Should a Believer Ever Struggle with Depression?

Hello, and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick, an Oklahoma rancher and farmer. Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for over 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, once again, it's good to have everybody back, and I think our television audience understands that in between programs the coffee pot is on out in the lobby, and Iris always brings up cookies or bars or something, and so we just have to expect and be obedient and get back in here real quickly for another half hour. So that's what I mean when I say I'm glad they're all back. Okay, again in case we have someone who has just tuned in for the first time, we're an informal Bible study, we are not connected to anybody, we totally rely on the gifts of God's people to stay on the air, and we have all our past programs available as you see on the screen, our little books and the audio tapes as well as the video tapes, and what we've done is put twelve successive programs on one six hour long video, which has been dubbed over onto six hours of audio, and then they have been transcribed, Jerry Poole here has been doing it now for years, and I think Jerry knows what I'm going to say next, and he's done all the transcribing, and then of course Keith Decker up here in Tulsa gets it ready for the printer, and so everybody working together, we're able to get these little books out, and they are certainly well received in a lot of different places. Okay, this is Bible study time, and so we're going to get right back into it, and use every second that we can, Ephesians chapter 3, and now we're going to start in verse 11. Ephesians 3, and I'm going to stop there for a minute, and I'm going to have you turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter 1, and we're going to start at verse 7. I'm going to give you time to find it, because like I said, this is the request we get from our TV audience, until we can find it. Ephesians 3, and that course brings up a question that I haven't got time to deliberate here, but should believers ever have mental problems? I'm not saying could they, I'm saying should they? No, we really shouldn't. I know it's a possibility, but really we shouldn't have mental problems. We should never be plagued with depression, which of course I think is one of the forerunners of a lot of mental problems, because goodness what have we got going for us, and we've got it so good in America. Now last night I just couldn't sleep a lot of the time thinking of those poor people in Yugoslavia, and Albania, and what have you, and we're so spoiled. I've told my class here in Oklahoma, and that's almost my every morning prayer, Lord I know I'm spoiled. How could I handle it, if all of a sudden, in fact I told Iris this morning when I got up, what if all of a sudden Texas was a sovereign country, and they would just literally move up to the eastern half of Oklahoma, which I suppose is about the size of Kosovo, and all the way from I-35 to the Arkansas border, they would just literally cleanse the land of all of us. Do you ever think of it that way? And they would just literally machine gun us out until we either flee to Arkansas, or Kansas, or Missouri, and leave everything behind. Now I don't care what their religion, or what the situation, they're people, and God loves them, and they hurt. I'll tell you it's awful, and we sit here so complacent, and we've got so much, but whatever. I don't know what brought that out. "...that we are not to have fear, but were to have power, and love, and a sound mind." Now verse 8, "...so be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner. But be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the power of God." Now you see you can have all kinds of preaching, and the world doesn�t get upset with that. The only time the world will get upset with preaching is when the power of God begins to transform lives. That the world doesn�t want, and they�re going to fight it tooth and toenail. But you see Paul says that even though the power of God is being exemplified, we still don�t have to fear, because He is Sovereign. Remember He is the One who is Supreme. Now verse 9 is the verse I wanted to get to. Ephesians 2.9-10 "...the power of God, who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling." Now holy doesn�t mean angelically pure, or sinless, or anything like that. The word holy in Scripture simply means set apart. Because you see even the vessels in the temple, the shovels, and the tongs, and the various things they used for the fire, they were holy. Why? Because they were set apart only for temple use. And you see that�s when Nebuchadnezzar and his offspring got in trouble. They took those utensils out of the temple in Jerusalem, and took them back to Babylon, and incorporated them into their pagan worship. And boom, the wrath of God came down, because those utensils were holy. Now you know a utensil is inanimate, but it was still set apart for God�s use. Now that�s what the word holy means even for us. It doesn�t mean we�re going to be holy, or like an angel, or any of these things. But we are set apart for God�s purposes. Now let�s read on. Ephesians 1.2 "...he called us, and set us apart by his calling. And, O thank God, he didn�t call you and I according to our works, but he called us according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus when for the world began." Now that goes back to the unsearchables again doesn�t it? How in the world can I comprehend that before anything was ever created, God already knew that I would be what I am, where I am. He knew you, what you would be, and what you would do. There was nothing hidden from him, and it was all in his divine purposes, his whole scheme of things, as it was laid out from eternity past. Now then back to Ephesians 3, so verse 11 again. Ephesians 3.11 And all that means is, why did Christ come? Well we always teach that first and foremost He came to the nation of Israel to be their Messiah and their King, but the overall purpose was