triumph prophetic ministries bible - newsflashtriumphpro.com/lesson3-new.pdf · "i just...

TRIUMPHPROPHETICMINISTRIES

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Facsimile of the Tyndale Translation of the Bible

Why Do So Few Understand the Bible?

BIBLECORRESPONDENCE COURSE

Lesson 3

WHY do so FEW really UNDER-STAND the Bible?

Why do we find such confusion -- suchdisagreement as to what it says? Why don't thehundreds of differing church denominationsand sects AGREE on what their acknowledgedtextbook SAYS?

WHY do so many individuals, capableof understanding almost any OTHER book say:"I just CAN'T understand the BIBLE"?

Take a recognized textbook on biology.Show this book to ten different biologyprofessors from ten different colleges anduniversities. Ask them what it says. They'll allgive you the same answer. People do notdisagree as to what books actually say -- exceptwhen it comes to the one Book of ALL thebooks -- the Holy Bible! Did you ever stop tothink of that?

But take the Holy Bible to ten differentministers or to professors of theology from tendifferent religious denominations, and askthem what God's Book says -- and you'llprobably receive ten different answers!

Didn't you ever wonder WHY? Here, certainly is the enigma of the

ages! The most important, yet the leastunderstood Book of ALL the books! Year afteryear, the world's BEST SELLER -- the Bookowned by more people than any other. The oneBook that has lived in spite of every effort tostamp it out, down through the ages -- and stilloutsells all others!

The one Book which has FORETOLD,centuries in advance, the very chaotic and un-easy conditions of the world today -- THEONE BOOK THAT EXPLAINS THEMEANING of this perturbed condition -- thatopens before us to behold IN ADVANCE, the

WONDERFUL, PEACEFUL, HAPPYWORLD that is coming TOMORROW!

The Bible is the world's best seller. However, to most people it is aCLOSED book full of enigmas and symbolism.

The one Book that predicted, inadvance, the rise and fall of specific nationsand governments -- that reveals the DESTINYOF THE WORLD!

No mere HUMAN-devised book couldreveal such things! If you want to know themost necessary, basic knowledge of all life --the very FOUNDATION of all rightknowledge -- WHERE WOULD YOU GO?

Purpose of the Bible

WHAT are we? Were we put on earthfor a PURPOSE? And WHAT is that purpose?

WHY are human lives empty, dis-contented, unhappy? How may human lifebecome HAPPY, FILLED with interest,ABUNDANT, successful, prosperous?

WHAT is the real cause of wars, andTHE WAY to world peace?

3 Triumph Prophetic Ministries BIBLE Correspondence Course Lesson 3


HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE

WHAT lies on after death -- what isTHE WAY to a happy, abundant, ETERNALlife? No book ever written, except the HolyBible, reveals this FOUNDATION of allknowledge.

Are THESE questions important? Onemight ask, is anything ELSE important? Youcan find the answers to THESE questionsONLY in this one divinely inspired, sacredvolume! -- and yet almost NO one has everfound the answers so PLAINLY written there!

Here is the Book that, in spite of thehuman perversion of it, has CHANGED morelives than all other books combined! And yet --it is THE BOOK THAT NOBODY KNOWS!

The Bible is the most MISunderstoodbook of history! The most twisted, distorted,misrepresented, maligned and lied-about!

WHAT'S WRONG?

Why Is the Bible Misunderstood?

Here is the answer -- and it is veryplain!

The answer lies in the fact that peoplehave NOT BEEN WILLING TO OBEY theprecepts of this holy, divine Word -- andtherefore this world has LOST ITS WAY. Inso doing it has not only lost PEACE, andHAPPINESS, and PROSPERITY, but it hasalso lost the knowledge of the PURPOSE ofthe Bible -- it doesn't know what the Biblereally IS!

Stop and think! Would a Creator,having supreme intelligence, wisdom and loveto think out, to plan, design, and bring aboutALL CREATION -- this earth, and all life andlife-functions upon it -- have left His createdbeings in IGNORANCE of HIS PURPOSE --the PURPOSE of their being here -- THELAWS that would bring them PEACE, andHAPPINESS, and JOY, and everything good?

THE BIBLE IS GOD'S DIVINEREVELATION OF BASIC NEEDED KNOW-

LEDGE which mankind is not otherwisecapable of finding out!

Absolutely no tools or instruments ofscience can ever tell you if there is life afterdeath -- the PURPOSE of your being alive --where you are going -- or the WAY to a happy,abundant life, or to universal PEACE. Ourscientists, our world leaders and our statesmenhave failed UTTERLY to tell us these answers,or to lead us into the universally desiredPEACE with happiness, and JOYOUS living!

God Almighty did NOT hide fromhuman minds these all-important truths. Hemade them accessible to mankind. HECOMMITTED HIS TREASURE-HOUSE OFBASIC KNOWLEDGE TO WRITING. Herevealed THE WAY TO PEACE and every-thing the human heart desires!

Now, WHY do so few understand theBible? WHY do all the different churchdenominations disagree as to what it says?

