Faith in Christ Bears Fruit

Read

John 14:12–14 ESV

12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

Opening Prayer

The flood areas, Camp Mystic, the families of the deceased, those still missing, & those searching.

Setting the Stage

Jesus has been calling for the eleven to understand that He is the object of their faith.

If you believe in Christ, you believe in God.

If you believe in Christ, you believe in the Father, as well.

You cannot believe in God, if you do not believe in Jesus.

The Father and the Son are One.

In our passage this morning, Jesus continues to appeal to them to see Him as the object of their faith…

By showing the fruitfulness of those who believe upon Him.

Jesus says…

John 14:12 ESV

12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

Greater Works?

How can anyone do greater works than Christ?

Why would Christ say this?

What does He mean in saying this?

The reason for the greater works are not:

because you guys are so awesome

because my followers gain the spotlight once I’m gone

Jesus isn’t invoking a competition to see who can do the best works.

Jesus isn’t taking our minds from faith in the Word of God to faith in signs…

Jesus has already stated that an evil and wicked generation seek for signs.

The reason that Christ’s followers will do greater works is…

Because I am going to the Father

The going to the Father is a result of the crucifixion and the resurrection.

The celebration of the conquering accomplished mission of Christ is the ascension.

Where the Incarnate Son of God will reign at the right hand of the Father, forevermore.

So, the greater works have to do with the finished work of Christ.

The finished work of Christ inaugurates the Kingdom of God.

So, is Jesus saying that the works His followers will do will be more miraculous.

That cannot be true as raising someone from the dead after being dead four days is hard to top.

Outdoing the miracles of Christ would be quite a feat.

Nothing can outdo Christ’s work on the Cross.

But, that is not the kind of outdoing that Jesus is saying here.

Let me explain what Jesus us saying here and I believe this matches the testimony of the NT.

If we look at something else Jesus said about greater/lesser…

Luke 7:28 ESV

28 I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

So, Jesus is talking here about the greatness of John the Baptist.

John, who was the greatest of prophets…

As he was the one:

who preceded the Messiah

announced the Messiah to the people

declared the Messiah to the people

prepared the people for the Messiah

Yet, the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist.

You ever read that verse and thought, “How can that be?”

Here’s what Jesus means…

The religious light of the least disciple who lived after His crucifixion and resurrection, would be far greater than that of John Baptist, who died before those mighty events took place.

The weakest believing hearer of St. Paul would understand things, by the light of Christ’s death on the cross, which John the Baptist could never have explained.

As great as that John was in faith and courage…

The humblest Christian would, in one sense, is greater than he.

Greater in works than John, no.

But beyond a doubt, the lowest Christian would be greater in privileges and knowledge.

Now, let’s relate this to what Jesus says in our passage this morning.

John 14:12 ESV

12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

The reason the person, least in the Kingdom of God, would be greater than John the Baptist…

Is because of the clarity, understanding, and depth of their union with Christ, taught in the gospel.

What they know, understand about Jesus, & their salvation.

This is why we are greater than John.

And, so the greater works that we do post-resurrection…

Are due to the clarity in which we know, and the clarity in which we speak about Christ, and His gospel.

Because of the HS, inspiring the Apostles to write about the connection of Christ to all the promises of God…

Because of the NT’s teaching and clarity of the New Covenant and all it’s benefits for believers…

We have clarity that the prophets and angels, who looked into and studied, never had in the OT.

The mystery, as Paul puts it, has been fully revealed in Christ.

And, so, Christians can speak to the truths of the gospel in ways no OT could ever speak.

We can speak the gospel with a clarity and depth that no OT saint could.

And, God tells us this wonderful truth about the gospel through the Apostle Paul…

Romans 1:16 ESV

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…

The true power of God.

The true and greatest miracle of God…

Is displayed in the regeneration of a person to life in Jesus Christ.

Such a magnificent display of the power, mercy, and grace of God in the salvation of a single soul…

That the angels celebrate in heaven at the occasion of each one.

The disciples, who are still somewhat overwhelmed and misunderstanding…

Will soon, after the resurrection, ascension, and giving of the HS…

Will have such clarity of the promises of God fulfilled in Jesus Christ…

That they will shake the foundations of the world with the gospel they will preach.

As some of the city officials described them in the book of Acts as…

The men who have turned the world upside down.

The greater works that we do is because of the inauguration of the Kingdom of God.

And, because of the mystery of the Messiah and the promises of God being full revealed in and due to the finished work of Christ.

Let’s think about this…

All the works that the world chases…

And, that so many in the “religious world” chase…

And, boast in…are temporal in nature.

They carry temporal benefits.

But, the gospel is a miracle with eternal benefits.

And, so the Bible says that the power of God is displayed in the gospel.

All the miracles that Christ performed in His earthly ministry were pointing to the true power of God in the gospel’s saving power.

The work that we do is within the framework of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We don’t boast in gifts…

Because they’re useless without love.

—> Love is greater.

We boast in the cross of Jesus Christ.

—> The greatest display of love.

