Depression (Independent Fundamental Baptist Preaching, KJV Only)

let's go ahead tonight and take our Bibles over to first Kings chapter number 19 first Kings 19 and I'm going to read just a few verses of scripture tonight and I don't know probably five about five weeks ago we started looking at the life of Elijah and I kind of you know veered a little bit from from then on Sunday mornings but I want to bring him back bring attention to him tonight and talk about a subject that I've been hearing a lot about not just in our church or people that we know but just in society in general and that is the subject of depression the subject of depression and now let's read a few verses and then I'll I'll try to explain what I mean by that all right first Kings chapter number 19 let's stand together for the reading of the word of God and verse number one the Bible says now let's just back up to verse 46 of chapter number 18 now how many how many are familiar with the story of Elijah unmount Carmel I read through this over the last three or four weeks I've probably read through this I don't know half a dozen times and it's it's really an amazing story of what takes place in Chapter number eighteen elijah goes and confronts the false gods of bale and he goes and confronts the 450 prophets of bale that king ahab and jezebel have have instituted in the land of israel and it's it's a great a great story of what takes place where God gets glory God gets honored and he defeats and kills these false prophets but look at verse number 46 the Bible says and the hand of the Lord was on Elijah and he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel and ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done chapter 19 verse 1 and with all he had slain all the prophets with the sword then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah saying oh let the gods do to me and more also if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time so here Jezebel threatens the life of Elijah and basically sends word to Elijah that the Lord do to me in my life also if I don't make your life as one of these slain prophets so basically Jezebel is threatening the life of Elijah and telling him that he is going to die now look what it says in verse number three and when he saw that he arose and went for his life and came to bare Sheba which belonged to Judah and left his servant there but he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree and he requested for himself that he might die and said it is enough now O Lord take away my life for I am NOT better than my father's and as he lay and slept under a juniper tree behold then an angel touched him and said unto Him arise and eat and he looked and behold there was a cake Baken on the coals and a cruse of water at his head and he did eat and drink and laid him down again and the angel of the Lord came again the second time and touched him and said arise and eat because the journey is too great for thee and he arose and did eat and drink and went into the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights and to Horeb the Mount of God and he came thither unto a cave and lodged there and behold the word of the Lord came to him and said unto Him what doest thou here Elijah and he said I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant thrown down thine altars and slain thy prophets with the sword and I even I only M left and they seek my life to take it away you may be seated as I said just a moment ago when you read chapter 18 and I hope that you will take the time this week to go back and read maybe chapter 17 18 and 19 together it really is a remarkable portion of God's Word but in Chapter number 18 we find one of the great victories in all the Bible but when we come to chapter number 19 we read of a different story I mean we find that Elijah who was once standing on Mount Carmel and the power of God and chapter number 19 he's now living with a with a defeated attitude in fact I think we could all say that if we were to describe his actions or describe his attitude and our vernacular we would say that this man looks like he's depressed now when you study the Bible the word depressed is not in the Bible least not that I can find but we do find that the Bible uses words like downcast the Bible uses words discouraged and words like trouble then words like brokenhearted and despair uses words like sorrow and so we find that you know we find that though that kind of attitude is found all throughout the Word of God and I'll show you in just a couple places but I looked up the definition of the word depressed and it just simply means to sink down low it's the sinking of the spirits it's the state of sadness that results in the lack of courage and so to be depressed means that someone's countenance has changed from glad to sad and so I think without a doubt you and I can recognize this tonight that we are living in a time in which many people are dealing with severe depression and that's not just in the life of unbelievers but even in the life of Christians in fact there's not a day that goes by where we don't hear of someone dealing with mental illness and the Bible teaches us that the devil is trying to establish strongholds in the minds of believers now what is a stronghold well if we don't have time to go there tonight but in second Corinthians chapter number 10 the Bible talks about the strongholds that the devil establishes in people's lives and a stronghold has to do with the way that a person thinks because if the devil can get you to think a certain way he can get you to feel a certain way and so a stronghold is a faulty thinking pattern that is based upon lies and deceit and so the devil is trying to control your mind because if he can control your mind he can control your emotions and he can control your actions and so as I began to think about this for a few moments this week I thought about some of the many reasons why Christians fall into depression and by the way not only was Elijah guilty of falling into depression but