Desperation
no 32
Scriptural
examples of desperation no 3
June 22, 2016
Brian
Kocourek, Pastor
1 Samuel 1:1 Now there was a certain man of
Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was
Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of
Zuph, an Ephrathite: 2 And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and
Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 3 And this man
went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of
hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of
the LORD, were there. 4 And when the time was that
Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her
daughters, portions: 5 But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for
he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb. 6 And her adversary also provoked
her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb. 7 And as
he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she
provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat. 8 Then said Elkanah her husband to
her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved?
am not I better to thee than ten sons?
9 So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they
had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the
LORD. 10 And she was in bitterness of
soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.
11 And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou
wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not
forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I
will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor
come upon his head. 12 And it
came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her
mouth. 13 Now Hannah, she
spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore
Eli thought she had been drunken. 14 And Eli said unto her, How long
wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. 15 And Hannah
answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a
sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured
out my soul before the LORD.
16 Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out
of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. 17 Then Eli answered and said, Go
in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy
petition that thou hast asked of him. 18 And she said, Let thine
handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and
her countenance was no more sad.
19 And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the
LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah
his wife; and the LORD remembered her. 20 Wherefore it came to pass,
when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son,
and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I
have asked him of the LORD.
21 And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer
unto the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow. 22 But Hannah went
not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up
until the child be weaned, and then I will bring
him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever.
23 And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee
good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only the LORD establish his word. So
the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him.
24 And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with
three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him
unto the house of the LORD in Shiloh: and the child was
young. 25 And they slew a bullock, and brought the
child to Eli. 26 And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am
the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD.
27 For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my
petition which I asked of him: 28 Therefore also I
have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD.
And he worshipped the LORD there.
This evening we
will examine a couple more Bible Characters that brother Branham makes mention
of here in his sermon Desperation. we will
begin at paragraph 71.
71 Hannah, a barren woman in the Bible,
she wanted a son, and she got to fasting for him. And she fasted and prayed until even the priest at the temple thought she
was drunk.
If you will recall several years ago in our sermon on the trail to
adoption we mentioned that many times in the Bible we see God leading this one
or that one, but because he is communicating with this one or that one, and not
telling others what he is about to do with this one that he is leading, because
God did not lead them the same way to do the same thing, people have a tendency
to think the person being led by God is off their rocker somehow. such were the
brothers of Joseph and the 11 Apostles concerning the Apostle Paul.
The Bible says, "Sons of God are led by the Spirit of God", period. But we have a tendency to judge a brother or sister who walks after the Spirit of God and might not do something we would do. But we should never criticize a person who is being led by the Spirit to do what they do.
From his sermon,
Simeon and Anna 0211-59 brother Branham said, "Do you believe the sons of God are led by the Spirit of God?
You don't have to be smart; you just have to have faith in the One's a leading
you."
And from his sermon The Expectation 58-0508 P:30 Now, in an imaginary mind, as Simeon is reading the
Scripture, all of a sudden the Holy Spirit spoke to him and said, "Simeon, rise up to your feet." He
lays the scroll down. He did not know just which way to go, but the Bible said
that sons
of God are led by the Spirit of God. It isn't necessary to know where you're
going, just as long as you're being led by His Spirit. And here is the
Christ in the temple. Simeon walks out the door. He doesn't know just which a
way to go, but there's Something in him
leading him, which is the Holy Spirit that gave him the promise. "When the deep is calling to the deep..."
Simeon believed the Holy Spirit, no matter what the people said; he believed
it.
And we find today and all down through the history of the Bible, that
when a man is led by the Spirit of God, he does thing that may be peculiar to
the rest of the people, but is perfectly in sync with what the Holy spirit has
for his day. Look at Luther. The Holy Spirit kept urging him on in studying
Romans, and Paul's statement "the Just shall
live by Faith." And then
hundreds of years later we see how John Wesley was burning up inside because of
the lack of holiness he saw n the churches, and so he had to preach against
what he saw, and that began a movement of God.
So brother Branham goes on to explain to us why Hannah fasted and
prayed the way she did. He says, "She was in such
desperation"... With the rest
of the women watching what kind of a bonnet the other one had wore (You know
how it goes.), and the other one seeing what kind of clothes they had on, and
talking about the things going on, on the farm... But not Hannah, she stepped
right through the whole crowd and went to the altar. She had been fasting. She wanted her
reproach taken away. What a difference it is today.
