Application

There were a couple of questions that came at the end of class last time that I thought were very apt questions. Any of you guys that came up afterwards and I said, please remember to ask, John was that you? Was that one? What did you ask? Yes. Particularly so you're not just redundant. Right. So remember application consistent is where you would have the anchor clause being the application. So we should praise God because He's sovereign. We should praise God because He knows all things, we should praise God because He controls all things. So we should praise God stays the same. So isn't your application going to just be very redundant in the main points? Basic question? Is that right? Okay. The answer is this. And it will help us just to see again how our construction of application looks. What's going to happen is your anchor clause will stay the same. And what you will be developing in the application is the reason for that particular application. We should praise God because He knows tomorrow. All right. So when you're developing the explanation of that particular main point, really the magnet clause He knows tomorrow is going to be not only what the explanation is about. It's actually going to be the reason for that particular main point's application. Recognize it will be a different reason on the next application or the next main point. We should praise God because He knows tomorrow. We should praise God because He controls all things. So what's going to change is particularly situational specificity. You're going to say here's another reason that we should praise God. He knows all things. But then you're going to say what situations in life does that apply to? That may be the college student that doesn't know where he's going next year, something like that. So the situation will deal with the reason for the application. Whereas the person who's getting, now next main point, we should praise God because He controls all things. We should say even when the medical exam does not give the results that I wanted, still God knows and controls what's going on. So I'll still praise Him because I know He's still in control. So the praise concept is pretty much staying the same. But what's changed is the reason for that application and you apply it differently to new situations. I have a new reason and therefore there will be another situation which to consider this kind of central application. So in an application consists an outline what is really changing is not the core application but the reasons for it. And where you begin really to see the impact of that is when you say what situation would this now apply, this new reason, how does that make a difference in other situations? This new reason, how does that make a difference in other situations? Even if I'm still praising God, what's another reason to do it in this new situation? So here is where instructional specificity, what the raindrops are about, right? The exposition of the subpoints, the instructional specificity might seem very similar. We should praise God again. What is going to change hugely is the situational specificity because here's another situation that's affected by this new reason that I've filled you about. So that's a very stupid question. By the way, it means application consistent outlines are typically about why is, why to do something, why else to do something, why else? So the reason and motivation is typically what application consistent outlines are about, whereas principle consistent outlines are typically other things to do. They are very much more instructions instead of more reasons just by their nature because it is the applications that's changing in principle consistent outline and the principle staying the same. But that's a very good question. It does remind me of something that because we were moving quickly, I didn't say so much the last time, it is these two notes at the bottom of the outline that's in you or the diagram that's in your notes. Instructional specificity comes from the text exposition, all right, now just think about that for a second. If I'm saying here is the instruction and the instruction is in the terms of my subpoints. So what I'm going to explain, that's what I'm going to apply. The instructions are coming out of the subpoints, that language, that terminology is coming down. Which means instructional specificity is supplied by the text, okay. Instructional specificity is coming out of the text, here's what this text means. These instructions come out of the text, I'm using the words and the concepts of the text, so instructional specificity comes out of the text. Where does situational specificity come from? It comes out of our experience. Now might it reflect something in the text? Might the people of Israel have been going through something similar to the situations we're facing? People of Israel ever wonder what tomorrow holds, sure. So the situational specific, might very well come out of the text, too. But it may be, now that I know the instruction, it's actually my, not just exigening the text, but exigening the congregation. My experience with the congregation may be often supplying the situational specificity. Now that you know this truth, where in your life does it apply? Remember the silly little thing, you go in through the what door to find situational specificity. Go in through the who door, who needs to, now that I know this truth and I know my congregation, who needs to hear this? It's, you know, the standard pattern you read it over and over again in homilite's textbooks of the pastor who, if not actually in his mind while preparing the sermon, sits at the table with the people in the congregation saying, if I were talking you what difference would this make in your life? It's moving it from that academic lecture to a sermon. What difference would it make in your life? Now why is it situational specificity and not personal specificity? I go in through the who door, who needs to hear this? What do I now describe in the sermon? The persons? No, they're situations. What situations are they facing? But I get to that place by saying who needs to hear this. It really just is that difference between the preacher who is saying abstract interesting things and the people saying a thing in the sermon, how did you know what I was going through? Did you read my mail? How could you be so, and the reason is because it's not just preaching, it's pastoring at the same moment. How can I help with what you're facing? My key thought, and it's not in your notes, but it's something you'll hear from your repeat over and over again, is the most apt application comes when you take truth to struggle. Take truth to struggle. Our tendency when we start preaching is to identify truths in the text and then start creating lists of behaviors. So you should do this, and should not do this, you should do this, and not do this, go by this book, witness to your neighbor, and we create these lists of things to do, which by the way, before you preach the sermon, even you hadn't thought of a list. So we just create this new, I've got to do applications, so I've got to come up with this list of things for people to do. Instead of going in through the who door and saying, what are people struggling with? How can I help them today? How can I be a shepherd to God's people? What are they struggling with? And I take the truth to the struggle, and it will create a passion in you for preaching. I remember when I was a senior in college, and I told my very best friend, who was a Jewish man, that I was going to go to seminary, and he said, why would you do that? You don't like telling people what to do, but what was his mind, what a preacher was about, just telling people things to do. But in my mind, what preaching was about was helping people. Well, I don't want you to lose that ethic. I think probably that's why most of you are here. You have the sense that I can help people. The word of God has something to help them, and what application can be about is saying, I've got truth now. Where are people struggling that I can help them? And not just put more burdens of behavior on them. Here's something else for you to do. Here's something else for you to do. Rather, what are you struggling with? And what does the word of God say that will actually help? So truth to struggle turns you from a lecturer to a pastor. And it gives you, how do I say this? Not only a passion for your preaching, a joy in it, but you say, I really love doing this. I can really see how this helps people and isn't just burdening them. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we ask for your blessing on this day. And what we've talked about here a little bit, that we, your under-shepherds, would be made more effective pastors for your people, even by the way that we are taught to preach. That we would think how we sit in the pew, so longing for the preacher to say something, that will enable us to better face the struggles, the hurts, the difficulties that we are dealing with in our lives. We would want to do it ourselves in accordance with the word of God. And Father, if we are able to help people face their struggles, to be helped and healed by your word, then that is the great privilege and pleasure of our lives. It is just a taste of it, even as we talk about some of these technical aspects of application, help us to sense what a difference your word can make and how we can help through it. We ask your aid and blessing in Jesus' name, Amen. Because we think about the importance of application, we're at that point in your lecture which is talking about what makes application difficult. And maybe a way to think about this is one of the more revealing surveys that was done about a decade ago now. It was known as the Murdoch Report. The Murdoch Report was a very refined survey of Christian leaders in the Pacific Northwest. Now, these were leaders who were teachers or supporters of major evangelical colleges and seminaries in the Pacific Northwest, 800 of them. And what was very interesting was to look at, now obviously, these are very informed people, right? They are either those who work in or supporters of major evangelical institutions. So this is a very informed segment of the population we're looking at. What was interesting is when the businessmen were surveyed. And they were asked the question, do you know how the Bible applies to your ordinary business life? 90% said no. 90% of these very informed, highly involved Christian leaders said they did not know how the Bible applied to their ordinary business life. Now I want you to think of your position as a preacher talking to such people. And you want to say, now, what I want you to do this week is I want you to go and change your business practice in such a way that no longer are people taking advantage of. In fact, what you should do in your business practice is you should be willing to sacrifice profit the bottom line for the good of the people that work for you and the good of the people to whom you sell your product. Now I want you to go and change what you're doing and I want you to do all that this week. What am I going to run into now, Mark? Anger. Very good. Now did I say anything unbiblical? You should put people ahead of profit. You should operate with integrity. But why will I run into anger? Because the idea is to make money. So people are saying you don't understand what I've got to accomplish. In fact, if I don't make money, I can't employ the rest of the people. So you don't understand what I'm going through. So I'm angry at you now. What do I think about the credibility of your message? It's irrelevant. What do I think about you? You are uninformed, possibly arrogant, inexperienced, arrogant, naive, don't understand my world. And all you thought you'd done is said, but I just said what the Bible said. Michael, other problems? Oh, you're getting into a strategy now. So you're saying he may be angry, but maybe that's good for him. Maybe he needs to feel the pressure of the gospel and think about change. But now maybe I have to take him to a point that he's going to feel that. But then he's got to start acting upon the truth. He may have to take the truth. You may only take it so far and then he's got to apply it. He may have things to apply beyond the preacher's expertise. So concrete applications, we recognize, have huge dangers in them. Remember our category of what people remember out of sermons? We said illustrations, then application, but what applications do they typically remember the most? The ones that they most strongly disagree with, the ones that challenge them. What other problems when I begin to come into their lives and say you have to change on my authority, which supposedly comes out of the Bible, but it doesn't seem like you know my world. Ed, what other things? Okay, so it wasn't thank you. So Ed is saying it wasn't just that he was being urged to change, but the example I used was very bad. It did not take full account of the situation and the variables that had to be considered. So the man may know he needs to be more Christian, but the instruction the pastor may have given would have been perhaps a bad example and not taken into account the factors the business man must deal with, which is going back to how does the preacher then go beyond it and say, Murdoch report again, 90% of them don't know how what the preacher saying week to week applies to the situation. So now we have a problem there, Nick. Okay, now it's an indirect. Sometimes we'll get people to see the importance of application by saying how would you want to be treated before you turn it to say, how should you treat others? Which of course was Jesus' strategy, right, when he would say treat others as you yourself would be treated, the golden rule. Let's talk it. All we've recognized this point is application can be written. We've talked about principles here, but we know application can be very difficult, Christine. So there may be all kinds of false assumptions on the part of the preacher that he may be suggesting without even recognizing it, and that could be a problem too. Well, what we've begun to recognize is application is full of landmines. Now we begin to say, why would preachers just as soon not go there? Just as soon not go there because it's very, very dangerous. So just under what makes application difficult, number one, what makes application difficult, the thought required to be specific. The thought required to be specific. We've already said, explanation is provided to you by the text. But application comes out of the preacher's experience with the people. The Westminster Divines put it this way. One applies out of his residence and conversation with the people. I love that. Your residence and conversation with your people. It's living among them and conversing with them that is the source of application. Now, it doesn't mean it's the source of the instruction, but what makes it real to people is you're really knowing them. What is your residence and conversation with, you know what people really appreciate? I think young pastor sometimes don't recognize this. If you visit people in their workplaces, they are amazed that you care, that you care enough to come into their world and actually find out what you think, I'm