Catalyst 1: Lesson 11

Expositional Preaching

Since God’s flows with the story of God, then it is natural for the people of God hear the Bible taught to them in an expositional style of preaching. This form of preaching acknowledges the importance of the Historical, grammatical and cultural aspects of the Scriptures that lead us to the proper interpretation of its original meaning.

Why Preaching? “The first mark of a healthy church is expositional preaching. It is not the only mark; it is far and away the most important of them all, because if you get this one right, all the others should follow” (Dever, 9 Marks, 39).

God’s people God’s instructions for life not the preachers experience and opinions about life.

God has spoken and acts through His word: “The Word of God is the most powerful force in the universe” -Jonathan Leeman.

Creates: Genesis 1:1-3, Psalm 33:6, Hebrews 11:3, Job 26:14, 2 Peter 3:5-6, Psalm 19:1-3

Governs: Psalm 147:15-18, Psalm 29:3-9, Hebrews 1:1-3

Judges: Psalm 46:6, John 12:48, Hebrews 4:12-13

Saves: Genesis 1:26, 12:1-3, Exodus 19:5-6, Ezekiel 37:1-10, John 1:1, Luke 4:18-19, Romans 10:17, 1 Peter 1:23, James 1:18

Sanctifies: Acts 20:32, John 17:17

Disciples: John 8:31-32, 47, 51, 15:4, 7, 10

Presence: Deuteronomy 30:12-14, Romans 10:6-8

Builds: Ephesians 2:20, 4:11-13, 2 Timothy 3:16-17

God has commanded us:

“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” (Dever, 9 Marks, 50).

Danger of our Times: 2 Timothy 3:1-5, 4:3-4

You will always battle with the world’s church, the church down the street or across the city that is booming with physical growth, masses of people attending, but they are all starving people in a food line that only receive dirt in a bowl. These so called churches are filled with sin, have a disdain for all of God’s word, and are more about entertainment than soul care.

Calling of our Times: 2 Timothy 4:2

2 Timothy 4:2 ESV

2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

Why Expositional Preaching? If this is true, then whatever form of preaching that most clearly allows the Word of God to be heard deserves our commitment. “The first mark of a healthy church is expositional preaching. It is not the only first mark; it is far and away the most important of them all, because if you get this one right, all the others should follow” (Dever, 9 Marks, 42-43). What is Expositional Preaching

“Discussions about preaching divide it into three types: topical, textual, and expository. Topical messages usually combine a series of Bible verses that loosely connect with a theme. Textual preaching uses a short text or passage that generally serves as a gateway into whatever subject the preacher chooses to address. Neither the topical nor the textual method represents a serious effort to interpret, understand, explain, or apply God’s truth in the context of the Scripture(s) used.

By contrast, expository preaching focuses predominantly on the text(s) under consideration along with its (their) context(s). Exposition normally concentrates on a single text of Scripture, but it is sometimes possible for a thematic/theological message or a historical/biographical discourse to be expository in nature. An exposition may treat any length of passage.’ ( Macarthur, Rediscovering Expository Preaching)

1. Be prepared before the preparation(prayer, holiness, growth)

2. Be prepared in study hermeneutics, grammar, syntax, structure, etc)

3. Be prepared in delivery (organized and faithful delivery)

4. Be prepared after the sermon (trust in God’s sovereignty, give thanks for opportunity, follow up with God’s movement )

Biblical Theology

We have already studied the doctrine of God, doctrine of the Word, doctrine of Christ, Doctrine of sin and now we want to look at Biblical theology. In short, Biblical theology is seeing the bible as one whole. Its a unified story that God has divinely inspired by multiple authors, spanning centuries and cultures, and yet he is telling one unified story of his work of redemption that culminates and glorifies his Son Jesus Christ.

Systematic Theology is arranging the truth of God and his words in a systematic, topical form so that one better understands the whole of the Bible according to different subjects

Biblical Theology is the study of the Bible from a historical perspective, seeing the grand story of God’s redemptive work fro Genesis through Revelation, culminating in the work of and for the glory of Jesus Christ, God’s Son.