We find the answer in II Tim. 3:16-17:"All scripture" -- not just those few verses orPARTS of sentences you wish to apply to suityour desires, but -- "ALL scripture is given byinspiration of God." It is ALL inspired --EVERY Scripture is inspired by the EternalGOD -- "and is profitable for" -- WHAT? "... isPROFITABLE FOR DOCTRINE, FORREPROOF, FOR CORRECTION, FOR IN-STRUCTION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS: that theman of God may be perfect, thoroughlyfurnished unto all good works."

So the Scriptures are PROFITABLE forthe purpose of REPROVING, of COR-RECTING us! But how we do resent beingreproved and corrected! How many people doyou know who are even WILLING to becorrected where they are in error -- to beREPROVED for the wrong things they do!

Humanity Resents Correction

People Do NOT LIKE to BE RE-PROVED AND CORRECTED! They love



PRAISE -- they like FLATTERY -- but reproofand correction they surely HATE! Now do yousee why it is so hard for so many people tounderstand the Bible, and to agree on just whatit says? The Bible is God's great spiritualMIRROR. IT SHOWS UP EVERY FLAW INOUR THINKING, reveals every spot on ourcharacters. It pictures us AS WE REALLYARE -- AS GOD sees us, not as we like toTHINK we are, or as we like to have other menlook upon us!

"For the Word of God," we read inHeb. 4:12, "is quick, and powerful, andsharper than any two-edged sword" -- IT CUTSDEEP, and it CUTS BOTH WAYS, "... and isa discerner of the thoughts and INTENTS ofthe heart." Yes, it opens up and exposes andLAYS BARE THE INNER SOUL OF MAN!

When your little children do things thatare wrong -- that you have forbidden -- do theyusually admit it freely and frankly? Do theysay: "Father, I cannot tell a lie. I did it! -- or dothey usually DENY it as long as possible, thentry to cover it up, excuse it, JUSTIFY it, orplace the blame on somebody else? Yes, it'sjust human nature.

WE are all only little children grownup; and so, when our heavenly Father speaks toUS, through His Holy Scriptures, and reprovesand rebukes, and corrects us, we usually do notlike to ADMIT our errors, our faults, ourwrong ways.

Too often, men have applied somedifferent meaning to Scriptures that reprovedthem -- they have passed right OVER SOMEScriptures that corrected and rebuked them orthey have ignored them utterly, and havestudied diligently to find some OTHERSCRIPTURE, or portion of Scripture, intowhich they could read a meaning THATWOULD JUSTIFY THEIR COURSE! And somen began, centuries ago, to INTERPRET theBible! God's Word has become twisted,wrested, perverted.

Almost every false and counterfeitmeaning imaginable is read INTO it, instead ofdrinking the natural meaning -- the plain,simple INTENDED meaning out of it! Todaywe have hundreds of human INTER-PRETATIONS of the Bible. You NEVERHEAR OF HUNDREDS OF INTERPRETA-TIONS OF A CERTAIN BIOLOGY TEXT-BOOK IN HUNDREDS OF COLLEGES!WHY? BECAUSE BIOLOGY TEXTBOOKSDO NOT REBUKE AND CORRECT MEN!

Instead of acknowledging the truth,repenting of the sin, having it legally justifiedby the blood of Christ, men seek to JUSTIFYTHEIR OWN ACTS BY PERVERTING THESACRED AND HOLY WORD OF GOD!

The MOST DIFFICULT thing on earthfor the average person to do is to ADMIT ITand CONFESS IT and REPENT OF IT whenhe is wrong. OH how hard that seems to be!Almost the rarest thing in this world is aperson who will ALWAYS acknowledge itwhen he is wrong, repent, and turn the otherway. This world is FULL of people whoPROFESS to be willing to do this. But the onewho DOES it is a rare jewel.

Under God's inspiration, Paul con-tinued to say, in II Tim. 4:1-4, that the timetruly has come when the MANY do not endureSOUND doctrine. Men have turned away theirears from the TRUTH and have turned toFABLES! Yes, fables PALMED OFF AS thetruth of God's Word! ISAIAH prophesied thatin these latter days men would demand,"Preach not unto us RIGHT things, PREACHUNTO US SMOOTH THINGS -- PREACHDECEITS" (Isaiah 30:8-11).

Yet Another Reason

Here is another reason why the Bible isnot understood. Did you ever stop to think thatKNOWLEDGE can be transmitted to thehuman mind, naturally, ONLY THROUGHFIVE CHANNELS? The ONLY means by



which the mind can receive ANY KNOW-LEDGE, naturally, is through the eye, the ear,the nose, the mouth, or the sense of feeling --the five physical senses. But the Bible revealsSPIRITUAL things -- and SPIRITUALTHINGS CANNOT NORMALLY BE SEEN,nor heard, nor tasted, nor felt, nor smelled.And so the NATURAL human mind is IN-CAPABLE of understanding these spiritualrevelations.

