The Public Reading of the Scriptures

Introduction: The Importance of Public Scripture Reading

0:03 Now, by way of introduction to the subject matter of today's lecture, brethren, let me simply remind you that we are considering those aspects of pastoral oversight and government which pertain to the corporate life of God's people. Having demonstrated the great importance of this department of ministerial responsibility, we have spent the past week seeking to impart the various principles that should regulate our conducting of the gatherings of God's people. And this has carried us right down to the matter of our public prayers, as we shall be called upon to give a primary place of leadership in this. The prayers of the people of God in their stated gatherings. And now, today, we complete our lectures for this semester by addressing the subject of cultivating skill in the public reading of the word of God. Now, in thinking our way through the subject, we shall marshal our thoughts under four headings. First of all, the biblical basis for the public reading of the scriptures.

1:17 Then, secondly, some practical guidelines. For the public reading of the scriptures. Then, thirdly, some specific suggestions for cultivating the ability to read the scriptures well in public. And then, fourth, I want to give some concluding remarks regarding judicious commenting in conjunction with the public reading of the scriptures.

Biblical Basis: History of the Practice - Old Testament Mandate

1:42 First of all, then, we take up the biblical basis for the public reading of the scriptures. In the statement, And I have three subdivisions of this first heading. First of all, the history of the practice. Secondly, the explicit New Testament warrant for the practice.

2:06 And then, thirdly, we shall consider the implicit warrant for the practice. All right? First of all, then, the history of the practice. That is, the history of the practice of reading.

2:20 The documents of inscripturated revelation to the covenant community of God's people. And if you would turn, please, to Deuteronomy, chapter 31. We have a passage which, in my judgment, is foundational in this area of concern. In Deuteronomy 31, 1 to 8, Moses went and spoke all these words, to Israel.

2:51 And in those words, the beginning of his final charge, he summarizes his own life and what God will do for them. He exhorts them to courage. He reminds them that the Lord will go before them. Verse 8, He will not fail nor forsake them.

3:11 Therefore, they are not to be dismayed. Now, verse 9, And Moses wrote this law and delivered it unto the priests, the sons of Levi, that bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel. And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles, when all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which ye shall choose, you shall read this law before all, all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones and the sojourner that is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn and fear the Lord your God and observe to do all the words of this law. And that their children who have not known may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land, whether you go over the Jordan, to possess it. Now, four observations on this text. Number one, the responsibility is given to the official stewards of the public worship, namely the priests and the elders.

4:35 Notice verse nine. Moses wrote the law, delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, and unto all of the elders of Israel, and Moses commanded them. So we see that the priests and the elders were the peculiar stewards of the book of the law. And that the command that that book of the law be publicly read to the covenant community is a peculiar responsibility to the appointed leaders in Israel.

5:11 The second observation is this. This activity was to be performed at a set season of public worship. Corporate, divinely appointed celebration. This activity was to be performed at a set season of public, corporate, divinely appointed celebration.

5:35 Verse ten. At the end of every seven years in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles when all Israel is come to a place of worship, to appear before the Lord.

5:53 So it was not an activity to be performed at the whim and will of the priests and the elders, but in conjunction with the set season of public, corporate, divinely appointed celebration, namely the feast of tabernacles. Thirdly, this activity was to be engaged in before all the congregation of God. Verses eleven and twelve. Verse eleven.

6:21 Verse eleven gives the generic statement. When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place that he shall choose, then you have the specific in verse twelve. Assemble the people, the men, the women, and the little ones, and the sojourner that is within your gates. So it was not to be an esoteric group who heard the public reading of the law, but the holy, whole congregation of God, including the children and the sojourners that were within the gates of Israel.

7:00 And then the fourth observation on the text is this, that the fundamental purpose for this activity is clearly described as a two-fold purpose. The fundamental purpose is clearly described as a two-fold purpose.

7:22 The first is, that by repetition understanding and the responses of the fear and obedience of God may be renewed in those already familiar with the law. That by repetition understanding and responses of the fear of God and obedience might be renewed in those already acquainted with the content of the law. Verse 12. All of these are to be gathered and the scripture or the book of the law is to be read that they may hear and that they may learn and fear the Lord your God and observe to do all the words of this law. So by repetition there would be fresh understanding and the responses of the fear of God and obedience. But then the second purpose was that initially understanding and religious responses would be imparted to the new generation of Israelites. Verse 13.

8:33 And that their children who have not known may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land whether you go over the Jordan to possess it. So this divinely established practice had a divinely defined purpose. And we might call it the two-generation purpose. It was to pump fresh spiritual life into the existing knowledgeable generation and it was to be instrumental to impart spiritual perspective and life to the upcoming or emerging generation.

Biblical Basis: History of the Practice - Decline and Restoration

9:17 Now when Israel forgot and departed from the Lord Jehovah one of the first and the most evident causes and effects of that departure is the abandonment of this practice. And when you trace out the history of the declension of Israel you will find that the abandonment of this practice of the regular public reading of the book of the law was both cause and effect of that departure from Jehovah. And we find this out particularly in the recorded seasons of reformation and revival and return to Jehovah in which the rediscovery of the law and its public reading are central. And I want you to look at just two examples of this. One in 2 Chronicles chapter 34 and the other in the book of Nehemiah. 2 Chronicles chapter 34.

10:29 Verses 1 to 7 give us the record of the purging of idolatry out of the land under the leadership of Josiah. Verses 8 to 13 record the repairing of the temple. So there is the purging away of the worship of false gods and then the repairing of the place of God's appointment for the worship of the one true to God. Then in verses 20, 14 to 21 we have the discovery of the law and its being read to the king.

