8/12/2019 1989 Issue 8 - And Greater Works Than These Shall Ye Do - Counsel of Chalcedon

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"And, greater

works

than

these

sJ;tall

ye do "

... -

Jqhn

t4:t2-14

by Wayne

~ o g e r s

T

ese verses contain

some

of

the . . .

Why

c o u t d n ~

they

go

with Him. When

most exciting words in all of

.would

he

return? What__were they to

Scripture. In them Jesus pro- do? What WiU become of the Kingdom

mises that

the

works he did his dis of

GOd?

ciples will do, greater works

than

he

did

. . . It is in this context that Jesus says

will they do, and, lastly, whatever they that

it iS BETIER

for

~

that he

go

pray for in his

name

he .

will

do. . This away; 16:7. Jesus says that

it

is

BE-

is an incremble promiSe. Imagine be- : CAUSE he goes

to

the Father they will

ing able to accomplish greater h i n g s

o ~

wOrk that he was doing, 14:12.

than the miracles that JesUs

did

dUrin e s u s wants to comfort them by letting

his

life and minisny.

Is

this

tOO

gOOd

:

diem

knQw that

one

the

work that

he

to be

true,

or

what?

came to

do was

not

being abandoned;

While the$e verses are exciting, to be-, and two, that now

niEY

would be con-

believed and practiced, we must be sure . tinlling the work that he had begun.

that we understand what Jesus was in

fact promising. Is Jesus promising that In

OthC :'

words this is not announce-

we

will be able

to

raise the dead as

he

. tnent that you disciples have

just

won

did, feed 5000 with a few loaves and the jackpot for following me for three

fJShes, and

if we pray

for a million dol- ;. years

or

that "You have

just

.won the

Iars that we should in faith write a Publisher's Clearing .House Sweep

check

on it?

This reflects

to

some

de

, stakes " Jesus isn't giving them "three

gree the attitude that many Christians ... wishes".

or

even

one

wish for that mat

have had toward this pa5sage ihat this .ter. Jesus is addressing his Apostles,

is a promise

of

PERSONAL POWER :- ;. the foundation

of

the

Church here.

FOR FUN AND

PROFIT. . .

:;:

_This isn't .a gene,ral . promise that you

What

was Jesus promising? :

We

, can have whatever you want

io .

atisfy

must not read into the passage our own ' and gratify your greatest desires ifyou

ideas or meaning. We nwst seek

to

un- . jUst

ask

me. Jesus is promis.ing them

derstand what Jesus meant for those that because he goes away the work

of

who

heard him

to

understand. e must establiShing and advancing His king

ask, when and why

did Jesus say this, d()m will

be

continued by them, and

to whom is it addressed, what is nieant that .whatever resources they need for

by "works" arid "greater works,'' and that all ~ y h v e to

do

is ask.

does "anything'' mean ANYlliiNG. They are b e i n ~ sent into the world,

13:20.

lit

fact, he

tells

them that they

I. niE CONTEXT are going to.have Cribulation, 16:33, be

hated, 15:18, and will be put to death,

This statement was made

at

the

time

16:2.

He

Will

no

longer

be

physically

when Jesus had announced to .his .dis- .. present with them.-

But

they are gomg

ciples that he was leaving

them.. :ThiS: .

to_ ontinue the wort that

-

the Father

was a

moment of

crisis

in

their lives .. gave Him, 9:4. And

he

will supply

all

They had

come

to believe

that

Jesus that they need in order to do that That

was the Christ, that

he

was

the one

is what is exciting

who would establish the Kingdom:of

God. He had not done that yet.

How

. . II .

THE

PEOPLE

could

he

be leaving? They were

afraid, ..

perplexed, distraught, asking question

To

Whom are these words spoken, or

after question. Where .was he going? , to 'Whom is this promise made? Is this

The Counsel ofChalcedol1 Qcto.,.r,

1M9

P"G18

a promise only to those who have a

special gift

or degree

of faith? Is the

reason

that we aren't doing

the

"greater

works" and having great prayers an

swered because we don't have enough

faith?

The promise is

to

those who "believe

in me," that is, those who

are

Chris

tians. This is not a promise to those

who

have some special faith, some

super faith by which they can work

miracles. John 20:30-31 tells us that

this book was written that we might

believe in Him. 6:29 tells us that the

work

of

God is that we believe in Him.

