The Dark Night of The Soul Part 2

Intro: You you have been so lucky as to never have had spiritual depression, you can count yourself spared of a real trouble in the life of a Christian, but I’m also sure you are tried in different ways. The Lord sends His people through tons of different trials depending on the person. But for those who have been through spiritual depression, it becomes of season of a spiritual Sahara level dryness. One that makes you feel cast from the warmth of the presence of God

Reasons For Spiritual Depression

Sin

unrepentant sin

you’re own conscience

you can feel it gnawing at you

the last thing you want is to silence it

Keep your conscience sensitive and alert.

John Owen

God’s Discipline (Hebrews 12:4-11)

a sign of Gods love, not hatred

Constant failure in the battle against sin, even when repented of can leave you feeling debilitated

look to Christ

Doubt

the devils greatest weapon sometimes is doubt

Doubt that God loves you

If the devil can convince you that you don't serve a loving God or that He no longer loves you, then giving him up will be that much easier

Doubt that God can keep forgiving you

Spiritual depression or unhappiness in the Christian life is very often due to our failure to realize the greatness of the Gospel.

Spiritual Depression, 34

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Doubt that Gods default disposition to you is one of mercy

Eph 2:4.

πλούσιος - rich, in abundance of, wealthy,

Doubt that you are part of His family

a child having to prove himself to his father that he’s part of the family

Remedy’s For Spiritual Depression

Know That God is Not Oblivious

Psalm 34:18

God is with you in the pain, God is with you in the sorrow, God is guiding you through the darkness , God is preparing the way for you even while you cannot see it. Gods heart toward you is one of unlimited, unconditioned, uncontainable mercy. He feels your heart condition in a way you yourself do not feel it. His care for you is greater than your care for yourself. His concern for your spiritual advancement is greater than your own concern for it. He is not oblivious too the darkness that surrounds you, rather he steps in the midst of it, carrying you along the way to safer pastures. And when that first break of light pierces your eyes as you walk out that darkness, you can see clearly the one who has been holding you up the whole way, even though in the darkness you could not see him. God is not oblivious, He is the great caretaker of our souls, one who will never cast us out, one who delights to draw near to you in your darkness and does not separates himself from you in it. That is where He does His best work, in order to pull you out of it.

Know That Jesus Suffered More

more than we could ever imagine

Gentle and Lowly Quote (He first quotes BB Warfield) “In the presence of mental anguish, the physical tortures of the crucifixion retire into the background, and we may believe that our Lord, though he died on the cross, yet died not of the cross, but, as we commonly say, of a broken heart.”

“When communion with God had been one’s oxygen, one’s meat and drink, throughout one’s whole life, without a single moment of interruption by sin - to suddenly bear the unspeakable weight of all our sins? Who could survive that? To lose that depth of communion was to die. The great love at the heart of the universe was being rent in two. The world’s Light was going out.”

Keep Going!

One of the most effective things a Christian can do while trudging through their season of Spiritual depression is to keep your feet moving. Keep trudging through the swamp and you will notice that the more you keep moving the waters and muck of depression will recede as you make it to solid ground. You may start off up to your waist in it but if you keep watch and keep moving you will notice the levels of muck getting lower and lower. Keep your eyes focused on the shore, where Jesus is in sweet delight to see you even though hes been there with you the whole time. Keep living the Christian life, keep yourself drenched in the Word of God, keep prayer as a trusty sword by your side and you will make it through. Just keep focused on working for Jesus and don't focus on how much depression you are stuck in.

To have something to do for Jesus, and to go right on with it, is one of the best ways to get over a bereavement, or any heavy mental depression. If you can pursue some great object, you will not feel that you are living for nothing.

We Endeavor, Page 81

Charles Spurgeon