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Preaching - Lesson 14

Explanation

In this lesson, you will learn about the importance of explanation in preaching and how it is essential for effective sermon preparation. You will gain insight into various strategies for effective explanation, such as connecting with the audience, choosing relevant illustrations, and balancing explanation with application. Furthermore, you will understand the process of crafting explanatory sermons through exegesis, interpretation, structuring, and delivery. Finally, the lesson will teach you how to evaluate the effectiveness of explanatory preaching by assessing clarity and comprehension and making adjustments for improvement.

Bryan Chapell
Preaching
Lesson 14
Watching Now
Explanation

I. The Importance of Explanation in Preaching

A. Defining Explanation

B. The Role of Explanation in Sermon Preparation

II. Strategies for Effective Explanation

A. Connecting with the Audience

B. Choosing Relevant Illustrations

C. Balancing Explanation and Application

III. The Process of Crafting Explanatory Sermons

A. Exegesis and Interpretation

B. Structuring the Sermon

C. Delivering the Sermon

IV. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Explanatory Preaching

A. Assessing Clarity and Comprehension

B. Adjusting for Improvement


Lessons
About
Resources
Transcript
  • Gain insights into effective preaching principles, covering history, essential components, styles, and techniques, and learn how to prepare and deliver impactful sermons.
  • Gain valuable insights on sermon construction, learn techniques for effective preaching, and understand the importance of continuous improvement for delivering impactful messages.
  • Through this lesson, you gain valuable insights into the process of text selection and interpretation for preaching, as well as learning practical techniques for delivering engaging and relevant sermons.
  • In this lesson, you gain insight into the process of creating a sermon, from text selection to delivery, emphasizing textual analysis and message relevance.
  • Through this lesson, you gain the skills to craft clear, engaging, and memorable sermons by mastering the principles of effective outlining and arrangement in preaching.
  • Through this lesson, you learn to craft effective propositions and main points, enhancing your preaching clarity and impact.
  • By exploring homiletical outlines, you'll learn to effectively develop and structure sermons, understand various outline types, and apply engaging presentation techniques for impactful preaching.
  • In this lesson, you gain insights into crafting engaging introductions for sermons, exploring their importance, characteristics, types, and the process of creating a compelling introduction that effectively connects to the message.
  • Through this lesson, you learn the importance of exposition in preaching, how to develop an expository sermon, and the role of the preacher for effective communication.
  • This lesson teaches you to create captivating sermon introductions using anecdotes, questions, and facts, guiding you through research, structuring, and presentation to maximize audience engagement and improve your overall sermon impact.
  • In order to understand the basic subdivisions of your sermon in expository development, it is important to it is helpful to see what the specific members of your sermon's body looks like in standard development.

  • By completing this lesson, you learn to effectively prepare and deliver sermons while focusing on personal growth, continuous improvement, and dependence on God.
  • Learn to effectively classify and develop sermons into topical, textual, and expository types, enhancing your preaching skills and audience connection.
  • In this lesson, you learn the significance of explanation in preaching and strategies to craft and deliver effective explanatory sermons while evaluating their effectiveness for continuous improvement.
  • By incorporating illustrations into your preaching, you engage listeners, clarify complex ideas, and enhance memory retention while learning effective guidelines to utilize various types of illustrations.
  • Explore this lesson to learn how to effectively use illustrations in sermons by isolating events or experiences, refining principles, and connecting with your audience through human interest accounts.
  • Through this lesson, you learn to effectively use illustrations in preaching to engage listeners, clarify concepts, and draw from various sources, while maintaining relevance, variety, and ethical considerations.
  • Gain insight into the importance of application in preaching, as well as principles and methods for effective application, to create impactful and relevant sermons that resonate with your audience.
  • Through this lesson, you learn to effectively apply biblical teachings to modern life, considering various approaches, overcoming challenges, and utilizing practical tips for context-sensitive and culturally aware application.
  • Through this lesson, you gain insights into crafting effective transitions in preaching and utilizing the dialogical method for increased audience engagement and message clarity.
  • Gain insight into various sermon presentation methods, their advantages and disadvantages, and learn to choose the right method and improve your preaching skills.
  • Through this lesson, you enhance your preaching skills by mastering vocal techniques and purposeful gestures, ensuring a connection with the audience while continually improving your delivery.
  • Learn the significance of dress and style in preaching and how to balance authenticity, appropriateness, and clarity to effectively communicate your message to your audience.
  • You learn to effectively repurpose old sermons, gaining insight into updating them for relevance, enhancing delivery, and managing time efficiently.
  • By studying this lesson, you gain insight into the crucial connection between the Word and Spirit in preaching and learn to balance them for effective and authentic sermons.
  • Through this lesson, you learn how to apply a Christ-centered, redemptive-historical approach to preaching, addressing common criticisms and enhancing your sermons.
  • Through this lesson, you learn to compose powerful redemptive messages that highlight Christ's work and connect biblical themes to modern audiences.
  • Through this lesson, you gain an understanding of redemptive principles in preaching, learning to identify them in Scripture and effectively apply them to your sermons while navigating potential challenges.
  • By exploring the importance of genre in biblical interpretation and applying redemptive interpretation to various biblical genres, you will gain knowledge and insight into the historical and literary context, redemptive themes and patterns, and contemporary application of different types of genres in the Bible.

Description

Dr. Bryan Chapell explores the unifying principle of grace that binds all Scripture together. He outlines and demonstrates the principles and practice of sermon-crafting and delivery to illuminate the message of grace in each passage, and to submit it to God's Spirit for the transformation of lives through preaching.

Dr. Chapell is making these recorded lectures available for you to access at no charge on BiblicalTraining.org. However, there is no personal interaction with Dr. Chapell in this format. The assignments and activities described are for classes that he teaches in person. We left the descriptions in for your benefit, but we do not offer personal or group interaction to participate in these activities. You can, however, sign up for his new preaching classes at BryanChapell.com/courses.

Dr. Chapell is helped in this course by Zachary W. Eswine, Assistant Professor of Homiletics and Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program (BSW, Ball State University; MDiv, Covenant Theological Seminary; PhD, Regent University). Dr. Eswine served as senior pastor of Grace Church of the Western Reserve in Hudson, Ohio, for six years before joining Covenant Seminary's faculty in 2001. He has served as a campus minister with the Navigators, as a church youth director, and as a chaplain-evangelist in retirement facilities. Since arriving at the Seminary, Dr. Eswine has also served as interim pastor for Tates Creek Presbyterian Church in Lexington, Kentucky, as advisory pastor for the Chinese Gospel Church of St. Louis, and as interim pastor for Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in St. Louis. He has taught New Testament in Ukraine and served as a short-term missionary in the Caribbean. Dr. Eswine is a gifted preacher and has authored the book Kindled Fire: How the Methods of C. H. Spurgeon Can Help Your Preaching and numerous articles on homiletics. In addition, as an accomplished musician and songwriter, he has recorded three collections of original songs.

