"Denny, you frequently describe your philosophy of preaching with the word, 'expository.' Just what does that mean and why do you insist it to be so important? Isn't all preaching basically the same?"I think I'll let Dr. Al Mohler Jr., the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, answer the question. Below are excerpts from Dr. Mohler's exceptional essay, ""The Sheer Weightlessness of So Many Sermons -- Why Expository Preaching Matters."
If preaching is central to Christian worship, what kind of preaching are we talking about? The sheer weightlessness of much contemporary preaching is a severe indictment of our superficial Christianity. When the pulpit ministry lacks substance, the church is severed from the word of God, and its health and faithfulness are immediately diminished…
Authentic Christian preaching carries a note of authority and a demand for decisions not found elsewhere in society. The solid truth of Christianity stands in stark contrast to the flimsy pretensions of postmodernity. Unfortunately, the appetite for serious preaching has virtually disappeared among many Christians who are content to have their fascinations with themselves encouraged from the pulpit…
Expository preaching begins with the preacher’s determination to present and explain the text of the Bible to his congregation. This simple starting point is a major issue of division in contemporary homiletics, for many preachers assume that they must begin with a human problem or question and then work backward to the biblical text. On the contrary, expository preaching begins with the text and works from the text to apply its truth to the lives of believers. If this determination and this commitment are not clear at the outset, something other than expository preaching will result…
Expository preaching is inescapably bound to the serious work of exegesis. If the preacher is to explain the text, he must first study the text. He must devote the hours of study and research necessary to understand the text. Along with his time, the pastor must invest the largest portion of his energy and intellectual engagement to this task of “accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15 NASB). There are no shortcuts to genuine exposition. The expositor is not an explorer who returns to tell tales of the journey. He is a guide who leads the people into the text and teaches the arts of Bible study and interpretation, demonstrating these essential disciplines in his preaching.
The expository preacher, moreover, yields to both the content and the shape of the biblical text as the inerrant and infallible word of God, divinely designed and directed. God has spoken through the inspired human authors of Scripture, and each different genre of biblical literature demands that the preacher give careful attention to the text, allowing it to shape the message…
The preacher rises in the pulpit to accomplish one central purpose: to set forth the message and meaning of the biblical text. This requires historical investigation, literary discernment, and the faithful employment of the analogia fidei to interpret the Scriptures by Scripture. It also requires the expositor to reject the modern conceit that what the text meant is not necessarily what it means. If the Bible is truly the enduring and eternal word of God, it means what it meant as it is newly applied in every generation.
Once the meaning of the text is set forth, the preacher moves to application. Application of biblical truth is a necessary task of expository preaching. But application must follow the diligent and disciplined task of explaining the text itself…
Application is absolutely necessary, but it is also fraught with danger. The chief danger may well be the temptation to believe that the preacher can or should manipulate the human heart. The preacher is responsible for setting forth the eternal word of Scripture. Only the Holy Spirit can apply that word to human hearts or even open eyes and ears to understand and receive the meaning of the text...
