Application in Preaching, Part 1

The point: Aim to have the truth driven clear through to the deepest recesses of the heart, whether in conviction, encouragement, consolation, a sense of duty, or a sense of privilege.

Application is conceived as the bridge from correct notions of biblical truth to proper affections and right volitions, emphasizing its role in moving truth beyond mere intellectual assent.

of application as the bridge from correct notions of biblical truth to proper affections and right volitions in the light of the truth established. Application is the bridge from correct notions to proper affections and right volitions to proper affections and right volitions in the light of the truth established. Application is the bridge from correct notions to proper affections and right volitions, or to state it another way, application is that aspect of our preaching in which our hearers are made to feel, and I'm choosing my words carefully, are made to feel that we are not only or merely...

3:58 - 5:11 Read in full sermon

The point: Aim to have the truth driven clear through to the deepest recesses of the heart, whether in conviction, encouragement, consolation, a sense of duty, or a sense of privilege.

Matthew Henry's father, Philip Henry, is described as shooting the arrow of the word 'into their hearts in close and lively application,' illustrating effective, targeted preaching.

and good things were vital things that needed to grip the hearts of the hearers. It was said of Philip Henry, Matthew Henry's father, that he did not shoot the arrow of the word over the heads of his audiences in flourishes of affected rhetoric, nor under their feet by coarse expressions, but into their hearts in close and lively application. That's a beautiful description of preaching. He didn't shoot the arrow of the word over people's heads, letting it fly off into space.

5:11 - 5:50 Read in full sermon

The point: Aim to have the truth driven clear through to the deepest recesses of the heart, whether in conviction, encouragement, consolation, a sense of duty, or a sense of privilege.

If truth is the nail, application is the hammer that fastens it to the hearts of hearers, emphasizing the forceful and penetrating nature of application.

Nor did he shoot it under their feet by coarse expressions that would disgust, but he shot it into their hearts by close and lively application. To change the imagery, if the truth is the nail, application is the hammer by which the truth is fastened to the hearts of our hearers. In all of our preaching, our aim must be to have the truth driven clear through to the deepest recesses of the heart, whether in conviction, encouragement, consolation, a sense of duty, or a sense of privilege. To use the analogy from the passage in Judges, we must not be content that the tent pin of truth be laid upo...

5:50 - 6:51 Read in full sermon

The point: Aim to have the truth driven clear through to the deepest recesses of the heart, whether in conviction, encouragement, consolation, a sense of duty, or a sense of privilege.

Drawing from Judges, the analogy of Jael driving a tent pin through Sisera's temple is used to illustrate the aim of application: to drive truth 'clear through to the deepest recesses of the heart,' not just loosen 'dandruff' in spiritual skulls.

Nor did he shoot it under their feet by coarse expressions that would disgust, but he shot it into their hearts by close and lively application. To change the imagery, if the truth is the nail, application is the hammer by which the truth is fastened to the hearts of our hearers. In all of our preaching, our aim must be to have the truth driven clear through to the deepest recesses of the heart, whether in conviction, encouragement, consolation, a sense of duty, or a sense of privilege. To use the analogy from the passage in Judges, we must not be content that the tent pin of truth be laid upo...

5:50 - 6:51 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Application is preaching sermons that are like letters that have your name on it and contents which make it unmistakably clear that the person who writes the letter to you, addressed to you, knows you, and is telling you…

Henry Fish is quoted, describing the needed eloquence as that of Pericles, which 'left stings behind,' highlighting the piercing and convicting nature of application.

Now, to give you an idea of what others have done, and we're just trying now to talk around what is application in preaching, and that's why there's very little organization to this first heading, in an excellent little treatise called Power in the Pulpit by Henry Fish, a man who preached in Newark with great blessing in another generation. On page 9, or page 8 and 9, this is what he says about application. The eloquence needed for this age is that of Pericles, which was described as that which, quote, left stings behind, end of quote. Most hearers know enough.

7:29 - 8:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Preach to your people as well as before your people, endeavoring to isolate each hearer with the truth of God so he cannot escape by losing himself in the crowd.

