Proclaiming the Word: Public Reading & Preaching

Continuing the series from last week, today we are focusing on the second element of Corporate worship, which is public reading and preaching of the Word. One must read, preach, discuss and talk about the Word of God publicly. This is worship beyond singing and praising God. And proclaiming and reading the Word of God in public is central to God's worship. Public reading of scriptures is practiced both in the New and Old Testament. God's Word is powerful and is central to worship. 

As Romans 10:17 says, ‘Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.’
 It is through hearing that faith emerges. To ignite this faith, we must constantly hear the Word and to hear the Word, someone must proclaim it loud and clear to the world. The Word should not only be read, but understood and deciphered correctly. It is only then that faith emerges from within the hearts of the listener. 

Nehemiah 8:8 says, ‘They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.’

During the time of Nehemiah there was a big revival taking place. Revival comes in two ways; top to bottom and bottom to top. When the revival trickles down from the leaders of a country down to its people, we can call it revival from top to bottom. When revival trickles down from bottom to top, from the people to the leaders, it’s another form of revival. 

Many years ago there was a revival that took place in an agricultural university in Allahabad led by Dr. R. B Lal. I went there to witness this revival as well. What I saw astounded me. Dr. R. B Lal preaches on Sundays and people would come to this area by the previous day to attend his sermons. Even before he came up on stage, we saw people being healed, evil spirits fleeing and other miracles. This revival took place through very educated PhD holders in the city. This revival saw a mixed crowd, where people travelled from far away cities to attend his sermons. 

In Nehemiah’s time, the revival trickled down from top to bottom as Nehemiah himself was a prominent man and trusted personnel of the King. The King himself gave Nehemiah the resources to build up the broken walls of Jerusalem. Through the support of the King, Nehemiah was able to build up the wall and along with this, the city of Jerusalem saw other changes as well, such as restoring the church. At one point of time, during this time, Nehemiah got the priests to read aloud the Old Testament. They read out the word out loud. 

As Nehemiah 8:8 says, the Word of God must be made understood. It’s not necessary that common people understand the Word of God. Hence it must be deciphered and understood.

The general Christian traditions only expect us to read the Bible on a daily basis. It sometimes even feels like an item on the checklist. But reading the Word is not nearly enough. It should be read and understood. You could possibly be reading the same verse for 50 years and unlock the true meaning, life and revelation of the Word only at the age of 60. This meaning should be revealed to you either by a man of God or it should be traveled through your persistent search for the truth and mediation before the Lord. 

During the time of Nehemiah, the priests read out the word of God and tried to decipher it for the people of Jerusalem. 
Colossians 3:16 says, ‘Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.’
1 Timothy 4:13 says, ‘Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.’
The verse in Timothy clearly says that we must devote ourselves to the public preaching and teaching of the scriptures as we wait on the Lord.

 2 Timothy 4:2 says, ‘Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
We should be prepared and listen and preach the word in season and out of season. 

Revelation 1:3 says, ‘Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.’
To summarise, the elements of corporate worship are: firstly confess your sins and secondly read, preach and study the Word of God.