The Heart is the Target: Preaching Practical Application from Every Text, by Murray Capill. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2014, 258 pages, $16.99, paper.

Imagine an older minister whimsically telling a newly ordained man, “You will always need more of books on preaching.” This may be your reaction to yet another book on preaching (it is often mine). And then there’s the sub-title on something you’ve never thought about: application in preaching. Okay, so you have thought about that and the debate is closed. Those reasons alone may dissuade you from ever cracking open this book or any other new book on preaching. Or perhaps your preference is to “dust off” that older, much-loved volume—surely a proper instinct (after sampling the old, few desire the new, because they say “the old is good”). Much of what Mr. Capill opens for us is rather vintage, even if it is under a new label. So whether your school is redemptive-historical or puritanical, topical or expository, you should give this book a try and see if there is something here that would benefit your preaching—assuming of course that it needs improvement.

Developing a spiritual gift is not possible if we’re not open to growth, or if we’re too quick to dismiss anything alien to our beloved paradigm on preaching. Or both. When I was in my first pastorate an older minister told me that he did not care for expository preaching because it was boring. I knew immediately that what he said could not possibly be true, because I was an expository preacher! (The memory of my thoughts still makes me shudder.) My perspective has since changed; not in my convictions about expositing Scripture, but in my desire to become proficient in this craft sometime before I die. I have also come to appreciate what Geoffrey Thomas once quipped, that so much of what takes place in evangelical pulpits is really nothing more than a glorified Bible study, which gets at the concern of this book. Capill rejoices in the revival of expository preaching, but he would much prefer a revival of compelling expositional preaching. Preaching calls for more than undiluted exegesis that is dumped upon kindly congregations who know what longsuffering is on a weekly basis. More is required. Application is required. And Murray Capill deserves a respectful read, given his several pastorates in New Zealand and Australia, and his teaching on pastoral ministry and preaching at the Reformed Theological College in Geelong, Australia.

Capill’s basic premise is that “effective expository preaching takes place when biblical faithfulness and insightful application are inextricably bound together” (14). Nothing revolutionary there. But understanding how the two work together is the challenge. And our deficiencies prove it, whether they stem from flawed views of preaching and application or from deficits in training and gifts. Nevertheless the task remains, taking what Scripture teaches and getting it to “stick” or apply to our listeners. That’s what biblical preaching is, applying gospel truth to the heart (56). And it must be holistic application—applying all of God’s Word to all of a person’s life. There are three stages in this process of preaching application.

The first stage is to appreciate the purpose of God’s Word. Capill makes his case chiefly from 2 Timothy 3:16 and argues that the Word has four main purposes: 1) to teach the truth and rebuke false doctrine; 2) to train in godliness and correct wrong-doing; 3) to test the heart and bring conviction; 4) to encourage and exhort. Each of these purposes are explained at length and then illustrated from Scripture. Some will say that he has been somewhat arbitrary in the categories he uses, but none could fault them for their propriety. Personally, I think he has unnecessarily restricted the vocabulary’s range of meaning and significance in 2 Timothy 3:16 (e.g., “rebuke” pertains to life as much as it does to doctrine).

The second stage is to make sure that the preacher’s “reservoir” remains full. The reservoir is “all that lives within a preacher” (81). As any preacher knows, just as he pours himself into the sermon, so also the sermon comes through him, if not sucking life out of him—as Ian MacPherson wrote, “every real sermon that a man preaches appreciably shortens his days.”[1] In the preacher’s preparation the biblical text has already begun to stir in him, move him, and connect itself to much of what he has previously read, thought, lived, and known—it is expanding him. And he must continue to fill the reservoir through his walk with God, in prayer, through his theological knowledge, and by keenly experiencing and observing the fullness of life. If he does not, then the reservoir will run dry, and it will eventually become evident in his preaching—to the spiritual detriment of those he serves.

The third stage in the process of preaching application is hitting the target, the heart. Since the “end goal of preaching is to draw people to love God with all their heart,” we must know something about the heart, the core that defines who we are (97). Capill explains that the faculties of the human heart are the mind (the rational center of our being), the conscience (the warning system), the will (what determines choices and actions), and the passions (what we desire and feel); all which work in conjunction, not independently. The task then is to preach the text so that it finds its mark by impacting the whole heart.

Effective application will aim for a change of heart. This inevitably entails confronting the idols of the heart with skill and grace, as well as with an appreciation for the diversity of those who hear the Word. The diversity Capill has in view is the spiritual condition of each and every soul. Most Reformed pastoral theologies offer similar taxonomies (e.g., Charles Bridges, The Christian Ministry). Capill offers as simple a grid as you will ever find, but it is useful. He states that for some people things are going well and for others things are not; some know it and some do not. Whatever grid a sensitive pastor uses, he lovingly thinks of his people as his sermon simmers in his own heart, and he remembers how they are spread across the spectrum of spiritual maturity, mood, and discernment.

