Greater Works: Unlocking the Fullness of God’s Power in You

Let me take you to Matthew 28.

On Sunday, we left Jesus on the cross. We remembered the scene as He hung there, suffering, and then suddenly cried out, “It is finished.” He breathed out His Spirit—He gave up the ghost—and the ground began to shake violently. The curtain in the temple was torn in two. The graves were opened, and many who believed were raised up, resurrected, and walked into town.

We talked about that power—the power of Almighty God that had been in Jesus, that went out from Him at that moment. Where did it go? What happened? What a scene.

Three days later, as we know, Jesus rose from the grave. But I want you to notice something important about the resurrection.

Look at Matthew 28, beginning at verse 1:

“Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes white as snow. And for fear of him, the guards trembled and became like dead men.

“But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and behold, He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him. See, I have told you.’”

So they left the tomb quickly, with fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples.

What struck me, reading this midweek, is that here we have another earthquake. At the cross, when Jesus breathed His last and the power of God flowed out of Him, the earth shook and many things happened. Now, at the resurrection, that same power comes back into Jesus. There is your earthquake. There are your “happenings.” Jesus is now alive and moving again in the fullness of the power of God.

Why is that important?

Turn now to John 20.

For the church to truly be the church of Jesus Christ and to accomplish His work and ministry in the world, we need to understand what happens here. Jesus told the disciples, “After I go, you will do greater works than I have done. Greater works will you do in my name.” Those are His words, not mine.

We might sit back and say, “Lord, how can we possibly do greater works than You? Look at all the healing You did, the people You raised up, everything You accomplished.” Yet Jesus still says, “Greater works will you do in my name.”

How are we going to do that? How are we going to be the church Jesus calls us to be?

We get a clue in the gospel reading today, in John 20:19–23.

“On the evening of that first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’”

Imagine that. The doors are locked, everyone is hiding, and suddenly Jesus appears in the middle of the room. That would have scared me to death. But it was possible because He had the fullness of the power of God in Him. He could do anything.

“When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you.’”

Here Jesus gives them their commission: “As the Father sent Me into this world, so now I am sending you. You are going out as My representatives, My ambassadors, to tell the world what you have seen and heard and witnessed.”

Now look at the group He is sending. He has some fishermen. He has a tax collector. He has ordinary men. And one of them is Peter—the one Jesus said had such faith that He would build His church on that rock of faith. Yet Peter had denied Jesus three times: “Lord, I’ll never deny You,” and then, “I don’t know Him.” “Lord, I’ll die with You,” and again, “I do not know Him.”

Now Jesus is about to send these same men—scared, hiding behind locked doors because they fear the Jews will do to them what was done to Jesus—out into the world.

Then comes the key moment:

“When He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.’”

Jesus is imparting power to them. They don’t yet understand how great this power will be, but He is giving them power, boldness, and courage to go forward and continue His work.

If you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then the Holy Spirit dwells in you. Remember Paul’s words to the Corinthians: “Do you not know that your body is the temple of God?” The Holy Spirit resides in you. And if the Holy Spirit resides in you, then the fullness of the power of Almighty God resides in you as well.

If that power is in us, we should not be afraid to go forth, to witness for Jesus, to pray over people, to step out in faith.

You may ask, “Preacher, are you sure it can make that much difference?” Let’s see what Scripture and history show us.

In Acts we see that Peter has become bold. In Acts 2 he stands up and proclaims to the crowd:

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed.”

Think about the courage that took. Peter, who had once run from even being associated with Jesus, is now standing in the public square saying, in effect, “Let me tell you about Jesus Christ, whom you killed, whom God raised from the dead.”

Something has happened to Peter. Something has changed in him. Where did he get that kind of boldness?

He received it when Jesus imparted the Holy Spirit to those believers.

In Acts 5, the apostles are arrested for preaching publicly in Jesus’ name. They are beaten and ordered not to preach anymore in that name, and then they are released. You might think Peter would back down: “I just took a beating like the one they gave Jesus. They mean business; I’d better stay quiet.” But watch what happens.

Beginning at Acts 5:27:

“When they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, ‘We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.’

“But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging Him on a tree. God exalted Him at His right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.’”

