It's good to see you this morning, Dr. Chappell, as you know, is traveling, and so if you'll keep him in your prayers, that'd be appreciated, and that's a privilege for me to be with you, and for our time together, let's begin in prayer. Father, we thank you very much for the way that you've been faithful to each one of us, so thoroughly knowledgeable of the cares that we have and the dreams and hopes we have, regrets we have, the confusion, the questions, the joys, we thank you that you have declared that you are the knower of the heart, and we ask that you would be pleased to continue to, as you say, and your word to be the lifter of our head, that we might know that you are God, and there is no other, and that our hope rests with you. We ask that you would bless, Dr. Chappell, and his work as he and Dave Wicker traveled today that you'd bless their efforts in the gospel, and we ask, Lord, that you'd bless our time now for your namesake in Jesus' name, amen. The attendant sheet is being passed around to you, and you also, I believe, have an assignment that you can turn in today. Those of you who've been watching sermons in Chappell, and you've been reflecting on that, if you have those with you today, you can turn those in, so let's begin our class as normally as the case with a little bit of a review, a midterm review, as a former student, I might give you a hint. You might take a piece of paper, and every time at the beginning of class there's a review, you really want to pay attention to that review, and you might just on that piece of paper write down what you review, what your thoughts are, and by the end of the semester or by the end of several weeks you have a piece of paper which has all the stuff that's been reviewed on it, in one place, that might come in handy when you start to study, just a little hint. First question for us in review, why does one need to be cautious about spurious texts? Why does one need to be cautious about spurious texts? Right, we want to preach what the Holy Spirit has preached for us, has written for us. That's right, so we want to be cautious about texts with our questions, do our homework on those, that's right. Next question, how does an allegorical method of interpretation differ from an expository one? How does allegorical approach different from an expository approach? Yeah, it goes beyond what appears to be the plain meaning of the text, so at an expository approach we're trying to get at the intent of the author, what the author meant by the connection of words, and an allegorical approach we're looking at the imagination of the speaker, us, the one who, or the reader of the text, we're making connections from our own imagination. So an example which you've probably discussed would be Rahab's red cord, you go into the spies go in, there's Rahab, she sets out a red cord, red is the color of blood, blood is what our Lord shed for us, therefore when Rahab set her cord out, she's foreshadowing the blood of Christ, well, that really preaches well, it really does, a similar one would be Noah in his ark, the ark is made of wood, the Lord Jesus died on a cross which was made of wood, therefore Noah in the ark, he's being saved by the wood of the boat, just like the people of God are saved by the wood of the cross, David chose five smooth stones. The first stone was the stone of faith, the second stone was the stone of courage, third stone, you see where we're going, well, all these things, it's not that the Lord doesn't use these things, he certainly does, it's certainly true that any of our faithful brothers who have preached sermons like that, God has blessed them, but more because of God's compassion, and kindness to us in our weakness, and as best we're able, we're seeking to understand from the scripture what connections it makes, and so with Rahab's cord for example, we have no textual indication in that historical text that Rahab is supposed to point us somewhere else, and so we as best we're able refrain from making connections the Bible doesn't make. All of us are mixed works in this endeavor, and God is kind to us, but nonetheless we try our best. Third question, what are web and flow, and how do they affect text selection, what is web and flow, right? A web, that's right, a web is where the situation that you're facing determines the kind of text that you're going to choose, and flow is the text itself, the passage itself determines what it is we're preaching about. Finally, why should a preacher be careful not to run to a commentary as a first step in his sermon preparation? Yeah, right. Yeah, we are in a situation that the person who wrote the commentary is not in, and we may even be in a time and place of generation that the person who wrote the commentary was not in, and we trust that the Lord has called us and given us tools to understand his word by means of his spirit, and so we want to give ourselves to him first, and then look and see what other brothers and sisters have said, and as a guard, a jack can help to us. It's a recommendation to you. That's