Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

John 14:12 (ESV)

The inward work of the Spirit moves us outward into a world that is lost and broken. However, if we never learn to walk by faith, we will never feel empowered to be used by God in ever-increasing ways. This prevents us from becoming the light and salt in our world that Jesus invites us to be.

When Jesus told His disciples that they would do "greater works" after He has returned to the Father, He was indicating how God would use them to spread the gospel from a little corner of the world to the whole known world. On the Day of Pentecost, Jesus fulfilled His promise by sending the Holy Spirit to enable them (just as He does today) to witness boldly and without fear.

The Greek word for "greater works" is meizon which means "more extensive or greater influence". In other words, Jesus is stating that we, as His Church, will touch more lives and impact more communities than He ever could when He was on earth. This means every believer has been given the supernatural ability of doing "greater works" in Jesus' Name.

Because Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as our Helper (John 14:16), we must learn to work and collaborate with Him to bring people to salvation and train them to be His disciples. This is how the early church was able to spread the gospel throughout the world. Consider these words of the Apostle Peter when he appeared before the Sanhedrin:

We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.

Acts 5:32 (NIV)

In this verse, Peter tells us that we can trust the Holy Spirit to back up whenever we share the truth of the gospel. Some may witness signs and wonders, while others may have a genuine conviction of God's presence and might. Simply ask the Holy Spirit to provide you with an opportunity to share the gospel with someone on a daily basis, and then prepare to be amazed at what He can accomplish through you.