The Great need for Biblical Exposition

ex·po·si·tion

1. A systematic interpretation or explanation of a specific topic

2. A statement or rhetorical discourse intended to give information about or an explanation of difficult material.

As you can see from the definitions above exposition is a hard and grinding task but one that I believe to be essential for Church life in every generation.

This weekend just past I was in Bristol with a few mates and it was encouraging when we attended Grace Church Bristol to hear the Pastor say that he was committed to expository preaching. I believe this needs to be true of all Pastors and Preachers, I am learning myself the values of exposition but also what a hard task it is.

Exposition is a task which requires a lot of work. As our first definition states its ‘a systematic interpretation or explanation of a specific topic.’ This means that you have to put in the hard yards so as to be 100% clear about the meaning of a text, the meaning of that text for the people of the day and its relevance to us now. This is by no means easy but it is needed for both individual and Church growth. I believe that Churches need to preach through books of the bible, week by week, with thorough exposition.

It seems that there are so many events within the Church Calender that seem to convince Pastors to deviate from their normal preaching programme. Although it can be a really good thing if you do a thematic sermon for the day or time of year I do believe that you miss out on so much if you keep dipping in and out of the book you are going through.

John Calvin was a man committed to expository preaching and here is what John Piper, another committed to exposition, comments on him:

Calvin’s preaching was of one kind from beginning to end: he preached steadily through book after book of the bible. He never wavered from this approach to preaching for almost twenty-five years of ministry in St. Peter’s church of Geneva – with the exception of a few high festivals and special occasions. On Sunday he took always the New Testament, except for a few Psalms on Sunday afternoons. During the week… it was always the Old Testament. The records show fewer than half a dozen exceptions for the sake of the Christian year. He almost entirely ignored Christmas and Easter in the selection of his texts.

I think this is very refreshing to hear. Its my conviction that the best way to preach is to go through a book of the bible and preach it week by week, this helps the Preacher and the congregation to understand better the big idea of the book. It also helps to be able to test what they hear one week against what they heard the previous week on the preceding passage or the following week on the following passage.

Of course this isn’t to say that there is never a time to do ‘Hot Potato’ sessions and evangelistic sermons; of course they do serve a very valuable purpose within the life of a Church. My concern, rather , is that some have lost the passion to exposit the word of God and I hope that more and more Pastors and Preachers rediscover the joy and value of biblical exposition.

Calvin on Preaching

Here’s a statement made by John Calvin that is as relevant to Pastors and Preachers today as it was when he said it:

‘Let the pastors boldly dare all things by the word of God… Let them constrain all the power, glory, and excellence of the world to give place to and to obey the divine majesty of this word. Let them enjoin everyone by it, from the highest to the lowest. Let them edify the body of Christ. Let them devastate Satan’s reign. Let them pasture the sheep, kill the wolves, instruct and exhort the rebellious. Let them bind and loose thunder and lightning, if necessary, but let them do all according to the word of God.’

– Taken from John Calvin and His Passion for the Majesty of God by John Piper

Our Response to Haiti

I’m sure that all of us have seen the disturbing, life-shattering pictures and reports coming out of Haiti since the earthquake last week.

For all the power man believes they have, there is nothing that the human race can do to prevent events such as these, we are completely at the mercy of God. In light of this we need to be praying for the nation of Haiti and its leaders and the many thousands of destroyed lives.

It is very easy sat from my comfortable room at home typing out this blog to think that actually what has happened in Haiti doesnt really bear any significance on my life.

After the Tsunami 5 years ago, John Piper posted an article and I think these words from it are as true for this tragedy as they were then.

Every deadly calamity is a merciful call from God for the living to repent. That was Jesus’ stunning statement to those who brought him news of calamity. The tower of Siloam had fallen, and 18 people were crushed. What about this, Jesus? they asked. He answered, “Do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13: 4-5).

The point of every deadly calamity is this: Repent. Let our hearts be broken that God means so little to us. Grieve that he is a whipping boy to be blamed for pain, but not praised for pleasure. Lament that he makes headlines only when man mocks his power, but no headlines for ten thousand days of wrath withheld. Let us rend our hearts that we love life more than we love Jesus Christ. Let us cast ourselves on the mercy of our Maker. He offers it through the death and resurrection of his Son.

The tragedy in Haiti, far from being all about us or me, still calls for us to repent of our rejection of God. We could use those same words of Jesus to apply to this situation today, that unless we repent, we too will perish.

