Hands-free narration of this study — good for the car.
Synopsis
An expository sermon derives all its divisions and elaboration from a chosen passage, usually longer than a textual sermon's, with the text chosen first and the subject derived from it. The chapter answers common questions: the text's order need not be followed if a better order serves progress and climax; the sermon must still persuade, not merely instruct; unity is essential; only related material need be treated; parallel passages may be quoted but not expounded; and illustrations may come from anywhere. Five varieties are described — doctrinal (explaining and applying doctrine, as in Romans 5:1-9 on justification), ethical (rules of Christian conduct, as in Romans 14 and 13), inferential (lessons inferred from a narrative, as in 2 Kings 5's warning against covetousness), biographical (character studies such as Cornelius in Acts 10), and propositional (proving a single proposition, as in 1 Corinthians 15 on the resurrection), plus analogical sermons built on a sustained comparison. Six methods of elaboration flesh out the skeleton: verbal, contextual, historical, quotation of parallel passages, illustration, and application — 'Where the application begins, the sermon begins.' The chapter closes with ten stages of preparation and a seventeen-stage expansion by Jud Lake distinguishing exegetical analysis from homiletical synthesis.
Key points
- In expository preaching the text is chosen first and the subject is derived from it afterward.
- Five varieties: doctrinal, ethical, inferential, biographical, and propositional (plus analogical).
- Six methods of elaboration: verbal, contextual, historical, parallel passages, illustration, and application.
- 'Where the application begins, the sermon begins' — persuasion, not mere instruction, is the aim.
- Ten (and later seventeen) stages guide preparation from text selection through delivery without notes.
Key texts
- Romans 5:1-9
- Romans 14:12-21
- Romans 13:1-10
- 2 Kings 5:20-27
- Acts 10:1-8
- Hebrews 12:1-2
- 1 Corinthians 15:3-23
- 1 Corinthians 10:11
- Philippians 1:27
- Mark 11:24
From the course book
How to Construct an Expository Sermon · pp. 53-66 (reader pages 53-66) · Open the reader
- “An expository sermon is a discourse based on a portion of Scripture, occupied mainly with exposition, wholly restricted in the outline to the chosen passage, and delivered with a view to persuasion.” (p. 53)
- “Somebody has said, 'Where the application begins, the sermon begins.'” (p. 60)
- “A sermon without a skeleton is like a man without a back-bone or like an edifice without a framework.” (p. 59)
Put it into practice
- Choose the passage first, and let the subject and outline arise from it rather than imposing an outside topic.
- Work through the six methods of elaboration — verbal, contextual, historical, parallel, illustration, application — to flesh out each division.
- Make applications after each point as the sermon progresses, then recapitulate them at the end.
- Comprehension
1. How does the chapter define an expository sermon?
- Comprehension
2. In expository preaching, which comes first: the subject or the Scripture passage?
- Comprehension
3. List the five varieties of expository sermons named in the chapter.
- Scripture
4. Using the Romans 5:1-9 example, what makes 'Justification' a doctrinal expository sermon?
- Scripture
5. Explain the inferential sermon using 'A Young Man's Ruin' (2 Kings 5:20-27).
- Comprehension
6. What are the six methods of elaboration listed for fleshing out an expository outline?
- Doctrinal Clarity
7. Why does the chapter caution against overusing parallel passages in elaboration?
- Contrast
8. Contrast a propositional expository sermon with a merely doctrinal one, using the resurrection example.
- Application
9. Which of the five varieties (doctrinal, ethical, inferential, biographical, propositional) do you find hardest to preach, and why?
- Application
10. Take a familiar narrative passage and identify one inference it teaches that is not directly stated.