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C:\LESSON\GRWORKS.DOC 06-07-91
GREATER WORKS THAN THESE PART 2
John 14:12 read ---
I believe Jesus did what he did because he knew how much
his Father loves us ---
The characteristics of much of the church today do not
believe God loves us as much as he does --- it seems to
be too good to be true ---
This is why there has risen ---
a theology that looks
upon what we often think as the will of God as a very bad
thing that has happened to us ---
because this is the kind
of God that we really think he is ---
Every time Jesus meets a negative situation ---
he knows
the compassionate love of his Father to that person --- and
therefore he brings about the blessing ---
We know the promises and the blessings are there ---
but we just believe that God could not possibly want us to
have it this time ---
There is not one case that came to Jesus in terms of a
need that was not echoed as a positive in the blessings ---
every time Jesus brought the blessings to them ---
So whenever Jesus saw a lack of any kind he always spoke
supply --- whenever he saw sickness he always spoke
healing ---
In Mat 8: we see where the leper came to Jesus and
said ---
if you want to --- or --- if you will ---
you can make me whole ---
He is saying ---
I have no doubt about God's power ---
but I have doubt about God's will ---
I know you can -- if you will ---
GREATER WORKS THAN THESE PART 2
The response to this in the Greek -- is as if Jesus
Said ---
of course I want to ---
The idea is how dare you think otherwise
How could the thought ever enter your mind
to think that God would want you to be in this condition
Jesus as true man united to his Father knew his Father's
love towards the wretchedness of the human race ---
Wherever Jesus met confusion and fear -- he always
gave joy and peace ---
Jesus was often saying ---
peace be unto you ---
When Jesus says ---
the works that I do ---
Those works were the application of the covenant under
which he and the people around him lived ---
no one
performed covenant work like he did ---
When I look at Jesus -- as man -- he is showing me
there is no limit to what God will do in fulfilling his
covenant ---
Elisha had really thought he had seen God fulfil his
covenant ---
all that Elisha had seen was a very small
portion of it ---
Jesus comes and says ---
there is no limit --
Let there be need and the blessing meets the need ---
man has come and limited what God will do in these
blessings ---
Jesus just opened the doors and --- behind those
simple words in --
GREATER WORKS THAN THESE PART 2
Deut 28 it says --
there is an endless supply --
it is only a matter of you taking it ---
Just before Jesus leaves he calls the 12 disciples
together
saying ---
the works that I do you shall do also ---
It is as if he is saying ---
I have demonstrated for 3
years -- how limitless the covenant is -- and how God
will continually supply -- as you draw upon his covenant
promises --
Now Jesus says ---
you have seen me do it
--- now it is over to you to continue doing the same
And then he says ---
and greater works than these
shall you do ---
The word -- WORKS -- in your Bible is in italics --
which means that word is not the original --- it has been
put in by the translators ---
I would be much better to say ---
greater -- THINGS
than these will you do ---
They are going to do the same things as Jesus -- also
they are going to do greater things than these ---
The Sinai covenant related to the physical --- and
out of this came a physical tabernacle ---
that is when
they thought of God's presence it was always to do with a
place that you went to --- physical ---
It also related to a physical priesthood --- that is
they had a high priest and many other priests ---
GREATER WORKS THAN THESE PART 2
Their priests, you could touch them --- this meant
that they died --- so these priests were always changing
They had offerings of --
lambs -- bulls -- goats
These were constantly being offered -- you could touch
them --
it all had to do with the -- physical ---
All of these blessings that we have just read - from
Deuteronomy -- have to do with the -- physical --
your body -- your food -- your money -- where you live
This is all -- physical
This is the -- Old Covenant
When it comes to the spiritual --
that is the dealing with sin --
and the walking with God ---
now the Old Covenant really could not handle this ---
But these people at the time of the Old Covenant had the
very best that was offering at that time ---
Nowhere in the Old Testament did they know that their
sin was dealt with ---
They could say --
they knew forgiveness -- but their
sin was still there ---
God had forgiven them but their sin had not been dealt
with ---
God passed over it --
it was only covered over --
it was not dealt with ---
Every year on the Day of Atonement -- they went and
had to remember their sin ----
GREATER WORKS THAN THESE PART 2
In this there was no sense of joy when they thought
about sin -- because it was not dealt with ---
There was a mixture of remembering that I have sinned
and at the same time it is covered over ---