Then notice I Cor. 2:14: "The NAT-URAL man (that is, the natural-born, uncon-verted mind), "receiveth not the things of theSPIRIT of God: for they are FOOLISHNESSunto HIM: neither can he know them, BE-CAUSE THEY ARE SPIRITUALLY DIS-CERNED!" -- revealed by GOD'S SPIRIT; forit says in the 10th verse, "God hathREVEALED them unto us BY HIS SPIRIT."And then again, you read that it is "the SPIRITof Truth" which "will guide you into all Truth"(John 16:13).

The Pauline epistles in Arabic -- circa 1450 A.D.

Since the Bible is God's Word ("THYWORD IS TRUTH", John 17:17), therefore itrequires the HOLY SPIRIT to OPEN UP to thehuman mind this marvelous revelation of God.Understand: The Holy Spirit WITHIN is thekey which alone can unlock the doors toscriptural understanding.

Thus, as this Scripture has said, WHENWE RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT -- whenthe mind becomes spirit-led, then, through thisSUPERNATURAL PROCESS of God, spir-itual knowledge is REVEALED, and the spir-itual mind can begin to UNDERSTAND!

REPENT and BELIEVE

The conditions in the Bible forreceiving God's Holy Spirit are basically TWO-- REPENT, and BELIEVE. But, repent meansMORE than being sorry. It means a completeyielding to the will of God, AS THAT WILLIS EXPRESSED IN HIS WORD! It means acomplete willingness to accept, and TO DOwhat Scripture teaches, NO MATTER WHATTHE COST, THE PERSECUTION, THESACRIFICE, OR THE EFFORT!

Jesus said, as recorded in John 7:16,17: "My doctrine is not mine, but HIS THATSENT ME. If ANY MAN WILL DO HISWILL, he shall KNOW of the doctrine." Yes,there is a condition: You must surrender to thewill of God if you would come to understandthe Bible.

Many are like the man who once said,"I wouldn't do anything I thought was wrongfor the world!" He was sincere, but the BIBLEsays, "There IS a way which seemeth RIGHTunto a man, but the end thereof ARE THEWAYS OF DEATH!" (Prov. 14:12.) There-fore, since death is the penalty of sin, then theways that SEEM RIGHT to the natural mind ofman MUST BE THE WAYS OF SIN.

God's whole purpose is to rescue menfrom this FALSE way that appears so alluring-- this way that seems RIGHT -- and yet endsup in despair, and suffering, and death!

We read from Psalm 111: 7, 8, 10:ALL His commandments are SURE. Theystand fast FOR EVER AND EVER and aredone in truth and uprightness. The fear of theLord is the beginning of wisdom: a good



understanding have all they that do His com-mandments!"

We can see now why men do notunderstand the Bible. They are not yielded tothe Eternal's will -- they are filled with the fearof MEN, instead of the fear of GOD. Theytremble at the thought of what PEOPLE say --but we had all better begin to tremble at theWORD OF THE LIVING GOD.

TRUTH is REVEALED. It is revealedby GOD's spirit -- and that involves a SUPER-NATURAL ACT of God. The terms andconditions are utter surrender -- REPENT-ANCE, and FAITH.

David had understanding. And Davidsaid, "THY WORD is a lamp unto my feet, anda light unto my path" (Psalm 119:105).Today's generation is like that of Jesus' day, ofwhich He said, "This is the condemnation, thatlight is come into the world, and men loveddarkness, rather than light, because their deedswere evil" (John 3:19).

Yes, the Bible is light -- a lamp untoour feet -- a light unto our path. Surely theworld is in gross darkness. You Can Begin to Understand Your Bible

How then, can you understand the

Bible? Here is HOW you may begin this

THRILLING, soul-satisfying adventure. HERE is how YOU can begin to really

UNDERSTAND the Bible. First, SURRENDER to God, and the

authority of His Word. Forsake YOUR ways --YOUR thoughts -- and those of this world'ssociety.

Study to find TRUTH -- to show your-self approved unto God. Ask God for guidance-- ASK Him to reveal the true meaning. ThenBELIEVE GOD -- BELIEVE His Word -- ac-cept it in its plain, NATURAL meaning, just asyou would accept any other book in which you

had confidence. Be careful to PROVE allthings.

Be cautious -- avoid jumping to hastyconclusions, or taking things carelessly forgranted.

And above all -- do not try to INTER-PRET the Bible. DON'T take the interpretationof any MAN or CHURCH. THE BIBLE IN-TERPRETS ITSELF.

God would not have us shut up our earsand our minds from HEARING what is beingpreached -- even though it differs from whatyou have been taught. When the apostle Paulcame to Berea, the Bereans found he waspreaching something utterly DIFFERENT thanthat which they had been taught and hadbelieved. They did not know whether Paul wasa FALSE prophet, or a man sent FROM GOD.We read of them, in Acts 17:11: "These weremore noble than those in Thessalonica, in thatthey received the word with all readiness ofmind" (that is, without prejudice) "andSEARCHED THE SCRIPTURES DAILY,WHETHER those things were so." STUDYWITHOUT PREJUDICE -- but BE CAREFUL-- PROVE all things -- search the SCRIP-TURES WHETHER those things be so.

