Warnock - 1 the Family of God -Beauty for Ashes

8/6/2019 Warnock - 1 the Family of God -Beauty for Ashes

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The Family of God

Beauty for Ashes Part 1 - George H. Warnock

The Family of God - George H. Warnock PRE FAC E

In these series of writings we hope to confirm in the hearts of God's people variousaspects of His work in them relative to H IS PURPO SES and H IS WAY S . We need tohave a clear understanding of H IS PURPO SES if we are to pursue the Vision of God,and seek to follow on to know H IS WAY S . And then as we follow in H IS WAY S we aregoing to be greatly perplexed if we do not know that His thoughts and His ways are asfar beyond ours, as are the heavens above the earth.

It is an hour of great distress and perplexity among God's people. It is our hope that this,and future writings on this theme, will do much to enhance and clarify the Vision of Godthat He has put within His people, as well as to encourage them to know that His way isright, perplexing and disturbing as it may seem to be.

Part I, "The Family of God," is the first of this series; and if you are not real familiar withthe story of Jacob's family, we recommend that you read Genesis 35 to 50 before youcontinue with this reading.

Once again we would encourage God's people to know that His Word is intended to beour Daily Bread, and not merely something to replenish our storehouse of knowledge.

Read His Word... and other writings that you feel God has put in your hands to read withthis thought in mind. For it is only the broken Bread of the living Word that can nourishus in the ways of the Lord.

-- George H. Warnock --

IN TRODU CT IO N

I am confident the time is at hand when our Lord will arise in the midst of the Church

with eyes as a flame of fire, with feet as of polished brass, with a sharp two-edgedsword proceeding out of His mouth... to cleanse and purge and prepare His people for His Appearing.

l am confident that any ministry in this hour that does not hear what this One is saying,and does not minister what this One is ministering, will be heaping up wood, hay, andstubble for the furnaces of God.


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I am confident that there is a people in the land whom God is preparing, disciplining,and refining... who are going to minister in this hour out of the heart of God; and who,because of this, will work and minister in harmony with Him and with one another, asGod sends His fire into the midst of the Church to accomplish His cleansing andpurifying work.

We have come to the end; and no longer can we merely prophecy about end-timeevents, and teach end-time truths. We must begin to minister in union with the E nd-Time Lord.

Is He not the One who is the S ame yesterday, and today, and forever? Ah Yes He is!But He has a special E nd-Time Name, and that Name is the OM E GA... which is the lastletter of the Greek alphabet. I know He is the Alpha, and He changes not. But in thishour He stands in our midst as the OM E GA. He is bringing to a conclusion. He isbringing to a consummation. He is finishing what He started. He is completing theBuilding, for which He has laid the foundation. He is about to gather the Harvest, for

which He planted theS

eed. He will reconcile and join together in harmony the Family of God, for which He sent His S on to be the "firstborn among many brethren." He will bringforth the LOAF in His people, even as He was the Manna that came down from Heaven.He will effectually join His beloved ones unto Himself in one BODY, even as He was theBODY through which the Father expressed Himself in the earth many centuries ago.

The Vision is high, and we must keep it high. Man has obscured the Vision, because itseems too high for attainment. But in reali t y i t is beca u se man does no t wan t t o goGod's way, and yield himself as clay in t he hands of t he P o tt er . For this is God's

work... this is God's creation... it is not the work of man.

God is going t o do wha t He said. But He is going t o do i t in a manner far differen t from, and far beyond, wha t any of u s have imagined. He is going t o bring t odesola t ion every t hing, every ch u rch s t r u c tu re, every plan t ing, every ga t heringt oge t her in His N ame, every minis t ry... every t hing t ha t is N O T TH E PRODU CT,t ha t is N O T TH E FRU IT O F H IS OW N S P IR IT EXER C ISIN G H IS LORD S HIP IN THE MID S T O F H IS PEOP LE .

And t hen o ut of t he ashes of all t his desola t ion He will bring for t h t he very B ea ut yof t he Lord!

And so I can think of no better title for this series of messages that I feel the Lord haslaid on my heart, than this beautiful phrase from the prophet Isaiah, where Godpromised He would give His people "B E AUTY FOR A S HES ."


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It is really the story of the Old Covenant and the New. Not that there was inherentlyanything wrong with the righteous requirements of the Law. But when God gave i t ,man grasped i t in his own hands, and confiden t ly cried, "All t ha t t he L ORD ha t hsaid will we do..." Yo u migh t even say t ha t God en t iced t hem in t o i t . He offered i t t o t hem. Paul says, "The Law entered that the offence might abound" (Rom. 5:20). The

thought seems to be it "crept in unawares." One translation reads, "The law slipped in..."The Law came, so that the full power of sin could be seen.

God knew it would. It was never part of His eternal purpose for the Church; but it wouldhave a temporary purpose: namely, to "make sin exceeding sinful"... and to "shut up allmen unto disobedience"... to imprison all men in one prison-house of sin anddisobedience, that one day the Keeper of the prison might walk in and pronounce themessage of free Grace: " If you realize now that you are in prison... if you know for acertainty that you are helpless and undone, and utterly hopeless before God, you maygo free... I open the prison-door, and set you free, by the blood of My Cross."

And so this matter of justification by faith has become an established truth in the Churchever since the Reformation; and many congregations throughout the land rejoice in thefact that they are "not under the law, but under grace." But this whole matter goes muchdeeper than having the right theology; and the fact remains that most congregations of God's people are living under Law, though loudly boasting of their deliverance from it.For the S criptures make it plain that " IF YE BE LE D OF TH E S P IR IT, ye are not under the law" (Gal. 5:18). Only the ministration of the S pirit of God in our midst can deliver usfrom Law. Only as we "walk in the S pirit" are we really free from the Law.

All we have to do is to take a glance across the scene of Christendom, and what do wefind? All kinds of laws and by-laws for running the Church. E lders and deacons andpastors and church workers of every kind are E LE CT E D by the popular vote of thepeople. It would be too tedious a matter, and too devastating to carnal ambition, to seekGod so earnestly that the S pirit of God might come forth and say, " S eparate unto meBarnabas and S aul for the work whereunto I have called them," as He did in the earlyChurch. ( S ee Acts 13:2). Who needs that in this day and hour? It is much easier andmore practical to have a missionary program of our own, and send out the ones wethink are qualified for the task.

We could go on and on in this; but we are just illustrating the fact that God's people as awhole continue to function according to LAW, human LAW... whether it be the Law of Moses, or their own. They have a certain organizational procedure, and all the whilethey boast they are "free from the Law."

Ishmael, Child O f The Flesh

Of course, if God were to come forth in our midst and say, "Now I want you to set apartthis young couple for a special work for Me..." we would perhaps be quite prepared tosubmit to His choice, But if we wait and wait for Him to do it, and He remains silent in


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the matter, obviously we have to do something about it ourselves. (Of course, we arenot suggesting that the Antioch experience is to be the formula for the Church. We areonly emphasizing that if and when the S pirit of God is Lord in our midst, He will indicateHis will and His way for the people of God.)

And so we have the story of Ishmael repeated over and over again in our variouschurches and fellowships that abound in the land.

"We have the Word... we have His promises... it's up to you and me to get in there andmake it work..."

And so the "Promise" that God gives us as a Word to embrace and cherish and hold, apromise that we must guard and nurture in our spirits, until it becomes a living and"pregnant" Word within us... we take it rather as a challenge to act upon, in the name of faith, in the name of Christian zeal, only to end up in frustration.

And God seems to go along with it for a season.S

o long, in fact, that we finally are ableto convince ourselves that God D ID use our plans after all.

And so Ishmael grows up in the household of S arah and Abraham, as the beloved sonthat God had promised. God does no t whisper in Abraham's ear t he day Ishmael isborn, " N ow look, Abraham... Ishmael is yo u r son, and I will bless him... b ut he isno t really t he heir t ha t I promised yo u ." As a result Abraham comes to consider God's silence to be His consent and approval... this year, and next, and next. Time rollsalong, and Ishmael becomes t he beloved of Abraham's hear t .

We have been accused of setting the Vision too high... too high for people to grasp. If

only we could convince the people of God that the Vision is much higher than we haveever taught or expressed... and that it is not something for them to "grasp," but tonurture in their hearts until by the Light of His countenance we are "changed into thesame image." For though the Vision might be spoken of in many ways (as we anticipatedoing in this series of writings)... in the final analysis t he Vision is NOTH ING L ESS THAN TH E VISI ON OF H IS OWN GLORY AND PR ESE NC E , coming to abide in theHouse of God.