11:08 Verses 14 to 21. Notice verse 15. Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.

11:23 And Shaphan carried the book to the king and brought back word to the king saying, all that was committed to your servants they are doing. And then the focus is upon the book as it is delivered to the king. And then in verses 22 to 28 we see the blessing upon Josiah for this discovery and response to what was revealed in the book. When he hears the book read his heart is broken, his spirit is crushed, and we read verse 27 because your heart was tender and you did humble yourself when you heard his words against this place and against the inhabitants thereof. You have humbled yourself before me, rent your clothes, wept before me, I have heard you, I will gather you to your fathers, etc. Then in verses 29 to 33 and through to the end we have the public reading of the book of the law resulting in nothing nothing short of national restoration to Jehovah. Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem and the king went up to the house of the Lord and all the men of Judah and the inhabitants and the priests and the Levites the people now notice both great and small

12:50 and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord and the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord etc. and they recommitted themselves to the demands of that law the last verse all his days they departed not from following the Lord the God of their fathers. So we could say in a very real sense this national restoration was both precipitated by the public reading of the law and then it was perpetuated by that practice being reinstated and then in Nehemiah we have a similar example at a much later period in the history of God's people in the book of Nehemiah chapter 8 and verse 2 Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly both men and women and all the people could hear with understanding upon the first day of the seventh month and he read therein before the broad place that was before the water gate from early morning until midday in the presence of the men and the women and of those that could understand

14:19 and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law and then you know the results of this that there was a revelation of their sin and of their needs there was brokenness and an unusual thing happened God calls them not to a season of weeping and of humbling but to be thankful that there's been a rediscovery of the book of the law the inscripturated revelation of God and we read in verse 18 day by day from the first day until the last he read in the book of the law of God and they kept the feast seven days and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly according unto the ordinance so here we see again a season of national restoration in conjunction with the reinstitution of the practice of the public reading of the inscripturated documents to the covenant community according to the mandate of God so as we seek to establish the scriptural basis for the public reading of the scriptures we see something of the history of this practice first of all in the mandated practice that God himself

Biblical Basis: History of the Practice - Synagogue and Reformation

15:46 instituted and its decline and its reinstitution and then you see in the pattern of synagogue activity this is all again under the history of the practice the history under the original institution and the history then we've looked at in the second place of what happens when that practice falls into what should we say when the practice is no longer practiced falls into disuse and is reinstituted but then we notice in the history of this practice the place of the public reading of the scriptures in the pattern of synagogue activity as you know from your other studies there was no direct revelation regulating the practice of conduct in the gatherings of the synagogues God had clearly mandated the activities that were to transpire in temple ritual and in temple worship but not so with regard to synagogue activity for believing God to be the Lord of Providence we see the strategic place of synagogues throughout the Roman Empire and of synagogue activity in the initial penetration of the gospel into the Roman Empire and the pattern and practice of synagogue activity is very clearly highlighted in certain portions of both the gospels and the book of Acts

17:16 we'll only look at a couple specimen passages Luke chapter 14 I'm sorry Luke chapter 4 and verse 16 in conjunction with our Lord himself we read Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit unto Galilee and a fame went out concerning him through all the region round about and he taught in their synagogues being glorified of all and he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and he entered as his custom was into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read and there was delivered unto him the book or the roll of the prophet Isaiah and he opened the book found the place where it was written the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because he anointed me to preach etc. verse 20 he closed the book or the roll or scroll gave it back to the attendant and sat down and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him and he began to say and here we have an insight as to the ordinary pattern of an integral part of synagogue activity there was the reading of the prophets and then the one who would read or another would then become the official

18:46 commentator or expounder and would then speak with the text having been read in the hearing of the people and we see this again in Acts chapter 13 and Paul took advantage of this practice Acts chapter 13 and Paul verse 14 but they passed through from Perga and came to Antioch of Pisidia and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down and after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them saying brethren if you have any word of exhortation for the people say on so here was the pattern of the reading of the law and of the prophets and then the expectation that a local teacher or rabbi would stand or in this case an itinerant rabbi would stand and bring a word of exhortation or instruction just one other text chapter 15 and verse 21 in the council at Jerusalem one of the givens in the whole equation of attempting to come to a temporary expedient to defuse the tensions between Gentiles coming into the church with Jewish sensitivities and then you have these Jewish teachers seeking to

20:15 impose mosaic ritual upon people one of the things they can assume in trying to sort this out it's an integral part of the equation is verse 21 of Acts 15 for Moses from generations of old has in every city those that preach him being read in the synagogues every Sabbath so the manner in which Moses was preached was the reading of the documents given to the covenant community through the instrumentality of Moses the great prophet of the Old Testament and so in the synagogue activity there was this pattern in which the public reading of the scriptures was central to the synagogue life and in Douglas Bannerman's work not James Bannerman but Douglas Bannerman's one volume work there is an excellent section pages 122 to 162 122 to 162 40 pages and then 429 to 432 giving the evidence that the New Testament church took its basic form and structure of internal worship and activity from the structure of the

21:44 synagogue that it was very natural that God should providentially deposit a community of people that feared God Jews and proselytes aware and knowledgeable of Old Testament scripture in these synagogues throughout the Roman Empire and that it is out of that framework of synagogue life and activity that some of the basic lines and dimensions of the New Testament church take their shape I read now just a specimen quote out of Bannerman page 132 after the reading of the law and the prophets either by an official of the synagogue or by some qualified person or persons in his place there followed an exposition of scripture or a word of exhortation as it was called by the rulers of the synagogue at Antioch when they invited Paul and Barnabas to speak to the congregation there and then he alludes to the passage in Acts 13 which I just read the rulers of the synagogue or their president as representing them were themselves responsible for this part of the service and then on page 130 he writes the worship of the synagogue was essentially just what it was in the great religious gatherings under Ezra and Nehemiah in which as we have seen reason to believe the institution took its rise

