They let me review what we did last time so that you have that material in front of you who or what alone has the power to change hearts. Holy spirit, that's right. Can you do the whole thing? The Holy Spirit working by and with the word in our hearts. Remember, that's the point. It's not the Holy Spirit working independently of his word but rather taking the word and applying it to our hearts. The one who elumand, excuse me, the one who inspired the word also elumines the page so that our hearts receive it properly. So the Holy Spirit working by and with the word in our hearts is the power by which God transforms men and women eternally, not merely changes behavior but transforms them. What aspect of preaching is the most persuasive, ethos, pathos, or logos? That's right. It's ethos. It's the most important. Now, for the midterm, you also need to be able to define each of those terms. Logos is what? That's right. It's the verbal content but that includes not just the words but the logic, the content as well. Pathos means what? Emotive content, the emotive content of the message and ethos, character, what's the key word? That's right. The perceived character of the speaker. Well, those are key thoughts. It's important to know, of course, that when you are inadequate in ethos, it's the sufficiency of the word that takes the burden of transforming men and women off of us. But that's not to say that the Spirit doesn't use our gifts. So we're instruments granted the Spirit can leapfrog over our weaknesses, but the normal way in which God works is to use the character of the one speaking to confirm the authenticity of the word. God can work past us that takes the burden off of us. At the same time, we have the blessing of being an instrument in God's hands and for those who are renewed by the Spirit, being able to serve God for His glory is part of our blessing and our joy. Let's pray to God this morning as we praise Him for the joy He works in us. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we thank You that Your blessings are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness. We know that is Your faithfulness that has brought us here and ultimately that will equip us to go from this place with the message of Your word. And so we pray that the mercies that You give us would be playing not only to our hearts, but that You would be equipping us through what we do in this class to make those mercies plain to others as well. We would be acknowledging before You in humility that we are only earthen vessels, but with joy proclaim that You pour Your glory out of earthen vessels so that the glory is all yours. Grant Father, You are blessing upon us by Your Spirit even now, making us conform to Your purposes and filling us with Your glory for the sake of Your Son and our Savior we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. As we begin today, you see the goal of this lesson is to understand the essential components of a well constructed sermon. Just to think about what that is, let me reflect from your readings just a bit. Why would the following be a terrible outline for a sermon? Here's my first point. My first point is this. Agape is one of three Greek words for love. My second main point is this. Esau was a hairy man, and my third main point, expiation refers to the turning aside of the wrath of God. Now, everything I just said is true. Everything I just said is biblical. Everything I said is in the Bible. Why would it make a terrible sermon? What do these three main points lack that is necessary for a well constructed sermon? Unity. That's right. There is nothing that seems to pull together the components of this sermon. Though all is true, there's nothing linking these very disparate ideas of three Greek words for love and Esau being a hairy man. What else is lacking? Purpose. While we may begin to think that there is some reason to know about three Greek words for love, at the same time, knowing that expiation is the turning away of God's wrath, all true does not appear to have the same purpose as the earlier point. And because it doesn't have purpose, what does it also lack? A parent application. It's these three things that are necessary for all good, sermonic preparation. Every sermon to use your notes here, every sermon must have unity, purpose, and application. We said these things. We now want to explore them in depth this morning. Unity. Here's the key concept. How many things is a sermon about one? That's right. You all know it. The sermons may have many facets. They may have many components. They may have many subsets of a central idea, but essentially every sermon is about one thing. Now we need to talk about why that is. What is the need for a sermonic unity? Well, the first reason that we need unity is that sermons, excuse me, that preachers need focus. The speaker himself needs focus. Why? Well, first, because the old hymn is true of us, we are prone to wander. Yes, we feel it. I mean, there are so many interesting wonderful good things to say in the scriptures. And yet we recognize that we've been in sermons and sadly may produce sermons that just seem to wander about and don't have a central purpose that people can grab onto. A second reason that we need unity as preachers is that preachers need focus to funnel the infinite exegetical possibilities. If you were to go over to the library and you were to begin to research any particular verse, you're going to be overwhelmed initially because you will see that there are many commentaries dealing with any portion of the scripture. And that means books have been written on practically or could be written on practically any verse. There are near limitless exegetical possibilities of what could be said about any portion of scripture. And while it seems at first constraining, oh no, I just have to concentrate on this one central idea, ultimately you'll find it's very liberating. Because when you are in that labyrinth of infinite exegetical possibilities, there are so many things that you could say that you just get overwhelmed with the possibilities. When you were able to say, I know there are many things I could say but I am going to relate those things that deal with my central purpose that actually you feel freed from all the possibilities, all the complexities of the sermon that could be there. John Stott in some tongue in cheekway says, the great torture of every preacher is that he has to throw away 90% of what he knows about any particular message when he preaches the sermon. There is so much any passage contains but being able to focus is what allows us to move forward and our listeners to move