For instance, we may so quickly pursue “what the Bible means to me,” greatly emphasizing “to me,” that we completely ignore the distance between ourselves and the text, and compromise the Bible’s historical specificity and thus the nature of God’s graciously given verbal revelation. Worse, the morbid person given to endless introspection will glumly focus on all the passages that establish human guilt; the triumphalistic extrovert will fasten on everything that shouts of victory; the self-seeking hedonist will find passages that speak of life and joy. It is far better for all Christians to read every part of the Scripture, think it through on its own terms, discern, so far as possible, its contribution to the whole of the canon, and then ask how such truth applies to themselves, and to the church and the society of which they are a part.

Because the Bible is God’s word, it is vitally important to cultivate humility as we read, to foster a meditative prayerfulness as we reflect and study, to seek the help of the Holy Spirit as we try to understand and obey, to confess sin and pursue purity of heart and motive and relationships as we grow in understanding. Failure in these areas may produce scholars, but not mature Christians.

Above all, we must remember that we will one day give an account to the one who says,

“This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.”  (Isa. 66:2)

- D.A. Carson, Collected Writings on Scripture, 52, 53

1. Faith comes by hearing (Rom. 10:14-15). We cannot call on Jesus unless we believe in him and we cannot believe in him unless we hear of him from the lips of a herald. Faith begins with words.
2. God has chosen word-gifts and word-offices to build up the church (Eph. 4:11-12).
3. God creates through his word (cf. Gen. 1; Col. 1:16). God’s work of creation is always a speech act.
4. God regenerates through his word. We are born again through the living and abiding word of God (1 Peter 1:23). And “word” here is not merely Jesus Christ, but the preaching Peter’s audience had received (v. 25).
5. God’s people are called to follow his commands and keep the laws. Jesus exhorted “if you love me, you will keep my commandments (John 14:15; cf. Deut. 11:1). We cannot love unless we are obedient and we cannot obey unless we are instructed in the law of the Lord. That is why the Psalmist not only rejoices in the person of God, but delights in his decrees and statutes (Psalm 119:16, 24).
6. Throughout the Bible, there is an unmistakable priority of hearing over sight. In distinction to the popular religions around them, God insisted that he was a God who would be unseen (cf. Exodus 20:3-4). When Moses asked to see God, the Lord refused, saying, “You cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live” (33:20). Instead, God caused his goodness to pass in front of Moses by proclaiming his name–“Yahweh”–and declaring his character–“I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (33:19). Biblical faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Heb. 11:1; cf. 1 Peter 1:8).

