There is a terrific operation of the Spirit going on today to bring
the sons of God into an absolute confinement to the perfect will of
God. This is the Day of His Preparation, the day in which He is
preparing the channel through which He shall pour forth His Glory for
all the world to see. This channel is His Body in the earth, that glorious
company of people who are being conformed through much tribulation and
fiery tests to the Image of the Son of God. This is His "battle
axe and weapons of war" with which He shall subdue kingdoms and
overcome all His enemies. This is His "mighty and strong One"
to whom He shall commit the work of judging this world. This is His
Overcomer, His "great army" with which He shall bring the
nations into submission. The weapons of their warfare are not carnal,
natural weapons, but they are mighty weapons, mighty through God to
the pulling down of strongholds. These are those who shall "be
strong and do exploits."
But before God can commit this great and tremendous ministry into
their hands, they must submit themselves to the discipline of the Lord,
letting Him truly be the Lord of their entire lives. We have long since
dealt with the question of open sin, but now God is dealing with the
inward rebellion of our own wills. Some good Christians are not now
being so dealt with, for they are not in this first fruits company,
but nevertheless there is a real dealing of God going on within
those who are called into the High Calling of God. This is a very real
thing, and is the work of the Refiner's Fire. To those who are going
through it, some of its aspects are horrible, but very necessary, and
the end result thereof is glorious as we are brought into absolute and
complete submission to the will of our Lord.
It was in a minister's conference and convention in Tulsa that God
gave a vision which I want to share with you concerning this harnessing
of our own wills. There were more than 30 ministers present in this
particular Thursday morning service, and God, the Father of spirits,
was present to deal with His sons, to correct them and discipline them
to absolute obedience to His will. There was such a stern dealing in
the Spirit that no one could go to the pulpit and minister, there was
a reluctance among the ministers to say anything except that which was
directly ordered by the Spirit. And as those men of God sat there
in the awesome presence of Almighty God, some of them having many years
of ministry, some missionaries, all of them capable of getting up and
preaching a powerful sermon, I was impressed by the way they responded
to the discipline of the Spirit. In the midst of this terrific
dealing of God with our spirits, the Holy Spirit gave me a vision ...
I SAW THE KING'S CARRIAGE
On a dirt road in the middle of a wide field stood a beautiful carriage,
something on the order of a stagecoach, but all edged in gold, and with
beautiful carvings. It was pulled by six large chestnut horses, two
in the lead, two in the middle and two in the rear. But they were not
moving, they were not pulling the carriage, and I wondered why.
Then I saw the driver underneath the carriage, on the ground on his
back, just behind the last two horses' heels, working on something between
the front wheels of the carriage. I thought, "My, he is in a dangerous
place; for if one of those horses kicked or stepped back, they could
kill him, or if they decided to go forward, or got frightened somehow,
they would pull the carriage right over him." But he didn't seem
afraid, for he knew that those horses were disciplined and would not
move till he told them to move. The horses were not stamping their feet
nor acting restless, and though there were bells on their feet, the
bells were not tinkling. There were pom-poms on their harness over their
heads, but the pom-poms were not moving. They were simply standing still
and quiet, waiting for the voice of the Master.
THERE WERE TWO YOUNG COLTS IN THE FIELD
As I watched the harnessed horses, I noticed two young colts coming
out of the open field, and they approached the carriage and seemed
to say to the horses: "Come and play with us, we have many fine
games, we will race with you, come catch us..." And with that the
colts kicked up their heels, flicked their tails and raced across the
open field. But when they looked back and saw the horses were not following,
they were puzzled. They knew nothing of harnesses, and could not understand
why the horses did not want to play. So they called to them: "Why
do you not race with us? Are you tired? Are you too weak? Do you not
have strength to run? You are much too solemn, you need more joy in
life." But the horses answered not a word, nor did they stamp their
feet or toss their heads. But they stood, quiet and still, waiting for
the voice of the Master.
Again the colts called to them: "Why do you stand so in the hot
sun? Come over here in the shade of this nice tree. See how green the
grass is? You must be hungry, come and feed with us, it is so green
and so good. You look thirsty, come drink of one of our many streams
of cool clear water." But the horses answered them with not so
much as a glance, but stood still, waiting for the command to go forward
with the King.
And then the scene changed, and I saw lariat nooses fall around the
necks of the two colts, and they were led off to the Master's corral
for training and discipline. How sad they were as the lovely green fields
disappeared, and they were put into the confinement of the Corral
with its brown dirt and high fence. The colts ran from fence to fence,
seeking freedom, but found that they were confined to this place of
training. And then the Trainer began to work on them, with His Whip
and His Bridle. What a death for those who had been all their lives
accustomed to such a freedom! They could not understand the reason for
this torture, this terrible discipline. What great crime had they done
to deserve this? Little did they know of the responsibility that was
to be theirs when they had submitted to the discipline, learned to perfectly
obey the Master, and finished their training. All they knew was that
this processing was the most horrible thing they had ever known.