Philosophy and Goals of the Course

1. "Prep and Del" is an introduction to the basics of sermon construction and delivery. This is not primarily a course on the theology of preaching, but rather is a practical introduction to the tools, structures, and concepts that help preachers learn to put a sermon together. 

2. Because this course is introductory, certain standards of sermon construction are taught that I hope you will consider "foundational" rather than universal. There is not only one "right way" to preach. However, mastering the methods of this course will help you develop the tools needed for many kinds of future sermons. Students from many backgrounds and preaching traditions have found these tools helpful even as they prepare for other styles in the future. Other methods and styles will be taught and encouraged in future semesters.

3. In Dr. Chapell's seminary class, you would be asked to present some short oral assignments to the class in order to: a) begin integrating the information presented in lectures; b) begin honing your preaching skills; c) and, remove some of the intimidation of your first preaching experience next semester.

(At this time, we do not provide personal interaction to evaluate your progress. We included the suggested assignments and activities to give you direction as you apply the principles you are learning to your own sermon preparation and delivery.)

Recommended Books

Christ-Centered Preaching (text only) 2nd(Second) edition by B. Chapell

Christ-Centered Preaching (text only) 2nd(Second) edition by B. Chapell

Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon [Hardcover]Bryan Chapell (Author)

Christ-Centered Preaching (text only) 2nd(Second) edition by B. Chapell
Christ-Centered Sermons: Models of Redemptive Preaching

Christ-Centered Sermons: Models of Redemptive Preaching

Highly regarded preacher and teacher Bryan Chapell shows readers how he has prepared expository sermons according to the principles he developed in his bestselling...

Christ-Centered Sermons: Models of Redemptive Preaching

Dr. Bryan Chapell
Preaching
PR600-14
Explanation
Lesson Transcript

[00:00:00] This recording is provided courtesy of Covenant Theological Seminary. Sharing features of topical, textual and expository sermons. What only does a topical sermon get from the text? It's only a topic, it's only its topic. And again, until you do it, it won't make quite so much sense. But the topic is developed according to its nature rather than the texts nature, which is to say, let's say I want to do a sermon on gambling, a topical sermon on gambling. And my first major point is, let me tell you about the history of gambling in our culture. Now, is that going to come out of the text? No. So I'm going to develop that subject according to its nature rather than the text. Nature. The text may mention something about being caught up in the materialism of the world, but it's not talking about the history of gambling in the United States. So a topical message is getting its topic from the text, but it's developing the topic according to its nature rather than the text nature. It could be a doctrinal subject. Wright would talk to you about the nature of predestination as it's found in the old and then the New Testament. Well, I'm going to be developing it according to the way in which it's developed across those testaments, but I'm probably not developing according to one text. That again, would be a topical message. A textual message gets its topic and what from the text. Topic and main points from the text. This would be a message in which you would get the idea from the text and even the divisions of the idea. These are the things of the world lost of the eyes, the loss of the flesh and the pride of life.

[00:01:39] These things are of the world and not of God. Now, those things are not developed in the text, but they are major divisions. So if I would talk about the lust of the flesh, I might say in the life of David, this took the shape. Now, David isn't discussed in the New Testament in that text, but I'm developing the text according to other text. All right. So I get the main divisions out of this text, but its developmental features come from other places. That would be a textual message. Now, I don't want to give you the idea that either topical or textual are wrong things, okay? They're just not foundational things the way we're developing. But in the history of preaching, both topical and textual messages have a rich history. Finally, expository messages. And you know this already, right, gets its main point. Excuse me. Guess it's proposition. Main points and some points from the text. So in that Expositor is epic. Let me tell you what this text says. I am forced to deal with this text. Main points and sub points come out of this text. He pointed qualification always. Can I go to other text for further proof of development? Yes, of course. Yes, of course. But I got to show it here first before I go over there. Okay. How do you know there is more than one right style or attitude with which to preach? How do you know there's more than one right style or attitude? Because all of the multiple scriptural terms, the multiple scripture terms to describe preaching some which are quite strong, like epi tomato, which has the notion of rebuke strongly or just the notion of paramount here, which is comfort. So all those are different scriptural understandings, and we went through many terms of what those are.

[00:03:26] And then we talked about some basic advantages of expository preaching. You can multiply these many times, but the ones that you mention in class are good ones. Authority. That's one reason for expository messages. You're saying what the text says The Expositor Zesty is mimicking Augustine. When the Bible speaks, God speaks. So if I'm clearly saying what the Bible says, I'm speaking with the authority of God. Variety. How does expository preaching help variety? What are you forced to do? Jeremy You're forced to preach through a text with its ideas more than your own right? So it can avoid hobby horses. It can avoid just your opinion ruling, as it were. So there's authority and variety. There's also discipline. Bible learning. Discipline. Bible learning for whom? For the congregation as well as the preacher. I'm forced to look at the text and say, How do I know what this means? And to work through a text on its own terms so that the Bible is developed. Clearly, in my understanding, I become better able to look at it. Okay. Those were basic thoughts that we had for. Review. I would encourage you, I don't have them with me today to look back over Broaddus I gave you just in that previous lecture some material out of broad history, and you have that with you here just while we're getting this on tape. It might be good to see if you were to to look at the material from Broaddus. Remember that that was at the end of the preceding lecture, the things that he said were advantages of expository preaching. This method. First, he said, better corresponds with the very idea and design of preaching, which is to explain the text. So expository preaching does that with the authority of the text.

[00:05:21] B It is the ancient and primitive method. Remember, we questioned that a little bit. Maybe, maybe not. It's the ancient primitive ethic to make sure we're saying what the text says. But in terms of the method of expository preaching. Do you see that in the history of preaching prior to brought us. Very little. Very little. Most of what you saw prior to broadcast was topical or textual preaching, not expository Bralettes really kind of gave us a methodology for expository preaching against the German liberalism that was creeping in to North America. See it ensures a better knowledge of the scriptures on the part of the preacher and hears and of the Scriptures in this connection or in their connection. Excuse me. It causes sermons to contain more pure scripture truths and scriptural modes of doing things. Again, opinion is not ruling out. Now, his writing, his writing would have been primarily post-Civil War. So just post-Civil War. And I can't tell you the date of his death, but prior to the 1900s, he had died. So his primary writing is going to be 1850s, with it kind of hitting its stride in the 1870s and brought us multiple volumes. And editions continue to be the most used politics text throughout the 20th century. So now took many different editions. The final ones to his I'm sure great shame later on would have been were taken over by liberals. So the ethic that he was trying to established the later editions had very little reflection of his earlier ethic. So for years, even here we used what was called the Witherspoon edition. If you're out at bookstores at times and looking for what's in a legitimate edition of Brought US the Witherspoon edition was kind of the classic edition that took brought us at his best and melted it down.