What we want to walk away from in the study of biblical theology is seeing the grand-narrative of the bible that leads us to ultimately honoring and worshiping Jesus Christ as the central figure of all the bible.

Let’s look at some biblical passages today and see how historically God is carrying out his redemptive themes, leading us to see them fulfilled in Christ.

Look at the OT story of Israel:

See Chart and discuss with people

The Gospel

is the “good news” that Jesus is the Christ, God’s Anointed King, and anyone who worships Jesus as King will enter the Kingdom of God.

How does the Gospel relate to the Kingdom?

Meaning of Gospel: In its broadest usage, “gospel” (εὐαγγέλιον, רה means a “good announcement” or a “good message” The NT writers use εὐαγγέλιον 76 times and its verb form (εὐαγγελίζω) 54 times. The background of this word is the declaration of good news in battle (cf. 2 Sam 4.10; 18.19-20, 22, 25, 27; 2 Kgs 7.9). The gospel is the proclamation of God’s victory over sin, Satan and death for the sake of his people. In its Christian sense, it is the good news or announcement of victory for the kingdom of God (cf. Mt. 4:23, 9:35, 24:14, Mk 1.1, 14; Lk 4.43, 8:1, 16:16, Acts 8:12).

“but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of (of victory for) the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose” (Luke 4:43)

Nature of the Kingdom: In the broad sense, God’s sovereignty is unchanging (cf. Ps 93.1-2, 1 Tim 6:15). God has always has and always will have unwavering kingship over his creation. Whereas other gods competed for sovereignty, Yahweh reigns supreme. In the narrow sense, God’s kingdom develops or unfolds throughout redemptive history. The kingdom of God develops, ebbs and flows, and eventually extends over the entire world (cf. Mt 13.31-32, Dt. 7:7, Is. 53:1-3, 1 Cor. 1:27, Dan. 2:34).

“The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. 2Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting” (Psalm 93:1-2)

“He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches” (Mt 13:31-32)

Expectations and Hopes of Israel: By the time we get to the NT, Israel had long awaited the arrival of God’s kingdom (cf. Mal 3.1-4; 4.1-6). Although the Kingdom is God’s people in God’s place under God’s reign, God’s people had experienced the exact opposite due to their sin (722, 586). They eagerly awaited Messiah to liberate them from foreign rule and establish them originally and forever in the promised land. This produced particular expectations about the Messiah that were mainly wrapped up in earthly categories (land, temple, etc.) and immediate fulfillment. Israel hoped for the time when God would defeat his enemies through Messiah and deliver his people into the blessings of his kingdom (Is 40.9; 52.7). Isaiah predicted the two sides of victory that Israel longed to see (Is 52.10). Defeat of God’s enemies. Deliverance of God’s people.

The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God (Isaiah 52:10)

Gospel Victory and Kingdom Fulfillment: Jesus reoriented their understanding of defeat of God’s enemies, deliverance of God’s people and the time of the fulfillment of the Kingdom. A greater enemy than they ever dreamed. A greater deliverance than they ever imagined. A timeline they never expected.

Defeat of God’s enemies

Inauguration (Christ’s rst coming). In his first advent, Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom by God’s judgment on God’s spiritual enemies (cf. Mt 12.28-29; Mk 1.27, John 12:31) and extend God’s mercy to God’s human enemies (cf. Luke 23:34).

Continuation (Church age). The church is not at war with people, but with Satan and other evil spirits (cf. Eph 6.11-12). Followers of Christ extend God’s mercy to God’s human enemies as a piece of Christ’s defeat of his spiritual enemies (2 Cor 5.20). The unity of the church is the exclamation point to the defeat of satan (Eph. 3:9-10)

Consummation (New Heavens/New Earth). When Christ returns he will defeat God’s spiritual and human enemies (Rev 19.13-15; 20.20).

