Collierville First Baptist Church

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;12;22
Unknown
Well, it's good to see you tonight. And to have the another opportunity to teach God's word to my home, church, and the people that I know and love.

00;00;12;22 - 00;00;38;16
Unknown
And, so this is a special blessing for me. I'm so blessed and impressed with the new guys that the Lord has brought here on staff. I know the Lord is good to, bless this church with godly men and women to lead, and that's always a joy. Someone said while ago. Now, brother Tom, it don't depress us tonight.

00;00;38;19 - 00;01;00;08
Unknown
When you looked at the, the title of the study tonight, and I hope that it wasn't, but, and by the end of the, it may kinda, not be something to shout about the first half, but when we get to the end, I think there'll be something to, bring joy to your heart.

00;01;00;10 - 00;01;30;02
Unknown
I want to talk to you tonight on the subject. That may seem strange, and you may wonder why, but I think maybe when I finish introducing it, you will understand why. A number of years ago, I got to go to London and visit in the former church of Doctor Martin Jones. And I saw Mr. Chapel. Doctor Martin Jones was a former surgeon, medical doctor in London, England.

00;01;30;02 - 00;02;12;21
Unknown
In fact, he was, known very well throughout London because he was the the surgeon, the doctor for the royal, for the king and Queen. He was, greatly respected. And God called him to preach. And because he had a medical background, he wrote, a very significant volume entitled Spiritual Depression. He was qualified both from the medical side and from the theological side, to address that issue in ways that most of us preachers would not be qualified to do.

00;02;12;23 - 00;02;38;12
Unknown
Let me just give a disclaimer at the very beginning. I don't come to you as an authority on depression. I've had my my fair share of it, but I I'm not an authority. But I want us to look at a biblical example of spiritual depression. Now, Doctor Jones wrote in that book, spiritual depression, this statement, and I think it's on your notes.

00;02;38;12 - 00;03;09;02
Unknown
If it's not. Let me share it with you. He said the same personality qualities which normally make for a great servant of God, also makes one vulnerable to to the assault of depression. That's an interesting statement, that the same qualities that make up one who is a servant of God makes them vulnerable to the enemy. In the area of spiritual depression.

00;03;09;05 - 00;03;37;12
Unknown
A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to preach at the Mid-South Baptist Pastors Conference, and that's when I chose to preach on the subject that I'm teaching you tonight, the subject of spiritual depression. Now, let me tell you why I chose that to speak to the pastors. First of all, it was my recent experience in an interim pastorate in our state.

00;03;37;13 - 00;04;22;28
Unknown
Not too far off from here. Who's beloved pastor of 20 years, killed himself, committed suicide. And it was my calling and responsibility to step into that situation. And for nine months, minister to a church that as a body were express our experiencing spiritual depression. It also came from my experience when I pastored First Baptist Church, Winter Park, Florida, where two neighboring pastors, one of what we would call a megachurch, the other one of a very fast growing, significant church in the Orlando area.

00;04;22;28 - 00;05;01;02
Unknown
And both of these pastors took their lives. I've been an itinerant ministry now for 12 years. The last six years especially, I've been in and out of many, many churches. I couldn't count the number of disappointed, depressed and discouraged pastors and spiritual leaders that I've talked with. I don't know if you are aware of this, but 80% of pastors leave the ministry within five years of graduating from Bible College or seminary.

00;05;01;04 - 00;05;33;18
Unknown
Between 1000 and 1500 pastors leave the ministry every month in the United States, and less than 1 in 10 that started as pastors will retire as pastors. That's a statistic from the Schaefer Institute. I often tell people I, I used to be an air traffic controller, but I didn't like a job with stress. So I became a pastor.

00;05;33;21 - 00;06;12;02
Unknown
That shows you how smart I am. But all jokes aside, I know what it's like to fight the demon of depression. Now, I share this message tonight because I have the suspicion that we as pastors are not alone in this area of spiritual depression. It is my suspicion that many of you, brothers and sisters in Christ, not to mention children and youth, also face this issue.

00;06;12;04 - 00;06;38;24
Unknown
Listen to what Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 12 five. If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses? If you fall down in the land of peace, how will you do in the thicket of the Jordan? In 19 2021? That's only three years ago, and I don't have the latest statistics.

