“At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away—it was there by faith that I received my sight and now I am happy all the day!”
This is the glorious chorus of that great hymn entitled, “At The Cross,” we use to sing it growing up in Church. The Saints of God sang this song from the depths of their hearts unto God. You see, we fell in love with that old-rugged cursed cross that Jesus Christ was nailed to. The cross is where, by faith, we watched the Lord suffer, with His precious blood streaming down and pooling at the foot of the cross. From the good news of the gory cross, the Holy Ghost, opened our eyes to see the light of God shining bright; leading us to reconciliation with God the Father, the forgiveness of sins, and salvation offered to every person on the planet. And, praise God, we saw the yoke of our sins removed, and the burdens of our hearts lifted off of our shoulders, and rolled away!
Umm, and what shall we say to the Lord for all He has done for us? Having also risen from the dead on the third-day; showing Himself alive with many infallible proofs for 40-days to above over 500 chosen witnesses. (I Cor. 15:6) The Lord Jesus, as witnessed by the beloved disciples, ascended into heaven and took His seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Not traveling alone—but God in Christ Jesus gathered, quickened, and raised us all up together and made us sit together in heavenly places. Having bestowed upon us all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, and all things that pertain unto life and godliness. Tell me, what shall we say to Jesus Christ at this very moment for all He has accomplished for us?
Our souls must cry out hallelujah, praise God for saving me! Thank you for your amazing grace! We are full of joy and happy all the day!
Introduction:
Happy Resurrection Sunday and Praise the Lord Saints!
Today, I want to talk about “Depression.” You may ask why on Resurrection Sunday, (Easter Sunday) I have chosen to talk about this sad topic. The reason is because so many people, including many born-again Christians are suffering from depression—they are mentally sick.
Yes, perhaps even some of you listening to, or reading this Sermon, are experiencing depression and suffering in silence. I want you to know that Jesus Christ is concerned about, and has compassion for the psychological state of us all. If your thought-life is filled with negative thoughts, feelings, and emotions; or even if recently—say over the last two or three weeks consecutively—you have been feeling down and low, you are being oppressed by the devil through an event(s) in life.
But praise God, Jesus is in the House today and ready to heal you of the depression. For remember the Scripture: God has not given to us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (II Tim.1:7) God’s Spirit does not afflict our brains, make us withdraw from people and society, and zap our energy. Rather, God gives us courage, strength, peace and hope—especially in difficult and sorrowful times—to fight on another day! As born-again Christians, we are not to accept any form of mental disorder, but to declare our victory over every sickness and illness Satan tries to attack us with! (I John 5:4-5)
More emphatically I say to you, if you are experiencing signs of depression that are mild, moderate, or severe—it’s time to get rid of the yoke of melancholy, grief, and anguish and to become yoked up with Christ! Jesus Christ is where we find complete rest for the brain, which many people call the mind. Jesus wants His people to live in liberty and happiness. From the Lord’s manger, to His ascension to the right hand of the throne of God where he reclaimed all of His former glory, Jesus has brought peace on earth and goodwill toward all people so we can be full of joy, happiness, and thanksgiving! When your thought-life is full of Jesus, there is freedom from all demonic oppression. (Is. 26:3 & II Cor. 3:17)
Easter-time is a perfect time to focus on depression. This is the day when Christians, and even Non-Christians for that matter, pay special attention to the cross of Christ and His Resurrection from the dead on the third-day. Praise God, Jesus died and rose again for everybody—so that everyone might live through Him! (II Cor. 5:14-15) Today on Easter Sunday, many people around the world and from all walks of life, are masking depression, in therapy, on prescription medications, using home remedies trying to war against depression.
So many people are sad, unhappy, dissatisfied, sleepless, or even angry about life. But, I’m here to tell you, Jesus Christ wants you to be free of all mental anguish! The cross of Christ provides the Medicine (CURE) to have complete victory over depression!
