Our Daily Bread University offers a free, 20-lesson course by John Stott called Biblical Preaching: A Pastor’s Look at Homiletics. For each lesson you can either listen to the audio of Scott’s lecture or read the transcript, or both.

Stott begins the course with 3 lectures on the topic “The Argument about Preaching.”

• Lesson 1: The Argument against Preaching 1: The Cybernetic Revolution
• Lesson 2: The Arguments Against Preaching II: Four More Contrary Arguments
• Lesson 3: A Defense of Preaching

In his third lesson he outlines why God’s Word must be preached. The average reader of a post like this might never think to question the validity of preaching. But not everyone shares that viewpoint as Stott details in lessons 1 and 2.

If someone asked you to defend your practice of preaching what would you tell them? Think about that for a second. Why do you preach? What is your basis or rationale? How important and how necessary is it to preach God’s Word?

Having a clear answer to those questions will prepare you to defend the practice of biblical preaching against objectors. But it may also be the very thing you need to sustain you week by week in your ministry of the Word. In the highs and in the lows. When there is apparent success and when there isn’t. Or, to use Paul’s language, “in season and out of season.”

Why preach? Here are the four reasons Stott gives in defense of preaching:

Reason #1: The Word Is God’s Chief Weapon

My first major reason why God’s Word must be preached is because the Word is God’s chief weapon. God’s chief weapon is His Word.

It is God’s chief weapon in combatting our ignorance, fallenness, and blindness. Drawing from 2 Corinthians 4:4-6 Stott summarizes,

There are three actors in the drama of evangelism: There is the devil, there is God, and there is the Christian communicator; and each is given a distinctive activity indicated by a verb. The devil blinds, God shines, and we preach. And God shines through what we preach into the darkened hearts which the devil has blinded. So the gospel preaching is an indispensable activity in the church. I’ll say again, it’s God’s chief weapon.

Reason #2: Preaching Is the Pastor’s Chief Responsibility

The second argument for preaching is because it is the presbyter’s chief responsibility.

See Acts 6:4, 20:28 and Titus 1:9.

Reason #3 Preaching is the Church’s Chief Need.

My third argument for preaching is because it is the congregation’s chief need or, if you like, the church’s chief need. . . . God uses the . . . Word to nourish His people, to edify them, and to build them up into maturity.

See Colossians 1:27-29.

Reason #4 Preaching is the World’s Chief Lack.

The fourth argument for preaching: it is the world’s chief lack. . . . People are woefully ignorant of the biblical gospel even in the Western world, not just in pioneer mission fields. It’s partly—I know that they do not and will not listen—but it’s partly the church’s fault. . . . And it’s in this contemporary confusion in the visible church that biblical Christians are called to speak out with a clear message.

Why is preaching necessary? Stott summarizes his defense of preaching this way:

The preaching of God’s Word is a vital, permanent feature of the church. . . . It is the medium that God has Himself chosen for the salvation of sinners and for the edification of His people; and God has promised to own it and to bless it. And it is a ministry that He still calls His pastors to exercise.

How about you? Are you convinced?

Question: What do you think of Stott’s argumentation in defense of Christian preaching? Is there anything you would add by way of argumentation?

John Broadus was a 19th century American pastor, confederate army chaplain, co-founder and 2nd president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. There he taught New Testament interpretation and homiletics and produced his classic work on preaching A Treatise on the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons. Charles Spurgeon referred to Broadus as “the greatest of living preachers.” He has even been called “the father [modern] expository preaching” by Bryan Chapell.  

 Though his homiletical method is not beyond critique (see here and here) and his defense of slavery is rightly condemned, he does serve as a significant voice from the past on matters of preaching. 

 What counsel does Broadus give to preachers regarding “continuous exposition” (or, perhaps you call it something different: the expository book series, consecutive exposition, preaching through books of the Bible, lectio continua . . .)?

 The following quotations come from his 1898 work published by Hodder and Stoughton. The headings are mine and the quotations are selective; they are not necessarily in their original order of presentation. I have arranged them under key questions related to “continuous exposition.”  Any emphasis is mine. You can find Broadus’ full treatment of the subject on pages 325-336.

How Can I Get My Congregation Used to the Idea of Continuous Exposition? 

 Begin with the Occasional Exposition of Detached Passages

When an inexperienced preacher begins to think of attempting expository preaching, his mind is very apt to turn at once toward the idea of continuous exposition. He must get up a series. But why should not the preacher first discipline himself in this kind of preaching, and accustom his congregation to it, by the exposition, every now and then, of detached passages? 

It will also sometimes be well to take an extended passage and merely make a text-sermon on a long text, gathering several thoughts from it and using them as in the ordinary text-sermon upon a short text. Or a brief text may be announced, and the sermon be occupied with a discussion of the entire paragraph in which it stands. This, indeed, is often done by men who have no thought that they are preaching expository sermons.