A discourse should be like a 'Hetchel with the toe pulled out' (a rough blanket) rather than a smooth cushion, to prevent hearers from falling asleep, emphasizing the need for discomforting truth.

And then he uses a term, and I took all of my dictionaries and couldn't find it. The best I can figure out is describing a rough blanket. Better be like a Hetchel with the toe pulled out. T-O-W.

8:53 - 9:07 Read in full sermon

The point: Preach to your people as well as before your people, endeavoring to isolate each hearer with the truth of God so he cannot escape by losing himself in the crowd.

A sermon should be like lightning, 'darting zigzag and piercing and tearing and splitting the object it strikes,' rather than a letter 'addressed to nobody,' to ensure personal relevance.

And the best I can fit together, there is a definition of toe, and it has to do with jute or other rough material. So I think what he's saying is this. A discourse had better be like a rough blanket than like a smooth cushion for the hearer to lean asleep with a sleepy head upon. Better like lightning darting zigzag and piercing and tearing and splitting the object it strikes than like a letter dispatched without a direction, to use John Newton's comparison, addressed to nobody, owned by nobody, and if a hundred people were to read it, not one of them would think himself concerned in its conte...

9:08 - 9:47 Read in full sermon

The point: Preach to your people as well as before your people, endeavoring to isolate each hearer with the truth of God so he cannot escape by losing himself in the crowd.

Application is like a letter with your name on it, whose contents make it clear the writer knows you and is telling you something about yourself, stressing the specificity of application.

Now John Newton heard an awful lot of non-applicatory preaching to come up with this. It was so vivid an image as a letter addressed to nobody, owned by nobody, and if a hundred people were to read it, not one of them would think himself concerned in its contents. Well, that's application. Application is preaching sermons that are like letters that have your name on it and contents which make it unmistakably clear that the person who writes the letter to you, addressed to you, knows you, and is telling you something about yourself.

9:49 - 10:25 Read in full sermon

The point: Preach to your people as well as before your people, endeavoring to isolate each hearer with the truth of God so he cannot escape by losing himself in the crowd.

Massillon's preaching is described as so pointed that 'each carried away the arrow fastened in his heart,' illustrating how effective application prevents criticism and promotes self-reflection.

In the excellent section, probably the finest thing in short compass that I know of on the whole subject, in Bridges' section on applicatory preaching of the gospel, he says on page 270, we must not expect our hearers to apply to themselves unpalatable truths. Massillon's preaching is said to have been so pointed that no one stopped to criticize or to admire it. Each carried away the arrow fastened in his heart, considering himself to be the person addressed and having neither time, thought, or inclination to apply it to others. So powerfully did it fasten upon the individual heart that none h...

10:26 - 11:50 Read in full sermon

The point: Extend applicatory preaching to consolatory as well as awakening exhortations, bringing home general promises to specific cases of penitence, faith, direction, support, and comfort.

A good sermon is like a good portrait whose eyes look directly at all, no matter their position, conveying that God's message shines through the sermon 'into your eyes and into your heart in particular.'

It is thus the Christian minister should endeavor to prepare the tribunal of conscience and turn the eyes of every one of his hearers upon himself. But this applicatory mode should extend to the consolatory as well as awakening exhortations of the gospel, bringing home the general promises to specific cases, the promises of forgiveness to every distinct case, of penitence and faith, of direction, support, comfort to each particular emergency as if they had been made for it alone. The property of a good portrait well describes a good sermon, that it looks directly at all, though placed in diffe...

13:39 - 14:38 Read in full sermon

The point: Extend applicatory preaching to consolatory as well as awakening exhortations, bringing home general promises to specific cases of penitence, faith, direction, support, and comfort.

Thomas Brooks is quoted: 'Doctrine is but the drawing of the bow. Application is the hitting of the mark,' emphasizing application as the goal and effectiveness of preaching.

what does he say about this matter of application? What is it in relationship to preaching? This is volume 1, page 23 of the works of Brooks. Doctrine is but the drawing of the bow.