The Purpose for This Lesson

THIS PARTICULAR LESSON IS TOSHOW YOU HOW TO STUDY YOURBIBLE. It is devoted entirely to giving youmethods explaining HOW TO GRASP THELESSONS WE ARE GOING TO PRESENTIN THE FUTURE. These methods of Biblestudy are like TOOLS in your work. You willuse them often. For this reason this lesson isprinted FOR REFERENCES on how to study.Refer to it often!

Use the time you have set aside for thislesson in familiarizing yourself with its con-tents.



You will undoubtedly purchase a BibleConcordance. Familiarize yourself with thisvaluable tool.

And be sure to REVIEW THE TWOPREVIOUS LESSONS. As you review theprevious lessons, APPLY to them any newideas you learn here. For instance, you maywant to MARK your Bible. Then, when thenext regular lesson comes out, you will findyourself better equipped than ever for studyingthis fascinating Course!

Now for the actual method of Biblestudy. But remember, the right SPIRIT -- theRIGHT ATTITUDE -- full SUBMISSION toscriptural dictates, BEING WILLING TO BECORRECTED and reproved -- that is theMAIN THING.

Necessities for Bible Study

The Qumran Great Isaiah Scroll

GOD wrote the Bible. He INSPIRED

men to pen it (II Tim. 3:16). It is GOD'SMESSAGE TO MAN!

Locked Up Until Now!

Bruce Barton, the author, has called theBible "The Book Nobody Knows" -- and hehas been right UNTIL NOW! This lack ofunderstanding is the very cause for so many

religions today -- they CANNOT agree onwhat the Bible teaches. There is a reason forthis.

God said, "For precept must be uponprecept ... line upon line ... here a little andthere a little: FOR WITH STAMMERINGLIPS and ANOTHER TONGUE will HeSPEAK to this people" (Isa. 28:10-11).

The dictionary defines "stammering" asthe making of PAUSES in speaking. God haswritten the Bible with GAPS or PAUSES BE-TWEEN RELATED MATERIAL -- materialwhich MUST BE BROUGHT TOGETHERbefore its meaning becomes clear. Later, whenyou come to understand God's PLAN, you willknow WHY He did this.

Even Christ, in His day, spoke inPARABLES TO CLOUD THE MEANING(notice Mark 4:11-12 and also Mat.

13:11-13, Luke 8:10).

NOW Revealed!

But was there to be a FUTURE timewhen the TRUE message of the Bible couldbecome known to those willing to be cor-rected?

Yes! But when? God told Daniel to "Seal the BOOK

even TO the time of the end: [when] manyshall run to and fro [through the pages of this



BOOK], and KNOWLEDGE SHALL BEINCREASED" (Dan. 12:4).

IN THE TIME OF THE END BIBLEKNOWLEDGE WAS TO BE INCREASED!Moffatt translates "the time of the end" as "theCRISIS at the close."

The whole world is now approachingchaos -- we are NOW entering the WORLD-CRISIS, at the CLOSE of this age! God saidthat at this crisis time -- NOW -- "None of thewicked shall understand; but the WISESHALL UNDERSTAND" (Dan. 12:10).

Proper Attitude for Understanding 1. You must ACT on knowledge

Let's get one thing straight right now! Ifyou do not grasp this point, you have NOassurance that YOU will be able to understandthis course regardless of all HUMAN effort tomake it plain to you. GOD has vowed thatnone of the WICKED would be able to under-stand His Word in this closing crisis time, butthat the WISE would understand (Dan. 12:10).

Since the Bible reveals that "sin is thetransgression of the law" (I John 3:4), thosewho conduct themselves as though His law isdone away, are, in Bible terminology, called"the wicked."

Who, then, are "the WISE" who shallnow understand? God says, "The FEAR of theLord is the beginning of WISDOM: a GOODUNDERSTANDING HAVE ALL THEYTHAT DO -- [we must Do] -- His Command-ments" (Psalm 111:10).

What has this to do with your beingable to understand this course?

These lessons will reveal to you manythings that God commands you to DO. If youFEAR Him enough to begin to build into yourlife habits of OBEDIENCE to Him (DOINGHis Commandments) He has said, as we havejust seen, that you WILL BEGIN TO BE-COME WISE! THE GREATER YOUR

OBEDIENCE TO GOD, THE GREATERYOUR WISDOM WILL BE -- you will haveless and less trouble in understanding thelessons mailed to you.

If, on the other hand, somewhere alongthe way, you rebel at some of the things Hewants you to do, your wisdom will be cut off.

None can understand by himself. Thecarnal mind cannot "see" spiritual things. "Thenatural man receiveth not the things of theSpirit of God: for they are foolishness untohim: neither can he know them, BECAUSETHEY ARE SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED" (ICor. 2:14). Christ said, "The Spirit of truth ...will guide you [the OBEDIENT] into all truth"(John 16:13).

