John 14: 12-14
“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.
And whatever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.”
Early one morning several years ago, I woke with the following words going over and over in my mind: By the Power Vested in Me. I considered what they meant. Naturally, I thought of the minister or Justice of the Peace presiding over a marriage. They would be performing the ceremony based on the authority that had been bequeathed to them by the State in which they lived. Vested means clothed; robed; law not contingent on anything; absolute; settled. In other words, when something is vested in us, we have all authority to carry it out. Next I thought of the word power. In scripture the word is Dunamis; to exercise authority, to have authority to accomplish something.
This stayed with me. What was God telling me. He began to show me that if men could be given power in the natural, how much more should we be exercising the power and authority God has given us.
He said we would do greater works than he did when He was on the earth. What is wrong? Where are these greater works?
Mark 16: 11-20,
“And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.
After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.
And they went and told it unto the rest; neither believed they them.
Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat eating, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not those who had seen him when he had risen.
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
And these signs shall follow those who believe, In my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
Matthew 28:18 says, “And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, All power (authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”
Jesus upbraided them. Upbraid means to reproach, revile.
He said they had unbelief and hardness of heart. Those are strong words.
He once asked if, when He comes, would He find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8)
There is a zeal, a passion, a fervent love we can find when we draw near to God and worship Him in the beauty of holiness. There is a place we can abide where His heartbeat becomes our heartbeat. We can walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh. (Galations 5:16) The word says that no flesh shall glory in His presence. (I Corinthians 1:29.)
We asked the question, “Where are the greater works?” Is it possible we need to go back to the basics? Paul said in Romans 13:10 that Love is the fulfilling of the law. As we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will begin to abide in Him. The greater works will come out of our deep love for the Lord. He was moved with compassion as He saw the condition of the people. Agape, the God kind of love, drove Him to reach out and perform miracles. So it will be with us. Galations says that the fruit of the Spirit is love. Ephesians 5:2 says to “Walk in love”.
It is essential that we know the condition of our heart. I Corinthians 13 is known as the “love chapter”. I encourage each of us to read it, afresh and anew. We know it well, but do we really live it. Have we become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal to the Lord? He expects us to walk in the Spirit and to operate to a greater degree than He did while on the earth. He was always about the Father’s business. He was love. Are we?
There is coming an hour when there will be no more time to “be about the Father’s business”. Our final chapter will be written. The book of our life will be closed. Are we grieved as He is grieved? Is our time spent doing the things He would do?
Everything we receive from the Lord is birthed in His love. For God so loved that He gave His only begotten Son. Jeremiah 17: 10 says, “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the conscience, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”
God has deposited (vested) His power and authority in us as His children. We must begin to walk in that authority. As I was beginning this blog, I expected it to go a particular way but as I typed the Holy Spirit took my hand and led me to love. We can not operate in God’s authority before we are bathed in His love. As we surrender ourselves to Him, find our place of abiding in Him, we will move deeper into being His hands extended and fulfill the mandate that we would do even greater works. The time is coming when another will be performing great signs and wonders in the earth and leading mankind astray. The redeemed of the Lord must be at a level of manifesting the real signs and wonders and lead them to the One True God.
Agape, the God kind of love, shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, never fails.
afirebynight 