The Fundamentals of Expository Preaching - Steven Lawson

i want to go to peter in a sermon excuse me sermon on the day of pentecost you've got that in your notes don't you i think it would be very important for us to see peter on the day of pentecost so of course acts chapter 2 um you know that and um in fact i want to open my bible i need to see a few things so i'm going to start in verse 14 but i'm going to show you these same three things read the text explain the text apply the text but when we get to explain the text i'm going to break it out and into into three parts and kind of develop this just a little bit a little bit more but starting in verse 14 peter taking his stand with the 11 and i i agree with john calvin the point of this is more than peter is just standing on his feet he is assuming an authoritative posture uh he took his stand with the eleven and raised his voice of course he would have to raise his voice to be heard by that this many people but i think that there's more here than just that or there'd be no point to say it i think again the idea is he's speaking authoritatively taking his stand raising his voice and declared to them men of judea and all you who live in jerusalem let this be known to you that's the way a preacher talks and give heed to my words that's the way a preacher talks you need to talk that way and these men are not drunk as you suppose for it's only the third hour of the day peter had never been to america verse 16 but this is what was spoken of through the prophet joel and beginning in verse 17 going all the way to verse 21 he actually reads the text it shall be in the last days god says i will pour forth of my spirit who's the real preacher on the day of pentecost it's god god is speaking through his word and peter even inserts god says so he begins by reading the text he comes to verse 21 this is the main verse this is the whole point and it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the lord will be saved now beginning in verse 22 is the explanation the interpretation the question begs to be raised if i must call on the name of the lord what is his name verse 22 men of israel listen to these words that's the way a preacher talks you need to listen to me jesus the nazarene that's the name of the lord you're not going to call on just god you can't get to god except through his son jesus christ you're not going to call on the man upstairs you're not going to call on baal or you're not going to call on whoever you're gonna have to call on the name of jesus christ and so now there are a lot of names a lot of people were named jesus it was a very common name that was like bill joe well jesus the nazarene well there still needs to be more explanation lest there be any misunderstanding verse 22 is the person of christ verse 23 is the work of christ or the crucifixion of christ verse 24 23 verse 24 is the resurrection of christ so a man attested to you by god with miracles and wonders and signs which god performed through him in your midst just as you yourself know that's the way a preacher talks you are assertive you are dogmatic you know what you're talking about you believe what you're saying and you the listener desperately need to hear what i have to say now not with an attitude like you're superior but with deep seated convictions people ask me do i get nervous when i get up to speak i'm nervous if i'm not allowed to speak would i be nervous to speak at grace community i wish i could speak to the whole world i i wish you could set it up with this live stream right now that that six billion people would hear this that's the way a preacher talks let this be known to you just as you yourselves know he's being persuasive verse 24 this man delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreign knowledge of god you nailed to a cross great preaching goes from the we to the you you got to get to the u you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him to death verse 24 but god martin lloyd jones says praise god for the buts in the bible but god raised him up you put him to death god raised him up you thought the problem was over and buried no god has raised him from the dead you're gonna have to deal with him putting an end to the agony of death since it is impossible for him to be held in its power so we're under the explanation now what peter will do beginning in verse 25 is support the text he will go to cross references he will bring the whole rest of the bible to bear upon what he just said and specifically the resurrection of christ from the dead as i've as i said the other day thousands of men were crucified on crosses only one has been raised from the dead and so it's the ultimate apologetic and so beginning in verse 25 where david says of him and he now actually reads the cross reference he doesn't just say well psalm 16 verses 8 through 11 no he reads psalm 16 verses 8 through 11. the power is in the word of god the thunder and lightning is in the word of god and so he actually reads this messianic psalm dealing with the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead and then in verse 29 he explains the cross-reference part of the genius of macarthur he can go through those cross-references but he will explain the cross-reference in a staccato fashion verse 29 brethren i may confidently say to you that's the way a preacher talks he's not stroking his chin and saying well it seems to me no i may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch david that he both died and was buried and his tomb is still with us to this day psalm 16 does not find his ultimate fulfillment in david david's bones are still in the grave the one mentioned in verse verses 25 to 28 that tomb is empty verse 30 and so because he was a prophet referring to david and knew that he comes now with a second cross-reference psalm 132 verse 11 he is showing the entire bible speaks with one voice there are no contradictions in the bible he's using scripture to establish scripture he's using scripture to interpret scripture thomas watson the puritan said as only a diamond is sharp enough to cut another diamond so only scripture is sharp enough to interpret scripture and so he quotes psalm 32 verse 11 god had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne how clear can clear be david was not speaking of himself david was speaking of one who was in his loins david was speaking