December 19, 2011, sunny, after dinner, Wuyi Square, Fuzhou. Noon break is my favorite time of day when I can relax myself with reading and meditation. I, as usual, walked leisurely on the open square, book in hand. There were many people as well, some playing with their children, some flying kites, some reading, some chatting, and some singing out loud… All were so happy in the peaceful winter sun. I would never have dreamt of being disturbed in such a heavenly calmness had not an old woman suddenly appeared before me, saying,
“Young man, you must believe in Jesus. Many scientists are Christians!” There was no eloquence, for she spoke a poor, broken Mandarin with a heavy Foochow accent, handing me a Gospel tract. Smiling, I replied warmly, “I am a believer, my dear sister.” “Oh, we’ve found a brother here! Thank Lord, thank Lord,” she repeated, and asked me if I would go to church on Christmas. I told her my wife and I sang at Flower Lane Church Youth Choir, and on Christmas Eve, both of us would be performing on the stage. She got even more excited when hearing this, but she seemed to be in a great hurry. “I must go on to work now,” she said, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few,” and left quickly. It took a few seconds before I realized what she was doing. And then I beheld, not far from me, two other women who looked the same age were also preaching the Gospel on the square – they were three!
My thoughts flew back to some seven years ago. I was then a college boy, studying in Nanjing University. Many a time I had met such “preachers” on the grass just outside of our library. They were both males and females and of all sorts of age and from all walks of life, hovering like ghosts around every corner of the campus. I despised them – oh no, maybe I should say, I loathed them – believing they had some sort of mental disorder. I recalled there was a mysterious fellow always dressed in black, and the first time he met me, he grabbed my sleeves and talked this heaven-and-hell stuff to me on and on. The second time I bumped into him, however, he was no longer trying to preach to me at all. Instead he gave me an English Bible, “Bro, I see you’re reading English books all day long. Why not read the English Bible as well – the greatest literature ever!” I accepted the gift and appreciated his benevolence, of course, but never would I have thought of the possibility that one day the very Bible, in the darkest moments of my troubled youth, would shine like a bright morning star and point a new direction for my life. God found me at last, but that’s another long story and I’m not digressing here.
But, ever since I became a Christian, I had never participated in a Gospel-spreading program. I didn’t think I was ever equipped for doing this job. And plus every believer knows that the true faith is not obtained through debate. “But what about these three old women?” I thought, “They don’t even speak proper Mandarin, how are they going to persuade people?” I decided to follow them and have a closer look at how they did it.
“You must believe in Jesus.” “Jesus died on the cross for us, and washed our sins away.” “We are all sinners. Without Jesus we would all go to hell.” “Our treasures are in heaven.” “The Lord is a spirit. If you believe in Him, He will dwell in your heart.” “Never worship the idols and false gods, but worship Him, the only true God.” … What they were preaching was the most basic and fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith, and one can easily understand it without a high education background. I saw them preach to one after another, with a strong purpose: to bring everyone to God within the shortest time possible. Because there were so many people on the square, the average time they spent on a single person was no more than two minutes. To the students they said, “Do not doubt. Many scientists believe in God as well.” To the young lovers they said to the girls, “Do you want your boyfriend to love you forever? There is a way: let him fall in love with Jesus first!” To the middle-aged they said, “God bless you and your family abundantly and grant your career success.” To the old they would point to the sky and say, “Look at the kingdom of heaven. Jesus asked us to store up treasures in heaven.” I stood by and watched. Whenever there were some hard-hearted guys who declined the good news, I would add a few words of persuasion. But apparently there was timidity in my voice, so I couldn’t assist much, whereas the three old women – oh wow, how very touching – two preached bravely and affirmatively and the other one prayed earnestly. Following the preaching was the crucial question, “Will you accept Jesus as your Savior?” If a positive answer was received, they would first ask them to write down their name on a notebook, and then lead them to pray the sinner’s prayer sentence by sentence, and then, finally, they would give them the address inviting them to church on Sunday. Eight souls were saved in this way within ten minutes. Of course, there were some unfriendly guys just like me of many years ago, who wore an arrogant look and gave a snort of contempt, and also some polite people who shook their heads with a smile and turned them away. I did a brief calculation: among the twenty people near the fountain, one third had yielded to the power of the Holy Spirit and accepted Jesus, one third had expressed their doubts but taken the Gospel tracts with open readiness, and still one third had remained stubborn to the good news. About the unharvested crops the three sisters seemed rather patient, for one of them told me, “That’s OK. God has His own plans for everyone and we only need to obey His commands.” Wow, are you looking for miracles? These were miracles! See what God was doing through these three old sisters, who were uneducated, illiterate, and not even able to speak proper Mandarin! I was the witness: not by might nor by power, but by the Holy Spirit, they had brought dozens of people to the Almighty! “How great Thou art!” I exclaimed, and took out my cell phone and captured this precious moment of His wonderful deed.
