Gospel chapter 14. You see that Christ is on his way to the cross. We saw that in chapter 13. And we said that this left the disciples very troubled. The one that they thought was the Savior, the Messiah, was now going to die. And they were greatly troubled. And so he says, Verse one, let not your heart be troubled. And we said that the next verses, many verses, that's why I help them. And to love them, to have peace. He says, I'm going to the Father to prepare a place for you. Be at peace. Be at peace. And we come to verses 12 today. Very, very I sound to you, either believe it from me, the works that I do, shall he do also. And greater works than these shall he do. Because I'll go unto my Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do. that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. I will do it. So verse 12 then, Christ is saying that these works that he did, he's now gonna do greater works. You might say, well that's hard to understand. Christ is gonna go away and he says that he's gonna do, verse 12, greater works than these? Greater than rising the dead, greater than healing the leper, greater than making the blind to see, this is to encourage them. And sometimes if we're going through a troubled period, we have to encourage ourself of what might be in the future, how the Lord might help us in the future. It could be a blessing around the corner. And then he shows us something interesting. I was outside talking one day to someone coming by, and the first thing some people go on about, some people call it charismania, I don't know if that's the right word, but he's gone about the healings and the science and everything, and he said, do you do all this in your church? I said, what do you mean? He said, well, Jesus said you'll do greater things than me. I said, the greater things we're gonna come to in a minute. is salvation. That's the greater works. If someone's ill and you get them better, they're still gonna die. If somebody's sick and they had this wonderful healing, they're still gonna die. That's not the big thing, says Jesus. I'm gonna do things greater than them. The power's insignificant. I'm talking about a soul being saved for time and eternity from sin. It's not physical. It's spiritual. These people have got it all wrong. By focusing on that, you neglect salvation. This person might be healed, and then they go to hell. Maybe it's this illness destroying them close to God, and they want rid of it. And God wants to draw them to himself through that. Oh, they've got it wrong. The greater work is the gospel, and this is what Jesus is telling them. And I gently had to tell this man outside that, and he seemed to, Accept it, but when someone's in that kind of state and that thinking mode, it's very hard for them to get out of it. They need to come out of those churches and come onto a sound church. Come out from amongst them. It's like if you've got any weakness. If you mix with people with those weaknesses, let's say, for example, you're converted and you wanna leave drink behind. If you carry on mixing with people that drink, you're gonna be tempted. Come out from these places. He says, I'm gonna go now to the Father by the cross. And that's what people have gotta be told, the cross. The cross is the forefront of our teaching and our preaching. The healing of the soul, not of the body. If you want a concrete text for this, read Jesus when they come back. Remember he gave them all different powers. And they come back and said, we've been healing people. I think they might have been casting out evil spirits. And they told him all these wonderful healings he had done. He said, look Lord, isn't that wonderful? He said, no, that's not wonderful. Don't rejoice in that. That's what Jesus says to these people. Don't rejoice in these healings. What did Jesus say? Rejoice that your name is written in the book of life. That's scripture. That's what Jesus said, stop fussing about the miracles, disciples. Only rejoice when your name is in the book of life, when somebody is saved. It's a miraculous thing for God to create in a person a new heart. For them to repent and believe the gospel, that their sins are forgiven, it's a miracle. You didn't do it and I didn't do it until God intervened in our life. We didn't really think of it. So it's the cross and the book of life. The healing of the soul. We need to turn from our sins and see Jesus on the cross. I've gotta go this way, said Jesus. This is the only way. I'm going now to my father. And they didn't understand it. See, Jesus was gonna be a personal substitute for his people on the cross. A personal substitute. Remember he says, let not your heart be troubled. This is a personal thing. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it wasn't so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you on the cross, the substitute. It's called substitutionary atonement. Jesus knew he was going to die for. It was decided before the world began, it says, the land that was slain before the foundation of the world. This is not by chance, this is not man decided, this is God deciding when Christ was now sent to the Father, was gonna take the punishment for his people's sins, and have victory over sin, death, and the devil, through his death and resurrection. A person who Christ died for can never go to hell. So you might say this is a sad truth, but it's true, dear people. Jesus didn't die for everyone on that cross and pay for their sins. Otherwise, everyone would be going to heaven. He was a substitutionary atonement. God looked upon him, it said. He was made sin for us who knew no sin. What does that mean? Our sin was put on his body on the cross. And God looked upon him on that cross as if it was you and your sin, me and my sin, and every person that's ever lived past, present, or future that is in Christ, all the sin of history will be placed on his body on the cross. I go to prepare a place for you. That's how he's gonna prepare it. Wasn't it kind of him to say these words when he's got to go through all this agony? He's thinking of us. He's thinking of us. I'm going to go to the cross, he said, and I'm going to send down power from on high. You might say, well, what sin have I ever done that's worthy of hell? The Ten Commandments are the character of God, and we was made in God's image to reflect that character. Even Adam and Eve would have been obeying the Ten Commandments, initially. They were made in God's image, and this was gonna give glory. When the Bible says you fell short of the glory of God, it means you're not glorifying God by obeying the Ten Commandments and his commandments. We're meant to give glory by the way we live. And that's the sin of it all. Every time we sin, we're marring this image that we're made in, the image of God. We was the top of his creation, the pinnacle. And we fall short of his glory. And we break them. And every time we sin, we're attacking God. We're waging war on God. We're waging war on his holiness, on his righteousness, on his authority, on his sovereignty. Every sin, we're attacking God. This is a major thing. This is not incidental. Where non-believers live in. And it's wrong. And even if you're not Christian, you normally admit these things are wrong, but you're not cut to the heart. You're not cut to the heart. It's only the spirit, as he said, will come. The spirit of truth, verse 17. And it'll convict you of sin in the right way. Not this flimsy, light feelings maybe of your conscience. This is a real conviction of the Holy Spirit. Convicting you of sin. And you become broken in heart. Blessed are the broken in heart, you see, those that mourn. We have to, do you acknowledge today, do I, that I'm worthy of eternal punishment? That's how bad sin is. It says in Revelation that it's a fire that's made for the devil and his angels and it will be eternal. It's not a temporary thing. And the sinners will go there because they go to the devil's side. They haven't repented, they haven't believed. Yes, Jesus spoke much about hell because he told the truth. He wanted them to know the truth. And you probably talk more about hell if you read Jesus' life than he did heaven. How did Jesus know hell was so bad? He had to face it on the cross. This is the way he's gonna go now, the cross. And what did he say when he prayed before he went to the cross? You know, nothing really troubled Jesus, did it? He rises and there's a storm, I just calm the storm. about sleep in the storm, everything's gonna be all right. One thing troubled him greatly, and that was when he was gonna die on the cross. He said, now is my soul troubled unto the point of death. He knew what hell was coming before him. He was gonna be separated from God the Father. The sins of the world were gonna be placed on him. Now, nothing troubled Jesus much. This did. Now is my soul troubled unto the point of death. If Jesus was troubled by hell, my dear friend, shouldn't you be? Shouldn't I be? trouble to the point of death. He's going to hell. That's why there's no other way. I go now to the Father to prepare a place for you. But it has to be by the cross. It has to be by the cross. But he encourages them, said there's going to be a comfort of verse 16. He tells them when he goes to the Father, he's preparing a place for them. and he encourages them not to worry, but not to be troubled. This is a wonderful thing, isn't it? He's talking about his love that he's gonna show us, to secure the blessings for us and his people. Amazing love. The well-known verse, John 3, 16. God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son. A great sacrifice, his only son. on the cross that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, should not perish and go to hell, but have everlasting life. He gave him on the cross for his people's sins. The pain and the agony of it all for Jesus separated in some mysterious way in agony from the Father. The sins of history, the sins of all his people, past, present and future placed on him, condemned in our place. made sin for us, and who knows sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." It's only the righteousness of God that gets you to heaven. And the righteousness of God is in Christ. He takes away our sin. When I surveyed the Wondrous Cross, I asked Him, have you looked at the cross lately? Have you seen Jesus on the cross? Isn't it enough to make you weep when you think, see from his hands, his side, his feet, sorrow and laugh flow mingled down? Did ever such love and sorrow meet or forms composed so rich a crown? Have you surveyed the cross recently? Really surveyed it and looked at it to see what sin does, to see what your sin done, to see the love of God in Christ Jesus who committed no sin, main sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. This is infinite mercy, grace, love and care. This is the side of God that the people of the world don't really see. They don't think about it enough. They just try and blow out all the problems, as we said last week. But Jesus says, let not your heart be troubled, but he makes us face up to him. Yes, I am going to die. I've got to die for your sins, but I'm going to go and prepare a place for you in heaven. Romans 5, isn't it? Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God. This is the greater work, dear people. Not the fuss about the miracles. This is the greater work, the cross. This is the greater work that was gonna come after he died. This was what was gonna be preached at Pentecost, after he died. Greater works than these, you will do. You will do. Verse 12. greater works than these shall ye do. He do, the person who believes. You know, I saw this fussing around and everyone's getting fed up with Brexit, is it going to be, they vote for it, then it's against it, and then it's going to be finished and it's not finished, and everyone's had enough of it. But when God come to salvation on the cross, Jesus said it is finished, it's done, we're at peace with God. Therefore, there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. Romans 8. This is a legal term, meaning you have been declared righteous in Christ. There's no condemnation. There's no condemnation now. There's no condemnation tomorrow. There's no condemnation in eternity. There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. The judge of the earth has declared it. Who shall only think to the charge of God's elect? Romans 8. Will God? Says Paul, no. Will Christ? It's almost laughable, says Paul. Will Christ? He's the one who died for your sins. You see, we have peace with God. It's not doing and throwing. Back in one court, whack in one place and then the other place. Like Brexit, God makes the decision and it is final. On the cross. He said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? God forsakes sin, and God has to forsake sinners. And someone had to take it in our place if we was to go free, and Christ took it. And he knew the agonies of being forsaken of the Father that we don't fully understand. So we must look away from our sin and repent of it, turn from it to God and trust him, and look to the cross, a wondrous cross. He rose, he lives. Do you believe that? Jesus is alive now in the right hand of God. Have you really repented and trusted Him? Believing Him is not just saying you believe in Him, it means a real work in your heart. A real turning from your sins and trusting Jesus will save you. And He died for you. So I'll go to my Father via the cross. And that's why you'll do greater works. Sin will be dealt with. You're washed away, white as snow. And then we know, of course, there was Pentecost, greater worlds, and the Spirit come on Pentecost and lead them into truth, convicting people of sin. That's what he did at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit. They didn't all right away jump up for joy and peace. At Pentecost was a very grave and serious, somber place. It was a fearful place initially. And he said, what should we do? He says, Peter spoke and they were pricked to the heart. They were cut to the heart. The Spirit had told them the truth about themselves. What should we do? And I've said this before, that they didn't say, what should we do to be saved? They didn't know they could be saved. They'd just been told that they'd nailed the Messiah to the cross. They didn't know what was gonna happen. What should we do? And at some point during our conversion, we should come to this point, and we say, what should we do? We feel lost, we feel helpless. And somehow or other, God gives us some sort of hope. And we cry to God, what should we do? And he reveals to us, The saviour, born again, the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit working in our hearts, has happened at Pentecost. And he says, believe and be baptised. And then after that there's the spreading, as we spoke about the other week, that the gospel spread and the persecution means that they have to spread out more. And almost all the known world then, This greater work spreads. Then there's the persecution with the lions, isn't there? Christians chucked to the lions, but they stuck to what they believed. Greater works. Surely that is a greater work than a soul, than a body is healed. Knowing this love, the love of God beyond knowledge. We don't understand this love that God had that he should send his son on the cross to die for the sins of his people. But the greater work continued, didn't it? We had in the Dark Ages, then we had Wycliffe come and start to translate the Bible. Then Tyndale, translating the Bible in the common words. And the Gospel work grows. And then Luther, and Calvin, and the Reformation through Europe. The biggest revival in history was the Reformation. Have you read about it? I don't know if I've read enough about it. It spread from one country to another country. France, Poland, Hungary, Switzerland, Europe, UK. It changed. This was the greater works that were going to come that Jesus was talking about. This is why he goes to the cross. And then we had the Purim, and around 1700 everything seemed to lower again. And I remember Peter Masters at the time, one of the conference saying, at that period in time, around