1st
Instead of finding fault with the Jews for reading the Old Testament,
the very reverse was the case. They are reproved by the Savior for
their carelessness in not receiving and acting upon the statements
laid down therein. Said he to the chief priests and elders of the
people, "Did ye never read in the Scriptures, the stone which
the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?”
Matt. 21: 42. To the multitude, "Had ye believed Moses, ye would
have believed me; for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his
writings, how shall ye believe my words." John 5: 46-47. Whence
may we not see the very way in which the Jews are yet to be brought
to a knowledge of the truth; not, indeed, by a laying aside or
neglect of the Old Testament, but by a reverential study of it, and
the blessing of the Spirit accompanying it; and that thus the veil of
ignorance shall be removed, and they brought to bow at the feet of
the Great Teacher himself? Then shall he say to them like as he did
to the two disciples that journeyed with him to Emmaus: "O
fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have
spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter
into his glory?" Luke 24: 25. Such references plainly intimate
not only the necessity and importance of these writings, but
stimulate to a continued and close examination of their bearing in
order to a cordial reception of the truths which he taught.
2nd
When Jesus was tempted of the devil, though he could, by the arm of
his omnipotence, have at once hurled him and his legions back whence
they came, defeated; yet, strange to say, he suffered the deceiver to
confront him - the Innocent One - and taking upon him our
infirmities, he employed against Satan the weapons he would have us
to wield. He set us an example that we should follow in his steps. By
the words of the Old Testament Scriptures did Christ oppose his arch
insinuations, thereby inculcating their use, and teaching us not only
to resist the devil and he will flee from us; but that these same
Scriptures are the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit, the weapon
of attack in the armor of righteousness provided by the Captain of
our salvation.
3rd
Not only have we Christ's example, which we should follow, but his
plain and pointed command: "Search the Scriptures." John 5:
39. This, of course, at the time in which it was spoken, referred to
the Old Testament, and thereby its authority and use are established
to all generations.
4th
In the Acts of the Apostles, and in the Epistles, we have 'its
perusal commended and enjoined, and its statements introduced to
corroborate the truths published. Of the Christians in Thessalonica,
it is recorded as exemplary and praiseworthy; they "searched the
Scriptures daily, whether those things were so." Acts 17: 11.
Again, "the righteousness of God without the law" is said
to be now " manifested, being witnessed by the law and the
prophets;" and this is explained in the next verse to be "the
righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and
upon all them that believe," - a righteousness "without the
law" in this sense, that our personal obedience has no influence
in procuring the sinner's justification, "by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight." Rom . 3:
20, 21, 22. And this righteousness of faith then is "witnessed
by the law and the prophets" - the usual expression among the
writers of the New Testament, for the Old. How important the
testimony, both by reason of the witness, which is the Spirit
himself, and because of the object, which is Christ with all new
covenant benefits for our salvation. We have the Old Testament so
interwoven with the apostles' instructions that to separate the two
would be to rend and destroy the whole. Their connection is so
completely established in the Epistles, their harmony so clearly
maintained, that, by neglecting the Old, we render the New , as far
as we are concerned, in many places, useless and unmeaning. The
Epistle to the Hebrews would be unintelligible without Leviticus—the
perpetual reference to the former dispensation renders necessary the
continuance of this book for our instruction. Moreover, how could we
aright understand the Epistle to the Romans, and the words
"atonement," "reconciliation," "blood,"
&c , without the Pentateuch? Is it not by a constant reference to
the Old, and by comparing Scripture with Scripture, that our ideas
are properly formed and enlarged? In truth, the distinguishing
doctrines of the Church of Christ regarding his substitutionary
sufferings, his resurrection, his exaltation, and the exercise of his
mediatorial power over the nations, can only be fully proved by
having recourse to the Old Testament in connection with the New.
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