SUBMISSION AND REBELLION
One of the colts rebelled under the training, and said, "This
is not for me. I like my freedom, my green hills, my flowing streams
of fresh water. I will not take any more of this confinement, this terrible
training." So he found a way out, jumped the fence and ran happily
back to the meadows of grass. And I was astonished that the Master let
him go, and went not after him. But He devoted His attention to the
remaining colt. This colt, though he had the same opportunity to escape,
decided to submit his own will, and learn the ways of the Master. And
the training got harder than ever, but he was rapidly learning more
and more how to obey the slightest wish of the Master, and to respond
to even the quietness of His voice. And I saw that had there been no
training, no testing, there would have been neither submission nor rebellion
from either of the colts. For in the field they did not have the
choice to rebel or submit, they were sinless in their innocence. But
when brought to the place of testing and training and discipline, then
was made manifest the obedience of one and the rebel- lion that lay
hidden in the heart of the other. And though it seemed safer not to
come to the place of discipline because of the risk of being found rebellious,
yet I saw that without this there could be no sharing of His glory,
no sonship.
INTO THE HARNESS
Finally this period of training was over. Was he now rewarded with
his freedom, and sent back to the fields? Oh no. But a greater confinement
than ever now took place, as a harness dropped about his shoulders.
Now he found there was not even the freedom to run about the small corral,
for in the harness he could only move where and when his Master spoke.
And unless the Master spoke, he stood still.
The scene changed, and I saw the other colt standing on the side of
a hill, nibbling at some grass. Then across the fields, down the road
came the King's carriage, drawn by six horses. With amazement he saw
that in the lead, on the right side, was his brother colt, now made
strong and mature on the good corn in the Master's stable. He saw the
lovely pom-poms shaking in the wind, noticed the glittering gold bordered
harness about his brother, heard the beautiful tinkling of the bells
on his feet...and envy came into his heart. Thus he complained to himself:
"Why has my brother been so honored, and I am neglected? They have
not put bells on my feet, nor pom-poms on my head. The Master has not
given me the wonderful responsibility of pulling His carriage, nor put
about me the golden harness. Why have they chosen my brother instead
of me?" And by the Spirit the answer came back to me as I watched.
"Because one submitted to the will and discipline of the Master,
and one rebelled, thus has one been chosen and the other set aside."
A FAMINE IN THE LAND
Then I saw a great drought sweep across the countryside, and the green
grass became dead, dry, brown and brittle. The little streams of
water dried up, stopped flowing, and there was only a small muddy
puddle here and there. I saw the little colt (I was amazed that it never
seemed to grow or mature) as he ran here and there, across the fields
looking for fresh streams and green pastures, finding none. Still he
ran, seemingly in circles, always looking for something to feed his
famished spirit. But there was a famine in the land, and the rich green
pastures and flowing streams of yesterday were not to be had. And
one day the colt stood on the hillside on weak and wobbly legs, wondering
where to go next to find food, and how to get strength to go. It seemed
like there was no use, for good food and flowing streams were a thing
of the past, and all the efforts to find more only taxed his waning
strength. Suddenly he saw the King's carriage coming down the road,
pulled by six great horses. And he saw his brother, fat and strong,
muscles rippling, sleek and beautiful with much grooming. His heart
was amazed and perplexed, and he cried out: "My brother, where
do you find the food to keep you strong and fat in these days of famine?
I have run everywhere in my freedom, searching for food, and I
find none. Where do you, in your awful confinement, find food in
this time of drought? Tell me, please, for I must know!" And then
the answer came back from a voice filled with victory and praise: "In
my Master's House, there is a secret place in the confining limitations
of His stables where He feeds me by His own hand, and His granaries
never run empty, and His well never runs dry." And with this the
Lord made me to know that in the day when people are weak and famished
in their spirits in the time of spiritual famine, that those who have
lost their own wills, and have come into the secret place of the most
High, into the utter confinement of His perfect will, shall have plenty
of the corn of Heaven, and a never ending flow of fresh streams of revelation
by His Spirit. Thus the vision ended.
