Accept No Substitutes
July 1, 1996
Puritan theologian William Perkins wrote that preaching "has four great
principles: to read the text distinctly, from canonical Scripture; to give
it sense and understanding according to the Scripture itself; to collect
a few profitable points of doctrine out of its natural sense; and to apply,
if you have the gift, the doctrines to the life and manner of men in a simple
and plain speech."
There is something refreshingly simple about that. Our aim as preachers is
not to be the most erudite scholar of the age. Our aim is not to titillate
and amuse. Our aim is not to build a big church.
Our aim is to take the sacred text, explain what it means, tie it to other
scriptures so people can see the whole a little better, and apply it to life
so it bites and heals, instructs and edifies. What better way to accomplish
this end than through expository preaching? Benefits of exposition
Some use the category "expository preaching" for all preaching that is faithful
to Scripture. I distinguish expository preaching from topical preaching,
textual preaching, and others, for the expository sermon must be controlled
by a Scripture text or texts. Expository preaching emerges directly and
demonstrably from a passage or passages of Scripture.
There are a number of reasons why expository preaching deserves to be our
primary method of proclamation. 1. It is the method least likely to stray from Scripture.
If
you are preaching on what the Bible says about self-esteem, for example,
undoubtedly you can find some useful insights. But even when you say entirely
true things, you will likely abstract them from the Bible's central story
line. Expository preaching keeps you to the main thing.
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