many of God's choices Saints fell into despair and despair just simply means a state of hopelessness and a state of depression and so there's many reasons for this but sometimes it can be now I'm only talking about for the life of believers all right I'm talking about for the life of Christians but sometimes Christians can fall into despair or Christians can fall into depression because of sin because of sin let me show you what the Bible says here in psalms chapter xxxii holds your place because we're coming right back but go to psalm 32 and psalm 32 and Psalm 51 ought to be read together because we find that this is this is the pastor scripture in which David had sinned with Bathsheba he sinned against God and Psalm chapter 51 shows us why David had lost his joy and then Psalm chapter 32 shows us how David regained his joy and so look what it says in Psalm chapter 32 and I believe it's in verse number verse number three David said when I kept silence my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long for day and night thy heavy was upon me for day and night thy hand was heavy upon me my moisture is turned into the drought of summer now notice the next word the next word is Cielo so whenever you won't read the word Cielo in the Bible that means to take time to think to take time to meditate to take time to pause and to reflect upon what is being said and David said as a result of his sin he had lost his joy and David said his moisture is turned into the drought of summer in other words David cried all the tears that a person could cry Dave had cried a day after day and night after night and had no more strength left to draw tears from his body and David is describing the great remorse and the great sadness that came as a result of his sin now if you are saved you understand that sin there is great severe consequences for unconfessed sin I don't want anybody here to think that you can live without sin I mean eventually at some point in our lives we are going to sin we're going to disobey God in some respects or some way but I want to tell you that when we sin thank God we can go to him and we can confess it and get it right because of the blood of Jesus Christ but when we don't confess it we know what with that sin comes guilt with that sin comes remorse and some of the most miserable people on the earth are not those who are unsaved and live sinfully but are those who are saved and linds live sinfully some of those people people who live with unconfessed sin are some of the most miserable and unhappy people in all the world so sometimes because of our past failures a Christian can live a life of depression I read the other day where a friend of mine posted this he said anxiety comes from the future and depression comes from the past but our strength comes from the present now that's a good quote to think about for just a moment anxiety for most of us comes from things that haven't even happened yet how stupid is that I mean we Fred and we worry about things that may or may not happen and then this man said that depression comes from our past and how many of us have skeletons in our closet if you want to word it that way we have past mistakes and past failures that we can't seem to let go and forget and because of those things we carry with us that guilt and that self condemnation and as a result of that people live without the joy of the Lord and so the Bible teaches us here that David lost his joy he lost his happiness he was living in despair because of his sin sometimes sin brings depression in the life of a believer but there's another reason sometimes it's because of the circumstances of light now this is just human nature isn't it when good things happen to us I mean by nature what happens we're happy isn't that right I mean when when when there's money in the bank and Mama's happy and the kids are healthy guess who's happy dad's happy ain't that right my wife was talking to a lady this week and she's been going through a tough time and she's not feeling well and Rachel's said no look you need to go to the doctor because if Mama's not happy guess who's not happy dad's not happy that's just the way it is how many can say amen to that amen and so just by human nature when our circumstances are favorable when our stur current circumstances of life are good to us then we feel good about ourselves and notice a turn with me just real quickly go to 1st samuel 1st samuel a couple books back first same to chapter number 1 and here's an example of someone's joy someone who is joyful because of favorable circumstances and that was in the life of hannah at 1st samuel chapter number 1 look at verse number 18 and i can't read all the verses for sake of time but you remember that hannah is barren she cannot have a child and back in Bible days people had the thought and the conclusion that if someone was barren it was because they were cursed by God and in verse number 18 Hannah goes to Eli the the priest and Eli says to her in verse 17 then Eli answered go in peace and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou has asked of him and she said let thy handmaid find grace in thy sight so the woman went her way and did eat and her countenance her countenance was no more sad now what is countenance in the Bible I looked up the word countenance and read every time the word countenance is used sometimes it refers to like the the the appearance of a person but but often times that the context seems to suggest that it refers to the spirit of a person or the attitude of a person the Bible talks about a glad countenance the Bible talks about an angry countenance the Bible talks about a sad countenance and so we find what was making her sad was because of these unfavorable circumstances that came in her life and so sometimes when things don't turn out the way that we think they ought to turn out we fall into depression I'm going to call that unrealized expectations you ever had an unrealized expectation I mean when we're young you know we have all these dreams and these ambitions