Making Progress in the Pulpit
Every preacher is gifted by God in different ways, whether intellectually, or socially, or spiritually. We each bring our own weaknesses into the pulpit, too. But through diligent attention to this holy work—presenting sermons week by week, humbly receiving critique and listening to wise counsel, sharpening our abilities in exegesis and expression—we aim to grow and learn as we steward our gifts faithfully.
Probably every pastor recalls with a shudder his first attempt at a sermon.
My first sermon was in seminary back in 2001 when our homiletics professor assigned me Romans 2:12-16.
It’s a challenging passage about how those “who sin apart from the law will perish apart from the law,” and those who “sin under the law will be judged by the law.”
Paul goes on to say that even though the Gentiles do not have the law, they sometimes by nature do things required by it. In this way they show “that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.”
A taxing text. And I struggled mightily to understand this piece from Romans, let alone to explain it coherently or apply it winsomely, to say nothing of preaching Christ from a text that hardly mentions him.
I am sure that I did very poorly on all counts.
It was a long time ago, but I recall clearly the comments of a fellow student after I delivered my homiletic hash, “I think you tried to stick to the text, but I don’t see how the sermon connects at all to the Joe Plumber in the church pew…” It was a point well taken: my first attempt at a sermon was more of a dry exegetical essay than a lively proclamation of God’s Word.
What I experienced that day was an early introduction to the truth that for every minister, preaching is a task which is simultaneously perplexing and enriching, both a mighty struggle and a great joy.
Since my first (very bad) experience of preaching, God has let me continue to proclaim his Word. By now it’s been at least 1500 sermons over the last twenty years.
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The Lion of Punjab, John H. Morrison
Rev. Morrison was elected moderator of the Old School General Assembly during its meeting in Peoria, Illinois. He was a member of the Presbytery of Lodiana, one of three presbyteries of the Synod of Northern India. He encouraged the General Assembly to remember their mission work in India. It is often difficult for missionaries to be so far from home, family, and familiar culture, and the difficulty becomes deeply distressing if they feel forgotten.
John Hunter was born June 29, 1806 to James and Eleanor (Thompson) Morrison in Wallkill Township, New York. James’s grandfather Morrison had emigrated from Scotland. John’s early studies were accomplished in Bloomfield Academy, New Jersey. At twenty-two years of age he professed faith in Christ in the Presbyterian Church on Cedar Street in New York (currently, Fifth Avenue) during the ministry of Cyrus Mason. It was two more years before he attended the College of New Jersey (Princeton) graduating with the class of 1834. Called to the ministry, his theological studies were completed in Princeton at the seminary which granted his certificate of studies in 1837. The Presbytery of New York, Old School, licensed Morrison September 12, 1837, then the next day he married the daughter of E. D. Ward, Anna Maria, who was eight years younger. Just a few weeks after licensure he was ordained on the first day of October. Events proceeded rapidly for the Morrisons because they were leaving for the foreign mission field in India, but first they joined other new missionaries for a public commissioning service in Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia. Dr. William W. Phillips of First Church, New York, and Dr. Henry R. Wilson spoke to the appointees encouraging them as they prepared for voyages to distant lands.
On October 14, the Morrisons left Philadelphia on a steamboat to Newcastle, Delaware, to set sail for India once the stormy weather cleared. They were on board the Edward which was under the command of Capt. J. H. Cheyney. It was the Sabbath so Rev. Morrison held a service on the deck with passengers and crew in attendance as he preached from Romans 10:4, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.” Anna Maria described their accommodations on the Edward.
The stateroom admits one chair, and a small table, which answers the purpose also of a wash-stand, having a bowl fastened to it. Our berths are large, and by far more comfortable than I supposed they would be. And if we could have a little more air, we should sleep charmingly.
When the ship sailed for India October 16, the anticipated charming trip ended up a horrendous journey for Anna Maria. The one-hundred-seventy-day voyage to Calcutta was a nightmare of reoccurring bouts with sea sickness—one of which lasted two weeks. She also suffered a mysterious malady with symptoms that included a splitting headache and convulsions. The unidentified disease was diagnosed by one passenger claiming to have some medical knowledge as “congestion of the liver.” Late in the voyage, Anna Maria developed stomach pain to add to her discomfort. When the Edward arrived in Calcutta April 6, 1838, things were looking better because the Morrisons were in the country where they would serve the Lord, but despite the relative calm of port, Anna Maria’s headaches continued to be troublesome. A physician treated her by putting leaches and ice on her head. Added to the Morrisons’ difficulties was the news that cholera was raging in Calcutta. The sequence of events is not clear at this point, but it appears the Morrisons remained on the Edward in the bay waiting for transport to Allahabad, which is nearly 500 miles northwest of Calcutta. Anna Maria developed symptoms indicative of cholera then died April 27. So, John and Anna Maria had been married about seven months, on the move the whole time, and they did not reach their field of ministry in Allahabad together. To say the least, this is a sad story but not an uncommon one for western missionaries working in Asian climates.
