This is the bridge from Course II — How to Read the Bible into Course III, the New Testament book by book. It uses the same thirteen tools you already own. If you have not read The Helper page, read it first — the concordance it teaches is used all through this booklet.
📘 THE BRIDGE — Reading a Whole Book
From Thirteen Tools on a Verse to Twenty-Seven Books
The Bible School • Course II into Course III • Booklet Zero
The same thirteen tools you already own • with illustrations from thirty years in the pulpit
Chuck Trusty • Pastor, Dardanelle, Arkansas
📘 Part One — The Bridge
⭐ The Course, and What Comes Next
You finished the course. Thirteen tools are NOW in your hand, and you have used them, one by one, on single verses . . . that was on purpose — small pieces, so you could succeed.
But here is a secret the whole course was keeping: the tools were never really about single verses. They are about reading well . . . and that means they work on bigger ground too — a paragraph, a chapter, a whole book . . . only one thing changes: the size of the piece you hold as you apply the tools.
Three of the tools already told you so. 1) Read the whole verse . . . 2) a verse has neighbors. 3) Weigh the whole counsel . . . those three never really fit on one verse at all. They were straining at the size of the piece the whole time.
So - let us cross the bridge from a single verse to a whole book . . . as we cross that bridge we are going to read a whole book with the very same thirteen tools . . . and then, for the next two years and more, we will do it again — one book of the New Testament every month, from the first verse to the last.
⭐ The Book
We begin with the Gospel of John, and John hands us the front door himself. Near the end he stops, and tells us plainly WHY he wrote the whole thing:
"And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." — John 20:30–31
⭐ The Question
Can what we are calling "the verse-tools" read a whole book?
And here is a second question, which is just as important. With thirteen tools in the bag, how do you know which ones to use — and which ones to leave in the bag? Knowing what you will not use is also part of reading well . . . we learned that in the course, and it does not change now that the piece is bigger.
⭐ The Tools — Walked Together, Over a Whole Book
Take up the toolbox and run the whole thing over the book of John. Every tool gets named . . . the ones that fit go to work . . . the ones that do not fit – they get set down out loud, with a reason.
1. Start with the questions. For a book, the biggest of the five questions is WHY — why was it written? Most books make you dig for it. John simply tells you: "that ye might believe… and that believing ye might have life" (20:31). Now every chapter is read as evidence for that one aim.
2. Read the whole verse — now, YES the whole book . . . a book is meant to be read whole, the way you read a letter: start to finish, before you ever stop to mine a line. Read John completely through, and only then go back into the book to analyze it using the tools.
3. Every command has an address . . . every book has a "you" to which it has been addressed. John wrote so that "ye might believe" — the reader is the one addressed . . . and inside each scene, keep asking who is being spoken to: Nicodemus by night, the woman at the well. The "you" keeps changing. This is the tool that grows the most when the piece gets bigger, and Part Two of this booklet is about nothing else.
4. Let the Bible define its own words . . . a book teaches its own words by using them over and over . . . watch, believe, life, light are words that come back, and back, and back. John says "believe" far more than any other Gospel. The book is its own dictionary, spread across twenty-one chapters. And how do you KNOW a word keeps coming back? You do not have to take my word for it . . . look it up on the concordance the Helper page taught you, read down the list, and watch John's name fill the page. At verse size you looked a word up to learn what it MEANS - at book size you look it up to see how often it comes, and where it gathers.
5. Clear explains complex — this one rests . . . we are up high, looking at the whole book . . . there is no single dark phrase here for a plain one to shine light on. This tool comes alive when we sit down inside a hard passage. So we set it down for now — and knowing we have set it down - is itself part of reading.
6. A verse ALWAYS has neighbors — now, the book has a shape. John has a plain structure: chapters 1–12 are signs done in public – chapters 13–21 are the Lord alone with His own followers — the upper room, the cross, the rising . . . WHERE a passage sits tells you what it is doing.
7. The Bible agrees with itself . . . a whole book leans on the whole Bible. John opens "In the beginning," reaching back to Genesis – and he says the Scriptures "testify of me" (5:39). The book fits the Book like a hand fits a glove.
8. When our words are too small . . . a book reaches for its own great word. John's GREAT WORD - is "the Word" — "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God" (1:1) — a word far bigger than our little "word."
9. One word can hold a whole story. John's signature is "I AM" — I am the bread, the light, the door, the shepherd, the resurrection, the way, the vine . . . each one of these - holds a whole sermon. (And the concordance will hand you every one of them in a single list - look up "I am" and read down John's column.)
10. Watch the tense — this one rests too . . . the movement of the story, the "hour" that "is not yet come" until at last it comes, is a tool for when we walk the chapters one by one. At this height, looking at the whole picture, we set it down . . . two tools resting is not failure. A good workman knows which tool the job calls for.
11. Pictures that preach. John is the book of signs — seven of them . . . the very first picture is, water into wine, "manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him" (2:11). The signs are not decoration. They are the sermon, and the sermon is: believe - which is WHY the pictures are given.
12. Weigh the whole counsel . . . do not build John upon only one verse . . . lay the seven signs side by side and they say one thing with one voice — the thing which 20:31 promised. The whole book is the argument. Read it whole.
13. Wisdom observes. Read John watching — for its purpose, its repeated words, its two halves, its signs . . . the observant reader sees the book, not just the verses . . . this is the habit under all the others.
Eleven tools used . . . two set down on purpose, and named as they were set down . . . that is what reading a book looks like.