of how our life is going to turn out I mean we think that you know we're going to do this by the time we get to 30 and by the time we get to 40 you know we're going to take another step in our career and by the time we get to 50 we're planning on retiring at an early age at 55 and when things don't turn out the way that we thought or the way that we planned or the way that we hope we have that dissolute that disappointment and that disillusionment because of an unrealistic expectation and there are many people who fall into sadness and great despair because of these unrealistic expectations let me show you a verse in Proverbs and we are coming back to first King so don't lose your place but proverbs chapter 13 proverbs chapter number 13 and look at verse number 12 and this verse this really drives home the point I'm trying to make in proverbs 13 verse 12 are you there say Amen it says this it says Hope deferred make it the heart sing and so the Bible is talking about hope and that word hope is referring to that confident expectation and God says when that hope is deferred it maketh the heart sick and some of you know what I'm talking about you know you get that pit in that stomach you know your your heart kind of sinks it kinds of drops and God says Hope deferred make it the heart sick but when the desire cometh it is a tree of life it is a tree of life and so sometimes you know in life you might have your heart set upon something and when it doesn't come through when it falls through I mean man it just kind of takes the wind out of your sails but the Bible says when the desire cometh the Bible says it's like a tree of life I mean it brings a refreshing spirit within our hearts and our lives and so sometimes people fall into depression because of the circumstances of life bad circumstances just by human nature means that oftentimes we feel bad and good circumstances when good things happen to us boy things make us feel good and so sometimes it's because of sin sometimes it's because of unfavorable circumstances but sometimes it's because of a physiological problem sometimes our depression and our despair is a result of a physical problem that needs to be addressed and Elijah is a good example about that sometimes it's not necessarily a spiritual problem sometimes it's not necessarily because we don't have a you know emotional fortitude sometimes it just comes down to the fact that there is a physical need that needs to be addressed and I want to show you that in just a moment so go back to first Kings chapter number 19 and let me just give you a couple um a couple things here about the life of Elijah and as I said a moment ago now remember the Bible teaches us that Elijah is a man of great faith the Bible teaches us that Elijah is a man of great courage all right I mean he had the courage to go and stand before Jezebel and Ahab and the prophets of bale and and not only that but the Bible teaches us that Elijah was one of the greatest men who knew how to get a hold of God he was a man of Prayer and so when we come to chapter number 19 I want you to look at verse number four and I won't read all of it but you remember at the latter part of the verse Elijah said is enough now O Lord take away my life for I am NOT better than my father's when we come to verse number four Elijah is at the point this great man of God this great Christian he is at the point where he wants to die he's wallowing in a self-pity and says it is enough I'm not better than my father's take away my life I thought about this for just a moment today and I thought about the fact why would God put this in the Bible I mean really God could have cut out this ugly portion of Elijah's life this Elijah's life and nobody would have thought anything about it nobody would have known the difference but God put it into the scriptures why because God wants us to be helped by it and God wants us to know that even for good godly Christian people the reality of depression is real I mean depression is a reality even for good godly people and and something that we all need to be aware of I don't have the time but if you were to go to second Corinthians chapter one and verse number 89 you would find that Paul I believe that Paul at a particular point in his ministry because of the afflictions and the persecutions that he was facing Paul says that he despaired even of life the Bible says concerning Paul who in my mind is the greatest New Testament Christian apart from Jesus Christ who has ever lived Paul said that he had the sentence of death in himself I mean I believe that Paul actually got to the place where he entertained the thoughts of suicide that he was like man I just want to end this thing and go on the glory and so depression could happen even to the best of Christians and in verse number four we find that Elijah was a man who had been obedient to the Lord he had trusted God God had provided his needs he was a man whose prayers had been met whose prayers had been answered if you go back and read chapter number 18 and I hope that you do tonight and read verse number 37 and 38 you're gonna find that his life touched many many people for the glory of God and if anybody would have been immune to depression if we were to take a survey and say who do you think in the Bible would fall to depression Elijah would be the last person on the list but yet Elijah came to this place of great despair you know why and I believe this is why God put it in the book for us is because no one is immune from despair no one is immune from depression and even those whose life bears the working and the the work of God in their midst the reality of depression is real and so the first thing I wanted you to see is the reality of depression but number two notice the reason reasons for his depression now let me just say this I am not qualified to talk about why everybody and anybody falls to depression I'm not qualified to do that I'm not a you know the only thing that I can do is look into the Word of God and we can look through the life of Elijah