Discovering Truth: Bible Basics

"Study to show
thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly
dividing the Word of truth." (2Timothy 2:15.)

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PREFACE

The
purpose of the Bible Basics handbook is to clearly outline the basic
beliefs that form the foundation for true Biblical Christianity. This book is
"a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among
us...that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave". (Lk.1:1;
1Tim.3:14,15.)

Bible
Basics will undoubtedly prove to be a very useful and helpful topical
concordance and study aid for all Christians who read it. Familiarising
yourself with the Scriptures herein will deepen your knowledge of God's Word,
which will prove to be "a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your
path" (Psa.119:105), a continual source of strength and direction.

This
handbook will also be a particularly valuable tool to all active witnesses, lay
workers and missionaries who wish to instruct new Christians in basic Biblical
truths. Pastors & counselors will find it a great help when instructing or
counseling others. Parents will also find Bible Basics a most helpful
tool in bringing up their children in the "nurture and admonition of the
Lord". (Eph.6:4.)

It
is our hope that the Lord will use this handbook to encourage and strengthen
the faith of all of its readers & to open the Scriptures to those who are
unfamiliar with them. And most importantly, we hope that it will fulfil its
principal purpose of placing a compact Bible manual in the hands of all
Christian workers, aiding them to "feed the flock of God which is among
them". (1Pet.5:2.)

In
a handbook of this nature, it is understood that we were unable to include a
comprehensive study on every subject of interest. In order to keep this book
down to a useful length, we limited ourselves to include only what we believed
to be the most vital and essential sections. The result was a compact teacher's
manual that could be easily carried anywhere, rather than a weighty tome which
would, by its sheer volume, be limited to deskside study. Many topics that do
not appear as individual sections in Bible Basics are, however, included
as subtopics within the book, and can be located in the topical index.

EXPLANATION OF TECHNICAL ASPECTS

As
in most other Bible concordances and topical study helps, the Bible verses have
not been quoted in their entirety. Our goal was to produce a handy-sized
booklet small enough to be carried in a pocket, purse or briefcase as a
constant companion. Therefore, to limit the verses to one line each, or two
lines when warranted, we abbreviated them. We have placed ellipses, "..."
to indicate when words are omitted.

Parentheses
( ) are used when:

(1)
We wanted it to be clear who or what was being referred to. For example,
Mat.26:44 says, "He prayed the third time, saying the same words". We
quote it as, "(Jesus) prayed the third time..."

(2)
Parentheses are also used to give the exact or current meaning of a word in
cases where the old English of the Authorised Version is not entirely clear. An
example is Psa.23:1, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
(lack)."

(3)
Where we changed the tense of a word simply for the sake of easier
reading--such as in the case of Isa.57:15, where "dwell" was changed
to "(dwells)": "The high and lofty One that inhabiteth
Eternity...(dwells) with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit".

Brackets
[ ] are used when:

(1)
A Scripture passage was too lengthy or difficult to merely abbreviate, such as
when an entire story is referred to, and a simple summary was sufficient to
explain what the passage was about.

(2)
When something is not stated in a verse, but is implied.

Verse
references which have been placed in parentheses at the end of a section
indicate verses which, though good, are perhaps not quite as important or as
clear on the subject as the spelled-out abbreviated verses. When these
"See also" verses appear at the end of a section, they are on the
same general subject as the rest of the verses in that particular section. When
a "See also" reference appears on the same line as a verse, that
means that it refers specifically to the same subject as that particular verse.

Sometimes
the verse references refer to either the first part of a verse (a) or the
latter part of it (b). A good example of this would be Neh.8:10b, which says,
"The joy of the Lord is your strength." Neh.8:10 is a rather long
verse, and the first part is not closely related to the point brought out in
the second part. Therefore, to help you easily locate and mark this part of the
verse in your Bible, the Scripture reference simply refers you to the last or
"b" part of the verse.

To
save space and to enable us to fit a verse on one line, we have overall
substituted ampersands ("&") for the word, "and". For
this same reason, "w/" was occasionally used instead of
"with".

