.
00:02:27 --> 00:02:34 It's plastered on billboards and it's spoken quietly and subtly in the background.
00:02:35 --> 00:02:41 It's all pointing you to a good life that benefits you the most in the end.
00:02:41 --> 00:02:47 So in response to the world, you are pursuing your good life.
00:02:48 --> 00:02:52 Some of what the world says you should do in your life, you accept.
00:02:52 --> 00:02:53 And some you reject.
00:02:53 --> 00:02:58 You see it in your choices.
00:03:01 --> 00:03:04 You see it in how you live your every day.
00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 And we can see you living that life.
00:03:08 --> 00:03:09 And we can't see.
00:03:10 --> 00:03:14 But what you live by is your desires and your motivations.
00:03:15 --> 00:03:19 That all year by year are about pursuing your good life.
00:03:19 --> 00:03:25 You might have even reassessed what a good life looks like and written down some resolutions.
00:03:25 --> 00:03:27 Hands up if you've got a list of New Year's resolutions.
00:03:29 --> 00:03:29 Anyone?
00:03:30 --> 00:03:31 Anyone written them down?
00:03:32 --> 00:03:38 Anyone got them in their phone or in their diary or on their fridge or on a tattoo?
00:03:40 --> 00:03:41 Anyone broken their resolutions already?
00:03:44 --> 00:03:46 It's my birthday this week.
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 I've just, yeah, well done to me.
00:03:49 --> 00:03:49 I got old.
00:03:49 --> 00:03:50 I hung around.
00:03:51 --> 00:03:57 But I like to write some resolutions to mark every year of my life.
00:03:58 --> 00:04:05 They're my new plans for hope and change as I reassess what a good life looks like for me.
00:04:07 --> 00:04:08 But that's the worldly process.
00:04:09 --> 00:04:13 We decide what the good life is for us.
00:04:13 --> 00:04:17 But Christians believe that God defines a good life.
00:04:17 --> 00:04:23 He plans and purposes every life in a time and a place.
00:04:23 --> 00:04:27 And he bids us choose his way over ours.
00:04:28 --> 00:04:32 He shows us the good life through Jesus.
00:04:32 --> 00:04:39 Jesus gives his followers principles for living a good life as our example.
00:04:40 --> 00:04:43 And they counter everything that the world says is good.
00:04:43 --> 00:04:52 What your family or your culture, the media, the billboard, say is a good life.
00:04:52 --> 00:04:55 Jesus will show you how to live another way.
00:04:57 --> 00:05:05 The good life shows us how to live for others and not ourselves.
00:05:06 --> 00:05:10 Living a worldly way to a good life will lead to death, says Jesus.
00:05:10 --> 00:05:18 But following him his way will lead to the good life and to eternity with him.
00:05:18 --> 00:05:29 So if you want to live a good life and you want to follow Jesus, we need to know what that life looks like.
00:05:29 --> 00:05:29 Right?
00:05:30 --> 00:05:31 Well, good news.
00:05:31 --> 00:05:37 We're in a season of church called Running the Race where we look into the lives of Christians throughout history
00:05:37 --> 00:05:43 from as Hebrews that Ash quoted at the beginning of church today are in this great cloud of witnesses.
00:05:43 --> 00:05:48 People who've lived life before that we might follow like them in their following of Jesus.
00:05:49 --> 00:05:58 And today we're going to meet a very faithful, very flawed man called Adoniram.
00:05:59 --> 00:06:02 Now, we don't have a name tag machine working today.
00:06:03 --> 00:06:04 Anyone here called Adoniram?
00:06:04 --> 00:06:04 Adoniram.
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 Now, it's not a very popular name anymore.
00:06:08 --> 00:06:09 I'm very thankful for that.
00:06:09 --> 00:06:12 It's very tricky to type, write down and remember.
00:06:13 --> 00:06:15 But he's who we're going to hear about today.
00:06:16 --> 00:06:23 You'll see how God helped turn Adoniram from his self-defined worldly view of a good life
00:06:23 --> 00:06:26 towards God's good life for him.
00:06:26 --> 00:06:33 And my hope is that you'll discover a vision of God's good life for you.
00:06:34 --> 00:06:41 Take a step toward discovering what that looks like as he calls you into a good life,
00:06:41 --> 00:06:45 as defined in John chapter 12.
00:06:46 --> 00:06:48 So let's get to know Adoniram a little bit.
00:06:48 --> 00:06:50 Let's look at our passage today.
00:06:50 --> 00:06:55 And let's see how living God's good life made an impact for Adoniram.
00:06:55 --> 00:06:55 Adoniram.
00:06:56 --> 00:07:03 He was born over 200 years ago, in the late 1700s, in the northeast of America.
00:07:04 --> 00:07:05 His parents were Christians.
00:07:05 --> 00:07:06 His dad was a pastor.
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 Adoniram was a very gifted child.
00:07:12 --> 00:07:12 Very.
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 He graduated high school at 15.
00:07:18 --> 00:07:19 He entered university at 16.
00:07:19 --> 00:07:23 He was top of the class and valedictorian at 19.
00:07:26 --> 00:07:31 But by the time he finished university, he declared that he had no more faith in Jesus.
00:07:32 --> 00:07:39 You see, young Adoniram met people at university who spoke against the Christian worldview.
00:07:39 --> 00:07:48 His friend at uni, Jacob Eames, led him into a way of thinking called deism,
00:07:48 --> 00:07:57 where one's logic and reason and view of the world was the only acceptable way that you could find God.
00:07:57 --> 00:08:10 Adoniram publicly rejected the church and its message, following Eames' way of thinking into skepticism against the church,
00:08:11 --> 00:08:14 into his own self-determined view of reality.
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 He gave up becoming a pastor like his father.
00:08:19 --> 00:08:21 He ended up becoming a playwright.
00:08:21 --> 00:08:28 He banded together with like-minded men and wandered around living in the moment.
00:08:29 --> 00:08:38 He had a goal to move to New York and write plays and maybe live a bit of the good life that the media says is a good life that you and I wouldn't know.
00:08:41 --> 00:08:46 But that life led him into broken relationships, into petty crime,
00:08:46 --> 00:08:53 and away from the good he expected to get out of that good way of life.
00:08:54 --> 00:09:00 So he decided to reboot, set some new resolutions.
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 He thought, I'll go right back to the start.
00:09:03 --> 00:09:06 I'll go home and I'll figure out my new way.
00:09:09 --> 00:09:10 So he went home.
00:09:10 --> 00:09:19 But the final night before he got there, he couldn't get all the way home, so he had to stop at a country inn.
00:09:20 --> 00:09:25 So he went to find his room for the night and they said, yeah, we've got a room, but there's a problem.
00:09:27 --> 00:09:31 The person in the room next to you is dying.
00:09:32 --> 00:09:34 We're not sure he's going to live through the night.
00:09:34 --> 00:09:47 With the choice of sleeping outside or in a bed, Adoniram took the bed and the night was full of screams and anxiety.
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 There was beating on the wall.
