God is NOT safe, but He is good.

On Mark 4:38-41:

Before Jesus calms the storm, they are afraid - but after Jesus calms the storm, they're terrified. Why? Before Jesus was awakened, Mark says, the boat was nearly swamped - it was almost full. The disciples couldn't bail fast enough; they knew the boat was just seconds from being totally filled and they would die. They woke Jesus and said, "Don't you care if we drown?" This picture goes to our hearts, because everyone who's ever tried to live a life of faith in this world has felt like this sometimes.

Everything is going wrong, you're sinking, and God seems to be asleep, absent, or unaware. If you loved us, the disciples were saying, you wouldn't let us go through this. If you loved us, we wouldn't be about to sink. If you loved us, you would not be letting us endure deadly peril. Jesus calmed the storm, and then he responded to them. Jesus asked, "Why are you so afraid?"

The disciples were afraid they were going to drown. They were afraid Jesus didn't care. They were afraid Jesus didn't love them, because if He did, He wouldn't let this happen to them. But Jesus's question to them was behind this thought: Your premise is wrong. You should have known better. I do allow people I love to go through storms. You had no reason to panic.

If they had little reason to panic during the storm, they certainly had no reason to be afraid after it had died down. But Mark writes, "They were terrified and asked each other, 'Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!'"

Why were they still terrified after the storm was calmed? Jesus was as unmanageable as the storm itself. The storm had immense power - they couldn't control it. Jesus had infinitely more power, so they had even less control over Him. But there's a huge difference. A storm doesn't love you. You may say, that's true, but if I go to Jesus, he's not under my control either. He lets things happen that I don't understand. He doesn't do things according to my plan, or in a way that makes sense to me. But if Jesus is God, then he's got to be great enough to have some reasons to let you go through things you cannot understand. His power is unbounded, so are His wisdom and His love.

Nature and circumstances are indifferent to you, but Jesus is filled with great love for you. If the disciples had really known that Jesus loved them, if they had really understood that he is both powerful and loving, they would not have been scared. Their premise, that if Jesus loved them he wouldn't let bad things happen to them, was wrong.

If you have a God great enough and powerful enough to be mad at because He doesn't stop your suffering, you also have a God who's great enough and powerful enough to have reasons that you can't understand. You can't have it both ways.

Elizabeth Elliot said it well, "God is God, and since He is God, he is worthy of my worship and my service. I will find rest nowhere else but in His will, and that will is necessarily infinitely, immeasurably, unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to."

Being in the center of God's will is not safe. Who ever said anything about God being "safe?" God is good and loving. Life hurts; God is good. He is doing all things to conform you to the image of His Son. There is a greater work being done than that of your kingdom. God is building His Kingdom and is gracious enough to let us in on it. Praise God.

Sermon Notes from 2/27/2011

Orange Park Bible Church

2/27/2011

Genesis (8) 2:1-3

 Day 7: God Rested

Scripture Reading: Exodus 20:8-11

 Recommended reading from today's sermon review are represented by the pictures:

Reviews:

·        God Made Genesis 1:1-25: By the self-revelation of God’s Word we know Him. All of creation points to Him as King, Creator, Powerful, Eternal, Creative, Loving, Sustainer, Sovereign, Personal, Judge – Most Glorious and to be Worshipped above all created things.

·        God Blessed Genesis 1:26-31: Be Fruitful and Multiply (Intimacy; Union); Have Dominion (Submit under authority; Future Kingdom of God); Food (Taste and See; Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness)

·        God Rested - Read Genesis 2:1-3: The seventh day of Creation is:

1)      an example for man regarding physical rest

2)      instruction for appointed times of spiritual worship

3)      a shadow of Christ (announcement)

4)      A pattern for growth in Christlikeness

5)      The hope of our eternal rest

The creation cycle was completed on the sixth day and God rested on the seventh, providing man with a promise and picture.

There are two primary “camps” regarding what the “Sabbath” means for us as Christians today:

1)      The Sabbath, as described in Exodus 20:8-11, was fulfilled in Christ – moving the day of Christian worship to Sunday (commemorating the resurrection), yet freeing us from the physical “ceremonial” stipulations described in the OT (John Macarthur; John Calvin; John Bunyan)

2)      The Sabbath, as described in Exodus 20:8-11 was fulfilled in Christ – moving the day of Christian worship to Sunday. However, just like the other nine commandments, we are expected to fulfill the “moral” rather than ceremonial obligations of the OT Sabbath as an act of obedience to Christ (no work, not going to the store, no going out to eat). Men in this “camp” are Jonathan Edwards, John Owen, most puritans, and most prominent Presbyterians.

Back to Genesis 2:1-3

God blessed the Sabbath

Divine blessings on men and animals lead to fruitfulness and God’s approval.

The word “sabat” is the root of “Sabbath.” It is the rest of achievement, not inactivity – nurturing what we create; enjoying the fruit. God blessed it (made it fruitful).

God made the Sabbath holy

Six days were employed in the formation of the world; not that God, to whom one moment is as a thousand years, had need of this succession of time, but that He might engage us in the consideration of His works (Calvin). God did not command men simply to keep holiday every seventh day, as if He delighted in their laziness; but rather that they, being released from all other business, might more readily apply their minds to the Creator of the world.

How much of the Moral Law are we to Keep?

The difference between obedience (holiness) and legalism: one is to gain righteousness and one is because we have already attained righteousness through Christ.

We are never justified before God by keeping His law. Our justification does not do away with God’s requirement of holiness. Christians are to grow in grace or Christ-likeness. We know how to grow because of what God has revealed of himself in the law. This is where the original “Scofield” dispensationalist (legalism or liberty) gives us an incorrect interpretation of Scripture.

**Using God’s law to escape His wrath is no different than using His grace to escape His law (Sproul Jr.).

Romans 3:31, “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.”

