“Blessed is he that Readeth” (Ready to Worship S13E1)

This season on Ready to Worship, we are studying what John saw and said about worship in the book of Revelation. Rarely, if ever, have we studied the book with this specific focus in mind. I believe that we will find that Revelation is a manual on worship.

 

Let’s begin where John begins. After explaining briefly how the message came to him, John declares, “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near” (Rev. 1:3). The book beautifully opens with a blessing. Fittingly, it closes with the same. In the final chapter, John declares, “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city” (Rev. 22:14). As you can see, both the opening and closing blessings are tied to how we respond to what God has revealed to us. Those who react to God’s revelation correctly are given the right to enter into the heavenly city and to eat of the tree of life. Those who do not remain on the outside.

 

John gives three reactions that we should have to the word- read it, receive it, and retain it. These responses hold true for both private and public worship. Let’s consider each of them in a little more detail.

 

I love to read. It is one of my favorite things to do. I find it relaxing and rewarding . Perhaps, you do too. Then again, maybe you don’t. Whether or not you read secularly is of little consequence. However, whether or not you read spiritually, is of great consequence. If you don’t read your Bible, then you are missing out on great blessings. John wrote , “Blessed is he who reads” (Rev. 1:3). As you know, blessed means happy. Happy is the man who reads. The one who read the book of Revelation was going to be happy to see that God’s people win in the end:. Like John, the Apostle Paul knew the benefits and blessings of reading. To Timothy, his son in the faith, he wrote, “Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Tim. 4:13). Paul wanted Timothy to be a reader. He clearly knew the value of it. Later, while imprisoned, he would make a special request for the sacred parchments to be brought to him that he might also read them (2 Tim. 4:13).

 

The blessing that John promised was not just for the one who reads God’s word, but also for the one who hears or receives it. After describing some who wouldn’t hear God’s word (Mat. 13:15), Jesus praised His disciples for their willingness to do so. He declared, “But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it” (Mat. 13:16-17). Of course, the Bereans also belong in this category. Of them, Luke wrote, “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11). The Bereans readily received God’s revelation and patiently proved it.

 

In addition to reading and receiving the word, we must retain it or keep it to be blessed. We must not be forgetful hearers or fickle receivers of the word. We must be fervent doers. James wrote, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does” (Jam. 1:22-25). The psalmist clearly understood this also. In his extensive tribute to the word of God, he declared, “I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have given me life” (Psa. 119:93; cf. 119:11, 166-168).

 

As we get ready to worship this week, let’s read, receive, and retain God’s word. We will be richly blessed if we do!