00:09:52 --> 00:09:56 And somehow Adoniram managed to fall asleep and woke up the next morning to silence.
00:09:56 --> 00:09:57 Silence.
00:09:58 --> 00:10:06 And as Adoniram prepared to leave, he went downstairs and discovered that the man next door had indeed died.
00:10:08 --> 00:10:09 And who he was.
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 His name was Eames.
00:10:14 --> 00:10:15 Jacob Eames.
00:10:18 --> 00:10:21 Adoniram had witnessed his friend's violent end.
00:10:21 --> 00:10:27 Eames, the man Adoniram had followed into the good life that had failed him, was now dead in it.
00:10:29 --> 00:10:30 Adoniram just froze.
00:10:32 --> 00:10:34 He went to a chair and sat for an hour.
00:10:35 --> 00:10:40 Thinking about how he was probably headed the same way.
00:10:42 --> 00:10:49 And over time, over time, he saw that that moment was a miracle.
00:10:51 --> 00:10:54 That moment was a way that God saved his life.
00:10:56 --> 00:10:58 And by no means was it a coincidence.
00:11:00 --> 00:11:05 God's intervention here led Adoniram not just to go home and rethink his life,
00:11:05 --> 00:11:14 but actually reconsider what a God who would care so much to put him in that inn on that night might offer him.
00:11:14 --> 00:11:20 And to his family's joy and the shock of his peers, he became a Christian.
00:11:21 --> 00:11:22 Born again.
00:11:22 --> 00:11:23 Visibly different.
00:11:25 --> 00:11:27 Once spiritually dead.
00:11:27 --> 00:11:28 Now alive.
00:11:28 --> 00:11:30 Eager to live God's good life.
00:11:30 --> 00:11:33 Adoniram took the Bible seriously.
00:11:35 --> 00:11:36 He spent time in it.
00:11:37 --> 00:11:40 He allowed his worldview to be reshaped by it.
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 By Jesus' principles of a good life.
00:11:44 --> 00:11:51 And in John 12, we see one of Jesus' principles for living that Adoniram exemplified in his life.
00:11:51 --> 00:11:52 That he lived out.
00:11:52 --> 00:11:54 So grab your Bibles out.
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 Go to John 12.
00:11:56 --> 00:11:57 Sarah's just read.
00:11:58 --> 00:11:59 Have a look at verse 25.
00:12:00 --> 00:12:00 I'm going to read from there.
00:12:00 --> 00:12:07 Anyone who loves their life will lose it.
00:12:09 --> 00:12:13 While anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
00:12:14 --> 00:12:17 Whoever serves me must follow me.
00:12:18 --> 00:12:21 And where I am, my servant also will be.
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 My Father will honor the one who serves me.
00:12:25 --> 00:12:39 As people marinating in a modern world, 200 years after Adoniram, I've got to tell you, this passage should be offensive to you.
00:12:39 --> 00:12:42 Jesus says, hate your life in the world.
00:12:43 --> 00:12:47 Hate what the world says is a good life.
00:12:48 --> 00:12:51 As it only leads to death and eternity without God.
00:12:51 --> 00:12:57 Adoniram had just had a lived experience seeing that.
00:12:57 --> 00:13:05 His friend who had led him astray, but who he respected greatly, was dead.
00:13:06 --> 00:13:09 The good life of this world is no good life at all.
00:13:12 --> 00:13:15 And then Jesus says, the Father will honor the one who serves him.
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 And receive his presence for eternity.
00:13:18 --> 00:13:24 But to receive God, we must hate.
00:13:25 --> 00:13:26 Strong word.
00:13:27 --> 00:13:30 Hate the good looking life that the world shows us.
00:13:31 --> 00:13:34 And follow Jesus into a good life that he defines.
00:13:36 --> 00:13:40 Hating worldly good life is costly and isolating.
00:13:42 --> 00:13:48 And Adoniram took Jesus so seriously that he was willing to pay whatever cost Jesus was calling him to pay.
00:13:48 --> 00:13:52 And here's the cost of hating our life in the world.
00:13:53 --> 00:13:54 Look at verse 24.
00:13:57 --> 00:14:06 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.
00:14:06 --> 00:14:10 But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
00:14:10 --> 00:14:15 Jesus is not talking about farming.
00:14:15 --> 00:14:22 This is a parable that he tells, describing his good life.
00:14:23 --> 00:14:25 Jesus' good life for himself.
00:14:26 --> 00:14:27 He is the seed.
00:14:28 --> 00:14:29 He's going to die.
00:14:29 --> 00:14:31 It's his plan.
00:14:31 --> 00:14:33 As it says in verse 33.
00:14:33 --> 00:14:34 It's his plan.
00:14:35 --> 00:14:40 He alone can hate the life of the world this way.
00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 For he died for the sins of all people.
00:14:43 --> 00:14:45 And because he died, fruit can grow.
00:14:46 --> 00:14:48 His followers are the fruit.
00:14:48 --> 00:14:52 And Jesus knows the intensity, the plan for his good life.
00:14:52 --> 00:14:55 Sarah read it really beautifully in verse 27.
00:14:56 --> 00:14:58 Now my soul is troubled.
00:14:58 --> 00:14:59 And what shall I say?
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 Father, save me from this hour?
00:15:02 --> 00:15:04 No, it was for this very reason.
00:15:06 --> 00:15:07 I came to this hour.
00:15:09 --> 00:15:16 Jesus, fully aware of his coming death, chose to let his father define his good life.
00:15:17 --> 00:15:21 To bear the wrath of God for the sin of humanity.
00:15:21 --> 00:15:26 We cannot know that loss or imagine the cost.
00:15:27 --> 00:15:30 But Jesus did not remain a single seed.
00:15:32 --> 00:15:35 His father's plan was for fruit.
00:15:36 --> 00:15:39 And he yielded to that good life.
00:15:41 --> 00:15:46 And if you trust in Jesus, you are a seed of Christ.
00:15:47 --> 00:15:49 You are the fruit of his death.
00:15:49 --> 00:15:51 It cost Jesus everything.
00:15:52 --> 00:15:55 For you to have his good life to live.
00:15:59 --> 00:16:03 This parable is also an example to follow.
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 And we do not need to die for the sins of others.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:09 Because Jesus did that once and for all.
00:16:09 --> 00:16:19 But we are to hate our worldly life to the point of readiness to lose all that the world says is a good life.
00:16:19 --> 00:16:21 Our comforts.
00:16:22 --> 00:16:23 Our safety.
00:16:24 --> 00:16:25 Successes.
00:16:25 --> 00:16:26 Our reputation.
00:16:27 --> 00:16:29 Hating that stuff because it's not the good life.
00:16:31 --> 00:16:35 To be a seed of Christ is to bear fruit.
00:16:37 --> 00:16:38 That's the good life.
00:16:38 --> 00:16:41 It's costly.
00:16:41 --> 00:16:41 It's costly.
00:16:43 --> 00:16:44 And it's good.
00:16:47 --> 00:16:48 His example.
00:16:50 --> 00:16:53 Lived out in the most extreme possible way.