Christ came to fulfill this law perfectly in his active obedience, Matthew 5:17 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” 

For instance, sin is the transgression of the Law.  Therefore, if there is no Law then there is no sin.  Justification is a verdict based on the standard of the Law.  We tell our kids they are sinning because we believe in the validity of the OT law. Therefore, if there is no Law, there will be no need for justification.  Sanctification is the believer’s obedience, through the Spirit, to the Law.  If there is not Law, there will be no need to be sanctified.  Galatians 3:23-25 states, “But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”  Paul says that the Law was tutoring us towards the need of Jesus Christ. The law is a mirror, but we are never washed by a mirror.  After Christ came in fulfilling and establishing the Law, the tutoring ended.  Christ redeems us from the curse of the Law which we cannot fulfill, then leads us by the hand back to the Law that we may be obedient to it as a result of our new life in Him.  The Law, now, does not justify us – Christ did that – rather, Christ now compels and empowers us that we may reflect the character of God seen in the Law we are keeping.  This is called holiness.

Should we worship other gods?  Should we make golden calves and bow down to them?  Shall we use the name of God in a profane manner?  Shall we rebel against our parents?  Shall we murder, commit adultery, fornicate, lie, steal, or covet another’s possessions?   If it seems so clear to the Christian that is addressed these questions that such commandments ought not to be broken, how then do they square this with New Testament’s instruction concerning the law?  If the 4^th commandment contains an allowable exclusivity from being kept in the New Testament, why then, are other laws excluded from the same warrant since the whole 10 constitute the moral Law in the Old Testament?  In James 2:10 we are told that he who breaks one commandment breaks the whole Law.  This is binding on the Christian.  James does not say, “He who breaks one commandment, except for the 4^th, breaks the whole law.” Neither Jesus Christ nor His apostles ever abrogated the 4^th commandment. The question becomes what God requires of NT believers regarding the fourth commandment.

Why is this Important?

 If men take it only upon trust, and keep the first day of the week because their parents taught them so, or because they see others do it, they will never be likely to keep it so conscientiously and strictly, as if they had been convinced by seeing for themselves, that these are good grounds in the Word of God for their practice (Edwards).

“When” is the Christian Sabbath?

The Answer is: There is no such thing as a Christian “Sabbath”

Corporate Worship (For God’s People)

Each account of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is noted on as having occurred on the first day of the week.  (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1)    John 20:19 describes Jesus visitation to the disciples when they are gathered together on the first day of the week.  The Holy Ghost is poured out upon the 120 waiting in the upper room on the first day of the week which was Pentecost (Acts 2:1ff – this can be seen by measuring the time from the Festival of Weeks (Harvest or First fruits) in Leviticus 23:15-16).  In Acts 20:6-7 Paul made it a point to stay through the night on his visit.   He did not leave until the following day, Monday, to continue the missionary journey.  Rather, he honored the first Day of the week and preached to them for a lengthy amount of time.

It is therefore most meet and suitable, that certain times should be set apart, upon which men should be required to throw by all other concerns, that their minds may be the more freely and entirely engaged in spiritual exercises, in the duties of religion, and in the immediate worship of God; that their minds being disengaged from common concerns. (Edwards)

“On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight” (Acts 20:7).

“Now concerning the collections for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come” (I Corinthians 16:1-2).

Jesus and the “Sabbath”

We see that Jesus upheld the Sabbath through His earthly ministry.  He accomplished works of mercy (healing: Matthew 2:23-28) and approved works of necessity (picking grain for food: Matthew 12:1-12; I Samuel 21:5-6). 

Works of Necessity

We must also remember the reformulation of the Sabbath from the words and actions of Jesus Christ.  Jesus defended the disciples when they plucked and ate grain on the Sabbath Day against the accusations of the Pharisees.  They were engaged on works of necessity.  (Matthew 12:1-12; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5)

Works of Mercy

For example, Jesus healed the man with the withered hand in Matthew 12:9-14. 

Are the Sabbath laws binding on Christians today? Are the Exodus 20 stipulations moral or ceremonial?

Answer

We believe the Old Testament regulations governing Sabbath observances are ceremonial, not moral, aspects of the law. As such, they are no longer in force, but have passed away along with the sacrificial system, the Levitical priesthood, and all other aspects of Moses' law that prefigured Christ. Here are the reasons we hold this view.

In Colossians 2:16-17, Paul explicitly refers to the Sabbath as a shadow of Christ, which is no longer binding since the substance (Christ) has come. It is quite clear in those verses that the weekly Sabbath is in view. The phrase "a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day" refers to the annual, monthly, and weekly holy days of the Jewish calendar (cf. 1 Chronicles 23:31; 2 Chronicles 2:4; 31:3; Ezekiel 45:17; Hosea 2:11).

If Paul was referring to special ceremonial dates of rest in that passage, why would he have used the word "Sabbath?" He had already mentioned the ceremonial dates when he spoke of festivals and new moons.

Read Galatians 4:9-11

The Sabbath was the sign to Israel of the Mosaic Covenant (Exodus 31:16-17; Ezekiel 20:12; Nehemiah 9:14). Since we are now under the New Covenant (Hebrews 8), we are no longer required to observe the sign of the Mosaic Covenant.

The New Testament never commands Christians to observe the Sabbath.

Romans 3:27-31 then Romans 8:3-4

Here is where we stand (with first viewpoint on p. 1)

1)      It has been concluded that the “Sabbath” on Saturday and the shadow of its announcement has been fulfilled in Christ. The early Christians met on Sunday, celebrating the resurrection of Christ. We should meet corporately for worship on Sunday; however, this is not the “Christian Sabbath.”

2)      The physical laws regarding the OT Sabbath are not binding.

3)      Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount took the OT laws to another level “Your righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees” (examples of murder and adultery).

