Expository
preaching and W. A. Criswell
In 1944, at the age of 34, W. A. Criswell became the senior
pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. Criswell’s greatest legacy was his preaching,
more specifically, his commitment to expository preaching. For over half a century he preached from the
First Baptist pulpit, over 4,000 sermons until his retirement in 1995.
In 1946 Criswell began an expository preaching tour through
the entire Bible. He began in Genesis
and 17 ½ years later he finished Revelation.
That may sound like a long time, but if you do the math, I am mystified
how he got through it all so quickly. I
have heard it told that members of First Baptist Dallas used to mark their
membership based on what book Criswell was teaching through. “I joined in Genesis”, “I joined in Hosea”,
or “I joined in Acts.”
David L. Allen writes,
“When he announced his intention to
preach through the Bible, the nay-sayers emerged from within the church.
“You’ll kill the church!” some warned. “People won’t come” moaned
others. “What will you do when you get to the book of Numbers” carked
some. As Criswell put it, “you never heard such lugubrious
prognostications in all of your life.” During those years, the church
needed no ecclesiastical undertakers; in fact, her ministries flourished.
Criswell proved you could build a great church on the expositional preaching of
the Bible as the inerrant Word of God.” [1]
Expository
preaching and the Apostle Paul
Expository preaching is not something new. Paul instructed Timothy to place preaching
the Bible at the top of his ministry priorities:
All Scripture is breathed out by
God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training
in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good
work. I charge you in the presence of
God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his
appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out
of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having
itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own
passions, and will turn away from listening
to the truth and wander off into myths. (2 Timothy 3:16-4:4)
Expository
preaching and Crestview
I must confess that as a young, developing pastor, I have a
long way to go. I am humbled and challenged by the command to preach. I am inspired by the example of men like
Criswell who have faithfully carried the torch of preaching in their
flocks.
This past Sunday we completed our study through the Gospel
of Mark. It has been a rich and valuable
journey. Starting with the first verse
of chapter one on June 13, 2010, we have studied every word, every sentence,
every paragraph of this wonderful gospel.
55 sermons later, I pray that by God’s grace we have deeper faith, love,
and hope in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Preaching through Mark is not just profitable for the church, it
nourishes my soul. Here are some of the
lessons and insights that the Holy Spirit has opened my eyes to see and
appreciate from Mark:
1.
The word of God is crucially important –
Jesus describes eye-opening characteristics and miraculous fruit that come from
the ministry of the Word of God. The
Word of God must be central in any real ministry to people (Chapter 4).
2.
Resolute devotion to the mission - Jesus
repeatedly announces that he has come to suffer, die, and rise again. He leads the way to Jerusalem where he will
suffer and die. I, too, must be resolved
to carry out the ministry for which God has put me on this earth, regardless of
the cost (Chapters 8-10).
3.
Being a disciple of Jesus is neither simple,
nor convenient - Jesus explains that a disciple will deny himself, take up
his cross, and follow him. This means I
must change to become what he wants me to be – not the other way around (Chapters
8-10).
4.
Empty temple ritual was worthless - Jesus
had no place for hypocrisy and empty religious rituals, neither should I
(Chapters 11-13).
5.
Jesus died as a ransom for many - Faith
in Jesus’ substitute sacrifice on the cross for my sins is my only hope for
forgiveness from my rebellion against God.
His resurrection is proof that his sacrifice was accepted by the
Father. This is a truth that I need to
savor and one I must share with a dying world (Chapters 10, 14-16).
6.
Jesus is coming again - Jesus tells his
disciples that the day is coming when he will be seen riding on the clouds with
great power and glory to gather his elect.
I must remain alert and watchful, living in obedience, waiting for that
day to arrive (Chapter 13).
7.
Jesus was misunderstood - Jesus was
repeatedly misunderstood, by the Jewish religious leaders and even his own
disciples. Should I expect anything
different? (Entire book)
8.
Jesus is amazing – One of the repeating
themes through the gospel is the awe, astonishment, and fear that people have
who come into contact with Jesus. Am I
amazed by Jesus? (Entire book)
I thank my church for the privilege to stand before them week after
week to unfold the beauties of our Lord found in the Word of God.
Lord willing, we will begin
studying Genesis beginning the first Sunday in February. In the opening words
of his commentary Kenneth Matthews declares:
“Genesis stands as second to none
in its importance for proclaiming “the will of God” (Acts 20:27). It presents the literary and theological
underpinning of the whole canonical Scriptures.
If we possessed a Bible without Genesis, we would have a “house of
cards” without foundation or mortar. . . . Just as we have no gospel without
the cross, we would have no salvation story without the sacred events of Moses’
first book.”[2]
I am looking forward to studying this key foundational book
together. My plan is to devote 14
sermons to this study, which means we will likely finish in May. In each sermon we will cover multiple
chapters as we investigate the major divisions and storylines. At times we will fly high to see the panorama
of the book at other times we will dive low to catch key details. I want to encourage you to embark on your own
daily personal study of Genesis during January.
This is one of the best ways to prepare and reap maximum benefit from
the preaching of the Scriptures.
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