The Benefits of Expository Preaching

Introduction

Last time I preached I introduced the spiritual discipline of being under the preaching of the word of God. We looked at why it is important not just to read our bibles, but to listen to good, biblical preaching. It is important that our preaching be grounded firmly in the word of God and so a good healthy church must have a stable diet of what we call expository preaching. When I use that word what do I mean?

What is expositional preaching? (Various Views)

Anytime the bible is opened

Verse by verse preaching- this was called lectio continua- it is a continuous commentary on the phrases and words of the text line by line. The downside of this style of preaching is that it limits how much people can get. Imagine if you have a couple who are only going to be in your church for two years, do you really only want them to hear sermons on one book of the bible. So there has to be a balance.

dry academic teaching of a passage without application

A sermon on a portion of scripture in which the point of the passage is the point of the message. These sermons could be structured and sound different depending on genre and how you approach it. I could preach an expositional message of an overview of an entire book, I could take an entire chapter or I could take a single verse. Preaching a psalm is going to look different than preaching an epistle. Expositional preaching is not limited to preaching verse by verse though that can be a form of expositional preaching. Expositional preaching is about preaching and developing the main point of the text from the text.

Some have tried to say that all preaching should be expository preaching and usually they have in their mind verse by verse preaching, but that is inconsistent with what the bible actually models for us. I have done an analysis of all the sermons in the book of Acts and many of those sermons were not strictly expository. Some were topical sermons. We need to avoid extremes when it comes to this issue, but I believe expository preaching is a necessary part of a healthy church. If you were to analyze my sermons, generally Sunday morning messages are expository sermons while my Sunday evening messages have been primarily topical. A good healthy balance of the two is beneficial to the church, but tonight we are going to talk about the benefits of expository preaching. Our main text will be in Nehemiah 8.

Next week I will be focusing more on this text and really you will see how the same text can have multiple messages from them, but tonight we are going to focus on one verse.

Nehemiah 8:8 “So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.”

When we look at the example of Ezra here in this text, we see that he went through the text, taught the meaning and then helped them to understand what they read. Later we will see the application of that message to their lives. But Ezra models for us what we would call expository preaching.

The main point of Ezra’s message was what the text actually said and helping people understand and apply it to their lives. Now this sermon was no short 30 minute sermon. I don’t think many of us would have the stamina for what they did. The text says he did this from morning until midday- daybreak to noon which would be about 6 hours. I did some research and came up with an estimate of how long it would take to read the books of Moses. It is estimated that it would take about 14 hours to read the whole thing; so it is clear Ezra did not read the entire collection of books, but what he did do was read through and explain the text in its context giving the meaning. It is possible the people didn’t understand Hebrew clearly anymore and Ezra had to explain the meaning of the Hebrew to them.

When I lived in India, I visited around some of the Indian churches in our town to get a feel for what they were like. One church I attended was called El Shaddai back in the day men like Jack Hyles and John R. Rice used to travel to this brethren church. But when I walked in, the church had bamboo mats on the ground and thousands of people just sitting on the mats. The service lasted 6 hours and during the offerring everyone got up and stood in line to bring their offerring up front. I never took Katy because it was a little much for her and baby Chloe to handle. But that experience gave me a feel for what this was like.

We see this example in many places throughout scripture.

Examples of Expository preaching:

1. Luke 4:16-32— Jesus sermon

2. Hebrews 3-4 expounds on Psalm 95

Tonight I want to give you four biblical reason’s why expository preaching is important for the life of a church. When you look for a church this should be one of the things that you are looking for because you know you will be fed the word of God.

Reason 1- Expository preaching creates a more mature believer

2 Timothy 3:15–17 “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

We know this passage pretty well, but I want to point out that the key word all. All scripture. We believe that God inspired every word of the bible, but the passage goes on to say every word is profitable. It is useful in some way in our lives. Some are obviously more useful than others but they all serve a purpose. And the result is the man of God may be perfect. That word perfect means mature.

So let me explain why this is important. God gave us an entire bible filled with important things. They all meet some need in our lives and are necessary if we are going to become a mature believer. Andy Stanley was recently criticized for telling Christians they don’t need the OT. All scripture is needed for us to be the mature Christians God wants us to be.

Now let’s apply this to preaching. Many preachers around the country are topical preachers only. What that means is they bounce to many bible verses here and there. I am grateful that the word of God is preached, but what concerns me is what they skipped over in their preaching. It is easy to get sucked into preaching on the same 5 topics when we just preach topically. What about the harder to understand passages in scripture? Those are usually missed because they are harder to explain, but some of those passages are the meat of the word.

Merely preaching topically is like skipping a stone across the top of the water. It hits here and there, but it misses a lot. Expository preaching forces us to explore everything that God has given. It plunges the depths of the lake rather than staying on the surface.

Reason 2- Expository preaching teaches us that the authority in preaching is in God’s word not man’s word.

1 Corinthians 2:13 “Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”

Another temptation in preaching is to entertain or to expound on our own opinions. Stories, jokes, illustrations, political opinions all have their place in a sermon as accents or garnishes to the main feast of the word, but they should never replace the preaching of the word.

You guys ever go into one of those fancy restaurants and right beside your steak is that little green piece of dill or whatever it is. Imagine chomping down on that but ignoring the steak.

