The Mystery 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 mystery of faith.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Mystery of Faith
"And Jesus said unto them . . . verily, verily I say unto, if ye had the faith as a grain of mustard
seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and
nothing shall be impossible unto you." Matthew, Chapter 17, Verse 20.
Brothers and sisters, the response of the soul to faith is always one of undying hope and ultimate
victory over all doubt.
Faith is like a river moving down the face of a mountain, having its origin from an infinite, eternal
and absolute source. Like the water moving down the face of the mountain, all obstacles that stand
in its way are eventually overcome. When moving water runs into a barrier, it keeps building up
behind the barrier until the force of it or the sheer volume of it either shatters the barrier or overflows
it, demolishing it in the first instance and transcending it in the second. These represent the finite and
ultimate aspects of faith.
Faith is the secret of transforming all potential spiritual characters into actual spiritual characters.
But starting out as we do, our ability to use this faith must grow and develop, which is analogous to
water building up behind a barrier. How does this happen? Let us look at a material analogy. A
young boy discovers that he can run faster than any of his friends. In every contest, he invariably
comes in first. The idea soon occurs in his mind that he would like to become the fastest runner in
the whole world. He realizes that to become the fastest, he must not only be the best runner among
his friends, his own age group, but he must reach that physical state where he can also best those who
are older, stronger, and more developed than he is currently. He must develop and grow. This
involves time as he develops and space as he travels to different arenas for competition.
During the process of moving towards his supreme goal, his body and mind are trained. As they are
trained, they grow. Resistance is offered to his body and mind. In the face of this resistance, his body
becomes strong and gradually becomes faster. His mind becomes disciplined and determined. Each
level of success provides the scaffolding for the next higher level of success. Under this intense
training--interspersed with periods of rest and the inevitable temporary setbacks--and with the help
of time passing and the traversal of space, he eventually reaches the apex of his career. He competes
for the world title of being the fastest runner. After all the years of training, growth, and experience,
he reaches the moment of his lifetime--the final challenge--and he meets it successfully. He is now
the fastest runner in the world.
And now comes faith--that mysterious force that transforms imperfect spiritual characters into
perfected ones. Faith's primary obstacle is doubt. Its stimulus to growth and development is
adversity-all sorts of adversity that embraces suffering and disappointment, personal and otherwise.
Faith forms an irreversible bond with the soul. This bond cannot be broken by any outside force or
any inside force. This bond cannot be broken by adversity or by doubt. Only the all powerful human
will can breech the bond of faith in the soul. It is the nature of faith to become strong and mature in
the face of adversity and doubt, as long as the soul continues to trust in the goodness of the Father.
It is the stimulus of adversity and not the absence of adversity which allows faith to grow. The
barrier of doubt insures that faith will continue to grow until the supreme level is reached. Doubt
persists until the supreme level is reached and then having served its purpose doubt vanishes as
mysteriously as it appeared when it first burst upon the scene.
This concludes today's message on understanding meaning of the mystery 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.
JHP 10/24/02
Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!
The Mystery of Faith