NOTE TO TEACHERS

Many
of these sections are rather lengthy and will take several hours to go through
in a Bible study group. Therefore, we suggest that you familiarise yourself
with the material before teaching it to others, so that you can tailor your
classes according to the needs of your students, as well as to the time they
have available.

If
you have regular Bible study meetings composed of students who have the time
and the desire to study all of the verses contained in these lessons, then, of
course, the lengthier sections will pose no problems to you. But if you don't
have several days or many hours to teach some of these sections, we recommend
that you prepare to teach a more abbreviated version, touching on only the most
important verses which best bring out the key principles and Scriptures you
wish to get across to your class. When studying and familiarising yourself with
a section, you'll find that underlining, highlighting or somehow marking what
you feel are the most important verses will make it easier for you to deliver
condensed versions of that lesson to those you are teaching.

Remember
also that stories and actual Bible examples will often help your students to
visualise the principles you are discussing. So if a section contains Bible
stories or examples, you may want to choose ahead of time which ones you wish
to cover in your class.

Something
else to consider is that when sharing or teaching a section with a class for
the first time, you may not always want to teach the entire exhaustive version
even if your students do have the time. The reason for this is because some of
the material may not be simple enough. For example, in the section, "Jesus
Christ, the Son of God", although most of it is very basic to Christian
belief and should be taught early, some of it--though no less true--is quite a
bit deeper and what some might call a bit more "theological".
Therefore, in order to avoid your class possibly getting bogged down in some
rather deep and difficult-to-understand details the first time around, you may
prefer to cover the simplest and most basic verses first, then go back to the
deeper points later, after your class has been through all the most basic
material.

Some
verses are so basic to a certain topic they have been included more than once
in some sections. We tried to use each Bible verse only once per section, but
when a particular passage contributed an important thought to more than one
subtopic within a section, it was included more than once. So though you will
find a certain amount of repetition, it should be minimal.

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Contents at a Glance

Alphabetical
listing of Major Topics              vii

Table
of Contents                viii

Abbreviations
of the books of the Bible          xxii

Salvation               1

Jesus
Christ, the Son of God              5

The
Holy Spirit     17

The
Word of God 23

Prayer     30

Faith       38

Love
& Forgiveness            48

Our
Relationship with the Lord         60

Fellowship             69

Witnessing           72

Giving    80

How
to Find the Will of God              85

Obedience
to God                96

Strength
& Power                103

Protection              111

Supply   119

Trials,
Temptations & Tribulations   127

Suffering                138

Comfort  146

Healing  154

Overcoming
the Devil         161

Fear
Not 168

Thankfulness        174

Pride,
Self-righteousness & Humility               179

The
Power of the Tongue   188

Unity      200

Discipleship          207

The
Christian's Relationship to Worldly Society           214

Persecution           223

Backsliding           232

Christianity
in Crisis            241

The
Law of Christ                248

Creation
vs. Evolution        256

The
Endtime          259

Marriage
& the Home          269

Children 278

Sleep      286

Old
Age 289

Condensed
Word Basics    294

Index      314

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Alphabetical Listing of Major Topics

