Expositional Preaching

II Peter 1:20-21, 3:1-2

2 Peter 1:20–21 KJV 1900

20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

2 Peter 3:1–2 KJV 1900

1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: 2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:

Why should expositional preaching matter to you?

Because God has chosen to reveal himself through his word.

The scripture is the means through which God has chosen to reveal himself. Thus, if you want to know God, you must know the scriptures as God intended.

The fundamental basis of any person's relationship with God is that we hear His Word and respond to it. Dever, Mark; Gilbert, Greg. Preach: Theology Meets Practice (p. 19). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

In expositional preaching we are assuming the authority of the scriptures.

Great Quotations (Jay, William)

Jay, William (June 16, 1789–October 14, 1858), was the son of John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the father of John Jay, the influential diplomat...in 1849, wrote this testimony in the introduction to one of his works: The writer is a believer in the Divine authority of the Scriptures—he acknowledges no standard of right and wrong but the Will of God, and denies the expediency of any act which is forbidden by laws dictated by Infinite Wisdom and Goodness....

Expositional preaching is preaching in service to the Word. It presumes a belief in the authority of Scripture—Dever, Mark. Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (3rd Edition) (9Marks) (p. 44). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Bible Doctrine Explanation and Scriptural Basis > Chapter 4: The Four Characteristics of Scripture: (1) Authority: How Do We Know that the Bible Is God’s Word?

The authority of Scripture means that all the words in Scripture are God’s words in such a way that to disbelieve or disobey any word of Scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God.

D. A. Carson Sermon Library Biblical Authority: The Exclusive Authority of Scripture for Faith and Practice (2 Timothy 3:10–17)

The Scripture itself is from God. Otherwise, what else does God-breathed mean? That is, it is authoritative precisely because it has God’s authority. You must not think of Scripture as having a kind of authority independent of God. Sometimes in the past we have almost given that impression.

Themelios: Volume 42, No. 1, April 2017 (Editorial: Subtle Ways to Abandon the Authority of Scripture in Our Lives (D. A. Carson))

EDITORIAL

Subtle Ways to Abandon the Authority of Scripture in Our Lives

D. A. Carson

Recently Eerdmans published The Authority of the Christian Scriptures.1...More recently, however, I have been pondering the fact that many Christians slide away from full confidence in the trustworthiness of Scripture for reasons that are not so much intellectual as broadly cultural...I’m reflecting on subtle ways in which we may reduce Scripture’s authority in our lives—and the “we” refers to many Christians in the world, especially the Western world, and not least pastors and scholars.

1. An Appeal to Selective Evidence

The most severe forms of this drift are well exemplified in the teaching and preaching of the HWPG—the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel. ...These breaches are so egregious that they are easy to spot. What I’m thinking of now is something subtler: the simple refusal to talk about disputed matters in order to sidestep controversy in the local church....

The best antidote is systematic expository preaching, for such preaching forces us to deal with texts as they come up.

In expositional preaching we are assuming that the scriptures are breathed by God

D. A. Carson Sermon Library Biblical Authority: The Exclusive Authority of Scripture for Faith and Practice (2 Timothy 3:10–17)

The point is, according to Paul, not the particular mode of inspiration in different passages but, rather, the product of inspiration, namely the text itself is God-breathed. That’s really crucial, because whatever mode of inspiration God uses in a particular instance, it’s still, if it is Scripture, God’s own product by whatever means. There could be all kinds of diversity of means and different human styles and different vocabularies.

In expositional preaching we are assuming that the scriptures are without error.

Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Bible Doctrine A. The Meaning of Inerrancy

The inerrancy of Scripture means that Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact.

Thus, as long as the scriptures are preached in a way that makes God’s intention in the passage clear, there is the authority of God that supports the message preached.

How do we know that expositional preaching does not matter as it should?

We listen with a point of preference instead of a point of reference.

Corporately, there is little testing of what the preacher is saying. Testing of what the preacher is preaching assumes that the preacher stands under the authority of God’s intention in the scriptures.

Generally, we listen to a lot of preaching without a critical ear — a criticism that is based on the authority of God’s Word. Galatians 4:17, 5:7, 5:12

Personally, we see preaching as a matter of taste or we confuse it with a kind of emotionalism.

I believe that there has been a reaction against what were called ‘the great pulpiteers’, especially of the second half of the last century. They were to be found in great numbers in England and also in the U.S.A. I always feel that the man who was most typical in this respect in the U.S.A. was Henry Ward Beecher. He illustrates perfectly the chief characteristics of the pulpiteer.

The term itself is very interesting, and I believe it is a very accurate one. These men were pulpiteers rather than preachers. I mean that they were men who could occupy a pulpit and dominate it, and dominate the people. They were professionals. There was a good deal of the element of showmanship in them, and they were experts at handling congregations and playing on their emotions. In the end they could do almost what they liked with them...You see, the form became more important than the substance, the oratory and the eloquence became things in and of themselves, and ultimately preaching became a form of entertainment. Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn; Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. Preaching and Preachers (p. 21). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

What does expositional preaching mean?

