There’s no doubt that, at least within Reformed churches, this is an age of expository preaching—of preaching sequentially through books of the Bible while always ensuring that the point of the text is the point of the sermon. Yet you do not need to look far into history to find that it was not always so and that in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries such preaching was rare. I was intrigued by Bob Fyall’s explanation of how expository preaching became not only accepted but expected. Because he writes from an English and Scottish perspective he focuses on that side of the Atlantic, but it does not take a lot of work to fill in the details for North America. (I share this excerpt from Why Are We Often So Boring? with the publisher’s permission.)

The Revival of Expository Preaching
A feature of the Reformation was a flood of expository sermons with the likes of Calvin, Luther and Melanchthon preaching systematically through biblical books as well as writing commentaries. That tradition was somewhat lost in succeeding centuries. Not that there was no faithful preaching, but that figures such as Charles Spurgeon tended to preach on texts rather than unfolding books and sections of the Bible in continuous exposition. We’ll return to this point later.
The English Scene
A significant figure here was the former doctor, Martyn Lloyd Jones, particularly in his ministry at Westminster Chapel, London from 1939 to 1969, having earlier ministered in Wales. He preached truly massive series on Romans and Ephesians which were a veritable feast of biblical truth, but such length prevented him giving many other expositions of biblical books, particularly from the Old Testament. This was not altogether a helpful model for those of lesser gifts in very different situations.
Also in London there was the hugely influential ministry of John Stott. His ministry at All Souls established expository preaching as the regular practice. Later he developed a worldwide ministry which has continuing influence. He worked closely with Billy Graham and took part in countless student missions. His style was lucid, and he had particular gifts of biblical analysis shown in his commentaries as well as his sermons. A further legacy is his editing of the New Testament Bible Speaks Today series (Alec Motyer edited the Old Testament series) which continue to be of particular help to preachers. Alec Motyer continued his preaching and writing to the great benefit of the Church until his death in his nineties. Both men contributed some of the volumes themselves, as well as much else.
The dispute between Lloyd Jones and Stott in 1966 over whether evangelicals should leave mainline denominations is well known. This is not the place for yet another account of that meeting, except to say that it is a thousand pities they were not able to work more closely together.
A further hugely influential development took place in 1961 when Dick Lucas was called to St Helen’s Bishopsgate in the City of London. He immediately set about establishing expository preaching, not only in the Sunday services but also in the Tuesday lunchtime services, attended by many from the business community. The church grew and became increasingly influential. The Proclamation Trust was founded in 1986 to support and develop Dick Lucas’ ministry.
An important development was the founding of the Cornhill Training Course in 1991. Even good theological colleges were not providing extensive training in preaching and something which placed the emphasis on biblical exposition was badly needed. David Jackman, coming from a fruitful expository ministry in Southampton, was appointed Director. The influence of Cornhill has extended to other countries (later we’ll look at Cornhill Scotland), and many have gone from such training to exercise helpful and flourishing ministries in many places.
Doubtless, other names and situations could be mentioned but there is no attempt to be comprehensive here but rather to indicate the growth and development of expository preaching and give credit where credit is due.
The Scottish Scene
Meanwhile, in Scotland, parallel developments were taking place. The pioneer there was William Still (1911-1997) who spent his whole ministry at Gilcomston South Church in Aberdeen. Beginning with an aggressively evangelistic ministry, he turned to expository preaching not only to build up believers but as a more effective way of winning outsiders. This, at first, especially when he replaced Saturday night rallies with a prayer meeting, led to reduced numbers but that was temporary, and the ministry grew both numerically and in its wider influence.
One significant outcome of his ministry was the calling of many men to similar kinds of ministry throughout Scotland. The earliest of these was James Philip (1922-2009) who ministered first in the village of Gardenstown in the north of Scotland, a ministry which was marked by many conversions, and of others being called to Christian service. His later ministry in Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh was one of the most significant of the later part of the twentieth century and its influence is still felt. James’ brother George had an influential ministry in Sandyford Henderson Church in Glasgow. One of the more notable preachers was Eric Alexander, first in Newmilns in Ayrshire, then at St George’s Tron in Glasgow. His ministry also reached widely, particularly though his many preaching tours in America. Other gifted preachers also ministered in most parts of the country, and this continues to the present day. This historical sketch makes no claim to be complete but rather to demonstrate how there was a significant revival of preaching and to indicate some of the major figures and developments.
The Flourishing of Evangelical Scholarship
This was another feature of the post-World War Two years. Again this is a sketch of some significant figures and developments. The work of evangelical scholars gave important impetus to the production of resources which encouraged the expository task and helped to give preachers confidence in the reliability of the Bible.
The Pioneers
Probably the most significant figure was F.F. Bruce (1910-1990), a Scot who spent most of his professional life in England. He was a man of enormous erudition who began his career lecturing in Greek first at Edinburgh University and then at Leeds University. He moved quickly to Biblical Studies, being Head of Department first at Sheffield University and later at Manchester University. He produced many books: commentaries on much of the New Testament as well as works on the canon and on the historicity of the New Testament. He was not a particularly scintillating speaker or writer, but his work was marked by great clarity and was free from jargon. His influence was worldwide and encouraged many others to pursue sound biblical scholarship. He was a scholar rather than a preacher, but as a lifelong member of the Christian Brethren he preached frequently.
In the Old Testament field, Donald Wiseman (1918-2010) was a significant influence. He was an Assyriologist and worked both at the University of London and the British Museum. Much of his work was in translating Assyrian texts and also field archaeology. However, he was also a committed biblical scholar, writing the Tyndale commentary on 1 and 2 Kings, as well as being a translator of the New International Version. He also wrote many books and articles defending the historicity and reliability of the Old Testament, including work on Daniel. Like Bruce he was widely respected by those who did not share his views.
Later Developments
One important consequence of the revival of evangelical biblical scholarship was the founding of Tyndale House in Cambridge in 1944. This was, and is, a residential library devoted to scholarship at the highest level. Many well-known scholars have studied and lectured there, and this continues to the present day. Bruce and Wiseman were involved early in this venture and much helpful material continues to be produced there. One figure who has been particularly associated with Tyndale House is the scholar/preacher Don Carson who still exercises an influential ministry.
(TC: That is an interesting though obviously brief account of something we may now take for granted. On this side of the Atlantic we would need to consider names like James Montgomery Boice, John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, John Piper and many others who practiced and modeled such preaching. I am thankful for these pioneers in expository preaching and for the scholars who have prepared the lay-level resources that make it possible for those of us with lesser gifts and training.)

