Posts Tagged ‘Harold W. Hoehner’s Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary’

How Can The Pastor Plan and Preach Book Series?

Posted: November 15, 2012 in Homiletics/Preaching
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First, it is important to start early in your planning. Six months in advance will can give you time to start reading through the book and even having your devotions from the book from which you will be eventually preaching. This is method of Jim Rose and I believe Ezra. Ezra 7:10 gives me Biblical justification for this approach. Like Ezra, we read the Book, mediate on the Book, apply the Book, fall on our knees in confession because of the Book, and are changed by the Book long before we preach the Book to others.

Also, this will give you time to order audio, video sermons, and listen to podcasts on the book and listen to some of the great preachers and teachers on your subject. Not only will you gain great content but hopefully some of their preaching skill will rub off. Augustine, who wrote the first book on homiletics, taught his students to listen to great preaching and read great sermons to become better preachers. One time in preparation to preach through Nehemiah, I order audio sermons by Warren Wiersbe, Adrian Rogers, and John Whitcomb on Nehemiah. I was chomping  at the bits when it came time to start the series. A source for sermons that I have recently discovered has been Stephen Davey’s sermons found at Wisdom for the Heart. These sermons are well researched with great explanations, illustrations, and applications.

I like to balance exegetical commentaries with expostional. The combination of these commentaries helps the preacher to answer the four rhetorical questions that your listeners are asking while you preach:

Explanation: “What do these verses mean that the preacher just read?”

Argumention of the explanation: “How does he know that is the meaning?” (The Expositional and Exegetical commentaries help answer these questions).

Illustration: “What does that explanation look like?”(The sermonic commentary will help answer this question and the Application question).

Application: “What does all this have to do with my life?”

Before I delve into the heavy exegetical commentaries, I like Donald Sunukjian’s suggestion, that the preacher start with the expositional or synthesis commentary which “will quickly give you  the large units of thought and the lines of argument of the text” (Invitation to Biblical Preaching, page 25). For my series on Ephesians, I am using The Bible Knowledge Commentary for this purpose.

After I get the big picture from BCK, then for the explanation of the text I reach for the exegetical or critical commentary.  These are usually the hardbacks that give you “sticker shock.” On the series on Ephesians that I am curently preaching I am reading Harold W. Hoehner’s Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary. This scholarly work of over 900 pages in my opinion is the standard for Ephesians. Hoehner will give you about 20 pages of exegesis on each paragraph in Ephesians. This volume gives the preacher the explanation of the text. If you sentence diagram and block outline, Hoehner can help. I am using other exegetical commentaries as well.

There is a third kind of commentary that the preacher needs. In addition to the expositional or synthesis commentary and exegetical commentaries, the preacher needs the sermonic commentary. To balance Hoehner’s heavy exegetical work, I am reading John MacArthur’s sermonic commentary on Ephesians. MacArthur first preached this material to his congregation and therefore he provides application and occasional illustrations which, of course, Hoehner does not.

The order of the commentaries I have discussed is the order you should follow. Here is Sunukfjian wise advice: “Study thoroughly in the first two catergories before you read the third. If you start with sermonic commentaries, you will be tempted to prematurely conclude, ‘That’ll preach!’ without first determining whether the printed sermon accurately reflects the meaning of the biblcial author” (page 25).

When I am preaching through a book like Ephesians where a doctrine is prominent such as the Church is in Ephesians, I like to read, in addition to good commentaries, related books such as Driscoll’s book on the doctrine of the Church, Vintage Church, Mark Dever’s book on what marks a healthy church, What is a Healthy Church? and The Nine Marks of a Healthy Church and John S. Hammett’s book on ecclesiology, Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches. Driscoll’s, Dever’s and Hammett’s books give relevancy to my preaching. Their books help me make current applications to the church in our generation and culture.

I just read chapter eight, “How is Love Expressed in a Church?” in Vintage Church. Driscoll builds this chapter on the Trinitarian community of God in which the three Persons of the Trinity have loved each other for eternity and since we are created in their image so should we love each other in His church. This is helpful because Paul mentions the Trinity eight times in Ephesians to bolsters his theme of Unity.

Vintage Church: Timeless Truths and Timely Methods is Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears next Re:Lit book. Their first Re:Lit was Vintage Jesus. Mark Driscoll is pastor/founder of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, president of Acts 29 Church Planting Network and the Resurgence Missional Theology Cooperative. Gerry Breshears is professor of theology at Western Seminary. Also part of the Re:Lit series is Death by Love coauthored Driscoll and Breshears.

I have read Mark Dever’s little book, What is a Healthy Church?  in which Dever gives nine marks of a healthy church. Nine Marks of a Healthy Church is a much more indepth treatment. The first three marks Dever categorizes as essential: Expostitional preaching, biblical theology, and biblical undestanding of the gospel. The balance of the marks are important but not essential: A biblical understanding of conversion, a biblical understanding of evangelism, a biblical understanding of membership, a biblical understanding of church discipline, biblical discipleship and growth, and biblical church leadership.

For the essential doctrines, Dever says, there must be complete agreement for a healthy church. On the important doctrines there does not have to be complete agreement. “Churches without these important marks can be places to pray, to be patient, and to set a good example by your own life.” When preaching on “the unity of the faith” in Ephesians 4:13, this insight will become invaluable to my congregation.

These are some practical tips for series preaching through a book of the Bible that has helped me. I welcome any input you have found benefical in your series preaching through a book.

The Call to Preach, Part 2

Posted: August 20, 2010 in Homiletics/Preaching, Pastoral Theology
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In his testimony about the call to preach, John Piper, wrote: “The calling to preach and pastor had become irresistible.” Paul describes his call in Ephesians 3.

The Call to The Ministry and The Call to Ministry is not Either/Or but Both/And.

God called Paul to preach the truths in Ephesians 3:1-6 as he states in 3:7: “I was made a minister.” This historically happened in Acts 26:14-18.

