1PointPreacher Ep. 7 - Stick to One Gospel Account

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1 Point Preacher
Episode 7

Show Notes:

A common problem.
A genre-specific issue.
This begins a running topic for this podcast: special challenges of biblical genres.

For this episode: the "gospel genre" (i.e. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)

Sequential expository preaching of the gospels, and sticking to the gospel you have chosen to preach.

I'm preaching through the Gospel of Mark. That's what I have chosen. I was listening to other preachers on Mark 1:1–13.

The clear-case example is the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness in Mark 1. Mark only gives 2 lines to it. Mark is brief, the briefest of the Gospels.

What did expository preachers keep doing with that text?
They would leave the Gospel of Mark, and would preach Matthew and Luke, instead. Even saying, "Let's fill-in the details."

Is this a big deal? Yes.
For those who are committed to expository preaching, the chosen text sets the agenda. Tell me what that text says.
In contrast to topical or textual preaching— content comes from other parts of the Bible.

Here was a snag with otherwise dedicated sequential expository preachers, in gospel-narratives.
Men who otherwise would stick to the sermon text, when it came to the gospels they just couldn't help themselves but preach all the gospels, instead of preaching their sermon text.

You're preaching Mark—not Matthew, Luke, or even John.
Are you doing a harmony of the gospels? Just say that.
"I don't want to teach John today. I want to teach them all, at the same time.""

It's about focus. Being true to God's inspiration of that gospel-account.
Where are you? Teach that.
They love the word "context." So stay in the context. When you leave Mark, you're out of context.

I preached Mark 1:1–13. The immediate feedback from another preacher was surprise over the brevity and lack of further details about Jesus' temptation and even baptism. He expected me to do a cross-reference—to leave Mark.

I said, "I understand, but at the same time, you should not be surprised. Because I'm preaching Mark. I'm not preaching Luke. I'm not preaching Matthew. I've chosen to preach Mark. And Mark doesn't give that information. I'm explaining and applying what Mark, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit has written."

The core of the issue:
If Mark saw fit to include further details, he would have written it.
More importantly, the primary author, God himself, did not put that information into that account.

If you supplement one gospel with another, you're not preaching that gospel anymore.

It's a lack of commitment to the principles that make expository preaching expository preaching. It's incoherent.

It's not being more faithful to the gospel account you are preaching.

What borders on dishonesty is to select Mark but not stick with Mark as you're preaching the book.
It contradicts the way that Mark wrote.

Implication: there's not enough in Mark to benefit us.

It's a matter of discipline.
"Preaching is discipline." —Dennis Prutow
It's a matter of self-control, restraint.
The goal of expository preaching is to say what this one text says.
If you've chosen a text, then preach the text the way the text is.

Sometimes people enjoy topical messages because they feel more faithful.
When you teach expositionally, you'll get to the other gospels eventually. Finish Mark first.

Cross-references are not bad, but when you teach those references, they are not cross-references anymore.
You've changed sermon texts. Or it was your intent the whole time.

Be focused and stick to the text.

It's the easy way out to take the cross-references to the other gospels for greater detail. There's plenty to fill a sermon with.
Rather than grappling with what Mark means by so briefly stating these events in the way he does. In context to the whole, what is he teaching?

"And once again, Mark chooses to record the incident with compelling brevity, and it's not my job to spoil his brevity."
—Alistair Begg

Be faithful to where you're at and what you are teaching. So the people you are teaching can grow in understanding that text.

These preachers rightly challenge "platform preaching"—using the text as a jumping board—or preaching biblical truths from the wrong texts.
Where's that challenge when they harmonize the gospel accounts?
"Biblical, but not from that text."

They are not expository sermons.

You miss the intent of the text when you take the easy way out, jumping to the other accounts.

Why "the easy way out"? It's going somewhere else instead of explaining your text—understanding how it's written, according to its context. If God wanted Mark to include more information, he would have added it. It's not an accident. It's a preacher problem—discipline and focus.

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Bumper Music:
👢🐂🌵🐍 Murder On The Bayou
Written by Bryan Teoh
https://freepd.com/music/Murder%20On%20The%20Bayou.mp3