The End-Time Neurosis
This study is taken from a series
preached by Brother Brian Kocourek from July 3rd through July 27th
1996. For more detail than what is shown in this study click here for the individual sermons.
18 Christ Revealed
In His Own Word I was just talking to a young minister and his wife
in the room just a few moments ago. And both of them are nervous just like the
rest of the world, rest of the human beings on earth. I said,
"Remember, Satan's got a punch coming at you." I don't care who you
are, God... He's got a right to that one punch. Which had you rather be, that
punch, be blind, or be an arthritic setting in a chair, or be nervous? See?
He's got somewhere he could punch you. He's got a right to that open place.
Now, that's the spot you got to keep covered all the time. 19 And to see this nervous age that we're
living in... And last week's tapes, I think, will reveal to you the great
hideous things that we're going to speak on one of these days when we can get a
place sufficient, of the opening of those last plagues to be poured out upon
the earth--those Vials, rather, pouring out of the Vials, and the Seven Thunders...
And those hideous sights that's coming upon the earth... 20 Men now and people today are in such
a neurotic condition, the whole world... You read this last months
"Reader's Digest." You notice the subject there; it's on Billy Graham
the great evangelist. He got so tired he just couldn't hold his meetings, and
he--he went to Mayo's Clinic for a physical checkup. There wasn't nothing wrong
with him, only he just doesn't do enough work. And they put him to
running: physical exercise. He runs a mile every day. And then, the article
goes on to say that science has proved, that today, that young children, these
little boys and girls hit their middle age at twenty years old. And by
twenty-five, many times in many cases the girls are out of menopause at
twenty-five years old. I don't know if you knew it or not, but a few nights ago
while the Holy Spirit was speaking here in the meeting, a little girl setting
down here; that's exactly what was wrong with that child when It called out. I
looked at her a second time, looked again, and I seen what was the matter. I
thought, "It can't be; that child's too young." But it was,
menopause, about twenty years old, twenty-three, something like that. See? 21 My mother and your mother struck that age
about forty-five to fifty. My wife struck that age about thirty-five. Now,
it's down to twenty. The whole human race is rotten. Well, if them
physical beings of our body is tearing down like that from eating hybrid
foods, tensions, that rotten it, does not that also rot the brain cell?
Then we can see how women can get on the street naked. We can see how they can
speed through the streets at a hundred and twenty miles an hour, all these
things. It's come to a place where the whole nation, the whole world, not
only this nation, but everywhere, mentally gone. 22 And then when we open up those, the Lord
willing, on those Seven Vials and show those hideous things... Men will be
so insane after while, till they'll imagine they're seeing ants the size of
a mountain. They'll be tormenting women, be locusts come upon the earth with
long hair to torment women who cut theirs off, hair like women hanging down,
and long teeth like a lion, stingers in their tail like a scorpion, and so
forth, to torment men upon the earth. But then it'll be too late to do anything
about it. You get right now. See? Tormenting..."
Now I hope you noticed that Brother Branham is
focusing his thoughts here on the mental condition of man in this last hour.
How man has come to the state where their bodies are rotting and their minds
have become rotten well. In [pp. 18] he speaks
of a young couple, a Pastor and his wife that he’s been counseling and he
mentions how nervous they both are. Then he says, And both of them are nervous just like the rest of the world, rest of the
human beings on earth. We see then, he’s not mentioning this
because a certain couple was nervous, but to let us know that the condition of
this couple is a universal problem in all of mankind. It’s not just a problem
in America, but in every nation on earth. And so we see this nervous condition
is an attribute of or identifier of the days that we live. It identifies the
times in which we live. Now, I would like for you to pay close attention this
morning to what I will be sharing from Brother Branham's thoughts here, because
in these thoughts you will receive the help you need for yourself as well.
Notice in [pp. 19] He said, "And to see this nervous age that we're living in"...and
notice how he went on to tie this thought into the opening of the 7 vials and
the letting loose of the end-time plagues upon man.
Again we see in [pp. 20]
he says, "Men now and people today are in
such a neurotic condition, the whole world"... Therefore
we see this neurotic condition is universal, for he said, the whole world!
In [pp. 21], he speaks of how the body is
rotting and women are reaching menopause at an earlier age, and we know
menopause is a condition that the body goes into after it passes out of it's
life cycle and enters into it's dying cycle. He continues to speak of the
deteriorating mental condition of the people until the entire world is going
insane. He says, The whole human race is rotten. Well, if them physical beings of our body is tearing down
like that from eating hybrid foods, tensions, that rotten it, does not that
also rot the brain cell? Then we can see how women can get on the street
naked. We can see how they can speed through the streets at a hundred and
twenty miles an hour, all these things. It's come to a place where the whole
nation, the whole world, not only this nation, but everywhere, mentally gone.
Now, finally in PP 22
we hear him say, Men will be so insane after
while and he speaks on how they will see things that are not
there, but their minds will be playing tricks on them and it will be real to
them as far as they are concerned. And so, today I would like to examine these
thoughts on the condition of man in this last hour and the condition of the
mind. Brother Branham is telling us that the whole world has come to a
condition that it is mentally gone. He said, the hybrid foods and the tensions
have caused our bodies to rot and since our brain cells are part of our bodies,
they are rotting as well. We find this condition that brother Branham is
speaking of in the scriptures. We are warned that there is coming a time that
will be full of tension and stress and it will hard to bear. We are also told
that the anxieties of life will be self-consuming everyone who lives on the
face of the earth.
In [ 2 Timothy 3: 1]the
Amplified version, we read: "But
understand this, that in the last days there will set in perilous times of great
stress and trouble - hard to deal with and hard to bear. Now
if you caught what Brother Branham was telling us, he said it is the hybrid foods and the tensions that are rotting the
bodies and the minds of the people. So tensions or stress are a
very critical thing in the undoing of the human race. And you will notice that
the Amplified Translation of [2 Tim 3:1]
tells us these times of great tension and stress will be hard to deal with and
hard to bear, that is why the suicide rate is so high.