of one who was a descendant a greater son of david verse 31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection that explains what he just read and now at the end of verse 31 he comes back to the word of god again he goes circles back to psalm 16 which he just read earlier he was neither abandoned to hades nor did his flesh suffer decay obviously he would be raised soon enough before the decaying process could begin verse 32 this jesus not some other jesus this jesus god raised up again to which we are all witnesses do you hear how emphatic peter is verse 33 therefore great preaching gets to the therefore this is one of the most important words in your sermon therefore you are drawing a conclusion you're pulling it all together and sometimes the difference between a good sermon and a great sermon is the therefore having been exalted to the right hand of god and having received from the father the promise of the holy spirit he has poured forth this which you both see and hear for it was not david who ascended into heaven but he himself says and now he quotes the fourth text really the fifth after joel this is psalm 1 10 verse 1. the lord said to my lord and here's a clear statement for the full deity of christ this is an inner trinitarian conversation the first member of the godhead said to the second member of the godhead sit in my right hand until i make your enemies a footstool for your feet so let's see what's going on here he read the text from joel 16-21 he explained the text 22-24 he supports the text in verses 25 to 35 with references cross references are like nails that just driven into a board they nail down what you're saying it's bringing the whole rest of the bible now to bear upon what you have just said in other words if you disregard what i just said to you in 22 to 24 you are disregarding the entire bible he is binding their conscience so verse 36 he now synthesizes the text he boils it down to a bottom line conclusion he it's as if there he he ties together all of the loose ends of this sermon and ties it into a knot therefore let all of the house of israel know for certain i'm going to tell you one more time that's the way a preacher talks you need to know this and you need to know this for certain that god has made him both lord and christ this jesus and you crucified what a powerful tour to of a sermon so read the text explain the text support the text synthesize the text and now finally apply the text so in verse 37 now when they heard this they were katanusso pierced to the heart well let me tell you there's only one instrument that compares to the heart and it's not culture it's the sharp two-edged sword of the word of god and it cut them to the bone they were pierced to the heart they were filleted and said to peter and the rest of the apostles brethren what shall we do he's not he's not even finished preaching the sinners are giving the invitation they've interrupted the sermon because in verse 40 he goes back to finish the sermon what shall we do we can't bear to hear another sentence of this sermon we are under such heavy deep painful conviction of sin we have committed flagrant premeditated murder of the second person of the godhead this is the crime of the ages we have blood on our hands we have trampled underfoot the precious blood of the lord jesus christ we have insulted the spirit of grace what shall we do well verse 38 verse 38 is the answer to what shall we do this is the application this is the action step this is what you must do let me spell this out for you repent it's in the imperative mood it's not an indicative it's not a word study on repentance repent and be baptized in the name of jesus christ for the forgiveness of your sins and receive the gift of the holy spirit and in verse 39 he goes back into the sovereignty of god and he goes the promise is for you and your children and for many are fall off far off as many as the lord our god will call to himself no more no less verse 40 with many other words not a few other words not some other words with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting persuading pleading urging entreating be saved someone once asked me is is be saved is that a baptist phrase welcome to the bible that's a bible phrase be saved save from what from this perverse generation because this perverse generation is under the wrath of god and is going to hell with blood on its hands for calling for the first degree murder of the son of god as well as their own wicked lawlessness so then those who had received his word were baptized and that day they were added about 3 000 souls he got to the action point repent be baptized be saved so in many ways this is a good paradigm for your preaching and if you wanted to add one more heading you could in verse 14 and 15 and just say introduce the text because in the introduction what you do is secure the attention and the interest of the listener so there's six headings here introduce the text read the text explain the text support the text synthesize the text apply the text guys you can do this you can do this you're getting a world-class education here your gaps are going to be filled in i mean this is going to work you can do this now i want to go back through this sermon just one more time with you and i want you to i just want to make some observations i've got 15 minutes now as we look at this sermon let me just bring out some the distinguishing marks of this sermon okay number one and this is going to sound familiar to you number one it was text driven do you see how much scripture is in this sermon that this thing is a walking bible it's text driven there are five specific points here where he's just quoting scripture so i think our sermons do not need less scripture we need more scripture second is god exalting i've taken a ballpoint pen and drawn a circle around every time i see god in this sermon and i've drawn a circle around every time first person singular pronoun refers to god i me my let me just show you this verse 17 god says i will pour forth of my spirit verse 18 my bond servants i will my spirit verse 19 i will grant wonders verse 22 a man attested to you by god wonders and signs which god performed through him verse 23 the foreknowledge of god verse 24 god raised him up verse 25 i saw the lord he is at my right hand verse 27 you will not abandon my soul verse 28 you have made known to me you will