1. What are the Evidences of God’s Call to the Ministry? (See Part 1)

2. What are the Characteristics of God’s Call to the Ministry?

A. Service: “Whereof I was made a minister.”

The word “minister” “is used of a ‘waiter’ at a wedding feast” (John 2:5, 9) (Harold W. Hoehner. Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002, 449). The preacher serves God’s people God’s Word. I worked my way through graduate school by serving as a waiter at a seafood restaurant. The customers would complain to me if their fish was not good.  I felt like saying, “I did not gig your founder, nor did I cook it, I only served it. Why are you complaining to me?” The same is true sometimes with serving God’s people God’s Word. They complain to us about the food. It is our job to faithfully serve God’s Word. We can’t help if a bone gets stuck in their throat.

B. God’s power: “According to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power” (Ephesians 3:7b).

It is true that all believers have this power, as Paul made clear in his first Prison Epistle prayer (1:19) and therefore all believers should be experiencing this equipment in ministry in and through their local church. Every believer, including the pastor, has the omnipotence of God behind his call to serve. Paul made a great statement on preaching in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 when he said he did not preach with eloquence or erudition, but “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”

C. Humility: “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given.”

Paul felt undeserving of salvation (1 Timothy 1:11-15) and the ministry (Ephesians 3:8) “Because,” as Paul made clear in 1 Corinthians 15:9, “I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” God help us preachers to possess the humble attitude of Paul even when we are criticized for serving God’s Word. In Philippians 1:14-18, instead of retaliating against those who attacked him, Paul rejoiced that souls were saved under their ministry. Someone asked Spurgeon: “How can we reconcile the Calvinists and the Arminians?” Spurgeon replied, “You don’t have to reconcile brothers.” We need this attitude of humility today.

A must read for all believers, including pastors, is C. J. Mahaney’s Humility: True Greatness. Mahaney starts chapter one, “The Promise of Humility” by referring to Jim Collins’ bestseller, Good to Great. The result of Collins researching 11 corporations which had become great was that each corporation’s CEO was “quiet, humble, modest, reserved, shy, gracious, mild-mannered, self-effacing, understated, did not believe his own clippings” and thus respected by their employees.

Humility not only attracts the attention of the world but, vastly more importantly, God according to Isaiah 66:2: “This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my Word.” In addition to attracting God’s attention, humility moves God to fulfill the promise of humility which is found in James 4:6, “God…gives grace to the humble.” As I read this chapter, I am asking myself, “Is God looking with pleasure on my life because of my humility?” “Am I experiencing His grace, His spiritual strength, in my life and ministry because of my contriteness?”

3. What are the Ministries of the God Called?

A. For Paul: “To make all men to see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 3:7).

B. For All Preachers.

It is our ministry to preach “the unsearchable riches of Christ to make men see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God.” “Paul is saying in effect, ‘I am not only called in the vertical area to preach the unfathomable riches of Christ, but in the horizontal area to teach about the administration, the stewardship of dispensation, of the mystery of the church age’” (MacArthur, page 95). We must preach so men can be vertically related to Christ and once that is true they will be horizontally right with one another in unity. Translated, we preach to win men to Christ or as Paul will later say to Timothy, “Do the work of an evangelist.” Then we preach to win them to each other in unity and ministry.

4. What are The Results of God’s Call to the Ministry?

A. God’s wisdom will be displayed in the unity of the local church (Ephesians 3:10-11).

Even angels, “principalities and powers in heavenly places” (3:10), did not know about the church in the Old Testament. Since angels were created to praise God (Psalm 148:1-5) our unity in the local church can give angels cause to praise the Lord. While God revealed the mystery of the church to Paul and others, God did not reveal that mystery to angels. Angels must learn about this mystery by observing our unity in our local church.

God planned the church from eternity past, Christ accomplished its unity by His death on the cross (3:11) when He tore down the middle wall of partition, but the local church must display its unity. What do angels see, for they are watching (1 Corinthians 4:9; 11:10), as they observe our local church? Unity or division!

B. Believers’ responsibility (Ephesians 3:12-13).

Jews and Gentiles, “we,” for the first time, can now in unity access God together. In Acts 2, the church was in “one accord” and look what happened. The church in Acts 2 experienced for the first time what God the Father planned, what Christ accomplished on the cross, and what the Holy Spirit birthed. Unity can be a powerful weapon in God’s hands. Warren W. Wiersbe has a little book on prayers in the Book of Acts entitled, “Something Happens When the Church Prays.” Something also happens when the Church preaches, as Peter did in Acts 2 and experiences the results of this God called ministry.

Justin Taylor tells how God called John Piper to the ministry that puts a well-known personal face on this lesson. His post is entitled: 30 Years Ago Today: How God Called John Piper to Become a Pastor. I will post this testimony as Part 3 from the Gospelcoalition.

Week 13: The NEW Bible Institute on Ephesians: The Spiritual Warfare of Prayer, Part 1

Posted: March 4, 2010 in Ephesians Class
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Week  13 Assignment: Read pages 375-385 in MacArthur on Ephesians 6:18-24. Read and comment on the two posts (Parts 1-2) for our final week.

Three statesments leap out to me from these verses!

1. The Christian life is a battleground.

Tozer captured the worldview of the worldly: “Men think of the world, not as a battleground, but as a playground. We are not here to fight, we are here to frolic” (A. W. Tozer in God Tells the Man who Cares). Paul writes a military strategy for the local church in Ephesians 6:10-20 that portrays the Christian life as a war that God has equipped us to win. 

2. Satan is our opponent. Not “flesh and blood” or our co-workers, neighbors, mates, parents, children, the government, etc. Our enemy is supernatural.

3. God is our Commander-in-Chief. He has armed us adequately to do battle. “Nuclear wars cannot be won with rifles” (Harold W. Hoehner. Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002, 859). God has supplied a supernatural arsenal for us which includes prayer. We use this supernatural weapon against our supernatural enemy.

Napoleon had a military philosophy that an army travelled on its belly. In other words, you must keep your soldiers fed. Paul’s military philosophy was that the army of Jesus Christ travels on its knees. James must have practiced this technique because he known as “Camel Knees” because he prayed so much.

Paul concludes the entire epistle of Ephesians, the theme of which is The Unity that Love can Bring, and this final section, How to Resist the Devil, with a charge to God’s people to pray.

How can our local church be united in resisting the Devil?