going to bother them. You know, I'm out of place here. And it can be at times you'd be out of place, but you pick your moments and people love to think, my pastor actually is going to try to find out what I deal with and come into my world. But we recognize the difficulty of the thought required to be specific. And now you know the other reason be what makes application difficult, the courage required to be specific. We know that if we get it wrong, rejection is a very real and present danger. And so the tendency is just to stay in abstraction. Just give principles. It's not dangerous. J. Daniel Bowman, I hope you'll disagree with, but listen to his solution. J. Daniel Bowman in his book on preaching says this, what is it that causes sermons to be ineffective? One result of recent studies was that sermons that contained applications to the daily lives of the congregation were the sermons that were unanimously rejected by the congregation. Now here that, application to daily lives results in rejection, widespread rejection. The frequency of rejection and the intensity of rejection exactly paralleled the amount of daily application. I would suggest that individuals are becoming more and more reluctant to accept application, religious or otherwise. That kind of prescription implies that one is in a position to tell others what they should do. Therefore, what is Bowman advised not doing? As though you're in a position to tell other people what to do. Are you in a position to tell other people what to do? Well, it depends on what you're saying, right? Are you speaking with the authority of what? You don't have any authority, but the word of God does. And now we have to say, did you prove that the principles and instructions you are giving are in the text, begin now to feel the weight of terminological and conceptual consistency. Have I said, this is what the Bible says, so that when I begin to do application, I am using the terms that I proved were in the text. Because if they are not there, my authority basis I do long way away. So one of the reasons that I will do, that sort of summarizing and consistency is just to make sure that people are able to overcome what we call the breaking point. The breaking point in somewhat silly terms is just this. In exposition, when I'm going through the explanation of the sermon and I'm saying, now this is what the Bible says, everybody can nod and say, well, you know, that's very interesting. Now here's an interesting story, the illustration, everybody's nodding, and now I say, and as a consequence of that, you must change. Like this was the goal of the sermon, not just to inform you, but to transform you. Now you must change. It is that typical transition in a classical traditional sermon from illustration to application. That transition is typically the breaking point, where people in silly terms say he's stopped preaching and gone to Medlein, but in real terms say this is the place of rejection. It was easy to say and to hear everything to this point. Now you begin to say, with the authority of the Word of God, I must call you to repentance, or correction, or reproof, or encouragement, but ultimately to change. And this is the place that it gets dangerous and we know that there is very real possibility of rejection. So how do we overcome the breaking point? I've already given you my best advice before I give you all of these things. I think I've already given you my best advice. It is this phrase, take truth to struggle. If that is your overall goal, I'm taking truth to struggle, then it is even your good intent that means so much to people. I am seeking to help. And that will override in some ways some of the errors that you may have, but we recognize if it's truth to struggle, it will avoid both lists and legalisms and will truly make you a pastor. Now, what do we do as we take truth to struggle? How can we overcome the breaking point? I, item A, offer a conclusive argument, offer conclusive argument. The reason that you must do this is, I have shown conclusively, it is what the Bible says. Is it okay to cheat people in order to make profit? I can show you conclusively in the scripture that you cannot do that. If that's what you're doing, I show you the absolute argument that says what you are doing is wrong. Now you can often do this, right? The Bible says thou shalt not steal. So if you are operating without integrity or make money, I'll say you can do that. The Bible says you shall not steal. Now we have a problem though. The old Riberk is a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still. So I may say, okay, you convinced me that what I'm doing is wrong. Now I still have a problem though, right? Those of you in pastoral training, you basically know what's right and wrong to do, do you ever sin? Sure. The knowledge of what is wrong is not the final word, is it? In terms of being able to actually see transformation in people's lives. So while we say it is our pastoral and exegetical obligation to say, this is what the text says and it has implication on your practice, it's not the last thing to do, okay? So we offer conclusive argument that's not the end. Another thing that we might do item B is use illustration to disarm hostility, use illustration to disarm hostility. Who in the Bible did this? Who in the Bible would occasionally say, I'm going to speak on a difficult subject, so I'll tell a story about it first. Nathan is one. What did Nathan do, Philip, remember? There was a man who had a very sweet sheep that he really loved, right? And somebody else who was richer and more powerful took it away. David wanted what? He wanted judgment upon that person, Nathan says, what, you're the man. This is what you have done in taking another man's wife. It was a way to get people to agree to the principles through a story before applying to the, before applying the story. You hear that? To get people to agree to the principles through a story before actually doing the application. I was with a group of pastors last night who have done some surveys in Christian colleges. Now they are not talking about only Christian kids, but recent surveys simply to ask Christian young people how many of the friends that you have of college age are sleeping with people not their wife. The answer was 90% that the college, even if people did not feel that they were involved in promiscuity, their impression of their friends was that 90% were sleeping around. Now if you say that that is 90% sleeping around, if you're a young person pastor in a church today and the first words out of your mouth are, you shouldn't sleep around. What did 90% of the people maybe just do? You just heard the channel click didn't you? How might you do with that? Tell me what will happen to young people who sleep around percentage-wise in terms of their future marriages? What do we know statistically? We know the incidents of those who live together prior to marriage, the incidents of divorce among those who live together prior to marriage is roughly triple those who do not, you know, what's the, we'll just try it out for a while and then we'll get married. Sounds reasonable. What if I said, you know, isn't it strange today that what sounds so reasonable doesn't seem to work out? Those people who experiment with marriage before they get married actually end up getting divorced at three times the rate of those who don't. You know the Bible addresses this and has some instruction for us that might be helpful. If you're struggling with what is right for you, let's see what the Bible says because it's trying to help us with what we recognize or relationships coming undone. Now tell me