Expository Preaching Is Not Enough

In this age of information, we need more Bible exposition. Men know more today and understand less because knowledge and wisdom are not the same. Only the Word of God can transform the heart while it fills the mind – and only the Spirit of God can make that happen.

I have a deep conviction that the most important words the preacher ever speaks are never his own – but rather, the very words of the living God. This is why preachers should slow down when they read the Scripture text. Read thoughtfully and meaningfully the inspired Word! It is also why it is impossible to find a “better” way to deal with the text than in the logical progression of truth in which the God of perfect order gave it. Follow the Author through the passage step by step and He will lead you to the desired destination.

Expository preaching simply allows God to speak for Himself. Exposition draws out of the text what God already put in, instead of reading into the text what we want to say. Expository preaching is not a style of preaching – every messenger will have his unique style – rather, it is consumed with the substance of preaching. We do not create the message; we discover and deliver it from the pages of Holy Scripture.

It is encouraging to see a renewed emphasis on the expositional approach to Scripture and a renewed hunger for it these days. Unfortunately, mere “exposition” is not enough. True expositors know this. Martin Lloyd-Jones is known as a model of expository preaching. In Sacred Anointing, author Tony Sargent made this insightful observation:

Most books on preaching stress the need for preparation, programs, and working on a clearly defined timetable. A random reading of modern contributions confirms the point. If reference is made to unction and dependence on the Spirit in the act of preaching, it tends to be incidental, a secondary feature for consideration. Lloyd-Jones would criticize such a grave omission. This is the reason many of the books on preaching fail to help preachers. They do not deal with this vital phenomenon.

There is indeed a miracle in what the Holy Spirit does during the act of preaching. We must guard against reducing the work of preaching to a mere academic exercise.

Topical vs. Expository Sermons

A great debate has raged in recent years over the advantages of topical or expository preaching. In my estimation, much of the debate misses the point entirely. The issue of Bible preaching is not how many texts are used, or how long a passage is studied. Rather, the crux of the matter is in how those texts are handled.

There are occasions when a topic needs to be addressed. This may best be done by “comparing Scripture with Scripture” from many texts. Our Lord Jesus and the New Testament preachers often did this. If a preacher were to deal with the sanctity of life, he could certainly stay in one text. However, he may be more effective by following this thread of this truth woven throughout the entire Bible. If the texts are dealt with properly in their context, giving attention to “rightly dividing the word,” it would not be a topical message; it would be a topical exposition.

On the other hand, a man could be preaching what he thinks to be a truly expository message and miss the point entirely. Digging into word studies and the intricacies of the passage while ignoring its connection to the larger scheme of Scripture misses the big idea of the passage altogether. It is not an effective exposition until it is connected to the whole of Scripture and the life of the hearer.

This is why the aim of preaching is not to be a particular type of sermon but a faithful explanation and practical application of God’s truth. We are not called to give sermons; we are called to deliver a message. Even expository preaching is not enough.

Accurate and Anointed

Someone who heard the great Bible teacher F.B. Meyer observed:

“We had many times listened to men who had handed us truth across the counter of their personality, but here was a man who drew up truth, clear, fresh and satisfying, out of the deep well of his own personal experience. We heard not simply texts and their exposition, but we were allowed to see the workings of a living soul under the healing touches of God’s Spirit, and the truth reached us with a recommendation from a life which could not be mistaken.”

Preaching must be more than an accurate dissecting of a Scripture text or a thorough treatment of a Bible subject. It must be a message anointed by God, given through a man who is operating in that anointing.

Expository preaching must be personal: the truth must first be applied to the life of the preacher before it is given to the congregation. Only truth that grips us will capture others.
Expository preaching must be prayerful: the preacher and the message must first be given to God before being delivered to an audience. Martin Luther said, “To pray well is to study well.” A man may shut the door to his study and develop a sermon, but when he shuts the door to his prayer closet he uncovers the God behind the passage. Have we been beyond the veil?
Expository preaching must be powerful: concerned first with the work of the Holy Spirit instead of the rhetoric of the messenger. You don’t have to say everything – you can’t! But the Holy Spirit has to speak. If any heart work is to be done, He is the One who does it. Leonard Ravenhill said, “Every preacher needs to be reminded that he is not a descendent of the Greek orator, but is the offspring of the Hebrew prophet.” Be filled with the Spirit!

More Than An Expositor

One of my favorite Bible preachers of a bygone generation is G. Campbell Morgan. In the wonderful biography of his life, Man of the Word, there is recorded this fascinating testimony given in one of his memorial services:

Dr. Campbell Morgan was a great expositor. This has been said and will be said again. He made the Bible a new and living Book, not only to the congregations who listened to him, but the vast multitude of people who read his articles and his books. He made the Bible a living Book to countless souls for whom before it was a dead Book…He was more than an expositor, he was a preacher; he scored like an airplane. That is the picture that comes not my mind. I travel in my memory to one of those times after a long exposition – the runway – the plane gradually lifted, and you get some flash, a kind of flash from the clouds – the plane was up and he was there, not so much the expositor as the preacher. Surely all true exposition ought to be like that. For the exposition of the Word of God, as that Word has been revealed in human experience through the prophets and saints of old, must lead to the flash of the living Word, illuminating the whole world of today. And Campbell Morgan’s expositions always did that.”

Some men never get off the runway. A Spirit-filled message should always lift us to God! And we must never make the goal of preaching anything but God.

Yes, by all means, exegete the Scriptures and expound on the text! But be sure that the conclusion does not merely lead to the end of the message. Be sure it leads to Jesus. It must help men know how to follow Him more closely.