23:12 when Bannerman addresses the question where did the synagogue take its rise and its basic structure he argues from the time of Nehemiah the reading and exposition of the scriptures with prayer and praise formed the center and substance of the whole so in the history of this matter of the public reading of the scriptures we must not only seek to see it bottomed as the old Puritans would say upon the institution ordained of God as we have seen in the Deuteronomy 31 passage but then also its place in the providence of God in the pattern of synagogue activity and then any historical overview of the subject must address at least briefly and this is our fourth heading under the history of the practice its place in the churches of the reformation its place in the churches of the reformation the Roman Catholic Church had effectually taken the scriptures away from the ordinary man or woman in the pew the service was conducted in Latin there was this sacerdotalism in which the religious activities were carried on by the priest you had the Latin vulga and the

24:41 translation of the scriptures in Latin but the common plowman the woman behind her sink in her kitchen did not have the scriptures in her own vulgar or native tongue the scriptures were effectively locked away and buried beneath all the rubble of the ritual the formalism and the works righteousness and sacerdotalism of the Roman church but what the reformation did was to give the scriptures back to the common man and to place them central in the worship of the people of God in Baker's dictionary of practical theology in the section on the history of worship there is a subheading of worship in the reformation and the author of this particular essay writes as follows for this reason the reading of the scriptures in the congregational service occupied one of the central places this was particularly true in the early days when a good many of the worshipers could not read for themselves Calvin and those who came after him usually followed the practice of reading consecutively through both the old and the new testaments at each service such a practice meant that even though one might not be able to read at home at least one

26:09 did hear the scriptures read continuously on each Lord's day furthermore the custom of reading the psalms and of singing metrical versions of them very frequently gave further instruction to the uneducated later reformed churches have tended to neglect this practice of consecutive readings nor does it seem of such great importance in a day when most possess their own bibles and can read them privately the important thing in all of this however was the belief that God through the scriptures addressed his people now when you come into the 1600s at the time of the formation of the Westminster Confession of Faith as you know a year later appending that and adopted by the church in Scotland is what they call their directory for public worship and in the addition of the confessions and directory for public worship and other documents that we handle in our bookstore the one put out by the Free Presbyterian Church you'll find this on page 375 and there is a section the title of which is of public reading of the Holy Scriptures and we do well to listen to this statement reading of the word in the congregation being part of the public worship of God wherein we acknowledge our dependence upon him and subjection

27:39 to him and one means sanctified by him for the edifying of his people is to be formed be performed by the pastors and teachers and then he goes on to say that does not mean that only ordained clergymen can read the scriptures and then what is to be read all the canonical books of the Old and New Testament but none of those which are commonly called apocrypha shall be publicly read in the vulgar tongue out of the best allowed translation distinctly that all may hear and understand how large a portion is to be read at once is left to the wisdom of the minister but it is convenient that ordinarily one chapter of each testament be read at every meeting and sometimes more where the chapters be short or the coherence of matter requires it they acknowledge that the chapter verse divisions were not the most judicious at points it is requisite that all the canonical books be read over in order that the people may be better acquainted with the whole body of the scriptures and ordinarily where the reading in either testament ends on one lord's day it is to begin the next you can imagine the joy we had when after coming to the conviction of this practice out of the scriptures we discovered the old directory for public worship and realized that we were in a very good tradition that this was one time

29:08 mandated by the directory for public worship upon all of the ministers in the scottish national church well that's a little brief thumbnail sketch of the history of the practice its original institution in the covenant community of israel its reinstitution in periods of national reformation and revival its place in the synagogue activity by divine providence and its place in the churches of the reformation but now then the biblical basis we consider not only in terms of the history of the practice but secondly the explicit new testament warrant for the practice i said we had three subdivisions for this first heading biblical basis we've looked at the history now the explicit new testament warrant for this practice turn please to colossians four in verse sixteen colossians four and verse sixteen perhaps we can back up to verse fifteen salute or greet warmly the brethren that are in laodicea and nymphos and the church that is in their house and when this epistle has been read among you cause that it be read also in the church of the laodiceans

Biblical Basis: Explicit and Implicit New Testament Warrant

30:37 and that you also read the epistle from laodicea now it's interesting that the context again is a church context greetings are to be conveyed to the church that meets in their house and when this epistle has been read among you cause that it be read in the church of the laodiceans wilson in his commentary comments on this verse the letter from laodicea is probably the one we know as ephesians for its impersonal nature suggests that it was intended as a circular letter it is clear from ephesians six twenty one and twenty two that ticicus was also the bearer of this letter and since he had to pass to laodicea on his way to colossi he would leave a copy there before delivering the colossian letter this verse not only shows that paul's letters were intended to be read to the assembled company of believers when they met for worship but also that they were from the first intended for a wider circulation than their initial destination would imply so here we have an explicit new testament warrant for the practice for the public reading of the word of god in the assembly of god's people now first thessalonians five twenty seven is even a stronger text

32:07 first thessalonians five and verse twenty seven again following an injunction to greet warmly all of the brethren with a holy kiss now here's a solemn adjuration i adjure you by the lord that is i am charging you in the full consciousness of the authority of the lord jesus christ himself i adjure you by the lord that this epistle be read unto all the brethren now i believe there is a good case for deductive reasoning and argumentation that the epistle should be expounded but we don't need deduction to know that they should be read we have the express statement of the scripture itself i adjure you that this epistle be read unto all the brethren doesn't say read by them in their private devotions make a copy for every member though that may be an excellent idea and i doubt god would be displeased if someone with the skill of a scribe said i'm going to take upon myself the burden of copying this epistle so every member of the church at thessalonica has his own copy i don't know how any elder could have risen up and said no no you must not do that but whether that would have been a noble act of christian charity one thing is clear

