“The Usefulness of the Old Testament”

(Psalm 119:97-104)

I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
1. Last week, we concluded our overview of the Old Testament, from the perspective
of a history of God’s plan of redemption.
a. We ended with a summary of how the Lord used four world kingdoms to
contribute to the advancement of the Gospel.
(i) Babylon dispersed the Jews throughout the world to prepare for the bringing
in of the Gentiles.
(ii) Persia allowed the Jews to rebuild their Temple and city to prepare for the
coming of the Messiah.
(iii) Greece brought one language to the world that enabled both the Jews and
Gentiles outside of Palestine access to the OT through the LXX.
(iv) And Rome brought better travel and communication through one
government, worldwide peace (Pax Romana), and better roads.
(v) The fact that Rome also ruled over the largest geographic area to that point in
history also allowed the Gospel to go further than it could have in past years
under other governments.

b. We also saw how the Lord preserved His church during that time.
(i) Babylon dragged them from the land by force, destroyed their city and burned
their temple, but the Lord kept those who trusted in Him safe.
(ii) Haman almost succeeded in exterminating them, but the Lord had arranged
for the king of Persia to marry a Jewish wife.
(iii) Alexander and his successors wanted to destroy the Jews, but the Lord
turned their hearts and overthrew their plans.
(iv) And even the Romans subdued and oppressed them, but the Lord preserved
their lives and their religion.

2. The Lord was shaping the world for the coming of His Son, and now everything
was ready.

B. Preview.
1. But before we move into the culmination and fulfillment of all these things in
Christ, I want us to look back at the Old Testament to consider how it is still a
blessing to the church.
a. We need to remember that it is the Word of God, as much as the New Testament,
and because it is, it is just as relevant for us today.
b. There are parts of the Old that have been fulfilled and therefore are no longer
binding.
(i) I’m thinking of the Ceremonial Law, which was fulfilled through the sacrifice
of Christ.
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(ii) We no longer bring animal sacrifices to the priest to make atonement for our
sins, because Jesus has died once for all to reconcile us to God.

c. But there are other parts which are still important, such as the history (as we’ve
seen), the Law, the prophecies, the songs (psalms) and the wisdom literature.
(i) These are all inspired by God and as such normative for the church: they are
part of our moral standard, what we are to learn and submit to.
(ii) Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount, “Do not think that I came to
abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For
truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or
stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls
one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same,
shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches
them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that
unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will
not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:17-20).
(iii) And Paul writes to Timothy, primarily regarding the Old Testament, “All
Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be
adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

2. This morning, let’s consider five ways the Lord intends the Old Testament to help
us be better Christians.
a. First, He intends for the OT to confirm our salvation.
b. Second, He intends for it to answer the most important questions in life.
c. Third, He intends it to teach us how to worship Him.
d. Fourth, He intends for it to us to show us how to glorify Him through an obedient
life.
e. And finally, He intends it to show us how to endure trials.

II. Sermon.
A. First, He intends for the OT to confirm our salvation.
1. This is a simple point: because we know from the things we’ve seen that the Bible
is God’s Word, we can know that the way of salvation it teaches is true.
a. We’ve looked at several books, written by many different men, who lived in
different times, and who were from many walks of life.
b. They all wrote on the same subject and were all in agreement.
c. They even agreed on the things they wrote that were still many years in the
future, things they couldn’t possibly have known about on their own.
d. How could they do this unless the Lord had shown them.
e. Next Lord’s Day, we’ll explore this a little more thoroughly; but for now
consider the powerful testimony this gives of the Old Testament being God’s
Word.
f. And because we know it’s God’s Word, we know we can also trust it to show us
the truth regarding salvation.
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2. Application.
a. How would it be to pick up the Bible to learn how to be saved from hell only to
find that what it says is confusing and contradictory?
b. You could never know whether or not it was true and so could never be sure that
you were safe.
c. But the fact that the Lord confirms it through prophecy, miracle and unity, gives
us confidence that it is true, and if true, that our salvation is assured, if we do
what it says: trust in the One He sent into the world to save mankind: the Lord
Jesus Christ.

