I can assure that depression in the ministry is not a problem of temperament. Men of every conceivable temperament get this trouble--the feeling that everything is on top of us. The one possible exception is the phlegmatic type who is not concerned about anything. He is so bucolic, ox-like, that he is not likely to feel a call to the ministry! Men in the ministry are sensitive men. I have met few others. The way to approach this problem is not along lines of temperament--that is incidental.
The big thing is not to start with the problem. Start with the question, what is your calling? Why are you in the ministry? What is the object of the ministry? Is the church mine? Why am I troubled? Am I concerned about my reputation? Why am I hurt? ... Our reactions are too often due to a wrong view of our calling. Remember Paul: "With me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self" (1 Cor. 4:3). I have found this to be the answer so many times. Paul had to go through it all. In Corinth men were praised more than Paul who were not worthy to shine his boots. Paul's concept of the ministry lay in his calling to be faithful. We should not make it a personal issue.
Isolate, then, your calling. Get that right. The antagonism we encounter is generally against the calling and most of our problems arise because we get immersed in day-to-day problems and forget what we are. "Should such a man as I flee?" (Neh. 6:11). Nehemiah was talking about his calling. That is the way to look at it. Certain things then become unthinkable and you will not hand in your resignation.
Let us remember who we are. We haven't entered a profession. We are servants of the living God!
Iain Murray records an interesting aspect to Lloyd-Jones' preaching. Or more accurately, the cultural context into which he began his preaching career. Apparently, among Welsh preachers of the day, there was the accepted and revered practice of preaching with "the hwyl." Murray explains, in the words of a newspaper of the time, that "the hwyl" was a "combination of ecstatic emotion and of musical intonation which has held vast congregations absolutely spellbound with its mesmeric effect." That same writer declared that "the hwyl" was "the distinctive and exclusive characteristic of Welsh preaching."I am not and have never been a typical Welsh preacher. I felt that in preaching the first thing that you had to do was to demonstrate to the people that what you were going to do was very relevant and urgently important. The Welsh style of preaching started with a verse and the preacher then told you the connection and analysed the words, but the man of the world did not know what he was talking about and was not interested. I started with the man whom I wanted to listen, the patient. It was a medical approach really--here is a patient, a person in trouble, an ignorant man who has been to quacks, and so I deal with all that in the introduction. I wanted to get the listener and then come to my exposition. They started with their exposition and ended with a bit of application.
Would you like to be rid of this spiritual depression? The first thing you have to do is to say farewell now once and forever to your past. Realize that it has been covered and blotted out in Christ. Never look back at your sins again. Say: ‘It is finished, it is covered by the Blood of Christ'. That is your first step. Take that and finish with yourself and all this talk about goodness, and look to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only then that true happiness and joy are possible for you. What you need is not to make resolutions to live a better life, to start fasting and sweating and praying. No! You just begin to say:
I rest my faith on Him alone
Who died for my transgressions to atone. (35)
Here's the final quote from Lloyd-Jones from one of his sermons on Romans 7:4. After meditating on four "tests" for true Christian life, the good doctor provides a little balm for the weak and wounded. For your encouragement and comfort--and especially for those who may feel that they are very weak, and doubtful about their position--let me suggest some few simple tests. What are the tests of 'life?' Here are some of them. The Apostle Peter writes, 'As new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby' (1 Peter 2:2). I put it to you in this way. Do you enjoy public meetings for worship? That is not true of the natural man, the non-Christian. Men and women of the world regard such meetings as the height of boredom; and they have no understanding of what is being said. They say, 'What is all that? What does it mean? What has it got to do with me?' And they would never want to hear it again. Does exposition of the Truth in preaching appeal to you? Do you like it? Do you enjoy it? Would you like to know more about it? If you can say 'Yes' to those questions you possess good presumptive evidence that you have new life in you. You may only be a 'babe'; but thank God, you are born again, you are 'in Christ'. Do not be misled by people who would apply the test of mature, adult, fully-grown Christian to a new-born babe. 'The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned' (1 Cor. 2:14). If you therefore 'receive' these things, though you may be living an unworthy life, you are 'born again.' 'The natural mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.' If you can say honestly that your desire is to know God and to serve Him, you are a child of God. You may be imperfect, I am not excusing you--but you must be clear about this. If, because of your failures, you are made to feel, as I said earlier, that you are not a Christian at all, then your position is such that you ahve to go right back to the beginning once more. Therefore, I say, do not allow any legalist to cause you to doubt your position. The new-born babe desires the 'milk', 'the sincere milk of the word, that he may grow thereby'; he is interested in spiritual things. His understanding may be very small, and very immature; but if he has even a glimmer of light, and if he wants more of it--if he is drawn to the truth, and likes to be amongst God's people--then the statement that 'We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren' applies to him. Those are some of the tests which we can apply to ourselves. The Apostle's assertion is that you cannot be a Christian without a death and a new birth--a 'life'.