33:36 the leaders of the assembly were under a solemn adjuration of apostolic authority to read the epistle unto all of the brethren and then revelation one in verse three revelation one and this three blessed is he singular that reads and they plural that hear the words of the prophecy and keep the things which are written therein for the time is at hand the indication is that there was a reader and many hearers you see that blessed is he that reads and they that hear and then of course what I regard to be the classic text and this was the text with which God convinced my own judgment many years ago when we were wrestling in the early days of our life together how we should structure our worship services this was the text that to me was conclusive first timothy four in verse thirteen as we see through the so-called pastoral epistles the the lines of new testament church life being clearly etched for that time when apostles

35:04 would lead the scene here is the directive given to timothy verse thirteen till I come give heed to and the definite article is there the reading to exhortation to teaching do not neglect the gift that is in you and here we find very very strong shadows of synagogue concepts framework of activity and even terminology the reading the exhortation and teaching based upon it so he says till I come timothy you as the leader of the worship and life and direction there in the church at ephesus pay close attention pros eche occupy yourself with devote or apply yourself to the reading that is timothy give due place to the public reading of the inscripturated documents fairbairn commenting on this passage in his exposition of the pastoral epistles writes till I come the present air come I probably to express the purpose of an early return to ephesus give attention to the reading the exhortation the teaching the definiteness indicated respecting these things

36:33 by use of the article seems to point to them as well known stated employments connected with ministerial agency the reading therefore will most naturally be taken for that kind of reading which formed part of the public service of the church namely the reading of scripture chiefly as yet if not entirely old testament scripture chrysostom or chrysostom however you wish to pronounce it appears to have thought of scripture and nothing else as indicated by the expression and then he quotes that expression and gives an indication of this in the writings of chrysostom and so undoubtedly the expression is used and then very interestingly he refers to acts 1315 and then second corinthians three fourteen whenever the law is read a veil is upon their minds indicating that in the jewish community the law was read as a regular practice the exhortation and the teaching are understood by chrysostom the former of social or mutual interchange of sentiments with a view to edification the other of public discourse so timothy as the one charged with regulating behavior in the church chapter three and verse fifteen is lansky suggest administratively to watch

38:03 over the public reading of the scriptures to see that it is done done regularly and done well i rather believe that the position of fair ben and the other commentators is the right one that he is not administratively but personally in his own ministerial activity for that's the focus of this section of the epistle is to make sure that the public reading of the scripture is given its proper place in the public worship of the new covenant community so i say on these four texts i would rest the explicit new testament warrant for the practice but then there is strong implicit warrant and i give you four lines of evidence for that implicit warrant number one it is rooted in the nature and intent of scripture itself this practice of the regular consecutive public reading of the word of god is rooted in the nature and intent of scripture itself by its nature i refer to the classic passage second timothy three sixteen and seventy all scripture is given by inspiration of god and is profitable thoroughly to furnish the man of god well if the whole of scripture

39:30 is profitable then matthew four four quoting from deuteronomy man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of god god has given us many mysterious things in scripture many things difficult to be understood things of unequal evenness of what we might call density of apparent usefulness given all of those qualifications nonetheless there is not one luxurious word in the whole of inscripturated revelation there's not one luxury or extra of all the things god could have revealed and how many things we wish he had he's revealed what he has revealed and man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of god and i don't need presently to understand its profit to be profited by it how many times have you in the discipline of your own devotional reading simply read something because it was part of your passage in your commitment to read through the scriptures once a year once every two years and lo and behold two weeks two months two years down the road the spirit of god brought to remembrance that thing you threaded through your eyes as a matter of duty saw no profit in it but in a given situation you saw oh how profitable that word was so the implicit warrant rests first of all in the

40:59 nature and intent of scripture it's itself secondly it is rooted in the reality of christ's prophetic office it is rooted the implicit warrant in the reality of christ's prophetic office as the great prophet of his church revealing the will of god we are commanded to hear him acts 2 22 and 23 the lord god shall raise up from among you a prophet like unto me to him shall ye hearken in all , all things and it shall come to pass that whosoever shall not hearken unto him shall be cut off from among the people so that christ as the great prophet is the one who has spoken in the prophets it is the spirit of christ in the prophets testifying of his own sufferings and of the glories to come peter says it was the spirit of christ speaking in the prophets therefore when we read the prophets as we're doing sunday nights christ the prophet is standing amongst us i get the goosebumps thinking of it when that conception grips you and grips your people you don't want visions and flutterings of wings christ is present in his own word speaking his mind and you have a beautiful example of that in very strong language in passages such as revelation two and three he that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit

42:28 is saying someone was reading it but what was being read was the present voice of the spirit not let him hear what the spirit said you look at that entreaty at the end of all seven letters it's in the present tense he that hath an ear to hear let him hear what the spirit is saying and his voice is the voice of scripture and the voice of the spirit is the voice of christ so the implicit warrant then is rooted not only in the nature and intent of scripture itself but I've rooted in the reality of christ's prophetic office as it interfaces with scripture thirdly it is rooted in the necessity of setting a pattern for our own people as the ministers of god we are to be a pattern to our people in all things titus 2 8 in all things showing yourself a typos a type a pattern of good works and we need as the leaders of the worship of god people to set a pattern of thorough exposure to the whole of scripture we need to set a pattern of how to shape prayer by the word and this is the great benefit you see of consecutive reading through the scriptures and if we take the things that we heard last week and frame our public prayers by the public reading of the word we're setting

