The Reality of Being in the Spiritual Kingdom
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 reality of being in the spiritual kingdom.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Reality of Being in the Spiritual Kingdom
"I say unto you, among them that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. " Luke, Chapter 7, Verse 28
You who would enter the spiritual kingdom,
Abandon all doubt, despair, suspicion.
Enter with faith, hope, and trust,
And you will find love.
Brothers and sisters, “the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink: But righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." In entering the spiritual kingdom, there are certain qualities that are absolutely necessary, and some implications that stagger the material mind, some implications that no matter how hard the material mind tries to prove them, it cannot. We shall delineate a few of these qualities so that they can shed further light on those of our struggling brothers and sisters who have embraced doing the Father’s will and who therefore have entered the spiritual kingdom.
Having decided to enter the spiritual kingdom, the most important quality that we use therein is faith. This faith resides in the spiritual kingdom and reaches out to grasp the one who is desirous of entering the spiritual kingdom. The source of this spiritual faith is the heavenly Father. Now this faith is given to us so that we can enter and explore the spiritual kingdom. It is given to us so that we can comprehend the values and meanings of the spiritual kingdom. The spiritual kingdom is unlike anything that we have experienced in the material world so we need a guide and instructors who will help us to grow and learn the values of this kingdom. Without faith, not only is it impossible to live in the spiritual kingdom, but it is impossible to enter therein.
The presence of the spiritual kingdom in our minds is present in the form of the Father’s spirit, and the Spirit of Truth, and the Holy Spirit, but the effective presence of the spiritual kingdom is only potential until we exercise the faith and enter therein. And once more we are reminded that divine things have to be loved in order to be known, to be chosen before we can know them. These potential values and meanings of the spiritual kingdom only become real in response to our exercising faith to bring them into reality. These values are always experienced within our souls prior to their meanings becoming manifest in our minds. After the meanings have appeared in our minds, they also requires faith to grasp them, and to effectively make them apart of our conscious lives.
In the spiritual kingdom there is no room for doubt, doubt is a material quality that is a function of the material world. In the spiritual world, we use faith to validate the things of the spirit. The Father’s spirit reveals all of these values and meanings of truth, beauty, and goodness, the Spirit of Truth interprets them for us before they find lodgement in the mind. Doubt has no place in the spiritual kingdom, because having entered there is no error to be concerned with. Since the spiritual kingdom is purely a matter of values and their translation into meanings, there can be no place for doubt to cast its shadow.
Our guide to the values and meanings of the spiritual kingdom is the Spirit of Truth. This Spirit of Truth ensures us that when it comes to choosing divine values and their meanings that have appeared within our conscious minds, that they are valid. The absence of doubt, and the presence of faith enables us to embrace the divine values and meanings in our souls and minds as soon as they become meaningful. Even in the material world, meanings are only valid if they are meaningful and can be acted upon.
It is somewhat difficult to describe a spiritual value and meaning. We can name the values, but that is not the same thing as knowing them. We must live them in order to know them. The spiritual meanings are constantly increasing in depth, being superimposed upon the old meanings, and this continuous superimposition of new meanings upon old meanings is the growth of spiritual values in our souls, and indicate our degree of compliance with the Father’s eternal command: To be perfect even as He is perfect. Entering into the spiritual kingdom is the decision to be perfect even as the heavenly Father is perfect. Now it may take some time for us to fully realize this perfection, depending upon the growth of our faith, but realization of a thing, and the presence of a thing are not the same thing. A thing can be present whether we realize it or not, just as the divine spirit and the spirit of truth are present in our minds and souls whether we realize it or not.
Hope is another quality that is needful to those who enter the kingdom of heaven. With so many values and meanings to explore, with so much to comprehend in the spiritual kingdom, and with the daunting but joyful prospect of comprehending more and more of these divine values and meanings as we view our present condition in the spirit with the infinity and eternity of divine values and meanings, our souls must be flooded with the illumination of hope. We must have hope as we move from one stage of growth to a higher level, hope that we can actually grasp the divine values of perfection. We can never comprehend the infinity and eternity of divine values and meanings, but our hope drives us on to acquire more and more of them. But the fact that we can never acquire all of these divine values and meanings is not a frustrating experience, but something to look forward to forever. These values and meanings are of such a nature that they evoke feelings of joy and peace and a sense of profound satisfaction in our souls.