It's almost a reproach to have a child. Then it was a reproach not to have one.
And she got on her knees, and she never noticed the dignity of the temple. She
never noticed the dignified priest as he walked out. She was in such distress till the tears was rolling down her cheeks,
and she was crying in desperation, "Oh,
Lord God, give me a son. Give me a son."
72 And
notice, she wasn't
selfish. When God heard her, and answered her prayer, and gave
her a son, she gave him back to God. And
because that she was willing not to be selfish after God had answered her
prayer, He gave her a prophet. Oh,
that was an extra blessing. Oh, He's just full of them, those little extra things that He gives. Not only a son, but a
prophet (And there had been no open
vision for many, many years in Israel.)
Samuel, the
first prophet for many, many years because a
mother got desperate that she could have no children; and she was past the
age of bearing, probably sixty, seventy years old. And she prayed with desperation. She must have this child. What was it?
God had spoke to her, no doubt. You
can't be desperate till God speaks to you. Oh, church, rise and shake yourself. Pinch your conscience; wake yourself
up in this hour. We must be desperate or perish.
There's coming forth something from the Lord. I know it as THUS SAITH THE LORD.
There's coming forth something, and we better get desperate.
It's between life and death. It'll pass through us and we won't see it.
Because that she wasn't selfish she was given a prophet.
I do not know about you, but I think the church of the living God is
too content and perhaps too smug in this hour, not realizing that when the
rapture tapes place, there will be no changing after that.
The Bible
tells us at the time, Revelation
22:11 He that is unjust, let
him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he
that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be
holy still.
Revelations
22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed
is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of
this book. 8 And
I John saw these things, and heard them. And when
I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which
shewed me these things. 9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it
not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of
them which keep the sayings of this book: worship
God. 10 And
he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. 11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let
him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and
he that is holy, let him be holy still. 12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man
according as his work shall be. 13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and
the last. 14 Blessed are they that do his
commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in
through the gates into the city. 15 For without are
dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and
whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in
the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. 17 And the
Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let
him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. 18 For I
testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If
any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are
written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take
away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part
out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from
the things which are written in this book. 20 He
which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come
quickly.
Notice brother Branham warned us there is coming forth something from
God and it will pass right through you and you could miss it unless you are
aware of it. He said, "Pinch your conscience; wake yourself up in this hour. We must be desperate or perish.
There's coming forth something from the Lord. I know it as THUS SAITH THE LORD. There's coming forth something, and we better get
desperate. It's between life and death.
It'll pass through us and we won't see it.
So brother Branham is warning us there is coming something that will
sweep right through us and pass us by if we are not aware.
Bothe Peter and Paul warned us that the coming of the Lord will be so
secret that it will be like a thief who comes in the night.
1 Thessalonians 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as
a thief in the night. Now, how does a thief come in the night? Very, very
quietly and very stealthily, so no one will know that he is has come. The
objective is to get in and out without anyone knowing it ever happened until
they all wake up. And what is he coming to take? He is coming to steal away a
Bride.
Door in a door 63-0223 P:61 Oh, sure, we
want Jesus. Certainly. We think we got Him, and all like that. But I wonder
if that rapture could pass, and we'd be left alone one day, then wonder
where it's all at, if it'd come by real secretly, you know. And
that's what it's coming, like a
thief in the night. Ninety-nine (percent) out
of every half-a-million, every million, will never know the rapture takes
place. It'll be gone and they won't even know nothing about it. Jesus said
so. So that makes it right. See? Certainly. It'll
come like a thief in the night and be stole
away. Like that book I read one time. What
was that guy? Romeo and Juliet, or something like that. See? He come and got
her at nighttime. That's the way Jesus do. When the world's just lolling in
sleep like the Bible said, the Laodicean age, He'll slip in and get that
bride.
