Expository Preaching

The commonad to preach the Word

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Timothy 4:1-3).

The center of chruch life

Timothy was to read the Word, explain the Word, and exhort people to apply the truths contained in the Word. This is preaching of God’s Word. “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching” (1 Tim 4:13).

The focal point of church gathering

Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.

The focal point of expository preaching is often missing in many churches today. The emphasis of entertaining the audience or giving people a false sense of spirituality through mysticism or the manipulation of their emotions through music, lighting and the tenor of the worship leader’s voice is commonplace.

The purpose of expository preaching

The purpose of preaching is to educate God’s people about what God says in His Word. It is through the hearing of the truth of God through His Word combined with the power of the Holy Spirit where one becomes transformed by that truth and conformed to that truth. Inducing biblical change—being conformed into the image of Christ is the purpose of all biblical preaching.

This is based on a believer’s true need as determined by God. Renewing your mind comes from hearing the truth of God contained in Scripture. Paul writes in the Book of Romans, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom 12:2).

The method of expository preaching

Webster’s dictionary defines exposition as “a discourse to convey information or explain what is difficult to understand.” Applied to expository preaching, a preacher explains the meaning of Scripture, which may be difficult to understand.

Expository preaching is not a running commentary of Scripture. It is not a topical study of Bible texts loosely connected by a theme. It is not a message where a scripture is used as a launching point or gateway into whatever subject the preacher chooses to address.

Expository preaching focuses on a particular Scripture in light of its context. It contains a main proposition, an outline based on the text of Scripture, illustrations, and application of the meaning of the text.

Haddon Robinson defines expository preaching as:

“The presentation of biblical truth derived from and transmitted through a historical, grammatical, Scripture guided study of a passage in its context, which the Holy Spirit applies first to the life of the preacher and then through him to the congregation.”

The message clearly explains the original God intended meaning of His Word. Not what does this mean to you or me.

The message applies the Scriptural meaning for today

Expository preaching is represented in Nehemiah 8:8, where the prophet writes: “They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.”

To accomplish the desired result of understanding the meaning of Scripture, the expository preacher first begins with exegesis and ends with exposition. The term “exegesis” comes from exegete, which means to draw out from the text the truth that is in it. The opposite is “eisegesis” which means to put meaning into a text.

To illustrate this method, Nolan Howington describes the relationship between exegesis and exposition in the following manner: “The exegete is like the diver bringing up pearls from the ocean bed; an expositor is like the jeweler who arrays them in orderly fashion and in proper relation to each other.” (Rediscovering Expository Preaching, p. 17).