43:57 an example to our people of how what we read in scripture becomes fuel for what we pray I know it will embarrass him to say it but I would have said it if he weren't here anyway I can almost always tell where Mr. Dixon has been in his devotions during the week by his prayers Sunday morning I'm sure you've noticed that well that's the way it ought to be and we need to set that example right in the assembly of god's people so that the psalm we have read if we use the psalms for our call to worship or whatever portion we may use and then as we read the word of god before our more lengthy intercessory prayer our people need to see how we take what we have read and turn it into the very warp and woof of the substance of our prayers we need to set an example of how to extract principles from the word of god without going into detailed exegesis that's the great benefit that we'll see later on of judicious comments in which you're not giving a detailed exposition of the passage read but you're extracting a principle that lies right on the surface of the passage and in so doing you are setting a pattern to your people of a responsible handling of the word of god and then the fourth implicit warrant is what i would say is this it is rooted in the desirability

45:29 of broadening the base of common knowledge of the word among your people you see we're ministering to a generation of bible illiterates and since as you learned one of the seven axioms of all preaching we're to preach the bible biblically the bible is its own best interpreter and illustrator but you see , if you have a people ignorant of the basic contents of the bible you can't illustrate the bible by the bible without taking so much time to go back to the incident that you lose the unity of discourse and the thrust of rhetorical discourse if you can't refer to david and goliath if you can't refer to the crossing of the jordan if you can't refer to the taking of jericho if you can't refer to these incidents knowing that they register then you can't illustrate the bible with the bible without having to go back and read all of the stories so in a unique way in this generation much like first century christians who were brought out of paganism and had no contact with the old testament we have a tremendous task as pastors to broaden the base of

46:58 the common knowledge of the word of god among our people now granted as they develop good devotional habits they're doing that in their own private lives yes but what about those people that aren't converted and aren't doing that or what about those that are weak and inconsistent we should be setting a standard in our public reading of the word alright so what have we done well what I've attempted to do is to set before you the historical of the biblical basis for the public reading of the word of god by looking at the history of the practice the explicit warrant for the practice and then the implicit warrant for the practice and what we'll do now is take our little break and then we'll come back and we'll take up our last three heads and we'll move much more quickly but I did want to lay a solid foundation in the word of god and I hope I've convinced your judgment so when we check up on you after you leave this place and you don't have a practice of consecutively publicly reading the word of god I'm going to ask you what new light did you get that warranted overthrowing the practice okay well having sought to lay

Practical Guidelines: Translation, Portion, and Requisites

48:22 reading of the word of god perhaps to be more accurate the consecutive reading of significant portions of the word of god now our second major heading is some guidelines for the public reading of the scriptures and I have three basic categories of guidelines each of which is framed by a question question number one what translation should be used in the public reading of the scriptures now this question can only be answered by considering several variables and among those variables are these number one it ought to be a proven translation a translation produced by men who labored to translate the scriptures with a high view of scripture and a proper theology of translation and within that category I would put the authorized version the old 19 01 the new King James version with less enthusiasm the misnamed new American standard version which is not a new American standard version it is a new translation and I

49:50 resent the fact that they have really thrown a curve at people by using that name I would not put of course good news for modern man the living Bible Phillips William nor would I even put the NIV in that category and if you wonder why wait for a couple of months when Pastor Bob's book will be off the press from Banner of Truth on the subject of translations furthermore it should preferably be a version with paragraph structure and that's one thing I could have wished that they did with the new King James was to have put it in paragraph structure though they do clearly mark the paragraphs by a verbal by a numerical thicker number so you can know where the paragraph is a paragraph version is excellent for us and our people constantly reminding us that there is in the words of Professor Murray a universe of discourse and then it ought not only to be a proven translation preferably a paragraph version but a version widely owned and used by your people and that may mean in some cases you'll have to accommodate to the existing version while you instruct them concerning the way of versions more perfectly

51:18 now in making the choice of what translation to be used take into consideration the background and age of the majority of the people if you go into a little rural place where the King James Bible was good enough for Paul it's been good enough for them then you don't immediately start reading from the 1901 you don't immediately start reading from the new American standard or even the new King James take into consideration the background and age of the majority of the people take into consideration the prevailing understanding of what a translation is a lot of people do not understand how a translation comes to us you don't want in the reading of the scriptures to undermine their confidence in the scriptures thirdly take into consideration your own acquaintance with a particular translation and then perhaps occasionally digress and use a different translation for the sake of greater freshness and accuracy from time to time some of us who read the scriptures publicly will do that so guidelines for the public reading of the scripture the first pertain to the question what translation should be used in reading

52:47 the second is what portion should be selected for the reading what portion should be selected for the reading and I trust that the material in the previous hour was sufficient to convince you of the desirability in due course of the consecutive reading of the whole compass of scripture Spurgeon's comments in his essay commenting on commenting it's in the book commenting and commentaries by banner of truth he has some very very helpful things to say on pages 23 and 24 concerning this matter of the consecutive reading through the scriptures and I will not weary you with reading that lengthy quote but the bottom line is he says that no matter how frequently we preach to our people in the course of a ministry that is solidly expository there will be many portions of the word of God that are never expounded and therefore they will not publicly be brought before the minds and consciences of our people unless they are read in the stated seasons of worship and then I refer you of course to that section in the directory for public worship in which

