Expository preaching is the communication of a biblical concept, derived from and transmitted through a historical, grammatical, literary study of a passage in its context, which the Holy Spirit first applies to the personality and experience of the preacher, then through him to his hearers.

Thus, expository preaching means that the preacher (expositor) obtains his message from a particular text of Scripture and “exposes” or “expounds” that text by first laying bare the meaning and then applying the text to the contemporary life setting.  

The method of expository preaching will depend upon the literary form of the text.  That is, the expositor will preach verse-by-verse through epistolary Scripture, but will not necessarily do so with larger, narrative passages.  As Michael Duduit notes: “Expository sermons may be deductive or inductive; they may be propositional or narrative.  The guiding rule is that they take their ideas and forms from the text.”

Because the expositor believes in the “profitability of all Scripture,” he is committed to the systematic unfolding of all truth—specifically, preaching through books of the Bible.  Indeed, the preacher has the “whole counsel of God” to preach (Acts 20:27).  This conviction has led some expositors, such as John MacArthur, to conclude that “the only logical response to inerrant Scripture . . . is to preach it expositionally.”  John Stott agrees.  He states: “It is my contention that all true Christian preaching is expository preaching.”

The call for expository preaching is illustrated in the pages of Scripture.  The classic Old Testament example is found in Nehemiah 8:1-8.  Here, Ezra stands to read from the Law of Moses to the Israelites, who have recently returned from Babylonian exile.  Verse 7 states that the Levites “helped the people to understand the Law.”  The verb tense indicates that the Levites literally, “caused them to understand.” That is, the Levites exposed the Scriptures, successfully making clear the meaning.

Verse 8 continues the expositional pattern of reading and explaining the word: “so they read distinctly from the book” and “gave the sense.”  The text demonstrates that the Holy Spirit applied the biblical truths to the Israelites as verse 9 records their weeping in response to conviction when the word was preached.

The New Testament abounds with examples of expository preaching.  On the road to Emmaus, Jesus appeared to two disciples “and beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27).  The word translated “expounded” is a word which means, “to unfold the meaning; to interpret.”  Once again, the explanation of Scripture is effective as the Holy Spirit applies the biblical truth to the hearers who ask: “Did not our heart burn within us . . . while He opened the Scriptures to us? (v. 32)”  There also seems to be support for the method of systematic exposition in this passage.  The text reads that Jesus began at “Moses and all the Prophets.”  Implicit in the text is the idea that Jesus’ exposition occurred chronologically, from biblical book to biblical book.

This threefold biblical paradigm: presentation, explanation, and exhortation (characterized by Bryan Chapell) is seen in other texts such as the one quoted earlier (2 Timothy 4:2).  In this passage we observe the presentation of the word: “Preach the word!”  Next, we see the exhortation of the word: “Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering.”  Finally, we see the explanation of the word: “and doctrine.”

The threefold pattern is also utilized by the Apostle Paul as he preaches in Thessalonica.  Acts 17:1-4 relays that Paul “reasoned with [the Jews] from the Scriptures” (Presentation).  Next, Paul “explained and demonstrated” that Christ had suffered and died for them (Explanation).  Finally, the text implies that Paul exhorted the Jews to embrace Christ—a fact we infer from verse 4: “some of them were persuaded” (Exhortation).

Historically, where expository preaching has been practiced it has led to powerful results.  While it is unfortunate that the first few centuries of the church tended to follow the allegorical approach of the Alexandrian School, John Chrysostom (AD 347-407) stands apart as one of the first great expositors.  Following the Antiochene School of interpretation—which rejected the allegorical method—Chrysostom preached verse-by-verse and word-by-word expositions of many books of the Bible.

The medieval period also produced few expositors.  The combination of theology and philosophy during this time period resulted in a division of Scripture into “four senses;” the literal, typological, allegorical, and analogical.  Wycliff and Tyndale kindled the fire for the Reformation Period, which included outstanding expositors such as Calvin, Luther, and Knox.  The Reformation called for treating the Scripture in a “literal sense” only.  By this, the Reformers meant that the correct interpretation was the one which sought to discover the author’s intended meaning.  Calvin argued, for example, that the expositor, “misses [the] mark, or at least strays outside the limits, by the extent to which he leads his readers away from the meaning of the author.”

