The Final Analysis
Chapter 12: Preaching That Reforms
Philip Ryken
Preaching has fallen out of vogue in most of the contemporary American church. "Stop preaching at me!" people say in these post-Christian times. "Spare me the sermon." If we consult a dictionary, we find that the first definition of the word preach is "to deliver a sermon," but the second is "to exhort in a . . . tiresome manner." For many churchgoers today, the second definition is the operative one: a sermon is assumed to be boring and probably annoying as well.
Preaching is also falling out of favor not only among nominal churchgoers but among Christians as well, which is a sign that our post-Christian culture is producing a post-Christian church. The listener rather than God is sovereign. There is an overall "dumbing down" of doctrine. Sermons are getting shorter; if they go longer than twenty minutes, people start to get restless. Churchgoers demand to be entertained, so in many churches the sermon has been replaced by music, testimonies, drama, or even videos.
Such preaching as there is tends to be more experiential than biblical, more humanistic than evangelistic. One popular trend is for preachers to tell "a simple story designed to teach a moral lesson, as opposed to a traditional dissection of a biblical text. Often it is a very personal tale of the preacher's trials and triumphs, with lots of emotional content and little thorny theology."153
Apparently ministers who resort to this form of communication have lost their confidence in the inherent power of God's Word. As a result, their congregations rarely hear the voice of God's Spirit speaking in Scripture. The post-Christian church no longer believes in the power of biblical preaching. Writing "An Appeal to All Pastors," online theologian Sam Storms states:
I can't tell you how many times I've asked people all across America, "Tell me about the strengths and weaknesses of your church," only to hear something like this: "Well, we've got a great youth program. And there's plenty of parking space. . . . But honestly, it doesn't seem like our pastor spends much time in the Word. He'll read a passage here and there, but he never goes very deep into its meaning. I get the feeling he doesn't think it's very relevant to our lives today. He shows some interesting video clips from recent movies and he's up to date on political events. But Scripture doesn't play a huge role in our services. I've even stopped bringing my Bible to church. I never seem to need it."154
A decline in biblical preaching is disastrous because the sermon is a divinely ordained means for bringing sinners to Christ. Consider this biblical line of reasoning: "'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?" (Rom. 10:13-14). The emphasis here is on preaching - not just the personal witness of someone who is living for Christ (although that is often part of what the Spirit uses to bring someone to faith), but the public proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. By the sheer force of divine logic, we are forced to admit that without hearing the Word preached in this way, sinners cannot be saved. In these post-Christian times, ministers are sometimes told to stop preaching to the unchurched. Yet gospel preaching is a necessary part of God's plan for their salvation.
Preaching is equally necessary for the Christian life. The gospel is not a form of self-help; it is a transforming message. Thus it is through the explanation and proclamation of God's Word - with exhortation - that believers grow in grace. Therefore, what the church needs in post-Christian times is preaching - biblical, expositional, practical preaching that proclaims Christ from all the Scriptures.
No Tolerance for Truth
Two problematic features of spiritual life in the twenty-first century are relativism and narcissism. Relativism is the denial of absolute meaning. The relativist says, "The truth is whatever you want it to be." Narcissism is the worship of the self. The narcissist asks, "What's in it for me?"
These attitudes are in the culture and in the church, where leaders who call themselves evangelicals openly advocate a more flexible approach to theological orthodoxy, and practice a more consumer-oriented style of congregation life. This attitude is exposed in the condemning review that Publisher's Weekly gave of a bestselling book by one of America's hottest preachers. This book, said the reviewer, is "a treatise on how to get God to serve the demands of self-centered individuals."155
If we are living in an age of relativism and narcissism, what are the implications for preaching? Obviously, Bible teaching will be out of favor. As sinners, we generally do not like to have our selfishness exposed; but this is one of the primary purposes of preaching the Bible. In a post-Christian culture, the last thing people want to hear is the truth about their self-centeredness. What preaching there is, therefore, tends to be therapeutic rather than prophetic. It aims to make people feel better about who they are rather than to challenge them to become, by God's grace, what they are not.