We are weak creatures—little, frail, and lacking in wisdom and knowledge. But all is not lost because the Bible assures us that God is fully aware of our weaknesses and, even better, cares about them. As the author of Hebrews says, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.”

What does it mean that we have weaknesses? Certainly it means that we are morally weak, that we are prone to sin and that we face constant temptations to rebel against God. But it means more than that. It means that we are physically weak, embodied beings who get sick and get tired, who are prone to illness and who eventually die. It means that we are intellectually weak, limited in our understanding and, therefore, in our ability to make sense of circumstances and make good decisions. It means that we are emotionally weak, that our minds and hearts easily grow weary and downcast, and are sometimes even diseased and afflicted. All this and much more.
And then all of these weaknesses accompany us through the toughest of circumstances. We most certainly do experience many great joys in this life, but also many deep sorrows. We face bodily diseases and mental traumas, we face relational discord and friendships that are cut off by death. We have children who disobey and spouses who betray, we face the fires of persecution and the consequences of our own poor decisions.
And as if all this was not already hard enough, every sorrow, and every pain, and every trial brings with it the temptation to sin. It is so often when we are at our weakest that temptations are strongest, when we are most broken that sin promises to make us whole. It is right then that the world entices us, the flesh ensnares us, the devil incites us. Our enemies don’t fight fair. We can never for a moment let down our guard.
We are so weak. Life is so hard. Our enemies are so vicious. But God is so good. For it’s to weak people, not strong or self-sufficient people, that the Bible assures us that Jesus knows. He knows the facts of your weaknesses, and even better, he knows the experience of your weaknesses.
We can be certain that he knows the facts of them because, as it says in the verse before, Jesus has passed through the heavens, which means that he is reigning over this world, seeing and knowing and maintaining authority over all that happens within it. He sees your suffering and he knows all about it. He hasn’t missed it. He hasn’t failed to spot it. It is before his eyes and within his mind. And you can be certain he knows the experience of your weaknesses as well because Jesus, the eternal Son of God, the one who was present at the creation of the world, the one who with the word of his power upholds the world, took on flesh and entered into the world. He laid aside his glory and became weak. Without ceasing to be God, he became man. And as a man, he faced the sorrows and the temptations and the weaknesses that any human being endures. He was “tempted as we are.”
The text says he was tempted in every respect as we are. That doesn’t mean he faced every possible temptation a human being can face, but that he faced every kind or category. He was tempted to outright defy the revealed will of God; he was tempted to only partially obey the will of God; he was tempted to twist the Word of God. And then he was tempted by the circumstances of his life, for he existed within a finite, weak body like yours and mine. And in that weak body he endured sorrow and loss, he endured insults and betrayal, he endured physical pain and emotional agony. He was weak and in those weaknesses surely tempted to respond poorly, to add sin to sorrow, to add rebellion to pain. It was when he had been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights—when he was hungry and weary—that Satan launched his full-out assault. It was when he was already in physical and spiritual agony that people goaded him to forsake the cross and save himself.
Yet there is this great difference between Jesus and us: He passed through each and every test of character and through each and every temptation without sin. Never once did he mess up, never once did he fail to the love the Lord his God with his whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. Never once did he fail to love his neighbor as himself.
The writer of Hebrews wants us to understand: because Jesus was weak and tempted, he knows—he knows what it is to be weak and tempted. He has experienced it himself. He has endured it himself.
There is such comfort to be had here. There is such comfort in understanding that Jesus knows what you are going through. He sees it all, so understands the facts of it. But he also knows what it is like to face the most grievous circumstances, to endure the greatest sorrows, to face the fiercest temptations. Which means that as you face the trials, difficulties, and even traumas of life, you can remember and you must believe—Jesus knows and Jesus cares. In your most difficult hour and your darkest valley, you have the sympathy of God himself.