right. Good. Now the goal for this lesson moving from review now to our present talk today, the goal for this lesson is to see how we progress from words on a page in a passage of Scripture to a sermon that is designed to change hearts. We're going to combine arguments for a sermon and tools and rules for interpreting a text. So we're going to give some basic introductions to what you do as you look at a sermon as a passage of Scripture as you're thinking about preparing it for a sermon. Now, why might this matter? Imagine I was sitting in my office there as a social worker in northern Indiana, and the woman is sitting across from me and she is, her face is swelled up and black and purple from where her husband in all of his various weaknesses and brokenness and sin has been hitting her. And she's asking the question, what does the Bible say to me about this? And by that question, you know, she's not just asking, do I leave or not? She's asking the question, how does a person of faith handle this kind of trauma, what it does to my dreaming, what it does to my memories, what it does to all that I had hoped for, and longed for, what it does to the betrayal I feel, the love I had thought once was, how does a person of faith walk with God in the midst of this kind of trauma? Sometimes you see what we need from Scripture is not just the answers to pass a test. What we need is help to know how to live. Imagine a person in a workplace, corporate setting, and a decision's being made by a higher up that is an unethical one. And you're asking the question. And so you come to your pastor or you come to your Bible study leader or your elder or you say, how do I navigate this situation? Well, at that point you see we could say, do you believe the creed? Do you believe the Westminster Confession of Faith? They might say, well, sure, yeah. Well, then all as well. Well, no. How does the Westminster Confession of Faith help me know what to do in this situation? How does the truths of the faith help me to know what to do in this situation? When we come to a sermon passage, we're reminded of the fact that you may have two people married 15, 20 years. They come into your pastor's study and they're having marital difficulty. And you would ask them the question, do you believe in the fundamentals of the faith? They would say, yes, do you believe in the apostles creed? Yes, do you follow the catechism? Yes, then what's the problem? Well, she started whatever, and he started whatever, right? See, it's not a matter of ascending to the right truths. It's a matter of the wisdom to apply those truths to the situations of the fallen world that we all face. And so a sermon that which we're bringing forth from the Word of God isn't just trying to equip people to answer the right questions. We're trying to equip people for living, trying to bring truth to their life circumstances so that they have wisdom. So they know how to think it, but what to do? How to respond? And so to do that, we begin to have as Dr. Chapel mentions for six critical questions for sermon preparation, six basic questions. You can ask, that's what we want to walk through today, these six questions. The first one is, what does this text mean? What does this text mean? You know, these questions seem obvious and intuitive as we walk down through them. But in the midst of time demands and the midst of the own, our own rush of our heart, we may forget to walk down through these steps and ask these basic intuitive questions. Also, we're taking these questions in a particular order, but gradually, as you become familiar with them, so they sort of have been flowed. But let's take them now. What does this text mean? To answer this question, you employ these steps. First, read, reread, and digest the text. That's your letter A there. Read, reread, and digest the text. You remember Psalm 1 where we're told about the person who's like a tree rooted by streams of water. The bear says fruit and season and whose leaf does not wither. Who is that person? It's the person who meditates on the law of God day and night. It means always meditating, thinking over again and again, holding it up and looking at the same thing we've looked at before, but looking at it again and again from another angle. Charles Virgin called it, lying a soak in the text, bathing in the text. We read it, but we know that because we've read it one, it doesn't mean we really know what's there. And you know that by the fifth or sixth time you've read the passage, you're seeing things you haven't saw before. We keep saturating ourself with the text because our intention is to get a sense of what the text has to say to us in the hands of the Lord. Secondly, letter B there, observe context. That means we look at the literary phrasing, words, genre that's going on there. Imagine that you're in the Psalms, for example. And the Psalms say David says that the Lord has delivered me from the pit. Compare that to Joseph in the book of Genesis and the account there in which we know that Joseph was thrown into a pit.
