Introduction to New Testament Outlines

Dr. Gail E. Terrell
Pastor, Grace Baptist Church, Hamilton, Ohio

Bible Conference

This book contains twenty-seven outlines covering every book of the New Testament.   This book is an outgrowth of a Bible conference on the New Testament at Grace Baptist Church of Hamilton (Fairfield Twp.), Ohio.   Each outline was prepared using the King James Version of the English Bible by a faithful preacher of the Lord Jesus Christ.   A thorough study of these outlines will provide you with a study of the Holy Word of God.

Bible Conference

The 66 books of the Bible were written by about 40 men in three languages during 1600 years (1500 B.C. to 100 A.D.); however, the Bible is unique in unity, showing that God is the ultimate source of all contained in the Bible.   We know that the Bible, the Holy Scripture, is God’s infallible Word because:

1. The Bible claims that all scripture is given by inspiration of God (i.e., God-breathed, II Timothy 3:16).
2. The Bible claims to be written when holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (II Peter 1:21).
3. The Holy Spirit confirms in the heart of the Christian that the Bible is truly the Word of God:   But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my [Jesus] name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you (John 14:26).
4. Jesus said that the Old Testament is accurate and must all be fulfilled:   And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.   Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures (Luke 24:44-45).
5. The resurrection of Jesus demonstrates that Christ is all He claims to be, and confirms the authenticity of the Bible:   whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead (Acts 17:31).
6. Archaeology and history confirm the accuracy of the Bible.   Despite nearly 2000 years of attack, careful study supports even the most extreme details of Biblical accuracy!   For what if some did not believe?   Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?   God forbid:   yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged (Romans 3:3-4).
7. Science confirms Biblical accuracy.   Science is actually the observation of God working in the universe, and scientific investigation shows that God does exactly what He says in the Bible that He does.   Therefore, we…preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:   Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.   Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness (Acts 14:15-17)…Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.   For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse (Romans 1:19-20).
8. The fulfillment of Biblical prophecy shows that the Bible is truly God’s Word.   When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously:   thou shalt not be afraid of him (Deuteronomy 18:22).
9. The witness of transformed lives of believers who serve Christ in His churches shows forth the reality of Scriptural truth.   But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:   and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8).
10.  The witness of the Lord’s churches throughout the ages displays the truth of the Bible.   Jesus established the first church during the days of His public ministry as described in the Gospels, and Jesus promised, …I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).   Jesus commissioned this first church and His churches forever which were to follow:   Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:   Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:   and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.   Amen (Matthew 28:19-20).

The Preservation of the Bible

God promised to preserve His Word, the Bible, in His churches throughout the ages.   Our Lord calls His churches …the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth (I Timothy 3:15); Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth (John 17:17).   If you want to know what translation or version of the Bible to use, inquire in the Lord’s churches which God has commissioned as the upholders of truth, the pillar and ground of the truth.   Do not inquire at the feet of the world’s wise historians or textual critics, for the wise of this world are not trustworthy and have not preserved accurate truth:   For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:   But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty (I Corinthians 1:26-27).   Don’t look in a deserted cave (Dead Sea Schools), monastery (Codex Vaticanus), or monastery waste can (Codex Sinaiticus) for the Bible, God’s preserved Word!   Not in man’s churches but in God’s churches, God has kept pure the Old Testament in the Hebrew Masoretic Text and the New Testament in the Greek Texus Receptus.   God has provided wonderfully for the translation of the Hebrew and Greek texts into English and other languages of the world!   While King James was killing Baptists for their faith, the zeal of the Lord’s churches helped cause all of England to desire an English translation of the Bible in order to learn more of the faith of these persecuted Christians.   When God’s churches are poor and persecuted, their missionary zeal in sharing God’s Word causes even the unfaithful to use their wealth and power for spreading the Bible, and the good translation of the King James Version has resulted as the only currently popular English translation based solely on the original texts.   Baptist churches receive this translation as honorable and accurate.   Over the years since the publication of the first 1611 King James Version translation, many churches have carefully examined and commented concerning every passage of question.   The conclusions of these churches are available for all to use in demonstrating the reliability of the preserved Word of God.

Inquire of God and look in His churches, each of which is the pillar and ground of the truth (I Timothy 3:15), for the unbroken, uncorrupted, preserved Bible down to our present age.  

Facts about the Bible

The Bible contains 66 books with 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament.   The middle book of the:   (1) Old Testament is Proverbs, and (2) New Testament is II Thessalonians.

The Bible was divided into chapters by Stephen Langton about 1228 A.D., and contains 1189 chapters with 929 in the Old Testament and 260 in the New Testament.   If you read only 3 ¼ chapters a day, you will read completely through the Bible every year!   The middle chapter of the (1) Bible is Psalm 117 (also the shortest chapter), (2) Old Testament is Job 29, (3) New Testament is Romans 13.   The longest chapter is Psalm 119.   The only chapters that are exactly alike are II Kings 19 and Isaiah 37.   The verses in the Bible that are exactly alike are Psalm 107 verses 8, 15, 21, and 31.

The Old Testament was divided into verses by R. Nathan in 1448 A.D., and the New Testament by Robert Stephanus in 1551 A.D.   The Geneva Bible of 1560 A.D. was the first published Bible divided into chapters and verses.   The Bible contains 31,173 verses with 23,214 verses in the Old Testament and 7,959 verses in the New Testament.   Middle verse of the (1) Bible is Psalm 118:18, (2) Old Testament is II Chronicles 20:17, (3) New Testament is Acts 17:17.   Shortest verse of the:   (1) Bible and New Testament is John 11:35, (2) Old Testament is I Chronicles 1:25.   The longest verse in the Bible is Esther 8:9.   In the King James Version, the verse with all letters of the alphabet except:   (1) J is Ezra 7:21, and (2) Q is Daniel 4:37.  

The King James Version translation of the Bible contains about 773,692 words with about 592,439 in the Old Testament and 181,253 in the New Testament.   The longest word in the Bible is Ma’-her- shal’-al-hash’-baz (18 letters), Isaiah 8:1,3.   The King James Version of the Bible contains about 3,566,480 letters with about 2,728,100 in the Old Testament and 838,380 in the New Testament.

Words occurring only once in the King James Version of the Bible are:   eternity (Isaiah 57:15), reverend (Psalm 111:9), grandmother (II Timothy 1:5), and gnat (Matthew 23:24).   In the King James Version of the Bible:   and occurs 35,543 times in the Old Testament; and 10,684 times in the New Testament; father, father’s, fathers occurs 1,500 times; mother, mother’s, mothers occurs 325 times; boy, boys occurs 3 times; girl, girls occurs 2 times; God occurs 4,379 times; and Lord occurs 7,738 times.

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