Application of the Sermon III
Just as a traveler begins his journey with his intended
destination in mind, so the preacher should begin his
preparation with his intended application in mind.
Application is not an afterthought added when preparation
has been all but completed. If the preacher does not know
the destination to which he wishes to convey his hearers,
how will he know which route to take? What will guide his
choice of words? His selection of illustrations? His
preference for supporting passages? How will he expect his
hearers to answer the questions, “So what” (“Why should I
listen?”) and “Now what” (“Having listened, what action
should I take?”)? Modern contempt of preaching is caused in
part because preaching often bears no meaningful
relationship to the hearer’s life.
It is the application that moves the hearer to God, reveals
the gospel’s power and beauty, and provides a reason to
implement that gospel in daily living. It is the
application that stirs the hearer because it addresses real
concerns. It is the application that brings the hearer face
to face with God’s demands on his life and the implications
of calling Christ Lord. It is in the application that that
which is first perceived as the preacher’s voice is
discerned as the voice of God calling upon the hearer to
respond to God’s claim.
As important as application is, however, there are dangers
associated with it which, if ignored, either detract from
the gospel or lead to the proclamation of something other
than the gospel.
What are some of those dangers? First, confidences are
betrayed for the sake of application. Preachers often
provide private counseling to individuals. Recognizing that
more than one person may face the same struggle, the
private revelation, poorly disguised, becomes a sermon
illustration. The counseled hearer is embarrassed and
betrayed; those who recognize the situation are discouraged
from seeking needed help for their own difficulties.
Application has led away from the gospel, not to it.
Second, some assume that just talking about a problem will
solve it. Application is not just talking about and
defining a problem; it is bringing the power of the gospel
and the gospel’s solution to bear upon it and motivating
the hearer to follow that solution.
Third, some substitute psychology for the gospel.
Application drives Biblical content out of the sermon.
Application that is not based on the gospel and designed to
lead to obedience to the gospel is no more than
human-centered exhortation to do better in the power of the
flesh. Preaching that does not bring man to the cross for
pardon and to Christ for power is incomplete.
Fourth, over-emphasis on the issues of the time causes
neglect of the timeless. Preoccupation with the questions
that people are asking causes neglect of the questions
people ought to be asking. Servants of fashion may cater to
the world’s self-understanding. Servants of God cannot.
Fifth, over-emphasis on application causes neglect of
doctrinal preaching. The single objective becomes right
living. However, right living without right doctrine is
just as unavailing as right doctrine without right living.
In spite of these and other dangers, true preachers will
seek proper application. Both over-emphasis on application
and omission of application are errors. One of them lives
in time, failing to lead people to the eternal. The other
lives in the eternal, failing to relate the eternal to the
lives of hearers or to provide them with the direction and
motivation to live powerfully for Christ in time. Both of
them fail to bridge the “great gulf fixed” between the
pulpit and the pew.