00:16:53 --> 00:16:57 Is that we, his followers, would just like him not remain a single seed.
00:16:58 --> 00:16:59 But to bear him fruit.
00:16:59 --> 00:16:59 Dying.
00:16:59 --> 00:16:59 Dying.
00:17:00 --> 00:17:05 Being thrown deliberately into the ground so that there would be fruit born.
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 To give our life away for the sake of others.
00:17:11 --> 00:17:12 That whether it be on a train.
00:17:13 --> 00:17:14 In your household.
00:17:15 --> 00:17:16 In Chatswood.
00:17:17 --> 00:17:18 Or the other side of the world.
00:17:20 --> 00:17:21 That in a spiritual desert.
00:17:21 --> 00:17:24 There would be life through Jesus Christ.
00:17:24 --> 00:17:28 And who were those fruit?
00:17:30 --> 00:17:31 Look back at verse 20.
00:17:32 --> 00:17:32 Will you?
00:17:33 --> 00:17:34 Verse 20.
00:17:35 --> 00:17:36 Some Greeks.
00:17:36 --> 00:17:37 Some non-Jews.
00:17:39 --> 00:17:40 Asked to see Jesus.
00:17:42 --> 00:17:46 They go and speak to the disciples who have Greek names.
00:17:46 --> 00:17:47 Andrew and Philip.
00:17:48 --> 00:17:49 Who probably understood their language.
00:17:50 --> 00:17:53 And all we know is that Jesus heard about it.
00:17:53 --> 00:17:54 He didn't speak to them.
00:17:56 --> 00:17:56 No.
00:17:57 --> 00:17:57 He had a plan.
00:17:58 --> 00:18:00 Jesus must have been waiting for this moment.
00:18:01 --> 00:18:03 Like a wise farmer.
00:18:04 --> 00:18:04 Watchful.
00:18:04 --> 00:18:07 Looking for the right season to plant the seed.
00:18:07 --> 00:18:08 That moment.
00:18:08 --> 00:18:09 That request.
00:18:09 --> 00:18:12 From people from a foreign land.
00:18:12 --> 00:18:13 To know him.
00:18:14 --> 00:18:15 To hear from him.
00:18:15 --> 00:18:17 That was when he knew he had to die.
00:18:21 --> 00:18:22 Verse 27.
00:18:22 --> 00:18:24 It was for this reason.
00:18:25 --> 00:18:26 Verse 23.
00:18:26 --> 00:18:27 And at this hour.
00:18:27 --> 00:18:29 That Jesus came to be planted.
00:18:30 --> 00:18:32 And raised to life.
00:18:32 --> 00:18:33 For all people.
00:18:33 --> 00:18:34 Verse 32.
00:18:35 --> 00:18:36 All people.
00:18:39 --> 00:18:41 Good life is following Jesus.
00:18:42 --> 00:18:43 So that.
00:18:45 --> 00:18:46 We are to be planted.
00:18:46 --> 00:18:47 And crops might grow.
00:18:47 --> 00:18:49 Multiplying salvation.
00:18:49 --> 00:18:50 Multiplying salvation.
00:18:51 --> 00:18:53 Wherever Jesus plants us.
00:18:54 --> 00:18:56 That's the good life following Jesus.
00:18:56 --> 00:18:57 Self-sacrifice.
00:18:58 --> 00:19:00 For the sake of the salvation of others.
00:19:04 --> 00:19:05 Adoniram heard this.
00:19:06 --> 00:19:09 And fixed his remaining life on becoming a missionary.
00:19:09 --> 00:19:12 He handed over his good life.
00:19:13 --> 00:19:14 In the world.
00:19:15 --> 00:19:19 To a people who knew nothing about the Bible or Jesus.
00:19:19 --> 00:19:20 In Burma.
00:19:21 --> 00:19:22 In Asia.
00:19:23 --> 00:19:24 It's now called Myanmar.
00:19:24 --> 00:19:28 We're going to hear.
00:19:31 --> 00:19:34 Where this good life led Adoniram.
00:19:36 --> 00:19:39 This story changed my life.
00:19:40 --> 00:19:43 I really hope you're encouraged by it.
00:19:46 --> 00:19:48 Adoniram had to fight the church.
00:19:49 --> 00:19:50 To go on mission.
00:19:50 --> 00:19:52 It seems laughable nowadays.
00:19:54 --> 00:19:54 Church.
00:19:55 --> 00:19:58 Sometimes looks like it's fighting for people.
00:19:58 --> 00:19:59 To go on mission.
00:20:00 --> 00:20:02 But no one had ever left America.
00:20:02 --> 00:20:03 To do anything like this.
00:20:04 --> 00:20:05 He had to get support.
00:20:06 --> 00:20:08 And permission to travel.
00:20:08 --> 00:20:10 It would take 18 months.
00:20:10 --> 00:20:11 He had to learn the language.
00:20:13 --> 00:20:14 He had to word by word.
00:20:14 --> 00:20:15 Translate the Bible.
00:20:15 --> 00:20:18 From original language.
00:20:18 --> 00:20:19 Into Burmese.
00:20:21 --> 00:20:23 All while the locals didn't want him there.
00:20:23 --> 00:20:24 Would persecute him.
00:20:24 --> 00:20:25 Isolate him.
00:20:26 --> 00:20:28 And refuse to accept him as a white person.
00:20:28 --> 00:20:30 All the message he carried.
00:20:30 --> 00:20:32 And Adoniram knew this.
00:20:32 --> 00:20:34 And willingly took all the risks.
00:20:35 --> 00:20:37 In fact he knew it is a certainty.
00:20:37 --> 00:20:38 That this mission.
00:20:38 --> 00:20:40 Would lead to his death.
00:20:41 --> 00:20:41 Kill him.
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45 Perhaps without seeing any fruit.
00:20:45 --> 00:20:50 But he was compelled by God's persistence with him.
00:20:50 --> 00:20:53 His immeasurable grace over his life.
00:20:54 --> 00:20:56 To take the message of Jesus to a people.
00:20:56 --> 00:20:58 Who would never hear it.
00:20:58 --> 00:21:01 Unless Adoniram went to tell them.
00:21:04 --> 00:21:06 But he didn't risk it alone.
00:21:06 --> 00:21:09 He got married.
00:21:12 --> 00:21:14 To a young Christian girl named Anne.
00:21:18 --> 00:21:21 Listen to Adoniram's letter.
00:21:21 --> 00:21:23 To Anne's father.
00:21:23 --> 00:21:24 Asking for her.
00:21:25 --> 00:21:26 His permission.
00:21:28 --> 00:21:28 To get married.
00:21:29 --> 00:21:30 It was Adoniram.
00:21:30 --> 00:21:33 I have now to ask.
00:21:33 --> 00:21:34 Whether you can consent.
00:21:34 --> 00:21:36 To part with your daughter.
00:21:36 --> 00:21:37 Early next spring.
00:21:38 --> 00:21:39 That sounds normal.
00:21:40 --> 00:21:42 To see her no more in this world.
00:21:43 --> 00:21:45 Whether you can consent.