forward with us. And of course that's the other reason that we need sermonic unity. Not merely because speakers need focus but because our listeners need focus as well. You've already done this some of you, you've gone over to the library and you've begun to just take in what's there. And if you were to go to research virtually any passage of scripture, you will find in the commentary sections in the library book after book after book on any passage that you're looking at. And now to say I've got to preach on this and kind of the evangelical standard though it varies greatly by state as well as by nation. But you know you'd kind of say the average is about a 30 minute message. Well I'm going to come across material that could be sufficient for 330 minute messages as I would look at virtually any path. So if I got these infinite exegetical possibilities, how do I know what I'm going to grab? How do I know out of all the possibilities, what to actually say? And the thing that's going to free you from this infinite labyrinth of possibilities is unity. We'll press hard on it this semester and we'll say yes all things are true but what is the thing you're trying to say in this message? And I would just say initially it seems so constraining. I could say all of this but you're just kind of making me focus on this. But after a while you'll find it's actually freeing because when I know what I'm directing things to I actually have some basis for the choices that I will be making out of all the possibilities that could come. So speakers need unity because I promise to wander but also it actually helps us with the infinite exegetical opportunities. Of course the second reason for sermonic unity the second need is not only that speakers need focus but that listeners need focus. One of the things that we'll talk about with some frequency is this. Almost all of us have been trained quite well on how to write essays for readers. But sermons are not essays. Sermons are for listeners and there are different ways in which you communicate to a listener versus a reader. There are things that we'll talk about that your sixth grade essay literature teacher would not like. We'll talk about things like one of the most powerful tools that preachers have is repetition. Now if you were writing an essay your English teacher would say don't say it again that's redundant. But in an oral medium we will say it's not redundant it's power. A listener doesn't have the ability to back up into the paragraph and read it again. So what we are doing is providing all kinds of cues and signals and means to grasp the material as it's going by and that includes unity. We have to have some way to coalesce things to let people know that kind of mud roll of words that's coming at them. What is that all about? And unity is giving us the means of helping find their way because sermons are for listeners and not readers and then just beyond that all good communication requires a theme. All good communication requires a theme. Even the novel that's many, many pages long somewhere has its theme. What it's basically about certainly your essay would reflect that. And we would say the temptation for all of us as preachers is to think I have so many good things to say and it's all important it's all true and just to kind of throw it at people. But back to the analogy that was in your reading it's so much easier to catch a baseball than a handful of sand. They may weigh about the same equal gravity. But if you don't pull it together it's very hard to grasp in fact that we know as a rule of communication is if the preacher does not supply unity who will. The listener will. He is required somehow to pull the information together if I were just kind of speaking about subjects not spiritual but just generally telling you about you know a movie I saw last week I would find some way not to tell you the whole plot in all the details I would say you know it was a boy meets girl. It was a cops and robbers it was a western I would have some way of pulling it together before I expected you to deal with all the details and that's what preaching is about to as we prepare sermons recognizing we have to have unity for our sake and the listeners sake. If you talk about the nature of Sermon acuity what what goes into making it what it should be you already know one key idea and it's filling in your blanks here in expository preaching the meaning of the passage is the message of the sermon in expository preaching the meaning of the passage is the message of the sermon. We want what God says to be what we say so part of unity is saying what's the big idea of the passage what's it dealing with because when I identify that that's also going to be the big idea of the message if it's reflecting what's in the text so the Bible says what God says I want to say what the Bible says I need to make sure that it's theme is my theme. The meaning of the passage is the message of the sermon now number two the meaning of the passage that becomes the message of the sermon is the big idea now some of this is just taxonomy and terminology in preaching circles that word big idea is mentioned over and over and over again what's the big idea. And by that we're looking for the unifying theme of the passage that is also reflected in the message what's the unifying concept of the sermon the originator of that terminology as simple as it sounds as a man named Haddon Robinson who still teaches at Gordon Conwell Seminary which by the way as soon as I leave you today I'm heading to Gordon Conwell Seminary to lecture in his classes. And that's kind of the privilege that we've been friends a long time and so we're able to do that but here's Haddon Robinson who's kind of the the granddaddy of preachers this day in the teaching of preaching he says it this way. You determine the big idea by asking this you know I have to get all this down but just kind of listen to the concept here you determine the big idea by asking what's the purpose of the biblical writer here. What is he trying to communicate what is his theme what's his idea what's his concept this leads us always to original intent now that's the key terminology the big idea is seeking to get us to the original intent of whom God and the author of the text my goal is not I said Jesus to bring from my experience what the text means it's to have God speak to me through the text what was the original intent of the author now you recognize that so much of what you do in seminary exegesis new testament studies old testament studies history all of that is saying what did the writer mean to say because that's what I want to say