You will do Greater Works

Annoucements : you will notice when you came in I provided you with a notebook and a pen please take notes as you are led to, and take this note book and keep it close use it as a journal as a place to write your concerns to the lord use it to write out your praises to him, use it to focus your prayer your devotion life with the Father. thank you for Mowing, 1st sat of May Garage Sale, Recovery Meeting, Movie continued prayers for Springer, Erika and her grand baby who was premature with covid, Please Pray for our community and our nation please the God will work in our hearts and pull us back to Him under His providence and will. That God will help us as a church to be a light to the community that He would encourage us to step out in faith and not remain in our comfort zones that God would truly work transformations in our lives and the lives of our loves ones, please pray for these little ones every day that Gods protection would be upon them that He would grow like a seed in their hearts and their faith would be like mountains when they grow that they would do more than we ever did.

Jesus told disciples that they and we would do greater miracles than He did. How can we do this today?

John 14:1–12 NKJV

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

John 14:13–14 NKJV

And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

Top 5 Considerations for the disciples

1. It was a difficult time for the disciples. After ministering with Jesus for about 3 years, they knew that He would soon leave them.

2. Jesus had just finished washing their feet, they had just had their last supper together and Jesus stressed that he would soon be killed. He had also told them that Judas would betray Him and He predicted that Peter would deny Him three times. that one of thier own would betray Christ and another would deny him

3. They would miss Jesus so much, His love and patience with them, His teaching and healings. Not to mention that soon they would be on their own - like a baby bird ready to jump off the branch for the first time, like a pilot about top fly solo for the first time.

5. They would need to minister without their Lord.

Teaching

1. Jesus knew that they were troubled and so he tries to reassure them. He tells them what we all need to be told when we are worried about what lies ahead. "Trust in God. Trust also in me"

2. Perhaps people have said these very words to you when things got dark. "Just trust in God. We respond "that’s easy to say, but hard to do"

3. At times these words may even seem empty. This evening we see why these words are not empty. Why we can trust in God. Christ is laying out what will come to hi they must be scared and confused

13. When I read that verse, I get excited and confused. After all we know what Jesus did. How can we do greater things?

14. What are these greater things and how will we do them?

15. Jesus just talked about miracles so He means greater miracles. It seems that we would perform even greater miracles than He did.

16. Taken by some to mean that we today - as His church - should be performing the same and greater miracles than Christ - healings, raisings from dead, etc. They would say if not happening, we must not have enough faith. Remember Jesus said if you have faith.

17. Faith not in what we can do or in miracles but in Jesus. It does not mean not that if I believe you will be healed you will be, then faith is in my faith.

18. The miracles that Jesus performed on earth where physical miracles - the greater miracles are beyond the physical realm but in the spiritual realm.

19. To have a persons heart change from one that is hard and dominated by sin to one that repents and lives for Christ is greatest miracle that can take place. (John 5:20-21)

20. When Christ finished His ministry the number of believers was small - Acts 1:15 says the believers numbered 120. After he left - that number grew rapidly - 3K on day of Pentecost. The disciples will far exceed Him in this.

21. Also refers to fact that this ministry and results will not just be for Jews but for Gentiles as well.

22. Still may seem hard to believe. Means that we will be used to change hearts - a growing ministry of believers. Do we really believe that this will happen? It can and will.

23. Jesus tells us how.

24. The reason the disciples will do greater things or works is clearly given in verse 12. Because, Jesus says "I am going to the Father". The very fact that Jesus is leaving them enables them to do these things - and that holds true for us as well.

25. Jesus gives us two reasons - the one we may be more familiar with than the other.

26. First, His going away meant the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came into and dwelt within every believer.

27. That means that when the word is preached, when it is heard, when we serve the Lord, or witness to a unbeliever - we are not alone. It is not in our strength but in power of Him in us that is at work. To enable us to find words to say and to convict hearts of those who hear the word.

28. Second reason. Heb 7:25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

29. Jesus went to Father to intercede for us. vs. 13 says that He will do whatever we ask in His name. Means that since He is in heaven with Father, He will answer our prayers - according to His will (in His name) and ones that bring glory to His Father.

And these words of Jesus in John 14:12–14 bear directly on your life and our life together in these exciting days. What they say is that all of us who believe in Jesus will carry on with his work, and in some wonderful way, do something greater than the works of Jesus, and as a means to that end will have access in prayer to Jesus today so that everything we need we can ask for and receive it.

“All believers, pure and simple, will do the works Jesus does.”

So let’s take those three parts of the text one at a time. (1) All of us who believe in Jesus will carry on with his work. (2) In some wonderful way, we will all do something greater than the works of Jesus. (3) And as a means to that end will have access in prayer to Jesus today so that everything we need we can ask for and receive it.

1. Carrying on the Work of Jesus

John 14:12a: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do.” Two crucial observations: First, his promise is not made to the apostles alone, but to all who believe. And second, this is a promise that we will do Jesus’s works. It’s not yet a promise that we will do greater works, just Jesus’s works.