00:21:45 --> 00:21:45 To her departure.
00:21:46 --> 00:21:47 And her subjection.
00:21:47 --> 00:21:49 To the hardships and sufferings.
00:21:49 --> 00:21:50 Of missionary life.
00:21:50 --> 00:21:51 Whether you can consent.
00:21:51 --> 00:21:52 To her exposure.
00:21:52 --> 00:21:54 To the dangers of the ocean.
00:21:54 --> 00:21:56 They had to travel by ship.
00:21:57 --> 00:21:58 The fatal influence.
00:21:58 --> 00:21:59 Of the southern climate.
00:22:00 --> 00:22:01 Want and distress.
00:22:02 --> 00:22:02 Degradation.
00:22:02 --> 00:22:03 Insult.
00:22:03 --> 00:22:03 Persecution.
00:22:03 --> 00:22:05 And perhaps a violent death.
00:22:05 --> 00:22:06 Can you consent to all this.
00:22:07 --> 00:22:08 For the sake of him.
00:22:08 --> 00:22:09 Who left his heavenly home.
00:22:10 --> 00:22:11 And died for her.
00:22:11 --> 00:22:12 And for you.
00:22:12 --> 00:22:13 For the sake of perishing.
00:22:14 --> 00:22:15 Immortal souls.
00:22:15 --> 00:22:16 For the sake of Zion.
00:22:16 --> 00:22:17 And the glory of God.
00:22:18 --> 00:22:19 Can you consent to all this.
00:22:20 --> 00:22:21 In hope.
00:22:21 --> 00:22:23 Of soon meeting your daughter.
00:22:23 --> 00:22:24 In a world of glory.
00:22:24 --> 00:22:26 With the crown of the righteous.
00:22:26 --> 00:22:27 Brightened.
00:22:27 --> 00:22:30 With the acclamations of praise.
00:22:30 --> 00:22:31 Which shall resound.
00:22:31 --> 00:22:32 To her savior.
00:22:33 --> 00:22:34 From the lost.
00:22:34 --> 00:22:35 Saved.
00:22:35 --> 00:22:36 Through her means.
00:22:37 --> 00:22:39 From eternal woe.
00:22:39 --> 00:22:39 And despair.
00:22:42 --> 00:22:44 That's the good life.
00:22:44 --> 00:22:45 That Adoniram offered.
00:22:45 --> 00:22:46 To this girl.
00:22:47 --> 00:22:49 And she was just as keen.
00:22:49 --> 00:22:50 To live it with him.
00:22:50 --> 00:22:53 And listen to.
00:22:56 --> 00:22:57 Listen to what.
00:22:58 --> 00:22:59 You might reflectively.
00:23:00 --> 00:23:01 If you're a child.
00:23:01 --> 00:23:02 Or a parent.
00:23:02 --> 00:23:03 Might expect this father to say.
00:23:06 --> 00:23:07 His father said.
00:23:08 --> 00:23:09 If she wants to go.
00:23:12 --> 00:23:12 Okay.
00:23:12 --> 00:23:18 Ann's dad declared that.
00:23:18 --> 00:23:19 That life.
00:23:20 --> 00:23:21 Was a good life.
00:23:21 --> 00:23:22 For his little girl.
00:23:25 --> 00:23:26 I could stop here.
00:23:26 --> 00:23:27 And this story be enough.
00:23:28 --> 00:23:29 I'm astounded.
00:23:29 --> 00:23:30 That this young married couple.
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 Exchanged their youth.
00:23:32 --> 00:23:33 And young love.
00:23:33 --> 00:23:34 For hardship.
00:23:34 --> 00:23:34 And loss.
00:23:34 --> 00:23:37 And by the willingness.
00:23:37 --> 00:23:37 Of a father.
00:23:37 --> 00:23:39 To hand over his daughter.
00:23:39 --> 00:23:40 To a death.
00:23:40 --> 00:23:41 That he can't prevent.
00:23:43 --> 00:23:44 But you need to hear.
00:23:44 --> 00:23:45 This whole story.
00:23:45 --> 00:23:47 So I'm going to speed through.
00:23:47 --> 00:23:48 What happened to Adoniram.
00:23:48 --> 00:23:49 Ann.
00:23:49 --> 00:23:50 And their family.
00:23:51 --> 00:23:51 And as I do.
00:23:51 --> 00:23:52 I encourage you.
00:23:52 --> 00:23:53 To keep your eyes open.
00:23:54 --> 00:23:55 And consider whether you agree.
00:23:56 --> 00:23:57 If this.
00:23:57 --> 00:23:58 That this is a good life.
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03 Ann and Adoniram.
00:24:03 --> 00:24:04 Made it.
00:24:04 --> 00:24:05 To Rangoon.
00:24:05 --> 00:24:06 Their new home.
00:24:06 --> 00:24:07 In Burma.
00:24:07 --> 00:24:07 In 1813.
00:24:08 --> 00:24:09 And they were immediately.
00:24:09 --> 00:24:11 Battling sickness.
00:24:12 --> 00:24:12 Malaria.
00:24:13 --> 00:24:13 Dysentery.
00:24:13 --> 00:24:14 Cholera.
00:24:15 --> 00:24:16 Whole bunch of diseases.
00:24:16 --> 00:24:17 That we have names for now.
00:24:17 --> 00:24:18 That they could not even.
00:24:19 --> 00:24:20 Dream of battling.
00:24:20 --> 00:24:20 Back then.
00:24:21 --> 00:24:22 And while Adoniram.
00:24:22 --> 00:24:23 Studied the language.
00:24:23 --> 00:24:24 And translated the Bible.
00:24:24 --> 00:24:25 Ann raised.
00:24:26 --> 00:24:26 Children.
00:24:26 --> 00:24:28 They raised their family.
00:24:29 --> 00:24:31 Three out of four.
00:24:32 --> 00:24:33 Of Adoniram's children.
00:24:33 --> 00:24:36 And Ann's children died.
00:24:39 --> 00:24:40 Ann wrote this letter home.
00:24:41 --> 00:24:41 To her friend.
00:24:42 --> 00:24:43 After the death.
00:24:43 --> 00:24:44 Of their only son.
00:24:44 --> 00:24:47 Our hearts were bound up.
00:24:47 --> 00:24:48 With this child.
00:24:49 --> 00:24:50 We felt he was.
00:24:50 --> 00:24:51 Our earthly all.
00:24:52 --> 00:24:53 Our only source.
00:24:53 --> 00:24:54 Of innocent recreation.
00:24:54 --> 00:24:56 In this heathen land.
00:24:56 --> 00:24:57 But God saw it necessary.
00:24:57 --> 00:24:58 To remind us.
00:24:58 --> 00:24:58 Of our error.
00:24:59 --> 00:25:00 And to strip us.
00:25:00 --> 00:25:01 Of our only little all.
00:25:03 --> 00:25:04 Oh may it not be in vain.
00:25:04 --> 00:25:05 That he has done it.
00:25:05 --> 00:25:06 May we so improve it.
00:25:06 --> 00:25:06 That.