if I'm being fair to his intent and therefore to what God is intending to say the definition therefore is this in expository preaching unity occurs when the elements about passage now new terminology again or expository unit why do humble editions talk about expository unit more than just passage all the verses and chapter divisions in the Bible inspired did look right those down no not at all sometimes you will find of course that the expository unit has to cross over what to our English translations appear to be the passage those paragraph even the verse divisions were not inspired they were not included originally in the text so for us to come with our understanding and say do I need to cross over reverse doing you to cross over a chapter in fact you will discover at times that the expository unit what needs to be preached on may run over many chapters if you don't know what happens in Job 40 to 42 it is very difficult to explain what happens in Job 1 and 2 the expository unit is trying to say what did God mean to say and what chunk of scripture sometimes very little sometimes quite large will be needed to get the big idea to actually within context say it correctly so in expository preaching unity occurs when the elements of a passage or expository unit are legitimately shown to support a single major idea that is the theme of a sermon. Now had Robinson says it this way the big idea of a sermon is a subject and its compliments a subject and its compliments sometimes the notion of the one big idea of a message gets people a little frightened because I just have to talk about this one thing over and over and over again for 30 minutes. You know you talk about that one thing in terms of its development there may be many facets many subsets but it's all about one thing. Now you'll join the last 20 years of homolytic students to know this this is a sermon okay the unifying concept is the suit of it of this stool it's all about one thing. So the big idea is the subject and its compliments the things that support it we get in danger in preaching when we have a subject and the support sits over here somewhere or doesn't the subject of the main point may not appear to support the subject of the sermon at all. So we want to make sure in unity that we have a big idea and its compliments that is ever major parts of the sermon compliment the main idea. Now what happens if I have to say something to be true to the text and it does sit over here I recognize I've got the wrong seat. I do not yet have a unifying concept that deals appropriately with the subjects of the text so I may have said this touch this text was about God's guidance but the more I begin to study I find you know there's things in here that really don't reflect much about guidance that does not appear to be what Paul's main idea was. So I'll have to change what I said was the big idea as I'm preparing this message because it does not adequately reflect the material in the text and my goal is to say what the text says so one of the tests not only of whether a sermon has unity but whether it has truth is whether the big idea can be supported by the major components of the text. So I'm testing myself to my support points support what I say is the main idea do those support points adequately cover what the text is talking about a sermon is about how many things. Sermon is about one thing that's the key concept of ceremony unity if you say what's the process by which we obtain unity it's not a mystery it's not real hard we read and digest the passage to determine what's the big idea of the writer first thing what's the big idea of the writer I read and digest the passage to determine what is the. By the way here it's that little article that's critical what is the big idea of the writer now at the end of that phrase you want to put a big or or B what themes in the passage what themes in the passage have sufficient material what themes in the passage have sufficient material to develop the main theme of a sermon. Now believe it or not I just led you into one of the major debates in the history of homiletics. Do you recognize the debate the question is this can a minor theme of a passage be the major theme of a message can a minor theme of a sermon. Can a minor theme of a passage be a major theme of a message now there are certainly those in the history of homiletics who will say no. But I want you to think about it for a little bit in this way if you were looking at look 15 you recognize there are a series of parables there relating to lossness right there is a lost sheet lost coin lost son. I'm going to guess that sometime in most of your spiritual experiences you have heard a sermon on your assurance of God's love because God is like the father who received again the prodigal son. And if you have sin in your life if you have been prodigal you can still have the assurance of God's love because of the nature of that father toward his son ever heard such a sermon. Would you say that sermon came out of that text. Would you say it's wrong most of you say not but if you said is the purpose the big idea of the total passage of Luke 15 to assure prodigals of God's love is that basically what that passage is about to assure prodigal sons of God's love is that what that's about. No, who is the passage actually directed to who is listening in and what are they concerned about as Jesus tells these three parables of lost sister remember what just preceded the parables of lostness what are the Pharisees doing they're upset. Who is Jesus eating with the publicans and the prostitutes and what are they saying how can you deal with people like this if you were really a representative of God you would know that you're not to deal with people like this now Jesus tells parables of lostness and for those who are sinners there's the wonderful assurance of how the father deals with his younger son. But who is really the point of the parable it's not the younger son who is it it's the older son the older brother because what's he upset about the father is receiving centers a center the particle and what Jesus is really telling the account for is to remind the Pharisees that they are being like the elder brother who are upset that God is gracious. Now is that an appropriate message for the sermon that you shouldn't be upset that God is gracious towards centers is that an appropriate message but you also said it was appropriate most of you when I said is appropriate to talk about God the father receiving centers what did you do you recognize that while there was a major overarching thing the wrongness of being upset with God's grace. You also recognize