Greater Things-Going Next-Level!
John 14:12-17 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. 15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever– 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
Can you imagine the disciples’ reaction to Jesus’ words in John 14? They had seen Him still storms. They had watched Him exorcise demons out of people. They saw Him heal leapers, and blind and lame folks. They witnessed the raising of Lazarus from the dead. What could be greater than any of those things? What could be more impacting or powerful? Certainly the greater things Jesus spoke of weren’t things that were greater in power than what He did. There is nothing greater than raising someone from the dead. Lazarus was in the grave for four days when Jesus raised him. Nothing “tops” that.
During my lifetime I have witnessed miracles. I have witnessed people being healed of all kinds of difficulties after they were prayed for. Maybe they would go in for surgery and there would be no need or they would go in for a test and the test would confirm a tumor was gone. I have been with people who have had eyesight corrected through a Divine touch of God. I have seen relationships be put back together after falling apart. I have watched people wait on God for jobs and get them at just the right time. I couldn’t say I have seen “greater” things than the miracles Jesus performed, but I have seen miracles.
So, I don’t think that Jesus was saying that the greater things we would do would be greater in power than what He accomplished, but I would say that greater things would involve a greater message than the message Jesus proclaimed and that the greater things would be greater in scope than the scope of Jesus’ miracles during His lifetime. Let’s take the second idea first.
Greater in Scope
One things is clear, you and I have the opportunity to participate in miracles and even to do miracles as the Holy Spirit empowers us. I Corinthians 12:10 speaks about a spiritual gift whereby the Holy Spirit enables a person to actually perform miracles. We also know we are invited to pray for miracles and that God’s miraculous power and works are on display every day in creation and in the lives of individuals. Because we belong to Him, because Jesus has ascended into Heaven, because the Holy Spirit works through us, and because there are millions and millions of Christians on the planet, the ability of Jesus to do greater works through His church than the works He personally accomplished while in the flesh is monumental. From that respect, I believe the greater works we can do have a greater reaching scope than the scope Jesus was limited to in His physical body during His physical lifetime.
I also think the greater works involve a Greater Message.
Jesus could proclaim the message of the Kingdom of God, the desire for God to rule and reign everywhere in the hearts of people, but He couldn’t declare the Gospel message which involved the death, burial and resurrection simply because it hadn’t happened yet. It is one thing to predict the cross and resurrection, which He did, but it is another thing to be able to declare it once it has already happened. That was the greatest miracle ever wrought and it is yours and mine to share. Jesus couldn’t share that message, but we can! God has chosen us, His church, to be the mouthpiece for this greater message which is the impotence for the transformation of hundreds, thousands, and millions of souls and lives.
Are we all seeing miracles? Are we all participating in the process of creating miracles? Would a greater work mean that miracles could or should happen more frequently? Are we all sharing the message that has the miraculous power to transform people’s lives? Have we all been regularly sharing our faith? Have we prayed with people to give their lives to Jesus? Would a greater work be a mass conversion where during one year hundreds or even thousands of people got saved? These are greater works actions that are possible because Jesus completed His mission and because He sent the Holy Spirit to live inside of us.
Now, to muddy the waters a bit:
What if the greater thing God wants to do through you depends on your willingness for Him to do a greater work in you?
What if the greatest work is the work that takes place as we become all God intends for us to become? What if you have been resisting a greater work? What if you have been resistant to a greater miracle on the inside of your being? What if you haven’t thought about it? What if you haven’t been open to it? Have you ever desired to do greater things for God? Is it something that interests you? Do you feel called to greater things? Have you explored what that might look like? Allow me to suggest some “greater things” you might do in Jesus’ name, because He has gone to the Father, and because the power of the Holy Spirit is available to you. How can you go next-level in your Christian walk?
Greater things in you might include:
A next-level relationship with Jesus.
