I will surpass The Apostle Paul

So will you.  Oh, I know, it seems like  heresy.  But what did Paul teach us about the nature of The Kingdom?  What did Jesus say about it?

John 14:12 " Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

Paul actually reveals the intended outcome of doing greater things than Jesus:

Ephesians 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

The Kingdom is progressive.  It is always moving forward; always gaining momentum.  What Jesus began, He made sure to tell us that we would continue:

Mark 16:15 And He said to them, " Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."

In Acts we see thousands converted during Peter's very first sermon.  Then later we see thousands more.  Each time, the numbers grew by orders of magnitude.  The Kingdom grew.  Each spiritual child lead to Christ by a spiritual father would build upon all their spiritual father had to teach them.  What the 12 learned during their 3.5 years with Jesus, the first converts after Pentecost benefited from.  The Kingdom builds, life upon life, person upon person until we all come together in the unity of the faith.

Didn't Paul exhort Timothy about the heritage of faith he came from?

2 Timothy 1:5 when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.

In the very next verse Paul tells Timothy to "stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands."  He's saying, "Look, kid, you have been loaded up with all the gifts your family and I could impart to you.  There is no reason for you to fight the battles we have already won."

If a man could live forever in this physical realm, there would be no need for him to entrust his highest goals to another generation.  Yet even Jesus passed from this earthly realm and entrusted His highest goal, reconciliation with The Father, to 12 knuckleheads.  He told them they would surpass what He did on this earth and they did just that.  Then they handed over to those who came after them all they had learned in the hope that the next generation would surpass them.  Always looking forward to the next glory, one generation surpassed the previous.

So when I say that I will surpass Paul, I agree not only with Paul himself, but Jesus.  Christ is within me and He is the hope of glory.  When I stir up within me all that those who came before me fought for, I am well equipped to manifest His glory.