Does the Psalmists mean the same thing that Moses meant in the book of Genesis about the pit? No. The Psalms are poetry. When David uses the word pit, he's using it to describe a condition of soul in light of a circumstance. Whereas in the historical narrative, the count of Joseph, there was an actual pit that he was thrown into, dug into the ground. So context involves looking at phrasing literary features of the text, but also history, the surrounding context what was taking place when my wife, Shelly and I, and we first were engaged. We went to a living room in a house where many of our family were gathered for an occasion. And we came in beaming and we announced our engagement and then we said everyone is invited to the wedding. Everyone is invited to the wedding. Now imagine that a reporter from the Post's batch was there and took a picture, wrote up an article, next day, headline. S. Y invites everyone to the wedding. It's the right quote, isn't it? Quoted me right? Quoted me correctly. But if you're reading the paper, you're assuming you've been invited to the wedding. Because why context? I said the word everyone and I met who those were in that living room. So we have to get into the living room, you see? The living room of the passage to see what someone meant when they wrote it. Let's give an example. For us, James, chapter one, if you have a Bible, we can turn there. James, James, chapter one, the passage that we are, that is a blessing to us, it's James, chapter one, five. If, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given to him. Now on most occasions, when we think about this passage, we're thinking about decisions that we have to make, something unknown that we need God to show us. We need to know which school to send our children to or which job we're supposed to take or which school to choose. And so we turn to this passage and find comfort if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God. And that's a wonderful help that this passage brings to us. However, if we take a look at context just a bit, we'll see that James has a meaning much more profound than decision-making. Remind yourself of verses two through four. I'll just do this very quickly, but remind yourself of verses two through four. The situation is trials of various kinds. As you go down through verse four, you see, let's steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing. Lacking in nothing. Now you're going to see that phrase repeated at the beginning of verse five. A parallel phrase, if any of you lacks wisdom, okay? So what he said is, if you're in a trial of any kind, the Lord is meaning to complete you so that you lack nothing if you lack wisdom, ask. Now see, suddenly here it sounds a little strange. We lack wisdom, we lack the ability to know which school to choose in the midst of trials. So we take this as a comfort. The context seems to be about trials in people's lives. Well, we keep reading, and by the time we get over to chapter three, verse 13, we realize that James uses this word again. It's always a helpful thing when thinking through context to ask the question, does the author talk about this idea any other place in his writing? As you look at James three here, verse 13, who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct, let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. What is wisdom that is unspiritual? It is, notice, bitter jealousy, selfish ambition in your heart. It seems like James is equating wisdom with character. But let's keep reading. Verse 16, for where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. Now notice a contrast, verse 17, but the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy, good fruits and partial and sincere. Notice how James uses the word wisdom. There are two kinds in his mind, heavenly and earthly or unspiritual, and notice that wisdom for James has to do with character, the contrast of bitter jealousy with gentleness or peace. Now go back to chapter 1 and have James's definition of wisdom in your mind. You are in the midst of a trial, beloved. If any of you lacks wisdom, that means if any of you lacks gentleness, peace, if any of you lacks being full of mercy and good fruit, let him ask, the Lord who gives generously will give without reproach. Now suddenly you see that makes a whole lot more sense and becomes much more profound for the believer. If you're in the midst of a trial and you're responding into that trial with bitter jealousy or envy or anger and you need wisdom from heaven, you need the grace from heaven to be able to respond to that trial in a way that imitates the character of God, asks and he will give it. Suddenly now you see the way I often think of it is 3 a.m. in the morning and the baby has been crying for two hours now and you're sliding down the hallway there, weeping on the floor because you just yelled at that baby with all your might and you can't believe what you just did. Suddenly James 1.5 becomes a promise for that mother in the night or that father in the night. If you lack gentleness, peace, mercy and the midst of your trial of any kind, ask for it He will give it. So context helps us that opens up for us the meaning of a passage. See, look up the unknowns, the grammar, you know words meaning historical data. So you're in the book of Jonah chapter 1, you notice around verse 2 or 3 there that the text uses the phrase Tarshish three times in one verse. So you think yourself well it must be important to know what Tarshish is because it says Tarshish Tarshish Tarshish in one verse you know. So you look it up you find out what's the big deal about Tarshish. We look up things that are unknown. D we identify parallels words or concepts and other passages so we're looking at one passage like we just did in James chapter 1 we see him talk about wisdom. We find it is just talked about somewhere else and we go and find those passages which help us. E we grasp the main idea and identify features of its development. We're trying to grasp the main idea and what are the features of developing this main idea. So when we ask the question what does this text mean we are trying to conclude what the text is basically about. What's it saying? Number two, how do I know what it means. This is really important. You know how our practice often is in a small group setting is to read a verse and then say what does it mean to you and then everyone in the group shares. This can be a very helpful way of discussing the scripture together but we also know that we first it's often helpful to first ask the question what did it mean for the writer of the text. How do I know that's what it meant which forces me to look back at the Bible and prove to myself that I'm getting my ideas from the Bible. Now a way some ways to do this first are to create a thought flow outline to create a thought flow outline. This is where you simply identify the subject, the verb, the object you may have learned this in school somewhere in your past and you're trying to put it in a sentence schematic so you can look at it and see what the primary words that are being used are.