00;06;38;26 - 00;07;05;13
Unknown
An estimated 21 million adults in the United States had at least one major depressive episode. That represents 8.3% of all adults. I was listening, are you depressed yet? Or if you got there, it's going to get better, I promise you. I want to lay this foundation so you can appreciate our friend Elijah in just a moment. Last night I was watching channel five news.

00;07;05;13 - 00;07;32;05
Unknown
Some of you may have seen this. They reported that among high school students in the United States, one out of five not only have contemplated suicide, but have actually, in their minds, made plans in how to do it. Now, with that foundation, I want you to turn in your Bibles to First Kings chapter 19. Or you can watch it on the screen.

00;07;32;12 - 00;08;02;27
Unknown
We're going to look tonight at the man who is the poster child for spiritual depression. His name is Elijah the prophet. What a great prophet. How blessed he was. Remember, he was translated into heaven. Didn't even have to die. Do you remember that? It was Elijah that was with Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration? He was a great, great prophet.

00;08;03;00 - 00;08;40;07
Unknown
Now, let me set the context for what we're about to read in the Scripture. When our contact, our Scripture opens to First Kings 19, Elijah had just three years earlier pronounced to the wicked King Ahab, King of Israel, that the land would experience a devastating drought and as a consequence of their sin of worshiping Baal. This drought would last for three solid years, not long before First Kings chapter 19.

00;08;40;09 - 00;09;11;14
Unknown
This prophet had prayed over the dead son of the widow of Zarephath. And this dead son came back to life and just prior to our text, I mean the chapter right before it, he called fire down from Heaven on Mount Carmel in the contest with the 450 prophets of Baal. And then he had them executed. He's he's riding on a wave of spiritual success.

00;09;11;16 - 00;09;39;29
Unknown
Immediately afterward, he prayed. And the three year drought which he had announced to the king three years earlier. He prayed and it started raining. I don't know about you, but I'm impressed with this guy. He is on the top of the list in terms of spiritual power and influence in his culture and in his time.

00;09;40;01 - 00;10;23;27
Unknown
But then it happened. He fell into a season of deep spiritual depression, so deep, in fact, that this prophet who called to task 450 prophets, false prophets of Baal, was sitting under a juniper tree asking God to kill it. He didn't even want to live. Let's read about it first. Kings chapter 19, beginning in verse one. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, now remember, Jezebel is the wicked queen of the wicked King Ahab.

00;10;23;29 - 00;10;52;21
Unknown
Right after he had gone through this experience of calling the fire down. So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them. But to morrow about this time. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and also how he had executed all the prophets of Baal with the sword.

00;10;52;23 - 00;11;27;16
Unknown
And when he that is Elijah saw circle that word in your Bible, it's important. We'll come back to it in a moment. And when Elijah saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to bear Sheba, which belongs to Judah, and he left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree or a juniper tree, as some translations have it, and listen to this.

00;11;27;22 - 00;12;00;11
Unknown
And he prayed that he might die, and said, it is enough now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my father's. And the angel of the Lord came back the second time and touched it, and said, arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you. Then he looked, and thereby his head was a cake baked on coals and a jar of water.

00;12;00;14 - 00;12;25;27
Unknown
So he ate and drank and lay down again. Then as he lay and slept under the broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, arise and eat. So he arose and ate and drank, and he went in the strength of that food. 40 days and 40 nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God. And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place.

00;12;25;29 - 00;12;57;10
Unknown
And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and said to him, what are you doing here, Elijah? So he said, I've been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts. For the children of Israel have a sake. And your covenant torn down your altars, killed your prophets, and with the sword. And I alone am left. And they seek to take my life.

00;12;57;12 - 00;13;36;19
Unknown
What a pitiful situation! A man who has gone from the pit house, as Yogi Berra used to say to the outhouse, sitting under a broom tree, praying to die. His heart is so spiritually depressed. David Jeremiah calls spiritual depression embodied emotional suffering, and another source said, depression is not just a state of mind or a negative view of life, but something that affects our physical being as well.

00;13;36;21 - 00;14;05;05
Unknown
It's attended by lethargy. You see that in Elijah, can't you? He wants to lay down, get in a fetal position and just go to sleep. No interest in things around you. Difficult getting your thoughts together. It is not just having a bad day. Depression is far more than that. I wonder how many of you have heard of Bill Bright's track four Spiritual laws?

00;14;05;05 - 00;14;29;27
Unknown
Have you seen that some of you have used it probably in evangelism? Well, I want to share with you four spiritual flaws. Okay, here they are. Flaw number one, because I am a Christian. All my problems are automatically and immediately solved. That's flaw number one. Is that a revelation to you, or did you already know that? All right.