Peter truly is changed. Now his words—“Lord, I will die for You”—are becoming reality. He has boldness, courage, and the empowering of the Holy Spirit, and he will indeed die for his witness to Christ.

So the question for us today is this: does that same Holy Spirit reside in you?

“Pastor, how do I know?” you might ask.

Do you love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? Have you claimed Him as Savior? Has He forgiven your sins and washed you clean? If your answer is yes, then the Holy Spirit resides in you. The fullness of the power of God is in you.

What are the possibilities when the Holy Spirit lives in you or in me? The possibilities are that we can do whatever God calls us to do, and we can trust Him to carry us through what He calls us to do.

If He calls us to lay down our sin, we often say, “Well, I’m only human; I’ll struggle all my life and then one day when I go to heaven God will finally clean me up.” But if the Holy Spirit truly lives in us, and if we are serious about drawing on that power, we can drop our sins far more quickly than we think. The real question is: do we want to? Are we willing?

If God is speaking to your heart and saying, “I want you to go to Zimbabwe and be a street preacher,” you might answer, “I can’t. I don’t have training. I don’t have the money. I wouldn’t even know where to start.” But if you say yes to God, watch Him work. If He calls you to do something, He will equip you, empower you, and make a way for you.

Many times we back away from what God asks because we say, “I don’t have what I need.” But yes, you do. The Holy Spirit dwells within you. Believe and trust God, and you can accomplish whatever He sets before you.

What if God nudges you to go to the hospital and pray for someone He has laid on your heart, someone He keeps bringing to your mind? You may say, “I’ve never done that. I’ve never prayed out loud. I don’t feel comfortable.” Trust God. If He is sending you, He will give you everything you need—words included—to do what He is calling you to do.

Jesus Himself told the disciples, “I must go away. It is better for you that I go, because if I go, I will send you the Comforter, the Teacher, the One who will lead you and guide you: the Holy Spirit.”

In Acts 1, Jesus says:

“While staying with them, He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, He said, ‘you heard from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’”

They waited in the upper room, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon them like tongues of fire.

Then in Acts 1:6–8:

“So when they had come together, they asked Him, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’”

When the Spirit comes upon you, you will be His witnesses. That promise is for the church today as well.

Why is the church’s witness not as strong as it should be? Why do we not see more movement of the Holy Spirit? I believe it is because we often do not acknowledge that the power already resides in us, and we are not willing to ask the Lord to use that power within us.

What would happen if the whole church began praying for God to give us the tools, wisdom, and courage to carry His witness within a ten‑mile radius of this building? What if we asked Him for the strength and energy—regardless of our age—and the wisdom, words, and time to reach those around us?

What if we honestly said, “Lord, You say You do not want any to perish. We open ourselves to You. Use us. Send us. Gift us. Prepare the hearts of those around us. Holy Spirit, lead us.”

If we all truly agreed to pray like that every day, and to seek the Lord’s work in our lives and in others, what do you think would happen?

The power that resides in God’s people would be activated. People within that ten‑mile radius would begin to encounter the gospel of Jesus Christ. Lives would be changed. People would be brought to Jesus. And it would be a very good day.

That is the purpose of the church: to be a witness—not just inside these walls but outside—to carry the message with boldness, and to share it with love and grace so that others may know and come to Jesus Christ our Lord.

I pray that we will begin to tap the resource God has given us. Our greatest resource is not money, not buildings, not programs. It is the gift of the Holy Spirit who resides in us. With that gift, with that resource, we can see mountains moved, sins forgiven, addictions broken, and shattered homes reconciled. We can see a real move of God in our community.

So I challenge you: pray, and ask God to use you in His work.

“Father, we thank You that You have given us all we need to serve You and to do Your work. Too often we do not tap into that source. But Father, when we do—and as we do—what a difference we will see. Our own courage, our own ability, our own strength will be multiplied by the strength of the Holy Spirit within us.

“We should not ask for this so that our church will be big or well‑known, but so that You receive all honor and glory and that the name of Jesus Christ will be lifted up.

“So Lord, help us to tap that source. Help us to long to bring honor and glory to Your name and to the name of Jesus. Use us, move us, empower us, that we may do Your will for Your honor and Your glory.

“In Jesus’ name, amen.”