to die for the sins of mankind, to be the Savior of the whole human race, and to be our Lord for not just time, but for all eternity. Now verse 12. Remember when we started the book of Ephesians, I said 96. You have the prepositional phrase, in Him, in whom, in Christ, because this little book is positional. Where are we as believers? We�re not just members of a local church on the corner, although that�s absolutely apropos, but we�re members of the bigger picture, we�re members of the Body of Christ which is universal in scope, and when we come into the Body of Christ we have a union with Christ. The world knows nothing of. Now you want to remember that a lot of church members are not in the Body of Christ. I hope I�m wrong, but I don�t think I am, because we have multitudes of church people who have never had this kind of a salvation experience where God places them into the Body. This is why I�m always maintaining that baptism of course has always been a controversy from the very onset of Christianity, and people get all hung up if you don�t practice it according to their format or this way or that way. But listen, Paul puts baptism way down at the bottom of everything, because that�s not the important thing. The important thing is, are you in the Body of Christ? And listen, I don�t care who you are, I don�t care what denomination you belong to, you know as you look out over your congregation that there are people who have been baptized, whatever form your denomination demands, who are no more saved than the dog out there on the street. You know that. They have no new life, they have no love for the Word, they have no love for the Lord, but they�ve been baptized. So this is why that�s not what counts. What counts is, are we in the Body of Christ? Are we positioned where God wants to position us? Know that fish work. I�ve got a whole portfolio information about how to pour water into fish. Anyway Ephesians 2, verse 12 reads, Ephesians 2, verse 12 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain the kingdom of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find what? Grace again, to help in our time of need. Read it again. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in our time of need. Isn't that something? That's not what religion teaches. Religion is going to make you go through all kinds of contortions and ritual and what have you, but you and I as a believer have instant access, all day long, 24 hours a day the throne room is open. Back to Ephesians chapter 3. In this position in Christ as a believer, as an heir of Christ, as one of His own, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith, and I hope I'm not doing injustice to Scripture. I like the word faithfulness of Him. Now I've looked it up in the Greek and it really doesn't say that. It does say the word faith, but like I say, I hope I'm not doing any injustice here, because after all, it's Christ's faithfulness that makes everything that we enjoy possible. When I say faithfulness, I mean that He has never failed. He will never fail. We don't ever have to wonder, did He really do it all? Did He really finish the work of salvation? We don't ever have to question that, because we know He did, and He is faithful, and we can place our confidence in that faithfulness. Now then we've got time to go into a prayer of the Apostle on behalf of you and I as believers. It's one of the two or three prayers of the Apostle Paul. Ephesians 3 Verse 13. Ephesians 3 of this position, because of our understanding of the revelation of the mystery, wherefore I desire that you faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory." In other words again, we know the Apostle suffered beyond our imagination for the sake of the Gospel going to these Gentiles. Now verse 14. Ephesians 3 "...so for this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." In other words, here comes a prayer of the Apostle on behalf of you and I as believers. "...of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory." In other words, everything that is Christ's in glory, the whole bank of heaven has been made available to you and I. It's all there. "...and that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by the Spirit in the inner man." Now I think I remember a long time ago putting a term on the board, and I think it's probably about time I get it back on here once again. And that is the Greek word, pneuma, who remembers the second one? Haggion! Out of the way! The pneuma, Haggion. The pneuma of course is the Spirit, but the Haggion really means the power from where? On high. Now the pneuma Haggion of course is precipitated by the indwelling Spirit, but when we live from day to day and the Spirit is within us, we aren't always drawing on the pneuma Haggion. But we draw on the pneuma Haggion, the power from on high. What do you suppose I pray for every morning before I come up to tape four programs? The pneuma Haggion. I don't have to pray for the Holy Spirit, I know I have Him. But oh I pray for the power from on high, and I think it behooves every one of us. As you go through life and you face various trials and decisions, you don't have to ask for the Holy Spirit, you've got Him. But all we can pray for is the outpouring of that pneuma Haggion, and I think this is what he is talking about in verse 16, that He would grant you according to the rich of His glory, to be strengthened with might the pneuma Haggion by His Spirit. And where is the Spirit? In the inner man, He's there. Don't ever ask for the Holy Spirit, you've got Him. But we can ask for an increase of His power. Now verse 17, as we continue his prayer. That Christ may dwell in your hearts, how? By faith. See, by faith. And again, what's faith? Taking God at His word. So often people will say, well how do I know that I've been placed into the body of Christ? Because the Bible says so. That's all we have to go on. We don't get a diploma, we don't get a great big emotional high, we don't get like someone wrote one time, the trees ten shades greener, and the sun sets suddenly redder, no that