Then why do we not stop right here, and leave it at that? B eca u se i t is t he Visionof Him. .. and there are so many facets of His Being, so many rays of His glory, somany aspects of His beauty, so many unfoldings of His secrets, that unless we see Himin the full expression of His Being we are not really seeing Him A S HE IS . And Godforbid that we should, in this writing or in any other, become so taken up with thechemistry of the living Word that we rejoice in our scientific knowledge of spiritual things,and fail to eat of Him who is the living bread sent down from Heaven for the life of theworld. We must not take our place at the table of the Lord as a scientist: able to clearlyanalyze the food that is on the table, and know for a certainty that there is carbon in this,and sulphur in that... and hydrogen in that over there... all the while being totally


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accurate, but NOT PARTAK ING OF TH E LIVING TRUTH and allowing it to bring lifeand health and strength to our spiritual man.

God wai t s abo ut t hir t een years , and then He comes on the scene and revealsHimself afresh to Abraham, and announces: "This shall not be the heir... S arah shall

have a son..." Abraham's immediate response is one of surprise, and frustration, as if tosay, " Impossible, Lord. But we have Ishmael already... Why not Ishmael Lord?"

We see an awful lot of the Ishmael in the Church today... in church structures andprograms, and in the individual lives of God's people. Not away out there in the apostatechurch... but in the midst of the anointed people, the people of God who profess to havethe S pirit and to know His ways. God continues to bless, and God's blessing is taken asa sign of His approval. But in the midst of it all there is the Abraham people of God, whoare aware that God is coming on the scene... and they are hearing Him announce as Hedid to Abraham and S arah: "My covenant will I establish with Isaac..."

In other words, God is bringing us back to the clear Vision that He announced in theWord; and we are going to have to forsake our own initiatives and all the schemes thatwe have devised to bring forth the true Body of Christ in the earth. For instance...

"God wants His people to be ON E . Just forget your differences and come together, andworship with us... forget your doctrines, they only divide the Body of Christ, and theydon't really matter all that much... just praise and worship together with us, and learn tolove one another..."

And so we have a very sentimental display of what they call love and unity, and asystematized form of worship and praise, something you just do, something you just

perform, something you even do in the flesh if need be, just as long as you do it. Or we have a more practical, a more structured way of doing it...

"We have true leadership in our church. We have the apostolic and prophetic order established by God. We are authorized to establish the church on its proper foundation.Come under this covering, get on this sure foundation... and you will come into truerelationship with the Body of Christ..." And so, acting under the delusion that becauseGod did something wonderful away back there in history, whether it be so manycenturies ago or so many years ago... and because they have continued on in thatparticular "movement" in an unbroken line of succession, therefore, it just must be

RIGHT to try to continue and perpetuate what God started. The

Spirit of God may haveleft the whole thing centuries ago... or even just a few years ago, as the case may be...

but because God started it we are supposed to try to perpetuate it.

God help us to learn the lesson of E li, of S aul, of Bethel, of Jerusalem, of Rome, of Constantinople... and we could go on and on in this; places where God's glory oncerested in power and authority, but which have long since ceased to be anything morethan an empty shell, just a memory of what HA S BEE N. Hear wha t God has t o say


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abo ut B e t hel, t he Ho u se of God, t he place of God's visi t a t ion t o His chosenJacob... b ut which God forsook beca u se t he people had gone in t o apos t asy andidola t ry:

"For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, SEE K YE ME , and ye shall live: butSEE

K NOT BE

THE

L, for... BE

THE

LS

HALL COME

TO NOUGHT.SEE

K THE

LORD,and ye shall live" (Amos 5:4-6). Its no t abo ut a place or me t hod, i ts abo ut GOD .

God help His people to understand that places, things, gifts, enablements, ministries,men of God, movements, whatever He might have anointed and used for His glory,THESE ARE NOT TO B E HE LD IN VE NE RAT ION BY GOD' S P E OPL E ; and that for their day and hour they are to be received and honored only as channels of His grace toLE AD H IS P E OPL E INTO R E LAT ION S HIP W ITH H IMSE LF. Then having served their purpose, God removes them from the scene, that He Himself might have all the glory.

The P rocess

Let us just summarize briefly what we have been saying: t he Tr ut h, t he Vision, t heP romise. t hese come t o u s by revela t ion of t he S piri t .

W e accep t it , embrace i t , joy and deligh t in i t ... and wai t and wai t for God t o bringu s in t o i t .

Then comes a cer t ain sense of weariness and disappoin t men t , and we discover we can' t seem t o ge t God t o h u rry along wi t h His plans.

Hu man zeal en t ers... and we convince o u rselves (or o t hers will convince u s) t ha t the

Promise is no

treally q

uite as

unreachable as we

tho

ugh

t... i

tis

there in o

ur power t o f u lfill... j u s t t ake Hagar, and i t will work.

S u re eno u gh, i t works! There is concep t ion, and bir t h, and t he growing of a yo u ngman u n t o ma tu ri t y!

And God in silence says no t hing... u n t il His appoin t ed ho u r. Then He comes ont he scene, and says, " N o! N o t t his...!"

"This one t ha t I am bringing for t h will no t be by h u man engineering. N or shall i t be par t ly h u man and par t ly by my S piri t ." ( Yo u know, " D o yo u r par t and God will

do His... star

to

utin

the flesh and somewhere God will en

ter

the pic

ture andt akeover...")

God says, "My t ho u gh t s are no t yo u r t ho u gh t s, nei t her are yo u r ways my ways"(Isa. 55:8).

God says, " N o t by migh t , nor by power, b ut by my S piri t , says t he L ORD of hos t s"(Zech. 4:6).


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God says, "Having beg u n in t he S piri t , are ye now made perfec t by t he flesh?"(Gal. 3:3). N o t ice where we are t o begin, and where we are t o end, " In t he S piri t ."

God says, if you are not "led of the S pirit" you are "under law" (Gal. 5:18).

God says He is looking for a people who will "worship Him inS

PIR

IT and in TRUTH"(Jn.4:23).

God grant that the Abraham people of this hour will be prepared to forsake their manyIshmaels that the true Isaac of God's promise might come forth. And let us remember that it is S arah, the barren woman, who will bring this to birth. Let Hagar despise her mistress in her eyes, because of her present fruitfulness. But t he barren and utt erlyhopeless people of God are going t o LA U GH in t ha t day, when Isaac is born(" Isaac" means "la u gh t er")... and it will not be the giddy laugh of Hagar, but the laughof victory and triumph, and a rejoicing in the faithfulness of God who beheld the lowestate of the barren and fruitless people, who found GRAC E in His sight because of

their broken and contrite spirit. We are considered to be lazy and slothful if we do notget excited about the many outreaches and programs we find in the Church for thebuilding up of the Body of Christ. God says t he slo t hf u l man is t he man who doesno t learn P AT IE N CE : "That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faithand patience inherit the promises" (Heb. 6:12). And in the immediate context, it is

Abraham and S arah that God is talking about.

Those who have learned a meas u re of P a t ience in t heir lives know t ha t it t akesmore spiri tu al exercise and s t riving t o wai t before God u n t il yo u know Hisg u idance and direc t ion, t han i t does t o come u p wi t h a good plan and program of yo u r own. It t akes a far grea t er degree of obedience t o discover wha t God is

requ

iring, andto do wha

tGod wo

uld have

us do,

than i

tdoes

to follow along insome h u manly devised and well-meaning program t ha t is t angible, and workable,

and has m u ch t o show for i t in t he na tu ral.

The F u llness O f God

There are many aspects of the great work that God is doing in the earth, and in thisseries of writings we want to explore and examine some of them. In each case we wantto show how God is revealing the glory and majesty of His Being in a different light, in adifferent way. How else shall we know the "fullness" of His purposes, excep t as we seet he shining for t h of His glory in i t s many divergen t colors?

Paul speaks of the "manifold wisdom of God"... or "the many-sided aspects of God'swisdom." God forbid that we should depart from the simplicity of the Gospel, from thesimplicity of knowing Christ. But let us not glibbly say, "O I know Jesus... I am notconcerned about all these so called deeper truths... Jesus is enough for me."


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Yes, Jesus is all we want... all we need. But the Jesus that most Christians have is verysmall, very weak, very helpless.

God help us to know that we are not going to really know Him, we are not going to reallysee Him, we are not really going to appreciate the glory of His Being... until He comes to

take up His habitation in His Temple, His Body, His Family that is in the earth, and thenin and through them reveals the very "fullness" of His Being.

Let not the Vision that God has given concerning His people be marred by theexcitement that erupts in the Church when some great or mighty miracle is performed.God is certainly performing miracles, and He will continue to do signs and wonders inand through His people that are in the earth. But all this is nothing compared to theSI GN that His people are to B E COM E when God has finished the work that He started,and made H IS P E OPL E TO B E SI GN S to be wondered at by the nations of the earth:

"B ehold, I and t he children whom t he L ORD ha t h given me are for SI GNS and for WO N DER S

inIsrael from

the L

ORDof hos

ts, which dwells in Mo

un

t Zion" (

Isa.8:18).

