"Verily, verily, I say unto
you, he that believeth on Me,
the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do;
because I go unto my Father." - John 14:12.
When
Jesus desired to specially emphasize any profound truth, that emphasis was very
frequently given by the repetition of the word "verily" as in the above text. In this text, he is making
a statement, which is truly astounding in its nature. A moment's reflection on
the great works of Jesus himself must rivet the significance of this statement
on one's attention, and in amazement we inquire, ‘How can it be that greater things can be done by one of his much less
perfect followers? How can we be empowered to surpass the works as transcendent
as those done by Jesus?’ Think of the raising of the son of the
widow of Nain, and of the extraordinary scene at the grave of Lazarus. Call to
mind the days of ministering to the sick and afflicted, and of the hours spent
in preaching His "gracious
words" to the multitudes. How, then, can it be true that "greater works than these shall he
do" who believes on the Son of God?
Certainly,
it is inconceivable that Jesus would give utterance to such words as these if
he did not intend them to be taken as perfectly true. However great, therefore,
His own works had been, this promise of power to do greater works, henceforth
to be enjoyed by His followers, must be understood as being within their reach.
There is, of course, no difficulty in seeing how this promise will have a wonderful
fulfillment in the Kingdom powers to be bestowed on the overcomers, in
association with Christ in that day to come when "all that are in their graves shall hear His voice, and shall come
forth." Then, greater works will surely be done. In comparison with
the few illustrative miracles of Jesus' brief earthly ministry at His First
Advent, how much greater will be the work of raising the vast millions of
mankind, not to a mere temporary awakening, but to everlasting life. What a
work it will be to cleanse and transform their minds from all inherent
sin, from all misconceptions of God's
character, and bring all the willing and obedient to that knowledge of God,
which is eternal life. What a blessed and wonderful work it will be to direct
the Kingdom work until all evidences of the curse are removed from the earth,
and God's footstool is made glorious--a paradise flooded with the glory of God
as the waters cover the sea. Surely, as the Scripture declares, "Mine elect shall long enjoy the work
of their hands," as they behold the great work of that Millennial day
completed, never to be marred again
by sin and death. However, these
words of Jesus are not to be taken completely out of the present life and work
of His saints. There is a very real sense in which this promise applies to the
present inheritance of the believer. As we have seen, the works Jesus did were
of necessity confined to the plane of bodily ills and to the level of human mindedness.
The Spirit had not yet come, consequently those to whom He ministered,
including His immediate disciples, were limited to the natural things and
viewpoints. But when the Holy Spirit came upon the Church at Pentecost, then
the "greater works" began,
and have continued as the privilege of all true followers of Christ even to the
present time.
Let
us, then, take a glance back over the long years of the ministry of the true
Analogies
we may trace in all the impotencies and lameness of humanity, and in death
itself, all of which conditions came under the sympathy and healing power of
Jesus in the days of His flesh, and in which we find illustrations of greater
works made possible to us now. Think of the diseased minds, paralyzed by sin,
dead, worse than dead; blind eyes, darkened by the god of this world, lest the
light of the glory of God should shine
into their hearts. Think of bringing any of these out of darkness into light,
telling them of the grace by which they may be translated out of the kingdom of
darkness into the
What
a wonderful thing it is to be taken into partnership with God! And such
partnership it must be if we are to do any work small or great which will serve
any divine purpose here on earth, and receive merit in heaven. Jesus tells us
this in unmistakable language when he says, "Without
me (or apart from Me) you can do nothing." The Psalmist gives us a
similar thought: "Except the Lord
build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the
city, the watchman wakes but in vain" (Psalm 127:1). Paul may sow and
Apollos may water, but all is in vain if God give not the increase. The prophet
may prophesy presumptuously, and say, "The
Lord says, ‘but the Lord has not spoken, and it shall come to naught.’” If
we, then, are "laborers together
with God" in all the works He has so graciously and condescendingly
come down to share with us, how great is our need of this divine authorization
and benediction on our service in His Name. The very fact that one could speak
with "the tongues of men and of angels,"
and yet give forth nothing but empty sound so far as results are concerned, and
that "vessels meet for the Master's
use" must be clean and sanctified, makes it a vital matter indeed that
all the conditions under which His blessing will be given, be known and
carefully followed. The condition stipulated in our text is, "He that believes on me... greater
works than these shall he do, because I go to my Father."
In
the Greek (see Diaglott) the preposition "on,"
should be rendered "into."
This emphasizes the difference between believing in Christ as one might do in
accepting the fact of His life and death, and being in him by the act of complete dedication. This is the
emphasis of all New Testament teaching. Jesus himself stressed the fact that it
was solely because the Father was in Him and He in the Father that He could do
works pleasing to God. "Do you not
believe He said, that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that
I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwells in Me, He
does the works" (John
"Take my voice and let it bring
Honor always to my King.
"Take my lips and let them be
Moved with messages from Thee."
Therefore,
to have His indwelling presence as a token of our acceptance into His favor and
as an assurance that our labor is not in vain in the Lord, how very important
it is that we remember that any great work for God can follow only when we are thus in Christ,
cleansed by His abiding in our hearts, destroying all the old self-life, and
continually working in us to will and to do all His good pleasure; living as it
were, His own life over again in us. (To
be continued)
J. J. Blackburn
Give Christ All of Life ~ “We
have no right to offer Christ less than the whole of our lives. There can be no real dedication of self to
Him that is not complete in its surrender.
When we are truly His, He will altogether possess us. The whole self will be swallowed up in our
zeal for Him, and all that we do will be done “as unto Him.”
Those who give themselves to Christ walk with Him the whole way; those
who withhold some part of self from Him ultimately find that His path and
theirs diverge. The full riches of
Christian experience are for those who give Christ all of life ~ not simply a
place in their lives. And the ultimate
blessing for such lives is likeness to Him ~ their Master and Lord.
Christian Observer