Bounded by a lake on its southern side, the city of Toronto and the suburbs that surround it are being steadily pushed to the east, west, and south. In these regions, developers are buying great stretches of farmland and converting them into dense neighborhoods. With hundreds of thousands of people arriving in Canada each year through immigration, and with hundreds of thousands more being born here, the demand for housing is insatiable and the city is expanding outward like a slow-moving tsunami.

Yet if you push outside the bounds of the city and drive past the new suburbs, it still does not take long to come to farmland. And at this time of year the farmers have just finished sowing their seeds. Some of the early crops went into the ground in the opening days of the month, but it’s in the later weeks of May—weeks when it becomes less likely that nighttimes will bring frost—that most crops can be safely sown.
If you were to trace the life cycle of a single plant, you would see that it is planted in May, that it pushes above the ground in the warming days of spring, and that it reaches maturity in the summer. When the farmer determines that it is fully ripe, he harvests it and ships it to a nearby grocery story or farmer’s market where it is sold as fresh local produce.
At that market a shopper—perhaps a clerk at a clothing store downtown—, adds it to her cart, takes it home, and serves it for dinner. Her husband, who works at the nearby automotive plant eats that same meal, as do their school-aged children. The meal feeds and sustains them for another day, providing the nourishment and strength they need to carry out their tasks. And thus, in a roundabout way, the farmer plays a quiet but key role in that clothing store, in that car plant, and in that school.
Pastors are often compared to farmers and for good reason. For in much the same way, the pastor plays a quiet but key role in the lives of the people of his church. He labors in his office throughout the week, prayerfully studying the Bible, carefully planning a worship service, and diligently preparing a sermon. Then, when Sunday finally arrives, the church gathers to sing and to pray together, to read the Scriptures and to celebrate the ordinances. The pinnacle of the service is the preaching of the Word in which the pastor exposits a passage and applies it to the daily lives of the people. The congregation listens carefully, searching the Bible to ensure all of these things are true, and considering how they can take those truths and live them out day by day. By the time they hear the final “amen” and shake the final hand on the way out the door, they are equipped and energized for another week of life in a difficult and hostile world.
In this way the pastor, like the farmer, is in the business of feeding people as they go about their lives and fulfill their vocations. The people come to church each week weary and hungry, eager to be fed. And it is the task of the pastor to meet their need for spiritual sustenance, to equip them for their God-given duties, to feed them good food. It is his privilege to fill them up and send them out full and satisfied.
And so the calling upon pastors is to feed their people. What will truly energize them for another week in this world is not entertainment and not platitudes, not feel-good phrases and not motivational speeches. What will truly meet their spiritual hunger is the spiritual food of the Word. They need to be fed from the Word and this is the pastor’s responsibility, the pastor’s task, the pastor’s privilege.
And church members, the calling upon you is to be fed, to diligently attend the services and to attentively listen so you can receive the good food the pastor has prepared for you. Then, having been filled with such nourishment, you can go beyond the walls of the church to carry out your God-given tasks—the sacred tasks of fulfilling your vocation, loving the people around you, and telling the world about Jesus. You can go full, fed, satisfied, and energized to do all God has called you to do.