B E AU TY F OR AS HE S - 1 - TH E FAM ILY O F G OD

God has planned and ordained t ha t t here shall be a f u ll and comple t e expressionof t he living Chris t in His family t ha t is in t he ear t h. We dare not lower God'sstandard, or dilute the revelation of the S pirit with human opinions or methods, in order to make it "workable." This continues to go on. But in the end God lays it all aside, and

brings forth that HOLY THING from His own creative hand.

What do we mean by the "f u llness of God," or the "fullness of Christ" being revealed inand through His people? The Greek word is "pleroma" and means a"comple t eness ," that state where there is "nothing lacking." In no place are the peopleof God to fall short of the glory and beauty of Christ. God is going t o "comple t e" andbring t o a glorio u s concl u sion, all t ha t He has p u rposed in His beloved people.

Now we know that the work of Redemption was completed when Jesus was here onearth, as far as His earthly ministry was concerned. He said in His great high-priestlyprayer to the Father, " I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do," and we

hear Him saying in His dying moments on the Cross, "IT

ISF

IN

ISH

ED." His work onearth was F INIS HE D!

But t here was a grea t work for Him t o do in t he heavens, and this has largely beenlost sight of by God's people. They somehow have the notion that He is filling in timeuntil He can come back to earth and set up an earthly kingdom. God help His peoplet o believe Him when He says t ha t His S on is N OW reigning in Zion, and will


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con t in u e t o do so u n t il all enemies are s u bd u ed u nder His fee t (P sa. 110:1; 1 Cor.15:25; e t c.).

He wen t t o Heaven t o se t u p His Kingdom; and He N OW r u les and reigns from aheavenly t hrone, as bo t h K IN G and PR IE S T, "as a minis t er of t he sanc tu ary, and

of the

tr

ue Tabernacle, which

the Lord pi

tched and no

tman" (Heb. 8:2).

His coming back is no t t o se t u p a Kingdom, b ut t o comple t e t he work which Hes t ar t ed when He sa t down a t t he righ t hand of t he Majes t y on high... t o ga t her int he Harves t , t o j u dge and cons u me t he chaff and t he t ares, and t o give t o everyman according t o His works.

For almost two thousand years He has been ministering, and working, and reigningfrom Zion, the City of God; bringing to nought the devices of men, overthrowing, rootingup, tearing down... as well as building and planting. T his work is not finished yet, but it isgoing to be. And once again the cry will ring forth (not from the Cross this time, but from

the heavens) "IT

ISF

IN

ISH

ED." (

See

Rev. 10:7). The mystery of God is going to be"finished." Whatever God has planned and purposed for His people is going to be

completed. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the Author, as well as the "Finisher"of our faith.

Now just where, and at what point in the Book of Revelation God completes His work inthe Church is not our present concern. But we do want to emphasize that the people of God are in reality the "Finished W ork" that God has in mind. We, His people, are thecrowning work of His creation. "We are His workmanship..." as the apostle said ( E ph.2:10). Another translation reads this way, "We are His HAND IWORK." We are to be thevery crowning glory of His creative power and majesty!

Paul says, "The Church which is His body, the fullness (pleroma) of Him that filles all inall" ( E ph. 1:22, 23).

That the Lord Jesus was Himself the "fullness of God" when here on earth, and NOW inthe heavens... is really no problem to the people of God. We know that "in Him dwellethall the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9); because "it pleased the Father that inHim should all the fulness dwell" (Col. 1:19). And we know that it applies to Him NOW inthe full measure of kingly power and authority; and that it applied to Him when He wason earth in the beauty of His life, and nature, and character. It was the "glory of theFather" that shone forth in His earthly life and ministry (John 1:14). For the S on of Godwas the "express image" of the Father, the One who radiated the nature of the Father,lived by the life of the Father, spoke the words of the Father, and did the works of theFather. Truly God hath spoken "by His S on," or more literally, " IN S ON"... the S on wasHIMSE LF, IN FL ES H, the S POK E N EX PR ESSI ON OF TH E FATH E R (Heb. 1:1, 2). Weknow it means that all virtues, all graces, all attributes that pertain to God are and werewrapped up in Christ. In no area does He fall short. He is that "fullness" that"completeness."


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It is not to say that the totality of God's Being dwells in one human body, the body of Jesus; but rather the perfection of it, the fullness of it, the complete expression of it. If itbe patience and longsuffering, God has manifested these in all of His dealings with menfrom the beginning of time. But we see the "fullness" of it in Jesus. Power? We see theglory of His power everywhere in the Universe. But the "fullness" of it, the

"completeness" of it, we find in Jesus.In Him resides the "full expression" of everything,every attribute, every grace, every virtue that is inherent in the heart of God. Most of us

have no problem in this.

But now that Jesus has been glorified, He has taken on an EX TE NSI ON of His Body, toinclude the Family of God; and now this EX TE NDE D body, this E NLARG E D body issaid to be the "fullness of Christ," or the full expression of the Lord Jesus ChristHimself... "The FULLN ESS OF H IM THAT F ILLS ALL IN ALL..."

Theology has a tendency to accept Truth as long as it does not become L IVINGTRUTH... as long as it does not change the status quo... as long as it does not start

some kind of revolution. But this statement about the Church being the FULLEX PR ESSI ON OF CHR IS T is not something for theologians to analyze, it is somethingfor God's people to appropriate. Listen to these words, which the apostle did not feel hecould utter without cloaking the revelation in a prayer that God's people might enter intoit.

"For t his ca u se I bow my knees u n t o t he Fa t her of o u r Lord Jes u s Chris t , of whom t he whole family in heaven and ear t h is named, t ha t He wo u ld gran t yo u ,according t o t he riches of His glory, t o be s t reng t hened wi t h migh t by His S piri t int he inner man; t ha t Chris t may dwell in yo u r hear t s by fai t h; t ha t ye being roo t edand gro u nded in love, may be able t o comprehend wi t h all sain t s wha t is t he

breadth, and leng

th, and dep

th, and heigh

t; and

to know

the love of Chris

t, whichpasses knowledge..." (E ph. 3:14-19).

Perhaps there is nothing too controversial in what we have quoted. But we didn't finish it!In all that the apostle had been saying we feel the crescendo of heart yearning for moreand more and still more of God until we are literally lost, immersed in the FULN ESS OFGOD H IMSE LF...May we finish reading this wonderful prayer...

"And t o know t he love of Chris t , which passes knowledge, t ha t ye migh t be filledwi t h (or U N TO ) all TH E FU LN E SS O F G OD !"

How dare we dilute the Truth concerning the Body of Christ to the level of humanemotion, and settle for this sentimental idea of everybody getting together, patting oneanother on the back, and learning to love them and get along!

Only by the S pirit of God are we going to see in some faint measure the burden of God's heart for His people, and the yearning that overwhelmed the heart of the apostle,as he contemplated the glory that God had in store for His family. And how clearly herevealed to us the step-by-step process that God would lead His family in, that they


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think I have set before you a goal that you know you can never reach. You do notunderstand that I only ask you to take one step at a time, and I only ask you to climb thesteps with Me, as you take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me... for I am meek andlowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls."

And so we take but one step at a time, and God is pleased. But we must not lag behindor yield to the enticements that come our way from time to time to take a shortcut. For there are many that appear to be good. You can get gifts of the S pirit freely. You mighteven develop for yourself a ministry, that may satisfy your heart for a season, and fromwhich you might find a certain fulfillment. And certainly you need His gifts! But pray Godthat He will cause you to sit and learn from ministries that will lead you to His feet...ministries that will encourage you to take His yoke, and follow His ways. Gifts andministries must not be considered to be in any sense ultimate... they are but means tothe end... and the end pursuit of gift and ministry is to come to know Him, to be joined inlike spirit unto others in the Family of God who are seeking to come to the "fullness" of Him... so that together you might be able to comprehend, to apprehend, to receive fully...

the living Christ, in the full expression of His Being.

And let us not be dismayed when in spite of all our noble efforts to climb higher we feel...we just know... that we are getting lower and lower. For as we travel this way we aregoing to discover, as men and women of all ages have discovered... that...

The way UP is DOWN...The way OV E R is UND E R...The way to S UCC ESS is through FA ILURE ...The way to true PRO S P E R ITY is through spiritual BANKRUPTCY...The way to the true R ICH ES , is through POV E RTY...

The way to VICTORY, is through D

EF

E AT...The way to L IFE , is through D E ATH.

And therefore, for the people of the UPWARD WAY God has set before us a very clear pattern and example:

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God,thought it not robbery to be equal with God (Or, 'He did not consider that equality withGod was something He should grasp after'): but made himself of no reputation, and tookupon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being foundin fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even thedeath of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a namewhich is above every name" (Phil. 2:5-9).


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For t he S on of God, t he Cap t ain of o u r S alva t ion, t he A ut hor and t heFinisher of o u r fai t h... for Him t he UPW ARD CALL was one t ha t bro u gh t Him lower, and lower, and lower... even u n t o t he dea t h of t heCross.