00;14;30;00 - 00;15;05;20
Unknown
Number two, all my problems in my new detail are addressed in the Bible. Are they? Well, they're principles in Scripture that cover every issue that we face. But the Bible doesn't specifically address many of our problems that we face in our culture today. It's a flaw to think that it does. Number three, if, as a Christian, I am having problems and struggling with depression, I must not be spiritual.

00;15;05;23 - 00;15;42;05
Unknown
After all, only failures become depressed. Can I tell you that's a spiritual flaw? Number four being a good Bible student and a sound, a sound person in doctrine guarantees that I am immune to spiritual depression. Folks, that is a flaw. Some of the best people that I know, some of the best Bible scholars that I know have struggled with this black dog of spiritual depression.

00;15;42;08 - 00;16;12;10
Unknown
Can I say to you that the Bible is full of godly men and women who dealt with depression? I have a little book in my library by Warren Wears B. It's out of print, but it's simply prayers in the Bible that were not answered. And in that book, he list a number of great men in the Scripture who prayed to die.

00;16;12;12 - 00;16;29;04
Unknown
Let me just call your attention to some of them. The first one I call your attention to, I think it's in your notes, is Jonah. Listen to what Jonah said in Jonah four. He prayed to the Lord, verses one through four and said, please, Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country?

00;16;29;06 - 00;16;54;28
Unknown
Therefore, in order to forestall this, I fled to Tarshish. For I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. Jonah is pouting, sitting up on the mountain, sitting under a gourd, looking down on the city of Neenah, Nunavut, just waiting for God to burn them up like crispy critters.

00;16;55;00 - 00;17;29;09
Unknown
And when God decides to have mercy on them and does not bring judgment upon Nineveh, it makes Jonah so mad and angry that. Listen to what he says. Therefore now, O Lord, take my life from me, for death is better to me than life. The Lord said, do you have good reason to be angry? Jonah is praying he is depressed because God hasn't done what he thought God would do.

00;17;29;12 - 00;17;56;16
Unknown
He's not the first person to have gotten depressed because God didn't do exactly what they asked him to do, like they wanted him to do it. And then there's Jeremiah. Jeremiah is called the weeping prophet. Jeremiah, I think, was born depressed. I mean, he is the he again is the poster child. He says cursed. Listen to what he said in first and in Jeremiah 2014 cursed me the day when I was born.

00;17;56;22 - 00;18;23;16
Unknown
Let the day not be blessed. When my mother bore me. Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, saying, A baby boy has been born to you and made him very happy. But let that man be like the cities which the Lord overthrew without relenting, and let him hear an outcry in the morning, and a shout of alarm at noon, because he did not kill me before my birth.

00;18;23;18 - 00;18;52;14
Unknown
Now that's a sad state of affairs. Jeremiah is a man you can tell who is spiritually depressed. I look at Elijah in our text. He says it is enough now. Oh Lord, take my life. Even though he is one of the most beloved prophets in Scripture. But then there's a ladies. I don't want to leave you out. There's a precious lady that I've really learned to appreciate.

00;18;52;15 - 00;19;19;04
Unknown
I've done a lot of study in the book of Ruth, and it's Naomi. Naomi's got reason to be sad. Her husband, whose name was Elimelech, which means my God is King, didn't act like God was his king. And he took his whole family and left Bethlehem, which means the house of bread, and took them down to Beth to, to Moab, which means the garbage can.

00;19;19;06 - 00;19;49;25
Unknown
And while their family was in the garbage can. And Elimelech died. Mahlon died. Gillian died. All the men in the family died. Left Naomi and two pagan daughters in law. And in chapter one, there comes a time when Naomi decides she's going to leave the garbage can. Moab, Moab, and go back to Bethlehem. She has heard that the famine is over, and there's bread now again in the house of bread.

00;19;49;28 - 00;20;12;03
Unknown
And so she turns to go back to Bethlehem. Now, or for one of the daughters in law turns and goes back to Moab. But Ruth decides to go with her mother in law, and when they get back to, to Bethlehem, this is what Naomi said. She didn't pray to die. But listen to her and see if you don't think she's dealing with spiritual depression.

00;20;12;05 - 00;20;40;08
Unknown
So they both. This is Ruth 119 through 21. So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. And when they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was stirred because of them. And the and the women said, is this Naomi? Apparently. Naomi. We have an old Mississippi statement. You may not have heard it. It's like she's been ridden hard and put up wet.