4)      “Whether you eat or drink do all for the glory of God” (I Corinthians 10:31). As the Jews placed all their affections upon the worship of God on Saturday, we strive in scrambling eggs, parenting, and driving cars to glorify our Lord. Our striving after a day is replaced with a striving after Christ (Hebrews4).

5)      Romans 14:5-6 is how we respond if we do not agree with one another

 

Help with Depression part 2

When counseling someone for depression, if the question of medicine arises, the right question is not necessarily, “Is it sinful to take medicine for depression?” The best question is, “Will medicine solve your problem?” The answer to the second question is always a “no.” People who are on medicine and seeking counsel are probably doing so because the medicine is not working anyhow.

Ultimately, depression results from responding sinfully to discouragement and difficulty. On the surface, that might seem insensitive and harsh. However, it is the most loving thing you could tell someone. Taking personal responsibility for feelings of depression gives hope because if behavior or wrong thinking is the cause of depression, there is great hope to change. If I am labeled with a disease, I have nothing to hope in. I am a victim.

I would highly recommend reading Dr. Wayne Mack’s book Out of the Blues: Dealing with Depression and Loneliness. If you are angry or feel as if it is insensitive to make the comments above, please read this book before responding angrily or making judgment. The purpose of this blog post is not to discourage or judge, but to lead people who are struggling with depression to help.

Again, depression is a result of failing to respond to the difficulties of life biblically. Recently, I was explaining this to a sweet lady during counseling. She responded to my comments with tears, “Don’t you think if I knew how to respond rightly, I would? I hate feeling this way.” I explained to her that if my car was malfunctioning, we could go outside and open the hood. Looking under the hood, we would likely be looking right at the problem, yet unable to identify what to do about it. That is helpless. However, if we were to get a trained mechanic, he could look at the exact same thing we were looking at with the ability to discern things we were not trained to discern. When visiting a NANC counselor or reading a book like the one I mentioned above, you can learn how to look at your thinking and correct it – resulting in a cure for depression.

 It has never been proven that depression is a disease (see the peer-reviewed journal article that I posted several days ago). Medicine and psychiatry will not solve your problem.

Below are some characteristics of depressed people. If you can identify with what you are reading, please order the book I suggested, or see a NANC counselor. I hope this gives you some hope.

Most depressed people would rather have their circumstances changed rather than understanding that God is sovereign over our circumstances and orchestrates them for our good (Romans 8:28-29)

The difference between depression and discouragement is increased immobility. Those experiencing depression usually do not have set schedules and are increasingly inactive during the week (withdrawn; not social; avoiding activities).

People experiencing severe depression would rather die than live; have problems sleeping; want to sleep the day away; allow their feelings to dictate their behavior, have chronic physical ailments and use physical problems as an excuse to remain inactive.

In order to overcome depression the motive must change from “I would like this circumstance to change” or “I just want to feel better” to “I desire to glorify God more than anything else.”

There are many examples of Bible characters that experienced depression. The Bible has answers and you can change. Start with the suggested book and a counselor. I will be praying for you.

Pastor Brian

Serotonin and Depression: A Disconnect between the Advertisements and the Scientific Literature

A note from Pastor Brian: Drug companies would have you believe that "depression" is a disease caused by chemical imbalance in the brain. The article below, from a peer-reviewed journal, tells differently. There has NEVER been any conclusive research to prove that "depression" is caused by anything chemical in the brain. 

In the next few days I will be posting a biblical explanation of depression. The real question is not: is it sinful to take antidepressants. The real question is: Do antidepressants work? The answer to the first question is irrelevant when considering that antidepressants have never solved anyones problems.

Recent studies show that antidepressants have only worked 1/4 of the time to temporarily alleviate depressed moods, where a sugar pill, unknowingly taken by the "depressed" person, works slightly more than 1/4 of the time. Nobody would purchase a car, gas, milk, blood pressure medicine, electronics, or any other product if they knew they only seemed to work 25 percent of the time. Are we doomed to the "disease" of depression or does the Bible have real, lasting answers? This is a question we will answer in a later blog. However, I thuogh you might find the article below to be interesting. You can read the full article about the false advertisements of antidepressant manufacturers here. The full article would be best to read because the graphs, tables, and illustrations are active on that site. Enjoy!

Serotonin and Depression: A Disconnect between the Advertisements and the Scientific Literature

Many ads for SSRI antidepressants claim that the drugs boost brain serotonin levels. Lacasse and Leo argue there is little scientific evidence to support this claim.

Jeffrey R. Lacasse, Jonathan Leo^*

Citation: Lacasse JR, Leo J (2005) Serotonin and Depression: A Disconnect between the Advertisements and the Scientific Literature. PLoS Med 2(12): e392. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0020392

Published: November 8, 2005
Copyright: © 2005 Lacasse and Leo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Competing interests: The authors declare that no competing interests exist and that they received no funding for this work.
Abbreviations: DTCA, direct-to-consumer advertising; FDA, Food and Drug Administration; SSRI, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jleo1@tampabay.rr.com
Jeffrey R. Lacasse is at Florida State University College of Social Work, Tallahassee, Florida, United States of America. Jonathan Leo is at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Bradenton, Florida, United States of America.

In the United States, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants are advertised directly to consumers [1]. These highly successful direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) campaigns have largely revolved around the claim that SSRIs correct a chemical imbalance caused by a lack of serotonin (see Tables 1 and 2). For instance, sertraline (Zoloft) was the sixth best-selling medication in the US in 2004, with over $3 billion in sales [2] likely due, at least in part, to the widely disseminated advertising campaign starring Zoloft's miserably depressed ovoid creature. Research has demonstrated that class-wide SSRI advertising has expanded the size of the antidepressant market [3], and SSRIs are now among the best-selling drugs in medical practice [2].

