Why I'm Committed to Expository Preaching

"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching." 

(2 Timothy 4:1-2 ESV)

In short, there are two reasons why I'm committed to expository preaching. First, because I don't think there's any other kind of preaching that's truly Christian. Second, because I'm a sinner and I easily stray if I don't stay anchored to a solid rock.

What is Expository Preaching?
I've been to college and three seminaries, so I can easily forget that not everyone knows what I'm talking about when I say "expository preaching." I was visiting a member this week, and when I used this term, she stopped me and asked me what it meant. I was surprised, but it helped me to realize that before I can explain why I believe in it, first I need to define what I mean!

Various definitions have been proposed for expository preaching, and many of them are helpful. I think the simplest definition may be that "expository preaching is preaching where the point of the text is the same as the point of the sermon. I think this is true, and it's helpful for someone who has no familiarity with what I'm talking about, but we will go deeper.

John A. Broadus, in his text book, On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, says that "An expository sermon is one which is occupied mainly with the exposition of Scripture. . . . The expository sermon may be defined as a sermon that draws its divisions from the text. In actual practice, the main points and the subdivisions of the sermon often come from the text. In other words, the entire thought content comes from Scripture" (58). The two things I see that are important here are that expository preaching is preaching that is mainly explaining the Bible; Scripture isn't just a launchpad to say whatever it is the preacher wants to say, but most of it's content is merely explaining scripture. Also, Broadus says that "the entire thought content comes form Scripture." The preacher isn't free to mix his own thoughts with those from Scripture, rather the sermon, in its whole, is devoted to making clear what the thoughts of Scripture are.

Dr. Stephen Olford, in his book Anointed Expository Preaching defines it this way: "Expository preaching is the Spirit-empowered explanation and proclamation of the text of God's Word with due regard to the historical, contextual, grammatical, and doctrinal significance of the given passage, with the specific object of invoking a Christ-transforming response" (69). A few things are of note here. Olford stresses that preaching is Spirit-empowered. A man cannot do this in his own power and expect lasting results. If a preacher merely trusts in his own gifts and does not rely on the Spirit it is all for naught. Preaching is also an "explanation and proclamation of the text." That's what it is. If a sermon is not explaining and proclaiming a biblical text, if it has any other methodology, it is not expository preaching. Olford also states that expository preaching must give "due regard to the historical, contextual, grammatical, and doctrinal significance of the given passage." Expository preaching must preach the text in context. Faithful expository preaching is not free to take a biblical text and make it say something that is relevant to today's audiences that would be unrecognizable to the author or the original audience. It must be faithful to actually convey what the original author intended. Finally, Olford contends that true preaching's object is to invoke a response. The preacher doesn't stand and give a lecture to fill people's heads, he pleads with people to change through the power of Christ. This response may be through physically and tangibly doing something, or it may be a response of the heart. It may change our thinking or cause us to value something more deeply as well.

Finally, Dr. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, in his book He is Not Silent, says that "According to the Bible, exposition is preaching. And preaching is exposition." Further he states, "Much of what happens in pulpits across America today is not preaching, even though the preacher--and probably his congregation along with him--would claim that it is. Preaching is not the task of saying something interesting about God, nor is it delivering a religious discourse or narrating a story" (50). Rather, Mohler contends, "The heart and soul of expository preaching--of any true Christian preaching--is reading the Word of God and then explaining it to the people so they understand it" (52).

I affirm what Mohler states. I am convinced that all true Christian preaching is expository preaching, and that preaching that is not expository is something less than Christian preaching.

Why Am I Committed To It?
I've kind of answered this already. First, for reasons stated above, I don't think that any other kind of preaching is really preaching at all, but my second reason is quite practical. I am committed to expository preaching because I am a frail sinner.

How can a pastor know that he is preaching God's word? All preachers would make the claim, but how can we really know that's what we're doing? Jeremiah stated, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9 ESV) I don't trust my heart, and I am not a mystic. However, I do trust God's Word--the Bible. If I just decided what I was going to preach on week by week by "whatever I felt the Spirit was telling me?" I would be liable to follow my deceitful heart and be deceived into thinking it was the Spirit of God. Expository preaching, for many, has another component. Not all expository preachers follow this, but many do. I believe the best expository preachers will systematically go through the Bible to be sure that they are not following their own agenda and temperament, but they are following the leadership of the Holy Spirit who inspired every word of the sacred text.