Jesus is saying that those who believe

in him, those who have come

to

be

lieve that he is the Christ,

the

Son of

God, those who have become Chris

tians will

do

these tfrings.

This certainly has a primary reference

to the Apostles, but includes all be

vers.

They will do the work that

Jesus did. Therefore, we cannot inter

pret this

as

though this is a promise to

those who have some special faith .or

iniraculous faith. This is a ;promise to

all

believers. It's getting more

e J ~ -

citing, isn't it?

ill. THEWORKS

What is meant by "the works that I

do

shall you do also"? 14:12. That

sounds exciting doesn't it Do. you

mean that we're going to get to do

some miracles " That

is

the immediate

assumption of most people. When

they think

of

the things that Jesus did

they immediately think of the miracles.

But

Jesus doesn't say "miracles",

says "works". He's talking about work,

not

excitement and thrills. It was really

exciting being a disciple in the early

church wasn't it, going hungry, being

beaten, living under a death sentence,

being

tlm>wn

in jail, even being put to

death. Yeah, that's real excitement

The ''works" refers to the whole life

and mission

of

Jesus, 17:

4.

Theword

"works" is often ttanslated and refers to

miracles, however, that is only one

aspect of the word

The

miracles were

just

one aspect of his work, dembn

strating that he was the son

of

God,

20:30-31. . Jesus came to

do

the work

that l:lis Father gave him to do, he

came to glorify the Father, to do the

will

of

the Father, 17:4, 4: 34; 5:17,

30, 6:38. 8: 28-29 .

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We, too, must do the work of God,

that is serve God, glorify God, do the

will of God. 3:21, 6:28, 29, 8:39,

9:3f., Mat. 5: 16. Not only in the mir

acles, but in all of Jesus' life he wa s

showing forth God's glory. The work

that we must do

is

to glorify God, to

serve God, to do his will. We

are

to

glorify God, 15 :7-8. We do that by

bearing fruit In John 4:34-38 he tells

us

that we

are

going to do the "work"

of harvesting or reaping. He has ap

pointed us to go and to bear fruit,

15:16, 27. His disciples must live and

die for him, 12:23-26. They must be

servants,

13

:16, 34-35. They must do

his will 14:21.

The work of

Jesus Christ was a life

spent in doing the will of God and

in

accomplishing his purposes. Jesus

glorified God, 17:4; we must gloify

God, 5:23. It is as though Jesus is say

ing that up to this point I have been do

ing

all

the

work,

and

you have been

tagging along, being witnesses to

all

that I have done. Now, before long, you

will

be

doing the work that I did Jesus

is

l l i n g

the disciples that God's work,

a n d ~ e s u s work, indeed was not fin

ished, but that it would continue

through them. Now, in a real sense,

they become the spearhead of the King

dom of God. Jesus is letting them

know t h a ~ even though he is departing

the work s not being abandoned. As a

matter of fact, BECAUSE

he

is going

away they will

do

GREA1ER works

than

he

ever did during his life on earth.

IV.

THE

GREA1ER WORKS

To what do the "greater works" refer?

How could we do works greater than

turning water to wine, feeding 5000,

healing the blind and lame, raising the

dead? Many say that surely the greater

works must include or refer to per

forming miracles.

AS a matter

of

fact, the miracles are

LESSER works. He's talking about

something far greater than miracles.

Jesus perfonned miracles as signs that

be was the Son of God, 20:30-31. But

they did not convince the unbelieving

that he was the Christ, 12:37, 5:46-47

(Luke 16:31).

In

14:11 Jesus said to

believe in

Him

because

of

his word, but

i not AT LEAST believe because

of

the miracles. That is a lower, a Jesser

basis of faith. In 20:29 Jesus says

"Blessed are those who have not seen that

if he

is lifted up he will draw all

and

yet

believe." And John concludes men

to

himself.

This

is the work that

that these things HAVE BEEN WRIT- . he will accomplish through us by the

TEN that you may BELIEVE, 20:30- presence and power

of

the Holy Spirit

31. The miracles confirmed that Jesus : . who will convict the world, 16:5-15.

was the Christ and that the Apostles In 12:23-26 Jesus said that through his

were his authoritative spokesmen,

n

death he would

bear

much

fruit

This is

Cor. 12: 12, He

b.