make me full of gladness verse 30 god has had sworn to him verse 32 this jesus god raised up again verse 33 exalted at the right hand of god verse 34 the lord said to my lord verse 35 i will make your enemies a footstool verse 36 know for certain that god has made him both lord and christ verse 39 as many as the lord our god will call to himself god god god god god we also need more of god in our sermon third is christ centered this is just like what we talked about the last two days text driven god exalting christ centered i mean time does not permit me to go through this sermon again now a second time and draw out everything about christ the whole thing's about christ you can see it for yourself a blind man could see this fourth is spirit empowered in verse four earlier it says they were all filled with the spirit in verse 38 says you'll receive the gift of the spirit peter already had the gift of the spirit it was the spirit of god who supernaturally divinely enabled him to preach with the power that he did fifth it's logically ordered sound familiar i mean this thing is laid out everything is buttoned down in this the life of christ verse 22 the death of christ verse 23 the resurrection of christ verse 24 the exaltation of christ verse 33 to 36. i mean this is there is perfect order perfect logical sequence here number six it's theologically grounded we talked about that the la the last two days i mean he's talking about the trinity the lord said to my lord uh he's talking about foreknowledge he's talking about predestination he's talking about the effectual call i mean this is a very theological sermon and remember now this isn't everything that he said this is just the reader's digest version this is just what someone wrote wrote down in their moleskine that luke researched this thing and talked to some some witnesses they just recreated this there is a whole lot more that peter had to say seventh it was persuasively delivered i mean he he is he is very persuasive number eight is boldly declared just remember this he preached this to the very people who called for the crucifixion of the lord jesus christ he didn't preach this to the choir as far as peter knew they would call for his crucifixion number nine it was evangelistically aimed of course it was evangelistically repent be saved it was personally directed i've gone through and just drawn a line under every time he says you i mean this was a it's about as personal as it gets number 11 it's commandingly spoken he doesn't just speak with indicatives he speaks with imperatives number 12 is freely offered verse 39 the promise is for you verse 39 for all who are far off it's the free offer of the gospel peter is swinging open the gates of paradise whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord shall be saved verse 21 now verse 13 it's sovereignty emboldened i mean that there is i think uh a deeper in bolding of the preacher as he speaks on the sovereignty of god the predetermined plan of god verse 23 foreign knowledge of god verse 23 as many as the lord our god will call himself verse 39 he doesn't have to manipulate anyone he he knows that god is going to call out a bride for his son the lord jesus christ verse 14 earnestly given in fact as piper would say he is blood earnest he's as serious as a heart attack verse 40 solemnly testified dia martiramai at verse 40 kept on exhorting pericleo uh verse 14 declared that this is er he's not glib he's not light-hearted he he must have an audience and verse 15 confidently declared verse 29 i may confidently say to you this is a model sermon and i think this is why luke took the time took the space to record this first sermon other sermons we have later in the book of acts they're they're they're much more minimal uh we we only have paul going in the synagogue and reasoning with them from the old testament scriptures that's about it but luke takes the time to flesh out this sermon he will do so with some others chapter 3 and chapter 13 chapter 10 but this one right here at the very beginning to front load the book of acts this is a sermon this is what a sermon looks like tastes like smells like sounds like this is a sermon so this is the model now i'm going to give you one last one and then we'll we'll break the huddle and come back tomorrow first timothy chapter 4. first timothy chapter 4 and verse 13 until i come paul is separated from timothy paul is assigned timothy to go to the church at ephesus it's a long-standing church charter members have had significant men before pastor there timothy's a young man timothy's in over his head it's a very difficult church to pastor he has unqualified elders he has unqualified deacons he has women teaching men they're not taking care of the widows the rich have too much influence in the church i mean this this is a dysfunctional church at this point so until i come this what you do timothy you strap yourself in the pulpit and you preach the word of god and when i get there i'll help you sort it all out but the word of god preached is the cure the number one cure at this moment for the church at ephesus so until i come give attention to and to give attention to means you're you have my optic focus don't take your eye off this ball and he gives now the three indispensable parts of expository preaching give attention to the public reading of scripture to exhortation and to teaching timothy this is what you're to do read the text exhort with the text teach the text it's what you do this is binding upon timothy and because it is in the pastoral epistle and because it is recorded included in the canon of scripture this is for every timothy and for every pastor in every generation on every continent in every age when you stand up to speak and to preach you are to give attention to the public reading of scripture to exhortation and to teaching and then you may sit down so this is binding not only on timothy this is binding on you and me so you get up and you read the text you are making a statement when you read the text that everything that i have to say to you today is originating out of this text of scripture i have nothing to say to you apart from the scripture it is probably to be understood that in the reading of the scripture it would be accompanied with the explaining of the scripture i wish i wish that it said that there are commentators george knight's very exegetical commentary