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THE
HARNESS OF THE LORD
by
Bill Britton
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 Firstfruits 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, Oklahoma that God gave me 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. And in the midst of this terrific dealing of
God with our spirits, the Holy Ghost 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 on 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
the 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
not so much as a glance but stood still waiting for the
command to go forward with the King.
COLTS IN THE MASTER'S CORRAL
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 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. 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. 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 rebellion 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, has not put about ME the gold 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.
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