He that is in you 63-1110E
P:18 Therefore, we know that we're at the end time; we're here. I don't know
how far away; He will never let us know that, because His coming will be as a thief in the night. But, friend,
my brother, sister, let's
us be ready regardless. Let's just chaste ourselves. See, because the
world will go right on. They'll never even know it's happened. When the
doors of mercy's closed, preachers will be preaching salvation, be (See?),
causing people to repent, going right on just like it always did. It did in
other ages and it will in this age. And the rapture will be so sudden and so
quick that the world will never even miss them, that they're gone. That's
right. They'll know
nothing about it. He comes and slips Her away. It'll be
gone; they know nothing about it. So be in prayer. Pray for me. I pray for you. We don't
know when that hour will be, but we believe it'll be soon. And stay away
from shiny things. Stay with the Gospel. See? Stay right there now and pray.
Uniting time and sign 63-0818
P:24 Now here is the same today that the clergy, we don't read it right.
It's just like it was then, they didn't think that it was time. They
thought that they were living pretty peaceful then, and so they wasn't looking
for no Messiah. And Jesus had said that His coming would be as a thief in
the night, when the--when the people would be unaware of His coming. But
there were some of the virgins that went to meet Him, half of them had oil
in their lamp and was ready; they were watching for that sign. And
that's who I'm speaking to tonight (See?), to those who are looking for the sign now, the sign of
His coming.
Who is this 59-1004M P:19 But there was
some who believed on Him. They were expecting Him to come, and knowing that
something special would be there... Something was going to take place, for
Jesus cannot come at any time unless something special does take place. There's
always something new when He appears. And they were charged with expectations,
but the bad thing about all this, there was many who didn't see Him, never
did get to see Him when He come. And that's one of the sad things about
today. There'll be many who won't see Him when He comes. But there'll be
a remnant. There'll be those who know God, and who are waiting, and who are
charged; they'll see Him. For He will come as a thief in the night. We'll be caught up to meet the Lord in the
air, a secret going
away of the Church.
Sudden secret going away of
church 58-1012 P:7 But God has said in His Word that it would be like a
thief in the night coming. If that would be so, people would say, as the world
thinks today, "Oh, well, there is just plenty of time,
I'll... It'll be well announced and..." But you see, it is announced,
but it's a secret announcing. It's just those who are willing to hear it, those
who are willing to consider it and who loves the Lord. I think now of what
Paul said when he said, "There is a crown of righteousness laid up for me,
that the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me at that day." And
then he stopped, did you notice, and said, "Not only me, but to all them that love His
appearing." If we love His appearing...
But that is the key, you've got to love His
appearing that you are constantly looking for it.
Sixth seal the 63-0323 P:148 I better not
say this (See?), 'cause it might cause a confusion. When I said the other day, the
rapture, how it would come... Now, now, if you say you'll take it, all
right. Watch. All right, that's up to you. When the sleeping virgin (See?),
that thought she was prayed up to come back, the Bride was done gone. It went and she
didn't know it, like a thief in the night. Then they begin to bang on the
door, and what happened? What taken place? They were cast into the tribulation period. The Bible
said, "There will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of
teeth." Is that right?
Sudden secret going away of
church 58-1012 P:5 Now, for a text, I want to take this for a text this
morning, "The Sudden Secret Going Away Of The Church." May
I... Let me announce it again, because I haven't had very much time to
premeditate on any comments, but just hurrying. We were out late yesterday and
never got in last night till real late, and rushing down here this morning...
But this just come to my mind. And maybe later I might catch something that
would do someone good. I love this subject: "The Sudden Secret Catching
Away Of The Church." And now in I Thessalonians the 5th chapter... But of the times and of the seasons, brethren, you
have no need that I write unto you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the
day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say,
Peace and safety; then sudden destructions cometh upon them, as travail upon a
woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in
darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are the children of
the light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, or of
darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be
sober.For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are
drunken in the night.
Now, I wish you to look just across the
page, if it is so geographically arranged in your Bible, to the 16th, 17th, and 18th verses of the 4th chapter of I Thessalonians. For the Lord
Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise
first:Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the
Lord.Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Desperation 63-0901E P:40 Those people
had seen the hand of God. And that night of the Communion, they took it in
desperation, because they knowed that something was fixing to happen. And we
know something's fixing to happen. And remember, the coming of the Lord
will be a sudden, secret going away. He will come and take Her like a thief in
the night. And to think that if somebody... All of a sudden, there's
members of our family gone, and you're left behind, it should throw us into
desperation that, by the grace, of God, we'll not be left back behind.
