Bible Students

This paper will aim to communicate the purpose of preaching for Christians. Additionally, this paper will cover an exploration of the aspects of preaching, and then a biblical defense of the practice of homiletics. The final section will aim to apply preaching to the author’s context.

o Homiletics: what is it? – proper preaching of the Word

Throughout this paper, many terms are used. It is helpful to define them upfront for maximal clarity. First, the term hermeneutics is often used in the sense of private and personal Bible study. The term homiletics is often used to denote study of the Bible or communication of the Bible for the purpose of bringing other individuals into the text. The preacher (also referenced as the shepherd) of the congregation is most often referenced with homiletics in mind. The role of the preacher, when commented on, has homiletics in mind. 

Proper homiletics – Aim, content, style

Proper homiletics consists of three main aspects. First, the aim: Toward glorifying God and helping His people to know Him more. Second, the content: Through explaining what the Scriptures say (also known as expositional preaching). Third, the style: Through communicating well to an understood audience. These will be explored in the following section.

First, the aim of preaching is toward glorifying God and helping His people to know Him. Preaching and teaching is given to the church for the equipping of the saints (Ephesians 4). This is a gift from God which should be used for the glory of God. Not only this, but if the aim of man is to know God and enjoy Him, then preaching gives a clear window into this. The difference between hermeneutics and homiletics (and therefore the point of preaching as apart from personal hermeneutics) is to bring other people to God. Now, why does the preacher bring other people to God? The chief aim of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever (Psalm 145). Preaching helps to close the gap. Additionally, the student of the Bible today is in a completely different context than the biblical context, and often the audience does not have the adequate resources to thoroughly study the original context. The preacher through homiletics and study is able to give the time to close the cultural gap between the Bible and the audience. 

Second, the content of preaching is explaining what the Scriptures say. This is also known as expositional preaching. Expositional preaching is the communication of what the Scripture intends to say from the Scripture used. This is to be contrasted with the use of Scripture as a type of “proof-text” for the main thrust of the sermon, which would be composed by the preacher before approaching the text. The main difference between these two styles of preaching is where the idea of the sermon comes from and where the explanation comes from: Either the idea comes from the text and the preacher gives the explanation, or the idea comes from the preacher and the text is used as a “defense.” Expositional preaching one of, if not the, most useful kind of preaching, as it pulls directly from the text the point of the sermon. If Scripture is the Word of God, then the Word of God should be able to communicate truth on its own terms, rather than the terms of the preacher. The preacher, therefore, must come to the text with the humility of taking their points and application from the text (or the implications of the text). Now, this is not to say that the preacher should not bring in ideas from outside of the text. In fact, this is one of the primary responsibilities of the preacher. However, it must be made known the difference between what the interpretation of the text is and the correlation of the text (the place the text has within the whole of biblical theology). This will be touched on more in the next section. 

Third, the style of preaching is through communicating well and to the proper audience. Now, this section has two parts. First, the style of a good sermon must be to communicate well. The preacher must communicate the idea of the text to his audience, which can be done through a whole manner of ways. This includes the use of illustrations, comparisons, word studies, and others. The point of communicating well is that preaching is the communication of what is found in the text. If the sermon does not communicate the point of the text well, then it does not serve its purpose. Second, the sermon must touch the specific audience of the preacher. This consists of understanding both the context of the text and the context of the audience. One of the biggest advantages of in-person preaching as a part of pastoring (as opposed to preaching online or at satellite campuses) is the personal understanding of the audience. The context of the audience is a large part of the composition of the sermon. 

What is hermeneutics? How do they differ?

It was noted earlier that homiletics and hermeneutics seem incredibly similar before careful study. Preaching consists of an enormous amount of hermeneutics mixed in with the homiletics. The difference between hermeneutics and homiletics is the communication of the Word to an audience in homiletics. Hermeneutics is the study of the Scripture, but homiletics is the communication of this study. What does this communication look like?

First, the aim of homiletics, as noted previously, is to bring glory to God through the bringing of people closer to Him. This means the primary motive for preaching must be the love of God (first) and the love of neighbor (second). If the preacher does not care for the audience, he will not put in the work in the study or speaking parts of preaching which are needed to glorify God through bringing people closer to Him. The art of preaching must be out of a heart for the people. While hermeneutics can be private and personal, a public gift like preaching must be motivated by love.

Out of this love, the preacher (spiritual shepherd) works on the behalf of the sheep in study. As noted earlier, many in the congregation do not have the resources or the direction to study the Scriptures deeply for themselves. Instead, they give money to the church for a preacher to spend his time largely studying the Bible. Again, while hermeneutics can be private and personal, the study of hermeneutics must have an audience in mind. This audience must be specific (for reasons noted later), and in the mind of the preacher as he goes through his work. Homiletical study must be other-centered. 