INTERPRETATION OF THE VISION
"Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may
run that readeth it" (Hab. 2:2)."Harness the horses: and get
up, ye horsemen" (Jer. 46:4). I'm sure that many of you who can
hear what the Spirit saith to the Church, have already seen what God
was showing in the vision. But let me make it plain. Being born into
the Family of God, feeding in the green pastures and drinking of the
many streams of the unfolding revelation of His purposes is fine
and wonderful. But it is not enough. While we were children, young and
undisciplined, limited only by the outer fence of the Law that ran around
the limits of the pastures, (that kept us from getting into the dark
pastures of poison weeds), He was content to watch us develop and grow
into young manhood, spiritually speaking. But the time came to those
who fed in His pastures, and drank at His streams, when they were to
be brought into discipline or "child-training" for the purpose
of making them mature sons. Many of the children today cannot understand
why some of those who have put on the harness of God cannot get excited
by the many religious games and the playful antics of the immature.
They wonder why the disciplined ones run not after every new revelation
or feed on every opportunity to engage in seemingly "good and profitable"
religious activities. They wonder why some will not race with them in
their frantic efforts to build great works and great and notable ministries.
They cannot understand the simple fact that this company of saints is
waiting for the voice of the Master, and they do not hear God in all
this outward activity. They will move in their time, when the Master
speaks. But not before, though many temptations come from the playful
colts. And the colts cannot understand why those who seemingly
appear to have great abilities and strength are not putting it
to good use. "Get the carriage on the road," they say, but
the disciplined ones, those in God's harness, know better than to move
before they hear the voice of the Master. They will move in their time,
with great purpose, and great responsibility.
And the Lord made me to know that there were many whom He had brought
into training who had rebelled against the discipline, the chastising
of the Father. And they could not be trusted with the great responsibility
of mature sonship, so he let them go back to their freedom, back to
their religious activities and revelations and gifts. They are still
His people, still feeding in His pastures, but He has set them aside
from the great purposes for this end of the Age. So they revel in their
freedom, feeling that they are the chosen ones with the many streams
of living water, not knowing that they have been set aside as unfit
for His great work in this end of the Age.
And He showed me that though the chastising seemeth grievous for the
time, and the discipline hard to endure, yet the result with all the
glory of sonship is worth it all, and the glory to follow far exceeds
the suffering we endure. And though some lose even their lives in this
training, yet they will share alike in the glory of His eternal purposes.
So faint not, saints of God, for it is the Lord that doth bring thee
into confinement, and not thine enemy. It is for thy good, and
for His glory, so endure all things with praises and thanksgiving that
He hath counted thee worthy to share His glory! Fear thou not the whip
in His hand, for it is not to punish thee, but to correct and train
thee, that thou mightest come into submission to His will, and be found
in His likeness in that Hour. Rejoice thou in thy trials, in all thy
tribulations, and glory thou in His cross, and in the confining limitations
of His harness, for He hath chosen thee, and He hath taken upon Himself
the responsibility of keeping thee strong and well fed, so lean thou
upon Him, and trust not in thine own ability and thine own understanding.
So shalt thou be fed, and His hand shall be upon thee, and His glory
shall overshadow thee and shall flow through thee as it goes forth to
cover the earth.
Glory to God! Bless the Lord! He's wonderful! Let Him be Lord of your
life, friends, and complain not at that which He bringeth to pass in
your life.
PLENTY IN THE TIME OF FAMINE
For in the hour when famine sweeps the land, He shall feed by His
own hand those who are submitted to His perfect will, and who dwell
in the secret place of the Most High. When terror stalks the land, those
in His harness shall not be afraid, for they shall feel His bit and
bridle and know the guidance of His Spirit. When others are weak and
frail and fearful, there shall be those who shall be strong in the power
of His might, and shall lack for no good thing. In the hour when the
traditions of the religious systems have proven false, and their streams
have dried up, then His Chosen ones shall speak forth with the true
Word of the Lord. So rejoice, sons of God, that you have been chosen
by His grace for this great work in this last hour.
The fence which kept the colts in their own meadows and their own
pastures means nothing to the team in the harness, for the gates open
to them, and they go forth pulling the King's carriage into many
strange and wonderful places. They do not stop to eat the poison weeds
of sin, for they feed only in the Master's stable. These fields they
trample under their feet as they go forth on the King's business. And
so to those who are brought into absolute subjection to His will, there
is no Law. For they move in the Grace of God, led only by His Spirit
where all things are lawful but not all things are expedient. This is
a dangerous realm for the undisciplined, and many have perished in sin
as they leaped over the fence without His harness and His bridle. Some
have thought of themselves as being completely harnessed and submissive
to Him, only to find that in some avenue of their life there dwelled
rebellion and self-will. Let us wait before Him until He puts His noose
around us and draws us to His place of training. And let us learn of
the dealings of God and the movings of His Spirit until at last we feel
His harness drop about us, and hear His voice guiding us. Then there
is safety from the traps and pitfalls of sin, and then shall we abide
in His house forever!