🎤 From the Pulpit — The Carpenter's Truck
Picture a carpenter who is working on the roof, laying down the plywood before nailing on the shingles – all he needs to attach the plywood to the rafters is 1) a hammer, 2) nails, 3) plywood clips… But there is a toolbox down in his truck that contains a set of wood chisels – he has several different saws – two or three drills – wood clamps and the list continues… but rather than take all of his tools up the ladder to the roof – he relies on his experience to tell him which tools to carry up the ladder and which ones to leave in the toolbox on the truck… And what we are learning in this course – is what experience has taught the carpenter – what tools to leave in the toolbox on the truck and which tools to carry up the ladder…
⭐ ONE VERSE — The Key That Unlocks the Book
Every book has a verse or two that opens the whole thing, the way one word can open a verse. For John it is 20:31: "these are written, that ye might believe… and that believing ye might have life."
Hold on to this verse, and John is no longer twenty-one separate chapters . . . it is one long argument with one aim . . . every sign, every "I AM," every conversation is another reason to believe. Find a book's purpose, and you have found the thread that ties it all together.
📘 Part Two — The Tool That Grew the Most
Look back over that roll-call of 13 tools and you will notice something . . . most of the tools did the same job they always did, only on a bigger piece . . . one tool did not. One tool changed shape.
Tool three . . . every command has an address.
⭐ What It Asked at Verse Size
You met this tool on the Great Commission. The Lord said to the eleven, "lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20). And you asked the tool's question: who was this spoken to?
The eleven — but the eleven all died, every one of them, and the promise runs past their graves . . . so the "you" could not be only eleven men . . . it was the body they were the seed of: "upon this rock I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18). One question, and a promise you might have only applied to eleven men was opened up to the whole church.
That is the tool at verse size . . . find the address, and the verse reads straight.
⭐ What It Asks at Book Size
Now make the piece bigger . . . not who was this verse spoken to — but who was this book written to?
And right here - is where the tool gets harder, because at verse size the address is usually sitting close by. Look at the neighbors and you find it. A book does not always work that way.
There are four ways a book can answer, and they are not equally easy.
ONE — the book states its purpose outright . . . it tells you plainly why it was written, though it may never name a single reader.
TWO — the book names its reader . . . not a kind of reader – but a man, with a name on the page.
THREE — the book says nothing at all about it, and shows you instead . . . you have to see the answer, because you will never read it.
FOUR — the address is on the envelope . . . the letters in the back of your New Testament put it in the first verse or two, the way a letter should.
Four ways of answering one question — and a reader who cannot tell them apart will eventually treat a good guess as though it were an actual verse, and later realize that error can be introduced when we fail to see the difference. This can lead to reading another man's mail as if it were addressed to us, and cause us to build something on it that will not hold up when compared against other scriptures.
So, before we start walking through books, we are going to spend the rest of this booklet on that one tool. Four ways, and one worked example of each. Five books in all, because the fourth way takes two to show it properly.
✍️ Author's Note
Suppose we find a letter that a husband has written to his wife… He never calls her by name – but he mentions his great love for her and that he cannot wait to see her again when he returns from his travels… Well, imagine the confusion if this letter is misplaced in a neighbor's mailbox by mistake… The neighbor will assume affection that does not exist…
Another example would be a sweepstakes prize sent to the wrong address which would promise a treasure to someone who had never entered the sweepstakes at all and was not eligible to receive the prize…
Consider I Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
It matters WHO this promise has been made to – God did not write this letter to a neighbor – He wrote it to those who LOVE HIM not to those who didn't love Him… the things prepared by God – will not be given to those who have not entered the sweepstakes… Loving God is what makes a person eligible to receive this promise – NOT loving God is what disqualifies a person from receiving this promise… When God makes a promise in The Bible – we should always be careful to identify - if that promise is for mankind in general (what-so-ever a man soweth that shall he also reap) – to a specific named person like Hezekiah – who got 15 years added to his life (God has not promised to add 15 years to everyone's life) – The Great Commission in Matt 28 – Jesus promises to be with "them" until the end of the world (the disciples that He was speaking to all died) so who do you suppose this promise was being made to… The church. — C.T.
📘 Part Three — Four Ways a Book Answers
Way One — The Book States Its Purpose (John 20:30–31)
Start with the easiest kind, because we have already read it.
John does not make you hunt . . . one chapter from the end he stops the story and says why he wrote: "these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."
Notice what he tells you first, though — what he left out. "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book." There were more. He picked . . . and the standard he "picked by" was not completeness, and not in the order things happened . . . it was your believing and your living.
Think of a grandfather with a box of a thousand photographs who sits down and chooses twenty of them for a little album, and writes on the last page: I chose these so you would know what kind of man I was . . . you now know two things you did not know before . . . the album is not everything. And you know why these twenty are the ones in your hands.
When a book states its purpose, that statement governs every verse in it — including the verses you found hard, and the ones you thought were about something else.
ONE WORD — "ARE WRITTEN" (gegraptai)
GHEG-rap-tai . . . it is not a simple past tense, like "I wrote a letter last Tuesday." The Greek here means written, and standing written — done once, and still standing today . . . it is the very form behind "IT IS WRITTEN" on the Lord's lips when He answered the tempter (Matthew 4:4), and the whole force of that answer is that a thing set down long ago is still binding now. John did not file a report. He left a document that is STILL in force.
(A word about every ONE WORD in this booklet, before we go on. Not one of them came off a shelf you do not have. Every one was dug up the way the Helper page showed you — the verse, the Strong's number, the list of every place the word is used . . . a few taps on the phone in your pocket. When you see a Greek word here, that is where it came from, and you can go and check me.)
THE FULL ROLL-CALL. Every tool, over these two verses . . . the ones that fit go to work – the ones that do not get set down out loud.
1. Start with the questions. WHO — John, writing – and a "ye," the reader. WHAT — signs written, and signs not written. WHY — answered outright, and this is the rare book that hands it to you. WHEN and WHERE are empty boxes – the verses do not say . . . so take the shovel to the neighbors: this is the close of chapter 20, after the resurrection, after Thomas. A man does not state his aim at the beginning of a work he has not finished.