the difference in tonality here. One is taking a statistical, something's wrong here, we all recognize it and going at it through the account of what's happening in society. Versus first, the principle, this is wrong just don't do it. It's actually trying to help. Now I'm not saying that's the only way. It's a strategy and it's a strategy that says I may tell an illustration, present a statistic, anything else to present the principle first so that people agree to the principle before then proving it is in the Bible. See, another thing that helps overcome the breaking point. Making sensible proposals, making sensible proposals. Now that's just a way of saying I typically buy three categories of things that are not common-sensical. Why are they not sensible proposals? So under C here I've got like three categories. Pying the sky, principles, pie in the sky, it's just almost silly abstraction. And because God calls you to love your neighbor, what I want you to do is I want you to go over to your neighbor this week and I want you to smile at him for at least five minutes. I want him to see the love of Jesus and you just go and smile in front of him. I'll get real. You know, this pie in the sky notion of just smile more every day. Just love your neighbor like you never did before. You could actually say there's biblical principle behind some of that. But there's really a certain pie in the sky naivete that isn't going to help. Kind of the opposite are what I call high hurdles that you tell people to do something that does not realize what their lives are really like. Now you know, if you're really going to be able to study the Bible with me and these next few sermons I'm going through, I want you to show up on Tuesday nights and we're going to have a Greek class together. And when we have this Greek class, you really understand the passage. Maybe a good idea, but how many are going to show up for the Greek class? High hurdles. Naive expectations. Naive expectations. I think the classic of this is the pastor who stands in the pulpit and says, go buy this book, this book was really helpful to me and I think you should go buy this book. Now tell me what percentage of the people will remember the name of the book by the end of the sermon. Now what people remember the name of the book are going to get in the car during the week, go down to the local Christian bookstore, put their money on the counter and take it home, and read it two percent, one percent fewer. So now if you really want people to read the book, what did you better do? You better provide free samples in the foyer as people leave or something like that. If you really think that will make a difference or excerpts or something, I mean you have to deal with where people really are or the businessmen that you're saying, change your business practice. Oh, what does that mean? How could you actually begin to help somebody who you think may be dealing with business practices that may be unethical or unbiblical but his whole business, his livelihood, his family's livelihood, the livelihood of the people who work for him, his pension, his kids college education, all depend on his business practice. If you're going to have somebody change, what had you better in addition just to say change, what other things might you suggest within the course of the sermon? People are really struggling with this. I recognize I might not have faced all the things that you're facing. Would you come talk to me? Let's talk it through. Let's think about what you've got to think through. I may not have faced all the issues that you have. So I'm even confessing my naivete. Is there someone here who can help you? Let me put you in contact with some businessmen who are facing similar things. So it is not failing to help people. It is giving them the help that they need. Now this is serious thinking as a pastor. I can try to live in your life and think where if I were in your position, would I need help? So I give you principles but I'm doing application that takes into account what you must deal with. So making sensible proposals, D is fit the tone to the task, D fit the tone to the task. Old preacherism, accusations harden the will, accusations harden the will, questions prick the conscience. If all we're doing is we're standing up in the pulpit and doing the rant. I'm ranting at people for not being as good as they ought to be, young people for promiscuity, businessmen for lack of compassion, wives for not properly caring for their children. If all it is is the weekly rant, what you just watch, this is a sadness. I preach in lots of different churches and sadly I can even tell when I get up in the pulpit if people are accustomed to being beaten with the word or help by it. People are accustomed to being beaten with the word, almost immediately glaze over and drop their heads when I stop talking. They start talking, maybe when I stop talking, but when I start talking, they are accustomed to being hurt by the preaching. People who are accustomed to being helped by the preaching look up expectantly. I need this. Now, it doesn't mean that they are unwilling to be pricked in the conscience. In fact, one of the mistakes I think that young preachers make is thinking people don't want to be challenged. Those in whom the spirit is alive do want to be challenged. They actually want to know how to change. Now, they know it's hard and they know it's a struggle. But those in whom the spirit is working want to love Jesus and they want their lives to glorify Him and they actually want to be challenged. Now, they want to be credible and compassionate. They want it to be with the authority of Scripture. They want sort of things that they can actually hang their hat on and do that's realistic. But if you say the people of God do they want to be challenged, they actually do. So if I can say the hardest things, I can say the hardest things to people. If they believe that I'm concerned about their good, watch pastors when they really love their congregations and they say I know this will hurt, but you have to change. And watch the smile as they say the hardest things saying I love you still, but this will hurt you and hurt us if change doesn't occur. Verses the rant just going after people with the authority of the Word of God, which ultimately by the way destroys ministries rather than helps them. So, fit the tone to the task, think of some of these possibilities. Now, you know the Word of God says he's already with the Lord. I don't want you to grieve without hope. It's going to help. Are the words true? The words are true, but the tone doesn't fit the task to help people who are grieving the Bible commands us to bring comfort. And it's not just comfort with the truth of the Word, it is giving the Word correctly even in our tone. So does our tone fit our task? What this congregation needs is more love for one another, but the opposite can happen too. You know, we tease a little bit and we say, now listen, I know what you need to do and I'm going to speak to you with the authority of the Word of God and you really should be changing. What am I doing? Backing up, apologizing up front. There are times to say the gossip in this church is tearing us apart. And if it does not stop, the session is going to act on it or we will die. It's got to stop with courage, with force, with the authority of the Word of God. Say what has to be said. Now, it may be loving, it is for love's purposes, but sometimes it has to be forceful. Now, how do we know the difference? I've given you some verses that deal with the gentleness of pastoral conversation. Second Timothy 2, 24 through 26. The man of