Here's the remainder of Lloyd-Jones' comments on Romans 7:4 and the tests for a true Christian. These are tests 2-4. Lord willing tomorrow, an encouragement for those who feel weak and doubtful about their position before the Lord. The second truth is that the man who has become a Christian is in an entirely new relationship. That is w hat the Apostle is emphasizing here in particular. To be a Christian means that you are now in an entirely new relationship to God. Before, your relationship to God was one through the Law; it is now through the Lord Jesus Christ. What a change that is! My whole standing is different; my position, my status as I stand before God, is altogether different from what it was before. Here again is something which emphasizes the profound character of the Christian life. So as we talk about it we must always include this thought, that there has been an entire change in our relationship to God. We were 'under law', we are now 'under grace.'
The third truth is that as Christians we have an entirely new purpose in life, namely, 'to bring forth fruit unto God.' The man who is not a Christian knows nothing of that purpose; he lives for himself, he brings forth fruit unto himself. He lives to satisfy himself; he is self-centered, entirely egocentric. It matters not how good a man he appears to be; if he is not a Christian, he is always egocentric. He is proud of his morality, he is proud that he is not like other people, he looks at them with disdain. All along he is pleasing himself, coming up to his own standard, trusting his own efforts and endeavours. He revolves around himself. But the man who has become a Christian has an entirely new purpose, to 'bring forth fruit unto God.' These are basic definitions of what it means to be a Christian.
The fourth general truth which here lies on the surface is that the Christian is a man who has been provided with an entirely new ability, a new power and strength. Certain things have happened to him in order that he should 'bring forth fruit unto God'. He could not do that before; he can do so now. A new ability, a new power has entered into the life of this man.
There, I say, are four things which lie here on the very surface of this verse, and which are always true of the Christian. Therefore if we would know for certain whether or not we are Christians we have four thorough tests that we can apply to ourselves. Can you say quite honestly, 'I am not the person I once was, I have been born again, I am a different person?" That is the first thing--new life. It does not mean of necessity that that evidence is always very strong or very powerful. You can be a 'babe in Christ', but even a babe has life. A babe is not as strong as a grown-up adult person, but he has life. The question therefore is: Are we aware of the fact that there is this 'new life' in us? It is not that we have done something, but that something has happened to us which causes us to be surprised at ourselves, and to wonder at ourselves that something is now true of us which was not true before.
There, I say, are four things which lie here on the very surface of this verse, and which are always true of the Christian. Therefore if we would know for certain whether or not we are Christians we have four thorough tests that we can apply to ourselves. Can you say quite honestly, 'I am not the person I once was, I have been born again, I am a different person?' That is the first thing--new life. It does not mean of necessity that that evidence is always very strong or very powerful. You can be a 'babe in Christ', but even a babe has life. A babe is not as strong as a grown-up adult person, but he has life. The question therefore is: Are we aware of the fact that there is this 'new life' in us? It is not that we have done something, but that something has happened to us which causes us to be surprised at ourselves, and to wonder at ourselves that something is now true of us which was not true before.
