Acts 5:32: "And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit,
whom God hath given to them that obey him."
These words were spoken when two groups were confronting each other.
They are a striking contrast.
On the one hand you have the high priest and all that were with him, and the council,
and all the senate of the children of Israel.
Then, the other group are unknowns.
They are associated with Jesus of Nazareth.
They are fishermen.
They are not scholars.
There is no ruler or priest in their group.
This scene is a magnificent picture of the priest in his magnificent robes, and his friends,
and the phylacteries, and men of culture and of strong passionate conviction.
Then, we have these rough, rugged men wearing simple homespun garments.
These are dedicated, committed men and their testimony is pulsating with power.
The high priest has challenged these men who have troubled then.
The high priest has accomplished the death of the prophet of Nazareth,
but there is a strange story told by the keepers of the grave, and then,
by the disciples that Jesus is alive and that He has been seen by many.
The high priest considers this to be a wild, foolish superstition.
But it is having its effect upon both those who followed Him and those who
have heard their preaching.
The high priest had put all their leaders in prison and the next morning,
he brought them together that he might deal with them, judicially.
He received word that they were not in the prison.
They were in the temple speaking "all the words of this Life." (Verse 20)
The apostles stood arraigned before the priest and rulers.
The priest demanded that they stop preaching about Jesus.
Peter speaking on behalf of all of them said,
"We must obey God rather than men… We are witnesses of these things;
and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God hath given to them that obey him." (Verses 29, 32)
Here the disciples had declared the the mission and the method of the church.
The mission is stated in these words, "We are witnesses of these things."
And they also add: "We… and so is the Holy Spirit."
The mission of the church is to witness to these things.
The mission of the church is to act always with the power and leadership of the Holy Spirit.
Whenever the church recognizes this as the mission and method of every Christian,
the church will experience the same results that occurred in Jerusalem.
Whenever the church, and all the Christians that constitutes the church,
remember that the main calling of the Church is to witness.
Wherever that witness is delivered by the power of the Holy Spirit,
those cities and communities will be filled with the conviction of sin in their lives.
This Pentecostal mission will will have Pentecostal results.
We also see in this experience of Peter and the apostles, a contrast of mental attitude.
First, we see "the high priest…and [all] they that were with him."
This refers to the Sadducees.
The Bible teaches that the Sadducees taught that there is "no resurrection,
neither angel, nor spirit." (Acts 23:8)
The Sadducees would be considered as rationalists.
They challenged the apostles teachings.
They declared that the resurrection, angel, spirit were just superstitions of a bygone age.
Then, there was this group of Christians who testified to the reality of these very things.
The Sadducees said that there is no resurrection.
The apostles said that Christ is risen.
The Sadducees said that there is no angel.
The apostles said that an angel opened the prison doors that you had shut against us,
and let us out.
Rationalism is alive today.
We still hear those who say there is no resurrection, not even of Christ.
They would say there are no angels, and that angels belong to pictures in art
and to the imagination of little children.
They would say that there is no spirit, and that the mind is everything.
Today the church is still saying that Christ rose from the dead,
that angels are all "ministering spirits, set forth to do service for the sake of them
that shall inherit salvation." (Hebrews 1:14)
These are the declarations of the church.
So, how is the church to demonstrate the truth of these things?
Our text has the answer: "We are witnesses of these things; a
nd so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to them that obey him."
In this message we will be considering two things.
We will consider the mission of the church, and we will consider the method
by which the church is to fulfill that mission.
The mission of the church is declared in that very simple sentence,
"We are witnesses of these things."
When Peter uttered those words, we need to determine where he put the emphasis.
I do not believe that he put his emphasis on the personal pronoun,"we".
He did not say, "We are witnesses of these things."
The consciousness of personality expressed in the pronoun is not there
because of the sense of the importance of the witness to be borne.
The emphasis is on "witnesses."
"We are witnesses."
But we must read further to reach the point of the true emphasis.
If we had heard Peter speak on that day, I believe we would have heard him
place the emphasis on "these things."
"These things."
"The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, hanging him on a tree.
Him did God exalt with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour,
to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins." (Acts 5:30-31)
That is the message! Christ is risen!
"God…raised up Jesus!"
Christ was crucified. "Whom ye slew, hanging him on a tree."
Christ is enthroned. "Him did God exalt to be a Prince and a Saviour."
Christ is at work "to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins."
The risen Christ, the crucified Christ, the exalted Christ, the always working Christ.
"These things."
"We are witnesses of these things."
That is the mission of the church.
The mission of the church is not to entertain.
The mission of the church is not to educate the masses, but she must be interested
and involved in education, but this is not her supreme vocation.
The church exists to witness to "these things," the risen Christ, the crucified Christ,
the enthroned Christ, the living and the ever present Christ.
The world does not want the church, and the church cannot save the world,
the world needs the things of which the church is testifying.
Sad to say, too of it is us about the structure of the buildings of the church
that we often forget to make sure that the light of Christ is shining through us.