00:25:07 --> 00:25:09 He will stay his hand.
00:25:09 --> 00:25:09 And say.
00:25:10 --> 00:25:10 It is enough.
00:25:10 --> 00:25:15 Soon after.
00:25:16 --> 00:25:17 Adoniram was imprisoned.
00:25:17 --> 00:25:18 Imprisoned.
00:25:19 --> 00:25:21 They rounded up everyone.
00:25:21 --> 00:25:22 Who was a foreigner.
00:25:23 --> 00:25:23 All the men.
00:25:23 --> 00:25:24 And imprisoned them.
00:25:25 --> 00:25:26 He was.
00:25:28 --> 00:25:29 Tortured horribly.
00:25:31 --> 00:25:33 And you didn't get food.
00:25:33 --> 00:25:34 Or help at all.
00:25:34 --> 00:25:35 Unless someone came to.
00:25:35 --> 00:25:36 Help you in prison.
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 So Ann.
00:25:37 --> 00:25:37 Every day.
00:25:38 --> 00:25:39 Went back and forth.
00:25:39 --> 00:25:41 From their child.
00:25:41 --> 00:25:42 To the prison.
00:25:44 --> 00:25:45 To care for Adoniram.
00:25:47 --> 00:25:48 They had colleagues.
00:25:48 --> 00:25:50 Who had gone with them.
00:25:50 --> 00:25:51 On the mission.
00:25:52 --> 00:25:53 Some of whom died.
00:25:53 --> 00:25:54 During this season.
00:25:55 --> 00:25:56 And then.
00:25:56 --> 00:25:57 Even when Adoniram.
00:25:57 --> 00:25:58 Was released.
00:25:58 --> 00:25:59 At long last.
00:26:00 --> 00:26:01 Ann and the child.
00:26:01 --> 00:26:02 Were very sick.
00:26:02 --> 00:26:03 And then the child died.
00:26:04 --> 00:26:06 And then Ann died.
00:26:07 --> 00:26:08 And Adoniram.
00:26:08 --> 00:26:09 Just broke.
00:26:09 --> 00:26:13 He lost all sense.
00:26:13 --> 00:26:14 Of God's nearness.
00:26:14 --> 00:26:15 And voice.
00:26:15 --> 00:26:16 He wandered.
00:26:16 --> 00:26:17 In his faith.
00:26:17 --> 00:26:19 Doubting the last decade.
00:26:19 --> 00:26:19 Or so.
00:26:19 --> 00:26:20 Of trying to get.
00:26:21 --> 00:26:22 A mission.
00:26:22 --> 00:26:23 In Burma.
00:26:23 --> 00:26:23 Off.
00:26:23 --> 00:26:24 Up.
00:26:24 --> 00:26:25 Up and running.
00:26:25 --> 00:26:25 And.
00:26:25 --> 00:26:26 He just slipped.
00:26:26 --> 00:26:27 Into despair.
00:26:27 --> 00:26:28 His mental health.
00:26:28 --> 00:26:29 Failed him.
00:26:30 --> 00:26:31 In his fear.
00:26:31 --> 00:26:32 He destroyed.
00:26:33 --> 00:26:33 Everything.
00:26:33 --> 00:26:34 He'd written down.
00:26:35 --> 00:26:36 Thankfully.
00:26:36 --> 00:26:37 Not his translation.
00:26:37 --> 00:26:37 Work.
00:26:38 --> 00:26:39 But every letter.
00:26:40 --> 00:26:41 He even.
00:26:41 --> 00:26:42 Wrote a final letter home.
00:26:42 --> 00:26:43 To say.
00:26:43 --> 00:26:44 Please destroy.
00:26:44 --> 00:26:45 All my possessions.
00:26:47 --> 00:26:48 Everything I've written.
00:26:48 --> 00:26:48 To anyone.
00:26:49 --> 00:26:49 Organize it.
00:26:49 --> 00:26:50 For it to be destroyed.
00:26:52 --> 00:26:53 Hoping to somehow.
00:26:53 --> 00:26:54 A plea.
00:26:54 --> 00:26:54 Appease God.
00:26:55 --> 00:26:56 And to stop the horrors.
00:26:56 --> 00:26:57 In his life.
00:26:57 --> 00:26:58 And in his mind.
00:26:58 --> 00:27:00 He even dug.
00:27:00 --> 00:27:00 His own grave.
00:27:01 --> 00:27:01 And sat by it.
00:27:05 --> 00:27:05 And that could have been.
00:27:05 --> 00:27:06 Where it ended.
00:27:07 --> 00:27:07 But he got.
00:27:08 --> 00:27:08 One more letter.
00:27:10 --> 00:27:11 One more letter.
00:27:11 --> 00:27:12 With bad news.
00:27:14 --> 00:27:15 But God.
00:27:15 --> 00:27:16 Did another miracle.
00:27:18 --> 00:27:18 And saved.
00:27:18 --> 00:27:19 Adoniram's life.
00:27:19 --> 00:27:20 Saved him from himself.
00:27:20 --> 00:27:21 Again.
00:27:21 --> 00:27:25 Adoniram's brother.
00:27:25 --> 00:27:26 Had turned away.
00:27:26 --> 00:27:27 From Christianity.
00:27:27 --> 00:27:28 When he was young.
00:27:28 --> 00:27:29 As he followed.
00:27:29 --> 00:27:31 In his older brother's footsteps.
00:27:31 --> 00:27:32 Away from Jesus.
00:27:34 --> 00:27:35 Adoniram.
00:27:35 --> 00:27:35 Had pleaded.
00:27:35 --> 00:27:36 With his brother.
00:27:36 --> 00:27:37 Day after day.
00:27:38 --> 00:27:39 Even on the dock.
00:27:39 --> 00:27:40 Before getting on the boat.
00:27:40 --> 00:27:40 To Burma.
00:27:41 --> 00:27:42 Believe in Jesus.
00:27:43 --> 00:27:45 There is no other good life.
00:27:46 --> 00:27:47 And he wasn't a believer.
00:27:47 --> 00:27:48 When he left.
00:27:48 --> 00:27:49 But this letter.
00:27:50 --> 00:27:51 Told that before his death.
00:27:51 --> 00:27:52 This brother had come to faith.
00:27:53 --> 00:27:53 In Jesus.
00:27:54 --> 00:27:55 And the joy.
00:27:55 --> 00:27:56 Of God.
00:27:56 --> 00:27:57 Reignited.
00:27:57 --> 00:27:58 In Adoniram.
00:28:01 --> 00:28:02 Bad news.
00:28:05 --> 00:28:06 Gave him hope.
00:28:07 --> 00:28:08 And it took a year.
00:28:10 --> 00:28:11 But he returned to himself.
00:28:12 --> 00:28:13 To God.
00:28:13 --> 00:28:14 And to the mission.
00:28:14 --> 00:28:15 That he and Anne.
00:28:15 --> 00:28:15 Had established.
00:28:18 --> 00:28:19 And it was now.
00:28:20 --> 00:28:21 1831.