and other places throughout the Word of God and we can see what God says about this particular issue but I don't have all the answers for everyone's cases and everyone's problems I don't have all the answers but the Word of God does and I want to just look at a couple things from this passage about what brought the reasons for Elijah's depression all right first of all let me say this Elijah's despair came after a great victory now in Chapter number eighteen I've already mentioned this but it's one of the great chapters in the Bible I mean you can't help if you're a Bible believer you can't help but get fired up when you read chapter number 18 and you see that the power of God fell God's fire came DUP and burned up that altar and rethread you don't know what I'm talking about and but right after a great victory and I think it's worth mentioning that that it came right after a time of Prayer a God brings down the rain in the latter part of verse number 18 and what I'm saying is this is that we as God's people we need to be careful about letting our guard down spiritually after seasons of victories that God gives to us because you know what I have found I have found that after the blessings comes the barrenness you see God has designed the Christian life for us to live by faith and trust God and depend upon him and God doesn't always keep us up here on the mountaintop experiences does he know God often blesses our lives but God does bring seasons of barrenness God does bring times of wilderness God does bring times of of times in which we need to fall upon God and prayer and trust him and if we're not careful we'll get our eyes off for the Lord during the barren times and we'll start putting them on the circumstances and we'll fall into despair and so I think it's worthy to note that his depression his despair came right after a time of great victory but I want you to see something in verse number three his despair came when he isolated himself look at verse number three the Bible says when he saw that referring to the messenger and the message that Jezebel said concerning the taking of his life the Bible says when he saw that he arose and went for his life and came to bare Sheba which belong it to Judah now notice what it says and left his servant there look at verse number four but he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness now what we find here in the life of Elijah that Elijah is going through this dark period of his life alone let me just say this there are times in life and which it is good to be alone in fact I believe that there are some times in life in which we need to we need to organize and schedule for us to have some time alone with God you know so often we get you know so caught up in the busyness and the hustle and bustle of life and society that we don't take that time that we need to be alone with God to think and to meditate and to read his word and to pray and spend time with the Lord but let me just tell you what the Bible says the Bible says that it is not good for man to be alone God created man for the purpose of fellowship God created man as a relational being and so God it's not God's plan and God's purpose for people to be alone there are times in which we need to be surrounded by people people are so important to our life that's why it's so important that we establish strong relationships and and and we establish strong friendships with one another because friends can help even in the darkest of days and an encouraging word goes a long ways in that right a helpful action can lift ones spirits when you're down I mean it's a good thing to be reminded about the fact that sometimes somebody is going to need your encouragement and sometimes you're going to need someone else's encouragement you need people and people need you now turn with me I hold your place I want you to see this first go to because this verse is quoted so often and I think that we have misunderstood it just a little bit but go to proverbs chapter number 27 proverbs chapter 27 and verse number 17 and read with me what God says here about a friend the Bible says in proverbs 27:17 are you there iron sharpening iron so a man sharpen it the conduct of his friend did I get that right Tom was like what's going on here I fold them good amen now that's not what it says but that is how we interpret that verse I mean that's kind of how I've interpreted over down through the years is that you know we need good friends because you know a friend will make you a better person and so we've kind of looked at that verse where the Bible says iron sharpens iron so a man sharpen it and we often think the conduct of his friend that's not what God says God says iron sharpens iron so a man sharpen a--the now notice the countenance of his friend the countenance of his friend so what does that mean well that means that I mean just like you know iron is needed iron needs iron to make it stronger and better I mean we need one another why because sometimes we need encouragement sometimes we need a lifting of the spirits sometimes we need some instruction to some guidance and a friend is there to help us even in the low times I've said this before but I'm so thankful that God has given me my wife amen and I know my wife loves me because she can sit and listen to me preach week in and week out and and knowing all my failures and all my my faults I mean it's not that long of a list but she knows them all I had the throw that went in there it's a long list and I'm so thankful that God has given me a lifelong friend a lifelong partner a lifelong wife so that we can help one another she helps my countenance and so sometimes look the reason why one of the reasons for Elijah's despair and Elijah is the president's that he cut himself off from all those around him he cut himself off from a servant and back in Bible days man a servant you remember a little bit later on that Elijah became the servant of Elijah servant was a trusted friend a trusted person to to help you along life's journeys and and and