Greater Works
“Truly, truly, 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 the Father” (John 14:12).I have to admit, this verse has caused me a great deal of anxiety in my life. During my college years, I served in a youth ministry summer internship program in Winter Park, FL, where I was introduced to some charismatic teachings. The testimonies I heard that summer from young men “delivered” from homosexual lifestyles and demonic activities awakened my appetite to the works God could do through me. A deep desire to be a useful tool in God’s hand propelled me to want all that God had to offer me. I wanted to do “greater works.”Well, this past Sunday our pastor was preaching on the Holy Spirit and led us to John 14:16-18: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
Well, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to recognize what words jumped off the page at me. There it was, plain as day…the name of this ministry: inYou. This Holy Spirit/Helper Jesus promised was at that time WITH the disciples, but He would be (after Pentecost) IN them! It hit me that these greater works could only happen after Jesus’ returned to the Father. Why? Because the Holy Spirit–the Spirit of Christ– could not indwell the believer until after Jesus had been crucified, buried, resurrected, and ascended. “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7).
Here’s our advantage and the reason we can do greater works. Now the Holy Spirit lives within each believer and accomplishes the works of the Father. Just as the Father did His work through Jesus His Son, so the Holy Spirit does the greater works of Jesus through us–me and you!
“Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes‘” (John 5:19-21).You see, Jesus never did an original thing. He was a copy cat. He only did what He saw the Father doing. Now Father God loves us and wants to communicate with us. He initiates the love relationship. This is the key to our doing greater works today: we simply respond to what the Father is doing, through the Son, by His Spirit in us. Now, by His indwelling Holy Spirit, we simply hear and respond to God in faith and obedience.
And what is the greater work? Perhaps it is this: that you and I offer to anyone the free gift of eternal life through the Spirit. We can now proclaim the good news and offer to anyone who believes and receives Jesus Christ a brand new life! We do what Jesus foretold, but could not do…
“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified“ (John 7:38-39).WOW! Amazing! You and I are called to the greater work of proclaiming the greater message to a world in greater need that ever before. “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ” (Col. 1:28).
Pray with me as we take this magnificent message to the masses (even if this means only a few at a time) in 2009. inYou will offer monthly discipleship conferences to proclaim the mystery and remind the believers of who they are and what they have in Christ.
