THE CASE FOR THE SUPREMACY OF EXPOSITORY PREACHING

Dick Mayhue Senior Vice President and Dean, The Masters Seminary Senior Vice President and Provost, The Masters College INTRODUCTION A. Moral/Spiritual Responsibility

B. OT/NT Examples 1. Ezra Ezra 7:10 2. Apollos Acts 18:24

It is no secret that Christs Church is not at all in good health in many places of the world. She has been languishing because she has been fed, as the current line has it, junk food; all kinds of artificial preservatives and all sorts of unnatural substitutes have been served up to her. As a result, theological and Biblical malnutrition has afflicted the very generation that has taken such giant steps to make sure its physical health is not damaged by using foods or products that are carcinogenic or otherwise harmful to their physical bodies. Simultaneously, a worldwide spiritual famine resulting from the absence of any genuine publication of the Word of God (Amos 8:11) continues to run wild and almost unabated in most quarters of the Church. [Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Toward an Exegetical Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981), 7-8. Also see his article, The Crisis in Expository Preaching Today, in Preaching (Sept.Oct., 1995): 4, 6-8, 10, 12]

I.

THE REASON FOR EXPOSITORY PREACHING A. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

B. 2 Timothy 4:1-2

II.

A THEOLOGY OF EXPOSITORY PREACHING A. Why preach?

B. What should be preached?

C. Who preaches?

D. What is the preachers responsibility?

E. How did the preachers message begin?

F. How is Gods message to continue in its original state?

G. What is the final step that links inerrancy to biblical exposition?

It was his wish to arrive nearer at the primitive mode of expounding Scripture in his sermons. Hence when one asked him if he was ever afraid of running short of sermons some day, he repliedNo; I am just an interpreter of Scripture in my sermons; and when the Bible runs dry, then I shall. And in the same spirit he carefully avoided the too common mode of accommodating textsfastening a doctrine on the words, not drawing it from the obvious connection of the passage. He endeavored at all times to preach the mind of the Spirit in a passage; for he feared that to do otherwise would be to grieve the Spirit who had written it. Interpretation was thus a solemn matter to him. And yet, adhering scrupulously to this sure principle, he felt himself in no way restrained from using, for everyday necessities, all parts of the Old Testament as much as the New. His manner was first to ascertain the primary sense and application, and so proceed to handle it for present use. [Andrew A. Bonar, Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray McCheyne (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1978), 94]

III.

THE RELEVANCY OF EXPOSITORY PREACHING

IV.

THE MANDATE OF EXPOSITORY PREACHING A. Matthew 28:19-20

B. 1 Timothy 4:13

C. 2 Timothy 2:2

D. 2 Timothy 4:2

E. Titus 2:1

V.

THE DEFINITION OF EXPOSITORY PREACHING A. Possible criteria

B. Exposure to the text

C. Explanation of the text

D. Exhortation to obey the text

E. Five essential elements

In short, expository preaching demands that, by careful analysis of each text within its immediate context and the book to which it belongs, the full power of modern exegetical and theological scholarship be brought to bear upon our treatment of the Bible. The objective is not that the preacher may parade all this scholarship in the pulpit. Rather, it is that the preacher may speak faithfully out of solid knowledge of his text, and mount the pulpit steps as, at least, a workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. The preachers final step is the most crucial and most perilous of all. It is to relate the biblical message both faithfully and relevantly to modern life. At this point all his skill as a craftsman must come into play. We must be warned that faithful exposition of a text does not of itself produce an effective sermon. We need also to be warned, however, that faithfulness to the text is not to be sacrificed for the sake of what we presume to be

relevancy. This sacrifice too many modern preachers seem willing to make, producing, as a result, sermons that are a compound of moralistic advice, their own unauthoritative and sometimes unwise opinions, and the latest psychology. Expository preaching, by insisting that the message of the sermon coincide with the theme of the text, calls the preacher back to his true task: the proclamation of the Word of God in and through the Bible. [Greer W. Boyce, A Plea for Expository Preaching, Canadian Journal of Theology 8 (January 1962): 18-19]

VI.

UNDERSTANDING THE EXPOSITORY PROCESS A. Preparing the expositor-seven features

B. Processing and principlizing the biblical text 1. Processing

2. Principlizing

C. Pulling the expository message together

D. Preaching the exposition

VII.

THE CHALLENGE TO EXPOSITORY PREACHING

Through our preaching the Lord seeks to change mens lives. We are to be evangelists, to awaken men to their high calling in Christ. We are to be heralds, proclaiming the messages of God to men. We are to be ambassadors, calling men to be reconciled to God. We are to be shepherds, nourishing and caring for men day by day. We are to be

stewards of the mysteries of God, giving men the proper Word for their every need. We are to be witnesses, telling men of all that God has done for them. We are to be overseers, urging men to live their lives to God. We are to be ministers, preparing men to minister with us to others. As we reflect on each of these phases of our work, what emphasis each gives to the importance of preaching! What a task the Lord has given us! [Mark J. Steege, Can Expository Preaching Still Be Relevant in These Days? The Springfielder 34 (March 1971): 261]

THE PREACHERS MANDATES 1. Pray as though nothing of eternal value is going to happen unless God does it. 2. Prepare as giving my utmost for His highest. 3. Seek not to get a message from the Scripture, but seek the message of the Scripture. 4. Be satisfied not with producing good content, but with producing good people. 5. Attend carefully to private and public walk with God, knowing the congregation never rises to a standard higher than that being lived by the preacher. 6. Be persuaded that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. 7. Preach the Wordnot about the Word, not from the Word, not with the Wordaffirming it is only proclamations of Gods Word that carry Gods authority and His promise to bless. 8. Exalt Christ preeminently, trusting He will then draw people to Himself. 9. Balance declarations of salvation by faith alone with declarations describing the life Christ produces when He sees saving faith: transformed heart, desire to serve the Lord and not self, growing affection for His Word, increasing obedience, fruit of the Spirit, saltiness in society, maturing Christlikeness. 10. Depend solely upon God for translation of spiritual truth into life. 11. Preach Christs Word in Christ-like demeanor. 12. Agree it is impossible at one and the same time to impress people with Christ and with oneself. 13. Allow the preaching to exude the fruit of the Spirit, lest the preaching fail to produce Christlike lives. 14. Preach with humble gratitude, as one privileged to be an oracle of God. 15. Trust God to produce in the hearers His chosen purposesirrespective of whether the results are readily visible.

Courtesy of The Cornerstone Trust Box 1906, Cave Creek, AZ 85327