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00:01 When we think of Acts 1:8, 00:04 we think of this challenging assignment 00:07 that the apostles were given, 00:10 and we can only just imagine them thinking about 00:13 the other promise of “power” and “holy spirit” being with them. 00:17 They certainly would need that to go “to the most distant part of the earth.” 00:22 When we think back to the first century, 00:24 we think of ones such as the apostle Paul, Barnabas, Timothy, 00:28 and many others who literally tried to go 00:31 as far as they could to reach various territories. 00:35 If we take our Bibles and turn to the book 00:37 of Romans 15:23, 24, 00:42 we see summarized here 00:45 the apostle Paul’s viewpoint with regard to this. 00:48 Romans 15:23: 00:51 “But now I no longer have untouched territory in these regions, 00:55 and for many years I have longed to come to you.” 00:57 And that’s the brothers in Rome. 00:59 “Therefore, when I journey to Spain, I hope that I will see you.” 01:03 So Paul was very concerned about going to untouched territories. 01:08 Well, in recent times, 01:10 we can say the same is true of Jehovah’s people, 01:13 whether it be the Gilead missionaries who have been sent out 01:16 or other missionaries even prior 01:18 to the time of Gilead being established. 01:21 Or we think of the brothers who have moved to other countries 01:25 to serve where the need is greater 01:27 or perhaps those who have gone out to unassigned territories 01:31 or helped in areas where very few people 01:34 get the opportunity to hear the message. 01:36 When we hear those experiences, 01:38 we certainly are encouraged by them, aren’t we? 01:42 But perhaps we could think this morning 01:44 about just one of the aspects of the history in the past. 01:48 It’s something referred to in the March 2016 Watchtower, 01:52 in the “Questions From Readers.” 01:54 You remember this was discussing 01:56 the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37. 02:01 It spoke about the gradual restoration 02:04 of true worship, 02:06 and it made the comment there that in the Scriptures, 02:09 it speaks of a “rattling” noise. 02:12 And The Watchtower made this comment, 02:14 it said that even prior to the time of the end, 02:17 there were some faithful individuals 02:19 who stood up in behalf of true worship. 02:21 Then it said: “Some of them endeavored to produce Bibles 02:25 in the languages of the common people.” 02:28 So let’s just think for a few moments about some of those 02:32 —perhaps less than 100 years 02:34 before the time that Brother Russell started The Watchtower— 02:39 and how many of those were motivated 02:42 to go to distant parts of the earth 02:45 to translate the Bible and help others there. 02:49 For example, in the year 1793, 02:52 a man by the name of William Carey 02:55 was a British shoemaker. 02:57 And this shoemaker was very impressed with the words 03:02 recorded at Matthew 28:19, 20. 03:04 He felt strongly that all Christians should follow that command. 03:09 So his goal was to go to India. 03:12 And he arrived in India and faced all sorts of problems 03:16 —eventually his wife died, his son died as well, 03:19 he had to take a job planting indigo. 03:22 But this man, within 21 years, with the help of some others, 03:26 was able to translate the Bible, well, parts of it, 03:30 in 36 languages. 03:33 Then in 1797, 03:37 another man, Henry Nott, 03:39 from England was a bricklayer. 03:43 And he and quite a number of others arrived in Tahiti. 03:47 Now, four of those on that ship 03:50 were noted to be pastors, 03:53 but they had no formal training whatsoever. 03:56 Henry Nott hadn’t had a very good education. 04:00 He was a bricklayer; he just had the basic education. 04:04 But this very faithful man 04:06 decided to learn Hebrew and Greek 04:09 and translate the Bible into Tahitian. 04:12 And he learned Tahitian very quickly, 04:14 and in 1835, after 30 years of translating, 04:18 it says that he put down his quill 04:21 and the Tahitian Bible, which, incidentally, uses Jehovah’s name 04:25 in both the Hebrew and the Greek sections of the Bible. 04:29 Then 1807, Robert Morrison 04:33 —a man who was determined to translate the Bible into Chinese. 04:37 He arrived in China to find out 04:39 that if anyone taught a foreigner Chinese, 04:42 there was a death penalty. 04:44 So he remained indoors for a couple of years 04:46 while he learned the Chinese language. 