Untitled Sermon (4)

Cure for Spiritual DepressionPsalm 42-43Chair Bible: 469Read Psalm 43“We are considering the subject not only because it is sad and tragic that any Christian should ever be miserable, but because of the whole state of the church today. I have no hesitation in asserting again that one of the reasons why the Christian Church counts for so little in the modern world is that so many Christians are in this condition.” (Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression, 37)Main Idea: The cure for spiritual depression lies in trusting the LORD and proclaiming the gospel to yourself instead of listening to yourself. Clinical depression is an ongoing, progressively increasing state of major depression with multiple symptoms requiring medical treatmentSpiritual Depression is the result of unbelief evidenced by either dejection, discontentment, bondage, and/or the lack of joy.

Why are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you in turmoil within me?

First step to a cure is acknowledging a cast down soul. The psalmist is questioning himself.What is the ongoing cure for recurring spiritual depression?Note 2 things in my question…Ongoing cureRecurring spiritual depressionIllus: not a pill or a shot to get over it. May mask it but you will not get over it. Salvation experience followed by a season of spiritual strength. Expectation can become that we live in this place of spiritual high continually. When confronted with realities and difficulties, discouragement and spiritual depression often sets in. Flipside...the you'll get over it crowd who lives in the doldrums of Christian experience. (and ministry) That is not what we are talking about either.Ongoing cure for recurring spiritual depression. Preach the gospel to yourself....summed up in this simple phrase “hope in God, for I will again praise Him, my salvation, and my God.

Hope in God for who He is.

Hope in God imperative.

“look forward to or wait for God (elohim--the One who originated and rules the universe)” We must reject our own mental creation of who we think God is…We must move beyond platitudinal Christianity. (God is good all the time and all the time God is good)The one True God has made himself known through the Word and the Word made flesh...

​Isaiah 40:28–29 ESV28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

“Everlasting”“Creator”“He does not faint” omnipotent He gives power to the faint.“His understanding is unsearchable” omniscient.The overarching purpose and message of the Bible is to disclose who God is…

John White, a Christian psychiatrist, wrote in his book The Masks of Melancholy,

Years ago when I was seriously depressed, the thing that saved my sanity was a dry as dust grappling with Hosea's prophecy. I spent weeks, morning by morning, making meticulous notes, checking historical allusions in the text, and slowly I began to sense the ground under my feet growing steadily firmer. I knew without any doubt that healing was springing from my struggle to grasp the meaning of the passage. If sufferers have any ability to concentrate they should do solid inductive Bible study rather than devotional reading because in the most depressed people a devotional reading is stopped altogether or degenerated into something unhealthy and unhelpful. (Keller, Walking with God through Pain and Suffering, 290)

When we give ourselves to study of the Scripture and place ourselves under expository teaching of the Bible then we come to grasp more and more over time who God is…Illus: Pastoring, particularly the early years…consider moving elsewhere, go to the Word. 1 & 2 Timothy...1 TIm. 1:3 “as I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus…, 2 Tim. 1:7 “for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-control…Over time my dealings with my struggles have become more steady as my understanding of who God is has unfolded from Scripture...summed up in

​Romans 1:1–4 ESVPaul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

move from gospel of God to v. 4 declared to be the Son of God...We hope in the One who is raised from the dead. Jesus Christ our Lord....we...

Hope in God for what He has done and has promised to do through Christ.

Hope in God my salvation

​Titus 3:4–7 ESV4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Justification is the gracious act of God by which God declares a sinner righteous solely through faith in Jesus Christ. (Platt, Merida, p. 45) Why do we need to be reminded of justification?...Lloyd-Jones makes clear in his book Spiritual Depression one of the main root causes of spiritual depression is a lack of understanding of salvation.Need to be reminded for 2 reasons…We are sinners who cannot save themselves. (must be convicted of and confess our sin to God) We will only be driven to salvation in Christ through the conviction and confession of our sin.I am a sinner before God. I am not a sinner on the basis of comparison with you. (--those of us in ministry never think we are superior to others—Ha!)Christ is the only way to salvation. When we confess our sin and trust in Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross and resurrection from the dead… “God gives us his own Son’s righteousness. He imputes Christ’s righteousness to us who believe in Him, and regards us as righteous, and declares and pronounces us righteous in Him.” (Lloyd-Jones, 33)

The essence of Christian salvation is to say that He is good enough and that I am in Him. ~Lloyd Jones

Union with Christ: we are in Christ. Recognizing who we are in Christ, hard to remain in spiritual depression

​Ephesians 1:3–14 ESV3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

guarantee of our inheritance...

Hope in God for bringing you into a lasting relationship with Him through Christ.

my God Does not mean that He is owned by me and defined by me. Means that I am in a relationship with Him.

​Romans 8:12–17 ESV12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

2 dominant truths in this text dealing with spiritual depression…Cry to Him(v. 15)…Why? We are his sons and daughters. He resides in us and gives us life.

​Romans 8:11 ESV11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

2. Heirs…We are his now and forever. He abundantly provides for his own. acknowledgment of suffering now and the hope to come.

​Romans 8:18 ESV18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

So...

Hope in God for what is to come.

for I shall again praise him

Praise him again now...Illus: people in extreme circumstances...Richard Littlejohn who just released from hospital sitting in a wheelchair in the surgery waiting as his wife is being attended to praising God that she stopped at their place of business on the way to get him where she collapsed and was kept alive by her daughter and son in law until EMT's arrived. Email this week from a brother who has suffered greatly with depression...praising God

​Romans 16:25–27 ESV25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

“able to strengthen you according to my gospel...”For how long? Until we praise him for all eternity where there will be no pain, crying, or spiritual depression.Until then...Until then with joy I'll carry onUntil the day my eyes behold my SaviourUntil the day God calls me home

So What?

Am I trusting the LORD and proclaiming the gospel to myself?

​Mark 9:24 ESV24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

Honest confession...prayer for the spiritually depressed and struggling who are informed by the Word of God...Corporate prayer through song...When I fear my faith will fail Christ will hold me fast When the tempter would prevail He will hold me fast I could never keep my hold Through life's fearful path For my love is often cold He must hold me fast. Prayer: Eph. 3:14-19 END