LaGrange Baptist Church

Deacons, this is the third part of our discussion concerning being an Expositional Listener. In my last post I talked about how being an expositional listener benefits us in that it “cultivates a hunger for God’s Word” (pg 20) and “protects the gospel and our lives from corruption.” (pg 21). Today I want to talk about two more benefits of being an expositional listener.

First, in John 10:27 Jesus says “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them and they follow me” (NASB). The goal of a Christian is to follow Christ. The key to following Christ is that Christ knows us, and we recognize His voice. Our job is not to make ourselves known to Christ. He knows us because we were given to Him by the Father. Our job is to hear, recognize and follow His voice. The only way to get to that point is by listening intently to Him regularly with the intention of understanding what He is saying to us and where He is asking us to go. This is exactly the exercise of expositional listening, which “helps us focus on God’s will and follow Him” (pg 20).

Next, Expositional Listening “benefits the gathered congregation” (pg 21) in that it promotes unity and the gospel. In several areas of scripture we are told to agree, remove division, be like minded and  live in peace with each other. Jesus’ prayer for us, the church, was “that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in you, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may know that You sent Me” (NASB).

Remember, Expositional Listeners are focused on knowing God’s desires not fulfilling their their own. If a church practices expositional listening, then the church will discover the desires of God’s heart and will banish their own desires replacing them with God’s. The result of this practice is unity and thus a display of the gospel – “so that the world may know that you sent me.”

There are other benefits to being an Expositional Listener, but these should suffice to encourage us to take up the practice. Next time I will talk about some ways to cultivate the practice of Expositional Listening.

Blessings, Mark

• Part One
• Part Two

Anyabwile, Thabiti M. What is a Healthy Church Member?. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2008.

Deacons, this is the second part of our discussion concerning being an Expositional Listener. Here I recap some of the benefits of being an Expositional Listener

First, we discussed how being an expositional listener “cultivates a hunger for God’s Word” (pg 20). As one reads Psalm 119:97-104 one sees that to the Psalmist the Word of God was like sweet honey in his mouth. He loved it. It made him wise, more so even than his teachers and the aged. It restrained him from evil.

The reason the Word of God was of such high value to the Psalmist was because he meditated on it ‘all the day’ and while he meditated on God’s Word, God Himself taught him.

As an expositional listener you must spend time in God’s Word. You cannot read it with a cursory glance. You must engage it as did the Psalmist. In so doing, you will not be able to help but be taught by God, because, as an expositional listener, you are looking for His teaching. As a result, you will find yourself loving His Word like the sweetness of honey in your mouth.

Second, we discussed how being an expositional listener “protects the gospel and our lives from corruption.” (pg 21) Paul tells us that some in the church look for preachers to preach messages in line with the desires of the listeners. An expositional listener does not choose this course.

By the very definition of the term, an expositional listener does not read into the text his own meaning. Rather, he searches for the meaning of the text put there by God. This type of listener, one who is focused on knowing God’s desires and not fulfilling his own desires, will not tolerate a preacher or seek one who would lead himself or the church away from the truth toward myths. An expositional listener will encourage and praise those preachers who preach expositional sermons, who seek to find and declare the message of the text so that the body can benefit.

Next time we will look at two more benefits to being an expositional listener.

God bless, Mark

Part One

Anyabwile, Thabiti M. What is a Healthy Church Member?. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2008.