Introduction To Expository Preaching

**Today’s post continues our weekly theme: “Preaching Post Fridays.” Every Friday, we look at some aspect of preaching & pastoring, including submissions by other pastors and scholars. Today’s post is my philosophy of expository preaching.**

The most familiar definition of preaching is the succinct statement by Phillips Brooks, who delivered the Lyman Beecher Lectures at Yale Divinity School in 1877. In his opening lecture, “The Two Elements In Preaching,” he declared, “Truth through personality is our description of real preaching.“

Brooks’ definition implicitly includes Aristotle’s much-valued rhetorical distinctions of logos (verbal content), ethos (perceived character of the speaker), and pathos (emotive features). 

Biblical preaching, however, is more than communicating a biblical text.  Paul instructed Timothy: “Preach the Word!  Be instant in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:2). Indeed, the primary goal of preaching is the transformation of lives to the glory of God.  In the words of John Albert Broadus, the preacher must “strike for a verdict.”  Thus, the preacher must preach to move both head and heart to the conformity of God’s Holy Word.

Biblical preaching is God’s means of conforming man to His perfect will.  Thus, preaching must always be preeminent.  The primacy of preaching is reflected in the early church.  In Jerusalem, the Twelve had said: “It is not desirable that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables” (Acts 6:2).  Therefore, seven men were selected and the disciples gave themselves to prayer “and to the ministry of the Word” (v.4).  The result was that “the Word of God spread, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem” (v.7).

Thus, the New Testament teaches that, in the words of John Stott, “preaching is indispensable to Christianity.”  Preachers remain divided, however, as to what constitutes the best kind of preaching.  There is much debate over topical preaching—a contemporary topic often loosely connected to selected verses, and textual preaching—the sermon takes a text as its starting point but the preacher has the freedom to move away from the biblical passage to address the various concerns of his hearers.  In the past two decades, many homileticians have argued for “telling the story,” or narrative preaching.  

Each of the aforementioned methods arguably has some element of merit. No method, however, comes closest to sound, biblical preaching as the method known as expository preaching. In expository preaching, the preacher is generally interested in taking a passage—or strophe—of Scripture and then reading, explaining, illustrating, and applying that passage of Scripture to the lives of the hearers. Thus, careful attention to the context of the text is crucial to good expository preaching.

The expository preacher has a high view of Scripture and a firm conviction about the profitability of all Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16).  Thus, for the expositor, all sermons must be rooted in and shaped from the biblical text at hand.  The thrust of the sermon comes from the text; the main points and sub-points coming directly from the text, as well.  Indeed, even the application is discerned by discovering the contemporary implications that flow naturally from the author’s intended meaning.

Definitions of expository preaching are numerous.  Perhaps the most succinct, yet comprehensive definition is set forth by Haddon Robinson:

Expository preaching is the communication of a biblical concept, derived from and transmitted through a historical, grammatical, literary study of a passage in its context, which the Holy Spirit first applies to the personality and experience of the preacher, then through him to his hearers.

Thus, expository preaching means that the preacher (expositor) obtains his message from a particular text of Scripture and “exposes” or “expounds” that text by first laying bare the meaning and then applying the text to the contemporary life setting.  

The method of expository preaching will depend upon the literary form of the text.  The expositor will preach verse-by-verse through epistolary Scripture, but will not necessarily do so with larger, narrative passages.  As Michael Duduit notes: “Expository sermons may be deductive or inductive; they may be propositional or narrative.  The guiding rule is that they take their ideas and forms from the text.”

Because the expositor believes in the “profitability of all Scripture,” he is committed to the systematic unfolding of all truth—specifically, preaching through books of the Bible.  Indeed, the preacher has the “whole counsel of God” to preach (Acts 20:27).  This conviction has led some expositors, such as John MacArthur, to conclude that “the only logical response to inerrant Scripture . . . is to preach it expositionally.”  John Stott agrees.  He states: “It is my contention that all true Christian preaching is expository preaching.”

The call for expository preaching is illustrated in the pages of Scripture.  The classic Old Testament example is found in Nehemiah 8:1-8.  Here, Ezra stands to read from the Law of Moses to the Israelites, who have recently returned from Babylonian exile.  Verse 7 states that the Levites “helped the people to understand the Law.”  The verb tense indicates that the Levites literally, “caused them to understand.” The Levites exposed the Scriptures, successfully making the meaning clear.

