Witness in the Power of the Spirit
A Sermon on Acts 5:32
Scripture
32And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
Sermon Description
How is one to face the problem of evangelism? Listen to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones as he preached this sermon on Acts 5:32 titled “Witness in the Power of the Spirit,” onboard the OM ship Doulos on September 18, 1978. The church is fighting for life amidst pagan countries. Be certain of the authority of God and not humanity, and replace the fear of humanity with the fear of God. Learn of the two elements that are absolutely necessary for witness. One can be perfectly orthodox and yet still dead. There is great danger in taking the Spirit without the Bible and apostolic witness. Hear of the baptism of the Spirit and the transformation of Peter. To what does the Spirit bear witness? Is it to Himself, humanity, gifts, or something else? He was sent for one great purpose. Learn of one test to know whether a person has been filled with Spirit: do they point to Christ? There is great danger in living off other people’s experiences. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones addresses the true understanding of a revival. This is not something that can be announced and planned for: it is the falling of the Holy Spirit upon people in great power.
Sermon Breakdown
- We must be absolutely certain of our authority. We ought to obey God rather than men.
- We must go not in our own strength, but in the strength of the Lord and in the power of his might.
- Fear him, ye saints, said John Bunyan, and you will have nothing else to fear. If we work in the fear of the Lord, we shall soon lose the fear of men.
- The Holy Spirit does not bear witness to himself. The Holy Spirit does not call attention to himself, nor to his works, nor to his own power.
- The Holy Spirit came in the form of a dove. I believe that was very deliberate to suggest the shyness, the fact that he doesn't demonstrate himself, as it were, a delicacy, a shyness.
- And the Holy Spirit has been specifically sent for one great purpose. What's that? To testify to the Lord Jesus Christ. To glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, not himself, nor anything that he does.
- He says, it's Christ, this son of God whom you rejected, who's done this, it's always the same.
- And Peter filled with the spirit, invariably, and I can take you on and give you other examples. He always does precisely the same thing.
- The theme of the great revivals of history has always been the person of Christ's atoning death and his glorious resurrection.
- My dear friends, we must keep the scriptural balance and realize that always the spirit glorifies and bears witness not to himself, but to the Lord Jesus Christ, his person and his work.
- I am emphasizing this phenomenal aspect, this something that happens outside us.
- You know, there's a great illustration of this in the chapter four of this book of the Acts of the Apostles. When Peter and John had been set free by the Sanhedrin, we are told that being let go, they went back to their own company and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said unto them.
- And when they had prayed, the place was shaken. Where they were assembled together, the place was shaken. Now, that's not witness through people, is it? It was the building that was shaken.
- And who shook the building? The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was bearing his witness by shaking the building, not through the apostles, but through the material building.
- I know the clever critics would have us believe that what really happened there was this, that these people praying were so frightened that they began to shake in. No, no, it was the building that shook. The Holy Spirit can shake buildings, he can shake nations. He can shake any power.
Sermon Q&A
What Did Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Teach About the Holy Spirit's Witness?
How does the Holy Spirit bear witness to Christ according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, the Holy Spirit bears witness not to Himself but to Jesus Christ. He quotes Jesus' own words from John 15:26 and 16:13-14 where Jesus says that when the Spirit comes, "He shall testify of me" and "He will glorify me." Dr. Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that "the Holy Spirit came in the form of a dove... to suggest the shyness, the fact that he doesn't demonstrate himself." The Spirit's primary role is to glorify Christ and His work, not to draw attention to Himself or even to the gifts He gives believers.
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones identify as the two essential elements for effective Christian witness?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones identifies two essential elements that must always go together for effective Christian witness:
- The apostolic witness - "We are his witnesses" - which refers to the message of the Bible, sound doctrine, and theological truth.
- The witness of the Holy Spirit - "And so is also the Holy Spirit" - which refers to the power and demonstration of the Spirit.
He warns against two extremes: those who emphasize only doctrine without the power of the Spirit (resulting in orthodoxy but deadness), and those who emphasize only the Spirit without sound doctrine (resulting in potential fanaticism and wildfire).
What is revival according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones describes revival as "a falling of the Holy Spirit upon us" - a sovereign action of God that cannot be scheduled or manufactured. He distinguishes it from mere evangelistic campaigns (which some Americans call "revivals"). True revival is:
- A sovereign act of God, not something humans can organize
- A manifestation of supernatural power ("the place was shaken")
- Something that happens unexpectedly (like in Andrew Murray's prayer meeting)
- Characterized by awe at God's presence (as Wesley described "awe at the presence of his majesty")
- Something that produces dramatic results (he notes that "more can happen in one day than in 50 days of our work without him")
Why does Dr. Lloyd-Jones believe the church of his time resembled the early church?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones states: "I believe we are back again in a position that is strangely similar to that of the early church." He explains this similarity by noting that:
- "We are in a pagan world. We live in pagan countries."
- The concept of "Christian countries" is no longer applicable, if it ever was
- There is "great opposition to the gospel" from various ideologies including "communism, humanism, every kind of ism"
- "The Christian gospel is fighting for our life once more"
- The church is in a minority position within a largely hostile culture, just as the early apostles were
How did Jesus' ministry demonstrate the necessity of the Holy Spirit's power?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones uses Jesus' own ministry as proof that the Holy Spirit's power is essential. He points out that even though Jesus was the sinless Son of God, He did not begin His public ministry until after the Holy Spirit descended upon Him at His baptism. Lloyd-Jones notes:
"Even in the case of our Lord himself, though Son of God, perfect Son of Man, it was necessary in order that he might perform his works, that he should have the Spirit in this special manner."
He cites Luke 4:1, 14-18 where Jesus returned "in the power of the Spirit" and declared "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel." His argument is that if even Jesus needed this special empowerment, how much more do we?
Itinerant Preaching
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.