The Immunity of the Spirit
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 immunity of the spirit.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Immunity of the Spirit
"Jesus said: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out my hand. My Father which gave them to me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’’s hand. I and my Father are one." John Chapter 10, Verses 27-29.
Brothers and sisters, in today’’s broadcast we explore the immunity of the spirit. Just as the body can develop immunity towards material infections, the soul can develop immunity towards spiritual infections. We know that some of the brothers and sisters often struggle with spiritual infections. And we want to show how we can protect ourselves from the various spiritual infections that afflict the soul, and cause them to become sick and causalities of the spiritual struggle as they seek to achieve divine perfection. We shall show a material analogy to help us grasp the concept of spiritual immunity.
During this time of the year, we are experiencing the flu season. Infection with the flu can be deadly especially in children and elderly people. Since there are vaccinations that prevent coming down with the flu, the authorities recommend that people be vaccinated against the Flu which will give them immunity towards that particular strain. It will prevent them getting infected, and coming down with the disease. Now the reason why vaccination is recommended is so that the people can develop immunity towards the actual vaccine when it occurs. Immunity protects the individual from becoming infected with the actual virus.
Vaccinations cause the body to become immune to infections. The immune system develops antibodies against the vaccines containing harmless parts of the flu viruses. When the actual infection invades the body, the immune system is ready for it and mounts a vigorous defense against it, destroying it before it can cause disease. The body has become immune to the infection. The infection still invades the body but is powerless to harm it. Thus, in most cases the individual never knows that he has been exposed to the virus, so effective is the immune response towards it. The body becomes infection-proof. But to those who refuse to be vaccinated against these potential deadly viruses, they run the risk of coming down with a deadly infection especially if their immune system is already weakened from some other disease affecting the body.
Now in the spiritual realm we have in an analogous way a similar situation taking place within our souls. As we live this spiritual life, we are sure to encounter spiritual infections. These spiritual infections can cause devastating illnesses that can make us sick and sideline us and take us out of the struggle to obtain divine perfection. As we continue our struggle to master ourselves, we sometimes become discouraged and suffer many disappointments. The human nature keeps ambushing our good efforts to fight the good fight of faith by responding with evil. And we suffer emotional casualties. Fits of jealousy, envy, and anger wait in hiding under the cover of pleasant happenings, just waiting to spring into our souls as soon as the pleasant occasions disappear. And we know that they are very brief, being replaced by the vicissitudes of life.
And we are plagued by the spiritual viruses of doubt, insincerity, procrastination, unfairness, ease-seeking and equivocation. We shrink from the difficulty of the struggle. And we are often attacked by the grand daddy of all spiritual viruses--fear. This spiritual virus if allowed to rage through our souls will literally paralyze our spiritual wills. Spiritual vaccination is essential.
But how do we receive this spiritual vaccination that will render us immune to the viruses of evil, sin, and iniquity? It is available and ready to be injected. But like the material vaccines, we must be injected with it if we are to receive the protection. We have free will, and no one can force us to receive the vaccination of the spirit, with its priceless protection from the viruses of evil, sin, and inequity. Unlike flu vaccines, this spiritual vaccine does not have any spiritual side effects. It does not incapacitate the soul; rather it invigorates the soul immediately. Unlike the material vaccine that requires some time before the effect is protective, the spiritual vaccine offers protection as soon as it is received. The material vaccine has to be repeated each flu season to cover the changes that the virus may have made in its ability to invade the body. The spiritual vaccine has to be injected constantly to protect the soul from the viruses of evil, sin, and inequity. This is necessary because the soul is not mature enough yet to receive the eternal and final injection that will protect it through eternity. Such a soul when injected with the eternal injection becomes forever inoculated against the viruses of evil, sin, and iniquity.
In its first life, the nature of the soul is shared with the material nature. This material nature houses free will choice. Until the soul is divorced from the material nature, there is always the possibility that the free will choice can decide not to receive the eternal injection. The free will, located in the material nature, must of its own free will decide to accept this eternal injection. This is why it must continually receive the spiritual vaccination. As long as the soul is associated with the material life, it is also subjected to the different kinds of viruses that keep changing and slipping into the soul.
Now the nature of this spiritual injection is the free will choice of the human will dedicating itself to the Father’’s will. The Father’’s will is in the soul but is subject to human will; the human will is in the mind and reigns supreme. Both of these wills represent different values and meanings. As the self experiences moral and spiritual realities, different choices have to be made. And the human will is the decider. It decides whether it will act on behalf of the human nature or on behalf of the spiritual nature. As these two natures co-exist, we can see why it is necessary to choose one over the other. We can see why a spiritual vaccination must be received every time there is a choice to be made.
When the spiritual vaccination is received in one of the battles with evil, the soul becomes immune to viruses of evil. When the soul experiences disappointment, the spiritual vaccination makes the soul immune to it by showing a vision of hope, by showing how this disappointment will help it reach a point where it can receive the eternal vaccination. This hope allows the soul to endure as seeing Him who is invisible. This vision reveals the eternal success of the soul’’s future state. Disappointment continues to plague the soul, but it has no power whatsoever to derail it from its eternal quest to achieve divine perfection: To be perfect even as the heavenly Father is perfect. Receipt of the eternal vaccination makes the soul disappointment-proof.
When the spiritual vaccination is chosen, when impatience seeks to enter the soul because of its protracted struggle against some evil experience, it runs up against the barrier of long-suffering. This barrier consists of the vision that though delayed, the spiritual values and meanings of a particular struggle are forthcoming. And when actualized, the joy it brings fills the soul with happiness, and moves the soul one step closer to the day when it can receive the final injection of divine goodness. When the human nature suffers losses, the sense of loss never makes it to the soul, for it runs up against the barrier of the conservation of spiritual values. This barrier shows the vision of the eternal values to the soul, whereby the soul experiences the truth that nothing of spiritual value is ever lost. And if the spiritual values are not lost, then neither are the meanings that are associated with them.
Finally when fear attempts to invade the sanctity of the soul, it runs up against the mighty barrier of the Spirit of Truth, who always cries, "Fear not, I am with you, and if I am with you no harm can ever befall you." And when the soul is confronted with the evil of loneliness and isolation, worship of the Father removes the sense of isolation and loneliness from the soul. And when the self consents to the injection of the spiritual vaccine, the soul is thoroughly saturated with a sense of well-being. Spiritual well-being is none other than the Father’’s love--the divine desire to do good to others--bathing the soul with its saving power. All of this immunity is available by the continuous decision to abide by the Father’’s will in all moral and spiritual situations. "Not my will, but your will be done" is the vaccination of the spirit, and it protects the soul against all enemies foreign and domestic, evils originating externally and those evils originating internally.
This concludes today's message on the immunity of the spirit. 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!
The Immunity of the Spirit
Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