00;20;40;08 - 00;21;10;10
Unknown
You know, you heard that statement. Naomi has aged incredibly. When she left, she was full, had three, had two boys and a healthy husband. She lost everything. Is this Naomi? She said to them, do not call me Naomi. Which means pleasant one. Call me Mara, which means bitterness. For the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.

00;21;10;14 - 00;21;40;10
Unknown
Why do you call me pleasant? Or Naomi says, the Lord has witnessed against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me. Depression. But can I say, not only does the Scripture give us example after example after example of godly men and women who have struggled with depression. Church history is filled with examples of godly men and women who dealt with spiritual depression.

00;21;40;12 - 00;22;23;01
Unknown
Martin Luther, who was the leader of the Protestant Reformation, was so depressed at one point that he picked up an inkwell and threw it at the devil. He was so conscious of the devil's presence. My own spiritual hero is Charles Haddon Spurgeon. If you know anything about Spurgeon, you know that he fought many, many battles with depression. Part of it was spurred by his incessant plague of gout that would cause him to miss the pulpit, sometimes for months at a time when he would go down to Mentone, France, because him a lot of emotional and physical pain.

00;22;23;01 - 00;23;03;05
Unknown
And with it came depression. Because he couldn't preach, he couldn't be with the people he loved. But when he was a 22 year old preacher, he was a phenomenon in London, England. The press. Scathingly crucified him week by week in the press because he was so young and he wasn't like the other preachers in London. And the church was growing incredibly, to the point that the church that he pastored there at Metropolitan Tabernacle could no longer hold the guest.

00;23;03;08 - 00;23;34;15
Unknown
And so they moved out to Surrey Music Garden, while Metropolitan Tabernacle was expanded to hold the crowds. Metropolitan the Surrey Music Garden would hold 10,000 people. Spurgeon was 22 years old. He stood to preach in that first service. 10,000 people packed in there, people outside by the thousands that couldn't get in. When he stood to preach, he opened his mouth to preach.

00;23;34;15 - 00;24;07;03
Unknown
And just as he began to preach, a number of people who had sabotaged the meeting began to call out in the crowd, fire! Fire! The balcony is falling in the stampede. Seven people were killed. 24 people were severely injured, and that young 22 year old preacher went into such deep spiritual depression. He said, I'll never, probably never, ever preach again.

00;24;07;06 - 00;24;33;02
Unknown
Dealt with depression all of his life. He died at 59 years old, and most people who have written his biographies and studied his life say that he never got up, and that's probably the reason he died so young. You've heard the name William Cooper. He's a man who wrote many lyrics and Christian poems. But did you know he battled deep depression and chronic bouts all his life?

00;24;33;04 - 00;25;05;02
Unknown
He even attempted suicide. And then later he wrote this. There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. Did you know the man that wrote that was a man that contemplated taking his own life? A a man whose own theology wouldn't allow him to have assurance of salvation?

00;25;05;05 - 00;25;41;01
Unknown
He died feeling he was one of the damned spiritual depression. My hero, my favorite Bible teacher was Ron Dunn. I loved him, I used him as a pastor. Ron's son committed suicide. He was a, in his early, late teens. Ron never got over that. If you've ever heard Ron Dunn preach, he always preached of broken hearts.

00;25;41;04 - 00;26;11;01
Unknown
Always because his heart had been broken. We could go on. So I ask you this question. Based on what I've said, the Christians sometimes get depressed and he answer is yes. John Stott, Great British Expositor, said the spiritual leader has two chief occupational hazards depression and discouragement. Now, I've spent a lot of time laying the foundation. Introduction. Let's get to the text.

00;26;11;08 - 00;26;47;21
Unknown
I want you to consider the sources of Elijah's depression. There's several, 4 or 5. Let me just call your attention to them, just for a moment. First of all, forgetfulness was one of the causes of Elijah's spiritual depression. Elijah's great victory had come because he believed God was all powerful, and that the false prophets of Baal were no match for the awesome God, Yahweh, the God of Israel.

00;26;47;23 - 00;27;20;21
Unknown
But it's amazing that just in a few verses he does a flip flop. He seems to forget all that God has done through him and for him. He starts to believe his doubts and to doubt his beliefs. I think to many of us, like Elijah, have spiritual amnesia. Almost overnight, Elijah turned from a roaring lion into a cowering housecat, afraid of a mouse.

