SOMETHING GREATER Larry W Peebles December 10, 2021 21.44
When our son was a teenager, and was searching to find his life purpose, he was going through all the things teenagers face as part of the process of maturing and growing, and I too felt his struggle. A good friend called to encourage me. He said he felt the Lord had led him to a Scripture from the Bible for me. I was a nominal Christian at the time, knowing some things about God and His word, but not really deep into a personal relationship with the Lord. I certainly was not familiar with the particular Scripture my friend gave me that day, although I appreciated the Scripture very much, and passed it on to my son. It is one of my favorites to this day.
At a time when Israel had sinned and fallen away from God, and had been taken into captivity to Babylon, the prophet Jeremiah wrote these words in Jeremiah 29:11- “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you [plans that I have for you] says the Lord, thoughts [plans] of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” No matter what the day looks like, or what we have done to find ourselves in the current circumstance, God has a greater plan for us. He is the God of something greater. We got through those teenage years, and under the hand of the Lord both our son and daughter grew into responsible adults with great marriages and children of their own. All are a source of pride and joy to my wife and me. As good as that turned out, God had something greater for us.
My wife and I both grew in our relationship with the Lord, and as we studied His word and prayed, ministry opportunities began to come our way. Not full-time, but with a lot of our available time, we began to minister to a group of newly-marrieds in a Sunday School format, serve and preach at a homeless shelter, and preach and pray with young people in trouble in the Juvenile Justice System. These were the early years where we learned to partner with the Lord by going where He said to go, and say and pray what He gave us to say. This was a busy time, but it was an honor and privilege to learn to serve the Lord and His people as He instructed. As good as this was, God always has something greater in mind. We came to know Holy Spirit.
Jesus referred to this truth in Luke 11: 31-32- “The queen of the South will rise up in this generation with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she [Sheba, queen of Egypt] came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgement with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.”
Solomon asked the Lord for wisdom when he became king of Israel at the death of his father David. Because he asked for wisdom and not wealth, the Bible says Solomon became the wisest and wealthiest man to have ever lived. Certainly his wisdom and wealth was so well known throughout the world that the queen from the world’s greatest empire in those days, the country of Egypt, came to personally witness his wisdom. As great as Solomon’s wisdom was, Jesus said someone wiser and greater had come to the earth.
When Jonah preached to the city of Nineveh, the entire city was saved. Nineveh had a population of at least 120,000 in those days, maybe more. Jonah’s recorded preaching is short, but it must have been powerful for that many to repent in one day. As powerful as it was, Jesus said someone more powerful and greater was now preaching in the earth. With regard to the greater wisdom and preaching, Jesus was of course referring to Himself. But was He only referring to Himself, or did He already have in mind something greater? One might ask what could be greater than Jesus? The answer is found in John 16:7- “Nevertheless I [Jesus] tell you the truth, it is to your advantage [it is better for you] that I go away; for if I do not go away the Helper [Holy Spirit] will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” Wisdom and powerful preaching did not end with Solomon, Jonah or Jesus. Scripture says Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth who will teach us all things. He is Advocate, Comforter, Counselor, and Helper. He is the power of God in the earth today, and He is the greatest resource available to the believer today to help us understand and accomplish God’s plan for our lives and His will in the earth. There is no other way to realize our full potential in Christ, and to see the reality of God’s kingdom in the earth. He is closer than we think, because He takes up residence in the heart of every believer.
Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9), and was forever changed. He experienced the Holy Spirit, and was moved to later write- “My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5). Paul, a very learned man before His dramatic conversion, came to know Holy Spirit to such a degree he subjected his own words, speech and wisdom to Holy Spirit. As a result, the demonstration of the power and presence of God became the focus of his ministry, and formed the basis for the faith of new believers who heard him. Paul’s wisdom and his own ability to preach took a back seat to the power and presence of Holy Spirit. He experienced the reality of what Jesus said—there is something greater than the wisdom of Solomon, and the preaching of Jonah.
Christmas is a good time to consider that God has always looked at the condition of man, whether as an individual (you, me, or Paul) or mankind taken as a whole, and said there is something greater I have in mind for you. Father God sent His Son Jesus to the earth to live a perfect life as a man, and become the perfect and final sacrifice for our sin. Through faith in Him and His death on the cross, we can receive forgiveness and be reconciled back to the Father. Then Jesus rose from the dead, and went back to heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father, leaving us His Spirit to reign and be victorious in this life until He comes again to finally judge Satan and the unbelievers.
Jesus did not tell us to hang on until He came back. He gave us an amazing and great gift- the gift of His Spirit. Our entire focus as believers should be the utilization and appropriation of this gift. This is how we move from “hangers-on” to “overcomers”. We simply must acknowledge the Holy Spirit and ask Him to reveal Himself to us each day, more and more, until we come to know His power. When we do not, we are powerless, yet we cannot understand why. Indeed, when the church does not un-package the Holy Spirit, the entire church is powerless. Change comes when the church does what Paul did- when it lays aside the wisdom of its own doctrines and traditions, and the power of its own preaching in the flesh, and subjects itself to Holy Spirit. When Holy Spirit comes to the individual or the church and takes over, we have found the something greater God had in mind all along.
Holy Spirit will not force Himself upon us. He will only come if honored, recognized and invited. My wife and I have seen our ministry grow to evangelistic meetings and outreach in other countries. Before our very first trip, Holy Spirit promised that if we went, He would go with us and be there when we arrived. Now when we go abroad and preach on the streets, or in conferences, or in church services, we submit to the agenda of Holy Spirit, recognize His presence, and ask Him to do whatever He wants in the meeting. We see amazing and miraculous results. The sick are healed, and demons flee. We believe we will also see the dead rise, and lepers healed, as Jesus commanded in Matthew 10:8. Holy Spirit did miracles in Jesus’ day, and in the times of the apostles, including Paul. He still does them today. Jesus would not have told us to do these miracles if it were not possible—if He did not intend to supply the authority and power to do them. If we will seek and cooperate with Holy Spirit, we will see something greater than we could ever think or imagine. Faith still moves mountains, so expect great things from God—a life of miracles. He only does the miraculous (Psalm 72:18).
What could be better than witnessing the miraculous as part of our daily lives? He has promised something greater. He has a reward prepared for us with Him in eternity—our forever home in Heaven. He is, after all, the God of something greater.