 

Given the multifactorial nature of depression and anxiety, and the ambiguities inherent in psychiatric diagnosis and treatment, some have questioned whether the mass provision of SSRIs is the result of an over-medicalized society. These sentiments were voiced by Lord Warner, United Kingdom Health Minister, at a recent hearing: “…I have some concerns that sometimes we do, as a society, wish to put labels on things which are just part and parcel of the human condition”[4]. He went on to say, “Particularly in the area of depression we did ask the National Institute for Clinical Excellence [an independent health organisation that provides national guidance on treatment and prevention] to look into this particular area and their guideline on depression did advise non-pharmacological treatment for mild depression” [4]. Sentiments such as Lord Warner's, about over-medicalization, are exactly what some pharmaceutical companies have sought to overcome with their advertising campaigns. For example, Pfizer's television advertisement for the antidepressant sertraline (Zoloft) stated that depression is a serious medical condition that may be due to a chemical imbalance, and that “Zoloft works to correct this imbalance” [5]. Other SSRI advertising campaigns have also claimed that depression is linked with an imbalance of the neurotransmitter serotonin, and that SSRIs can correct this imbalance (see Table 2). The pertinent question is: are the claims made in SSRI advertising congruent with the scientific evidence?

The Serotonin Hypothesis Top

In 1965, Joseph Schildkraut put forth the hypothesis that depression was associated with low levels of norepinephrine [6], and later researchers theorized that serotonin was the neurotransmitter of interest [7]. In subsequent years, there were numerous attempts to identify reproducible neurochemical alterations in the nervous systems of patients diagnosed with depression. For instance, researchers compared levels of serotonin metabolites in the cerebrospinal fluid of clinically depressed suicidal patients to controls, but the primary literature is mixed and plagued with methodological difficulties such as very small sample sizes and uncontrolled confounding variables. In a recent review of these studies, the chairman of the German Medical Board and colleagues stated, “Reported associations of subgroups of suicidal behavior (e.g. violent suicide attempts) with low CSF–5HIAA [serotonin] concentrations are likely to represent somewhat premature translations of findings from studies that have flaws in methodology” [8]. Attempts were also made to induce depression by depleting serotonin levels, but these experiments reaped no consistent results [9]. Likewise, researchers found that huge increases in brain serotonin, arrived at by administering high-dose L-tryptophan, were ineffective at relieving depression [10].

 

Contemporary neuroscience research has failed to confirm any serotonergic lesion in any mental disorder, and has in fact provided significant counterevidence to the explanation of a simple neurotransmitter deficiency. Modern neuroscience has instead shown that the brain is vastly complex and poorly understood [11]. While neuroscience is a rapidly advancing field, to propose that researchers can objectively identify a “chemical imbalance” at the molecular level is not compatible with the extant science. In fact, there is no scientifically established ideal “chemical balance” of serotonin, let alone an identifiable pathological imbalance. To equate the impressive recent achievements of neuroscience with support for the serotonin hypothesis is a mistake.

With direct proof of serotonin deficiency in any mental disorder lacking, the claimed efficacy of SSRIs is often cited as indirect support for the serotonin hypothesis. Yet, this ex juvantibus line of reasoning (i.e., reasoning “backwards” to make assumptions about disease causation based on the response of the disease to a treatment) is logically problematic—the fact that aspirin cures headaches does not prove that headaches are due to low levels of aspirin in the brain. Serotonin researchers from the US National Institute of Mental Health Laboratory of Clinical Science clearly state, “[T]he demonstrated efficacy of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors…cannot be used as primary evidence for serotonergic dysfunction in the pathophysiology of these disorders” [12].

Reasoning backwards, from SSRI efficacy to presumed serotonin deficiency, is thus highly contested. The validity of this reasoning becomes even more unlikely when one considers recent studies that even call into question the very efficacy of the SSRIs. Irving Kirsch and colleagues, using the Freedom of Information Act, gained access to all clinical trials of antidepressants submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by the pharmaceutical companies for medication approval. When the published and unpublished trials were pooled, the placebo duplicated about 80% of the antidepressant response [13]; 57% of these pharmaceutical company–funded trials failed to show a statistically significant difference between antidepressant and inert placebo [14]. A recent Cochrane review suggests that these results are inflated as compared to trials that use an active placebo [15]. This modest efficacy and extremely high rate of placebo response are not seen in the treatment of well-studied imbalances such as insulin deficiency, and casts doubt on the serotonin hypothesis.

Also problematic for the serotonin hypothesis is the growing body of research comparing SSRIs to interventions that do not target serotonin specifically. For instance, a Cochrane systematic review found no major difference in efficacy between SSRIs and tricyclic antidepressants [16]. In addition, in randomized controlled trials, buproprion [17] and reboxetine [18] were just as effective as the SSRIs in the treatment of depression, yet neither affects serotonin to any significant degree. St. John's Wort [19] and placebo [20] have outperformed SSRIs in recent randomized controlled trials. Exercise was found to be as effective as the SSRI sertraline in a randomized controlled trial [21]. The research and development activities of pharmaceutical companies also illustrate a diminishing role for serotonergic intervention—Eli Lilly, the company that produced fluoxetine (Prozac), recently released duloxetine, an antidepressant designed to impact norepinephrine as well as serotonin. The evidence presented above thus seems incompatible with a specific serotonergic lesion in depression.

Although SSRIs are considered “antidepressants,” they are FDA-approved treatments for eight separate psychiatric diagnoses, ranging from social anxiety disorder to obsessive-compulsive disorder to premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Some consumer advertisements (such as the Zoloft and Paxil Web sites) promote the serotonin hypothesis, not just for depression, but also for some of these other diagnostic categories [22,23]. Thus, for the serotonin hypothesis to be correct as currently presented, serotonin regulation would need to be the cause (and remedy) of each of these disorders [24]. This is improbable, and no one has yet proposed a cogent theory explaining how a singular putative neurochemical abnormality could result in so many wildly differing behavioral manifestations.