2. Read the whole verse. Verse 31 alone will not do it. Stop at "these are written" and you lose the "many other signs… not written" that gives the sentence its whole force . . . the selection is the point, and the selection is in the neighbor verse.
3. Every command has an address . . . this is not a command — it is a statement of aim — so the tool bends rather than resting: a purpose can have an address too . . . and it does. "That YE might believe." The reader is the one addressed.
4. Let the Bible define its own words. John does not define "believe" and "life" in an obscure footnote. He defines them by using them, over and over, for twenty-one chapters . . . the book is its own dictionary.
5. Clear explains complex — RESTS. Nothing in these two verses is dark . . . there is no deep phrase here waiting for a plain one to light it. Set it down.
6. A verse has neighbors. Verse 30 is verse 31's neighbor and carries half its meaning, as we just said . . . and the larger neighbor is the whole resurrection chapter which this closes.
7. The Bible agrees with itself . . . the same writer says the same thing in his letter: "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." (I John 5:13). Same man, same formula, same aim. And "life through his name" agrees with Peter: "there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
8. When our words are too small. Our word "life" is a small word — a pulse, a span of years. John's word is zōē, which is life itself, the living principle . . . it is the word in "in him was life" (1:4) and "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (14:6). Our word is too small for what is being offered.
9. One word can hold a whole story. "The Christ." Not a surname — an office, and a thousand years of promise is standing behind this word CHRIST. That one word holds the EXPECTATION of the entire Old Testament, and John says the whole book was written so that you would believe that Jesus is THE ONE who fills it.
10. Watch the tense . . . this tool rested at book height in Part One, and it wakes back up the moment we look at one verb. "Are written" is gegraptai — written, and standing written . . . not a report filed - but a document that is still in force.
11. Pictures that preach — RESTS. John's book is full of signs, but these two verses are not one of them . . . this is a plain statement of purpose, not a figure . . . set this tool down.
12. Weigh the whole counsel . . . this is the counsel-verse for the whole book . . . do not build John on the picture of just one sign – lay all seven of these signs side by side, and they say with one voice the thing verse 31 promised.
13. Wisdom observes. Observe the order: he tells you what he left out before he tells you what he kept . . . a man covering something up - does not begin by naming the size of what he left out.
Eleven used, two rested — and both rested for the same reason, that a plain statement is neither dark nor is a plain statement a picture.
✍️ Author's Note
The idea I want to point out here – is that when we run across a difficult book that is hard for us to understand – we make a mistake when we just assume – because we have to dig – this must not be for me…
Pr 2:1 ¶ My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
The idea here is that nobody twists a tight lid on a jar – and then thinks – this jar must not be for me. The resistance just means that it is sealed tight – and a tight seal means that what's inside is worth keeping… The hard "to open" book is the same thing – the difficulty is the seal – not a sign that you don't belong at the table.
Buried treasure. Gold is never lying on top of the ground. If you walk across a field and find nothing on the surface, the honest conclusion isn't "there's nothing here for me," it's "anything valuable here - is underneath." That's exactly how Solomon puts it: "if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand" (Proverbs 2:4-5). And Proverbs 25:2, "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter." God hides things so that they will be dug for, and the digging is a mark of honor, not a mark of exclusion.
The parables. Jesus told stories the crowd couldn't figure out, and the disciples had to come and ask, "Declare unto us the parable" (Matthew 13:36). The hard saying wasn't the signal to walk away; it was the invitation to come closer. The ones who had to dig were the ones it was for. The ones who shrugged and went home were the ones who missed it.
So – if a book is easy – we don't really need God – we don't need prayer – we don't need patience… but the deep things of God – require that we depend upon GOD to open them for us – like Summer depends upon me to open a lid that is too tight for her to loosen – if she could do everything that I did – then she would not need me for anything. — C.T.
Way Two — The Book Names Its Reader (Luke 1:1–4)
"Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed." — Luke 1:1–4
Luke goes further than John. He does not just say why. He says to whom, and he uses the man's name.
"To write unto THEE." One man. And Luke tells you what that man already had and what he still lacked: he had been instructed, and he did not yet have certainty. Luke wrote to close that gap.
Suppose somebody told you about a country — described it, drew you a map, said it was real . . . you would believe him . . . now suppose a friend who had actually walked the whole country, talked to the people who live there, and checked every road himself then - sat down and wrote it out in order and handed it to you with your name on the front. You believed before. BUT now you are sure.
And notice that Luke shows his work before he asks to be believed . . . many others had written. Eyewitnesses had handed things down. He traced it all carefully from the first and set it in order . . . nothing in "all scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Timothy 3:16) requires a man to be unconscious of his craft. God inspired a careful man's careful work.
ONE WORD — "THE CERTAINTY" (asphaleian)
as-FAH-lay-an. Two pieces: a-, which means not, and a verb meaning to trip or make fall. Literally, the not-slipping. Our word asphalt comes down from the same idea — the surface that does not give way underfoot. Luke's aim was not that Theophilus would feel more confident . . . the aim was that he would stand on ground that would not slide.
And the word for "instructed" is katēchēthēs — taught by mouth, sounded down into the ear. Our word catechism comes from it. Theophilus had it in his ear. Luke gave it to him in writing, in order, so that the sound became a floor to stand upon.
THE FULL ROLL-CALL. Every tool again, over Luke's four opening verses.
1. Start with the questions. WHO — Luke, and a named reader. WHAT — an orderly account of things surely believed. WHY — "that thou mightest know the certainty." WHEN and WHERE are empty boxes again – Luke never says where he sat or what year it was . . . two empty boxes, and the shovel turns up something better than a date: he tells you his method instead, which is what a reader actually needs.
