The Importance of Expository Preaching

Preaching is always an interesting subject to pastors, and it is true that pastors have the burden of preaching well. In addition, because the influence of preaching cannot be ignored in ministry, it can be said that the success of pastoral ministry and preaching are intertwined. Edwin Dagan mentions the importance of preaching in Christian history, saying:

Preaching is an essential part and a distinguishing feature of Christianity, and accordingly the larger history of general religious movements includes that of preaching. Here, as before, a reciprocal influence must be reckoned with: the movement has sometimes produced the preaching, the preaching sometimes the movement, but most commonly they have each helped the other.¹

Dargan continues, “Decline of spiritual life and activity in the churches is commonly accompanied by a lifeless, formal, unfruitful preaching, and this partly as cause, partly as effect.”² He means that the great revival of the church in Christian history has always come from the pulpit of the powerful Word. In Christian history, Dagan’s assertion that the revival of the church originated from the pulpit of the Word shows how great the influence of the sermon on the existence of the church.

John Stott said this about preaching: “All Christian sermons are expository sermons. … In expository sermons, the text of the Bible is … the master who guides and controls what the text says.”³ Martyn Lloyd-Jones also makes this clear. According to Lloyd-Jones, “Every sermon should be expository. … Whatever the case, it is my contention that it should be clear to people that what we are about to say must come from the Bible. We are preaching the Bible and its message [through preaching].”⁴ These arguments can be understood as the meaning that the biblical text can lead to reveal its meaning only through expository sermons. In this respect, Haddon Robinson’s definition of expository preaching shows the core of preaching that all preachers should pursue while revealing the characteristics of preaching mentioned above. Robinson defines expository sermons as the following:

Expository preaching is the communication of a biblical concept, derived from and transmitted through a historical, grammatical, and literary study of a passage in its context, which the Holy Spirit first applies to the personality and experience of the preacher, then through the preacher, applies to the hearers.⁵

Therefore, the preacher must first find out exactly what the author of the Bible is trying to convey to the believers through the Word of God. The meaning found from the text and the author’s intention must be applied to the preacher himself first through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and then conveyed to the congregation through his life and expository preaching.

In 2 Timothy 3:15-17, the apostle Paul mentions two purposes for writing the Bible.⁶ The first reason is to gain wisdom unto salvation by believing in Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 3:15). The second reason is to teach those who have been saved through Jesus Christ to become perfect as men of God and to live by doing good works (2 Timothy 3:16-17). If the purpose of writing the Bible is to receive salvation and to teach the life of a saved Christian, preaching can also be seen as having the same purposes as the purpose of writing the Bible.⁷ Therefore, the church needs expository sermons faithfully delivered according to the meaning of the text and the intention of the author.⁸ The church will experience the revival given through expository sermons delivered in this way.

¹ Edwin C. Dargan, A History of. Preaching: From the Apostolic Fathers to the Great Reformers AD 70-1572, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1968), 12.

² Dargan, Ibid., 13.

³ John R. W. Stott, Between Two Worlds: The Challenge of Preaching Today (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 125-26.

⁴ Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971), 75-76.

⁵ Haddon Robinson, Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001), 21. Also see, Timothy S. Warren, “Definition, Purpose, and Process,” unpublished Class Notes for PM 103C Expository Preaching 1 (Dallas Theological Seminary, Spring 2006), Department of Pastoral Ministries defines it this way: Expository preaching is the communication of a biblical proposition discovered from a spirit-directed exegetical/ theological interpretation of a text and applied by the Holy Spirit through a preacher into a specific audience for the glory of God.

⁶ The Bible mentioned at 2 Timothy 3:15-17 is originally referred to the Old Testament. both the Old and New Testaments are, however, inspired by the Holy Spirit, so it is understood that the Bible at 2 Timothy 3:15-17 indicates the purposes of writing the Old Testament and the New Testament.

⁷ For the purpose of preaching, see Daniel L. Akin, “Applying a Text-Driven Sermon,” in Text-Driven Preaching: God’s Word at the Heart of Every Sermon, ed. Daniel Akin, David Allen, and Ned Mathews (Nashville: B & H, 2010): 269-93; Chapell, Christ-Centered Preaching, 26-33; Robinson, Biblical Preaching, 106-12; Sunukjian, Invitation to Biblical Preaching, 12; and York, Preaching with Bold Assurance, 10-11.