Another tool is to use a mechanical layout. This is on the next page of your syllabus. An outline of sentence or paragraph structure. So you're showing the independent clauses and dependent clauses. How they're connecting to one another. An independent clause is the main idea
in relationship to a dependent clause which are the supporting ideas or the modifier. So the independent clause is beware of practicing your righteousness before men. Dependent clauses to be noticed by them. It's that which modifies or further expresses what's being said. Another tool that you can use is a conceptual outline. It's just where you walk down through the text and you outline the concept, you highlight the main ideas that you see. So David disobeyed God. He committed adultery and murder. God convicted David. He sent his word, identified the sin. David repented toward God. He confessed to sin, expressed sorrow and sought new obedience. The overarching theme that you see as you walk down through the passage. Whatever tool we learn to use, again, we're just introducing these ideas today, whatever tool you learn to use, what you're trying to do is show from the passage where you're getting your ideas. Why? Because eventually when you're preaching your sermon, you're going to have a concept called that we will call state, place, and prove. What that means is you will be expected to state your main idea. State what the main idea is from the passage. We must love one another, okay? As an example. But then we're going to ask you to place that idea in the text and then prove from that text the concept that you're expressing to us. How you'll notice that being played out, saying chapel sermons, chapel sermons, when you hear Dr. Chapel preach, Lord willing, when you hear me preach, when you hear others preach, you'll notice this kind of phrase. Someone will say look with me in verse, whatever, all the way through the sermon, always comes back to that. Look with me in verse, whatever, or as we see in verse, whatever, all the way through the sermon, because in essence what we're doing is we're wanting the hearer, their head to constantly go down into the text, back up, back down, because we want them to see in the text where we're getting ideas. Why? Because the text is their authority, not us. And we want the scripture to be what leads them and the scripture to be what guides what we're saying. And so we want to ask this second question. It's not just what's the main idea, but how do I know from the text, which causes us to look back at it? The larger the expository unit, the more appropriate the latter alternatives for outlining listed above. What Dr. Chappell's saying there is that when you have a larger portion of scripture that you're dealing with, it can be very time-consuming and tedious, depending on your situation, to do a sentence by sentence, grammatical outline. You know, of two chapters or something like this. Knowing that in the context of pastoral ministry, you have at least three, maybe four other sermons and Bible studies to prepare for that week as well. So we don't always have that opportunity, but so what you can do is use the conceptual outline for those larger portions of scripture, and then use a grammatical outline for those key places in that larger portion, which seem to stand out to you. In creating such outlines for the study of a passage, which are known as exegetical outlines, it is advisable to identify which verses correspond to which outline components. So in your, you'll notice in the examples that we were looking at, notice the verse is put in parentheses next to the sentence or next to the concept that you're getting. Why? This is a part of this second question we're asking, how do I know? So when I write something down about what the text is saying, I want to put the verse next to it, or the portion of the verse next to it. So when I go back to it, I can see it keeps leading me back to the text. I can see where in the text I got this point or this idea. Use the development of the thought flow outline then to lead you into and through an in-depth study of three things. One, language, study of language. That's why we, you know, that's why you're having classes at Greek and Hebrew. For those of you who are in the ordination track, language becomes important for communicating rightly the word of God. Second, genre, genre, G-E-N-R-E. That's what I referred to earlier. The Psalmist use of the word pit in contrast to the use of the word pit in the book of Genesis. What helps me know the differences between those words is to know the genre of the Psalms. It's poetry. And to know the genre of Genesis which is historical narrative. Knowing the genre of the passage enables me to rightly understand or at least to have better clues as to what the word might mean. So we know the Lord has communicated to us with history, with Psalms, with prophecy, with narratives, with proverbs. We'll ask the question, what's the genre? Third, number three, context. You'll notice we continue to repeat this idea throughout your notes here. Context, why? Context, context, context, context matters to keep us in the living room of the passage so that we know the meaning. Context involves four things. Context involves four things. We've not yet moved to point number three in your outline yet. We're still under the small number three with the word context next to it that you've just written in. And there are four things related to context observation. Number two, comparison. Number three, word study. And number four, context study. So looking at context means observing what's there, comparing with other scriptures, doing word studies and looking at the historical background, connections of that text with other texts in the scripture. When you get to Christ-centered preaching, we will add another idea to context and that is redemptive context. Where is this passage located in light of redemptive history? That is the Lord unfolding what he would do in Christ Jesus. Is this before the cross? Or does this text come after the cross? And what implications does location of the text within the scope of God's plan have for us?