Notice, the Sermon heading does not ascribe ownership of depression to us. The title does not read, “Jesus Christ is Medicine for Your Depression.” Most people go around claiming sickness, illness, and disease as their own. Never do that! Remember this: You will never get rid of anything you attest to as your own! Rather, the title of the Sermon reads, “Jesus is Your Medicine (Cure) for Depression.” Depression does not belong to us, as it is from Satan, and we are to give him no place in our lives. (John 10:10 & Eph. 4:27) We make no place for Satan, therefore, we make no place for mental disorders of any kind! The Bible says the memory of the righteous is blessed! (Prov.10:7)
While the world is filled with tribulation and stresses on every side—and seemingly provides reasons to lose hope and feel helpless, Jesus came that we might have uninterrupted life, and life more abundantly. (John 16:33 & John 10:10) Jesus has overcome the world for us and nothing by any means can hurt us. To this end, Jesus has given to us His Peace (Prosperity, Oneness, and Quietness) and we are to be busy pursuing peace with all people, and not unhappiness and sorrows. (John 14:27 & Heb. 12:14) Obviously, if we are sad and melancholy, we cannot share our peace with anyone as God intends for us to do.
So today, and until the Lord returns, we are going make it our life-style to pursue and possess what Jesus has given to us, and refuse to accept Satan and this world’s system which seeks to oppress us with—“BAD NEWS.” Yes, the source of all depression is BAD NEWS.
But praise God we overcome BAD NEWS, WITH GOOD NEWS, AND JESUS CHRIST IS OUR GOOD NEWS!
Let the Church say Amen. Say I “Love Jesus Christ More and More Each Day!”
Facts about Depression
The media reports that major depression is one of the most common mental health disorders in the world, including the United States. According to mental health statistical data published by “Our World in Data,” in 2021, an estimated 264 million people worldwide were diagnosed with symptoms of depression, with an estimated overall total of 792 million people worldwide diagnosed with types of mental health disorders, such as anxiety, bipolar, eating disorders, alcohol, drug, substance use, or schizophrenia. http://ourworldindata.org/mentalhealth. But, let’s speak to this data right now and say, “Jesus Christ cares and has the cure for every mental health disorder!”
Further, depression is a mood disorder that causes persistent feelings of sadness, despondency, dejection, and loss of interest, and can even result in suicidal thoughts. Also called major depressive disorder or clinical depression, medical experts say depression affects how you feel, think, and behave—and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. Words akin to depression are melancholy, misery, sadness, unhappiness, and sorrow. The symptoms of depression can range from mild to severe. At its mildest, a person may feel persistently low in spirit, while on the other hand, severe depression can make you feel suicidal; that life is no longer worth living.
Studies have shown that most people experience feelings of stress, anxiety, or low mood during difficult times. Somebody shout, yes but Jesus Christ cares for us in difficult times—He is our bridge over troubled waters!
The Non-Profit Group, Hope for Depression Research Foundation states that, “depression is both a brain disorder and a state of mind. According to the Foundation, “depression is by far the most prevalent, representing 99% of all mind-brain illness.” (Schizophrenia and major psychotic illness represents the remaining 1%).
Data reported on depression in the United States shows that depression:
*Affects 18 million adults (one in ten) in any given year.
* Is the leading cause of disability for people ages 15 to 44.
* Serves as the primary reason why someone dies of suicide about every 12 minutes—over 41,000 people a year.
*Accounts for $23 billion in lost work-days each year.
* Is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and is a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease.
In sum, depression has become our nation's number one emotional illness, and it is increasing steadily. Rising suicide rates, especially among young people (In 2022, an estimated 3.2 percent of children and teens between the ages of 3 and 17 had received a medical diagnoses of depression, which is about 1.9 million of our youth.) show the final end to which depression takes people. Broken, unhappy homes and wasted lives are often the result of unfettered depression. The news of breakdowns in the family and relationships, bereavement, sickness and illness, bullying, substance abuse, loneliness, financial problems rehearsed repeatedly in the brain are key factors to the onset of depression. You see it’s the Bad News, the bad report about a problem—that most often sets off depression.
In Christian circles, I don’t think many people realize that the very first words that the Serpent (Satan possessed) said to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, were intended to deliver Bad News! For the Serpent asked the question of Eve, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Gen. 3:1) Satan was attempting to poison the mind of Eve, Adam with her, with thoughts that God had commanded them not to eat fruit from any tree, and therefore, God did not love them nor care about their welfare. The lie was intended to engender in the couple feelings of fear, anxiety, worry, and anger about a potential problem—the lack of food supply.
Again, the root cause of depression is thinking on negative thoughts about a perceived problem authored by Satan. The same old trick Satan used with Adam and Eve, he attempts to play with human beings today. For Satan is the author and deliverer of Bad News. (John 10:10) He hopes you will first take the Bad News about a problem and stress over it so the spirit of fear can communicate to you that God doesn’t love you, God cannot or will not help you in the time of need—to disturb the peace.