These truths are REVEALED throughthe indwelling of the Holy Spirit -- and GODGIVES the SPIRIT ONLY to them that OBEYand keep His commandments (Acts 5:32). Thechoice is in YOUR hands. 2. You must PRAY

Pray to God that He will give you moreof His Spirit -- the Spirit of TRUTH (Eph.5:17-18).

Christ derived his power from God. Heprayed for hours to God -- sometimes all night.Surely we can spend an hour or so a day insuch practice -- we are incomparably weakerand less wise than Christ was. WE REALLYNEED HELP! IN YOUR PRAYERS ASKGOD THAT HE OPEN YOUR MIND TO HISTRUTHS! 3. You must STUDY

This Correspondence Course has beendesigned with the idea that THIRTY MIN-UTES A DAY devoted to it will enable thestudent to finish each lesson in thirty days. Weknow that anyone should be able to give atleast this amount of time to such a valuablesubject. There is a time coming, and it is not



far away, when many who take this course willbe JUDGED by the Word of God -- the Bible.We MUST have a knowledge of its teachings!

The Father commands: "STUDY TOSHOW THYSELF APPROVED unto God, aWORKMAN that needeth not to be ashamed,rightly dividing the word of truth" (II Tim.2:15). We should be preparing ourselves for ahigh calling in God's service! 4. You must BE ZEALOUS

You are going to learn, as you studythese lessons, that God IS working out a pur-pose here below. Each of us must use theminutes, hours, days, and years of consciouslife which God has given us, to prepare our-selves to fit into this purpose of His.

Torah. Leather, 13th century, Aden

We do not have forever to do this, butGod has given us ENOUGH time! WE, TO-DAY, do not even have a lifetime -- WEHAVE BUT A FEW SHORT YEARS toprepare possibly another seven or eight -- andeven in the latter part of these, conditions willmake it more and more difficult for us to study.We live in the time of the "crisis at the close."NOW, while there is a relative calm -- BE-FORE THE STORM BREAKS -- is the time tostudy and prepare for the future!

As most of you have to make a livingand it requires a great deal of your time, youmust use your remaining time to the greatestadvantage. Above all, DON'T LET THECARES OF THIS WORLD CROWD OUTTHE TIME YOU SHOULD DEVOTE TOSTUDY AND PRAYER (Mat. 13:22).

God is making clear for a SHORTTIME now -- just before the close -- the mes-sage that the Bible REALLY conveys. Let'smake the most of this brief period!

Be ZEALOUS in your Bible study! Gofar! Dig deep!

God says, "Whatsoever thy handfindeth to do, DO IT WITH THY MIGHT; forthere is no work, nor device, nor knowledge,nor wisdom in the grave" (Eccles. 9:10).WHAT YOU DO NOW CAN AFFECT

The Bible in Irish (Gaelic)

YOUR LIFE FOR ALL ETERNITY! (Dan.12:3.)

What You Will Learn

In the lessons of the TRIUMPHPROPHETIC MINISTRIES BIBLE CORRES-PONDENCE COURSE GOD IS GOING TO:

1. REVEAL THE TERRIBLE E-VENTS IMMEDIATELY AHEAD FOR YOU-- AND INSTRUCT YOU HOW YOU MAY



ESCAPE the unprecedented slaughter whichthe nations are soon to bring upon themselvesby their own folly.

2. PROVE HE DOES EXIST and He isgoing to SHOW YOU HIS OVER-ALLPLAN.

3. GIVE YOU HIS REQUIREMENTSWHICH YOU MUST MEET IF YOU ARETO HAVE A PART IN FURTHERING HISPLAN FOR ALL ETERNITY.

Written to Aid Retention and Review 1. RETENTION EASY

A LOGICAL SEQUENCE of subjectswill be found running throughout the course.Beginning with a description of the world as itis today, the necessity of Divine intervention isnext studied. Following this, is the gloriousrevelation of the world as Christ will make it.

Then we shall go back to the verybeginning and learn how God reveals Himself.Who -- WHAT is God? Very few people todayknow. What IS the purpose He has set Himselfto accomplish? Subjects continue to be treated,in order, until ALL phases of the Bible arecovered.

The Bible IS logical when its OVER-ALL PATTERN is grasped. BUT its over-allpattern cannot be grasped until all its uncor-related parts, which are scattered here andthere, are FITTED TOGETHER. This courseaccomplishes just this! This has not been ac-complished until NOW! THIS IS WHATMAKES THIS COURSE DIFFERENT FROMALL OTHERS. When you have finished theTRIUMPH PROPHETIC MINISTRIESBIBLE CORRESPONDENCE COURSE theBible will no longer be, to you, the "Book ThatNobody Knows", but you will see that even alittle child can understand its principles!

Notice the "COMMENTARY" STYLENOTES which are inserted where the meaningwould otherwise not be as clear as it should be.

These comments also fill in necessarybackgrounds.