that there were sub themes that might have sufficient content for a sermon like God is gracious towards centers like me like you I would recognize I think you do too if you actually come to the conclusion that only the big idea of any passage not the minor themes is sufficient for a sermon. What will you be required to preach on every time it's kind of hard to tell you might have to do a whole chapter every time you might have to do the whole book every time because after all the chapters are just minor points of the bigger book by the way the books are just minor points of the whole message of Scripture. So where we're going is this it's that word sufficient minor themes minor themes also can be the big idea of a sermon if there is sufficient material now this becomes a judgment call right is there sufficient material in this passage to support what you're saying. And particularly for an expositor who's not going to be importing from other places but saying I'm going to tell you what this text means you're saying within this text is there sufficient material to say. God is gracious towards centers is there sufficient material to say you should tie. Because after all the father provided things for the son here well you say well that may be a minor theme in there but there's not sufficient material to develop the point exegetically not from this passage. So is there sufficient material to support what I say is going to be the main theme of the sermon now if you've done that those two ideas of unity identifying what's the big idea of the writer what themes in the passage have sufficient material. To develop the main theme of the sermon the second major thing we do for unity is melt down the supporting ideas into a proposition another key term we melt down the supporting ideas into a proposition a proposition in the history of preaching is one crisp clear statement of the big idea. One crisp clear statement of the big idea of the to use your essay language the theme of the message we're saying is there sufficient material here to support what I say is the theme and that is a proposition as I stated is it apparent to me after I've studied and hopefully to the listeners after they heard you that there was sufficient material in the passage to support that proposition for the message. The mark of success in unity in developing that proposition is what's the blank going to be there the what test the 3 a.m. test the 3 a.m. test now even you smile as you say it and I meant for you to do that but the goal is this you know to say if you're if your spouse or roommate where you know bump you out of bed at 3 a.m. in the morning and where to say preacher what's the sermon about. It ought to be a rather crisp clear statement because at 3 a.m. you're not going to think in some 111 and some 112 the keyastic structure of the Hebrew enables the listener to understand that God is not only communicating his nature but showing how they are transferred to man so that his nature is part of their nature and this is part of his atoning redemptive process all through way too long. God transfers here's nature to us. Same thing now I'm going to prove it establish it develop it all that within the message but a proposition is trying to have one crisp clear statement of what the message is united around unity is striving for these things unity is striving for a single thrust versus multiple thoughts unity is striving for a single thrust versus multiple thoughts. One sermon really cannot be about the cause of absolute sin the cure for alcohol addiction and the case for infant baptism notice the great alliteration it's still way too broad right for it to be unified about anything. Homoeticians have kind of a cute way of reminding us how we're going to do this remember this little cost it. TMT I T K T M T M T what's it stand for the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing the main thing the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. And unity sermonic unity in a message is striving very hard for that ethic the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing your greatest threat is your knowledge of the passage. You will know so much John Scott in a book that you're going to read next semester says the greatest torture of any preacher is throwing away 90% of what he knows about a passage to preach on it. It's you know people who listen to us in local churches as you get out and start preaching they kind of smile when they talk about the seminary sermon what do they mean. They included everything they ever heard in systematic class and said it as fast as they could get it all in instead of recognizing I've only got this much time but God's people have this week and next week next week and next week. This week we're going to talk about this we're going to deal with this thing that the scriptures are addressing sufficiently that they see this is what this passage is about and if it's too much material I need to deal with a smaller bite of the passage. What's the purpose of this main thing what are we trying to get to when we talk about the big idea that the passage is about. We're trying to get to a purpose that I will identify as the fallen condition focus when we identify that big idea and we say why is it here we don't really have to guess why it's here the scripture itself is telling us the purpose of every passage. If evangelicals would not make John 3.16 their only motto verse we would say the other major motto verse of evangelicals is second Timothy 3.16 second Timothy 3.16 and 17 all scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for doctrine repute correction and instruction righteousness that the man of God might be here comes the really hard word that the man of God might be. Perfect. Fairly furnished into all good works now it's that word perfect that we stumble over it's actually the Greek word audio which means complete. All scripture is given for these various purposes doctrine repute correction instruction righteous is to complete us. Now if scripture is given to complete us what does that necessarily say about us we are what we are incomplete apart from what God is providing we are incomplete we are fallen creatures we have holes in us that the scripture is designing to fill by telling us of the work of God. Identifying fallenness what's what's wrong what the homileticians in Lutheran traditions called the burden of the text what is wrong that God must be addressing with his redemptive work in order for us to be whole or complete before him again in your notes our fallen nature requires scriptures completion. And all scripture has this purpose of completing