doesn't all part of it. So how do I know I'm in the body of Christ? Because the Bible says so. How do I know that I have the indwelling Spirit? Because Paul says so. Let's go back and look at it again, it's been a long time since we were in Corinthians. Go back to I Corinthians chapter 3, and come down to verse 16. Now this is plain simple language. No you not, Paul says, that you, the individual believer, are the temple of God, and that the Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God dwelleth where? In you. Now again, to just point up Paul's revelations, and again I think this is all part of the mystery. Did you ever read of this in the Old Testament, that the believers were indwelt by the Holy Spirit? No! No way! Now they knew of the Holy Spirit, but you want to remember just like David and Samson, and there were many, many others, the Holy Spirit would come upon them, but He wasn't there permanently, He could leave at the drop of a hat, and of course that was what happened to Samson. Remember when the Holy Spirit left off with Samson, he was as weak as a dishrag we say, but when the Spirit was upon him, he had all kinds of power. Now here Paul is making it so plain then, that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. How do I know the Holy Spirit is in me? I don't feel Him, I don't hear Him talking to me, I'm not one of those that hears God talk out loud, maybe some people do, but I don't. I've never yet heard Him talk audibly to me. Now I think He affects our thinking, our thoughts, and as we study the Scripture, yes, God speaks to us, but to hear Him say, now Les, I want you to do this, I've never had that happen, and I just am a little bit dubious when people talk like that, because the Bible doesn't teach that. But we do have the indwelling person of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians chapter 3, and we see that the Holy Spirit is dwelling in our hearts by faith. That's our only way of knowing, and that you being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height. Now whenever I come to that verse, I haven't got a lot of mathematical background, but I've got enough to know that you and I in all of our geometry and trigonometry, how many dimensions do we normally think of? Three. How many have you got here? Four. Now I read the other day where science thinks there's as many as ten dimensions. Ten. Well I'm just thrilled with the fact that there's a supernatural fourth one. I don't know what they're going to do with the other six, but nevertheless this is a supernatural dimension, because we live in the world of three. Height, width, length, but see here you've got a fourth one. When I say I think that this is in the realm of the spiritual, that's exactly what I mean. That there is a dimension to the Christian life that the secular world cannot explain. I don't think you and I can explain it, but it is a dimension that brings us up into an understanding of the things of God that we don't get until we become a believer. Now let me come back and show that. First Corinthians chapter 2, I never have been able to read it since they told me where it was, but here it is now, so let's use it. Here's a good time to use it. First Corinthians chapter 2, beginning at verse 9. "...but as it is written, I hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." Boy, that's quite a statement isn't it? But flip side, God has revealed those things to us by His Spirit. Now I've got to stop a minute. How many times I've had people ask me, and I dare say that every one of you have wondered, what are we going to do in eternity? Yeah, you're all lighting up, oh you wish I could tell you don't you? Well I can't. All I know is that we're going to be busy, we're going to be active, and we are not just going to sit on a cloud and strum a harp, that I know. But beyond that I can't begin because God has kept this from us. But like I said in an earlier program, this much I know, eternity is going to be so fabulous that anything you can think of on this planet's existence is just going to pale into insignificance compared to the joys and the pleasure that God is preparing for us. But we do have a glimpse because the Holy Spirit has given us an inkling of it. See verse 10 reading on. For the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Now let me stop again. I usually like to give an example. You take out here in the material world, in the secular world, if you have somebody who is a real expert in his field, and I usually like to use an auto mechanic, a real auto mechanic, and he just loves his work, greasy and dirty as it may be, he loves to be a mechanic. Now let me ask you, if you were to ask that fellow a question about the workings of a gasoline engine, the engine in your car, is he going to get real timid and just put his tail between his legs and walk away? No! What's he going to do? Hey, he's going to let you know everything he knows about an engine. He's going to be proud of his knowledge, isn't that right? He's never going to walk away. Now that's exactly what God wants us to be with the Word of God. We should be so confident in our knowledge, that when somebody asks us a question, we don't turn around and try to avoid, but instead we're willing to just open the Scriptures. Well I'm not even going to be able to finish this, we'll come back after a while, but let's read on for the next 15 seconds. For what man knoweth the things of man, sayeth the Spirit of man, even so the things of God knoweth no man, except by the Spirit of God that's within him. Keep it there, we'll come right back. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a weekly Bible study. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries, a Bible study in your area or about this program, write to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 760, Kenta, OK 74552. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kenta, OK 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick, is viewer supported and your gift is appreciated. 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