[00:07:26] E. Expository preaching gives occasion for remarking on many passages of the Bible, which otherwise might never enter into one's sermons, and for giving important practical hints and admonitions which might seem to some hearers offensively personal if introduced into a topical discussion, but which are here naturally suggested by the passage in hand. That's a lot of words. But it's just wonderful pastoral wisdom. He's saying you can admonish people without seeming to point your finger at them. Why? You're just preaching the text. You know, last week you were in chapter one. This week you're in chapter two. It just came up, you know. And so you seem to address things that might be patently offensive if you had just kind of picked it this week instead of you're just moving through the text so you can deal with very touchy subjects in a way that is not so personally offensive and yet still has the authority that you need. And then f expository preaching greatly diminishes the temptation to misinterpret texts by excessive allegories or accommodation. Now, again, allegory missing is where you impose on the text what is not there you begin to spiritualized or say this means something that you can't prove this text means. And the way that usually happens is imposing on an Old Testament text something from the New Testament. Again, you're not taking the text on its own terms, but I see Jesus bringing something in that's not really there. It's somewhere in the Bible. It's just not what this text says. And expository preaching is forcing us to deal with the text on its own terms. Thank you, Dan. Okay, That's kind of pick up from last time. Let's pray and we'll move forward this time. For those of you who are just coming in, let me tell you where we are.

[00:09:16] We had the we have major traffic problems on the highways today. We have Highway 40 shut down in two places. So when I started this morning, we had about a third of the people here. So what I'm doing is I'm just going to pick up, lecture 12 and do it again. Two reasons. One, we didn't get it taped last time. Secondly, we didn't get it finished last time, so it'll be redundant a little bit at the beginning, but then we'll pick up toward the end things you haven't had and have time for questions and answer. But I didn't want to go in to chat to lectures 13 and 14 with two thirds of the people not here. So people will keep drifting in through the hour, I'm sure. But at this point we're going to pick up and at least get lecture 12 done. The other thing that gives us the advantage of is we won't break lectures. 13 and 14 across fall break. They really go together so well, we'll have them together if we're not breaking them across fall break, That's all some way of explaining what we're doing today, which is not the full and good explanation, but it's what we need to do. So let's pray and we'll move forward. Father, thank you for your goodness to us. We pray for the many still on the road. Some we recognize frustrated that they're not here. We recognize others just because some frustrated around them may or may be in some level of danger. Would you protect them, bring them here safely? Equip us. Even this day, we pray again to learn what you intend for us. For your word, Father. As we return here next week, we will be on top of our national elections and we are reminded to pray for those in authority over us.

[00:10:53] We remember a chief Justice who has just been struck with cancer. We remember president who will be chosen now this next week. Who will be responsible for choosing new chief justices? There are many issues of life and justice that will be determined by the president and his choices for Supreme Court judge in the next few years. Father, would you therefore guide our nation? We know that righteousness exalts a nation, and we would pray that the one that you would bring and allow this country to elect would be one who would honor your word that there would be people more and more gathered around him as well, who would reflect the principles of the Bible in the way in which justice affects this nation. We father, Each of us probably have our preferences. But our greatest preference as men and women of God is that you would do what you know is best for then we would be most blessed. Help us, Father, Even if it is a time of great hardship that would turn us back to you, to depend upon you, and not to look to our circumstances to determine your goodness, but rather to look to the cross. Their father is the character of our God revealed. We would trust you for eternal things and ask your blessing in these temporal things. In Jesus name, Amen. As you see the goal for today's lesson, it is to understand the basic nature and process of the explanation component of harmonic exposition. Now, here's where we are. We have been creating this hemolytic taxonomies. We've been going. And now we've got a lot of the pieces together. The Scripture intro has the C and C. Can you help me remember what the C and C R that go into the scripture, into contextualization and creation of longing, which is the harder of the two for us to do.

[00:12:48] Creation of longing. Everybody gets contextualization. Give me a little background on the text. But to say, Why do you need to read this? Why do you need to go into that with me? That's the harder one to say. This is important. Even as we're introducing the text. Sometimes in contextualization, a number of you have asked me what else you do in the Scripture intro. You are slicing out the text. You're saying this narrative goes on 78 verses. We're not going to read the whole thing. What we're going to do is summarize a little bit, read a little bit, summarize a little bit more, read a little bit more, and we'll tell people what we're doing and why we're doing it in the Scripture intro will alert them that we're going to be doing some summary and paraphrase, and then usually reading those key portions significant for the sermon itself. The other thing we can do and we slice out the text is say, you know, this is a very complicated text and it's got two major issues going on in it. Next week we're going to deal with the second issue. This week we're going to deal with this issue. So that everybody isn't coming to you at the door afterwards and saying, Why didn't you deal with that? You say, I told you we're going to deal with that next week. So you can sometimes narrow your purpose in the scripture intro by saying, this is all we're going to deal with this week. Even though I know there's more here. Scripture reading the introduction that we know has various components leading to the proposition that is made up of principle and application. Then the main points that we have said have their components, explanation, illustration, application, all leading to a conclusion.

[00:14:20] The assignment that you turned in had the sub point statements. So this is just this explanation component, had the sub point statements and the conclusion. What we're doing today is we are looking what comes after the sub point statement still within the explanatory component. So in essence, we're saying what happens in that paragraph under the sub point statement, If every sub point is roughly about a paragraph of explanation, what actually goes into that, that meat in those little bones there? Okay. What, what is that material that goes in? And that's the explanation component. If we're doing this, if we're saying that explanation component is answering the basic question, what does this text mean, then we're trying to both do and avoid certain things. Start says them pretty quickly, he says to expound the text. Remember, we don't Expositor text here is sort of humble homologation using the correct verb. We don't expositor text, he says. To expound that scripture is to bring out of the text what is there and expose it to view. The opposite of exposition is imposition, which is to impose on the text what is not there? What are ways that you can impose on the text? What is not there? What are ways that you can impose on the text? What is not there? Especially. Which means. Exactly. Yes. So if you don't understand the meaning, you might substitute. Meaning that's not really there. Okay. So it might be imposing inadequate understanding on the text, but are other ways that you can impose on the text what's not there? Yes. Okay. You may be importing information from your experience, from other texts. Somebody else told you. So it's importing things that are not there from your experience or other texts.

[00:16:18] It's in some ways scripture twisting, isn't it? You think it means that you say it, but it doesn't mean that something else is. Very good. It's choosing text based upon what you want to talk about. It may refer to it in some way, but as you look at it, your opinion rather than the text is what's ruling. So these are the different I mean, these are good expressions. My experience may rule, opinion may rule. Sadly, my ignorance may rule. Or other techs may rule not saying what the text itself says. How do we make sure we're on the right track? Want us to think of what explanations, purposes and explanations purpose. Break it into two categories. There's a theological purpose for explanation, and there is a humble ethical purpose. The theological purpose of explanation is to confront the people of God with the meaning of God's Word. Pretty straightforward just to confront the people of God with the meaning of God's Word. But humiliatingly explanation has greater purposes. Or maybe we should say not greater, but more explicit purposes. What I am trying to do is to amplify, explain, or prove the main point. Or the sub point that I just stated. So this material is to amplify, explain or prove the statement that preceded it. Pretty straightforward, except remember we said sometimes the tendency, even when you are doing forming sub points, is to form something that doesn't support member the stool. You put the legs somewhere else. So this material may have lots of good information in it that don't directly support the sub point statement, or if there don't happen to be sub points that don't support the main point statement. More specifically, here's what we're doing. Explanation to find generally explanation answers.