God, what is it? Very hard for seminary to apply. The man of God must not quarrel. Don't we just love debate about the most minor things at times and get very mad at one another for not holding to our particular position? The man of God must not quarrel. How must he deal with those who oppose him? He must gently instruct those who oppose him. That's very interesting. Second Timothy 4, 2. Correct? Rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. Now, I know what it means to encourage with great patience and careful instruction. What does it mean to rebuke? I mean, you typically, that's the old one, two punch, you know, rebuke, boom. With great patience and careful instruction, some sin can be changed in a conversation, and some sin changes over a generation. That's a very tough thing. I worked in a pastoral situation in which a large segment of the community and some of the leaders of my church were employed in publishing and that particular publisher involved producing a large amount of pornography and it had gone on for a generation and a half. I will tell you, it was the hardest period of my pastoral life to say how do we deal with men in my church who are leaders in my church who stand on the line when pornography is being produced? Their lives, their pensions, their families and they are certainly willing to say, wait, wait, it's not most of what we do. It just comes through on occasion, but what does the word of God say and how would it apply to your situation and how can you lead God's people if this is what you put your hand to? And am I going to be fired when I talk about it? I actually did call my in-laws, had my wife come and say, we may be coming to live with you and because we thought we were very well going to lose our job but when we found out what was going on by the way, we had been lied to going into the situation. We had been told it wasn't happening. We had been told going in, oh no, no more. We'd only been there about six weeks and we found out it was still going on. What would you do? The Bible talks about the good shepherd versus the higherling. What does the higherling do when the wolf comes? He runs away. Hey, I don't need to deal with this. He's not my sheep. What does the good shepherd do? He gives his life for the sheep, how gently, how compassionately, how patiently do I have to deal with this if I really care about you? The last one you know, first Thessalonians 2, 7 through 12, we could have been a burden to you but we were gentle among you as a mother nursing her baby. Now think of the converse, think of the forceful versus. Titus 1, 10 through 13. Talkers and deceivers, Rebuke, sharply. That's pretty straightforward. Talkers and deceivers, Rebuke, sharply. Titus 2, 15. Encourage and Rebuke will all authority, encourage and rebuke with all authority. Now tell me this, we've just kind of said all right over here, it's gentleness and patience. Over here, it's Rebuke and show the wrath of God against all in Godliness. Which is the right thing to do? Okay, it's both, how do you know which one? Keith, what? I'm afraid it comes back to pastoral prudence. What is the goal? How can I with the authority of the Word of God preach and live in this community so as to see the transformation of the Word of God come? Calvin in the 12th book, it's going to be, 12th chapter, the second volume of the institutes, talks about what he was facing in French, Switzerland, which was large-scale drunkenness. He actually advised people not to undergo church discipline. He said, we must pastorly deal with this because if we disciplined everyone the churches would empty. Do we have a right to discipline? Sure we do, but this is a longer term problem that will recall, that will cause us to deal with the heart over time so that we don't drive the people of God away from where there can be help. We are the help, we have to consider what needs to be done so they can continue to receive it. Fit the tone to the task, an important guideline that has many dimensions of pastoral understanding, e, harder yet, provides sufficient guidance, e, provides sufficient guidance for adults to make their own decisions, provides sufficient guidance for adults to make their own decisions. Nothing so creates spiritual babies as pastors who will make all the decisions for them. Hear that? Nothing so makes and maintains spiritual babies as pastors who will make all the decisions for the people. I will tell you there are not only pastors and not only churches, sometimes there are entire movements in which the goal is to tell everybody what to think and do every moment of the day and what you create is automatons who apart from that instruction do not have the ability to stand. Where do we most see this in our lives today?

In our churches when young people go to college. That's where we most see it. People have been raised in Christian homes, been under Christian preaching teaching, know all that, and they go to college and it is no holds barred. Often that is because we have taught Christian young people everything they ought to do and at such controls upon them that they have never made their own decisions. Now I will tell you as a parent of teens this is extremely hard to know what to do. Extremely hard to know what to do. When do I encourage you to gain the strength to stand and step back so that you will stand on your own feet? Do we ever see this in the Bible? Do we ever see an apostle saying, I could tell you what to do but you got to figure it out. Book of Philemon. Remember what Paul says? I could command you to take an SMS back but instead what do you remember? I appeal to you on the basis of love. Receive him. He's a slave. Now think of where this is in that society. Instead I entreat you to treat him as a brother. I could command you but you're going to have to figure this one out. I entreat you. I urge you but you deal with it. More telling is the letters between first and second Corinthians. So by second Corinthians the second chapter Paul will be saying, you know what? I would have come to you earlier. What was going on in first Corinthians? Do you remember what Paul is telling them to correct? What is some of the evil that's going on? A man is doing what? Living with, living with his father's wife. So Paul writes and says, you got to take care of this. You got to deal with this. By the second letter he says, you know, I would have come to you earlier but if I had come to you earlier I would have had to be harsh. So I put it off. So you would take care of it. Isn't that interesting? You got to grow up. Even some of the difficult sin. Now what has he done? Has he given then the tools to handle the problem? Has he told them what is right and wrong? Michael, you hear something? Back to your question. I've given you the principles to handle the situation. In fact not only by giving you the principles, now listen, situational specificity. I've even told you where the principles apply. There is a man living with his father's wife such evil as not even done among the pagans. So now you know the principles. You know the situations to which it applied but who does he leave to apply it? You got to apply it. Now sometimes are we always dealing with people sometimes we got to say here is the application. Sometimes you say here are the principles, here's the situation. You're a business person. I don't know how to apply it. You're going to have to apply it. Again, past of a church, when I was pastoring we had in our church a lot of educators, both of the administration and the teachers of the local school district. We had the supervisor of the school, the principal of two of the local schools and