And so i t m u s t be wi t h yo u and me. God delivers u s from all t ha t s t riving we see t oday t o excel... s t riving for highness, for exal t a t ion,for grea t ness, for bigness... even among many who profess t o knowt he "end- t ime" message, and who profess t o be heirs of t he"Kingdom." Le t u s make no mis t ake abo ut it ... t he pa t hway of S O NS HIP leads t o none of t hese. It t akes one lower, and lower, ands t ill lower... in order t ha t in t he S piri t of Chris t we migh t rise higher...and higher, and s t ill higher...

The Family of God - George H. Warnock

PRE FAC E

The Family O f Jacob

In t he family of Jacob we have a t ype... perhaps we sho u ld say a pro t o t ype... of t he Family of God; and t his is wha t we wan t t o consider in t his wri t ing.

God has declared Himself to be "the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob..."

In Abraham God called a man whom He would discipline, and test, and try, until He hadmade of him a pattern of FA ITH for all generations to come. He was to become "thefather of all that believe," "the heir of the world," the one in whose S eed (remember Godsaid SEE D, not seeds, for the S eed is Christ--Gal. 3:16, 29)... the one in whose SEE Dall nations of the world were to be blessed.

In Isaac we have the firstfruits... the firstborn son of Abraham's family... the hope, thepromise, the earnest of the great Family of God that was yet to be born.

In Jacob we have the outworking of God's dealings in the Family of God: first in Jacob

himself, and then in his twelve sons. And in all this we have a clear picture and patternof how God deals with His family by way of disciplining, t eaching, chas t ising,fr u s t ra t ing, devas t a t ing... and ye t in and t hro u gh i t all ordaining and preparingt hem for a glorio u s la tt er end.

All this, of course, is for our edification and encouragement, as we t ravel m u ch t hesame pa t hway as t hey did, and experience t he same fr u s t ra t ions, longings,disappoin t men t s, joys, and enco u ragemen t s as t hey did.


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As we become acq u ain t ed wi t h t he God of Abraham we learn obedience, fai t h,t r u s t , and ye t in t he mids t of i t all, a cer t ain u nres t , a cer t ain perplexi t y, a cer t ainfr u s t ra t ion.We embrace the promise and begin to walk in it, b ut t he promise lingers u nf u lfilled. W e pi t ch o u r al t ar, and know t he presence of God, b ut no t for long.

We must move on, and on... to new altars, to new areas of commitment and dedicationto God.N ew horizons open u p before u s. N ew fr u s t ra t ions bese t u s. All the while we arelooking for something more real, something more permanent, something more lasting...only to find ourselves in the end as "strangers and pilgrims in the earth."Nothing fully satisfies, great and wonderful as it may be. There may arise from time totime the feeling, "Why can't we be satisfied like Lot... to find a well-watered plainsomewhere in the land, and just settle down." S ome of God's righ t eo u s ones, like Lo t ,will do t ha t ; b ut we can' t . The Vision holds u s s t eady.. .t he Vision of a "Ci t y which ha t h fo u nda t ions, whose Bu ilder and Maker is God..."Of course the Lord is faithful, and af t er pa t ien t end u rance on Abraham's par t , God

f u

lfilsthe promise.

Isaac comes forth, the true child of promise, and there is joy andlaughter (as " Isaac" means)... laughter such as only Abraham and S arah can

understand and experience. Not the giddy joy and laughter of entertainers who go aboutpromoting the laughter of the world in the midst of God's people... b ut t he la u gh t er of t r u e spiri tu al H OPE . There is "rejoicing in hope of t he glory of God." There is a joyt ha t is born o ut of t rib u la t ion, and pa t ience... A joy t ha t comes in t he morning,af t er t he nigh t of weeping. There is still much work to be wrought out in the lives of God's Family, but the hope, the Vision... will sustain and strengthen as God completesthe work that He has begun.

And so we come to Jacob, in whom God would give us a pattern of the transformingwork of His grace in the lives of His chosen ones. In Jacob God reveals t he processwhereby He wo u ld change t he name of His chosen ones; for when God "names"His people, He names t hem according t o t he na tu re t ha t t hey have, or t he na tu ret ha t is ye t t o be . And the changing of Jacob's name signifies t he changing of hisna tu re, of his whole way of life , until Jacob comes forth as IS RAE L, Israel the Princeof God, Israel the Overcomer.

Like Jacob, we too are born the beloved of God. E ven before he was born God said,"Jacob have I loved..." In vain are we going to search out the heart of God in an attemptto discover WHY He loved us. In vain are we going to search out our own hearts, if perchance the reason for His love was prompted by something we discover withinourselves. S o let us leave all this kind of searching aside.But we m u s t know, if we are going t o s u rvive t he t es t s, t he fr u s t ra t ions, t he t rials,

t he t emp t a t ions of life... t ha t in and t hro u gh i t all o u r Fa t her God loves u s, and for N O RE AS O N t ha t He has been pleased t o reveal.

And ye t , in spi t e of t his love, and o u r awareness of i t , i t does no t preven t u s froms t riving t o ge t it , or from s t riving t o main t ain i t .


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And like Jacob we are going t o discover t ha t wi t h every effor t we make t o ge t more and more of t his spiri tu al life, t he more fr u s t ra t ed we become. It t akes t ime...and experience.But sooner or later we are to discover that t o really find God we have t o s u rrender allt ha t we have acq u ired. I mean s u rrender all o u r spiri tu al blessings, all o u r

spiritu

al enablements, all o

ur spiri

tual gif

ts.

You see, God may entice us with gifts and blessings... for these gifts and blessingsproceed from Him, and they indicate to you and me somewhat concerning His nature,His heart... and they are necessary for our spiritual growth.But God wan t s u s t o know t ha t it is no t s u fficien t merely t o have cer t ain of Hisblessings and His gif t s residing wi t hin u s... He wan t s t o occ u py t he t hrone roomof o u r hear t comple t ely, alone and by Himself.

No problem, of course... as long as we can hold on to what we have until we canreplace it with something better. "God, you give me more of Yourself, and I'll give youmore of myself..." But God does not work that way.

Were He to do so He would be allowing you to have the lordship that He, the JealousGod requires for Himself.And so He will insis t t ha t we s u rrender t o Him, before He will s u rrender t o u s."Give Me every t hing, every na tu ral endowmen t , every spiri tu al endowmen t ...every na tu ral possession, every spiri tu al possession. Then I will give yo u MYS E LF... " For God is a jealous God, and will not share His glory with another. He mayshare His blessings, all the while we are receiving comfort and satisfaction from other sources. But He will not share His glory, His abiding presence, His lordship withanything or anyone else.

Firs t , B e t hel

The experience of Bethel is a wonderful experience. The word means "House of God"...and the revelation of the House of God, the Church of God, the Family of God, hasbeen precious in our eyes. The vast majority of the Family of God have camped rightthere, and seemingly desire nothing more than the revelation of His glory at the Houseof God. Af t er all, Jacob discovered B e t hel t o be " t he ga t e of heaven." W ha t moreco u ld we desire?

But t o wha t had Jacob really a tt ained? R eally, all t ha t was t here was a heap of s t ones. W ha t he had was a revela t ion, and i t was good. "The Ho u se of God." "TheGa t e of Heaven." Angels of God were ascending and descending u pon t he heapof s t ones . But how few of u s have no t iced t ha t GOD HIMS E LF was s t ill beyondhis reach... t ha t God was a t t he T OP of t he ladder!

We are still very much at Bethel. The place of the revelation of God's purposes in Hispeople. But we are still a heap of stones. God is working on those stones, I know. AndHe will continue to chisel, and shape, and fashion according to His will, until we become"living stones" and built together to form "a habitation of God in the S pirit."


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God's D eclara t ions

There are many things that God says concerning His people as positive declarations.We are His Church. We are His Building. We are His Temple. We are Living S tones.

And we could go on and on.

But God help us not to fall into the deception of thinking that His declaration of what weare is sufficient, and thereby deny to ourselves the workings and dealings of God in our lives that will truly and effectually MAK E US TO B E what He D E CLAR ES US TO B E .

When God appeared to Abram and announced, "Neither shall thy name any more becalled Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I madethee" (Gen. 17:5), God was declaring His p u rpose. And as Abraham embracedGod's W ord, his fai t h wo u ld grow and be s t reng t hened in order t ha t t he promisemigh t be f u lfilled. God's declaration of what he was, was sure and certain becauseGod had declared it but it wasn't actually so as yet. The promised seed ( Isaac) was not

even born yet; and the actual fact of Abraham becoming the father of nations would beyears, decades, centuries away.

Inherent in the changing of the NAM E is the guarantee and the provision by GodHimself that we cherish and embrace, in order that it might become actual and real inour lives. He calls His own Name upon us. He says we are holy; He says we are A S HE IS ; He says we are His brethren; He says we are righteous; He says we are of His flesh,and of His bone; He says we are one with Him. As we embrace t ha t , He will MAK E U S TO B E wha t He now DE CLA RE S U S TO B E .