us thus every passage has a fallen condition focus what I'll simply call the FCF from time to time the FCF the purpose of the text is not just to give you information for the text for the test tomorrow you know there's no test tomorrow. The goal of the passage is not so that you will go home and have more knowledge alone the purpose of the text is to deal with us as fallen creatures in our fallen condition with the knowledge of what God can do about that. So there is fallenness being addressed a fallen condition is the purpose that's beginning behind the words it's the purpose that's even beginning behind the information it's the answer to the why question okay I see what's here why is it here. Why did the Holy Spirit require a biblical writer to write this down if it's not just so that we'll be able to answer right questions on a test what is the purpose what is the burden of the text let me tell you why that's so important and I hope you feel a little bit the weight of it right now when you come to seminary you have the wonderful privilege. Of begin to see the scriptures with in greater detail and with more knowledge through more tools that you are provided then virtually anyone else in the culture and that that is a great gift that is a wonderful privilege but if you're not careful you can get caught into just displaying the joy of your privilege instead of the reason you have been given it when people look for the common denominators of great preaching. That's a difficult thing to do if you were to go to the library and you to look at those multiple volumes of 20 centuries of great preaching and you would say what is common among all of these sermons I will tell you you will struggle find a common denominator they are so different given the era it could be that type of preaching that reflects ancient Greek rhetoric highly ornate very doctrinal oriented not much dealing with the text explicitly. It might be a puritan preaching again dealing with the text but typically this way giving a key verse getting a thought out of it and then going to many different passages to develop the doctrine that's in that text or from the time of John brought us expository preaching as we know it today which is saying look at the text and explain what it means on the basis of the biblical writer who wrote it. Not going to all those other different places until you have proven the ideas here first so you find ornate preaching puritan preaching expository preaching many different kinds of preaching was the common denominator here of great preaching how did they all get in this who made the choice and why the common denominator of all great preaching is that it gives hope not that it gives information all preaching gives information to some extent. The common denominator of all great preaching is it uses the information in the text to give hope why are we dealing with following this so that I will recognize there is no temptation taken you but such as is common to man what you're struggling with the people in the Bible we're struggling with and God gave them aid so I am telling you what they are struggling with what the burden of the text was so when you struggle with something also you will know how to deal with it with the divine solution that God is providing here. Romans 154 and your notes says it this way everything that was written in the past was written to teach us now there's information was written to teach us so that to endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. At the bottom of that page where you got a little space I want you to write down the definition of the fcf because it's going to become very critical for what we're doing so as you think about the definition of the fcf this becomes important I will guarantee you it will be on the midterm. The fcf is the mutual human condition the fcf is the mutual human condition that contemporary believers that's us the mutual human condition that contemporary believers share with those for or by whom the text was written. The fcf is the mutual human condition that contemporary believers share with those for or by whom the text was written that requires the grace of the passage that requires the grace of the passage to manifest God's glory in his people. What are we doing we are starting the message thinking of it redemptively by saying is I look at this text what is the burden of the text. To manifest God's glory in his people what are we doing we are starting the message thinking of it redemptively by saying is I look at this text what is the burden of the text and what is the hope of God why is it here if I don't ask that question I will get into sermons that are merely lectures on topics. I'm going to talk to you today about justification by faith alone well that's very interesting and I can tell you all the places in scripture that justification was by faith alone and how God expressed it and what the word pistil means and all all those kinds of things great information why do I need to hear that why do the mass of people even in our churches based their justification on their sanctification am I okay with God how am I doing today. Instead of faith in what he has done what's the burden of the text what becomes the problem if I think I'm okay with God based on how I am doing then honesty will always take me to an understanding that I have no assurance before God why did the Holy Spirit write this down what was the burden of the text why did have to be there and what now is the hope that God is providing. The FCF is taking us beyond the mere factual questions to the redemptive answers by saying here's the problem that's human you got holes in you by the way you can't fix it God can. So by dealing with fallenness true fallenness I'm forced to deal with the divine solution. The implications of the FCF implications of the FCF number one we should never preach on a text we should never preach on a text until we have determined why the Holy Spirit put it there we should never preach on a text until we determined why the Holy Spirit put it there the great temptation will to preach on what you know the facts rather than going beyond that to say why are they here. So we're going to say until I've gone on to the why question I'm not ready to preach and that's number two until we have determined an FCF until we have determined an FCF of a text we do not know what it's about until we have determined an FCF of a text we do not know what it's about even if we know many true facts about it even if we know many true facts about it if we can't answer the why question we don't really know what it's about now you know I have to write all