―Anxiety in the heart of man
causes depression, But a good
word makes it glad‖
Proverbs 12:25
Some Personality Traits of
the DEPRESSED
• anxiety • inability to
• pessimism concentrate
• lethargy • apathy
• sense of futility • living in the past
• feeling useless • dim view of the
• feeling hopeless future
• feeling helpless • the feeling that life
is not really worth
• guilt living
Statistics
• 15% of depressed people will commit
suicide
• Depressive disorders affect approximately
18.8 million American adults or about
9.5% of the U.S. population age 18 and
older in a given year.
• Depression will be the second largest
killer after heart disease by 2020 -- and
studies show depression is a contributory
factor to fatal coronary disease.
www.upliftprogram.com
―A merry heart does good, like
medicine, But a broken spirit
dries the bones.‖
Proverbs 17:22
Growing Skepticism
• Antidepressant drug effects may be far smaller
than previously assumed.
• There is no persuasive or consistent evidence
that a deficiency of brain serotonin causes
depression or that an increase in brain serotonin
relieves depression.
• Powerful financial and political interests may bias
current research and medical education.
• Psychotherapy appears to be as effective as
antidepressants in treating acute episodes of
depression, even if severe, and is better at
preventing relapse.
(http://www.upliftprogram.com/special_h1.html#h6)
―Psychiatrists see more people
suffering from depression than from
all other emotional problems put
together‖
www.ch-of-christ.beaverton.or.us
BIBLE CHARACTERS HIT
WITH DEPRESSION
• Moses
– "I am not able to bear all these people
alone, because the burden is too heavy
for me. If You treat me like this, please
kill me here and now—if I have found
favor in Your sight—and do not let me
see my wretchedness!" (Num. 11:14,
15)
BIBLE CHARACTERS HIT
WITH DEPRESSION
• Moses (Num. 11:14, 15)
• Saul (1 Sam. 16:14-23)
BIBLE CHARACTERS HIT
WITH DEPRESSION
• Moses (Num. 11:14, 15)
• Saul (1 Sam. 16:14-23)
• Elijah (1 Kin. 19:1-18)
BIBLE CHARACTERS HIT
WITH DEPRESSION
• Moses (Num. 11:14, 15)
• Saul (1 Sam. 16:14-23)
• Elijah (1 Kin. 19:1-18)
• Job
– ―My soul loathes my life; I will give free
course to my complaint, I will speak in
the bitterness of my soul‖ (Job. 10:1)
BIBLE CHARACTERS HIT
WITH DEPRESSION
• Moses (Num. 11:14, 15)
• Saul (1 Sam. 16:14-23)
• Elijah (1 Kin. 19:1-18)
• Job (Job. 10:1)
• David (Ps. 31:9-16)
BIBLE CHARACTERS HIT
WITH DEPRESSION
• Moses (Num. 11:14, 15)
• Saul (1 Sam. 16:14-23)
• Elijah (1 Kin. 19:1-18)
• Job (Job. 10:1)
• David (Ps. 31:9-16)
• Jeremiah (Jer. 15:10; 20:14-18)
• recall ―Fruit of the
Spirit‖ – Joy, Peace
& Self-control
Dealing With
(Gal. 5:22)
• ―These things I have
spoken to you, that
Depression is in Me you may have
peace. . .‖ (Jn.
Done in Christ 16:33, NKJV)
• Blessed are those
who do His
commandments. . .‖
(Rev. 22:14, NKJV)
HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE!
―Most people are about as happy as
they choose to be‖
(Abraham Lincoln)
Dead-End Paths To
HAPPINESS
• UNBELIEVERS CLAIM THAT THEY
ARE CHOOSING HAPPINESS
ossessions
Lu 12:15, ―And He said to
them, ‗Take heed and
beware of covetousness, for
one‘s life does not consist in
the abundance of the things
he possesses‘‖ (NKJV)
Hag 1:6 ―You have sown much, and bring in
little; You eat, but do not have enough; You
drink, but you are not filled with drink; You
clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And
he who earns wages, Earns wages to put
into a bag with holes‖ (NKJV)
Pr 13:7 ―There is one who makes himself
rich, yet has nothing; And one who makes
himself poor, yet has great riches‖ (NKJV)
―As psychiatrists we see more people suffering
from depression than from all other emotional
problems put together . . . At the present time, one
American in 20 is medically diagnosed as suffering
from depression . . . of course, many, many more
are depressed but never receive help. According to
one estimate about 20 million persons in America
between the ages of eighteen and 74 are currently
depressed . . . Depression occurs two times more
often in females, than males, and it occurs three
times more often in higher socio-economic groups.