00;27;20;24 - 00;27;55;16
Unknown
Can I say to you that one of the most dangerous times for a believer is immediately after a major spiritual victory? We've seen God come through on the mountain. Then a crisis comes along. A Jezebel threatens you, and you run like Elijah. Remember when Jesus was baptized and the voice from heaven came down and said, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.

00;27;55;23 - 00;28;34;10
Unknown
And then immediately after that, Mark's gospel very powerfully says, he was driven into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. In other words, right after such a major inauguration of his ministry, a setting forth as the Messiah, presenting himself, he goes into a major time of testing that is common in the Christian life. A number of years ago in Mississippi, I was privileged to be invited to preach at the Mississippi Baptist Convention for the convention sermon.

00;28;34;12 - 00;29;01;24
Unknown
I prayed over that message all year long, you know, a year in advance that you're going to preach it. It's like I had a I was pregnant with that sermon. I nursed it, I carried it around, I prayed about it. And on that day at the Mississippi Baptist Convention, I delivered that sermon. And my wife will tell you, almost by the time I got home, I went into a spiritual fog.

00;29;01;27 - 00;29;28;19
Unknown
The enemy beat me over the head. I felt like a failure. I preached a subject that wasn't popular during that time of convention stress and and all of that. I preached on washing one another's feet and back. During that time, a lot of preachers wanted to bowl one another's feet in hot water, and I was trying to present the notion of that we need to serve and love one another, and I came away from that saying, Lord, that I miss you.

00;29;28;19 - 00;29;59;02
Unknown
And I went in to depression. Sometimes I just forgot, I just didn't remember. God had put that message in my heart, and it was him that I need to please and not the pastors, but sometimes forgetfulness. We forget what God forget what God has done in our lives and the enemy will distract us. Number two, the second thing that caused, help contribute to I, to Elijah's, depression was fear.

00;29;59;05 - 00;30;31;06
Unknown
Did you notice what it says? It says. And he was afraid. First time we ever hear Elijah being afraid. He had stood against all the prophets of Baal single handedly, and he rose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba. He didn't run from the 450 prophets of Baal, but he ran from one Jezebel. And why did he run?

00;30;31;06 - 00;31;01;24
Unknown
Because he was afraid. He's running like a scared rabbit. His fear arose out of. And I ask you to circle that word. His fear arose out of what he saw. This is what it says. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had executed all the prophets of Baal with a sword. And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life.

00;31;01;26 - 00;31;30;15
Unknown
You know what Elijah's problem was? He was looking in the wrong direction. He was looking and the wrong thing. He was looking at the enemy rather than looking at his God. In other words, he took his eyes off God and he was looking at what man could do to him. The psalm said, the fear of man is a snare, and that's what's happening in Elijah's life.

00;31;30;17 - 00;32;07;02
Unknown
You know. Listen to David, he says in Psalm 31. He says, I've heard the slander of many. Terah is on every side. While they took counsel together against me. You see, fear, fear. You remember when Simon Peter saw Jesus coming to him at night on the water? And Simon Peter said, Lord, if it's you, let me come to you.

00;32;07;04 - 00;32;32;22
Unknown
Jesus said, come. And Peter stepped out on the water. Hey, that's better than the rest of in the boat. Amen. At least he got out of the boat. Some of us never gotten out of the boat. We've never taken a risk in our life for Jesus. Stepped out onto the water, began to walk toward Jesus. And then he felt the wind.

00;32;32;24 - 00;33;09;07
Unknown
And he saw the waves, took his eyes off of Jesus, and he put it on the waves. Fear does that. You know what fear does? It causes us to lose our perspective. That's why Paul wrote Timothy in Second Day of the one seven he said, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind.

00;33;09;09 - 00;33;42;25
Unknown
Or in Isaiah 4110, where Isaiah said, fear thou not. I am with you. Be not dismayed. I am your God. And when we take our eyes off of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we put them on circumstances, or if we look, if we put them on ourselves, we're going to be depressed. Here's the third thing. The third thing is fatigue.

00;33;42;27 - 00;34;05;29
Unknown
Listen to this. When he left Mount Carmel, he told it. He told King Ahab. He said, you better get in your chariot and go to Jezreel. You better go home. It's fixing the rain. And he went up on the mountain, and he began to pray. And he had to pray eight times. You know. He kept sending his servant out there.

