Sometimes it is difficult to account for every portion of the text because the various parts seem unrelated to one another. However, good expositional preaching unifies the diverse strands of thought in the text into a cohesive whole. Discovering the unified theme is one of the most difficult parts of exegeting a passage and developing it into a sermon, but it is important. Often, when you labor in the text long enough, you realize that the various parts of the text were not unrelated at all; they just seemed unrelated at first.

Expositional preaching requires that every part of the text be adequately explained, illustrated, and applied. If you restrict the points you make to the points the text makes, if you make every point the text makes, and if you discover the author’s intended meaning in the text, you will move from preaching that vaguely touches what the Bible says to true Biblical exposition.

Expositional preaching benefits the church because it elevates the Word of God and minimizes the opinions of the preacher. When a church is saturated with the Word of God through expositional preaching, it flourishes because the church hears from God Himself. Tony Merida says,

“If the claims of Scripture are true, then why would we want to give people anything other than God’s revelation? Sure, there may be times to offer some practical suggestions and counsel, or to read from a contemporary writer. However, we must distinguish between ‘good stuff’ and ‘God stuff.’ Discerning expositors know the difference between good and divine.”