|
|
|
|
The Gospel of John, The Period of Conference, Conference With the Disciples, Part XXII, John 14:12-14 - Lesson 130
John 14:12 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.
Notice that Jesus Christ said that those who believe on him shall do greater works than the works he has done.
But he connects this to his departure to go to his Father.
Now those that believe on Jesus Christ believe on his word.
That is what it means to believe on Jesus Christ.
It means to trust his word.
His absence from the disciples in the physical sense will require them to rely only on his word.
In other words his departure is good for them because they can no longer rely on his physical presence or his daily works.
They must now totally rely on his word and by this total reliance on his word they will do greater works than he.
He desires them to live by faith.
The just shall live by faith and by his leaving, by his departure to go to the Father,
he leaves them in a position to live by faith and not by the sight of him and by the sight of his works.
And as an encouragement to live by faith he tells them in:
John 14:13,14, And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
So Jesus Christ at this critical time in his life on earth gives his disciples the authority to ask the Father for whatever moves the cause of Christ forward.
As ambassadors of Christ they were to do greater things than he and now they were to be given the wherewithal to do so.
Ask and you shall receive.
But ask according to my word.
Don't ask amiss and expect to be supplied.
Get in my name.
You are ambassadors representing me, not yourself!
Successful asking presupposes a setting aside of your own will.
Therefore be intimately connected with my word.
If you do this you will not ask amiss because you will ask the Father what I would have asked for.
When you ask in my name I am truly the one asking the Father.
And the Father will hear me.
You do not have status in your own name.
You are to come to the Father in my name.
When you ask in my name the Father sees me asking and the Father will answer my request.
When you ask in my name you only ask within the boundaries of my word, and only what will be for God's glory.
This kind of asking no doubt will simplify and shorten our prayer lists will it not?
This kind of asking has nothing to do with how intensely you believe you will get what you are asking for.
That kind of teaching is false teaching.
That kind of faith is false and misdirected faith.
This is not the kind of asking that gets results simply because of importunity and constancy of asking.
How hard and intensely or emotionally you pray is not relevant to the success of your askings.
The asking must always be in keeping with what Christ is.
Importunity within that framework is desired but it must be in keeping with his name which is the Word of God!
You cannot wear down God by importunity if the asking is not done within the confines of the Word of God; ie, in Jesus name.
We can learn much about asking in Jesus name if we look at how asking is done within a family.
Each family which is represented by the name of the family has established boundaries to successful asking.
My daughter at times asks in this manner.
Daddy, you probably will say no but I will ask anyway.
She thinks she knows me.
She thinks she knows the boundaries that I have established in the family.
She thinks she knows what the family name represents.
She thinks she knows what my word will endorse and what my word will not endorse.
During her growing years she is learning what asking will be granted and what asking will not be granted.
A child over time should know what the family name represents.
A child over time should know what the boundaries are of the family name.
What do we do in this family?
What do we stand for in this family?
What does our name allow and what does our name not allow?
The more clear this pattern is displayed in a family the better asker the child will become.
Over time the child will not ask for certain things because those askings are not in accord with the family name.
The child will know that regardless of what other families do, we just don't do that in our family!
I can't ask that because I know my father or mother will say no!
Regardless of what other families don't do, we do that in our family!
Oh, I can ask for that because I know my mother will say yes! |