Just Normal Christianity

It’s a promise to all believers. This is astonishing. So there is no exclusion here if you are a Christian. You shouldn’t think: oh this is for pastors, or veteran Christians, or highly spiritual, mature Christians, or professional Christians, or missionaries, or elders, or evangelists, or highly gifted Christians. No. The text says, “whoever believes in me.” Believers, pure and simple, will do the works I do. We have seen this exact phrase before: “Whoever believes in me.”

“Whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).“Whoever believes in me . . . ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:38).“Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25).“Whoever believes in me will not remain in darkness” (John 12:46).

In other words, this is normal Christianity. This is what it means to be a Christian. MAYBE NOT NORMAL AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY but normal Christianity of the Sheep within Gods Folds. Believing in Jesus is what unites you to him for eternal life. So when it says, Whoever believes in Jesus will do this or that, it is describing the normal Christian life.

That’s the first observation: the promise in verse 12 is not made to the apostles alone, but to all who believe.

i want you to write this down All Believers Will Do His Work

The second observation is that Jesus promises all believers will do his works. It’s not yet a promise that we will do greater works, just Jesus’s works. Verse 12a: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do.” Now we create problems for ourselves immediately by thinking of Jesus’ most amazing miracles. At this point in the Gospel of John

Jesus has turned water into wine (John 2:1–11).He has read the mind of the woman of Samaria (John 4:18).He has healed the official’s son (John 4:46–54).He had healed the man crippled for 38 years (John 5:1–9).He had fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish (John 5: 1–14).He had walked on water (John 6:19).He had healed a man born blind (John 9:1–7).

And he had raised Lazarus from the dead after four days in the grave (John 11:43–44). What did Jesus mean when he said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do.” Did Jesus mean that every Christian would do all these? Or that every Christian would do one or two of these? And if you don’t, you don’t believe?

That’s not likely in view of the fact that in the New Testament letters where miracles are mentioned they are a gift that some Christians have and not others. For example, in 1 Corinthians 12 Paul says,

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom . . . to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles . . . Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? (1 Corinthians 12:7–10, 29–30)

Well, if Jesus doesn’t mean that all believers will do miracles like his, what does he mean when he says, “Whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do”? Let’s look closely at the connections here and then at a more distant parallel.

Works to Believe

First, the connection between verse 11 and 12. Verse 11: “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.” So the word “believe” and “works” occur together in verse 11 just like they come together in verse 12. Jesus’ works are designed to help people believe. Right? “Believe on account of the works.” If my verbal testimony is leaving doubts in your mind about who I am, look at my works. Let the works join with my words and lead you to faith. That’s what verse 11 says.

Then verse 12 follows: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do.” Now put verse 11 and 12 together and let the function of the works be the same in both verses. Verse 11: my works function to lead people to faith in me. Verse 12: when you believe in me, I will work in you (like a vine works in a branch, John 15:1–7), and your works, like mine, will lead people to faith.

So the connection between verses 11 and 12 goes like this: believe in me on account of my works — let my works lead you to faith (verse 11), because whoever believes in me (verse 12a), will also do works that lead people to believe in me.

Works That Point to Jesus

So whatever the specific works are that Jesus has in mind, what defines them here is that they are pointers to Jesus which help people believe in him. They are a witness along with Jesus words that lead people to faith. That’s what his works do, and he is saying, at least, that’s what all believers’ works do. “Whoever believes in me will do the works I do” — the works that point people to faith. If you are a believer in Jesus, that’s what your life is. Your works, your life is a display of the trustworthiness of Jesus.

“Your life is a display of the trustworthiness of Jesus.”

Ephesians 2:8–10 NKJV

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Here’s another support for this. If we search for the exact phrase in verse 12a, “the works that I do,” it occurs in one other place in John, namely John 10:25, “Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me.’” So again the function of the “works” in John 10:25 is exactly the same as here in John 14:11–12. My works are the things I do that bear witness about me.

So we can say with confidence that in John 14:12a Jesus means that all believers will be marked by this: they will be so united to Jesus that they will carry on his work by his power and do the kinds of things that will “bear witness” about Jesus. They will point people to Jesus, and through Jesus to the Father.

In his prayer in John 17 Jesus prayed, “[Father,] I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” His work was what he did to draw attention to the glory of his Father. In John 13:35 Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” A life of love will draw attention to the truth of Christ and the reality of our own new life in him. And in Matthew 5:16 Jesus said, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Christians are defined by works or life which flow from faith in Jesus and point to the glory of Jesus.

So I conclude that, however many Christians God may give gifts of miracles and healing, all of them (and that is what the text is about, “whoever believes in me”) — all of them will do the works of Jesus in the sense that all his works of every kind testified to his truth and deity. And every Christian does these works — that is, lives this life. We are the aroma of Christ. We are the light of the world. We were dead. And we are alive, “created in Christ Jesus for good works — the works that Jesus did — which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). A life of words and deeds that help people believe in Jesus. That’s the first part of our text: verse 12a, “Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do.”

