George H. Warnock — Ecclesiology
b6 — Who Are You?
Nature of the Church
Church as Warring Army
Warnock defines the church’s destiny in military terms: “The Church of Jesus Christ was destined and equipped with the armor of God to be a warring Church.” (ch. 1). He grounds this in Christ’s promise: “I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18), ch. 1.
Church as Blinded Samson
The present condition of the church is likened to the bound and blinded Samson: “Right now we are almost ashamed to admit that we are part of the ‘Church’ when we see ourselves like Samson: bound by the world-systems of the Philistines, grinding out the corn for the enemies of God, and so blinded in our hearts that we think we are victorious and triumphant in the midst of it all.” (ch. 1)
Restoration is promised: “when her Nazarite vow of separation unto the Lord is renewed, and her hair of glory is restored… when she is finally prepared to lay down her life, if so be she might know the power of the risen Christ working within her.” (ch. 1)
Interpretive note: Warnock posits a bipolar ecclesiology — the destined warring church vs. the actual defeated church — with Samson as the controlling type. Victory-through-death is the pattern: “he slew more in his death, than he had slain throughout his whole life.”
Church as Temple of God
“Through eternal ages God has desired a dwelling place for Himself, and that is why He made man in the beginning.” (ch. 2)
The church as temple is where God’s glory returns: “Let us continue to cry out for His glory to return to His Temple… but beloved, let us understand the implications of God’s glory coming back to dwell in the midst of His people. He can bless us from Heaven… But when He comes in the fullness of His abiding Presence in our midst, IT IS THAT HE MIGHT BE OUR CAPTAIN AND LORD.” (ch. 2)
Judgment begins at the temple: “God says that His judgments must first begin at the house of God.” (ch. 2)
Church as Bride of the Lamb
Referencing Rev. 19:7-9: “when ‘His wife hath made herself ready’ and is presented to Him as His spotless Bride. She is ‘arrayed in fine linen, clean and white’; and together they sit down at ‘the marriage supper of the Lamb’.” (ch. 7)
“The bride, the Lamb’s wife” is described as “that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God” and “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (ch. 7, Rev. 21:2, 9-10)
Church as Corporate Manchild
The end-time church is described as a corporate entity: “It is ONE but many… a corporate MAN… the corporate MAN that Paul speaks about in Eph. 4:13, a ‘perfect MAN’… a people walking in such union and harmony with Christ, that they are seen as ONE MAN.” (ch. 7, Rev. 12:1-5)
“Who is this manchild, that is caught up to God and His throne? They are vessels of Mercy. They overcome, even as their Lord and Saviour overcame. They walk in Heaven, even as they move upon the earth… as Jesus did when He was here.” (ch. 7)
Church Government and Hierarchy
Early Pentecost as Normative Church Model
Warnock quotes extensively from Frank Bartleman on the Azusa Street revival as a model of church without hierarchy:
“We had no pope or hierarchy. We were brethren. We had no human program; the Lord Himself was leading. We had no priest class, nor priest craft. These things have come in later, with the apostatizing of the movement. We did not even have a platform or pulpit in the beginning. All were on a level. The ministers were servants, according to the true meaning of the word. We did not honor men for their advantage in means or education, but rather for their God-given gifts.” (ch. 2, quoting Frank Bartleman, “Another Wave Rolls In”)
“We were delivered right there from ecclesiastical hierarchism and abuse.” (ch. 2, Bartleman)
Warnock links the movement’s decay directly to the introduction of hierarchy. He cites Jer. 5:30-31: “Now a ‘wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land. The prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means, and my people love to have it so.‘” (ch. 2, via Bartleman)
Interpretive note: Azusa Street functions as normative prototype for church government — direct guidance by the Spirit, no institutional hierarchy, all believers on equal footing. The apostatizing of early Pentecostalism is directly attributed to the introduction of ecclesiastical structures.
Judgment on Failed Prophets and Leaders
Warnock describes the spiritual famine that comes upon false prophets: “The prophets and the seers will be ashamed to be called one of God’s ministers, or a leader of the people.” (ch. 2, Isa. 3:7; Mic. 3:6-7)
He condemns the commercialization of prophetic ministry: illustrates with “Now everyone in the audience who wants me to pronounce the blessing of the Lord upon your life, just stand and come forward with a thousand dollars, and God will give you the blessing of Abraham.” (ch. 2 — as illustration of abuse, not Warnock’s own words)
Babylon as False Church
Definition of Babylon
“Any teaching, any structure, any system (name or no name, denominational or non-denominational) that promotes any kind of mediator between the individual and his God, other than the one Mediator, who is the Lord Jesus Christ… you can be sure it bears the stamp of Babylon.” (ch. 2)
“God continues to cry, ‘Come out of her, my people…‘” (ch. 2, Rev. 18)
The Babel Dynamic: Name-Making and Control
“The purpose of the first Babel was not to find God, but to make a NAME for themselves and to promote unity.” (ch. 5, Gen. 11:4)
“Babylon wants to keep the people of God unified under some system, to keep them together, and to keep them under her control… The purpose of true ministry before the Lord is to bring this about, to enhance one’s individual freedom and relationship with the Lord. The spirit of Babylon would seek to extend the lordship of MAN, under the guise of Divine order.” (ch. 2)
Church Structure as Brick vs. Living Stone
