IS THE OLD TESTAMENT RELEVANT TODAY ?

By: Pastor Mike Stahl

Brothers and Sisters , I was prompted to write this sermon as I’ve heard many people - including some clergy , state that the Old Testament is not relevant today . Now , why they say this , I obviously don’t know , though I could conjecture many reasons , it would serve no useful purpose in this sermon , so I’ll just leave it between them and The Lord .

I will say , though , that I have heard that many believe that there is some type of "bad god " in the OT , and then Jesus ,  as the "good god " of the New Testament . But , anyone who seriously thinks that is the case is either a) a false teacher , as well as an anti-Christ ; or , b) simply does not have even a basic understanding of hermeneutics .

But I will show ( biblically ) , that Jesus Christ is found both in the pages of the Old and New Testaments . God’s entire Word is applicable to all people in all ages ! In short , never avoid or neglect to use the OT , as it , too , is God’s Word ! If we "throw out" the OT , then we are essentially "throwing out " the entire Bible , as we cannot have one without the other - it’s impossible !!

Let me start with Acts 8:26 , which tells us ; " And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. "

You see , Philip had a successful preaching ministry to great crowds in Samaria ( 8:5-8 )  , but he obediently left that ministry to travel on a desert road . Because Philip went where God sent him , Ethiopia was opened to the Gospel .

Now 8:27 states , " And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, "

This eunuch was obviously very dedicated to God because he had traveled such a long distance to worship in Jerusalem . The Jews had contact with Ethiopia in ancient days ( Psalm 68:31 ; Jeremiah 38:7 ) , so this man may have been a Gentile convert to Judaism .

In 8:29 it tells us that  Philip saw the eunuch reading Scripture  , and The Holy Spirit commanded him ( Philip ) to join him ; " Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. " This expression shows the definite moving of the Spirit of God in evangelism . What The Spirit of God commanded , Philip could not fail to do .

Now , let us look at 8:30-35 , and then I’ll explain it ; " And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. "

" Understandest thou what thou readest? " Having been moved by the Spirit of God to speak to this man , and recognize the exact portion of Isaiah that the eunuch was reading , Philip received his cue to initiate conversation . The question concerning his ability to understand what he read was natural enough since this man was Ethiopian and not Jewish . The eunuch’s response also indicates this , " How can I, except some man should guide me? " The Ethiopian’s need and Philip’s apparent ability to meet it precipitated the invitation for Philip to come and sit in the chariot with the man . The actual passage which the man was reading was Isaiah 53:7 FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT ! To wit ; " He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. "  This event recorded in the New Testament sets the New Testament seal of approval on the interpretation of Isaiah 53 and the Servant passages as pertaining to Jesus Christ . When the eunuch asked Philip whether or not the prophet was speaking of himself as the sheep before the slaughter and the lamb dumb before his shearer , Philip boldly opened his mouth " and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. "  There was no question in the mind of Philip that the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 was Jesus of Nazareth !

Now , let’s look at yet another example of how the Old and New Testaments go hand-in -hand . Luke 24:27 tell us ; " And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. "  This verse tells us that beginning with the promised seed in Genesis and going through the suffering servant in Isaiah , the pierced one in Zechariah , and the messenger of the covenant in Malachi  , Jesus reintroduced these disciples to the Old Testament . What we need to understand , is that Christ is the thread woven through ALL Scriptures , the central theme that binds them together . Following are several key passages from the Old Testament that Jesus probably mentioned on His walk to Emmaus : Genesis 3:12 ; Psalms 22;69;100; Isaiah 53 ; Jeremiah 31 ; Zechariah 9 ; 13 ; MalachI 3 .

We can also see in Deuteronomy 18:15 that states ; " The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; "   So , who is this prophet mentioned here in the OLD TESTAMENT ? Stephen used this verse to support his claim that Jesus Christ is God’s Son , the Messiah ! ( Acts 7:37 ) . The coming of Jesus Christ to earth was not an afterthought , but part of God’s original plan ! Look at what is said in 18:18 ; " I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. "

Now the most important Old Testament verses that , I feel , without question - show beyond ANY doubt , that the Old Testament IS relevant today is Micah 5:2 , which tells us , " But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. "  This ruler is JESUS , the Messiah ! Micah accurately predicted Christ’s birthplace hundreds of years before He was born !

Now , what’s it say in Zechariah 9:9 ? Hmmm , let’s read it together ; " Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. " Wow ! The Triumphal Entry of Jesus  riding into Jerusalem ( Matthew 21:1-11 ) is predicted here 500 YEARS BEFORE IT HAPPENED !! Just as this prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus came to earth , so the prophecies of His Second Coming are just as certain to come true !! - though we’d never know it if we ignore and/or discard the Old Testament .

So , I’ll repeat what I said in the beginning of this sermon , brothers and sisters . ANYONE , and I mean ANYONE , who tells you that the Old Testament is either not relevant today , and/or the "god’ of the Old Testament is "different" from the "one" in the New Testament is either an ANTI-CHRIST OR VERY IGNORANT OF SCRIPTURE !! I don’t care if they’ve got all the theological degrees there are to be had ; I don’t care if they’ve been a preacher , teacher , professor , or whatever all their adult lives ; I don’t care if they’ve got a mega-billion dollar ministry with a zillion members - I’ll tell ‘em straight to their face  , " GET THEE BEHIND ME SATAN !! "

I also would like to remind all those of Revelation 22:18-19 ; " For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. "  What people need to realize here , is this warning given in Revelation is for those who might purposefully distort the message in this book . Moses gave a similar warning in Deuteronomy 4:1-4 . We , too , must handle the Bible with care and great respect so that we do not distort its message , even unintentionally . We should be quick to put its principles into practice in our lives . No human explanation or interpretation of God’s Word should be elevated to the same authority as the text itself !

Until next time , my friends - May God continue to bless and keep you ALL - ALWAYS . ..

Yours brother in Christ ;
Pastor Mike