Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

Text:

“Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.’ Peter said to him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’ Jesus answered, ‘Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. ‘Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’ Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.’ ” (John 13:36-14:10)

When we believe in Jesus, we will do greater works than he did. How can we possibly do greater works that Jesus? Jesus did miracles. It would be cool to tell mountains to move from one place to another. But moving mountains for the sake of moving mountains serves no purpose.

But the “works” are not talking solely or even primarily about miracles. They refer to the whole of Christ’s life, or even more specifically, to His teaching. Aspects of Jesus and His ministry were unique that we cannot replicate. Jesus had a short ministry, just about 3 years. Jesus had a limited ministry, most of His time was with a small group of people. Jesus is God. He had authority and power.

Despite this, we’re called to live as He lived. Because Jesus went to be with the Father, we do greater works than Jesus. We’re not God. We don’t have that kind of power, although we do have the Holy Spirit. We generally have more time than Jesus did, although our time may be cut short. And our objective is to go into all the world spreading the gospel.

When we as sinful people turn to follow Jesus, that’s a miracle. Jesus was saying, “Of course I would serve God. I’m the Son of God, and perfect.” But when you and I serve God, Jesus was in awe of that idea. When we trust in Christ, and give God authority over our lives, He can do amazing things with us, and we will follow Him in life and in death.

We’re called to die as Jesus died. Many still die as martyrs. From time to time, we hear stories about Christians being killed in other countries. A Christian pastor in Somalia was killed on January 1 by an Islamic militant group. At least 5 Christians in Iraq were killed in the last 2 weeks, mostly in targeted drive by shootings. It also happens in our nation. A little less than a month ago, two street preachers in Florida were shot and killed by a young man who they were speaking with. Probably most of us will not die that way. But we are still to give our lives in sharing the gospel. This is our Great Commission.

We will follow Christ to be with Him for all eternity. The apostles would not follow Christ to the cross, but they would follow Him to heaven. We can’t bear the weight of our sin. Jesus did that for us so that we could be with Him forever. There’s only one way to follow Christ to Heaven: through Christ Himself. Christ is coming back to gather up all who have come to believe in Him.