00;34;06;01 - 00;34;29;02
Unknown
You see anything you see. And finally he said, no, I see a little cloud, a little cloud. And then Elijah told Ahab, you better get your chariot and go home. And then he started running to Jezreel, and he outran Ahab. Do you know how far that is? At 17 miles? And then when he got there, guess what he found out, Jezebel.

00;34;29;02 - 00;34;59;24
Unknown
It put a price on his head, and so he had to leave running again. And he ran down to verse Sheba. You know how far that is? 80 miles. And then he left his servant there, and it says he went another day's journey into the wilderness. You do the math. Here's the man is run over 100 miles. No wonder he's exhausted and he's hungry.

00;35;00;03 - 00;35;33;13
Unknown
And when he gets under, that broom tree crawls up in a fetal position. He is. He is hungry and thirsty. He's tired. There's no McDonald's. There's no Gatorade. And he just wants to die. You know, fatigue can do a lot of things to be. It's one of the weights, I think, that the enemy uses to get our focus off of our Lord and on to our selves.

00;35;33;15 - 00;35;54;16
Unknown
I was pastoring in Corinth, Mississippi when I started to seminary. I would leave early in the morning before sunup. I would do a full load, come home, get back to Oakland Baptist about two in the afternoon. I'd put a full day's work in. I'd get home sometimes 8 or 9:00. Sometimes I'd go 2 or 3 days. Didn't see my kids awake.

00;35;54;18 - 00;36;26;04
Unknown
Stupid. I'm stupid. But I did it till finally it got me. I was laying on the couch at noon, just not feeling well, and all of a sudden chest pains. They took me to the hospital. The doctor said, we need to send you to Tupelo. They put me in the back of an ambulance to rush me to the Tupelo Hospital, and the little man that was back there with me, he didn't help things.

00;36;26;06 - 00;36;35;22
Unknown
You know, when you pastor in a county seat, everybody knows you. He said, Brother Tommy, this has been an awful day.

00;36;35;25 - 00;36;58;10
Unknown
He said, we picked up mr. Elam this morning and he didn't live till we got to the hospital. I said, would you turn that oxygen up just a little bit? They took me to the hospital, did all of those tests. Long story short, the doctor came in, looked at me, and he said, you're a preacher, aren't you? I hated to tell him.

00;36;58;13 - 00;37;26;25
Unknown
I said, yes, sir, I am. He said, let me tell you, if you don't start practicing what you preach, you're not going to be a pastor very long. You see, I had burned the candle at both ends until I was just about burned out. Fatigue will sometimes lead to depression, and then there's failure. Failure? I felt like a failure after that sermon.

00;37;26;25 - 00;38;06;15
Unknown
That was adding to that. But, you know, Elijah felt like a failure. You know, Elijah had accurately forecast the drought and the rain three years later at the end of the drought. But his forecast about how all this was going to turn out was wrong. Elijah had the wrong idea that if if he if he took care of the prophets, false prophets of Baal, if they were eliminated and watch the hearts of the people were turned back to God, everything in Israel would fall into place the way God wanted.

00;38;06;18 - 00;38;32;07
Unknown
He thought Ahab would repent and then deal with Jezebel, and Elijah would have nothing left to do but deliver the Word of God to a listening and obedient people, their friends. He couldn't have been more wrong. He felt like a failure. That's not what happened. Ahab didn't get right with God and take care of Jezebel. Instead of settling down on easy street.

00;38;32;09 - 00;39;08;23
Unknown
Elijah received a death threat. That's not how it's supposed to be. You see, the Lord will let us walk through failure sometimes. But failure doesn't have to be final, and the enemy will use our failure. God wants to use it for our sanctification, but the enemy wants to use it for our destruction. OS Hawkins wrote. Elijah was at the pinnacle of popularity.

00;39;08;25 - 00;39;36;14
Unknown
He was the mouthpiece of the true and living God. He prayed a 67 word prayer and the fire of God fell. But now Elijah felt like he was a total failure. He was filled with suicidal thoughts. Isn't it true that we've all failed? I'm so glad God didn't answer Elijah's prayer to die. And he didn't answer it because he knew what was behind him.

00;39;36;14 - 00;39;59;24
Unknown
He knew what he'd just gone through. He knows that we're but dust. Amen. And that. Good news. I'm glad God knows that he knows that I'm but dust. He knew what was behind him, that he was exhausted. He didn't really want to die. He knew what was in him. Listen, if it if Elijah really wanted to die, all he had to do was state Jezreel.

