Christ is the Mystery no. 114
Chronology of End Time Events part 9
The End Time Testing Time
Brian Kocourek
This
evening we will take a short message on the Chronology of end time events, this
will be part 9 in our series, and we will focus it on the time of the End Time
Testing Time.
Revelation 3:10 Because
thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from
the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the
world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Now, this : is not talking about the tribulation period, it is talking
about a period or time of testing, which we know to be when the Squeeze comes
down and forces every church to either come into the World council of churches
or not be able to come together to worship at all. During this time, he says,
"Because thou hast kept the word of my
patience", so we know that this time will be a time where
we will either have learned patience and thus
overcome, or we will not. It is just that simple.
Brother Branham spoke of this in Church
Age Book 8 - The
I believe the age in which we live which is so fast paced that
everything is so instant. And we have to have results right now, or we get mad
and upset. Look at the rage on the highways, because you don't get out of the
way for that car racing down the road at 20 miles over the speed limit. Even in
California, back in 79 I was out there on business and heard that people were
being pulled over by the police for doing the speed limit, but when the people
said, we were obeying the law, the judge said you were obstructing traffic.
So that means there are no traffic laws, that the law now is if the
majority are doing it, then it is ok. And we have entered into an age of chaos
where anything goes as long as it is acceptable by the majority. And thus we
have entered the age of the test. And God does test us for our reactions. Are we going to do what everyone else is
doing because we do not want to be looked down upon, or are we going to stand
with God and His Word regardless of what the rest of the world is doing.
From the Church Age Book The Philadelphian Church Age P:88 brother
Branham reads Revelations
Psalms 7:9 tells us "The righteous God trieth the hearts
and reins."
And The Apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 2:4 But as we were
allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as
pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.
And we see in Hebrews 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not
thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth,
and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If
ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with
sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth
not? 8 But
if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards,
and not sons. 9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh
which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in
subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they
verily for a few days chastened us after their
own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11 Now no chastening for the
present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous:
nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable
fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble
knees; 13 And make straight paths for your feet,
lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. 14 Follow
peace with all men, and holiness, without which
no man shall see the Lord: 15 Looking diligently
lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing
up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
And that is something we must be on guard against is that root of
bitterness. Because he would not have warned us about it if
it was not a real threat to you and I.
Elijah and meal offering 60-0310 P:28 God
tests every son of Abraham like He did Abraham,
for we are Abraham's seed. By being dead in Christ, we are Abraham's seed
and are heirs according to the promise. Abraham's seed, that's the spirit that
Abraham had. He had the promise given. And if our father trusted God and took a
promise, an impossibility, and held on to it for twenty-five years before it
was ever manifested, getting stronger all the time, his seed's just like the
father. No matter what happens, when we're prayed for, it's settled.
When we get everything out of the way, met all requirements, get
everything out of the way, then ask God, and stand there knowing you're
going to receive it.
But the problem is that when we have asked God and he doesn't
immediately respond then we get upset. And that shows you your spirit is not
right when you do that. That is the thing I battle the most, is being able to
patiently wait. Even Moses failed the test time and time again. He got so angry
at the people for not taking God at his Word, that he struck the rock when he
was told to simply speak to the rock and it would draw water. And for his anger, God punished him for it.
But it was the people that brought him to the point of boiling and when he
boiled over God held him accountable for it.
Sometimes I do not understand these things. When God was so angry with
the people he told Moses to step aside and he was going to kill them all and
start over, it
was Christ in Moses that stood in the breach, and yet when Moses out of anger
struck the rock, he was punished for it, and was not allowed to enter into the
promised land with the people. I've
never understood that, but God is sovereign and we know that.
So Peter tells us in 1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial
which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of
Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, (Revealed where? Revealed in you) ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ,
happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of
God rests upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your
part he is glorified. 15 But let none of you suffer
as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's
matters. 16 Yet
if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be
ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
Now this word "suffer"
is a word which means to under go mistreatment or to be maltreated on account
of the Word sake. So we see that the trial of your Faith is exactly that. Your
faith is put to the test. God places you in situations because of your faith to
see how you will utilize your Faith.
