Calvary Road Baptist Church

 “THAT THE FATHER MAY BE GLORIFIED IN THE SON”

John 14.12-14 

The crucial Bible truth that was rediscovered by Martin Luther, leading to the Protestant Reformation, is the principle of justification by faith. For centuries buried by Roman Catholic idolatry and their theology of works righteousness, justification by faith is a crucial Biblical concept that is vital to the preaching of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Indeed, not only is faith how a sinner comes to be justified in the sight of God apart from works of righteousness, but it is also how the justified sinner now saint grows in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus after he is converted to Christ.[1] This faith principle is so important that it bears repeating again and again so that even the newest Christian and the most recently introduced to the Bible reader should not go long without being exposed to this profoundly important nugget of truth.

Hypothetically, there are only two avenues by which a sinner might secure salvation from sins. Either the sinner engages in works of righteousness of some kind to earn his salvation by doing things that please God so he will be allowed into heaven. Such would be a scheme of salvation by works. Or he exercises faith in God’s provision for his salvation because he knows he is not capable of works of righteousness that can earn his salvation. That, of course, is a program of salvation by grace through faith. Romans 11.6 settles the question satisfactorily: 

“And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” 

Let no one for a moment think that the concept of justification by faith, or sanctification by faith, are concepts that were introduced by the Apostle Paul, even though so many people initially become aware of these truths by reading Paul’s letter to the Romans or his letter to the Galatians. God’s dealings with people have always been through faith, even if most people are first introduced to the means of faith concept when it is dealt with in their reading of the New Testament. The importance of faith to God’s unfolding drama of redemption is so quickly established by resorting in the Bible to Abraham, and Jacob, and David, and the prophet Habakkuk, as well as the entirety of the Lord Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry.

To bolster what I am saying in your thinking, allow me to quickly read a few of the many essential passages I could resort to had we the time: 

Genesis 15.6: 

“And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” 

This, of course, is the record of Abram’s justification by faith. Next, we consider Genesis 32.24-30, in which a careful analysis reveals Jacob’s justification by faith after a period of striving:[2] 

24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.

28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.

30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. 

Then, in Habakkuk 2.4, we read, 

“the just shall live by his faith.” 

Perhaps it would be more efficient for me to skip to Romans 4.1-8, a portion of Paul’s letter to the Romans that brings to mind both Abraham’s experience and David’s testimony regarding justification by faith: 

1  What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?

2  For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.

3  For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

4  Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

5  But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

6  Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works.

7  Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.

8  Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. 

Though there are many other passages in the New Testament I could return to, we only have time to consider Hebrews 11.1 and 6. This should forever settle the importance of faith in one’s dealings with God: 

1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 

6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 

God has chosen to deal with His creatures about matters of eternal significance based on faith. It cannot be otherwise because of both His nature and our nature. In the first place, God is holy, and we are defiled. Therefore, we are incapable of relating to Him except through faith because of our spiritual contamination. In the second place, God is life, and we are dead in trespasses and sins, rendering us incapable of works of righteousness, requiring that we engage Him by faith. Thus, it is left to God to give us faith by His Spirit,[3] utilizing the preaching of the Gospel,[4] so that by the gift of faith a sinner may trust Christ as his Savior and receive the gift of eternal life.[5] It should be no surprise, then, to learn of the Lord Jesus Christ’s emphasis on faith during His final conversation with His remaining eleven apostles the night before His crucifixion.

After they departed from the Upper Room, following the washing of the apostle’s feet, the celebration of Passover, the institution of the communion of the Lord’s Supper, and the warning that one among them would betray Him, the Lord Jesus Christ initiated the most significant conversation recorded in the Bible. On this occasion of our attention to this most important of all dialogs, we come to the Savior’s emphasis on His remaining apostle’s faith. Our text is John 14.12–14. Please find that passage in your Bible or your Bible app. Once you are there, I invite you to stand with me for the reading of God’s Word: 

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.

13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. 

These three verses divide into two parts, with verse 12 containing the Savior’s promise, and verses 13-14 containing His comments about their prayers: 

First, THE SAVIOR’S PROMISE 

“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.” 

From verse one of this chapter, the Lord Jesus Christ has focused His attention on this matter of faith. In that verse, He said, “ye believe in God, believe also in me.” In verse 10, He said, “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?” Then, in verse 11, He said, “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.”

The Savior was bringing His men to the place of living and serving based on more than circumstances that can be merely seen and experienced. He is leading them to the place in their lives where they can make decisions and negotiate troubled waters based on the promises He makes to them and the principles He has taught them.