00:28:23 --> 00:28:24 And the gospel.
00:28:24 --> 00:28:25 Exploded.
00:28:25 --> 00:28:25 Across Burma.
00:28:27 --> 00:28:28 Nothing changed.
00:28:28 --> 00:28:29 In the way they did their ministry.
00:28:32 --> 00:28:34 But all of a sudden.
00:28:34 --> 00:28:35 People were traveling.
00:28:35 --> 00:28:37 Up to five months journey.
00:28:37 --> 00:28:38 To come and hear.
00:28:38 --> 00:28:39 The Jesus man.
00:28:40 --> 00:28:40 The Jesus man.
00:28:41 --> 00:28:41 They called.
00:28:41 --> 00:28:42 Adoniram.
00:28:42 --> 00:28:46 They came to receive.
00:28:46 --> 00:28:47 The gospel.
00:28:47 --> 00:28:48 In their own language.
00:28:49 --> 00:28:51 They came to hear.
00:28:51 --> 00:28:51 A flawed.
00:28:52 --> 00:28:53 Broken person.
00:28:53 --> 00:28:55 Who was from somewhere else.
00:28:55 --> 00:28:57 Tell them of what they needed.
00:28:57 --> 00:28:58 Deep in their heart.
00:28:59 --> 00:29:00 The lowest.
00:29:00 --> 00:29:01 To the most powerful.
00:29:01 --> 00:29:03 Began to long for Jesus.
00:29:03 --> 00:29:04 And accept the message of hope.
00:29:05 --> 00:29:05 To know God.
00:29:06 --> 00:29:07 Have eternity with him.
00:29:08 --> 00:29:09 Through Jesus death.
00:29:09 --> 00:29:10 In their place.
00:29:10 --> 00:29:11 Thousands.
00:29:11 --> 00:29:12 Came to faith.
00:29:13 --> 00:29:13 Hundreds.
00:29:14 --> 00:29:15 Were trained.
00:29:15 --> 00:29:16 To share the gospel.
00:29:16 --> 00:29:17 And plant churches.
00:29:19 --> 00:29:19 Fruit.
00:29:20 --> 00:29:21 From a dead.
00:29:22 --> 00:29:22 Seed.
00:29:23 --> 00:29:24 Eight years.
00:29:24 --> 00:29:25 After Anne died.
00:29:25 --> 00:29:26 Adoniram.
00:29:26 --> 00:29:26 Got married again.
00:29:28 --> 00:29:29 He married a widow.
00:29:29 --> 00:29:30 Of a missionary.
00:29:30 --> 00:29:31 In a far off.
00:29:31 --> 00:29:32 Country.
00:29:32 --> 00:29:32 Like him.
00:29:33 --> 00:29:33 Another country.
00:29:34 --> 00:29:34 Whose husband.
00:29:35 --> 00:29:35 Had passed away.
00:29:35 --> 00:29:36 While they.
00:29:36 --> 00:29:38 Were sharing the gospel.
00:29:38 --> 00:29:38 There.
00:29:38 --> 00:29:39 And Adoniram.
00:29:39 --> 00:29:40 Heard of her.
00:29:40 --> 00:29:41 Began to write letters.
00:29:41 --> 00:29:41 To her.
00:29:42 --> 00:29:43 And they.
00:29:43 --> 00:29:44 Got married.
00:29:44 --> 00:29:45 And she.
00:29:45 --> 00:29:46 Left that mission.
00:29:46 --> 00:29:47 In good hands.
00:29:47 --> 00:29:48 To come and join Adoniram.
00:29:49 --> 00:29:50 Her name was Sarah.
00:29:52 --> 00:29:54 They share the gospel.
00:29:54 --> 00:29:54 In Burma together.
00:29:54 --> 00:29:55 Until she too.
00:29:56 --> 00:29:56 Sadly.
00:29:56 --> 00:29:57 Passed away.
00:29:58 --> 00:29:59 And then.
00:30:00 --> 00:30:00 Years later.
00:30:00 --> 00:30:01 Adoniram.
00:30:01 --> 00:30:02 Got married again.
00:30:02 --> 00:30:05 To a like minded.
00:30:06 --> 00:30:07 Follower of Jesus.
00:30:07 --> 00:30:08 Named Emily.
00:30:09 --> 00:30:11 Who even though she was a good 20 years younger than him.
00:30:12 --> 00:30:13 There's no scandal.
00:30:14 --> 00:30:17 Because she signed off to a life following Jesus.
00:30:19 --> 00:30:21 And followed Adoniram.
00:30:22 --> 00:30:23 Even beyond his death.
00:30:23 --> 00:30:25 Sharing the gospel in Burma.
00:30:25 --> 00:30:28 There's so much I'm leaving out.
00:30:31 --> 00:30:32 I said this week.
00:30:32 --> 00:30:33 I could.
00:30:33 --> 00:30:34 Confidently.
00:30:34 --> 00:30:36 Give a six hour sermon.
00:30:36 --> 00:30:37 On his life.
00:30:38 --> 00:30:40 And joyfully stand here and give it.
00:30:40 --> 00:30:41 As someone who is stage fright.
00:30:41 --> 00:30:42 And doesn't like being up front.
00:30:43 --> 00:30:44 It's.
00:30:44 --> 00:30:45 A wonderful.
00:30:45 --> 00:30:46 Good life.
00:30:48 --> 00:30:49 But here's a final picture.
00:30:49 --> 00:30:50 Of this good life.
00:30:50 --> 00:30:51 For you to consider.
00:30:51 --> 00:30:55 Adoniram had 13 children.
00:30:55 --> 00:30:56 Seven died.
00:30:58 --> 00:31:00 Adoniram and Sarah and Emily.
00:31:00 --> 00:31:01 And their children.
00:31:02 --> 00:31:03 Endured incredible suffering.
00:31:04 --> 00:31:06 Alongside all those.
00:31:06 --> 00:31:06 Who left.
00:31:07 --> 00:31:08 Their homes.
00:31:08 --> 00:31:09 To join them.
00:31:11 --> 00:31:13 And then one final time.
00:31:13 --> 00:31:14 Adoniram too.
00:31:14 --> 00:31:15 Got sick.
00:31:17 --> 00:31:19 As was the custom then.
00:31:19 --> 00:31:20 You get in a ship.
00:31:20 --> 00:31:21 And you go back to a better climate.
00:31:21 --> 00:31:22 You go back to America.
00:31:22 --> 00:31:23 And you hope.
00:31:23 --> 00:31:24 That you will recover.
00:31:25 --> 00:31:25 But sadly.
00:31:26 --> 00:31:27 Two days.
00:31:27 --> 00:31:28 Three days.
00:31:28 --> 00:31:29 Into that journey.
00:31:29 --> 00:31:30 Adoniram.
00:31:30 --> 00:31:31 Died.
00:31:32 --> 00:31:34 He was buried at sea.
00:31:34 --> 00:31:36 That means thrown overboard.
00:31:37 --> 00:31:38 There was no funeral.
00:31:39 --> 00:31:41 There was no other believer on board.