00;40;00;01 - 00;40;28;02
Unknown
And Jezebel would've been glad to take care of that for him. He didn't really want to die, and God knew what was ahead of him. God knew that he wasn't through with Elijah. And then the last thing I would say, part of the factors in his spiritual depression was famine. He went and did according to the word of the Lord, and he went and stayed at the brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan.

00;40;28;04 - 00;40;49;23
Unknown
And it happened after a while, that the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Hey, can I ask you, has your brook ever dried up spiritually? Has it? Don't look at me so pious. I know it has.

00;40;49;25 - 00;41;07;27
Unknown
You know, times of famine in the Christian life can be used by our enemy to get us down. I've gone through periods in my ministry when I preach my heart out and no one moves, not even to go to the bathroom.

00;41;07;29 - 00;41;26;05
Unknown
Sometimes famines are just the context in which God. Brings us to the end of our staff, and we become convinced that we can't make it without him.

00;41;26;07 - 00;41;55;13
Unknown
Now, now that we've looked at where the the source of his depression, let me take the last few minutes and let's just consider how God solved his depression. This is the good part. I hope you're sufficiently depressed. Now you're ready for some relief. Okay, so let's look at this. The solution God provided. First thing I want to say, God recommissioned him.

00;41;55;15 - 00;42;20;12
Unknown
Verses 15 and 16 God said, what are you doing here? If what you. Then the Lord said to him, go and return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, anoint Hazel as king over Syria, and you shall also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nims, as king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shay Pat of Abel.

00;42;20;12 - 00;42;51;15
Unknown
Mahola you shall anoint as prophet in your place. Now what did God do? God said, Elijah, what are you doing laying there? What are you doing sitting there in the fetal position? What are you doing? Feeling sorry for yourself in this depressed. Get up. Get up. And he sent him back to the battlefield. I think God would want to say to all of us today, if you're still breathing, he's not through with you.

00;42;51;18 - 00;43;16;10
Unknown
He still has a plan and a purpose for you. You know, he had to. He had to do that to Simon Peter. Remember, Simon Peter was ready to give up. I mean, he was nothing but a failure. He had denied the Lord three times. He was ready to go back into the fishing business. He was putting preaching in his rearview mirror until the day the Lord met him and had breakfast with him.

00;43;16;12 - 00;43;45;06
Unknown
Remember at the sea. And in John 2115 through 17. You have it there. I won't read it. You're very familiar with how the Lord confronted Peter, said Peter, do you love me? Peter said, yes, Lord, you know I love you. Feed my sheep. And he did that three times. Feed, feed. See? What's he saying? Peter, I'm not through with you.

00;43;45;08 - 00;44;18;01
Unknown
I'm not through with you. InterVarsity press as a a commentary called The Message of the Kings. Here's a quote. It says depressed persons cannot usually be talked out of their gloom. What does sometimes help is a sense of purpose. And that is exactly what God provides. God gave him a reason to get up in the morning, and that helps, doesn't it?

00;44;18;04 - 00;44;42;09
Unknown
When we have purpose to life, I think sometimes the best way to overcome depression is to help somebody else overcome theirs. So God recommissioned him. Dear friend, can I say to you, God's not through with you. You may be depressed. You may think I've failed. You may think, man, I'm just worn out. But listen, if you breathe in, God still has a purpose for you.

00;44;42;09 - 00;45;07;15
Unknown
Here's the second thing. God not only recommissioned him, God refreshed him. It says he lay down and slept under a juniper tree. And behold, there was an angel touched him and said to him, arise and eat. Then he looked, and behold, there was at his head a bread cake of hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and laid down again.

00;45;07;18 - 00;45;32;29
Unknown
He refreshed him. He was thirsty. He gave him water. He was hungry. He gave him food. He was tired. He let him rest. I love what Jahil said. He said sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is take a nap. You know, sometimes we don't need a sermon. We need a sandwich. And so the Lord refreshed him.

00;45;33;02 - 00;45;58;14
Unknown
The Lord refreshed him. Remember, he had walked 100 miles. The man was tired. He was hungry. He was thirsty. God gave him what he needed. Anybody is going to be depressed when they're tired and thirsty and hungry. God refreshed him. God recommissioned him. And the last thing I'll say is this God reminded him that he was not alone.