2:1-4. But ultimate- the greater work - the conversion

of

the

ly, men must believe the Word

of

God 1000's

that

began in Acts, the building

on

faith and not sight Indeed, many of the church, the extension of the rule

only followed Jesus because of the and reign of Jesus Christ in the hearts

loaves and fishes, the miracles, 6:26. and lives of men around the world.

The miracles in the physical realm

were subservient to miracles in the

spiritual realm.

In

5:20-21, 24 Jesus

said that the greater work is the raising

of people spiritually from the dead. In

healing the blind man, Jesus shows that

He is the one who is the revealer

of

God, and the one who opens men's eyes

to see God, John 9. In feeding

the

hun

gry, Jesus shows that

he

is

the

bread

of

life, John 6. In raising the dead, Jesus

shows that he is the one who gives

eternal life, John 11. They show that

he is the Savior and giver

of

life.

We are going to

do

greater works

than the performing of miracles.

What

are the greater works? In one sense, we

can

never do anything greater in IM

PORTANCE than the work Jesus did

when he died for us . He cried on the

cross, "I t is finished " meaning that he

had

completed THE WORK that the

Father

had

given him.

We

can never do

anything greater than that.

The

greater works that

we

will do are

those works that are greater in EX

TENT AND EFFECT. They are more

in number and far more widespread. In

John 4:34-38 Jesus said that we would

reap the harvest More people were con

verted in one day at Pentecost than were

ever converted during

the whole life and

ministry

of

Jesus. In 12:32 Jesus said

Some people think that nothing

could

be

more important than raising

someone from the dead. Spiritual or

eternal life is far greater, 5:20-21, 24. I

don't

know

about you but I don't want

somebody trying to raise me from the

dead when I die. nd I don't think you

do either. When I die I want to go to

heaven, and I don't want some mis-

guided kook trying

to

bring me back

to

life. Jesus says to work for the food,

the fruit, that doesn't perish, but that is

eternal, 5:27.

The greater

work

is the work ofbear

ing witness to Jesus resulting in the sal

vation

of

men and women, the building

of

he

church, the extension

of

the King

dom

of

God.

The

greater works are the

powerful witness that we give through

the Spirit to Jesus, 15:24-27, 16:5-11,

17:23.

Jesus is talking about the greater

works

in

extent and effect through the

witness to the Gospel through which

the

Holy Spirit brings about regenera

tion 31\d renewal, extending the King

dom

of

God into all the world. It is the

promise of bearing more fruit than

Jesus did during His own earthly minis

try, 15:4-5, 7-8. That is what Chris

tians rejoice in, 15:11, 16:24, Luke

10:20.

(Continued on next page)

The Counsel of Chalcedon October 1989 page 19

8/12/2019 1989 Issue 8 - And Greater Works Than These Shall Ye Do - Counsel of Chalcedon

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V. T.fffi PROMISE

It

is

in

this con text that Jesus proniis

es

to

answer prayer,

to give

us whatever

we ask. 14:13-14, 15:7-8; 16:24.

When Jesus utters his promise he's not

granting you and

me all

the wishes

in

the world that

we wanl

This isn't a

promise to answer prayer so that the

disciples

can

: travel around as "Evan

.

gelists" in gold-plated chariots.

A. IN MY NAME - does not mean

that

if we just tack on

Jesus name

at

the

end of

a prayer that

we

will get it,

like signing a check. "

In

my name" is

Jesus

own

qualification,

or better

yet,

direction.

What

should I pray for when

I pray? Should l throw .in all my p e r ~

sonal and selfish wants and _desires? Is

that what Jesus is saying? No, of

course not. Jesus is saying that when

you pray you are to ask for the things

that he would ask for. f you are asking

the Father "

in my name

"

it must

be as

though I were asking. Whatever you

ask consistent with my name, niy pur

pose, mission, spirit, will do.

It

is

prayer that bears in mind

all

that Jesus

has done for us, prayer that pleads his

saving work. prayer tbat is exercised in

order to

set

forward the work that Jesus

came to

do

. -

-.

"In Jesus name" is not something

that

we

should

just

tack

on

to the end

of

our

prayers. Actually,

we

should BE

GIN

our prayers

in

Jesus name.

Then

we would be conscious of the fact that

we should pray

for

those things consis

ten t with His will, purpose,

oo

glory.