Backsliding           232

Children 278

Christian's
Relationship to Worldly Society, The          214

Christianity
in Crisis            241

Comfort  146

Creation
vs. Evolution        256

Discipleship          207

Endtime,
The         259

Faith       38

Fear
Not 168

Fellowship             69

Giving    80

Healing  154

Holy
Spirit, The    17

How
to Find the Will of God              85

Jesus
Christ, the Son of God              5

Law
of Christ, The               248

Love
& Forgiveness            48

Marriage
& the Home          269

Obedience
to God                96

Old
Age 289

Our
Relationship with the Lord         60

Overcoming
the Devil         161

Persecution           223

Power
of the Tongue, The  188

Prayer     30

Pride,
Self-righteousness & Humility               179

Protection              111

Salvation               1

Sleep      286

Strength
& Power                103

Suffering                138

Supply   119

Thankfulness        174

Trials,
Temptations & Tribulations   127

Unity      200

Witnessing           72

Word
of God, The                23

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Table of Contents

Topics
and Subtopics         Page

SALVATION       1

1.
All men are sinners          1

2.
Salvation by grace (undeserved mercy), not works   1

3.
Salvation only through Jesus        1

4.
Believe on Jesus              1

5.
Receive Jesus   2

6.
Eternal salvation              2

7.
Receiving Jesus guarantees eternal life in Heaven    2

8.
The results of being born again    3

9.
Sin brings about spiritual death; but Jesus died in our place, taking our
punishment         3

10.
In the Mosaic law, blood is payment for sin; Jesus' death paid that price in
full                3

11.
All men are not saved sons of God in their natural state        3

12.
The self-righteous refuse Jesus' salvation                4

13.
New Testament examples of salvation       4

JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF
GOD              5

1.
Jesus' Father, God, is the Eternal Spirit & Creator      5

2.
Why God sent Jesus into the world             6

3.
More reasons why God sent Jesus into the world     7

4.
Jesus' teachings & personal example           7

5.
Jesus, the way to salvation            8

6.
Jesus, the light of the world           9

7.
Jesus' life & resurrection are a fact               10

8.
Eyewitness accounts in the Bible tell us that              10

9.
Old Testament Messianic prophecies          10

10.
Jesus, the Son of God   12

11.
Jesus' relationship with God        13

12.
The authority & power God has given Jesus            14

13.
Jesus the Creator           15

14.
Titles of Jesus                16

THE HOLY SPIRIT             17

1.
The Holy Spirit's part in our salvation          17

2.
The baptism (or overflowing) of the Holy Spirit         17

3.
The purpose of the Holy Spirit baptism       18

4.
Gifts of the Holy Spirit    19

5.
Freedom of the Holy Spirit             20

6.
The Holy Spirit inspires unity of believers  20

7.
Other points about the ministry of the Spirit               21

8.
Obeying the Holy Spirit  21

9.
The Holy Spirit in Jesus' life           21

10.
Other Bible examples     22

THE WORD OF GOD        23

1.
The Bible was written by divine inspiration                23

2.
God's Word is eternally true & never fails   23

3.
The Importance of God's Word     23

4.
God's Word is our spiritual weapon             23

5.
The Bible was written for our benefit           24

6.
Keeping (obeying, heeding) the Word        24

7.
What the Word does for us           25

8.
What we should do with the Word              26

9.
What you should not do with the Word     28

10.
Beware of those who don't teach the Word              28

11.
The devil blinds men's eyes to God's Word              29

12.
Stories relating to the Word         29

PRAYER               30

1.
How to pray      30

2.
Conditions to getting prayer answered        31

3.
Prayer promises                31

4.
How not to pray               32

5.
Private prayer & united prayer      33

6.
When to pray   34

7.
Wholehearted desperate prayer    35

8.
Other points on prayer    36

9.
Ways God answers prayer             36

FAITH    38

1.
What is faith?   38

2.
The importance of faith   38

3.
The Word tells us to have faith     39

4.
How to obtain faith          39

5.
The rewards (blessings or fruits) of faith     40

6.
Trusting in the Lord's promises     42

7.
Faith vs. natural reasoning             43

8.
The power of faith           44

9.
The testing of our faith   45

10.
If you have true faith     45

11.
Lack of faith    47

LOVE & FORGIVENESS  48

1.
God is love, & He loves us             48

2.
The first great commandment--to love God 48

3.
The second great commandment--to love thy neighbour         49