04:49 And then when he started to translate the Bible, 04:52 he found out the emperor had stated there would be a death penalty 04:56 for anyone who printed Christian literature in that country. 05:01 Well, in 1819, 05:03 Morrison completed his version there of the Bible. 05:08 In 1812, Judson, an American, 05:12 along with his wife, left America 05:15 just after two weeks of marriage and, 05:18 in 1813, arrived in Burma, 05:21 which is now known as Myanmar. 05:23 And his determination was to translate 05:26 the Bible into the local language, which was very hard there. 05:29 There was no dictionary; 05:31 there was no one that could actually teach him, 05:34 and yet he set to learning the language. 05:38 He had a period of time where he was in prison 05:41 with three pairs of iron fetters attached to his body. 05:45 And he was very concerned 05:48 about his Bible manuscript that he’d been translating, 05:50 which was hidden in the earth under his home. 05:53 His wife eventually brought it to him in prison. 05:56 It was hidden in a pillow. 05:58 Well, this man, by 1835, 06:02 had the Bible translated into the local language there. 06:06 But not all of these were white missionaries 06:09 from either America or England. 06:12 When the message reached the Pacific, for example, 06:16 many local persons —Polynesians— 06:19 were very determined to go to other islands within the Pacific 06:23 to spread the message. 06:25 An example of this is in 1823. 06:28 A man, a Polynesian by the name of Papeiha, 06:31 was determined to get the message in Rarotonga, 06:35 in the Cook Islands. 06:37 So the mission ship arrived there; 06:40 the two missionary couples from overseas, 06:44 white missionaries, were put ashore. 06:47 There was a misunderstanding with a drunken king, 06:50 which resulted in them being beaten up, 06:52 all their possessions being stolen, 06:54 and them fleeing back to the ship. 06:57 But Papeiha was determined 07:01 to take the Gospel message to those islanders. 07:04 So it’s reported that he said that he would swim ashore 07:08 and that he called out: 07:10 “Ko Jehova toku tiaki! 07:12 Tei roto au i tona rima!” 07:14 which translated means 07:16 “Jehovah is my shepherd! 07:18 I am in His hand!” 07:20 And holding a book with some translations 07:22 of the Bible in Tahitian, 07:24 he jumped overboard, swam ashore, 07:27 and started preaching to the local people. 07:29 Well, you can’t help but admire that enthusiasm. 07:33 The conditions that these missionaries met 07:36 were very, very difficult, very primitive conditions. 07:40 In one country, the missionaries lived in villages 07:43 where people still practiced cannibalism and, 07:47 in many cases, when the chief died, 07:50 all his wives were executed at that point and buried with him. 07:54 So in the midst of these conditions, 07:57 these men translated the Bible and, in many cases, 08:01 used Jehovah’s name not only in the Bible 08:03 but in their personal writings. 08:06 What kept them going? 08:08 What helped them to go to these distant parts of the earth? 08:12 Well, a book on the history of the missionary work in the Pacific 08:16 makes this interesting comment. 08:18 It says: “Strong faith in Jehovah 08:21 often overcame fear and despair.” 08:25 What an interesting thought. 08:27 Well, the obvious question is, 08:30 Were these ones anointed? 08:32 The answer obviously is, 08:34 We don’t know. 08:36 But we do know that Jesus said in Matthew 13 08:40 there would be wheatlike “sons of the Kingdom” 08:43 right down through history. 08:45 And if some of them were involved with this type of work, 08:47 I’m sure we wouldn’t be surprised. 08:49 And in the future, we will no doubt find out 08:52 if they were involved with that work or not. 08:55 But what about us today? 08:57 Well, does it mean we have to all leave our Bethel homes now 09:00 and go to the most distant parts of the earth? 09:03 Well, remember, in Acts 1:8, 09:05 Jesus was speaking to people there in Jerusalem, 09:08 and you may already be living 09:10 in one of the most distant parts of the earth 09:13 when you view it from Jerusalem’s viewpoint. 09:16 But the main thing is, wherever we are 09:19 —if we can reach out and go somewhere else 09:22 or whether we can preach within our own territory— 09:25 if we follow the example of these faithful ones, 09:28 we’ll be sure to try and reach out to persons 09:31 who have not had the opportunity to hear the truth, 09:34 whether near or far.