Remember Daniel in the Lion den and the three
Hebrew children in the fiery furnace. They all possessed the revelation of
their hour and so God tested them by it. The Revelation you possess is your
Faith. And thus in order to get you to use it, and to
apply it, God allows affliction and suffering to come your way because of your
stand for your faith. Thus the suffering is a result of your already possessing
Faith and puts you into the place of having to rely only upon your Faith to see
you through. That is exactly what Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego went through. And Daniel and Moses,
Abraham and all God's prophets each had to go through a trial of His Faith, A
trial of His Revelation. The trial came because of the Revelation and thus he
learned to wait upon God and in due course when God brought forth His Faith for
testing again, it caused the Revelation to energize his own faith.
You Faith is given you to be used. But you
can't just use it for any purpose. It must be of God's choosing and according
to His timing. But believe me when I tell you this, If God has given you this
measure of Faith, then He will just as surely as He gave you this Faith, He will test it and cause it to be of use to you. So when
you enter into the trials of your faith, just Let go and let God.
I Peter 1:7-9 'That the Trial of your Faith (Revelation), being much
more precious than gold that perishes, that your Faith may be found after
scrutiny to result in praise , honor and Glory at the Appearing of Jesus
Christ:"
So we see here that there is to
be a trial or a testing of your faith. Your
Revelation. And the result of this testing will actually
produce in you, praise, honor and Glory. So then the testing will as
James said, bring forth Patience, and when patience has it's perfect work,
it'll produce a fully mature son of God in the very image of the Father just as
His First born was. Remember, Jesus Himself, God's firstborn, learned obedience
to God's Word by the things that He suffered.
In fact we see in 1 Peter 1:7 that not only are we ordained to these
tests, but we are also ordained to pass them. Wuest
Translation "In which last season
you are to be constantly rejoicing with a joy that expresses itself in a
triumphant exuberance, although for a little while at the present time if
perchance there is a need for it, you have been made sorrowful in the midst of
many different kinds of testings in order that the
approval of your faith, which faith was examined by testing for the purpose of
being approved, that your approval being much more precious than the approval
of gold which perishes, even though that gold be approved by fire-testing, may
be discovered after scrutiny to result in Praise, Honor and Glory at the time
of the Revelation of Jesus Christ;"
And in getting back to 1 Peter 4 let's
pick up at verse 17 "For the time is come
that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it
first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18 And
if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner
appear? 19 Wherefore
let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their
souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful
Creator."
So the test and failure, test and failure, then test and passing it, are
God's way of bring about in us a molding into us his very character
. And as the Wuest translation of 1 Peter 1 tells us, "we are ordained to pass the test."
Reaction to an action 59-0810 P:24 God tests. Like Job, they accused him that he was a secret sinner. And Job was
righteous. There was no man on earth like him. And yet, God let the devil
take everything he had. And when they accused him of being a secret sinner,
he knew that he was righteous before God. He knew he had done no sin. But God
lets those things happen to see what you'll do. You see, He and Satan had a
proposition. Satan said, "I'll make him curse You
to Your face." God said, "You can't do it." And the test had
to come. And your test comes, and my test comes. And we all go through
those testings. The Bible said if we cannot stand
that, it proves that we're illegitimate children: Our testimony was not right:
we're not real children of God, but we become illegitimate; we're not the
children of God. We just claim to be.
We are told in James 1:2 My
brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh
patience. 4 But
let patience have her perfect work, that ye may
be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
The he tells us in James
Again the Apostle Paul told us in 1
Corinthians
In the book of Jeremiah
And David a man after God's own heart said in Psalms 139:23 Search me, O God, and
know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
And again in Psalms 66:10 he said, For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as
silver is tried.
And in Psalms 26:2 David said,
"Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my
reins and my heart."
Be certain of God 59-0412A P:19 When you've
done everything that you know how to do, and met every requirement that God has
required, that's where faith takes a hold. That's where faith comes in. If you've met every requirement that God
required you to do, then sometimes God tests your faith, to see what kind of
a reaction you'll have on your action. Oh, He's good at that. It just
proves whether you really believe what you think you believe. You know He does
that many times.