1. All the corporate worship we know of in the early church is saturated with words. While there are many things we don’t know about the worship of the early church in the Bible, we do know that they devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:42). We know they were devoted to the public reading of Scripture (1 Tim. 4:13). We know they brought hymns, words of instruction, revelations, tongues and interpretations (1 Cor. 14:26). In other words, while we can make inferences and prudential judgments about the role of visual arts in worship, we know for certain that their gatherings were infused with words.
2. Jesus Christ is the preexistent, incarnate, eternal, Word of God (John 1:1). It is sometimes objected that our focus in worship is to be on the Word (Jesus) not the word (the Bible). This is surely true. We worship Christ not the Scriptures. But the argument goes too far if it places a wedge between the incarnate Word of God (Jesus) and the word of God (Scripture). We don’t believe the Bible is Jesus Christ, but let us not miss the connection between the Word and the word. God created by means of the eternal Logos–his wisdom, his speech, his voice, his word. At the same time, we know that God created by and in Jesus Christ. Both truths demonstrate that the Logos is the mediating agent in all of creation and revelation, whether by means of the Divine Voice or incarnated in the person of Jesus Christ. In other words, the Word we see revealed and embodied in Jesus, is the same Word we meet in God’s self-disclosure in the pages of Scripture.
3. Paul places a high value on maximum intelligibility in corporate worship (1 Cor. 14:1-25). There are times and places for ambiguity and subtlety. Corporate worship, however, is for proclamation. And words are the least ambiguous (though not always crystal-clear themselves) means by which the truth can be proclaimed. Dance can honor God, painting can praise our Maker, and music can please the Lord, but no other art form can proclaim the truth with as much shared intelligibility as words. Even the parables, which are often cited as encouragement for using stories and drama, were too ambiguous. That’s why Jesus told parables: to be unclear. “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you,” Jesus told his disciples. “But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven” (Mark 4:11-12).
4. Jesus was a preacher. “But he said, ‘I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent’” (Luke 4:43).
5. The church was founded on the teaching of the apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:20; cf. John 16:13).
6. Teaching-preaching was a normative part of early Christian worship. The first Christians inherited from the Jews a strong tradition of teaching and preaching (cf. Acts 13:14-16; 15:21). From at least the time of Ezra, for example, we know that the Levites “helped the people understand the law.” They “read from the book, from the law of God, clearly; and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading” (Nehemiah 6:7-8; cf. 2 Chronicles 15:3). We see this same emphasis in the New Testament church. Paul was preeminently a preacher (Ephesians 3:7-9). He commanded Timothy mainly to preach and teach (1 Tim. 4:13) and to instruct others in the same (2 Tim. 4:2). Titus’ primary instructions are concerned with teaching what is in accord with sound doctrine (Titus 2:1). One of the main roles of the elder was to teach (1 Tim. 3:2; cf. Acts 6:2), so much so that “the elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching” (1 Tim. 5:17). Clearly, the authoritative teaching and preaching of Scripture was a normative part of the early Christian gatherings, if not the central event of their meeting together.
7. We live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord (Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4).
8. The gospel is first of all news (Rom 10:15). Words must be central in corporate worship because the gospel is first and foremost a message–not an experience or an expression or even a command, but a declaration of good news.
9. Powerful emotional experiences come through Holy Spirit anointed preaching. Giving priority to the word, does not mean short-circuiting our affections. Our aim is not wise and persuasive words, but a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words (1 Cor. 2:4, 13). True preaching does not simply fill our heads with knowledge, but removes the veil from our eyes (2 Cor. 4:3) and clearly portrays Christ crucified (Gal. 3:1).
10. The word of God is no dead letter. It is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, dividing soul and spirit, joint and marrow, and judging the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12; cf. Acts 2:37).
11. Transformation into Christ-likeness is not less than a mental-cognitive activity. We need words and truths in order that we might be transformed by the renewing of our minds and reach maturity in the knowledge of the Son of God (Romans 12:1-2; Eph. 4:13).
12. Jesus abides in us through his words. There is no rigid distinction between the person of the Jesus and the words of Jesus. We know Jesus through his words. “If you abide in me and my words abide in you,” Jesus tells his disciples, “ask whatever you wish and it will be given you” (John 15:7). For Jesus the two are interchangeable: remaining in him and his words remaining in us. When his words abide in us, we abide in him.
13. The promises of God sustain us in hard times. For example, the Psalmist says, “My comfort in suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life” (Psalm 119:49). And, “If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction” (119:92). And “I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word” (119:147). Only the word of God has the power to keep us going when life grinds us down.
14. God has exalted above all things his name and his word (Psalm 138:2).
15. When all else passes away, the word of God will remain (Isa 40:7-8; 1 Peter 1:24-25).
16. Our only weapon in spiritual warfare is the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God (Eph. 6:10-18; Matt. 4:1-11). We fight the devil’s temptations to disobedience and despair by claiming the promises of God and knowing who God declares us to be; that is, we resist the devil with words and by belief in God’s words to us.
17. All of Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16).
18. Through God’s great and precious promises, we are able to participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires (2 Peter 1:4).
19. The Scriptures cannot be broken (John 10:35). There is much flexibility when it comes to corporate worship, but since we know that the Scriptures are inviolable, and that we are sanctified by the truth, and that the word is truth (John 17:17), we would be foolish if we did not make a priority that which we know has the power to save, transform, and endure.

Thanks to Kevin DeYoung

Expository preaching involves the exposition, or comprehensive explanation, of the Scripture; that is, expository preaching presents the meaning and intent of a biblical text, making the passage clear and understandable. The word exposition is related to the word expose — the expository preacher’s goal is simply to expose the meaning of the Bible, verse by verse.

Expository preaching differs from topical preaching, in fact they are in direct contradiction to each other.  In topical sermons, the Bible passage is used as support material for the topic. In expository sermons, the Bible passage is the topic, and support materials are used to explain and clarify it.   Expository preaching solves all the problems that are created by topical preaching.

In expository preaching context is a primary focus,  all the Bible is taught, and personal biases are negated.  The focus is on the Word of God and on nothing else.  Bryan Chapell, author of Christ-Centered Preaching says, “An expositor is solemnly bound to say what God says.   In an expository message we relate precisely what a text of Scripture says. An expository message gets its main points and its sub-points directly from the text.”