[00:18:14] What question? What does this text mean? Explanations. Answering the question. What does this text mean? But more particularly explanation is doing this. It acts as the proof explanation acts as the proof of the main point or sub point statement. Explanation acts as the proof of the main point or sub point statement and the warrant for its application. It's not either or. It's not only explaining what the tech says. We always have this ethic behind us. My goal as a preacher is not just a data dump. I'm not just a minister of information. I'm a minister of transformation. So as I'm bringing all this information forward, I'm trying to say, how can I, with this information now, exhort you to do what the Word of God requires. It's got an end, they tell us, or a purpose behind it. Proper explanation is always there for keeping in mind something that happened very early in the intro. And it is. The FCA. As I am dealing with explanation, am I always coming back and saying I am dealing with the burden of the sermon? Or is it just, again, that data dump? Am I just giving you information of some sort? Because the main points are dealing with the SCAF. The sub points are supporting the main point. Then the information that is supporting the sub points is itself taking us back to some exhortation that is going to be dealing with the SCAF at. Proof that you're trying to do. One of the things that success. Yes. Is an expectation you're doing to prove it. I mean, actually said it very well. You're saying you're trying to say first the text, in fact says what I just said. That's the first proof. This text says what I just said.

[00:20:15] But the second proof is also as important. I mean, you picked it up just right is to say. And as a result, I can tell you to do something about it. So you're doing both things. You are. I mean, that's just very aptly said. You are saying this is what the text means. And I can tell you to do something about it. And I've got the proof of the text, the authority, the text to do that, where I think people get in trouble, particularly when they start preaching, is they're only thinking of the first sign. I can prove to you this text means this. It really does support predestination. Great. So what now? What am I urging you to do? And the basis of that. And that has to be part of the text as well. Excuse me. Part of the explanation as well that comes out of the text. You see that therefore, therefore, explanation is not merely the transmission of information, it is the conscious establishment of the biblical basis for the action or belief the sermon requires of God's people. Very fine just has a good way of summarizing. This is in your reading, but it's a good summary. He says this Some have understood and expository sermon to be a lifeless, meaningless, pointless recounting of a Bible story. That's actually kind of the knock on expository preaching. Let me just give you a few thoughts on this text and people give us information on the text. But, you know, what's that got to do with me? And that's often the caricature of expository preaching, Vine says. I can still remember a very fine man deliver such a sermon from John ten. He told us all the particular details of a sheepfold in ancient Israel.

[00:21:52] We were given the complete explanation of the characteristics of sheep. We were informed about the methods of an Oriental shepherd. When the message ended, though we were still on the shepherd fields of ancient Israel, we knew absolutely nothing about what John ten had to say to the needs of our lives today. He says this is not expository preaching. So, Ed, your point well taken. It is this text means what I just said. But because of what I just said, I can prove to you with the authority of the word, you must respond in this way. So the explanation always has in mind both aspects of that. Just to visualize what we just said, do it this way. Upon the overhead, it says, I think in in our minds when we first start thinking of what? Expository preaching is we think of ourselves getting all our organization and exegesis and historical literary information, even the illustrations. And we are trying to move this great stone of explanation. I'm trying to get information into people's minds. But expository preaching, even according to Broaddus, is actually this. It is saying what I am trying to do is to get the application into people's hearts. I remember the old line We are not ministers of information. We are ministers of transformation. So I am gathering the exhalation, organizing it, doing the acts of Jesus. My delivery of everything is really on the fulcrum of explanation, as can be exposition in order to do application. So this explanation component, this meat of the sermon is not just for information transfer. It is actually to move an idea of this is what God now requires of you, which is actually the scary part of preaching, isn't it? Not just to say, here's what you need to know, but to say this is what God requires of you now.

[00:23:59] Yes. Good. And you have the quiz. Okay. What is it? Good. Okay. Right for first me to say, is the answer true or false to that question? No, that's okay. I'm happy to do it. Okay. Well, okay, let's let's say I don't have it memorized at all. So it says an expository message. Thank you. Which one is it? Which one is it? Three. In an expository sermon, sub point statements must be taken from the expository unit. Just say so far. Is that true? In an expository sermon, sub point statements must be taken from the expository unit. Is that true? That's true. Now that, of course, the key is the next and explanatory material following the sub point statement cannot refer to other passages. Is that true or false? That's the false part. So we're saying the sub points. I mean, just help me sometimes just to visualize them. The sub point statement has to come from the text. I got to be able to say that ideas here. Now, as I begin to support that material or it shouldn't support that statement, surely there's going to be some material in the text that supports that statement, because I said that statement came from the text, but they may well be material from other texts that further supports it, and that's legitimate there too. So what we're saying is to be truly expository, I've got to show the idea originates here. I just didn't create it. But now to support that idea, there must be something here in the text that supports it. But I can corroborate further prove, build the case further by other texts as well. What I cannot do is this. However, I cannot say this becomes some aspect of prudence. I confess.

[00:25:55] You know what justification means here in Paul's letter to the Romans. Well, let's look at James. You can't do that. They mean different things. They use different words. So to try to say what Paul means exclusively and that's a key way of saying it exclusively by going to James is going to mess you up. Now, you can start with Paul further with Paul. They may say not only we see Paul saying it here, but we know what he said in the next chapter even more. I can expand my expository unit and I might even have to go and say, Now James uses the word a bit differently so you don't get confused here. You know, you may go to James and think that's not what it means, but I want you to know, I know what James says and he's using the word differently. So you may actually be referring to James within this material to show that's what Paul does not mean. As part of that explanation. But I'm still saying you're nodding. So am I overstating it here? You're still starting here and saying, huh? You got the question right. Good. It is in my mind something that I think at this level does confuse people. Honestly, I mean, we've kind of gone over it a few times and you hear me say it probably at least once in each of the last three lectures. Right. Because when I'm wanting you to feel it's just kind of that, again, that expository ethic to say, let me tell you what this text means. And then now to run over to other texts to do that is going to break that ethic. In fact, it's going to just lead you astray because it's hermeneutical not sufficiently powerful to let me prove to you that's what this text says by going other places.