Stand still and see the salvation 57-0629 P:11 When God gets ready to do anything, the people is all tore up. The
reason they were tore up in their journey is because there was a mixed
multitude that went up. And the testing time came. Oh, I want you to
notice this, that every time that God makes a move there's usually a mixed
multitude; it attracts the attention of all and creates a mixed multitude.
When God makes a move you'll find all kinds of isms and everything moving with
it. But the testing time came. God tests every son or daughter that
comes to Him, no exceptions at all. God gives them the testing time to
prove them.
And much of the time the test comes from the mixed multitude who do not
have the patience for receiving the promise and they get side tracked and then
begin to accuse and look for fault, and that brings the trials.
God keeps His Word 57-0407M P:40 And when they did like that, they come to the place of Kadesh-barnea. And when they come to Kadesh-barnea, that was the judgment seat, where trials
must be settled. Oh, if you could only understand it little church. Now
here's where we want to squeeze just for a moment. Now, listen closely. Kadesh-barnea was the testing time, and
every child that comes to God has got to be tested. There's
no exceptions at all. God tests and tries every child that comes to
Him. Is that right? The Bible said they are. And as we
notice now, when those trials come and testings.
There's testing times comes for nations. Now, I say this; I'm not a politician.
God runs His own nation. He doesn't run these nations; the devil runs these,
everyone of them; the Bible says he does. The devil operates every nation.
Jehovah Jireh 56-0224 P:23 You believe God tests you? He's tested me a many time, and He will
test every son that comes to Him, no matter who it is, not any exceptions.
He will... Every one that comes must first be tested, child-trained, brought
up. You know that's what makes a good child sometime, when you give him a
little testing, you know. Papa used to give it to me with the hickory switch,
about this long, you know, with all the ten commandments
wrote on it. When I... All of them, you know, that was the golden rule at our
home. And he sure knowed how to use it right too.
So we have a time coming upon us, and possibly we
have already entered into this time of testing where brother comes against
brother and sister against sister, wives against husbands and husbands against
wives, and it is a time of great trouble and great stress.
2 Timothy 3:1 tells us, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come."
The Amplified Bible says, "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." Hard to deal with and hard to bear.
Now,
before the bride is caught away, there will be a a
Squeeze come down, because we know it is at that time the third pull will go
into effect.
This
happens or somewhere close to the time when the Squeeze goes into tribulation,
there will be a great constraint or Squeeze on the churches as well.
This
period of time consists of three and a half years immediately after the Elect
have been caught away to the wedding supper.
Things that are to be 65-1205 P:80 And if you ever was in the Orient, which I preached in there many times,
that wedding supper's still carried on just the way it was. The bridegroom,
the--he has so many guests that he's going to have. Probably, Brother Kopp,
probably you've watched it there in India. See? They just have so many guests
that he's going to ask. Say he's going to ask thirty guests. Now, the
bridegroom has to furnish the robes. He has to furnish them. Therefore, there's
a man stands at the door, and you come up with your invitation; he examines
your invitation and puts you on a garment, a robe, that... Some of them are
rich; and some are poor; and some of them are different; but they all look
alike when they get these robes on. They all look alike. And you have
to all be alike. You ain't going be say,
"I'm the Methodist over here," "I'm the Presbyterian over
here." Oh, no. You ain't going in the first
place. See? You've got to come by the Door. Jesus said, "I am the Door to
the sheepfold." "I'm Pentecostal." "I'm this, I'm
that." That don't mean one thing. You come by
that Door. And if you come by that Door, you get the robe.
Now,
in closing I am going to talk a little about the Squeeze. Did you know that
brother Branham mentions the word Squeeze 62 times and only once does he use
that word in connection with the third pull and the churches closing down. One other time
he calls it the press, not squeeze. But most of the time he uses the term
squeeze in referring to how people put pressure on one another and he calls
that a squeeze as well. And of course because that is what it is. So although
we know there is coming a Squeeze when the council of churches will tighten
down on little churches, yet we have a more serious issue before us at this
time, and that is the little things we allow to squeeze the Christ life right out
of us.
Things that are to be 65-1205 P:39 You split a molecule to split a atoms and do so-and-so to blow you up.
