Bring The Book: Expository Preaching is Essential
If a church is to be healthy, preaching must be central to its methodology. If preaching is central, the best form of preaching is “expository.”
What is expository preaching? Expository preaching is a methodological outworking of a proper understanding of the doctrine of Scripture. If we understand the Scripture to be inspired by God, inerrant, infallible, clear, necessary, and sufficient, then the central act of the worship of the church, preaching, must be the explanation and application of the Scripture.
Preaching: The Central Act of Worship
Al Mohler reminds us, “Expository preaching is central, irreducible and nonnegotiable to the Bible’s mission of authentic worship that pleases God.”[1] Nehemiah 8:1-4, 5-8 demonstrates such a focus on reading and explaining Scripture.
And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose.
And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
The Old Testament sets the precedent for the proclamation and explanation of the word during gatherings of God’s people, and the New Testament also demonstrates this. In Mark 1:15, Jesus’ first words are words of proclamation. He says, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” In Acts 2, the early church dedicated itself to the apostles’ teaching, the breaking of bread, fellowship, and prayer (Acts 2:42). In 1 Timothy 4:11-16, Paul instructs Timothy to focus on the public reading and proclamation of Scripture.
Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.
In 2 Timothy 4, he reminds him to preach the word.
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. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Preaching remains the central act of worship, as the Bible shows. If preaching is the central act of worship, then expository preaching is the best method. Why? As we will see below, this specific method of preaching worshipfully reveals and applies God’s Word to God’s people for God’s glory.
Expository Preaching Defined
Several helpful definitions of expository preaching exist, and while it is unnecessary to list them all, it is beneficial to include a few of the best ones.
Al Mohler: “Expository preaching is that mode of Christian preaching that takes as its central purpose the presentation and application of the text of the Bible. All other issues and concerns are subordinated to the central task of presenting the biblical text. As the Word of God, the text of Scripture has the right to establish both the substance and the structure of the sermon. Genuine exposition takes place when the preacher sets forth the meaning and message of the biblical text and makes clear how the Word of God establishes the identity and worldview of the church as the people of God.”[2]
Haddon Robinson: Expository preaching is “the presentation of biblical truth, derived from and transmitted through a historical, grammatical, Spirit-guided study of a passage in its context, which the Holy Spirit applies to the life of the preacher and then through him to his congregation.”[3]
Martyn Lloyd-Jones takes it a step further, according to biographer Iain Murray, “To expound is not simply to give the correct grammatical sense of a verse or passage, it is rather to set out principles or doctrines which the words are intended to convey. True expository preaching is, therefore, doctrinal preaching, it is preaching which addresses specific truths from God to man. The expository preacher is not one who ‘shares his studies’ with others, he is an ambassador and a messenger, authoritatively delivering the Word of God to men.”[4]
John Piper: “What I mean by preaching is expository exultation. Expository means that preaching aims to exposit, or explain and apply, the meaning of the Bible. The reason for this is that the Bible is God’s word, inspired, infallible, profitable—all 66 books of it. The preacher’s job is to minimize his own opinions and deliver the truth of God. Every sermon should explain the Bible and then apply it to people's lives. Preaching is also exultation. This means that the preacher does not just explain what’s in the Bible, and the people do not simply try understand what he explains. Rather, the preacher and the people exult over what is in the Bible as it is being explained and applied. Preaching does not come after worship in the order of the service. Preaching is worship. The preacher worships—exults—over the word, trying his best to draw you into a worshipful response by the power of the Holy Spirit.”[5]
Building a Healthy Church Requires Expository Preaching.
If preaching is the central act of worship and expository preaching is the best method, building a healthy church requires the regular practice of expository preaching. Mark Dever adds insight in his landmark work, 9 Marks of a Healthy Church.
Living as we do after the Fall but before the Heavenly City, we are in a time when faith is central, and so the Word must be central, because God’s Holy Spirit creates His people by His Word! We can create a people by other means, and this is the great temptation of churches. We can create a people around a certain ethnicity. We can find people who will get excited about a building project or a denominational identity. We can create a people around a series of care groups, where each feels loved and cared for. We can create a people around social opportunities for young mothers or Caribbean cruises for singles. We can create a people around men’s groups. We can even create a people around the personality of the preacher. And God can surely use all of these things. But in the final analysis the people of God, the church of God, can only be created around the Word of God.[6]
Expository preaching is vital to the health of the local church. When pastors are tempted to listen to “experts” who claim that this form of preaching is outdated or that a new era demands new approaches, they should revisit the testimony of Scripture and church history, which beckon them forward. Dever agrees, saying, “Expository preaching is often the fountainhead of growth in a church. Let a good expositional ministry be established and watch what happens. Forget what the experts say. Watch hungry people have their lives transformed as the living God speaks to them through the power of his Word.”[7] Amen. We want the book. We need the book. God comes to us through the book. God builds his church through the book. Bring the book!
Notes:
Mohler, R. Albert. “The Center of Worship: Expository Preaching”, in A Guide to Expository Ministry, ed. Dan Dumas (Louisville: SBTS Press, 2012), 19.
Mohler, 21.
Robinson, Haddon. “What is Expository Preaching?” Bibliotheca Sacra 131 (January-March 1974); 57.
Murray, Iain. D.Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The Fight of Faith 1939-1961 (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1990), 2:261.
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-i-mean-by-preaching#preaching-is-exultation
Dever, Mark. Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, (Wheaton: Crossway, 2000), 36.
Dever, 37.