Firs t B e t hel... Then P eniel

This is t he order: B e t hel, t he Ho u se of God; and t hen P eniel, t he Face of God!

The time had come for God to strip the striving, grasping Jacob of all that he had. Andso on his return from Haran back to the land of promise, God was preparing him for thatconfrontation with Himself that would make him to be an OV E RCOM E R. Jacob findshimself alone, alone under the stars at Jabbock. He was facing what he thought was arevengeful E sau, and in fear he surrendered and forfeited everything he had. And nowat the fords of Jabbock God confronted him face to face. The s t r u ggle las t ed allt hro u gh t he nigh t ; for t ho u gh we long for God, and earnes t ly pray t ha t He willhave His way wi t h u s... as He seeks t o do so He finds i t diffic u lt t o prevail agains t u s.

How can mortal man make it difficult for God to subdue him? S imply because mortalman was nevertheless made in God's image... and God's dealings with man (especiallyHis chosen ones) are mingled with great concerns that the image which man has lostmay be found again. God's sons are begotten, and not merely created like beasts of thefield. They are begotten in the Father's image and likeness. Therefore He desires aFather-son relationship, obedience, submission, friendship, fellowship. He has ten


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thousand times ten thousand of other creatures that do not bear His nature and likeness;and they do whatever God says. But His sons He has chosen from among t he sonsof men, and God wo u ld reprod u ce in t hem His own na tu re: by dealing wi t h t hemas wi t h sons, by discipline, by chas t isemen t . His hand may be heavy u pon t hema t t imes, b ut t hen He will res t rain Himself... t ha t His disciplined ones migh t

volu

ntarily and willingly draw closer

to Him.

But at the breaking of the Day the Angel of God touches Jacob with the touch we alllong for, all the while strenuously resisting His every attempt to reach us.

We must continue to ask the Lord to bring us to our Jabbock. Dr. S trong says the word"Jabbock" is from a word t ha t means t o "po u r o ut " or t o "emp t y." We often pray,"Lord, fill us..."

And it is true that God can give us many things, many blessings, with whatever degreeof commitment we are able to give, But if we t r u ly desire t he "f u llness of Him" t here

is only one way, a complete po

uring o

utand emp

tying of o

urselves a

t the river Jabbock . It is only in giving Him all of us, that we can receive all of Him, He will not give

up on us, because we are slow to yield. He will continue the confrontation, if our heartsare truly after Him, until He succeeds in giving us the final touch... the touch thatcripples, the touch that leaves us lame, never to walk the same again. Jacob hadreceived a "new name" consistent with the new nature and the new life that he was tolive from that day forward. No longer "Jacob, the supplanter," but " Israel, the prince of God."

But Jacob did not go forth from that experience declaring himself to be God's man of power. When you hear of men who claim that title, or accept it... you just know that they

have never seen the Face of God at Peniel. After that kind of experience, God'sIsraelswill limp their way along in the ways of God, forever halting on their thigh. Paul said, "Let

no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the brand-marks of the Lord Jesus." Theremigh t be a lo t of boas t ing a t B e t hel, t he Ho u se of God; b ut t here will be none a t P eniel , when one beholds the Face of God. Long after Jacob's glorious experience atPeniel we hear Jacob testifying before Pharaoh, "Few and evil have the days of theyears of my life been..." (Gen. 47:9).

The positive testimony, the testimony of God's overcoming ones, is this: that in me theredwells no good thing... that His strength is made perfect in my weakness. That in andthrough every devastating experience we have known in life, God has been faithful togive Beauty for Ashes, the Oil of Joy for Mourning, and the Garment of Praise for thespirit of heaviness.

God O f Jacob!

God of Abraham! We can understand that, for Abraham was a man of faith, who walkedin obedience before the Lord.


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God of Isaac! We can understand that, for the Fear of God was upon him, and he toowalked with God, with few deviations.

But the God of Jacob? What encouragement to you and me, who have known muchperplexity and discouragement, and yet have discovered in and through it all that God

was working in our hearts great longings and desires for Him, and for Himself alone. And to think that He puts His own Name upon us: " Israel, Prince of God... you havePower with God and with Men."

It is a Name we bear in our reproach. We do not F EE L that the Name is appropriate...but we must take it. O u r hope can be in no t hing else, b ut t ha t we accep t His N ameu pon o u r lives. In doing so we are actually inviting Him to have free rein in our lives,and to work His nature and character into our beings. His Name He would put upon our foreheads that we might have His heart, His mind, His thoughts... and that we mightwalk in His ways. The God of great power and might, condescends to put His Nameupon the sons of men. But what kind of condescension is this that He would take OUR

NAME

, and ascribe it to Himself. Listen to this:

"This is the generation of them that seek Him, that seek thy face, O Jacob..." (Psa. 24:6).God takes the name of Jacob for Himself! For He takes our nature, our sickness, our problems, in order that we might take His Name, His nature, His strength, and His life.He becomes our "Jacob"... that we might become His " Israel"!

A Family O f Many B ro t hers

We are talking about the Family of God. God has a family. He has One Beloved S on, anonly begotten. There is only One that is in this unique and special sense the S on of God.

But God will not be content until He has a FAMILY like Him. Not because He is notsatisfied with the only S on... but because t he only bego tt en of t he Fa t her is so

precio u s in His sigh t , and so deligh t s His hear t .., t ha t He wan t s t o have more likeHim.

W e ge t disco u raged some t imes when we see t he many fa u lt s and fail u res in t heFamily of God: t he resen t men t s, t he pride, t he jealo u sies, t he ha t e, t he concei t ,t he divisions, t he s t riving for pre-eminence . Then we read of God's requirement of us, that we walk in unity, and in love, and in truth, and in peace. And O the frustrationthat sets in as men try to bring this about in the Family of God. Of course, we have tolower the Vision of God to our human plane in order to make it work. We do not insistthat the Family of God walks in total harmony and union with the S on of God and withone another. Obviously that is impossible. S o we just encourage people to love oneanother, to be kind and forgiving, to forget their differences... to try and get along as thehappy Family of God. The various schemes that we have mentioned are brought intoplay... teachings of "submission" to authority and leadership, and the like; and withthese methods we hope to alleviate the stress that we see as brother tries to co-existwith brother in the Body of Christ.


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All well-intentioned, of course, and for a season it might seem to work. But surely wehave had enough experience in Church life by now to know that sooner or later there isgoing to be a disruption... another division... another clash... and new congregations willbe born out of the ashes of the old. Then there is a certain sense of satisfaction in thethought that the trouble-makers have left... now we can start building afresh, Or the

"trouble-makers" that have left get to feeling... "We are going to go on with God, nomatter what the others do"... and there is a new fellowship of come-outers.

All this has been very frustrating to behold; especially in the eyes of those who justknow that they have the order for the New Testament Church. They just know that if Christians would get out of all these old systems and join them, they would grow ingrace, and unto the stature of Christ!

"We have no problem in our fellowship," I have heard it said... "We have NewTestament order and leadership. Our ministers work together in harmony. The peopleare taught to obey the leaders, as they do that there is peace." Or, words to that effect.

Not to mention of course that if one or more of the corporate leadership disagrees theyare dis-fellowshipped because of insubordination.

And not to mention that if the people leave from time to time it is because they arerebellious... or (and this is quoted frequently), "They went out from us, because theywere not of us.., for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us..."

A S ign Tha t D eliverance Is A t Hand

But personally, in and through all the strife and the division and the separations that I

see going on in churches and fellowships of various kindsI

find real cause for hope andencouragement. I just know that God has a plan... a plan that Is much greater than anyof our plans. I just know that God is working in the earth to bring about truereconciliation in the Family of God; and to bring into being the peace, and the unity, andthe harmony that God is after. And I believe that God's plan is even now being unveiled,and it is working; and the strife and perplexity and upheavals that we see going onabout us, even amongst the dedicated and committed children of God, is an indicationthat the Day of Deliverance for the people of God is nigh at hand. Why do I say this?

Never was the nation of Israel closer to the day of deliverance from E gyptian bondagethan the day that Aaron and Moses stood before Pharaoh and said, "Let my people

go..." And yet the bondage, and the strife, and the turmoil in the people of God wasnever greater than it was in that hour. Furthermore, it got worse, and not better... rightup until the night the children of Israel departed from E gypt!

Never had such frustration and division and distress overtaken the twelve disciples as inthe day and hour when Jesus died on the Cross. And the little flock to whom God hadpromised the Kingdom was scattered far and wide on that dreadful day. Yet it was in


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that very hour that our Lord by His death and by His resurrection would gather themtogether in the unity and harmony of His S pirit.

THE IR TIME O F DE S O LAT IO N W AS B U T TH E B IR TH- P AN GS O F A N EW ORDER !

Ibelieve it is so today. There is a lot of talk of unity, of coming together, of ecumenicism... whether it be out there in the apostate church or amongst God's true

people. And the more we see and hear of it, the more strife and turmoil are we causedto behold, IT IS BUT TH E BIRTH-PANG S OF GOD' S NE W ORD E R!