Elijah isolated himself and cut himself off from everyone he knew and everyone Brent's can I tell you that that's one of the signs that you're falling into depression is when you cut yourself off from others you may not have the ability to physically cut yourself off from those that you love but you can build up walls of isolation mentally and emotionally can't you husbands and wives this happens all the time when you're going through a down time or a hard time and you're not wanting to talk about things you can build up those walls of isolation and that's what Elijah did he isolated himself and sometimes my friends the reasons for depression comes from from isolating ourselves from others but notice something else in verse number 10 sometimes depression comes because we wallow in our self-pity look what it says in verse number 10 God reveals himself to Elijah and Elijah says in verse number 10 I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts for the children of Israel have forsaken the Covenant throw down on altars and slain thy prophets with the sword and I even I only am left and they seek my life to take it notice three times in this verse Elijah says I I I Elijah says man I've been very jealous for the LORD thy God he says man I'm doing everything I know to do man I'm taking a stand and I'm I'm standing up for what is right and I'm preaching the truth and I'm only I'm the only one left nobody else is helping me and and Elijah saw himself as a failure and essence what he's saying in verse number 10 he says man I'm trying as hard as I can and no one else is helping me he says I failed hell I just wallowing in his self-pity and can I just remind you that later God reveals to Elijah that his life was anything but a failure God later reveals to Elijah that there were seven thousand people who had not bowed their knee to bail and Elijah did not realize what was going on outside of his bubble outside of his sphere of influence he didn't understand that God was at work in areas that he could not see so sometimes we think that our life doesn't matter sometimes we think that no one is really being affected by my influence and by my life and by by our actions but the truth of the matter is is that people are being affected in areas that we cannot see and so we find here in verse number 10 that Elijah was depressed because of wallowing in his own self-pity but also in verse number three notice he was depressed because of fear look what it says when he saw that he arose and went for his life he was running away from Queen Jezebel because a woman had threatened his life I don't mean this to you know to belittle any of the ladies that are in this room but Elijah was a man of God and he allowed a woman to intimidate in Elijah is running from his life he's running in fear there were times when when Elijah had faced dangerous circumstances but Elijah had great faith in God and can I tell you that the reason why he had great despair because he allowed fear to come and replace his faith and whenever we allow fear to replace our faith you're always going to head in a downward direction because fear will make us faith less but look at something else not only was there there self-pity not only was there fear not only was there isolation but notice if you would carefully there was fatigue now look back at verse number 40 of chapter number 18 the Bible says and Elijah said unto them take the prophets of bail let not one of them escape and they took them in a hide you brought them down to the brook Kishon and slew them there Elisha killed 450 prophets of bail I've never killed a man but I can imagine that take a lot of energy just to kill one man look what the Bible says down in verse number 46 the Bible says in the hand of the Lord was on Elijah and he girded up his law and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel so Elijah not only killed these 450 prophets of Bale but Elijah ran down from Mount Carmel to Jezreel from what I can understand in my Bible dictionary Bible geography dictionaries from from Mount Carmel to Jezreel was about a 20 mile span and then not only that but look what it says in verse number verse number three it says and when he saw that he arose and went for his life and came to bear Sheba which belonged to Judah and left his servants there so he went from Jezreel to bear Sheba which was almost a hundred mile journey about 90 miles and then the Bible says in verse number four that he went a day's journey into the wilderness and if I understand the Bible correctly a day's journey is somewhere from about 20 to 30 miles for an adult male to make and so here we find that Elijah comes to verse number four and he is just physically fatigued he is just physically worn out and not only was he fatigued physically but he was fatigued mentally I mean look what it says in verse number two he receives the news that that Jezebel and her armies are going to try to kill him and that would wear anybody out mentally thinking that there were people coming to take his life he was fatigued emotionally look what it says in verse number 10 and verse number 14 I don't have the time to read all of it but Elijah says I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts I mean think about what Elijah is going through he says look at least in the mind of Elijah he cared for the cause of God when nobody else cared for the cause of God now we know that there were 7,000 men who had not bowed down not bowed their knee to bail but an Elijah's mind he was the only one standing he was the only one caring he was the only one doing something for God and friends can I tell you that emotionally it is fatiguing when when when a man of God stands for something and nobody else does this holy is fatigued emotionally he's fatigued mentally he's fatigued spiritually he's fatigued physically and so what does God do for him during this time look at verse number five that's what the Bible says and as he lay and slept under a juniper tree behold then an angel touched him and said unto Him arise and now