When The New York Times Magazine visited one mega-church in the desert southwest, it found the messages "light on liturgy" and heavy on "successful principles for living - how to discipline your children, how to reach your professional goals, how to invest your money, how to reduce your debt." The pastor "never talks about transforming your life through struggle, surrender or sacrifice; he talks about being happier by accepting Jesus." "If Oprah and Dr. Phil are doing it," the preacher said when interviewed, "why shouldn't we? We should be better at it because we have the power of God to offer."156 But how can we have the power of God unless we are using the Word of God, which is the only divinely empowered instrument for spiritual change?
This is the kind of preaching people are getting in the church today. But most people can be counted on not to want anyone to preach to them at all. The apostle Paul anticipated this centuries ago: "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 Tim. 4:3).
When Paul said, "the time is coming," what time did he have in mind? Probably the whole time between the first and second comings of Christ, between his resurrection and his return, which would include our own post-Christian times. The twenty-first century is one of the times when "people will not endure sound teaching." They will not have the patience to listen to theological instruction. And when they do hear what the Bible says, they will deny that it is truth from God. Instead, they will believe whatever they want to believe, listening only to teachers who tell them whatever they want to hear, so that they can do whatever they want to do. As the Scripture says, "They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths" (2 Tim. 4:4 NIV).
The New Evangelicalism
When the apostle Paul spoke about myths, he was referring to what people were thinking in the church. His concern was with those who had the appearance of godliness but denied its power (2 Tim. 3:5). In other words, he was worried about people who called themselves Christians but did not know Christ, who were unorthodox in their theology and unbiblical in their practice, who were still "doing church," even though their ministry was no longer animated by the gospel power of the Holy Spirit.
All of which leads us to ask this question: What dangerous doctrines confront the contemporary church? Each generation faces its own theological challenges, so it is necessary to identify the ideas that threaten to harm the church in the twenty-first century. What are the post-Christian denials of the power of God?
The winds of doctrinal change are sweeping through the evangelical church. Some colleges and seminaries are heading in the direction of what has been termed "post-conservative" evangelicalism. The new evangelicals move beyond the boundaries of the historic confessions, in some cases by introducing postmodern perspectives to Christianity. They are trying to get beyond what they see as the old conservative/liberal dichotomy. As a result, the following doctrines are coming under attack.
The doctrine of Scripture. This was an area of dispute starting in the nineteenth century and continuing throughout the twentieth century, culminating in America with "the Battle for the Bible." In many evangelical churches, the battle was won on behalf of infallibility and inerrancy - the Bible cannot and does not err. Yet the war may still be lost. Today there is widespread ignorance about what the Bible actually teaches. Even those who believe that Scripture is true deny that it is sufficient for evangelism, guidance, spiritual growth, or social change.157 They say that in addition to Scripture, other methods and techniques are needed.
Then there are the evangelical Bible scholars whose hermeneutical assumptions and exegetical methods are virtually indistinguishable from those employed by liberal scholars. The evangelical doctrine of biblical inerrancy is becoming notional rather than foundational. There is a rising suspicion of the term inerrancy. Scholars introduce so many questions and qualifications that they no longer clearly affirm the full truthfulness and authority of Scripture.
The doctrine of God. There is a movement among some evangelicals to advocate the "openness of God," or "open theism." This is an attempt to solve the mystery of divine sovereignty and human responsibility by denying that God has full knowledge of the future. The new evangelical deity is a risk-taker whose will is sometimes thwarted and whose plans often change in response to the actions of human beings. This doctrine of God is purported to be more faithful to the Scriptures. However, it is a radical departure from biblically orthodox teaching about divine foreknowledge. The true God is all-knowing. He says, "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done" (Isa. 46:9b-10a).
The doctrine of Christ. Here the trend is towards religious pluralism, as relativism comes to church. Many people believe that all religions are equally true, that they all provide equally valid perspectives on ultimate reality. In the church this takes the form of denying that Jesus is the only way to God. Today some scholars who claim to be evangelicals nevertheless claim that explicit personal faith in Jesus Christ is unnecessary for salvation. Under the influence of other world religions, they conclude that God must also offer forgiveness through non-Christian religions. Jesus Christ is one possible expression of salvation, but not its exclusive means.
