expository preaching

“I want our church to be like an Acts 2 church.”
“Oh, Holy Spirit, come down in power and presence to us today.”
“The original church was the best, we should be like them. We can be like them.”

I hear and read comments like those a lot today. The liberal or emergent churches stand on stage with a fog machine and the praise band plays the same refrain over and over, millennials are swaying and hands are upstretched. They cry out for power and wisdom and for the Holy Spirit to descend upon them in force. They crave ever more potent “experiences” and “power” and “anointing” as the early church seemed to have had.

And yet there is one critical ingredient that they lack, and in so lacking, they will NEVER have the power of the spirit that they crave. Can you guess what that ingredient is?

The word of God.

Preaching from the Bible.

Expository preaching in the power of the Spirit.

Teaching the people from God’s word.

Do you realize how much preaching from God’s word took place in the first century church? ALL OF IT. Jesus, (in Luke 24:13-35) Peter, Stephen, Paul…all preached the Old Testament and taught the new covenant as given to them by Jesus. Sermons, sermons, sermons. Expository preaching is what drove the first century church of Acts. Preaching. Much of Acts are recorded sermons preaching God’s word.

The book of Acts gives a unique glimpse into the life and practice of the early church. It describes the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in Acts 2, the spread of the Gospel outside of Jerusalem in Acts 8 and to the Gentiles in Acts 10, how the church made decisions in regards to doctrine (Acts 15), and more.
The sermons recorded in Acts give us a window into the preaching ministries of Peter, Stephen, Philip, James, and Paul, along with the immediate impact those sermons had.
Below is a list of sermons preached in Acts along with a short description and reference for each are listed below. Not every passage below quotes the preacher’s sermon directly, but each passage will share something important about the content of the sermon or the response of the hearers. (source & chart below)

Many of these churches/preachers them tacitly or overtly declare expository preaching as old, dusty, and/or unnecessary. Or worse, some say it’s so easy it’s cheating. Yet such preaching is entirely necessary.

It is the preaching from God’s word that is the power. The liberal/emergent/millennials want power but they deny the vehicle that will bring them that power. They want wisdom but deny the only place where wisdom resides. They want Spirit power by bypass Jesus, who IS the Word.

From The Cripplegate, an excerpt from an interview with expositor Steven Lawson on the nature of expository preaching.

I believe that the Apostle Paul lays out the essentials of preaching in 1 Timothy 4:13 when he writes, “Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, and to teaching.”

In true expository preaching, there must be the reading of the text, the teaching of the text, and the exhorting with the text. Expository preaching informs the mind, ignites the heart, and impels the will.

The supposed preaching that only instructs the mind is not a sermon, but a lecture. The supposed preaching that merely touches the heart is not a sermon, but a mere devotion. The supposed preaching that merely challenges the will is not a sermon, but a manipulation. True expository preaching must address all three aspects of the inner life of a person — mind, emotion, and will. Anything less, is not expository preaching.

Is your preacher more excited to read the announcements than to read the word of God? Or does he unashamedly proclaim the Word in power and truth?

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5)

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Further Reading

Six Characteristics of a Healthy Church

[hint: one of them is expository preaching]

‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:15-20).

Often forgotten in the prophecies are the warnings Jesus gives to the churches in Revelation. As with many prophecies, there is a near fulfillment and a far fulfillment. The 7 letters to 7 churches that opens Revelation were actual letters sent to actual churches and actually read as warnings, encouragements or indictments against them. The second reason the letters were sent was to reveal seven different types of individuals/churches throughout history from then to now, and instruct them/us in God’s truth. Illustration: “To the Church in Laodicea”, Stephanus Garsia Placidus (11th cenury).

The last verse is the one I want to point to. Jesus is not ‘knocking at the door of your heart’ in this verse. It is obvious He is knocking at the door of the church. The church had become (and will become, like it is now) so pale and non-Gospel oriented that Jesus is outside it! Just think of Joel Osteen’s church at Lakewood and you have a perfect fulfillment of the kind of church Jesus is warning about here. Mr Osteen never preaches sin or wrath or judgment because he doesn’t want to offend anyone, wanting to stay positive. But how can a person repent if they don’t know they are sinning? He refuses to put a cross on his stage, because it might prove an “obstacle to anyone who might come.” But if they are not coming to the cross, what are they coming to??? Jesus is standing outside Mr Osteen’s church, knocking to get in.

That sad indictment is repeated over many parts of the body of Christ today. I pray you find a good church that has solid beliefs, and participate there. If your pastor stands on the foundational principles of the faith, and preaches them- support him. He is a rarity these days, and precious. Treat him like he is.

The decline of belief is symbiotic. If you attend a church like Lakewood for any length of time, even if you were hot for Jesus at first, you will fade into lukewarmness having remained unfed from the full counsel of God. A steady diet of corn flakes won’t sustain your body, and a steady diet of prosperity optimism won’t sustain your soul. You need meat! A well-rounded diet!

If the full counsel of God is preached, His perfect message of sin and wrath/mercy & redemption is held up and you will grow in Christ-likeness. Without the cross preached, who are the Lakewood/Laodicean congregants going to look like? Man, not God.

Therefore don’t shy away from sermon messages that preach “hellfire and brimstone.” Don’t feel proud because your pastor avoids the difficult passages in the Old Testament. If he doesn’t preach them, and you really cannot find a solid, well rounded church in your area, then the wonderful internet can bring any kind of solid, convicting sermon to you.

Above, unhinging a scripture verse
from its context leaves us ripe
for scripture-twisting interpretations

Look for a preacher who preaches the bible book-by-book. This is called expositional preaching. This simply means that the pastor is explaining the meaning of a passage in scripture verse by verse embedded in the historical and cultural background. Preaching that preaches a topic by choosing a subject and finding scripture texts that support it is all right, but there is a danger of getting weaker and weaker in the explanation of the topic. The worse case of topical preaching is Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer (who isn’t even biblically qualified to be a preacher because she is a woman,) and Beth Moore (ditto). Once you release the scripture from its context, you risk twisting it to suit man-made interpretations. It is the difference between shaking out a tapestry in the wind and letting one ribbon flutter. The ribbon of scripture needs to be attached to something, i.e, the context of culture and history and the other text surrounding it.

Most pastors have a church website nowadays where audio of their sermons can be found, or the website Oneplace.com hosts literally thousands of sermons by preachers who preach expositorily. Hischannel.com also has many good preachers in video.

The warning by Jesus is a prophecy, also. Are you in a church where “you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing?” Or are you like the praised church of Philadelphia: “you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name… you have kept My command to persevere…” (Rev 3:3b-4a). The Church at Philadelphia was praised for staying true to Jesus, persevering patiently. How did they stay on course so well? How does any church stay on course today? They stayed in the full Word. (Ps 119:105). Stay on the path of the word, and His light will guide your way.

Category: expository preaching

Why emergent/liberal churches will never have the power of the first century church they want

Are you hot, lukewarm, or cold? Your approach to the bible will reveal the answer