Letting the Bible Speak for Itself

[HKHaugan]

What should we be looking for in a sermon?  What should we hope that a preacher does with his time in the pulpit?  What is the purpose of a sermon?   

 

Preaching is all about the elevation of God’s mind as seen in Jesus Christ.  Every Scripture passage is in someway a revelation of Jesus; His mind, His heart and His Spirit.  God has made Himself known in Jesus and Scripture is His heart, mind and Spirit at work.  To let the Scripture speak through the prompting of the Spirit is God’s means to reach the hearts of those who listen.  “Faith comes by hearing and hearing come by the Word (Rom.10:17).”  Faith in Jesus for the non-believer, change of heart in a believer as a result of hearing Jesus speak through His Word and faith being action taken as a result of hearing the Word, are all purposes for which Scripture was given us.  It is the preacher’s task to allow these things to happen.  Scripture touches the mind, the heart and the spirit and is tailor-made for the preacher to exposit it, that is to let it speak, to let the Spirit guide his study, how he approaches its revelation to him and the way he lets it speak to his listeners.

 

First, what does it say?  Second, what does it say to me?  Third, what does it say to those listening?  J.I.Packer asked three similar questions.  First, what does a passage say about God?  Second, what does a passage say about the world?  Third, what does a passage say about me?

 

The following is Chuck Swindoll’s definition of expository preaching.  He cuts right to the chase when he calls to let the Bible speak for itself:

 

“Expository preaching is the proclamation of Holy Scripture delivered for the purpose of enabling others to understand what God has written, why that is important, and how it relates to one’s personal life.

Understanding what God has written requires the expositor to be accurate in both preparation and delivery of the Scriptures, so that the Bible is allowed to speak for itself.

Understanding why God’s Word is important calls for the expositor to be passionate in communicating the truth, so that the one receiving the message is compelled to listen and eager to respond.

Understanding how that message relates to life means that the expositor uses terms that are clear, delivers the message in ways that connect with needs, and applies it so specifically the hearer realizes the relevance of God’s Word and the necessity of aligning his or her life to it.”

 

Prayer for the preacher, prayer for those who are listening and prayer for one’s self to be touched allows God to penetrate the sinful heart for conversion of the unconverted, the attitudinal growth of the converted and their being spurred to reach the need-to-be-converted world.