Don't Skip the Blessing

Picture standing at the entrance of a high-peak mountain trail. You walk up, and right there at the trailhead, there's a large wooden sign: Warning: Steep Incline, Loose Rock, Unpredictable Weather.

Nine out of ten casual hikers take one look at that sign, pull a quick U-turn, and head right back to the air-conditioned visitor center. It just looks too steep, too risky, and way too intimidating. But the few who lace up their boots, push past the warnings, and endure the climb reach a summit with a view that changes their entire perspective forever.

When a lot of Christians turn to the book of Revelation, they feel like they’re standing at that exact same intimidating trailhead. We see symbolic beasts, dragon battles, apocalyptic numbers, and bowls of judgment, and we pull a quick U-turn. We retreat right back to the familiar, comfortable trails of Psalms or John, assuming Revelation is far too hard for regular believers.

But look at what God posts right at the entrance of this book in Revelation 1:3: "Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near."

God didn't put up a warning sign to keep you out; He posted a promise to pull you in. Yeah, the terrain is going to require some effort. It's going to take some work. But the view at the summit is where the blessing lives. If you want to understand Revelation, you will have to journey up the mountain and trust the guide who will lead you there.

Before we begin our trek up the mountain, turn your attention to 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Paul is writing to Timothy perhaps for the last time. He reminds him of where scripture ultimately comes from and its great purposes.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 NASB95

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

All Scripture is inspired by God. All of it. Not your favorite parts or the parts that are easy to understand. All of Scripture is inspired by God. Revelation has the same supernatural inspiration as every other book of the Bible.

All of Scripture is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. Again, not just our favorite Psalms, the gospel of John, or our favorite books of the Bible. Revelation is also profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. God has given us this book as part of our training. Our sermon series is titled Come Jesus Come: Living In Light Of The End because Revelation should inspire and encourage us to go about kingdom work knowing what is coming.

Because Revelation is God's inspired Word, ignoring it forfeits His promised blessing. But you can secure these blessings by following these four principles.

Don’t ignore Revelation because it is hard.

We just discussed the fact that Revelation is as inspired by God as the rest of the Bible. It was given to us for the exact same reasons as the rest of the Bible. It is meant to teach us, to give reproof, to correct, and to train us in righteousness. It is just as valuable to us as the rest of the Bible.

But Revelation is unlike every other book in the Bible. Every book of the Bible has a literary genre. There are historical narratives, like Genesis, the gospels, the book of Acts, and so on. Revelation is apocalyptic literature. It employs a tremendous amount of symbolic language to reveal God’s actions and coming judgment. The original audience experienced intense oppression and persecution. The language is poetic, metaphoric, and symbolic with an aim to both console readers regarding their current predicament but also exhort them to endure in the faith. It is a difficult text, but it is not an impossible text.

If we quit every time we encountered a difficult text, none of us would ever finish reading the Bible. But I want you to be encouraged. Sometimes we get to thinking that the riches the Bible has to offer are only available to theologians, the high level thinkers who think on these things all day. But I want you to understand something. Theology is simply the study of God. A Theologian is someone who forms an opinion about God. If you have an opinion about God today, no matter how unsophisticated you might think it is, you are a theologian.

The original readers of the Bible, and especially the New Testament, were not super educated people. They were everyday ordinary people. That means that the Bible was written for you. It was not written to you, but it was written for you.

But listen to what Peter says in 2 Peter 3:15-16

2 Peter 3:15–16 NASB95

and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

So don’t feel bad if you have a hard time understanding Scripture. Peter, the man who walked with Jesus for three years read Paul’s writing, and found some of it hard to understand! So always remember you’re in good company.

It may be hard. It is going to be a challenge, but you have the greatest access to resources today than any generation before you. All you have to do is use them. Ask God to guide you and trust the Holy Spirit to do his work. Don’t ignore it because it is hard.

Now, let’s get into the book of Revelation, shall we?

Revelation 1:1–3 NASB95

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.

Having already discussed the fact that we should not ignore the book of Revelation because it is hard, let’s talk about the blessings that flow from it.

This revelation, given by God, to Christ, through an angel, was given to John, a faithful witness. There is some debate as to which John this is, but the general consensus has been that it is the apostle John, the writer of the gospel of John and the letters of 1-3 John.