You take gun powder, and bang this, and kill something. You take the car and
take gasoline out of the earth and the materials out of the earth to loosen up
the fibers so it can blow up, and go down the road at ninety miles an hour and
kill somebody. See? Oh, so nervous, squeeze, and hurry up, we got to push
and taken... Oh, see, it's all of the devil.
Notice this attitude of pressing or putting others
under pressure he says is of the devil. We need to learn to relax and lay in
the presence of the son.
Trying to do God a service 65-0718M P:33 Many times a man, God can deal with them, give them a gift, and the
people will squeeze in on those people. If they're not perfectly called and
sent of God, he'll cause that man or woman to say something that isn't His
will, because the people constrains them to do it. Notice again he uses the word squeeze when referring to pressure people
exert on one another.
Why it had to be shepherds 64-1221 P:91 Don't you let somebody squeeze something into you that's not Thus
Saith the Lord. In other words, just keep your focus on
Christ, and tune out all other distractions.
In Questions and Answers brother Branham tells us a story of a man that
purposely puts the squeeze on his wife, pressuring her to react
to his un-Christian manners.
Questions and answers
And I know this is where I have fallen
short time and time again. Instead of just walking away and praying, I get
defensive, and then return hurt for hurt, when I know I should never do that.
Pray for me.
So let's continue with what brother Branham is telling
us here, he says, ...
"Let me give a little illustration
this morning about a person that One time this little
woman had received the Holy Ghost. And she was a very sweet little person.
Well, she'd had a hard life, and her husband was an alcoholic. And so, she just
kept on; she bore with him. He says, "You want to go to church, honey,
take off. But I just go down to the saloon, down at the old Brown Derby, down
here. Go and--on." So they hung out down there all the time, used to be Bonifers. Many of you old-timers here remember when Bonifer had there on the corner of... It's called Brown
Derby now, I believe it is.
So, hanging around down there, and the
first thing you know, one night come up a question about church and about
Christians. One of the old drunks setting
there said, "There ain't no
such a thing as Christians anymore." Said, "There is no such a thing.
All this bunch of hypocrites," said, "you see them out here smoking,
drinking, doing the same thing that we do," and said, "call themselves Christians. There is no such." This one
drunk raised up and said, "Just a minute. There's
one that I know about. "Said, "Who is it?"Said,
"It's my wife." See? She'd become salty. He was catching it all the
time. He said, "I bet if she was put to a squeeze..."He
said, "No, she's still a Christian; I'll prove it to you." Said,
"I tell you what let's do; let's go up home, and I'll show you whether
she's a Christian or not." Said, "Let's go up home, and now, let's really be drunk. We're going to act like we're really
drunk." Knocked at the door, come in staggering over everything and...
"Why don't you set around this a-way," and everything. And she set
them all a chair and (his guests, you know)--and tried to make them just as
welcome as could be. Said, "I want you to fix us some supper." And so
they, she went out and fixed some. Said, "we want
ham and eggs." He knowed they had it, so they fixed the ham and eggs. When
he got there at the table, he looked at them like that, picked up his plate,
and slammed the stuff on the floor, said, "You know, I don't like my eggs
like that. Come on boys let's get out of here anyhow," like that--like
that. 67
They went out and set down like that, you know. And she come
out; she said, "Dear, I'm--I'm sorry I didn't get them fixed; I'll fix
some more for you." "Oh, nonsense, you knowed I didn't want them that
way in the first place," just carrying on like that. They went out there,
and set down, and act like they was drunk. They heard
her in there kind of snubbing to herself, singing real low voice: Must Jesus
bear the cross alone, All the world go free? There's a
cross for every one, And there's a cross for me. This
consecrated cross I'll bear, Till death shall set me free, One drunk looked at
the other one, said, "She's a Christian; she's got it." And that
little woman led her husband, plus these others to Christ that night. See? Why?
See? Just be real sweet. Just remember, He knows all about it. So, sister, or
brother, whoever it might be, or brother, it is here, 'cause he asked about his
wife, you just be salty; she'll get thirsty if there's anything in her to
thirst for. If it isn't, remember, if you got the wrong person, you'll get the
right one in the millennium. You just keep on going; all wrongs will be made
right there.
Now, how many of you have had that kind of squeeze thrown
your way and you've passed that test when you went through that?