In short, there exists no rigorous corroboration of the serotonin theory, and a significant body of contradictory evidence. Far from being a radical line of thought, doubts about the serotonin hypothesis are well acknowledged by many researchers, including frank statements from prominent psychiatrists, some of whom are even enthusiastic proponents of SSRI medications (see Table 1).

However, in addition to what these authors say about serotonin, it is also important to look at what is not said in the scientific literature. To our knowledge, there is not a single peer-reviewed article that can be accurately cited to directly support claims of serotonin deficiency in any mental disorder, while there are many articles that present counterevidence. Furthermore, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which is published by the American Psychiatric Association and contains the definitions of all psychiatric diagnoses, does not list serotonin as a cause of any mental disorder. The American Psychiatric Press Textbook of Clinical Psychiatry addresses serotonin deficiency as an unconfirmed hypothesis, stating, “Additional experience has not confirmed the monoamine depletion hypothesis” [25].

Consumer Advertisements of Antidepressants Top

Contrary to what many people believe, the FDA does not require preapproval of advertisements. Instead, the FDA monitors the advertisements once they are in print or on the air [26]. Misleading content is frequently found in various DTCA campaigns [27]; hence, it is valuable to compare SSRI advertisements to the scientific evidence reviewed above. These SSRI ads are widely promulgated; hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent disseminating these advertisements, and one study found that over 70% of surveyed patients reported exposure to antidepressant DTCA [28].

The Role of the FDA Top

In the US, the FDA monitors and regulates DTCA. The FDA requires that advertisements “cannot be false or misleading” and “must present information that is not inconsistent with the product label” [27]. Pharmaceutical companies that disseminate advertising incompatible with these requirements can receive warning letters and can be sanctioned. The Irish equivalent of the FDA, the Irish Medical Board, recently banned GlaxoSmithKline from claiming that paroxetine corrects a chemical imbalance even in their patient information leaflets [29]. Should the FDA take similar action against consumer advertisements of SSRIs?

As just one example, the prescribing information for paroxetine, which is typical of the SSRI-class drugs, states, “The efficacy of paroxetine in the treatment of major depressive disorder, social anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder (PD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is presumed to be linked to potentiation of serotonergic activity in the central nervous system resulting from inhibition of neuronal reuptake of serotonin. Studies at clinically relevant doses in humans have demonstrated that paroxetine blocks the uptake of serotonin into human platelets” [30].

In other words, the mechanism of action of paroxetine has not been definitively established, and remains unconfirmed and presumptive (the prescribing information states that the efficacy of the drug “is presumed to be linked to potentiation of serotonergic activity” ([30], our italics added). Although there is evidence that paroxetine inhibits the reuptake of serotonin, the significance of this phenomenon in the amelioration of psychiatric symptoms is unknown, and continually debated [12,31]. Most importantly, the prescribing information does not mention a serotonin deficiency in those administered paroxetine, nor does it claim that paroxetine corrects an imbalance of serotonin. In contrast, the consumer advertisements for paroxetine present claims that are not found in this FDA-approved product labeling.

In order to determine whether these advertisements actually comply with FDA regulations, it is useful to consult the Code of Federal Regulations under which DTCA is regulated. The regulations state that an advertisement may be cited as false or misleading if it “[c]ontains claims concerning the mechanism or site of drug action that are not generally regarded as established by scientific evidence by experts qualified by scientific training and experience without disclosing that the claims are not established and the limitations of the supporting evidence…” ([32], our emphasis added]).

Stating that depression may be due to a serotonin deficiency is seemingly allowed, but, as stated in the regulations, only if the limitations of the supporting evidence are provided. In our examination of SSRI advertisements, we did not locate a single advertisement that presented any such information. Instead, the serotonin hypothesis is typically presented as a collective scientific belief, as in the Zoloft advertisement, which states that regarding depression, “Scientists believe that it could be linked with an imbalance of a chemical in the brain called serotonin” [33]. Consumers viewing such advertisements remain uninformed regarding the limitations of the serotonin hypothesis (reviewed above).

According to federal regulations, advertisements are also proscribed from including content that “contains favorable information or opinions about a drug previously regarded as valid but which have been rendered invalid by contrary and more credible recent information” [32].

This means that a disconnect between the evolving peer-reviewed literature and advertisements is not permitted. Regarding SSRIs, there is a growing body of medical literature casting doubt on the serotonin hypothesis, and this body is not reflected in the consumer advertisements. In particular, many SSRI advertisements continue to claim that the mechanism of action of SSRIs is that of correcting a chemical imbalance, such as a paroxetine advertisement, which states, “With continued treatment, Paxil can help restore the balance of serotonin…” [22]. Yet, as previously mentioned, there is no such thing as a scientifically established correct “balance” of serotonin. The take-home message for consumers viewing SSRI advertisements is probably that SSRIs work by normalizing neurotransmitters that have gone awry. This was a hopeful notion 30 years ago, but is not an accurate reflection of present-day scientific evidence.

The FDA has sent ten warning letters to antidepressant manufacturers since 1997 [34–43], but has never cited a pharmaceutical company for the issues covered here. The reasons for their inaction are unclear but seem to result from a deliberate decision at some level of the FDA, rather than an oversight. Since 2002, the first author (JRL) has repeatedly contacted the FDA regarding these issues. The only substantive response was an E-mail received from a regulatory reviewer at the FDA: “Your concern regarding direct-to-consumer advertising raises an interesting issue regarding the validity of reductionistic statements. These statements are used in an attempt to describe the putative mechanisms of neurotransmitter action(s) to the fraction of the public that functions at no higher than a 6th grade reading level” (personal communication, 2002 April 11).

