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 though 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 the 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 therof 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
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 and on his back, just behind the last two horses' heels.
He was 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 the horses were
disciplined and would not move until 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 know
nothing of the harness, 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 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 and 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. There 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 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, 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 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 become 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 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 mad me to
know that in the day when people are weak and famished in their spirits
in the time of spiritual famine, that those who have lost their own
wills, and have come into the secret place of the most High, into the
utter confinement of His perfect will, shall have plenty of the corn
of Heaven, and a never ending flow of fresh streams of revelation by His
Spirit. Thus the vision ended.

INTERPRETATION OF THE VISION

"Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that
readeth it," (Hab. 2:2).
"Harness the horses: and get up, ye horsemen," (Jer. 46:4).
I am sure that many of you who can hear what the Spirit saith to the
Church, have already seen what God was showing in the vision. But let me
make it plain. Being born into the Family of God, feeding in the
green pastures and drinking of the many streams of the unfolding revelation
of His purpose is fine and wonderful. But it is not enough. While we
were children, young and undisciplined, limited only by the outer fence
of the Law that ran around the limits of the pastures (that kept us
from getting into the dark pastures of poison weeds), He was content to
watch us develop and grow into young manhood, spiritually speaking. But
the time came to those who fed in His pastures, drank from His streams,
when they were to be brought in discipline or "child-training" for the
purpose of making them mature sons. Many of the children today
cannot understand why some of those who have put on the harness of God
cannot get excited by the many religious games and the playful antics
of the immature. They wonder why the disciplined ones run not after
every new revelation or feed on every opportunity to engage in seemingly
"good and profitable" religious activities. They wonder why some will
not race with them in their frantic effort to build great works and
great and notable ministries. They cannot understand the simple fact
that this Company of saints is waiting for the voice of the Master, and
they do not hear God in all this outward activity. They will move in
their own time, when the Master speaks. But not before, though many
temptations come from the playful colts. And the colts cannot understand
why those who seemingly appear to have great abilities and strength are not
putting it to good use. "Get the carriage on the road," they say, but
the disciplined ones, those in God's harness, know better than to move
before they hear the voice of the Master. They will move in His time,
with purpose and great responsibility.

And the Lord mad me to know that there were many whom He had brought
into training who had rebelled against the discipline, the chastising
of the Father. They could not be trusted with the great responsibility
of mature sonship, so He let them go back to their freedom, back to
their religious activities and revelations and gifts. They are still
His people, still feeding in His pastures, but He has set them aside
from the great purposes for this end of the age. So they revel in
their freedom, feeling that they were the Chosen Ones with the many
streams of living water, not knowing that they have been set aside as
unfit for His great work in this end of the age.

He showed me that though the chastising seemeth grievous for the time,
and the discipline hard to endure, yet the result with all the glory of
sonship is worth it all, and the glory to follow far exceeds the suffering
we endure. And though some lose even their lives in this training, yet they
will share alike in the glory of His eternal purposes. So faint not
saints of God, for it is the Lord that doth bring thee into confinement,
and not thine enemy. It is for they good, and for His glory, so endure
all things with praises and thanksgiving that he hath counted thee worthy
to share His glory! Fear thou not the whip in His hand, for it is not
to punish thee, but to correct and train thee, that thou mightest come
into submission to His will, and be found in His likeness in that hour.
Rejoice thou in thy trials, in all thy tribulations, and glory though in
His cross, and in the confining limitations of His harness, for He hath
chosen thee and He hath taken upon Himself the responsibility of keeping
thee strong and well fed. So lean thou upon Him, and trust not in thine
own ability and thine own understanding. So shalt thou be fed, and His
hand shall be upon thee, and His glory shall overshadow thee and shall
flow through thee as it goes forth to cover the earth. Glory to God!
Bless the Lord, He's wonderful? Let Him be Lord of your life, friends,
and complain not at that which he bringeth to pass in your life.

PLENTY IN THE TIME OF FAMINE

For in the hour when famine sweeps the land, he shall feed by His own hand
those who are submitted to His perfect will, and who dwell in the secret
place of the Most High. When terror stalks the land, those in His harness
shall not be afraid, for they shall feel His bit and bridle and know
the guidance of His Spirit. When others are weak and frail and fearful,
there shall be those who shall be strong in the power of His might, and
shall lack for no good thing. In the hour when the traditions of the
religious systems have proven false, and their streams have dried up,
then His Chosen Ones shall speak forth with the true Word of the Lord.
So rejoice, sons of God, that you have been chosen by His grace for
this great work in this last hour.

The fence which kept the colts in their own meadows and their own pastures
mean nothing to the team in the harness, for the gates open to them, and
they go forth pulling the King's carriage into many strange and wonderful
places. They do not stop to eat the poison weeds of sin, for they
feed only in the Master's stable. These fields they trample under their
feet as they go forth on the King's business. And so to those who are
brought into absolute subjection to His will, there is no law. For they
move in the Grace of God, led only by His Spirit where all things are
lawful but not all things are expedient. This is a dangerous realm for the
undisciplined, and many have perished in sin as they leaped over the
fence without His harness and His bridle. Some have thought of themselves
as being completely harnessed and submissive to Him, only to find that
in some avenue of their life there dwelled rebellion and self-will.
Let us wait before Him until He puts His noose around us and draws us to
His place of training. And let us learn of the dealings of God and the
movings of His Spirit until at last we feel His harness drop about us,
and hear His voice guiding us. Then there is safety from the traps and
pitfalls of sin, and then shall we abide in His House forever!

The Harness of the Lord.......written by Bill Britton