The Witnesses
A Sermon on Acts 5:29-32
Originally preached April 10, 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
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
- The apostles were on trial before the Sanhedrin for preaching about Jesus.
- The Sanhedrin told them to stop preaching in Jesus' name.
- The apostles responded that they must obey God rather than men.
- God raised up Jesus, whom the Sanhedrin killed by hanging him on a tree.
- God exalted Jesus to be a Prince and Savior to give repentance and forgiveness of sins.
- The apostles were witnesses of these things, as was the Holy Spirit.
- The Sanhedrin reacted negatively to Jesus and the apostles due to refusing to face the facts.
- They were blinded by their prejudices and didn't see things as they really were.
- Jesus didn't fit into their pattern and contradicted what they had always taught.
- They claimed to believe the Old Testament but misunderstood and misinterpreted it.
- They were confronted with facts about Jesus but refused to consider them.
- Modern man also refuses to face facts about Jesus and Christianity.
- They subject the Bible to "historical criticism" and reject parts they don't like.
- They create their own idea of who Jesus was and reject anything that contradicts it.
- Christianity is based on historical facts, not opinions—it's a record of events.
- The apostles were eyewitnesses reporting facts, not inventing fables or theories.
- The facts are about the person of Jesus—his power, authority, works, teaching, death, and resurrection.
- Jesus' transfiguration and miracles showed his divine power; his teaching showed his authority.
- Jesus taught that he would suffer, die, and rise again, which the apostles witnessed.
- The meaning of Jesus' death is that he died for our sins as our substitute.
- The empty tomb and resurrection appearances proved Jesus rose from the dead.
- The coming of the Holy Spirit empowered the apostles to be witnesses of these facts.
- These facts prove Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world.
- The question is what these facts mean to us and whether we will face them.
Sermon Q&A
What Did the Apostles Mean by "We Are His Witnesses"? According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones delivers a powerful sermon about the apostles' declaration "We are his witnesses" from Acts 5:29-32. This foundational statement explains why the early apostles couldn't stop preaching about Jesus despite threats from authorities.
What does it mean that the apostles were "witnesses" of Christ?
According to Lloyd-Jones, the apostles were declaring they were eyewitnesses to historical facts about Jesus Christ. They weren't promoting philosophical theories or religious opinions, but testifying to events they had personally seen and experienced:
"We haven't followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the coming and the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. But were eyewitnesses of his Majesty... We are reporters of facts. We are eyewitnesses. We are simply telling you what our eyes have seen and our ears have heard."
Why did the Sanhedrin oppose the apostles' testimony?
Lloyd-Jones explains that the religious authorities refused to face the facts before them:
"It was the refusal of these people to face the facts. That is the amazing thing... It is a perfect instance of men being confronted by facts, but yet not seeing them, in a sense, not allowing themselves to see them at all."
Their prejudice blinded them to the evidence—including miracles they had witnessed and the transformation of the apostles themselves.
What specific things were the apostles witnesses of?
According to Lloyd-Jones, the apostles were witnesses to:
- The extraordinary person of Jesus Christ - His authority, transfiguration, and divine presence
- His miraculous works - healing the sick, controlling nature
- His unique teaching - speaking with unprecedented authority
- His deliberate death - going intentionally to Jerusalem knowing He would die
- His resurrection - appearing to them after death
- His ascension - being taken up into heaven before their eyes
Why is the apostles' witness so important for Christianity?
Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that Christianity is not merely a philosophy or perspective on life, but is founded on historical facts:
"The Christian message, first and foremost, is a record of facts. Get rid of this notion that Christianity is just a point of view with respect to life... If you take away the facts, there's no Christianity, there's no message. This is entirely a matter of facts."
How should we respond to the apostles' witness?
Lloyd-Jones challenges his listeners to personally engage with these facts about Jesus:
"What do these things mean to you? These things I've been talking about, these facts, these historical events about which I've been reminding you. What do these things mean to you? You've got to come to some decision about them. You can't get rid of them."
He urges his audience to truly examine the evidence without prejudice, quoting Isaac Watts' hymn "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," and calls them to surrender to Christ based on the compelling testimony of the apostles who were willing to die rather than stop sharing what they had witnessed.
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.