this down but I'll just tell you kind of the pastoral way of approaching this and we'll talk about it more as we move through both this course and others you know one very good way to find out if you're really dealing with the burden of the text is after you determine what the text is about oh this is about justification by faith alone this is about God's sovereignty he knows who's going to happen tomorrow. After you've asked after you've answered those questions of what the text is about then I will encourage you to go in through the who door sounds like Dr. Zeus I know go in through the who door all right God knows tomorrow that's very interesting who needs to hear that now you're pastoring now you're not lecturing only you're saying what's the burden of the text who who think pastoral for a moment who needs to know that God knows tomorrow any of you struggling to find a job right now any of you know young people who are still worried about their college choice for next year they have no idea who for whom is it important to know that God knows the one who loves you and gave his son for you he knows tomorrow who needs to hear that when you think of the who question you'll get to the why answer why is this here to deal with people like me so I look at the text and say what's it's burden but enables me truly to preach as God intended how do I determine the FCF how do I determine the FCF here's a three step process it's in your reading so if you don't get it all down that's fine but I think you'll you'll kind of fairly readily understand the components the the process of determining the FCF this first ask what does the text say that's kind of the bear information question what does the text say in classic hadn't Robinson language it's what's the big idea here what's the text say what's the big idea now that is a very important step what's this text say what's going on here that's necessary important cause all your knowledge and skills and the tools that you're being given here at seminary what does the text say for me the sadness is I think that many many preachers in this culture end their sermon preparation when they have ended the answer to that question what does this text say I'll give you the information and because I was being true and faithful and exegeting the text I think I have preached I'm going to keep pressing you on and say why did you sit down in the pew to listen to that man just so that you would get more facts what were you really expecting a second thing to do to determine the FCF as this and I always say what does the text say but what concern or concerns did the text address what concern or concerns did the text address now that's looking at its context what was going on at philipide that Paul wrote that I plead with yodia and sentiki to be at peace was it so he would have us be able to pronounce yodia and sentiki sometime in the future no no no what why did he write that what was going on then that Paul needed to write what was the burden of that time okay so what concern or concerns required the writing of the text in its context and then number three what I think takes a lecture into being a sermon is answering the question what do we share in common with what do we share in common with those four or about whom it was written or the one by whom it was written when David says my tears have been my drink all the night long he's the one who wrote that text anybody ever cry in the night David did he's like me in some way so I don't just see he was going through a hard time how are we like him why did the spirit record his experience for me how are we like him I hope you're getting the big hint here the hint is this the mutual condition that thing that we talked about in the FCF that mutual condition finding out what's going on the text how it's like my condition is the key to the most powerful and poignant preaching identifying mutual condition not just saying describing the text here's what happened to Israel here's what David did no no all important all true but how is that person that group of people the one who wrote that the one about whom it was written how are they like me what mutual what mutual condition do we share that I now know as God treated them as God rescued them so he can redeem rescue or help me another key hint it's not just that the mutual condition is what makes powerful preaching but the more particular you make the FCF typically the more powerful the sermon this is again a difference between an essay and a sermon in an essay you typically write large principle today I'm going to talk about the problem with sin in the world oh great what does that have to do with me typically the more personal and particular you make the FCF the more powerful is the sermon today we are going to talk of how you can be faithful when your boss is a center anybody in the scriptures have to be faithful even though their superiors were pagan oh that subjects addressed numerous places so I become much more particular about what's the FCF in order to deal with people in general simple rubric of preaching if you try to preach to everyone to whom do you really speak no one if you try to preach to everyone all universal principle for all people all places you actually speak to no one is to abstract but if you will speak to just one to whom do you speak everyone there is no temptation taking you but such as is common to man if you actually will deal with an individual facing a common human dilemma everyone listen in if I'm talking about an aging person in a nursing home who is not visited anymore by her family or friends but has found fellowship with God think whole congregation none of them are people in nursing homes but do any of them know loneliness do any of them know what it feels like to be abandoned my family and friends and to need to find God as the one who is your friend if you speak of one clearly who has a human condition of fallenness everybody knows exactly what you're talking about and they will listen in because you have become pastoral in your particular and not just lecturing about universals now there's a balance here right because that mutual human condition you have to have some understanding of the human condition and you're actually personifying it when you become particular but that mutual human condition you have to have the pastoral instinct to say it does apply to enough people but I'm going to talk about it in particular terms yes I'm going to summarize just for the tape here is it am I really saying that when we preach we should actually think of people in the congregation who are going through situations or conditions that this text