Too often, we been quarreling so much concerning forms and garments
that we have forgotten the men and women who wear the garments.
We have placed more emphasis on the trappings of religion than we have on the triumph.
Look around, and if you see a Christian that does not witness to the risen Christ,
the crucified Christ, the exalted Christ, the living, ever present Christ,
then that Christian of no use to God nor man.
If you see a church where the resurrection life of Jesus is not present,
and where the passion of the blood of Jesus is not proclaimed, and the enthroned Lord
is not revealed, and the ever present Lord is not felt, then that church is dead,
and it is also an insult to God and man.
"These things," are the business of the church.
"We are witnesses of these things."
Now look at the word, "witnesses."
A witnesses is more than a person who just talks.
A person may talk and never witness in the New Testament sense of the word.
We have learned that the word, "witness," translated here
and throughout the New Testament is a Greek word that we have anglicized
into our word for "martyr."
"We are [martyrs] of these things."
What is a martyr?
We use the word concerning those who have given their lives for the cause of Christ.
That's a wonderful word for those who have.
When we speak of "martyrs," who suffered through flame and fire,
through blood and suffering, proving their loyalty to Christ, we must remember
that the fires did not make them martyrs.
The fires only revealed them to be martyrs.
They were martyrs before the fires were lit.
Everyday, the fires of persecution are still revealing martyrs.
So, what is a martyr?
A martyr is a confessor.
A martyr is one who is first convinced of the truth.
Then, a martyr yields his life to the claims of the truth of which he is convinced,
and is changed by the truth to which he has yielded himself.
So we could say that a martyr is a specimen, an evidence, a credential,
a proof, a witness.
We are credentials of these things.
We are the proof of these things.
We say that Jesus is risen from the dead.
We say that the risen Christ is the same Christ who was crucified.
We say that this Christ is exalted by God.
We say that this Christ is at work giving repentance and remission of sins
to all who call upon Him.
How are we going to prove these things?
We are the evidence.
We prove the accuracy of our doctrine by the transformation of our lives.
As as Peter stood in the presence of that company of rulers and priests who were prepared
to argue with him about his stance and convictions, there were other things he also meant.
He also meant, "You deny the resurrection.
You deny the value we declare to have been created by the dying of this Christ whom you slew.
You deny that Jesus of Nazareth is on the throne of God.
You deny that He is alive and working in Jerusalem!"
He was saying to them think back of us as we once were, and remember us as we are.
We are what we are by virtue of the things we declare.
It is by the risen Christ who was crucified, is exalted, and is at work in the world today
that we are what we are.
Rationalism has no right to deny the accuracy of the supernatural claims of Christ
until it can account for the wonders wrought and the changes that have occurred
in men and women who by Christianity have been changed from all that is evil
to everything that is good and noble.
They have been changed from being slaves to sin into being bond slaves to Christ.
They have been changed from being men consumed by lust and passion
to men consumed by the zeal for the salvation of men and women and for the glory of God.
That is the supreme value of this text as it reveals the work of the church.
The church confronts the world with living witnesses.
If the church has no witnesses, she is useless.
If the church has no witnesses, she has no argument.
If the church is not able to present the world in all its rationalism and unbelief,
and show men and women that are changed and remade in the image of God,
then that the church has no argument to which the world will listen.
The following question should press upon the heart and conscience of every Christian.
Am I a witness?
I do not mean am I a preacher.
That is unless behind the preaching of my lips, there is the testimony of my life.
If there is not a testimony of my life for Christ then my preaching is blasphemy and impertinence.
Unless my own life is changed and transformed and transfigured,
and is a revelation of the fact of the risen, crucified, exalted, working Christ,
my preaching is as "sounding brass or a clanging cymbal." (1 Corinthians 13:1)
This is true with all of us.
Any recitation of creed is blasphemy unless the creed is alive in our conduct.
Your affirmation of the truth of the Christian facts is impertinence unless
in the very fiber of your personality these things are wrought out
and are shining examples of Jesus Christ upon the world.
"We are witnesses of these things."
Now, let us go back to that personal pronoun, "we." "We are witnesses of these things."
Who were these apostles?
None of them mattered by the standards of human measurement.
They were fishermen, and that term was often used to look down on them and belittle them.
Yet, they were witnesses of such things that turned the world upside down.
That is what was said of them.
God uses the most simple of people who answers the claims of these things,
and become transformed, and then, becomes a powerful force for God.
There is no person that is so weak that if these things are believed by him.
For these things will change him.
He becomes a witness of the living Christ, and is part of the divine movement of God
to destroy the works of the devil, and bring in the triumph of righteousness.
They were only poor Galilean fisherman.
That world placed no value in them, but they still live in the hearts and minds of Christians today,
while the priest are remembered only by their garments and their phylacteries and their folly.
The disciples are remembered, and they did turn the world upside down.
But how did they do it?
"We are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit,
whom God hath given to them that obey him."
The Spirit is a witness of the things of Christ.