Money definitely does not buy happiness.‖
(Frank B. Minirth and Paul D. Meier, Happiness Is A Choice, Baker
Books, Grand Rapids, 1978, p. 20., cited in www.bible.org)
Pr 13:7, ―There is one who makes himself rich, yet has
nothing. . .‖
―I have had millionaire businessmen come into my
office and tell me they have big houses, yachts,
condominiums in Colorado, nice children, a
beautiful mistress, an unsuspecting wife, secure
corporate positions--and suicidal tendencies.‖
(Frank B. Minirth and Paul D. Meier, Happiness Is A Choice, Baker
Books, Grand Rapids, 1978, p. 20., cited in www.bible.org)
“Money can buy a fine dog, but only love
can make him wag his tail”
MONEY:
• can buy a bed, but not sleep
• can buy books, but not knowledge
• can buy food, but not an appetite
• can buy a clock, but not time
• can buy a position, but not respect
• can buy medicine, but not health
• can buy amusement, but not happiness
• can buy jewelry, but not beauty
Dead-End Paths To
HAPPINESS
• UNBELIEVERS CLAIM THAT THEY
ARE CHOOSING HAPPINESS
ossessions
leasure
―He who loves pleasure will be a poor
man; He who loves wine and oil will not
be rich‖ (Prov. 21:17, NKJV)
• remember the prodigal
(Lk. 15:13-16)
―I said in my heart, ‗Come now, I will test
you with mirth; therefore enjoy
pleasure‘; but surely, this also was
vanity‖ (Eccl. 2:1)
•Epicureans
―Followers of Epicurus (who died at
Athens B.C. 270) or adherents of the
Epicurean philosophy #Ac 17:18 This
philosophy was a system of atheism,
and taught men to seek as their highest
aim a pleasant and smooth life‖
(Easton‘s Revised Bible Dictionary)
Dead-End Paths To
HAPPINESS
• UNBELIEVERS CLAIM THAT THEY
ARE CHOOSING HAPPINESS
ossessions
leasure
opularity (Luke 6:26)
Dead-End Paths To
HAPPINESS
• UNBELIEVERS CLAIM THAT THEY
ARE CHOOSING HAPPINESS
ossessions
leasure
opularity
erformance (work)
•Ecclesiastes 2
10 Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep
from them. I did not withhold my heart from any
pleasure, For my heart rejoiced in all my labor;
And this was my reward from all my labor.
11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands
had done And on the labor in which I had toiled;
And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the
wind. There was no profit under the sun.
(NKJV)
•Ecclesiastes 2
17 Therefore I hated life because the work that
was done under the sun was distressing to me,
for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
18 Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled
under the sun, because I must leave it to the man
who will come after me.
19 And who knows whether he will be wise or a
fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I
toiled and in which I have shown myself wise
under the sun. This also is vanity.
(NKJV)
(1)
13 Brethren, I do not count myself to
have apprehended; but one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are
behind and reaching forward to those
things which are ahead,
14 I press toward the goal for the prize
of the upward call of God in Christ
Jesus.
Romans 2:6-9
6 who "will render to each one according to his
deeds":
7 eternal life to those who by patient
continuance in doing good seek for glory,
honor, and immortality;
8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not
obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—
indignation and wrath,
9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who
does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;
(NKJV)
(2)
(your mind with the peace of God)
―and the peace of God, which
surpasses all understanding, will
GUARD your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus‖
(2)
(your mind with the peace of God)
1. rejoice in your salvation
1 5. focus on godly
(4:4) examples/behavior (4:9)
2. realize God is near (4:5) 6. divert attention from self
3. worry over nothing, pray (4:10)
for everything (4:6, 7) 7. learn contentment (4:11,
4. meditate on good and 12)
true thoughts (4:8) 8. become an “I can” (4:13)
• opposed to “I can’t”
• has the power to cope
with, is competent
“I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me”
(Phil. 4:13, NKJV)
“all things” as fitting the
context
“I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me”
(Phil. 4:13, NKJV)
cf. “. . .He who abides in Me, and I in
him, bears much fruit; for without Me
you can do nothing” (Jn. 14:15)
“I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me”
(Phil. 4:13, NKJV)
“I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me”
(Phil. 4:13, NKJV)
he empowers, trains,
encourages, etc.
The Depressed Mind
• is an anxious mind
– but God provides a cure for (viz. prayer,
1 Pet. 5:7)
• is filled with hopelessness
– but God provides hope (Titus 1:2)
• is confused
– but God is not the author of confusion
(1 Cor. 14:33)
IF YOU ARE FEELING DEPRESSED, GUESS
WHO IS IN WEARING DOWN YOUR MIND?
BEAT DEPRESSION!
• GET THE REMISSION OF SINS
TODAY!
• GET THE STRENGTH OF CHRIST‘S
POWER TODAY!
• BECOME A CITIZEN OF THE
KINGDOM OF CHRIST TODAY!
“For as many of you
as were baptized into
Christ have put on “in Christ”
Christ” (Gal. 3:27)