The Public Reading of Scripture

“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, not a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.”

Amos 8:11,12


Free Will Baptists have long been at the forefront on issues of upholding the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture. However, sometimes those who profess to take the Bible most seriously are very inept in their practical esteem for Holy Writ. Specifically, I am speaking of the reading of Scripture in worship. I would like for Free Will Baptists to awaken to this need. If we really do think that all Scripture is profitable, then why don’t we start reading it aloud in our services?

Three-fold Mandate

The public reading of Scripture is a biblical mandate. Paul told Timothy (1 Timothy 4:13) to “give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.” This “reading” was in reference to the public reading of Scripture in corporate worship.  In the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, Ezra read the Scriptures before the people from morning until midday behind a pulpit of wood.

Church history further reinforces the practice of extended times of the public reading of the Word of God, thus providing the second mandate for the practice. Large portions of the Old Testament and the New Testament were read aloud to the congregations from the pulpit. The reading of Scripture, coupled with the praying of Scripture, and the preaching of Scripture, came to occupy supreme importance in the service. Reading of Scripture was not an option, but was viewed as an essential of Christian worship.

Yet, I believe there is a practical mandate for the corporate reading of Scripture. If we believe 2 Timothy 3:16 (and we claim to do so), then we are neglecting the God-appointed means of grace. In other words, God the Holy Spirit works through His Word to convict, encourage, and edify His people. The Bible is God’s Word to us. Scripture is holy.

Suggestions

Set aside 10 - 15 minutes to read the Bible in your church service and read significant portions of the Bible. Calm the congregation, prayerfully select the Scriptures, practice reading them, and lead them to reverently bow before God as they listen to His Word. Read from the Old and the New Testament. Pick someone who can read clearly and distinctly and who has the proper testimony. Let the pastor or some other leader of the church pray before and after the reading. At times encourage silent prayers. Or, as is popular in our tradition, it might be good to have an altar of prayer after the reading.

There may be times that the church would like to designate special services for just Bible reading. I have heard recently of two Arkansas Free Will Baptist congregations that are doing this. I applaud them. It is beautiful when congregations reverence themselves before the unedited Word of God.

I would also encourage our pastors to take time to read the Scriptures in their sermons. This should go without saying, but in my travels among us, the times were more than a few that I have heard sermons full of little stories and clichés, and just a little sprinkling of Scripture added to prop up the preachers comments. This is a sin. First, God’s Word is the most important thing about preaching and secondly, the primary task of preaching is to give the meaning of Scripture, not to stand on our soap box and seek vindication from verses taken out of context. Neither is it to entertain congregations or to activate the amen corner. Such sermons might “rev up” the congregation, but they will not stand in the Day of Judgment.

The pastor should practice reading his sermon text before he preaches. He should seek to correctly pronounce difficult words. When reading the text, he should speak slowly and distinctly with voice inflections that emphasize the gravity of what is being read. It is the Word of God and we stand in Christ stead when we preach.

Blessings

The reformers told us to read the Bible, pray the Bible, sing the Bible, see the Bible (ordinances)  and preach the Bible. These were intentional admonitions. The God of this universe has revealed Himself to us and He has done it though the Scriptures. We are blessed as the people of God to have the Word of God and the person of the Holy Spirit to guide our lives as Christians. Our services should show this.  Give attendance to the reading of Scriptures. Let it never be said among us that there was a famine; a famine of the Word of God.