4.
Love one another             49

5.
Real, genuine love           51

6.
Real love results in good deeds    52

7.
Love vs. hate    53

8.
Special categories of love               53

9.
Love, forgiveness & mercy            54

10.
We are to be merciful & forgiving               56

11.
The limits of forgiveness              57

12.
Even erring Christians must repent to be forgiven   58

OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH
THE LORD     60

1.
We worship the Lord by loving Him            60

2.
How we show our love for the Lord             61

3.
We are to love God above all else 62

4.
We are to fear & reverence the Lord            63

5.
Resting in the Lord          64

6.
Drawing close & resting in the "Secret Place"            64

7.
The benefits of taking quiet time with the Lord          65

8.
Hindrances to our relationship with the Lord             66

9.
Our special relationship with the Lord         67

FELLOWSHIP     69

1.
The Bible instructs us to fellowship             69

2.
The reasons for fellowship             69

3.
Holding meetings             70

4.
Being "of one mind" & working together in unity     70

5.
Fellowship with the world              71

WITNESSING      72

1.
It is your duty, as a Christian, to witness    72

2.
Why you need to witness              72

3.
Don't be shy or ashamed to witness             73

4.
Pointers on how to be a good witness         73

5.
Use the Word in your witnessing 73

6.
Keeping your witness simple         74

7.
What you should preach (witness about)   74

8.
Who to witness to           75

9.
A winning personal example          76

10.
When to witness            76

11.
Where to witness           77

12.
The "fruit" Christians should bear is other Christians, new saved
souls             77

13.
The Holy Spirit & witnessing      77

14.
Witnessing, the greatest work on earth     77

15.
Reactions to the gospel                78

16.
Witnessing boldly despite opposition       78

17.
More verses about witnessing & testifying              79

GIVING 80

1.
The Bible commands believers to give         80

2.
God blesses us when we give        80

3.
Giving to God's work       80

4.
Christian duty regarding giving & sharing  81

5.
Giving with the right motives         82

6.
What happens when we withhold & don't give         82

7.
Tithing               83

8.
Other aspects of giving  84

HOW TO FIND THE WILL OF
GOD              85

1.
The prerequisite: Submit your will to the Lord            85

2.
The Holy Spirit guides us to find God's will                85

3.
The first place to look for God's will is in His Word   85

4.
God sometimes reveals His will through dreams        86

5.
God sometimes reveals His will through visions        87

6.
The Lord sometimes reveals His will through prophecy & revelations  88

7.
Seeking counsel               88

8.
God often reveals His will by obvious circumstances               89

9.
Knowing by faith, the "witness of the Spirit"             90

10.
Determining God's will by confirming signs              91

11.
Sometimes God's will & plans are conditional           91

12.
God often gives Christians alternative choices        92

13.
When God does not reveal His will            92

14.
When you desperately require specific directions   93

15.
You can count on God's leadings even when:          93

16.
The will of God is supreme           94

17.
Rewards for doing God's will       94

18.
God's will on specific subjects     95

OBEDIENCE TO GOD       96

1.
Obeying the Lord             96

2.
If you love & know the Lord, you will obey Him        96

3.
Blessings for obeying the Lord     96

4.
Submission to godly pastors & leaders in the Lord   97

5.
Jesus' example of obedience          98

6.
Yieldedness to God         98

7.
Obeying God rather than ungodly men        99

8.
Disobedience to God--how the Lord views it              99

9.
Various categories of disobedience              99

10.
Reasons for disobedience            100

11.
How to relate to the disobedient 101

12.
God's punishments for disobedience         102

13.
Obedience is building on a sure foundation             102

STRENGTH & POWER    103

1.
God's strength vs. your strength  103

2.
Trust in the Lord, not your own strength    104

3.
Our weakness causes us to depend upon God           104

4.
God can strengthen & use you     105

5.
Don't trust in yourself     107

6.
Power when witnessing  107

7.
God's power vs. your adversaries' physical power    108

PROTECTION     111

1.
Trusting in the Lord is your only sure refuge             111

2.
God will protect you because He loves you                112

3.
The Lord can protect you from (specific dangers listed)          113

4.
Protection from your enemies        115

5.
Special protection promised in the last days               116

