Arthur W. Pink on False Prophets

“False prophets are to be found in the circles of the most orthodox, and they pretend to have a fervent love for souls, yet they fatally delude multitudes concerning the way of salvation. The pulpit, platform, and pamphlet hucksters have wantonly lowered the standard of divine holiness and so adulterated the Gospel in order to make it palatable to the carnal mind.”

“Any preacher who rejects God’s law, who denies repentance to be a condition of salvation, who assures the giddy and godless that they are loved by God, who declares that saving faith is nothing more than an act of the will which every person has the power to perform is a false prophet and should be shunned as a deadly plague”

Expository Preaching

I'm kind of new to expository preaching. That is the direction I am heading. My past messages have been mostly topical. I am in the process of learning how to be more of an expositor. My brother told me about a message online entitled "What is Expository Preaching?" by Dr. Steven J. Lawson. Expository preaching is different than topical preaching. Expository concentrates on a specific text and discusses topics covered within that text, whereas the topical concentrates on a specific topic and references texts covering the topic. Mark Dever defines expository preaching as “Preaching that takes for the point of a sermon the point of a particular passage of Scripture.” D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones states, “In a sermon the theme or the doctrine is something that arises out of the text and its context, it is something which is illustrated by the text and context.”

Here is a great quote from Dr. Lawson's message:

“Preaching without exposition is all hot air; it is loud but there’s no life. Preaching without exposition is just shallow and superficial and surface. Preaching without exposition exemplifies what one pastor wrote in his notes: “weak point, yell here.” It’s all style but no substance. Preaching without exposition is all theatrics but no theology. Preaching without exposition tries to fill the building without filling the pulpit. All preaching and no exposition trivializes the Scripture, it abuses the pulpit, it manipulates people and it results in a church of unconverted, unregenerate people who show up for supper club on Sunday morning; it is dangerous. Exposition, on the other hand, without preaching is all content but no challenge; all information but no exhortation. Exposition without preaching is all cerebral and is cognitive; it is dead, it is lifeless, it is stoic, it is cold, it is calloused, it is calculating, it is clinical, it is boring, it is like hearing someone read the phone book to you. Exposition without preaching produces people that are imbalanced; they’re all head, no heart, they’re all hearing, no doing. All exposition and no preaching produces a congregation of egg-heads, with little passion and little personality, and little push to God’s will and God’s work.”

Why Preach? Dr. Mark Dever

"Why don't we just quit preaching? Considering the widespread popularity of engaging anecdotes and vivid vignettes, wouldn't it be more effective to simply tell a few captivating stories on Sunday Morning? And why think specifically about expositional preaching - that brand so often associated with excruciating boredom and half-empty pews? In our fast paced society of sports tickers and sound bite infotainment, can we really expect anyone to have the patience for a serious exposition of an ancient text? In an age that has developed a pungent distaste for the exclusivity of religious truth, how can the authoritative tone of expositional preaching hold any promise at all? In a voyeuristic culture inundated with glossy magazines and risqué sitcoms, maybe pastors would be wise to modernize - quit the text-centered approach and accommodate to our culture's predilection for the visual. So… what do you think? Why preach?"

~ Dr. Mark Dever