I do believe that the Spirit speaks to us, but I am convinced that the primary way he does this is through the Bible. If this is true, then we can go happily to the Bible week in and week out. Systematically going verse by verse or chapter by chapter and know that no mater where we open the Bible we find something that was breathed out by God.

I'm also convinced that it is unwise and unhelpful to expect an extraordinary work of God every week. The Spirit of God moves where he wishes and we cannot contrive that. We can only experience it at His will. My contention is that if a preacher is committed to systematically preaching through the Bible, and making the point of each sermon the same as the point that is made in the text, then the Church will be built up. If it is a week that God chooses to bless in a supernatural way--wonderful! We can give him all the glory for that and thank him. However, what if it isn't one of those week? We can still say, "God has spoken to us through his word." Not because we emotionally felt something, but because of our confidence that God has truly spoken in history and our faithful hearing of it in eager expectation from His hand.

I am committed to expository preaching because I'm a sinner, and because I am ultimately confident in God's Word and his Spirit above anything else. I am committed to expository preaching because that method is the only way that I can objectively know that when I stand before God's people I am being faithful to preach the Word.

Caveat
I must give one caveat. I titled this article, "Why I'm Committed to Expository Preaching" for a reason. I didn't call it, "Why I'm an Expository Preacher." Like I said, I am a sinner, and I'm relatively new in my preaching career. I am committed to the method, but I cannot make any claim to be very good at it! I have a lot of room for growth. I'm far from perfect. Just because anyone adopts what I'm arguing for doesn't make them a great preacher. My level of spiritual empowerment ebbs and flows. I have good weeks where I feel him with me, and I have other weeks where I'm spiritually dry--and I'm not afraid to get up and preach anyway because I know the power isn't in me--it's in the word. I need to grow significantly in my ability to illustrate, because to paraphrase Spurgeon, illustrations are windows through which the congregation looks to see the meaning of the text. In spite of my admitted weakness, I believe that a commitment to the expository method safeguards me so that when I do error, I don't fall too far away because I have an anchor that tethers me to the Word. 

Matthew 8:1-17 Jesus' Healing Ministry and the Kingdom of Christ

"Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly." 

And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." 

(Matthew 8:6-7 ESV)

Matthew 8:1-17 tells us of three healing miracles that Jesus performed after coming down from preaching the Sermon on the Mount. First Jesus heals a leper. This man had been ostracized. He was ceremonial unclean, and had probably not been touched for a long time. Yet he came to Jesus, and in faith, he stated that he knew Jesus was able to heal him. His only question is whether Jesus was willing to heal him. Jesus answered the leper by affirming his willingness and a command. Just as he spoke "let there be light," Jesus spoke, and a leper was made clean.

Next a centurion came to Jesus about his parallelized servant. The centurion must have cared a lot about this servant. He didn't simply cast him aside and get a new servant, but he came and asked Jesus for healing. This centurion was a Roman soldier, and he understood something insightful about Jesus' authority. He said, "I am a man under authority, and I say to one "Go" and he goes." What does this mean? The centurion was under the authority of Caesar, and this authority was invested in him. So when the centurion commanded someone to do something, he was doing so with the same authority as Caesar. Likewise, the centurion recognized that when Jesus spoke, he spoke with the authority of God. Jesus commended the centurion for his faith, and healed the servant from a distance.

Finally, Jesus went to the home of Peter to rest, and in the home he found that Peter's mother-in-law was suffering from a fever. Jesus touched her, and immediately she was healed as well, and she didn't have to have time to recover--she immediately got up and served.

These three healing miracles were followed by a summary of more healings, and then Matthew states that all of this took place to fulfill what Isaiah said in Isaiah 53:4. "He took our illnesses and bore our diseases." What does this mean? When Jesus came the first time, his healing ministry announced the inbreaking of the kingdom of God. In the cross, Jesus was doing more than just providing forgiveness, but he took on all our pain and our sorrows. He took on our diseases and experienced pain and death so that we could be healed. In his second coming, there will no longer be any sickness or pain because he has taken it all.

