volume 12, number 27, July 4, 2013

Greater Works Than Jesus

Greater works than these will you do, because I go to the Father, John 14:12.

What an amazing promise from our Lord Jesus! James Boice likens it to being promised one million dollars.[1]

One can scarcely imagine it. Without question the United States has been richly blessed with the presence of the gospel of Jesus since our very beginning. John Winthrop, on board the Arbella in 1630, as he left England, gave his famous "City on a Hill" sermon, casting the Puritan vision for America. And God gave us great preachers throughout our history-men like Cotton and Increase Mather, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, William and Gilbert Tennent, Samuel Davies, Asahel Nettleton, James Henley Thornwell, Daniel Baker, R.L. Dabney, and many others. The first Great Awakening, from 1735 to around 1750 and the second Great Awakening from 1792 to 1863 ushered millions of people into the kingdom of God and wrought a marvelous transformation of our country. Sadly, however, our people have jettisoned our "Big God, Big Savior" Calvinistic theology for a truncated, watered down, "Small God, Small Savior", psychotherapeutic, hyper-contextualized theology. This man-centered, man-exalting theology has since morphed into a modern day deism where most everyone believes in some sort of supreme being who will come to their aid when they are in really big trouble. This small god, however, generally "leaves them alone" and is happy to wink at their sin. He, nonetheless, will take them to heaven when they die, unless they are really bad like Jeffrey Dahmer or Adolf Hitler.

Jesus' disciples are frightened by the time we get to John 14. Jesus has repeatedly told them that He is to be arrested, beaten, scourged, and crucified. They don't get it, but now, as they take the Passover meal with Him, as He clearly is troubled, they begin to understand that something terrible is about to go down. Their hope of a revival of the golden age under King David is rapidly evaporating. Jesus' kingdom is not of this world. So Jesus tells them not to be troubled, that He is leaving to prepare a place for them. He then tells them that if they believe in Him, then the works that He had been doing, they will do. To go further, they will do even greater works because He is going to the Father. The question is, what are these greater works? First, Jesus does not use the words "signs or wonders." He is not talking about miracles though He gave His disciples, His apostles, the authority to cast out demons, to heal people of disease (Matthew 10:1). Also, the second use of the word translated "works" is not in the original text. It is supplied in order to make clearer sense of the passage. Another translation would be, "Greater things than these will he do."[2]

So, if Jesus is promising His church greater conversions than He ever saw, does this not beg a vital question-why are we not seeing this today? First of all, we are seeing it in places like China, Indonesia, India, and Africa. But why not in the western world? Well, ask yourself these questions-do you really believe in Jesus, do you pray in Jesus' name expecting Him to answer, are you obedient to Him, do you believe in the power and authority of the Holy Spirit? I know you believe in Jesus for your salvation, but I am going further concerning your sanctification. To believe in Jesus (see John 1:12, 6:37, 8:12, 11:25) means more than knowing facts about Jesus or even going along with those facts. Muslims know the facts about Jesus and many in our culture go along with these facts, paying lip service to Jesus at Christmas and Easter. But real faith involves trust born out of utter desperation. You were desperate for your salvation so you believed and called on the name of the Lord. If you were truly desperate for the souls of men, then you would believe that Jesus can save them, even the most difficult cases. To go further, Jesus promises, "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it." To ask in Jesus' name, among other things, means to ask what is on His heart-the salvation of the nations for the glory of His Father. Do you pray in this manner? Then Jesus says, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." So obedience to the law of God is vital in our walk with the Lord and in our fruitfulness for His glory. Are you obedient to God? And when you are not, are you quick to see it, by God's grace, and to repent, running back to Jesus for His holiness? And then finally, Jesus promises, "I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper." Later He says, "It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away I will not send the Helper to you, but if I go, I will send Him to you; and when He comes He will convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:7-8). Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?

So, here's the deal-if we want to see greater works than Jesus, if we want to see many, many conversions, then we must believe Jesus for them, we must pray in His name, we must obey God in all things, and we must expect the Holy Spirit to work mightily in and through us. To put it more simply-do you believe Jesus can and will use you to do mighty works of conversion? Are you praying very specifically to that end? Are you obeying God's law? And when you fail, for we all fail, are you grieved by your sin or do you simply say, "You win some, you lose some. No big deal." Do you believe in the Holy Spirit? Are you conscious of grieving Him, of resisting Him, of quenching Him? Do you keep short accounts with God? Are you walking humbly before God? Could it be that God is blessing the nations of India, China, and many countries in South America and Africa with millions of conversions because these believers have humbled themselves under God's mighty hand? Are you grieved by the impotence, lack of expectancy, and general ineffectiveness of our churches? What are you going to do about it?

1 The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary, James Boice, page 956.

2 Ibid. page 958.