Consider this as we examine verse 12, a phrase at a time:

 

 

The words “verily” in this phrase translate the Hebrew and Aramaic word á¼€má½µn. When uttered by someone, the word traditionally indicated a person’s assent or agreement to a statement made by someone else. Sometimes the word was uttered as the final comment to conclude a prayer. In the Gospels, the word á¼€má½µn is recorded to be said only by the Lord Jesus, and His practice of saying amhn twice in this Gospel account is invariably an indication of the significance of the statements He makes following those words.[6]

 

 

The word that is translated “believeth” in this phrase is the present active participle form of the Greek verb pisteá½»oo, the Greek verb “to believe.” Crucial to a right understanding of this phrase is a recognition of the cultural differences associated with belief between first-century Greeks and 21st-century English speakers. Though it is possible to have a purely intellectual, which is to say superficial, notion regarding belief and faith in our modern era, believe being the verb form of the word and faith being the noun form of the word, such was not possible among Greek speakers of the first century.

The Lord Jesus Christ did not mean by this phrase anyone who had a casual, lackadaisical, superficial, or noncommittal connection to Him. This phrase refers only to that person who would be, using today’s vernacular, “all in.” Thus, the Lord Jesus Christ is about to make a pronouncement about that individual, or that class of believer, who has a vital faith connection to Him.

 

 

The interpretation of this phrase and the next phrase is a matter of considerable disagreement, depending upon one’s overall theology. Those of charismatic and Pentecostal persuasion, and those who identify with positive affirmation theology tend to focus on one view as an interpretation of this verse and also the next verse. Those who are not of charismatic or Pentecostal persuasion and who repudiate positive affirmation theology, generally speaking, take an opposing view.

I do not take this phrase to mean that Christ’s followers down through the ages would feed thousands of people with a few loaves and fishes, cleanse people of leprosy, make the lame to walk again or raise the dead. I am not persuaded such things are what the Lord Jesus Christ referred to when He made mention of the work that He did. When the Lord Jesus Christ referred to work in this phrase, I would suggest that He is referring to what the Apostle Paul referred to in First Thessalonians 1.3 and Ephesians 2.10, where “work of faith” and “good works” have to do with evangelizing the lost and the miracle of conversion.

 

 

We come to an even greater interpretive divide with this phrase. Charismatic and Pentecostal television evangelists repeatedly claim that the Lord Jesus Christ promised to them even more spectacular miracle-working power than He demonstrated during His earthly ministry. I disagree.

Sadly, even the late Jack Hyles made the same type of claim the charismatic and Pentecostal charlatans made when he proclaimed that on one of his church’s annual big days, more people were supposedly converted than on the Day of Pentecost. Sadly, unlike those converted and baptized on the Day of Pentecost, the Jack Hyles converts did not continue in the Christian faith, but show themselves to have embraced false hopes.

John MacArthur correctly grasps the significance of this phrase in The MacArthur Study Bible, where he writes, 

“Jesus did not mean greater works in power, but in extent. They would become witnesses to all the world through the power of the indwelling and infilling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8) and would bring many to salvation because of the Comforter dwelling in them. The focus is on spiritual rather than physical miracles.”[7]

 

 

For this promise of Christ to be fulfilled He had to go to His Father in heaven. Though not explicitly stated here, this would be accomplished after He took upon Himself our sins, offered Himself on the cross of Calvary, rose from the dead after three days in the tomb, ascended to sit at Hs Father’s right hand on high, and gave to us the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit of God. Of course, the book of Acts is a record of this promise being fulfilled in the lives and through the ministries of the apostles Peter and Paul. That this promise was fulfilled in the lives of the remaining apostles, and in the lives of generations of Christians down through the centuries, is attested by extra-biblical history.

Second Peter 1.3-4 reminds us of our relationship to and dependence upon the promises made to us, not the least of which is this promise of Christ found in John 14.12: 

3   According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

4   Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 

Next, THE CHRISTIAN’S PRAYERS 

13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. 

Still present in the minds of His eleven remaining apostles is the statement our Lord Jesus Christ had earlier made in the Upper Room, that He was departing from them, and that they could not come with Him. Thus, they were still greatly troubled, failing to comprehend what was in store in their immediate future. Verses 13 and 14 comprise the Lord’s comfort of them by directing their attention to the prayers they would offer in light of the promise He has just made to them.

And do we not most usually pray when we, too, are troubled of mind and heart?

 

 

Here, again, we find ourselves profoundly disagreeing with those who embrace the “name it and claim it theology,” who insist that God is a glorified bellhop and the Lord Jesus Christ is our personal attendant, ready to do our bidding and eager to satisfy our every whim.

When interpreting any portion of Scripture, it falls upon those of us who employ the historical and grammatical approach to interpretation not only to recognize the contextual setting of the passage we seek to understand, but also the cultural implications and idioms within which a proper understanding of the passage must be found. Thus, it could not possibly be that the Lord Jesus Christ thereby granted to His followers a blanket endorsement of every fanciful prayer they or subsequent generations of believers might imagine. Neither does this authorize the child of God to ignore context and impose upon the passage such a foreign cultural consideration as to suggest that the requisitioning of a Rolls-Royce automobile or a Gulfstream jet could be in mind with this prayer authorization. The eleven remaining apostles would never have construed the Lord Jesus Christ’s words to authorize such self-serving and vain requests, and neither should we.