But, we know this is a lie spun out of the pit of hell. God loves you. God loves you so much that if you were the only person on earth—He still would have sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for your sins and rise again on the third-day. (Matt. 18:12) God never leaves you without support, but will deliver you from all your troubles with honor, and give you a hiding place within Himself until the rescue mission is completed! (I John 4:19, Heb. 13:5-6, Ps. 91:15, Ps. 34:19, & I Cor.10:13)
Oh, in this moment I just “feel” like heaping more praise onto our God. We have been giving Satan far too much credit when problems arise in life—when the job is lost, bills mount-up, marriage ends, business closes, cancer diagnosis is reported, children incarcerated, or our loved one dies—freaking out with sudden fear and panic. But, if we would only resolve within ourselves to hang-out with God (keep our minds stayed on Him at all times) for an anchor we would live in Peace and victory through every storm. Let God speak to you from Isaiah 26:3 and Philippians 4:8-9 shown below:
Isaiah 26:3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Philippians 4:8-9.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
You see keep your thoughts on God, and God will be stuck on you, and great will be your Peace! The person who keeps their thought-life centered on God and the Word will experience God’s peace. But when depressed people believe the lie that God doesn’t love them, it results in a bleak and melancholy outlook on life, and further leads to murmuring and complaining about the depressed person’s station in life. If a person experiencing depression no longer believes God loves them, then it’s easy for them to morph into also thinking and believing that their church family, natural family, friends, and society at large are loveless toward them.
Moreover, depressed people turn within—they shut down all avenues of pleasant thinking, and drift into the dark place called “self.” In the place of “self” (me, myself, and I) is where Satan is able to plant negative thoughts of worthlessness, fear, anxiety, loneliness, un-forgiveness, and bitterness—until dark thoughts become their reality. Again I say, if anyone here today is experiencing depression, I'm telling you that the medicine (cure) you need is Jesus Christ—His sufferings and cross.
Jesus Christ Loves You and Is Obsessed with Your Wholeness and Happiness
God sent Jesus Christ into the world to save us all from sin and damnation. (John 3:16-18) As noted before, Jesus came that we might have life and life more abundantly to full and until it overflows. (John 10:10) As born-again Christians, we are not to have any more dark days. Regardless of the tribulation we may face, we know we have the victory to overcome it by faith. (I John 5:4-5) Though we may be imprisoned like Paul and Silas—beaten with many stripes and feet spread wide and made fast in the stocks. But in the midnight hour, we are to be found praying and singing praises to our God. Because we live in the GOOD NEWS, we have peace. (Acts 16:23-25.)
Umm I even think about Joseph, the son of Jacob (Israel), how when he was thrown into prison falsely accused of sexual assault, he was happy all the while, and asked his fellow inmates—the butler and baker—why they both were so sad. (Gen.40:1-6) But, Joseph had a Word from God in dreams he held on to through all of his afflictions, and God ultimately promoted him to become Prince of Egypt. (Gen. 37:5-11 & Gen. 5:18-26) If you are feeling depressed, you need the GOOD NEWS from the Word of God. Check out Proverbs 12:25. It reads as follows:
Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.
Here is a GOOD Word from God for those who are experiencing depression from Isaiah 53:4.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
The Word I love most here is “surely.” Somebody ought to shout: “Surely God!” God guarantees that Jesus Christ has taken hold of and carried away all of our griefs and sorrows on the cross—every heartache, anxiety, malady, calamity, pain, anguish, and affliction—Jesus has borne it for us. Oh, Happy Day! Jesus took on all of the sins of the world and shed his blood and died, so you would not have to bear depression of any kind! Jesus took care of the problem that plagued Mankind and the World—sin against God. And because Jesus destroyed the whole body of sin (works of sin) we don’t have to be afraid of anything in life—but we can be of good cheer as Jesus has overcome the world for us. (John 16:33) Jesus suffered for every physical, mental, and spiritual trauma specified and unspecified of mankind.