2. Read the whole verse . . . these four verses are one long sentence. Stop at verse 3 and you have the dedication without the reason for it. The purpose is in the last clause, and Luke saved it for last on purpose.
3. Every command has an address . . . not a command — but here the address is a proper name, printed on the page. "To write unto thee, most excellent Theophilus." Of the four ways in this part, this one makes the tool's work easiest.
4. Let the Bible define its own words. Luke's "in order" is kathexēs, and Luke defines it himself by using it again: Peter "rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it BY ORDER" (Acts 11:4). The writer's own habit, showing up in his account of another man.
5. Clear explains complex — RESTS. A prologue is the clearest writing in the book . . . there is nothing dark here for a plain verse to light . . . set it down.
6. A verse has neighbors . . . the most important neighbor of Luke 1:1 is not in Luke at all . . . it is Acts 1:1 — "The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus" — the other end of the same man's work, addressed to the same reader. Two books, one shelf.
7. The Bible agrees with itself . . . and here the agreement is the two-volume set itself: Luke wrote both, to one man, the second picking up where the first left off. Remember that when we reach Acts in Stage Three.
8. When our words are too small. "Certainty" is a thin word in English — a feeling of being sure. Luke's word is asphaleia, built from "not" and "to trip." The not-slipping. He is not after a feeling. He is after ground that will not give way underfoot.
9. One word can hold a whole story. "Instructed" is katēchēthēs — taught by mouth, sounded down into the ear – our word catechism comes from it. That one word holds the whole practice of the early church teaching its converts out loud before there was a book in every hand.
10. Watch the tense — RESTS. No verb in these four verses turns the meaning . . . nothing here hangs on whether a thing is finished or ongoing . . . set it down.
11. Pictures that preach — RESTS. A formal dedication is not a figure . . . the album, the map, the friend who walked the country — those pictures are mine, brought in to explain. They are not in the text, and it is worth saying so plainly.
12. Weigh the whole counsel. Luke's method IS this tool: "having had PERFECT UNDERSTANDING of ALL things from the very first." He did not build on one witness. He gathered the whole experience together and then wrote about that experience.
13. Wisdom observes. Observe that he shows his work before he asks to be believed — the many who wrote before him, the eyewitnesses who handed it down, the tracing, the ordering . . . a man with nothing to show does not start there.
Ten used, three rested — one more than John's page, and not the same three . . . that is the point: the passage decides which tools work, not the habit of the reader.
🎤 From the Pulpit — The Man in the Moon
The first thought that comes to mind – about believing something – but not being able to prove it – goes back to my childhood. As a child I was CONVINCED that there really was a man in the moon – after-all you could see his face… but as RIGHT as this seems to a child – it is obviously not true.
I have also heard religious people who were CONVINCED that the dead wake up in a place called PURGATORY awaiting the prayers of a church leader – to get them out. We could say the same thing about how these same people are totally convinced that their church leader can forgive their sins and when given money - pray them out of purgatory into heaven after death. To date – no-one has ever been able to use our Bible – to prove that either one of these strongly held beliefs are true. If it is not in the Bible – it is a man made tradition that has been upgraded to look like God's Word… The religious practices of much of the world – cannot be found in The Bible… and if these errors persist in a person's life until death – they will stand before God in judgement with their hope in what SEEMED right instead of their hope being placed in what WAS right.
Way Three — The Book Shows You and Never Says (Matthew 1:1–17)
"The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham… So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations." — Matthew 1:1, 17
Now the hard kind, and the important one. Matthew never once says who he is writing to. He shows you — and he shows you so thoroughly that the question is settled before a single event of the Lord's life is told.
If a stranger knocked on the door and said the house you live in belongs to him, you would not care how kind he seemed or how well he spoke . . . you would ask one thing: can you prove it? And nothing would answer you but a deed with the line of ownership written out, name after name, down to him as the last owner.
That is what Matthew hands you on his first page. He does not begin with a story. He begins with the paperwork. "The son of David" — the royal family. "The son of Abraham" — the covenant family . . . then name after name after name, down to Jesus.
And look what is in that opening . . . a genealogy, which matters only where descent is a legal question . . . two names lifted out and set in the first verse. A count of the generations in three fourteens. A title, Christ, which is not a surname but an office out of the Hebrew Scriptures. A Greek reader in Corinth would find Matthew's first page nearly meaningless. But a Jewish reader - would find it a legal brief.
Mark the order, too. Abraham lived a thousand years before David, and Matthew still puts David first . . . the kingship is what he is pressing hardest, so the king goes in front . . . and in verse 6 he writes "David the king" where the bare name would have carried the list along perfectly well. He is not merely listing. He is arguing.
ONE WORD — "THE BOOK OF THE GENERATION" (biblos geneseōs)
BEEB-loss ghen-EH-seh-oce . . . a register of descent — and the phrase is not new with Matthew. The Greek Old Testament uses those same two words as a heading in Genesis: "the book of the generations of Adam" (Genesis 5:1). Matthew opens the New Testament with a Genesis heading, and a reader raised on those Scriptures would have heard it the moment he read it.
Now here is the thing to take home from this unit - and it is the whole point.
John TELLS you why he wrote. He says it right out - "these are written, that ye might believe" (20:31). Matthew never tells you who he wrote for. But he SHOWS you on every page . . . he starts with Abraham, he quotes the Old Testament over and over, he says "kingdom of heaven" the way a Jew would, and he never stops to explain a Jewish custom - because his readers already knew. So - we say Matthew wrote to the Jews - and we are right.
But notice - those are two different kinds of "right." With John, you can put your finger on the verse. With Matthew, you put your finger on a pile of clues that all point the same way. Both are solid. They are just not the SAME kind of solid . . . one is the man saying it, the other is you working it out from what he did.