They cause us to burst forth with thanksgiving and worship. And this thanksgiving and worship is also a faith indicator that we have recognized the Father’s spirit, and His Spirit of Truth. Otherwise we could not give thanks. We can not give thanks to something that is not real. And though this is a subjective experience, it calls forth an objective response. The objective respond is the character changes, and the changed value system that determine the quality of decisions that we make in the material world. And these decisions influenced by the love and the mercy of the Father and His Son, change the material world.
Trust is another quality that we must be used in the spiritual kingdom. We must trust the Father and His Spirit of Truth as we move around in the spiritual kingdom for without trust in the Father’s goodness and the Son’s Spirit of Truth, we will not advance very far in the spiritual kingdom. We will never depend upon the spiritual values of goodness as the foundation of our souls, and will never trust the divine meanings that the Spirit of Truth interprets and reveals to our minds. The Father and Son are really present within our souls and minds. They are constantly communicating with our souls and minds. In the spiritual world, the communications are personalized, that is the spirit is the thing that needs to be communicated. Therefore the presence of Father’ spirit and the Spirit of Truth are the communication.
These spirits are always with us. They go through life with us and as us, constantly guiding and directing us in the spiritual kingdom. And since they are constantly with us and as us, they can speak through us and as us. When the Father’s Spirit through His Spirit of Truth speaks, we recognize this truth. We recognize the communication by its quality of truth, beauty, and goodness. Since we are conscious of the utterance of truth, we can reflect on it. Such an example of the Father speaking through us was demonstrated when John the Baptist uttered these words while in prison: "This man can do nothing unless it has been given him by his Father in heaven. You well remember that I said, `I am not the Messiah, but I am one sent on before to prepare the way for him.' And that I did. He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom who stands near-by and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This, my joy, therefore is fulfilled. He must increase but I must decrease. I am of this earth and have declared my message. Jesus of Nazareth comes down to the earth from heaven and is above us all. The Son of Man has descended from God, and the words of God he will declare to you. For the Father in heaven gives not the spirit by measure to his own Son. The Father loves his Son and will presently put all things in the hands of this Son. He who believes in the Son has eternal life. And these words which I speak are true and abiding."
When the Father’s Spirit through his Spirit of Truth speaks as us, we are unconscious of this fact. Since the Father is speaking as us, we have no way of comparing it to our other thoughts. These thoughts appear naturally, and we are not conscious that they are from the Father. Our conscious minds do not recognize their significance. We see this demonstrated when a chance meeting years later with someone we spoke to tells us that something we said years ago made a tremendous impression on them. And unless they told you what that something was, you would have no idea as to what you said.
We see an example of the Father speaking as us when the blind man whose eyes Jesus had opened spoke in response to being questioned by members of the Sanhedrin. He said, "Hearken, you who claim to be the teachers of all Israel, while I declare to you that herein is a great marvel since you confess that you know not whence this man is, and yet you know of a certainty, from the testimony which you have heard, that he opened my eyes. We all know that God does not perform such works for the ungodly; that God would do such a thing only at the request of a true worshiper--for one who is holy and righteous. You know that not since the beginning of the world have you ever heard of the opening of the eyes of one who was born blind. Look, then, all of you, upon me and realize what has been done this day in Jerusalem! I tell you, if this man were not from God, he could not do this."
But the most amazing quality of being in the spiritual kingdom is the saturation of the spiritual environment with love. This love permeates all activities within the spiritual kingdom. It is so pervasive that there can be found no standing room for hate, which is the shadow of fear. There is absolute goodwill towards those who enter the kingdom and thus experience it.
This concludes today's message on understanding the meaning of the reality of being in the spiritual kingdom. 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!
Inspirational Messages of Light
By Dr. James Perry
The Reality of Being in the Spiritual Kingdom
