Think of Application in Terms of Being a Subject in God’s Kingdom.
As you develop your sermon or lesson this week, here are a couple of ways to think about application.
N. T. Wright provides a very broad understanding of biblical application. He believes that we are inviting our listeners into a different world.
That’s a good start. Our preaching and teaching invites them to move from their world to God’s world.
I like to be a bit more specific with respect to the nature of sermon application. I define application as:
“The process by which expository preachers and teachers urge their listeners to inhabit an area of the Kingdom of God.”
One way to assess the meaning of your preaching portion for this Sunday is to ask what particular area of the Kingdom of God is being highlighted.
May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you put your exegetical skills to good use with the goal of inviting your listeners to inhabit God’s Kingdom.
Even if you were not familiar with the three tools shown above, you could probably figure out what they were intended to do. Just look at their shape. Also, think about what would happen if you tried to make their functionality interchangeable. Imagine using the saw in the middle for a hammer!
Biblical texts–our preaching portions–signal their intention by their shape. Theology is conveyed through literary structure, things like grammar and syntax, and the type of literature. That’s why I live and die by this method:
After I pray Aquinas’s famous prayer, “Grant to me keenness of mind…”, my first study minutes are devoted to tracing the argument of the passage.
Pauline epistles convey their theology through logical argumentation. Old and New Testament narratives communicate through their storyline. Old Testament poetry preaches through parallelism.
That’s all simplistic, I know, but true enough to make the point.
Our search for applications begins with a search for intentionality. Here’s the key question:
What does God intend to do to His readers in this preaching portion?
Answer that and you’ve got the foundation for any form of application from that pericope.
In order to answer that question, you have to know what to look for. The epistles or other didactic genres (types of literature) are easiest, I think. Follow the imperatives and the logical flow. Doctrinal sections intend for readers to affirm them as real, real enough to elicit praise and corresponding lifestyle.
Narratives are the worst. We can talk about that next time, Lord willing.
For now, as you head into another work week, be thinking in your first hours of study what God intends to do to His readers, your congregants so He receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).
“And in a word, the Application will be found to be the Best part of the Sermon.” (J.E.)
When you read Edwards’s sermons, you soon realize that sermon application can also be called “Improvement or Use” (p. 38, Kimnach). It took me a while to get use to “improving” on a doctrine, but now I get what Edwards is trying to do.
Kimnach describes the approach:
“Application is concerning with experience and practice.” (p. 39)
Most of us think of sermon application in terms of transformation of attitude or action dictated by the Scriptures. But Kimnach writes,
“But as employed by Edwards, the Application also has a subtler use, as is indicated by his own statement in this transitional passage between Doctrine and Application of Gen. 19:14.
‘The Improvement we shall make of this doctrine shall be to offer some considerations to make future punishment seem real to you.'” (p. 39, emphasis added)
So how does Edwards do that? Here’s an example from the sermon, God’s Excellencies:
APPLICATION.
We are now come to make some improvement of this glorious truth….
How dreadful must his wrath be! If God [is] infinitely great and powerful, how terrible must his wrath and anger be; what a miserable creature–how inexpressibly miserable–must a poor, weak, sinner be in the hands of an angry and enraged God, who can shake the whole earth in pieces in a moment, and can annihilate the whole universe in the twinkling of an eye. (p. 426, emphasis added)
All of this is built off from the doctrine of the excellency of God. The logic is that sin against such an excellent Being must be extremely dreadful.
Edwards improves the doctrine by moving from the truth to an implication of that truth, an implication that his hearers must experience as real.
One more example:
“O what is a worm, to bear the weight of the anger of so great a being?” (p. 427)
May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as we explain the Doctrine and then spend time on its Improvement, doing our best to help our listeners experience it as real.
I wonder if this is the way our congregants read their Bibles?
Last week I posted my final reading of the book of Numbers and today I wanted to review why I am such a fan of preaching through books of the Bible in church.
When I am asked in class why I preach through books of the Bible in church, my first answer is:
“Because preaching through books of the Bible helps our listeners see the meaning of every preaching portion within the broader context of the book.”