Think of it like this. If a neighbor tells you, "I am going to the lake Saturday," you know it - he said so. If you see the boat hitched up Friday night and the cooler on the porch, you know it too - but you know it a different way. You would not swear to the second one the way you would to the first.
So here is the habit. When the Bible SAYS a thing, say "the text says." When the Bible only SHOWS a thing, say "the text shows." That one little honesty will cost you a little punch in an argument . . . but it will make you very hard to embarrass, because nobody can ever come back and say "show me where it says that" - you already told them it does not SAY it, it SHOWS it.
THE FULL ROLL-CALL. Every tool, over Matthew's first seventeen verses.
1. Start with the questions. WHO — and this is the whole unit: WHO is answered by evidence, never by a sentence. WHAT — a register of descent. WHY — to establish a legal right, though Matthew never writes that down either. WHEN and WHERE are empty boxes. Note what has happened: on this page, nearly every box has to be filled by observation rather than by reading . . . that is what a shown answer feels like.
2. Read the whole verse — and here, the whole seventeen . . . a man who reads verse 1 and skips to verse 18 has missed the argument entirely . . . the tally in verse 17 is not bookkeeping – it is the closing line of the brief.
3. Every command has an address . . . not a command — but the address is the very thing at issue, and Matthew never states it. This is the tool working at its hardest: the answer is real, and it is nowhere written down.
4. Let the Bible define its own words. Matthew defines "Christ" the way the whole Old Testament defines it — by the office of anointing, and by the promises he will quote all through his book.
5. Clear explains complex — RESTS. There is no dark phrase on this page . . . every sentence is plain . . . the difficulty is not obscurity – it is that a fact is shown and never said, and no clear verse can fix that. Set it down.
6. A verse has neighbors. Verse 1's two titles are explained by the list that follows and totaled by verse 17. And look just past the list: "thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins" (1:21), and "they shall call his name Emmanuel" (1:23). The neighbors name Him twice more, and both names are argued from the Hebrew Scriptures.
7. The Bible agrees with itself . . . two places at once . . . the heading biblos geneseōs is the Greek Old Testament's own heading in Genesis 5:1. And Matthew's line runs through Solomon — "David the king begat Solomon" (1:6) — while Luke's runs through another son, "which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David" (Luke 3:31). Both arrive at David. Matthew chose the throne. This booklet will not attempt to reconcile the two lists – it only establishes that there are two, and that each writer chose.
8. When our words are too small — RESTS. Our words are not too small here. "Book," "generation," "begat" — plain words doing plain work, and the monotony of "begat" is itself the argument: link, link, link, with no gap for a challenger to put his finger in. Set it down.
9. One word can hold a whole story. "Christ." An office, not a surname. To a reader with no Old Testament it is an empty sound – to a Jewish reader it is the word his nation had been waiting on - for centuries . . . that one word, in the first verse, is half the evidence of who this book is for.
10. Watch the tense — RESTS. "Begat," forty times, never varying . . . no tense in this passage turns a meaning . . . set it down.
11. Pictures that preach — RESTS. The deed and the stranger at the door are my pictures, not Matthew's. He gives you a register, not a figure . . . say so, and keep the two apart.
12. Weigh the whole counsel . . . do not settle the audience question on the genealogy alone . . . lay it beside the "kingdom of heaven" Matthew says where the others say "kingdom of God," and the drumbeat of "that it might be fulfilled," and the Old Testament quoted on nearly every page. One line of evidence is a guess. Four "agreeing lines" is a conclusion.
The Kingdom of heaven and The Kingdom of God — they mean the same thing, and the difference in wording is the evidence.
Matthew says "kingdom of heaven" about thirty-two times. Mark, Luke, and John never say it once - they say "kingdom of God." And when you lay the same saying side by side, it is plainly one kingdom with two labels. Matthew 4:17 has Jesus preaching "the kingdom of heaven is at hand" - Mark 1:15 reports the same sermon as "the kingdom of God is at hand." Matthew 13:11, "the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" - Mark 4:11, "the mystery of the kingdom of God." And Matthew himself uses both in the same breath in 19:23-24 - "a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven . . . a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." Same rich man, same door.
So - why does Matthew alone say "heaven"? Because that is how a devout Jew talked. Out of reverence for the name of God, Jews of that day avoided saying "God" in ordinary speech and put a stand-in word in its place - and "heaven" was the common one. You can see the habit right in the Bible: the prodigal son says "I have sinned against HEAVEN" (Luke 15:18), meaning against God; Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar "the heavens do rule" (Daniel 4:26), meaning God rules. Matthew, a Jew writing to Jews, reached for the word his readers were used to hearing in the synagogue. Mark and Luke, writing for Gentiles who had no such habit, said "God" plainly so nobody would miss it.
That is what makes it a line of evidence for the audience question. It is not a doctrine - it is a fingerprint. The man wrote the way his readers talked.
One caution worth putting in the lesson, because there are some Bibles with study notes (such as Scofield) which teach that "kingdom of heaven" and "kingdom of God" were two different kingdoms. The parallel verses above are the correct answer - let the Bible define its own words, and the Book shows one kingdom under two names. This is tool 4 and tool 7 doing their work.
And you do not have to take my count on faith . . . look up "heaven" on the concordance, run your finger down Matthew's column, and count "kingdom of heaven" for yourself. Then look up "kingdom of God" and see whose column it fills. That is tool 12 done with your own two hands.
13. Wisdom observes . . . this whole unit is this tool, and it is why the unit exists . . . nothing here is stated – everything here is seen. The observing reader learns who Matthew wrote for - without ever finding a verse that tells him — which is exactly the habit named above, and the reason it had to be named before we walk a single book.