Look back at verse 12 of our text: John 14:12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has FAITH IN ME will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
Specifically, how IS your faith in Jesus? Do you see Him as central to your life? Are you regularly engaging in Him? Are you spending time learning about Him and what He did so that you can duplicate His life? When people see you do they see Him? Can you say as you look back over 2018 that you have grown in your relationship with Christ and in your understanding of who He is and what He is truly about? Jesus is alive, but is He truly alive in your life?
The disciples had the privilege of living with Jesus every day for three years. They shared a closeness with Him and observed His life first-hand. We have the Scriptures to help us draw close. We have times of prayer and worship to interact with Him. We can pursue relationships with Christian brothers and sisters in Christ to help us grow our faith. Are we taking advantage of everything available to us in order to grow our relationship?
Is your relationship with Jesus next-level or are you more focused on the daily grind, the crisis, or the personal dreams you possess? Is doing what He did important to you? This greater works passage said that in the power of the Holy Spirit, we would do the kinds of things He did. If your relationship with Jesus is at a 5, what would it take to take it to a 7?
Look at John 15:4-8 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit (DO GREATER THINGS) unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
A vine and its branches are pretty well connected, right? There is no disconnect, right? There is a dependency expressed. The branches need what the vine has to offer. The vine gives the branches stability. Nourishment flows from the vine to the branches. That’s the kind of relationship we are supposed to have with Jesus. We are to be rooted and grounded in Him. Can you say that about your life with Christ? Are you rooted and grounded in Him?
And notice where verses 7-8 of John 15 take us. They take us to prayer. Re-read them:
7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
What if the next-level or greater thing God wants for you is:
A next-level prayer life.
Verses seven and eight talk about remaining in Christ and asking whatever we wish, and giving the Heavenly Father glory and bearing fruit. Here we see that greater things flow from a greater prayer life. Jesus even said here that one evidence that we are His disciples, one way people know we walk closely with Him, is that our prayers get answered. It’s that fruit comes from our prayer life. Look at those two verses again and read them silently.
7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Is your prayer life bearing fruit? Go back to the main text for today, the one about greater things. Look at verses 13-14: 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
WOW! Greater things flow from a next-level prayer life. As we are connected to Jesus in a proper relationship, and as we seek to glorify the Father, we can ask for anything in the name of Jesus and He will hear and answer prayer. To come in His name is to recognize that there is no one above Him. He is the Sovereign Lord. He alone has the power to say “Yes” to the impossible and “No” to the detrimental. We definitely want Him to say “No” to anything that could harm us or keep us from experiencing His best, right? That is next-level praying.
This idea of God answering whatever we ask is contingent, of course, on us praying according to His will. That is the essence of another passage in 1 John 5:14-1514 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us–whatever we ask–we know that we have what we asked of him.
Remember, if we are connected to the Vine, as branches, we will automatically express God’s will as we pray. What He desires for us will flow to us so that we can bear fruit even in our prayer lives. That means, the closer we are to Jesus, the more next-level our prayer life will be. I want my prayer life to bear fruit. How about you?
Well, what happens when prayers aren’t answered in a day, a week, a month or a year? What if we never see the results we want and need? I believe that next-level praying involves leaving the results to God.
A story is told about a businessman who picked up a hitchhiker and drove with him for several hours. The hitchhiker was a Christian and he shared the gospel with the businessman. Before he dropped him off, the businessman put his trust in Christ as His Savior and Lord. He left his business card with the hitchhiker and said, “If you ever come to Chicago, drop by and see me.”
Several years went by before the hitchhiker was in Chicago. He stopped by the man’s office and handed the card to a woman and asked if the man was in. The woman’s face froze and she asked, “Where did you get this card?” The man used the question to tell the woman the story of how the man had become a Christian that day. She broke down in tears and said, “He was my husband. I had prayed for years that he would come to Christ. But he never made it home from that trip. He was killed in an accident after he dropped you off. I’ve been bitter at God all these years because I thought that He didn’t answer my prayer.” (https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-76-doing-greater-works-jesus-john-1412-14)
Now, obviously, not all stories have that kind of ending, but here is the point: There are things we cannot understand and there are things we cannot see, but that doesn’t mean God isn’t answering our prayers.