[00:27:32] In fact, I can make the text anything I want by doing that. So I'm trying to take the text on its own authority. Prove support other places. But but at least start here to show the apostle or prophets argument in his own terms. So I'm not doing scripture twisting, as it were, by doing that some important notes just under those graphs or asking me under those diagrams. Explanation causes exposition. So what I'm doing when I'm explaining here is I'm doing that unfolding of the text opening up its meaning. Number two explanation forms the outline point structure of expository sermons. You all asked me this early on when we're talking about sub points going back to our double helix. We're just talking about explanation. The illustration is not a sub point. The application is not a sub point. In fact, you will see just in the next lectures coming up that the sub points language actually goes into the illustration and application. So you got to support and develop them before you get into the illustration application because they're actually the instruments by which you're forming illustration application. After all, what are you going to be applying? What you proved was here. So you've got to prove it's here so that you can apply it. And we'll we'll develop that as we go. But it's just reminding you the the the skeleton, as it were, those bones that you hang meat on the bones are the explanation component. The three stages by which we prepare explanation. And for those of you in InterVarsity training, I've said before, this is very familiar to you. The three stages are observation number one observation. Two is interrogation. Three is restatement. Observation is saying what's here? It's looking at the text and saying, What's here? Interrogation is saying.

[00:29:31] What's it mean? And how do I know that? Interrogation is saying, What's it mean and how do I know that? Restatement is saying, how do I best communicate it? Now that I know what it means, how do I best communicate it to others? Now, what we're going to do for the next several minutes is we're going to take those pieces and begin to explode them and talk about their further implications. So under observation, under identifying what's here, the best way to identify what's here is obviously to read the text. And you all smile again when I say it, though you heard it before, but the you heard me say last time I actually have had the awful experience of standing in the pulpit. And as I'm reading the text going. Uh oh. I hadn't prepared to deal with that because what I'd done was I began to focus on a narrow part of the text that I wanted to talk about. And now, when I actually was forced to read the text completely and altogether, suddenly, I was aware that I hadn't dealt with all that was there. So as simple and easy as it seems to say, the way in which we identify what's here is we read the text, we absorb its particulars, we try to get captured by its thought. We try to have it control us rather than vice versa. SPURGEON Famous quote, He said, Get saturated with the gospel. I always find I preach best when I can manage to lie a soak in my text. I don't know if it's a very pleasant image to think of SPURGEON sitting in a tub. But anyway, he says, I like to soak in my text. I like to get a text and find out its meanings and bearings and so on.

[00:31:17] And then after I have bathed in it, I delight to lie down in it and let it soak into me. Well, I just love the notion of being a sponge and letting the scripture just spoken to you and recognize that that happens primarily as we just. Let it come. Read, reread, read again. Do I really understand what that text says? Am I letting it control me? The second aspect of observation beyond reading the text is to identify the text features, to identify the text features as we're reading. We're trying to say what is here by saying what words are being repeated. What does that name mean? Do I know where that? Do I know what that destination or that city is? Those of you in Ivy training, you were taught observations. Use the five W's and the H. What are they? Who, what, when, where, why, how? Who, what, when, where, why, how? Five W's and the H as the way of doing the observation now falls a little bit into the next piece, which is interrogation. Once we're identifying what's here, we say, What does it mean? And particularly as preachers were involving these subsidiary questions, which is how do I know? How do I know it means that? And how can I communicate it to others? How can I know it in such a way that others can know? Now, what I'm about to do in an interrogation is give you one, two, three, four, five major forms of explanation that again fill up this meat under these bones of some points. So what are the types of things that we do in these paragraphs under the sub points? What are the types of things that we do in the paragraphs under the sub points? How do we in essence say this is what that text means? First way that we show what the text means is by plain statement of the text.

[00:33:15] Plain statement of the text. In other words, if I say, What does it mean when Jesus says, pray and do not give up? What does that mean? It means pray and do not give up. Plain statement of the text in plain statement of the text is the way that I am explaining the text. Then the form of explanation is simply repetition. Right. If plain statement of the text is going to make it plain, then what's actually going under The some point is mere repetition of the text. It may be some paraphrase, but it's merely repeating. Now, how often will that work for? You've heard me say before. How often will it work that that restatement of what the text says is the way that you would be explaining it? How often will you do that? I think 80% of that. I mean, that's strange. You know, you say, well, why am I in seminary, then? Well, because there are other things to do with that 20% of the time. But the a lot of the time, you know, the shortest distance between two points, what you know and what they can know is simply repeat what the text says. Point that portion of the text that will support that sub point statement. Now, the second major thing that happens in explanation to make clear that that sub point is in the text is pointing to context features. We're explaining the context of the text. My little rubric again is context is part of text. People sometimes think, Can I mention what's around the text? And the answer is, of course, if Paul's in prison, it's going to explain a lot of what he's saying and how he's saying it. If if we're in the Passover service, you're knowing what the different cups mean, explains what Jesus is doing as he distributes the elements for the Lord's Supper.

[00:35:00] So context features two forms of them. You already know these, right? Literary context. You might talk about What genre is it? Is it poetry? Is it a proverb? It's a proverb. It's not a promise. All that sort of thing. Surrounding verses or chapters. Surrounding verses or chapters. Or maybe author commentary. What's the author saying in a preceding chapter that may bear on this? Or how is God himself commenting in other places on this? The other main form of context beyond literary context is historical context. Historical context. What are the events? The people. The ethnography. One of the famous books dealing with the New Testament is The Life and Times of Jesus, the Messiah, Heat, or time that for a generation just told people what they didn't know about the life and times of Jesus. Soon they were talking about when the disciples were going through the fields and they were taking the corn and hustling it in their hands, saying like, What are they talking about there? To begin to talk about how wheat, not corn. And our explanation was actually what they were doing and how they would take the husk off and then eat the kernels. Well, if you didn't have Peter Schon to help explain to you what was going on, you might not make sense to you what was being said there. So understanding the life and times of the people is part of the historical context. What you're expecting, everybody expects that explanatory material to be is the third major component, and that's exegesis. Exegesis. In which case, again, this material that goes in here is giving your exegetical insight. What exegetical insight proves that some point statement. And here I have five possibilities of how we do exegesis. There could be many more, but these are ones that we do over and over again.

[00:36:57] The first form of exegesis that's very common is definition. Definition. We may give a definition of what that original language term meant. Often in our contemporary terms. Sometimes in theological explanation. How does proportion differ from expiation? Procrastination, meaning a substitute to turn away wrath versus expiation? A turning a side of wrath? Slightly different, but very important nuanced difference that people may need to know between key biblical terms. So I may need to give definition. Grammatical insights. It's another form of exegesis. Giving the tense, the gender, the case, the mode, the modifiers. In the end, Luke Jesus says to the Pharisees and the Sadducees, The reason that we know that there is a resurrection is that God said to Moses, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that's Jesus Own proof of the resurrection. How is that proof for the resurrection? I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The tense. It's present tense. I still am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jesus actually uses an exegetical argument of the present tense to prove the resurrection. It may be important for you to know that in Galatians five the language is singular when it says the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, loving, kindness. What do you often hear people say? And just common language. They don't say the fruit of the spirit. What do they say? The fruits of the spirit. They say it plural. Well, you know what happens when you make it plural? You can create a dodge for yourself. The reason I am not kind is I don't have that spiritual fruit. I have the spiritual fruit of patience, but I don't have the spiritual fruit of kindness. What have you done? You've made these multiple different fruits.