But do not think this is the end of the story. Our antagonist had not shown up yet. Did you notice the gray-haired middle-aged man in the upper left of the picture? Yes, he was approaching us, unnoticed, and all of a sudden, this stern-looking man burst into a hysterical roar: “Out, all of you, out from the square! No preaching in this place!” The poor girl who had just accepted Jesus got so frightened that she began to shiver helplessly. One of the old women stepped forward, bowed to him thrice, and begged, “Would you please allow us to help her finish the prayer? We’ll be leaving immediately, immediately.” “Out from my sight, right now! We have state law against preaching in public places!” I watched silently. I figured he was no ordinary man. He was not wearing a uniform, and he dared to shout to the crowd. Based on my observation of his appearance and behavior, I believed he was a plainclothes police officer, but I wanted to try my courage anyway, so I shouted back, “Hey, who gave you this authority to do this?”
“Are you questioning me? It’s against our law to preach in public places!” He stared at me with a fierce look, “Wanna get arrested?” Oh, indeed, his threatening remarks had revealed his real identity, but my anger was not so easily refrained. I wanted to shout more, but there was no chance now. One sister ran towards me and dragged me away. Gripping my hands firmly she said, “Calm down, please, my young brother, do not get angry. We would sin if we were in anger, and we would lose our testimony. We must love our enemies and bless those who persecute us. Didn’t Jesus tell us, if someone claps us on one cheek, we should turn to them the other cheek as well?” Then she shed tears as if in great anguish. Oh God, I sinned again. Please forgive my worldliness. As a Christian I had hated in my heart and cursed with my tongue numerous people who were opposed to the Truth, but never in my life had I ever wept and prayed for a brother or sister who had sinned against the Lord. Had I? Not even once… Oh, what a judgmental, hypocritical Pharisee I had been! I felt so ashamed in front of this old humble sister. “I’m OK. Don’t cry. I won’t anger again. I promise.” Then she smiled with relief, “What a lovely child of God.” I looked at her again, deeply amazed. As for knowledge, ability, and talents, I was much greater than she. But in the kingdom of God, she was a Christian soldier, while I was merely a feeble infant crying for milk.
Having scattered the sheep, the police officer walked off with triumphant strides like a proud wolf. As soon as he left, the three sisters said to me, “He’s gone. We must go on working now!” and ran in the opposite direction. They were all in their fifties or sixties, but their actions were as swift as birds and not a second had been lost. I stood watching the officer from afar diligently. I believed he would come back, and so he did. But this time he seemed to be a little bit less hostile, as he shouted from a distance away, “You, three of you, please leave this square! Isn’t Jesus watching us in the sky? The state law forbids us to preach in public places. Why don’t you Christians obey the state law?” Well, that’s a typical question. In China, those who object to Christianity usually consider Christians as law-breakers and bad citizens, but they are absolutely wrong! Among all the commandments in the Old Testament and all the teachings in the New Testament, there is not a single doctrine that promotes wrongdoing. In Romans 13 the apostle Paul even commands us to be subject to the governing authorities. However, being subject to the governing authorities never means that we should put aside our Bible and compromise our fundamental faith. Jesus, in the last chapter of Matthew, tells his followers to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Therefore, the spread of Christianity is never confined by time or space. If the state law in any way contradicts the Bible, then sorry, we Christians simply have to choose to follow the latter. That’s why, no matter how devastating the flood may seem, the fire of Christ will never be quenched.