Number three, the third question that we ask. What concerns caused this text to be written? What concerns caused this text to be written? Why was this text given to us? Number one, that means we study the author's intentions. Number one, the author's intentions. Why did Paul write this to them? Why did the author write this to them? You see, Paul, for example, talks about love to the Corinthians in a way that he doesn't with the Philippians or the Galatians. It's only to the Galatians that Paul says, if anyone has another gospel, let him be a curse. It's only to the Galatians that he speaks that strongly. Why the differences? That's what we're getting at. Why did the author say this to them? Author's intentions. Number two, the passage is context. What concerns caused this text to be written brings us back to context again. What was going on? What's the situation in Galatia? The Galatian churches. What's the situation that would cause Paul to speak so strongly to them? What's the situation in Philippi that would cause Paul to speak about joy so much with them?
Number three, God's mind. The mind of the Lord. What concerns caused this text to be written? This brings us back to our theology for a moment. First Corinthians chapter 2, verse 14, We're reminded that the natural man does not understand the things of the spirit. We're reminded that when we come to the scriptures, we can't naturally understand what's there. God is the author of the scripture. The spirit of the Lord is the one through whom this word was written. Therefore, when Paul wrote to the Galatians, he wrote as an inspired apostle. It was the spirit of the Lord, speaking to the Galatians with Paul as the ambassador for Christ, and so we want to know why is the Lord ultimately? Why is the Lord saying this to his people? That leads us to a remembrance of our dependence upon the spirit of God. It reminds us of that psalmist prayer. Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things from your law. It reminds us of Proverbs chapter 2, and we are told to cry out for wisdom, to raise our voice for understanding from his word. And so the study of context isn't just grammar and historical study. It also includes prayer because we're trying to understand what the author meant, and therefore ultimately why the Lord wrote this to us. I'm on your next page now. To answer the question of intention also requires remembering. What does this mean? First, causal concerns may be implied or stated. causal concerns may be implied or stated. Sometimes what's being said here? Sometimes the author of the text tells us explicitly why he's writing. So for example, near the end of the book of John, maybe around chapter 20 or so, John tells us why he's writing the book. He says these signs have been written so that you may believe. So that lets you know that any time you're preaching from the book of John, you're reminded of what his purpose was. That any of the signs and any of the miracles recorded there have been written to strengthen faith and to arouse faith in people. The Apostle Paul say in Philippians chapter 4, verse 2, he has a stated purpose. He says, I plead with the audio and sanctity to be at peace with one another. It's an explicit purpose that he's stating. But in Philippians, the book of Philippians is also an implied purpose. It's less explicit, but it's still there. Philippians chapter 2, verse 4, look not on your own things, but on the things of others. Now it makes sense, right? He's been speaking about having the mind of Christ, about considering the needs of others, and by the time he gets to chapter 4, he makes it explicit application. These two sisters need to apply this to their life. So sometimes the intention of the author, we remember, can either be implied or explicitly stated.
Background and logic may also maybe be needed to determine implied concerns. Historical context can also help us understand what the author was trying to get at and why. If we remember in Galatians, when Paul the Apostle is talking about, why is he talking so much about what justifies us before the Lord? Well, because historically we know, and through the texts itself, that a group called the Judaizers were coming in, persuading this new church with the teaching that went contrary to Scripture. And by knowing that context, even though the Apostle may not explicitly state, this is why I'm writing this letter. By understanding the context and what he's saying, we gain a sense of why this text had to be written. Now, at this point, you've then asked three questions. What is the text saying, how do I know? And what are the intentions of the author? And at this point, when you've answered all those questions, you merely have a lecture. You are ready to give a lecture. You can say true things about the passage. You can tell us historical context. You can tell us the meanings of words. You can tell us what the situation was and why the text was written. You could give a lecture at this point. Now, often, in the midst of ministry demands, we stop there and think we're ready for the sermon. But we want to remind ourselves of where we started, that people are living before the Lord in the world, which means they're facing all manner of situations, which means they need more than just the answers to the test. They need the word of God to come to bear upon their condition. So, we might remind ourselves of a subtle nuance between teaching and preaching.