Now, preaching must also be able to communicate the gospel in words the audience will understand. The context of the audience is far removed from the context of the biblical author. This means that through the extra time the preacher has to study the Word, the preacher must spend time understanding how to communicate biblical truth to a post-Christian world. This can be done through a whole manner of ways, including illustrations, stories, analogies, comparisons, and other linguistic tools which parallel the current culture to the culture of the Bible. The truth of the passage must be communicated to the audience well. 

With this in mind, the preacher as an other-centered student of the Bible means that they must act as a plumb-line of theology. This happens through the authoritative position the preacher is in, acting as a shepherd of the flock (the shepherd leads the flock) in the area of biblical study. Where the private student of the Bible may come away from the text with a strange and cult-like interpretation due to a lack of time in the Scriptures, the preacher acts as a sure fountain for fresh water.

On this same note, homiletics acts as an example to the flock for proper biblical exegesis. Note that earlier the terms exposition and exegesis were used to describe proper biblical study and preaching. Exposition and exegesis both refer to explaining what the text means on its own terms without using the text as a “prooftext” of the preacher’s ideas (eisegesis). This is the biggest way the preacher acts as a biblical role model through homiletics: The proper study of the Bible on display. If anyone in the congregation follows the methods of the preacher for studying the Bible, he should (if the preacher is doing what he ought) be able to study the Bible well without reading an incorrect meaning into Scripture. 

Now, biblical homiletics should focus on explaining what the biblical text wants to communicate. However, as the shepherd of the congregation, proper homiletics must include correlation of the text to the rest of Scripture. Scripture is often one-sided in many sections when responding to certain issues. The audience must be made aware of this by explaining the text at hand while also including the whole counsel of Scripture. This is another one of the unique areas a preacher can shepherd a congregation by bringing to the pulpit many years of diligent study, through the inclusion of representing the whole story of Scripture. In other words, this point is the contextualization of any one Scripture in the whole of Scripture. One Scripture should not be understood apart from the rest of Scripture, though it is understood on its own terms. This is because understanding Scripture on its own terms includes understanding all of Scripture as a part of one big meta-narrative (especially in the movement from Eden to the New Heaven and Earth, and the need for redemption). 

Finally, the aim of preaching must be revisited: The aim of preaching is to bring glory to God through bringing people closer to Him. This is done twofold: The audience must be made to understand God more fully (in thought) and to follow God more closely (in action). Preaching should result in a stronger desire for the audience to know God as well as a stronger desire to follow God through the commands of Scripture. Preaching must give application! Application from the Scripture can be one of the hardest parts of exegetical homiletics. As the shepherd of the congregation, the preacher must give direction to the audience if he is to be effective in his preaching. Apart from this, the whole direction of the sermon is lost. Preaching must lead to a response, otherwise the preaching is in vain. 

o Homiletics: why is it important?

Firstly, the aim of preaching is to glorify God and to help people to know Him. This is given as a gift to the church (Ephesians 4) in order to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. God has given this gift as a gift to the church in order that His people would learn about Him. It is important simply because God has seen it as important. If preaching was something unimportant, arbitrary, or second-hand, then God would not need to gift it to people. If it was a secular gift which one could attain on their own without the help of God, God would not need to gift it to anyone. Now, because it is a gift given by God, it is clear that it is a gift of much importance and of much need in the church today. This should be enough reason for anyone, but if one needs additional reasons, there are plenty. 

First, homiletics leads to the conversion of souls. Without the hearing of the Word, how will anyone be saved? Salvation comes from the hearing of the Word. Preaching is the speaking of the Word and the communicating of the meaning of the text, which leads to the understanding of unbelievers. Many, especially in Acts, were saved through the preaching of the Word. For whatever reason the public explanation of the Word of God has power. The Spirit has chosen this method to use His servants for His glory and the glory of Christ and the Father. Homiletics leads to the conversion of souls: What other justification would one need? But one can go further. 

Second, homiletics connects Christ to the current culture. One of the most important roles of homiletics is the connection of biblical culture to the current culture. Many in the congregation do not have the time, resources, or direction to properly understand the biblical culture in a manner that leads to a clear connection to the current culture. Without this connection, the audience will not have the proper foundation for applying the Scripture in what it intends to be applied. For example, one may read the commands in Leviticus and believe it necessary to continue to make these sacrifices (though, without a Tabernacle or Temple). Rather, the importance of homiletics connects the sacrifices of the Old Testament (for example) to its proper context: The sacrifice of Christ, the need for redemption, and the need for living dead to the world. Contextual connection is key for proper homiletics and acts as justification enough for preaching. However, there is more. 