Nine used, four rested — the most we have set down yet, and for a reason worth naming: the tools that dig into words and verbs have little to do on a page that argues by structure instead . . . a different kind of page calls for a different handful of tools.
✍️ Author's Note
The important thing for us to take away here – is THE METHOD each human author uses. It is important whether a book is written to "The Jews – The Romans – or to The Greek". But what we are learning here is how to discover the authors METHOD especially when the audience is hidden behind "a showing" rather than behind "a telling". So – an indirect "take away" is gaining a familiarity with the different cultures (nationalities) that existed – for which The Bible has been written. Today we are neither Jew nor Roman nor Greek – but as a non-Jew we are among The Gentile. And as a believing Gentile – we are adopted (grafted) into the natural tree. So don't get sidetracked about the different audiences – concentrate on the method – and be aware that even though we are not Jewish by nature – we can claim all of the promises that Jesus made to the Jews – by right of adoption which is an entirely different study that is beyond the scope of this book. — C.T.
Way Four — The Address Is on the Envelope (Jude 1; I Corinthians 1)
"Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called." — Jude 1:1
"Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours." — I Corinthians 1:2
The letters are the easiest of all, once somebody tells you to look. They have the address written on the front.
Pick up any letter and look at the envelope before you open it. If it says the electric company, you expect a bill . . . if it says your grandmother, you expect something else . . . and if a letter comes to your house addressed to your neighbor, you do not read the instructions inside and start doing them.
Jude writes to people he describes three ways: sanctified by God the Father, preserved in Jesus Christ, and called . . . that is not everybody in the world . . . that is a family. And notice that all three describe something done TO them — set apart by the Father, kept by the Son, called. Not one of the three is something they did.
Paul's letter to Corinth has a street address on it: the church of God which is at Corinth. God's church, located at Corinth — ownership first, geography second.
BUT NOW READ THE REST OF PAUL'S SENTENCE, because we must be the ones who tell you this, not somebody arguing against you later. Having named one city, Paul widens: "with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours." The most locally addressed letter in the New Testament contains its own widening clause . . . so the rule is not "this letter is none of my business." The rule is: read the envelope first, and then read the letter knowing who is being spoken to.
And the letters were meant to travel. Paul tells one congregation to pass its mail along: the Colossian letter is to be read at Laodicea, and Laodicea's at Colosse (Colossians 4:16). A named address never meant a sealed one.
ONE WORD — "CALLED" (klētois) and "PRESERVED" (tetērēmenois)
klay-TOICE — called, summoned by name . . . it comes from the same root as ekklēsia, the called-out assembly you met back in Lesson 3. The people in both addresses are identified by a summons that came to them - from outside themselves.
teh-tay-ray-MEH-noyce — preserved. Guarded, kept in custody, and the form means kept and still kept. Not "those who are keeping themselves." Those who have been kept, and remain so. Jude uses the same verb later of the angels "reserved in everlasting chains" (1:6) — the same guarding power, two entirely different custodies . . . and mark where he put it: he is about to tell these people that wolves are already inside the door, and in the same breath he calls them kept.
THE FULL ROLL-CALL. Every tool, over the two salutations.
1. Start with the questions. WHO — Jude, and Paul with Sosthenes (I Corinthians 1:1) – written to the called, and to a church at Corinth. WHERE — Corinth, named – Jude gives no place at all. WHAT — a letter. WHY is an empty box in both salutations, and the shovel goes to the neighbors: Jude tells you two verses later that "it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith" (1:3). WHEN neither one says.
2. Read the whole verse . . . this is the central tool of the unit . . . the widening clause is in the back half of I Corinthians 1:2, and a man who stops reading at "Corinth" walks away with the wrong rule and will defend it for years.
3. Every command has an address . . . here the tool stands in its plainest dress — the address is the first thing on the page, before a single instruction is given . . . this is the tool the whole booklet stopped for.
4. Let the Bible define its own words. "Called" is klētois, from the same root as ekklēsia — the called-out assembly you met back in Lesson 3, from "upon this rock I will build my church." The Book defines its own address by the same root it uses for the church itself.
5. Clear explains complex. Jude's address is abstract: sanctified, preserved, called, and no city named. Paul's is concrete: the church of God which is at Corinth. Stand the concrete one beside the abstract one and Jude's becomes plain — he is writing to the same kind of people, gathered the same way, in places he simply does not name.
6. A verse has neighbors. Verse 1 names the writers, verse 2 the readers, verse 3 the greeting . . . and a neighbor from another letter settles how far a letter travels: "when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans" (Colossians 4:16). A named address never meant a sealed one.
7. The Bible agrees with itself . . . read the openings side by side and the pattern is not occasional, it is the standing practice: "to the saints which are at Ephesus" (Ephesians 1:1) – "to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons" (Philippians 1:1) – "to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints" (Romans 1:7) – "John to the seven churches which are in Asia" (Revelation 1:4). Four more witnesses, all saying the same thing.
8. When our words are too small. Our word "called" is small — an invitation, a phone call, a name shouted across a yard. Klētois is a summons, and it came from outside the man who received it. Nobody in either address called himself.
9. One word can hold a whole story. "Preserved" — tetērēmenois — holds the whole doctrine of keeping in one word, and Jude sets it in the address of a letter about wolves already inside the door.
10. Watch the tense. Preserved is a perfect tense verb: kept, and still kept. Not "those who are keeping themselves" — those who have been kept, and remain so. Sanctified is the same shape . . . every description in Jude's address is something done TO them and still standing.
11. Pictures that preach — RESTS. A salutation is not a figure . . . the envelope, the electric bill, the letter meant for the neighbor — all mine, brought in to explain. Not Jude's, and not Paul's. Set it down.
