“The Shepherd’s Conference blesses me every day in my ministry.”
-Steve Lawson
Every hour of spiritual awakening has been started by a recovery of Biblical expository preaching. The reformation turned Europe upside down by this. The puritans were known as expositors. The great awakening of Jonathan Edwards was marked by expository preaching. Every true revival has been ushered in my a recovery of Biblical preaching. Every true progress in church history is conditioned by a deep study of scripture. The preaching of the word of God is needed. It is the culmination of Sola Scriptura. There are five non-negotiables to Biblical preaching.
(Nehemiah 8:1) there was a cry and a hunger for the preaching of the word of God. The revival began 14 years prior, though. It began as Esra studied the word of God, mining it for every bit of truth that he could find. When God calls you to the ministry, He gives you an insatiable hunger and desire for His word. You will dig and you will dig and you will know that you will never get to the bottom of this book.
Ezra 7:10
For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.
Just as there were godly people in Jerusalem calling for the word of God, there are people who love the word of God today, calling for the book to be brought out, while churches are turning to entertainment and folly because it is what the unbelievers with no spiritual discernment are calling for.
The character of Biblical preaching is five-fold:
1. A biblical reading. see verse 3. Ezra began his exposition with a reading of the word of God. The epistles are filled with the command to read from the word of God. This is the only time that a sermon can be infallible.
2. A lengthy treatment. From early morning to midday the people remained attentive to the reading of the word. This was no sermonette written for Christianette. Those called by God delighted in this reading.
3. An authoritative posture. (v. 4) Ezra stood above the people behind a wooden podium. There is an authoritativeness about this. Ezra was not sitting on a stool sharing his feelings. He stood behind a pulpit to deliver the word of God to the people. The elders with Ezra stood behind him, and were all of one mind with him. This message was visible and could be heard coming to the people from above. And the people stood at attention for the reading of the word.
4. A God-exalting thrust. (v. 6) Ezra blessed the Lord and there was an unveiling of the glory of God in His word. And all of the people responded, “Amen, Amen” and they worshiped with their faces to the ground.
5. A precise explanation of the Biblical text. (v. 7) Until you have given the meaning of the text, you have not given the text. It is not about feelings, success, relationships or anything else man centered. True preaching is meant to give an explanation of the text of the Bible in the way that the text demands you to explain it. If you are not preaching to explain the meaning of the text, it is not expository, but suppository.
When the word of God is preached with the power of the spirit, you may labor many years without seeing this, but you can know that God will build up His people with His means. This will be done through repentance. Verse 9 shows the reaction of the people. They knew now how far from the Law they had lived, and they wept openly. The word of God is a mirror that allows us to see ourselves as God sees us. We see our sin and the need for grace. But this isn’t all. Once the spirit convicted the people, the people were told that this day is holy to our lord and to not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is their strength.
What an effect the word of God has on His people! The edge of expository preaching is that the people understood the words of life. This is what pastors are called to do. We are not to impliment programs or become the CEO of our local churches. We are to take the word of God and explain it to the people God has entrusted to us.
When asked how he turned Europe upside down. Luther said that he only taught, preached and wrote about God’s word. The word did it all.
General Session: Steve Lawson: Bring the Book!
“Every hour of spiritual awakening has been started by a recovery of Biblical expository preaching. The reformation turned Europe upside down by this. The puritans were known as expositors. The great awakening of Jonathan Edwards was marked by exposit…
I happened upon your post while reading about the history of expository preaching and appreciate it greatly.
Our church has recently suffered a very painful split. Having chosen some years ago to pursue the “Purpose Driven Church” model, expository preaching was abandoned for more “seeker friendly” messages. Since then there has been a marked shift in the tone and spiritual maturity of the church.
A few weeks ago 5 of our 6 elders were forced to resign because they questioned our church’s present course and requested that it be taken back to scripture for comparison. Another area that they had serious concerns about was teaching and that there was a need to return to expository preaching. This was met with groans from the congregation and heads being shook in disgust.
I’m curious how well Jesus did with this standard of the character of biblical preaching.
I wonder ifthe scorecard is non-negotiable. I think of when Jesus sat down in rabbinical fashion in the synagogue or preached in a level place (Luke 6). Surely we don’t want to say Jesus’ preaching wasn’t biblical.
First of all, these are just notes of what Steve Lawson said. I would not hold the authoritative position as meaning only that the preacher must be up on a stage, but the venue should be such that the one speaking can be heard by those in attendance.