To sum it up, expository preaching tends to lead the pastor to preach the true message of Scripture.  Topical preaching tends to lead the pastor to use Scripture to preach his own message.  Clearly expository preaching is the method of preaching in which pastors should be committed.

Sadly, this pragmatic approach has absolutely no scriptural support whatsoever, and in fact, is an outright denial of the true spiritual power that builds, protects, and strengthens the Church. This current practice of casting off our biblical arsenal to mollify the world does not make us stronger, it only weakens us and leaves us open to spiritual attack by the enemies of Christ.

In Ephesians 6:13-18, the Apostle Paul lays out the full armor of God with which the Church must fit herself as she struggles against the world forces of this darkness. We are to stand firm in the Spirit and the Gospel by putting on the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness, donning the helmet of salvation, wielding the sword of the Spirit, carrying the shield of faith, and utilizing prayer at all times.

Many Christians have mistakenly assumed that these armaments are merely metaphors for the personal tools of faith that the individual believer uses to fight a private battle against the devil. Others see these implements as biblically-mandated weapons for the visible Church to wield political or military power against mortal enemies. But such viewpoints severely limit or distort the profound meaning that Paul is trying to convey to us in this teaching. The equipping of the prophetic full armor of God upon the Church is much more startling and humbling in its significance.

To truly understand the point of the passage, one must see the striking similarities between Paul’s description of the armor of God and the instruments of warfare that the coming Messiah is shown wearing in the Old Testament, specifically in Isaiah 11:5, 49:2, 52:6-7, 59:16-17 and Psalm 35:1-3. Paul’s use of this Old Testament messianic imagery in his letter to the Ephesians is no small coincidence, and it would serve us well to take notice of it.

When we read these Old Testament passages, we are told of the Messiah who will come one day and wear these items on His Body: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the helmet of salvation. Does this armor sound familiar? It should, because when the Body of Christ is discussed in great detail in Ephesians, Paul teaches that the Church (aka the Body) is to clothe herself with the very same things that were prophesied to be worn on the body of the coming Messiah.

What does this mean? It means that the Church is not simply an army of Christian soldiers metaphorically clothed for spiritual battle; we are actually united with Christ as His Body. In other words, if Jesus is to do His work through His Body, then Christians must be corporately vested with the same spiritual armor as the Messiah, Who is our Head and the Captain of our Salvation.

As it is pointed out in the Beale and Carson’s Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, “Paul transfers ‘the whole armor of God’ from God himself, or from his Messiah, to God’s people in this passage because… he knows that the victory of God’s people over the devil is not yet complete” (pg. 832). Indeed Christ has work yet to do through us, His people!

This astounding truth should shake the Church to her very core and inspire us to greater and bolder work in spreading His Kingdom message despite the persecution that will come against us for doing so. We need to fully embrace this great mystery of the Church’s intimate, spiritual union with Jesus Christ and lay hold of the power and victory that is innate in that holy identification. To think that the Church can just toss off one or more of these elements of our God-given armor in order to avoid confrontation with the world is a stunning betrayal of our Savior. To do so is to eliminate the unique identifying marks of the very Person whom the Church represents.

Jesus Himself spoke of this mystical union with His Church in Matthew 25 and Acts 9 when he saw the acts of negligence and violence perpetrated against His disciples as crimes against His very Person. Why else would Jesus confront Saul, one of the Bible’s most notorious tormentors of the early Christians, and say to him, “Why are you persecuting Me?” Surely the Church is ordained by God to be in the unique position of bearing Christlikeness to the world.

It is time, therefore, to make no more apologies to the world for Christ and His Gospel and start acting like the Church… the Body of Christ, that Jesus promised would not be overcome by the gates of Hades. We must gladly display our spiritual armor and be prepared to be vilified by the world just as Christ was vilified, and to suffer just as He suffered. Remember, the world is not really directing their attacks against us, they are directing their attacks against Jesus, their Stumbling Stone and Rock of Offense.

Indeed we are engaged in a spiritual battle that will undoubtedly have temporal consequences for us, both individually and corporately. We need look no further than the example of Stephen and his martyrdom to see how this war will often play out when we fight with Truth and Love and the world fights back with the demonic weapons of intimidation and brute force. But just as Jesus promised, the Church in all her godly armor will prevail and bring glory to Him. On this point there is no doubt.

May God grant us the strength, confidence, and boldness to rise up in the full armor of God and proclaim the glory of the Gospel no matter what the cost!

Thanks to Sacred Sandwich