Third, homiletics leads to the growth of the Christian. Preaching and proper homiletics not only gives the context, meaning, and application of the Scripture, but also gives the power through the power of the Spirit. As noted earlier, the Spirit works through preaching, and in doing so gives the power to the congregation to obey the commands given. Preaching places the congregation on the same page for following Christ and acts as a foundation for accountability across the whole congregation. Accountability is good, but even better than this is the encouragement given through proper homiletics. Homiletics is not a disconnected practice apart from the congregation, but one of the congregation speaking to fellow congregants as one of them. One of the biggest differences between personal hermeneutics and homiletics is that the Scriptures were written by holy men of God, but the Sunday sermon is spoken by a sinner in the congregation. Of course, character is an essential aspect of pastoral ministry, but preaching is communicating the Scriptures as another saint on the same journey as the congregation. The personality of the preaching is important for the encouragement of the congregation, not only the exhortation. While the preacher gives this encouragement, it is the Spirit who gives the power through the hearing of the preaching of the Word, given for the edification of saints.

There are a great multitude of reasons for the importance of homiletics. However, even given the few in the short survey above, one can clearly see the incredible importance of the practice of proper preaching. Most of all, above all other reasons, God has given preaching for the edification of the saints, and ultimately for His own glory. If God has given something for His own glory, then one ought to attempt to practice it well and often. 

o A theology of Homiletics: what does the Bible say about preaching?

The Bible does not give a systematic theology of preaching. However, it does give a few pointers for what proper preaching should look like. It is helpful to redefine preaching for this section. Preaching is the art of communicating the biblical message to a group of people through words with a special emphasis on application. 

The first point regarding preaching comes from Romans 10:14: “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” In this verse Paul claims that those who believe can only come to belief through the preaching of the Word. In this verse alone, the Scriptures place a very heavy mantle on the art of preaching. Preaching is the art by which unbelievers come to the faith. This means preaching must be taken seriously, as it holds the keys to eternity. This kind of art must be studied diligently and the Bible must be communicated clearly in order to lead others to faith. 

The second point comes from 1 Timothy 3:1: “This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work.” Now, in this context the office of bishop is he who is leading the congregation through example and preaching. Preaching is a good thing. Paul here claims that the position where preaching lies is an honorable position to aim for. While preaching is a heavy responsibility, preaching is also something that people should aspire to. The preaching of the Word leads, at least, to the conversion of souls, and so this is an honorable thing to aspire to. In short, while the text is specifically applying the honorable pursuit to aspire to the position of bishop, the chief role of bishop as spiritual director of the flock means preaching is something to aspire to as well. 

The third point comes from Matthew 18:6: “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” In this section, Jesus speaks of those who lead His children stray through false teaching. The theme of false teaching is strong throughout the whole of the New Testament. False teachers are those who are leading the children of Jesus away from sound teaching and into false belief. This can come as a result of one of two things: First, the teacher may simply not give enough diligence to the responsibility of preaching. In this case, they should not be a teacher, if they do not desire to put in the work for preaching. Second, the teacher may purposefully point the flock toward himself rather than to God. In this case, it would be better that the teacher be killed and not bring more children into hell. Either way, the responsibility of preaching is immense, and can not be taken lightly. 

Similarly, James 3:1 says “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.” This is similar to the words of Jesus, but with one important difference: With Jesus, it would be better for a false teacher to die in order that others would not be brought to the same condemnation. His words have this world in view. For James, he has the next world in mind. Not only should a false teacher be stopped as soon as possible (death), but they will face eternal judgment for their words. This not only applies to false teachers but also to generally good teachers. James says that “we” shall receive a stricter judgment. Even Christians will have a stricter judgment for the false words they speak. This is not the same as eternal condemnation, but this is a stricter responsibility before God for leading the flock.

One last important point comes from Ephesians 4:11-13: “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;” Preaching is a gift from God. Preaching is given for the equipping of Christians. Preaching is toward the goal of having unity, faith, and knowledge of God, being formed to the likeness of Christ. Preaching is a gift from God. This means two things: First, preaching is not something to be despised, but rather something to be loved by people, as it is a gift from God. Second, because it is a gift from God, it is an equipment that comes from God. God is the one who is giving the gift of preaching to the individual, and so the individual needs to depend on the one who is giving the gift to continue to provide what is needed for the use of the gift. This is one of the most important aspects of proper preaching: Dependance on God. The preacher must depend on the gift-giver to give the power to exercise the gift. 