This is yet another example of the way a post-Christian culture produces a post-Christian church. The truth is that God really does require faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. It is only by believing in him that anyone will not perish but receive everlasting life (John 3:16). "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
The doctrine of salvation. Evangelicals are forgetting and in some cases denying vital Reformation teaching on the doctrine of justification. Partly out of an eagerness to find common cause with Catholicism and also as the result of new perspectives on Paul and the law, some post-conservative evangelicals dismiss the necessity or even the possibility of receiving Christ's righteousness by faith alone. The biblical view is that God imputes or credits his righteousness to the believer, so that when we stand before him we are covered with the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ (e.g., Rom. 3:21-24). We are not justified by anything we do for ourselves, but only what Christ has done for us (see Eph. 2:8-9). By contrast, the Roman Catholic view includes good works as part of the basis for our justification, while the new perspectives on Paul and the law downplay the centrality of justification for the New Testament gospel.
Under these influences, some evangelicals are losing their grip on the Reformation principle of sola fide, the gospel of justification by faith alone. It is sometimes hard to get pastors and teachers to make a clear statement about what justification teaches, or about where it is found in the Bible, or about why the Reformers were right to say that the church stands or falls with its doctrine of justification.
These new theological trends are not peripheral matters but strike at the vitals of Christianity. They concern such fundamental doctrines as the sufficiency of Scripture, the sovereignty of God, the uniqueness of Christ, and the imputation of his righteousness. Each of these attacks on evangelical orthodoxy is a denial of God's power, just as Paul warned: a denial of God's power to give us a true word, or to rule over the world and the future, or to save us through the righteousness of Christ, and only through the righteousness of Christ. Unless these post-conservative denials are denied themselves, they will destroy evangelical theology and eventually the evangelical church. Whereas the twentieth century witnessed the decline of liberalism, the twenty-first century may well see the end of evangelicalism as a coherent Christian movement.
The Word That Is Preached
How should the church respond to these challenges? In a time of widespread biblical ignorance and increasing doctrinal confusion, how can Christians maintain their theological integrity? Paul's answer is very simple: "preach the word" (2 Tim. 4:2).
What ministers are to preach is the Word - that is, the Word of God. A faithful minister does not preach the latest news. He does not preach his private opinion, his personal experience, or his political agenda. He does not even preach his own theological tradition. What he preaches is God's eternal, infallible Word, as written in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Bryan Chapell defines expository preaching like this: "to say what God says" in such a way as "to make the meaning of the passage the message of the sermon."158
What kind of Word has God given us to preach? Paul reminded Timothy of several of its significant features. First, the Word comes from God. The Bible has a divine origin. People sometimes say that the Bible is inspired, and what they mean when they say "inspired" is "true." Yet the Bible actually teaches that God's Word is ex-spired: "All Scripture is breathed out by God." The Bible is the creative product of the Holy Spirit, and thus it bears God's own perfection and authority.
This is the problem with views of Scripture that emphasize the human element above the divine. Yes, the Bible is a human book, written by real human beings, who had their own experiences and abilities. But the humans who wrote the Bible were under the sovereign compulsion of God the Holy Spirit. Here Paul says "all Scripture" in order to show that each and every verse in the whole Bible is ex-spired in this way. This doctrine is sometimes called "plenary verbal inspiration." What it means is that all the words of Scripture are the very words of God, which is why we believe they are infallible and inerrant in the original manuscripts. The Bible is fully trustworthy and absolutely true in every respect. Therefore, what the minister reads and preaches is God's own Word - provided that he is committed to preaching what the Bible says and nothing else.
Second, the Word brings salvation through faith in Christ. This had been Timothy's own experience, as Paul reminded him: "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:14-15). Timothy had been raised on the Bible. His mother and grandmother taught him the Scriptures of the Old Testament, and in time, this brought him to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
The reason the Bible has this saving influence is that it is all about Jesus Christ. We do not have the Bible simply for its own sake, but because it brings us into a relationship with Jesus Christ, which it has the power to do because it is all about him! After he was raised from the dead, Jesus walked to Emmaus with two of his disciples, who were having trouble understanding the meaning of the crucifixion and the resurrection. Jesus wanted to help them, so "beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself" (Luke 24:27). Not only is all Scripture God-breathed, but all Scripture is also Christ-centered. The salvation that was expected in the Old Testament is exhibited in the Gospels and then explained in the rest of the New Testament. From Genesis to Revelation, God's Word is all about Jesus, and thus it has the power to bring salvation through faith in him.