That woman had a greater things answer even though it had gone unknown to her for many years. Here is what we need to pray in order to go next-level in our prayer life. Pray Ephesians 3:20. Pray that God will do infinitely more than anything you could ask or imagine according to the power that is at work in you. Greater things praying might mean that you are willing to say, “God, I don’t even have to know when the answer comes. I don’t even need to be part of the process. I just trust You to be at work to do something spectacular, something supernatural. It doesn’t even have to be something I could think of as a solution. Next-level praying is just about letting God be God. Can we believe that greater works are being accomplished as we pray even if we don’t see how?
Here is a third aspect of greater things that God may want for your life:
Next-level obedience.
Look at verse 15 of our Greater Things text: “If you love me, you will obey what I command.
We cannot take the Greater Things promise of Jesus out of this context. There will not be greater things done in and through our lives if there is not next-level obedience in our lives. By next-level obedience, I mean radical obedience. I mean we seek to go all of the way with Jesus. I mean we aren’t looking for loopholes to enable us to do less and sin more. I mean we aren’t procrastinating in doing what we know God wants us to do. It’s a right-now obedience. It’s an obedience in all things. It is an obedience that is full of joy.
Let’s say you ask someone to do something and they do it eventually after you prod them, remind them, beg them, and threaten them. That isn’t next-level obedience. Let’s say you ask someone to do something and they do it grudgingly, with a bad attitude, maybe even muttering and sputtering bad stuff under their breath as they do. That isn’t next-level obedience. Next-level obedience for the Christian involves a willingness, an eagerness, and “I-can’t-wait-ness.” People who are going to the next level in their obedience get up saying, “God, what do you have for me today? Who can I influence today? How can I give to the Kingdom today? Who can I witness to today? What do you have lined up for me as your servant today? A person who desires to obey Jesus is joyful about it. They are excited to do what He asks because they understand that it leads to greater things in their life and in the lives of those around us.
Alright, go back to our Greater Things text one more time. Verses 16-17: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever– 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
What if the greater thing God desires for you is to have a:
Next-level experience with the person of the Holy Spirit.
I preached about sanctification, also known as the infilling of the Holy Spirit, two weeks ago. A Holy Spirit experience is something we all need if we are going to be transformed into the image of Jesus. There are parts of our personality that need to be surrendered to the Holy Spirit. Wouldn’t it be a greater thing if someone who got angry easily became someone who was controlled and patient with people? Wouldn’t it be a greater thing if someone who wasn’t dependable became someone who could be trusted and relied on? Wouldn’t it be a greater thing if someone who was addicted to something was set free? The Holy Spirit can make it possible.
Our greater things passage talks about the Holy Spirit as our counselor. What if we were always led to think the way the Holy Spirit could help us think? What if we were always in tune with the voice of the Holy Spirit to set our daily agenda according to the plan of God? How many greater things would flow from our alignment with the Holy Spirit?
Let me sum up when I hope we can respond to today:
What if the greater thing God wants for you is a closer relationship with Jesus?
What if the greater thing God wants for you is a more passionate and strategic prayer life?
What if the greater thing God wants for you is obedience in every area of your life?
What if the greater thing God wants for you is to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
What about those amazing miracles Jesus did? Why aren’t we seeing those in greater frequency? The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us, right? I suppose whenever we are as close to the Father as Jesus was, and whenever we pray in confident faith the way Jesus did, and whenever we obey the Father in every detail like He did, even when it required suffering, and when we are so full of the Holy Spirit that we always respond to the push and pull of the Spirit’s guidance, we can absolutely expect to see greater things in greater ways than ever before.
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