[00:39:09] But Paul and Galatians says it's all one fruit. Those who have this spirit display all of these things, not this or that. You have all of these characteristics, so you can't dodge and say, Oh, I'll take this one and not that one. But there you're simply saying there it's a plural or singular and exegetical insight that allows you to make some exhortation based on it. 300 exegesis that we will do is we'll do a comparison passage, usage, comparison passage, usage. We'll look at various places and say, how is this used elsewhere? Or Paul actually uses this word only once. That's another way of doing it. Paul uses the word 13 times in the book of Philippians. The frequency of a word or the way it's used other places will sometimes give us insight. Not only looking at that in the original languages, but number four under exegesis as will do comparison translations comparison. Don't you hear pastors do this all the time the universities that this way but the ESV as this richness. Can you help me? Just remember this. Help me. Help you. Is it wise to say the in I've really messed up here. Tell me what happens when you speak that way to people. Second row. Okay. First of all, it creates doubt about then what people normally are not thinking about this translation that I'm looking at being a translation of the word of God. They're thinking, Oh, this is the word of God. And one of the preacher just say to me. It's messed up. So I have questions like, Oh, it must be messed up other places. How do I know where else it's going to be messed up? So that's one problem. What else happens when most of us young people in this room stand up and say, these translators really messed up? What else happens? It looks like arrogance.

[00:41:01] It just plainly looks like arrogance. And so, you know, the Bible's messed up and I'm arrogant. Isn't this a wonderful pastoral approach? Tell me a way to compare translations to actually help people have further trust in the Bible and further appreciate you? What is a way of saying these translations differ? But I want to tell you something good about that. How can you say it? Yes. Thank you. This translation even expands our understanding. We gain, even in a richer understanding by, you know, we even learn more by looking at you see all the positive ways you can say this as opposed to they're wrong to simply say we gain more understanding and therefore actually feed peoples need to know more and desire to know more. The last aspect of exegesis is structural or linguistic patterns. When they point out structural or linguistic patterns. We look at this in the Sermon on the Mount. How does Jesus indicate his change of subject? In the Sermon on the Mount, He says, You have. Hurt. It's sad. But I say to you, you have heard it said that a man who commits adultery sends. But I say to a man who even. Looks at a woman with lust in his heart has already committed adultery. It's the last major giving of the law. And it is the highest reading of the law as Jesus not only says what behavior is wrong. But is what in your heart wrong as well? That, too, is going to be judged by God. The reason the Sermon on the Mount occurs so early. And by the way, how we often take it out of context is we read the Sermon on the Mount as. The perfect law of God for the kingdom.

[00:42:42] Therefore, you just go do it. Jesus was giving the highest and perfect law of the kingdom so that you would know something. What? You can't do it. Therefore, who must you turn to? Somebody other than you. You must now look to my ministry. So granted, it is all the right moral instruction. But if all we've done is just stop right there, we have not presented the text in its context. What was its intention? What is Jesus doing is he gives this last and highest reading of the law in terms of pointing to his ultimate purposes of redemption. Well, other things we know the Hebrew poetry sometimes follows across. Some of you've already had some Hebrew in exegesis. How is Hebrew poetry form? Does it rhyme? He does not rhyme. What is its form of organization? Why is it poetry? What does it do? He uses parallelism. Want to know what one phrase says? Look at the one ahead of it. Okay. It typically will say in a slightly different way. But if you don't understand what this phrase says, you know, look just before just after it, because there's going to be some parallelism, usually that that reflects the meaning of that phrase. It may be some you know, this sometimes it may be a contradictory meaning, sometimes it may be a further meaning. But always the way in which the poetry is functioning is tandem statements of key aspect structure. And so knowing that may be part of your explanation. Another form of exegesis is excuse me, not exegesis. Another form of interrogation and explaining is expert witness. So, so far we've got plain statement of the text. Context factors exegesis. Now expert witness two forms of witness Human commentary and divine commentary. Human commentary and design commentary.

[00:44:28] Human commentary is I explain the text means by quoting Calvin, quoting Hendrickson, quoting some other human commentator. What's divine commentary mean? Where you might you look for God to say what this means? Where does God explain? Isaiah 714. In Matthew two. Sure. If God is going to say, How do you know that Alma and Isaiah 714 means Virgin versus Young Maiden? Well, look in, Matthew. So there may be divine commentator commentary, which is looking at other text. He is logical proof. So plain statement. The text context features exegesis expert witness. And then I may also simply say, here is logic that will prove what I'm meaning to say. Now, again, there are infinite variations of logical proof, infinite ways that you could do this. But here's three basic ones cause and effect. Cause and effect. The Bible itself says the gospel is true in terms of Christ resurrection, because so many people witness to it and the church grew so fast. So Paul himself in first Corinthians 15 is saying, this is how, you know, the resurrection is true. People you still know say it happened. So there's a logical cause and effect that's being explained. There may be evidential proof, not only cause and effect, but bringing evidence forward. Some of you may remember from last time. Romans 826. Many people say that the groaning that are mentioned in Romans eight are ecstatic tongues speaking in tongues, but the groans are used three times. Two times. What do they refer to? The whole creation groans as in the pangs of what? Childbirth, waiting for its redemption and the redemption of our bodies. So the groans are not described as ecstatic language. What are they described as? The crying out pains of childbirth, those kinds of drownings.

[00:46:28] So it is unlikely that when you talk about the spirit speaks for us with groaning too deep to utter that it is talking about ecstatic language because the very word has been used twice already to talk about screaming. Great pain and not ecstatic language within the same passage. Number three, another form of logic. The proof is necessary implication. Necessary implication that I say the reason you know this means something is it's a necessary implication out of the text. Why do I say that? You must be born again before you can believe. What is much of our culture say You must believe in order what to be born again? But what did Jesus say to Nicodemus? Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God until he is born again. Until the spirits that work in him, he cannot see the things necessary to believe some born again regeneration has to proceed justification rather than the other way around. Justification leading to being born again, believing in order for those things to occur. Now you can multiply those things many times. But here's what we're saying. I'm just trying to help you feel as it were. And when you look at the sermon that's in your booklets and many other sermons, when you see these sub points and you begin to look at the paragraphs of material under them, you'll see that these things are what's going on. Some telling context, repeating the text itself, giving some exegesis, giving some historical background, giving logical proof. That's the material that goes into that meat of the paragraph under the sub point statement. Sub point statement. Summarize it. This is the material that supports the sub point. Came at a stop for just a second.

