The Failure To Do Expositional Preaching IS?

THE FAILURE TO DO EXPOSITION OF PREACHING IS:

Charles e. Whisnant, Student of the Word, Teacher of the Word

 From my early years back in Roanoke, Virginia when I was 16
 years and was teaching the youth/teenagers/young adults before I had any formal bible education I loved studying the Word of God. I loved teaching a book at a time. That was my Dad's method, take a book like Galatians, or Revelation, or Psalms and teach verse by verse by H.A. Ironside.

In 1982 after attending the Shepherd's Conferences at Grace Community Church, where John MacArthur has preached now for 40 years I learn what it meant to be a pastor/preacher and teacher and how to teach the Word of God.

Starting in 1982 I started teaching Matthew and 250 sermons later I finished.

 Its only in the last year that I listen to John MacArthur give these reasons why by we should be preaching expositional.  What is neat, I have been doing teach this way for 30 years.  Cool.

NUMBER #1
YOU USURP THE AUTHORITY OF GOD OVER THE MIND AND SOUL IF YOU FALL TO EXPLAIN THE WORD OF GOD

• You usurp the authority of God over the mind and soul if you fall to explain the word of God you have replaced the authority of God with whatever else you're doing. It really is a question of authority.

NUMBER #2
YOU USURP THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST OVER THE CHURCH

• We see it all through the NT the authority of Christ over the Church.That God has made the one who is Lord over everything to be the head of the church.

NUMBER #3
IT HINDERS THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

•  The Spirit uses the Word to sanctify them, by the truth, The word is truth, the only tool the Spirit has is the scripture and where the Scripture replaced by anything else the work of the Spirit is hindered .

• Isn't it unthinkable for a Christian not to submit to scripture. John says If you love Christ you will obey him as well in I Peter 1 14 as Obedient Christians.

• There is this among preachers who do not yield to scripture, it reveals an inferior inadequate love for God and his glory and the honor and glory of God and an inferior understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit

 NUMBER #4
 DEMONSTRATE PRIDE, AND A LACK OF SUBMISSION

• Isn't it unthinkable for a Christian not to submit to scripture. John says If you love Christ you will obey him as well in I Peter 1 14 as Obedient Christians.

• There is this among preachers who do not yield to scripture, it reveals an inferior inadequate love for God and his glory and the honor and glory of God and an inferior understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit

NUMBER # 5. THE CONSEQUENCE OF NON EXPOSITION PREACHING
IT SEVERS THE PREACHER PERSONALLY FROM THE REGULAR SANCTIFICATION OF SCRIPTURE.

• What does that mean? If you are not an expositor you are not in the study of the book. And you have just been cut off from the sanctifying power in your life. Then you put yourself in a dangerous spot.

• If there is one way to discredit everything, and the integrity of the gospel and the church is the testimony of the pastor. What just kills me is the immoral pastor, the pastor who does not live by the Word.
  So what keeps you sanctified to the point that you will not go that way? The only thing that will is what will sanctify anyone and that is the work of the word in your heart.

NUMBER #6
 REMOVES SPIRITUAL DEPTH AND TRANSCENDENCE FROM THE PEOPLE CRIPPLING WORSHIP.

• That is to say it cripples worship. What do I mean by that, well let's take it from the positive side when you come on Sunday or you go to Bible study or go to an opportunity to be taught the word of God, you were taken down into other depths that scripture inevitable to places you haven't been right?

NUMBER #7
  PREVENT THE PREACHER FROM FULLY DEVELOPING THE MIND OF CHRIST CRITICAL TO HIS WORK. From fully speaking for Christ whom he serves.

• 1 Corinthians 2:14-16 we are remind of a very important spiritual truth and  read it please. Mark it down, an unconverted natural person doesn't get it, doesn't understand the things of God.  People are just not favorable with the Scripture.    Lost people just do not get the truths of God.  And that is to be expected as a response.

 NUMBER #8
 DEPRECIATED BY EXAMPLE The spiritual duty and benefit of studying If the pastor doesn't do it.

• If the pastor doesn't do it why should others in the church do it.  I never ask a young person to do something that I had not already done.  Even in those early years I would work my fingers off writing in learning the Word of God. If this bible is not valuable to me why should it be to anyone else. I need first to be a preacher of the word, not a preacher of the building. If the Bible is not the consuming passion in the pulpit why should we believe it should be the consuming passion of those who set the pew.

NUMBER #9
PREVENTS THE PREACHER FROM BEING THE VOICE OF GOD ON EVERY ISSUE OF HIS TIME

• If you know your bible you can be the voice of God on every issue. Other wise you are just one of many voices.  Know the Word of God.  That is what I did when I was a youth pastor. Get them to know the Word. 

NUMBER #10
BREEDS A CONGREGATION AS WEAK AND INDIFFERENT TO THE GLORY OF GOD

•  If you do not do expositional preaching if you don't give your people the eternal powerful word of God you breed a congregation that is week and indifferent to the glory of God, honor of God, the honor of Christ.

