THOSE WHO BELIEVE INTO THE SON DOING GREATER WORKS—DISPENSING CHRIST THROUGH SPEAKING
In John 14:11-12 the Lord says, “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; but if not, believe because of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, He who believes into Me, the works which I do he shall do also; and greater than these he shall do because I am going to the Father.” From the context of these verses we understand that doing greater works does not refer to doing greater miracles but to speaking, because previously the Lord said that the Son is speaking while the Father who abides in the Son is working. Similarly, our doing “greater works” refers to our speaking through which the Lord who abides in us does His work. Whenever we speak for the Lord, the Lord works in us. This is not for the purpose of performing a greater miracle but for dispensing. From both the book of Acts and church history we see that after the Lord’s departure the apostles, such as Peter and Paul, did greater things than what the Lord did in the three and a half years when He was on the earth. On the day of Pentecost, Peter, who before this time spoke nonsensically, stood up and spoke a long message, and three thousand people were saved. What does it mean to be saved? It means to be infused and filled up with the word. Peter’s message caused three thousand people to be infused. This is what the Lord meant when He said, “Greater than these he shall do.”
After reading John 14 some may ask, “The Lord said clearly that we shall do greater works than He did. However, He raised people from the dead, but we cannot raise even a dead dog. He healed the sick and cast out demons many, many times, but we cannot do such things even once. What is the matter?” In order to understand the real significance of the Bible, we cannot interpret things out of context; we have to read everything in its context. According to the context of John 14:11-12, “greater” does not refer to greater signs or wonders but to the speaking which is for dispensing. While you are serving as a mouthpiece to release the Lord’s speaking, He is in you doing His work. This is transmission, dispensing.
The Gospel of John shows us the Word from its outset: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.” After becoming flesh the Word began to speak, and today He continues speaking. While He speaks, the Father is being dispensed. Today in our work for the Lord, we also dispense Him through our speaking. This is the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity as revealed in the Gospel of John.
We should not merely know the Bible on the surface, but we should go deeper to know the mysterious truth in the Bible. Only this truth can constitute us into another kind of person, enabling us to speak for God and to dispense God into others. This is the real purpose of our knowing the truth of the mystery in the Gospel of John.
(The Economy of God and the Mystery of the Transmission of the Divine Trinity, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee)
