The Supreme Level 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 understand the meaning of the supreme level of faith.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
 
The Supreme Level of Faith

"By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had
translated him. " Hebrews, Chapter 11, Verses 5

Brothers and sisters, in today’’s broadcast, we shall share some insights into the meaning of reaching
the supreme level of faith. We shall take a closer look again at the definition of faith, or more
precisely the reality of faith and how it works. We shall also use a material analogy to help us grasp
the values and the meanings of the supreme level of faith, and shall show how it is reached, and what
is found when the supreme level of faith is reached.

A young, brave man decided that he wanted to climb Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the
world. It had been climbed by another individual first, but before his successful triumph, others had
tried and failed. The first thing that the young man did was review the efforts of those failures and
the successes of those who had succeeded. He studied the various factors that led to his success. The
physical, intellectual, and emotional factors within himself were painstakingly studied. He also
studied the physical conditions on the mountain, looking at all the obstacles, including the weather,
and observed the best time for undertaking the climb. After assessing all the factors that went into
successfully climbing the mountain, he arrived at the conclusion that--all other things being equal--
that he could do it.

He began a training program. He realized that his body must be in excellent condition to stand the
rigors of climbing this dangerous mountain. He trained his body until it was in peak condition. In
the meantime he began to study the intellectual aspects of his journey. What supplies would he need?
What technique would he use? How would he deal with the various emergencies that might arise as
he struggled to climb the mountain top, and how would he handle the emotional aspect of his
journey? How would he deal with the sense of loneliness, the fear, and all of the other emotional
factors that surfaces when an enterprise of this nature is undertaken that could very well cost him his
life if he were to be unsuccessful? He read all that he could on the chronicles of the first person who
successfully climbed the mountain; and since the fellow was still alive, he asked him for his advice
and guidance. After receiving this guidance, he felt that he was ready to make the climb. To his
surprise as an added bonus, the original climber agreed to go with him to act as his guide and mentor.
With all this he felt that he was more than ready to begin the trip. And so he launched forward in his
efforts. 

The trek up the mountain was a slow and laborious process. He required all the physical strength he
could muster. And the cold and the wind were very penetrating, challenging him every step of the
way. He encountered several storms as he climbed the mountain, and several times it appeared that
they were not going to make it, and this threat played havoc with his emotions; the skill of his guide
and paying meticulous attention to the instructions allowed him to overcome these obstacles. At
times he became weary, and sometimes he entertained doubts, but he never allowed these doubts to
interfere with his efforts. And though there were setbacks, he climbed and climbed, clawing his way
up the side of the mountain. And each time he reached a key benchmark that they had established
previously, he was renewed in his effort to continue making strides. Nothing succeeds like success.
And with the skill of his guide, and by following the instructions, he finally reached the top of the
mountain. What a joy and what a spectacle to view the world from the top of this mountain. He
would value this achievement for the rest of his life.

Now we want to reach the supreme level of faith in this same way. We want to reach the top of the
spiritual mountain, the peak of our spiritual growth. And like the mountain climber, we must prepare
for this journey. We must consider the cost to ensure that we are willing and able to pay the price
of success. We must be willing to be any and all things required to achieve such a magnificent goal.
We have a marvelous book of instruction that contains everything we need. We even have a spiritual
guide, the spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Truth, contained within the faith book to guide us up the
mountaintop of our spiritual journey. 

The Spirit of Truth, Jesus’’s spirit, has made this journey before and knows every step of the way,
from the beginning to end. He is the way, the truth, and light, and nobody climbs this spiritual
mountain of the Father without him. Others tried before him but failed, and others have tried to
climb this spiritual mountain since him but without him--all signally failed. This faith book not only
contains the instructions and our Guide, but it contains all the power and stamina that we need. As
the spiritual climber studies this faith manual, seeking to know the Father’’s will, he receives
instruction and power to carry out the task. And as he continues to meditate on the instructions, by
worshiping, he begins to take on the attributes of the guide, the Spirit of Truth. And here is a faith
secret: as he climbs the spiritual mountain, he acquires the attributes of the spirit guide to the extent
that is needed to complete a particular benchmark; as he completes each benchmark, he acquires
more of the attributes of the spirit guide.

And like the material journey up the material mountain, there are many obstacles to be overcome,
and the spiritual guide is familiar with each one of them. He guides the spiritual climber not around,
or above, or below the obstacles but right through them. The spiritual climber wonders why this is
necessary. He keeps asking the guide what is coming next, but the guide admonishes him to be
patient, and tells him that his success is contingent upon his not knowing. ““Just trust me,”” the
guide says. ““I have not bought you this far to only bring you to a dead end. I have the power to
complete what I started.””

The spiritual climber begins to fear, but the guide instructs him to fear not. There is nothing to be
afraid of during the spiritual journey. The muscles of his courage had begun to fatigue and had given
way to the fatigue of fear. But the guide massages and rests those muscle of courage with the
soothing balm of truth, restoring depleted energies. He has quite a bit of emotional difficulty with
confronting the obstacles (in reality, trials and tribulations), but as he submits to them he realizes that
he has become stronger, and that his spiritual understanding of the divine values and meanings that
were concealed have increased. He realizes that he has mastered the obstacle by submitting to them
according to the instructions, according to the Father’’s will. And this submission is with endless
love, nameless patience, unlimited mercy, and unthinking forgiveness. 

And then the guide reveals to him that even though the journey up this spiritual mountain of the
Father is difficult and trying, the whole process is saturated with love and mercy. In short this
journey is user friendly. The guide tells him that as long as he continues under the auspices of faith,
there is really no need for any concern. He says that the spiritual climber has only one real battle: the
battle against doubt, the tendency to disbelieve the guide. The spiritual climber struggles, clawing
his way to the top of the spiritual mountain, and his mind and soul is immediately filled with the
values and meanings of the guide. He acquires the guide’’s viewpoint and looks over the scenery
from the top of the spiritual mountain; he has become one with the guide. 

What he sees raptures his soul: As he looks down from the top of the Father’’s spiritual mountain
to the meadows of life below, he sees the grass of truth, beauty, and goodness moving and covering
all of the bare spots (evil) on the ground. And he is filled with joy as he realizes that the whole
ground will be covered with this beautiful grass. Having acquired the guide’’s viewpoint, he now
fully understands his role in this process of covering the barren ground of evil with the grass of truth,
beauty, and goodness. He now realizes the supreme understanding of the Father’’s love and his
mercy. The climber’’s consciousness of the Father of the Son, Jesus, has equaled the consciousness
of Jesus when he first made the journey to perfectly discover the heavenly Father. He has become
one with the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of Jesus. Through this same spirit, he has become one with
the Father. And he is amazed and gratified in his soul at the power of this faith book. And he asks
the Spirit of Truth one last question: ““Where does this wonderful text book come from?”” The
Spirit of Truth smiles at him and says, "from your heavenly Father who loves you." When we reach
supreme levels of faith, we become one with the Father through his Son, Jesus.

This concludes today's message on understanding the meaning of the supreme level of faith. We
hope you find something in this message to ponder and pray about as you go about your day. 

Until  next time, this is Dr. James Perry.

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The Supreme Level of Faith