Soli Deo Gloria

[ from the Christian Post ]

Prominent theologian Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr. encouraged more than 3,000 pastors at the 2008 Shepherds’ Conference Thursday night to uphold the tradition of expository preaching despite the growing movement among younger churches to reject this type of preaching style.

“We are living in strange times. There is a crisis in preaching. Most of us do not have an expectation that we will hear expositional preaching when we visit an evangelical church,” Mohler said, as reported by Pulpit magazine, the official online magazine of Shepherds’ Fellowship.

“Look at so much of what is going on in the church and see how little exposition is happening in the world. Why is there such a crisis in the church in regards to preaching?” the theologian asked.

Expository preaching is a form of preaching that focuses on a particular text or passage from Scripture and expounds on it. A defining characteristic of expository preaching is that it does not draw on non-biblical elements such as stories, jokes and anecdotes.

Mohler contends that preaching is all about reading the text and explaining it. But God must be with the preacher in order for him to correctly teach the Word.

The president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary used several Bible references to back his point that preachers are called to read and explain the Word of God.

“Let’s be clear. According to the Bible, exposition is preaching,” Mohler emphasized, according to Pulpit. “If it’s not reading the text and explaining it, it’s not preaching. We have to stop saying ‘I prefer expository preaching.’ Our diagnosis of the problem needs to center not in the technique, but in the faulty theology.”

Mohler concentrated on Deuteronomy 4:32-40 when explaining the theology of expository preaching. Some observations he made from the text are: the true and living God is the God who speaks; God’s true people are identified by hearing His voice and obeying it; God’s people serve and survive by hearing His Word; and as a result of all this, preaching should be the exposition of the Word.

Just like in the past, God still speaks to his people now and God’s true people can hear his voice, said the SBTS president. In Deuteronomy 4, it mentions that the Israelites heard the voice of God but still lived. Jesus in Matthew 13 told his disciples that they had been granted the opportunity to hear the voice of God.

“This is the same way we know we are believers. It’s all by grace. We hear because of the grace of God,” Mohler said, according to Pulpit. “God grants to us to hear in the same way he granted to Israel to hear.”

Mohler emphasized that people need to live by the Word, citing Paul in Romans 10 where he pointed out that the faith that saves comes by hearing the Word of God.

“It is not just how will we build bigger churches. It is whether our people will live or die,” he stressed. “We have the Bible. If the Bible is what we say it is, this puts preaching in its proper perspective. Is God going to speak or the preacher?”

“Do we arrogantly think we can bring the people life through our words?…We get up in front of God’s people, we read the text and then we explain it. We do it again and again until Jesus comes or we die,” Mohler said. “We yearn for people to leave the service and turn to one another and say, ‘Did we hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire and survive?’”

The Shepherds’ Conference, which is taking place March 5-9 in Sun Valley, Calif., is an annual gathering of members of the Shepherds’ Fellowship – an association (not a denomination) of churches advocating the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, the importance of expository preaching, and the centrality of a biblical philosophy of ministry. The fellowship serves as both a resource and an encouragement for pastors and Christian leaders around the globe.

Daily Walk, Theology