And that is when the Apostle Paul speaks in 2 Timothy about preach the word. He goes on to say with correcting, rebuking, exhorting, with all long suffering, patience. The preaching of the word seems to have this further movement of getting into the inner being, with bringing the word to bear in such a way that it corrects, rebukes, exhorts. So, it moves beyond the giving of information and moves into applying that information to the conditions of the souls of the hearers, according to what they need, before the Lord, according to the word. So, we want to start moving then toward the sermon. So, we don't stop at question number three. We continue on to question number four. What do we share in common with? What do we share in common with? Another way to think of this would be this phrase, mutual human condition. What is the mutual human condition? A, what do we share in common with? A, those two whom the text was written, those two whom the text was written, or B, what do we share in common with those? By whom the text was written? By whom the text was written? How we answer this question identifies the F, C, F. The answer identifies the F, C, F. Have you spoken of the F, C, F? Yeah. All right. Fall in condition, focus. You remember that fall in condition has to do either with our finiteness, the fact that we're just, we're not the Lord, we can't know all things. We experience situations simply because of that fact and we need his provision, or it can also do with sin, the fact that we are broken and willfully so, and we need his provision. How we come to answer the question of what is the fall in condition focus is, we ask what do we share in common with the author of the text or with the recipients of the text? So imagine you're teaching from second Peter and you know that from reading that passage, that letter that the people to whom Peter is writing they are scattered and dispersed. You also know that they're under fire for their faith. So they're scattered, harassed, under fire for their faith. If you were in that situation and the only one who could help you was miles away and couldn't do anything to physically relieve your situation.
What would you need to hear? What would you need to know? How would you make it through?
We would ask the question then, what's the mutual human condition? Where is it today that people of God are scattered, harassed and facing heat for their faith with no one able to physically lift a hand to help them? When we ask that question, we're starting to get a mutual human condition. What we have in common with those in the situation of the text. You might also consider from the other way. Imagine that those you love are miles away. You can't do anything to help them. They're physically being pained. They're struggling, harassed. And you can't stop it. How do you deal with that? Well that's Peter's situation. So what does he do? He writes a letter. But even more than that, what would you say to them? What would you say to the ones you loved who you couldn't physically help? What would you say to them in the midst of their trials? Well read second Peter and find out what Peter said to them. You see we're getting at mutual human condition. Why the text was written to apply to us and help us? So if I know why the text was written for Thomas, I find how I'm like Thomas and how that text applies to me. How I'm like David. It's not just that David had an affair and had someone murdered and oh my how terrible is that. But it's oh wow. What do I have in common with David? What's in his heart is in my heart. What does that mean? It means I need to hear what David needed to hear. Now there are certainly times where we ask the question, how are we not like those that are being written about in the text? Imagine Esther.
The Mordecai says to her, I believe, you know who knows Esther but that you were appointed for such a time as this. And so our great temptation as a preacher or teacher is to say, how are you like Esther right away? And then to say to everyone who knows but you were appointed for such a time, well that could be very appropriate. But if we step back and remind ourselves, how are we not like Esther? We remind ourselves that 99% of the covenant people thought they were going to die. 99% of the people had no knowledge of what was going on inside that palace and what the Lord was doing with this unknown girl named Esther. That means they had to live their life wondering how God would provide for them in the midst of their trial. And then find out that God provides for his covenant people in the most unlikely of ways. He raised up a deliverer from an unlikely place. He appointed a girl, Esther, brought her to the palace for such a time as that to deliver his people. Now that opens up a whole another way of application in thinking. So sometimes it's very helpful to ask the question, how we're not like Joseph and his dreams? How we're not like Esther? But then to come back and ask the question, how are we like them? What do we have in common? First Corinthians chapter 10, 13, forms the basis of why we think this is appropriate to do. No temptation has taken you but such as it's common to man. So it's God's word, God's word comes and ministers to his people in the midst of their temptations. Then he's told us that there's nothing uncommon. We too, then no, we face those kinds of temptations as well. And we need the word of God to speak to us just like it did to them. What do we share in common with? Good preaching then does not merely describe the information in a text. Good preaching then does not merely describe the information in a text or the truth is about a doctrine. It identifies how an FCF of the passage touches and characterizes our lives. So we're not merely doing what a commentary has already done for us. We're going beyond that to say if they needed to hear this from the Lord and we find ourselves in the same kind of situation that they do, it stands to reason we need to hear what they heard from the Lord. And if it helped them in their situation, it will help us in our common situation. Question number five, how should we respond to the truths of Scripture? What difference does this make for me? How should we respond to the truths of Scripture? To answer this, you must look first to why we need the truths of the text. Why do we need this? And secondly, how does this apply to us? How does this apply to us? So when the Apostle speaks to us about love, we not only parse each word to describe the Greek word for rudeness and patience and all of that as he goes down through. And we not only describe the historical context of what's taking place in Corinth, but we move on from that description to identify what we have in common with the Corinthians and why we need to hear today what he said to them yesterday.