“They use ‘brick’ instead of ‘stone’. Not each stone carefully shaped and chiseled by the hand of God and His redeeming, transforming grace… and fitted together to form ‘a habitation of God by the Spirit’… But they are ‘brick’, cast into a mould, and therefore all the same, all in strict conformity to the rules and regulations of the ‘Church’.” (ch. 5)
“Your conscience toward God, and your relationship with Him is only incidental. As long as you give unswerving loyalty to the CHURCH, the SOCIETY, the DENOMINATION, the ORGANIZATION,— whatever it may be called… this is all that really matters.” (ch. 5)
The New World Church (Ecumenism as Antichrist System)
“This new Babylon that is coming forth out of the ecumenical movement, with Roman Catholics and Protestants working together (and often with the support of evangelicals and the Charismatic Movement), will be an awesome counterfeit of the Body of Christ in the earth.” (ch. 5)
The false church consists of tare-like religious people: “NOW IF THE WHEAT SPEAKS OF THE BLOOD-WASHED PEOPLE OF GOD, THOSE WHO TRULY KNOW HIM… WE KNOW THAT THE TARES ARE A RELIGIOUS PEOPLE, WHO PASS OFF AS TRUE CHRISTIANS.” (ch. 5, Matt. 13:30)
Warnock identifies Constantine as the historical hinge-point: “Satan realized he could not destroy the Church that walked in the way of the Cross, and he came up with a new policy that was designed to cause ‘the offence of the Cross’ to cease… by bringing men of God into positions of authority and esteem in the eyes of the world.” (ch. 5)
Unity of the Spirit vs. Babel Unity
“It is not just ‘unity’ that God is after. Babylon wants that too. God wants ‘the unity of the Spirit.‘” (ch. 3, Eph. 4:1-15)
“It means we are to be speaking what He is speaking, doing what He is doing, protesting against the evil in His people when He is protesting… God wants us to be ONE in the Spirit; and like the dove which represents Him, he wants us to fly away from it all when His people refuse to walk with Him.” (ch. 3)
Baptism
Baptism as Identification with the Cross
Warnock describes baptism as the decisive sacramental moment of severance from the world: “Water baptism (especially here in the Western world) is presented as a beautiful ceremony, and the crowds are especially invited to come and witness it. It can only be because the true meaning of baptism is not known or realized, or fulfilled in the lives of God’s people… In that day it meant a ‘cutting off.’ It meant in actual fact and experience, identification with the Cross of Christ. ‘Circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: buried with Him in baptism…‘” (ch. 4, Col. 2:11-12)
Baptism is simultaneously a marriage ceremony: “It was in fact a marriage ceremony in which you said, ‘I take you, Lord Jesus, to be my lawfully wedded Husband, to have and to hold, to love and to obey… and forsaking all others…‘” (ch. 4)
“The soldiers in God’s army have got to experience the full implications of baptism… identification with Christ in the cutting off of the old Adamic life, that we might rise to walk with Him ‘in newness of life.‘” (ch. 4, Rom. 6)
Interpretive note: Warnock connects baptism typologically to Israel’s crossing of the Jordan and the circumcision at Gilgal. He argues the Spirit-baptism attains full power only when accompanied by the “baptism of the weakness of the flesh.”
Mission and Evangelism
Critique of Entertainment Evangelism
Warnock explicitly rejects entertainment methods as incompatible with the nature of the gospel: “Gone would be the entertainment and the gimmicks that are used today to bring people to Jesus! Satan fears nothing when he sees the people of God going forth TO BATTLE with carnal weapons… musical groups doing their thing to the applause of large audiences… rock musicians skillfully using the art of Satan all nicely cloaked with words about Jesus and Heaven and the Bible… drama troupes coming forth from missionary training centers… puppet ministries acting out the gospel… magicians showing their illusionary tricks…” (ch. 2)
“You cannot talk men out of their blindness… and certainly you are not going to do it by entertaining them with frivolity.” (ch. 3)
The Threefold Mission Mandate
Warnock grounds his missiology in Eph. 3:8-10, identifying three dimensions:
- “To preach the unsearchable riches of Christ”
- “To make all men SEE what is involved in the fellowship of the gospel”
- “To make known in heavenly places the wisdom of God” (ch. 6)
“The ministration of the gospel goes far, far beyond declaring a message, or writing and talking about it. It involves a people penetrating the world of darkness by coming into association with the powers of the heavenly realm.” (ch. 6)
Heavenly Identity as Prerequisite for Earthly Power
From Acts 19:13-16 (sons of Sceva): “JESUS I KNOW, AND PAUL I KNOW; BUT WHO ARE YE?” — Warnock draws a distinction between the true church (known in heaven) and the false church that merely uses correct terminology:
“IF WE ARE NOT KNOWN AND RECOGNIZED UP THERE, WE ARE NOT GOING TO BE OF ANY EARTHLY GOOD DOWN HERE.” (ch. 6)
“There is a FALSE CHURCH out there that understands the correct terminology, and know about Paul and Jesus… but not walking in the Way of the Cross and in the Light of Jesus. They are not known UP THERE, and their mission is going to end in disaster DOWN HERE.” (ch. 7)
Church and Christ
Christ Identifies with the Suffering Church
“EVEN NOW ON THE THRONE OF GLORY HE IDENTIFIES HIMSELF WITH A SUFFERING LAMB-PEOPLE IN THE EARTH. He hears and feels those blasphemous attacks against His suffering Church in the earth, because He is joined unto them by one Spirit.” (ch. 7)
Warnock cites Acts 9:4 as proof: “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?” — the persecuted church is Christ himself. (ch. 7)
The Lamb as King: Transferring Character to the Church
“HE REIGNS AS THE LAMB, BECAUSE IT IS HIS INTENTION TO BRING FORTH THE CHARACTER OF THE LAMB IN US, THAT WE TOO MIGHT REIGN WITH HIM, IN HIS THRONE (Rev. 3:21).” (ch. 7)
Warnock notes the Lamb is mentioned 28 times in Revelation versus the Lion once — concluding that the church is called to reign not in power but in meekness. (ch. 7)