Deliverance of God’s people

Inauguration (Christ’s rst coming). His twofold strategy at the cross was breaking the power of Satan over human beings (cf. Eph 1.20.; Col 2.15; 1 Jn 3.8) and setting people free from sin and death (cf. Eph 4.8; Col. 1:14-15; Heb 2.14-15).

Continuation (Church age). The Holy Spirit has been given to the people of God in power to produce witnesses for His glory. By His power, we participate in the proclamation and application of gospel victory to those who are enslaved (Acts 1:6-8, 26:18, Mt. 24:14)

Consummation (New Heavens/New Earth). God’s people will fully experience all the promised blessings of the kingdom (Rev 5.9-10; 11:15). The defeat of God’s enemies and deliverance of God’s people represent the arrival of victory for the kingdom of God in Christ. They will nally possess all the ends of the earth and enjoy unmitigated and unending peace.

Gospel Presentation

Four Elements (Read the verses that are in parentheses)

God. We start with God just as Paul did when he shared the gospel with those in Athens (Acts 17:24-25). When Paul spoke to people that had no concept of God, his goal was to explain to them the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 17:31). However, in order to explain the resurrection, Paul knew that the people rst needed to understand who God is. Therefore, he began as we read in Acts 17:24-25 with God as Creator, Lord, Sustainer of all things, who is not served by human hands. If God is Lord, this means He is sovereign and in control. He does not need me. I need Him. Therefore, He is the one who provides my life with purpose and meaning. And, He has dened the reason for my existence/being (Genesis 1:26-31). In this passage in Genesis, we read that God created me in His image. What does it mean that I have been created in the image of God? Certainly, this does not mean that He created me in His image physically because God is Spirit (John 4:24). What this does mean is that I was made to reect Him. I was made to reect His character to all the world...His attributes, His person, His dominion. I was made to be a mirror that shows all the world what He is like. This is why God gave Adam and Eve dominion over the Earth. It was to reect the dominion He has over the entire universe. This is why He told them to multiply and ll the Earth. God desired the reection of His glory in all the world. This is who God is and why He made us (1 John 1:5, Revelation 4:11, Romans 2:5-8, 11:33-36).

Man. However, we know that we do not reect God as we should. We do not show the world His character. Why? The answer can be found just two chapters later in the book of Genesis (Genesis 3:1-7). In this passage, it is clear that Satan, God’s enemy, attacked God’s creation by lying to them. Satan told Eve that disobedience would not cause death (Genesis 3:4). This was a lie because God told them in (Genesis 2:17) that disobedience would cause death. However, Satan also lied by convincing Adam and Eve that in disobedience they would nd freedom. By obtaining the knowledge that only belonged to God, they could become like God themselves (Genesis 3:6). The root of sin in the beginning was not merely disobedience. The root of sin was a desire to become God.

They desired to be Lord over their own lives. This desire led them to spiritual death. As a result, Jesus told the Jews of His day that in their nature, they were not children of God but children of the devil (John 8:44). As sinners, we share the desire of Satan to be our own god. Though Adam and Eve were created good, they and we became sinful by nature (Psalm 51:5, Romans 3:23). From birth, all people are alienated from God, hostile to God, and objects of the wrath of God (Ephesians 2:1-3).

Christ. What is the answer to this horrible reality? Our greatest problem is the fact that God, as we mentioned previously, is holy. When God revealed Himself to Moses, He told Moses that He was loving and merciful but also a just judge (Exodus 34:6-7). This verse is the mystery of the Bible. How is it possible that God can love and be merciful to sinners while not leaving the guilty unpunished? Because He is righteous, He has no choice but to damn guilty sinners. The only answer is what God was willing to do through His Son (Romans 3:23-26). Paul shows us in this passage in Romans that Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man, lived a sinless life, died on the cross to bear God’s wrath so that God could be just in loving those who trust in Jesus. God can love those who trust Jesus because He has punished Jesus in their place. God declared this victory by raising Jesus from the grave to demonstrate His victory over death (John 1:1, 1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 7:26, Romans 3:21-26, 2 Cor. 5:21, 1 Corinthians 15:20-22).