Verse 8 continues the expositional pattern of reading and explaining the word: “so they read distinctly from the book” and “gave the sense.”  The text demonstrates that the Holy Spirit applied the biblical truths to the Israelites as verse 9 records their weeping in response to conviction when the word was preached.

The New Testament abounds with examples of expository preaching.  On the road to Emmaus, Jesus appeared to two disciples “and beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27).  The word translated “expounded” is a word which means, “to unfold the meaning; to interpret.”  Once again, the explanation of Scripture is effective as the Holy Spirit applies the biblical truth to the hearers who ask: “Did not our heart burn within us . . . while He opened the Scriptures to us? (v. 32)”  There also seems to be support for the method of systematic exposition in this passage.  The text reads that Jesus began at “Moses and all the Prophets.”  Implicit in the text is the idea that Jesus’ exposition occurred chronologically, from biblical book to biblical book.

This threefold biblical paradigm: presentation, explanation, and exhortation (characterized by Bryan Chapell) is seen in other texts such as the one quoted earlier (2 Timothy 4:2).  In this passage we observe the presentation of the word: “Preach the word!”  Next, we see the exhortation of the word: “Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering.”  Finally, we see the explanation of the word: “and doctrine.”

The Apostle Paul also utilizes the threefold pattern as he preaches in Thessalonica.  Acts 17:1-4 relays that Paul “reasoned with [the Jews] from the Scriptures” (Presentation).  Next, Paul “explained and demonstrated” that Christ had suffered and died for them (Explanation).  Finally, the text implies that Paul exhorted the Jews to embrace Christ—a fact we infer from verse 4: “some of them were persuaded” (Exhortation).

Historically, when expository preaching was practiced, it led to powerful results.  While it is unfortunate that the first few centuries of the church tended to follow the allegorical approach of the Alexandrian School, John Chrysostom (AD 347-407) stands apart as one of the first great expositors.  Following the Antiochene School of interpretation—which rejected the allegorical method—Chrysostom preached verse-by-verse and word-by-word expositions of many books of the Bible.

The medieval period also produced few expositors.  The combination of theology and philosophy during this time period divided Scripture into “four senses;” the literal, typological, allegorical, and analogical.  Wycliff and Tyndale kindled the fire for the Reformation Period, which included outstanding expositors such as Calvin, Luther, and Knox.  The Reformation called for treating the Scripture in a “literal sense” only.  By this, the Reformers meant that the correct interpretation was the one which sought to discover the author’s intended meaning.  Calvin argued, for example, that the expositor, “misses [the] mark, or at least strays outside the limits, by the extent to which he leads his readers away from the meaning of the author.”

The hermeneutical idea of “authorial intent” is a minority view among mainline denominations.  Post-modern society has devolved into the contemporary practice of eisegesis (reading meaning into a passage) rather than exegesis (exposing the actual meaning).  So-called “reader-response criticism” leads many preachers to ask “what this text means to me” rather than “what this text means.”  

The expositor, however, must be guided by careful use of the historical grammatical method (Walter Kaiser prefers, “syntactical-theological”) of exegeting a biblical text.  Driven by the pre-commitment to the inspiration and profitability of all Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16), the expositor believes that the power of preaching is located within the meaning of the biblical passage.  Thus, he labors to discern what the author meant when he wrote to his original audience.  The expositor avoids “spiritualizing” or “allegorizing” the text, but instead studies the context (immediate, book, and canonical) of the passage as the primary determiner of what the text means.  Difficult passages will lead the expositor to practice the rule of “analogia scriptura”—Scripture interpreting Scripture—as the best means to interpret problematic texts.

Then, the expositor applies the rules of grammar and syntax.  He studies the text in its original language, noting its structure.  Diagramming the passage—particularly epistolary genre—aids the expositor in discerning the overall pattern and flow of the passage.  He is especially careful in examining how clauses and words are used, particularly verbs.  This study allows the expositor to discover what Robinson calls the “big idea” or the “propositional truth” of the passage.  Perhaps James Cox’s “central idea” is the best term.  While many themes may be found within a text, one central idea sets the course for the sermon.  As Robinson says, “A sermon should be a bullet, not buckshot!” 

Next, the expositor forms his major points and sub-points from the structure of the text.  The points are not imposed upon the text, but as the term “expository” suggests, the points are to expose what the text clearly says.