The hermeneutical idea of “authorial intent” is a minority view among mainline denominations.  Post-modern society has devolved into the contemporary practice of eisegesis (reading meaning into a passage) rather than exegesis (exposing the actual meaning).  So-called “reader-response criticism” leads many preachers to ask “what this text means to me” rather than “what this text means.”  

The expositor, however, must be guided by careful use of the historical grammatical method (Walter Kaiser prefers, “syntactical-theological”) of exegeting a biblical text.  Driven by the pre-commitment to the inspiration and profitability of all Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16), the expositor believes that the power of preaching is located within the meaning of the biblical passage.  Thus, he labors to discern what the author meant when he wrote to his original audience.  The expositor avoids “spritualizing” or “allegorizing” the text, but rather studies the context (immediate, book, and canonical) of the passage as a major determiner of what the text means.  Difficult passages will lead the expositor to practice the rule of “analogia scriptura”—Scripture interpreting Scripture—as the best means to interpret problematic texts.

Then, the expositor applies the rules of grammar and syntax.  He studies the text in its original language, taking care to note its structure.  Diagramming the passage—particularly epistolary genre—aids the expositor in discerning the overall pattern and flow of the passage.  He is especially careful to examine how clauses and words are used, particularly verbs.  This study allows the expositor to discover what Robinson calls the “big idea” or the “propositional truth” of the passage.  Perhaps James Cox’s “central idea” is the best term.  For, while many themes may be found within a text, one central idea sets the course for the sermon.  As Robinson says, “A sermon should be a bullet, not buckshot!” 

Next, the expositor forms his major points and sub-points from the structure of the text.  The points are not imposed upon the text, but as the term “expository” suggests, the points are to expose what the text clearly says.

Bryan Chapell challenges contemporary preachers to root the application of the central idea within the context of the purpose for the text’s inclusion in the canon.  That is, the expositor asks, “for what purpose is this passage written?”  Believing that there is a purpose for the text’s inclusion (2 Timothy 3:16) drives the expositor to consider what aspect of his fallen human condition requires the grace of the passage.  How does the passage address and “complete” both the original hearers and the modern hearers of the word?  Chapell calls this the “Fallen Condition Focus (FCF)” of the passage. 

Thus, true biblical preaching is not merely the distribution of biblical truth, nor is it merely the exhortation to adhere to certain ethical injunctions.  True Christian preaching is theologically rooted in the grace of God.  Indeed, it is Christ-centered preaching. 

Chapell’s emphasis is a welcome addition to the world of evangelical preaching.  Far too many sermons have been preached that are really no different than what one may hear in a Jewish synagogue or Mormon tabernacle.  Thus, we are reminded that true Christian preaching differs from any other form of public speaking in that it is rooted in God’s grace—such grace required by fallen man, and made possible only through the death of Christ.

Authors Sidney Greidanus and Graeme Goldsworthy both stress the need for good, Christocentric (Christ-centered) preaching.  Goldsworthy emphasizes the need for a sound, biblical theology and Griedanus correctly cautions against the practice of “Be-Like” messages—the imitation of biblical characters—which results in an anthropological focus rather than a Christological focus.

With respect to application, John Stott helpfully reminds us that the preacher must “bridge” the biblical text to the contemporary world.  The content of the message is derived from solid exegesis, but it is delivered to modern hearers in such a way as its relevance is made plain.  An all too frequent criticism of expository preaching is that it is “dry, dull, and boring.”  But surely this is the fault of the expositor, not expository preaching.  

The careful expositor, however, recognizes that the sermon is not merely a history lesson, nor a lesson on the verb tenses of the original languages.  The sermon is rather a message given by God for the purpose of moving men toward God through Jesus Christ.  Thus, the Christian preacher decodes the meaning of the original writer and then “bridges” the ancient text to his contemporary hearers by re-encoding it into their modern setting.  Henry Emerson Fosdick correctly observed that very few people come to church with a burning desire to know what happened to the Jebusites!  Therefore, the expositor must use good illustration and application to demonstrate the relevance of the biblical text to modern hearers.

Furthermore, application should run throughout the message so as to keep the contemporary hearer engaged.  Indeed, good expository sermon outlines will even carry application in the wording of main points and sub-points.  This practice gives the sermon a note of urgency and necessity.

​

​

​