And then how does what the Apostle said apply to us in our circumstances? This answering of the question, why and how is the turnkey that makes the following sermons, sermons? This is for me, it's page four of this lecture. The second Samuel chapter 12, verse 7, says the truth principle, Nathan's account of the rich man stealing the lamb. But then he gets to the point where he says what it means to David. What this account means for David. You are the man, David. That aren't the man. Or consider Matthew 6, behold the lilies of the field. They toil. Not. Neither do they spin. Yet even Solomon and all his glory was not a raid like one of these. If God so close the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the fire, will he not much more clothe you? See how it's the question now coming right to his listeners. And then you know he says oh you of little faith. Or consider Joshua 24 when he recounts Israel's redemptive history. He ends by saying now to those who are listening choose this day whom you will serve. In light of what's been true that God has done, how will this affect you? Choose this day who you'll serve. So a good sermon always answers these questions. Number one, so what? Number one, so what? What difference does it make? Dr. Chapel tells a story at this point which I remember well when I was sitting in your place of Dr. Rayburn who was the professor when Dr. Chapel was sitting in your place. And Dr. Rayburn would always stand would say now when you finish a sermon I want you to imagine me that is Dr. Rayburn. I want you to imagine me standing at the back of the church with my arms folded and saying to you so what? So what? So what? That the Greek word for rude is Askema. So what? What difference does it make for us as a covenant people of God seeking to walk before the Lord? So a good sermon answers that question so what? Number two, it asks it answers what am I to do or believe? What am I to do in light of this passage or what am I to believe in light of this passage? How does it shape or transform you see my actions in the coming week, my beliefs about situations in the coming week? Number three, good sermons always answer the question. What change does God require in my life and or my heart? Next question we want to ask after we have taken the truth to life rather than creating a list of to-do's and beliefs we're taking the truth to where people live applying the scripture and light of mutual human condition and context to our situation. The next thing we do is ask what is the most effective way I can communicate the content and application of the text? What's the best way to communicate this to this people at this time and this place? We know that no matter how many minutes were given for a message whether it's 15 or 30 or 50 there's always more to be said and so we ask the question what's the best way to communicate what I have to say today in the time allotted for these people? To answer this we use organizational tools. First we use collection. This is grouping multiple ideas into single thought packets, grouping multiple ideas into single thought packets. The next thing we do is subordination. We prioritize and arrange, prioritize and arrange major and supporting ideas.
Thirdly simplification. We make complex ideas simple, not vice versa. We make complex ideas simple. I don't know if you can see this but the preacher from the pulpit he's saying interestingly enough the Latin word for tapioca is and everybody in the pews or they're sleeping or talking or doing something else. We seek to make complex ideas simple. I'd like to ask you to think about what's been modeled for you with Dr. Chapel. You've not had the opportunity to have Dr. Chapel in a doctoral level class. In a doctoral level class you especially realize the expertise and knowledge that my friend has when it comes to communication and preaching and yet he speaks to us about Swiss cheese and as you'll soon learn deadly bees and the hudor he has these simple ways of saying things. It expresses a lot of humility on our part doesn't it? To speak with a woman by a well and just talk about water even though we know all kinds of theological things we make it simple for people so that they can understand it knowing that they have not had a seminary education. We make it simple for them. This is the seminarian error first to try to make things complex, believing that complexity equals greatness or maturity. Another error is to believe that seriousness equals complexity plus volume. I have fallen into that error myself. Both try to be too complex and both trying to be so serious and equating that with having a loud voice and lots to say a seminarian error. We need more than explanation of a passage. The seminarian error is to forget to apply the word. We're learning so many facts, so many good things that sometimes we just want to share all those facts and things with people which is wonderful and yet we need to go on to application. There's also an overreaction, the overreaction error in the Western, in America, K-I-S-S stands for keep it simple, stupid, keep it simple, stupid. Listen neither you or your people are stupid, neither you or your people are stupid. We're not patronizing people. When we say be simple we do not mean to treat people as if they have no intelligence. We simply mean to understand that we try to understand where people are at, what they're capable of grasping from this passage and to make it clear to them what the passage is saying. A balanced view, the best preaching says profound things simply. The best preaching says profound things simply and this takes work. It's easy to say profound things in a complex way but it takes work to say profound things in a simple way and that work often involves meditation on our part, continuing to wrestle with how to make this clear. The help to you might be to remember what the Apostle Paul prayed or asked for in the book of Colossians, Colossians chapter 4 verses 3 and 4. He says at the same time pray also for us that God may open to us a door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ on account of which I am in prison, that