He is sifting, sifting, sifting, the hearts of men . God is no t in t he leas t in t eres t ed inga t hering t oge t her and joining t oge t her a carnal people, a people filled wi t h t heir own ways, a people of con t en t ion and bi tt erness and s t rife . And when men in theChurch think they can just brush all this under the carpet in the name of "love," or in thename of "submission" to authority, or in the name of maintaining "New TestamentChurch Order," God is quick to come on the scene, with eyes as a flame of fire, and to

devastate and confound the devices of the carnal heart.

Jacob's Happy Family In Canaan

Moved upon by God to come back home, after spending some 20 years or more inHaran with his uncle Laban, Jacob returned with the blessing of God, and settled in theland of Canaan, the land of his fathers, the land that God had promised to give them for their inheritance. Of course, they continued on in the land as "pilgrims and strangers"...for the day of actually possessing their inheritance had not yet arrived.

God had been faithful to the striving, self-seeking Jacob all through the years of his exile;

but now he is home with his family, his very happy family, and dwelling together inpeace in the land of Promise. All living together in communal harmony, and blessing. Allworking together, and knowing happy times together, as the heirs of the blessing thatGod had promised their father Abraham.

But they were still but the stones that Jacob saw at Bethel many years before. TheFamily of God, yes; but not really built together as the true Bethel, the House of God.

Let not God's ministers continue on in their vain delusions any longer. We do not havethe unity of the S pirit and the bond of peace just because we can assemble together under one roof, and sing the same beautiful songs of Zion, and raise our hands together

in praise and worship.It may all look very good to the undiscerning eye. Andoccasionally you will hear remarks like this, when there is a mixing of various

congregations and fellowships: " Isn't it wonderful how God is bringing together the Bodyof Christ... look at this congregation... and all the different churches that arerepresented..."


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S ooner or later they are to discover that there is another upheaval, another trial, another scattering, and great disillusionment sets in. "How long, O Lord," we ask, "Are thesethings to be?"

God lift the veil from our eyes that we might see: it was not a "division" that took place

when suddenly the people of God were scattered; but the "division" was there longbefore they even assembled together in one congregation in the first place. It simplytook these many months or years for the division to become unveiled.

A D ivided Hear t

Again, let us say, God is not in the least interested in His people trying to maintain asemblance of "unity"... if their hearts are divided. He is not in the least interested in

joining flesh to flesh, carnality to carnality... and CALL ING IT TH E UNITY OF TH E S P IR IT. The "unity of the S pirit" means exactly that we are ON E W ITH TH E S P IR IT OFGOD. We have come under His Lordship. He is in charge. He dictates the order and the

worship and the praise of the people of God. He gives the direction in which we are togo as we assemble together in His Name. The members of the Body of Christ cometogether having sought the Lord earnestly... that they might not fail to contribute their portion for the edification of all: whether it be a Word, a S ong, an Utterance... or whether it be to quietly sit there and pray for, and move in union with those whom God is using.

We could go on and on in this... and we all know very well that this type of gathering ispractically unknown in the assembling together of the people of God. We are not talkingabout "the unity of the faith" which is still farther down the road, we are talking about the"unity of the S pirit" which is now within reach of the people of God, regardless of our present understanding of Truth, and of the mysteries of God. All we need to maintain

the "unity of theS

pirit" is a people who, regardless of their present understanding of truth, are committed, yielded, sold out to God, and are seeking Him with all their hearts .Their hearts are united unto Him, and therefore unto one another. And we are exhortedto maintain this kind of unity as God would lead us further and further... even unto "theunity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the S on of God."

But away with the notion that we can keep the unity of the S pirit just because we haveHis gifts and blessings... if the hearts of God's people are set in their own ways, withhearts divided between God and themselves... a little area here for God, and the rest I will take care of myself. A heart for religion, and a heart for the world. A heart for theworship of God in S pirit and in Truth, and a heart for the idols of the heart.., those thingsthat I just must have whether God is for it or against it. A heart for the beautiful songs of Zion, and a heart for the jazz and clanging cymbals of Rock-and-Roll... or perhaps amixture of the two, using the words of Zion and the lyrics of S atan.

A divided heart means a divided life. And many divided hearts gathering together under one roof to worship God... means a divided fellowship. It may not appear that way rightnow. You can sing all the choruses about the Body of Christ and the happy Family of God. But sooner or later it will be manifest for what it is: a group of people with divided


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hearts, divided interests, divided hopes, divided desires... And then one day whensomething drastic happens and the flock is scattered we look about and blame thiselder, or that deacon, or that pastor, and go about looking for a new board, and a newpastor... and start the same proceedings all over again.

In actual fact the "division" was there right from the start, but well glossed over, wellcovered up... until He with eyes as a flame of fire gazed upon them, and everything

went up in smoke because of His searching, penetrating, consuming fire.

But God has a wonderful and a glorious solution to the whole problem; and we see itbeautifully portrayed in the Family of Jacob.

The U nveiling O f The H u man Hear t

Jacob and his family were living together in Canaan, as one big happy family . But likethe pile of stones upon which Jacob had laid his head many years before, they were not

yet "living stones," shaped and fitted together, as the House of God. But this is whatGod had in mind, and God would yet bring it to pass.

If this is the day of the unveiling of Christ, and the joining together of the Body of Christ,it is also the day of the UNV EI LING OF TH E HUMAN H E ART, and the manifestation of the hidden things of darkness that lie concealed in the hearts of God's people.

What is it that begins to unfold the inherent hatred and dissension that lie concealed inthe hearts of Jacob's sons? Nothing less than Jacob's special love for Joseph . Of course it does not seem fair that Jacob should prefer one son above another. But wewant to emphasize in and throughout this whole episode God's dealings with His own

family.

Jesus said, " If any man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him,and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (John 14:23). Does God notlove everybody? Yes, but there is a special love that flows out to the one who lovesHim.., for the simple reason that "deep calleth unto deep." His love for u s wo u ld drawfor t h from o u r hear t s o u r love for Him. And if we respond to His love, and allowourselves to LOV E Him... then there is a further response from His heart. Our love for Him releases the flow, And the mutual love between the Father and His sons will growand grow and grow... until they LOV E , even as He loves...

But rest assured, when this kind of love relationship develops between you and your Lord, there is going to arise great opposition to it from those who love Him not. Thereason is because Love and light are inseparable, and light cannot co-exist withDarkness. Therefore "men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds areevil." Love brings to the light; and light exposes the evil that is there. Repentancewashes away the evil; but if there is no repentance there is great opposition.


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Why was Madame Guyon whom we read about persecuted so much? We can discover no other reason than the fact she loved God with an intense love...--so intense that itexposed the darkness and the evil of men's hearts. Why were Luther and the reformerspersecuted and hunted and hounded, and many of their people tortured and burnt at thestake? Really, for no other reason than the fact that they loved God with all their hearts...

loved Him more than the establishment... more than their Bethel, the House of God, thathad become apostate and corrupt. Why did Cain slay Abel? Because "his own workswere evil, and his brother's were righteous." And why did the religious leaders of the dayslay Jesus, who was the full expression of God in the earth, and manifested the fullnessof love and mercy and truth? S imply because the hearts of men were filled with hatredand iniquity, and the love of God that was revealed in Jesus exposed them.., and inpride of heart they refused to come to the Light for healing and cleansing.

Joseph, very innocently, but as a lover of the truth, would tell his father of the evil deedsof his brothers. This angered them. But more than this we are told that Jacob showedspecial love to Joseph, and this caused them to hate him more.

But not only had Jacob favored Joseph. God did too. God would give him dreams,dreams that had great spiritual meaning; and these served to aggravate the problem stillfurther. Joseph had dreams of preeminence and of lordship. God gave them, so wecannot accuse Joseph of pride or bigotry. In child-like simplicity he told his dreams. Butthis would bring Joseph into still further trouble. God knew it would. But God hadordained a furnace of affliction for Joseph, and God knew how to take care of thesituation.

"And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words" (Gen. 37:8).

You who have known God's special favor and grace upon your life, learn to temper thiswith the realization that the grace and the favor He is showing now, is ordained of Godto be a cushion to lessen the blow, and to make the devastation to be endurable, in thefurnace of affliction that lies before you. As you become aware of this, it may be thatGod will provide the grace now to humble yourself before Him, and to seek Him moreearnestly for grace in this hour, when you feel you need it less. For you need His graceexceedingly, if you find your heart and mind dwelling upon thoughts of Kingdom power and authority and rulership in the Kingdom of God that is about to be revealed!

Now what was God doing in Jacob's family? He was beginning to expose the evil of their hearts; and in bestowing love and favor towards Joseph He was simplymanifesting the evil that was already there in the other brethren. All the while they werethe happy family of Jacob, living in the beautiful land of Canaan. But they had dividedhearts. S ooner or later there would be a confrontation. And it would come throughJoseph the beloved one, and who was on a mission of kindness to his brethren, to seehow they were getting along.

