{"id":4579,"date":"2019-02-28T10:34:46","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T16:34:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nafwb.org\/?p=4579"},"modified":"2019-02-28T10:35:45","modified_gmt":"2019-02-28T16:35:45","slug":"the-reforming-power-of-expository-preaching-part-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/the-reforming-power-of-expository-preaching-part-5\/","title":{"rendered":"The Reforming Power of Expository Preaching Part 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Randy Sawyer<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Reformation Age was an\u00a0era in which a recovery of\u00a0preaching brought about the theological reform and ecclesiastical\u00a0renewal. And it was indeed the recovery\u00a0of expositional preaching<\/em>that\u00a0served to fuel the reformed project. As\u00a0the late Middle Ages wound to a close,\u00a0Europe was suffering from severe\u00a0famine. But it was “Not a famine of\u00a0bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing\u00a0the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11).<\/p>\n

Form and shadow had replaced\u00a0substance and heart. The need of the\u00a0hour was for a “voice crying in the\u00a0wilderness.” Into that void stepped the\u00a0reformers, men committed, above all\u00a0else, to heralding the Word of the living\u00a0God; men like Wyclif, Huss, Luther,\u00a0Zwingli and Calvin.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Principles of the First Reformation <\/strong><\/h4>\n

Sufficiency of the Word <\/strong><\/p>\n

Although these pulpit giants were different\u00a0in many respects, it is easy to observe\u00a0a number of consistencies in their\u00a0lives and ministries. First, each reformer\u00a0held firmly to the certainty of the Bible.\u00a0The principle of sola Scriptura<\/em>\u00a0(Scripture alone) was not an empty catch\u00a0phrase with them. In a day when church\u00a0tradition and papal commentary ranked\u00a0on par with scripture, these men held to\u00a0the sufficiency of the Word.<\/p>\n

Accessibility of the Word <\/strong><\/p>\n

Second, each reformer believed the Scriptures should be placed in\u00a0the hands of the common man. Each\u00a0reformer was, in fact, driven to translate.\u00a0Wyclif initiated a translation of\u00a0the scriptures into English; Huss translated\u00a0portions of the Word into Czech,\u00a0as well as most of Wyclif’s writings;\u00a0Luther worked tirelessly to provide a\u00a0German translation; Zwingli and\u00a0Calvin offered the scriptures in the\u00a0language of their people. Thus was\u00a0the Word unlocked, opened to the\u00a0priesthood of individual believers.<\/p>\n

Rightly Dividing the Word<\/strong><\/p>\n

Third, each preacher adopted a\u00a0grammatical\/historical hermeneutic.\u00a0The key to this school of interpretation\u00a0is the understanding that “God\u00a0revealed himself in history, and the\u00a0words of scripture had very definite\u00a0meaning to those for whom they\u00a0were originally written.”<\/p>\n

It is vital, therefore, to establish the\u00a0historical and literal sense of scripture.\u00a0This is done by a careful study of\u00a0the language, the grammar and the\u00a0rhetoric of the text. The goal is to discover\u00a0and develop the plain meaning\u00a0to the Word. To be sure, the reformers\u00a0were influenced by a scholastic model in\u00a0many ways. Yet the “plain, naked\u00a0meaning of the text” was of paramount\u00a0importance to them.<\/p>\n

Courageously Declaring the Word <\/strong><\/p>\n

Fourth, these men were courageous,\u00a0and with their “conscience held\u00a0captive by the Word of God,” they willingly\u00a0braved the ecclesiastical and political powers of the day. From Wyclif,\u00a0who initiated the first faint rumblings of\u00a0what lay ahead, to Luther who blatantly\u00a0challenged “the gates of hell,” to\u00a0Calvin, who organized and systematized\u00a0the reformation doctrine, these\u00a0men shook heaven and earth because\u00a0they could not do otherwise.<\/p>\n

Power of the Word <\/strong><\/p>\n

Fifth, the work of these reformers\u00a0clearly illustrates the claim that expository\u00a0preaching is the main force in\u00a0building God’s church numerically\u00a0and spiritually. Each man enjoyed a\u00a0tremendous numerical following.\u00a0Through his “poor priests,” Wyclif’s\u00a0ministry reached not only across the\u00a0British Isles, but also all the way to\u00a0Eastern Europe, where hungry hearts\u00a0awaited the proclamation of the truth.<\/p>\n

From Bethlehem Chapel in Prague,\u00a0Huss’ preaching captivated an entire\u00a0country, and rescued a people from\u00a0darkness. Every time the “Father of the\u00a0Reformation” preached, enormous\u00a0crowds gathered.<\/p>\n

Hear again Luther’s comment from\u00a0his Table Talks<\/em>,<\/p>\n

“When I preach I sink\u00a0myself down; I regard neither doctors\u00a0nor masters of which there are in the\u00a0church about forty. But I have an eye\u00a0for the multitude of young people, children\u00a0and servants, of which there are\u00a0more than two thousand<\/em>. I preach to\u00a0them.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Zwingli’s expositional ministry\u00a0dominated a city, and in Geneva,\u00a0Calvin was “the grand old man of the\u00a0city” and of the reformed movement.\u00a0Each successive generation still hears\u00a0the echo of their expository preaching,\u00a0proving that God’s church is expanded\u00a0through a truly biblical ministry.<\/p>\n

