Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Don’t Neglect the Old Testament
I want to show how absurd it is for people to say they believe the New Testament but not the Old Testament. It is a very interesting fact that of the thirty-nine books in the Old Testament, our Lord quoted from no less than twenty-two of them. He may very well have quoted from all of them, for the Gospels only contain a small part of what He said and did. The apostle John tells us that the world could scarcely contain the books that could be written if all the sayings and actions of our Lord were recorded. About 850 passages in the Old Testament are quoted or alluded to in the New, with only a few occurring more than once.
And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written. (John 21:25)
In the gospel of Matthew, there are over 100 quotations from twenty Old Testament books. In the gospel of Mark, there are fifteen quotations taken from thirteen of the Old Testament books. In the gospel of Luke, there are thirty-four quotations from thirteen books. In the gospel of John, there are eleven quotations from six books. In the four Gospels alone, there are more than 160 quotations from the Old Testament. You sometimes hear men saying they do not believe all the Bible, but they believe the teachings of Jesus Christ in the four Gospels. Well, if I believe that, I have to accept these 160 quotations from the Old Testament. In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, there are fifty-three quotations from the Old Testament; sometimes he takes whole paragraphs from it. In the thirteen chapters of the book of Hebrews, there are eighty-five quotations from the Old Testament. In Galatians, there are sixteen quotations. In the book of Revelation alone, there are 245 quotations and allusions.
A great many people want to throw out the Old Testament. It is good historic reading, they say, but they do not believe it is a part of the Word of God, and they don’t regard it as essential in the scheme of salvation. The last letter Paul wrote contained the following words: and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:15). The Scriptures which the apostles possessed were the Old Testament.
When skeptics attack the truths of the Old Testament, some Christians find it convenient to say, “Well, we don’t endorse all that is in the Old Testament,” and thus they avoid an argument in defense of the Scriptures. It is very important that every Christian should know and accept what the Old Testament teaches, because it is upon this that truth is based. Peter said the Scriptures were not given by any private interpretation, and when he wrote of the Scriptures, he was referring to the Old Testament.
So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. (2 Peter 1:19-21)
If the Old Testament Scriptures are not true, do you think Christ would have so often referred to them and said that the Scriptures must be fulfilled?
Now He said to them, These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. (Luke 24:44)
When told by the tempter that He could call down the angels from heaven to intercede on His behalf, Jesus said, “But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be? (Matthew 26:54). Christ gave Himself up as a sacrifice so that the Scriptures would be fulfilled. He was numbered with the transgressors (Mark 15:28; Luke 22:37). When He talked with two of His disciples on the way to Emmaus after His resurrection, He asked them, was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory? (Luke 24:26). Luke adds: Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures (Luke 24:27), for the one theme of the Old Testament is the Messiah.
Psalm 40:7 says, In the scroll of the book it is written of me. “What Book?” asks Martin Luther, “and what Person? There is only one book – the Bible; and only one person – Jesus Christ.” Christ referred to the Scriptures and their fulfillment in Him, not only after He arose from the dead, but in heaven too, according to the book of Revelation. He spoke of them to John on the Isle of Patmos, and used the very things in the Scriptures that men are now trying to reject. Jesus never found fault with or rejected the Old Testament.
If Jesus Christ could use the Old Testament, let us use it. May God deliver us from the one-sided Christian who reads only the New Testament and talks against the Old!