On one hand you had the misery that it had not been
dealt with --
and a sort of joy that it had been covered
over -- and I can walk with God ---
The walk with God was all based on the -- physical --
if you wanted to be in God's presence - you had to go to the
temple ---
Actually the Old Covenant itself was the promise of
something better to come --
this was only a shadow of the
real thing --
Jeremiah comes along and --
He says in Jer 31:31 to 34 --
That there will be a new
covenant -- and your sins and your iniquities will be
remembered no more ---
That is no more covering over ---
Jeremiah also says --
I will write my law upon your
heart --
I will put it into you mind ---
Ezekiel says --
I will put my spirit within you and
cause you to walk in my ways ---
He says --
Everyone in that covenant will know me
says the Lord --- from the least to the greatest ---
GREATER WORKS THAN THESE PART 2
He is saying --
You will know God for yourselves --
you will not need someone to stand between you and God ---
No more offerings --
Why -- because your sins will be
remembered no more --
One offering will be made that will deal with the whole
lot -- so this is the end of the offerings ---
No more 10 commandments on the wall --
because the 10
commandments will be inside of you -- the law will be
written on your heart ---
He says --
You will know me for I will be your God --
not just God out there somewhere ---
but an intimate personal relationship --
and you will be my people ---
This is the New Covenant and it is a better covenant
than the Old Covenant --
for this one takes up all the
imperfections of the old -- and replaces them with
perfection --
No more just covering over sin ----- sin is wiped
out and made as if you have never sinned --- never to be
remembered again ---
It is nice to have a priest -- but it is better to
know the Lord yourself ---
Jesus said --
you disciples are going to do things
that are greater things than I have done ---
--- Why this ---
He said --
because I go to my Father ---
GREATER WORKS THAN THESE PART 2
Now -- what does this mean -- when he speaks of
going to his Father ---
He is speaking of his death and
resurrection ---
That is he is going to die for our sin and in so doing,
he pays for our sin in full ---
Then he rises from the dead and goes to his Father
--- and in going to the Father -- he is the guarantee of
the new covenant ---
What did he do there --
really I do not know ---
but speaking as a little child-I would say --
He said ---
here I have shed my blood on behalf of all
humanity ---
I have taken their sin
it is paid for in full
I am now standing before you as if I am them
And the Father with delight accepts his beloved Son --
and the ones he has bought with his own blood ----
When the Father accepted his Son --- I am also
accepted in his Son ---
It is as if I am standing there
my sin is declared as if it never was
and I am welcomed in the Fathers presence as if I was Jesus
himself ---
At this moment Jesus pours out the Holy Spirit on earth
The Holy Spirit on earth is the proof that the covenant
is sealed in Heaven ---
for the Holy Spirit is among
men ---
Now all the blessings of the New Covenant are ours ---
the better blessings ---
GREATER WORKS THAN THESE PART 2
Or as Eph 1:3 says ---
you are blessed with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ
These terms of Jeremiah -- they are the blessings of
the New Covenant and they are all ours ---
When Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost and
proclaimed the gospel --- he was offering and doing greater
things than Jesus had done in his life here on earth ---
For Jesus had never offered what Peter was offering ---
Jesus could not do it because he was under the Old
Covenant --
This could never be given until he had
died -- risen -- and -- ascended
So Jesus had to achieve it and then Peter proclaimed it
And in proclaiming it - and offering it -- it is a
greater thing then what Jesus did under the Old Covenant --
What I am saying to you -- is better then what Jesus
said --
because I am offering you the New Covenant which is
better than the Old Covenant --
Jesus could not do this because the New Covenant had not
arrived --
Seeing I live after his death and resurrection - I can
now present - -
the greater -- the better thing
than the Old Covenant ever had --
Jesus said --
The works that I do - you shall do also
GREATER WORKS THAN THESE PART 2
Therefore all the blessings of the Old Covenant are
still with us --
When the New Covenant came - God did not just through
out the Old Covenant --
everything that was good in the Old
Covenant continues ---
Everything that I do - you shall do also -- but there
will also be greater things --
So all the imperfections of the Old Covenant have been
swallowed up in the New Covenant --
Now we have the best of both Covenants
We have all the
physical -- material -- and caring
of God for his people in the Old Covenant
And we also have the blessings of the New Covenant --
which deals completely with sin --
This brings us into a relationship with God by the Holy
Spirit -- which causes us to know the Lord --