John continued his journey to his field of ministry and worked faithfully throughout the years. He came to be known among the missionaries as “The Lion of the Punjab,” because of his tenacity and faithful preaching of the Bible. Though tough, he was also congenial, well loved, and greatly respected by the people of India as well as his colleagues. It did not take Morrison long to remarry because less than a year after Anna Maria’s death on February 20, 1839 he married at Allahabad Isabella Hay of Perthshire, Scotland. They had likely met in the missionary community. But after only four years Isabella died at Calcutta February 14, 1843. Then during a visit to the United States he married on June 1, 1846 a woman from England named Anna Williams.
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4 Important Aspects of the Noahic Covenant in Redemptive History
Every time we see the rainbow we should remember God’s covenant faithfulness in sending the Redeemer to save a people for himself. Just as God had placed a rainbow in the sky to show his steadfast covenant fidelity, so there is a rainbow around the throne of Jesus Christ in glory (Rev. 4:3). We, like Noah, are beneficiaries of the mercy established in the Noahic Covenant in Jesus Christ.
The Noahic covenant was the first covenantal administration after God’s initial covenant promise to redeem and restore humanity (Gen. 3:15). It is also the first time that the word בְּרִית (Berith, translated Covenant) is used in the Scripture (Gen. 6:18). What has not been frequently observed, however, is how the Noahic covenant falls squarely in the realm of redemptive history.
Consider the following ways in which Noah and the Noahic covenant play a part in redemptive history:
1. The Redemptive Role of Noah as a Type of Christ
Noah was a type of Christ. He was a typical second Adam, a typical redeemer, and a typical rest giver. Like Adam, God gave Noah similar instructions with regard to being fruitful and multiplying, filling the earth and subduing it. He was not the second Adam but was a type of the second Adam who pointed to Christ.
Jesus is the second and last (eschatological) Adam who redeems his people and fulfills the creation mandates. Noah was a typical redeemer. Everyone with Noah on the ark was saved. Everyone in Christ is saved. Noah was not “the Redeemer.” He was a typical redeemer, providing typical redemption for all those who descended from him. Jesus came to redeem all those he represented spiritually.
Noah was a typical rest-giver. Noah’s name meant ‘rest.’ His father had named him ‘Rest,’ saying, “This one will give us rest from the ground which the Lord had cursed.” Noah only gives typical rest, as the remainder of the Bible bears witness to the ongoing need for redemptive rest.
Jesus is the one who finally and fully gives rest to the people of God and to the creation that was brought under the curse at the fall. He is the one who said, “Come unto me and I will give you rest for your souls.” He is the one who takes the curse on himself when he wears the crown of thorns—the symbol of the curse on the ground.
2. The Redemptive Foreshadowing of the New Creation
The book of Revelation tells us that the “new heavens and the new earth” will be the new Temple where God dwells fully and permanently with the redeemed. Noah and all of creation were together in the ark, as in a typical temple. This was foreshadowing the new creation-temple. Interestingly, the ark and Solomon’s Temple had three levels. It seems that the biblical data substantiates that the ark was a temple where God dwelt with his creation.
Noah also led the way into a typical new creation when he and his family stepped off of the ark and into a world that had been typically cleansed of pollution. Jesus brought about the new creation through his death and resurrection.
Noah knew that the flood had not really made “all things new,” because he sacrificed when he stepped off of the ark. The flood waters could never cleanse the evil out of the heart of man. God had destroyed the earth with a flood because “every intent of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5).
God promised never to destroy the earth with a flood again because “the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen. 8:21).
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I Believe in the Forgiveness of Sins — The Apostles’ Creed, Article of Faith 10
Justice demanded that David’s sin be punished, and it was punished in the sacrificial crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Jesus bore David’s sin and condemnation so that David could be forgiven. The wickedness of all who confess their sins and believe in Jesus Christ is forgiven. “His blood makes the foulest clean.”
The author of a large part of the Bible did some desperately wicked things.
I’m talking about David, Israel’s greatest general and king, and author of at least seventy-three of the Psalms.
God’s justice demands that sin be punished.
It is about 1000 BC, and David has been king for some time. His realm is expansive, his rule is secure, and his armies are off campaigning.
We find him strolling on his rooftop (2 Sam. 11). The sun sets over Jerusalem. The scent of smoke and evening meals fills the air.
David sees a woman bathing on her rooftop, a very beautiful woman. He makes inquiries.
She is Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, one of David’s greatest soldiers—a friend and brother-in-arms. Uriah is away with the army.
David orders Bathsheba to be brought to his chambers…
Weeks later she sends him a note: “I am pregnant.”
David attempts a coverup. He calls Uriah back to Jerusalem for “news from the frontline.” He then sends him home to his wife Bathsheba with a gift.
But there’s no way that Uriah will enjoy an evening with his wife while the Ark of the Covenant and his brothers-in-arms are out in the field. Uriah sleeps outside.
Frustrated, David tries again. This time he gets Uriah drunk before sending him home to his wife.
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