12. Weigh the whole counsel . . . and this one is urgent here, because the address rule taken alone will mislead a man . . . it has to be weighed with Romans 15:4 and I Corinthians 10:11 — which is exactly what Part Four is for. Do not leave this unit holding half the counsel.
13. Wisdom observes. Observe that Paul widens in the same breath in which he narrows . . . a careless reader sees only the city . . . an observing reader sees the city and the clause that reaches past it, and never has to be corrected by somebody else.
Twelve used, one rested . . . the most tools any of the four passages has called for — because a salutation is short, dense, and doing several jobs at once.
✍️ Author's Note
1Co 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
The whole point to emphasizing a verse like this one – is to counter the idea – that The Bible has been written to ALL the saved. I understand to say that The Bible has not been written to all the saved sounds a bit harsh – but consider this… The Bible has been written to help ALL the saved – however it has not been ADDRESSED to all of the saved. For instance – the speed limit has been posted in an effort to help ALL drivers – but only those who respect the law enough to obey these limits will receive the intended benefits. Likewise – The Bible contains many promises – but those children who are living outside of obedience – have no right to expect that these promises have been extended to a life that is built upon disobedience. Maintaining a slow steady speed on the highway can help preserve fuel and increase fuel mileage – but driving too fast will cause our tank to be empty sooner than it should be. A life of patience as we wait upon The Lord – can help preserve our joy… but living in the fast lane – will cause us to lose that joy as our tank reaches the EMPTY mark before it should. So – as we study God's Word – be aware that God's promises can be claimed through obedience – and that The Bible contains TEACHINGS – which are capable of showing those living in the fast lane how to slow down and wait upon God… but the benefits of patiently waiting upon God – are not promised to those who ignore these teaching as they SPEED through life in order to satisfy their own desires at the expense of obeying what The Bible teaches is God's will for their life. — C.T.
📘 Part Four — What This Does Not Mean
A word of caution now, and it belongs here rather than at the end of the course, because the error it guards against - is the kind a man picks up in his first month of study and carries with him for twenty years.
A reader who has just learned that books have addresses - can draw a wrong conclusion very fast, and it sounds clever when he says it: that most of the Bible is not for him. Four things against that.
FIRST — SCRIPTURE CLAIMS PROFIT FOR THE LATER READER, AND SAYS SO. This is not an inference. "Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope" (Romans 15:4). And of Israel's failures in the wilderness: "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition" (I Corinthians 10:11). Paul says of writings addressed to another people in another age that they were written for us. The address does not cancel the profit to be gained by the reading.
SECOND — "ALL SCRIPTURE" MEANS ALL OF IT. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (II Timothy 3:16). Profitable — all of it, to the man reading it. Whatever we say about audiences has to stand next to that verse, not in place of it.
THIRD — THE ADDRESS IS A KEY, NOT A LOCK. Knowing who a thing was said to - is how you find out what it means . . . it is not a permit to set it aside . . . a man who answers every uncomfortable command with "that was written to them" has not learned to read. He has learned to duck. A tool used against its purpose will eventually be used against its owner.
FOURTH — AND THE CORRECTION IS STILL NEEDED. All of that is true, and it is still true that great harm has been done by reading church mail as though it were addressed to nobody in particular — commands given to a congregation applied to a nation, promises made to a church claimed by a man who is not in one, ordinances given to a body treated as personal property . . . both errors are real . . . the first empties the Bible. The second flattens it.
The way between them - is not a compromise . . . it is a habit: read the address, then read the letter, and let both of them stand – and find application in our lives.
✍️ Author's Note
The whole point to this concept of "Bible School" is this: In our school system – there is a teacher's edition which the teacher uses – and then there is the student edition. The student's edition has problems to be worked out, and the teacher's edition has the solutions to all of those problems. My goal for each student – is to give each one access to the TEACHERS edition. As a pastor for almost forty years – I do not possess the teacher's edition – while everyone else in church has the student edition. There are big sheep and little sheep in God's fold – as pastor I have been called to be a watchman – to sound a warning – the responsibility of those who hear the warnings from me – is to compare the warning with God's Word – to see if that warning is based upon scripture – and not upon tradition. My desire for each of you is this:
Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Read it whole. Two halves, and the second half guards the first half. "Grieve not" is the command; "whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption" is the assurance. Whatever grieving does, it does NOT break the seal - the seal holds "unto the day of redemption," all the way to the finish. So - this is a verse about a saved man hurting Someone who will never leave him – it is not about a man in danger of being left or deserted.
The five questions. WHO - Paul to the saints at Ephesus (1:1), so believers; and it is a command, so the address matters: this is spoken to people who HAVE the Spirit. WHAT - stop grieving Him. WHEN - now, in daily conduct. WHERE - the text does not say, and the neighbors fill the box: it sits in the middle of a list about the mouth and the heart (4:25-32) - lying, anger, stealing, corrupt talk, bitterness. WHY - because He is the one who sealed you.
The one word: GRIEVE. It means to cause sorrow, to wound. You cannot grieve a force or an influence - you can only grieve a Person. That is the doctrine hiding in the verb: the Holy Spirit is a Person who can be hurt by His own people. And the verse just before (v.29) is about what comes out of the mouth, and the one just after (v.31) is about what sits in the heart, so the plainest reading is that careless words and a sour spirit grieve Him.
Now to the watchman. Here is where I want to be careful to say "the text shows," and not that "the text says," because Ephesians 4:30 does not mention a watchman nor does it mention study. But my line of reasoning here is sound, and I am going to use it to build upon the concept of "the whole counsel":
The Spirit is the Teacher - "he shall teach you all things" (John 14:26), "he will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13). So - the message that comes through a faithful watchman (Ezekiel 33:7, "hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me") is HIS message carried by a man. To shrug it off is not shrugging off the man; it is turning away from the Teacher - and that is a grief to Him.