This would probably .shorten our prayer

list pretty dramatically. -

B. IF YOU ABIDE IN ME AND

MY

WORD ABIDES IN YOU, 15:7 is

the atmosphere of prayer. Why is Jesus

telling them to pray? - So that they can

have all the things they have - ever

wanted?

Or is he

telling thein tbat

He

will provide

all

that they

need

tO

endure

and to succeed in the Great Commis

sion? Isn't he saying this so that just

as they

had

depended

upon

Jesus to

handle everything during the period of

his life, that now they can aild must

continue to depend upon

him

for

all

things. Jesus is essentially telling

them what

he

sai(i in Mat. 6:23. seek

ye frrst the Kingdom of and -all

t h ~ s e

things will

be d d ~

to you."

C . tHE GLORY OF GOD, 14:13,

is the goal of prayer.

Jesus' goal, as

well ours, is the glory of God, not

our own personal

comfort and happi

ness. We often get our hopes up when

we read

of

the great miracles that Jesus

performed. Maybe

God

will

perform

a

miracle

fot

me if I just have enough

faith. Those miracles

had

a specific and

limited purpose to identify Jesus

as

the

Messiah,

the

Apostles as his

representa

tives, and to communicate his

will

to

the church. You should and may pray

that if itwill glorify God to heal you

from your diseases that'

he

would do so.

Notice that in

9:3

and 11:4

that the

miracles

that

Jesus performed were for

the glory of Go not personal cotitfort

and

pleasure.

And i f t

is for his glory'

God

will heal you.

But God

also

getS

glory through the suffering

of

his

saints, the sanctification of his saints.

And

Jesus prayed

that

we

might

be

with

him, 17:24.

So

the next tiine

some

body wants to pray for the dead

to

be

raised. remember rhat Jesus prayed for

that they might be with him

The goal

of

Jesus

life

was the glory

of God. And this is to be the goal of

his disciple's lives as well, 5:23, 7:18,

8:50, 54, 12:23-26, 15:8, 17:4. Jesus

has not

promised

us

PERSONAL POW

R

FOR

FUN.AND PROFIT.

It is my pwpose to encourage the

saints to take advantage

of

the promise

of

Christ, to ask God for great things

and GREATER TRINGS -THATm

FATHER

MAY BE

GLORIFIED IN

THE

SON.

It

is my

ptupose

to

turn:

us

from selfish and Self

centered

prafing,

to great and confident praying in

the

rtame of Christ for those things

that

will glorify the Father and advance his

kingdom. This is

a

tremendous

pro

mise.

We

re cbndnuing the work of

Christ It is greater in extent and effect

than - the work that

he did

while on

earth, and whatever we need to con

tiitue, advance, and accomplish that

wo

rk. he has promised to give us.

There

ate

really only three

p o s s i i l i ~

ties in prayer: ONE, we do

not

have

because

we

do not ask, James 4:2.

TWO, we ask

arid do not receive

be

cauSe,

nOt

being olnniscient or peifeetly

knowing the mind of

the

Father as

Ctirist did, 5:20, what we have asked

for is not or the glory

of

God. Arid

THREE,

we ask

amiss that

we

may con

The Counsel of Chalcedon October 198 1 page 20

sume

it upm

our usts,

4:3,

that is, for

selfish

reasons .

'

Let us turnfrom a8idng

great things

fot. OurSelves, in "our own nanie",

to

asking great things iN

tHE

NAME OF

_CHRIST And

let

us

not

hesitate

to

ask for GREATER things than

e-Vert

Jesus

perfomied in

his

own

Make

a list of

some

great things that you

believe wOuld advance the Kingdom

and

Glory of

Christ

Ptaythat people will be saved.

Pray thatabortion will be stopped.

.

Pray

that

oUr

nation will acknow

ledge

the Lordship of.Jesus Christ lind

that He alone can save and help us.

Pray that people will become

epistoniologically selfconsciolis,

ie.,

come

to

realize that all of life

is

re

ligious,

and

that they will tum away

from

their

idols

to serve

ChrisL

Pray

that

you md your family- will

be protected from sickness and disease

that you may use your health and

strength

to

more energetically serve

him.

Pray that

God

will heal youof your

sicknesses

and diseases.

Pray that God will prosper your work

and

labrirs

so

that you

will

have more

to give to the

poor

and to finance the

Proclamation

of

the Gospel and extend

the kirigcbni.

Pray for

yaurchildren

and

theire