Response. How do we respond to this good news? The Scriptures teach that salvation is not earned by good works but received by grace through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). God calls everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and trust in Christ in order to be saved (Mark 1:15, Acts 20:21, Romans 10:9-10). This repentance and faith can be illustrated by seeing the parable of the treasure in the eld (Matthew 13:44). Jesus is the Treasure. Repentance is the leaving of everything with joy in order to have the eld because the treasure is worth innitely more. Faith is believing that the treasure and not this world that we leave behind will satisfy forever.

Conversion

Conversion: “Conversion certainly includes our own actions. We must make a sincere commitment. We must make a self-conscious decision. Even so, conversion-real conversion-is more than that. Scripture is clear in teaching that we are not all journeying toward God-some having found Him, others still seeking. Instead Scripture presents us as needing to have our hearts replaced, our minds transformed, our spirits given life. We can do none of this for ourselves...We need God to convert us.” Is this true? Is what we truly need so deep and out of our reach that only God could produce it in us? Are “human beings are so sinful that God’s sovereign grace must create and decisively fulfill every human inclination to believe and obey God” -John Piper, The Bondage of the Will, the Sovereignty of Grace, and the Glory of God.

Our Condition: The answer to the question depends principally on what we believe about our fundamental condition. What does it mean to be a sinner?

Sinners love darkness and hate the Light

o This is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed (John 3:19-20)

Sinners cannot submit to God (Matthew 22:37-40) o6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:6-8)

Sinners are spiritually dead (cf. Genesis 2:17, Colossians 2:13-14) o And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest (Ephesians 2:1-3)

Sinners are blind to the glory of Christ (cf. John 1:1, 3:1-3, 1 Corinthians 2:6-8, 13-14) o In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:4)

Sinners are damned (hupodikos) before God (cf. Romans 2:5, John 3:36, Romans 3:9-10)

o19Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:19-20)

God’s Command: What is God’s response to our condition? (Acts 17:30) God is not asking...He is commanding us to repent and believe (Mark 1:15). But, what is faith, and what is repentance? (Matthew 13:44; cf. Philippians 3:7-8) Are we capable of changing our minds and producing such faith and repentance? Can sinners who hate the Light, cannot submit to God’s Law, abide in spiritual death and blindness and who are damned produce this radical change?

30Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent (Acts 17:30)

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field (Matthew 13:44)

God’s Doing and Our Doing: In one of the most famous quotes in church history, Augustine declared, “O Lord, command what you will and give what you command.” God commands us to repent and believe. But, left to ourselves, that is precisely what we cannot do (John 6:44). This is why the Bible throughout refers to faith and repentance routinely as gifts of God (Acts 11:18, 13:48, 6:14, Philippians 1:29, 2 Timothy 2:24-26, Ephesians 2:8). God must make us alive in order to respond to Him in repentance and faith (1 John 5:1, John 3:3). This is why we refer to what precedes repentance and faith as regeneration. How does this happen? It happens as the Word of God is proclaimed and God calls ecaciously through His Word by His Spirit (Acts 2:39, Romans 8:29-30, 2 Timothy 1:9, 1 Corinthians 1:24, Matt. 22:14, Romans 10:17, 1 Peter 1:23). We act because God has acted upon us. The Spirit makes replaces our heart such that we respond to Christ in repentance and faith (Ezekiel 11:19) and applies to us all the Jesus accomplished for us on the cross (Ephesians 1:3-8, 2:4-10).

● “This is the elective, saving work of the Spirit of Christ in conjunction with the gospel’s outward call. This internal call powerfully and electively turns the sinner from his sin to Jesus Christ.” -Guy Waters, What did Jesus Mean by ‘Many are Called but Few are Chosen?’

● “We are not merely passive in [faith and obedience], nor yet does God do some and we do the rest, but God does all and we do all. God produces all and we act all. For that is what he produces, our own acts. God is the only proper author and fountain; we only are the proper actors. We are in different respects wholly passive and wholly active” (Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 21, 251)