Expository Preaching #4 - "A Bad Example"

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Sometimes the hardest time for this preacher is when he is not pastoring and has to listen to other pastors. When you have devoted your life to preaching it is sometimes (not always) very difficult to listen to others after you leave a pastorate.

Almost 20 years ago I was in that position. We were attending a small church about 20 miles from us. We were personal friends with the pastor and his wife for many years. He was preaching a series through the Book of I John. One Sunday morning every song was about Pentecost. So I figured that he was taking a detour from his series in I John since Pentecost is in Acts and not I John and there is no reference to Pentecost in I John.

Oh no, he was preaching from I John 2:20 where it says "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things." He went on to say in his sermon that "we are anointed by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost." Therefore the whole sermon was centered on Pentecost and the Holy Spirit.

Nothing could be further from the truth. He made a gigantic leap that simply wasn't there. The whole context of I John 2 is Jesus Christ and is not about the Holy Spirit. The term "the Holy One" is always talking about Jesus Christ, not the Holy Spirit, everywhere it is used in the Bible. I questioned him about it the next day and he simply dug in his heals with his sermon notes and interpretation.

You simply cannot stand in the pulpit and do that to the scriptures. You must understand and interpret the scriptures accurately. If you can't please don't preach any more. Over and over I have heard passages preached erroneously. Whether it is Old Testament, New Testament, history books, poetry books, prophecy books, the Gospels, the Epistles. The whole Bible MUST be preached and presented accurately. This is not something to be taken lightly. This is just one of many such sermons I have heard in my years but many more in the last 10 years.

Many preachers also don't like it when you question them no matter how lovingly and gently you do it. It takes a lot of work to do expository preaching. It is hard work and does not always come easily. BUT we are preaching Gods Word. It is not a NY Times best seller book. We must get it correct. We must put in the work. We must do it right. On this I stand.

Rev. David Johnson

Former Pastor

First Baptist Church of Austin, MN

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