November 20th, 2024
There are many ways to prepare a steak, but even the simplest recipes can be delicious. I like to let it soak in a marinade of lemon juice, olive oil, soy sauce and Montreal Steak Seasoning for a few hours, then throw it on the grill, and serve it on a bed of sautéed onions and mushrooms, drizzled in A1 Sauce.
Of course, all the “extras” are necessary because the only cut of steak we typically splurge on is London Broil when it’s on sale. You don't need any of that when you have filet mignon, New York strip steak, or ribeye!
You don’t need to dress up a quality cut of beef. Even more, there’s no need to add anything to the Word of God. It can be served simply and stand on its own.
Listen to Paul in I Corinthians 2:1-5:
Paul aimed to teach the Word of God in a simple fashion. To the Ephesians, he did not “shrink back from declaring the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). These passages establish the warrant for expository preaching and teaching, which is verse-by-verse, chapter-by-chapter exposition of the Scriptures. By doing this, pastors step out of the way and let the Word speak!
Surveying the landscape of conservative evangelicalism, it has become common to see a constant wave of topical sermon series geared to be “relevant” to people’s daily lives. What this actually betrays is an implicit lack of confidence in the sufficiency of the Scriptures.
Instead of preaching God’s Word plainly and directly, unpacking the original meaning in its context, some orators think they need to “dress it up” to make it meaningful and applicable. In reality, they are placing themselves over and above the Scriptures.
Expository preaching, on the other hand, is a method of Bible teaching that goes at least as far back as the 5th century B.C. In Nehemiah 8, we find the preferred form of preaching of Ezra and the Levites. They “opened the book in the sight of all the people” (8:5), and “they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God, and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading” (8:8).
It all sounds so simple, so straightforward. They just read it and told them what it meant? What about the jokes? The sports illustrations? The movie quotes? What if they didn’t consider “felt needs” and fashion their presentation accordingly? Would their audience still listen? Did they seriously read and explain Leviticus? How did they fill up a room?!?
They just let the Word speak. That’s all.
Paul, in essence, gives the same instruction to Timothy. “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching” (1 Timothy 4:13). In other words, Paul told Timothy to read Scripture, tell them what it means (doctrine), and explain how it affects their lives (exhortation).
You don’t need to add anything when you have a good steak.
Similarly, having been given the very Words of God, we can just let the Word speak.
Of course, all the “extras” are necessary because the only cut of steak we typically splurge on is London Broil when it’s on sale. You don't need any of that when you have filet mignon, New York strip steak, or ribeye!
You don’t need to dress up a quality cut of beef. Even more, there’s no need to add anything to the Word of God. It can be served simply and stand on its own.
Listen to Paul in I Corinthians 2:1-5:
And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
Paul aimed to teach the Word of God in a simple fashion. To the Ephesians, he did not “shrink back from declaring the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). These passages establish the warrant for expository preaching and teaching, which is verse-by-verse, chapter-by-chapter exposition of the Scriptures. By doing this, pastors step out of the way and let the Word speak!
Surveying the landscape of conservative evangelicalism, it has become common to see a constant wave of topical sermon series geared to be “relevant” to people’s daily lives. What this actually betrays is an implicit lack of confidence in the sufficiency of the Scriptures.
Instead of preaching God’s Word plainly and directly, unpacking the original meaning in its context, some orators think they need to “dress it up” to make it meaningful and applicable. In reality, they are placing themselves over and above the Scriptures.
Expository preaching, on the other hand, is a method of Bible teaching that goes at least as far back as the 5th century B.C. In Nehemiah 8, we find the preferred form of preaching of Ezra and the Levites. They “opened the book in the sight of all the people” (8:5), and “they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God, and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading” (8:8).
It all sounds so simple, so straightforward. They just read it and told them what it meant? What about the jokes? The sports illustrations? The movie quotes? What if they didn’t consider “felt needs” and fashion their presentation accordingly? Would their audience still listen? Did they seriously read and explain Leviticus? How did they fill up a room?!?
They just let the Word speak. That’s all.
Paul, in essence, gives the same instruction to Timothy. “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching” (1 Timothy 4:13). In other words, Paul told Timothy to read Scripture, tell them what it means (doctrine), and explain how it affects their lives (exhortation).
You don’t need to add anything when you have a good steak.
Similarly, having been given the very Words of God, we can just let the Word speak.
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