In [Mk 4: 18-20]
we notice that the cares of this life creep in and choke off the Life of the
Word. And so this is a warning to us to be careful not to get so caught up into
the things of this world as to allow them to take over sole dominance of our
lives. Now the Greek word used here for cares is the word Merimna
which means the anxieties of this Life. And I want you to notice that the word
anxieties is defined by Webster as being a state of being uneasy or
apprehensive, or worried about what may happen; concern about a possible
future event, and the psychological effects of anxiety are worry
and nervous tensions.
[Lk 8:18] Notice
in this Scripture that it is not just the anxieties of this life, the
bills and the mortgage and the auto loans, and the utilities etc., but it is
also the pleasure seeking and other things as well that will creep into our
lives and choke off the Life of the Word. Now notice that brother Branham used
the term neurotic which comes from the word neurosis. Neurosis according to Webster is defined
as: Any of various Psychic, or mental, functional
disorders characterized by one or several of the following reactions: anxiety,
compulsion, obsession, phobia, depression, disassociation and conversion. Now, for
you who are taking notes, I want you to notice that there
are 7 of these attributes, and that is the number of completion. Brother
Branham said, Men now and people today are in
such a neurotic condition, the whole world. So we
see that this neurotic condition is a world-wide mental condition that has come
upon mankind like a trap. Just as we see the Laodicean condition of being
naked, blind and miserable is a universal condition as well. [Rev 3:14] Brother Branham said "a person who would walk around naked and then doesn’t know
it, is either mentally gone or demon possessed." We’ll find out
in this message.
[Lk 21: 31-36]
Notice, this condition is to come upon every one who dwells upon the face of
the earth. So it is a world wide condition, and then if so, then it will affect
us as well unless we are aware of it. Now, we are not super humans that can not
be affected by these things. We are merely mortal in this flesh and we need to
know what it is that is affecting us before we can find the cure. If we think
this doesn't pertain to us then why did Jesus warn us that it was coming? Now,
I believe the thing that is causing this condition in the earth is the focus
we have in our lives. If our focus is on the things of this world, then
we will be caught up into these anxieties which are a snare to us. But if our
focus is upon Christ and His Promises for us at this last-hour, then we will
overcome this trap. Jesus said "if the man of
the house had know what hour the thief was coming, he would have prepared his
home and he would not have suffered the thief to break in."
Our focus has got to be on "standing in the presence of the Son of Man"
as Jesus said. We should not be concerned with the cares of this life, they are
a snare to the real things that God has in store for us. We are told in [Matt 7: 24-27] That the same trials will come upon
all who dwell on the face of the earth. Therefore, it’s the spirit of the age,
or the condition of the hour, as we see in [Rev 3:
14-20]
As we examine these attributes that make up the
neurotic condition that is in the world every where, let's begin by examining
Webster's definition again. Webster defined Neurosis as: Any of various psychic, or mental, functional disorders
characterized by one or several of the following reactions: #1) Anxiety, #2) Compulsions #3) Obsessions #4) Phobias #5) Depression #6) Disassociation #7) Conversion.
This morning we shall begin our study by focusing on
the 1st attribute which is
Anxiety. My hope for you this message is that you will find help to understand
your own life situation better and how to cope in this stressful world. After
all, Brother Branham said in His opening prayer, "And we ask that
You'll speak to us today through Thy written Word, and may the Spirit reveal to
us the things that we have need of,". Therefore, I believe this
Message will meet the needs of every individual here if we only look for it.
[Lk 21: 31 - 36]
When Jesus spoke about the cares of this life he was speaking of Anxieties.
Anxieties is defined by Webster as being a state of being that is uneasy or
apprehensive, one which is worried about what may happen; having concern about possible future events. The
psychological effects of anxiety are worry and nervous tensions. So we see that
it has nothing to do with today, but what might happen tomorrow. And
what did Jesus tell us about such things as this?
In [Matt 6: 24-34]
we are actually commanded to take no thought for tomorrow, pertaining to what
we shall eat or wear. Don't worry about tomorrow, because after all each day
there is enough to think about? And if you worry about tomorrow, then you only
compound your troubles. Because not only do you have today's troubles, but
tomorrow's as well.
Brother Branham said in [981-Q-274 Q & A COD
64-0823M] "If you worry, it'll
break your health down, and that's what Satan wants to do".
He wants to distract you from where we should really be focused, and that is in
Christ. So just commit yourself and your family to Christ and keep moving on.
In [Eccl 11: 9-10]
we read, "Be happy young man while
you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.
Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all
these things God will bring you to judgment," ( in
other words, just keep your life lined up with His Word) "So then, banish anxiety from your heart, and cast off the
troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless".
[ 1 Peter 5: 6 - 10]
"Casting all your cares (or anxieties) upon
Him for He careth for you."
[ Proverbs 12: 25 ]
"An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a
kind word cheers him up."
[ Eccl 2: 17-26]
"So I hated life, because the work that is
done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing
after the wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because
I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether he will
be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the works which I
have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. So my
heart began to become anxious over all my toilsome labor under the sun.
For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must
leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless
and a great misfortune. What does a man get for all his toil and anxious
striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain
and grief; Even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. A man
can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work.
This too, I see is from the hand of God, for without him who can eat or find
employment? To the man who pleases Him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and
happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up
wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a
chasing after the wind".
From, E-64 God Keeps His Word 57-0407m, brother
Branham said, "To the young people, I
would say this. If I could this morning, after a birthday yesterday of forty-eight
years in this life, twenty some odd years of that, about twenty four years I've
spent for the Lord Jesus. As a boy of about twenty three years old, I started
preaching the Gospel. If there is any regrets that I have, any regrets... If
I could touch a button this morning and go back to the--the fabulous age of
about sixteen or seventeen, I would only want to do it for one thing: that is
to serve Christ".
