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Sermon #2050

The Witnesses

A Sermon on Acts 5:29-32

Originally preached April 10, 1966

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Scripture

Acts 5:29-32 ESV KJV
But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And …

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Sermon Description

As Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones describes in this sermon “The Witnesses,” the Christianity proclaimed in the book of Acts 5:29–32 by the apostles is a Christianity that is grounded in real events. There was a man from Galilee who taught that He was the Son of God and the long-awaited Messiah. He said that He would be crucified for the sins of the world, but that on the third day He would rise from the dead, the result of doing the Father's will. This is the Christianity that the apostles boldly proclaimed to the Jewish leaders following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Those who seek to defend the truth of the Christian religion by minimizing or even denying the historicity of its claim do so in complete opposition to the example that the apostles give in the book of Acts. They believed in a true historical Jesus Christ and His bodily resurrection and to deny these historical truths is to reject the Christianity of the apostles, and therefore the true Christianity. The church of today should find hope in a real savior who really lived and died so that sinners could be saved and become children of God. The real life and death of Jesus stand at the heart of the gospel.

Sermon Breakdown

  1. The apostles were on trial before the Sanhedrin for preaching about Jesus.
  2. The Sanhedrin told them to stop preaching in Jesus' name.
  3. The apostles responded that they must obey God rather than men.
  4. God raised up Jesus, whom the Sanhedrin killed by hanging him on a tree.
  5. God exalted Jesus to be a Prince and Savior to give repentance and forgiveness of sins.
  6. The apostles were witnesses of these things, as was the Holy Spirit.
  7. The Sanhedrin reacted negatively to Jesus and the apostles due to refusing to face the facts.
  8. They were blinded by their prejudices and didn't see things as they really were.
  9. Jesus didn't fit into their pattern and contradicted what they had always taught.
  10. They claimed to believe the Old Testament but misunderstood and misinterpreted it.
  11. They were confronted with facts about Jesus but refused to consider them.
  12. Modern man also refuses to face facts about Jesus and Christianity.
  13. They subject the Bible to "historical criticism" and reject parts they don't like.
  14. They create their own idea of who Jesus was and reject anything that contradicts it.
  15. Christianity is based on historical facts, not opinions—it's a record of events.
  16. The apostles were eyewitnesses reporting facts, not inventing fables or theories.
  17. The facts are about the person of Jesus—his power, authority, works, teaching, death, and resurrection.
  18. Jesus' transfiguration and miracles showed his divine power; his teaching showed his authority.
  19. Jesus taught that he would suffer, die, and rise again, which the apostles witnessed.
  20. The meaning of Jesus' death is that he died for our sins as our substitute.
  21. The empty tomb and resurrection appearances proved Jesus rose from the dead.
  22. The coming of the Holy Spirit empowered the apostles to be witnesses of these facts.
  23. These facts prove Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world.
  24. The question is what these facts mean to us and whether we will face them.

The Book of Acts

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.