Expository Preaching

What is Expository Preaching? pt. 2

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

Yesterday we looked at the fact that in expository preaching the text drives the sermon, not the imagination or inclinations of the preacher. Most people have heard a preacher jump on his hobby-horse and use the biblical text to serve his own purposes. That is not expository preaching. As Luther said, “The pulpit is the throne for the Word of God.” So, how does a pastor guard against imposing his thoughts onto the biblical text?  Today’s post addresses the issues of hermeneutics, exegesis, original languages, grammar, word studies and syntax.

 

Hermeneutics and Exegesis

 

Bernard Ramm in his classic work Protestant Hermeneutics defined hermeneutics in the following way:

As a theological discipline, hermeneutics is the science of the correct interpretation of the Bible. It is a special application of the general science of linguistics and meaning. It seeks to formulate those particular rules that pertain to the special factors connected with the Bible. It stands in the same relationship to exegesis that a rulebook stands to a game. The rulebook is written in terms of reflection, analysis, and experience. The game is played by concrete actualization of the rules. The rules are not the game, and the game is meaningless without the rules. Hermeneutics proper is not exegesis, but exegesis is applied hermeneutics. [1]

Thus Ramm properly distinguishes between hermeneutics and exegesis. For those who are expositional preachers, their understanding of the text must be governed by a set of guidelines that allows the text to speak for itself without the interpreter being allowed to impose his own personal biases upon the text.

Although some would argue that this is impossible for any honest exegete to do [2], it is a task that can be done by the power of the Holy Spirit. The need to suppress these prejudices is why there is a need for the hermeneutical method. If the interpreter is allowed to import his own pre-understandings, as Osborne calls them, one must ask which pre-understandings are allowable and which are not? This begs the question, cannot the same omnipotent God who infallibly and inerrantly transmitted His Word to mankind also enlist the Holy Spirit to suppress our prejudices and assumptions and expose His understanding over our own ideas? I believe that He can and does. To assume anything less is to leave the hermeneutical process in a constant state of instability.

Use of Languages

Although the great Reformer Martin Luther strove to bring the biblical text into the common language of his people, it would not be accurate to say that Luther denied the need for the study of the Scriptures in the original languages. When asked whether the Bible translated into German was good enough for the man in the pulpit, Luther replied,

Without [the original] languages we could not have received the gospel. Languages are the scabbard that contains the sword of the Spirit; they are the [case] which contains the priceless jewels of antique thought; they are the vessel that holds the wine; and as the gospel says, they are the baskets in which the loaves and fishes are kept to feed the multitude. [3]

Although it is possible to study and preach expositionally without a familiarity and working knowledge of the biblical languages, the expositor will always be dependent upon the resources of those who do know the languages, grammar and syntax of the languages. The student of the Bible will be one more step removed from the biblical audience and will have that much more difficulty properly interpreting the Scriptures and unearthing the treasures of the Bible that can only be mined from one who is able to work in the original languages.

Grammatical/ Lexical/ Syntactical Studies

Because the biblical expositor believes that “not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matt 5:18), he must not only deal with the text to get the gist of what the Author is saying, but he must delve deeper into the text to look below the surface. Grammatical and lexical studies allow the exegete to get a better grasp of the way that words are arranged in the original languages as well as the specific words that were chosen by the human authors. Also involved in these types of studies are words studies as well as looking at how the individual words relate to one another, and where word structures and order occur elsewhere in the Bible.

Next we will look at the important of historical settings and context in expository preaching.

 

[1] Bernard Ramm, Protestant Biblical Interpretation: A Textbook of Hermeneutics, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1970), 11.

[2] For instance, Grant R. Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1991), 412, and John R. W. Stott, Between Two Worlds (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 185.

[3] W. Carlos Martin, The Life and Times of Martin Luther (New York:American Tract Society, 1866), 474-75 as quoted in John Piper, The Legacy of Sovereign Joy (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2000), 97.

 

What Is Expository Preaching? (pt. 1)

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

George Whitefield Preaching in Moorfields

Donald Grey Barnhouse said, “No man is ever going to be able to fill the pulpit adequately unless he spends thousands of hours year after year in the study of God’s Word.” [1]. Unfortunately, the popular pulpiteer is not trying to fill his pulpit as much as he is trying to fill his pews. Because of the great stress upon mega-church growth and pop psychology that has infected the church, many pulpits ring hollow on Sundays. The Word of God is no longer central in many churches and as can be expected when the church is not fed, it has become weak and malnourished on a steady diet of spiritual fast food (2Tim. 4:3).

In order for the church to once again become faithful and true to the One who bought her, she must return to the biblical mandate to preach the Word. Like a lion released from its cage, the Word needs to be proclaimed boldly from the pulpits once again. To return to this state, the church must embrace true expository preaching. I say “true” expositional preaching because so many today claim this term for their own brand of preaching all the while merely paying lip service to the Word and the exposition of its message.
So, what is an expository sermon? To begin with, we must examine the necessary foundation of every true expository sermon–the biblical text. Second, we must look at the acceptable method for proclaiming the truth of God. Finally, we will look at the powerful effect that such preaching will have upon those who hear the Word of God when it is allowed to speak for itself.
Let there be no doubt, as Donald Grey Barnhouse declared, expository preaching has come upon hard times among preachers because it takes hours of fervent labor. It is also not very popular amongst many in the pew who would rather have their felt needs met by a slick communicator who can relate to pop culture better than Bible times, while avoiding offensive themes such as sin and hell (2Tim. 4:3). Be assured that those who seek to please their Lord by proclaiming the unadulterated message of their God, there is no greater reward for the pastor or the flock that he tends.
THE EXPOSITORY SERMON -ITS FOUNDATION

Just in proportion as the Bible is honored or not, light or darkness, morality or immorality, true religion or superstition, liberty or despotism, good laws or bad, will be found in a land. …Read it in the history of the Church of Christ in the Middle Ages. What can be worse than the accounts we have of ignorance and superstition? But who can wonder? The times might well be dark, when men had not the light of the Bible? [2]

As Bishop Ryle noted, the times are darkest when the Scriptures are not placed up high to allow its light to shine into this dark world. This is the beauty of the expository sermon. By placing the text as king over the preacher and the congregation, the power of G0d’s voice is allowed to speak for itself the message that God intends.
The Text Drives the Sermon
Paul writing to his young disciple Timothy reminded him that it is the Scriptures alone he needed for his ministry in Ephesus. Referring to the Old Testament, Paul wrote, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (2Tim 3:16-17). That this was the main meat of what Timothy was to be teaching is evident. Paul instructed Timothy, “Until I come, give attention tot he public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching….Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you” (1Tim 4:13, 16). It is the Bible that has “the power of God for salvation” (Rom 1:16) and nothing else. Since there is no higher authority than God Himself, the text of Scripture must be central to the preaching task.
The following sections will deal with how that is to be properly carried out in expository preaching.

[1] R. Kent Hughes, 1001 Great Stories & Quotes (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1998), 329.

[2] J. C. Ryle, Light From Old Times (London, England: Charles J. Thynne & Jarvis, Ltd., 1924; reprint, Moscow, ID: Charles Nolan Publishers, 2000), 27-28.