Matthew 4:12-25 Jesus' Message, Method, and Ministry

 "While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.'" (Mat 4:18-19 ESV)

Following Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, he began preaching a message of repentance, calling disciples, and healing the sick. While each of these aspects of Jesus ministry have differences as they are carried out in the life of the church today, they are all essential to biblical faithfulness.

His Message: Preaching Repentance
Matthew 4:12-17 tells of the beginning of Jesus' ministry. It begins with the "decrease" that John the Baptist had predicted about himself. John was put in prison, and Jesus returned to his home in Galilee. However, he left Nazareth, the town where he had grown up and went to Capernaum. Matthew tells us that this was to fulfill a prophesy of Isaiah that a light would dawn on the Gentiles. The area where Jesus went was a region populated by Gentiles. The context of this prophecy is that of Isaiah 9 and the promise of a king who would sit on David's throne forever. Matthew had already been pointing to Jesus' kingship by the genealogy that he started his Gospel with, and now this prophetic fulfillment links Jesus again to this kingly role.

Finally, in verse 17, Matthew tells us that Jesus began to preach the same message that John the Baptist had preached--"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." A definition of "repent" must be given. John had preached this message, and his baptism was characterized by repentance. People came to him confessing their sins, and John told them to bear fruit which accords with repentance. It is only natural that Jesus' meaning was the same as that of John the Baptist. Repentance meant to turn away from sins, to confess them openly, and to declare publicly a renunciation of those things, and then to live a life that is consistent with that public testimony.

Today we are often soft about the message of repentance. We want to explain the gospel in winsome ways, and we want to make it palatable for people so that they will accept it. We tell children that Jesus can be their "forever friend." We tell adults to come and "make a decision." We emphasize belief in Christ, and salvation by faith, and somehow we are fearful of speaking about repentance because it sounds like it must be some sort of work. In actuality, repentance is the fruit of true faith. Repentance is a gift of God. If we truly believe on Christ, we will naturally repent. What does that look like? We will have a change of mind and heart about who Jesus is and his authority over us. We will bow to his lordship, and we will be marked with genuine sorrow for our sins. These are all things that happen in the heart that cannot be manufactured or manipulated. True repentance only comes when God grants it.

His Method: Calling Disciples
In verses 18-22, Jesus calls his disciples, Peter, Andrew, James, and John. These men are called in pairs. First, Jesus was walking by the sea of Galilee and saw the brothers, Simon and Andrew, fishing. What happens is striking. Jesus simply says, "Follow me." There is no discussion or questions. There is no arguments for why. Simon and Andrew immediately left their nets and followed him. They obeyed without question. Then, Jesus saw two more brothers--James and John. They were in the process of fixing their nets, and their father was with them. They were a small family business. In this text, we aren't given Jesus words to James and John; it simply says "he called them," and they responded just as Simon and Andrew. Immediately, they obeyed; they left their nets, they left their father, and they followed Jesus.

Now certainly, we don't have the same kind of authority that Jesus had. Jesus is the Lord of Creation. He has all authority in Heaven and Earth. He commands the wind and the waves, and he is the LORD who turns the heart of kings whichever way he wishes. However, there is an analogy between Jesus' method of calling his disciples and the way we preach the gospel.

When we preach the gospel, we preach a command. Jesus commands that all men everywhere must repent and believe the gospel. We can be tempted to have a different posture when we proclaim the good news. It could be tempting to mound up persuasive arguments about why following Jesus will give people a happier, more fulfilling life. However, that isn't the posture we see here. When we preach the gospel, we must remember that we are proclaiming the objective news of the life, death, burial, and resurrection, and we are telling people what they must do because of that reality. We are pleading with men to be reconciled to God, but in doing so, we must not forget that repentance and faith is the duty of all. It isn't just something that you can add to your life to be more fulfilled. True conversion to Christ isn't just adding Jesus to "your life"; it's renouncing your former life to follow him.

His Ministry: Compassion on the Multitudes
The next section, verses 23-25, is a summary statement that describes Jesus' ministry. Jesus was an itinerant preacher. He preached the "good news" of the kingdom, and he healed every disease. As he went around preaching, he would heal as he went, but then word got out. He became famous. So then people started bringing him all those who had diseases. He even healed those who were demon possessed, those who had seizures, and those who were paralyzed. He healed all manner of diseases, and crowds followed him everywhere he went.