In the Message [E-10 Uncertain Sound
61-0429E] He said, "Traveling
around from nation to nation, I find that everyone seems to be nervous. And
the psychic wards are filling up. And the people are... Down the street, there
seems to be so much anxiety, and rush just as hard as they can, till they
don't have courtesy even, one for the other. And I've noticed it amongst all
people."
[Phil 4: 6-7]
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer
and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace
which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus.
In speaking of the nations where the Jews were to be
scattered and dispersed throughout all the world the Lord said the following
words letting them know that there is no rest and there is no assurance in this
world outside of Him. [ Deut 28: 65-67]
[Jn 14: 1-3]
& [Jn 14: 27-29] What we have here is
a mental disorder that actually cripples the persons functionality as a human
being. If the person is a wife and mother, it cripples her ability to function
in those roles. If the person is a minister it cripples their ability to
minister the Word of God. If the person is a Deacon, it cripples their ability
to keep order and to help as needed in the assembly. What ever the persons
function, father, mother, sister or brother, it cripples those functions in the
home. No wonder there is so much talk today of the dysfunctional family.
Since the world is in a neurotic condition, they’ve got to be dysfunctional.
Now, the 2nd attribute
of neurosis that Webster speaks of is compulsion
which is a compelling or being compelled; ( And the word compel
has to do with a forcing of the issue, an "in your face attitude").
We hear so much today the expression, "with an attitude!" But
did you know that this was spoken of by the Word of God to be this way? Webster
goes on to describe compulsion as being an "irresistible,
repeated, irrational impulse to perform some act." And
we are warned that men will be this way in [ 2 Tim
3:1] But understand this, that
in the last days there will set in perilous times of great stress and trouble -
hard to deal with and hard to bear. For people will be lovers of self and
utterly self-centered,... Now,
I want you to notice verse [ 3 ]
it tells us that they will be incontinent. This word incontinent means
they are without self control which is why they are compulsive. They
have no self control and therefore they are out of control.
Now, I want you to notice how this attribute is picked
up in [Rev 3: 14-19] (read) They have a
mind set that is fixed on material things and they don't even know that these
things have blinded them from the reality of the hour. It's not uncommon today
to hear the expression, "He's a compulsive gambler." In
fact there was a time that gambling was not only considered sinful, but even
average, non Christian citizens, considered gambling to be a sickness that
needed to be treated medically or psychologically. It was considered an immoral
illegal blight upon our society that only low moral societal misfits would get
involved in. Yet today just about every state uses lotteries and gambling to
fill up their coffers.
The me generation. The, "I want it
and I want it now, generation!" People no longer have the patience
to wait for anything. They’ve got to have it now!, now!, now!. (ex:
Compare housing today to yesterday. Parents Vs their kids. ) Young kids going
into debt way above their ability to pay back. And as a result the tension
between them is so great you can cut the air with a knife and their marriages
are dissolving at a 50% clip. In fact I heard just the other day that the
latest statistic is that young people getting married today have only a 30%
chance of their marriage lasting for the duration of their life. And what is
causing much of it. The me first generation of spoiled rotten kids. And
who is to blame? The parents are to blame. Brother Branham said, it isn't
child delinquency, it's parent delinquency. I heard another survey on
the radio the other day where they had interviewed parents who had children in
their forty's and fifty's who were still asking mom and dad to help them out
financially. One man who retired as a painter, has already helped his son to
buy his third house, this one laying out $55,000. Another Father, gave his 42
year old daughter $4,500 to buy a large screen TV because they didn't have the
money because they had just spent $2,000 on a stereo set, and this couple made
good wages, but they take two skiing vacations every year, and two cruises. And
yet they have no shame in going to mom and dad for help. Their dad said, he
still drives his 1979 Buick while the kids are living high of the hog and have
the gall to ask for his help, and yet he complains, but still dishes out the
bucks.
It's incredible what is happening today. The kids are
used to living high off the hog and they do not know what it means to do
without. And so they can't wait to have it all, and even more than their
parents have, and after they get to the place of insolvency, and bankruptcy,
they are left with nothing. Huge houses standing empty with no furniture because
they can't afford the house and that too. Homes with no children, maybe just a
mutt or cat so they can mother something.
That is what compulsion has brought. Kids murdering
their parents because they want the inheritance now. Kids killing kids for their
tennis shoes, because mama says she can't afford to buy them now and junior
will have to wait for Christmas, but he can't wait. Compulsion....
and Brother Branham called it Neurotics! And
yet he said it’s every where. Almost every nation is broke. Why? They’ve spent
money they don’t have. "They think they are
rich because they are increased with
goods, but they don’t know that they are poor, miserable, blind
and naked...that means they are destitute, without anything."
So we see that self constraint is a very important
thing which will be hardly found in the end-time. Just look at our own
President. He can hardly constrain himself when it comes to money, women and
popularity. He's not satisfied with adultery, but he is a breaker of every one
of the ten commandments. And not just once in a great while. It seems that he
repeatedly breaks them day by day. Compulsion
therefore is a compelling or being compelled; irresistible, repeated,
irrational impulse to perform some act. Which is basically
losing control of oneself. Now there is nothing wrong with having a desire for
things. But when the desires become overwhelming and takes control, and the
person loses control of their ability to constrain themselves, then something
is definitely out of kilter somewhere.
Another thought of compulsion that you should
take notice is that compulsion is not only a compelling but is
also a being compelled. This not only speaks then of
something that is self inflicted, but it can also be inflicted by others, as in
being compelled, thus showing outside influences such as peer pressure.
·
[ 2 Chron 21: 5 - 15] I want you to notice that it
was politics that compelled these people to do what they did not want to
do. And the same thing happened in Germany during WWII.