54:17 the reasons for the consecutive reading of the scriptures there they mandate all and new testament at each service and that's something that I think I'm going to begin to agitate for that will double the pace at which we get through the scriptures now obviously and some of you have not yet been with us long enough to see us come to such a section use good sense when you come to genealogies when you come to the specific details of all of the ceremonies of the Levitical system of worship when you come to even expand it and extended apocalyptic sections such as Ezekiel 40 to 48 I know of no way to turn anyone off more quickly to the consecutive public reading of the word than if someone were to come right at the time you started in one of the sections in Leviticus and you read on and on and on and on without summarizing these three chapters deal with this aspect of ritual worship the great lesson is God's worship is regulated by God himself and he's making plain to his people every aspect of approach in cultic worship must be spattered with blood and you summarize the gist of that portion without unnecessarily wearying your people with actually reading every word so that would be the qualifying statement with reference to the

55:46 question what portion should be selected for reading as a rule plod right on as the directory for public worship says pick up on the next Lord's day where you left off on the previous but understand that in coming to some of these areas of genealogical detail details of ceremonies in the old covenant worship expanded apocalyptic sections summarizing and distilling the essence of the thrust of the mind of God may be the best way to secure edification and then the third category of guidelines is in response to the question what are the requisites of good public reading of the scriptures what are the requisites of good public reading of the scriptures and I'm going to very quickly give you six things number one distinctness of articulation this comes back to first Corinthians 14 9 except you utter by the speech or the tongue words easy to be understood give full value to all the vowels don't be making contractions in your verbal patterns they are not vowels V-O-W apostrophe L-S they are vowels full weight to all of the vowels

57:15 you do not have cardinal points C-A-R-D apostrophe N apostrophe L but you have cardinal points cardinal points now you don't need to be ludicrous and say now this is the cardinal point but neither do you seem to say this is the cardinal point you can say this is the cardinal point now that doesn't sound unnatural and then give adequate expression to the consonants words ending with T and D end with T and D and they should not be silent T's or D's you're not Frenchman if you said Bousset to a Frenchman you defend him is Bousset the T is silent but you're not Frenchman all right you're speaking Americanese which is a form of prostituted English now give full value to all the vowels adequate expression to all the consonants that's why generally speaking any man who is speaking or reading doing this will have the problem with helping the problem of humidity in the air in the winter time you cannot help but spit if you are speaking properly in a public situation some of us spit more than others but spit you will and spit you must if you

58:43 distinctly articulate because you're bringing the tongue against the teeth and often the tongue has some moisture on it and when the tongue projects it against the teeth the teeth don't stop at all some of it passes through the lips some is on the inner ring of the lips and when you say peas in such a way that you ask your peas you're going to spit alright so spit you may spit you must but articulate is essential alright secondly enough of my foolishness correctness of pronunciation what are the requisites of good public reading distinctness of articulation correctness of pronunciation and this is why you must read over the chapter out loud at home in your study before you ever attempt to do it in the pulpit particularly when there are proper names work hard on them now don't show off your little smattering of Hebrew pronounce them in an English way alright but pronounce them accurately and it means at times you may have to really practice because when you read it your mind will register but when you actually try to get your tongue to do what your mind registers it gets all twisted up and there are times when I've held my breath wondering how I was going to get through a certain section where you know and all the rest

60:12 okay and so correctness of pronunciation but then thirdly and this is vital brethren accuracy of emphasis accuracy of emphasis in the public reading of the word of God is vital Broadus makes a very perceptive comment on this element of our concern on page five on page five seventeen good reading has an exegetical value helping to make plain the sense it also brings out the full interest and impressiveness of the passage read there are passages which have had a new meaning for us and an added sweetness ever since we heard them read it may be long ago by a good reader so accuracy of emphasis when reading narratives usually the key is in the verbs or sometimes it may be in strokes of description and therefore let your emphasis fall by either pacing or by volume or by sometimes by slowing down the pace in reading discourse many times I've read over a passage and said well where was the emphasis in that given passage I did some of that in the reading of my own scripture reading this

61:42 morning to just refresh my mind in how different the whole emphasis can be in terms of the very thing we're talking about for example my psalm this morning was psalm 66 and I thought look how different is the emphasis of the psalm if I read it this way psalm 66 10 for thou oh god has proved us thou has tried us as silver is tried thou broughtest us into the net thou layest a sore burden upon our loins thou didst cause men to ride over our heads we went through fire and through water but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place now you see the emphasis there is upon the fact that it is God who brought the trials who brought the blessing but if we read for thou oh lord has proved us thou has tried us as silver is tried thou broughtest us into the net thou layest a sore burden upon our loins thou didst cause men to ride over our heads we went through fire and through water but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place now the emphasis is not so much upon the activity of God but upon the results of that activity see that

63:12 now you've got to ask yourself in terms of your understanding of the passage where does the emphasis lie where ought it to lie and so accuracy of emphasis is absolutely vital in effective public reading of the word of God and it may mean there are times when you'll spend it's a mystery to my wife if I try to do my preparation for the reading of the scriptures if I'm leaving the evening service I don't like to be shut up in the study on the Sunday afternoon so I'll try to sit down in the living room and after I've been there for half an hour she'll start talking I'll say honey I'm still working she said you mean you're not you know she just expects you've read the scriptures publicly for some you can just do it like this I said no no I'm just not sure and then it means sometimes I have to go and check Kyle in Dalish because I'm not sure where the emphasis should lie until I'm sure of the syntax in the original so in the reading of the scriptures brethren sometimes a lot of work is involved if there is to be accuracy of emphasis and what is necessary now to attain this accuracy of emphasis I've already begun to allude to it well let me suggest three things under accuracy of emphasis the things necessary are number one an intelligent grasp of the concepts contained in the passage