[00:48:18] So if you have questions, I think a lot of that's just common sense. But when you begin to say, all right, where do we do these things in the sermon, this is where we do them under the sub points typically is where a lot of that information that that's why you go to seminary comes still. Yeah. With. Yes. That's a great question. I must do it for the tape. When you sometimes you get divine commentary in the New Testament that's commenting on the Old Testament and you end up preaching on both texts. Is that a bad thing to do? An answer is no, that's not a bad thing to do. You may actually for the expository unit. Now, again, think of that language and not just text, but for the expository unit, you might actually declare both texts to be your expository unit. I did a sermon about two weeks ago in which I was preaching from numbers, but I very much needed First Corinthians to comment on that. So I wanted both to be my text. So I'm saying that Paul is saying this means this. So when I read this, I want you to see Paul's direct commentary. Now, that's not I said, Jesus, I'm still using the authority of God to say, this is what this means. But here, Paul's specifically saying he's commenting on Christ is the rock. So I want to know how the rock is reflected in Paul. So I'll do both. Or maybe I'll start in numbers and I'll say later on, we understand how Paul is addressing this and I may bring it out later in the text. That's a little different than on my authority using a text to explain a text where the Bible itself is not bringing the two together to make make sense.

[00:49:50] So where the Bible has made this reflection, you know, tangible, almost feel, I can't explain it without bringing in both texts. You know, I need them both in order to do what the Bible says. Let's go quickly on Russell. Poor linguistic patterns There could be. Sure, there could be. For instance, someone 19. You could say, What's the context of it? Well, it's a it's a seven fold repetition of the Hebrew alphabet. That's its context. At the same time, that's part of its pattern, too. So when you say what's happening, well, I know that the idea of the law of God being perfect is repeated actually in two different places. So I recognized in the second place, part of the context is what's already occurred, but it's also the pattern of what's occurring. So, yes, there could be, I guess in many of these things, there could be kind of an enfolding of the different distinctions, I don't think, almost between exegesis and pattern. You know, how you can really differentiate those entirely. There's going to be categories that implode in those things. Sure. The little note at the bottom of the page realize you can't do all the forms of exposition in any one main point, but that would be a long sermon. Do you remember we had the preaching lectures last week and it was even though in the Westminster directory of worship, that the person who, by the way, was Stephen Phillips, who was actually writing for what we should do in preaching, he said, Don't feel that you have to prosecute every interesting language, prosecute every doctrine of the text, and you don't have to use every method. How do you know which method to use, by the way? If you say, I've got all these alternatives by which to make something clear, which method should I use? Okay.

[00:51:42] Thank you. Lots of things to weigh here. What's the most efficient? To make the tax plain. But also to prove what I need to. So maybe the nature of the audience, the nature of the text, my goal is to be as efficient as possible. And once I have proven it to move on, not to keep using other methods. So I use the one that's, you know, most effective and then and then move on as we go on to restatement. Which is that last aspect. How can I best communicate the meaning? This is what we didn't get to in our lecture last time. So if you're wanting to start catching up. Here's where you are. How can I best communicate the meaning? The three of these. First organize. Then is going to be crystallize and see as memorable lies. How can I best communicate things, organize, crystallize memorable lies? Organize two points of this usually are we seek to sequence and subordinate to organize, we sequence and subordinate. We sequence so that we can cover the territory. We sequence so that we can cover the territory. Have I covered all the verses? Are you going to cover them all equally, by the way? No, you can't. You have to make prudential choices. What needs to be addressed. But I still need to make sure that I've covered the territory subordinate. That is, I prioritize. What really needs to be addressed. At greater length and what doesn't need a lot of explanation. Now what you're trying not to do. Is this? This is just one of my favorite cartoons on preaching. This is what you're trying not to do. The pastor says Now verse 33 is one of the most difficult and controversial passages in the whole Bible.

[00:53:39] So let's go to verse 30 for that. That's when, you know, you have not covered the territory. And it's tempting at times, you know, because there is there are things that, you know, as a man and I just I have time or that's going to be hard to just just move on. But of course, when you cover the territory, it's particularly with respect to problem aspects. What's going to cause people to hang up is, no, you got to spend more time there, particularly with regard to problem aspects. We cover the territory by how we organize the is crystallize. That's trying to be as efficient as possible. We crystallize our material that is, we will divide what is lengthy. We will group what is numerous. Now you've you've been in those passages, right, where there are lists, you know, the fruit of the Spirit would be one example. Or you might deal with the lost parables in Luke 15, and you say, there are too many things for me to cover here sequentially. So I may find ways to group things together. I may have to deal with the brothers who are or the things that are lost and the things that are found in Luke 15. Now, granted, there are many things lost, but I'm at the group and if I want to deal with the whole chapter and deal only with the things that are found later. So maybe a two point message, though I recognize there's lots more sequence there or. I think when you're when you are identifying your expository unit, if you've got a verse that you know is particularly problematic and is going to distract from what you want to address in the sermon, that in your scripture intro, it is a place to say, Folks, I know that verse three, which talks about the unforgivable sin, is a very difficult passage.

[00:55:28] We're going to get to that next week. For now, this week we're going to deal with the assurance that we have in things that are clearly forgivable. And what I've done is I've sliced out. I said, I know this is a problem and we're going to deal with it later. So, you know, allow me at this point just to deal with these assurances that we have. We will come back to this another time where you get in trouble if you never get back to it. They'll say, wait, you know, you gave me a false read here. So I think you can slice out, narrow your purpose and be fine as long as you've clearly told people why you're narrowing and how you're going to deal with the fact that you narrowed it after organize and crystallize. The third aspect of restatement is memorable eyes. Just just put a hyphen and an eyes at the end. It's a made up word, right? Why did I make it up? It's known as a neologism, and it's one of the forms of putting things in memory to make it stick in some way. So the way I did is by putting ices at the end of these three distinctions of restatement, organize, crystallize and memorable lies. When I use the word memorable lies. It's an example of what I'm trying to say. You know, one the one of the things that is a mark of really great preachers is they love to communicate. They just love doing it. They love watching people's lights go on. They love learning the tools that make things kind of stick in people's memory. And when we organize beyond just academically saying what's in that text, but I really want this to stick with you a bit.

[00:57:05] I want this to make an impression. What we are trying to do is to find ways of making the outlines stick in people's memory. So as we are wording main points and sub points so far, you've concentrated on using key terms, right? We've had parallel statement with keyword changes. But what we will begin to do over time is learn ways of making those keywords stand out. What are some ways that you can make keywords standout kind of people? Oh, I know, that's another keyword. What are ways that we do that? What's the classic way? Alliteration that those key words start with the same letter. Okay, so that's at least the same consonant. A slight difference is assonance where they start with the same vowel. Okay. But but the idea they start with the same letter in this particular outline just gets you didn't start with the same sound. What it in with? It ended with the same sound. Organized, crystallized, memorable eyes was another way of just making it stay strong. Graphical images Satan's ways or a web. Satan's ways are a trap. Satan's ways are a cliff. Okay. Strong graphical expression is another way of trying to make things memorable. So once you get beyond kind of like, Oh no, I've got to use the very words of the text. When I make my outline, you begin to say, No, I am obligated to the truth of the text. Many times the words of the text will help me do that. I'll say something. I'll tell people, Look at the text. They'll look down. They'll see those same words. That's great. But other times I'm actually using new words. Not necessarily created words, but new words to make the truth stand out in people's minds.