would be applicable to and actually think of those very people so that as I'm working on something man it really be good for Mary and Sue to hear this I summarize correctly and the answer is I am definitely saying that that if we are thinking only an abstraction now when I'm we're way down the road a few weeks here okay but but no it's great questions let me just tell you where we're going to go my goal when I am pastoring as I preach is to actually think going through the who door who needs to hear this and to actually even the words I choose the construct to actually prepare to minister to these people that God has put in my context not people somewhere else to these people so I am going to think of these people in their actual context but I will never name them okay I will speak about their situations and I will not identify them okay so I may talk you you've had this happen you're in a congregation and let's say it's a congregation that has many many college students in it so I will purposely as I am doing application talk about some of the temptations that I know are on college campuses now if I were in a real farm district made of mostly older people I am not going to be talking about college temptations to this group of people I'm going to be talking about the fact of the economy destroying the farm families and young people having to move away and wonder if they're even going to be here next year and God's assurance to them and how the overcoming the temptation of there's no hope because I don't know what's going to happen deals with people in a rural setting versus college young people there's no reason to resist because God doesn't know what I'm doing what God knows is still the subject but I'm definitely going to deal with that subject in terms of the the following the principle the universal principle you're you're pressing on good things here the universal principle we will apply to specific situations that God has put in front of us but I will not be able to do that well if I haven't said what's the specific situation that's here in the text first what was David dealing with what were the principles of his situation that God's redeeming work is dealing with and the sermon is most apt to deal with the text when even the applications that I'm giving are most close to the situation of the text the little preaching rubric you apply what you explain so what you explain the text is about is what you'll apply when people really get upset with you is when you begin to apply what you haven't explained or especially you haven't proven the text says that's when you really get in trouble yes yes the problem the preacher trying to solve his own personal problems when he's preaching from the pulpit it's a balance isn't it sometimes the sermons that are most powerful are when you are preaching to yourself that you know your struggles and you know that you have to deal with this but if this if the pulpit becomes the hobby horse I'm just always dealing with me and my concerns and all of that two things begin to happen one you rob people the whole council of God you're just dealing with you rather than the true subjects of the text just by the way one of the reasons we do consecutive preaching moving through a book so I'm dealing with more themes than just come to my mind the other thing that can happen if the preacher too frequently only deals with his problems is that people stop thinking the text applies to them they actually thinking he's doing self therapy in the pulpit he's talking on that subject again oh it's just what he's struggling with and you actually end up removing the scriptures from the people this is always a balance all over and over again about past reprudence on the other hand if the preacher never identifies with what people are struggling with the way others have written if the preacher is the only one in the congregation who does not recognize there's a storm outside then again the preacher is not able to minister so there is redemptive transparency I have to from time to time say we me and you we struggle with this and God helps us all remember all we like sheep have gone astray we have turned each to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all so even the prophet is willing to be transparent at times but if the pulpit becomes what I think of as a sympathy bench oh just feel sorry for me you know I'm just really struggling you know and then you kind of say that's actually not redemptive transparency that's selfish transparency we get to a lot of this as we go let's just kind of keep going today because you all are right on the good questions but I need to make sure just one more thing about the fcf is clear to you in that portion of your notes where I ask for examples of the fcf remember I said it's the mutual human condition that we share with those of the text and I've used that word burden a lot so I hope you recognize that the fcf is always something that's wrong okay it's always something that's negative it's something that's wrong but I want you to hear this it is not always a sin it is not always a sin if I were to say to you what are legitimate subjects that a sermon can address can a sermon address the subject of dishonesty sure can it address the subject of unfaithfulness sure can address the subject of rebellion sure the common denominator of all these things are their sins can a sermon address the subject of grief is grief always a sin no what is it it's a consequence of being a fallen creature in a fallen world that's why it's not the sin condition focus it's the fallen condition focus sermons can certainly deal with sins and you know many many times should but not always sometimes people's hurting and brokenness which has to do with hurricane Ivan and not somebody's individual sin is a legitimate subject of a sermon are there going to be pastors with heavy pastoral biblical work to do in Florida in the next few weeks you know and to say you know something like your centers is not going to be the best subject for those sermons to say it seems hopeless but God is here and he is sovereign and he's still on his throne and you can have faith in him so FCF does not all can mean sin but does not always mean sin and it's important that you recognize that as well now when the Bible and the sermon is identifying an FCF a burden of the text we have to ask the question why is it doing that why is the message why is the passage identifying something wrong and the answer is of course so that we will apply the truth of the scripture to that problem and this of course is called application Dr. Rayburn who as I mentioned he was the founding president