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Why Expository Preaching Guards The Message

Why Expository Preaching Guards The Message

By Bob Hostetler on Mar 24, 2026

DesperatePastor.com

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Many sermons today communicate good ideas but rely heavily on the preacher’s opinions. Expository preaching helps ensure that the message comes directly from Scripture.

Scripture: Nehemiah 8:8, Acts 20:27, 1 Timothy 4:13, Hebrews 4:12, 2 Timothy 4:2 (view more) (view less)

Tags: Exposition, Preaching, Expository, points, missing, preaching, expository (view more) (view less)

Why Expository Preaching Guards The Message

Expository preaching (that is, preaching that relies on—rather than obliquely refers to—a passage in the Bible, explains what it says and how it applies today) disciplines the preacher to let Scripture determine the message rather than personal preferences or opinions. While many sermons communicate helpful ideas, they sometimes drift into the preacher’s perspective instead of the Bible’s teaching. By grounding every message in the careful explanation of a biblical text, expository preaching limits the intrusion of personal bias and forces the preacher to proclaim what Scripture actually says. In this way, it protects both the preacher and the congregation by keeping the authority of the message rooted in God’s Word.

I'm not one of those people who think only expository preaching is good or valid. However, I much prefer it. Much. May I say to you: Much.

The Danger Of Opinion-Driven Preaching

Here's one reason why: There is a whole lot of preaching in churches today that makes good points and says good things in entertaining ways, but which relies mostly (or even exclusively) on the preacher's perspective and opinions rather than on sound interpretation and explanation of the Bible.

But when a preacher tasks himself with a passage of Scripture and lets it decide and guide what is said from the pulpit (or, as is often the case, music stand or Plexiglas lectern), it can be both limiting and liberating. When you preach from a text, there is far less room (if you're honest) for opinions and personal prejudices to creep in. It can still be done, of course, but not so easily without raising red flags in the preacher's soul.

The problem many of us preachers face, however, is that we want to preach what we want to preach. We want to make certain points that Scripture may not make—or may not make unequivocally. But that is exactly why I prefer expository preaching, because it forces me as a student and communicator to make the points Scripture makes instead of the points I really want to make. And that's a good thing.

Scriptures: 1 Timothy 4:13, 2 Timothy 4:2, Acts 20:27, Hebrews 4:12, Nehemiah 8:8

Bob Hostetler (website: DesperatePastor.com)

View all articles by Bob Hostetler

Bob Hostetler is a writer, editor, and speaker from southeastern Ohio. His 30 books, which include Quit Going to Church and the novel The Bone Box, have sold over three million copies. He has coauthored a dozen books with Josh McDowell. Bob is a frequent speaker at churches, conferences, and retreats. He has been a disc jockey, pastor, magazine editor, freelance book editor, and, with his wife Robin, a foster parent to 10 boys (though not all at once).