As Baptists, we believe in biblical authority. God’s word is our authority because God is our authority. Paul claims in this passage that when he first came to the Corinthians he did not use eloquent rhetoric vs 1 or deep wisdom vs 1; he didn’t come with enticing words vs 4. Vs 13 claims that his words were not men’s word’s but God’s words. Verse 5 tells us why: 1 Corinthians 2:5 “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”

The authority and the power of preaching comes from the word of God, not from my words.

Sometimes entire messages are built off of a story that the preacher has and I love stories. They encourage us and inspire us, but they are not God’s words. One person’s example though helpful is not authoritative. I have advocated for the practice of journaling as a way to meditate on the word of God. I strongly believe in its practice because of the example of godly men of the past and its benefit in my own life; but I do not have any authority to say you must do this. It is my story to tell how it has helped me, but it is not God’s words. My story still has a place but it cannot usurp the preaching of God’s word.

Sometimes messages are developed around the opinions of the preacher and then they go find verses to support their opinions. A lot of spiritual abuse and heresy sneaks in this way. But even innocuous things get brought up that may be good by themselves, but they are not God’s word. The pulpit is not a platform for our own opinions. Expositional preaching starts with the text and let’s it tell us what our opinions should be. We describe these two tendencies with two terms:

Eisogesis- reading into the text- probably one of the most egregious examples of this is when you allow a certain system of theology whether it is dispensationalism, covenant theology, KJV onlyism, Calvinism, Arminianism control your interpretations of the text; rather than letting the text speak for itself.

Exogesis- reading meaning out of the text- We want to find out what the text actually says and then preach on that. Our opinions granted will find their place in the application of the text, but those opinions should be biblically informed because you started with the text.

Reason 3- Expository preaching allows God to set the agenda for the church.

There are some topics that are uncomfortable to talk about publically and yet the bible speaks about those topics. Expository preaching allows God’s points to be our points. If God thought something was important enough to put it into scripture, don’t you think it is important enough to at least touch on it in our preaching. As a preacher, there are a handful of topics that are really important to me and I could preach on them all the time. Some preachers make a whole ministry of just doing that. But what if God wants you to hear more than that. Paul in his farewell address to the Ephesian elders claimed.

Acts 20:27 “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.”

I don’t think this verse means Paul preached on every verse of scripture though he had been in Ephesus for at least two years. But I want us to notice the words shunned not. Paul didn’t avoid certain topics because they were uncomfortable. Expository preaching forces the preacher to deal with whatever topics are in the bible. If I am preaching through the book of 1 Corinthians and I come across the passage in chapter 5 that talks about the man who committed incest with his step-mother, I am going to have to deal with that topic. Preaching expositionally and systematically keeps me from skipping things I don’t like.

We avoid certain biblical topics because:

they are uncomfortable- topics like sex, church discipline, extreme trauma

they are hard- election and foreknowledge, the role of Israel and the church, prophecy

they are confusing- the angels who left their first estate and committed fornication in 2 Peter and Jude

they might offend someone- anytime you preach on sin, you run the risk of offending someone, but preaching on issues the bible address that are polarizing can offend someone. Political issues addressed by the bible, cultural issues addressed by the bible, theological issues addressed by the bible, and moral issues addressed by the bible can all offend someone.

Not only does it keep me from skipping things I don’t like, it allows God to set the agenda for what our church needs to hear. Sometimes people pit the word and spirit against each other. This is a shame because the spirit inspired the word. As a preacher when I set out to decide what to preach this year, I spend a decent amount of time praying about it and asking God to lead me. Do you realize God’s spirit can lead you to preach this Sunday, but he can also lead you as to what you are supposed to do for the next year. Within the book I am preaching through there just may be something God really wants addressed.

Reason 4- Expository preaching teaches the church how to study and understand the word of God.

2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

As students of God’s word which is part of being a disciple, we must make sure that we understand exactly what the bible says before attempting to apply it to our lives. This verse is actually a perfect example of this principle because the first word study does not mean what we mean by study. Back in 1611, study meant to give attention to or be diligent. Paul is saying we need to be diligent to be approved unto God, but how do we do that. by rightly dividing the word of truth- the phrase was used for properly interpreting something, cutting truth from error.

Properly understanding and interpreting scripture does not come naturally. It comes with maturity and practice. But as a pastor I have an opportunity to help you with that by the use of expositional preaching. You will notice some common habits that I have when I preach ( I know some of them are annoying like saying do you understand) but some of them are good right?

When you see a therefore, look back to see why it is there.

Pointing out key words that have been repeated over and over again because they show us the main topic.

Contrasts

defining words

I often point out when Paul is telling us why something is true or what the expected result of something will be.

When I start a book, I give you the background and purpose for writing the book and I remind you of it continually as I progress through the book.

These are all important things to notice as we read scripture and sitting under expositional preaching exposes you to thinking like this, to noticing these things. So when you pick up your bible, you begin to see these connections.

Conclusion

I thought it was funny that I just primarily preached a topical message on expositional preaching, but even in topical preaching it is important to exposit the verses you use and not just grab a verse out of context. My heart tonight is to encourage you to appreciate the value of expositional preaching, to pay attention to how it can benefit you. And some day if you ever find yourself looking for a healthy church, to look for a steady diet of expository preaching.