Before we jump into the prophecy itself, we will explore first the blessings that flow from it. Verse three says those who do these three things will be blessed.

Prioritize the public reading of God’s Word.

The first activity that is blessed by God is the public reading of God’s Word. The Greek word reads means to read aloud. If you are reading from a translation other than the NASB, it might reflect that. We take for granted one’s ability to read today. Reading is so accessible. That was not the case back then. For a good portion of the original audience to get access to scripture, they would have to go to a synagogue or a person’s house to hear the Word. Reading scripture aloud was critical to the spread of the gospel.

Today, you have unhindered access to the scriptures, but that does not mean the importance of reading aloud is diminished. The reading aloud of scripture should be prioritized, and that is practiced through the thing you are doing right now: attending church.

Hebrews 10:23–25 NASB95

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

These verses are not about church attendance as a metric for faithfulness, but about what happens when you do attend church. As we gather together, we hold fast the confession of our hope. We stimulate one another to love and good deeds. We encourage one another. How? With the Word of God. Our Sunday School classes, the worship service, the Wednesday night Bible studies do not exist as an arbitrary commitment on a calendar. They seek to keep you faithful to Christ and his mission for your life.

Prioritize the public reading of God’s Word. I’m going to give you some suggestions that are not intended to be a grab bag where you choose one and leave the rest. Read the Bible aloud to yourself. You will be amazed at what this can do for your retention. Read the Bible aloud in your home with others. Read the Bible aloud amongst the gathered saints. Prioritize it. Put it on your calendar as an appointment.

Public reading of scripture aligns our minds with God’s mind. It helps protect us from error. It is the way we can hear God speak. St. Augustine said, “When the Bible speaks, God speaks!” Prioritize the public reading of God’s Word. It is of great benefit for you.

Regularly tune your ears to God’s frequency.

The second blessing comes in the form of hearing. You are receiving a blessing as you hear the Word of God read aloud to you. As a listener, you are actively participating in the blessing that flows from the reading and hearing of this prophecy. The word of God is meant to be spoken, which means it is also meant to be heard.

Music is not composed for no one to listen to it. When you get in your car, you have access to a number of radio stations flying through the airways due to radio frequencies. The radio in your car can be tuned to specific frequencies, which allow you to tune into a radio station that fits your style or interests. Your station might be a country station, a classic rock station, a Christian radio station, or something else. Music can have a profound impact on our moods, our ability to recall lyrics, and shape our worldview. It’s no wonder why Psalms functioned like the Hebrew hymnal.

You need to tune your ear to God’s frequency on a regular basis. Faith originates through the hearing of God’s word.

Romans 10:17 NASB95

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Jesus says several times that he who has hears to hear, let him hear. God penetrates our thought processes, our preconceived ideas, our worldviews with His Word. We have a bad habit of drifting due to our struggle against our own flesh. We must be reminded again and again of the truth that sets us free. That happens through exposure.

Listen to God’s Word, not just by reading scripture to yourself, but through song, by reading it to your kids or grandkids, by listening to other preachers, or if you want something really fun, a dramatized version of an audio Bible. Saturate your mind with the Word of God through hearing and be amazed at how well you will remember it. What is one way you can increase your ability to tune your ear to God’s frequency this week?

Be a doer of God’s Word.

The Word of God is not given just to be read or just to be heard. It was given to be obeyed.

For those of you who have adult children, when they were growing up, you gave them instructions and you intended they follow them, correct? Those of us raising kids, your instructions are not suggestions or guidelines are they? No. I expect my instructions to be followed. The same is true with God and His Word. Scripture is of no value if nothing is done with it. Knowledge without application is useless.

James reminds us,

James 1:22–25 NASB95

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

Do you want to be blessed by God? Today is your spiritual checkup day. Have you fallen into the trap of just showing up? Of hearing the Word but neglecting to put it into practice? Or are you telling yourself you are obeying the Word insofar as it pleases you? The greatest trap today is when people take the Word of God and make it fit their agenda rather than be molded and shaped by it.

Do you need to get something right with the Lord? It’s time. Having heard the Word, what will you now do? Don’t skip the blessing that comes from reading, hearing, and obeying the book of Revelation and the rest of Scripture.

Which do you struggle with the most? Prioritizing the public reading of God’s Word, regularly tuning your ears to God’s frequency, or being a doer of His Word? What is one step you can take toward greater faithfulness this week?