NUMBER #11
IF YOU DO NOT DO EXPOSITIONAL PREACHING ON THE NEGATIVE SIDE YOU ROB PEOPLE OF THEIR ONLY TRUE SOURCE OF HELP. THEIR ONLY TRUE SOURCE OF HELP.
1 Timothy 3 we covered that in a series on Sunday in the Adult Bible Class.
There is no help apart from the Lord, and there is no help apart from understand the Scriptures about God.

NUMBER #12
THE FAILURE TO DO EXPOSITORAL PREACHING PUTS THE RESPONSIBILITY ON THE PREACHER TO CHANGE PEOPLE

• Say that most preachers feel that responsibility. I would be in a mental institution if I believe that people's eternal destiny depended on me. I am a Calvinist because that is a defensive posture. I can not handle that responsibility. And I don't have to either.

NUMBER #13
FAILURE TO PREACH EXPOSITIONAL REDUCES THE PREACHERS WORDS TO THE LEVEL OF EVERYBODY ELSE'S WORD

• I just say my words then I am just like anyone else. The audience can pick and choose what they hear. You may think you can come up with a clever way that you think you can articulate your message, but if it's not the Word of God then you are reduced to the level of everyone else who has an opinion, an ideal, a viewpoints, a theory, a religious insight, a perspective

NUMBER #14
FAILURE TO PREACH EXPOSITIONAL IS TO PORTRAY AN ATTITUDE OF SELF-LOVE RATHER THAN LOVING THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART SOUL AND MIND AND STRENGTH.
ANOTHER WAY: FAILURE TO PREACH EXPOSITIONAL REDUCES THE PREACHERS WORDS TO THE LEVEL OF EVERYBODY ELSE'S WORD.

• I don't want to walk into the pulpit and say "the other day I was thinking." (poor typing the script of John and its said, "I don't want to walk in the pole dancing on the other day.")

NUMBER #15
A FAILURE TO DO EXPOSITORIONAL PREACHING CREATES A DESTRUCTIVE DISCONNECT BETWEEN SOUND DOCTRINE AND LIFE: or LIFE IMITATES THEOLOGY

• Since I adopted John MacArthur's method of preaching I have like he has been highly criticism and not been practical and preaching is not applicial . I never make application, I am not relevant.

NUMBER 16
IT ELIMINATES THE TRUTHS, THE TROUBLE AND OFFENSE AND TERRIFIED THE LOST

• A failure to do biblical exposition makes the congregation: if they fail to do biblical exposition to teach the full counsel of God as revealed in holy Scripture it eliminates the truths, the trouble and offended and terrified the lost and the sinful.

Number #17
WILL DISCONNECT GOD'S PEOPLE FROM THE LEGACY OF THE PAST

• Some of my very favorite preachers and theologian and teachers are those who have already died many years ago.  When I was preaching Romans the first time around, or Ephesians, or Revelation I read over 100 people on the subject. Most of them were dead a long time ago.. Why do you read commentaries on any book from dead men? Really dead people: Calvin, Luther, Spurgeon, etc. Pink, Ironside, and Whitefield, and others older Baxter, Edwards,

NUMBER #18
REMOVES THE PROTECTION FROM ERROR THAT IS DEADLY TO THE CHURCH

• Shepherds understand they have to protect sheep, because there are those who dress up in sheep clothing and teach error. That is what Satan does, comes inside the church and cause all kinds of trouble. We have to watch and warn.

• Sometimes Christians can not tell truth from error. A very dangerous situation and unless we clarify doctrine, unless we defended threatened truth, unless we guard the truth of scripture, unless we expose error we are not faithful shepherd's.

NUMBER #19
EXPOSITORY PREACHING ASSURES PEOPLE THAT THEY HAVE HEARD FROM HEAVEN

• Too many preachers preach what has not come from Heaven. I believe people should hear from God and people want to hear from God and the way you guarantee that is by given them the word that God has spoken on the pages of holy scripture. Far  too many people believe that they have heard something so profound they believe it came from God when indeed they have not.

When I started teaching the Bible back in Roanoke, Virginia in December 1963 Dad gave me the young people's class since the teacher went to the Army.  For the text 27 months (February  1966 I taught that class ever week, while I was still in high school.  I was dating Saundra Richardson from the tenth grade until I sent to Seminary in 1966. Love Saundra and love the Lord and love teaching.  My Dad died in February 1966 and that ended my teaching at Roanoke Baptist Temple. I did go over to Fellowship Baptist Church with Gene Arnold and preached and taught in the High School class until Mom and the family moved to Danville, Virginia. 

Now those years teaching in Roanoke, without knowing really what I was really doing, I was studying the Bible. Thank goodness Dad had a great library of great books and I really loved reading them.  I spend a lot of time reading the Bible and reading those who knew the Bible. 

Then I went to seminary and there I learn that preaching was not teaching. I did learn a lot what the Bible. Well what they said about the Bible, but they never gave me the tools to study the Bible, because that was not the right way to study and preach. 

Well for the next few churches I was in churches where the pastor did not preach expositional and therefore I just taught what ever. From 1970 to 1982.
It was not until 1982 that I got back on tract with teaching the bible as I did when I was in high school.