If there's anything I don't want... Don't--don't leave me, Lord..
Who is this 59-1122 P:19 Now, they
believed His Word to be the truth. So they believed that He kept His promises.
So they gathered themselves together and waited outside the gate. And the city
went on with their ritualistic ceremonies, the religious worshippers of the
city. The unbelievers went about their tasks; the religious people was at the
temple doing all their ceremonial worship as they was celebrating something
that happened back in Egypt. But the believers were on their toes watching
for Him to come. Oh, there were many in the city who loved Him. There's no
doubt many of them believed in the coming of the Messiah, but they didn't
have the Spirit of God in them to draw them to Him. There's millions
today that go to church and worship, but they don't know Him. And just as
it was then, so will it be at His coming; they won't see Him. There
was thousands in Jerusalem that felt that expectations, and that excitement
going on; they never did see Him. And the sad thing to say today, yet the
Scripture must be fulfilled: there's millions of Americans that go to church
regular and faithfully, that'll never see Him when He comes, because the Bride
will be caught away. Like a thief in the night, He will come. He will
catch the Bride away and the rest of them won't see Him. Think of it:
millions of Americans going to church in ceremony worship, but will never see
Him when He comes. The elected, the Bride will be caught away just as it was
then.
Greater than Solomon is here
63-0605 P:54 That's something like the church today. God has
shook every kind of gift before the church that He promised to shake, and still
we stare in space. "Sirs, we would... Sir, Master, we would desire a
sign from thee." See? "Master, we would desire this..." When...
He's done everything in the Bible He promised to do. We're at the end time. And
the first thing you know you're going to find out... You say, "Well, isn't
it written that we should have a rapture?" And it'll be like it was with
John the Baptist. They said, "Isn't it written in the Scripture that there
should first there would be Elias come?" He said, "Elias has already come and you didn't know
it."One of these days when tribulation sets in you'll say,
"Wasn't there to be a rapture first?" And it'll be... It's
already past and you knew nothing about it. See? It'll come like a thief in the night. I tell you; it's
time for believers to trim their lamps, get on their toes. The calling time is
at hand. We should remember that.
Absolute an 63-0127 P:57 We think this
great big bunch of cannon fodder here, atomic ash, is going. It'll only go
if it's got the Life of Christ in it, because God will raise it up. That's right.
There'll be a rapture. You think. Two or three people here, and one over
here, and somewhere else somebody come up missing, thought they'd run away from
home, they... Better be careful; they might be gone. Looking for a rapture,
and it already passed...Now, that isn't contrary to the Word. No, it isn't.
He come like a thief in
the night. See? They'd be gone before you know it. God places
His great power out in the church. See, it don't take a great big group in;
it takes a minority. "Fear not, little flock. It's your Father's good
will..." You that's holding to the absolute (That's right.), with the
confirmation of God working in it...
God in simplicity 63-0317M
P:185 God just speaks and the rapture will come. It ain't going out there, and
the Angels come down and shovel out the graves and get out an old dead carcass
here. What is it? It's born of sin to begin with, but a new one made in its
likeness. You know... See? If we have this, we'll die again. See? Nobody will
say, "The graves will open. The dead shall walk out." That may be true,
but not open the way you say open. See? That's right. See? It won't be like
that. It'll be a secret, because He said He'd come like a thief in the night.
World again falling apart
63-1127 P:63 What we need today is a rooting out. We may root out
too late now. The hour might be past. We never have another revival. I know
you're looking for it, but I don't see it in the Scripture. I look for a rapture, for just a
handful of people (That's right.), just a handful of people. They'll
never be missed in the world. When they go, you'll never know it's gone. That's
right. It'll
come like a thief in the night.
Now, listen
that ought to shake everyone up in hear and that are listening to this sermon
tonight. Brother Branham said a handful. So what if there will only be one in
this entire church tonight that will make it. You have to be of the mindset
that believes it will be you. Now, that doesn't means you have to get uppity
and look down on the others, but contrary, if you are conformed to the image of
the first born son, then you will be so desperate for your loved ones that you
will sigh and cry for them day and night.
