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Lesson 5
How to Construct an Expository Sermon:
The expository sermon is one in which one part of the Bible is explored in depth.
This kind of sermon is just as rich, but more academically oriented.

Some strengths and weaknesses of the expository sermon could be:

Expository Sermons:

They can help the congregation to achieve a unity of faith.

They can help the members of the congregation develop their own ways of
applying biblical principles to everyday life.
They can give the congregation insufficient guidance.
They can become dry and irrelevant if they turn into lectures on Bible trivia.
You can preach the WHOLE counsel of God systematically.
Principles taught now prepare for applications later.
It best fulfills Nehemiah 8:7, 8.

Nehemiah 8:7
Also, Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah,
Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the
people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place.

Ezra, not Nehemiah was the official religious leader. It is significant that
Nehemiah was a layman, not a member of the religious establishment or a prophet.
He was motivated by his relationship with God. He devoted his life to doing God’s
will in a secular world. Such people are crucial to God’s work in all aspects of life.
No matter what your work or role in life, view it as God’s special calling to serve
him.

Other strengths and weaknesses of the expository sermon could be:

It best follows Christ’s and the First Century Church practice.

Christ spoke on many topics and quoted texts from the Old Testament. He did
so in an expository manner! Christ spoke in dark sayings to unbelievers and
those who opposed Him. In Mark, 4:34 He tells us He “expounded all things to
His disciples”. That word means to solve or explain. This is the goal of the
expositor. He seeks to explain and solve the sometimes seemingly mysterious
things of God’s Word to his congregation!

Luke 24:27 tells us that He “expounded unto them all the scriptures the things
concerning Himself.” The word expound is where we get our word Hermeneutics.
It means to interpret fully or to intensively interpret. That is expository preaching!
His audience later said that He “opened” the Scripture to them. They had no doubts
as to what He or the Scriptures meant.

Christ had to berate the religious leaders of His day for failing to do this very thing.
How often did He say that the Word says this, but you say, or you have heard it
said, “but I say unto you?” Why? Rather than expositing the Scriptures, they
quoted each other and explained away Scripture to color it to meet their own
desires. This kept the people ignorant and under their control.

It creates balance.

It is easier to balance zeal and knowledge, which produces stronger disciples

with expository preaching. A saint who is all charged up and halfcocked, due
to a lack of knowledge is as bad, and even more dangerous, than a soaked in
the facts person who does not have the zeal to share the knowledge. Both
situations are unbalanced and undesirable.

It provides Liberty in variety.

Since expository means to teach what is really contained in the passage based
on language, context, and comparison with other Scriptures the principle
provides for a variety of preaching.

The following is an example outline of an Expository Sermon.

THOMAS – The Apostle

1. Thomas’ name occurs 12 times in the New Testament.

1) Matt. 10:3; 2) Mark 3:18; 3) Luke 6:15; 4) John 11:16; 5) John 14:5
6) John 20:24; 7) John 20:26; 8) John 20 27; 9) John 20:28; 10) John 20:29
11) John 21:2 12) Acts 1:13
2. Aramaic for “the twin”. Three of the four passages John mentions him as
"Didymus" which is Greek for “the twin.” Most believe that was his nickname
because he was a twin, some think it may have been his actual name.
3. In Matt 10:3, Thomas is paired with Matthew. In Acts 1:13, he is paired with
Philip.
4. In John 21:2-6, we see him listed second to Peter; in prestige and influence.
a) Thomas may have also been a fisherman.
b) Seven of the twelve apostles were fishermen.
5. Thomas was never mentioned apart from the twelve in the other gospels, but
John gives him a very prominent role.
a) He may have been a much more important apostle than we usually consider him.
b) He shows us some traits that we need to consider and shows us something about
his character.
c) When we mention Job, we immediately think of the "patience of Job"
d) When we mention Thomas, we immediately think of “doubting Thomas.”
1) I’m not certain this is a correct or proper way we should think of him.
2) Let’s look briefly at the passages that reveal some things about Thomas.

1. A “Courageous Thomas” - John 11:16

1. Jesus wants to go to Bethany, near Jerusalem. Jesus’ life has been threatened,
and all the apostles know of the danger to Jesus if he returns to that area.
a) cf. John 10:22 at the feast of Dedication in Jerusalem.
b) cf. John 10:31 the Jews took up stones to stone Jesus.
c) cf. John 10:39-40 Jesus eluded them and escaped to the east side of the Jordan
River with his apostles.
d}The time in John 9 after Jesus healed the blind man in the temple, the
Pharisees and Sanhedrin sought to kill him- (John 9 – 10).
2. Now Jesus hears the news about Lazarus – John 11:1-8; esp. note verse 8.
3. Courageous Thomas recognizes the threat to Jesus if he goes back to that area,
but he becomes a TOWER OF STRENGTH, and leads the way, saying, “Well, if
they are going to kill him, let us go and die with him!”.
a) Courage and leadership.