But let me back up for a moment and answer the question from my experience of 30 years of preaching through books of the Bible. If I counted correctly, so far the Lord has graciously allowed me to preach through 16 complete books of the Old Testament and 17 complete books of the New Testament.
[I am praying hard that Jesus will return before I have to preach either Ezekiel or Job!]
Why preach through books of the Bible?
First, the practice of preaching through books of the Bible like the book of Numbers, for instance on display in recent posts, has increased my faith in the relevance of Scripture. I can’t tell you the number of weeks when I know what section awaits me and think: “I have no idea what I am going to do to that text so it will preach.”
Second, the practice of preaching through books of the Bible has forced me to become a better student of the Scriptures. Similar to the reaction above, some sections of some books, especially OT ones, are extremely difficult to preach. That’s because they are difficult to interpret so they function for the church. Preaching through books of the Bible in both Testaments Sunday after Sunday has made me better at doing theological interpretation like no other exercise can.
Third, the practice of preaching through books of the Bible gives me the awesome privilege of being a reading guide for our faith-family. Let me connect this to my first answer above.
One huge problem I see in topical preaching is that it teaches parishioners to read their Bible wrongly. They learn to read the Bible as if it contains isolated, contextless, fragments of meaning that are designed to be applied to life that way.
In addition to that, what an honor to attempt to help them understand what God is saying in some sections of Scripture that they would never stop and consider on their own [you know, those sections that we all speed-read to get through our daily Bible reading?].
May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you guide the Bible reading of your own faith-families.
This post completes the series I enjoyed through the book of Numbers with our faith-family.
My preaching portion was 33:50–36:13. I know it’s a lot of text, but we were at the end of the series and these instructions were far from new to our congregants.
The structure is clear with the repeated or restated version of: “And the Lord spoke to Moses…” (cf. 33:50; 34:1, etc.). These instructions for God’s people to live successfully in the Land must somehow translated into instructions that help us in our faith-journey with the Lord.
Then, as always, we follow the narrative to identify the theology:
Our ongoing fight against cultural idols is in vv. 33:50-56. The theology shines through the command to get rid of the temptations and the warning of what will happen if God’s people don’t. Our walk with God requires constantly putting sin to death in the power of His Spirit.
Our secure piece of the Promised Land in vv. 34:1-29; 36:1-13. Every person receives their inheritance (cf. 36:8). The special case revolving around a command to give a piece of the Land to a man’s daughters makes it clear that everyone was entitled to enjoy the blessing of God. The same goes for genuine believers enjoying their spiritual inheritance (cf. Acts 20:32 “…and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”). As a good theologian, you will have to help them see why this inheritance means the world to God’s people.
Our commitment to worship in vv. 35:1-8. This section centers on the implications of providing a place for the Levites in the Land. God’s people are surrounded by priests who will help them maintain a vital connection to their God.
Finally, our commitment to value human life in vv. 35:9-34. Some of the strangest sections in the OT for me are those instructions concerning creating cities of refuge. Yet, because the presence of God made the Land and the people holy, it was crucial for human life to be taken seriously and the taking of human life to be taken seriously. In his commentary, Wenham speaks of “the most potent pollution of shed blood.” The same life-giving element that covered sins could also become destructive.
Anyway, I settled on these four hope-filled instructions from the final sections of Numbers. The book closes with:
“These are the commandments and the rules that the Lord commanded through Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho” (36:13).
And I know our Lord receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) when the instructions are preached.
Randal
P.S. Next time I will try to share what I learn each time I complete a lengthy sermon series through books of the Bible, especially the OT.
P.P.S. For those who may be looking for a Christological reading of Numbers, look no further than 1 Corinthians 10:1-14.
One of the joys of attempting to preach through a book of the Bible like Numbers is the satisfaction of having done it. I know it doesn’t sound very spiritual, but there is some truth to it. “Done it” includes tackling tough chapters like 33 where Israel’s journey is reviewed.