Scripture has many examples of preaching, especially with different styles. From the work of Moses, Ezra, Jesus, Paul, Peter, and many others, there are a multitude of biblical examples of explaining the Word of God. However, better than those examples is the encouragement to be of good character and depend on God. Better than any preaching style is the dependence on God and being of good character. Now, it can be argued that exegetical preaching is depending on God, as it is depending on the meaning God has given His Word. Regardless of this, however, it must be stated that the most important biblical data on preaching is that the preacher must be faithful to God and depend on Him for the sustaining of the gift of preaching. 

o Homiletics: why is it important to me?

Homiletics is extremely important. Now, preaching must be defined again for this section. Here, preaching will specifically refer to the communication of the Word and the faithful study of Scripture for this practice. I believe my work in the future will involve international and intercultural missions and church planting. This kind of work requires the communication of the Bible and the faithful study of its message. 

The mission field requires communicating the gospel to the culture in ways the individual will understand. This requires the faithful study of the Scripture, in order to understand how it applies to the culture. However, it also requires the faithful study of the Scripture apart from western culture. Faithful Bible study for the purpose of preaching means studying the Scripture to understand where western Christianity merges western culture and the biblical message. Much of the western church is not born from Scripture alone, but from western culture and Scripture together. This means the western church can not be copied and pasted into a new culture, but rather the Bible must be planted and merged with the God-honoring aspects of the new culture. This means the study of the Scripture, faithfully, is of utmost importance in intercultural ministry. Apart from the careful study of the Scripture, we run the risk of teaching western ideas over the gospel. Much of the West is not necessary to the gospel (even though arguably the west was built on gospel principles), and should not be imposed on another culture. This is not to say that western culture is bad, but that the spread of western culture is not the goal of missions. Rather, missions is the spread of the gospel.

Additionally, preaching communicates application to the culture. One can not only go into a culture and drop the gospel without explanation. One of the key aspects of preaching is the use of speech to communicate what the message of the biblical text is. So many cultures on earth have access to the Bible, including many mission fields. Japan, for example, has plenty of gospel material, Bible translations, and other things they have access to in order to learn the Bible. However, all people need the preaching of the gospel. This is especially for conviction for the unbelievers and growth for the believers. While a culture can depend only on the biblical material, apart from the influence of preaching, preaching is made specifically to give the gospel to the culture in a way that will convict and grow, turning people from observers into participators. 

Preaching in the form of Bible study has shown itself to be very applicable and helpful in my own life. When I was in Bible college I was able to lead a few Bible studies with my peers, which showed to be a very helpful experience for everyone. Not only were other people edified by the preaching of the Word, but I as well was helped through the study of the Scriptures in my own time as well as the preaching to other people. Where the congregation listens to an hour, the preacher must study ten or twenty hours. That study is benefiting the preacher much more than the congregation. I have greatly grown from my time studying the Word for the purpose of teaching, and can testify to its life-changing power. 

Further, preaching is important to me for personal growth. Preaching brings personal conviction of sin before other Christians. Through the preaching of the Word I am moved in my emotions and my mind to recognise sin and desire to have a more intimate relationship with God. It is by preaching that I am exposed in a public and private way. It is as if God is speaking to me (so I understand why teachers must be held responsible for the things they say, as it is as if God is speaking to them as the preacher explains the Scripture), which He is as the Word is God’s Word to me. The preaching of the Word expounds God’s Word to me and explains what He expects. This has been incredibly important in my own spiritual growth, so I know the great power it holds and the great ability it has to change people. 

Preaching is one of the most important aspects of the Christian faith which must be held up regardless of the culture. Preaching is incredibly relevant for any era or culture, and so it must be protected. Preachers must be of good character and reverence, in order to demonstrate proper study of the Scriptures. Even though the Scriptures do not have a systematic theology of preaching, it is clear the Scriptures communicate a need for the proper teaching of its words. Apart from preaching, many less would come to faith, many less would be edified, and the church would be neglecting an amazing gift from God. Preaching must be honored for the purpose of glorifying God and bring His people closer to Him.

Bibliography

Helm, David. Expositional Preaching. Wheaton, IL. Crossway, 2014. 

Hendricks, Howard G. and William D. Hendricks. Living by the Book. Chicago, IL. Moody Publishers, 2007. 

Kaiser, Walter C. Jr. Toward an Exegetical Theology, Grand Rapids, MI. Baker Academic, 1981.

Piper, John. The Supremacy of God in Preaching. Grand Rapids, MI. Baker Books, 2004. 

Robinson, Haddon W. Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expositional Message. Grand Rapids, MI. Baker Academic, 2014.

Walvoord, John F. and Roy B. Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary New Testament. Wheaton, IL. Victor Books, 1983.