00;45;58;16 - 00;46;44;17
Unknown
We don't have time to explore the passage afterwards, but, he gives him a friend named Elisha. And from that point on, Elisha never leaves the side of Elijah. I love what Swindoll says. He says juniper trees have single beds under them. Depressed people are normally lonely people. But God reminded Elijah, you're not alone. Sometimes the solution to depression is as simple as finding a faithful friend that will listen.

00;46;44;19 - 00;47;20;08
Unknown
Encourage and if need be, rebuke us if necessary and challenge us to grow spiritually and become all that God has designed for us to be. Jesus said I. Tebas 13 five. Write it down. Memorize it. Jesus said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. We need to be reminded of that when we're feeling lonely and alone. But we do also need somebody with skin on him, don't we?

00;47;20;10 - 00;47;47;15
Unknown
We need somebody that we can talk to. Somebody we can share a heart with. I hope you have somebody like that. I have a pastor like that. There's very seldom a week that goes by that we don't meet. We pray for each other as he prays for you. But he's a friend that God has given to me. We've been friends for many, many years.

00;47;47;16 - 00;48;05;18
Unknown
Paul in second Timothy four. And I won't take the time to read it, I need to. You've listened so well, so I, I want to, I want to do like Elizabeth Taylor did. Her faith has been I don't want to keep you any longer.

00;48;05;21 - 00;48;25;23
Unknown
But he said, Paul, Paul didn't want to die alone. He didn't want to die alone. And second Timothy four, he says, Timothy, make every effort to come to me. And then he says later on in the passage, second Timothy four, you can read it verses ten through 18. He says, Timothy, try to get here before winter and bring John Mark with you.

00;48;25;26 - 00;49;03;14
Unknown
You know why he needed a friend. He want to die alone. Brothers and sisters, we need each other. Don't we? Moses needed Aaron and her to hold of his hands. David needed Jonathan as a friend when he was hunted by Saul. Even Jesus needed Peter, James and John. We need each other. Even Batman needed Robin. And Andy needed Barney.

00;49;03;16 - 00;49;13;01
Unknown
We need a friend. I remember the worst night of 58 years of ministry in.

00;49;13;03 - 00;49;37;05
Unknown
I drove away that Wednesday night after that infamous business meeting a million years ago and a million miles from here. And as we drove off the church parking lot, I said to my wife for the first time, and at that time, 40 something years, I said, I don't know if I'll have a place to preach Sunday. We got home and as I drove, turned into our cove.

00;49;37;08 - 00;50;06;07
Unknown
There were cars all over my yard, and in that yard were my deacons. And when I got out of the car, they said, pastor, you will not resign. Sunday. We will not let you. That meant the world to me. The next morning I got up and one of my deacons called me. He said, pastor, I want you to play golf with me today.

00;50;06;10 - 00;50;38;25
Unknown
We played 18 holes of golf. He never mentioned the problem. He just loved me. Jobe says, by thy words, you have kept me in on their feet. I was as depressed as a man can be until a friend came along. Several of them. They were Aaron and her. They lifted up my hands. They were Jonathan. They loved me.

00;50;38;27 - 00;51;09;09
Unknown
They were Timothy. They came and stood with me at a time of need. Not until the loom is silent and the shuttle ceased to fly. Will God unroll the pattern and explain the reason why the dark threads are as needful. And the weaver skillful hand as the threads of gold and silver, and the life that he has planned.

00;51;09;12 - 00;51;27;01
Unknown
Let God recommissioned you. Put you on your feet again. Put you back in the battle. Don't stay there, as he said. What are you doing there? God's got a better future for you. Let God refresh you.

00;51;27;03 - 00;52;01;27
Unknown
And let God be your friend. And seek out a friend with flesh on him that can walk with you. Somebody more mature than you, that can speak into your life. Let me pray. Father, thank you that you know that we are dust. That you're never surprised when we get into spiritual funks. When we get our eyes off of you and on to others, ourselves.

00;52;02;00 - 00;52;32;05
Unknown
When we focus more on our weaknesses than upon your strength. And, Lord, many of us have struggled with this demon of depression. But I pray tonight that something in Elijah's experience would encourage us. Lord, I pray tonight for somebody in this room or somebody listening, they would hear you saying to them, get up. You're not through. You'll hear them.

00;52;32;08 - 00;53;00;26
Unknown
You'll hear him say, I want to recommissioned you. I want to refresh you. And I want to remind you that you're not alone. Lord, we thank you for this time to study in Jesus name. Amen. God bless you.