I structured the sermon with two points (gasp!):
Looking back at God’s powerful redemption (vv. 3-4)
Our struggle to trust Him (vv. 8, 9, 14-16, 40)
I selected just a few of the 56 verses in the review. By this time in the series there is much repetition. Evidently God wanted us to see how far He has brought us, how much we’ve put Him through, and yet He’s still faithful.
Consider doing some work on Passover (v. 3), such an important concept for our redemption.
Encourage your folks with: “the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn….On their gods also the Lord executed judgments” (vv. 3-4). Let that look in the rearview mirror bolster your faith and theirs in the fight for faith and faithfulness! Some in our faith-families could sure use a dose of victory over the enemy.
In the second part of the sermon I selected tests of faith to remind us all of the struggle we’re in every day:
v. 8 and crossing the sea into the wilderness caused quite the test of faith!
vv. 9, 14 and the issue of water: almost dying of thirst and then the 12 springs of water!
v. 16 and that disastrous request for meat to eat that ended up with the name: “graves of craving” as the Lord judged His people with a great plague!
v. 40 and the enemy, Canaanites, that constantly threatened Israel’s enjoyment in the land!
After all that, there they were ready to enter and enjoy the Promised Land. And here we are enjoying the presence of God.
There’s only one way to explain a people like us enjoying God like this. It’s all because He is faithful to His promises.
And if you were interested in a Christological reading of Numbers 33 look no further than the reference to Passover (v. 3), our Passover Lamb, the buried Firstborn of our God (v. 4).
I hope these posts through books of the Bible, especially those in the OT, will encourage you to take your people there. May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus as you do (Ephesians 3:21).
Psalm 58 requires less exegesis, which equals more communication.
I just completed my extensive review for tomorrow morning’s sermon on Psalm 58 and encountered something rare.
Because of the nature of what are called Imprecatory Psalms, the Psalms where songs are worded as curses on the wicked.
If you preach through the Psalms you and your congregants will already be aware of conception sin or birth sin (v. 3). Earlier Psalms are filled with descriptions of the wicked.
But as soon as you get to v. 6 your listeners may have a problem asking,
“O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!”
Normal exegetical practices won’t do either. What’s needed in rare cases like this is a way to argue from Scripture that prayers like this are still pray-able for Christians today.
Check out a book by Kit Barker, Imprecations As Divine Discourse (2016). You can skip to chapter 5, if I remember correctly, and read the way he presents a theology of imprecation to say, “Yes, they should be prayed.” You’ll resonate with reasons such as Jesus, Paul, and Revelation announcing the same kinds of curses on God’s enemies.
Finally–you’ve probably thought about this–asking God to judge the wicked is not incompatible with you and I loving our enemies and praying for them.
Anyway, the “fierceness” of men who care about justice demands this kind of prayer to God. If He doesn’t hear our prayer, there is no hope for the righteous. But we know from Psalm 58 that He does and there is hope!
Preach judgment texts like Psalm 58 and our Lord will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).
Randal
P.S. If you’re interested in a Christ-centered reading of Psalm 58 just remember that Christ didn’t pray this kind of prayer as He suffered and died for our sins and because He didn’t we can pray this prayer and experience the celebration of vv. 10-11.
We Really Are In This Faith-Race Together So We Can’t Only Look Out For #1!
Back to preaching through Numbers this week.
When you arrive at Numbers 32 you’ll encounter a tricky narrative (at least I found it especially challenging).
Best to allow the storyline to carry the theology along. [I hope you are seeing through this series that you can trust the storyline.]
In this case God teaches us through a combination of storyline and the concepts of inheritance and unity. The storyline is the starting point for theological interpretation of narrative. The concepts of inheritance begins with reference to “the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead…” (v. 1) and is specified in vv. 18-19, “our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan…”
I divided the narrative like this:
an example of self-interest for good reason (vv. 1-5)
which created unintended spiritual dangers (vv. 6-15)
but led to cooperation in the fight for faith (vv. 16-42)
Long before the Book of Acts God provides the church with a look at how the Body of Christ operates.