1. By Depending on God’s Strength (Ephesians 6:10-11a)

2. By Knowing our Enemy (Ephesians 6:11b-13)

3. By Putting on God’s Spiritual Armor (Ephesians 6:14-20)

Paul now commands the local army of God after we have put on God’s spiritual armor to go to battle on their knees. How can we do battle on our knees?

1. By Always Being Able to Pray “Praying always”

    A. In the OT, there were prescribed times of daily prayer (Psalm 55:17).

    B. Now, we can pray any time (1 Thess 2:9, 3:10).  In these verses, Paul told the Thessalonians that he both labored and prayed “night an day” which obviously does not mean 24/7 but as he had the opportunity he worked and prayed. “When we are tempted, we hold the temptation before God and ask for His help. When we  experience something good and beautiful, we immediately thank the Lord for it. When we see evil around us, we pray that God will make it right and be willing to be used of Him to that end. When we meet someone who does not know Christ, we pray for God to draw that person to Himself and to use us to be a faithful witness. When we encounter trouble, we turn to God as our Deliverer” (MacArthur, 380).

I read this description of true prayer somewhere. Prayer is not an intercom system on a cruise ship where we order more food. But prayer is a walkie talkie on the battlefield where we get our next command for war. Which way do we think of prayer?

In my last post I give four other ways to do battle in prayer.

Week 10: The Bible Institute on Ephesians: Slaves and Slave Owners, Part 4

Posted: January 4, 2010 in Ephesians Class, Sermons
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To review, Paul has instructed concerning the

1. Christian Employee’s Attitude of Submission in Ephesians 6:5-8

First, as with the first two life-relationships, the subordinate partner is addressed first and then the one who is responsible for leadership (wives/husbands; children/parents; employees/employers.

Next, the command is stated: “Employees obey.”

True to form, Paul amplifies this command.

1) We obey with “fear and trembling.”

2) We obey with honesty or “singleness of heart to the Lord.”

Paul further elaborates on how to work with sincerity and not duplicity or hypocrisy. Obey “not with eyeservice as menpleasers.” This is the case when we produce quality work when the Boss is watching but slow down when he steps out of the room.

The contrast “but” is doing our best work all the time “as the slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.” The positive attitude in 6:6 is expanded in 6:7: “Rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man.” We can have a positive work ethic when we realize ultimately we are serving the Lord at work.

The work station is our mission station. Most believers have more contact with unbelievers at work than at church. When world renowned architect Sir Christopher Wren was overseeing the construction of  his most famous work, St Paul’s Cathedral in London, it is reported that a stranger came to three of his workmen who were all employed on the same job. The stranger asked each worker, the same question, “What are you doing?” Growled the first man, “I’m breaking rocks.” The second said, “I’m earning a living.” But the third replied, “I’m building a cathedral.” All three were witnesses but only one was a good witness.

Paul writing to Titus states this same truth pointedly in Titus 2:9-11:  “Slaves are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.”

Finally, Paul states the motivation for this positive Christian attitude of Spirit-filled submission.

The motivation for work has to be more than a paycheck which Paul now declares in 6:8: “knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.”

Diligent workers who work for the Lord with a positive attitude can be rewarded at the end of each day with a sense of satisfaction. Proverbs 14:23: “In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.” There is dignity in work whether the employer recognizes your accomplishment or not.

Paul stresses, however, the future reward of Christian workers who diligently labor for the Lord with a positive attitude. Paul is probably referring to the future Judgment Seat in 2 Corinthians 5:10: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

“This future certainty rests not on the tense but God who makes the promise. This is important because masters sometimes promised freedom but never kept their promise. A story in Tacitus illustrates….He tells of the murder of a famous senator by a household slave…because the master had refused to manumit the slave on a previously agreed price … In other words, the slave served with ill will” (Harold W. Hoehner. Ephesians. Pages 810-812).

Before we move in the text to the employer’s responsibility, answer this question, “What kind of worker do you think Jesus was when he worked as a carpenter with His foster father, Joseph?” Was Jesus ever late for work? Did Jesus do sloppy work? Was Jesus easy to work with?

2. Christian Employer’s Attitude of Submission in Ephesians 6:9

Now, the partner responsible for leadership is addressed: “And you masters” and by extension to employers today.

There are fewer verses on the employer’s responsibility because there were fewer masters than slaves, not because the master’s responsibility was less important.

The command: “Do the same things unto them.”

Employers are to act on the same principle as the employees. If the employees are to render service to their employers as “unto the Lord” then the employers are to treat their employees as the Lord would. For example, when Boaz came to the field to greet his employees, he greeted them in the morning with the words, “The Lord be with you” and his employees responded, “The Lord bless you.”

The amplification: “Forbearing threatening.”

“This prohibition is appropriate, for there was a proverbial statement that ‘all slaves are enemies’ because masters were tyrants and abusive. Abuse was displayed in various ways such as threats of beating, sexual harassment of female slaves, threats to sell the male slaves ‘away from the household so as to part him forever from his loved ones’ to name a few” (Harold W. Hoehner, Ephesians, page 814).

Even today there are two kinds of abusive bosses 1) The incompetent superiors who possess the ability to make their failures look like the fault of others. These bosses are negative and discouraging 2) The intolerant superiors who are over qualified workaholic perfectionists who think the work place cannot survive without them. These you can never satisfy.

The motivation: “Knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.”

Paul refers to the future Judgment Seat again. This time it is the accountability of the employer to his Master in heaven who is also an impartial Judge.

How did Jesus lead His 12 disciples?

1. Jesus prayerfully hired them (Luke 6:12-13).   

2. Jesus extensively trained His workers for three years. There was no hiring without proper training.

3. Jesus corrected them when they were wrong. He did not let problems go unaddressed (Luke 22:31-34). Jesus was not only the model worker but the model leader for each of us believers to emulate in our workplace. Just as Jesus depended on the Spirit of God to empower His humanity (Luke 4:18) so must we be Spirit equipped to live     harmoniously for the glory of God in our place of employment.

Week 10: The NEW Bible Institute on Ephesians: Slaves and Slave Owners (Eph 6:5-9) Part 1

Posted: December 26, 2009 in Book Reviews, Ephesians Class
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Week  10 Assignment: Read pages 321-329 in MacArthur and Ephesians 6:5-9. Read and comment on the four posts for week ten.