It is curious that these advertisements are rationalized as being appropriate for those with poor reading skills. If the issues surrounding antidepressants are too complex to explain accurately to the general public, one wonders why it is imperative that DTCA of antidepressants be permitted at all. However, contrary to what the FDA seems to be implying, truth and simplicity are not mutually exclusive. Consider the medical textbook, Essential Psychopharmacology, which states, “So far, there is no clear and convincing evidence that monoamine deficiency accounts for depression; that is, there is no ‘real’ monoamine deficit” [44]. Like the pharmaceutical company advertisements, this explanation is very easy to understand, yet it paints a very different picture about the serotonin hypothesis.

Sunday Sermon Notes 2/20/2011

Here are some of the highlights and notes from Sunday mornings message. I am posting this so that we all can review, meditate on, and apply what we have heard from God's Word.

On day 6 of creation God blessed man with three things:

• Be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28)
• Subdue the earth and have dominion (v. 28)
• You shall have food (v. 29-30)

God has given us good gifts for our good and for His glory. Sexual intimacy, reigning under His rule, and food are all things that make God more deeply knowable. The things that God blesses us with should cause us to anticipate the consummation of our union with Christ in Heaven. Our home is not this world and we are not to love this world (I John 2).

Sin has marred God's image in us and has greatly distorted our use of His good gifts. Instead of seeing Him more clearly because of His blessings, we use His blessings to worship ourselves and others. The primary purpose of created things has become (in sinful man) man's ultimate pleasure and a tool to help us establish our kingdom on earth.

In short, God's blessings should cause us to love Him, know Him, obey Him, worship Him, rejoice in Him, and hope in Him. "Hope" in the Greek means "earnest expectation." Our sinful hearts have the propensity to place our expectation for satisfaction and redemption on created things instead of our Creator.

The mandate for dominion over created things has been twisted in our minds for a desire to dominate each other. The way we react to suffering, to being cut off in traffic, to having our "rights" violated, to being skipped in line, passed by for a promotion, are all proof that we are latching onto this world, desiring to build our kingdom here.

How do we enjoy God's blessings without bowing down to them? The answer is when we learn to hope in God.

Review the following passages:

• Romans 5:1-5; Romans 8:18-25
• Colossians 1:3-5; Colossians 2:23-36
• Ephesians 1:15-20; Ephesians 2:12-13
• Psalm 42:5, 11
• I Timothy 6:17-19

We should anticipate most our eternal consummation.
Instead of desiring to dominate other men, we should be ministers of reconciliation "regarding no man according to the flesh" (II Corinthians 5:16-21).

We "hope" in God by enlarging our soul (Jonathan Edwards in Charity and Its Fruits):

The ruin that the fall brought upon the soul of man consists very much in his losing the nobler and more benevolent principles of his nature, and falling wholly under the power and government of self-love. Immediately upon the fall, the mind of man shrank from its primitive greatness and expandedness, to an exceeding smallness and contractedness. As soon as man transgressed against God, these noble principles were immediately lost, and all this excellent enlargedness of man's soul was gone; and thenceforward he himself shrank, as it were, into a little space, circumscribed and closely shut up within itself, to the exclusion of all things else. Sin, like some powerful astringent, contracted his soul to the very small dimensions of selfishness; and God was forsaken, and man retired within himself, and became totally governed by narrow and selfish principles and feelings. Self-love became absolute master of his soul. And so Christianity restores an excellent enlargement, and extensiveness, and liberality to the soul, and again possesses it with that divine love or charity that we read of in the Scriptures.

I gave the illustration of taking off in an airplane and how a vertical "trip" places all things horizontal in their proper perspective. When we are intimate with God and dig deep in the Scriptures; when we set our minds on things above and think much of Heaven; when we preach the gospel to ourselves and mediate on the Word we have heard; when we pray earnestly and dwell quietly in the presence of the Lord -- we then take a vertical trip that places all things horizontal in their proper perspective.

Here are some good application questions for discussion:

Is God’s blessing of “dominion” in your life revealing a desire to build your kingdom on earth or God’s Kingdom in Heaven?

Do your thoughts, desires, and actions mirror a marred representation of “having dominion” or a hope of reigning in the eternal Kingdom of God?

To long for Heaven is to long for God’s presence. Is the future hope of Heaven consistent with your daily activity? Does your heart yearn for and anticipate fully knowing and seeing God? If so, does the promise of a temporary glimpse (1 Corinthians 13:12) drive us to see what we may see now (Seeing Christ in Scripture; sitting at His feet in Prayer)?

If our hope is in Heaven, it is made evident in how we pray, what we pray for, how we spend our money, what we desire to do with our “free” time.

How does your check book, where you spend your time on the Internet, the books you read, what you express thankfulness for in your prayers, reflect where your hope is?

Is God’s mandate for dominion exercised primarily in your desiring to dominate man or to participate in the growth of God’s Kingdom under submission to His rule?

Do you find yourself living with the invisible hierarchy? Do you play mental survivor? Have you noticed how upset you get when your “rights” are violated?

Love you guys. Hope this helps you apply the message and hope you have a week of high thoughts of God.

Sunday Thought...

The Cross does not give us a minor shift or two with regard to a few of our ethical and moral and religious values. The Cross radically disrupts the very center and citadel of your life from self, to Christ. The Cross does this work in all those who are Christ's.

Many have gained enough knowledge or learned how to say enough to be accepted for what they profess to be. God knows the secrets of your heart.

Old Testament Law: Old News???

Why would anyone love the law of God? Why would we love that which constantly tells us what miserable wretches we are, daily points out all our shortcomings, relentlessly reminds us of all our death-deserving sins, and keeps knocking us down to our knees, leaving us crying for help? Is God’s law made irrelevant because of Christ’s incarnation, death, and resurrection? Should Christians today pay any attention to God’s “Old Testament” law?

