Overcoming Spiritual Depths

[RETIREDFAN1]

Climbing out of Spiritual Depths

 

Christians often find ourselves in what is called spiritual depths. This is when we feel so overwhelmed by something, such as worldliness or temptations, that we become frustrated and want to give up. David found himself in such a situation.

Psalm 69:1-2

 

Scripture often refers to these spiritual depths as deep areas of the ocean.

Psalm 107: 24

 

We often find ourselves in these spiritual depths as we struggle in our lives here on the Earth. .

Ephesians 6: 12

 

Today we want to look at ways that we can use to climb out of spiritual depths. 

 

How can we be wise enough to escape these kinds of depths? What are some spiritual depths that we face today, and what can we do to bring ourselves out of them? 

 

Paul and Silas simply left theirs behind and moved on.

Acts 17:5-10

 

Is this something we will be able to do? Let’s look at a few spiritual depths that we may find ourselves in and see how to overcome them. 

 

The greatest spiritual depth we face is the depth of apostasy. This is vain worship. Vain worship is worship without the authority of God. It is paying lip service to God, but not giving Him our heart.

Matthew 15: 7 - 9

 

Those who try to draw near to God only with their mouth but do not draw near Him with their hearts sink into the deep of apostasy. When a person or congregation falls into the depth of apostasy in their worship, they worship in vain. Remember from our study of Ecclesiastes that vain means useless.  Unscriptural worship accomplishes nothing. Unscriptural worship is a waste of time. If you are not going to worship in the way God has shown He wants us to worship Him, you may as well be on the lake fishing.  Only scriptural worship is acceptable and pleasing to God.

Hebrews 12: 28 - 29

 

How do we escape this spiritual depth? 

John 4: 24

 

We escape this depth by worshipping God as He has commanded. This will keep us from this spiritual depth. Those that are in this spiritual depth must repent and return to scriptural worship. This may involve leaving a congregation that will not turn from their vain worship.

 

Another thing that leads to apostasy is fellowship with false teachers. 

II Corinthians 6: 14 - 16

 

Fellowship with false teachers and with those who promote false teaching is a common spiritual depth that is overlooked by many today.  This fellowship includes allowing such people to have an opportunity to speak and participate at the local congregation. It also includes condoning their teaching. Condoning such teachers can be done by overlooking their ideas and teachings. It is also done by attempting to rationalize their teachings or actions.

 

So what is a false teacher? A false teacher is someone who teaches an idea that is not supported from the scriptures. There are some people who also promote that same doctrine. Neither the teacher or the person supporting the teacher should be fellowshipped if they will not repent.

 

How do we escape this spiritual depth?  We escape by trying to correct those who are in error. However, if they do not repent

we cannot continue to have fellowship with them.

Ephesians 5: 11

 

False teachings give many people false hope. Just look around at those who are lost in denominational error today.  The hope given by these false teachings is and will always be false.

II Peter 2: 17 - 20

 

Another depth that apostasy leads to is the falling away of faithful Christians. 

I Corinthians 10: 12

II Peter 3: 17

 

Members who have fallen away don't just refer only to those who have stopped attending when the saints gather. Some people still attend even after they have become unfaithful. Continuing to live in a sinful situation without repentance is just one example. 

 

Those folks who do not walk carefully in their daily spiritual walk can fall away.

 

How do we escape this spiritual depth? We must examine ourselves daily.

II Corinthians 13: 5

This examination must be us comparing ourselves to what we can read in the Bible. Simply comparing ourselves to other people is worthless. Just because we may be acting better than someone else does not mean we are acting in the manner God wants us to. Therefore, we must put ourselves to the test and examine ourselves in the light of the Word.

 

We should also try to restore those who have fallen away, but in doing this, we must be careful we are not led away with them.

Galatians 6: 1

II Peter 3: 17

 

Another depth many face is the depth of worldliness. This is made worse by atheism. There are many people in the world who are atheists, whether they admit to being so or not is irrelevant. They are. 

 

David describes atheists very well.

Psalm 14: 1

 

The world is constantly trying to prove that there is no God. We can see this in the political world, where even the mention of God is cause for censure or punishment. We see this in the educational system, where evolution is taught as fact, and creation, if it’s mentioned at all, is taught to be a myth. 

 

How do we escape this spiritual depth?

Psalm 8: 3 - 4

Romans 1: 20

 

We must recognize that God does indeed exist. We must teach and show others the evidence for God. When we do this, they will have no excuse on the day of judgment for having continued in their foolish beliefs. Their blood will be on their own heads.

Acts 18: 6

 

Another spiritual depth of the world is that of denominationalism, which we spoke about earlier. 

John 15: 5

 

Many denominations teach that they are a branch of Christ. We know better, and we cannot allow denominationalism to confuse us.

I Corinthians 12: 27

 

Denominationalism and their false teachings have pulled many off the pathway of eternal life.

Matthew 7: 13 - 14

 

How do we escape this spiritual depth?

John 15: 10

I John 2: 3 - 6

 

We seek out and follow the church of the Bible and encourage others to do the same. How do we recognize the church of Christ that was established by the Messiah in the New Testament? A congregation of the Lord’s Church will be named as it was in the New Testament. It will be doing things as they were done in the New Testament. It will be teaching things as they were taught in the New Testament. Any congregation that does not meet these criteria, is not a congregation of New Testament Christians, no matter what the sign over the front door says. 

 

So how do we recognize and avoid spiritual depths? 

Matthew 7: 16 - 20

 

A spiritual depth is any way of life or any teaching that can cause us to stray from the faith and become eternally condemned. If we cannot recognize these, we are at risk of being led away. How do I avoid a spiritual depth?

 

We can avoid these by knowing what the Bible says.

Acts 17: 11

 

We must study the Word continually. We must be students of God’s Word, eagerly wanting to learn more and more about His revelation to us.

 

We can overcome them with the weapons and tools given to us by God.
Ephesians 6: 11 - 18

 

God didn’t leave us defenseless. We should not become frustrated. When we feel ourselves being overwhelmed, we should do like David in the first passage from Psalms we read today. He went to God in prayer and asked Him for help. 

 

What does this mean to us today?

I Peter 5: 8 - 10

 

We must be wise so that we are not cheated out of our reward.

Colossians 2: 18

 

The best way to gain wisdom is to study God’s Word and pray to Him for wisdom and strength. This must be a daily thing. Praying and studying only on Sunday or Wednesday is not enough. If that’s all the time you give to God, you will often find yourself in deep water spiritually. Study His Word and grow in the wisdom He has left here on Earth for us. Be a true disciple and overcome the spiritual depths we have talked about this morning.