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7. God’s Last Page: His Message to a Spiritually Open but Confused World
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55 a b PARt II ASIA–PACIFIC RIm 7 god’s Last Page: His message to a Spiritually open but Confused world (Revelation 22:8-21) Ross Clifford Morling Theological College Macquarie Park, Australia BIOGRAPHY Ross Clifford lives in Sydney, Australia, where he is the principal of Morling Theological College, the Baptist College of New South Wales and a member college of the Australian College of Theology. Clifford holds degrees from the Australian College of Theology (B.Th., Th.D.), Trinity Law School, California (M.A.), and the University of Sydney (M.Th.), as well as a diploma of law (also from the University of Sydney). He has over a decade of ministry service in Baptist churches and has held a post at Morling since 1992. Clifford and his wife, Beverley, have two children, Briony Jones and Joel Clifford . In July 2010 Clifford was made a member of the Order of Australia (A.M.) for his service to the Baptist Union, Christian media, theological education, and interfaith dialogue. SERMON COMMENTARY Clifford offers a message that embraces the person of Christ, his sufficiency for the believer, and the Christian eschatological hope. He presents this by forwarding three challenges and calling for three responses in light of these challenges. The message is an exposition but also a practical application of the closing words of the Christian canon. The message engages the 56 Baptist Preaching postmodern, post-Christian world and does so, among other ways, by citing contemporary secular authors and referencing his personal experience with those outside the faith. The sermon opens with a narrative of personal experience that sets the stage for his observations about not only the spiritual openness of contemporary secularists but also their confusion and lack of commitment. He moves from a specific experience toward the generalization, “the spiritual openness but confusion of today.” Opening a message with a slice of life often engages the listener more than opening with a generalization and moving to a specific situation. Clifford plays off the idea of the last few pages of a book, whether it be a mystery novel or the book of Revelation. He uses a pneumonic device contrasting “fall” and “all” as well as the words “be” and “key.” This kind of rhyming poetic device helps the congregation in dealing with what to many would be a remote apocalyptic subject. He also analyzes the three voices in the text to give a map of who is speaking to the listener. His first move deals with uncertainty inside and outside the church in Christology. Alongside the confusion of Dan Brown he sets the confusion of a Baptist deacon who is an adoptionist in Christology. This is not the only time in this collection that a concern about adoptionism is addressed. After listing biblical citations to prove the eternal sonship of Christ, Clifford coins the aphorism, “A good definition of heresy is when the both/ands of the Bible become either/ors.” In the second move he demonstrates the sufficiency of Christ by combining Scripture, John Updike, and another personal experience from his own pastoral ministry. Updike’s anthropology, in comparison with the despair of Clifford’s radio talk show call-in, frames the unity of thought in both literary and popular culture. This second move from Christology to sufficiency gives an applied thrust to the message. The third move plays off the current fascination with Mayan eschatology and James Redfield’s speculations about the future. It answers the current hunger for hope on any horizon possible with a firm biblical affirmation of the same. The message then turns to three possible responses to the three challenges. This is an adroit way to work in six movements without too much complication in the structure of the message. Clifford deals with the tough language of those who are inside and those who are outside the new community. There are those who will be inside the city and those who will be outside the city that the Apocalypse pictures. This “inside-outside” language makes the ethical spatial in an accessible way. His most pointed contemporary remarks address moral failures in the church. [54.208.238.160] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 10:14 GMT) Part II—Asia–Pacific Rim 57 Biblical exposition empowers stern moral direction without sounding as if it is special pleading. This leads him to a strong affirmation of the word of God based on the famous warning at the end of the Apocalypse. He recognizes that the warning...