many teachers in our church. About every three years, these areas of what a teachers strike. Now what if the pastor comes in and tries to say now here's what you should do. Fred, I don't have the expertise. I mean I don't know in the union contract you know paragraph two of section three sub item A you know how they should vote on I don't know. But how can I talk to people? I can say you know what those of you who are on the picket line, they're going to be some people who say some pretty ugly things to people that come and go. Now I can't tell you whether it's right or wrong for you to go on. I can tell you how you have to address Christian brothers and sisters. I can tell you that and you are not allowed to speak with hatred toward those who are your brothers and sisters in Christ. You can differ and then we think you have to work through but there are certain principles here that you must still follow. Now those of you who are in administration are you being fair? Are you being just? Can call you to those principles but you must apply it. Sometimes I have to say here are the principles but you must apply it. I actually don't know because it may be beyond my expertise. Some of the examples are giving you there in scripture. F the big other the big other then remember these are all how do you overcome the breaking point? How do you do application and actually help people without having them just switch off? The biggest one is this remember the difference between a good idea and a scriptural mandate. Remember the difference between a good idea and a scriptural mandate. The church typically goes to war when the preacher has a good idea and says it is a biblical mandate. It may be a very good idea but if you say it is now a command you have become the law of God and transgress scripture beyond that there's typically great trouble in the church. Let me give you some examples. You must regularly feed upon the word of God so that it becomes a part of your life and existence. Command or good idea. You must regularly feed upon the word of God. Command. You must have a 20-minute devotional every day. You must have a quiet time. Does somebody say good idea? Good idea. Do you have people in your life who may have taught it as a mandate and so when you didn't obey their mandate who did you feel you had failed? Early in life you may have felt you failed God and then later in life when you begin to practice that good idea as a mandate what you're actually doing is you are bribing God with your prayer so he won't get mad at you. Instead of feeding upon the word what you're doing is you're feeding God with your good behavior so that he'll honor you. When you take good ideas and you make them mandates you don't just create legalism you make God and Satan exchange places. That's one of the reasons the church goes to war. It's fighting on foreign ground when we begin to turn good ideas into scriptural mandates. Here's another. Do not mention past sexual sin in a sermon. Good idea or a mandate? It's just an idea. I cannot make it. I can't point to a verse in scripture that says that. Do any scriptures themselves point to leaders of God's people dealing with sexual sin? Sure. Sure. So it's dealing with our culture. I may have all kinds of cautions and warnings but I can't make it a scriptural command. It is a good idea to weigh but ultimately you must weigh it. How about this though? You must consider the effects of your words and examples on the culture to which you speak. Good idea or mandate? Mandate. You are required by the word of God to consider those more highly than yourselves to whom you minister. You are required to consider the culture in which you exist and not just say it pleases or doesn't please me. Next one makes it even harder. You should raise your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Good idea or command? Command. You should send your children to Christian schools. So we may even divide on that one. Here's where I went through. Now again, most of my pastoral experience was through the 1980s and there were different movements that's coming along. When I first began to minister the Christian schooling movement was really coming on board strong in the part of the country that I was in and we would have people sadly. I mean they meant well but sadly who would stand up in the church and say if you leave your children in the public schools you are giving them to the devil. You are simply cooperating with Satan if you don't put your children in Christian schools. Boy that was a great way to have congregational meetings. I'm telling you. I mean you know it was not calm waters. What people did not were not prepared for is the next movement that came along toward the end of the 1980s. It was not Christian schooling. What was the next movement that came along? It was home schooling and we had the very people who thought they had the holy high ground which was which was Christian schooling. Who now we're told you mean you would put your children with other children to socialize. Don't you know that the Christian family is the place that education is to occur? Are you willing to break? Don't you remember? It is the fathers and the mothers who are given the charge to obey to teach their children the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And suddenly those who fought that they were as I said on the high ground found that there was higher ground. And then through the mid 1990s another movement comes along for schooling. Now what comes after the homeschool movement? The classical school movement. You mean you are willing to use a curriculum that's produced by job Bob Jones University or other people who are unreformed, who are following the enlightenment categories that don't really recognize that the tertium, that the that the Tridium excuse me, the Tridium is the basis of all education even has its roots in scripture. Don't you recognize that we have to socialize our children together according to a classical model that got himself as a doors. Even Paul knew the Tridium and you won't follow it and the movement goes on. Now command or not you must raise your children the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Command but there may be various ways to apply that. And when we begin to exegete culture as parents as pastors we may be say there are enough huge problems that we have to find alternatives. But to make an alternative a command rather than let me woo you to the to the goodness, to the wisdom of what I'm advocating here. Let me tell you why in our culture be good for you and your kids. It's very different than saying I now with the authority of the Word of God can tell you you must. When you move it to command status the church will go to war and divide and actually it should. Because what we've actually done is we've created a new law and made man the law giver. Last hard one. This is on command and mandate okay. Last hard one. You must never go to an R-rated movie. Command or good idea. You might not even say good idea. You may not partake of anything that causes lust in your heart. How many in our culture are recognizing that command? Can you as a preacher preach it? It is very hard because we have a culture. Calvin's time what was the problem? You have a culture that was caught up in alcohol addiction. We now speak in a culture caught up in sexual addiction at various levels. And even we find it hard to remove ourselves from the addictions or to confront other people with it. Now, we have to be very careful. We can be so struggling ourselves with the addiction that we begin to speak in terms. We move good suggestion to command at which point we