Greater Works You Will Do!

"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

Here is a good-short commentary on John 14:12 by John MacArthur:

"Maybe a good illustration is in John 14...John 14, and we won't spend a lot of time with this, but it's such a wonderful text. The disciples the night when Jesus was betrayed were struggling through all kinds of things, wondering about what their future was going to be like. So in John 14:12 Jesus says this, "Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also." That's pretty shocking. You put your trust in Me, you put your faith in Me and the works that I do you will do. He further says, this is even more shocking, "And greater than these." Not greater works, not works is not in the original. "And greater than these shall he do because I go to the Father." Not greater in terms of kind, but greater in terms of extent. You will be able to do things that change people's lives. As long as Jesus was on earth, His power was limited to His presence. Wherever He was, His power was expressed. Wherever the Twelve were, their power was expressed. When the seventy were sent out, wherever they were they was expressed but it was confined to the land of Israel and no further. But when Jesus went to the Father and sent the Holy Spirit, the Day of Pentecost, the explosion began and we have not done greater works, you couldn't do greater works than the greatest work Jesus does and the greatest work Jesus does is raise the spiritually dead, right? The greatest work is the work of regeneration, the work of salvation, the work of conversion, transformation, the new birth that's discussed in John 3. That's the great work of Jesus, that's what He came to do... to seek and to save that which was lost, to bring salvation. That work is the greatest work that He did, we can't do a greater work but we are used by God to do it at a greater extent. The limits are off and we have been used along with all the generations prior to this generation to take the gospel to the ends of the earth and to go to those places and to teach the truth and to live the truth and to live a gracious and forgiving life, to do all the things that seem impossible. We do them because when Jesus went back to heaven, it says if you follow the text, "I will ask the Father, He'll give you another helper that He may be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth." Jesus goes back, He sends the Spirit, the Spirit comes and we are now empowered as we entrust our lives to the power of God and the indwelling Spirit. We can do everything that He asks. And that's what it says in John 14, "Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it that the Father may be glorified in the Son." "In My name" means consistent with who I am, consistent with My will" (Four Hallmarks of Humility, Part 3).

God Is Our Helper!

“O give us help from against the adversary, for deliverance by man is in vain.”

-Psalm 60:11

Here is a great and necessary reminder that believers ought to seek help from God. It is indeed a basic Christian principle, but one that our pride tends to dispense with. Note carefully how John Calvin distinguishes God’s help that arrives via human agency:

“God, in accomplishing our preservation, may use the agency of man, but he reserves it to himself, as his peculiar prerogative, to deliver, and will not suffer them to rob him of his glory. The deliverance which comes to us in this manner through human agency must properly be ascribed to God. All that David meant to assert is, that such confidences as are not derived from God are worthless and in vain. And to confirm this position he declares in the last verse of the psalm, that as, on the one hand, we can do nothing without him, so, on the other, we can do all things by his help” (Heart Aflame, Calvin, p.144).

Do you see the implication? The implication that while we may cry and seek God to hear and answer us in our deepest troubles, and even in the ordinary struggles of everyday life, that He is not absent nor has He turned a deaf ear to you? The very encouraging words you hear from a brother or sister in the midst of your discouragement, the very gracious monetary gift you receive in the midst of your economic struggles, the very hug that you receive from your spouse or child in the midst of your weakness, the very piercing words that you hear in a sermon in the midst of your self-pity and doubt, and so forth, are divine mercies that flow down to you from our helping God above. Perhaps, we may have thought to ourselves, “How is it that so and so shows me so much love and care but God seems absent?” or “How is it that that my friend seems to listen to my struggles but God just seems to not care?” Well, the chances are, and biblically speaking, that very love and care you have received, that very friend who cares to listen to your struggles, is not merely that which arises out of his or her virtue but rather “God’s help that arrives via human agency.” Now, this human agency does not negate human responsibility, which means that we ought to sincerely thank the very individuals who sincerely help, love, and support us, but it does entail God’s sovereign arrangement of people, place, and time to help you in your time of need. So, look back at all the gifts and helps you have received from man, and hopefully you will be able to see God’s helping hand in much of it. From henceforth, rob Him not of His glory.

J.W. Hendryx’s (Some) Criteria for Evaluating Preachers and Preaching

Credit must be given to J.W. Hendryx from what I think is the best Reformed/theological website of all time, www.monergism.com, and also its great complementary blog, www.reformationtheology.com. Two of my absolute favorites! Here is his criteria for preaching:

"Authoritative – this “text” is binding upon believers and not to be demeaned.

Logical – the train of thought is followed easily and well structured.

He preaches BOTH the indicatives and the imperatives. The NT uses indicative statements when discussing the certainties of what God has done, is doing or will do for us. Imperative statements (on the other hand) are commands declaring from God what we should do. What God commands us to do (the imperative) as Christians is always based upon what He has done, is doing or will do for us in Christ (the indicatives). For example, the first three chapters of Ephesians are indicatives, declaring the foundational grace we have in Christ, while the following chapters, which say “therefore …” (live this way), are imperatives. Selecting a preacher who understands this should be a number one priority because this is the clearest indicator of whether he is preaching a full-orbed gospel, avoiding both legalism and antinomianism. What God has done for us in regeneration & justification results in preaching faith and obedience, because it is God working in us that makes this a reality.

Exegetical accuracy (including Christocentricity). In his sermons, does he demonstrate the significance of every text in the light of Christ and his cross? Does he demonstrate the centrality of Christ in both Testaments and in all different genres of the Holy Scriptures?

Doctrinal substance: Fear of man plays no role in how he preaches the text. If a Text speaks of an unpopular doctrine, he does not avoid it simply in order to maintain peace. It is the preacher’s job to communicate the fullness of God’s message.

In the pulpit doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about self – for the most part, leaves “me” of the message – He points to Jesus Christ. Although an occasional testimony to the power of God's grace in his life, tasteful confession of personal struggles, etc., if it does not detract from the message of the gospel, may be appropriate.

Pointed application – What is the message about, and what is the listener to learn and remember for the day/weeks ahead?

Follow up questions after the sermon has been preached:
1) Did the sermon comfort the distressed? and
2) Did it distress the comfortable?

God has made provision and He is relentless in reminding us that “our relationship with Him lasts because He chooses us, not because of our devotion and/or obedience. If we only do the former(#1) we’ll comfort the self-righteous; if we only do the latter (#2), we’ll lose our audience without Christ."

Colbert Embarrasses Ehrman

You've got to see Stephen Colbert embarrass Bart Ehrman, the theological liberal. Check it out at Extreme Theology: Click Here. Must see, and quite entertaining!