I may make it clear which is how I ought to speak. The Apostle is asking the Lord and asking his friends to pray for him to the Lord that when he declares mysteries, the mystery of the gospel he could make it plain and clear. And so we work hard which includes meditating and also includes asking the Lord for help to make profound things simple. After all he's really good at it. We remind ourselves as Calvin would tell us John Calvin that the Bible is God's lisping to us, it's his baby talk. You could think of it in this way it's a humbling realization then when you have mastered divinity, you have merely mastered the baby talk of God. He is infinite and wisdom, infinite in majesty, infinite in knowledge and he has lisped to us so that we can understand something from his infinite mind. And so we ask him who does it so well, Lord help us to make your mysteries plain in Christ to people. So how to KISS properly? Instead of keeping it simple stupid we say keeping it simple is smart. KISS keeping it simple is smart. No need to imply that we are stupid or that our people are stupid rather we keep it simple because it's smart. Remember there are only four things that can be done to explain any text or idea. Four things. You can repeat it. So you say the text says we ought to always pray and to not faint and so you just repeat it. What this means is we ought always to pray and not faint or you might reword it. We ought always to pray and not give it, not give up to hold our ground in prayer. So we reword it to explain what it means. Another way to explain what it means is number three there define it. So repeat it. Number two reword it. Number three define it or show how it's developed. We ought always to pray and not faint. Now the Apostle Paul uses the word always and he's tell how many times he's used the word and what he means when he uses that word and give a definition of what is meant. Number four the fourth way to explain any text is to prove it.
You show how you know the Greek word is the present tense or this is a past participle or something like this. You prove from the connection of words. Now Paul uses the word therefore which means something causal and connected. So to prove it you're pointing to grammar or to some connection phrasing to prove that what's being said is there. Now in terms of explaining the passage you owe no more to explanation of what's required for people to get it. So when you're preaching and you want to say we ought always to pray and not give up. Once you realize that people think they've got it they know what you're trying to say move on. Move on. We don't need to keep belaboring explanation if people already have gotten it. If they already understand what you're trying to say then we move on. We'll move on to illustration and application or further explanation of another point. So we only explain as much as is needed for someone to get it. Why? Because remember we're within a 30 minute or 40 minute time frame. We'll always have the Bible study coming up and the following Sunday and the following Sunday and the following Sunday to continue to open the word for people so we don't have to get everything in to one sermon at one point at one time. So we explain as much as is needed for that that day and that time with that passage. Finally we use communication tools to keep it simple. Number one determine how we can best say something. How can I best say something? So when Dr. Chappell talks about fallen condition focus and mutual human condition he talks about Swiss cheese. Cheese with holes in it. That God provides for the holes in our life. Equips the man of God for every good work from the word so that he may be complete. Without that equipping from the word we're incomplete. We're like Swiss cheese with holes. So we wrestle to try to find a way to say it so that people understand that they can get it. Secondly we exegede our listeners as well as our texts. We'll talk a lot more about this and other homolytic classes but we just want to introduce it now. Exegede your listeners as well as the text. What age are they? What occupation do they have? What interests do they have? What class social realities do they come from? Where do they get their news? Do they listen to do they watch a fox or CBS? What radio do they listen to? What do they read? What are their life experiences been? What is it that shapes you see the way they think and hear as we preach to them? And as we know them it enables us to be smart in keeping things simple. It helps us to know how to communicate what the word is saying to people and light up where they are and who they are.
What we're saying in all of this is this and conclusion. Once you know what the text is saying what the context is what the situation was what the words mean you're only halfway done. You're only halfway done. At that point you see there has to be meditation upon why the word was written to those folks and what that has to do with us today and so we ask the question so what and we ask the question what's the mutual human condition between us and those in the text and we ask the question how do I best communicate this meaning to these particular people I'm talking with on this particular occasion and once we've done and moved on through those things you see then then we're getting closer to having our sermon ready. I think it before God's people. So after determining what a text means it's important to determine why we need it how we apply it and to whom we're speaking. It's in this way that we can rightly divide God's word. It's in this way that when we preach the word we can bring wisely bring correction review encouragement with long suffering according to what the word of God has to say to people in their time and place. Let's pray together. Father we thank you for our time together today and ask that you would continue to teach us Lord continue to take what's been introduced today use it like seeds planted and day upon day week upon week year upon year would you begin to bring these seeds to bloom in the lives of each one here according to their calling with your word. I ask that in Jesus name. Amen