Introduction
More than once in my life I have tried to tell a new Christian that, though they were on a spiritual "high" after excepting Christ, to dwell not on the warm feelings of relief and happiness, but to begin studying the Word of God. I've tried to explain that the average Christian remains on the natural high of experiencing the New Birth for only about a year before that feeling wanes. I've also tried to explain that, while they are on this emotional high, to concentrate on studying the Word of God, concentrate on applying it to their lives. Learn and grow, this is the Christian way of life. However, so many times new Christians will ask something like, "Why doesn't the emotional high stay? Why will it go away?". My only answer is, "Because it's human nature". It is human nature to be ecstatic (emotionally so) when you finally purchase a new car. Remember that new car? You were so careful to keep any dirt out of it. You bought only the finest carnuba waxes, rubbed polish on the interior fabric, treated it to an oil change every time the dipstick showed even the slightest bit of oil missing. But after the first year it became a part of the family, a little rumpled, and you no longer cared if anyone got in it with muddy boots. To the Christian, the relationship that he builds between himself and His Father in heaven is a lot like that car. When we're first saved we're on that emotional high, but as we settle into the relationship we become quieter, more at home with the Lord. That is, that's the case with believers who stay in the Word, studying it's precepts daily while applying them to their lives. Other Christians, on losing that emotional high, seek Church bodies that will satisfy their sensual cravings. They follow after the Charismatic, Laughter movements like it was the Holy Grail of union to God. Rather than study the Word they seek new ecstasies, new experiences. One of the fastest growing types of Christian sites on the Internet today are the "Prophecy" sites. No, not Bible prophecy, but sites created by Believers who feel that God has given them another prophetic word outside of God's Word. These sites are all over the place, and the writings are a mish mash of the alphabet that do nothing to promote that which we "know" God told us. When the ecstasy is gone, when the experience cannot be re-created, if the Believer has failed in studying the One True Word of God, the Holy Bible, "Spiritual depression" usually sets in. What causes spiritual depression? That's what we're going to focus on in this study. Can we agree on one thing? "A depressed Christian is a poor advertisement for the doctrine of Jesus Christ". Realistically and Biblically the two words "depressed" and "Christian" do not go hand in hand. Many preachers today mistakenly try to tell their congregations only the "lighter side" of Bible doctrine. They only want to tell their sheep the things that the sheep want to hear, not the things the sheep "need" to hear. Isaiah talked about these type of preachers:
The pastor who speaks only the sweet things to his congregation actually adds fuel to the fire of unbelief amongst the members of the Body. When the physical head of the Body whispers only sweet nothings to the congregation, the congregation fails to grow in grace. For this cause many Church members in our present day believe in God as either a Force without personality, or swing in the other direction and see God as a celestial "Big Brother". When this "Force" or "Big Brother" fails to help solve our problems at a moment's notice, many lose the faith and feel that there is no God. Others fall under "spiritual depression". All The Time? There is the school of thought among unbelievers (and some believers) that unless the Christian is happy all the time, "then his faith is in vain". This school of thought fails to acknowledge that there are differences in temperament in all humans, whether Christian or unChristian. No one walks around with a smile of happiness from ear to ear at all times (no one except the insane). Spurgeon, that Great Minister of the Gospel, suffered from attacks of gout so bad that he was often depressed. Yet his depression was due to physical ailments, not due to faithlessness in God or His Word. Muriel, another Great Minister, had arthritis so advanced that he started taking medication to combat the pain. At one point he became addicted to the medication. When his friends found out they accused him of being a "dope fiend", which caused depression to set in. Yet again, the cause of his depression wasn't a lack of faith, but attacks by the physical world. The "ultimate cause" of emotional depression among Christians "is a lack of faith in their Father, and a lack of application of His Word". If we fail to apply the teachings of the Word of God emotional depression becomes easier to fall prey to, and that much more fatal to our spiritual lives when it hits. Paul told the Galatians:
"The Christian way of Life with it's resultant peace and inner happiness does not come by the operation of Law or Rule, but by faith and trust in that which God has given us through His Word." We must trust our very being to the Father and to the filling of His Spirit, not to man-made rules and regulations. The "devilish doctrine" teaches that Believers are under a set of rules and laws, that we did not come out from under the Law but are still chained by it's precepts. The "devilish doctrine" teaches that, that which was begun in Grace, is now only retained by following a set of Laws. The "devilish doctrine" teaches that Grace alone does not save, but that the formula for salvation is "Grace + Arbitrary Works". The Galatians fell into the false doctrine traps of the legalists and, in so doing, opened a doorway to "spiritual depression". False teaching like an armed hand grenade is evident among all Christian denominations. The Methodist Theologian Heartnes stated: "But this is not to say that every word or passage in the Bible comes directly from God and is therefore not to be questioned... Many of their [the Biblical writers] erroneous ideas got mixed in with the truth that came to them from God. In the day when any science was unheard of it was inevitable that unscientific ideas would appear in the writings. You cannot expect to find in the Old Testament all the ethical high insights of Jesus. When descriptions of events were written down long after events occurred, inaccuracies crept in.." The Episcopalian Bishop Pike wrote: "I do not think that the doctrine of the Trinity is any longer necessary in the Christian faith. I am more broad Church [liberal] than I was ten years ago ... I believed in the Virgin birth.." Theologian Leslie Weatherhead writes: "You know, every minister has cranks in his Church who come up and say to you, 'I believe in a literal bodily resurrection', and furthermore, 'He is [Christ] coming to the earth a second time' [Weatherhead believes in neither the resurrection of the believer nor of Christ. He believes that the body of Christ evaporated, and was not resurrected at all] Before you be quick to condemn the Methodists and the Episcopalians (and I am sure that there are many fine Christians in these denominations who do not support such devilish nonsense), this sort of thing is going on in mainline denominational Churches all across our nation. The most dangerous of all false teachings are those which take 50% of the Word and 50% of humanism, shake it up, and offer the resultant mess as 100% Gospel. These are the false doctrines that the errant pastor preaches from the pulpit in an effort to please his congregation and, in so doing, keep his job. The doctrine that teaches "Grace alone saves" and then, (muttered under the breath) "as long as you do good works, and are baptized the right way, and attend the Lord's table, and give ten percent of your earthly goods, and.....". The statement made that "Brother So and So is such a good man, he must be saved" sounds logical, but is patently unbiblical. I know of two men, both very good men, who only recently came to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. One man was so good that he was made a deacon in his Church, and had hopes of becoming Chairman of deacons. Statements that goodness makes a Christian implies that the Cross of Christ was unnecessary for all men, that all men are not dead in their sins. The Bible implicitly states:
Christ did "not" die in vain, and righteousness can "not" come by following the Law nor by being a highly moral person. The Cross of Christ was not an arbitrary thing that God had the option to do or not. It was a very necessary thing for our salvation, a thing that cost the Father more than He had ever given. Those who follow the devilish doctrine of legalism do "not" have a steady relationship with their Heavenly Father. When they feel that they're "worthy enough" they're on an emotional high of self-righteousness. When they feel that they were "less than worthy" they're on an emotional low from this alleged backslidden state. Their spiritual relationship is always dependent on their emotional state at that time.
In the "early Church" Bibles were only available as handwritten copies of the original text, very rare for many Christians to come by. In the "Middle Ages" Bibles were written in Latin and offered only to priests. "The common man had to take what the pastor said as Gospel." With the advent of the movable type printing press Bibles became available to all Christians for a small price, and are available in nearly every language that man speaks. "Yet with all it's availability many Christians insist on blindly following what their pastors tell them without verifying the information for themselves." Why? Well, in many Churches we've returned to the "mistaken idea" that the Pastor, as God's man in the pulpit, "can do no wrong". We have the idea, in many instances, that our pastors are as infallible as the Pope claims. My friends, "your Pastor may be a good man, but he is not infallible". Even if he were infallible (which is a claim only Jesus can make), we as believers are called on by God to spend personal and private time studying our own Bibles. II Timothy 3.17 makes it clear that the Christian can "not" grow as he ought unless he studies the Word of God, applying it's precepts to his life. "The local Church pastor is your guide, certainly." He is your overseer, yes. But he should not be the only means that you have for growing in Scriptural knowledge. The Bible says:
Are you "really" in Christ? Are you Biblically saved? Will you go to Heaven upon your death? If I were to ask you these questions, how would you answer me? If your answer is, "Yes, because my Pastor told me so", or "Yes because Doctor So and So preached a sermon that said..." then look to your lives! If your answer is, "Yes, because it's in the Bible, and I can show you", then, praise God, you too can avoid the Doctrine of Demons that is so easily ingested in our present world. It's time for Christians everywhere to "get busy studying". If you haven't "work(ed) out your own salvation with fear and trembling", then you'd better get busy. Hell is a reality that no one should experience. 
 Send E-mail to Russ: webslave for Christ ( russ@jesuswept.com ) with questions or comments about this web site and it's content. Last modified: 12/11/2002 |