I have met
people all over the world and not just recently but for many years that have
the attitude all wrong. Brother Branham said you believe for yourself and then
you take that belief for yourself and apply it for others. And I've seen the
attitude that says, "praise God we are going to make it, we are the bride
of Christ, we are God's elect, and we will make it but the others are just cannon
fodder." That is not the attitude of Christ, He died that we might live.
It grieves me
to know there will be a people who are going to be cannon fodder. I can't be
happy about that. I just pray that I and my family and my brothers and sisters
in the Lord will be caught up together in the rapture. I know there are cannon
fodder out there, but to be happy about it, how can we ever be happy about
something like that.
Perseverant 63-0802 P:17 At least, every
day across the world, there's as many as five hundred people missing. And what
if there's a thousand? They'd say, "Oh, well, this woman, she just run off
with somebody. This preacher, he took some other man's wife and gone." He's
gone to glory in the rapture, and they won't know it. Did not He say He would come as
a thief in the night? See? You say, "Well, if He comes, I'll see
Him." No, no. Just those that's going to see Him is going to see
Him at that time. See, see? Just like that Light, like John stood there and
saw that, that Spirit of God, like a Light, Dove, coming down and going upon
Him, a Voice saying, "This is My beloved Son." Nobody
heard It or saw It but John. See?
Brother
Branham said it could pass right through you and you won't know it unless you
are looking for it. I want to share several places where brother Branham
describes it as a sweep that will take place. And when he uses the word sweep,
it is like an invisible thing that takes place like a sudden breeze comes into
the room, you can not see it but you feel its coolness upon you.
Questions and answers COD
64-0823M P:36 Now, the first thing happens when we're
resurrected... The ones which are a-living will just still remain... The
resurrection will set in first, the resurrection of those that are asleep. There'll
be a wakening time, and those which are asleep in the dust now, not those
that are asleep in sin, 'cause they sleep right on. They don't awake for
another thousand years. But those who are sleeping in the dust will be awakened
first, and these corruptible bodies will put on incorruption in the
rapturing grace of the Lord. And then we'll all get together. And when
they begin to get together, then we which are alive and remain shall be
changed. These mortal bodies will not see death, but just of a sudden, there'll be like a sweep go over
us, and you're changed. You're turned back like Abraham was,
from an old man to a young man, from an old woman to a young woman. What's this
sudden change? And after while you're traveling like a thought, and you
can see those then who are already resurrected. Oh, what a hour. Then
we'll gather with them and then be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the
air.
Letting off the pressure
62-0518 P:112 What's the matter with people? Can't you see we're
at the end time? It's all over. The next thing will be a sweep , ...that little group
together, in a month or so she'll be gone, as soon as she's
gathered together. Well, we're at the end. There's no hopes left
nowhere. Run to Christ, people.
And the sad
thing is that those who do not see it when it happens will be left behind for
the destruction. That is what Peter tells
us in 2 Peter
3:10 But
the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens
shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent
heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Redemption 55-1119 P:63 It won't be
long till there'll be a sweep of sickness, or a cobalt bomb, or
something. It'll be awful thinned out around here. That's the way God does it.
I believe Jesus will come. Be ready, now.
Called out 58-0109 P:7 We seen that
through them great evils, we see a sweep of the oncoming judgments for this
country; for God cannot let us get by with sin. He could not be a righteous
God and let us live the way we're living, without making us pay for it. As I
have said before, I say again: If the God of heaven lets us get by with what
we're doing, He, to be just, would have to resurrect Sodom and Gomorrah and
apologize to them for destroying them, for we're just as bad as they were,
maybe worse. And now, anyone who has the slightest bit of real Spirit of God
in them, can feel the hot blast of the oncoming judgment. In your spirit you can discern
and know that there is something fixing to happen. The whole world
is quivering, the little nations, the big nations, for in the hands of
Bolsheviks, communists, ungodly, bloodless, heartless cults, lays the power to
send this world to its ashes in one minute's time. Just the mercies of God,
being longsuffering, is all that's a holding it. We can become Russia's
satellite before in the morning. And yet we don't notice it; we just go
right on, and they don't know what all this nervous condition's about when the
world has become a neurotic. Even the psychiatrists themselves are having
nervous breakdowns.
Let us pray...