All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
—2 Timothy 3:16
In order to be equipped with the truth, you must have some skills. You should know how to apply the truth of the Lord in the church skillfully and in life.
You must learn to use the Greek and Hebrew Bibles. You also have to learn to use Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, Young’s Bible concordance, Kittel’s theological dictionary as well as the “little Kittel” (abridged edition), and Alford’s Greek New Testament. Gradually you should be able to use other reference books to do research and be able to apply them freely.
You should know a little Greek. If you can also learn some Hebrew, that is even better. You must also learn to use the reference books. The concordances and Vine’s dictionary are the basics. If the Lord gives you the gift of being a teacher, you should dig into the Greek and Hebrew Bible. If you don’t have that portion, you may not get much light even though you study very hard. In any case, you need to tell the Lord, “Lord, I desire to get into the Word and into Your riches.”
If you cannot use the difficult reference books, you should consult the brothers who are good with them. They may not be deep in life, but if they know how to study the Bible and the language, you should learn to seek advice from them.
Adapted from Being One with the Ministry, Volume Two, pages 19, 20.
Monday: “The Need to Develop and Advance”