·
[ Acts 26: 9 - 11] Saul had been in with the IN
crowd, and therefore had the power or authority to get away with murder.
[Gal 2: 1-14]
Now if you noticed, the common thread is politics. Being Politically
correct. You are compelled by law to do certain things and to think certain
ways and if you don't, they will shut you down or turn you out. The devil rules
the nations and he is bringing forth laws into every nation that want to
control "what you think and say". But God wants
to control our thoughts as well, but with Him, He doesn't force it on
you. As you know this is the hour for [2 Thes 1: 10]
He has come to be Glorified IN His Saints. And yet He does not force Himself
upon us, but He is patiently waiting for us to hunger and thirst after His
Right-wise-ness. But with politics it is always different. It's all this "in
your face" stuff to try and influence you by force if need be, to
subject yourself to the mind-control police. Today, If they heard Brother
Branham say, "when a woman gets out of the kitchen she's out of her
place," They would try to send him out to some culture diversity
training to set his thinking straight, or they would take his church away from
Him. Whether we search the scriptures or individual examples in every day life,
we find compulsion has to do with a forcing of the mind into a
certain condition or mental mind set.
[Matt 23: 13]
& [Rom 1: 16] And how do they
suppress the Truth? By holding it back from the people. Not just the churches,
look at our Media today. They water it down by calling them spin doctors. Why
don’t they just call them liars. The devil has always used misinformation to
deceive, because it works. Brother Branham said a lie that is 99 % true is the
most powerful lie because it tells almost all of the story true but then puts a
spin on it to make it a lie. Now, I want you to notice how they force or compel
others to follow their schemes. In the beginning "to eat" caused
death, but now, "not to eat" is death. And I want you to
notice that back there, Satan didn't rape Eve, He seduced her through the
serpent. These men do not beat up their congregations in order to force or
compel them not to eat. They seduce them away from the truth by telling lies
about it.
[ Proverbs 7: 7-27]
I want you to notice verse 21 again ( read) Notice by her flattery
she forces him.
[1 Tim 4: 1] Seducing
Spirit's and Doctrines of Devil's. The People being seduced into
believing The Lie and then they are damned by it. Why, Because you can't turn
them away from it. They love a lie and will be damned by the thing they love.
[2 Thess 2: 10-12]
The Wuest Translation says that this deception is geared to the gullibility of
those who are perishing and that this gullibility is caused by the fact that
they did not have a love for the Truth.
[John 3: 19 - 20]
& [ 2 Tim 3: 7 ] They can't come to
the understanding of the Truth because they will not give up their own
thinking.
Now the 3rd attribute
of neurosis is Obsession which Webster
defines as the act of an evil spirit in possessing
or ruling a person. Having such a persistent idea, desire or emotion that one
can not get rid of it. Brother Branham
said, "you can feed a habit or keep nurturing a habit and after a
while it will take on a life of it's own becoming a spirit possession."
Then it is demon possession. I don't care if it has to do with women or sports
or even food. A demon is a demon. And if it is not natural, it's demonic.
[1Tim 4: 1] Seducing
Spirit's and Doctrines of Devil's. The People being seduced into believing The
Lie and then they are damned by it. Why, Because you can't turn them
away from it. They love a lie and will be damned by the thing they love. [ 2 Thess 2: 10 - 12] & [ John 3: 19 - 20] & [ 2 Tim
3: 7 ] They can't come to the understanding of the Truth because
they will not give up their own thinking.
They will not Receive [ John
14: 12 ] because of [Proverbs 14: 12]
says, "There is a way which seemeth right
unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." They
will not let their own thinking go. They are possessed by what their own minds
want to tell them and they are not willing to let go of their own thinking and
receive a correct thinking based upon vindication.
(ex: of what the devil can do when he possesses
a person vs. what God can do when He possesses person.)
White-house slogan, Hillary Rotham
Clinton " fake
it til you make it"
E-18 Go Wake Jesus 63-1103 Because he is so fully surrendered to the
evil one, it took possession of him, and he had not his own understanding.
He only did what the evil spirit put in him to do.
126 Lean not to Thy Own Understanding 65-0120 Now, in Luke 17:30, He said,
"And as it was in the days of Lot, when the Angel of the Lord..." In
the days of Lot just before the fire burned the Gentile world, the Sodomites,
there were homosexuals, perversions, everything in the world. It was a modern
Los Angeles; not a modern only Los Angeles, but a United States; not only in
United States, but a world. It sure was perversion. Men lost their natural
source of life and their natural understandings of common sense, become
perverted by an evil spirit that changed the whole course of their natural
life, and they were possessed with demon spirits. If that ain't the picture of
the days of Noah, I don't know it, and in the days of Lot, I mean. In days of
Noah also, eating, drinking, marrying, given in marriage, divorce courts
filling, and everything, just like it was.
118 Lean not to Thy Own Understanding 65-0120 You know, the Bible said you
can believe a lie and be damned by it. See? That's exactly the truth. They
form, no matter what the Word of God says, they lean to their own
understanding. They lean on it; they believe it; they think it's the Truth.
You can keep believing a lie over and over and over till it's the truth to you.
That's right. But how do we know whether it's Truth or not? God proved it's
Truth, 'cause it's in His Word and He a-vindicates It. He does His own
interpretation of It. How do they do, get to this? They do it by their culture,
their education, of their understandings of their--the degree of doctor's
degree, and so forth, that they have come from some certain seminary and
learned these things.
The 4th attribute
we see Webster refer to in the defining of neurosis. This 4th attribute is Phobias which we all know is an irrational, excessive, and persistent fear of some
particular thing or situation. In the book of Job we find out that
the things you fear the most will come upon you. In [ 2
Tim 1: 7 ] we read, " For
God has not given us a Spirit of fear, but of Power and of Love, and of a sound
mind. " So then we can see by this that to have fear shows
you don't have a sound mind. Because it is not of God to fear. Every time the
Angel of the Lord came to man, the first words out of His mouth would be "Fear not! For I have come from the Presence of the Lord."