destroy our credibility and become new law givers. But we can be so concerned about the legalism that we then do not say what the Word of God says. For fear of offending people and having to change ourselves. And that becomes the great misery and joy of preaching. To recognize that what application is about is saying to myself as well as others, how does the Word of God apply to me? Because ultimately you see what keeps us from being willing to apply the Word to others is the fear of applying it to ourselves. What does the Word of God require? Now I've looked at it, I've studied it, I've read it. The thing that can keep me safe from having to change is keep putting up in the principle world. This is a principle. This is a principle. Instead of saying how does the principle apply in my life? And once I begin to have the courage to apply it to my life, I begin to understand more and more how I have to speak to others for their good as well as the means by which I can do that. We pray then for what? We pray a lot for spiritual guidance and pastoral prudence. I must tell you that application, I know of no preacher who says it. In fact, those of you who are here for the preaching lectures, how even the Westminster Divines talked about application. They said the preacher must not rest in general doctrine, but have much it may pain him, must move to application. It was interesting that they recognized that application could be such a pain, but said it is not enough for the preacher to rest in general doctrine. He must move to the pain of application because his goal is transformation. How can I help you? How can we deal with this hurt in your life with what the Word of God says? Yes, verse? Incidents of divorce? Divorces at three times. Beginning a yesterday, you mean? Oh, promiscuity. People who lived together before marriage, divorce is three times more likely. Well, that's interesting. That's a good question. I think whenever you use statistics, cultural statistics like that, you at least, and I didn't do it today because it wasn't my purpose, but it is important to say where they came from. Because those will be, you know, particularly, if I said in church setting, everybody would kind of nod go, yeah, that's interesting. That's what we know already. It's when you're a secular setting that you really need the foundation for those statistics. So I think if I were using those kind of statistics in a secular setting, I would definitely probably cite source pretty particularly. It's back to that that we mentioned when we use illustrations, we typically do not cite source citation in a sermon. It's not a research paper unless we need it for the authority of it. And I would say you for a secular situation, you would definitely need the authority of the source of that. That's actually pretty widely circulated among evangelicals. So I'll be interested to find out what, I don't even know the counter to that. I've not heard it. That that was just kind of generally accepted. So that would be, that would be interesting to see. Let me go on here. Since we've recognized the ways that we overcome the breaking point are important for doing application, some final major cautions for applications. What are some cautions for application? The main one is this, applications without authority. We recognize that applications without authority are very dangerous. In fact, damaging to the sermon and to the pastor, applications without authority. When we say they have to have authority, basically what are we saying? I can show you it's where, in the text. This is where that application is in the text, the principle at least is here. So being able to show that it's in the text, now granted we are doing expository, traditional, classical expository sermons this semester, and next semester. And we are saying main points and sub points from the text. But now you begin to see it's not really the issue, right? It's not the technical aspect of where this expository here. What we're saying is, do I have the authority for the application I'm now going to do? That becomes the essential issue. Do I have authority for what I'm now telling you? And now do I make sure I'm showing you that I can do this with authority? What are my tools to make sure you see that there's authority for what I'm saying? How do I do that? Aaron say it again. Exposition. It's expositional rain. That is right. Of the concepts and terms that I developed in the explain, I said, this is what this text says. This is what this text means. And I use concepts and terms in the explanation. Are they reappearing in the application? That is the way that I maintain my authority and show it's not just me. This is what the text says. By the way, it will also quickly raise flags in your own mind when you're beginning to transgress the line from a biblical mandate and a good suggestion. If you can't say, this is where it says that. Now, some ideas here. Is it wrong to give suggestions for a mandate in a sermon? Not at all. It can be a very good idea. What is one way that you can regularly feed upon the Word of God? What is a discipline, a daily discipline that might enable you to feed upon the Word of God regularly? A quiet time, a devotional. Have Christians done that throughout the centuries? Sure they have. They recognize the power of a discipline devotional period in their daily lives. Now, I can very much encourage you to feed upon the Word of God the command by a good suggestion. I just make sure you know the difference between the suggestion. Here's a suggestion of how you might carry this out. But when I say the suggestion is the command, that's the problem. So preachers actually helping at times to say, knowing what you're struggling with, knowing what you're dealing, hear some suggestions. The suggestion may not come with the same authority as the command. In fact, it may come out of the preacher's experience. This is what the Word of God is requiring the section. Now listen, some of us know that you can help feed upon the Word of God by having regular devotional. And we may even point out people in the Bible who seem to have regular time with God, like Daniel, and look, here's regular time with God being practiced by an Old Testament man of God. Here we see Jesus frequently retreating to a quiet place that commune with God. So we see people following this suggestion even though it would not be a command for daily use. Another caution, and we've mentioned this a couple of times already, applications beyond the minister's expertise, applications beyond the minister's expertise. Should you vote for the union contract or not? Well, maybe the preacher really doesn't have the expertise to answer that. Maybe at this point, it's necessary to talk about principles.

The final one here, cautions, applications unrelated to the FCA, applications unrelated to the FCA. It's true, it's good, it's even a good idea, perhaps. Is it what the sermon is about? Is this still dealing with the burden of the message? That tie-back, when you look at your applications and say, am I still dealing with what I said was the burden of this message? Or am I now in a rabbit trail somewhere else? I thought of this as I was preparing this, I thought of this wonderful thing that you should do, okay? Does it deal with the FCA? Sermons will come together and you will go deeper and deeper into people's lives if you have a focus, and you keep coming there instead of shotgunning. Just go all over the place. Is the FCA related to the FCA? Proper attitudes for applications, you can surmise these, but I'll just say them quickly. Proper attitudes for application, right between the eyes with love.

