Charles Simeon is one of my heroes of the faith. He served as pastor of Trinity Church, Cambridge, England for 54 years (1782-1836), and upheld the highest standards for expository preachers.
Click here to read J.I. Packer's thoughts on Simeon's preaching, and what Simeon would say to preachers today.
" . . . Simeon would remind us that expository sermons will have an evangelical content. Always in some way they will set forth the gospel in its double aspect as a revelation and a remedy; always in some way they will throw light on the twin themes of sin and grace; for these are the things that the whole Bible is about. Always, therefore, their tendency will be threefold— 'to humble the sinner; to exalt the Saviour; to promote holiness' — for that is the tendency of the Bible, and of every part of the Bible. Whatever part of the counsel of God they deal with, expository sermons will relate it to 'Christ, and Him crucified', for the Christ of Calvary is, so to speak, the hub around which the whole Biblical revelation revolves. It was in this sense that Simeon, following Paul, insisted that 'Christ, and Him crucified' was the whole of his message. And the preacher is not handling his texts biblically, Simeon would say, unless he is seeing and setting them in their proper relation to Christ. If the expositor finds himself out of sight of Calvary, that shows that he has lost his way."
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