Product Description

John MacArthur and other distinguished teachers of preachers respond to the apostle's mandate in this comprehensive treatment of expository preaching. Dr. MacArthur's well-known passion for the Scriptures is combined with the vision and expertise of other faculty members at The Master's Seminary to produce a definitive statement on how to unfold the meaning of God's Word effectively to today's congregation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #139822 in Books
• Published on: 1992-06-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 432 pages

Customer Reviews

The Master's Seminary Manual on Expository Preaching
The purpose of this 410-page comprehensive volume is "to motivate and equip this and the next generation of Christian leaders to provide wholesome spiritual nourishment for God's people from His Word." It is a compilation of essays by John MacArthur and eight members of his faculty at The Master's Seminary in Sun Valley, California. The volume is designed to be a condensed version of the seminary's expository preaching program. It is divided into five parts and nineteen chapters. The first section is essentially an apologetic for the necessity of expository preaching. Section two deals with the preacher as a man of God, a man of prayer and a man of the Word. The third section covers hermeneutics, exegesis, grammatical analysis, study tools, and study methods. Section four examines the preparation of the expository message. The final section looks at effectively delivering the message.

"Rediscovering Expository Preaching" is well written, thorough, challenging, inspiring, and instructional. Only those students proficient in Biblical languages would be capable of fully utilizing the book's instructions; Yet, any Christian hoping to improve his ability at interpreting and expounding Scriptural truth could benefit from this work. The authors guide you through the entire process of preparation to presentation of expository messages. Along the way you are given principles, guidelines, suggestions, motivations, and examples. You derive from this writing the highest regard for God's Word and a great sense of responsibility to proclaim it authentically, accurately and boldly. The authors present the material authoritatively, even on disputable matters. It isn't the first book I'd recommend on the subject of preaching but it is an outstanding presentation of the discipline and art of expository preaching.

Expository Preaching 101
Though I am not a preacher, I decided to read Rediscovering Expository Preaching in an attempt to discover exactly what expository preaching is and compare it to the type of teaching practiced in most modern churches. That this book was written by John MacArthur and the faculty of Master's seminary is a strong endorsement of its value, for that institution is known as being one that upholds the value of expositional teaching. I hoped also that I would learn some techniques and disciplines that would enrich my personal Bible study as well as my writing. I was not disappointed.

Effective exposition of the Bible requires four steps and each of these receives careful analysis in this book. The steps are:

-Personal preparation. This involves ensuring that the expositor is walking with the Lord. He must be dedicated to studying the Word and to prayer as well as other spiritual disciplines. Proper exposition cannot be done apart from the Spirit who alone can illumine the text.
-Processing the Biblical text. This involves using study tools, engaging in hermeneutics and exegesis and generally drawing the meaning from the text in a biblical manner.
-Pulling the message together. This involves determining the central ideas of a text and drawing up an outline. It involves an effective introduction and conclusion and moving from exegesis to exposition.
-Preaching the exposition. This involves actually delivering the message in an effective manner.

Each of these steps is explained in sufficient, though not burdensome detail. Nine authors combined to write the nineteen chapters, and while some are more effective communicators than others, each does a good job of handling his topic.

While this book is clearly aimed at the aspiring pastor or to pastors who are attempting to make their messages expository, there is still value in reading it for people who are not pastors. Many of the principles of hermeneutics and exegesis are important for all believers to understand thoroughly in order to effectively interpret and apply the Word of God. While not all of the information will pertain to these readers, those parts can be passed over without losing the value of the book.

I recommend this book for the targeted audience (pastors and aspiring pastors) but also for lay people who are interested in learning Biblical methods of hermeneutics and exegesis. That being said, there are other options that may be better-suited for these people, such as How To Interpret the Bible For Yourself by Richard Mayhue.

Expository Preachings Study Guide
If you enjoy expository preaching or perhaps you are a teacher of the Word of God who wants to learn the basics and blessings of expository preaching than this book is a must. The staff of Master's Seminary (www.tms.edu) have provided the Christian church a guide to expository preaching from the biblical basis to the basic "how to's."

Each chapter of the book deals with an aspect of expository preaching and will engage the reader to strongly consider the long term benefits of expository preaching and teaching. Simply put, expository preaching and teaching glorifies the Word of God and allows the text to speak for itself much more than topical preaching.

A great book! For more information on the expository preaching of Dr. John MacArthur see his website at www.gty.org.