Study To Show Thyself Approved

Study To Show Thyself Approved

If a preacher expects people to listen to him, he must have something worthwhile to say. The following tools have served the author well over half a century of preaching and teaching.

Your Bible. Chose a single, reliable, standard translation for your work. This is important because you need to become throughly familiar with every word on every page so you will be able to locate any verse for which you have need. You should make use of other translations as study tools, just as you use commentaries. On of my most useful tools is an eight version New Testament. That alone will explain many difficult texts for you.
You will need a good Bible Dictionary. The New Bible Dictionary or Unger's New Bible Dictionary will provide the necessary information on persons, places, things and events of the Bible.
You should have a Bible Atlas. This book will provide you needed information on the geography of the various nations mentioned in the Bible. It will tell also you about the boundaries, rivers, seas, mountains, climate and cities of those nations. The various stages of their history will be noted.
A Topical Bible will be of great help. It gathers all or most of the verses on key subjects of the Bible in a systematic fashion. Thus if you need information on baptism or the Holy Spirit, etc. you will have it ast your finger tips. Nave's Topical Bible is and excellent tool.
You must have a Concordance. Strong's Exhaustive or Young's Analytical Concordance are both fine. Because of their great size you would do well to have a smaller Cruden's Concordance for general use. This tool will help you find any word or verse of the Bible in minutes.
To find the definition of Words used in your Bible, purchase Vines's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words. Remember biblical definitions are not always identical with common English usage.
For proper pronunciation, spelling and meaning of our English language, get Miriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Anyone who presumes to teach others the Bible must also be thoroughly familiar with his own native language. Mispronounced and mis-spelled words distract from what might otherwise be a good lesson.
For in-depth information on every aspect of Bible study secure a set of the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
An effective teacher will need good Bible Commentaries. Let your first acquisition be a good set by a fellow member of the church of Christ. The best set among us is Burton Coffman's comments on the entire Bible. Other excellent commentaries are those by H. Leo Boles and Guy N. Woods of the Gospel Advocate series. Beyond these you will profit by Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (Presbyterian) and R. C. Lenski's New Testament Commentary (Lutheran). I still find valuable help from Adam Clark's Commentary (Methodist). For homiletic purposes and background study for your New Testament studies, I recommend William Barclay's Daily Study Bible (Presbyterian). Commentaries by denominational scholars must be used with care, lest you inadvertently absorb their erroneous doctrinal views. Always check their ideas against comments by brethren like Burton Coffman.
A young preacher will find great help in Books of Sermons. First accumulate several of these by fellow-Christians. Chances are great that their message will be sound and dependable. Sermons by capable denominational preachers can be used with profit, but the reader must be judicious lest he pass along their mistakes. The great collection of sermons by Charles H. Spurgeon is valuable.
The man who preaches will need to accumulate Books on Doctrinal Themes and issues, especially on matters that are controversial at the present. These issues change from generation to generation. It is important to secure good books by older, wiser, fellow-Christians who have carefully researched these matters and published their findings. A review of the catalogue of the Gospel Advocate Book Store will help you find the needed volumes.
Last I recommend to every teacher and preacher that you read a major daily newspaper and regularly watch a local and national television news broadcast. The purpose of your teaching is not just to correctly explain the Bible's meaning, It is to show how that message answers the questions of daily life and how it can guide the Christian through the chaos and confusion surrounding him. Remember that first of all, your study is to show yourself approved unto God by handling aright the word of truth! (II Tim. 2:15). JHW
* These and other fine books can be ordered from the Gospel Advocate Bookstore. 1006 Elm Hill Pike, Nashville, TN 37210.

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