00:01 When we think of Acts 1:8, 00:04 we think of this challenging assignment 00:07 that the apostles were given, 00:10 and we can only just imagine them thinking about 00:13 the other promise of “power” and “holy spirit” being with them. 00:17 They certainly would need that to go “to the most distant part of the earth.” 00:22 When we think back to the first century, 00:24 we think of ones such as the apostle Paul, Barnabas, Timothy, 00:28 and many others who literally tried to go 00:31 as far as they could to reach various territories. 00:35 If we take our Bibles and turn to the book 00:37 of Romans 15:23, 24, 00:42 we see summarized here 00:45 the apostle Paul’s viewpoint with regard to this. 00:48 Romans 15:23: 00:51 “But now I no longer have untouched territory in these regions, 00:55 and for many years I have longed to come to you.” 00:57 And that’s the brothers in Rome. 00:59 “Therefore, when I journey to Spain, I hope that I will see you.” 01:03 So Paul was very concerned about going to untouched territories. 01:08 Well, in recent times, 01:10 we can say the same is true of Jehovah’s people, 01:13 whether it be the Gilead missionaries who have been sent out 01:16 or other missionaries even prior 01:18 to the time of Gilead being established. 01:21 Or we think of the brothers who have moved to other countries 01:25 to serve where the need is greater 01:27 or perhaps those who have gone out to unassigned territories 01:31 or helped in areas where very few people 01:34 get the opportunity to hear the message. 01:36 When we hear those experiences, 01:38 we certainly are encouraged by them, aren’t we? 01:42 But perhaps we could think this morning 01:44 about just one of the aspects of the history in the past. 01:48 It’s something referred to in the March 2016 Watchtower, 01:52 in the “Questions From Readers.” 01:54 You remember this was discussing 01:56 the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37. 02:01 It spoke about the gradual restoration 02:04 of true worship, 02:06 and it made the comment there that in the Scriptures, 02:09 it speaks of a “rattling” noise. 02:12 And The Watchtower made this comment, 02:14 it said that even prior to the time of the end, 02:17 there were some faithful individuals 02:19 who stood up in behalf of true worship. 02:21 Then it said: “Some of them endeavored to produce Bibles 02:25 in the languages of the common people.” 02:28 So let’s just think for a few moments about some of those 02:32 —perhaps less than 100 years 02:34 before the time that Brother Russell started The Watchtower— 02:39 and how many of those were motivated 02:42 to go to distant parts of the earth 02:45 to translate the Bible and help others there. 02:49 For example, in the year 1793, 02:52 a man by the name of William Carey 02:55 was a British shoemaker. 02:57 And this shoemaker was very impressed with the words 03:02 recorded at Matthew 28:19, 20. 03:04 He felt strongly that all Christians should follow that command. 03:09 So his goal was to go to India. 03:12 And he arrived in India and faced all sorts of problems 03:16 —eventually his wife died, his son died as well, 03:19 he had to take a job planting indigo. 03:22 But this man, within 21 years, with the help of some others, 03:26 was able to translate the Bible, well, parts of it, 03:30 in 36 languages. 03:33 Then in 1797, 03:37 another man, Henry Nott, 03:39 from England was a bricklayer. 03:43 And he and quite a number of others arrived in Tahiti. 03:47 Now, four of those on that ship 03:50 were noted to be pastors, 03:53 but they had no formal training whatsoever. 03:56 Henry Nott hadn’t had a very good education. 04:00 He was a bricklayer; he just had the basic education. 04:04 But this very faithful man 04:06 decided to learn Hebrew and Greek 04:09 and translate the Bible into Tahitian. 04:12 And he learned Tahitian very quickly, 04:14 and in 1835, after 30 years of translating, 04:18 it says that he put down his quill 04:21 and the Tahitian Bible, which, incidentally, uses Jehovah’s name 04:25 in both the Hebrew and the Greek sections of the Bible. 04:29 Then 1807, Robert Morrison 04:33 —a man who was determined to translate the Bible into Chinese. 04:37 He arrived in China to find out 04:39 that if anyone taught a foreigner Chinese, 04:42 there was a death penalty. 04:44 So he remained indoors for a couple of years 04:46 while he learned the Chinese language. 