We find also in [ 1 John 4:
18] that perfect or mature love casts out fear because fear has to
do with punishment. Notice as I said earlier, the first is what sets the trap.
Anxiety. The cares of this life. Being caught up into them and not having our
focus on Christ in this Word, having come down with a shout for our
deliverance.. The next thing happens is we get caught into the pressure and so
compulsion results where we find ourselves doing things not because common
sense tells us to, not because we really want to, but because we have been
pressured into it. These irrational sorts of behavior then force us to be
living a lie and thus once we have hit this stage we enter into the 3rd
manifestation which is devil possession and by this time our minds are
completely gone. No longer are we able to focus on the things of God but only
on the irrational behaviors which have overwhelmed us.
Whether it is preparing for the next depression, or
the next election. Men are obsessed with trying to save this nation when they
should be worried about saving their own souls and the souls of their loved
ones. And so we see this devil possession take over because they’re believing
the Lie.
In this next manifestation of neurosis we see phobias
take over. The word phobia means fear. And this is the stage that does the most
damage, because when a person is afraid they become bound by their fears. We
read in 1 John 4. That perfect or mature Love
will cast out fear because fear has a
penalty, it has to do with you freezing and crystallizing in your
thinking. Joseph began to fear that Mary had not been faithful and so God sent
His Angel to tell him not to fear to take Mary as His Wife. What did fear do
here? It caused Joseph to doubt and it caused him to stop moving forward with
the plan of God for his life.
[Luke 21: 25-27]
notice that men see the things that bring on perplexing and anxiety and then
fear follows shortly thereafter.
[1 Kings 18:21] how halt ye between two opinions? How long will you be lame and stopped in your forward
movement? AMP How long will you be halt and limp between two opinions? NIV How long will you waver between two opinions? NAS How long will you hesitate between these two
opinions?
233 Anointed Ones at the End-Time 65-0725M "For it is impossible for those which
were once enlightened and didn't move on with the Word as it come to pass..."
They're dead, gone
[Gen 19: 26] Lot's
wife crystallized when she quit moving on with the Word of God. What happened?
First her mind stopped then her body did. First her mind crystallized then her
body became transformed into her revelation.
82 Israel in the Home Land 53-0329 And now, the first thing you know, the
Pillar of Fire has begin to move again. But Pentecost is so organized, it can't
go. It was so organized, crystallized until it can't go. That's right.
That's true. But the Pillar of Fire is moving out, brother, and there's
people that's going with It. Hallelujah. We're bound for the promised land.
Yes, sir.
In the Message 63 You Must Be Born Again 61-1231 brother
Branham said, No life in the serpent, it was
absolutely crystallized. That was the penalty..
[1 Kings 18:21]
how halt ye between two opinions? How long will you be lame and stopped in your forward
movement? AMP How long will you be halt and limp between two opinions?
NIV How long will you waver between two opinions? NAS How long will
you hesitate between these two opinions?
82 Countdown 64-0209 But man always counts backwards, starts at
ten. "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one,
zero." What does God do? He starts with His number, seven. That's God's
number. Watch Him: seven. Oh, He counts ahead, starting with one. He
starts with His first church age. That's what His symbols was on earth. There's
seven church ages. He made the world in seven days; seventh day He rested.
That's His last number in His creation. He rested. Notice, He counts
straight ahead, not backwards. He goes forward. He starts from His first church
age, which begin at A.D. 33, and He started the countdown. He counted His
church ages.
Notice that at each Exodus what has happened to the
people? They wanted to go back. They had it set in their minds what they wanted
and they did not want to move forward with God. In Moses day they wanted to go
back to Egypt which is a type of the Pentecostal church with it's garlic’s and
leaks, and in Paul's day they wanted to go back into the law which is legalism.
The Scripture tells us to "Train up a child in the way it shall go
and when it gets older it will not depart." It also tells us
"The way a tree leaneth that is the way it shall fall."
Therefore if your mind is already made up as to what you believe, you will not
go forward. In fact every decision we make we base upon what fact we already
have in hand. Therefore, all of our decisions must go back tot he way we were
trained unless we have wilfully repented of that training.
[Mk 4: 24]
"Take heed how you hear, for with what
measuring stick you measure it with, it shall be measured back to you ." In otherwords you get what your looking for.
And that is why so many still see this Message as a furtherance of Pentecost
when brother Branham said it is "beyond Pentecost".
Anointed Ones At the End-Time 65-0725M Notice! Come up to the borderline and quit.
Pp.195 Going to their home, and when they come up to the place to cross over,
they doubted the Word!........What happened? They perished in the wilderness.
They stayed right there and organized themselves, and died, every one of
them,........ pp.198 "Where the carcass is there will the eagles be
gathered......
Where the fresh meat is, the Word
of the Season, there the eagles will gather." But after it's rotten,
then the vultures will swarm to it. See, see? See what I mean? When a kill 's
made here comes the eagles, but after it lays there and rotten, then here come
the vultures. The eagles won't have nothing to do with it. Jesus said,
"Where the carcass is, where the manna fell, the night the manna falls
fresh, there the eagles will gather for it." That's the manna for the day.
See? Pp.214 Notice! But after it gets rotten, maggots get in it, then here
comes the vultures. They can't smell it till it gets rotten. Pp.215 Said, "I AM sent me."
I AM, not I was, or will be, I AM, present tense, the Word now. Not the Word
that was or Word that will come, the Word that's now. pp. 219 Now, you go back
and try to live again --go back after that old shuck's dried up, ever go back
and live in it again? It never does. "For it is impossible for those which
were once enlightened and didn't move on with the Word as it come to pass..."