 

 

When the charismatic and Pentecostal community comes to this phrase, particularly the words “ask in my name,” they misinterpret this to mean that Christ has given to His followers carte blanche for whatever they want to ask for. This is not true. Such would wrongly suggest that the Lord Jesus Christ has abandoned His role as Lord, as the Chief Shepherd of the flock, and as the Head of the Church. He has not.

The Lord Jesus Christ has not and will not abdicate His responsibility to exercise His will in leadership so that we might mindlessly exercise our wills. The concept of asking in His name involves the recognition that the disciple will want what the Master wants will seek to do what the Master seeks done and will do what he can to exalt the name and reputation of his Lord. First John 5.14–15 has provided much-needed clarity about this matter to Christians down through the centuries: 

14  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

 

 

It should surprise no believer in Jesus Christ that He would promise to do what ever His followers ask Him to do that was asked consciously and conscientiously according to His will. He is the truth, and He will keep His promise.

 

 

It is the purpose of the Son of God to glorify God the Father. It is the purpose of the Savior’s creation of His Church through the Church glorify His Father. And it is the reason humanity was created, to give God glory. 

Revelation 4.11: 

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” 

To give Him glory is why we are here. 

Ephesians 3.21: 

“Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” 

To give Him glory is why this Church is here.

If the human race was brought into existence to bring glory to God, and if the Church of Jesus Christ was brought into existence as an instrument through which Jesus Christ will glorify the Father throughout all ages, world without end, then it is no surprise to anyone with a spiritual mindset that the Lord Jesus Christ would be disposed to glorify His Father through the prayers of His followers in His Church.

 

 

Consider the context of these words at the end of verse 14. The Lord Jesus Christ was speaking to the eleven remaining apostles who comprised His embryonic Church. They, along with every other human being, were initially brought into existence to give God glory. Additionally, they constitute the Lord’s little flock, which was brought into existence by the Lord Jesus Christ to be useful to Him throughout time and eternity to glorify His Father, Ephesians 3.21. No wonder the Lord Jesus Christ promised to grant any and every prayer offered by such as these with a view to most wonderfully glorifying His heavenly Father. Thus, as that Church grew and divided and grew so much more, and as Churches have grown and reproduced down through the centuries, we have confidence our Lord’s promise to those eleven men applies to us as well. 

Let me restate. It is Thursday evening, the night before our Lord Jesus Christ’s crucifixion on the cross of Calvary. Already today, the Savior has led His apostles in celebrating the Passover, in instituting the communion of the Lord’s Supper, and during that time, astonishingly washing their feet.

Sometime during their stay in the Upper Room, the Savior informed them all that one among them would betray Him. And after giving the sop to Judas Iscariot, the Lord bid him depart from them to complete the conspiracy to betray Him.

Upon leaving the Upper Room to walk with His remaining eleven men to the Garden of Gethsemane, the Lord Jesus Christ began the most significant conversation recorded in the Bible, speaking to His remaining apostles in John chapters 14, 15, and 16, and then praying His high priestly intercessory prayer in John chapter 17.

The text for this message is a portion of the Lord’s opening remarks to His eleven remaining apostles to comfort them and prepare them for the trial of their faith that would soon come upon them. It wonderfully serves us whose faith is being tried, as well.

In John 14.12, He made them a promise. In John 14.13–14, He spoke to them about prayer, knowing they would do a lot of praying over the next couple of days and throughout the rest of their lives.

Here you are. Is your faith being tried? Has your faith been tried? Will your faith be tried? Yes, yes, and yes. Then heed the Savior’s promise to those men, and you. And conform your prayers to the Savior’s program for those men, and you.

But you may be here without the Savior as your Savior. You may be unconverted, meaning His promise is not a promise to you at all, and His program for prayer is not a program for you at all. In your case, what is needed is not a promise or a prayer, but Christ’s provision for the forgiveness of your sins and the salvation of your soul.

Don’t run and hide from this, as Adam and Eve hid in the bushes to conceal themselves from God Who sees all and knows everything. Face up to your sinfulness, your guiltiness before God, and your desperate need for that which only Jesus Christ provides. I urge upon you a consideration of the claims of Jesus Christ. I plead with you to trust Him.

__________

[1] Galatians 3.1-3

[2] Luke 13.24

[3] 2 Corinthians 4.13

[4] Romans 10.17

[5] Ephesians 2.8; Romans 6.23

[6] Leon Morris, The Gospel According To John - Revised Edition, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995), pages 148-150.

[7] See footnote for John 14.12 from John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, (Nashville: Word Publishing, 1997), page 1613.

Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Please contact him by clicking on the link below. Please do not change the subject within your email message. Thank you.

Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church