Category Archives: Expository Preaching

Why expository preaching?

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‘Expository Preaching,’ writes Peter Adam, ‘is the preaching of the message of a book of the Bible, usually verse by verse, paragraph by paragraph, chapter by chapter, by explanation and application of it to the congregation.’

Here are fifteen argument in favour of expository preaching:-

  1. It explains and applies the Bible as it was actually written – not as a collection of quotations, useful texts, inspiring ideas or isolated stories, but as a sequence of sentences, paragraphs, and book.
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Expository, yet merely moralistic?

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Peter Adam points out that it is quite possible for a preacher to use the expository method and yet still remain stubbornly moralistic.

Thus (and I’m slightly paraphrasing here):-

  • Genesis 1 – the importance of creativity
  • Genesis 2 – caring for the environment
  • Genesis 3 – none of us is perfect
  • Genesis 4 – we must learn how to forgive

We need, says Adam, a Biblical theology as well as an expository method if we are to free our preaching from the dangers of mere moralism.…

Caution: expository preachers at work

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Iain H. Murray, associated for so many years with the Banner of Truth Trust, has a very wide knowledge of reformed theology and biography.  His cautions about some aspects or perceptions of expository preaching are well worth noting.

If, says Murray, expository preaching is defined as preaching which seeks to explain and apply the text of Scripture, then there is no argument.  But expository preaching has come to mean, for many, consecutive preaching through a passage, or book, of the Bible. …

John Stott on sermon preparation

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‘There is no one way to prepare sermons’, writes John Stott in I believe in preaching.  ‘Every preacher has to work out his own method, which suits his temperament and situation.’  Nevetheless, there are skills that can be learned and habits that can be acquired.  The following outline of the relevant chapter (6) in Stott’s book is taken largely from Xenos.

Choose Your Text

Of course, there must be a text, ‘for we are not speculators, but expositors’. …

On textual fidelity in preaching

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Expository preaching must remain faithful to the text of Scripture.  There are two ways, says John Stott, in which the expositor might depart from his text: forgetfulness and disloyalty.

G. Campbell Morgan, himself a fine expositor, noted of Benjamin Jowett, Master of Balliol College Oxford that he

declared that it was his habit to write his sermons, and then choose a text as a peg on which to hang them.  I am quite free to say…that the study of his sermons will reveal the accuracy of his statement, and show the peril of the method.…

Calvin: nine preaching engagements

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Peter Adam is Principal of Ridley Theological College in Melbourne, Australia.  In a recent lecture on John Calvin as a preacher, he sets out nine demanding engagements that Calvin sought to fulfil in his own preaching.

There are:-

1.  Engaging with God.  The preacher doesn’t just talk about God in some remote and objective way.  No: the preacher expects God to be present with and in his Word by his Spirit.

2.  Engaging with the 66 texts of the Bible. …

John Stott and Charles Simeon

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Timothy Dudley-Smith, in his fine biography of John Stott, draws some striking parallels between John Stott and  Charles Simeon (1759-1836).

Both were privileged sons of comparatively affluent parents, educated at public schools, undergraduates at Cambridge.  They shared a transforming experience of conversion to Christ, early and and severe trials and testing, and virtually a lifetime’s ministry in a single church.  Each cultivated habits well beyond the norm for early rising, disciplined prayer and the study of Scripture. 

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The importance of expository preaching

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I like Walter Liefeld’s explanation of why expository preaching is so important:-

  1. it conveys the biblical revelation of God and his will, protecting the sermon (and its hearers) from the preacher’s subjectivism.
  2. it teaches God’s word in the setting chosen by the Holy Spirit.  It anchors the preacher’s message in its contextual intention.
  3. it meets human needs.  It allows God’s word (rather than merely my own thoughts) to reach hearts.
  4. it directs the attention of the hearer to the Bible. 
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The road from text to sermon

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The effective expository preacher is involved in two different worlds

  • The world of the Bible
  • The contemporary world of himself and his congregation

The preacher needs to know how to develop the Biblical text into a message that will address people’s needs today.

The exegetical idea should be submited to three developmental questions:

  1. What does this mean?
  2. Is it true?
  3. What difference does it make?

Just four things can be done with a declarative statement

1. …