The three old women then proceeded to retreat to the woods in the south, and I followed. During the short time as they ran, they distributed more Gospel tracts along the way. And there in the woods, I had one more chance to talk with them. I was told that they had been doing this for about 15 years, and had walked every park and every square of Fuzhou. Every week they would spend 2 or 3 days and every day 2 or 3 hours, rain or shine. All the names of the saved souls had been recorded in their notebook, and heaps of notebooks like this had been used up for the past ten years. I opened the “Book of Life” with awe. Oh my dear Jesus. The three old sisters were all uneducated and illiterate, for they didn’t even know how to read and write names, but they had counted every one of them most seriously. There was no accounting fraud: if anyone cropped out after they had registered, the sisters would strike through the name to exclude it from counting. In everything they did I saw complete earnest and sincerity. “September 27, 14 souls; October 3, 10 souls; October 7, 18 souls; …” as one of them cheerfully showed me page by page. Once again, I was utterly moved, by this most wonderful God.
Regarding the persecution, well, we really owe our thanks to the Lord, because, at least in modern-day Fuzhou, there is no more severe persecution. However, small-scale persecution does exist. In every park and every square of Fuzhou there are such plainclothes police officers, whose duty is not to maintain public security but to violate religious freedom. Fortunately, they don’t push you too far. Usually they simply drive you away from one place to another, and they’ll cease the chase once you’re out of sight. One sister was one of the very few “lucky” ones who had the experience of being dragged into a police car and taken to the Public Security Bureau, but she told us with much laughter, “Who can harm us since our Lord is always with us?” The other sister recited Matthew 10:16, “I am sending you like sheep among wolves, so be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” And where was the third sister? Oh, she was preaching to another teenage student and he too accepted it!
“What can I do for you?” I asked them, wondering what an infant could do for a warrior. “No, you don’t have to do anything for us; The Lord is our Shepherd, and we lack nothing,” replied one sister, “Instead, you must do things for God: work hard, and love your family and friends. Whenever you do things for God, you are helping us.” And then she clapped me on the shoulder and looked on at me with much tenderness in her eyes. “Now we must go on working! God bless you, young man.” Waving their hands, they hurried off again. In no time they vanished into the huge crowd of mortal souls, shrewd as snakes, innocent as doves.
Having been married for six months, I have come to realize that marriage is much more than I have previously anticipated. When I made the “I do” pledge on the wedding ceremony, I had no idea at all that it would mean that much painful growth and maturity on man’s part. Yes, marriage requires a lot of impersonal and unconditional love, demanding more and more responsibility for family while less and less time and energy for private stuff. But, alas, such a prodigal son I have been, so disobedient to the commands of my Heavenly Father that the way of marriage has been anything but smooth for me. Consequently, I have found myself in frequent conflict with my wife as well as my parents, hurting everyone including myself. But He never forsakes me, carrying me through and giving me the strength and wisdom I need to cope with the difficulties of life. And my Christian friends have always kept me in their thoughts and prayers. Oh, words always fall short in expressing my indebtedness towards His grace and mercy.
I believe God has called me into many different roles: telecommunications worker, programmer, amateur mission-history researcher, writer, etc. But above all, however, I have been called first and foremost to become a husband of love, integrity, purity, and character, ministering to my wife and our future children. I am aware that this is a big challenge and the road is rough ahead, but I am not alone, for our Lord Jesus is always with me and my wife. The Bible teaches us men to love our wives “just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25), because marriage is more than just a simple relationship, as secular people might think; Marriage involves two persons becoming one, and is an important human symbol of what it means to be truly united in Christ.
13:30, May 17, here I am standing inside the side gate of the Cai Xiang Memorial Shrine (Fuzhou Cangshan District Museum). Right in front of me lie three missionary tombstones, the derelict remnants of the Foochow Mission Cemetery. I thought the Communists had destroyed everything they could lay their hands on. Well, I was wrong: at least three of the tombstones have survived, and presumably there are even more.
REV. NATHAN SITES, D.D.
BORN AT BELLVILLE, OHIO, U.S.A. NOV. 6, 1830
SAILED TO CHINA. JUNE 1,1861:
AS MISSIONARY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
DIED AT FOOCHOW. FEB. 10, 1895.
“GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS, THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS.” JOHN XVI-16th*
The one on the right is of Dr. Nathan Sites, whose name is not unfamiliar to most scholars on Chinese Christian history. He was a pioneer Methodist missionary to China, and during his 34 years in the mission field he worked ceaselessly, winning converts, training local ministers, planting churches in the province, and helping organize the expansion of Methodism into the Inner and Northern parts of China (to Kiukiang, Wuhu, and Peking). His influence has been so strong that his Chinese name Siék Sìng-ŏng (薛承恩) still frequently appears in Chinese documents. The late Methodist pastor Rev. Liu Yangfen (刘扬芬), who passed into Glory last year in NYC, writes in his autobiography that Dr. Nathan Sites was the missionary who touched the hearts of his father and grandfather with Jesus’ Love. His wife Sarah Moore Sites compiled his stories into the book An Epic to the East. Now let’s move on to the next stone:
REV. HARRY WESCOTT WORLEY
1886—1948
METHODIST MISSIONARY
AND HIS SON
LT. HARRY WILTSIE WORLEY USN
1920—1945
GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS
Harry Worley was son of the Methodist missionary James H. Worley, and so he was a China-born, second-generation missionary, and, according to our local documents, he spoke our dialect like a native. Harry Worley is better known as Huà Hiê-sìng (华惠成) to older Christians of Fuzhou. He held several top positions of the Methodist Church in Foochow, as well as being the head of the Anti-Cobweb Society. The other name that appears underneath is of his son, who died in Japan during WWII. On one side of the stone are also carved the names of his wife Zela and daughter Claragene. Harry Worley himself died in 1948 after suffering from a stroke. Here is a brief account of his death, taken from The Hills of T’ang, by Muriel C. Pilley:
In February Harry Worley died. Pearce [Hayes] sent us a note early one morning. John [Pilley] went to the house to help put Harry’s body in the narrow coffin, and in the afternoon to screw down the lid and carry the casket to the little cemetery. Many friends, foreign and Chinese, came to pay tribute, and the service was balanced nicely between two languages. Bert [Faurot] played music in his little house just beyond the cemetery wall. Bishop Lacy’s voice broke when he spoke of his long friendship with Harry. Zela was strong throughout, a remarkable woman. (She died many years later in a nursing home in North Carolina.)
And the last one:
BEN HERBERT MARSH
A MISSIONARY
OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
BORN IN ILLINOIS, U.S.A. DIED IN FOOCHOW
JULY 23. 1872 JUNE 18. 1904
WHETHER WE LIVE, THEREFORE, OR DIED, WE ARE THE LORD’S.
Since the third person Ben Marsh had died at a relatively young age, his background is pretty much shrouded in darkness. All I have dug out from the documents so far is that he had taught for some years at the Anglo-Chinese College, Foochow. There are Chinese inscriptions on the other side of the stone as well, but as it is much too weighty it is impossible for me to move or turn it over to read them. If anyone could provide the missing data, I would appreciate it.
* This verse is actually John 15:13.
How does the way the Letter to the Hebrews presents Jesus help you understand the OT?
In the Letter to the Hebrews we see that Jesus is the complete and final revelation of God. He is superior to angels, to Moses and Joshua, to the OT priests, and to the OT sacrifices. Through Him, God has brought us a new covenant. “By calling this covenant ‘new’, he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.” (8:13) Yes, Jesus suffered, died, and resurrected for us, and now that it has been done, we are “not under the law, but under grace”. (Rom. 6:14)
In the OT we read of many angels, but God never called any of them His son nor ordered all angels to worship him. Only to Jesus did God ever say so. (1:5-14) We also read of God’s many servants in the OT, such as Moses and Joshua who are mentioned in Hebrews. They were faithful to God and have set very good examples for us. However, Jesus’ obedience is above those of all other OT servants: he was willing to die even though he was guiltless. He is the Son of God, and since the servant can be so faithful to his master, how much more is the Son to His Father! (3:1-6)
The author of the Pentateuch goes into great details on the Jewish traditions of making sacrifices. The OT priests, on behalf of all sinful Israelites, approached God annually and offered the blood of bulls and goats and petitions for God’s forgiveness. “He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness.” (5:2) However, “day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.” (10:11) But with the advent of the new covenant, Jesus, guiltless as He was, died for all humanity, rather than just for the Israelites. He Himself was crucified on the cross and shed His precious blood that cleansed us from unrighteousness. “By that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (10:10), and “He sat down at the right hand of God.” (10:12b)
In Genesis we read of a mysterious figure, a high priest named Melchizedek, and only in Hebrews has his true identity been disclosed: “Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.” (7:3) He was superior to the descendants of Levi and even Abraham was required to give him a tenth of what he had. It turned out that Jesus is “a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” (7:17b)
Therefore, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews writes that “the law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves.” That sums up the very essence of the law as well as the whole NT.