With these things in mind and with the biblical text in hand, the preacher must “state it, ground it, impress it, and apply it” (151). To do this he has several arrows in his quiver to ensure that he hits his mark: He appeals to sound judgment, he anticipates objections, he offers incentives, and he speaks directly and passionately, using illustrations that clarify and words that are vivid.

With a book that emphasizes the heart it would be tempting to stereotype his approach as partial to pietism. However, Capill provides a chapter on the importance of “preaching the kingdom,” by which he means preaching about the Christian’s responsibility and calling in society. On this point some will not favor the concerted transformational bent of his comments; but post-millennial brethren will rejoice! Nor will all agree with his comment that we should consider “the whole of life as the setting for true worship” (183). Nevertheless, his larger point should be heard and granted: True piety is firstly of the heart, but not only of the heart (177). We must not neglect empowering our people’s confidence in their vocation, namely that God has called them to be salt, light, and leaven in the world.

Capill also dedicates chapters to preaching application from the narrative sections of Scripture and applying the indicative and imperative moods of Scriptural teaching (interestingly he lists subjunctives as a separate category). Last of all he speaks of our holistic preparation for this task and gives practical advice.

So what are the strengths and weaknesses of this book?

One general strength of this book lies in its canvasing the overall task of preparing a sermon, from beginning to end. It is always profitable to reflect upon the process of preaching, especially if we can do it living in the mind of someone more experienced. Moreover, when we are forced to view preaching from another preacher’s perspective, it can bring more clarity and depth, and if we’re open to it, more width. The preacher who is dedicated to expositional preaching will find a ready ally and “Barnabas” in Murray Capill. If you have already decided that you disagree with him on application (even though you have not yet read his book!), you may want to risk it anyway, with the possibility that you can learn something to make your preaching more interesting, assuming of course that it needs improvement in that way.

As for content, the book’s leading strength is its explanation of the heart. Too many books assume that we all know what is meant by the heart. Not true. Although he makes no such claim, Capill’s model, more or less, mirrors the Puritans’ understanding of the heart. I observe this to his credit, especially since his burden is to prove his view from Scripture, not from history. In this area the Puritans are at their best and the modern preacher will find more depth if he can replicate (not imitate!) their skill in speaking to the heart. I would diverge slightly from Capill’s model. My studies of the heart have convinced me that Scripture gives us three (not four) faculties of the heart: the mind, the will, and the desires (or what the Puritans called the “affections”). Contrary to Capill I believe “conscience” is a term running parallel to other biblical vocabulary that describe the inner person (e.g., “soul,” “spirit”). It is not a distinct faculty of the heart. John Owen usually leaned toward the threefold grid, but on occasion he did include the conscience like our author. So Mr. Capill is in handsome company and my quibble is inconsequential for his thesis. The principal issue is that he works from a robust Reformed anthropology with consistency and complements it with a clear grasp of God’s grace in Christ. One senses that it would be a privilege to sit under this man’s preaching and hear sermons saturated with a “gospel tone”—to use Robert L. Dabney’s language.

I do have a question about how he integrates the faculties of the heart and how they work together. He states that the mind “is at the top” of the heart and is “the entrance point of the soul,” and that “the mind comes first” and is the “entrance point to the other faculties of the heart” (103, 105). Whereas the passions reside at the bottom of the heart, representing the deepest and most powerful forces of the heart (103, 119). He sees a pecking order here in preaching. We must appeal to the mind first and then work our way “down” through the conscience and will and last of all affecting the passions. He does not defend this order from Scripture. I think that would be difficult. It would be better to communicate how all the faculties are constantly and mutually influencing one another. But I hesitate to critique him too briskly on this point for two reasons. First of all, Jerry Bridges and Sinclair Ferguson say something similar to Capill and those are two names not to reckon with flippantly. Secondly, it is easy to see his point: preaching that aims for the heart cannot, and must not bypass the mind. On that we can all agree. Besides such an emphasis provides a refreshing antidote to the sooty post-modern air many are breathing these days, wittingly or not.

This book is a welcomed encouragement to every preacher who earnestly desires to be faithful to the text he preaches and in the task of preaching, namely, to target the hearts of the members of his flock. Murray Capill has thought carefully and extensively about this task. He can help us to improve in the unspeakable privilege we have to proclaim the one who has graciously and eternally taken up his lordly residence in our hearts.

Endnote

[1] Ian MacPherson, The Burden of the Lord (London: Epworth, 1955), 47.

A. Craig Troxel is a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church serving as pastor of Bethel Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Wheaton, Illinois, who also serves on the Committee on Christian Education. Ordained Servante Online, February 2016.