For Jesus’ great love toward us, the King of kings, humbled Himself unto God, and wore a “crown of thorns” platted into His scalp by a garrison of Roman soldiers as they mocked Him. (Matt. 27:29) Among the many reasons Jesus bore the crown of thorns was to purchase for every person the right to have a sound mind. (I Tim. 1:7 & I Cor. 2:16)
Jesus knows how Satan lodges his attacks on born-again Christians in the realm of the mind (brain). However, praise God, as a result of Jesus’ finished works on the cross, our brains (thought-life) are healed from every mental disorder medically specified and unspecified— Anxiety, Addiction, Depression, Bipolar, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Schizophrenia, Eating and Sleeping Disorders, Disruptive Behavior, Dissocial Disorders, and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Receive the GOOD NEWS RIGHT NOW! (I Pet. 2:24, Jer. 30:17, & Is. 40:29)
You see, if you will look at Jesus Christ and His passion (sufferings) on the cross, healing from depression will come on you. Hebrews 12:3 says:
“For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”
Think about and believe the report of how Jesus was falsely accused, mocked, kicked, punched, beaten, spat on, whipped, crowned with thorns—and spread wide and hung high on a rugged tree in the midst with those considered the worst criminals in society—marred more than any man—abandoned by all of His disciples and siblings—and healing will come and take away depression!
NO, No, no, just don’t listen to me and other Ministers recount the Lord’s passion in Sermons—you go and study, consider, and meditate on Jesus’s sufferings for yourself and let the healing power of God restore your mind afresh! (Is.53:1, Chapters of Matt. 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19, & Is. 52:14) Put the Lord’s Testimony of His Resurrection from dead, against the problem that is causing you to feel sad and down—and watch it disappear and your brain recover to happiness. It was on the third-day when Jesus Christ rose from the dead, that your problem rolled away! (Matt. 28:6, I John 3:8 & Rev.1:17-18) Because Jesus has risen from the dead, as Jesus told the Apostle John when he appeared unto him on the Isle of Patmos: “Fear Not,” as Jesus has the “keys to hell and death.” Let this Good News heal all ailments, clear your head, cleanse your thoughts, and bless your memory. I declare unto you—“No more issues with mental disorders of any kind shall attach themselves to your brain, as Jesus’ blood has healed you from all manner of sickness and disease.
Lastly, take great comfort in knowing that Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the throne of God, as our Great High Priest. Greater than any physician, psychologist, therapist, prescription medication, regimen, or home remedy—Jesus Christ has the cure for depression. Jesus is unique from all the people in the world, science and medicine in that He was tempted at all points like as we are and yet he never sinned. He knows all about temptation, was acquainted with all grief and sin. And, God has made Jesus our Great High Priest who is touched with the reports of infirmities we suffer (weaknesses, diseases, illnesses, sorrows, and griefs). Right now Jesus is touched and moved with compassion for those suffering with dark thoughts, feelings of in adequacy, regrets, loneliness, helplessness, failure, low energy, and heaviness. See Hebrews 4:12-16.
12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Jesus Christ wants you to know that He knows and sees the pain people are experiencing in their lives. He desires to help them by removing depression and lifting them up into His Peace. Jesus has great compassion over you and the heartache you are enduring—He is touching right now the infirmity in your brain—in your thoughts. All of the negative thoughts and words and energy you have been releasing before are vanishing away—all because of His precious shed blood carries with it the healing power of God to deliver you from all evil. The mood and negative thoughts are lifted as you come boldly to the throne of God’s grace—God is doing you a “good deed” and bringing the joy and laughter and smile back on your face. Turning your mourning into gladness and giving you beauty for your former ashes.
All Jesus requires is that you believe in Him and hold fast to the profession of your faith in His finished works on the cross. This is your medicine (cure)—faith in Jesus shed blood on the cross that bore all griefs and sorrows. All that you cared about before, every depressive thought you have had now belongs to Jesus, and not you. (I Peter 5:7) You will always feel so much better when you have laid your burdens down. Do not pick them up again. Know this, Jesus Christ will never leave you without support. No matter what dilemma you face in life, come and hang out with Jesus Christ and He will help you through the problem. For He has said I will never leave you nor forsake you. (Heb.13:5-6) The Lord is your Helper.
You need to make that your confession every day. When the enemy tries to attack you with negative thoughts, speak directly to the problem facing you, and say in response, “The Lord is My Helper.” Whether your family is broken, friends left you, bills are unpaid, physical and mental health is failing, or loved one has passed away—The Lord is My Helper! Jesus Christ is your medicine (cure) for depression. Let the Church say Amen!
To God be the Glory for the things He has done. The next time we are together, I will show you how to get ahead and stay ahead of depression—such that you never have another dark day again in life. We are going to learn how to think like Jesus Christ—how to take on His persona.
Please send your tithes and offerings in support of Exousia Ministries, Inc. to the PayPal link below. May God exponentially multiply your cheerful and hilarious giving to our Ministry and ever take you deeper into the knowledge of Himself.