In the pastoral epistles Paul warns the church against false teachings. What sorts of heresies have you encountered in your church or personal life? How do you identify and refute them?
In Colossians 2:8, Paul warns the church of “hollow and deceptive philosophy” which depends on “human tradition and the basic principles of this world.” In 2 Peters 2:1 Peter also writes of the “false teachers”. In China, heresies sometimes exist in the form of denominations, such as the True Jesus Church. In recent years the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses have also penetrated into this country. All these denominations obviously twist the Biblical truth, such as the denial of trinity and Jesus’ divinity, and it’s not hard to identify them. Among all the heresies I have encountered, however, a certain kind of liberal theology is especially noteworthy, whose harmfulness is often underestimated by most Chinese Christians. Its ideas can be best concluded from the speech and published works of Bishop K. H. Ting of the Three-self Church, i.e., criticism of the Bible, blurring the distinction between Christianity and other religions and philosophies, reconciliation of the Christian thoughts and the Socialist/Communist ideologies, and so forth. Outwardly, they preach the essential elements of Christianity just like others, drawing a sharp line between itself and the traditional heresies. Inwardly, however, they are unbelievers bearing much resemblance to atheists, and their purpose is nothing but to please the unbelieving authority, which explains why most ministers holding such theological viewpoints are on the top positions in the Official Church.
Heresies take various forms, and, indeed, the most deceptive are those that are based on worldly values. There is but one principle to identify them: whatever does not adhere to the biblical faith falls into that category. The best way to refute heresies is to build our faith upon the rock of the Bible, and to grow ever stronger in wisdom and knowledge in Jesus and keep ever closer to God, and to spare no efforts spreading the gospel truth. Therefore Paul writes in Colossians 2:3-4, “[Christ,] in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.” Once we have recognized a certain kind of heresy, we should admonish others to stay away from its teaching, while on the other hand we ourselves should be careful of our tongues as well and refrain from cursing men.
The Acts of the Apostles gives the account of how the Church grew. Do you think that the Early Church should be taken as the model for all the modern churches to follow? Are the circumstances found in the Apostolic Church really found in the modern churches as well? And what messages does the development of the Apostolic Church convey to the modern reader?
The Acts of the Apostles tells us how the foundation of the early church was laid and how it grew ever larger and stronger, but it should not be regarded as the model for the development of all the following churches, nor can all the circumstances recorded in the Acts be reproduced in the modern churches. Some hold the opinion that we must do everything the apostles did, but they fall into the danger of reading the Bible as Aesop’ Fables, because we should not expect to find a moral in every narrative in the Acts as well as in other books. The apostles had done many things, some of which indeed serve as the paradigm for today’s Christians, but some of which are however unique in their own time. For example, the second chapter narrates that the apostles demand all the converts sell their possessions and goods and have everything in common, and many people believe that all churches should adopt such institution and even draw the ridiculous conclusion that Communism is in accordance with Christianity. Therefore, to make a distinguish between what are the paradigms and what aren’t a challenge for all Bible readers. That’s why Dr. Gordon thinks the Acts and the Revelation are the two most difficult books in the Bible and requires us to obtain full understandings of the Bible, especially of the NT epistles, before we perform exegesis.
Despite that the early church was not a paradigm for all the following churches to imitate, the Book of Acts provides us guidance and its significance can never be underestimated. I will list three points here. Firstly, we must emphasize the work of the Holy Spirit. All throughout the Book of Acts we read of Holy Spirit’s work: baptism in the Holy Spirit, the Pentecost and speaking in tongues, being filled with the Holy Spirit, and instructions by the Holy Spirit, which is why the Acts of the Apostles in a sense can also be called “the Acts of the Holy Spirit”. Secondly, we must prepare ourselves for the persecution that could befall us at any time. The Acts of the Apostles abounds in stories of the disciples suffering for faith or even martyrdom, such as Paul and Stephen, who have set very ideal examples for us to follow. Thirdly, we must fight against all sorts of heresies. In Chapter 8 we see that Peter harshly denounces Simon the Sorcerer, and therefore we must do likewise in the face of modern heresies.
