Still More on the Supremacy of Faith
Greetings and good morning, brothers and sisters. This is Dr. James Perry continuing with our series, where we seek to explore the deeper meanings of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the years, the heavenly Father has revealed many revelations of spiritual truth to me, and I want to share them with you. This morning we seek to further understand still more on the supremacy of faith.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message
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Still More on the Supremacy of Faith
"By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whiter he went." Hebrews, Chapter 11, Verse 8
Brothers and sisters, in today’’s broadcast, we continue our exploration of the supremacy of faith. Today we want to show how the urges, desires, will, circumstances, our angels, and the divine spirit all interact with our minds and souls. Making life-changing decisions indicates that one experience is completed while another is beginning. There must be some process whereby the spiritual focus is shifted from present values and meanings to future values and meanings, or rather to those values and meanings that await us in the new experience. To help us understand this process, we will again continue with our analysis of Jesus as he sought to make the decision to begin his public ministry.
Let us again examine this decision, but this time, lets us integrate into our analysis other factors of urges, desires, will, circumstances, and the role of our spiritual helpers. Let us return to the week before Jesus made his decision that his hour had come, that it was time for him to be about his Father’’s business.
The week before Jesus made this momentous decision, there must have been a spiritual tension building up in the human Jesus, for he was still the Son of Man at this time. He had not become fully conscious of his divine nature, though it had been growing. As the news that John the Baptist had begun his preaching, Jesus knew that John was to introduce him to the world. He began to intensify his prayers, seeking to know the Father’’s will. And as he sought insight, the spiritual tension grew greater with the conviction that it was time for him to begin his public ministry.
The night before he went to John’’s baptism, he probably slept little, being in constant prayer in seeking the Father’’s will. There must have been great emotional changes he went through as he tried to discern the Father’’s will.
Remember that at this time Jesus was still unaware of who he really was. He was proceeding from the purely human perspective, even as you and I must do when trying to make some momentous decision. He had to sort through all the factors that went into his making such a decision. He had to overcome the doubt in his mind. The next morning was the great faith test.
Up to this point, Jesus had dedicated his whole life to doing the Father’’s will. His character had undergone tremendous changes, and he had completed his spiritual growth. This meeting with John in the Jordan was the time-space junction where his purely human life ended and the more divine phases of his life begun. At this junction he became fully aware of who he was prior to coming to earth.
From an early age, Jesus sought the Father’’s will. We are told that he grew in stature before God and man. He early established a human relationship with his heavenly Father. He was responding to spiritual urges to pray. This is the work of his spiritual helpers. Like all urges, there is continuous growth and increased intensity to the urges. If we desire to act on them, they will be actualized. Or if we decide not to act, the urges remain unactualized. We all are familiar with these urges to pray, especially as they come before or during some crisis. However, we may not always act on the urge to seek spiritual counsel because our dedication to doing the Father’’s will is not supreme. There is something else occupying that position that is greater than our dedication to doing the Father’’s will.
All through Jesus’’ growing spiritual consciousness, these urges and desires were at work, causing him to communicate with his heavenly Father. Thus, he was able to increasingly and more completely discern the Father’’s will. And as he continued with his moral and spiritual growth, the spiritual helpers assisted him by making use of social and moral situations to further simulate moral and spiritual decisions. As he continued to grow morally and spiritually, more and more was the divine spirit able to elevate his thoughts and spiritualize them. As these thoughts became more spiritual they began to approximate the thoughts of the divine spirit. His spiritual helpers were able to further intensify these spiritual thoughts, and with the spiritual urges and desires at work, his self-will would choose those thoughts of the Father’’s will.
The process of seeking to do the Father’’s will eventually reached the point where the will of Jesus and the Father’’s will spiritually became one. This is what Jesus had already achieved when he went to bed the night he communed with the Father, seeking His will on when to begin his public work. Prior to his even reaching this point, his spiritual helpers had been involved in setting the stage for this momentous occasion.
As Jesus communed with the heavenly Father that night, the urges, desires, and efforts stimulated by his spiritual helpers reached supreme levels. The will of Jesus became indistinguishable from the will of the heavenly Father. And this conviction was so strong in him because he knew that he was supremely dedicated to doing the Father’’s will, and he knew that he had this spiritual mission and that he was only awaiting the right time to go forward. And as he communed with the heavenly Father, the decision that emerged from the communion was that his hour had come. It was time to go forth to launch his mission of revealing the Father’’s loving and merciful character.
This concludes today's message on understanding still more of the supremacy of faith.
Until next time, this is Dr. James Perry.
Your Kingdom Come; Your Will Be Done!
Still More on the Supremacy of Faith
Inspirational Messages of Light
By Dr. James Perry
