The Unknown Bible - Pastor Bevans Welder

Can you help me with my Bible study? Yes, we have a few pointers.

Follow these simple guidelines while studying your Authorized King James Bible.

Don’t try comparing between Bibles. This only adds to confusion and puts you in the place of God the Holy Spirit by forcing you to decide what God really said.

Pray for God to open the text – Ps 119:18; 1 Cor 2:10; Jn 16:13

Pray for wisdom – Jas 1:5; Ps 111:10

Read the whole text in its context – never lift a single verse out of its context to try to understand it – read it as part of the whole chapter or book in which you find it

Determine the audience – whom God addresses often limits the doctrinal application – if God addresses Israel specifically, then the verse doesn’t apply to the church [i.e. Acts 2:38 is addressed to the Jews responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ; it is not addressed to the church and is not New Testament salvation] – is the audience:

Israel

The Church

An individual or Nation

Determine the dispensation – God deals with men under different covenants in different ways – no saint in the Old Testament, for instance, was born again – saints in the tribulation, as another example, won’t be born again either – their salvation is conditional - the major time periods are:

Old Testament under the Law

New Testament Church Age

The Tribulation

The Millennium

Transition Periods between two of these dispensations [the transition books [Matthew, Acts, and Hebrews], therefore, are where most of the doctrinal errors in the New Testament arise]

Define any unknown words – use online or published dictionaries

www.hyperdictionary.com

Webster’s 1828 or 1913 for obsolete words

Bible Dictionary

Check cross-references – Compare similar passages of scripture – 1 Cor 2:13 – these can often be found in:

Marginal cross-references

Concordance cross-references on specific words and phrases

Pay careful attention to every word – little words like ‘if’ and ‘no’ are extremely important words

Don’t force the text to line up with what you already know – one of the biggest mistakes you can make – often doctrinal error comes by making the Bible say something you believe rather than what it actually says

Check commentaries or annotated Bibles for ideas – but be careful here; men are not the final authority; God’s words are

Depart from evil – Job 28:28 – in other words, obey what you are reading, and turn from the sins forbidden by God’s words – therein lays understanding

Be persistent – don’t give up – Gal 6:9

Take a walk and meditate on the text – Jos 1:8; Ps 1:2

Remember God’s truths are simple and basic – the simple answer is usually the right answer – when things start getting complicated, they usually start getting twisted

Chart it out if you must – many times you just need to write out a chronology or a schematic of what you are wrestling with until you can “see” it

Avoid guesses and theories – these are dangerous because you are inclined to believe your own ideas since they are “original” – if the truth has not been revealed to you by the Holy Spirit and the words of God then your guesses will be like Saul going to the woman with the familiar spirit to find out what to do since he was getting nothing from the Lord

If you still can’t get it then leave it till later – God must reveal his truth and if he doesn’t, no amount of studying is going to cause you to get it – you just have to wait patiently on the Lord

Read the whole Bible often – reading through the Bible continuously really helps you understand the words of God because the Holy Spirit can bring to your remembrance things that you have read in other passages that shed light on what you are studying

Hope this helps,

Pastor Welder