Mark Driscoll said in his sermon on Slaves and Masters, “Slavery is a shameful page in the history of our nation and history of the American church. Many of the framers of our Constitution claimed to be Christians who considered white men to be created by God with inherent rights deserving representation. But, many were also slave owners who claimed black men deserved only 3/5 representation (as if they were less image bearers of God), an atrocity not corrected until the passage of the 13th Amendment.” The Emancipation Proclamation was only an Executive Order from President Lincoln that freed slaves but did not make the institution of slavery illegal. That required the 13th Amendment.

Tim Keller agrees when he writes “a deep stain on Christian history is the African slave trade. Since Christianity was dominant in the nations that bought and sold slaves during that time, the churches must bear responsibility along with their societies for what happened.” This is one of the many arguments that skeptics raise against Christianity that Keller addresses in “The Reason for God.”

It is a tragic fact that not only did our nation split over slavery but major denominations in America split over New World Slavery: The Presbyterians split in 1838 and the Methodists in 1844. The Southern Baptist Convention was established in 1845 in Augusta, Georgia in order to maintain human slavery. This is regrettable. The southern cotton plantations needed cheap labor whereas the more industrialized north did not.

Scriptures on slavery in the Bible were used to justify slavery in America. There is a problem, however, using verses on slavery in the Bible to justify slavery in America because the two are not equal. “Slavery was taken for granted in all of ancient society” (Homer Kent. Treasures of Wisdom . Grand Rapids: Baker, 1978, 156).

  • Slavery in the Old Testament was protected against abuse (Exodus 21:2).
  • Slaves maimed by their masters were set free (Exodus 21:26-27).
  • The murder of slaves was a capital offense (Exodus 21:12).
  • Kidnapping (a major source for the African slave trade) was forbidden (Deuteronomy 24:7).
  • Old Testament bond-service and indentured servanthood was only temporary (Exodus 21:2).
  • Jews sometimes sold themselves into slavery to raise their standard of living (Leviticus 25:39).
  • Slaves were sometimes just like family and a slave could volunteer to remain a slave if he loved his master (Deuteronomy 15:16-17).

In Some Ways Slavery In Paul’s Day Was Like American Slavery.

In Greek writings, slaves were viewed as property or inanimate tools and not complete humans. Slaves were considered stupid and incapable of providing for themselves and therefore slavery was thought to be a benefit (Harold W. Hoehner. Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary, page 801).

The treatment of slaves depended on the character of the owner and some owners grossly mistreated their slaves. For example, Emperor “Caligula had the hands of a slave cut off for stealing a piece of silver. He hung them around his neck and paraded him around the dining hall with a placard that stated the reason for the punishment” (Hoehner, 803).

In Many Ways Slavery In Paul’s Day Was Different From American Slavery.

In 1st Century Roman Empire there was little difference, in some areas, between slaves and freemen in race, speech or occupations. Homer Kent writes that slaves were clerks, accountants, doctors, nurses, teachers, advisors, musicians, and artists. There was no climate of unrest among slaves in the first century and the institution of slavery was rarely debated. So when Paul admonishes slaves to obey their masters it is much like saying today that Christians should be the best employees in their company.

1. Slavery in Paul’s day was not based on race or skin color. Slaves were from different nationalities and in some cases slaves owned slaves. Whereas in America, slavery was a white/black issue. This prejudice led to the Civil Rights Movement.

2. Free persons could sell themselves into slavery for a contracted time period and when the agreement was over, the slave would be free. Therefore slavery was not life-long. This was not the case with the slavery in America. People in the first century would sell themselves into slavery to raise their standard of living. For example, Epictetus, a first century Stolic philosopher who was born in slavery, reports that when he was a slave he was provided with food, clothes, and shelter, and taken care of when sick. These benefits were not provided when he became a freeperson” (Hoehner,  802).

3. Slaves could be educated in the 1st century as tutors which is referred to in Galatians 3:24. Slaves tutored the sons of their masters in morals and manners. Slaves were also professors in higher education, physicans, and philosophers as in the case of Epictetus.

Scripture Does Not Directly Advocate The Abolition Of The Institution Of Slavery.

Scripture does condemn slave owners  in 1 Timothy 1:10 but not the institution of slavery.

1. People became slaves in the 1st century because of infanticide. Children were abandoned and some were rescued by becoming slaves. To abolish the institution of slavery would mean leaving these children abandoned.

2. People became slaves because of debt. Since people in debt could not file “chapter 11″ they would sell themselves into slavery to pay off their debt. To abolish the institution of slavery would leave the creditors unpaid.

3. Paul taught obedience to government in Romans 13 and to propose the abolition of the institution of slavery would defy government.

Scripture Does In Principle Condemn The Institution Of Slavery.

1. The Bible teaches us to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). You cannot love your neighbor and own him/her as a piece of property because he is only 60% the human you are.

2. The Bible teaches that we are to treat others the way we would want them to treat us (Matthew 7:12). We would not want to be kidnapped from our homes, families, country, and shipped to another nation to be abused for the rest of our lives.

3. The Bible condemns self-righteousness which is the essence of racism and the slavery of black people. Jesus condemned self-righteousness in Matthew 5:20. An example of self-righteousness is in Luke 18:9-14 where the Pharisee prayed, “I thank you, that I am not as other men are.” The self-righteous racist prays, “I thank you, that I do not have the color of skin as other men.”

4. Paul taught that slaves and masters are equal brothers in Christ (Galatians 3:28 and 1 Timothy 6:2).

5.  Paul instructed slaves to obtain their freedom if possible (1 Corinthians 7: 21), that slaves are free persons in Christ (1 Corinthians 7:22), and for free persons to avoid slavery (1 Corinthians 7:23).

6. Christianity emphasized the transformation of the individual who could change his culture rather than the reformation of society. Paul instructs both slaves and slave owners to be servants of Christ, who was master of both, in treating each other properly in Ephesians 6: 5-9.

In Part 2, I will show modern day examples of slavery and explore Ephesians 6:5-9 in detail.

