Faith and Presumption
Greetings, 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 ponder the difference between faith and presumption.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
Faith and Presumption
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. " Hebrews,
Chapter 11, Verses 1.
Brothers and sisters, we know that faith and presumption both seek to achieve some goal that it
deems worthwhile, but the mechanism of their operation is different. If we can be sure that the object
of our faith is not a presumptuous object, than indeed should we be further assured in our quest for
those realities that lie outside our material grasp.
Presumption like faith can also be directed at material or spiritual goals. And we are all familiar with
the errors that are associated with a contaminated faith. How can we be sure that we are acting within
the bounds of faith and not the bounds of presumption? The primary difference between presumption
and faith is that faith is based upon previously established principles and proceeds from reason and
logic; presumption does not. Presumption is an illogical bold attempt to short circuit the ordained
mechanism for progress. There exist no previous relationships for the assumptions of presumption,
and they are outside any legitimate relationship. For example, it is presumptuous to assume that you
can receive money for work not done, or presumptuous to presume upon a relationship that you have
not established. All true relationships follow well ordained patterns. And the parameters of the
relationship are known to both parties. Faith unlike presumption on the other hand proceeds from
well established principles.
For example, it is reasonable to have faith that you will get paid after working a certain amount of
agreed upon time. This is based upon the fact that a bonafide relationship exists with rules governing
it. The relationship of employer and employee is established when the employer agrees to hire the
employee for a certain of amount of work in return for a certain monetary reward or some equivalent.
The relationship is consummated when the work is performed and payment is rendered for the
services performed. We can see that there must be a certain amount of faith in this relationship for
it to move forward. There must be certain factors that allow for both the employer and the employee
to agree to the relationship. Among these are qualifications for the prospective employment that the
employer can examine and satisfy himself to the likelihood of the employee being able to carry out
the job in question. The employee examines the ability of the employer to compensate him for the
projected work. And after having satisfied these requirements a relationship can be initiated.
Now these are examples of presumption and faith in the material realm. In the spiritual realm where
the relationship exists between the Father and the child, similar principles exist. We know from
revelation what the relationship is between God and his mortal children. Jesus revealed that the
relationship is between the spiritual Father and the spiritual child. This relationship is one of growth
and development, whereby the Father provides all the necessary spiritual resources for the child to
develop, and the child uses these resources in it's attempts to growth and develop. The exercise of
faith is always subject to the Father's will; the exercise of presumption is not.
In an act of presumption, the purpose is not pure; the motive is not divine; the ideal is not spiritual;
the ambition is not altruistic; the procedure is not based on love, and the goal of attainment is not
the will of the Father in heaven. And by contrast we can see that in an act of faith, the purpose is
pure, the motive is divine, the ideal is spiritual, the ambition is altruistic, the procedure is based on
love, and the goal of attainment is the will of the heavenly Father.
Revelation teaches us that the province of our faith is always towards obeying the status command
of the Heavenly Father: To be perfect even as He is perfect and obeying the relationship command
of the Heavenly Father: To love God with all your heart, your soul, your mind, and to love your
neighbor as yourself. These are the spiritual provinces of faith, and all of our faith efforts should be
applied towards the actualization of these mandates. They are reciprocal in that if you love God with
all your heart, your soul, your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself you will be perfect even as
the heavenly Father is perfect. And if you become perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect you will
love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. Faith is the
tool that does for us what we can not do for ourselves; presumption is a self deceiving device for
attempting to sidestep God's will. The Father has said that all of his ways are just and merciful, and
that he changes not. So then we must seek to do his divine will with the faith that we have rather than
try to use presumption to escape his divine mandates.
The Father-son relationship assures us of our safety as we traverse this level of reality. His overcare
can be compared to being in an unsinkable boat on a raging sea. The boat may go up and down, may
lisp from side to side, may even turn over, but it will always return to the surface, and as long as we
stay in this unsinkable boat, no harm can befall us. There is no force in the universe that can overturn
his love and mercy for us. We are precious in his sight. We should run this race to the best of our
ability, using our God-given gifts to master its material, moral and spiritual aspects, and by applying
these gifts to the appropriate province. Thus the mind using the laws of the material world should
master the material aspects of life, and faith should be used to master the spiritual aspects of life,
while our moral gifts are the foundations for the spiritual and the material aspects of life. We should
not use faith to attempt to master the material aspects of life, and neither should we use presumption
to try to master the spiritual aspects of life.
Faith is absolutely necessary to spiritual living; presumption is a spirit poison. When embraced by
the Spirit of Truth faith guides the soul every step of the way in the Father-son relationship until the
developing son matures and stands in the very presence of his Heavenly Father.
This concludes today's message on the difference between faith and presumption. 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
Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!
Faith and Presumption
Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