The Bible does more than bring people to faith in Christ, however; it also helps them to grow in grace. So a third great truth is that the Word prepares the Christian to do God's work. This is the main thing that Paul wanted Timothy to know: "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Having been breathed out by God, Scripture is of inestimable practical benefit for knowing and serving him.
Paul uses four words to describe its usefulness - two that pertain to doctrine and two that pertain to life. God's Word is useful for teaching; in other words, for communicating theological truth. It is also useful for reproof, which means to refute doctrinal error. Taken together, these terms show that the Bible distinguishes between truth and error in theology. How important that is today, when the relativism of our postmodern context makes many people reluctant to say that anyone's views are wrong - even views that contradict Scripture. But that is what the Bible is for: telling truth from falsehood.
Scripture is equally useful for correction, which has to do with personal conduct. The Bible warns us away from sin, reproving our tendency to serve ourselves. More positively, it is profitable for training in righteousness. God's Word disciples us by teaching us the difference between the right way and the wrong way to live. It is not just our thinking that the Bible needs to correct, but also our living, especially because we are so self-centered.
To summarize, the Bible is useful for both doctrine and life, for creed as well as conduct. It is so useful that it provides total preparation for doing God's will. A Christian who knows the Bible is fully trained to serve God at home, at work, in the church, and everywhere else in a post-Christian culture. In the words of a hymn by James Montgomery Boice, "God's Word is all the Christian needs to grow in grace and do good deeds."159
Preaching the Word
What the minister is to do with this Word - this Word from God that brings salvation and prepares the Christian to do God's work - is to preach it. In his instructions to Timothy, the apostle Paul indicates what that preaching ought to include.
In the first place, preaching must be evangelical, which simply means that it takes as its central theme the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Greek word for preach (kerygma) is the word for proclamation. So when Paul told Timothy to preach, he was telling him to proclaim the good news of the gospel. A minister is a herald who makes the royal announcement of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Good preaching is always evangelistic, which perhaps is why Paul went on to remind Timothy to "do the work of an evangelist" (2 Tim. 4:5). Even though he was the pastor of an established church, Timothy still needed to reach the lost. Proclaiming the gospel was a necessary part of his ongoing work as a minister. A preacher is an evangelist who in one way or another is always pointing people to the cross and the empty tomb, and who is always saying to people, both in public and in private, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31).
This kind of proclamation requires boldness, a virtue that is sadly lacking in the contemporary church. One of the reasons evangelicalism is in decline is because Christians have lost their nerve. In these post-Christian times, we tend to be a subculture rather than a counterculture. We are all too content to live in our own private enclaves, reinforcing our own opinions by attending our own schools, forming our own clubs, and reading our own magazines. But it is not the herald's job to stay at home. His task is to go out and confront people with his message, which in this case is the most important message ever proclaimed: the free gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.
In addition to being evangelical, preaching must also be doctrinal. Preserving sound doctrine is a major emphasis in the Pastoral Epistles. According to Paul, anyone who wants to be a good minister must keep a close watch on himself and on his teaching (1 Tim. 4:16), "rightly handling the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15). He must maintain "the words of the faith" (1 Tim. 4:6), also described as "the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Tim. 6:3), and "the pattern of . . . sound words" (2 Tim. 1:13).
Paul understood that the future of the church depends on the defense of its doctrine. When he charged Timothy to preach the Word, therefore, what he had in mind was the preaching of biblical doctrine. This is clear from the end of 2 Timothy 4:2, where Timothy is told to preach "with complete patience and teaching," which again means "doctrine." The reason he needed to preach this way is given in the following verse: "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching" (2 Tim. 4:3). If the problem is unsound doctrine, then obviously the solution is good, doctrinal teaching.