Wisdom for Suffering

I think often that when you hear things from personal experience or you sing songs about the greatness of God it can often arouse a real passion within you about the nature of God.

I feel this with John Piper’s book Job. His aim is just to try and show people what Job’s vision of God was all throughout the time he went through his horrible trials which left him with nothing but breath in his body, and three miserable comforters who only confounded his misery and tried to condemn.

Here are a few of the phrases Piper uses that I think not only apply to Job but to any suffering. These are very wise sayings.

When God creates a humble hush,

And makes Leviathan His brush,

It wont be long before the rod

Becomes the tender kiss of God.

What we have lost God will restore-

That and Himself, forevermore.

When He is finished with His art,

The silent worship of our Heart.

Beware the thought that all is vain.

In time, God’s wisdom will be plain.

Why Me?

Roger Carswell

Why Me? by Roger Carswell is a book containing 8 short stories of people who’s lives have been hugely changed and affected by horrible circumstances they have been through. From disabled and dying children to murdered spouses, this book will move you as you read it.

Instead of writing a work of Christian Apologetics about suffering and evil Carswell instead just hand picked 8 individuals who all testified to the grace of God in their lives. They all talk of how God had used their bad circumstances to bring about good and how all of them seemed to have a deeper relationship with the living Lord as a result of what they went through. Some even said they felt the tangible presence of God with them as they went through their tragedies.

This book will certainly move you and hopefully helps us all to see how God is always in control. He will always bring about good for those who love Him (Rom 8:28).

I liked the way the book was finished. Carswell reflects on how the Christian in someone who has God to thank when everything is going well but they also have a God to cry out to when everything is going wrong. He is a God who will always listen and never abandon us, the God who said

“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”         Matthew 28:20

It is an amazing thing that God should care about us, but He does!

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.       1 Peter 5:7

John Piper is incredibly wise on the subject when he comments in some of his poetry

Beware the thought that all is vain, in time God’s wisdom will be plain.

C.S Lewis described pain and suffering as being God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world, this is so often true. It is so often in the darker times of life that people ask questions of the meaning of life and what the point in life is when there is so much hurt. Thank God that we have a God who knows what it is to suffer, and who is always with us.

This Psalm I have found to be hugely encouraging to me:

Psalm 121

A song of ascents.

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;

the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

The Lord will watch over our coming and our going, in this life and the next, now and forevermore!

Disciplined for God

I have just been reading some more of Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures by Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones. It has taken me a long time to read it mostly because I have had a lot of things on but also because of my own laziness!

Out of the chapters I just read one of them was all about Discipline. Its funny that I say part of why I have not been reading it is my own laziness, well it is things like this that Lloyd-Jones so well points out can hamper our faith and make us un-fruitful for the Kingdom of God. It can be just the smallest things: what we eat, what time we go to bed, what we watch on the TV, how much TV we watch, all of these things can breed laziness and lethargic Christians which are a contradiction.

I have really just been, in the last 30 mins but not for the first time, challenged to spend more time with Jesus and doing things that are going to benefit me spiritually and help me know my greatest friend and awesome saviour better! Much of this hints at Christian Hedonism, where you seek to find your greatest pleasure in God, which I think is such a true doctrine and we will find we are so satisfied in life when we are going all out for The Lord and find ourselves being satisfied by Him and not TV or the computer or even blogging! How the creator can satisfy us so much more than all of these trivial things!

I am convinced one of the reasons John Piper’s ministry is so brilliant and effective is because he seeks to live this, to find his pleasure in Jesus. When talking about watching TV he said this:

I have so many things I want to accomplish in this one short life. Don’t waste your life is not a catchphrase for me; it’s a cliff I walk beside every day with trembling.

TV consumes more and more time for those who get used to watching it. You start to feel like it belongs. You wonder how you could get along without it. I am jealous for my evenings. There are so many things in life I want to accomplish. I simply could not do what I do if I watched television. So we have never had a TV in 40 years of marriage (except in Germany, to help learn the language). I don’t regret it.

I think he really shows how pursuing Jesus above all else leads to a truly fulfilled existence!

Once again Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures has challenged me on this, and another great read is The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges which also really challenged me on similar issues.

We need to all seek our pleasure in God and spend more and more time with Him, this will lead to fruitful, joyful, and fulfilled Christian living!