The Final Experience
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 will ponder our lives as we seek to understand the meaning of the final experience.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Final Experience
Jesus said, "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish. Neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand." John, Chapter 10, Verse 28.
Brothers and sisters, Jesus commands us to "Be you perfect even as our Father in heaven is
perfect." This command is given to us in love and mercy, for all of our troubles are a result
of being incomplete, imperfect. This command refers to the development of a spiritual
character like the Father as revealed by His Son, Jesus. The command requires that we
dedicate our lives to doing the Father's will as reflected in our outer life by unselfish loving
service to one another.
Brothers and sisters, when we accept this command to do the Father's will, it causes us to
strive to acquire spiritual values, and after acquiring them to share them with others by living
them. And this living and sharing of spiritual values is eternal life. By living eternal values,
we become eternal. These values are the truth, beauty and goodness of the Father's love.
It has been said that man is born to die, that first there is the death, and then follows the
judgement. And such a statement is true. The soul has a certain amount of time to recognize
the Father's will, to respond to its leading, and finally to master the doing of that will. At the
end of this period, physical death intervenes. Then there occurs the judgment which
determines the degree to which we were to recognize, respond, and master the doing of the
Father's will.
This judgement will not concern itself with material achievements but with spiritual
achievements. And we all recognize that this is fair since the circumstances and inequalities
of life make it impossible for some of us to accomplish many material achievements, but
spiritual achievements can be achieved by anyone willing to submit to the Father's will.
During judgement, we will be asked such questions as: To what extent did we to love
unselfishly? To what degree did we exercise patience in irritating situations and with the
limitations of those below us? How much mercy did we show to those worse off than
ourselves? How often did we turn a deaf ear to the cry of the needy-those struggling souls
in need of compassion? How often did we forgive those who wronged us again and again?
To what extent did the spirit dominate our souls with love, faith, hope, and trust? How often
were we disloyal to our highest meaning and supreme value? When the road of life took a
turn to our disliking, did we continue on or decide to abandon the Father?
When we satisfactorily pass that judgement, we shall hear the lovely Son, Jesus, say "Well
done, thou good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things, (values of
love), I will make thee ruler over many things (values of love). Enter thou into the joy of thy
lord." If we fail to pass the judgement because of trampling His mercy under the feet of our
stubborn wills or our absolute refusal to do the Father's will, we shall hear these damming
words: "I never knew you: depart from me ye that work iniquity."
Brothers and sisters, it is the Father's will that we at sometime pass through the portals of
material death. There are a number of ways death can take place but the important thing is
the motive or the goal that we are pursuing when mortal death finally overtakes us. We
should die in the pursuit of divine love, in pursuit of the Father's will--in reality, a life
dedicated to unselfish loving service of our brothers and sisters. This is a reflection of our
being dedicated to the Father of our brothers and sisters.
We should continually grow in the knowledge and love of truth. Only by continually
submitting our will to the Father's will can we grow in the knowledge and love of truth. We
must pursue divine love. We must be haunted by the desire for love, patience, mercy, and
forgiveness. We must be filled by love, faith, trust, and hope. We must be dominated by love,
compassion, understanding, and wisdom, and we must have the courage to accept the
spiritual power of faith to conquer the metamorphosis of life--death without fear. We must
allow our faith to grow larger than the experience of mortal death, and must confidently live
that truth that is born of the experience of continuous unbroken spiritual communion with
the Father of all life, that nothing of spiritual value is ever lost, for the soul definitely has
spiritual value.
This concludes today's message on understanding the meaning of the final experience. 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.
Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!
The Final Experience