6.
Conditions for having God's protection       116

7.
Some examples of divine protection             118

SUPPLY                119

1.
God can supply all our needs        119

2.
God can do miracles to supply      119

3.
Supply during famine      120

4.
Conditions to God's supply           121

5.
Reasons why we sometimes lack  122

6.
God loves you & wants to supply                122

7.
Doing what we can do to supply  123

8.
When God uses others to supply His workers' needs               123

9.
Giving to God's work       125

10.
God promises to prosper our work & businesses    125

11.
God supplies our needs, not always our wants        126

TRIALS, TEMPTATIONS
& TRIBULATIONS            127

1.
Trials & tests are to be expected   127

2.
Trials often result when things don't go our way       127

3.
Why the Lord allows you to have trials & tests         128

4.
Trials over suffering personal loss               130

5.
Some Bible examples of trials & tests           131

6.
Why it's worth it to endure tests & temptations        131

7.
Be thankful for your trials & temptations    132

8.
Helping others who are going through trials              132

9.
Temptations: Where they come from           133

10.
Avoiding temptation     133

11.
How to resist & overcome temptation        134

12.
The Lord will deliver you              135

13.
How righteous men fell through temptation              136

14.
When tempted by worldly beauty              136

15.
Examples of resisting temptation 137

SUFFERING         138

1.
Who causes suffering?--God or the devil?  138

2.
Why does God allow the righteous to suffer?            138

3.
Some specific reasons that God allows suffering       139

4.
Suffering because of obedience & righteousness     139

5.
The benefits & good fruits of suffering       140

6.
Rewards in Heaven for earthly suffering     141

7.
Remember, Jesus also suffered      141

8.
The right attitude toward suffering               141

9.
Wrong attitudes towards suffering              142

10.
God comforts & strengthens us when we suffer      143

11.
Deliverance from suffering           143

12.
Your duty toward the suffering & afflicted               143

13.
The suffering of the worldly wicked           144

14.
Much of the world's suffering is often self-inflicted                144

15.
What suffering does for the unsaved or disobedient              145

COMFORT           146

1.
The Lord will help & comfort you 146

2.
How to receive God's comfort        146

3.
God loves you & cares for you     148

4.
God's loving hands uphold you    149

5.
If you feel you're in the dark, trust in God for light    149

6.
Look on the bright side   149

7.
Why & how to comfort one another            150

8.
When abandoned, suffering heartbreak or loss         152

9.
Heavenly consolation for present suffering and sorrow           153

HEALING              154

1.
Healing was part of Jesus' ministry               154

2.
Healing promises are still valid today           154

3.
It is God's will to heal      154

4.
Nothing is too serious for God to heal         155

5.
Conditions for healing    155

6.
Practical steps in obtaining healing              155

7.
Praying for the sick          157

8.
Fight in the Spirit for your healing                157

9.
Reasons that God allows afflictions & illnesses         157

10.
Points to remember after prayer   159

11.
Miraculous or natural healing?    159

12.
No sickness in Heaven 160

OVERCOMING THE DEVIL             161

1.
Where did the devil come from?    161

2.
The devil is under God's control & restrictions          161

3.
Victory over the devil      162

4.
The spiritual warfare        163

5.
The devil's devices          164

6.
Accuser & tempter          165

7.
The devil is a destroyer  165

8.
Judgment of the devil & his demons, & final end      165

9.
Your armour & weaponry to defeat the devil              166

10.
Power, freedom & deliverance from the devil's darkness        166

11.
Our astonishing angelic allies, the hosts of Heaven                167

FEAR NOT           168

1.
The Lord tells you not to fear        168

2.
Trusting in God overcomes fear    168

3.
Some causes of fear         169

4.
What fear can result in    170

5.
How to have peace & freedom from fear      172

6.
The only One you should fear is God          173

THANKFULNESS               174

1.
Having a thankful, grateful attitude              174

2.
Praising the Lord              174

3.
Have a continual attitude of praising God   175

4.
Murmuring (complaining) forbidden by God              175

5.
Causes of murmuring      176

6.
Why murmuring is dangerous       177

7.
What to do when problems arise  177

PRIDE,
SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS & HUMILITY          179

