I shared the following information with my late brother Mark (Martin) Smith, Pastor Cheatham, and Pastor Wade the year before I began posting on this Real Bible Study site. I trust it will be a blessing also to you. It is meant to encourage Cross Reference Bible Study by suggesting verses I have found most helpful to study this way.
These suggestions apply to using the newest edition (2023, 2024) of The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as well as the digital Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury (2016, an eSword premium module). Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible is out of print and no longer available.
On Sun, Jan 4, 2009 at 10:06 PM Jerome Smith wrote:
Dear Mark [and also Pastor Cheatham and Pastor Wade!],
You may want to both save this email and attached file as well as print out the attached file to keep with your Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible.
In my list of “hidden” features in the Cross Reference Guide I list 8 passages of Scripture I have found contain especially helpful cross references:
(1) 2 Timothy 1:7. This is the very first passage I looked up the references to when I was still a teenager, using the original Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
(2) Colossians 1:10. I have shared this reference with many, and they have thanked me, saying it is most instructive and inspirational.
(3) 2 Corinthians 6:2. The cross references at this passage focus on the subject of salvation.
(4) Hebrews 6:9, 10. At Hebrews 6:9 I placed many cross reference passages that stipulate what are the things that “accompany salvation.” Verse 10 continues the theme of how genuine salvation results in specific fruits and qualities in our life. The references within these two passages would make a good “discipleship manual” based entirely on Scripture.
(5) Psalm 34:4. Sometimes we need encouragement when we encounter reversals and disappointments in life, and the references here are encouraging.
(6) Psalm 40:17. Should we ever come to feel that God just doesn’t really notice us, these references emphasize the truth that “the Lord thinketh upon me.”
(7) 1 Peter 3:15. This verse tells us to be ready always to have an answer for anyone who asks concerning our faith in Christ.
(8) Romans 15:7. These cross references form a unique and complete study of the importance of “receiving one another.”
Now all you have to do is get your Bible out and look up all the cross references given in the 8 passages indicated. By doing so you would certainly be blessed spiritually!
I attempted to keep the list of ‘hidden’ features to a single page (see the attached file).
Of course there are many more important topics to be found and studied from the Bible using Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible. The indexes in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge will usually work for the Cross Reference Guide as well. I did not usually move major reference points, though when I did, I tried to keep the original link alive by using the “+” symbol to get the user to the new location. For example, in the New Treasury I had a note and extensive references on the two ages, “this age,” and “the age to come,” at John 6:54, originally at the keywords last day. The references are no longer given there (since the note was removed), but the references are to be found at +Matthew 12:32, a reference given at the keywords last day. Every once in a while I run across a passage that still leads to +John 6:54, but for the serious student who will turn to +John 6:54 in the Cross Reference Guide by duly following the “+” sign reference, they will still be directed to the full set of references at the new key reference point, +Matthew 12:32 (keywords in this world and the world to come) from there.
When using Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible, you will find it most essential to follow the “+” signs in this manner to get the most out of what is in the book. I assumed that the diligent user would be able to get to everything by following the “+” symbol up to three “jumps,” as it were.
You mentioned looking up John 10:8. The first keyword, All, is given the cross reference +Exodus 9:6. This reference with a “+” prefixed, given for a single word, lets you know it is likely not a subject or topic reference, but a key word reference, as explained under “Conventions,” next to the last bulleted paragraph at the beginning of the book (following the Introduction). At Exodus 9:6 you will find the keyword all with numerous references to other passages which contain the same or a similar usage of “all.” But notice the reference given there to +Ge 41:56. When you turn to that reference in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible, you will find an extensive note, where Exodus 9:6 occurs with the explanation that “all” sometimes has reference to “most or the majority, or the greater part (+Ex 9:6).” In this usage, “all” is not absolute. In the New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge more information is given, indicating this is an example of Hyperbole or Overstatement; it is also an example of the figure of speech Synecdoche of the Genus, where “all” is put for the greater part.
I like the idea you shared, how that you showed a person at church today Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible while waiting for another meeting to finish, then actually showed him how the book worked using John 10:8 as an example. It was good to hear about his excited reaction upon actually consulting the cross references given. It is, indeed, most important to share the book with young people so that they can benefit from using the book for a good portion of their lives yet ahead of them. So many think that the book is exclusively of interest to pastors, or perhaps also to Sunday school teachers. It ought to be used by every Christian who reads the Bible, and that is supposed to be all of them (2 Peter 2:2)!
Just lately I tried to find a suitable reference that focuses on the central issue of justice, certainly a major and important Bible theme. Of course Micah 6:8 would be a clear reference; Isaiah 1:17 might be another; so also Luke 16:10 or even Malachi 3:5, not to mention Jeremiah 22:15, 16. The cross references gathered for +Micah 6:8 appear to be the most comprehensive. No reference is given at Mic 6:8 to Mal 3:5, but if one follows the “+” signs at +Mic 6:8, there is a reference to +Luke 16:10, and turning to those references, under the keywords he that is unjust, there is given a reference to +Mal 3:5. Therefore, starting at +Mic 6:8, and following the “+” references, will take you to much of what is in the Bible on the subject of justice.
Using the Cross Reference Guide in this way works for me as effectively as a complete concordance to find a verse I want, even when I cannot remember any of the words used in the verse, provided I recall any other verse that is on a similar theme. You can’t do that with a concordance!
In the Introduction I make reference to the Bible verse references Psalm 9:10; Luke 4:18; Acts 17:3; John 5:39; 1 Peter 2:2; 2 Peter 3:18; Joshua 1:8; Acts 17:11. These would also be excellent verses to look up using the Cross Reference Guide to the Bible.
I hope these hints prove helpful. Thank you for your efforts to let others know about Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible.
Jerry