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