The very LOGIC of the Bible, when itis presented by this NEW METHOD, will en-able you to RETAIN IN YOUR MIND THEBROAD PRINCIPLES WHICH GODWANTS PEOPLE TO GATHER FROM IT! 2. REVIEW RAPID

Scattered throughout the writtenmaterial of the lessons will be found words orphrases printed in LARGE TYPE such as this,or in bold type such as this. The large type willeither indicate the SUBJECT MATTER of thesurrounding words or will be used to EM-PHASIZE IMPORTANT POINTS. The boldtype is used to highlight the Biblical verses youshould read.

With these guideposts, you can quicklyskim back over a subject and impress the out-standing points again upon your mind. Re-viewing can be accomplished rapidly in thismanner.

All lesson sheets will have three holespunched in them. A three-ring binder should bepurchased at a bookstore or supermarket. Keepall material together. In BOOK FORM, youwill DESIRE TO REVIEW it often!

Use of Time and Material 1. SET TIME ASIDE

You should set aside a definite amountof time for your Bible study and religious wor-ship. You can decide what time of the day isbest. Your mind is most likely to be more alertin the morning. 2. DIVISION OF TIME

Some of God's people have dividedtheir time for Bible study into three parts, usingone third of that time on their knees in prayer



to God, devoting another third of the time tothe study of the Bible, and using the remainingthird to think over the things just studied. Infollowing this method, God has opened theBible truths to them. Sometimes they havestudied the Bible while on their knees. 3. NO OUTSIDE LITERATURE

RELIGIOUS LITERATURE other thanours should not be studied UNTIL YOU ARETHOROUGHLY GROUNDED in this courseand have the whole pattern of the Bible fixedin mind. THIS TAKES TIME. Our Corres-pondence Course is complete and it leads fromone scripture to another and LETS THEBIBLE INTERPRET ITSELF AS IT GOESALONG. NO LITERATURE CAN DOMORE! It would only confuse you to readother religious tracts at first. It is notrecommended as a practice to those beginningto learn God's truth. 4. SELECTING A BIBLE

We do recommend that you use theKing James or New King James Version.

Most people prefer a Bible havingheavy black print, large letters, and containinga center reference column. A good selection ofmaps in the back helps greatly. Many prefer aBible measuring 6 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches for homeuse. (Often they carry smaller copies on theirperson for use during the day.) Most like athumb index and relatively wide page margins.

A Bible answering the above generaldescription can be found in most religiousbookstores, or in the superstores such asBarnes and Noble.

The same type of Bible -- with heavyblack print, large letters and center referencecolumn -- may also be obtained in citiesaround the world -- such as London.

Concordances which are found in theback of Bibles are not complete enough, so this

should have little weight in your selection ofBibles.5. READING

First SKIM rapidly over the words thatare ENLARGED in the CorrespondenceCourse section you are about to study. Thiswill allow you to obtain a grasp of the generalfield you are about to cover and will enableyou from the very start to draw a better mentalpicture. THEN study the section.

Book of Jonah in Mixteco, Tlaxiaco dialect (Mexico)

After you have finished studying theASSIGNED material, it is OFTEN HELPFULTO KNOW THE MEANING OF THE BIBLEVERSES OR CHAPTERS SURROUNDINGthe matter you have studied. Don't spend muchtime at this -- GLANCE over it. WHY?

Because more writers than you realizehave lifted whole passages of the Bible out ofsetting and have attempted to use these toprove the reverse of what the passages areintended to convey.

It is VERY IMPORTANT that youbecome aware of this.

Gradually you will learn you have beenGROSSLY MISLED in many things.

LET THE BIBLE BE YOUR GUIDE,NOT MEN!



ALSO, sometimes the surroundingmaterial is so closely related to a verse dis-cussed in the Correspondence Course that itwill cast ADDITIONAL LIGHT on thesubject. 6. MARKING

Many of God's people mark theirBibles. They have found it EXTREMELYUSEFUL for purposes of review and Biblestudy.

The idea in marking is to make certainKEY WORDS OR PASSAGES STAND OUTabove the surrounding words. These key wordsor passages, in turn, recall to mind the generalthought of the whole subject.

Study the KEY WORDS or phraseswhich are written in large letters IN THECORRESPONDENCE COURSE for the pur-pose of aiding review. This will give you anidea of HOW TO MARK YOUR Bible. Youwill learn the PRINCIPLE of emphasizing theright words. It may take some time before youmaster the method to your complete satis-faction, but it will be well worth the effort.

The SIMPLEST METHOD is to use anordinary pencil and make an UP AND DOWNLINE IN THE MARGIN opposite the materialyou wish to find again.

The MOST USED METHOD bypeople is to UNDERLINE WITH A COLOR-ED PENCIL THE IMPORTANT PLACES.

Pencils which have been foundvaluable for this purpose may be purchased atbookstores. Hi-Liters, such as thosemanufactured by Dennison, are suitable for thispurpose. Ball-point pens too.