 Try It Periodically Without Mentioning You’re Doing Anything Unusual

One cannot say then, as is often said, try expository preaching first on week-nights, till you and the people become accustomed to it. Nay, try it now and then for your principal sermon on Sunday, without mentioning that you are about to do anything unusual, and lay out your best strength upon an earnest effort to make it at once instructive, interesting, and impressive.

People Will Become Accustomed and Attached to It Gradually

Then you and the people will gradually become accustomed to expository preaching as it should be. After repeating, more or less frequently, such occasional efforts, you will know how to prepare for an expository series. 

By such means the people cease to imagine that expository preaching is entirely different from other methods, and become accustomed and attached to all alike. Then, whenever a series is attempted, there will be little feeling of strangeness about it, and much less difficulty in sustaining the interest.

When Am I Ready for Continuous Exposition? 

Practice and Study

It will be time enough for a series when he has gained a little more practice, yea, and has made repeated and very mature study of the book to be treated.  

We may say, in general, that no man will succeed in expository preaching unless he delights in exegetical study of the Bible, unless he loves to search out the exact meaning of its sentences, phrases, words.

He who begins it as an easy thing will find expository preaching surpassingly difficult; but he who manfully takes hold of it as difficult, will find it grow easier and more pleasant with every year of his experience. Not every man will find the expository method best suited to his mental endowments. But every one ought to acquire the power of employing it with skill and success.

And it may be confidently asserted that many a one who now thinks this method of preaching unsuited to him, needs nothing but diligent study and practice, upon some such principles as have been indicated, to make his expository sermons very profitable to his hearers, and singularly delightful to himself. 

Why Is Continuous Exposition So Difficult?

It is proper earnestly to insist that one great reason why many ministers find expository preaching difficult is, that they have not been sufficiently accustomed to study the Bible. Our rapid general reading is very useful, our devotional reading of brief portions is indispensable to personal piety, but the downright study of Scripture is too often confined to the texts for next Sunday, and their immediate context.

Do I Need to Know the Original Languages?

In order to this, a knowledge of the original languages of Scripture is of course exceedingly desirable, but it is by no means indispensable. Andrew Fuller, who dealt largely and successfully in this method of preaching, had substantially no knowledge of Hebrew and Greek, and his writings were devoted not to commentary, but to didactic and polemic theology. Yet he loved to study the very words of Scripture. In all his works it is manifest that he did not content himself with gathering the general meaning of a passage, but was exceedingly anxious to know its exact meaning. One of the most eloquent Baptist ministers of America, in the earlier part of this century, was never so happy, so charming, as in expository sermons. He, too, was unacquainted with Greek and Hebrew, and was not liberally supplied with commentaries; but he loved, above all things, to ponder and to talk about the meaning of God’s Word.

What Book Should I Start With? 

Don’t Begin with the Psalms

And let it be urged that first attempts shall not be made upon a Psalm, as is very generally the case; for with occasional exceptions the Psalms are comparatively lacking in manifest unity, and in distinct connection and regular progress, so that it requires practice to handle them successfully.  

Now that I’ve Picked a Book, Where Should I Start? 

Study the Entire Book Carefully to Grasp Its Contents and Trace Its Progress 

The first thing to be done is to make a careful study beforehand of the entire book, or other portion of Scripture to which the series is to be devoted. To view every book as a whole, to grasp its entire contents, and then trace in detail the progress of its narrative or argument, is a method of Scripture study far too little practised. It is one of the benefits of expository preaching that it compels the preacher to study in this way.  

Use Some of the Best Explanatory Commentaries 

The first thing to do, then, after determining to give a series of expository sermons upon a book, or other portion of Scripture, is to study it all over in advance, with some of the best explanatory commentaries, and with especial attention to the general contents and connection.   

Consider Committing the Book to Memory 

To commit the book to memory would be no bad idea, but, at any rate, one should get the whole train of thought or series of facts, from beginning to end, firmly fixed in his mind.  

Plan Out the Series In Advance But Be Willing to Adjust as Necessary 

Next, it would be well to mark out a scheme of sermons covering the whole ground. Previous experience in the exposition of detached passages will enable one to do this without any great difficulty, and, of course, there can be alterations, if occasion for them should arise in the progress of the series. The great advantage of making out the scheme in advance is, that we can thus distribute most judiciously the several topics of the book.  

In General Don’t Promise a Particular Number of Sermons at the Outset  

In Romans, for example, various subjects are alluded to in the first three chapters, which are afterwards treated at some length. It would be awkward if one should go into any general discussion of these topics at the point of their first occurrence. They ought to be briefly considered there, and reserved for more extensive remark where they are introduced again. It would very rarely be advisable, however, to promise at the outset a definite number of discourses.  

Beware of Going Too Slowly and Not Making Clear Progress  

Indeed, it is not always best to announce a series at all. It may be added that one must beware of going too slowly. Let there be manifest progress, such as the restless spirit of our generation requires.  

Select Preaching Texts Based on External Dimensions and According to Interest and Richness to Facilitate Variety in the Series 

But we may pause upon any specially interesting sentence or phrase, even to the extent, in some cases, of devoting a whole sermon to it. Thus there will be variety as well as progress; and hearers will be gratified to perceive that the preacher marks out passages, not according to their mere external dimensions, but according to the richness of their available contents.

