Greater Things

GREATER THINGS

John 14:12

John 14:12

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.

(NIV)

How can you do more than Jesus?

Jesus never traveled more than 100 miles from where He was born. Jesus only healed a couple of dozen people. The total number of people who claimed to be His disciples forty days after His death on the cross was 120. Doesn’t really sound like He accomplished very much. Dr. James Allen wrote:

He was born in an obscure village

The child of a peasant woman

He grew up in another obscure village

Where he worked in a carpenter shop

Until he was thirty

He never wrote a book

He never held an office

He never went to college

He never visited a big city

He never travelled more than two hundred miles

From the place where he was born

He did none of the things

Usually associated with greatness

He had no credentials but himself

He was only thirty three

His friends ran away

One of them denied him

He was turned over to his enemies

And went through the mockery of a trial

He was nailed to a cross between two thieves

While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing

The only property he had on earth

When he was dead

He was laid in a borrowed grave

Through the pity of a friend

Nineteen centuries have come and gone

And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race

And the leader of mankind’s progress

All the armies that have ever marched

All the navies that have ever sailed

All the parliaments that have ever sat

All the kings that ever reigned put together

Have not affected the life of mankind on earth

As powerfully as that one solitary life.

How?

Jesus BEGAN a work that we are supposed to bring to completion.

He BEGAN it in His earthly body,

and He will CONTINUE it thru His spiritual body (us!)

Philippians 1:6

6 … he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

(NIV)

How? By placing His Own Holy Spirit in us!

The Christian life is a supernatural life. It is the life of Christ lived out in every believer by means of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is not optional in the Christian life!

Having the Holy Spirit’s presence is not like getting power windows and air conditioning in your new car to make it more comfortable. Instead we need to understand that He is the engine, he is what makes it go.

The Holy Spirit is the power of our Christian experience.

The Holy Spirit is not just the personification of good qualities. He is a PERSON, just like Jesus is a person and God is a person. The Holy Spirit is how we can do greater things.

John 14:12-18

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.

18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

(NIV)

Paraclete: The word means “one called alongside” for protection or counsel. It conveys the idea of an encourager in the sense of a legal counsel.

A story in Leadership magazine illustrates this phrase: “Jackie Robinson was the first black to play major league baseball. Breaking baseball’s color barrier, he faced jeering crowds in every stadium. While playing one day in his home stadium in Brooklyn, he committed an error. The fans began to ridicule him. He stood at second base, humiliated, while the fans jeered. Then, shortstop Pee Wee Reese came over and stood next to him. He put his arm around Jackie Robinson and faced the crowd. The fans grew quiet. Robinson later said that arm around his shoulder saved his career.” —Daily Bread

The Holy Spirit is The Great Reminder

The Holy Spirit is called alongside of us so that we might remember what Jesus said.