Week 8: The NEW Bible Institute on Ephesians: The Spirit-Filled Marriage, Part 1

Posted: December 14, 2009 in Ephesians Class, Sermons
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Reading assignments: Read pages 271-305 in MacArthur and Ephesians 5:21-33 and comment on the two posts for week 8.

One of my teachers once said, “Marriage is like a besieged city. Those on the inside want out and those on the outside want in.”  

Seriously, our churches will be no stronger than our families and our families will be no stronger than the Spirit filled individuals in the family. Like an inverted pyramid the weight is on the Spirit filled believer to make families, churches, and culture God honoring.

According to Paul, the Spirit controlled believer (5:18) will impact his/her marriage (5:22-33), family (6:1-4), and culture (6:5-9).

There are three results of the Spirit-filled life: Praising God in our music (5:19), giving thanks for all things (5:20), and submitting to one another (5:21).

I want to spend a little time on “submitting to one another” because of it’s importance for the rest of Ephesians and so many of our life relationships. Submission means following the leaders in your life. For example, Paul uses a similar Greek word in Ephesians 1:22 when he writes of our submission to the headship of Christ over the church: God the Father “has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church.” We, believers, in the Body of Christ submit to the leadership of Christ our Head. It will take being Spirit filled to not only submit to Christ our Head but the other leaders in our lives.

As Howard W. Hoehner points out, “submitting to one another” is a hinge verse in 5:21 (Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary, page 719). It is not only the last of the consequences of being Spirit controlled that Paul lists, but it is the catalyst that affects the three following life relationships in Ephesians. Hoehner also emphasizes the number of verses Paul writes in each of these relationships to show importance and priority (page 729).

1. The wife/husband relationship in 5:22-33. Paul devotes 12 verses to husbands and wives.

2. The parent/child relationship in 6:1-4. Paul writes 4 verses on this relationship.

3. The employee/employer relationship in 6:5-9. Paul writes 5 verses for those in the workforce.

Perhaps Paul is making a statement that the key relationship is between husbands and wives even over parents and children. If the husband/wife relationship is wrong, the parent/child relationship cannot be right.

The first Spirit filled life relationship is Wives and Husbands in 5:22-33.

First, Spirit-filled wives will submit to their husbands’ loving leadership in 5:22-24. Headship means leadership. Paul writes that wives submit to their husbands “as unto the Lord.” The parallel passage in Colossians 3:18 helps us understand that Paul is saying that part of the wives’ submitting to Christ is submitting to their husbands’ leadership: “Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as it is fitting to the Lord.”

Headship or leadership does not mean superiority. In 1 Corinthians 11:3, Paul gives his theological basis for confronting the women in the Corinthian church who were usurping authority over the leadership of the men: “But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.” Although the head or the leader of Christ is God the Father they are co-equal in Deity. That is why Christ said in John 14:28, “My Father is greater than I.” God the Father is not greater in essence but in leadership. Christ willingly submits to the authority of the Father. Similarly, the wife is not inferior to her husband; she has just been assigned by God a different role.

Someone compared marriage to a football team. The husband is the quarterback. The quarterback is not superior to the running back, as a matter of fact, the running back may even have a higher I.Q. than the quarterback. Someone, however, has to call the plays and that role has been assigned to the quarterback. In some ways my wife is superior to me and in some ways I am superior to her. I can beat her in arm wrestling every time. She can beat me Scrabble every time. But these strengths and weaknesses do not change our God ordained roles. In our next post, we will explore what Paul says about the Spirit filled husband.

The next post for Week 8 is “The Spirit Filled Marriage, Part 2.”

Week 4: The NEW Bible Institute on Ephesians: “Five Marks” of a Healthy Church (Ephesians 4:12-16)

Posted: October 27, 2009 in Ephesians Class, Sermons
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Week  4 Assignment: Pages 133-162 in MacArthur and Eph 4:7-16.

What would you list as marks of a healthy church?

1. A large congregation

2. Programs for every age group

3. Plentiful parking

4. Vibrant music

5. An increase in baptisms and membership

6. Giving (More than 20% of the people giving)

What are the Marks of a Healthy Church according to the church consultant of all church consultants, the apostle Paul, to whom primarily was given the revelation of the Church?

In chapters 4-6, Paul has clearly moved from doctrine to practice (orthodoxy to orthopraxy) with his “Five Walks” of the Believer.

1. “Therefore Walk” in Unity (4:1-16)

2. “Therefore Walk” not as the Unsaved (4:17-32)

3. “Therefore Walk” in Love (5:1-6)

4. “Therefore Walk’ in the Light (5:7-14)

5. “Therefore Walk” in Wisdom (5:15-6:9)

1. “Therefore Walk” in Unity (4:1-16). We are not surprised that Paul begins his practical section with unity when that is the theme of Ephesians. Paul gives two ways for a congregation to “walk” or move forward in unity.

A. We can walk in unity by humbly co-operating with one another (4:1-6). We discussed these verses last week (Orthodoxy verses Orthopraxy).

B. We can walk in unity by using our spiritual gifts selflessly for others (4:7-16)

1) In verses 7-11, Paul describes the giving of spiritual gifts by the Ascended Christ.

    a) At the end of verse 8, Paul says that the ascended Christ “gave gifts unto men” or His Body so His Body could function on earth. A list of those permanent service gifts that are operative for today are listed in Romans 12:3-8. I would suggest you study those gifts and identify which gift or gift mix God has given to you.

    b) In verses 11, Paul adds that Christ has also given gifted men to lead His church. The first two, apostles and prophets, were used by God to lay the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2:19-22) and once the revelation of the church and the canon of Scripture were complete these offices ceased. But the next two, evangelists and pastor/teacher, continue to this day because we need leaders to win people to Christ and leaders to equip them to serve the body of believers to which God has added them.

2) Next, in verses 12-16, Paul states the purpose for giving gifts and gifted leaders to the church.

The purpose of the gifted leader called pastor/teacher is to equip the members of the church to do the work of the ministry as laid out in 4:12.

1. “Perfecting” comes from a medical work by the first century surgeon, Apollonius Citiensis, who wrote a commentary on Hippocrates. “Perfecting” was the setting of a broken limb or bone (Harold W.Hoehner. Ephesians, page 549). The ministry of the pastor/teacher is to make the body healthy through faithfully preaching expository messages.