They're dead, gone
[ Romans 8: 15]
& [ 2 Tim 1: 7]
[Luke 21: 25-27]
notice that men see the things that bring on perplexing and anxiety and then
fear follows shortly thereafter. In [1 Kings 18:21]
we find the people feared what the King would do to them and so Elijah rebuked
them by saying, "how halt ye between two
opinions"? How long will you be lame
and stopped in your forward movement? AMP How long will you be halt
and limp between two opinions? NIV How long will you waver
between two opinions? NAS How long will you hesitate between
these two opinions?
233 Anointed Ones At End Time 65-0725M "For it is impossible
for those which were once enlightened and didn't move on with the Word as it
come to pass..." They're dead, gone
In [Genesis 19: 26]
we see Lot's wife crystallized when she quit moving on with the Word of God.
What happened? First her mind stopped then her body did. First her mind
crystallized then her body became transformed into her revelation. Now this
brings us to the 5th characteristic
of neurosis which is Depression. Webster
defines Depression as: being low in spirit,
gloominess; dejection and sadness. And all these result in a
lessening of activity. Usually in a person suffering from depression, all they
want to do is eat and sleep. And that is why we find 2 Tim 1 tell us that this
end-time will be hard to deal with and hard to bear. And so what happens to
those who can not seem to cope with the cares of this life? They eventually
freeze out like Lots wife and they stop any forward progress and they go into
depression. But this is not the end of it. There are still other characteristics
left that we must deal with here. But for now let’s focus on this
characteristic called Depression. we know that it is being low in
spirit, gloominess; dejection and sadness. Now we know that this
characteristic like the others comes about because of a wrong focus and wrong
teaching. We find the scriptures tells us this in [Ezek
13: 22] (read).
The scriptures tell us what sort of effects depression
will have upon a person.[1 Kings 21:4-5].
(read) Now, Notice that it causes a person to quit eating. [ Matt 6: 16] (read) Now I want you to notice that
the main theme we find in scriptures of a person who is suffering from Depression
which is sadness of the heart is that they don’t feel like eating, at least not
the right foods any way. What happens is that they begin to cut off their own
supply, or nourishment to their bodies. And this is exactly what happens to the
body of believers as well. Satan attacks you by
entrapping you with a wrong focus.
He gets you to focus on the cares of this life. Once you give in to his
influence, he then has you leaning. Once he has you leaning all he needs to do
is give you a little shove. Then you’re on your own. The way a tree leans is
the way it will fall. And once he has you leaning then he will have you falling
very shortly. And once you have fallen he enters into you through obsession
which is devil possession. This Possession then takes over the control tower of
your soul and you begin to fear everything. You fear tomorrow, you fear your
neighbor, you begin to fear your brethren in Christ as well. And this makes you
sad and dejected. From here you enter into a Depression and as a result you
begin to starve yourself of the very thing you have need of to live. "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every Word that
comes from the Mouth of God."
And the thing of it is that we have access to the very mouth of God as no other
age has had this access. Yet we deny ourselves the Spiritual Food in Due
Season, because of our neurotic condition. This neurosis is what Brother
Branham spoke of as engulfing the entire world.
But God said, "I am the God Who healeth all thy diseases."
[Psalms 103: 1-18] Notice that Our God is
more willing to give than we are to receive, yet that does not stop Him from
giving us what we have need of." A healthy body is one that hungers and
thirsts, and so he told us, "Blessed is he
that hungers and thirsts for right-wise-ness, for you shall be filled."
Brothers and sisters, if you are not hungering and
thirsting today, then I can only say one thing... You suffer from Neurosis as
God’s Prophet said would completely encompass the earth. But you have a way
out. As we showed you in the beginning, all these things stem from being caught
in a wrong focus, and that is the cares of this life have swallowed you up. Yet
we find in the Scriptures that joy will cause you to forget your anxieties. [ Eccl 11: 9-10] Be
happy young man while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the
days of your youth..... So then, banish anxiety from your heart, and cast off
the troubles of your body, ....
Yet how do we accomplish this? Well, we must first
know where our joy comes. Where is the source of our Joy? If it is in things,
then we are doomed for sure because then your only joy comes from the cares of
this life. But True Joy can come from only one thing and that we read in [Psalm 16: 11] & [ 1
Thes 2: 19] and [ Jude 1: 24]
[Eccl 9:7], [ Psalm
5:11] and [Psalm 27:6]
Phobia leads you into Depression which
manifests in the fact that you don’t want to eat any more. And so you begin to
shut off the Spiritual Food In Due Season. You quit eating from Gods Word and
from His Message, and when this happens you become weak and sickly. This then
leads us to the Sixth attribute of Neurosis
which is Disassociation. And with this in mind I want to examine
this last manifestation of Neurosis in the Scriptures.
[Eph 4:17-18]
(read) Here we find that they cut themselves off from the Life of God because
their understanding has become darkened. The world alienated here
is a Greek word (apallotrioo) and it means to shut off ones self from
fellowship and intimacy. Now why is this? [1 John 1:
7](read) And Because we are told that our fellowship comes from
walking in the Light. So then if we no longer walk in the Light, then we no longer
have fellowship. It’s just that simple. And the word walk here is
a word (peripateo) which means "to make ones way, to
progress forward, or to regulate one’s life by, or to pass ones Life in."
And so we see The Word of God is a Living Word in which we live out this Word.
It is not only something that we believe but it is our very Life. And if it is
our very Life then to leave it means death to us. And the word fellowship here
is a word (Koinonia) which means
"communion, fellowship, communication, association or joint participation
in." And so we see that it takes this Word of
God to become a reality in your lives and when it does then it brings a common
bond to you. It is not just a matter of knowing it is true. It is a matter of
it being real to you. For to just know it is true could still place it in a
historical perspective as it does to the nominal Christian. But to know it is
real, it then begins to live out in your very life. When you read this Word you
can actually see it manifesting itself all around you. Because after all, Gods
Prophet said, "God interprets His Word by
bringing it to pass." And
so when you read His Word, and then see it taking place, you are in actuality
living out that portion of Gods Word.
