Jesus said that we will also do the same, and greater works than He did.
John 14:12 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believes 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.”
Jesus lived to example how we are to live. He said that we are going to do the same things, and greater works too. Why? Because He went back to Heaven, then sent His Holy Spirit to live in us. All that Christ is continues to live through us. He plans to heal the sick, raise the dead, and the purpose is to bring men to repentance and salvation. We are His body. In fact He not only said we can, He commanded His Ministers to raise the dead.
Mt. 10: 7-8 “And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely you have received, freely give.”
He spoke those word so easily, just as a matter of fact. It’s just what His ministers do. That’s what He did, so we should do the same. We will release the presence of Christ to raise the dead again. He said so! But, just as He waited for the right time, and the exact ones that He intended to bring back to life, we wait too. During the wait, we experience the relationship with Christ needed to prepare us to love and trust Him, then to obey His lead.
This is our call, and the hope of Glory is Christ in us.
Peter Raised A Dead Woman
Acts 9:36-42 “Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did. And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed they laid her in an upper chamber. And foreasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them. The Peter arose and went with them. When he was come they brought him into the upper chamber; and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garment which Dorcas made., while she was with them. But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes; and when she saw Peter, she sat up. And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive.”
It was the disciples who sent for Peter. Why didn’t they just go and minister life to the woman? Why did they need Peter? I don’t know. Maybe they didn’t have enough faith? But, remember, it doesn’t take enough faith, only enough to obey. Why didn’t they pray, like Peter did, and ask God what He wanted to do?
It’s so much easier to go after someone else. Let them take the risk of looking foolish, or of failing. But, the Lord wants us all to be in a place of trust and obedience. It’s our choice. Someone has to be willing to look foolish, and to take the risk. Who will it be? Will it be you? Will it be me? I hope so!
Maybe they did pray, and the Lord told them to get Peter. I don’t know. I do know that Peter prayed. It was the first thing he did. And there is that promise from God again.
Jer.33:3 “Call unto Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you know not.”
Do you want to know some great and mighty things? Things beyond what you now know or understand? Then ask Him? Desire to know? And believe when He answers you. I’m a curious type. I want to know everything, and especially the secret, mysterious things that most others never even wonder about. So I ask, and ask again, until my asking becomes pleading and begging to know, and to understand. And one result of asking is this revelation of death being destroyed. And it is the quickening of verses like …
John 5: 19-27 “Then answered Jesus and said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do: for what things whatsoever He does, these also does the Son likewise. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He does: and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises up the dead, and quickens them, even so the Son quickens whom He will. “
I read that verse and I began pleading to see what the Father is doing so I can do it too. I want to know what God’s up to. The Son lives in me. If He wants to do what He sees His Father doing now, who will let Christ live through them? He will do it through someone, why not me? Why not you?
If God is going to raise the dead, I want to be there. I want to be His conduit. At least I am planning to be available and willing if He chooses me.
We don’t see Christ Jesus in a physical body, standing before us, telling us to remove the stone. We have Him living inside of us. He usually communicates through our thoughts. How can we know that it is Him speaking, or our own imaginations? We have learned to know Him through years of experience with Him. We’ve known His love, We’ve read His Scriptures. Now we live by faith. Faith in all that we’ve learned.
When He speaks, we may have doubts and questions. But we have to take the risk, chance moving on what we believe He is saying to us. The rewards of the risk may be great. There are times we miss it, we did move on imagination, and it didn’t turn out so good. We were embarrassed. But, so what? Who cares about an occasional embarrassment compared to an occasional miracle? Let’s be bold, and dare to move in faith. Let’ be ready to be like Peter and dare to believe.
To sum up the subject of Death Defeated, let’s review the various ways that we can see this as a reality in our own lives.
- We can defeat death beyond the grave by giving our lives to Christ. As we accept Him as our personal Savior, He will come to live inside of us, and we inherit eternal life through Him.
- Death is defeated by extending our own life-line through repenting of current sins, also by the choice to forgive those who sin against us.
- The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 1 Cor. 15:26 The last way Death is Defeated is by the Resurrection, either an early rising or at the end of time. We can co-operating with Christ when He chooses to restore life to someone who has died, even now. This is a rare miracle, but one that has happened before, and can happen again, if we simply are ready to obey when Christ speaks to us.