"Here comes this dreamer," they said, "Come let us slay him, and we'll see what willbecome of his dreams..."


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But God was working in their lives, and sovereignly exercising control in the wholematter... and they could not slay Joseph.

We have to know in all our dealings with men of this world, and in all our experiences inlife, that God is behind the scenes working all things together for good "to them that love

God"--and all for His glory. B ut perish the thought that God causes the evil... that Godput that hate and rebellion in the hearts of Jacob's sons, in order to banish Joseph intoE gypt. God has put a hedge about His people, and thwarts the devices of the evil oneon our behalf; and if He sees fit to lower the hedge here and there, as in the case of Job... it is because in His great love and wisdom He is going to frustrate the devices of the evil one, and bring great glory out of it all.

All the brothers were involved in the plot, but some of them had a greater degree of guiltthan the others. To Reuben's credit we have to say that he had planned to rescueJoseph from the pit, and send him back to his father. But when the other boys saw acaravan of merchantmen on their way to E gypt, they realized that perhaps they could

derive a little gain in the matter, and they drew him out of the pit, and sold him to theIshmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.

When iniquity abounds, there is no end to the expression of evil that lies inherent in thehuman heart. First, evil conversation... Then jealousy... Then hatred... Then conspiracyto kill... Then covetousness... Then lying and deception... All this was there in their heart,yet they seemed to be living in harmony, in communal blessing, as one big happy family,in the beautiful land of Canaan!

This was the experience of Jacob's sons. And when their father examines Joseph's coatwhich the boys had taken from him, and dipped in the blood of a goat... Jacob is

completely devastated. "It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him...

Iwill godown into the grave unto my son mourning..." (Gen. 37:33, 35).

But what was God doing at this time? God was preparing a man for the day and hour when He would R E CONC ILE THE FAM ILY OF GOD, to one another, to Jacob, toJoseph, to God Himself.

If God's people could only know this and understand... that the evil that is purposedagainst us can do us no harm whatsoever if we are walking in God's way and doing Hiswill! What a difference it would make in our relationship with God in that hour! If andwhen this happens, God help us to know that He is preparing us for the day and hour when we can come back to our brethren, and bring them into deliverance, For if wereceive all this as from God, then we who are rejected are but released into the oceansof liberty and freedom; while those who are free to go their own willful way are actuallyweaving for themselves a net of great bondage.

Of course when things like this happen there may not be very much desire in our heartsto help our persecutors. There may even be thoughts of vengeance and retaliation. Butlet us be quick to discern the evil of our hearts in that day, lest the enemy succeeds in


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frustrating the good that God has designed in our lives because of the furnace of affliction. It may be hard to discern this, if you see S atan stoking the fires. But let uslearn that S atan doesn't know everything... and it is quite apparent as we read theS criptures that S atan rarely seems to know what he is doing when he afflicts the child of God... he just does not understand the mystery of the Cross!

Joseph may have had very little love for his brethren as he cried and besought themearnestly for mercy. Anticipating the day and hour when he would be able to return tothem and show them mercy and forgiveness... this was probably farthest from histhoughts. But it was in God's thoughts. And when God was through with Joseph hewould be able to love and forgive and show mercy and deliver the whole Family of God.But to fill this role, he must be prepared through hardship, and bitterness, andmisunderstanding, and cruel bondage.

I know that there is the outpouring of God's love in our hearts by the Holy S pirit within us;and we can experience this intermittently, as we know special seasons of God's

blessing in our lives. But God's plan goes much deeper than this, and involves the verychanging of our nature and character within, till LOV E is an inherent part of our being...and we "LOV E ... even as He loved," and "show mercy" even as He showed mercy.

The Vision Tarries

What is our responsibility when the Vision tarries? Blame the Devil for his opposition tous? Or blame ourselves for our lack of initiative and aggressiveness? The prophetHabakkuk gives us the answer, the answer that God gave him in the hour of his ownaffliction:

"THOU

GHIT TA

RR Y,

WA

IT F

OR IT..." (Hab. 2:3).

It seems like vain comfort in the hour of affliction, but this is God's answer. The delay of t he Vision only adds t o t he severi t y of t he afflic t ion. God knows t his; b ut He alsoknows t ha t t he delay of t he Vision will add t o t he charac t er-b u ilding of t he manwho has t he Vision... if he will b ut W AIT F OR THE VISI O N TO B E FU LF ILLED .

To take the Vision in our own hands, and try to make it work, will only add to our problems. And so God's chosen ones, God's Josephs, are handicapped in the matter.S o handicapped are they that they couldn't take things in their own hands even if theytried. It is a sort of a handicap-situation in which they themselves very innocently co-

operated, so they cannot "blame" anyone but themselves.For as they earnestly sought the Lord in earlier days they always said, "Lord I want togo your way... all the way. Hinder any plan or device of my own that would hinder thefull outworking of your purpose in my life. Don't let me find true fulfillment... don't let myministry know any enlargement, except Lord, as you know that I am able to abidefaithful in it, and have the power to overcome the temptations that invariably come to


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that one who is used of God. Release me to accomplish your works in the earth, but donot release me till you have accomplished that needful work in my own life..."

And because we prayed this way in the time of peace and safety, and without anypressure of circumstances... God is faithful in the hour when the pressure is released

upon His people to close His ear, and refuse to hear their pleadings when they cry untoHim, "Lord, take me out of this... I know I prayed that you would have control in allthings, and I covenanted to go your way all the way... and I meant it... but Lord, I didn'tthink it would come to TH IS ... take me out of it..." But God does not hear. He did hear that other prayer of true dedication and commitment that you made in the time of peaceand safety; and now that His hand of trial and testing is heavy upon you, He closes Hisear so He will not hear the cry for release from your commitment.

O yes! He knows what you are saying. But if you really meant what you said back in

those days when you gave Him your all--He will not let the extreme pressures of themoment change His mind concerning you. He loves you too much for that.

And so Joseph is in prison. He cannot go home, even if he wanted to, and repent of hisdreams.

God help us to know that the prison-houses which He ordains for our discipline areordained of Him, that we might bring deliverance to others who are in prison because of their sin and iniquity. God help us to know that the hatred that is hurled against us, is

intended of the Lord to bring forth love and mercy toward them. God help us to knowthat the misunderstandings to which we are subjected are ordained of the Lord that inthe day of our release we might understand and show mercy to those who knew us not,and who in that day will be subjected to misunderstandings and torments and afflictionstoo grievous for them to bear.

Joseph's feet were placed in fetters. But worse than that, his soul was laid in iron.

"Whose feet they hurt with fetters; His soul came into irons" (Psa. 105:18).

This is a more literal translation. Bodily affliction is one thing, and it can be very severe,

But the bondage of the soul can oftentimes be even more severe.

And still the vision tarries. A year goes by... two years... five years... ten years...

But God was with Joseph and caused him to prosper. There is a scripture that says, " I would above all things that you should prosper, and be in health, even as your soulprospers." And what perversion men have made of it! Now don't look up Webster's


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dictionary to get the meaning of the word "prosper"--you had better go to the Bible for that, or you will find yourself in a lot of trouble.

Joseph prospered in a prison-house... because he was there in God's will, was beingdisciplined of the Lord, and God gave him favor with the captain of the guard. He found

Joseph to be a trustworthy and obedientS

LAVE

, and God honored Joseph for hisobedience to his master. Paul had a "prosperous" journey to Rome. I believe he did. Hehad prayed for one, and I believe God granted it. He went there in the will of God.S hipwrecked, of course, and he may have had to float to an island on a plank from thebroken ship. Yet in and through it all it was a prosperous journey, because God waswith him, as God confirmed the Word to the prisoners on the ship, to the sailors, to thecaptain of the soldiers. And when they landed on the island Paul saw the hand of Godat work in healing the sick, and confirming the Word with signs following.

The Family of God - George H. Warnock

PRE FAC E

P risoners O f The Lord

What do we mean, "prisoners," in this day and hour, and in this fair land of ours wherewe can do as we please, and live as we wish, and enjoy the fat of the land?

We are not really talking so much about the first degree of Joseph's imprisonment... hisnatural prison... but the second degree, "His soul was laid in irons..."

We mean that when we take His Name upon us, and dedicate ourselves to do His will...that freedom to do as we wish, to work where we will, to live as we please, to go intoministry for the Lord or work at our jobs, to travel as we will, or to stay home as we will...these are no longer options that are open to us. For God's chosen ones the constraint isat first very grievous. Because "serving the Lord" has taken on a "ministerial"connotation, and you are not really "serving the Lord" in the concept of many unless youare literally wearing yourself out for God. The world is your parish. The air-waves arethe media by which you must send the Gospel to the four corners of the earth. Thefields are white unto harvest, and you consider yourself to be lord of the harvest.