2. A “Searching, Seeking, and Learning Thomas” - John 14:5

1. Note the context of the famous, comforting remarks made by Jesus, John 14:1-4.
2. But Thomas says to him, “Lord we don’t know where you are going, [so] how
can we know the way?”
a) Thomas is not the only one puzzled.
b) None of the apostles grasped what Jesus was talking about.
3. Some people, when they don’t get it, remain silent and look puzzled, but
Thomas again leads the way in wanting to learn just what Jesus was talking about,
and just where Jesus was going.
a) So, we see Thomas as a diligent student, inquiring and searching for the truth,
wanting to be sure he understands his teacher.
b) Isn’t this a remarkable and commendable trait?

3. A “Slow-to-be-Convinced Thomas” - John 20:19-24

1. Instead of calling him “Doubting Thomas” I want us to look at him from a

unique perspective.
2. Thomas was not present at the first appearance – we don’t know why!
a) Many good lessons can be given on what Thomas missed when he missed
meeting with the disciples on that first Sunday.
b) I’m not going to try to accuse or excuse Thomas. We just don’t know why he
was not there.
1) Many good people must miss some services today, sick, or some family member
desperately sick, etc.
2) We shouldn’t try to find fault with him, but it is true that because he was NOT
there. He missed a good many things that could have blessed his life.
3. But instead of calling him “Doubting Thomas,” let’s think of him as being one
who was not going to be deceived, or who didn’t want to be misled; he is not
gullible.
a) He was not any more “doubting” than the other apostles had been before Jesus
appeared to them.
b) He is one wanting proof!
c) He wants to see the evidence with his own eyes!
d) And while we admire his position of wanting proof, and wanting evidence, and
not being deceived - he is mistaken in one especially important way!
4. The mistake of Thomas was not that he wanted proof, but that he failed to
realize the providential value of eye-witnesses.
a) If Thomas did not want to trust the eyes of others, how could he be sure he could
trust his own eyes?
b) It becomes a matter of what kind of evidence one is going to accept.
5. Jesus, however, provided the exact proof Thomas asked for. Question: Who told
Jesus what Thomas had said?
a) Well, Jesus had been there all the time. Jesus knew.
b) Jesus did not scold him but did remind him of the evidence he had rejected
should have been enough.
c) Jesus gave his blessing and commendation to those who should believe because
of the testimony of these apostles who were eye-witnesses! (20:29-31)
d) And Jesus was talking about us who read their inspired testimony!
6. John makes Thomas a very real person – and the passage in 20:25 reveals
another great characteristic.

4. “A Loving & Committed Thomas” - John 20:25

1. We know Thomas spoke of putting his fingers in the wounds of Jesus, and Jesus
showed him the wounds, but we are not told if Thomas put forth his hands and
touched him.
a) We believe the apostles did touch Jesus - he was real - 1 John 1:1-3.
2. This passage is one of the great climactic passages in John.
a) John has been systematically leading his reader through a series of seven
witnesses who bear their testimony to Jesus (you can outline the gospel of John
just that way!)
b) And this passage is the great climax!

3. John knew the importance of this confession of faith – and this commitment to
Jesus.
a) I think therefore John has been giving Thomas the recognition before this of the
key role he played in the apostleship of Jesus.
b) Where he reveals to us the courage of this Thomas in 11:16.
c) And the honest searching, seeking Thomas in 14:5.
d) His eminent position among the apostles is given in 21:2-6 when he is linked
with Peter himself as one of the leaders.

4. The key passage here, however, is Jesus, reply to Thomas in vs. 29.
a) Jesus says the testimony of a trustworthy eye-witness should be enough to make
believers, and those who believed would be blessed.
1) If we can’t trust this vast number of reliable eye-witnesses- it is not likely that
we would even trust our own eyes.
2) This is almost parallel to Jesus’ statement in Luke 16:31.
5. John tells us his own purpose in writing this gospel in the next verses -
a) to make believers, 20:31 READ
b) And from the Lord’s own statement, those who believe the written testimony of
the credible, trustworthy testimony of these eye-witness apostles can have eternal
life. (20:30-31)

Conclusion:
1. The tradition of Thomas’ ministry in India and death as a martyr there for Jesus.

Using the lesson text, please answer the following questions.

Instructions: Please mark all your answers in bold print or a different color. Do not
use red. Be prepared to use a dictionary for definitions of words. Please use
complete sentences to answer the questions in all the lessons for the course.
Example How many books are in the Bible?
Answer: There are 66 books in the Bible.

QUESTIONS:

1. Name some features of the expository sermon.

Answer:

2. Name some strengths of the expository sermon?

Answer:
3. What is the goal of the expositor?
Answer:

4. In the example of the expository sermon given, “Thomas – The -

Apostle” name the four main headings.
Answer:

5. Construct an expository sermon outline of any Scriptures you choose.

Answer:

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