Molded by the Gospel
A Sermon on Acts 5:29-32
Originally preached May 1, 1966
Scripture
29¶ Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. 30The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. 31Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and …
Sermon Description
Are Christians living in obedience to God and listening to the command to obey that is found throughout Scripture? Listen to this sermon on Acts 5:29–32 titled “Moulded by the Gospel” as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones speaks on the topic of obedience and its importance. Obedience is an extremely important factor for a Christian’s relationship with God. In fact, Dr. Lloyd-Jones points out that the Holy Spirit is given to those who obey the commands of God. One such command to obey is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ – this is the command of the gospel. Scripture repeatedly states that the gospel is not something to merely listen to but it is something to be obeyed. Dr. Lloyd-Jones states that a Christian is someone who obeys the gospel from their heart. One cannot become a follower of Christ by accepting the gospel intellectually instead of taking action and responding in obedience. It is in this obedience of repenting of old ways and turning to God that the Christian is moulded and changed by the gospel. Dr. Lloyd-Jones ends the sermon by encouraging the Christian to continue living in obedience to the gospel and allowing themselves to be moulded and changed by it.
Sermon Breakdown
- Gamaliel was a great and respected man, a doctor of the law with a reputation among the people.
- The story of Gamaliel takes place after Pentecost when the apostles were preaching, performing miracles, and had healed a lame man. This caused a commotion and the apostles were arrested.
- Gamaliel stood up in the council and told them to be careful in how they dealt with the apostles. He reminded them of previous movements that had come to nothing and said this one might be of God.
- Gamaliel had good qualities: he was calm and reasonable, against violence, believed in justice and fair play, feared God, and was willing to listen.
- However, Gamaliel lacked spiritual perception. He never saw the uniqueness of Jesus and the apostles. He compared them to previous political movements.
- Gamaliel never truly examined the apostles or tried to understand them. He didn't ask how uneducated men could preach and heal. He had no explanation for the healed man.
- Gamaliel only had one test: the test of time and success. He had no spiritual tests. He reasoned from past events and experience.
- Gamaliel felt no personal challenge from the gospel. He looked at it objectively and detachedly, like an intellectual exercise. It didn't touch his conscience.
- Ability, culture, reasonableness, and human wisdom are useless in spiritual matters. Only spiritual understanding matters.
- The way you reject the gospel doesn't matter. Only the fact of rejection matters. Politeness in rejection is worthless.
- Partial acceptance of the gospel is rejection. You must accept all of it or none of it.
- The ultimate test is seeing the uniqueness of Jesus. Is he just a man, or is he the Son of God?
- Have you seen your need for Jesus as the only Savior? Have you repented and believed the gospel? This is what really matters.
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.