00:31:43 --> 00:31:44 Only thing we know about.
00:31:45 --> 00:31:45 His death.
00:31:46 --> 00:31:47 Is its violence.
00:31:48 --> 00:31:49 And the longitude and latitude.
00:31:50 --> 00:31:54 And that was it for Adoniram.
00:31:55 --> 00:31:55 And his good life.
00:31:58 --> 00:31:59 Or was it?
00:32:00 --> 00:32:01 Because today.
00:32:03 --> 00:32:04 In Burma.
00:32:04 --> 00:32:05 Now called Myanmar.
00:32:05 --> 00:32:06 In 2023.
00:32:07 --> 00:32:08 This Sunday.
00:32:08 --> 00:32:11 3 churches are going to meet.
00:32:12 --> 00:32:15 There are going to be roughly 600 people at those services.
00:32:15 --> 00:32:19 And every single church that gathers today.
00:32:19 --> 00:32:21 That I've just numbered.
00:32:21 --> 00:32:29 Can trace their existence to the life and mission of Adoniram, Anne, Emily and Sarah.
00:32:29 --> 00:32:33 And so many others who were there with them.
00:32:35 --> 00:32:42 Countless seeds were grown and re-sown in the once spiritual desert of Myanmar.
00:32:42 --> 00:32:43 What a legacy.
00:32:44 --> 00:32:45 What a good life.
00:32:46 --> 00:32:53 And so we get to 11 o'clock on a Sunday morning.
00:32:53 --> 00:32:58 Where the person preaching says, so what are you going to do about it?
00:33:00 --> 00:33:01 I think.
00:33:02 --> 00:33:06 I want to encourage you to redefine what you think a good life is.
00:33:06 --> 00:33:10 I think we can all hear it.
00:33:11 --> 00:33:14 We can all be challenged.
00:33:15 --> 00:33:17 If you don't yet follow Jesus.
00:33:18 --> 00:33:21 If you're very aware that you are considering him.
00:33:24 --> 00:33:25 Or you say you do.
00:33:26 --> 00:33:27 But life says you don't.
00:33:29 --> 00:33:31 Listen to Jesus in John 12.
00:33:32 --> 00:33:36 About what living life your way might lead to.
00:33:36 --> 00:33:38 And listen to Adoniram himself.
00:33:40 --> 00:33:42 From a sermon from 200 years ago.
00:33:43 --> 00:33:46 Speaking to those who dabble in following Jesus.
00:33:46 --> 00:33:47 Yet live life their way.
00:33:49 --> 00:33:50 Adoniram says to you.
00:33:51 --> 00:33:55 Inquire not whether a fact is agreeable to his own reason.
00:33:55 --> 00:33:58 But whether it is in the book.
00:33:59 --> 00:34:00 The Bible.
00:34:01 --> 00:34:03 His pride is yielded to divine testimony.
00:34:04 --> 00:34:06 Your pride is still unbroken.
00:34:07 --> 00:34:08 Break down your pride.
00:34:09 --> 00:34:11 And yield to the word of God.
00:34:12 --> 00:34:14 We've seen on the screen today.
00:34:14 --> 00:34:15 Invitation.
00:34:15 --> 00:34:17 Which is a code that you can scan.
00:34:17 --> 00:34:19 To come explore Christianity.
00:34:19 --> 00:34:20 Come speak to me.
00:34:21 --> 00:34:21 If that's you.
00:34:22 --> 00:34:23 Or scan the code.
00:34:24 --> 00:34:24 That's on the screen.
00:34:24 --> 00:34:29 But if you do follow Jesus.
00:34:32 --> 00:34:33 You might find.
00:34:34 --> 00:34:34 It daunting.
00:34:35 --> 00:34:36 To tell your workmates.
00:34:36 --> 00:34:36 Or your family.
00:34:36 --> 00:34:37 That you're a Christian.
00:34:37 --> 00:34:39 Let alone living up to.
00:34:39 --> 00:34:40 The standard of Adoniram.
00:34:41 --> 00:34:41 That I've just shared.
00:34:44 --> 00:34:46 I've laid awake at night.
00:34:46 --> 00:34:48 Worried that I'm not going to measure up to that life.
00:34:48 --> 00:34:53 That's not the point.
00:34:56 --> 00:34:57 God's love for you.
00:34:57 --> 00:34:58 Does not demand.
00:34:58 --> 00:34:59 That you measure up to Adoniram's standard.
00:35:00 --> 00:35:01 Is that you pursue.
00:35:01 --> 00:35:02 The principle.
00:35:04 --> 00:35:05 Like I said before.
00:35:05 --> 00:35:06 It may not be Burma.
00:35:06 --> 00:35:07 But it might be the train car.
00:35:09 --> 00:35:11 It might not be the other side of the world.
00:35:11 --> 00:35:12 But it might be in your household.
00:35:12 --> 00:35:16 So if you follow Jesus.
00:35:17 --> 00:35:18 I encourage you to.
00:35:18 --> 00:35:19 Pick up the book.
00:35:19 --> 00:35:20 Pick up your Bible.
00:35:22 --> 00:35:22 And as an exercise.
00:35:23 --> 00:35:25 Read John 11 and 12.
00:35:26 --> 00:35:29 And then John 19 and 20.
00:35:30 --> 00:35:32 See Jesus power.
00:35:33 --> 00:35:34 To raise Lazarus.
00:35:34 --> 00:35:35 His friend who had died.
00:35:35 --> 00:35:36 From the dead.
00:35:37 --> 00:35:39 And then in the next chapter.
00:35:39 --> 00:35:39 In verse 12.
00:35:39 --> 00:35:40 As we've just read.
00:35:40 --> 00:35:42 Commit to dying himself.
00:35:42 --> 00:35:43 Even though he had power over death.
00:35:44 --> 00:35:46 Committing to dying.
00:35:47 --> 00:35:48 For your sake.
00:35:49 --> 00:35:51 And then in 19 and 20.
00:35:51 --> 00:35:51 Go read about it.
00:35:55 --> 00:35:56 Consider the good life.
00:35:56 --> 00:35:57 That you have planned.
00:35:57 --> 00:35:59 And take the next step.
00:36:01 --> 00:36:02 Reassess.
00:36:02 --> 00:36:03 The good life.
00:36:04 --> 00:36:04 That Jesus has.
00:36:05 --> 00:36:05 For you.
00:36:06 --> 00:36:08 It might risk a friendship.
00:36:08 --> 00:36:09 Or a job.
00:36:09 --> 00:36:10 It might cost.
00:36:10 --> 00:36:11 Your worldly treasures.
00:36:11 --> 00:36:12 Or your time.
00:36:14 --> 00:36:15 But are you willing to say no.
00:36:15 --> 00:36:16 To the good life.
00:36:17 --> 00:36:18 Even to hate it.
00:36:19 --> 00:36:20 To follow Jesus.
00:36:20 --> 00:36:20 His way.
00:36:23 --> 00:36:24 And there might be part of you.
00:36:24 --> 00:36:24 Right now.
00:36:24 --> 00:36:25 That says no.
