‘They testify about me: Preaching Jesus from the Old Testament” was the theme of the fourth annual Gospel Coalition Conference held in Chicago on April 12- 14.

Approximately 5,300 people registered for the gathering of evangelical pastors and lay people. The Coalition’s preamble states their purpose: “We have committed ourselves to invigorating churches with new hope and compelling joy based on the promises received by grace through faith in Christ alone.”

The Rev. Dr. Albert Mohler Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, preached a sermon titled, “Studying the Scriptures and Finding Jesus.” Mohler read John 5:31-47, in which Jesus rebukes those who have refused to recognize the signs from Scriptures (Old Testament) that the Father has given concerning the Christ.

Mohler began with a sense of urgency about young people who are departing from evangelical congregations and searching for spiritual fulfillment outside of the Church. The reason they are leaving, said Mohler, is because they have never been taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because too many congregations have an “absence of the Gospel.”

Mohler declared his hope that a missional generation was on the rise, young people who have believed the Gospel taught from the entire body of Scripture.

The problem comes, said Mohler, when pastors and congregations either neglect, or misuse the Old Testament. When the Old Testament is no longer seen as an essential part of the Christian faith, people do not receive the fullness of Gospel truth. They cannot deeply recognize who Christ is and what He has done for His people.

The encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees related in John 5 demonstrates the central importance of the Old Testament to the Christian faith. Mohler expounded on four “witnesses” that Jesus set before the religious leaders.

First, John the Baptist, who stood as “a burning and shining lamp” (John 5:35) that pointed directly to Jesus as the Christ. Mohler said that this statement is tied to Psalm 132:17: “There [in Zion] I will make a horn to sprout for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed” (emphasis added). The Father “ignited” John to witness to Jesus as the Christ, but the religious leaders refused to hear this witness and believe.

Second, was the works of Jesus. In John 5:36 Jesus stated, “But the testimony I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me, that the Father has sent me” (emphasis added). His miracles and signs authenticated His ministry. Yet even after the feeding of the 5,000, they asked for a sign, for more proof. They refused to recognize the Christ.

Third, the Father Himself stands as a witness. Jesus issued a direct rebuke: “His voice you have never heard … and you do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom He has sent.” (John 5:38)…

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