Post by Cindy on Mar 2, 2022 10:22:36 GMT -5
I want to share a short portion of one of MacArthur's sermons that tells us some of why we need to study the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. If you want to read the entire sermon, just click on the link.
Some people have said – and it’s nothing new; it’s rather old – “Forget about the Old Testament. All we really need is the New Testament,” and there are many people who carry around a New Testament who know very little about the Old Testament. Some people would say, “Well, Abraham and Moses have very little to do with us. All we need to do is stick to the things that are revealed at the coming of Christ and afterwards.” And some people would cut off the New Testament from the Old, Christ from Israel.
Now, this viewpoint was presented most forcefully and articulately a century after Stephen by a wealthy ship owner by the name of Marcian. Marcian had become a Christian, and about the year 139 AD had come to Rome. He became very influential, and he believed that the church had no connection with Israel at all; that Christianity had no connection with Israel; that Christ really had little, if any, connection with Israel, and so he repudiated the authority of the Old Testament. He claimed it had nothing to do with the New Testament whatever.
Marcian had put together, then, a text of scripture – or a canon of scripture – and in his bible he left out – and I think this is interesting – all references to God’s acts prior to the life of Jesus. He believed they had no place.
Well, the church had to deal with a man who would cut off the new from the old, and so they branded him a heretic and they put him out of the church. But, the church has never gotten rid of Marcians; they keep popping up in every generation. There are always people who want to cut off the New Testament from the Old. There are always people who want to cut off the church from its connection to Israel.
Martin Luther faced it in his own day, and he made this statement, “The Old Testament is the cradle in which the Christ child is laid. It is not irrelevant to study the Old Testament, for the New Testament finds its birth in the Old. The Old Testament heritage supports the New Testament and explains it.”
And that is exactly Stephen’s point as he preaches in Acts 7. He builds everything he says on the Old Testament, and our faith in Jesus Christ is rooted upon the fact of the Old Testament, that He is the Redeemer promised to Israel, the one who fulfills all of the Old Testament types, patterns, and prophecies. And this is the way Stephen directs his attention, and the attention of his hearers, in chapter 7.
Posted with permission
www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/1723/stephens-powerful-sermon-part-2
Some people have said – and it’s nothing new; it’s rather old – “Forget about the Old Testament. All we really need is the New Testament,” and there are many people who carry around a New Testament who know very little about the Old Testament. Some people would say, “Well, Abraham and Moses have very little to do with us. All we need to do is stick to the things that are revealed at the coming of Christ and afterwards.” And some people would cut off the New Testament from the Old, Christ from Israel.
Now, this viewpoint was presented most forcefully and articulately a century after Stephen by a wealthy ship owner by the name of Marcian. Marcian had become a Christian, and about the year 139 AD had come to Rome. He became very influential, and he believed that the church had no connection with Israel at all; that Christianity had no connection with Israel; that Christ really had little, if any, connection with Israel, and so he repudiated the authority of the Old Testament. He claimed it had nothing to do with the New Testament whatever.
Marcian had put together, then, a text of scripture – or a canon of scripture – and in his bible he left out – and I think this is interesting – all references to God’s acts prior to the life of Jesus. He believed they had no place.
Well, the church had to deal with a man who would cut off the new from the old, and so they branded him a heretic and they put him out of the church. But, the church has never gotten rid of Marcians; they keep popping up in every generation. There are always people who want to cut off the New Testament from the Old. There are always people who want to cut off the church from its connection to Israel.
Martin Luther faced it in his own day, and he made this statement, “The Old Testament is the cradle in which the Christ child is laid. It is not irrelevant to study the Old Testament, for the New Testament finds its birth in the Old. The Old Testament heritage supports the New Testament and explains it.”
And that is exactly Stephen’s point as he preaches in Acts 7. He builds everything he says on the Old Testament, and our faith in Jesus Christ is rooted upon the fact of the Old Testament, that He is the Redeemer promised to Israel, the one who fulfills all of the Old Testament types, patterns, and prophecies. And this is the way Stephen directs his attention, and the attention of his hearers, in chapter 7.
Posted with permission
www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/1723/stephens-powerful-sermon-part-2
!!
