Christ Revealed in His Own Word #30

“Neurosis #6 Depression”

Sunday Morning, July 21, 1996

Brian Kocourek, Pastor Grace Fellowship

This morning we are nearing the end of this mini study of pp’s. 20 & 21 of "Christ Revealed In His Own Word" where Brother Branham said, (20) Men now and people today are in such a neurotic condition, the whole world... (21) 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? It's come to a place where the whole nation, the whole world, not only this nation, but everywhere, mentally gone.

In examining his thoughts of a neurotic world condition we found that [ 2 Timothy 3: 1] AMPLIFIED version nails this condition down as 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”

I believe these words are very fitting, A time of stress and tension that will be hard to deal with and hard to bear. Thus far in our study we have found that every symptom of neurosis fits this scriptural description of “hard to deal with and hard to bear.”

So far in our study we have examined Websters definition of Neurosis and we have emphasized the characteristics of the following attributes: Webster said Neurosis is defined as “Any of various Psychic, or mental, functional disorders characterized by one or several of the following reactions: ANXIETY, COMPULSIONS and OBSESSIONS, PHOBIAS, DEPRESSION, and DISASSOCIATION.”

Now to this point we have covered : ANXIETY, COMPULSIONS, OBSESSIONS, and Wednesday night we examined PHOBIAS as well. We found that the scriptures speak of these four characteristic and prophecies of their end-time manifestation as that of the mental condition of man at the end time. In our study thus far we have found first and foremost that anxiety is a condition that is to be manifested in the end-time. It is spoken of in the scriptures mostly in reference to the cares of this life, or the anxieties of this life. It is manifested by the person worrying about what may happen in the future. To worry is just the manifested symptom of a much larger problem. Namely a lack of understanding, a lack of trust in God and a focus that is out of perspective with the reality of God’s Divine plans for us.

[ Romans 8: 29-31] Now if we take this scripture to heart then we should never fret nor worry. In fact I have quoted various times through this study that worrying is not good for your health. In fact from Q & A COD 64-0823M] Brother Branham said, “If you worry, it'll break your health down, and that's what Satan wants to do.

Now, not only does worry cause health problems, but it also shows evidence of a deeper rooted problem. And that is unbelief and lack of trust in God. In Hebrews chapter 4 we are told that the Children of Israel did not enter into their rest because they did not believe. Rest and worry are at two extreme poles from one another. Rest shows a great deal of confidence and therefore trust and relaxation while worry shows a lack of confidence and therefore a lack of faith.

Not only this, but as we have already seen in our study, anxiety or worry brings on further complications. We see according to Webster that the next manifestation of neurosis is compulsion which is a disorder that stems from pressure. Either peer pressure, political pressure, religious pressures or internal pressures. And the result of these pressures is that you begin to act in an irrational manner. Then after a while these irrational actions become habits or traditions and once you have surrendered yourself over to them, they then take over your life and you enter into a state of 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.” So you can see how these different characteristics actually are defined stages of Devil possession. From the message Go Wake Jesus pg 18, Brother Branham said, “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.

And the purpose of Satan is to bring you first under his influence. Once he has you under his influence, then he tightens down the screws and brings you into bondage to himself. Now how does he do this? We find our answers in the scripture.

[ John 8: 34] (read) First, we see here that sin (is unbelief), and it is caused by entering into an undo influence of an unbeliever. When you enter into sin or unbelief, then you become a servant of that influence. Next we find in [ 2 Peter 2: 19] that when we are overcome by a certain influence, we thus become in bondage to that influence. (read) And in [Gal 2: 4] Paul tells us as much. (read)

As you may well remember from Wednesday nights message, the 4th characteristic of neurosis is PHOBIAS which means fear. And we found out 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. In fact the very penalty that is spoken of in 1 John 4: 18 that is brought on through fear is bondage.

Now how do they do this? How does Satan lure you into this snare, this entrapment. First of all we see in [Luke 21: 31-35] that he gets your focus off of the True Message of God for the hour, by luring your mind away with worries and anxieties concerning the cares of this life. (read) Next we see in [2 Cor 11: 13-14] that his own ministers who are masquerading as ministers of the Gospel Light. Then, right after Paul tells us this, he says in verse 16, “Look, I’m not a fool as to what is going on.” (read) Now to prove that this is a characteristic of the end-time let’s read [1 Tim 4: 1] I want you to notice that it is seducing spirits that are prophesied to lead the people away from THE FAITH. And we know in Eph 4 that there is only One Lord and One Faith. And since Faith is Revelation, then there is only One Revelation and that is “Who Jesus Christ is and what He’s doing.” Next we find that these false ministers will not take the people into the Kingdom of God who are looking to go. You see, they won’t go in themselves, and since they themselves won’t go in, then why should they then point others in the right direction. [ Matt 23: 13](read) And so we see the result of their influence upon the people in [Romans 1: 18] (read) As I have said time and time again, they use their lies to suppress the Truth. They hold back righteousness by using unrighteousness.

From pp. 118 Lean Not Unto Thy Own Understanding 65-0120 Brother Branham said, “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.”

Brother Branham told Brother Vayle, “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.” And remember, we just read where he said, “You can keep believing a lie over and over and over till it's the truth to you.”