2. The immediate goal for the pastor/teacher is to motivate the saints to do “the work of the ministry” which according to Acts 20:24 is to the Lord. The pastor must get his members out of the bleachers onto the field involved with the team. Christianity is a contact sport.

3. The ultimate goal is not just busyness, however, but ministry that “edifies or builds of the body of Christ.” Paul will come back to this thought and very words at end of this unit in verse 16.

Pastors/teachers primarily equip the saints to do the work of the ministry through “prayer and the ministry of the Word” (Acts 6:1-7).

    a) Epaphras made healthy his congregation through prayer (Colossians 4:12): “Epaphras…always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect (same word “prefecting” in verse 12)” On a regular basis, the pastor prays Prison Epistle like prayers (1:15-23; 3:14-21 for the spiritual needs of his people.

     b) Timothy had the inspired Scriptures which were profitable to “perfect” or make healthy in 2 Timothy 3:14-4:3. Paul called inspired Scripture “sound or healthy doctrine” in 4:3. To be healthy, God’s people must eat right. They must lay off the Hardee’s Thick burgers and eat more fruit, fiber, and veggies. We pastors must help them develop a taste for healthy doctrine through consistent, expository preaching.

In 4:13-16, Paul provides Five Marks of a healthy church where the saints have been equipped to serve by building the body to which God sovereignly placed them.

First Mark: There is a Unity of Faith (4:13a).

“Faith” in this verse is the objective body of truth or the essential doctrines of God’s Word.

1. These are essential doctrines that each member must be in complete agreement with to be a member of that church. Hopefully these doctrines are reflected your church’s doctrinal statement that all members understand and sign before they join your church.

2. There are other important doctrines with required limited agreement, such as music style for church services.

3. And then there are areas of complete liberty, “such as the rightness of armed resistance or the question of who wrote the book of Hebrews” (Mark Dever. What is a Healthy Church? pages 71-72).

What are essential doctrines that calls for complete agreement on to be a member of a Baptist church? I would include in that list the Virgin Birth of Christ, Christ sinless life, His penal substitutionary death on the cross, Christ’s literal and physical resurrection, salvation by grace alone by faith alone and in Christ alone, the inerrancy of Scripture, and the return of Christ of His church.

4. Paul expects God’s people not just the preachers to be Biblically literate enough to identify error. Paul wrote Galatians about heresy in the churches of Galatia not just the pastors.

Second Mark: There is Intimate Fellowship with Christ (4:13b).

“The knowledge of the Son of God” is what Paul prayed that the Ephesians would experience in his first Prison prayer in 1:17, 18a.  An intimate relationship can only be enjoyed by spending time together with each other. Individually we spend time with Christ in His Word and prayer. Corporately we spend time with Christ by assembling together around His Word and prayer so that the pastor/teacher can fulfill his ministry feeding the flock of God healthy doctrine.

Third Mark: There is Spiritual Maturity or Christlikeness (4:13c).

The result of the first two marks is a growing Christlikeness: “a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Notice that Paul used the singular “man” not “men.” The entire church, not just individual members, is to be more humble and gentle and Christlike in its relationships. More and more the virtues of humility (4:2, 3) are evident in our lives.

Fourth Mark: There is a Recognition of False Doctrine (4:14).

Healthy believers are no more weak, undernourished children who are easily deceived but are “meat eating” adults.

1. The Corinthians were spiritual babes still on milk, who wanted “meat,” and were carnally divided over men (1 Corinthians 3:1-4). When someone asks me who is my favorite preacher is, I respond, “I don’t have one favorite preacher.” I have lots of preachers I like to hear and read. I don’t want to get caught up in any cultic following of any single preacher so that I start interpreting Scripture according to that preacher rather than a consistent historical/grammatical hermeneutic.

2. The Ephesians were not to be spiritual babes concerning doctrine. They should be “meat eaters” that is, not just knowing the shallow, milk version of doctrine but the meat or more in depth version. Paul spoke the milk version of the gospel to the Philippian jailor in Acts 16:31: “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.”  There is nothing wrong with this version for the unsaved as demonstrated here by Paul. Paul wrote the meat version of the gospel to the Romans (1:15). The book of Romans is Paul’s most comprehensive, in depth explanation of the gospel in chapters 1:18-15:13.

3. If believers are not grounded in truth they will be easily deceived by “the sleight of men and cunning craftiness” of  TV personalities  and sending them their money.

Fifth Mark: There is a Speaking the Truth in Love (4:15-16).

It is not enough to be able to sign the doctrinal statement of your local church or detect false teachers a mile off and “earnestly contend for the faith” (Jude 3). We must “adorn the doctrine of our God” (Titus 2:10) by “speaking the truth in love.”

When we speak the truth in harshness, we do damage to the truth and those who need the truth. Humility expresses itself in “meekness” in its relationships (Ephesians 4:2). Pride is harsh and causes divisions (Proverbs 13:10).

A pastor friend told me of a couple in his church who had a son who was homosexual. The mom and dad were very concerned for their son and had talked to my pastor friend many times and had requested prayer for him. Finally, they were able to get their son to come to church and on that Sunday morning there was an evangelist speaking who went off on homosexuals calling them queers from the pulpit. He got a lot of “Amens” that morning but he also turned away that son. Did Paul condemn homosexuality? Yes, in the strongest biblical language (Romans 1:26-27). Did Paul win homosexuals to Christ? Yes, just read 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. You don’t win sinners by making cute mocking remarks. Put yourself for just a few minutes in the shoes of those parents for whose son they were heartbroken.

This word translated “speaking the truth” is used only one other time in the New Testament and it is used by Paul with the Galatians in 4:16. Pastor Paul is heartbroken, that even though he spoke the truth in love, false teachers had turned the Galatians away from him.

How do we present truth to those in sin? According to Galatians 6:1 “in the spirit of meekness.” Jesus was not harsh even  with Judas Iscariot (John 13:27), His betrayer.