let me just say this that people who deal with depression I'm not saying that all of the answers for your depression can be found here in Chapter number nineteen I'm not saying that but I am saying that all of your answers for depression can be found in God and in God's Word now let me show you a verse before I go any farther when we're just about done but go to Psalm chapter 43 and I've read this first I don't know how many times and I read it the other day and it's stuck out of my mind and it's what caused me to really want to preach on this subject but really in 42 11 and 43 5 the same exact verse is given the same exact verse in two different chapters but we'll just read Psalm chapter 43 verse 5 are you there I want you to see it David is writing and David says why art thou cast down O my soul why art thou disquieted within me have you ever asked that question before David did David was a man after God's own heart and you read through the songs and read some of the emotional roller coasters that David went through in his life in his ministry mean for 15 years of his life David was on the run from King saw running in the wilderness living in caves and separated from his family and the man that he honored the man that he fought for the man that he served turned against him and wanted to kill him and Dave and all writes about his emotions and the despair and the helplessness that he felt and david says in verse number five why art thou cast down on my soul and why art this doubt disquieted within me hope in God for I shall yet praise him now notice what he says about the Lord who is the health of my countenance and my god you see you may have a sad countenance tonight you may be dealing with some some past failures and some unrealistic expectations and you may be going through a season of barrenness and maybe there's guilt and whatever the case might be it may be a time in which your countenance is sad can I tell you that in God and in God's word there's health for your countenance and so go back to chapter number 19 let me just give you three small things three simple truths that can help you and I want you to notice before I give you verse number five and try to tell you in which the ways that God dealt with Elijah I want to tell you first of all God did not deal with Elijah in the way that you and I might deal with someone who's dealing with depression you know how we deal with someone at times who causes our patients to grow thin we lash out at them we rebuke them we tell them what's wrong with you we tell them to get a grip but that's not how God dealt with Elijah God dealt with Elijah with some patience God dealt with Elijah and loving-kindness God dealt with Elijah by nurturing him and notice what it says here in verse number five it says this and he as he referring to Elijah lay asleep and slept under a juniper tree behold then an angel touched him and said unto Him arise and eat and he looked and behold there was a cake Baken on the coals and a cruse of water at his head and he did eat and drink and laid him down again there's three things that God did for Elijah God gave Elijah some food God gave Elijah some drink and God gave Elijah some sleep do you know what God did before God addressed the spiritual needs an Elijah's life God addressed the physical needs because Elijah was so worn out physically and so worn out mentally and emotionally that God took some time to deal with the physical issues of his life and look I'm not a doctor I know nothing about the body you know physiology and all that type of thing the anatomy of the body I know nothing but I do know this that sometimes your emotions can be affected by the way you care for your body sometimes look sometimes your depression might be because you know maybe your sleep is not right maybe there's a deficiency of vitamins in some particular area your life maybe there's an imbalance diet I don't know but I'm simply saying this is that maybe you need to go to a good doctor who understands the body I'm not talking listen I've been to doctors where they have looked up on week on the computer what the diagnosis was I mean I've seen them do it they go to the computer and they google what some of the symptoms are and then they come back and they tell you well it could be this it could be this or could be this you need to find yourself a good man a good woman someone who knows the body well who understands how the body works who understands how God has created the body and how different things in this God's creation can help the body because sometimes my friends there there's a problem on the physical aspect go to numbers let me show you this example here in the life of Moses numbers chapter number 11 numbers chapter number 11 Moses Moses was a great leader probably one of the greatest leaders in the Bible and the Bible says that Moses was one of the meekest men in all the Bible but meekness doesn't mean weakness he was a man's man he was a leader of men and he led two to three million Jews out of Egypt into the wilderness but the load got too much for him notice what Moses says in verse number 11 he says this excuse me chapter 11 verse 14 chapter 11 verse 14 I am NOT able to bear all this people alone because it is too heavy for me by the way look Moses was man enough to admit when he needed help you know oftentimes and I you know I don't know this to be true with the ladies perhaps it is but I just know being a man that sometimes it's hard for us to admit that we have a problem to admit that we need help to admit that we can't handle what we're dealing with Moses who is the greatest leader of men was able to go to God and say God this is too much for me I can't do it and look what it says in verse number 15 and if thou dealed thus with me kill me I pray thee out of thy hand if I have found favor in thy sight and let me not see my wretchedness and look at verse 16 and the Lord said unto Moses gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people and officers over them and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation that they may stand there with thee and I will come down and talk with thee there and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee and will put it upon them and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee that thou bear it not thyself alone here was a man that had a workload that was too much upon him it was going to kill him and Moses needed some time to rest and to retreat and I'm thankful my friends that in times of life that God gives us sometimes to refresh and maybe some of your depression maybe you have too busy of a workload and look I'm all for hard work the Bible says a man doesn't work a man doesn't eat and I'm for doing whatever a man has to do to provide for his family but I also recognize and understand that the Bible teaches us that God rested on the seventh day and God put that principle in practice because God understands the principle of resting your bodies and caring for your bodies but not only did God address his physical needs very quickly God addressed his spiritual needs look at chapter 19 and verse number nine and I'll say this very quickly and he came to their unto a cave and Lodge there and behold the word of the Lord came to him you know God revealed himself through his word now look God does the same exact thing today the only difference is that God does not reveal himself in an audible voice but God does reveal himself through his word God has given us his word and the King James Bible amen and if you'll go to the King James Bible and if you'll open up your hearts to God's Word and say God I need you to speak to me I need you to help me from your word God will reveal himself and give you the the nutrition that you need spiritually because the Word of God is our food spiritually speaking I mean how many of us how well would we feel physically if we skip breakfast lunch and dinner for the entire week and at the end of the week we would be physically drained our strength would be depleted we would have no nutrition well how can we as a child of God as a spiritual being how can we as God's people have the strength and the health that we need spiritually without the Word of God when was the last time you memorize the Word of God you've read the Word of God you study the Word of God you feast it upon the Word of God you need God's Word because God's Word prayer God's Word takes care of our spiritual needs look what it says in verse number 15 notice God addressed his physical needs God dressed his spiritual needs and look what it says in verse number 15 and the Lord said unto him go return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus and when thou comest anoint hey ZL to be king over Syria look here's what God did for Elijah God said Elisha go to sleep lied went to sleep woke up he gave him some food he gave him some water he said Elisha go back to sleep went back to sleep he woke up God gave him some food and God gave him some water God revealed himself to Elijah through his word God gave him his spiritual nutrition and then God reminds Elijah about an important truth that all of us need to think about as we leave here tonight God allowed Elijah to realize how important Elijah was in the plan of God God said Elijah get back to work so many times we fall into depression because we think that our lives haven't amounted to much that our lives are not really worth that much that we have little value that we're not making a difference that we have no impact on the lives of others around us but the truth of the matter was is that Elijah came to God and said of God I'm ready to die just take away my life and God said nope I'm not done with you yet God put him to sleep gave him some food gave him some drink got him up or put him back to sleep gave him some food gave some drink God gave him his word God said Elijah go back out and work in other words God is saying to Elijah Elisha as long as you have breath in your body as long as you are living on planet Earth I have a plan I have a purpose for your life now look the day is going to come when God takes you out of here because the day is going to come when God says I'm through with you you got you can come home to glory but until God does that as long as you have a heartbeat in your body you have a purpose in the plan and the will of God God says to Elijah it's time to go down to Syria and anoint a man who's going to be king there go do your job friends can I tell you a mother's look your job is never done your kids may be old and grown and out of the house you're still a mother you're still a grandmother you still have a job you still have a purpose fathers you still have a wife to care for wives you still have a husband to to love and stand by you still have purpose you still have value there's still souls to be saved there's still prayers to be made there's still people to be influenced there's lives to be impacted and as long as you have breath you have a purpose in this world so look if you're dealing with depression I would say for all of us that we need to get our our eyes off of our present circumstances start putting them on the greater purposes of life and what God would have us to do and you might be discouraged tonight you might and however you want to say a discouraged to spare downcast troubled I mean we understand it as depression in our society today I'm here to tell you some of the greatest people in the Bible dealt with it but they didn't give up they kept pushing through they realized God had a plan of purpose and I would say to you look don't give up don't give up stay the course stay true to God God will bring you through it just like he did with Elijah a man I mean Elijah was at the point where he said to us let's just end it right now God said no if they're still applying the purpose of your life

Channel: Bible Baptist Church of Clementon, NJ

Views: 4,320

Rating: 4.775281 out of 5

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Id: e5sZL-q7u7M

Length: 49min 18sec (2958 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 22 2018