Some will wish to make REFERENCEADDITIONS IN THE MARGINS of theirBibles. This is best accomplished by use of apen (fountain pen or other types) with a"BOOKKEEPING" POINT. These vary some-what in fineness. This is where wide-marginedBibles come in handy. Also SMALL NOTES

can be inserted IN THE MARGINS. A smallcircle may be drawn around any IMPORTANTCENTER OF THOUGHT OR MARGIN RE-FERENCE.

Some may wish to INDEX IMPOR-TANT SUBJECTS in the back of their Bibles.This is best done by writing, or better yetPRINTING, the name of the subject in smallletters in the back of the Bible together withONE reference. Any other references are thenwritten nearest the outer margin at this POINTOF REFERENCE. In this way there is nocrowding for lack of room.

You can see that your marked Biblewill become very valuable to you. You shouldPRESERVE this BIBLE. If the cover givesway, it can be rebound at a bindery. The costwill not be too great considering its VALUE toyou. If the Bible comes apart, there arebinderies which specialize in HAND SEW-ING. 7. MEDITATE

What is YOUR OBJECTIVE instudying this Correspondence Course? It is toLEARN and RETAIN facts God gives youwhich will aid you in living. But even more,you are to interweave these God-given factswith the experiences of your daily life in such away that you will LEARN THE PRINCIPLESOF THE RIGHT WAY OF LIVING.

If you learn these principles you willknow the right way to conduct yourself underALL circumstances. You will not feel the needof an EXACT PARALLEL case in which Godsaid "do this" or "do that." But HOW can youlearn to make the application of these prin-ciples?

David, God's beloved, gave the AN-SWER! He said, "Blessed is the man thatwalketh not in the counsel of the ungodly ... hisdelight is in the law of the Lord; and IN HISLAW DOTH HE MEDITATE DAY ANDNIGHT (Psalm 1:1-2).



David RECALLED the events thatoccurred during the day. He also rememberedGod's commands -- His "law." And during thespare hours of his time -- during the day, andespecially during the evening when he hadeven more leisure -- he recalled both, andTHOUGHT on them -- he DREW BROADCONCLUSIONS as to what God reallywanted. He applied these conclusions! For thisreason, he was able to walk "Not in the counselof the ungodly" to the extent that he becameone of those who stood highest in God's goodgrace. WE MUST DO THE SAME! Howshould we go about doing this?

Most people can't pour knowledge intotheir minds and AT THE SAME TIME sortand analyze it PROPERLY. They, like David,will find it helpful to USE THE EVENING OREARLY MORNING HOURS FOR ANA-LYZING it. Also, knowledge quickly slipsaway the first twenty-four hours after it islearned. The rate of loss lessens somewhatafter this. If we lose the knowledge we obtain,there is very little use of acquiring it. How canyou be relatively sure you will retain theknowledge you learned during the day, untilyou can analyze it? Here is how!

If you hear or study some religiousknowledge during the day, it is advisable thatyou REVIEW it mentally JUST AS QUICKLYAS YOU CAN after hearing or reading it.PICTURE IT IN YOUR MIND in its realsetting as nearly as possible. These two habitswill greatly aid you in remembering what youdo not wish to lose. (If you can take notes,these will be of much value if reviewed.)PRACTICE THESE METHODS UNTILTHEY BECOME HABIT!

In the evening of each day, or early thenext morning, you can group off these newlylearned thoughts with SIMILAR thoughts youremember, and draw from them conclusions orprinciples. ANSWER for yourself such ques-tions as, "WHAT?" "WHERE?" "WHEN?"

"WHO?" "HOW?" and "WHY?" These willabout cover the field.

Decide immediately how these newlylearned principles will guide you in your dailyproblems that you know are going to come up.Apply these principles constantly! It willgradually become second nature for you to actby them! GOD WANTS YOU TO LEARNDEEPLY EVERY DAY! 8. REVIEW

Reviewing will be very profitable inorder to FIX the knowledge you have learnedin your mind so you will not forget it -- aftertwo or three weeks, REVIEW ALL YOUHAVE COVERED. On this review, you needonly "HIT THE HIGH SPOTS," both whenyou reread the material and when you turn itover in your mind later. ASSOCIATE ALL OFTHE TWO OR THREE WEEKS' MATERIALTOGETHER IN YOUR MIND. Read lessonsIN ORDER for thought SEQUENCE.

You will probably be surprised at thenew and better understanding you will obtainby this method. It will help GREATLY in"putting you on your own" in reading andunderstanding your Bible. 9. OTHER BOOKS WILL AID

You can study the Triumph PropheticMinistries Bible Correspondence Course with-out any other books except for a Bible, butTHERE ARE SOME WHICH WILL ADD AGREAT DEAL TO MAKING THE BIBLEREAL to you.

A broad knowledge of the customs,social and educational life, history of thepeople, together with a knowledge of thegeography of the country, is a great aid invisualizing and understanding events mention-ed in the Bible.