We know that God does use many, many methods to send forth the Truth, and we are

not criticizing any of these methods if God has ordained them. But before we can be thekind of "servants" that God wants us to be He wants us to know that first of all we are"sons" in Father's family; and as such we are not FR EE to do as we see fit, just becausewe are "sons of the King." This seems to he the general concept. Rather, "sons of theKing" must be subjected to a far greater measure and kind of discipline than ordinarycitizens of the land. Their training is much more specialized, and the discipline that theymust come under is much more stringent than what is involved in the upbringing of ordinary children. They are destined to rule and reign... and if they do not learn special


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in rich men... either in church life, or in your personal dealings in the world. God doeshave stewards in His House, who recognize that all they have is the Lord's. But our confidence must be in God alone, and not in some affluent steward. God often has tosend the man of God to the house of a widow woman for bread and water. We thankthe Lord for the ravens He once used; but we must not lament when they stop flying

over our head and dropping our daily bread. They must not become objects of esteemor veneration. God put it into their heads to feed the prophet for a season. But if they cutoff the flow of provision, they are not able to sever our contact with E l S haddai, the Godof provision and supply. The God who provided the spring, and who sent the ravens, isstill alive, and watching over His chosen ones.

P haraoh's D reams

Two full years have gone by. E nough time for Joseph to lose all confidence in the butler,and to renew his confidence in God alone.

Then one day it happened. He had been in prison (or at least in captivity) for thirteenyears. His day had arrived.

It was a day like any other day. No premonition that his days of imprisonment were justabout over. No sign that things were really getting better and better. It was a day likeany other prison-day; the monotonous and routine duties of the prison-life lay beforehim as he awakened in the morning...

But suddenly the prison doors swing open, and one of Pharaoh's servants stands beforehim and orders him to shave, clean-up, and put on some clean clothes. He has anappointment with Pharaoh, the lord of the land of E gypt.

Joseph stands before Pharaoh and hears the king of E gypt with troubled heart relatingto him his strange dreams, about thin cows and fat cows... thin ears of corn, and fatears of corn. The same enablement that he knew in years past was there in his heartand mind. The prophetic mantle which he had known as a young lad at home with hisfather, was still upon him... scarcely used in those thirteen years of prison-life, butnonetheless vital and genuine; and no doubt much more pure than it would have been if he had gone about the land those thirteen years giving revelations and prophecies andinterpreting dreams and visions.

God's prisoners are not "out of the ministry." Rather, they are in extra-curricular training

for a more pure and more vital form of ministry.

Do not fret about "fulfilling" your ministry. But do be very concerned lest you go forth inministry unprepared, and without thorough immunization to the tests and temptationsthat come to one who has found popularity with people, and praise from the lips of men.It is more important that you be dedicated to the will of God, than that you be dedicatedto the fulfillment of a ministry, For if you are dedicated to do the will of God... and if this


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should lead you to a prison-house... then the ministry that comes forth from the prison-house will be pure, vital, timely, powerful, and profitable to the Kingdom of God.

The dreams were about fat cows, and skinny cows... fat ears of corn, and skinny,blasted ears of corn. The skinny cows ate up the fat cows but remained as skinny as

ever, and the skinny ears of corn devoured the fat ones, and remained as skinny asever. Pharaoh knew that only God could give dreams like that.

A P u re Minis t ry Is To Come For t h

One thing that stands out in importance in the lives of God's chosen ones in their pursuitof the will of God, is the T IMING. Jesus would say, "My time is not yet come..." With thegeneral run of ministry in the church it could be said, "Their time is always ready..." Infact that is considered to be a sign of their spirituality--always ready, always anxious tobe out there doing something for God. I am a teacher, I want to keep busy teaching. I am a prophet, I want to be out there prophesying. I am an evangelist, I must not have

any idle moments... there are open doors everywhere...I

must get going...

But how wonderful it is when we begin to learn a little of God's ways, and we discover that God's WAY S and God's T IMING are as vital to the W ILL OF GOD, as theperformance of the thing that God has in mind. S o few there are who recognize this.Perhaps there is much good ministry in the land. It is genuine enough. But a lot of it isnot related to the moving of God's S pirit. There are specific needs amongst God'speople. And God has specific ministry to meet those needs. And how we need to learnto move in coordination and conformity to the sovereign moving of the Holy S pirit in themidst of the Church, in order to meet those needs.

We are coming into a new phase of life and ministry in the Church of Jesus Christ,wherein the Holy S pirit will be recognized by the people of God and by the ministry asthe Lord of the Church in the midst of His people. Christ at God's right hand is the Lordof the Church; and the Holy S pirit living and abiding in His Church, is the LORD IN TH E MIDS T OF H IS P E OPL E . And He will yet exercise that Lordship in our midst.

Of course, this is the Holy of Holies realm, and we know that all of God's people will notwalk in this realm. But some will--some must enter in. The Holy Place is the realm of giftand ministry, and is essential for the nourishing of the Body of Christ. And we certainlymust go THROUGH this realm to enter into the HOL IES T of all. There is no back door to the HOL IES T OF ALL!

People say to us, "We need these gifts... we need these ministries..." Of course weneed His gifts! But usually what they mean is, "We only need His gifts of power," andthey fail to realize that the greater gifts are those which AR E S TAND ING B E FOR E THE VEI L AND S HOW ING GOD' S P E OPL E THE E NTRANC E TO TH E BE TTE R WAY, TH E MOR E EX CE LLE NT WAY! They stand at the Golden Altar... the place of intercessionand prayer on behalf of God's people; or they seek to trim the lamps of the Candlestick,and furnish them with oil, that God's people might know how to E NTE R B E YOND TH E


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VEI L! Not the Veil that was rent on the Cross many years ago, but in reality that sameVeil, though it is now on the hearts of God's people. And God's precious gifts are beingministered by His chosen ones... words of wisdom, words of knowledge, words of faith,words of prophecy: words of revelation by the S pirit to encourage His people to enter THE HOL IES T OF ALL! These gifts are the CHANN E LS of Truth; but now we must

move forward to theS

OURCE

. They are but the ME AN

Sto the

END. They are intendedto lead us into abiding, fruitful UN ION W ITH H IM WHO IS THE S OURC E of every

spiritual gift and grace. We are talking about giving up the PART FOR TH E WHOL E , of GO ING FORTH FROM TH E LESSE R R E ALM TO TH E GR E AT E R, and into union withHIM WHO IS THE S OURC E !

A pure ministry unto the Lord is going to come forth. Many who are chosen of the Lordfor this hour are not particularly attempting to fulfil their ministry. They have chosenrather to be obedient to God, and this has served to purify their ministry unto the Lord.

And therefore they are precious and peculiar in His sight. As it was in Israel of old, thetrue priests of the Lord have no inheritance of their own. They seek only to bring others

into their particular inheritance in God. They themselves can have no inheritance... nokingdom that they might build... no congregations or groups of people that they can call"theirs"... nothing that they can call by their name, and leave as an inheritance to others.

And why did God deny them all this? Because God desired that He alone would be their inheritance!

"Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: TH E LORD IS THEI RINHE R ITANC E " (Deut. 18:2).

The Purpose of God... the Will of God... the S ervant of God... the Timing of God. Todaywas that day when all these aspects of the workings of God would meet together! And

by theS

pirit of revelation Joseph not only clearly interpreted the dreams, but withdiscretion and spiritual understanding gave counsel and guidance to the king of E gypt,as to what he must do to save the land from starvation. There would be seven years of great plenty, followed by seven years of great dearth. The dearth would be so intensethat the seven bountiful years that they were about to experience would not even beknown or recognized when the days of famine were over... and the land would be poor and devastated. But there would be provision for the people in that day, because of theprovision that they were to make. Therefore Joseph advised, "Choose out a man, a manof wisdom and discretion, and have him lay up in store the bounty of the land for thegrievous days of famine that lie before us."

Pharaoh and his servants knew immediately it was the voice of God. There was nodoubt in their minds as to what they must do. "JO SE PH, YOU AR E THE MAN!"

God's P erspec t ive

"Moreover He called for a famine upon the land; He brake the whole staff of bread. H E SE NT A MAN before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant, whose feet theyhurt with fetters: he was laid in iron; until the time that His word came: the word of the


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LORD tried him. The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people and let himgo free. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance: to bind hisprinces at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom" (Psa. 105:17-22).

If we could only see things from God's standpoint, what a difference it would make in

our own perspective! But God does not allow this to happen until the prison-days areover. Were He to do so, perhaps we would very likely frustrate in our own lives thebeautiful work that God had in mind. If I knew that thirteen years down the road therewould be a great deliverance, a great visitation... how would I react? Make myself ascomfortable as I can for the next thirteen years, and then look to God for the help Hepromised? Or would I really live in hope and expectation?

"How long, O Lord, before you come forth and manifest your salvation?"

"Why do you tarry so lo

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Warnock - 1 the Family of God -Beauty for Ashes