B. Second, He intends for the Old Testament to answer the most important questions in
life.
1. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to make sense of life or to understand
what Jesus and His work was all about if we didn’t have the OT?
2. We don’t need to waste time searching for the answers, as the world does – the Lord
has given us a book to explain it. In the OT, He tells us:
a. Where everything came from; how it all came to be: “In the beginning, God
created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). An infinitely powerful and eternal
Being made it from nothing.
b. He tells us where we and every living creature came from: we didn’t evolve, but
an infinitely wise and powerful Being created us. “And God said . . . and it was
so.”
c. He tells us why we’re different than the animals: because God made us in His
own image: “In the image of God He created him; male and female He created
them” (1:27).
d. He tells us why we’re similar to the animals: because He made us all from the
dust of the earth and to live off the fruit of the earth. “Then the LORD God
formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life; and man became a living being” (2:7).
e. He tells us why we have the problems we do in this world: Because of the first
man’s decision to sin against God that brought a curse on all mankind. “But
from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day
that you eat from it you will surely die” (2:17).
f. He tells us why there are so many nations and languages: because the Lord
separated the families of the earth after the Flood by giving them all different
languages. “‘Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that
they will not understand one another’s speech. So the LORD scattered them
abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the
city” (11:7-8).
g. And, as we’ve seen, He answers the most important question of all: how we,
who have been separated from God by our sins and condemned to hell, can
escape that judgment and be reconciled to Him: through Jesus Christ.
(i) This is the one question He answers thoroughly.
(ii) He began to reveal the coming of the Savior beginning with the first sinner.
(iii) He continued to give many pictures, types and prophecies about Him as the
years went by.
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(iv) He gave His moral and ceremonial Law through Moses both to convict His
people of their sins and to point them to the Redeemer.
(v) When there was a particularly important person or event that revealed Him,
such as with David and Solomon, the Lord would make sure to spend more
time focusing on it.
(a) On David, because he was the first in a line of kings that pointed to
Messiah.
(b) And on Solomon because he built the temple that would picture Christ
and His body, the church.

(vi) And when His inspired history was complete, He continued to point His
people forward to Christ, until He finally came.

h. The Lord answered many of the most important questions we will ever ask in the
OT, which is another reason it is useful and not obsolete.

C. Third, He intends the Old Testament to teach us how to worship Him.

1. The Lord gave His people a book of inspired songs: the psalms.
a. The psalms are songs of worship that grow out of just about every possible
circumstance.
b. Not only do they teach us what the proper response to each of these
circumstances should be, they teach us how to express our thanksgiving and
praise to Him in those circumstances and afterwards.
c. They also have a wonderful way of continually pointing us to the Messiah for
forgiveness and for hope.

2. The Lord certainly intends for us still to use these songs today.
a. I don’t believe He requires us to use them exclusively. If so, He would be
requiring us to worship under the shadow of the OT, though we have the clearer
light of the NT.
b. But we should still use them – and we can do so now understanding them more
fully than the OT saints.

D. Fourth, He intends the Old Testament to show us how to glorify Him through an
obedient life.
1. The NT gives us instruction in holiness, but the OT is much fuller.
a. In the OT, the Ten Commandments are revealed, explained and applied in a
variety of situations.
b. In the OT, we also get a good look at the justice of God – what true justice is and
how crimes should be justly punished, as well as what mercy is (let’s not forget
God’s mercy at the Fall).
c. The books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are applications of God’s Law in
virtually every circumstance we will ever have to face.

2. Now that we’ve entered into the New Covenant through faith in Christ, do we no
longer need that instruction?
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a. Is His writing His Law on our heart enough?

b. No. We still need instruction in righteousness.
c. There is nothing more helpful than the OT in this area.

E. And finally, He intends the Old Testament to show us how to face trials.
1. He devoted a whole book to teach us how to endure when we’re afflicted and to
assure us that there is always a gracious purpose behind affliction, if we love and
trust Him, in the book of Job.
2. This is the way James used it: “As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience,
take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We count those blessed who
endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the
Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful” (James 5:10-
11).

III. Application.
A. Is it any wonder that Paul reminds Timothy of the authority and usefulness of the OT,
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate,
equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
1. Every part of the Old Testament is precious and if any of it was missing, it would
cripple the church. If we think that any part of it is superfluous or useless, it’s only
because we don’t understand it.
2. The Lord has given us a great treasure in the OT – and of course, the Bible as a
whole.
a. We can often take it for granted because it’s so available.
b. Let’s not forget that it is the only book God has written, the only book that
reveals Him, that reveals Christ and His salvation, and the only book that shows
us how we can be saved from our sins and glorify Him.

B. Let’s be encouraged by this to read and study the Bible more often.
1. And so that we might get the most from it, let’s pray for the help of God’s Spirit to
understand it, as the psalmist prayed, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful
things from your law” (Ps. 119:18).
2. If we don’t read it, it won’t do us any good. Jonathan Edwards once wrote,
“Whatever treasures the Scriptures contain, we shall be never the better for them if
we do not observe them. He that has a Bible, and does not observe what it contains,
is like a man who has a box full of silver and gold, and does not know it, nor
observe that it is anything more than a vessel filled with common stones. He will be
never the better for his treasure; and so might as well be without it. He who has
plenty of the choicest food stored up in his house, and does not know it, will never
taste what he has, and will be as likely to starve as if his house were empty.” Amen.