When we get to preaching regularly to one another next semester, you'll find that one of the things I'll often say is, now you said that we should honor one another in our marriages. What did you mean by that? Well, you know, what I meant was we shouldn't talk about each other behind our back to people and who are neighbors. Well, why didn't you say that instead of something just general that was safe and didn't get you in trouble and didn't offend anybody? Say what you thought. Now you say, well, that would offend people. It is your job to offend them with the word of God if you are doing it out of love. The very reason you stood up, the very reason you addressed people from the word of God was you wanted to bring the transformation of the word of God into their lives. If you back away from it now, you are not doing what needs to be done. So say exactly what you should say. Do it out of a heart of love, but say exactly what you should say now that you've examined the word in the light of the people who are here. Now that requires a second attitude which is strong, steady and forgiving. Strong, steady and forgiving. It's almost a cliche that older preachers move to abstraction and younger preachers move to anger. The older preacher who has preached and not seen people change, not seen fruit, he is like every time I do application, just gets me in trouble can typically just move to safety, go and go to abstraction. The counter of that is young men in the pulpit, typically who are almost stereotypical angry young men. You didn't do it, I told you to do it and you didn't do it. So do it. And we get angrier and angrier and angrier over time because people are not doing what we told them to do. You will not be able to preach long term if you cannot get up in the pulpit, speak strong to the people the word of God, watch them not obey, forgive them and speak again. If you really can't forgive them for they're failing to honor you, you will burn out. Those who do study pastro burnout will tell us it is not primarily a feature of fatigue, it is not primarily a feature of too much work. There's a lot of work. You will find out that the pastorate can be a place for lazy people to hide because I can just kind of go to my study and find all kinds of reasons that I don't do things but if you are a conscientious preacher the work is never done. You are the 24-7 guy, always, always, always, uncalled, work never done, people to see, sermons to write, counseling to be done more than any person could do. Fatigue typically is not the cause of burnout though. It is fatigue combined with anger. They are so unfair to me. They do not honor me. They do not do what I say and anger ultimately becomes the corrosion in your own heart that drives you from the pulpit. Strong, steady and forgiving, all must be there for there to be pastoral consistency. Last thing in a proper attitudes, motivate with love for Christ, motivate with love for Christ. What this means is we are typically trying to motivate people from acceptance, not for acceptance. Now some of you have had this. You have been in those churches where there is actually a form of pastoral abuse which says, I will love you, you will have my approval, if you do all the things that I say. The pastor who stands in as ambassador for Christ seems to be saying, therefore, that Christ loves you because of what you do. Instead of Christ loves you because of what he did. Our great motivation and application, remember the four questions, what to do, where to do, why and how? Is to motivate people from acceptance, not for it. God has done this for you. In Christ, you are clothed in His righteousness. He has made a way. He is interceding. In your weakness, He is strong. Despite your sin, He is the one who provided His blood. People being motivated out of love for Christ from acceptance, rather than straighten up and then you'll be okay with God. If people are taught straight enough and then you'll be okay with God, when will they be okay with God? Never. They will never straighten up enough. The Westminster Confession says because of the great disproportion. Hear that? The great disproportion between our best works and God's true holiness. Not only do our good works not earn God's affection, they are actually deserving of His reprude. In that amazing thought, our good works are actually deserving of His reprude. So if I tell people, just do more good works. Just give God some more filthy rags and He'll be happy with you. I create a God who can never be satisfied and I weaken the hearts of God's people ultimately drive them to despair. Motivate out of love for God, His acceptance is what now drives their motivation for holiness, rather than become holy and then God will love you. They will never be that holy. What are some key hints for preparing application? A, plan for specific people, pick on no one. Specificity basically comes because we are talking about their situations. Have I in preaching? It's why you can't be a great preacher if you just sit in the study in that Westminster Divine's language. Are you in residence and conversation with your people? Are you among them? So that you are now able to plan with specificity in your sermon. Not naming people, but certainly dealing with where their lives are. This means, of course, that we exegy the people as well as the text. And mainly it means this. What are some key hints for preparing application? Remember all four questions of application, just a little reminder here. What are the two questions that we are going to say have to be in every main point? What to do and where? Every main point will be looking for what to do and where? The what comes out of the explanation. The where, you're knowing people and what they're dealing with, saying, where is this supply? But within the body of the sermon, somewhere before you walk out the door, we want to know why and how. And that's going to be there in the text or its context as well. Why and how, in addition to what and where? Some final words on application. It's just this. You want to develop an early burden for a lasting passion. You want to develop an early burden for a lasting passion. When we're dealing with the nuts and bolts of preaching and putting together sermons like we're talking about in in this class of a traditional message and we talk about things like the F-C-F should be in your introduction. And we begin to look for these kind of artificial underlying it. So I know it's there, you know, and you kind of, you know, we do all the things of these technical things. Are we doing expositional reign? Am I using those terms down in my illustration application? Listen, ultimately, I don't care. I want to know if you care about God's people.

Have you, even in the introduction, said, here's something you're struggling with? I know it. God knows it. He's here to help you. He provided his word for that. If you, from the very beginning, are preaching with a burden for God's people, you will love to preach. You will love it. You will say, I've got something to say that will really help people here today. And if I develop that early burden, then this kind of moves away from an academic exercise, from just, you know, checking off the boxes, have we done this traditional sermon, and I actually begin to feel that I'm doing something as the good shepherd would have me do. I'm helping people. And that's the joy of preaching. I mean, that is the profound joy of preaching. When I say, here's a burden that I can help with. When you preach that way, now, application is not just this scary minefield. It's actually the great joy. I can talk about where people are hurting, and I can help them. That's the lasting passion of preaching. When I say, I've got a burden, Holy Spirit gave me something to say, I can help. When you preach that way, it will be your lasting passion, and you will be a great help to God's people. See next time. Remember, you do have an assignment to do next time, and I'll collect it then.