People have various opinions about the continuation of miraculous gifts. I would put myself in the cessationist camp. I believe that the gifts of healing were given specifically for the time of the apostles to mark a unique period in salvation history. However, I think there is an example of ministry that believers today should follow today. I don't mean a healing ministry, but a ministry of compassion. These verses are very similar to what Matthew writes in 9:35-38. There Matthew records, "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." A ministry that follows Jesus' pattern will be a ministry of compassion. We may not be able to say to people, "arise, take up your bed, and walk," but we can model compassion in action.

Believers can show compassion today in serving the poor, in caring for the sick, and helping counsel addicts as well as many other ways. Those things aren't meant to replace Gospel preaching. This passage tells us that Jesus did both. He preached and he healed. The compassionate ministry of mercy that we, believers, engage in will be the authenticating mark of having a heart like Jesus. We can be doctrinally sound and have cold hearts and tight fists. Jesus calls us to combine the message of good news with a ministry of compassion.

Results
What results should we expect from a ministry following this patter. What should we expect when we preach the message of repentance, when we call people to bow and submit themselves to a King, and when we minister in the compassion of Christ? He will receive the glory. It isn't about us. It isn't about accumulating crowds for us. It's about bringing fame to Jesus, not about making ourselves a name. 

"So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them." (Mat 4:24 ESV)

Matthew 4:1-11 The Temptation of Jesus

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." (Matthew 4:1)

It seems strange that immediately after Jesus Baptism, the Spirit who attested him as the Son of God led him into the wilderness to be tempted. We are often so familiar with the stories that we don't let it really have the impact it should have. So imagine what it must have been like. What we've already learned of Jesus in the book of Matthew is that he was descended from Abraham through the Davidic line. He was born of a virgin and an angel told Joseph that Jesus would save his people from his sins. Hostile people tried unsuccessfully to kill him when he was only a toddler, and God saved him by warning Joseph to flee to Egypt. Then the story skips all the intervening years and brings us up to the time Jesus began his ministry. The very first thing that Jesus does in his ministry is to be baptized. As I mentioned in the previous post, by submitting to this rite (which was supposed to be for repentant sinners) Jesus identified with his people. He humbled himself and took on the identity of sinners--foreshadowing that great exchange where his righteousness is imputed to us. Then, after being baptized the Holy Spirit leads him out to be tempted in the wilderness. Let this sink in. Let's think of the who, the where, the when, and the why to help this sink in. First, this wasn't Satan seeking an opportunity to to tempt Jesus; it was God, as a part of his eternal plan, leading Jesus out to be tempted.  Next, it happened right after the baptism and before he publicly started his ministry. So, it was necessary that he go through a testing before he began his ministry. This was a part of the path that he must take to accomplish the goal of God. Then, Jesus went into the wilderness. This is significant. It points to one of the ways that Jesus is the fulfillment of Israel. Just as Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness, Jesus spent 40 days in the same place. Maybe not exactly the same geographical location, but the same term is used. Finally, the purpose of all this is to be tempted. Now this is puzzling. How can God be tempted? Could Jesus have really sinned? Was it even possible for him to fail this test? I don't think that's the point. Again, just like Jesus' baptism, this tempting was another way Jesus identified with sinners. Jesus temptation was a necessary part of God's plan because it was through his temptation that we know that our savior can sympathize with us. The author of Hebrews make this point. Jesus is our high priest and he can sympathize with weak sinners because he was tempted at all points just as we are. This gives us at least two reasons to celebrate. First, When we face temptation, we can look at Jesus experience of temptation and see how we are to respond. We are to resist the devil as he did and as James tells us to. We are to delight in the law of the Lord as he did and as Psalm 1 tells us to. Also, it gives us confidence that Jesus loves us. We can be discouraged when we are tempted and we fail. Yet, because Jesus was tempted we know that we have a high priest who sympathizes with our weakness. He was tempted and he knows what it is like. He knows and has felt the very things we feel, and he went through it all without sin. We know that this one who sympathizes with us is our advocate, pleading our case before the Father. When we fail, this great high priest stands before the Father and tells him, "This one is mine, I identified with him and took his sin. His punishment is paid."

 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
 (Heb 4:15-16 ESV)