SANITY

Note: This is taken from a lecture given by Doctor David Albert at Ambassador 

College in Pasadena for a Ministerial Refresher Program.  It would have been in very

late 1984 or January 1985.  He was a Doctor of Psychology.

We all know people who have had mental breakdowns and mental illness.

Satan is the first being to go crazy.

Assaulting the throne of God was totally irrational.

A mind that is totally irrational is insane.

Breaking God’s laws leads to craziness.  Keeping God’s laws leads to sanity.

Satan can never recover.  His way of life produces insanity.

An insane person can appear to be completely sane at times.  Look at Hitler as an 

example.

Satan is trying to make the whole world insane through lawlessness.

Deut 28:15 But it shall come to pass if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your 

God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command 

you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: 

Deut 28:28  The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of 

heart. 

Most don’t recover or don’t fully recover.

Mental health professionals speak of “treatment” not “cure.”

Mental health professionals counsel but mostly use drugs.

God’s way produces peace, security, and confidence.

Sin produces guilt, fearfulness, and anxiety. 

In a sense, the Bible is a mental health book.

Satan led Cain to do a “crazy” act.

Genesis 4:4-8 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the 

LORD respected Abel and his offering, 

Gen 4:5  but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, 

and his countenance fell. 

Gen 4:6  So the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance

fallen? 

Gen 4:7  If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at

the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it." 

Gen 4:8  Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were

in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. 

Genesis 4:13 And Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear! 

Satan led Saul to become mentally ill.

1 Samuel 13:12 then I said, 'The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, 

and I have not made supplication to the LORD.' Therefore I felt compelled, and 

offered a burnt offering." 

(Most translations say, “I forced myself…”)

He violated his conscience.  He “jumped the tracks.”

Saul was told to kill everything of the Amalekites but he spared the best of the 

sheep and their king, Agag.  He rationalized.  Crazy people can come to rationalize 

things that are irrational.

1 Samuel 15:13-14 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are 

you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD." 

1Sa 15:14  But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, 

and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" 

1 Samuel 15:20 And Saul said to Samuel, "But I have obeyed the voice of the 

LORD, and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and brought back 

Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 

Insane people can come to believe their own delusions.

1 Samuel 16:14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a distressing 

spirit from the LORD troubled him.

1 Samuel 16:23  And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that 

David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become 

refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.

The evil spirit didn’t like good music!

1 Samuel 18:14-15 And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the LORD was 

with him. 

1Sa 18:15  Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of 

him. 

Exaggerated fears and paranoia

1 Samuel 18:28-29 Thus Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and 

that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him; 

1Sa 18:29  and Saul was still more afraid of David. So Saul became David's enemy 

continually.

Rationally, Saul should have feared David less, knowing that David and Michal were 

developing a relationship.  Also, Saul’s son, Jonathan, and David were developing a 

deep and loving friendship.  This should have comforted Saul.  But he had jumped 

off the tracks of sanity.

1 Samuel 20:30 Then Saul's anger was aroused against Jonathan, and he said to 

him, "You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have 

chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother's 

nakedness?

Saul “lost it” and tried to kill his own son!

1 Samuel 20:33 Then Saul cast a spear at him to kill him, by which Jonathan knew 

that it was determined by his father to kill David. 

Saul got so deranged that he sought guidance from the witch at En Dor in 1 Samuel 

28.

Solomon quit obeying God and became so depressed that he came to hate life.

Ecclesiastes 2:17-18 Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under 

the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind. 

Ecc 2:18  Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I 

must leave it to the man who will come after me. 

Dr. Albert commented that the book Psychological Seduction, by William Kirk 

Kilpatrick, shows the truth of the failure of Psychology. 

Dr. Albert commented that “The thrust of Psychology is always permissive.”  This 

was the direction of Sigmund Freud.  It is “tampering with one’s conscience” and 

leads to “crazy justification and lying to the self.”

By contrast, “The role of a minister is to try to lead to repentance and obedience.” 

“People leave God and His church—the ultimate insanity.  They live in a bubble, not 

in touch with reality.”

“Sin is craziness and craziness is sin.”

“Most don’t come back.”