What it is not:

E.P. is not necessarily verse-by-verse, sequential preaching.

E.P. is not merely a different style like: Topical, Textual, Evangelistic…etc

Illustration:

“Can you give me one expository sermon that Jesus ever preached? In Acts 2…that one sermon that resulted in 3,000 people being saved — it was topical.” - John Hamblin

Statement #1

is only possible if you understand expository to mean verse-by-verse

assuming a unique role that Christ had in history, when scripture was still being written/developed

Statement #2

reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of what expository means

Peter gave an expository sermon on the Old Testament showing Christ as the point of redemptive OT fulfillment (similar to Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7).

Expositional preaching is exposing and heralding God’s intended meaning for a given passage and calling the hearers to a response.

Expositional preaching is exposing - that is to say that it is unveiling what is in the passage and NOT imposing personal meaning into the passage.

Heralding - is the proclamation of the truth to hearers. (monologue fashion)

God’s intended meaning - maintaining this maintains the authority of God and in-so-much as the preacher stays true to this, he is literally preaching the very word of God — the preacher becomes the mouth of God.

For a given passage - scripture is foundational for exposition. That is to say that this is not the exposition of a book. This does not make books wrong, but expositional preaching requires the scriptures.

And calling the hearers to a response - this call to response is often accomplished throughout the message and at the conclusion. This call to response is often accomplished through contextually sound applications.

This call to response is the appeal to the person, and it is what separates preaching from teaching which is merely a transfer of information.

That is to say:

Preaching is for transformation

Level of emotion is not what distinguishes preaching from teaching

Applications should submit to God’s intended meaning of a passage

What Is a Healthy Church? (Chapter Five: An Essential Mark of a Healthy Church: Expositional Preaching)

Expositional preaching is the kind of preaching that, quite simply, exposes God’s Word.

Rather, expositional preaching is preaching that takes for the point of a sermon the point of a particular passage of Scripture. - Dever, Mark. Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (3rd Edition) (9Marks) (p. 44). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

When should you expect expositional preaching?

Expositional preaching should be expected any time the church is corporately gathered for the express purpose of corporate worship, primarily taking place on Sunday mornings.

That is to say that every small group or every church assembly does not necessarily require expositional preaching.

How are we misled by well-meaning people?

Well-meaning people can mislead you when their form or function is more evident than the passage meaning.

Well-meaning people can mislead you when they use preacher language like context but not show how the context drives meaning.

they may tell you the historical or literary context, but then they begin to use other passages to move away from that particular passages originally intended meaning.

Well-meaning people can mislead you when they lead you to believe that modern-day definitions are ok to interpret ancient texts.

Exegetical Fallacies 2. Semantic anachronism

2. Semantic anachronism

This fallacy occurs when a late use of a word is read back into earlier literature. At the simplest level, it occurs within the same language, as when the Greek early church fathers use a word in a manner not demonstrably envisaged by the New Testament writers. It is not obvious, for instance, that their use of ἐπίσκοπος (episkopos, bishop) to designate a church leader who has oversight over several local churches has any New Testament warrant.

But the problem has a second face when we also add a change of language. Our word dynamite is etymologically derived from δύναμις (dynamis, power, or even miracle). I do not know how many times I have heard preachers offer some such rendering of Romans 1:16 as this: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the dynamite of God unto salvation for everyone who believes”—often with a knowing tilt of the head, as if something profound or even esoteric has been uttered. This is not just the old root fallacy revisited. It is worse: it is an appeal to a kind of reverse etymology, the root fallacy compounded by anachronism. Did Paul think of dynamite when he penned this word? And in any case, even to mention dynamite as a kind of analogy is singularly inappropriate. Dynamite blows things up, tears things down, rips out rock, gouges holes, destroys things. The power of God concerning which Paul speaks he often identifies with the power that raised Jesus from the dead (e.g., Eph. 1:18–20); and as it operates in us, its goal is εἰς σωτηρίαν (eis som tērian,“unto salvation,” Rom. 1:16, KJV), aiming for the wholeness and perfection implicit in the consummation of our salvation.

Well-meaning people can mislead you by emotional appeal that does not give doctrinal depth (i.e. nature of God, salvation, the church…etc)

Well-meaning people can mislead you by not making clear the connections to Jesus Christ.

Where do we go from here?

We must be convinced that knowing God through God’s Word requires knowing God’s intended meaning from a passage of scripture.

We must expect that our leaders/teachers will strive to expose God’s Word.

We must be cautious with messages, by well-meaning people, that are not rooted in the context of a passage.

We must listen for faithful applications of God’s intended message.