In order to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century, preaching must be theologically informed. We face the same problem that Timothy faced: people are turning away from sound theology. They prefer what novelist David Brooks has termed "flexidoxy," or flexible orthodoxy.160 In response, we must apply the same remedy that Paul recommended to Timothy: Preach sound doctrine. This is especially important at a time when most people (including many churchgoers) have never been introduced to the basic principles of Christian theology. In these post-Christian times, a major pastoral task is to explain Christianity to people who really have no idea what it means. And once people come to Christ, they need to be taught the basic doctrines that will help them think and act the way a Christian should.
It would be a mistake to think that doctrinal preaching is something different from evangelical preaching. The New Testament makes little or no distinction between teaching and evangelism. The apostles understood that the gospel is for Christians as well as non-Christians. Thus their teaching was always evangelistic and their evangelism included a heavy dose of teaching. In keeping with their example, Christian preaching for post-Christian times must be squarely doctrinal as well as solidly evangelical. There can be no preaching for conversion without an announcement of Christ's divine person and saving work, both of which need to be explained in clear doctrinal terms. Similarly, no aspect of Christian theology should ever be taught apart from its relationship to Jesus Christ and his gospel, because when theological instruction is Christ-centered, it has the power to draw people to salvation in him. Our doctrine should always be evangelical, and our evangelism should always be doctrinally sound.
Preaching must also be practical, and this was Paul's primary concern for Timothy. The eternal truths of Scripture must be applied to contemporary culture and the needs of daily life. To that end, Paul reminded Timothy to be practical in his preaching. A good sermon serves to "reprove, rebuke, and exhort" (2 Tim. 4:2). To reprove is to correct; it is to warn those who persist in sin. To rebuke is to censure those who are in error, especially theological error. Here again there is a dual emphasis on life and doctrine, and thus a remedy for the narcissism and relativism of our times. The preacher has a responsibility to teach the Scriptures in a way that reforms belief and transforms conduct. Then to exhort is to encourage, pressing the truth of Scripture home to the heart. Biblical teaching is not effectively applied unless it comes with life-changing persuasion. Correcting, rebuking, and exhorting - these are not the only ways to apply a sermon, but together they remind us that good preaching is as practical as it is evangelical and doctrinal.
The Great Need for Bible Exposition
There is more than one way to preach a sermon. Not every minister should preach exactly the same way on every occasion. Even the sermons we read in the Bible show that different preaching contexts call for somewhat different sermons. But if faithful preaching includes these three elements - gospel presentation, theological explanation, and practical application - then not just any sermon will do. A minister who wants to preach in the biblical way will not spend all his time preaching revival sermons, such as an evangelist might preach at an evangelistic rally. Such sermons would be evangelical but probably not very doctrinal. He will not deliver theological lectures, such as a scholar might deliver at a seminary. Although such lectures presumably would be doctrinal, they might not be all that practical. Nor will a minister preach about his own spiritual experience every week, which could be practical, in a way, but might not be biblical.
If the church needs evangelical, doctrinal, practical preaching, then the kind of sermon that best satisfies the need is an expository sermon. The most effective way to keep Paul's charge to preach the Word is through biblical exposition: the careful and thorough communication of what the Bible actually says. This is the kind of preaching - I think really the only kind of preaching - that can re-form a deformed church back into the biblical pattern.
Expository preaching means making God's Word plain. It is the kind of preaching Paul was talking about in 2 Corinthians 4:2, where he said, "We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God." In an expository sermon the preacher simply tries to explain what the Bible teaches. The main points of his sermon are the points made by a particular text in the Bible. The minister not only begins with Scripture but also allows the Scripture to establish the context and content for his sermon. The way he decides what to say is by studying what the Bible has to say, so that the Scripture itself sets the agenda for his interpretation and application.