We read in [Matt 13: 10-17]
That only a certain group of people will come to an understanding and all
others are not meant to see and understand it. We see the interpretation of
this when we actually see this manifested before us when we try to share the
Gospel to others and we see their dead response. We see the Interpretation of [1 Tim 4: 1] When we see the exodus from the True
Message of the hour and we see people chasing after new and different doctrines
and going back to Pentecost. We see the Interpretation of [1 Thess 4: 15-18] when we look at these pictures
hanging on the wall and we hear the Voice of God on the tapes and we see the
Vindication of God having come down and actually proving that he is here among
us. And so we could go on and on but what I am trying to show you tonight is
that to walk in this light brings fellowship. It brings a sharing and a joint
participation together. We walk in it and we communicate together what we see
taking place. The Word then is a living reality. Not just Truth. But a Living
Truth. We see it, we feel it, we touch it, we hear it, we eat it, we breath it.
We are totally immersed in it and because there are others who are experiencing
the same Living Word in their own lives, we then talk to one another and this
brings us into fellowship. But Neurosis brings about just the opposite. A wrong
focus brings about wrong influences which brings about wrong associations which
brings about wrong actions and wrong communications. And thus death instead of
deliverance and Life. [1 Peter 1:3-(5) 7-(9)]
Notice this end-time revelation is to bring end time salvation and deliverance.
So far we have covered : anxiety, compulsion, obsession, phobia, depression, disassociation.
We found scriptural evidence for these six characteristics of neurosis prophesied
for their end-time hour. In our study thus far we have found anxiety is the
main condition that is to be manifested in the end-time, and all these other
characteristics stem forth from anxiety. We also found that anxiety is spoken
of in the scriptures mostly in reference to the cares of this life.
We also found that Satan has taken advantage of the curse that was placed upon
man by God back in the beginning after the fall in the garden. This fall
resulted in man having to sweat and toil for a living and the ground being
cursed and therefore man does not always know what will turn out because of his
labors. We showed how anxiety is a result of actually having a lack of faith
and trust in God and therefore we try to take our own life path into our own
hands. We found in [Proverbs 16: 9] that
"A mans heart deviseth his way, but the Lord
directeth His footsteps" and therefore our labor and toil
and everything else is in the hands of God. That is why we read in [Rom 8:31] "If God
be for us who can be against us." we also showed that Satan’s
purpose is to gain control of our minds, and he does this by bringing you under
his influence, he brings you into bondage to himself.
[ John 8: 34]
Jesus said, "he that committeth sin is the
servant of sin." Then we found in [2 Peter 2: 19] that when we are overcome by a
certain influence, we thus become in bondage to that influence. Now thus far in
our study we have found that this bondage is a result of an influence that
begins with anxiety. The Devil has laid out a snare or trap for every one in
the whole world. And that snare or trap is in the guise of the economy. He
knows that people have to make a living. He has known that since the curse that
was placed upon man for his disobedience in the garden. In fact he was
responsible for that curse being placed upon man. And so then we see that he
took advantage of that situation and he has manipulated man into a wrong focus
again.
[Gen 3: 17-19]
And so we see that man had to begin to labor in order to live. And this is where
Satan made his decision to use the curse which God himself placed upon man
against man in order to bring man under his influence. Hitler did the same
thing. He promised the people a better living, two cars in the garage and two
chickens in every pot, and when he had the people under his influence, he began
his persecution of the Jews and the people just turned their heads and didn’t
become involved because after all, look what he did for them. And so we see the
influence that Satan has upon the people. He has blinded them by material
prosperity. In [Rev 3: 14:17] we see that
the predominant spirit of this age is that man is so consumed with his material
possessions that he is blind to his spiritual condition. (read)
According to [Luke 21:
31-35] the cares of this life will be the snare that will completely
entrap the entire world, and they will fail to stand in the presence of the Son
of Man when He comes. (read) We have found thus far in our study that Satan
used the economy and life style as a trap to not only catch you off guard, but
he uses it to give you another focus, a wrong focus just like he did with Eve
back in the garden. This then, because it is of his design, brings you under
his influence. And once under his influence he then step by step brings you
under his full control. He did it to Eve, he got her to step out from the
protection of the Word and once he did, he implanted himself into her and
brought for his own life in her. And so we have seen how this influence of the
cares of this life begins to turn us from a Christ Centered focus and brings us
to the place of coming under a wrong influence all because of our anxiety
concerning the things which MIGHT happen concerning the cares of this life.
As I have said throughout this mini series, The whole Christian world is out of focus
tonight. They talk about the next depression, the nation going broke, the new
world order, and they are completely missing the Lord Who has come down from
heaven with a shout. And so we see the condition of the church is looking at
the "what ifs", and they are missing their deliverance from
those things. They are focused on the very trap and delusion instead of the way
out of it. Sometimes, Satan will make those cares of life more real to you than
the promises of God will appear to be. Yet Jesus commanded us to "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and ALL the things you have
need of will be added unto you." Now instead of looking at
the trap, we should be looking for a way to avoid the trap. And so we found
that by having a wrong focus to begin with leads us only further into a wrong
direction. By having a wrong focus we find ourselves becoming anxious over
things which we should not be. And when we focus all of our energies on these
future worries, we find ourselves getting caught up into finding our own way
out of their dilemma. At this point we enter into COMPULSION which is
irrational behavior, we then become obsessed by them and this becomes
possession. Devil possession.
Remember, [1 Peter 2: 19] tells us that "whatsoever we are overcome by we also become in bondage to
as well." And Webster called obsession, devil possession,
for that is what it is.
