In the last article, I introduced a series about the importance of expository preaching. To be even more specific, I promoted a particular brand of expository preaching, namely sequential expository preaching. Sequential exposition simply follows the sequence of verses in the Bible as they come to us. It is the philosophy and practice of preaching through books of the Bible. It is not a minimalist approach to Bible study, but a maximalist approach. It seeks to uncover the deep truths of every verse of every chapter in a particular book of the Bible. Of course, one can be an expositor and not preach through entire books of the Bible. But a pastor serves himself and his congregation well when he adopts sequential exposition as his modus operandi.
So in this series of articles, I am laboring to show the advantages of sequential exposition. To do so, I have decided to list ten reasons sequential exposition is a superior approach to preaching than any other. My prayer, of course, is that you would also see this. If you are a preacher, I hope you adopt this philosophy and practice. If you are not a preacher, I hope you place yourself under an able expositor who methodically preaches through books of the Bible. Hearts will be encouraged. Minds will be engaged. Souls will be sanctified. And God will be glorified because His church will be washed by the Word (cf. Ephesians 5:26).
1. It stabilizes the congregation from doctrinal error.
Many churches fall into doctrinal error simply because they are spiritually malnourished. This produces a weakness. When you don’t physically eat, you can’t think straight. Similarly, when you are spiritually malnourished, you become disoriented and confused. When there are no doctrinal guardrails built by Scriptural truth to protect one against false teaching, he simply falls into the ditch of heresy. When a Christian doesn’t have a biblical foundation of truth from which to build her knowledge, she is unable to discern false teaching from true teaching.
Sequential expository preaching helps lay a foundation of truth from which to build your life upon. There is often an artifical separation between theology and application. But the truth is that Scripture is filled with theology. Indeed, right doctrine leads to right duty; right belief to right behavior. They can’t be separted, but are inextricably bound together. There is not one book in the Bible that avoids theology, so when you preach through an entire book of the Bible – any book – you cannot avoid preaching doctrine if you do it carefully. This protects and stabilizes a congregation from the winds, waves, and trends of false teaching.
2. It stretches the preacher to diligently study the Bible every week.
This may sound obvious. A preacher above all people should know his Bible. He should want to study it, and even hunger for it as the Psalmist did. But the sad reality is that many preachers do not make sermon preparation the top priority of their ministry. We probably don’t want to know how many hours a week are wasted away in pastoral offices where anything and everything is done apart from intense study of the Scriptures. One way to cut back on the necessary time spent in the study is to adopt a preaching schedule that dictates sermon series based on a religious or cultural calendar of holidays. But following a liturgical calendar, or opting to preach a sermon for every conceivable holiday including Mother’s Day and Father’s Day (why not throw Labor Day in there as well?) is not the best approach. This type of preaching may keep people engaged since holidays guide and govern our culture, but usually it means the preacher is recycling old sermons from previous years, or is so focused on a particular holiday theme that he misses so many other topics and themes in Scripture during the course of the year. Sequential expository preaching, on the other hand, stretches the preacher to study God’s Word every single week. When a congregation knows the verse he left off of last week, and what verse he’ll be on this week, it creates a “healthy pressure” for the pastor to study the text all week.
This is really not an optional or personal decision for the preacher. Paul clearly instructed young Timothy, and thus all ministers, in 2 Timothy 2:15 to immerse themselves in the study of Scripture. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”
In today’s world, with so many rich resources available, including study Bible app’s and the rest, the pressure is more intense for the pastor to study Scripture since his congregation is likely studying the text along with him. We have more information at our fingertips than any age in history. But this is a good thing. It forces the pastor to be a diligent student of Scripture. This helps him fulfill his primary calling according to Scripture – to preach the word in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2).
3. It simplifies the preaching schedule for the preacher.
Perhaps the most notable trait of sequential exposition is the freedom it provides to the preacher. While his study hours increase due to the reasons just mentioned above, he, at the same time, saves time because he’s not busy trying to figure out what to preach next. His decision on what to preach next only comes every few months rather than every week. And if he does his homework ahead of time, he’s not waiting until the last minute, but has already selected his next book of the Bible to preach through before finishing his current series. His options are limited since there are only 66 books of the Bible, making his decision even easier.
Now this might seem like a small thing but it’s actually huge. With the unexpected weekly pressures and potential crises in any given week, a pastor simply cannot afford to waste time. If he is a sequential expositor, he can begin his study for the next Sunday literally as soon as he gets home from preaching on the previous Sunday. He knows his text. He knows where he left off. So he just picks right up and forges ahead.
4. It secures in minds and hearts important theological truths that otherwise might be skimmed or skipped over.
This point relates to the first point, but goes deeper. Sequential exposition, as we saw, protects a congregation from doctrinal error. That’s sort of the negative angle. From a positive angle, sequential exposition also helps a congregation grow in their theological understanding not only protecting from error, but also producing more gratitude and worship for the riches of God’s grace in Christ. Theology fuels worship. This is what Paul had in mind when he said that by the renewing of our minds we become living sacrifices to God (see Romans 12:1-2). Sequential exposition uncovers the gold that is discovered in theological excavation, which takes place during an expository preaching sermon.
5. It showcases the tidy knot between the OT and NT.
If done correctly, expository preaching is not simply a running commentary of a few verses in one isolated book. Certainly, analyzing one primary text is the focus. But a good expositor will go beyond the text. He will take his listeners on a journey through other parts of the Bible showing how the diamonds of truth revealed in the text he is preaching are also on display in other regions of the Bible. He’s like an archeologist who goes from one site to another showing how the different pieces of truth discovered fit together. This task is important to achieve since it reveals how both Testaments are unified, cohesive, and logical. This only serves to strengthen the congregation’s trust in God’s Word because it shows that God’s truth never contradicts itself.