“PREVENTION!”  KEYS TO PREVENTION

OBEY GOD

Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and 

keep His commandments, For this is man's all. 

Jewish Publication Society: The end of the matter, all having been heard: fear God, 

and keep His commandments; for this is the whole man. 

2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love 

and of a sound mind.

Guilt over wrong behavior is solved by beginning with repentance.

“Some have a better grip on a sound mind.”

STRONG FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

Sigmund Freud understood that many problems are family caused.  When a child 

grows up in a family with alcoholism, abuse, neglect, lack of proper, loving 

discipline, etc., there is no escape for the child except to run into the back of his 

mind.

Sometimes the Church is forced into a parenting role: Plain Truth, Correspondence 

Course, Good News, Worldwide News and the Holy Days.

DEVELOP OTHER RELATIONSHIPS

“Crazy people tend to be loners.  They don’t get the feedback.”  

“We sometimes visit people in darkened hovels.  Shades are drawn.  No fellowship.  

They wouldn’t come to services if invited.  They’re afraid of people.”

REGULAR STRUCTURED LIFE.

“It can be mentally disruptive to be constantly changing spouses, homes, jobs…”

WORK

Keeping busy makes for structure and accomplishment.  Don’t be a person who just 

wants to hang around the house watching TV, accomplishing little.

RECREATION AND DIVERSION 

Holy Days.  Hobbies.  Exercise.  Get outdoors.  There are right and wrong ways to 

cope with stress and pressure to avoid burnout.

DON’T LEAN ON DRUGS, INCLUDING ALCOHOL, TO COPE

Using alcohol and sedatives to cope can lead to dependence and greater 

depression.

Hosea 4:11 Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave the heart.

Complete Jewish Bible:  Whoring and wine, both old and new, take away my 

people's wits. 

Easy-to-Read Version: Sexual sins, strong drink, and new wine ruin a person's 

ability to think straight.

King James Version: Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart. 

“Stay out of singles bars.  Repeated contact leads to a preferred way of life.”

Intoxication and mind-altering drugs, including intoxication with marijuana, can 

lead to being crazy.

EAT RIGHT

Our brains are physical organs and need good food.  Avoid junk food.  Anything the 

body gets too much of can cause allergies and addiction.

LIVE IN A NICE ENVIRONMENT 

Keep where you live clean, neat and bright

AVOID CRAZY MOVIES, BOOKS AND MUSIC

Avoid entertainment that makes a play on demons, violence, craziness, dying, 

drugs and murder.  Avoid Satan’s music.

DON’T DABBLE WITH DEMONS

Stay away from the occult, witchcraft, Ouija boards and things like Dungeons and 

Dragons. 

SEEK HELP EARLY

If possible, don’t wait until the situation is out of control and getting one’s mind 

back to peace is so much more difficult.

DON’T BLAME OTHERS

“Muckraking over the past is not extremely helpful.  It gets into blaming others.  

Most parents did the best they knew how.  Paul didn’t blame his dad for his past.  

People can go to God.  People need to take their sins to God, not to the minister.”

DON’T LET OTHER PEOPLE CONTROL YOU

Luke 10:38-42 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and 

a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 

Luk 10:39  And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard 

His word. 

Luk 10:40  But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him 

and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? 

Therefore tell her to help me." 

Luk 10:41  And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried 

and troubled about many things. 

Luk 10:42  But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will 

not be taken away from her."

Martha was “worried and troubled about many things” and she was trying to control 

her sister and lay a “guilt trip” on her sister.

You and God are in control of your life!  Don’t let people lay a “guilt trip” on you 

and control your life.

There are people in this world who will try to control you.  “Don’t you care?  Don’t 

you love me?”  Unless you respond to their needs, you are condemned as not 

caring.  There is an “insistent demand quality.”  

These are people who are sometimes described as needy.  “Folks like this can be 

powerful people.  Service can be turned into a badge.  If you are the first person to 

push back—sparks fly.”

CONCLUSION

In God’s Kingdom we’ll have perfect mental health.  In this life, some will continue 

to have physical and mental problems but Christ can give peace.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives 

do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 

Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and 

supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 

Php 4:7  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your 

hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.