In [ 2 Thess 2: 10 - 12]we read that the people will be turned over to be THE Lie, and they will be damned for it. Now why will they fall for the same lie that was told to Eve when Jesus and Paul and Brother Branham all warned them about it? we find our answer in the Wuest translation of this scripture as we read: Satan’s presence will appear at the same time as Christ’s presence and yet Satan’s presence will be characterized by its wicked deception that is geared to the gullibility of those who are perishing, and this gullibility is caused by the fact that they did not accept the love for the Truth to the end that they might be saved. And because of this God sends them a deluding influence resulting in their believing the lie... They’re gullible, they’ll believe anything except the Truth when its set before them. And if this were not so, then how is it that someone as mentally sick as Tammy Fay Baker could dupe so many millions of people out of their life savings. And what about Oral Roberts. And even in this Message, what about this little Shelly character. But [2 Tim 3: 7 ] expressed it best when it said, “They will be ever learning but they can’t come to know the Truth. why? Well, Jesus explained it in [ John 8: 43, 47] (read).

[Proverbs 14: 12] which 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 they want to hear in their own minds, and they are not willing to let go of their own thinking and receive a correct thinking based upon vindication.

Now I hope and trust that you are all following this progression here. First of all we see that the devil has set a snare to capture the minds of the people in hopes of controlling them. He uses the economy and the cares of this life and the anxieties that result. Once he has the mind of the people focused upon these earthly things then he has got them leaning. And whatsoever way the tree leaneth, that is the way it will fall. And so we see the snare that the devil uses is a lure to actually bring forth the captivity of the minds of man. He lures them into an uneasy feeling of what might happen. he uses his mix of misinformation and the careless living of others to reinforce this upon even those who are trying to live right. And it begins by having a wrong focus.

The whole Christian world is out of focus tonight. They are talking about the next depression and the nation going broke and the new world order and such as this 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 no different that that of the world. They are all looking at the “what ifs” out there and they are all looking for recession and depression and tribulation, but they are all missing out on the fact that God has come down for our deliverance. And wasn’t it the same 2,000 years ago when God came down Himself and stepped into His Son to bring forth a deliverance and salvation to man, but just like today, man missed Him then as well. When the very God of Heaven has come down and has stood in our very midst just like He did 2,000 years ago, to bring forth our deliverance, and yet we find that the focus of the church and of man is still set upon the cares of this Life. The very trap and delusion that will cause them to miss Him again.

Yes, you heard me right. I said the cares of this life are only a delusion that is set to delude the unstable and unfocused minds of the people who are not meant to receive the very mind of God. And I say that the cares of this life are a delusion because they appear to be so real. Sometimes, even Satan will make those cares of life more real to you than the promises of God will appear to be. Because after all, when you get those bills in the mail, they are physical pieces of evidence that the cares of this life are real. Yet they are so contrary to what Jesus commanded us to do and that is “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and ALL the things you have need of will be added unto you.” But you see, “Faith is the Evidence of things you don’t see, taste, feel, smell or hear.” And yet if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you only have to ask and it shall be given, and there is nothing that we should fear.

So what we have seen so far is that by getting our focus off the real things which God has for us we have actually accepted a substitute in it’s place. And that is the Trap. And ever time in scripture when the people fell for a trap they perished. Now, I hope you are following this progression. First comes the cares of this life which chokes off the Life of the Word. Then comes the pressures, and the conforming to them. Then when you yield to these wrong influences, you begin living a lie. You are not being moved by the dictates of the Word of God in your heart and conscience any longer. And so the Lie takes on a life of it’s own, now in your body and the bodies of those who have also fallen. Devil possession takes over which is the third manifestation of neurosis, called obsession.

Why do they halt between two opinions? Seducing Spirit’s! And what are those two opinions? The Word of God verses the world opinion. You can not serve two masters.

[ Matt 6:24 & Luke 16:9-11} When you fall for surely you shall

Now remember the 4th characteristic of neurosis is PHOBIAS which we all know is an irrational, excessive, and persistent fear of some particular thing or situation, and 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." And in [Romans 8: 15] we read, “we have not received the Spirit of bondage to fear, but of adoption to be set free.[Gal 5: 1]

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 the 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 4Th. 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 hear? 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. 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).

Now let’s see what the scriptures tell us of what sort of effects this depression or sadness will have upon a person.[1Kings 21:4-5]. (read) Now, Notice that it causes 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.

And so what happens is that they begin to cut off their own supply of 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 as we demonstrated with Matthew Wednesday night. Then you are on your own. The way a tree leans in 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 the access. yet we deny ourselves the Spiritual Food in Due Season, because of our neurotic condition. This neurosis which 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 this morning, 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] .

Now, with our heads bowed, how many in here this morning want to be filled with the joy that comes only from His Divine Presence? Lord, Jesus we would ask that you would fill each and every one of us in here whose hands are raised this morning. I have my hand raised Lord because I have come this morning for my inoculation as well. The world is swarming with every type of infectious disease that has ever been know to man and we se it in the spiritual realm as well dear Lord. we see such a great falling away, Lord, from THE FAITH. A thousand falling at my right hand and ten thousand at my left, and yet I know that you have come down to deliver me from the fate of this world. And I believe that You have come here this morning Lord, through the instrument of Your Word, and I am asking You as Mary once said, “Be it unto me according to Thy Word.” And we have heard your Word , Father, for You said, “in the Presence of the Lord is fullness of joy.” And we ant that joy, and we see that this Joy is our inoculation against sadness and depression and we are a needy people this morning Lord, so we ask in faith now, believing that whatsoever we ask it will be granted because we ask it in Jesus name, Amen. Nw let’s just read [ Eccl 9:7], [ Psalm 5:11] and [Psalm 27:6] as we break forth in joy and song......