Before Jesus left His disciples, He instructed them concerning the days of His absence,
and said of the Spirit, "the [Paraclete]…shall teach you all things,
and bring to your remembrance all that I said under you… He shall bear witness of me…
He shall glorify me."
(John 14:26; 15:26; 16:14)
Jesus declared that the mission of the Holy Spirit would be the interpretation of Himself.
G. Campbell Morgan condensed the great doctrine of the Holy Spirit into two simple sentences.
The sentences are simple for the same words are in both sentences, but are arranged differently.
And in the revelation there is a different value.
"The Holy Spirit witnesses of Jesus only.
Only the Holy Spirit witnesses of Jesus."
Morgan goes on to say that the Holy Spirit witnesses of Jesus only,
and it seems that even Christians forget that.
He states that Christian people constantly pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit,
and are waiting for His coming.
He is saying that this indicates that they seem to have the ideal when the Spirit
comes to them in fullness that they will be conscious of the Spirit.
He reminds us there is no evidence of such teaching the Bible.
He goes on to say that if "the Spirit come to us in all fullness,
He will make us conscious, not of Himself, but of Christ."
"He shall not speak from himself.
… He shall take of mine, and shall declare it unto you," Christ said in John 16:13-14.
I have known people who say that they have been praying for the power of the Holy Spirit
and longing for it, but the Holy Spirit has not come, so they say.
Many believe that when the Holy Spirit comes in fullness, there will be a flash of light and glory,
a thrill and enthusiasm, and a consciousness of fire.
That might happen, but what really takes place is through the days, and weeks,
and months of sincere seeking, this has been happening in the experience of Christians
when Christ is becoming more precious than He was, and more real!
Here the Holy Spirit is doing His work, unveiling Christ.
The Holy Spirit comes to witness to Jesus only.
Once, tongues of fire and a mighty rushing wind were evidences of the coming of the Holy Spirit.
From that moment, and on through generation after generation and up to now,
the Holy Spirit has hidden Himself.
The Holy Spirit comes to reveal Jesus only.
He has no other message and no other work than the unveiling of Jesus Christ,
in which we see the unveiling of the face of God.
Take the other sentence of Morgan's for a moment and think about it.
Only the Holy Spirit witnesses of Jesus.
Does this seem to contradict the decoration of Peter that "We are witnesses?"
Not at all!
How did they become witnesses?
That happened when they crowned Jesus Lord of their life.
"No man can say Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:3)
No one can make you call Him, Lord.
You may hear preachers speak of His Lordship, of the perfection of His life,
of the passion of His death, of the power of His resurrection, of the program of His reign,
and you will hear these things.
And you will intellectually consent to the fact that He is Lord.
But you never can look into his face and say "Lord," save as the Holy Spirit of God
has unveiled His glory and captured your heart.
It is the Holy Spirit of God who first reveals the Lordship of Jesus to the soul.
So these men became witnesses because on the day of Pentecost they had seen Christ
as they had never seen Him before.
Think of this.
They had looked at Christ for three years, and had never really seen Him.
When the day of Pentecost came and the Holy Spirit came as fire and power,
they saw truly Him and became His witnesses.
Have you seen Him?
It is only by the Holy Spirit's unveiling of the face Christ that He is ever seen,
and that men and women become His witnesses.
When once the Lord Jesus has been seen and crowned as Lord of your life,
there is a progressive operation of the Holy Spirit in your life as a believer.
The Holy Spirit reveals Christ to you in a new aspect as you read His Word,
and as you meditate upon Him.
The moment you see Christ in some new glory, that vision makes a demand on you.
What are you going to do with it.
Answer it!
Obey it, and the Holy Spirit makes real in you what you have seen in Christ.
Disobey it, and the Holy Spirit has no other message to you until you return
to that point of disobedience and become obedient.
Our communities are perishing for lack of transformed lives.
Will you be a witness?
You might ask how can you be one.
The answer is in the text, "the Holy Spirit, whom God hath given to them that obey him."
Have you really received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour?
Intellectually, you have seen Him, and you have acknowledged that He is Lord of your life.
Crown Him!
Submit to Him.
Trust Him.
Obey Jesus!
Be obedient to the command of the Lord Jesus, and witness to everyone
as God's Holy Spirit leads you.
As as you go, He will lead you, and you will be the witness that you must be!
Set My Soul Afire
"Set my soul afire, Lord, set my soul afire.
Make my life a witness of Thy saving pow'r.
Millions grope in darkness, waiting for Thy Word.
Set my soul afire, Lord, set my soul afire!
Set my soul afire, Lord, for the lost in sin,
Give to me a passion as I seek to win;
Help me not to falter, never let me fail,
Fill me with Thy Spirit, let Thy will prevail.
Set my soul afire, Lord, in my daily life.
Far too long I've wandered in this day of strife;
Nothing else will matter but to live for Thee,
I will be a witness for Christ lives in me."
Sermon adapted from several sources by Dr. Harold L. White
