Sequential expository preaching is the type of exposition which starts at the beginning of a particular book of Scripture and teaches through it verse by verse up until the end. It’s the brand of preaching both promoted and utilized by many of the Continental Reformers, as well as their immediate and distant heirs. Though the title “Puritan” contains various connotations and inuendos making it difficult to define in modern times, “Puritanical preaching” was largely expositional.
The Puritans of England were following the preaching philosophy and style of the Continental Reformers over against the Church of England’s emphasis on intellectualism and eloquence. And even those preachers who held important posts in the Church of England who were neither part of the early Separtist movement, or the later great ejection, were expository preachers in their own right. Though many did not want to change the government of the Episcopal church, they were committed to teaching and preaching the Bible in an expositional manner. In fact, the argument could be made that their very commitment to such preaching is what led them to not separate from the Church of England. As long as they could teach and preach Scripture in its context (making the point of any given text the very point of the sermon), then they could tolerate the oversight of Bishops and the wearing of clerical vestments (“surplices”).
Perhaps the most notable example is William Perkins who, though he did not promote separation, was the epitome of expository preaching. His preaching was referred to as the “plain style”, which was another way of saying Perkins let the text say what it said apart from the creativity of over-the-top eloquence just for the sake of eloquence. Perkins certainly wasn’t considered a separatist even though he was largely sympathetic to non-conformity. He conformed to the patterns set in the Elizabethan Settlement likely for the sake of preaching. Even still, he did suffer some suspensions for refusing to concede on many points. Nevertheless, it was his commitment to preaching that freed him to accept other clerical standards that seemed indifferent to his own conscience. As a result, the non-conformers looked to him as the gold standard in preaching. He authored The Art of Prophecy , his instruction manual for preaching, which received wide circulation.
Even still, not all within the Puritan movement were sequential expositors. There is another type of expository preaching, which is still verse by verse, but does not remain in the same book week after week. But the legacy of both Zwingli and Calvin is sequential expositon – taking the verses in the order they come to us in Scripture and teaching through them in what is often called today a “book study”. In 1519 after just receiving a fresh assignment as the People’s Preacher at the Old Minster church in Zurich, Ulrich Zwingli began preaching in Matthew 1:1 and continued until he preached through the entire New Testament. For his part, Calvin was in the middle of a book study and preaching verse by verse in Geneva when it was interrupted by the town council who threw him out because they were not ready for his reforming ways. But three years later, in September of 1541, Calvin’s pastoral services were requested by the town council, who were under pressure from Rome itself and the manipulative Cardinal Sadaleto, to return to Roman Catholicism. Calvin went back to Geneva to preserve Protestantism, but he didn’t change his approach to reform whatsoever. He climbed the pulpit stairs in St. Peter’s cathedrial and picked up at the verse he had left off prior to being kicked ot of town, thus continuing his sequential exposition of the Bible. Calvin believed strongly that verse by verse preaching was the staple to true reformation.
In this next series of articles, I’d like to provide ten reasons that sequential expository preaching is the best type of preaching. My prayer is that you would see its significance for the church today. Reformation is impossible apart from a return to Scripture. And the best way for Scripture to serve as the foundation of Spirit-led revival comes through preaching that embraces the full counsel of God’s Word. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of truth. God’s truth must come to God’s people as a whole. Verse by verse, sequential exposition allows God’s people to digest the full orbed wonder and sweetness of God’s Word. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God!