1.
What does God think about pride?               179

2.
Why is it wrong for us to be proud?            179

3.
Some causes of pride      181

4.
Warnings against pride  181

5.
Self-righteousness: Why is it wrong to think that we--in ourselves--are good
& righteous?            182

6.
Self-righteousness: Why is it wrong to think we--in ourselves--are better than
others?    183

7.
The humbling of the proud            183

8.
Why we should want to be humble              184

9.
Keeping a humble attitude             185

10.
Humility with one another            186

11.
The solution   187

THE POWER OF THE TONGUE      188

1.
The power of positive speech       188

2.
Silence & restrained speech           189

3.
The damage an uncontrolled tongue will do               190

4.
Foolish & evil speech     191

5.
Controlling your tongue 192

6.
Gossiping, backbiting & slander   193

7.
The punishment for gossiping      194

8.
How to avoid criticising & gossiping about others   194

9.
Warning against judging others   195

10.
What to do when others speak evil of you               195

11.
Arguments & contentions           196

12.
Lying, deceit & bearing false witness        198

UNITY    200

1.
Unity or disunity?            200

2.
How to work at keeping united      200

3.
The fruits of unity            202

4.
Unity of believers in Jesus             203

5.
Causes of disunity           203

6.
What disunity results in 205

7.
How to deal with disunity              205

8.
Excommunication             206

9.
Restoration to fellowship               206

10.
When contentions & disputes are necessary           206

DISCIPLESHIP   207

1.
What is a disciple?          207

2.
A disciple's job 207

3.
A disciple is one who obeys the Master     208

4.
Dedicating oneself totally to the Lord          208

5.
The decision to dedicate oneself to Christ as a disciple           208

6.
Different ministries of disciples     209

7.
Discipleship & family obligations 210

8.
Discipleship & "losing your own life"         210

9.
The path the disciple follows         211

10.
The life of a disciple      212

11.
The benefits of discipleship         212

12.
Jesus' last words & prayer for His disciples              213

THE CHRISTIAN'S
RELATIONSHIP TO WORLDLY SOCIETY           214

1.
Christians do not belong to this world (society)        214

2.
Though in this world, we are not to be part of it        214

3.
Our attitude toward worldly values              216

4.
If possible, live peaceably with others in order to win them to the Lord                217

5.
Caution against compromising with the world            217

6.
The importance of an honest, sincere example           218

7.
Secular work & employment          219

8.
The work of pastors, fulltime Christian workers & missionaries              220

9.
A Christian's relationship to worldly governments    221

10.
The governments of man              221

11.
Christians & secular educational systems 222

PERSECUTION   223

1.
Persecution promised to all followers of Jesus           223

2.
Benefits of persecution   223

3.
Attitude to have during persecution            224

4.
Reasons why persecutors attack Christians               226

5.
How: Persecutors usually begin with verbal attacks 227

6.
Persecution by family & friends    229

7.
The world persecuted & rejected Jesus       229

8.
Compromising, fleeing & avoiding persecution         230

9.
God will judge your persecutors   230

10.
Endtime persecution      231

BACKSLIDING   232

1.
Danger signs that lead to backsliding          232

2.
How the Lord views backsliders   234

3.
The danger of fellowshipping with backsliders-in-heart           235

4.
God's punishment of backsliders  235

5.
God's promises of mercy to returning prodigals         235

6.
Attitude for repentant prodigals to have     236

7.
How to avoid backsliding               236

8.
The attitude to have towards backsliders    239

CHRISTIANITY IN CRISIS              241

1.
Predictions of a great apostasy in the last days         241

2.
Ignorance of the Word of God      241

3.
Doctrines & traditions of man vs. God's Word           242

4.
The dwelling place of God              243

5.
The danger of complacency           244

6.
Disobedience to the great commission        244

7.
Failure to shepherd the flock         245

8.
Warning against coveting financial gain     245

9.
Warnings against hypocrisy         246

10.
Religious persecution   247

THE LAW OF CHRIST      248

1.
Salvation is purely by grace, not works       248

2.
What was the Mosaic law?            248

3.
The law served a purpose only for a time    249

4.
Atonement (payment) for breaking the law 250

5.
The new law, the law of Christ       251

6.
Now the commandment is to love God & our neighbour          252

7.
Living the new law           252

8.
Warnings against misusing the new law     253