Bryan Chapell challenges contemporary preachers to root the application of the central idea within the context of the purpose for the text’s inclusion in the canon.  That is, the expositor asks, “for what purpose is this passage written?”  Believing that there is a purpose for the text’s inclusion (2 Timothy 3:16) drives the expositor to consider what aspect of his fallen human condition requires the grace of the passage.  How does the passage address and “complete” both the original and modern hearers of the word?  Chapell calls this the “Fallen Condition Focus (FCF)” of the passage. 

Thus, true biblical preaching is not merely the distribution of biblical truth or the exhortation to adhere to certain ethical injunctions. True Christian preaching is theologically rooted in the grace of God. Indeed, it is Christ-centered preaching. 

Chapell’s emphasis is a welcome addition to evangelical preaching. Far too many sermons have been preached that are really no different from what one may hear in a Jewish synagogue or Mormon tabernacle. Thus, we are reminded that true Christian preaching differs from any other form of public speaking in that it is rooted in God’s grace—such grace required by fallen man and made possible only through the death of Christ.

Authors Sidney Greidanus and Graeme Goldsworthy both stress the need for good, Christocentric (Christ-centered) preaching. Goldsworthy emphasizes the need for sound, biblical theology, and Griedanus correctly cautions against the practice of “Be-Like” messages—the imitation of biblical characters—which results in an anthropological rather than a Christological focus.

Concerning application, John Stott helpfully reminds us that the preacher must “bridge” the biblical text to the contemporary world.  The content of the message is derived from solid exegesis, but it is delivered to modern hearers in such a way as its relevance is made plain.  An all too frequent criticism of expository preaching is that it is “dry, dull, and boring.”  But surely this is the fault of the expositor, not expository preaching.  

The careful expositor, however, recognizes that the sermon is not merely a history lesson, nor a lesson on the verb tenses of the original languages.  Instead, the sermon is a message God has given to move men toward Himself through Jesus Christ.  Thus, the Christian preacher decodes the meaning of the original writer and then “bridges” the ancient text to his contemporary hearers by re-encoding it into their modern setting.  Henry Emerson Fosdick correctly observed that very few people come to church with a burning desire to know what happened to the Jebusites!  Therefore, the expositor must use good illustration and application to demonstrate the relevance of the biblical text to modern hearers.

Furthermore, application should run throughout the message to keep the contemporary hearer engaged. Indeed, good expository sermon outlines will even include application in the wording of main points and sub-points. This practice gives the sermon a note of urgency and necessity.

John Albert Broadus stated over a century ago: “The application of the sermon is not merely an appendage to the discussion or a subordinate part of it, it is the main thing to be done.”

A word of caution, however, is in order.  Robinson has written an excellent article concerning the appropriate use of application.  In “The Heresy of Application,” Robinson argues that application must derive from the text.  Where the text seems to speak only to the “then” of the biblical world, the expositor must carefully move up the “ladder of abstraction,” finding a common point of concern before he can rightly apply the text to the “now” of the contemporary world.  Thus, even application must be informed by the text being expounded.

This post argues for the primacy of expository preaching, believing it to be the best method for public proclamation.  Expository preaching is Scripturally illustrated and Scripturally based.  It is therefore the method least likely to stray from Scripture as the expositor is bound to the author’s meaning.  The preacher does not use the text like a “springboard” launching him into unpredictable terrain.  Nor does he engage in exegetically weak topical preaching, which, according to Welsh expositor Geoff Thomas, leads a congregation merely into a “barren familiarity with a few holy things.”

Instead, the expository sermon takes its content and structure from the inspired Word of God, leading hearers to consider the actual meaning and purpose of God’s message. 

A final benefit of expository preaching is worth noting: systematic, biblical exposition allows the preacher to handle “tough” issues.  As he is preaching verse-by-verse through sequential chapters, the expositor cannot avoid hard teachings such as marriage, divorce, slavery, or capital punishment.  Thus, the expositor—and his congregation—mature over time.  The congregation becomes accustomed to bringing their Bibles to worship, looking down and reading the open Word before them.  Hearers learn to locate authority in the Word of God, just as their preacher does.  Consequently, more hearers become increasingly aware that God speaks to them through the preached Word.

For this reason, we conclude by citing with approval the words of Sidney Greidanus: “Expository preaching is not just a method, but a commitment, a view of the essence of preaching, a homiletical approach to preach the Scriptures.”