is a good example of this i'm going to say that with the reading of scripture it is to be understood there is the explaining of scripture then second to exhortation that's the application that is the persuading the urging the beseeching the pleading even the begging according to second corinthians 5. to come alongside as well as the pastoral comfort and encouragement the teaching refers to the doctrine the teaching that is in this portion of scripture to pull out the theology and pull out the doctrine of this text if you some of you will be in my class uh this afternoon on the history of preaching and i will bring this out with the preaching of the puritans and then tomorrow afternoon the preaching of jonathan edwards as two examples of teaching the theology that is in a text of scripture we've already talked about this two days ago about to be theologically precise what is preaching lloyd jones said it is theology on fire so that theology would be the teaching at the end of verse 13. so a slightly different way to slice the same pie you read and explain the text you exhort and apply the text and you be sure and bring the doctrine out of the text the teaching that's in the text okay we got through it all right yes sir you mentioned uh earlier about the sermon being like scripturally saturated obviously so okay my question is is how do you balance sticking to the main text that you're exposing wanting yeah no that's true he's so gifted the hand of god is upon him um you know we just want macarthur to keep being macarthur okay so the question is balancing staying in this text and then going to cross references a basic rule is you dance with the girl you take to the dance okay so don't don't invite one girl to the dance and you end up spending your time dancing with some other text you you you preach the text that's in front of you if you're going to spend a long time in another text then just go preach that text now there are times when it is reasonable that you may spend a little bit longer in another text and it'll depend upon the congregation how long they can hang with you so that you're not diverted away from your main text a mistake i made as a young preacher was was the influence of macarthur because i don't have his giftedness was to go off on a long journey to a far away country and and when i returned the father was not there with a ring and a robe i i looked up and it was an empty house and i was still in the pig pen so um you have to limit yourself don't don't don't don't go away for too long yes sir is there an adrian see i remember i like that name adrienne with that being said do you have any set of principles or things that you will share when using a cross reference because i think the temptation is to give all the background information and the where it falls the context and everything like that reference but sometimes you sometimes you do give that background sometimes it's unnecessary to get the background and you have to use your discretion as to when it's necessary i would say it's always helpful but it's not always necessary and you also have to be able to monitor your time if if you have eight cross references let's say you're probably not going to have time to give much background for any of them if you're only going to one then you may have time to give a couple sentences and i write out usually what i'm going to say for any background on the cross reference to limit me so when i'm up i don't start rambling and giving more information if you feel that it would really make this come alive and help establish the point then i would give it but you then may also have to make the the decision then i okay then i don't have time for these three other cross references you've only got so much room in the suitcase what what's going to go in and what's going to stay out yeah do you do you think there's like an ideal time to shoot for in terms of the amount of time you deliver a sermon that's a good question i think it's going to depend on the giftedness of the preacher how long can you hold someone's attention okay second what is the congregation used to have they been listening to 25-minute sermons and then you show up with a 55-minute sermon i mean it may send them into you know cardiovascular arrest um um also is this the morning service the evening service um you may have more time in the evening than you do on sunday morning um it would depend um how much time do i have the for the worship service period uh is this an hour is this an hour and a half uh that that's going to play a factor in uh as well um [Music] i i would say those are the the main considerations um there is legitimate um consideration in nursery workers uh older people like caleb had to go to the bathroom when we had the break earlier [Laughter] um i mean oh you you really have to take that into consideration college students could hang with you longer than than older people um [Music] those are just some things that i would want to take into consideration and uh other people may they won't tell you directly but they will give you maybe some hints you know preacher i don't know where the time went it seemed like we just started when you got up to preach okay well that's a good sign to hear uh if you see people doing this [Applause] you know while you're preaching that's probably not a good sign so i've actually walked into the pulpit and they've actually put a clock in the pulpit that wasn't there the week before [Laughter] so yeah you just have to read the signs of the times for the days are evil so okay anything else going once going twice okay guys i wish we had we had longer uh we'll just have to stop it here uh we've got just tomorrow wish we had more days to even be together um your questions have all been great thank you for asking the questions i've loved being with you um i'm energized hope you're energized um i look forward to tomorrow i look forward one day to be sitting up on the platform and seeing you walk across the stage and dr mcarthur hands you your diploma and that's going to be a great day so just kind of keep that before you as you're taking all these classes and that's going to be a great day and a great moment so i will rejoice with you when that day comes

Channel: The Gospel of Christ

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Length: 36min 48sec (2208 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 23 2020