This is a follow up to my post about the Book of Leviticus.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work.

I wrote the post about Leviticus because it was important to me. As I look back on my years in the church, not too many pastors preached through Old Testament, and they definitely didn’t preach through the Book of Leviticus. They would touch on some passages but most preaching was from New Testament texts.

I believe we forget that the Apostles and the New Testament church only had the OT Scriptures to teach from. Jesus Himself went through “Moses and the Prophets” on the road to Emmaus, explaining how all the OT pointed to Him. That means working through all the ordinances, the sacrificial system the Levitical priests were to minister on behalf of the people of Israel, the laws pertaining to food and slaves, the laws pertaining to how to treat non Jews who desired to worship God. All the types and shadows of the kings and judges of Israel. All the prophecies foretelling the Coming Messiah Jesus Christ.

All of this is found in the Old Testament, and yet we do not hear about as much as we should as Christians, as sons and daughters of the Most High God. This immense amount of knowledge and understanding is there, at our literal fingertips, and we do not fully understand the significance in light of purpose of Jesus Christ needing to be the Suffering Servant and Sacrificial Lamb for His chosen people, the Elect of God whose names were written in the Book of Life before the beginning of time (Revelation 17:8).

Those pastors who practice verse-by-verse preaching (exegeting a whole book of the Bible one verse at a time) usually teach from the New Testament. They don’t venture into the Old Testament very often. When they do it is usually done with the easily understood passages that point to Christ. Perhaps they don’t use the Old Testament is because it is a lot more work. I don’t have an answer as to why, just that I know that is how it is. These pastors demonstrate reverence for the Bible but usually only cite the Old Testament to explain a New Testament text they are teaching from.

The “modern” non-denominational churches (a misnomer imo) do not show reverence for the Bible much at all. (I don’t mean to paint with a broad brush because I’m sure there are some who do, so think of this as a general statement, and I say this from experience because I have been to these types of churches.) Their use of the Bible is either as a life improvement tool or as a weapon to guilt their audience.

The life improvement use is just that, tips on how to make your life better. They will take passages meant to be about performing good works motivated by one’s gratitude for Christ’s suffering and death on the cross as a means of works-based salvation. In other words, the list of good works in Ephesians and James and in the Gospels, are how we become Christians. The good works are working at soup kitchens, mission trips, building houses for the needy, giving out free food, helping the widow and the orphan. These are good works but not the only good works a Christian can do. Being a good husband, father, employee, generally an example of what it means to live for Christ.

The guilt trip method is far worse than the life improvement method. The majority of “Christian” tv entertainers (falsely labeled pastors) use the guilt method, or empty promise technique, use the Bible as a bludgeon. They attempt to convince their audience to give them money, a “seed offering”, and they will receive a bountiful sowing from God, 100 fold. They boast it works for them. They boast that because they do it, they are blessed with the ability to do miraculous healings, growing limbs, raising the dead, healing cancer, restoring sight or hearing, whatever scam in their arsenal they can muster to get money they will use.

The other “pastors” in the non-denominational churches (Association of Related Churches (ARC) is one such organization, or denomination if you will) use Old Testament passages to extract money. They use Malachi 3:5-6 to guilt the attendees to give 10% of their earnings. And they use the example of themselves as proof that it works. It doesn’t hurt that they get exorbitant salaries from the tithing from their audience. But the fact remains that they use the Old Testament only to manipulate their followers to give and keep giving if they want blessings from God. Their messages are all about them and how magnificent they are and how much they have because they tithe.

They have no reverence for the Word of God. They are waterless clouds, bringing the promise of rain but pass overhead without releasing a drop. Their mouths are open graves, their words bringing death to those who hang onto every single one of them. They hate God and love this world. The only reverence they acknowledge is the reverence given to them by their fawning admirers. The only reverence they show for the written word is for their own books or books written by those who are members of the same club.

They don’t love God or His Son or His Spirit. They blaspheme the Triune God for their own personal earthly enrichment. All the while they toss in a “praise god”, an empty sentiment because they hate the God of the Bible. Their god is their belly.

If we profess to be a Christian then we must show the proper reverence to the Word of God, the Word of Life, the embodiment of all the Holiness of Heaven. Christ will return and all will come to their knees, Christ’s elect willingly and His enemies against their will but on their knees nonetheless.