PREACHING FROM THE BIBLE OF CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES

And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.  (Luke 24:27)

In all of our preaching, let us be sure and not neglect using the Bible of Christ and His Apostles.  That Bible was what we call the Old Testament.  Someone has well said that the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.  Christ is the connection between the two—and His atonement is the scarlet thread that is woven throughout the fabric of the Word—from the promised Seed in Genesis to the crushing of the Serpent’s head in Revelation; from lamb God provided as a substitute for Isaac in the first book of Scripture to the Risen Lamb in the final one.  Our intent, of course, in preaching from the Old Testament, is not merely to give some interesting history concerning ancient people, but to present Christ.  “[T]here is always a way to Christ and his cross from every passage in the Old Testament.” (J. Ligon Duncan III, Preaching the Cross, p.47).  As Spurgeon put it, “Wherever I take my text, I make a beeline to the cross.”  Preaching from the Old Testament need not result in bored congregants, but in burning hearts!  That was the result of Jesus preaching from the Old Testament.  Old Testament texts are not meant to impose legalistic regulations to try to make people moral, but are meant to drive sinners to their knees in repentance, and thus to the cross for forgiveness and regeneration.  That is what happened when Peter preached from the Old Testament at Pentecost.  It is Gospel preaching that is needful and it is Gospel truth found in the Old Testament as well as the New.  How often do you preach from the Bible of Christ and His Apostles?