The law is not an abstract set of rules and regulations. The law reflects the will and nature of the Lawgiver. The law serves, in one respect, as God revealing who He is to man, and in that regard it is intensely personal.

God is perfect and so is His law. Those things that are pure, that are perfect, are worthy objects of our affection. All of these functions of the law are seen in the sweetness and the loveliness of the law that God reveals. God gives us His law not to take away our joy but rather that our joy may be full.

This post is a synopsis of the March 2011 TableTalk Topic of the month “The Three Uses of the Law and Why We Should Cherish Them.”

The Civil Use of the Law

Of the three uses of the law, the so-called “civil” use may strike us as the least interesting theologically. Do you appreciate being able to walk out your door in safety each morning to pursue employment, go to school, or enjoy leisure? What if your neighbor did serious damage to your property and you sought restitution, or what if you were wrongly accused of a violent crime and faced decades in jail if convicted? Are you grateful to be able to own a Bible or to gather peacefully for worship on Sundays without the threat of being arrested?  All of these questions are directly connected to God’s use of civil law. God gives grace to all men.

Theologically, we categorize God’s grace as common and effectual. Common grace refers to privileges all men, redeemed and unredeemed, enjoy. Effectual grace refers to privileges only the redeemed enjoy. Because of God’s Word and Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, all men receive some degree of grace. The natural law and authority that we all live in subjection to is one manifestation of God’s common grace to all men. “God makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).

The natural law (police, park rules, speed limit, prison, the court system) checks and bridles sinners from giving full vent to their sinful desires. At times Christians refrain from doing evil only because we are afraid of getting caught and suffering for it, instead of rightly being motivated by a desire for holiness motivated by the love of Christ (II Corinthians 5:14-15). This is a common grace of God, for it is far better to refrain from evil for the wrong reasons than to do it. If you do not murder out of fear of going to jail, it is better to not murder, although wrongly motivated, than to sin. Also, unbelieving man is restrained from reaching his full potential in sin because of the restraining power of natural law (police, prison, death penalty, monetary fines). Human laws that forbid bad behavior and threaten to punish it by the point of the sword can serve to restrain wickedness in particular effective ways. This too is the work of God’s common grace.

In short, society would be absolute mayhem if it were not for God’s moral law placed within the heart of man. Because of God’s moral law, men are compelled to make natural laws that make society somewhat civil. In Acts 16 and 22 Paul is unjustly accused and arrested. Paul appealed to his rights as a Roman citizen. On both occasions, the unbelieving civil officials acknowledged his claim and treated Paul accordingly. Here we see how God uses a benevolent feature of Roman law (protecting due process) to promote justice and to curb wickedness – in this case for the special purpose of promoting the mission of the church.

Christians should respond to natural law by obeying it as long as it does not cause us to disobey God’s moral law. Also, Christians should prayerfully thank God for restraining evil in the world and should also petition God on behalf of those in authority, that they would make wise decisions.

God’s Law Reflects Sin and Leads to Christ: In salvation for the unbeliever and for sanctification in the believer

A mirror reveals flaws and imperfections. God’s law is like a mirror to the unbeliever and the believer. But imagine that you stumbled into my bathroom one day and saw me scrubbing myself with the mirror or brushing my teeth with a small broken piece of it. I hope that you would quickly convince me that while the mirror shows what needs cleaning, it is dangerous to do the cleaning with it. The attempt is doomed to fail, as it would only produce a bigger mess. When Paul wrote to the Galatians, he contended with them for trying to “scrub themselves clean” by the mirror of God’s law. God commonly shows us ourselves in the mirror of His law before pointing us to the gospel of grace. The mirror is good and useful, so long as it is used as a mirror and not as a cleaning device.

Morality is a great deception in churches today. As people desire to honor and love God by following His law, they do so in order to obtain righteousness instead of because they have been made righteous by Christ. The law was “our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster” (Galatians 3:25-26). The law “gives us knowledge of our sin” (Romans 3:20).

In using the word “schoolmaster” Paul is referring to a specific role given to well-educated slaves by wealthy fathers in the Roman Empire. A father would commission such a slave to make sure that his child went to school, kept away from trouble and danger, and completed his studies. The father gave the slave full disciplinary rights over the child, and as the slave’s own life depended on the success of the student, he was often quite brutal in ensuring the student’s compliance. It was therefore a huge relief for the student when he reached adulthood and was loosed from the slave to become a full- fledged member of the father’s household. Paul said to the Galatians, “You are full members of the Father’s household. Why do you want to go back to the harsh slave and his punishment?”

The second use of the law is not to destroy us or to leave us in utter despair. It is to lead us step by step to Christ that we might seek His pardon. The law is a mirror to reveal our sin, but if we try to scrub ourselves clean by this mirror, it will further destroy us. The law is our schoolmaster, bringing us to Christ.

The Law Lights the Christian’s Way

The law is a guide for believers in their conduct. In this sense, we are talking about the Decalogue – the Ten Commandments – and its entailments, not the ceremonial or the civil law, nor the law in its old covenantal terms. The law has no power to change us (Romans 7:1-8:8). The law exposes our sin and leaves us there. The law exposes what sin is and so warns us to avoid it. Simultaneously and conversely, its negations express positive requirements and point us to what is pleasing to God. The law expresses the unchanging will of God for His creatures. Jesus reaffirms and intensifies the law in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), and applies it consistently not only to actions but to thoughts, words, and personal attitudes. Other New Testament writers also reiterate the Ten Commandments and apply them to their contexts (Romans 7:12; James 2:8-12; Romans 8:1-4; Hebrews 3:7-4:11).

