Posts Tagged ‘unbelief’

That One Sin!

Posted in Bible Study, Christian Living, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 28, 2016| 1 Comment »

 

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Spiritual Depression: #3 “That One Sin,” a sermon by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

 

 

Are you an unhappy Christian?  We aren’t meant to be that way you know.  But, many are that’s for sure. Why is that?  Do you sometimes feel like David in Psalms 42:5.

 Psa 42:5a KJV Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me?

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says, “The moment we become Christians we become very special objects of the devil.”

This is true and it is one reason why we get down and depressed. The devil begins to work in our minds and tries to make us ineffective for the work of Christ.

Are you suffering greatly because of something in your past?  I mean before you even became a Christian?  There might be something that you did, and you keep going over it to try to figure the whole mess out.  Or, it might be something you said to someone that haunts you even to today.  Maybe you made a promise to God that if he answered a certain prayer of yours that you would do something in return, and you didn’t keep your promise.  The devil likes this.  He has us right where he wants us.

When our countenance is gloomy, and we look like we just sucked on a dill pickle we are not a very good example of what a Christian is to unbelievers.  We need to be aware of that and be a good example for Christ’s sake.

You need to listen to this sermon as Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains why this happens to us.  We need a right understanding of what happened at salvation.  He helps us understand why our past sins should not affect our moods today.  We can be joyful in the Lord!

For myself, yes, I do get down at times.  But, I don’t stay there.  I know what Christ has done for me by dying on the cross for my sins.  Those, by the way, are past, present, and future sins.  That is a mystery to me, but it is what the Bible says and I believe it.  I’ve noticed that past events of my life come into my mind and truthfully I do have many regrets.  But, I’ve learned not to dwell on them. When I find myself doing that I have to rush to God and ask Him to help me change my thoughts.  I have to focus on how wonderful He is and what great things He has done for me.  I have to praise Him!  For me it is good to start thinking about what I’m thankful for.  I begin with my salvation and then it goes on and on from there.  Soon I am no longer down at heart, but my spirit is lifted up to the heavens.

If you are a Christian but not really happy please listen to this sermon.  There is so much good teaching in it and it will help you understand why you are not happy.

 

 

 

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Depressed Christians

Posted in Anxiety & Stress, Bible Study, Christian Living, tagged , , , , , , on January 14, 2016| 2 Comments »

Spiritual Depression #1  “General Consideration,” by  Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones.  This is a series of sermons given by Dr. Lloyd-Jones back in the fifties.  To make it easier for you to follow I’m putting at the top of my posts the lesson number, title and author.  I’m doing this because I am also featuring some sermons by my pastor and I don’t want to confuse you.  My thoughts are below.

 

Are you a Christian?  Are you depressed?  Do you think that Christians should get depressed?

psalm34_18Or, do you think we should be joyful all the time?  Some Christians think we should run around with a big smile on our face no matter what.  It is my opinion that Christians do get depressed at times because we are human, and that we can be overcomers of depression because we have the Lord.  I know fellow believers who battle depression.  In fact, I know quite of few of them. I also find myself depressed or feeling down at times, and I don’t like it.  Lately, I’ve had many issues in my life and I sometimes find myself getting really gloomy, and feel like a big weight is on my shoulders.  That reminds me of  scripture:

Mat 11:28-30 KJV Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (30) For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Jesus is calling me to give him my burdens and He will carry them for me.  Isn’t that wonderful?  He will do that for us.

Recently, I came across a series of sermons by Martyn Lloyd-Jones given back in the mid-fifties called, “Spiritual Depression.”  I thought it might be helpful to listen to these 24  sermons and see what I can glean from them. Why don’t you join me?

I just listened to the first one, but the audio was not very good at all.  It was difficult to hear so I used my ear buds and that helped some.  Hopefully, the next one will be easier to listen to. You can listen if you wish by clicking on the bar below. Then, it would be awesome if you would share your thoughts in the comment section of this post.

There is also a book you can purchase with these sermons.  Here is a link to that: Spiritual Depression: It’s Causes and It’s Cure

The first sermon, “General Consideration,” is actually an introduction to this series.  It is based on Psalm 42:5.

Psalm 42:5   KJV Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

The first thing that jumps out to me is that David sounds depressed.  So, I see that men of God got depressed.  We are not so different. In this Psalm David is having a conversation with his own soul.  He is actually talking to himself, and asking his soul why it is so down. He asks why he is not at peace. Then he tells his soul to hope in God.  Isn’t that where we need to put our hope? And he says he will praise God.

So, in a nutshell we can see that David became depressed in his lifetime.  He had to have a talk with his soul, and get himself back on the right track.  I have to do that myself at times.  This is a good illustration of how David handled his depression.

In this first sermon Martyn Lloyd Jones talks about the general causes of Christians becoming depressed.  They are temperament, (introvert or extrovert) physical conditions, and reactions.  With the primary cause being unbelief.

My takeaway:  The devil uses our “self” in order to depress us.  We must take control.

Hope you enjoy this study along with me.

 

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