9.
Beware of falling into religious legalism       253

10.
Trying to legalistically keep the law is not God's will              254

11.
Even under the Mosaic law, God's love & mercy prevailed    255

CREATION vs. EVOLUTION           256

1.
God created the world, not chance evolution             256

2.
God's Word created (& maintains) the universe         256

3.
God's creation is proof of His existence       256

4.
Jesus believed in & quoted from Genesis    256

5.
False science doesn't have the answers      256

6.
The Bible & true science                257

7.
God, as the Creator, has rights of ownership of everything     258

8.
He expects & deserves reverence & worship from His creations            258

9.
God has power to control His creation         258

10.
As Creator, God is above all "gods"          258

THE ENDTIME     259

1.
The last days; signs of the times  259

2.
How to recognise the Antichrist world government  260

3.
The Antichrist & his rise                260

4.
Signing of the covenant 260

5.
Breaking of the covenant & daily sacrifice (Jewish worship) stopped   261

6.
Great tribulation               261

7.
The second coming of Jesus Christ              262

8.
The resurrection & rapture             263

9.
The marriage supper of the Lamb  264

10.
The judgement seat of Christ       264

11.
The wrath of God upon the earth                264

12.
The battle of Armageddon           265

13.
The millennium               265

14.
The battle of Gog & Magog         267

15.
Great white throne judgement      267

16.
New heaven & new earth             267

MARRIAGE & THE HOME               269

1.
Marriage            269

2.
A husband's responsibility toward his wife                269

3.
A wife's attributes & responsibilities           270

4.
Duties of wives toward their husbands       271

5.
Spiritual ministries not restricted to men      271

6.
Harmony & marital peace               272

7.
Marriage & lovemaking  273

8.
Marriage vs. celibacy      274

9.
Divorce, remarriage, marital infidelity & forgiveness 274

10.
Parental duties towards their children        275

11.
A word of caution to parents       276

12.
The importance of training your children right         277

13.
Parents as "good shepherds"      277

CHILDREN           278

1.
Pregnancy         278

2.
The Lord's hand on children before birth    279

3.
The Bible on "the right to life"      279

4.
Childbirth          280

5.
Teaching & training your children                280

6.
Children's obedience & disobedience          282

7.
Loving instruction balanced with firm discipline        282

8.
The growing years           284

9.
Children in God's service                284

10.
Becoming like children  285

SLEEP   286

1.
Sleep considered a blessing           286

2.
If you can't sleep, pray    286

3.
Some reasons for not being able to sleep    286

4.
Good reasons for missing sleep    287

5.
When it is not good to sleep         287

6.
Trusting the Lord to awaken you  288

OLD AGE              289

1.
The blessings of old age                289

2.
God's special help in our old age   289

3.
Desiring long life              289

4.
God can mightily use aged believers            291

5.
Strength in old age          292

6.
Cautions regarding old age            293

7.
Joy in children & in grandchildren                293

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Abbreviations of the books of the Bible used in
"Word Basics"

Old Testament

Genesis  Gen.

Exodus   Exo.

Leviticus                Lev.

Numbers                Num.

Deuteronomy        Deut.

Joshua   Josh.

Judges   Judg.

Ruth       Ruth

1Samuel 1Sam.

2Samuel 2Sam.

1Kings   1Ki.

2Kings   2Ki.

1Chronicles           1Chr.

2Chronicles           2Chr.

Ezra         Ezra

Nehemiah              Neh.

Esther     Est.

Job          Job

Psalms    Psa.

Proverbs                Pro.

Ecclesiastes          Eccl.

Song
of Solomon Song

Isaiah     Isa.

Jeremiah Jer.

Lamentations        Lam.

Ezekiel    Ezk.

Daniel     Dan.

Hosea     Hos.

Joel         Joel

Amos     Amos

Obadiah Oba.

Jonah     Jon.

Micah     Mic.

Nahum   Nah.

Habakkuk              Hab.

Zephaniah             Zeph.

Haggai   Hag.

Zechariah              Zech.

New Testament

Matthew                Mat.

Mark       Mk.

Luke       Lk.

John       Jn.

Acts       Acts

Romans  Rom.

1Corinthians         1Cor.

2Corinthians         2Cor.

Galatians                Gal.

Ephesians              Eph.

Philippians            Phi.

Colossians            Col.

1Thessalonians    1Thes.

2Thessalonians    2Thes.

1Timothy               1Tim.

2Timothy               2Tim.

Titus       Tit.

Philemon                Phlm.

Hebrews                Heb.

James     Jam.

1Peter     1Pet.

2Peter     2Pet.

1John     1Jn.

2John     2Jn.

3John     3Jn.

Jude        Jude

Revelation             Rev.