⁸ Peter Juhl, Interpretation: An Essay in the Philosophy of Literary Criticism (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2014), 13-15. Earl Radmacher, “A Response to Author’s Intention and Biblical Interpretation,” in Hermeneutics, Inerrancy, and the Bible, ed. Earl D. Radmacher and Robert D. Preus (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984): 433; Bruce Vawter, “The Fuller Sense: Some Considerations,” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 26, no. 1 (January 1964): 88, as quoted in Radmacher, “A Response to Author’s Intention and Biblical Interpretation,” 437; and Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., “A Response to Author’s Intention and Biblical Interpretation,” in Hermeneutics, Inerrancy, and the Bible, ed. Earl D. Radmacher and Robert D. Preus (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984), 442.

BIBLIOGRAPHY - Books:

Greidanus, Sidney. The Modern Preacher and the Ancient Text: Interpreting and Preaching Biblical Literature. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988.

Sola Scriptura: Problems and Principles in Preaching Historical Texts. Toronto: Wedge, 1970.

Hirsch, E. D. Validity in Interpretation. New Haven, CT: Yale University, 1967.

Juhl, Peter. Interpretation: An Essay in the Philosophy of Literary Criticism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton U., 2014.

Kaiser, Walter C. The Majesty of God in the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007.

Toward an Exegetical Theology: Biblical Exegesis for Preaching and Teaching. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981.

Kuruvilla, Abraham. Privilege the Text: A Theological Hermeneutic for Preaching. Chicago: Moody, 2013.

Lloyd-Jones, Martyn. Preaching and Preachers. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971.

Robinson, Haddon. Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1980.

Stott, John. Between Two Worlds: The Challenge of Preaching Today. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982.

Sunukjian, Donald R. Invitation to Biblical Preaching. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2007.

Quicke, Michael J. Preaching as Worship: An Integrative Approach to Formation in Your Church. Grand Rapids: BakerBooks, 2011.

York, Hershael W., and Bert Decker. Preaching with Bold Assurance: A Solid and Enduring Approach to Engaging Exposition. Nashville: B&H, 2003.

BIBLIOGRAPHY - Articles:

Akin, Daniel L. “Applying a Text-Driven Sermon.” In Text-Driven Preaching: God’s Word at the Heart of Every Sermon, edited by. Daniel Akin, David Allen, and Ned Mathews, 269-93. Nashville: B&H, 2010.

Johnson, S. Lewis. “Response to Patrick Fairbairn and Biblical Hermeneutics as Related to the Quotations of the Old Testament in the New,” in Hermeneutics, Inerrancy, & the Bible. Edited by Earl D. Radmacher and Robert D. Preus, 789-99. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984.

Kaiser, Walter C. “The Present State of Old Testament Studies.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 18 (1975): 69-79.

“A Principlizing Model.” In Four Views on Moving beyond the Bible to Theology, edited by Gundry, Stanley N. and Gary T. Meadors, 19-50. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009.

Penny, Robert L. “An Examination of the Principles of Expository Preaching of David Martyn Lloyd-Jones.” D.Min diss., Harding Graduate School of Religion, 1980.

Robinson, Haddon. “Homiletics and Hermeneutics.” In Hermeneutics, Inerrancy, & the Bible, edited by Earl D. Radmacher and Robert D. Preus, 803-15. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984.

“The Relevance of Expository Preaching.” In Preaching to a Shifting Culture: 12 Perspectives on Communicating That Connects. Edited by Gibson, Scott M, 79-94. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004.

Waltke, Bruce K. “A Canonical Process Approach to the Psalms.” In Tradition and Testament: Essays in Honor of Charles Lee Feinberg. Edited by Feinberg, John S. and Paul D. Feinberg, 3-18. Chicago: Moody Press, 1981.

Warren, Timothy S. “Definition, Purpose & Process.” Unpublished Class Note for PM 103 Expository Preaching 1. Dallas Theological Seminary. Spring 2006.

“The Developmental Questions,” unpublished Class Notes for PM 103 Expository Preaching 1. Dallas Theological Seminary. Spring 2006.

“The Theological Process.” Unpublished Class Note for PM 104 Expository Preaching 2. Dallas Theological Seminary. Fall 2006.

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