What is Expository Preaching?
“Expository” is not a term we use often, but it’s one every Christian should understand. It can make the difference between whether the preaching you listen to is God’s Word or man’s—which is all the difference in the world.
Exposing What’s There
The root of the word is “expose.” Expository preaching is simply preaching that exposes God’s Word. It’s when the preacher points to the Bible and says, “Look at this. Let me show you what it says, what it means, and what the implications are for your life.”
Sounds obvious, right? Doesn’t that describe most preaching?
Human Wisdom Preaching
No, it doesn’t. Many preachers are masters at taking human wisdom and disguising it as biblical truth. They quote multiple Scripture passages for each of their points. They might go verse-by-verse through a chapter. But in reality, their main points come mostly from their own pool of knowledge. They have ideas they want to preach—lessons they’ve learned, things they’ve read in books, ideas that have arisen in their own heads—those are the sources of their sermon points, and the Bible verses are attached to make it seem biblical.
The Source of Insight
An expository preacher, on the other hand, doesn’t know what his points will be until he studies the passage. He learns the points from the text he’s preaching, so whatever the main point of the passage is, that’s the main point of the sermon. Whatever the subpoints of the passage, those are the subpoints of the sermon. Whatever the mood of the passage is, the purpose of the passage, that dictates the mood and purpose of the sermon.
In human wisdom preaching, the preacher thinks up the points and supports them with Bible verse. In expository preaching, the preacher doesn’t think up the points—he finds them in the passage and then shows them (exposes them) to the listener.
Expository preaching feeds the soul with nourishment from heaven; human wisdom does not. In fact, human wisdom actually empties the gospel of it’s power (1 Corinthians 1:17)
Expository preaching delivers the wisdom of God to the believer’s heart, causing spiritual strengthening and growth and a deepening love for God; Listening to human wisdom preaching is like eating a constant diet of only plastic fruit. It looks real, but over time you will become spiritually malnourished.
How to Discern
Whenever you listen to a sermon, pay close attention to the points of application for your life. Are the main lessons for application demanded by the Scripture text, or do they arise out of an illustration, story, or the pastor’s own experience?
Sermon List
The spreadsheet below provides a list of all Darrell Ferguson’s sermons (pen name, D. Richard Ferguson). You can search for a title or topic.