00:36:25 --> 00:36:26 Nick.
00:36:26 --> 00:36:27 I'm.
00:36:27 --> 00:36:28 I feel like.
00:36:28 --> 00:36:29 I'm not willing to do that.
00:36:30 --> 00:36:31 I'm not willing to do.
00:36:31 --> 00:36:32 What Adoniram did.
00:36:34 --> 00:36:35 Consider Jesus.
00:36:35 --> 00:36:37 Is.
00:36:37 --> 00:36:37 Is.
00:36:38 --> 00:36:39 Your first step.
00:36:40 --> 00:36:42 Consider his willingness to die.
00:36:43 --> 00:36:43 For you.
00:36:43 --> 00:36:44 And lose his all.
00:36:47 --> 00:36:49 And you might be full of fear.
00:36:49 --> 00:36:50 About what you might lose.
00:36:50 --> 00:36:51 But consider.
00:36:52 --> 00:36:54 Jesus willingness to face this hour.
00:36:55 --> 00:36:56 He saw foreigners like us.
00:36:56 --> 00:36:58 Looking for him.
00:36:59 --> 00:37:00 He was willing to die.
00:37:00 --> 00:37:02 So that his followers.
00:37:03 --> 00:37:04 Could share the word.
00:37:04 --> 00:37:05 With us.
00:37:06 --> 00:37:06 Share the word.
00:37:07 --> 00:37:08 With me.
00:37:10 --> 00:37:12 God might be calling you today as well.
00:37:12 --> 00:37:13 To consider a life.
00:37:13 --> 00:37:14 Completely.
00:37:15 --> 00:37:15 Life altering.
00:37:17 --> 00:37:18 Change in your life.
00:37:19 --> 00:37:19 Relationships.
00:37:20 --> 00:37:20 Career.
00:37:20 --> 00:37:21 Where you live.
00:37:22 --> 00:37:22 Even.
00:37:22 --> 00:37:23 Preach the gospel overseas.
00:37:25 --> 00:37:26 But ask God to speak to you.
00:37:27 --> 00:37:27 And show you.
00:37:27 --> 00:37:29 Ways to be his seed.
00:37:30 --> 00:37:31 And grow.
00:37:32 --> 00:37:33 Grow from the book.
00:37:34 --> 00:37:35 Grow in reflection.
00:37:35 --> 00:37:36 Grow in prayer.
00:37:36 --> 00:37:38 And listen to God this week.
00:37:38 --> 00:37:39 Speak to a fellow believer.
00:37:39 --> 00:37:41 About what God has called you to do.
00:37:41 --> 00:37:42 And get ready.
00:37:44 --> 00:37:46 For more of what the good life was.
00:37:46 --> 00:37:47 For one follower of Jesus.
00:37:47 --> 00:37:52 To make an impact in your life.
00:37:52 --> 00:37:53 And maybe to follow in their steps too.
00:37:54 --> 00:37:55 As we.
00:37:55 --> 00:37:56 In the next two weeks.
00:37:57 --> 00:37:58 Hear about two more.
00:37:58 --> 00:37:59 Great lives.
00:38:00 --> 00:38:00 Lived in faith.
00:38:00 --> 00:38:01 From the cloud.
00:38:04 --> 00:38:05 I said.
00:38:05 --> 00:38:07 I've heard about Adoniram.
00:38:07 --> 00:38:08 And I made a big deal in my life.
00:38:10 --> 00:38:11 Here's what I mean.
00:38:13 --> 00:38:15 I've been using Adoniram's first name.
00:38:16 --> 00:38:17 The whole time.
00:38:17 --> 00:38:18 It's been on purpose.
00:38:19 --> 00:38:20 I wanted Adoniram.
00:38:21 --> 00:38:21 And Anne.
00:38:21 --> 00:38:21 And Sarah.
00:38:22 --> 00:38:22 And Emily.
00:38:22 --> 00:38:25 To feel as normal as the.
00:38:26 --> 00:38:26 People.
00:38:26 --> 00:38:27 Who are in this room.
00:38:28 --> 00:38:29 I know Ali.
00:38:29 --> 00:38:30 And I know Tanya.
00:38:30 --> 00:38:30 And I know.
00:38:31 --> 00:38:32 Nick.
00:38:32 --> 00:38:32 I know.
00:38:33 --> 00:38:34 Merle.
00:38:34 --> 00:38:36 I know many of the faces in this room.
00:38:37 --> 00:38:38 These people who.
00:38:38 --> 00:38:39 Did these incredible things.
00:38:39 --> 00:38:40 Were as normal.
00:38:40 --> 00:38:40 And as regular.
00:38:40 --> 00:38:41 And as flawed.
00:38:42 --> 00:38:43 And as lovely.
00:38:44 --> 00:38:44 As you.
00:38:44 --> 00:38:48 But there's another reason.
00:38:48 --> 00:38:49 When I first heard about Adoniram.
00:38:50 --> 00:38:51 I was a newly married man.
00:38:52 --> 00:38:54 I was excited about.
00:38:55 --> 00:38:56 What that meant.
00:38:56 --> 00:38:57 And in time.
00:38:57 --> 00:38:57 God blessed.
00:38:58 --> 00:38:59 My wife and I with a son.
00:39:00 --> 00:39:01 And we called him Judson.
00:39:02 --> 00:39:04 It's another weird name.
00:39:04 --> 00:39:04 Right?
00:39:05 --> 00:39:06 Like Adoniram.
00:39:06 --> 00:39:07 Adoniram.
00:39:07 --> 00:39:08 People call Judson.
00:39:09 --> 00:39:09 Justin.
00:39:10 --> 00:39:10 Or Johnson.
00:39:11 --> 00:39:11 Or Jetson.
00:39:11 --> 00:39:12 Or Justice.
00:39:12 --> 00:39:13 Never Judson.
00:39:14 --> 00:39:15 Eventually they got it right.
00:39:17 --> 00:39:17 But I would tell them.
00:39:18 --> 00:39:18 That he's named after.
00:39:18 --> 00:39:19 A missionary to Myanmar.
00:39:20 --> 00:39:21 Called Adoniram.
00:39:22 --> 00:39:23 Adoniram Judson.
00:39:25 --> 00:39:27 He's named after Adoniram Judson.
00:39:27 --> 00:39:28 Anne Judson.
00:39:29 --> 00:39:30 Sarah Judson.
00:39:30 --> 00:39:31 Emily Judson.
00:39:33 --> 00:39:34 I hope that.
00:39:34 --> 00:39:35 My boy.
00:39:35 --> 00:39:36 My daughters.
00:39:36 --> 00:39:38 My wife.
00:39:39 --> 00:39:40 All of you.
00:39:41 --> 00:39:42 Might come to know Jesus.
00:39:43 --> 00:39:45 Greatest treasure in all the world.
00:39:45 --> 00:39:45 And live.
00:39:46 --> 00:39:47 The good life his way.
00:39:49 --> 00:39:51 Go live it for the sake of God's glory.
00:39:51 --> 00:39:52 And the joy of all people.