[00:58:45] And in supporting it with the material of the text. So great communicators not only know sometimes they had a great stuff together, sometimes they're going to break things apart, but always are trying to say, how can I really make this stick in your mind? And that is calling upon us not being only academic, but creative. Right. This is where preaching starts to take on its artistic form, too. How can I really make this stick in a way that actually gives me some joy to see the lights going on when you hear it? Explanation is progress. Having having talked about creativity. Let's just talk about simple things that are going on when we explain things. There are two steps of explanations progress. So even though we've said right, there's a point in material that comes somewhere, if you were to actually break this down conceptually, here's what's happening. You are saying state what the text means. That's what the sub point statement is. You state what it means in material anger. That is, you show how you know. Stay what it means. Show how you know. So even though we've gone through all these different all this material of different forms of exegesis and context, really all we're doing is we're saying stay with the text means show how you know, that's what's happening in the sermon. Now, that's the progress of the thought. Here's the way that we actually present it. And that's item V. There are three stages of explanation presentation. In the typical main point, you could actually put some point as well in your notes there. Here's what we do. The first aspect here, which is, number one, we state the truth. Then we place the truth. You'll hear the preacher say something like, Look with me in verse two.

[01:00:34] It says. So I state the. Some point statement, then I place the truth. Look in the text where that is. Now, if it's a context feature, I'll say the way we know this is because Paul was in jail. So I place him in jail. A place where I got knowledge. Where did I get that knowledge? State the truth. Place the truth. And then number three is prove the truth. State police prove. State police prove. Just little hints here. What is the hardest thing in academic training to do of those three things, State police proof, which is the one that we usually forget. Its place. It's place we stay, the truth, and then we just start running off with our explanation of doctrine. We just start rolling. Instead of saying, Where does the text say that? So as you're preparing your sermons, you know, if you could kind of almost highlight in your notes right now, I would just tell you that's the most common trip. His people will state something that's true somewhere in the Bible and then they'll begin explaining it. But they will have never shown. Look with me in verse two, right in the middle of the verse, it says to place it. And yet it's the very thing people are hanging on the edge of their seats to have you do. So they're all saying at the end of the sermon. But where was that? In the text? Right. You're all nodding because you said that's preachers. Right? But where was that? In the text. So state the truth, then place it. Now, when you do that, you put such high hermeneutical obligations on yourself that you almost cannot but speak with authority. Here's what I said. There's where the text says it.

[01:02:22] Now proved you. The tech says that once you've placed it in the text, you have very high authority for the things that you say. At some point, someone answers the question, Why? Sure. So let's. Yeah. Sometimes the NSA doesn't. The sub points sometimes ask or answer the question. Why Bush did you say? Answer the question. Sure. So if I've got a main point and I may actually have an analytical question, which is a why question. All right. So the main point that might say we can trust God for some reason, and then the question is, why should we trust God? Some point may say, well, first he knows what's going to happen. Okay, So it can be, but I'm still going to say, look, with look at verse two. It says that. So I'm still going to be answering it and then I'm going to be showing where in the text that answer is and then prove that that answer is there. Elaborating on the sophomore on the made. You're not just elaborating on the main point you're supporting or proving the main point exist within the text material. Okay. So listen, it's a little rubric, but if you get it, it just almost makes preaching easy. Steak place proof. Steak place proof. Once you hear that, you know how you've already this semester you've begun to think, Oh, I never really thought of sermons being explanation, illustration, application. But once you hear that, you start listening to a sermon, you start hear that pattern. Once you hear this pattern, state, place prove, you will hear it in sermons over and over again. Oh, my pastor is doing that. He's saying something's true. He's pointing to the text. He's saying that's where it is, and now he's proving it.

[01:04:01] And once you see that, you kind of go, I think I can do this. Now I see how this is going. It's not just a long essay. It's an essay that's proving what the text says in its particular places. The state, the truth place the truth, prove the truth becomes a very standard pattern. After we've done those things, we will also illustrate and apply the truth. But we state place prove and then in a classical order and will vary the sum later. But in a classical order, then we'll illustrate the truth and apply the truth. So just small reiterations for us. Number one, as you're thinking about pulling together your outlines for your major sermons for the semester, the anchor clause. As we reiterate some small things, the anchor clause is established just before or after the proposition, possibly early in the first main point. So when you're doing main points, you know that the sub points are about the developmental clause, the magnet clause. So there's still the question, how is it where do we develop the anchor clause? Where do you develop the anchor clause just before or after the proposition or early in the first main point, because it's the foundation of all that follows. Now it's going to take you five paragraphs to prove the anchor clause. Should it be the anchor clause? No too much material behind it. So the anchor clause is usually something pretty obvious, pretty plain from the taxes, the foundation for the rest of the things that you will now be explaining. Number two, very similar. The developmental clause becomes the magnet clause. That is the side that's changing for the remaining exposition. The exposition within the main points focuses on the developmental phrases distinctive. The developmental phrase acts as the magnet attracting the exposition.

[01:05:48] Which means what the sub points are about, which anchor clause or magnet clause there about the magnet clause. So the sub points are about the magnet clause. And then three lengthy explanation is developed with sub points that support or prove the magnet statement of the main point. Lengthy explanation is supported by some points that prove the magnet clause. If your explanation has gone on for two paragraphs, do you need some points? The ear will usually say yes, your eye will not say yes. It's a strange thing against different an essay and a sermon. Your eye will say, Well, that's easy to read. I can go through that. But the ear typically will need road signs through that material. So if you've just got. A main point without some points, and you've got a long paragraph of explanation under that main point, you're okay. But if you've got two or three paragraphs, you need some points. Okay, let's do it. Some things. The main points have to have some points. They don't. They don't. But if you've got one set point, what do you have to have? At least at least one more. All right. If you only had one sub point, what should it have been? It should have been the main point. Now, very important. If you have an interrogative sub point, if you have an interrogative sub point, it should be worded in parallel with the other question. Sub points. Right. What also should be worded in parallel as well as the questions. The answers because the real sum point is the answer. So when you're saying state plays prove, what you're really placing is not the question, you're placing the answer. Here's where that answer is in the text. And the thing that we will see very shortly is it is the answer that will then be developed in the illustration and the applications.

[01:07:58] That's why the answers need to be in parallel. They're actually holding the concept that's most key. That will then go into the illustration. When you do bullet points, it'll be plain to you, right, because everything will be parallel, some keyword change. But when you do interrogative, it might not be as clear to you. That's why the answers need to be in parallel as well as the questions, because the answers hold the key terms that will go into illustration application. Question. Again and again. If you're preaching regularly, here's my hint. Turn it into a question. If it is, God is sovereign, therefore we should trust him with today. God is sovereign. Shall we trust him with tomorrow? Okay. Turn. Turn the anchor clause into a question. What's another implication of God being sovereign? We, in trusting will actually do it next semester. Okay, we'll take that anchor clause and we'll start turning into a transitional question, and then you'll feel the flow works better. It'll also shorten down that main point. Okay, but we won't do it here yet. Okay. We'll get our habits down and then we'll start varying in many ways.