By giving us His law, God has set us free from bondage to the opinions of men; it is a charter for Christian liberty. In short, the law defines for us what is pleasing to God and what sin is. It is a map, explaining to us how our sanctification is to take shape. When our lives are attached to the life-giving Spirit of Christ (John 15:1-5; Romans 8) we are able to walk in a manner worthy of our calling. The law cannot change us and cannot be obeyed in our own strength. The law cannot justify us, but is obeyed because we are compelled by the love of Christ and are aware of our unchanging righteousness in the sight of God (II Corinthians 5:14-15; Romans 6:1).

Strategies for Killing Sexual Sin

Here are the notes from the Wednesday morning men's Bible study (7am @ Cracker Barrel 295/Roosevelt Blvd.). Also, this is great application from the sermon last Sunday morning (2/13/11).

Strategies for Fighting Sexual Sin

Northwestern College Chapel

April 17, 1995 | by John Piper | topic: Sexual Purity

1. Recognize that sexuality is a good gift from God.

Genesis 2:24-25

For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Proverbs 5:18-20

Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice in the wife of your youth. As a loving hind and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love. For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress, And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

1 Corinthians 7:3-5

Let the husband fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self-control. (Cf. 1 Tim. 4:3)

2. Recognize that Biblical prohibitions are intended to protect something precious not deny something pleasant.

Exodus 20:14

You shall not commit adultery.

1 Corinthians 6:18

Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.

1 Corinthians 7:2

But because of immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.

Thessalonians 4:3

For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;

Deuteronomy 10:12-13

And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord's commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?

3. Believe God is for you.

Psalm 84:11

For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

Romans 8:32

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

Mark 10:29-30

Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake, but that he shall receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.

4. Ponder the eternal danger of lust.

Matthew 5:27-29

I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

Remember the story of the man who cut off his leg to save his life.

5. Think often that God has given you even now many good things.

Genesis 39:7-9

And it came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, "Lie with me." But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil, and sin against God?"

6. Preach to yourself that there is more joy in God's presence than in sin. Transpose desire.

Psalm 4:7

Thou hast put gladness in my heart, More than when their grain and new wine abound.

Psalm 16:11

Thou wilt make known to me the path of life; In Thy presence is fulness of joy; In Thy right hand there are pleasures forever.

Psalm 73:25-26

Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Peter 2:2

Like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

7. Realize that lust disables and weakens our capacity for higher spiritual joys with God.

Peter 2:11 (war on soul)

Abstain from fleshly lusts that wage war against your soul.

Mark 4:19

The desire for other things enters in and chokes the word and it becomes unfruitful.

8. Don't ask, What's wrong with it? Ask: Does it maximize my experience of the power of Christ, my enjoyment of his fellowship, my perception of his beauty, my reflection of his glory?

Philippians 3:12

Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

9. Cultivate a passionate devotion to the honor of God's name.

2 Samuel 12:10, 14

"Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. . . . However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die."

10. Develop a worldview that views absolutely everything in relation to God.

1 Corinthians 10:31

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Colossians 3:17

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

11. (For singles) Recognize that sexual relations are not essential to full personhood and happiness.

Jesus was single and chaste and fully human.

Isaiah 56:3-5

Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, "The Lord will surely separate me from His people." Neither let the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree." 4 For thus says the Lord, "To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, 5 To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.

12. (For the married) Recognize that God designed marriage to be a living parable of his commitment to the church.

Ephesians 5:21-32

Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body.

13. Be vigilant over your eyes. Avoid unnecessary stimulation.

Job 31:1

I Have made a covenant with my eyes; How then could I gaze at a virgin?

Romans 13:14

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

2 Timothy 2:22

Now flee from youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

14. Look on the opposite sex as eternal persons. Realize that lust inevitably depersonalizes and despiritualizes people.

John 5:28-29

Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

Matthew 25:46

And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

2 Corinthians 5:16

From now on we recognize no man according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.

15. Think often that Christ suffered agony for your purity. Fight image with image. Christ crying in agony.

Titus 2:14

Christ gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

1 Peter 1:18; 2:24

You were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, [but with the precious blood of Christ]. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

1 Corinthians 5:15

He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

Hebrews 10:29

How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

16. Beware of assuming past successes guarantee future purity.

1 Corinthians 10:12

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

Galatians 2:13 (Contrasted with Acts 11:24 (Barnabas)

Barnabas was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and faith. (Acts 11:24)

And the rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. (Gal. 2:13)

17. Beware of feeling above accountability.

3 John 9 (Diotrephes not submissive)

I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say.

18. Do not be excessively alone.

19. Get in a group where you exhort one another every day against the deceitfulness of sin.

Hebrews 3:12-13

Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

20. Memorize many scriptures.

1 John 2:14

I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

Psalm 1:2

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.

Psalm 119:11

Thy word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against Thee.

21. Stockpile your thoughts with good things.

Philippians 4:8

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.

22. Read the great literature of devotion, biography, etc.

When I read the stories of how much others have suffered and fought and struggled and achieved measures of joy and holiness and fruitfulness in fellowship with God it makes me want to give my all to this quest and settle for nothing less than all that a saved sinner can be for the glory of Christ.

23. Never assume that you are above suffering or that you deserve relief through sin. The pitfall of powerful self-pity.

Acts 14:22

[Paul went to his churches] strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God."

Luke 9:58

And Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

2 Timothy 2:3

Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 4:16-17

At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me, in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the lion's mouth.

24. Get busy with some task.

25. Pray at all times in the Spirit for God's deliverance.

Matthew 6:13

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Luke 22:40

And when He arrived at the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."

Psalm 119:18

Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Thy law.

26. Be encouraged; God is patient

Exodus 34:6-7

Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations. "

Nehemiah 9:17

And they refused to listen, And did not remember Thy wondrous deeds which Thou hadst performed among them; So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But Thou art a God of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness; And Thou didst not forsake them.