Question: What stands out to you about Broadus’ counsel on continuous exposition? Where do you agree or disagree? What would you add?

Abraham Kuruvilla is senior research professor of preaching and pastoral ministries at Dallas Theological Seminary.  

He is a prolific writer in the area of homiletics and hermeneutics and has put his “ecclesiological singleness” (as he calls it) to good use for the sake of the church and for homileticians everywhere. 

He has trilogy of books on the subject:

• Privilege the Text: A Theological Hermeneutic for Preaching (2013)
• A Vision for Preaching: Understanding the Heart of Pastoral Ministry (2015)
• A Manual for Preaching: The Journey from Text to Sermon (2019)

The first describes the relationship between hermeneutics and homiletics in terms of a theological hermeneutic. Chapters 1 and 2 of this book are a reworking of his dissertation, a modified version of which you can buy under the title Text to Praxis: Hermeneutics and Homiletics in Dialogue. The second book establishes a vision for what preaching can and should be, namely “biblical, pastoral, ecclesial, communicational, theological, applicational, conformational, doxological, and spiritual” (xiv). His third book applies the theological hermeneutic and vision of preaching to the practice of preaching.  

Kuruvilla defines biblical preaching in this way: “Biblical preaching, by a leader of the church, in a gathering of Christians for worship, is the communication of the thrust of a pericope of Scripture discerned by theological exegesis, and of its application to that specific body of believers, that they may be conformed to the image of Christ, for the glory of God–all in the power of the Holy Spirit” (Vision of Preaching, 1). 

A Manual for Preaching was written to cover the entire journey from text to sermon. Kuruvilla captures the sermon construction process under these 9 headings:

• Getting Ready
• Discerning Theology
• Deriving Application
• Creating Maps
• Fleshing Moves
• Illustrating Ideas
• Crafting Introductions and Conclusions
• Producing Manuscripts
• Delivering Sermons 

Kuruvilla’s focus is on how to preach a text (pericope) of Scripture in the context of an expository book series (lectio continua). He is not a fan of topical preaching as a regular part of the pulpit programme (limiting them to about 16 weeks out of the year), although he does allow for its usefulness in other contexts. 

Along the way Kuruvilla uses examples from Ephesians (didactic) and the Jacob story in Genesis 25-36 (narrative) to illustrate the process. 

It doesn’t take long to figure out that Kuruvilla is a sophisticated, erudite, and capable academician. In addition to being a theologian and preacher with a Ph.D. from Aberdeen, he has a Ph.D. in immunology and is a practicing dermatologist. So don’t be surprised if you learn some vocabulary along the way. Though I personally enjoyed the Latin terms, references to Shakespeare, and illustrations from the life of Bach, I’m not sure I would hand this book over to the average high schooler or freshman in college who is interested in learning how to preach. They would benefit from a distillation of the book, but I think Kuruvilla’s style and content calls for a more advanced reader. This is not the book I would start someone out with. Something like Haddon Robinson’s Biblical Preaching is much better suited for that. That’s not a critique as much as an acknowledgement of the level of Kuruvilla’s research and writing. 

Kuruvilla will likely challenge your thinking, and you may find yourself disagreeing strongly with some of his positions. One endorser referred to him as “constructively contrarian.” That’s a good way to put it. For example, he critiques the commonly held and practiced “big idea” approach to preaching (made popular by Haddon Robinson) in Appendix A. He argues throughout for a “fresh approach” to preaching over and above the “traditional approach” to preaching. By traditional he means “the sermon is an argumentation of the Big Idea (of the text’s saying) and comprises points (with propositions) that are organized into an outline” (89). His fresh approach, however, views a sermon as “a demonstration of the experience (of the text’s doing) and comprises moves (with labels) that are shaped into a map” (89). 

You may disagree with his analysis as I do at points (though I do appreciate his emphasis on the text’s doing and not just the text’s saying), but that’s why I enjoy reading him.

I value the innovative thinking and the pushback against traditional or commonly-held ideas and practices. He is not simply parroting or repackaging the standard homiletical material. I don’t think of him as avant-garde, however. Most of his content is not new or completely outside the box per se; but it is content bolstered by substantial research and presented in a fresh, engaging (albeit scholastic) way.  

His chapter on producing manuscripts, for example, is fantastic. Though I’m not sure I would argue as strongly in favor of always using a manuscript, he has some great guidelines for writing for the ear not the eye and some really specific and practical helps for preparing and using a manuscript in the act of preaching. He has a thought-provoking section on plagiarism in that chapter as well that I am still mulling over.

If you want to know where Kuruvilla lands on the homiletical spectrum you should read Homiletics and Hermenuetics: Four Views on Preaching Today. In that book he represents the Christiconic view in contrast to the redemptive-historic view (Bryan Chapell), the theocentric view (Kenneth Langley), and the Law-Gospel view (Paul Scott Wilson). You can also visit his website at homiletix.com for more background and content.