without any
priest standing between us --
We can now say --
He is my God
And hear him say back to us --
We are his people
Now we do not have any more offerings -- for Jesus was
the final lamb slain --
And that was the end of all offerings
We do not have any more religious hierarchy --
priesthood --
GREATER WORKS THAN THESE PART 2
I do not minister to you because I am part of some
religious hierarchy --
it is because he has given me a
gift --
I am your brother -- I am your equal
All that I am doing is sharing what God has given me
I do not stand for you in the presence of God -- you
must stand for yourself --
and you will do it through the
blood of Jesus and in the name of Jesus --
There are no more temples of sacred places -- wherever
you are is sacred --
It is sacred only as long as you are there -- it is
you that is sacred not the place --
Wherever you stand - it is holy ground -- it is
sanctified -- but the moment you leave -- it is just
plain ground ---
In the Old Covenant everything was visible -- there was
-- the priest -- the offerings -- the temple --
Then in the resurrection of Jesus --
He says --
This is finished
And you could see nothing -- because the true is
invisible
We now say --
We are accepted by God through the one
offering -- and the blood of Jesus
Then you are asked - where is this offering and this
blood --
in the Old Covenant you could see the blood
dripping off the alter --
GREATER WORKS THAN THESE PART 2
Now you come to the real thing --
you cannot see it --
but the Holy Spirit witnesses in our heart that it is real --
We now have an invisible High Priest who is ever in
Heaven making intercession for us --
and the Holy Spirit
witnesses to us that he is real --
In the Old Testament you had a very clear group of
Covenant people who lived together known as Israel -- they
lived in the land of Canaan --
Now the real thing has come
It is no longer - one nation
it is no longer - one land
one place - one city
It is an invisible nation --
an invisible church --
and it is throughout the entire world --
The world say -
where is it --
And on second thought they say --
Of course it is that
place on the corner
it is painted grey
there is a sign that says church
Many times when you go into one of these places you will
find that no one believes in Jesus --
It is only a church by
name --
The word church outside a building does not mean a thing
The church is people in whom Jesus Christ lives by his
Holy Spirit --
GREATER WORKS THAN THESE PART 2
And the world says --
where are they -- I cannot see
them --
But if you are in the church -- when you meet one of the
church you will know that you have found a brother --
We are living in the greater and better New Covenant --
What does this do to us
If I have done one thing today -- I hope it is this --
That I have raised your expectancies --
I do not expect you to leave here and --
walk on water -- still storms
and put certain people out of business
But what I do expect is that you will begin to expect --
Start where you are on solid ground -- that God has
wiped out your sin --
Stop looking at this as something that God just did --
and realise that it is a firm solid plank of Covenant --
God did this -- not just because he felt like it --
He did it because the blood of Jesus - was Covenant
blood and it is one of the blessings of Covenant --
God swore by himself that he would wipe out your sin --
He swore by himself to put his Holy Spirit inside of you
-- so there will be the power to live this Christian life --
This is the blessing of Covenant -- not something that
you have to beg and plead of God - hoping that he will do it
GREATER WORKS THAN THESE PART 2
He has sworn his blessing -- that he will do it --
You personally know the Lord wherever you may be -- he
has sworn this --
You can say --
You are my God
And he will return it --
By saying --
You are my people
There is not an area of life that does not come under
this -- every part of this life is in this covenant --
You will be blessed in your going out and your comings
in --
Wherever you are the blessings of God are upon you --
whatever you touch
God's blessing is there
He does this not just because he feels like it or you
are hoping so --
God has sworn to himself that it would be
so --
Whatever your life occupation may be -- you can expect
God's blessing because you are in covenant --
When there are emergencies in these areas -- you can
expect God to walk into the emergency and perform a miracle
The heart of faith is to expect
If I have seen what God has said -- and I see that he
has underlined it in the blood of Jesus --
Then I can walk out and rest expecting God is going to
do this --
GREATER WORKS THAN THESE PART 2
I can expect my Covenant God to fulfil the blessings of
covenant --
From the healing of the body
to the provision in our every day need
to the work that we do
Right throughout the New Covenant we are blessed with
all spiritual blessings --
Know that our sins are wiped out--
Jesus says --
The works that I do
You shall do also
and greater works than these shall you do
because I go to my Father
AMEN.