64:34 secondly a sympathetic identity with the passage the author felt something the speaker felt something you must be a you must seek to feel with him how any man could read Galatians one this way but though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached let him be an anathema now how ludicrous Paul's soul was white hot and we must not read as though we were preaching it but surely we must read as though we are empathetically involved with the sentiments of that passage but though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be anathema again I say unto you so there must be sympathetic identity with the passage and then thirdly if you are to read with proper emphasis there must be an imaginative sensitivity to the passage an imaginative sensitivity to the passage this is particularly true in narrative and historical passages seek to imagine the setting the feelings the actions try to see Sarah hiding behind her tent giggling

66:04 and then the embarrassment when God says why did you laugh and she gets all red and says I did not laugh you've got to enter in and feel the passage if you're going to read it with any degree of proper emphasis alright so distinctness of articulation correctness of pronunciation accuracy of emphasis which will depend upon an intelligent grasp of the concepts sympathetic identity with the passage imaginative sensitivity of the passage now the fourth commodity necessary for good public reading of the scriptures variety of pace in one sense emphasis includes pace but it is so vital I want to underscore it as a separate point variety of pace many times a pause prepares people for something of greater importance or allows them to feel the weight of an important concept that has just been read and then fifthly adequacy of volume again one of my pet peas is preachers who don't preach with sufficient sustained volume and men who read the scriptures at a level at which their low points drift off to where a person in the back row cannot hear them distinctly adequacy of volume

67:33 and six fitness of posture and here I would say there are some among us who are not good models in this area I'll not mention names but I believe there is a dignity of posture and my conscience is clear because he heard these things as well as all the other students there is a dignity of posture in the public reading of the word of God appropriate to the fact that we are reading the word of God and you never want the bell of your mouth to be buried therefore I suggest that the scriptures either be set out this way and when you get into bifocal stage it's great because you got to read through the lower part of your glasses so it naturally keeps

68:23 I always had the practice of holding the scriptures up so it didn't hide my face just before the front row of the people and following with my finger so that I wasn't glued to the passage and this is not offensive at all moreover the word of the Lord came unto me saying son of man set your face against mount seer and prophesy against it so that you are in eye contact with some people who don't have their Bibles and will not be following they'll be looking at you and your physical posture and bearing will either be distracting or will enhance the impact of the word of God and that's why it's important in the matter of your posture how you hold your Bible your shoulders your chest your head your eyes your mouth remember you are reading the word of

Cultivating the Ability to Read Well

69:17 the Bible of what I regard as the finest expression of these principles is Alexander Scorby's reading of the scriptures if you've not heard Alexander Scorby reading the scriptures I even wrestled with buying a set and giving you each one a cast set I may still do that for a late Christmas present and with the understanding that you make a covenant with me that you'll listen to Scorby at least once a month for a few minutes a wonderful example of someone who as a professional actor mastered the art of reading the scriptures in a very meaningful way many times when I've listened by the hour on a long trip to Alexander Scorby I've said Lord how could he read with such empathy and understanding and not know the author of the book it's always a mystery to me but Alexander Scorby's reading of the scripture as far as I'm concerned is the finest example of these principles alright now you think that's unreasonable to require this kind of labor to do this kind of reading in the light of our view of scripture if it is the word of God then does it not

70:44 alright now we hasten to the third category some specific suggestions for the cultivation of the ability to read the scriptures well the biblical basis for the reading of the scriptures some guidelines we've addressed three questions now some specific suggestions for the cultivation of the ability to read the scriptures well and I have two major sub headings general cultivation specific cultivation general cultivation as with all the other departments of oral communication we must never lose sight of this two fold division of general and special preparation general cultivation specific cultivation Broadus addresses this when he writes he who reads well must of course be a master of correct pronunciation and must have acquired a distinct and easy articulation beyond these everything is included in what we call expression and power of expression so far as it is not a natural gift must be acquired by well ordered practice the practice ought usually to be in reading that with which one is

72:13 well acquainted and in full sympathy besides such reading for practice he should embrace every fit occasion of reading for the pleasure and profit of those who hear selecting something full of interest so that he may forget himself in the sentiment of what he reads and preachers inclined to be lugubrious that's sad or mournful it's a word not used in our day ought by all means to read in private some humorously selections in order to maintain the equilibrium so if you're overly serious he says read mark twain in private till you laugh out loud and of course you who have children you have a marvelous example to select something full of interest jack in the bean stalk and you read it in such a way that your kids can see that bean stalk going right up through the clouds and all the rest that's what he's talking about general cultivation I would urge you in this matter to perhaps if your wife is a woman of unusual constitution to seek to secure her ears for a period of time each week to listen to you read and then ask her to be your critic ask her to close her eyes as you read a narrative portion of the word of God and ask her can you see it coming to

73:41 her maybe a book she's reading and try to read it and put yourself into the soul of a woman anything that forces you to exercise these empathetic imaginative faculties as you give them general cultivation so when you come to the matter of the specific cultivation of your ability to read a given portion of the word of God well those general disciplines will stand you in good stead for some of you who do not articulate and pronounce your words distinctly and clearly work on it in reading to your wife in reading the scriptures out loud in your own devotions and even in your general conversation with your brethren say look if I begin to drop off and have silent D's and T's please remind me of it and help me so that's what I mean by general cultivation but cultivation I give you these five suggestions read the portion to be read in public in a careful prayerful reflective attitude as part of your preparation for the task of leading in worship read the portion to be read in a careful prayerful reflective attitude secondly plan the structure