about 1700, things were worse, listen to this, than they are now. That was his words, he probably knows history more than me. the ungodliness, the terrible things that were going on, worse than now. But then God sends a Whitefield, and a Wesley, and William Remain, and Isaac Watts, and the whole of the UK is changed. Greater works than these, and they spread. And then there's Bonner, and then there's Furgon, and the rest is history. But what now, are we saying? What now? Isn't it dead now? Isn't it dark now? Isn't this the same God? Has God changed? Can't God do that work now? Greater works, greater works shall you do. Who will do these greater works? He that believeth on me, the works I shall do, he shall do also. And greater works, because I go to the cross. And you should ask, and the Father I think this is connected, him saying that and asking what you will and I will do it. This is asking for grace and power. Salvation is wonderful, but just salvation, being saved is just the beginning. We're meant to go on with the Lord and grow in grace and knowledge, to be filled with the Spirit continually, as our pastor preached. Now but suddenly, it doesn't say one-off experience of the Spirit. It says the word being filled means continually filled with the Spirit. And when Jesus gave them the Spirit, and someone said, well, later on, they've had the Spirit, and then they go, that's like two experiences. You've gotta have a baptism. Jesus gives us the Spirit, and then he gives us more of the Spirit, and then gives us more of the Spirit. It's a continual thing. We don't stop. We're continually looking, and this is what we have to look for. These people were moved to God by the Spirit, and filled with the Spirit, aren't we? It's the same God. Do you believe he could do it now what he did then? Greater works than these shall you do if you believe. Will God do it? It's ultimately God. If you ask anything in my moment, have you asked for it? Maybe you say, well, we need great preachers. Have you asked God for the gift of preaching? It says in Corinthians, seek the better gifts. It doesn't say seek tongues, but seeking the better gifts of prophecy. You're meant to ask. If you want God to rise up a wonderful preacher with Bible, ask God to give you the gift of preaching, if it's his will, or all these other gifts. gifts of help and other things. So this all nurture together is the beginning then of God working a great work. It's the Almighty God. He says in Ephesians, He's able to do in us more than we think or can imagine. Maybe you say, well, this is really lean years we're going through. Nothing's happening, there's not real fruit growth. Well, didn't Joseph have seven lean years and he had seven blessed years? Maybe we've lived the seven lean years, dear people. I'm not promising and guaranteeing this, but maybe we've lived the seven lean years. Maybe it's time for the seven bountiful years, spiritually. Did you ever think of that? Spiritually, personally, in the area, in the country, maybe in other countries. Maybe we've had the 17 years and it's time for blessings. God can do it. Away with lack of faith. Oh, he can do more than we think or imagine. Maybe we think we're weak, we're foul, we've got these sins. Jesus can do more than we think or we can imagine. Verses 13 to 14. Asking the Father for these things. The believer, he says, it's the believer will get these blessings. And we tell the gospel and people are saved and they go and they go and have victory in their lives. They're going back to the father. He said, don't be afraid. Because I go to the father, this gospel is going to come forward and people are going to save and it's going to be a greater world than before. through the cross. We must see our sin, how bad and vile we are, and then see it on the cross, punished in our place. It's hard to face sometimes, isn't it, our sin? But it says the Spirit will lead you into all truth. We can't see it ourselves, we need the Spirit to really show us. We need to repent. but just close on this little story about a girl I heard about. She was given a little bit of the garden by her dad, and she worked hard on this garden night and day, and she never grew anything. And then one day she said, I'll ask my dad's gardener. She asked the gardener, what am I doing wrong? And he got this big pick, and he smashed her garden up, and he found some rocks and cement at the bottom. And he smashed it up with his pick, and she's crying her eyes out. And then he said, now crying. And he helped her, and they planted these seeds, and all these flowers bloomed. You see, it needed to be broken up. Our souls have to be broken by our sin. Broken, so the seed doesn't just superficially lay on top, but the word of God might go deep into our souls, and we repent and believe the gospel. And like this little child, the flowers began to bloom and grow, so the Spirit and the Word will grow in us. One way, one person, one real life, Jesus. Let us tell it out, let us spread it abroad, and I'm meant to give you the title of this sermon, it was called Great Expectations. Is that what you got of your God today? Have I got it? For individually, as a church? As a nation, are we saying God can't fill this church with new converts? Are we limiting God? Do you limit the omnipotent, the all-powerful God? Is there any limit to God? No. Let's look to Him today and to the cross. Amen.