These Five Marks are necessary so that the body of believers where we serve “may grow up” (Ephesians 4:15). Not just grow older but stronger and healthier. Have we as a church grown stronger this year over the past year? Are these Five Marks more prevalent this year over last year? When our boys were little, we would mark their height on the inside of the pantry door each year and they would get all excited over the years growth. Maybe should mark where we are as a church, and come back next year and see the growth in these five areas.

These Five Marks are necessary for the members to gain strength from “the head, even Christ” (4:15) so we can supply our contribution to the health of the body to which God has added us to serve and build.  Each “part” (4:16) or member of the local body must be actively using his/her gift to build up the body. In fifth century B.C., Hipprocrates in De natura hominis used this very word “parts” when he “observed that good health proceeds when the various parts of the body function proportionately to one another (Harold W. Hoehner. Ephesians, page 576).

When every member of the body is healthy, the body can “walk in unity” and move forward and meet the potential God intended for that local body to accomplish.

Conclusion:

Am I a healthy member or a sick member?

Am I helping the body move forward or am I dead weight?

Am I making my “part” of the body strong or because of sin in my life is my “part” is like a stroke to the body. Have I paralyzed my “part” of the body. Paul asks a very searching question in 1 Corinthians 12:19: “For the body is not one member, but many….If the body were all one member, where were the body?” If I were the whole body, how healthy would the body be? If the whole local church where I attend were one member and that member was me, how healthy would my church be?

If the whole body used its gifts as I use my God given gift how would the body function? Would we be walking and progressing in “Unity?”

Some Practical Tips for Series Preaching Through a Book

Posted: October 23, 2009 in Homiletics/Preaching
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First, it is important to start early in your planning. Six months in advance will can give you time to start reading through the book and even having your devotions from the book from which you will be eventually preaching. This is method of Jim Rose and I believe Ezra. Ezra 7:10 gives me Biblical justification for this approach. Like Ezra, we read the Book, mediate on the Book, apply the Book, fall on our knees in confession because of the Book, and are changed by the Book long before we preach the Book to others.

Also, this will give you time to order audio, video sermons, and listen to podcasts on the book and listen to some of the great preachers and teachers on your subject. Not only will you gain great content but hopefully some of their preaching skill will rub off. Augustine, who wrote the first book on homiletics, taught his students to listen to great preaching and read great sermons to become better preachers. One time in preparation to preach through Nehemiah, I order audio sermons by Warren Wiersbe, Adrian Rogers, and John Whitcomb on Nehemiah. I was chomping at the bits when it came time to start the series.

I like to balance exegetical commentaries with expostional. The combination of these commentaries helps the preacher to answer the four rhetorical questions that your listeners are asking while you preach:

Explanation: “What do these verses mean that the preacher just read?”

Argumention of the explanation: “How does he know that is the meaning?” (The Expositional and Exegetical commentaries help answer these questions).

Illustration: “What does that explanation look like?”(The sermonic commentary will help answer this question and the Application question).

Application: “What does all this have to do with my life?”

Before I delve into the heavy exegetical commentaries, I like Donald Sunukjian’s suggestion, that the preacher start with the expositional or synthesis commentary which “will quickly give you  the large units of thought and the lines of argument of the text” (Invitation to Biblical Preaching, page 25). For my series on Ephesians, I am using The Bible Knowledge Commentary for this purpose.

After I get the big picture from BCK, then for the explanation of the text I reach for the exegetical or critical commentary.  These are usually the hardbacks that give you “sticker shock.” On the series on Ephesians that I am curently preaching I am reading Harold W. Hoehner’s Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary. This scholarly work of over 900 pages in my opinion is the standard for Ephesians. Hoehner will give you about 20 pages of exegesis on each paragraph in Ephesians. This volume gives the preacher the explanation of the text. If you sentence diagram and block outline, Hoehner can help. I am using other exegetical commentaries as well.

There is a third kind of commentary that the preacher needs. In addition to the expositional or synthesis commentary and exegetical commentaries, the preacher needs the sermonic commentary. To balance Hoehner’s heavy exegetical work, I am reading John MacArthur’s sermonic commentary on Ephesians. MacArthur first preached this material to his congregation and therefore he provides application and occasional illustrations which, of course, Hoehner does not.

The order of the commentaries I have discussed is the order you should follow. Here is Sunukfjian wise advice: “Study thoroughly in the first two catergories before you read the third. If you start with sermonic commentaries, you will be tempted to prematurely conclude, ‘That’ll preach!’ without first determining whether the printed sermon accurately reflects the meaning of the biblcial author” (page 25).

When I am preaching through a book like Ephesians where a doctrine is prominent such as the Church is in Ephesians, I like to read, in addition to good commentaries, related books such as Driscoll’s book on the doctrine of the Church, Vintage Church, Mark Dever’s book on what marks a healthy church, What is a Healthy Church? and The Nine Marks of a Healthy Church and John S. Hammett’s book on ecclesiology, Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches. Driscoll’s, Dever’s and Hammett’s books give relevancy to my preaching. Their books help me make current applications to the church in our generation and culture.

I just read chapter eight, “How is Love Expressed in a Church?” in Vintage Church. Driscoll builds this chapter on the Trinitarian community of God in which the three Persons of the Trinity have loved each other for eternity and since we are created in their image so should we love each other in His church. This is helpful because Paul mentions the Trinity eight times in Ephesians to bolsters his theme of Unity.

Vintage Church: Timeless Truths and Timely Methods is Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears next Re:Lit book. Their first Re:Lit was Vintage Jesus. Mark Driscoll is pastor/founder of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, president of Acts 29 Church Planting Network and the Resurgence Missional Theology Cooperative. Gerry Breshears is professor of theology at Western Seminary. Also part of the Re:Lit series is Death by Love coauthored Driscoll and Breshears.

I have read Mark Dever’s little book, What is a Healthy Church?  in which Dever gives nine marks of a healthy church. Nine Marks of a Healthy Church is a much more indepth treatment. The first three marks Dever categorizes as essential: Expostitional preaching, biblical theology, and biblical undestanding of the gospel. The balance of the marks are important but not essential: A biblical understanding of conversion, a biblical understanding of evangelism, a biblical understanding of membership, a biblical understanding of church discipline, biblical discipleship and growth, and biblical church leadership.