In his epistles Paul mentioned many problems and challenges that the Church faced. Which of them do you think are relevant to your church? And in what way can Paul’s teaching help you deal with them?
In I Corinthians, Paul criticizes many problems within the Corinthian Church. After some two thousand years these problems still exist in various forms within modern churches, and Paul’s teaching has provided guidance for us on how to deal with them. Here I list two points.
In the opening four chapters of I Corinthians Paul addresses the issue on the divisions of the Corinthian Church. Apparently the unity of the Church is what Paul concerns most. If Paul paid a visit to the modern churches in China I think the first thing he would notice is the decades-long schism: the Three-self Church vs. the House Church, both of which do not associate with and are sometimes even hostile to each other. Paul’s response to this issue is simple but pertinent to the point: “Is Christ divided?” (I Cor. 1:13) Basically, the divisions have always been there because Christians tend to hold up someone or something higher than Jesus. Due to some historical and cultural reasons, Chinese people are more apt to hold up a person very high, fostering personality cults, which is not uncommon even within the Church. Think about the emperor worship of ancient times and the Cultural Revolution, and let us be watchful!
In the fifth chapter Paul mentions the church’s tolerance of sin. In today’s Chinese church there is an incredible degree of tolerance of sin, which includes financial corruption and sexual immorality and a multitude of other things as well, and I have never seen any of the churches I have attended that has ever excommunicated someone: the pastors emphasize too much on God’s love and mercy while make little mention of His wrath and judgment. I think it perhaps has something to do with the vogue ideology of so-called “Harmonious Society”, whose construction needs nothing more than the government shirking responsibilities and turning a blind eye to the real social problems. Actually we have in Christian contexts a notion of “peacemaking” (Mat. 5:9), and to make peace one must make it upon the foundation of the Truth, because only God can give us peace (Eph. 2:14). Without the Truth, without the eagerness for justice and the hatred of sin, there would be only fake harmony. We must bear in mind that tolerating the one involved in sinful behavior will lead to the toleration of the sinful behavior itself, and that it paves the way to the total depravation of the Church.
What roles do the OT play in the NT other than ascertaining the fulfillment of the prophecies?
The OT has laid a solid foundation for the events and teachings in the NT. Besides historical and cultural backgrounds, which we have talked about in the previous discussion, its key role in the NT includes, among other things, providing backgrounds of the Law and visions, etc. I will now give some brief illustration on these two aspects.
The Law of Moses is given in the Torah, but many of us, however, had hard time reading through it for the first time, complaining about the boring and miscellaneous 613 Mitzvot, not realizing that these commandments all point to the perfect salvation to be brought by Jesus. It is also true with the NT reading, for we shall not divorce it from the background of the Law in the OT. Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Mat. 5:17) In His famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus did not intend to replace the Law of Moses, nor did he add anything new to it. His intention is in fact to fulfill the law by His teaching, that is, to demonstrate the true content and purpose of the Law. Another instance in the NT is the “Sola fide”, or, “justification by faith”, which, since the Reformation, has been widely thought of as an idea initiated by Paul. Actually, however, “justification by faith” already has its roots in the OT. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David, etc., all these OT figures had set themselves good examples with their faith alone. Therefore Paul says, “We who are Jews by birth… know that a man is not justified by observing the Law.” (Gal. 2:15-16a)
The OT also furnishes sources of the NT visions. Typically in understanding the visions in John’s Revelation, we must focus back on the Books of Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, and Isaiah, such as the “four living creatures” in Ezekiel 1 and the “one like a son of man” in Daniel 7, etc.
Of course the OT plays a far wider role in the NT than what I have mentioned above. They are two books in one cover; they are complementary, rather than contradictory; and together they present a soul-stirring history, of God’s whole redemptive plan for mankind.
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, and I will de-spam it as soon as possible. 