14:57 - 15:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Extend applicatory preaching to consolatory as well as awakening exhortations, bringing home general promises to specific cases of penitence, faith, direction, support, and comfort.

A general doctrine not applied is like 'a garment fitted for all bodies is fit for nobody,' illustrating that generic sermons fail to address anyone specifically.

Not in itself, but to others. Or as a whole loaf set before children, it will do them no good. A garment fitted for all bodies is fit for nobody. And so that which is spoken to all is taken as spoken to none.

15:26 - 15:43 Read in full sermon

Driving home: That close application is the very life and soul of teaching. A thing without its life and soul is called dead.

Calvin is quoted on 'dividing the word aright' as cutting out 'every one his portion, as a parent cuts out bread to his children,' highlighting the need for tailored instruction.

One size fits all, fits no one. Fits no one properly. Listen to him as he speaks in volume 3, page 218. To divide the word aright is to cut out, says Calvin, and others, to every...

16:14 - 16:28 Read in full sermon

Driving home: That close application is the very life and soul of teaching. A thing without its life and soul is called dead.

Just as health isn't attained by merely reading Galen and Hippocrates but by practical application of principles, true happiness isn't found by hearing truth but by 'close application and bringing it home to his own soul.'

And as a man does not attain to health by reading of Galen and knowing Hippocrates and his aphorisms, apparently these were the two great medical authorities, up to that day, but by the practical application of these principles to remove the disease, so no man will attain to true happiness by hearing, reading, or commanding what I have spoken or written, but by a close application and bringing it home to his own soul. The opening of the point is the drawing of the bow, but the application of the point is the hitting of the mark. We would say the bullseye. He calls it the...

17:48 - 18:30 Read in full sermon

The point: While acknowledging God's sovereignty in applying His truth, make conscious efforts at giving specific thrust to the consciences of your hearers as part of the essence of preaching.

A letter from Yazoo City describes a man hearing a sermon on God's lordship, gaining such a sight of God's majesty that his ill will toward a brother appeared ugly, leading to reconciliation. This illustrates the Spirit's sovereign application beyond the preacher's specific efforts.

Do you remember? The man said, hearing a sermon on God's lordship over the nations, he got such a sight of the majesty of God that the ill will he held to a brother appeared so ugly he had no rest till he made the thing right with God and with his brother. Now, God does that all the time. But, but, while acknowledging God is utterly sovereign in applying His truth under our preaching, we, we are responsible under God to make conscious efforts at giving specific thrust to the consciences of our hearers as part and parcel of that which constitutes the very essence of preaching.

19:36 - 20:18 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section provides further biblical evidence for application by examining the recorded sermons of prophets, apostles, and Christ. Martin shows how they denounced specific sins…

Christ's treatment of the young ruler and the woman of Samaria is cited as examples of avoiding general remarks to point instructions to their 'besetting and indulged sin,' demonstrating specific application.

This is what he says. Personal application formed the nerve of the preaching of the Jewish prophets and of our Lord's public and individual addresses. His reproofs to the scribes and Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, had distinct reference to their particular sins. In his treatment of the young ruler, the woman of the Samaria, he avoided general remark to point his instructions to their besetting and indulged sin.

33:58 - 34:24 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section provides further biblical evidence for application by examining the recorded sermons of prophets, apostles, and Christ. Martin shows how they denounced specific sins…

Peter's hearers were 'pricked to the heart' by his direct applicatory address, calling them 'murderers of Messiah,' illustrating the powerful, convicting effect of pointed preaching.

Talking to their thoughts, as one writer has observed in the case of the young man, as we do to each other's words. Peter's hearers were pricked to the heart by his applicatory address. He didn't say, now, I don't want to offend anyone, but let's face the fact that certain among you may have been guilty of crucifying God's Messiah. No, he says, you, by wicked hands, took him and killed him.

34:24 - 34:54 Read in full sermon

The point: Study application with no less diligence, skill, wisdom, authority, and plainness than is required for exposition, as it is the life of preaching.

