1. Romans 15:4 (NKJV) 4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

3. Old Testament We continue our study of Seek the Old Paths by going back to some fundamentals of our faith Our last study together on this subject we looked at the existence of God in nature Hopefully it served to strengthen our faith

4. Old Testament This morning we want to look at a portion of scripture that should be fundamental to us We have often been accused of not believing in the Old Testament Nothing could be further from the truth!

5. Old Testament We certainly do believe in the Old Testament, although we do not live by it’s law The old law (Law of Moses) was written specifically for the Israelites and not for the Gentiles (Rom. 2:14; Acts 15)

6. Old Testament It was given to the Israelites as a tutor to bring them to Christ (Gal. 3:19-29) Once Christ died upon the cross, the old law was done away with (Col. 2:13-14; Heb. 8-9)

7. Old Testament So what good is that which is written before the coming of Christ? Romans 15:4 I Corinthians 10:11 We can learn much from the Old Testament

8. Old Testament 1. God’s word –The first reason that the Old Testament has value is because it is God’s word –Paul said all scripture is given by inspiration of God (II Tim. 3:16) –It is the mind of God revealed to us

9. Old Testament 1. God’s word –It teaches us some important truths about God and His nature –It shows God’s love and concern for His people –It shows us how God interacted with His people

10. Old Testament 2. History –The Old Testament gives us a history of the world –It tells us about creation in the book of Genesis –It tells us about God’s plan for redemption and His plan for the Israelites

11. Old Testament 2. History –It tells us about important historical figures such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, etc. –It shows us how they fit in to God’s glorious plan –That history helps us understand the New Testament as well

12. Old Testament 3. Prophecy –The Old Testament is important because of the prophecy revealed there –This prophecy points to the things that would come to pass –This prophecy would help us to recognize the Christ (Is. 53)

13. Old Testament 3. Prophecy –This prophecy would help us to understand many things that Christ spoke of (Lk. 4:16-21) –This prophecy would help us to recognize the church (Is. 2:2-4) –Without these prophecies, many would not believe

14. Old Testament 4. Types/Shadows –We have spoken before of the types and shadows that are seen in the Old Testament –They give us a preview of what the true thing was to be –The flood was a type of baptism (I Pet. 3:21)

15. Old Testament 4. Types/Shadows –Adam was a type of Christ (Rom. 5:14) –Things contained in the old law were a shadow or copy of the heavenly things (Heb. 8:5; 10:1) –The Old Testament reveals these things to us

16. Old Testament 5. Lessons Learned –It has been said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it –We can see that is true in our own personal lives –Romans 15:4 tells us that we are to learn from the OT

17. Old Testament 5. Lessons Learned –I Corinthians 10:1-11 gives us some more specific examples of what we can learn from –When we read the OT accounts, there is much to learn from those –We need to see the richness in God’s word contained in the OT