Another place brother Branham uses the term squeeze is when he talks
about how we have to die to self, because we still have too much self in ourself, and he said God has to squeeze all that out of us.
I know 60-0417S P:45 I have seen disappointments. I've seen the
time I've asked for things, and cried for things, and begged for things, and
failed to get them. But if I'll just wait patiently upon God, then I know
that it works just exactly right, comes out just exactly right, does
just exactly the right things. 46 When I lost my
baby, and my little Sharon, I... That was one thing that stumbled
me. I said, "How can that be for the good? How can it be for the
good?" And months later, when I seen her standing there in all the beauty
of a young girl, speaking to me, standing by the side of that old wagon broken
down there. I knowed if she would've lived, she might've
turned out wrong. God had to take her while she was tender and
sweet. I know I'll see her again. I know I shall see her; I know it beyond
any shadow of doubt. I think of my wife of twenty-two years old, taken, just
merely a girl, a little mother there. When the papers give a headline here,
"Young mother of reverend just died," oh, how my heart bled. I didn't
know what to do. But today I know it was all working for my good. I know the
life had to be ground, and twisted, and squeezed to get what in
it was, out. There was too much Branham in there had to be squeezed out
before God could make Himself known. 47 There was too much of you in you, till God had
to squeeze it out through trials. And while
that squeezing was coming on, it's hard. But after while
the skies clear back and you see the purpose of God. Then you cry,
"I know my Redeemer liveth,
and at the last days He'll stand on the earth. Though the skin worms destroys this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." These little trials and things are just for a moment, and they
fade and pass away. But they're only done for your good; let us remember
that, that God would get glory.
And finally we will look at how he uses this term Squeeze when speaking
of the council of the churches tightening up to squeeze out little churches
like this one, who will not follow after man, but will hold only to God's Word
regardless of what happens.
From his sermon, Look away to Jesus 63-1229E
P:16 So now, I
am going to say something to you now, that I haven't said all along. And that
is, the thing that we have looked forward to for so long, or at least many
years, four or five years or maybe longer, the third pull has now been
vindicated, and I'm sure you all know what it is. Now, remember, there'll
never be any impersonation of that, 'cause it can't be. It cannot be. Now,
it's in existence, and I am warned of this, that soon, right at this time
now, it's just happened, so it could identify its presence among you. See? But
it will not be used in a great way, until this council begins to tighten up.
And when it does, when that does... The Pentecostals and so forth can almost
impersonate anything could be done, but when that time comes, when the
squeeze comes down, then you'll see what you have seen temporarily, be
manifested in the fullness of its power. See...?...
see?
Brother Branham uses the word squeeze in reference to a condition of
pressure that is placed upon you which puts you to the test, because it forces
you to make a stand one way or another.
In his sermon, End time evangelism 62-0603 P:112 he talks about Peter and his Squeeze he went
through and how he didn't do so well.
"Peter had a sword. He pulled that
sword was going to cut the high priest's ears off, and things like that; he did
it. But when it come to real Christian courage, he
didn't have it. He backed up and denied Him. Is that right? He could
cut the high priest's ear off with his sword, sure, he knowed how to handle it.
But when it come to the squeeze and time to stand on the Word of God, he
didn't have the courage, and even denied he knowed Jesus. That's where
it is today. We got courage to build buildings and put millions of dollars
in them. We got courage to put pipe organs, and plush seats, and everything,
and go out and proselyte from place to place, and make the Methodists come
Baptists, and so forth, back and forth like that. But when it comes to
Christian courage to accept the Word and the message of God, and stand there on
it, we are few."
And finally in Look away to Jesus 63-1229E P:19 we see
brother Branham use another word instead of the word squeeze when he talks of
the same situation which he calls the press which is short for pressure. He
says, "There's coming a time upon, in this nation, to where this
nation is going to exercise all the power that the beast had before (which was
pagan
So
who knows when the press or squeeze will come into full manifestation, but we have
a promise that
when it does, the Third pull will also come into manifestation at that time.
Regardless
of when, we know that we are currently in a time of testing, and we should be
thankful that God loves us enough to keep trying and testing us as brother
Branham said, "There was too much of you in you,
till God had to squeeze it out through trials. And while that squeezing was coming on, it's hard."
let us pray...