04:49 And then when he started to translate the Bible, 04:52 he found out the emperor had stated there would be a death penalty 04:56 for anyone who printed Christian literature in that country. 05:01 Well, in 1819, 05:03 Morrison completed his version there of the Bible. 05:08 In 1812, Judson, an American, 05:12 along with his wife, left America 05:15 just after two weeks of marriage and, 05:18 in 1813, arrived in Burma, 05:21 which is now known as Myanmar. 05:23 And his determination was to translate 05:26 the Bible into the local language, which was very hard there. 05:29 There was no dictionary; 05:31 there was no one that could actually teach him, 05:34 and yet he set to learning the language. 05:38 He had a period of time where he was in prison 05:41 with three pairs of iron fetters attached to his body. 05:45 And he was very concerned 05:48 about his Bible manuscript that he’d been translating, 05:50 which was hidden in the earth under his home. 05:53 His wife eventually brought it to him in prison. 05:56 It was hidden in a pillow. 05:58 Well, this man, by 1835, 06:02 had the Bible translated into the local language there. 06:06 But not all of these were white missionaries 06:09 from either America or England. 06:12 When the message reached the Pacific, for example, 06:16 many local persons —Polynesians— 06:19 were very determined to go to other islands within the Pacific 06:23 to spread the message. 06:25 An example of this is in 1823. 06:28 A man, a Polynesian by the name of Papeiha, 06:31 was determined to get the message in Rarotonga, 06:35 in the Cook Islands. 06:37 So the mission ship arrived there; 06:40 the two missionary couples from overseas, 06:44 white missionaries, were put ashore. 06:47 There was a misunderstanding with a drunken king, 06:50 which resulted in them being beaten up, 06:52 all their possessions being stolen, 06:54 and them fleeing back to the ship. 06:57 But Papeiha was determined 07:01 to take the Gospel message to those islanders. 07:04 So it’s reported that he said that he would swim ashore 07:08 and that he called out: 07:10 “Ko Jehova toku tiaki! 07:12 Tei roto au i tona rima!” 07:14 which translated means 07:16 “Jehovah is my shepherd! 07:18 I am in His hand!” 07:20 And holding a book with some translations 07:22 of the Bible in Tahitian, 07:24 he jumped overboard, swam ashore, 07:27 and started preaching to the local people. 07:29 Well, you can’t help but admire that enthusiasm. 07:33 The conditions that these missionaries met 07:36 were very, very difficult, very primitive conditions. 07:40 In one country, the missionaries lived in villages 07:43 where people still practiced cannibalism and, 07:47 in many cases, when the chief died, 07:50 all his wives were executed at that point and buried with him. 07:54 So in the midst of these conditions, 07:57 these men translated the Bible and, in many cases, 08:01 used Jehovah’s name not only in the Bible 08:03 but in their personal writings. 08:06 What kept them going? 08:08 What helped them to go to these distant parts of the earth? 08:12 Well, a book on the history of the missionary work in the Pacific 08:16 makes this interesting comment. 08:18 It says: “Strong faith in Jehovah 08:21 often overcame fear and despair.” 08:25 What an interesting thought. 08:27 Well, the obvious question is, 08:30 Were these ones anointed? 08:32 The answer obviously is, 08:34 We don’t know. 08:36 But we do know that Jesus said in Matthew 13 08:40 there would be wheatlike “sons of the Kingdom” 08:43 right down through history. 08:45 And if some of them were involved with this type of work, 08:47 I’m sure we wouldn’t be surprised. 08:49 And in the future, we will no doubt find out 08:52 if they were involved with that work or not. 08:55 But what about us today? 08:57 Well, does it mean we have to all leave our Bethel homes now 09:00 and go to the most distant parts of the earth? 09:03 Well, remember, in Acts 1:8, 09:05 Jesus was speaking to people there in Jerusalem, 09:08 and you may already be living 09:10 in one of the most distant parts of the earth 09:13 when you view it from Jerusalem’s viewpoint. 09:16 But the main thing is, wherever we are 09:19 —if we can reach out and go somewhere else 09:22 or whether we can preach within our own territory— 09:25 if we follow the example of these faithful ones, 09:28 we’ll be sure to try and reach out to persons 09:31 who have not had the opportunity to hear the truth, 09:34 whether near or far.