For your encouragement and comfort--and especially for those who may feel that they are very weak, and doubtful about their position--let me suggest some few simple tests. What are the tests of 'life'? Here are some of them. the Apostle Peter writes, 'As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby' (1 Peter 2:2). I put it to you in this way. Do you enjoy public meetings for worship? That is not true of the natural man, the non-Christian. Men and women of the world regard such meetings as the height of boredom; and they have no understanding of what is being said. They say, 'What is all that? What does it mean? What has it got to do with me?' And they would never want to hear it again. Does exposition of the Truth in preaching appeal to you? Do you like it? Do you enjoy it? Would you like to know more about it? If you can say 'Yes' to those questions you possess good presumptive evidence that you have new life in you. You may only be a 'babe'; but thank God, you are born again, you are 'in Christ'. Do not be misled by people who would apply the test of a mature, adult, fully-grown Christian to a newborn babe. 'The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned' (1 Cor. 2:14). If you therefore 'receive' these things, though you may be living and unworthy life, you are 'born again'. 'The natural mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.' If you can say honestly that your desire is to know God and to serve Him, you are a child of God. You may be imperfect, I am not excusing you--but you must be clear about this. If, because of our failures, you are made to feel, as I said earlier, that you are not a Christian at all, then your position is such that you have to go right back to the beginning once more. Therefore, I say, do not allow any legalist to cause you to doubt your position. The newborn babe desires the 'milk', 'the sincere milk of the word, that he may grow thereby'; he is interested in spiritual things. His understanding may be very small, and immature; but if he has even a glimmer of light, and if he wants more of it--if he is drawn to the truth, and likes to be amongst God's people--then the statement that 'We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren' applies to him. Those are some of the tests which we can apply to ourselves. The Apostle's assertion is that you cannot be a Christian without a death and a new birth--a 'life'.
First, let us look at this verse as it gives us a general description and definition of the christian life. It is here for us on the surface. It tells us immediately that to be a Christian means that we have an entirely new life. The Apostle speaks in terms of being 'dead' and 'alive.' To be Christian is nothing less than that. It involves a death and a rising. The difference, therefore, between the Christian and the non-Christian is obviously a radical one, and not merely something superficial. To become a Christian does not mean that you just modify your former life a little, or adjust it slightly, or make it look a little better, or 'brush it up' as it were. There are many who conceive of Christianity in those terms. To become a Christian, they think, means in the main that you stop doing certain things, and begin to do others. There is a slight adjustment in your life, a slight modification, some things are dropped, others added; there is some improvement, you live a better life than you lived before. All of that, of course, is quite true, but that alone is not Christianity. Whatever our definition of Christianity is, it must include this idea of a death and a new life--nothing less than that. In other words, to be a Christian means to undergo the profoundest change that one can ever know. That is why the New Testament, in speaking of the way in which a person becomes a Christian, uses such terms as 'Ye must be born again', 'a new creation', a 'new creature'. It is nothing less than regeneration. Naturally, generation is fundamental; it is the giving of life and bringing into being. Becoming a Christian involves regeneration, and the spiritual far surpasses the natural. So here at once, and on the very surface, we are made to realize that to be a Christian is no small matter, and that the difference between the Christian and the non-Christian is not a slight one. It is the greatest difference possible between two human beings. It is no other than the difference between life and death. That is why I say that the main trouble with most of us in the Church today is that our whole concept of the christian life is much too small. We seem to have lost this idea, though we may pay lip-service to it, that it involves as radical a process and as deep-seated a change as is conceivable. That is the first truth.
The second truth is that the man who has become a Christian is an entirely new relationship. That is what the Apostle is emphasizing here in particular. To be a Christian means that you are now in an entirely new relationship to God. Before, your relationship to God was one through the Law; it is now through the Lord Jesus Christ. What a change that is! My whole standing is different; my position, my status as I stand before God, is altogether different from what it was before. Here again is something which emphasizes the profound character of the Christian life. So as we talk about it we must always include this thought, that there has been an entire change in our relationship to God. We were 'under law,' we are now 'under grace.'
The third truth is that as Christians we have an entirely new purpose in life, namely, 'to bring forth fruit unto God'. The man who is not a Christian knows nothing of that purpose; he lives for himself, he brings forth fruit unto himself. He lives to satisfy himself; he is self-centered, entirely egocentric. It matters not how good a man he appears to be; if he is not a Christian, he is always egocentric. He is proud of his morality, he is proud that he is not like other people, he looks at them with disdain. All along he is pleasing himself, coming up to this own standard, trusting his own efforts and endeavours. He revolves around himself. But the man who has become a Christian has an entirely new purpose, to 'bring forth fruit unto God'. These are basic definitions of what it means to be a Christian.
The foruth general truth which here lies on the surface is that the Christian is a man who has been provided with an entirely new ability, a new power and strength. Certain things have happened to him in order that he should 'bring forth fruit unto God'. He could not do that before; he can do so now. A new ability, a new power has entered into the life of this man.
There, I say, are four things which lie here on the very surface of this verse, and which are always true of the Christian.
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