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Transcript 383A
Doing Works in Christ's Name [Jn 14:12-14]
HC: Good evening. Welcome to Open Forum.
CALLER: Hello, Brother Camping. In our Bible study where I work, we're going over the Book of John, and we're currently in Chapter 14, especially verses 12, 13 and 14. I can take this over the air, but would you speak about what it means to us to pray in Jesus' Name, or to ask the Father in Jesus' Name? I'm going over just verse 12, 13 and 14. Thank you.
HC: You're welcome. Good night.
The question is raised concerning John 14:12, 13 and 14. 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."
Now this has to do with the work of the Lord Jesus in bringing the Gospel. In the closing two verses of Luke 4 you'll find that Jesus declared that He was sent to preach the Gospel. And this is the work that we do. We have been called of God to go out into the world bringing the Gospel. Jesus, as a result of His work in bringing the Gospel, saw only a handful of believers in all of Galilee. But once Jesus went to the Father and He sent the Holy Spirit, we see that Peter, for example, preaches one sermon and 3,000 are saved. Greater works than Jesus did are done because Christ has completed His work of going to the cross, and because God has begun His program to evangelize the world. That's the meaning of John 14:12.
John 14:13: "And whatsoever you shall ask in My Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." In this context it really means that we're asking on the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, by virtue of what He has done for us. You see, we are not entitled to ask for anything in ourselves because in ourselves we are estranged from God. We are in rebellion against God. We are outcasts. We are enemies of God. We are under judgment. We are slaves of Satan. We have no right whatsoever to come to God, none whatsoever.
But by virtue of what Christ has done for us, in that He has paid for our sins, so that we again can call God our Father, by virtue of the fact that He has become our righteousness, we've been clothed by His righteousness, we've been covered by the robe of Christ's righteousness, His righteousness has been imputed to us, therefore we dare to come to the Father and converse with Him, and ask for this or that, in the Name of Christ.
Now of course we also, elsewhere, when you get to John 15, find that what we ask we must ask with God's Word abiding in us, and with us abiding in Him. And then it will be granted. And when God's Word abides in us, and we are abiding in Him, it means that we understand that we want God's will to be paramount. We want God's will to be number one. And therefore we'll always ask with that in view, "Oh Lord, your will be done. Your will be done. In Christ's Name, that is, on the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, we dare to come to you and have conversation with you, dare to express the desires of our heart, dare to thank Thee. And certainly we have lots to thank Thee for. But whatever we have asked that is not in accordance with Thy will, by all means we want Thy will to be done."
In other words, we've got to read John 14:13 and 14 in the light of John 15, where it also gives some other facts about our prayer life, namely, that we must abide in Him and He must abide in us.