But the other side of the coin - is just as true, and it is the one we need as students. The Spirit is not grieved by a man who checks the watchman against the Book - He is honored by it. The Bereans "received the word with all readiness of mind, AND searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so" (Acts 17:11), and the Spirit called them "more noble" for it. So - there are two ways to grieve Him with a watchman's message: ignore it, or swallow it without opening your Bible. The student of the Word does neither. He hears the warning, and he goes and digs to see if it is so - which is every tool in the toolbox, put to the use it was made for.
Guard for the lesson. As we consider how we can GRIEVE The person of The Holy Spirit – I want us to always keep the seal that is mentioned here squarely in our view. If we are not careful when we hear "you are grieving the Spirit" we will also hear "we are losing Him". SO – let me say this PLAINLY - that this verse itself says otherwise. Grieving Him costs fellowship and fruit, but never does it cost us "the seal".
In our study of God's Word – there are no student editions – all we use are the teacher's editions. The purpose of these tools – is so the student of God's Word can check to see if what they are being told by the watchman – is THE TRUTH. — C.T.
⭐ Try It This Week
Two pieces of homework, and both are book-sized . . . do not "mine" single verses this week.
ONE. Read the whole Gospel of John, straight through, the way you would read a letter from a friend — in one or two sittings if you can . . . do not stop to study . . . just read it whole. That is tool two that has grown up. And as you read, watch for one word that keeps coming back. You will not be able to miss it. When you have found it, you have already begun to read a book the way you learned to read a verse. Then check yourself the way the Helper page showed you: look that word up on the concordance and see for yourself how many times John reaches for it.
TWO. Then open to the first two verses of five letters — Romans, I Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Jude — and read nothing but the addresses. Write down who each one is written to, in the writer's own words. Five envelopes, five minutes . . . you will never read the New Testament letters the same way again.
⭐ Your Toolbox — Now Works on Books
1. Start with the questions. 2. Read the whole verse — or the whole book. 3. Every command has an address. 4. Let the Bible define its own words. 5. Clear explains complex. 6. A verse has neighbors — a book has a shape. 7. The Bible agrees with itself. 8. When our words are too small. 9. One word can hold a whole story. 10. Watch the tense. 11. Pictures that preach. 12. Weigh the whole counsel. 13. Wisdom observes.
AND A NEW HABIT, LEARNED TODAY. Run the whole toolbox in your mind every time — and name the tools you are setting down, and why. Knowing what you will not use is as much a part of reading well - as knowing what you will use . . . that habit does not change when the piece gets bigger . . . it is the only thing that keeps a big piece from swallowing you.
AND ONE HELPER, ALWAYS IN THE TRUCK. The concordance is not a fourteenth tool . . . it is the thing that hands you tools 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 12 when you reach for them, at verse size or book size. If you have not read the Helper page yet, read it before you open John.
⭐ The Road Ahead — The Order of Our Unveiling
The books will not be taken in the order they are bound. They will be taken in the order a reader can bear them, and there is a reason behind each stage.
STAGE ONE — WHO HE IS. The Gospel of John. We begin here because John begins where a man must begin, and because John tells you outright why he wrote . . . one book, and the Person settled before anything else is attempted.
STAGE TWO — FOUR PORTRAITS, FOUR READERS. Matthew, Mark and Luke. One Christ, presented four ways to four kinds of reader . . . this is where the work of this booklet pays out — and Matthew comes here, before Acts, because Matthew is where the Lord says "upon this rock I will build my church" (16:18) and where He tells a man to "tell it unto the church" (18:17). Those verses belong in the reader's hand before he opens Acts.
STAGE THREE — THE CHURCH EMPOWERED. The Acts of the Apostles. Having read Matthew, the reader comes to Pentecost already knowing the Lord built a church during His earthly ministry and gave it work to do. So - he can see what Acts actually records: "ye shall receive POWER, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you" (1:8). Power given to a body that was already standing there to receive it.
STAGE FOUR — FAMILY MAIL. The letters, beginning with Ephesians, which says what the church IS before the corrective letters begin correcting it – then Romans for the doctrinal foundation – then the local and pastoral letters, Hebrews, the general letters, and Revelation last of all.
Twenty-seven books, one each month. Jude is already finished and on the shelf, out of order, because Jude is where this way of working was worked out . . . the rest will come in the order above.
⭐ Questions for the Reader
These are not a test, and no one is graded. They are the questions a reader ought to be able to answer out of the text itself, and answering them out loud is most of the work of learning a passage . . . if you would like to send your answers in, there is a short form at the end of this booklet.
- John states his purpose for writing. Quote the verse, and say in your own words what he says he left out and why.
- Luke names his reader . . . what did that reader already have, and what did Luke say he still needed?
- Matthew never states who he is writing to. Name three things on his first page that show you anyway.
- What is the difference between a purpose a book STATES and an audience a book SHOWS? Why does it matter which one you are leaning on?
- Read Jude 1:1 and I Corinthians 1:2. How does each writer describe the people he is writing to? What is done TO them in those descriptions, and what do they do themselves?
- I Corinthians 1:2 names one city and then widens. Write out the widening clause, and say what it forbids us from concluding.
- Someone tells you a command in a New Testament letter does not apply to him because it was written to a church in another century. Answer him from Romans 15:4 and II Timothy 3:16.
- Two of the thirteen tools were set down when we ran the toolbox over the whole book of John. Name them, and say why each one rested.
- Look up "kingdom of heaven" on the concordance. Which Gospel fills the column? Then look up "kingdom of God." What does that difference tell you about who Matthew wrote for — and is that something the text SAYS, or something the text SHOWS?
Course II — How to Read the Bible • The Helper page • The Bible School
No comments:
Post a Comment