75:10 of your specific public reading what I mean by that where are you going to emphasize what are you going to emphasize where will you pick up your speed and your volume and if necessary make little marks in your Bible there are many passages that I've quoted in this class where I have little marks of my own I have little systems for speeding up slowing down etc. so that even my reading rarely do I ever read you a quote no matter how many times I've read it I don't practice it out loud in my studies so that when I read it to you here it has the most impact possible so I try to practice what I preach brethren this is not something I carry in my hip pocket I have to work at it continually as you must do the same plan the structure of emphasis speed volume pacing thirdly

76:16 dictionary to make sure that the pronunciation is the generally accepted one be a terrible thing if you have a well educated person with some background in the bible who have been turned off by the religion of his parents because they were hypocrites and for the first time he comes into the church and he hears some bumbler up there mispronouncing words that he says any half educated man ought to know that that's not the way you pronounce it it's not the philistines as though they were second cousin to the bernsteins who lived down the street and owned a local and he could say if a man doesn't know any more than that why should I listen to him when he stands up to expound the scripture you can be an offense in nothing giving offense that the ministry be not blamed we say it isn't right that a man should be turned off for a little thing like that no it isn't right but the devil isn't too much concerned about what's right he's just concerned about turning people's ears off he's got no sense of scruples don't give him any fuel he doesn't need much so don't give him any fuel carefully work on proper names of people in places Dave corrected me I gave you the wrong reference I said Titus 2.8 it's 2.7 check your references out I obviously didn't check that one out entrusted my memory and so I made a boo-boo but I'm thankful I was corrected by our brother fourthly read the passage aloud in private as you hope to read it publicly so you can sit

Concluding Remarks: Judicious Commenting

77:46 at your desk I'm going to emphasize this it all seems very clear in your head but now getting the hook up between your head your diaphragm the support control of the sufficient column of air sometimes that's quite a different thing and then fifthly as in so many of these public disciplines seek the input of competent critics seek the input of competent critics and in that way you will cultivate I trust a growing ability to read the scriptures well in public and then fourth category and we're coming in right on time some concluding remarks regarding commenting on the scriptures should you or should you not make comments as you read the scriptures particularly in consecutive reading of the scriptures well of course the precedent for such commenting would be Nehemiah 8.8 Kyle renders that passage they explained and gave the sense they explained and gave the sense and I would urge you to put into your notes at the time when you are concerned to really wrestle through this matter Spurgeon in his essay on commenting

79:14 will help you to wrestle through with this whole question of whether or not you ought to make judicious comments and I believe his case is unanswerable from a practical pastoral standpoint and from what I would call the overriding analogy of scripture on this whole matter but if you are to comment don't comment without preparation don't just wing it don't free wheel it you'll either end up saying very trite things or saying too much or too or saying things you wish you never had said because upon careful reflection you said things that really weren't warranted by the passage so just as you would not stand up and preach without preparation don't comment without preparation second negative don't comment too much or too long you are not giving an exposition of the passage you are reading the passage making only such comments as are necessary to render the reading more understandable and also to extract where appropriate the principles the major lessons of the passage that will be helpful to your people and I hope you have an example

80:44 though not perfect at least a viable workable example of that in the way in which we attempt to handle that here each man doing it a little differently but I think you see the common denominator when we are approaching a new book we give a little poor man's mini introduction to the book it means many times that I go back and read my standard introductions on the book and I may read I may read 20-30 pages for just two minutes of commenting but again our end is the edification of our people and I tell you brethren when it all pays off is when you can stand like I could last Sunday morning and have our people open up Titus and say alright what does it say about how the older women are to train the younger women and see our people expound the scriptures like that I tell you that's when you say Lord help me to be yet more vile we must be doing something right I came home and told my wife I said I trust our people as a body of expositors anytime I said someone's going to have to be a pretty clever heretic to ever lead them down a path as long as they read the scriptures critically like that well that hasn't just happened brethren part of that is the fruit of the public reading of the word of God and with the judicious well-planned comments over 20 plus years that has furnished our people bit by bit with an ability without having to go into the original languages just with their English Bibles to know when someone's going off the

82:13 rails and saying the Bible says something it doesn't say and then the final negative is don't comment at the expense of the flow of thought and this is where you have to exercise a discipline over your own spirit there may be a particular phrase that in the midst of reading just leaps out at you and you want to stop and preach a mini sermon but remember the people's minds and hearts may not be where yours is so don't comment at the expense of the flow of thought if there's a paragraph a unit of thought and you're going to comment on something at the front end of it read the whole paragraph then go back and say I only wish to highlight this one simple principle here in the first part of the paragraph in verse 7 the apostle says or the prophet says and then highlight that particular thing now if the word of God is meat and drink to the souls of your people then one of the things that they ought to look forward to every Lord's day is that time when the word of God which is their meat and drink is going to be read and commented upon in such a way that they go home filled with gratitude not only that your prayers took them into the presence of God your preaching brought God to them but your reading of the scriptures and your comments upon it brought them into a fuller understanding of the ways of God and I wish we had kept a chronicle over the years

83:42 of the way in which God is providentially used the public consecutive reading of the word of God sometimes more than the sermon on a given day and people have said pastor if you only knew of all the portions of the word of God that particular one read this morning addressed my case I was ready to go home and have dealings with God or ready to go home rejoicing God had spoken in the ordinary reading of his word so this ought not to be something brethren that is left to the last moment or left to the impulse or left to shoddiness but as an integral part of our responsibility to make the worship of God as glorious as and as dignified and God honoring as possible we labor at cultivating the ability to read the scriptures well to read them in such a way that over the years our people become appreciative and full of expectation for this discipline of our public gathering all right our time is gone