For the essential doctrines, Dever says, there must be complete agreement for a healthy church. On the important doctrines there does not have to be complete agreement. “Churches without these important marks can be places to pray, to be patient, and to set a good example by your own life.” When preaching on “the unity of the faith” in Ephesians 4:13, this insight will become invaluable to my congregation.

These are some practical tips for series preaching through a book of the Bible that has helped me. I welcome any input you have found benefical in your series preaching through a book.

Seven Steps to Preparing a Sermon, Step 3 (The Proposition, Part Last )

Posted: August 29, 2009 in How To Prepare A Sermon
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Here are some of the thoughts John R. W. Stott shared on How to Prepare a Sermon with Josh Harris in an interview. The point, I want to highlight is his insight on the importance of the proposition or step 4.

1. Choose your text and mediate on it

2. Ask questions of the text

3. Combine diligent study with fervent prayer

4. Isolate the Dominant Thought of the Text
Every text has a main theme, an overriding thrust. A sermon is not a lecture, it aims to convey only one major message. The congregation will forget the details of the message, but they should remember the dominant thought, because all the sermon’s details should be marshaled to help them grasp its message and feel its power. Once the text’s principle meaning has been determined, express it in a ‘categorical proposition.’ Ian Pitt-Watson: “Every sermon should be ruthlessly unitary in its theme.”

The Method for Developing The Proposition

1. Exegete the passage using the grammatical/historical hermeneutic.

The first step is to identify the theme of the book from which you are preaching. If you are preaching Ephesians 1:3-14, first identify the theme of Ephesians and how the theme is developed and where your passage is located in the development of the theme of the book. The theme of Ephesians is The Unity That Love Can Bring. Harold W. Hoehner convincingly proves this theme (See Harold W. Hoehner’s Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary). The development of the theme in Ephesians is the two fold division of the book: Doctrinal unity in chapters 1-3 and Practical unity in chapters 4-6.

There are two doctrinal examples of unity in chapters 1-3: (1) The Trinity in chapter 1 and (2) the Church in chapters 2-3. In the Trinity there is perfect harmony among the three members of the Godhead in heaven. There has never been a disagreement among these three persons. No person of the Trinity has ever gotten mad and stomped off. In the Church there is also perfect unity among the members of the Body of Christ on earth. Jews and Gentiles are “one” in Christ. My passage is 1:3-14 or the Trinity example of unity.

Next, I must find the theme of this pericope or text or preaching unit and the development of the theme. Reading these verses I discover a threefold division because of the repetition of the phrase in verses 6, 12, and 14: “To the praise of the glory of His grace.” So I divide this passage into three sections. I also observe that in each section one person of the Trinity is praised, which also substantiates the three fold division.

I. In verses 3-6, God the Father Choosing Believers in Eternity Past is praised.

II. In verses 7-12, God the Son Providing Redemption in the Historical Past is praised.

III. Lastly, in verses 13-14, God the Spirit Sealing Believers until the Day of Redemption is praised.

Dr. Wayne McDill devotes three helpful chapters to exegeting the passage or what he calls Text Analysis in his 12 Essential Skills for Great Preaching.

The grammatical/historical method of interpretation has helped me discover the theme of my passage and the development to the theme. The theme, “We must praise each Person of the Trinity for His part in our salvation,” is my proposition and the three fold development of the theme are my three major points.

2. State the exegetical idea of the passage (What did the passage mean to the original audience)

What did this passage mean to the original audience. This is based on the hermeneutical principle of authorial intention or one interpretation for each text. For Ephesians 1:3-14, the exegetical idea for the original audience could be stated like this: “God’s people must praise each person of the Trinity because of His unique contribution to their salvation.” Because there is much commonality between the original audience and my modern audience in Ephesians the proposition doesn’t have to be adapted. The following examples show where adaptation is necessary.

Haddon Robinson’s exegetical idea combines the subject and the complement. Subject: About what does the verse talk? Complement: What does the verse say about the subject?

Exegetical idea (including subject and complement) of Mark 16:1-4: “The women who came to the empty tomb to anoint the body of Jesus worried about a problem that was too big for them, but it was resolved before they ever had to face it.”

3. Convert the exegetical idea into the homiletical idea or proposition (What does the passage mean to my audience)

The Homiletical idea or the proposition of the above exegetical idea is the following: “The Lord’s people are sometimes confronted with problems that are too big for them.” This declarative proposition can be converted into this demand proposition: “We must trust God to solve our problems.”

Exegetical idea for Ezra 7:10: “Ezra purposed in his heart to exposit the Scriptures.”

Homiletical idea or declarative proposition: “God uses the preacher who dedicates himself to Biblical preaching.”

Convert the declarative proposition into a demand proposition: __________________________.

How to Move from The Proposition to The First Main Division

The proposition is followed by the interrogative statement using one of the five interrogative adverbs (why, how, what, when, and where). After you exegete the passage, list both how and why (the more common interrogative adverbs used) the proposition can be develop. One instead of two interrogatives will develop the proposition better. Again, this rule can be broken when a “why” and “how” interrogative statement will fit the passage better.

The interrogative sentence is followed by the transitional sentence, with a key word, which connects the proposition to the first main point of the sermon.

The first sermon that I preached after I got started in Homiletics with Mr. LeGrand was from Ephesians 2:8-9.

My proposition was: You must be saved by grace through faith

Interrogative sentence: How can you be saved by grace?

Transitional sentence: By taking these steps in Ephesians 2:8-9. “Steps” is the key word.

I. By faith in Jesus Christ

II. By grace and not works

Here is an alternative using why as the interrogative.

Proposition: You must be saved through faith

Interrogative sentence: Why must you be saved through faith?

Transitional sentence: Because of the following reasons. “Reasons” is the key word.

I. Because Salvation is by faith

II. Because Salvation is by grace and not works

I will never forget the relief I experienced in preaching that sermon on Ephesians 2:8-9 when I learned in my first Homiletic’s class the steps to take and follow in preaching. This model is not the only model for preaching but is one to begin with and master before we move on to more advance models.

In our next post, we will discuss Step 4: Construct the sermon outline.