From experience, we know what bookswill help you most. SOME of these books are



MUCH MORE NECESSARY to have thanothers. (We have no connection whatever withany of the publishers whose books will berecommended here.) The most necessary bookswill be mentioned first.

A CONCORDANCE IS ALMOST AMUST. Why? Because if you know a fewwords of a passage you wish to find in theBible, it will FIND that PASSAGE for you.

The Jewish NT -- a useful study aid.

It helps in another very important wayalso -- and this is VERY IMPORTANT! ITUNLOCKS THE MEANING OF THE BIBLEto you. How does it unlock the Bible? In TWOWAYS:

(a) Recall that at the very start of thislesson on "How to Study the Bible" we saidthat God wrote the Bible with GAPS betweenrelated material in order to HIDE the meaning(Isa. 28:10-11). Related material naturally hasthe SAME subject and often many of theSAME WORDS will be used in each of thesepassages. By using a CONCORDANCE,which has the words of the Bible arranged

alphabetically and tells WHERE they may befound, you can thus BRING RELATEDMATERIAL TOGETHER and thereby CLOSEthese GAPS and obtain the WHOLE TRUEMEANING of what the Bible has to say aboutanything!

(b) Now notice the second way. Godhas used ANOTHER DEVICE to HIDE themeaning of Scripture UNTIL NOW! -- the

The Jewish NT Commentary

"time of the end" (Dan. 12:4). He has usedSYMBOLS!

A symbol is something which standsfor something else. God OFTEN uses symbolswhich do NOT show clearly what theyrepresent. He speaks (through the Bible) to us"with stammering lips [gaps] and ANOTHERTONGUE" (Isa. 28:10-11) -- a tongue whichuses UNKNOWN SYMBOLS. HE has toTELL you what they mean, for only He knowswhat they represent. Here is how He tells you:

In ANOTHER part of the Bible, Heuses the SAME symbolical word and EX-PLAINS CLEARLY WHAT IT MEANS there.



The lesson? IF YOU DO NOT UNDER-STAND THE MEANING OF A SYM-BOLICAL WORD, TAKE IT TO A CON-CORDANCE!

Here is a clear, simple EXAMPLE ofwhat to do: Who is the "great red dragon" ofRev. 12:3? Turning to the concordance andlocating the word "dragon," we find the word"dragon" appears in this same chapter in verse9 also. Turning back to the Bible, we read inverse 9, "The great DRAGON ... called theDEVIL." The symbolical mystery is solved!The "dragon" of verse 3 is the Devil! (Usually,however, the unknown word and the answerare not this close together.)

There are TWO TYPES OF CON-CORDANCES: large complete concordances("Strong's Exhaustive Concordance"), whichare especially good for RESEARCH; and muchSMALLER, but relatively complete concord-ances which are easy to carry and are veryCONVENIENT to locate passages with. Thesmall "Cruden's Complete Concordance" isvery popular and may be purchased for a smallamount of money.

A BIBLE DICTIONARY is also de-sirable. "Peloubet's Bible Dictionary" is good.This book describes people, places, and thingsmentioned in the Bible. It also has chrono-logical tables and maps concerning Bibletimes. CAUTION: Because we recommend books,this does not mean we agree with ALL theysay. We do say that the good they containoverbalances their errors. On the whole wefind them accurate.

BIBLES other than the King JamesVersion are sometimes valuable. We especiallyrecommend the MOFFATT version. Itswording sometimes makes sections clearerthan the King James. The new ENGLISH andAMERICAN REVISED versions also aid attimes. Another very good Bible is the "JewishNew Testament" translated by David Stern.This New Testament brings out a lot of the

meaning of words that have lost their originalmeaning through time. This, coupled with the"Jewish New Testament Commentary" by thesame author, are valuable aids to studying theNew Testament portion of God's Word. Thesemay be purchased through Triumph PropheticMinistries.

A BIBLE ATLAS is a book whichspecializes in Bible maps. They are very help-ful. 10. MISCELLANEOUS

LENGTH OF COURSE: Many monthsmay be required. Equip yourself accordingly.As long as God's people hunger and thirst forHis Word, this Course will continue. EXAM-INATIONS are given solely to determine yourinterest. Tests follow every FOURTH lesson.The test will be included with every fifthlesson mailed to you. They are simple anddesigned to help you pinpoint ideas in yourmind. Just fill them out and return to TriumphProphetic Ministries -- see addresses on theinside of the front cover.

QUESTIONS: If enough of one kindare received, an article will appear in the"PROPHECY FLASH" -- "Questions andAnswers" section.

Two Final Thoughts

There are two things you must alwayskeep in mind.

1. Remember, though insignificantscribal errors have crept in now and then, theBIBLE IS INFALLIBLE.

2. The BIBLE MAKES SENSE. ITMEANS WHAT IT SAYS. REGARD IT ASGOD'S WORD! It deals with places, events,and beings -- actual realities -- and REVEALSknowledge which you need to know, but whichyou could not otherwise discover.



triumph prophetic ministries bible - newsflashtriumphpro.com/lesson3-new.pdf · "i just...

Documents