Likewise, expository preaching facilitates\u00a0spiritual maturation. Observe\u00a0the state of the church and all of Europe\u00a0prior to the recovery of biblical\u00a0preaching. See the moral decadence,\u00a0the political and ecclesiastical corruption,\u00a0and the blatant paganism running\u00a0rampant. This era was truly characterized\u00a0by a spiritual darkness.<\/p>\n

Then observe the liberating, releasing\u00a0power of truth. To be sure, years of\u00a0struggle lay ahead, but the Bible had\u00a0been “unlocked,” and so too had\u00a0many hearts. Centuries later we are\u00a0the beneficiaries of their labor, as the\u00a0kingdom continues to expand, one\u00a0soul at a time, through their commitment\u00a0to expository preaching.<\/p>\n

The Plea for a Second\u00a0Reformation <\/strong><\/h4>\n

A reformation is desperately needed\u00a0today that will summon the church\u00a0out of the dark age of postmodernism,\u00a0with its emphasis on pragmatism and anthropocentric (man-centered)\u00a0theology, back to her noble\u00a0place within the economy of God.\u00a0Such a renewal can only be initiated\u00a0by a return to scripture, which will only\u00a0result from an undying commitment\u00a0to preaching the Word of God in\u00a0the power of the Spirit of God.<\/p>\n

Form and shadow must be replaced\u00a0by substance and heart.\u00a0Methodology must once again become\u00a0subordinate to truth. God must\u00a0be re-established as the center of our\u00a0theology and preaching.<\/p>\n

Everything God has ever done has\u00a0been accomplished through the\u00a0power of His Word. Bryan Chapell in\u00a0Christ-Centered Preaching\u00a0<\/em>writes,\u00a0“God fully manifests the dynamic\u00a0power of His Word in the New Testament\u00a0where he writes His Son as the\u00a0divine logos<\/em>, or word.”<\/p>\n

By identifying His Son as the\u00a0Word, God reveals that His message\u00a0and His person are inseparable. God\u00a0is the Word, and the Word is God.\u00a0The truths of scripture are God’s vehicle\u00a0by which he reveals Himself.<\/p>\n

Again Chapell says, “God’s word is\u00a0powerful because He chooses to be\u00a0present in it and to operate through it.”<\/p>\n

Having been created by God and\u00a0for His pleasure, any remedy for the\u00a0human condition apart from God\u00a0leaves man empty. Any attempt to\u00a0proclaim God apart from His determined\u00a0method is doomed the failure.<\/p>\n

“God has chosen . . . preaching,”\u00a0Paul declared. Through Bible<entered\u00a0preaching God is ultimately revealed,\u00a0and He alone receives the glory. The\u00a0more closely the preaching is tied to\u00a0scripture, the more fully God is manifested\u00a0to satisfy man’s crucial longings.<\/p>\n

A reformation is needed. But it will\u00a0not be ushered in through pragmatism,\u00a0man-centered theology or the latest\u00a0churchy fads and forms. Renewal\u00a0of the magnitude needed today can\u00a0come only through the Word. May God\u00a0grant us a new generation of preachers\u00a0who will rightly divide the word of\u00a0truth.\u00a0 Ecclesia simper reformanda<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Article adapted from Contact\u00a0<\/em>magazine, November 2001.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Randy Sawyer The Reformation Age was an\u00a0era in which a recovery of\u00a0preaching brought about the theological reform and ecclesiastical\u00a0renewal. And it was indeed the recovery\u00a0of expositional preachingthat\u00a0served to fuel the reformed project. As\u00a0the late Middle Ages wound to a close,\u00a0Europe was suffering from severe\u00a0famine. But it was “Not a famine of\u00a0bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing\u00a0the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11). Form and shadow had replaced\u00a0substance and heart. The need of the\u00a0hour was for a “voice crying in the\u00a0wilderness.” Into that void stepped the\u00a0reformers, men committed, above all\u00a0else, to heralding the Word of the living\u00a0God; men like Wyclif, Huss, Luther,\u00a0Zwingli and Calvin. Principles of the First Reformation Sufficiency of the Word Although these pulpit giants were different\u00a0in many respects, it is easy to observe\u00a0a number of consistencies in their\u00a0lives and ministries. First, each reformer\u00a0held firmly to the certainty of the Bible.\u00a0The principle of sola Scriptura\u00a0(Scripture alone) was not an empty catch\u00a0phrase with them. In a day when church\u00a0tradition and papal commentary ranked\u00a0on par with scripture, these men held to\u00a0the sufficiency of the Word. Accessibility of the Word Second, each reformer believed the Scriptures should be placed in\u00a0the hands of the common man. Each\u00a0reformer was, in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4579"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4582,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4579\/revisions\/4582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}