Our congregants need to be reminded what’s at stake if our harmony is destroyed. Verse 15 summarizes what happened to the earlier generation: “For if you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.” Pretty severe.
Ancient interpreters censure the actions of the two tribes, but as you can see in vv. 16ff. they adjust to Moses’s plea, stick to their idea of settling this side of the Jordan, but, most importantly, agreeing to “take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place” (v. 17).
Everything is aimed at every one of God’s people enjoying their inheritance. The chapter ends with resounding victory.
Great story of how God’s people are in the fight for faith together. That’s why we talk about “faith-family.”
And, if you were wondering how a Christ-centered reading might sound in this narrative, I selected moving from the humility of the two tribes to Paul’s description of our Savior in Philippians 2:1-8. Anyone who receives Christ’s sacrifice shares His mindset and lives with others in view.
I hope you can see how God can receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) through a journey through the Book of Numbers.
“For who in haven can be compared unto the Lord…” (Psalm 89:6)
One of the benefits of reading Jonathan Edwards’s early sermons is the opportunity to learn from his way of thinking.
Here are two quotes from his sermon, God’s Excellencies, based on Psalm 89:6. Notice that these are two implications of God’s perfection.
“[God] has made all things that are excellent, and therefore must have given them their excellency, and so must have all that excellency in himself, or else could not have given it. He must have all the glories, perfections, and beauties of the whole creation in himself in an infinite degree, for they all proceed from him, as beams do from the sun…” (p. 420, Kimnach).
Think of everything we admire in this created world and then think about our God who created them! It’s impossible not to praise Him.
Then, something that’s not so much fun to think about, but critical for walking with God:
“If he be such an excellent being, how dreadful is sin against [him]. There are very few that conceived what a dreadful thing it is to sin against the infinitely excellent, great, and glorious Jehovah. The aggravations of sin are really infinite, infinite in greatness and almost infinite in number, for it is committed against an infinitely great and powerful God…” (p. 426)
Think of all our temptations and spiritual struggles and tell me if this kind of thinking doesn’t keep us tethered to faithfulness!
So, it never fails: whenever I read Edwards I am caught up into his most excellent mind. And what’s refreshing to me is that all that brilliance is organically connected to soul-watching, a most practical theology indeed.
May Edwards spur you on to preach and teach well this week so God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).
Would it matter to your sermon if no one was listening?
One of my mentors, the late, Dr. Haddon Robinson, taught me about the difference between preaching and lecturing. He put it this way:
“We don’t talk to our listeners about the Bible; we talk to them about them from the Bible.”
My wife, Michele, recently had an opportunity to listen to another preacher from a local church. I don’t blame her. To quote my mentor again, she’s heard enough poor sermons in her lifetime–bless her heart–it’s no wonder she’s still a Christian. [I’ve preached over 2,000 sermons and she’s heard most of them!]
So, I asked her the question that ranks second in my order of importance:
“Was the preacher talking to you about the Bible or talking to you about you from the Bible?”
Without hesitation she replied: “The first one.”
The first scenario, the lecturer’s stance, does not require listeners. Take a look at last week’s sermon or what you have developed so far this week and ask yourself whether or not the way it sounds requires listeners.
Michele followed that up with this insight:
“But if you believe your assignment is to teach the people [insert a book of the Bible or theological concept], then it makes sense to preach like that.”
But if our responsibility is to watch over souls (Hebrews 13:17), then we approach the sermon differently. We talk to them about them from the Bible because we are shepherding them in the moment, urging them to worship our Lord during the teaching.
As you continue to prepare for this weekend’s assignment, as yourself whether you are taking the lecturer’s stance or the preacher’s.
While I am convinced our Lord can receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) either way, I am also convinced you and I are being more responsible soul-watchers to the degree that we continue to talk to them about them from the Bible.
Randal
P.S. By the way, in case you’re interested, the first question of importance is, “Did the preacher preach with accuracy, faithfully saying what God is saying?”
