Consequences of Non-expositional Preaching, Part 2

A failure to do Bible exposition robs people of their only true source of help…it robs people of their only true source of help. There is really no help apart from the Lord. There is no help apart from understanding our God, understanding His promises, understanding His covenants, understanding His love, His care, His compassion, His mercy, His grace, understanding His sovereignty, understanding His providence, understanding all of these things. This is where the true help comes from… Excerpt from Video of Dr. John MacArthur.

I charge [thee] therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. 2 Timothy 4:1-5

The Consequences of Non-expositional Preaching, Part 2

By John MacArthur

Now for those of you who weren’t with us last time, just a simple definition. To exposit means to explain. It is not the same as the verb exposed, that’s a completely different verb. Exposition comes from exposit which simply means to explain. It should be obvious to all of us that any kind of preaching that is faithful to the Word of God is that kind of preaching which explains the Bible, that is what expositional preaching is. There are many ways to do it. There are many styles of doing it. There are different features that you can develop and emphasize in the process, but the objective of expositional preaching is to take a portion of Scripture and explain its meaning so that people understand it. We are concerned with people understanding the interpretation and then understanding the implication of that interpretation which is a universal implication, and then that the Holy Spirit may make a personal application.

It is essential, if one is to be faithful, to the mandate of Scripture that we preach the Word. I think we have made this not only clear in defending what we do, but perhaps even more clear in the doing of it. Through these 40 years together, we have endeavored every time we meet to explain to you the meaning of the Scripture.

Now it is essential for us to understand that the Bible is clear and is intended to be understood. That is at the foundation. It is important for us to recognize that we do not have an incomprehensible book, as some would make us think today. We do not have an unclear revelation but rather the Scripture is clear. It is to be understood with the rational mind. There are no secret meanings.

It is normal language, actual events, real people, true history and divine revelation of the spiritual realities that are embedded in this history. The Bible is clear. It is to be understood by the normal, rational means. You apply your mind to the text and you can understand its meaning…the same way you would solve a math problem, not by feelings, not by some esoteric experience, not by some transcendental idea, not by some intuition, but by dealing with your mind applied to the facts. There are no myths in the Bible. There are no allegories in the Bible. There are no transcendent mystical secrets to be revealed. This is just plain truth revealed in such a way as to be apprehended by normal reason.

What it yields is truth…divine truth. The essence of a Christian perspective is that when you apply your mind to the objective revelation of Scripture, that is a revelation outside of you rather than subjected, that would be something inside of you, when you apply yourself to this objective revelation with your mind, it will yield the truth that God wants you to know. And you don’t really have the revelation, you don’t really have the Scripture until you know that truth. Once you know that truth, it bears authority.

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Meet John MacArthur

John MacArthur is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, as well as an author, speaker, president of The Master’s College and Seminary, and featured teacher with the Grace to You ministry.