Expository preaching does not mean merely beginning with a biblical text and then communicating the preacher's own spiritual ideas or the values of contemporary culture. Rather it is preaching that is driven by Scripture and derived from its divine authority, so that God's Word is declared to God's people. Expository preaching carefully and thoroughly communicates what the Bible actually teaches. It involves explanation and proclamation with exhortation. In each worship service the minister preaches a particular Bible passage in a way that explores its context, explains its meaning, expounds its doctrine in connection to the person and work of Jesus Christ, and applies its gospel to the spiritual needs of those who listen, exalting the glory of God. Expository preaching, says Sinclair Ferguson, is preaching in which "the explanation of Scripture forms the dominant feature and the organizing principle of the message. . . . It sees as its fundamental task the explanation of the text in its context, the unfolding of its principles, and only then their application to the world of the hearers."161
I believe that this kind of preaching is most helpfully done when a minister follows the logic of the Scriptures, systematically preaching chapter by chapter and verse by verse through entire books of the Bible. This helps ensure that a congregation hears what God wants them to hear, and not simply what their minister thinks they ought to hear. But expository preaching is not so much a method as it is a mind-set. A minister who sees himself as an expositor knows that he is not the master of the Word but its servant. He has no other ambition than to preach what the Scriptures actually teach. His aim is to be faithful to God's Word so that his people can hear God's voice. He himself is only God's mouthpiece, speaking God's message into the ears of God's people, and thus into their minds and hearts. To that end, he carefully works his way through the Scriptures, reading, explaining, and applying them to his congregation. On occasion he may find it necessary to address some pastoral concerns in a topical fashion, but even then his sermons come from his exposition of particular passages of Scripture. Rather than focusing on his own spiritual experience, or on current events, or on what he perceives as his congregation's needs and interests, the minister gives his fullest attention to teaching what the Bible actually says.
During the Protestant Reformation John Calvin made a claim, which we can only pray to make about evangelical churches in the twenty-first century. He said: "It is certain that if we come to church we shall not hear only a mortal man speaking but we shall feel (even by his secret power) that God is speaking to our souls, that he is the teacher. He so touches us that the human voice enters into us and so profits us that we are refreshed and nourished by it. God calls us to him as if he had his mouth open and we saw him there in person."162 God can only speak this way through a sermon if it is expository - that is, if it makes God's Word plain. As Martin Luther said, "We must get the Word from our lips to people's ears; the Holy Spirit can carry the Word from their ears to their hearts."163 Expository preaching is preaching that uses human lips to get the Word of God from the biblical page to people's ears, and from there, into their hearts.
Expository preaching is able to do all three of the things that Paul said good preaching is supposed to do. It is evangelical because in expository preaching the minister preaches God's Word. We noted earlier that the whole Bible is about Christ. Therefore, when the Bible is preached, Christ is preached, and sinners are saved. As long as he is careful to preach Christ from all the Scriptures, an expository preacher is an evangelical preacher.
He is also a doctrinal preacher. All true and sound theology comes from the Word of God. A good expository preacher is careful to explain the doctrines that are taught in each passage of Scripture. As he preaches the Word, therefore, he is preaching biblical theology. Furthermore, he is preaching Christian doctrine in its biblical arrangement and according to its biblical proportions. As a preacher, how do I know what my people need to hear, and when, and how often? Generally speaking, I don't know. So the best thing to do is to preach the Scriptures in a systematic and comprehensive way, and then they will hear what God wants them to hear.
Expository preaching is also practical, which is precisely why Paul told Timothy to preach the Word. The Bible is the most practical book ever written. As Paul understood, practical preaching is biblical preaching - and the more biblical it is, the more practical. We believe that God's Word is what it says that it is: "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16). If that is what the Bible is good for, then it should be used for that purpose. It is astonishing how many personal problems can be resolved when someone hears even a few months of solid expository preaching. Of course, sometimes there is a need for personal counsel, for the private ministry of God's Word. But over time, good expository preaching - in which a minister is careful to draw out the practical implications of the biblical text - addresses the vast majority of spiritual needs.
The Final Analysis
Expository preaching may seem rather old-fashioned. This is an age of dialogue, and it is often said that preaching needs to become less dogmatic, more conversational. People want the minister to share, not preach. We are also told that Bible exposition is out of place in the information age. We should be going video, not audio. People need more stories and fewer propositions. They want preachers to be more personal, less doctrinal.