Because faith in Jesus Christ is what puts into motion the miracle of the world being crucified to us and us being crucified to the world.

That’s the miracle of the ages.

That’s the awesome display of the power of God.

That’s where we set our energy towards.

The greatest miracle we can behold is the conversion of a rebel towards God into a lover/worshipper of God.

Now, Jesus adds some clarification to the greater works…

John 14:13–14 ESV

13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

Fruitfulness is a Product of Prayer

What Jesus is saying is that the works that any believer does…

And, good works are defined by God.

We don’t get to make up our own definition of good works.

Good works are defined, purposed, and completed by the glory of God and for the glory of God.

And, the glory of God is His righteousness.

So, the works that any believer does is done through/by prayer in Christ’s name.

He is the mediator of prayer.

He is the One who grants the request.

He and the Father are One.

Jesus isn’t granting any prayer that the Father wouldn’t grant.

We haven’t found a weak parent that permits the children to do things the other parent would not allow…

Nor, have we found a parent that keeps things hidden from the other parent.

The Father and the Son are of one Mind, one Will, one Motive…

And, that being the Mind of God, the Will of God, and the glory of God.

Now, these verses have been misunderstood and used out of their proper context.

These verses have also been abused to create a whole “name it and claim it” theology of prayer that is unbiblical.

But, looking at the verses closely will keep us from misunderstanding and misusing our Christian privilege of prayer.

Two Critical Components to Requesting from God

If our prayers are to be answered, there are two components that are critical to understand.

#1 – Ask in Jesus’ name

What does that mean?

Does it mean that after you make your request you just slap the name of Jesus at the end?

Is the name of Jesus to be used like some magical incantation…

Like abracadabra?

Many have made Jesus a mere prop hand on the stage of their life.

As if the one praying to Jesus is the Director and the one giving the directions to Jesus…

And, Jesus is merely the supplier of the resources and a dependent awaiting instructions from the one praying.

So, within this critical component to ask in Jesus’ name, first we must be aware that we are the ones in need.

We ask.

Second, we are the ones who depend upon Christ to give us what we need.

We ask in Jesus name and Jesus grants the request.

So, there is an awareness of our need and Jesus as the supplier.

An acknowledgement of our need for Christ to do any good works.

And, an acknowledgement that whatever we do that is good in God’s eyes is because Christ grants us to do it.

And, there is a asking in Jesus name.

This means that we ask according to:

Christ’s personhood.

Christ’s character.

Christ’s will.

Biblically a name equaled the character of the person.

We don’t just ask for things.

We ask for things that align with the character and will of Christ.

To ask in Jesus’ name is to abandon self and to adopt the character of Christ and ask for what He would ask for if in our situation.

Which means many times we don’t simply ask.

We ask and pray that God would bend our will.

We ask and pray that as we read God’s word that He would speak to us and move our hearts in the direction of His will.

We ask and pray that our requests would change into His will and not ours.

This is the heart of making requests of God in prayer.

This is the attitude of a sinner who wants their will aligned with God’s will in all of their requests.

Now, this brings us to the second critical component of making requests of God in prayer.

#2 – We ask with a desire for God to be glorified through the request being granted

Jesus says in v.13, I answer your prayers so that the Father is glorified in the Son granting the request.

Christ says yes to nothing that would not glorify the Father.

—> He and the Father are One.

So, we ask for things that would glorify God.

And, if it glorifies the Father, it will simultaneously glorify Christ.

This should cause us to pause before requesting, right?

This should cause us to meditate and evaluate the things that we pursue.

This should cause us to think about the things we have.

Everything is supposed to be used for the glory of God.

Everything we request is to be for the end goal to glorify God.

Let’s think about this…

First, what about so-called “prayers” that seem to be answered for people that do not honor the righteous will of God for His image bearers.

And, I think the answer is having a clear, biblical understanding of the difference between a prayer being answered vs. God giving some one over to their sinful desires.

You do not want the latter.

What Jesus is speaking about in asking/getting is that request by His followers that are in the pursuit of living for Him.

So, that is the difference in someone getting the things they desire vs. having your prayers lovingly granted by Christ.

It’s like the psalmist in Ps. 73.

He realized they weren’t having their prayers answered…

They were being given over to calamity that leads to death.

As Christians, we acknowledge:

All that we do, it is Christ working is us and through us.

All our requests, if granted, are Christ accomplishing His will through us.

And, it is all because of His finished work as Messiah.

Our life, as Christians, is having the grand privilege to partake in ministry of the exalted Christ.

The power of our life, as Christians partaking in the ministry of the exalted Christ is…

Through the preaching of the gospel God’s power is put on display as it triumphantly invades the nations…

With the saving and transforming power of the gospel through the work of the HS…

Taking out from among the world, rebels towards God and changing them into lovers and disciples of God.

And, Jesus is moving the disciples towards the power of the HS that will work mightily through them and us, as believers.

What a salvation we have!

What a ministry we partake in!

What a Savior we have been united to!

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Closing Prayer