James Durham is quoted, stating 'Application is the life of preaching,' and requiring as much study and skill as exposition, underscoring its critical importance.

All right? Well, when we pick up the books that record what others who read the same Bible we do have said about this, the biblical basis of applicatory preaching, we're not at all disappointed. Quoting from Peter Lewis's excellent book, The Genius of Puritanism, he quotes James Durham on page 49. And this is, what James Durham said about application in preaching.

35:28 - 35:55 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not rest in general doctrine, but bring it home by special use and application to your hearers, even if it is difficult and unpleasant to the natural man.

The Directory for Public Worship states the preacher is 'not to rest in general doctrine' but to 'bring it home by special use, by application to his hearers,' emphasizing the necessity of specific application.

1645, right after the framing of the confession. Concerning the preacher, he is not to rest in general doctrine, although never so much cleared and confirmed. All right? In other words, he's taught it, shown where its roots are in the scripture, and confirmed it with other scripture, but to bring it home by special use, by application to his hearers, which, albeit it prove a work of great difficulty to himself, requiring much prudence, zeal, and meditation, and to the natural and corrupt man, will be very unpleasant.

37:51 - 38:28 Read in full sermon

The point: Wisely apply yourselves to the necessities and capacities of the hearers, aiming at God's glory, their conversion, edification, and salvation.

The Larger Catechism (Q. 159) states that ministers are to preach 'wisely applying themselves to the necessities and capacities of the hearers,' affirming the need for tailored application.

that there may be a quickening and an exciting to duty of being humbled for sins, affected with their danger, strengthened with the consolations of the gospel. In the larger catechism, the same perspectives come through under the question, how is the word of God to be preached by those called thereto? Question 159. The answer is, they that are called to labor in the ministry of the word are called to preach sound doctrine, diligently, in season, out of season, plainly, not in the enticing words of men's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, faithfully, making known the whole...

39:57 - 41:24 Read in full sermon

The point: Wisely apply yourselves to the necessities and capacities of the hearers, aiming at God's glory, their conversion, edification, and salvation.

Dr. Clowney is quoted, stating 'Preaching includes the proclamation, explanation, and application of the word of God,' and 'Preaching means application,' reinforcing its essential nature.

that's not generally been known to be strong in this area, and that's why I like to quote him. Dr. Clowney, in his book, Called to the Ministry, which has some excellent materials, listen to what he says with regard to application. Preaching includes the proclamation, explanation, and application of the word of God.

41:24 - 41:44 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Concluding the first part of the sermon, Martin quotes Nicholas Murray on the 'sweet blending' of expository, didactic, and hortatory (applicatory) elements in preaching. He…

Nicholas Murray is quoted, stating that when the expository, didactic, and hortatory (application) are 'sweetly blended in the same sermon,' the great ends of preaching are attained, highlighting the ideal balance.

Nicholas Murray in his book Preaching and Preachers had a choice little statement that I found and it is this. When the expository expository the didactic and the hortatory that would be application are sweetly blended in the same sermon that the great ends of preaching are attained and it is then that the preacher from year to year can edify the same people. When the expository the didactic and the hortatory are sweetly blended he said such a man will be an instrument of grace and blessing to his people year after year. So while we gladly acknowledge that no matter how specific our applicatio...

44:51 - 45:52 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Concluding the first part of the sermon, Martin quotes Nicholas Murray on the 'sweet blending' of expository, didactic, and hortatory (applicatory) elements in preaching. He…

People can look 'right smack in the mirror of God's truth by close application and all they see is their neighbor,' illustrating the need for the Holy Spirit to grant accurate self-knowledge even with pointed preaching.

Nicholas Murray in his book Preaching and Preachers had a choice little statement that I found and it is this. When the expository expository the didactic and the hortatory that would be application are sweetly blended in the same sermon that the great ends of preaching are attained and it is then that the preacher from year to year can edify the same people. When the expository the didactic and the hortatory are sweetly blended he said such a man will be an instrument of grace and blessing to his people year after year. So while we gladly acknowledge that no matter how specific our applicatio...

44:51 - 45:52 Read in full sermon