Week 1

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2. Doing Greater Works Than Jesus

The second part of this text (John 14:12b) is that, in some wonderful way, we will all do something greater than the works of Jesus. “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.”

Again it is every believer, not just the apostles, not just pastors or elders or charismatics or evangelists. “Whoever believes in me . . . greater works than these will he do.” This is the mark of being a Christian, not being an apostle.

If you think “greater works” means “more miraculous” you will be hard put to exceed walking on water, feeding five thousand with five loaves and two fish, and raising the dead. I don’t know of any Christian who has ever lived — inside or outside the New Testament — who has ever done all three of those miracles, let alone something more miraculous. Let alone every Christian having done these miracles or something more miraculous.

And again, remember that the New Testament tells us not to expect it for all Christians. “Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues?” The answer, Paul expects, is No (1 Corinthians 12:29–30). Which means that when Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me . . . greater works than these will he do because I go to the Father,” he probably did not mean that every Christian was expected to do things more miraculous than Jesus — at least not more spectacularly miraculous. No apostle, no missionary, no Christian has ever done this.

Two Clues for Clarity

So what does he mean? There are many suggestions and I don’t claim to have the final or decisive word here. But here’s what I see. There are two clues that lead me. The first is the phrase at the end of verse 12, “because I am going to the Father.” “And greater works than these will [every believer] do, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12). And the other clue is the text we looked at on Easter (John 20:21–23). Jesus said to his disciples after he was raised from the dead,

“As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” (John 20:21–23)

So in John 14:12 Jesus is saying that his disciples will not only continue his works, but will do greater ones because he goes to the Father. And on the way to the Father, he goes to the cross and lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:15; 1:29), rises from the dead and ascends to God, from where he sends the Holy Spirit so the disciples can do the works they are called to do.

And in John 20:21–23 he is saying that his disciples are to continue his work by receiving the Holy Spirit and, in that power, imparting the forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus — on the basis of Jesus death and resurrection.

Is there, in the connection between John 14:12 and John 20:21–23, a pointer to what Jesus means by the greater works they are all going to do? My suggestion is this: what’s new and greater is that never before in the history of the world had anyone ever been forgiven by faith in the already crucified, already risen, already reigning, already indwelling Christ.

All salvation up until now had been by anticipation, by promise of the coming Redeemer. But now — now that Jesus has gone to the Father, now that he had been crucified, buried, raised, exalted, and sent in the person of the Holy Spirit — the great purchase of forgiveness by substitution was finished once for all.

So I think Jesus would have said, “Even when I have forgiven sinners during my earthly life, I have forgiven them in anticipation of that. But you will forgive them in my name on the finished basis of that. The Spirit in you will be the Spirit of the crucified and risen Christ. The message you preach will be the message of not of a promised ransom but a paid ransom, a complete payment, a finished propitiation.”

Your Greater Works

What are the “greater works” that you will do — all of you? You will receive the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of the crucified and risen Christ. Before the resurrection of Jesus, nobody in the history of the world had ever done that, not even Jesus. And in the power of that absolutely new experience — the indwelling of the crucified and risen Christ — your works of love and your message of life in union with Christ, will point people to the glory of the risen Son of God, and you will be the instrument of their forgiveness on the basis of the finished work of Christ (John 20:23). This will be new. This will be greater than Jesus’s earthly miracles because this is what he came to accomplish by his death and resurrection.

Which leaves just a moment for the third part of the text. And I won’t begrudge the brevity because this truth turns up again in chapters John 15:7, 16 and John 16:23–24.

The first part of our text was: all of us who believe in Jesus will carry on with his work. The second part was: we will all do something greater than the works of Jesus. And now the third part is . . .

3. Everything We Need, We Can Ask for and Receive

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. (John 12:13–14)

“You will have everything you need to do the works that Jesus does — even the greater works.”TweetShare on Facebook

As you seek to carry on my work in the world, and as you seek to let your light shine, and live in love, and offer forgiveness of sins in the name of the crucified and risen Christ, ask me for whatever you need and I will give it to you. “Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it.”

No condition as in John 15:7, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” No condition as in 1 John 5:14–15, “If we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” No condition as in Mark 11:24, “Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Only one condition: “in my name.” Verse 13: “Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it.” Verse 14: “If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” So, does Jesus mean we can ignore all those other conditions: abide in him, ask according to his will, believe his word? Or are all these included in the meaning Ask in my name?

That’s what I think Jesus would say. I give you the Holy Spirit. I give you the power of the crucified and risen Christ. And I now promise you that you can ask for anything in my name for this mission — for the glory of my Father.

“In my name!” That is, for His fame and not yours. For His Glory His Praise His recognition and not yours. Because of my divine worth and my infinite payment on the cross. And according to my sovereign wisdom. Put every request though that filter — my fame, my worth, my purchase, my wisdom. And every prayer will be answered. You will have everything you need to do the works that I do, and even the greater works.