There are many reasons to be cautious about this kind of thinking. For one thing, information technology has its limitations as well as its strengths. Recently a United States history teacher at a first-rate Christian school conducted an informal survey of a class of eleventh graders who had been studying the Great Awakening. To illustrate the power of preaching, one Monday he asked them what they remembered about the sermons they had heard the day before. Roughly half of his students attended churches that were generally expository in their approach - the spoken word - while the other half attended churches with videos and Power Point presentations. Of the former group, nearly all of the students remembered the topic of the sermon, and in many cases they could reproduce a full outline. Of the second group - the group from the high-tech, visually-oriented congregations - half of the students admitted to sleeping during the sermon and the other half couldn't remember the main point of the message, let alone the outline. This admittedly unscientific survey points to an important truth: few things are more powerful and persuasive than a living voice preaching a living Word, and thus the personal proclamation of God and his gospel will never become obsolete.
Here it helps to know a little church history, because wherever systematic expository preaching has been practiced, it has brought great blessing to the church. This is well documented by Hughes Oliphant Old in his seven-volume history of preaching.164 The technical term for this method is lectio continua - the reading and teaching of consecutive passages of Scripture in their biblical context. One notable example is John Chrysostom, the great preacher of the fourth century, who transformed the city of Constantinople by expounding large sections the Bible, especially from the New Testament. Or consider Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin, who reformed the church primarily through their daily expositions of God's Word. There are more recent examples as well. From his pulpit in Aberdeen, William Still influenced an entire generation of Scottish ministers by preaching and teaching through the entire Bible in fifty years. Similarly, men like Martyn Lloyd-Jones, John Stott, and Dick Lucas exercised a widespread influence from their pulpits in London. And here in America the late James Montgomery Boice and R. Kent Hughes have inspired many men to become better preachers by publishing substantial expositional commentaries on Genesis, Psalms, John, Romans, and many other books of the Bible. The point is that systematic Bible exposition is always beneficial in life-changing and culture-transforming ways. And it will remain beneficial as long as there are sinners who need to be saved and sanctified.
The best reason to practice expository preaching is not simply that it works, however, but because it brings glory to God, which ought to be the ultimate purpose for everything we do. Expository preaching does this by making it clear that all spiritual blessing comes from God's Word and not from any human being. Expository preaching is the kind of preaching that is most in keeping with our belief that the Bible is the very Word of God. When a church grows through the plain teaching of God's Word, it becomes obvious that whatever has been accomplished is not due to the gifts of men but to the grace of God, who alone deserves all the glory.
The apostle Paul was well aware that preaching would not always be popular. This reality seems to lie behind his exhortation to "be ready in season and out of season" (2 Tim. 4:2). Usually this is taken as a comment on Timothy's own personal circumstances. Whether it is convenient for him or not, he must always be ready to preach at a moment's notice. However, the word for "season" (kairos) more properly refers to the times in which he lived. Sometimes preaching seems to be in season; at other times it is out of season, according to popular opinion. But whether it is in season or out of season, Bible exposition is the minister's God-given responsibility, and he must keep doing what God has told him to do. Preaching is God's primary and permanent method for converting sinners and teaching them to grow in grace.
It is an awesome responsibility to preach to the glory of God. Consider again the charge Paul gave to Timothy: "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: preach the word" (2 Tim. 4:1-2a). This is a solemn charge, urgently given with a view to Christ's second coming. A calling to pastoral ministry is serious business - a matter of spiritual life and death. Charles Spurgeon said:
Today there is not very much gospel about; the church has given it up; a great many preachers preach everything but the living truth. This is sad; but it is a strong reason why you and I should teach more gospel than ever. I have often thought to myself - Other men may teach Socialism, deliver lectures, or collect a band of fiddlers, that they may gather a congregation; but I will preach the gospel. I will preach more gospel than ever if I can; I will stick more to the one cardinal point. The other brethren can attend to the odds and ends, but I will keep to Christ crucified. To the men of vast ability, who are looking to the events of the day, I would say, "Allow one poor fool to keep to preaching the gospel." Beloved teachers, be fools for Christ, and keep to the gospel. Don't you be afraid: it has life in it, and it will grow: only you bring it out, and let it grow.165