Preaching

Preaching is God’s appointed means through which He advances His kingdom and redeems the elect. By the proclamation of His Word, God perfects and strengthens His people through faith. The English word preaching captures the meaning of the New Testament words euangelion and kerygma. These words convey the idea of the proclamation of the good news of Christ crucified and risen for the forgiveness of sins. In the ministry of Jesus and the Apostles, preaching is revealed to be the central means of discipleship and evangelism. Preaching is the first mark of a true church. When the central message of the gospel is proclaimed, the risen and reigning Christ speaks through the preached Word as the Prophet of the church. The foolishness of the message and method of preaching highlights the sufficiency of God in accomplishing His eternal purposes of redemption in the lives of His people by the accompanying work of His Holy Spirit. The Spirit and the Word together create faith in Christ in the hearts of the elect. The Reformation was a reclamation of the ministry of the preached Word after it was obscured in the medieval church. Although there is no inspired manner of preaching set out in Scripture, many of the Reformers practiced exegetical and expositional preaching. In the history of Protestantism, a variety of approaches to preaching are represented.

God determined that He would advance His kingdom primarily through the means of the preaching of His Word. To that end, He calls and commissions certain individuals to be heralds of His truth to the nations (Rom. 10:13–15). The Apostolic witness to the primacy of preaching is revealed in the example of the Apostles in the book of Acts and in their emphasis on the nature and purpose of preaching in the New Testament Epistles. When the Apostle came to Thessalonica, Luke writes, “Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ’” (Acts 17:2–3). The two words that the New Testament Epistles use to convey the essence of preaching are euangelion and kerygma. The former carries the idea of the proclamation of “good news” and the latter the idea of “the central message in the proclamation of the good news”—namely, Jesus Christ crucified and risen for the forgiveness of sin. Taken together, these two words capture the essence of the Apostolic preaching.

God speaks clearly and efficaciously in His written Word but has specially determined to bless the preaching of His Word to the salvation and sanctification of believers. The Westminster Larger Catechism states:

The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word, an effectual means of enlightening, convincing, and humbling sinners; of driving them out of themselves, and drawing them unto Christ; of conforming them to his image, and subduing them to his will; of strengthening them against temptations and corruptions; of building them up in grace, and establishing their hearts in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation. (Q&A 155, emphasis added)

Since the preaching of the gospel is the primary means by which God advances His kingdom, the Reformers highlighted the fact that the Word rightly preached is the first mark of a true, visible church. Jesus, as the Prophet of the church, speaks clearly to His people through His Word for the building up of His body. The Lord Jesus exercises His office as Prophet by speaking through the Word preached by His ministers for the salvation and sanctification of those who believe. The Apostle Paul asked, “How are they to believe on him [lit.] whom they have not heard?” (Rom. 10:14). Writing to the church in Ephesus, he highlighted this aspect of Christ speaking through the preached Word, “He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near” (Eph. 2:17). Though Jesus never traveled to Ephesus during His earthly ministry, He spoke to the Ephesians after His ascension through the Apostle Paul’s preaching. God works efficaciously whenever the Word of the gospel is proclaimed in truth.

The Holy Spirit is also the active agent in the efficacy of the preaching of the Word. The Word is the means of grace containing the central message to be preached, whereas the Holy Spirit is the agent of the conviction, regeneration, and illumination of the hearts of men through the means of the Word. The Apostle Paul explained that although the preaching of Christ crucified is foolish in the sight of men, “it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe” (1 Cor. 1:21). The foolishness of the message preached—and the means by which that message is propagated (i.e., preaching)—reveals God’s sufficiency in accomplishing His eternal purposes of redemption in His people through the accompanying work of His Holy Spirit.

Biblical preaching involves the process of explaining the teaching of Scripture in its original context with the use of illustrations and application. Though preaching involves the didactic element of exposition, Scripture distinguishes between preaching and teaching. A right proclamation of God’s Word involves exploring the literary genre of whatever portion a minister is preaching and drawing out the systematic-theological and redemptive-historical significance of Scripture. A right preaching of the Word includes expounding doctrine and giving application.

Since the Reformation, exegetical and expository preaching has been considered by many to be the most faithful form of sermonic exposition. Many of the Reformers carried out their preaching ministries by faithful exegetical expositions of entire books of the Bible. In the section “Of the Preaching of the Word” in the Westminster Directory of Public Worship, the Westminster divines highlight the doctrinal element of preaching and the applicatory element of the sermon. Concerning the doctrinal exposition of Scripture in preaching, the members of the Westminster Assembly wrote,

The doctrine is to be expressed in plain terms; or, if any thing in it need explication, it is to be opened, and the consequence also from the text cleared. The parallel places of scripture, confirming the doctrine, are rather to be plain and pertinent, than many, and (if need be) somewhat insisted upon, and applied to the purpose in hand.

The Westminster divines then explain the significant need ministers have to apply the doctrinal exposition in their preaching. They write,

He is not to rest in general doctrine, although never so much cleared and confirmed, but to bring it home to special use, by application to his hearers: which albeit it prove a work of great difficulty to himself, requiring much prudence, zeal, and meditation, and to the natural and corrupt man will be very unpleasant; yet he is to endeavor to perform it in such a manner, that his auditors may feel the word of God to be quick and powerful, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart; and that, if any unbeliever or ignorant person be present, he may have the secrets of his heart made manifest, and give glory to God.

Among the various forms of preaching today are didactic preaching, applicatory preaching, redemptive-historical preaching, plain-style preaching, evangelistic preaching, and topical preaching.