Doing The Greater Works - Religion - Nairaland
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| Doing The Greater Works by Kei144(m): 8:37am On Nov 22, 2015 |
Jn. 14:12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. It is clear that Jn. 14:12 talks about an individual believer in Christ. Since Christians have not been doing all the work that Jesus did, the common explanation you hear is that Jn. 14:12 applies to the Church as a body, reasoning that the Church has done greater work than Jesus did. But the reality is that Jn. 14:12 refers to an individual believer in Jesus Christ and believers in Christ need to discover how to do the great works. He. 5:11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. He. 5:13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. He. 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. He. 6:1 Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, He. 6:2 instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. The churches are so obsessed with elementary teachings about Christ. It is always all about getting people to be baptized into Jesus Christ or to receive Jesus Christ into their hearts as their Lord and personal savior. And what happens after that? Principles of worldly prosperity! What about increasing the amount of the Holy Spirit (divine essence) in the Christian? Mt. 25:14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. Mt. 25:15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. Mt. 25:19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The Parable of the talents clearly shows that God wants every believer in Christ to increase the level of the Holy Spirit in her/him. God is not pleased with any born-again that does not grow in the Holy Spirit; such a person will not be admitted into the eternal kingdom of God (Mt. 25:29-30). It is only those who grow tremendously in the Holy Spirit that can do the kind of great works that Jesus did. |
| Re: Doing The Greater Works by Kei144(m): 8:39am On Nov 22, 2015 |
[size=14pt]Growing in the Holy Spirit[/size] 1Pe. 2:21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. One big problem that the Church has is a misunderstanding of who Jesus Christ really is. The general understanding is that God transformed Himself into a human being and was known as Jesus. This happens to be a big excuse for Christians to never aspire to be like Jesus. How can you be like Jesus if you are not God? But the reality is that Jesus was pure human like me and you. The only difference between him and us is that he is not a descendant of Adam, but rather a new creation of mankind. He grew mightily in the Holy Spirit and ultimately transformed from mortal to divinity. Therefore, the converse of what most Christians believe is the real truth. Instead of God transforming into the man Jesus, the man Jesus actually grew in the Spirit and transformed into a divine being. The purpose of being a follower of Jesus is to also transform, like him, into divinity. Ro. 8:29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Mt. 3:13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John. Mt. 3:16 As soon as Jesus was baptised, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. Mt. 3:17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Mt. 4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. Mt. 4:2 After fasting for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. Mt. 4:3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Mt. 4:4 Jesus answered, “It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Jesus was born from above (or born again) shortly after he was baptized by John the Baptist in water. Up to this time, Jesus was not known for doing great works. As soon as he was born from above, the Spirit drove him into the desert where he was tempted by Satan. The same thing happens to everyone that is really born again. Life turns into desert. You realize that yielding to some fleshly desires is sin, so you refrain from satisfying those desires (fasting). Satan begins to tempt you to satisfy the flesh, so as to prevent you from growing in the Spirit. The only way out is to continually study God’s word and pray for God to enable you by His Holy Spirit to always obey His word. God responds to such a prayer by giving more of His Spirit. Mt. 4:5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. Mt. 4:6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “`He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Mt. 4:7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: `Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” A person who is born again is a son of God. Any person who has this understanding begins to carry herself/himself as a son of God and that carries a lot of weight. Satan immediately attacks such a person with the sin of pride. The person will want to show off that God is always with her/him and in the process tempts God. Therefore, a born again Christian needs to pray for spirit of humility. Mt. 4:8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. Mt. 4:9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Mt. 4:10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: `Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” Mt. 4:11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. Another way Satan limits a person’s growth in the Spirit is to tempt the person with worldly glory—material wealth, political power, political influence, etc. Craving for worldly glory pushes people into occultism. Therefore, a born again Christian needs to pray for spirit of contentment and to be able to focus on things above (Col 3:2). |
| Re: Doing The Greater Works by Kei144(m): 8:41am On Nov 22, 2015 |
[size=14pt]The presence of God[/size] Ac. 10:37 You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached — Ac. 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. Jn. 8:29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” The reason why Jesus was able to do the great works that he did is that God was with him and the reason why God was always with him is that he always did what pleases God. Ps. 138:2 (KJV) I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. The emphasis in most Christian churches is praising and worshiping the name of God. That is good, but what God prefers is the doing of His word. It is the doing of God’s word that most surely attracts His presence. Jn. 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jn. 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, [Or the Only Begotten] who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Whoever that disobeys the word of God rejects God, for the word is God Himself. And whoever does everything in accordance with the word of God is always with God. When you pray for God to increase His Holy Spirit in you, you have to tell God what you want to use the Holy Spirit for. Is it so that your ministry will grow to become the biggest in town? The only reason God accepts is to enable you to always do His word. The Spirit always goes with the word. The late great evangelist, Smith Wigglesworth, was known for reading the Bible and then praying the words that he read into himself or into whoever that he was praying for. That was the secret of his great ministry. Praying God’s word into a person is simply asking God to enable the person to do the word through His Holy Spirit. As the person prayed for goes on to attempt to do the word, God responds by filling her/him with more of His Spirit. 1Jn. 3:24 Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. Jn. 14:9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father’? Jn. 14:10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Jn. 14:11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. Anyone who has been born from above is a son of God. Such a person needs to so grow in the Spirit so that whoever sees her/him has seen the Father. This oneness with God is evidenced by the doing of the greater works. |
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