Now once this obsession takes over our being, we enter
into the fourth characteristic of neurosis is Phobias or fear. Here we
found that Fear has a penalty according to [1 John
4: 18] (read). In [Hebrews 2: 15]
we see that through fear we are made subject to
bondage. We found out that this fear and bondage has the effect
of stopping any progressive movement in the things of God. Joseph stopped in
his tracks concerning Mary. He feared to take Mary to be his wife, and so God
had to send His Messenger to rid Joseph of his fear. Then we found that Phobia
leads you into Depression which manifests in the fact that you don’t
want to eat any more. And so you begin to shut off the Spiritual Food In Due
Season. You quit eating from Gods Word and from His Message, and when this
happens you become weak and sickly. This then leads us to the last attribute of
Neurosis which is Disassociation and we found that this means that you
begin to cut off fellowship with the believers. First you cut off eating from
the tree of Life and then you cut off all association with it. And this means
with those who are eating it themselves.
And so, it is not just a matter of knowing it is true.
It is a matter of it being real to you. For to just know it is true could still
place it in a historical perspective as it does to the nominal Christian. But
to know it is real, it then begins to live out in your very life. When you read
this Word you can actually see it manifesting itself all around you. Because
after all- Gods Prophet said, "God interprets His Word by bringing
it to pass." And so when you read His Word, and then see it taking
place, you are in actuality living out that portion of Gods Word. we then
showed you various examples of the Word coming to pass and you being a part of
that Living Word. A living dynamic Word which is continually moving ahead. In
fact we quoted from Anointed Ones at the end-Time where brother
Branham said, " For it is impossible for
those which were once enlightened and didn’t move on with the Word as it came
to pass"... "they’re dead, gone." And so, we must
continue to move on with the Word of God as it continues to come to pass or we
are dead, dead, dead.
Now we could go on and on with this but what I am
trying to get across to you is that to walk in this light is what brings
fellowship. It is a walking that does it, because the walk is to experience and
live out this Word. And as we experience it together, we share together this
life experience. Then it is not so much that we are speaking of a Word which
alone is True, but in an even greater sense of the word, we are speaking of a
Word which is not only True but is alive and has become a reality to you
because you are actually seeing it in manifestation. Then you are experiencing
the Living Word and as others experience this same Living Word, the fellowship
is just as natural as life itself, because after all our fellowship comes by
sharing experiences with one another.
We can’t help but to talk to one another because we
are actively participating in the same Living Word. But neurosis brings just
the opposite effect. A wrong focus brings forth wrong actions which bring forth
wrong communications which brings forth bondage and death instead of
deliverance and Life. [1 Peter 1:3-(5) 7-(9)]
Notice this end-time revelation is to bring end time salvation and deliverance.
Now there is one last thing that Webster brought out
about neurosis which I have not yet emphasized in this message, and the last
thing he said about neurosis is that it will eventually bring forth conversion.
This is actually the seventh characteristic, and we know seven is the number of
completion. The first six are progressive stages or phases which moves one
toward complete takeover by demonic influence. But there is something different
about this last characteristic that I would like to examine closer. The last characteristic is conversion. After
you have started off by anxiety, you begin to do things compulsively and then
those compulsive behaviors take over and become an obsession which is devil
possession. The next thing is fear sets in, and then depression soon follows.
When this happens you just quit eating the Word for the hour and you begin to
spiritually starve yourself. Eventually because you no longer desire this type
of food you begin to avoid those who do and you disassociate with those who do,
cutting yourself off from fellowship and associations with anyone who walks in
the light. Then the final characteristic of neurosis takes over and that is a
complete conversion from a Christ centered life to a materialistic centered
life, which is devil worship. Your path to Conversion in Satan’s system, the
seventh and last characteristic of this neurotic condition is now complete.
[ 1 Tim 4: 1]
This scripture speaks of the falling away from THE faith at the end-time.
[Eph 4: 18-20]
Shows that this cutting off the Life of God which comes via His Word starts
with a wrong influence and a wrong understanding. One that is darkened.
[ Luke 8:13]
These have no root in themselves and so they fall away from The truth.
[ Luke 13:22-28]
The word Depart here is the same word for falling away.
[Heb 3: 7-4:2]
The evil heart of unbelief which is a wrong understanding, causes the falling
away or departure from the Living God.
[2 Thes 2: 3]
There must be a falling away in order for us to know we are at the end-time and
the Appearing of Christ.
[ Heb 6: 4-6]
Those who have been once for all enlightened and deviate from this
enlightenment actually fall away and it is impossible for them to ever change
their thinking toward it again.
[ 2 Peter 3: 14-18]Beware
lest ye fall.
[Heb 12:1-17] [1 Cor 10: 1-14] [ Rev
2: 4-5] & [Matt 7: 23] I
used to know you as my wife but I don’t know you as my wife any
more...Conversion
But notice we have a way of escape. It is Christ Who
is here. [Jude 1: 24] Unto Him who is
able to keep you from Falling....
He is here to save the righteous from perishing. [2 Thes: 1 & 2 , 13 1
Peter 1: 5,9,10 end time Revelation bringing salvation. 2 Peter 2: 12 - 13 while they feast with you. 3: 9, 1 Thes 5:9, 2 Thes 2:
13Titus 2: 11, Hebrews 2: 1 - 4, Hebrews 9: 28, ]
He is here to save the Elect from deception. [Matt 24: 3 - 5,
11, 24, Mark 13: 5-6, Eph 1: 17-18, & 4: 14, 2 Thes: 1: 7 - 12, & 2:
2-3, 10 - 12, 2 John 8 - 10, 1 John 2: 19 - 20, 28, Luke 21: 8, 2 Tim 3: 13,
Rev 13: 4 - 10, 14 - 16, 19: 20, Matt 13: 1- 17 Mark 4: 11 - 12, Luke 8:10, 1
Tim 4: 1 - 2, 2 Tim 3: 1 - 9, 4: 3-4 & 8]