here taught this course for many years his portrait is still outside in the lobby here and I think number of you have kind of walked by and soon it already Dr. Rayburn had been an Air Force colonel and even as a seminary president he kind of kept that bearing you know demeanor you know just somebody that we all respected and feared a little bit you know and he used it because he loved us in very remarkable ways at times and it was kind of at this point that he would do this he would say gentlemen little gruff you know and he would say I don't care where you go as a preacher I don't care how big the church I don't care how well they say you've preached wherever you go in the world wherever you preach at the end of your sermon I want you to see me sitting on the back row I have a frown on my face my arms are crossed and as you are leaving the sanctuary after your wonderful sermon I have a question for you so what so what oh so the Israelites went into the Promised Land so what so Paul was shipwrecked so what what's he driving at what's this have to do with me alter information maybe even dealing with problems but what does this have to do with me when we are preaching we are not merely giving information we are preaching for transformation the biblical instruction of this is numerous again going back to that motto verse as it were second Timothy 316 and 17 all scripture is inspired by God and is profitable it's got a purpose for doctrine reproof correction instruction righteousness if the man of God might be fully furnished and do all good works there's a reason that the doctrine reproof correction are being given it's so that we would live according to the doctrine reproof correction instruction there is application expected as Presbyterians you know it's often very hard to get a rise out of a congregation but even Presbyterians have an amen verse do you know that for Presbyterians the amen verse is Titus 2.1 you can almost always get an amen out of Presbyterians with this one you must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine amen see Presbyterians leave me that you know you must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine how does it continue what is in accord with sound doctrine that Titus is being told he must teach teach the older men to be temperate worthy of respect self-controlled sound that sound and fake teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live not to be slanderers or addicted to wine then they can train the younger women to love their husbands to children be self-controlled and pure encourage the young men to be self-controlled what is in accord with sound doctrine that he must teach how people are to live in accord with sound doctrine application it's even the pattern of the epistles you know this right all the epistles of the Apostle Paul are going to begin with a salutation with some greeting then there's going to be a lot of doctoral instruction now how are the letters going to end practical application there are implications of what you know and he is telling Titus and it will occur other places we'll see in the future this you must teach for a purpose of people knowing how to live that is application the implications for us simply this preaching is to transform as well as inform preaching is to transform as well as inform the father of expository preaching as we know it John brought us who is dealing with the liberalism that was coming into the church in this culture from Europe when he was saying we must make sure that we are saying what the Bible says the father of expository preaching when he said so what is the main thing to be done in preaching this is going to surprise you because you would think that the father of expository preaching would say the main thing to be done is to explain the text he didn't guess what the father of expository preaching said is the main thing to be done he said it is application because he recognized the temptation is simply to become dispensers of information and forget what the purpose of the text is it is to bring the power of God into the lives of God's people so they will live according to his ways therefore preaching will always include this second preaching implication preaching will always include two things what is true and what to do about it it's not just one of the other preaching that is just what is true as abstraction preaching that is just what you should do is arrogance preaching that is what is true and what to do about it is ministry what is true and what to do about it what we're doing with that fcf earlier is we're creating this longing for the word remember as the dear pants for water so my soul thirst for you the fcf is building that so that we can then say and here's what now God has caused you to thirst for his will word and ways what are the consequences of not doing application a message is pre-sermon p-r-e pre-sermon until its ideas and components are applied to an fcf that is you can say many true things in a pre-sermon like God is good God is loving God is kind God is patient all good information but it's not a sermon until you apply those aspects to an fcf to someone who is fearing need to know that God is good loving kind patient when you take the truth and you apply it to that mutual human condition now you have a sermon pre-sermons only describe the text pre-sermons only describe the text Sermons apply the text to an fcf some years ago there was a professor came about this time of the year to lecture for us he was an expert in Hittiteology the archaeology of the Hittites and we listened with rap detention for about three days of that lecture and then some student dared to ask at the end of those lectures what do these Hittites have to do with Hittites of the Bible and he said oh these are the Hittites of the Bible and we all said what have we been sitting here all this time if this has nothing to do with us now we didn't just leave perplexed we left mad if all you do is dispense information your people will not leave with a kind of appreciative oh that was interesting they will leave hurt and mad I came to be minister to why didn't you apply this to my life we are not ministers of information alone we are ministers of transformation we are speaking the word of God to give hope to God's people in their fallen condition and when we approach the scriptures that way God not only wonderfully blesses he wonderfully heals his people through the ministry he gives us we'll talk about a lot of the specifics as we go of how we do these things but these are the early things every sermon to be a sermon requires unity purpose and application see you next time