GOD WHEN WILL YOU DO IT

                

In October 1810 a 20 year old girl in Bradford, England wrote the following words in her journal “If nothing in providence appears to prevent, I must spend my days in a heathen land. I am a creature of God and he has an undoubted right to do with me, as seems good in his sight... He has my heart in his hand and when I am called to face danger, he can inspire me with fortitude and enable me to trust in him. Jesus is faithful; his promises are precious. Were it not for these considerations, I should sink down with despair”.

 Ann Hasseltine had received a proposal of marriage from Adoniram Judson, who was shortly to leave for Asia as one of America's first overseas missionaries. And thus commenced one of the greatest dramas of church history; a saga of love, courage, suffering and perseverance. At the age of 25, Adoniram Judson was the first American missionary to Burma. He and Ann married two weeks before they boarded a ship bound for India, from which they eventually were able to make their way to Burma.

Judson would spend the next nearly forty years of his life living among and witnessing to the Burmese people. Until her death, Ann was the friend of many and even more fluent in the Burmese language than her academically inclined husband. Judson’s efforts were slow-going. He was imprisoned and tortured, but he never gave up on his God-given calling to reach Burma for Christ. Before his death, Adoniram Judson had not only established several churches in Burma, but he had also given Burma one of the greatest gifts: the Bible in their own language.

In Acts 1 we find the resurrected Jesus giving his disciples a farewell speech before ascending to Heaven.  In Acts 1:5 he told them “John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” It is very interesting that Jesus should make mention of John the Baptist in his last words on earth. Jesus goes back to the beginning of his ministry and the man who prepared the way for him.

The words of Jesus echo the words of John the Baptist. John had said “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I…He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matt 3:11). Then Jesus came to the Jordan to be baptized by John.  But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt 3:12-15).

Jesus sets an example for us to follow. It’s important to note that baby Jesus was taken to the Temple in Jerusalem forty days after his birth for dedication. When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses (Lev 12:1-. 4), Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (Luke 2:22).  Jesus walked to the river Jordan to be baptized by John just before his ministry began. Why was baby Jesus not baptized in the temple when he was taken there?

John’s message was a call to repentance. Repent was the first word of John the Baptist’s gospel (matt.3:1-2). Repent was the first word of Jesus’ gospel (matt. 4:17). Repent was the first word in the preaching instructions Jesus gave to His disciples after His resurrection (Luke 24:46-47). Confessing of sins gave baptism its meaning. Apart from that, baptism would have been a mere bathing of the person without spiritual significance.

 After baptism John demanded fruits worthy of repentance. He said “ produce fruit in keeping with repentance… every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. He will gather his wheat into the barn and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matt 3:8-12).

To baptize with fire means to bring the fires of judgment, which will purify the pure, but destroy the wicked like chaff.  Purification by fire was a prophetic hope in Zechariah 13: 8-9. We read “In the whole land,” declares the Lord, “two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”

John the Baptist was thrown to prison by Herod (matt 14:1-4, Luke 3:18-20). John may have started having doubts; had he made a mistake in pointing Jesus out to be the Messiah.  He knew that he could eventually be executed. Why would the deliverer of Israel not deliver His own messenger? He sent his disciples to Jesus asking “Are you the one who is to come or should we expect someone else?”

Jesus told John’s disciples “go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor” (matt 11:4-5). The prophecy given in Isaiah 35:5-6 and Isaiah 61:1was being fulfilled before their very eyes. Jesus was truly the messiah. This report must have reassured John that he was right.

As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John. Jesus turned to the rest of the crowd and proceeded to praise John the Baptist. He said “What did you go out into the wilderness to see …A prophet? Yes, I tell you and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: “‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’  Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist” (Matt 11:7-11).

The disciples of John did not hear what Jesus said about him; its likely John never got to know about it. Why did Jesus say it after they left? John needed to hear this; it would lift his spirit in the devastating situation. John will only discover in heaven what God thought about him and how the generations after him read about what he did during his brief life on earth. How unsearchable his (God’s) judgments and his paths beyond tracing out! (Rom. 11:33).

John the Baptist was beheaded shortly after that (matt. 14:1-12). After learning of John’s death, Jesus withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place, but He was followed by a multitude of people. He had compassion on them, healed their sick, and miraculously fed more than 5,000 of them (matt. 14:13-21). That night, Jesus saved Peter from sinking into the sea. The following day he healed all the sick who were brought to him (matt. 14:22-36).

 

So why didn’t Jesus save John from Herod? Why did he allow John to die a violent death at only 32, yet he performed great miracles for others? He did not even visit him in prison. Was his mission cut-short? This reminds us of what he told Peter “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will (John 13:7 NLT). Before he was taken up into glory, Jesus again acknowledged the great role John the Baptist played in God’s eternal program.

Acts 1: 6-8 says “Then they (disciples) gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The question the disciples asked indicated they now knew that he was the promised messiah. The Jews were looking for a Messiah who would set them free from Roman rule and set up a Jewish kingdom. Jesus did not establish a kingdom on earth, instead, he said, “my kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). But just before he was crucified Jesus had talked to the disciples about a kingdom.

He told them “you are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on  me , so that you may eat and drink at my table in the kingdom and sit on the thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Luke 22:28-30) . Jesus appreciated and valued the disciples support. They will receive a unique reward. God's greatest servant receive the greatest rewards.

The disciples knew that one day they would reign with Christ in his kingdom. And they hoped it would happen immediately. They were impatient instead of waiting for God’s plan to unfold. Impatient curiosity pries into things that belong to God alone. There are some things in life we don’t know because we can’t know them; they belong only to God (Deut. 29:29).

God’s timetable and ours are not the same. Most of us are in a hurry but God is not; he plans from the standpoint of eternity. When Jesus answered the disciples, he was in essence telling them, “You know everything you need to know about the future. If you needed to know more, I would tell you”. To know that things are in the Father s power is better than knowing times or the seasons.

Jesus said “It is not for you to know the times …but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem…to the ends of the earth.” In other words “your focus is not to be on prophetic timetables, but on the Great Commission”. He redirected their focus to the immediate task which was to bear witness of Jesus Christ to all peoples.

Our job is to tell the world about Jesus. His job is to come back at the right time. This is a great truth for everyone who wants to know God’s will for the future. Do what you know to be God’s will today and tomorrow will take care of itself. Don’t fold your hands looking at the clouds instead of working in the harvest fields for the Master.  In your patience possess your souls (Luke 21:19). The future is all in the Father’s power. No word of God will fail to be fulfilled.