George H. Warnock — Pneumatology
b6 — Who Are You?
Baptism in the Holy Spirit
Warnock affirms the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a genuine experience of empowerment, but inseparably links it to the way of the cross and the weakening of the flesh:
“We thrill at the thought that the baptism of the Holy Spirit means endowment with power. It is all of that. But most of us who have received that experience have been disappointed to find that the strength of the old Adamic nature remained strong within us, and that many times we were impotent in the face of the foe. It can only be because we have not walked in the pathway of the Cross.” — Ch. 4
“If we have received a baptism of the Spirit, but have not received a baptism of the weakness of our flesh, we will know very little of the baptism of power. In the fullness of this baptism God would weaken us, that we might know only the strength and the power of the Lord. If the Spirit of God has His Lordship in our lives, He will lead us into the way of the Cross; and if we refuse that way, we will never learn to walk in the Spirit.” — Ch. 4
Interpretation: Warnock situates Spirit-baptism within a sanctification framework. Power from the Spirit operates through human weakness, not alongside fleshly strength. This distinguishes him from a purely charismatic ‘power-for-ministry’ view.
Sanctification: the Spirit of Judgment and Burning
“God’s Holy Spirit has been given to us to make us HOLY; and His people are yet to become ‘holiness unto the LORD.’ How and when is this to happen? ‘When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion… by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning’ (Isa. 4:4). We are not going to do it… but only by submitting ourselves to the SPIRIT OF JUDGMENT, and THE SPIRIT OF BURNING.” — Ch. 2
“Then will the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives be a flaming fire that will shine forth in this world of sin and darkness. ‘And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night’ (Isa. 4:5).” — Ch. 2
Warnock also issues a direct appeal:
“Lord, baptize us afresh — with the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire!” — Ch. 2
Interpretation: Warnock teaches a radical purifying pneumatology. The Spirit acts not only comfortingly but as judgment and fire, cleansing the church of its mixture with the flesh. Isa. 4:4 is his key text for the eschatological work of the Spirit.
Continuationism: The Azusa Street Testimony
Warnock quotes at length from Frank Bartleman’s account of the Azusa Street revival (Los Angeles):
“The spirit of song given from God in the beginning was like the Aeolian harp in its spontaneity and sweetness. In fact it was the very breath of God, playing on human heart strings, or human vocal chords. The notes were wonderful in sweetness, volume and duration. In fact they were oft-times humanly impossible. It was indeed ‘singing in the Spirit’.” — Ch. 2 (quoting Frank Bartleman, Another Wave Rolls In)
“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. All was spontaneous, ordered of the Spirit… Those were Holy Ghost meetings, led of the Lord.” — Ch. 2 (quoting Frank Bartleman)
“When God spoke, we all obeyed. It seemed a fearful thing to hinder or grieve the Spirit… God was in His holy temple. It was for man to keep silent.” — Ch. 2 (quoting Frank Bartleman)
Warnock’s own position:
“I am not saying, ‘let’s go back to Pentecost.’ I am saying, ‘Let us GO ON!’ But if we are to GO ON, we must GO BACK to that dedication and commitment that they knew in those days.” — Ch. 2
“Pentecost was a harvest of ‘firstfruits’. If the glory we once knew was ‘firstfruits’ …then we anticipate that it was but the foretaste of the glory that we shall know at harvest time, at the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Ingathering.” — Ch. 2
Interpretation: Warnock is explicitly continuationist. The Pentecostal experiences of Azusa Street are normative as ‘firstfruits,’ but the eschatological fullness of the Spirit exceeds even those experiences. Cessationism is entirely absent from his thought.
Operation of the Spirit: Power through Weakness
“When Paul said, ‘The Spirit helpeth our infirmities’ (Rom. 8:26), I understand it means literally: ‘The Spirit joins His help to our weakness.’ He does not join Himself to the strong, high-places of our nature… He joins His help to our weakness. It is this that makes us strong — ‘Strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.‘” — Ch. 4
“God hath chosen the FOOLISH things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the WEAK things of the world to confound the things which are mighty… THAT NO FLESH SHOULD GLORY IN HIS PRESENCE (1 Cor. 1:28-29). That’s what the Day of the LORD is all about.” — Ch. 4
Unity of the Spirit
“It is not just ‘unity’ that God is after. Babylon wants that too. God wants ‘the unity of the Spirit.’ He requires that we walk in union with the Spirit of Christ. This 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.” — Ch. 3 (cf. Eph. 4:1-15)
“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
Interpretation: The Spirit is here compared to a dove — an ancient Christian symbol for the Holy Spirit — and the unity God seeks is spiritual and organic, not institutional (the latter being ‘Babel’).
Gifts of the Spirit
“The Lord has been faithful to enrich His people with spiritual gifts and enablements. These enablements are like the faculties of the human body: eyes to see what God is revealing, ears to hear what God is saying, hands to do and perform what God is doing. Too often has there been a very mechanical operation of the gifts, because people are taught ‘how to do it’. But as God’s people are nurtured with truth, the gift they have from God will issue forth in the beauty of His Life.” — Ch. 4
On prophecy specifically:
“When you hear a prophecy it is generally not too difficult to discern whether God has spoken, or if the one speaking has been taught HOW to prophesy.” — Ch. 4
“Amos said he could not help but prophesy, because he heard from God — and as one is filled with fear when the lion roars, so he says, ‘I have to prophesy, because the Lord GOD hath spoken’ (See Amos 3:8).” — Ch. 4
Interpretation: Warnock draws a sharp distinction between taught/mechanical exercise of gifts and organic, Spirit-life-driven gift operation. Gifts are genuine living manifestations of the Spirit — not learned techniques.
The Spirit as Revealer of the Gospel
“‘For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God’ (1 Cor. 2:10). Did you notice why God gave us His Holy Spirit? That He might search out the deep things of God!” — Ch. 6
“The gospel is not just a message declared… IT IS A SECRET REVEALED. For the word ‘mystery’ means ‘secret’… Scales have to be removed from blinded eyes before men are able to ‘SEE what is the fellowship of the mystery’. The hearts of men have got to be pierced by the sword of the Spirit before they are able to SEE. ‘But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit’ (1 Cor. 2:7-10).” — Ch. 6
Praying in the Holy Spirit
“We would know how to give ourselves to the Spirit of God, that He might through us make ‘intercession for the saints according to the will of God’. We would learn how to ‘pray in the Holy Spirit’: ‘fervent’ prayers, ‘hot’ prayers, that are baptized with the fire of Heaven… prayers that reach the throne of God.” — Ch. 6
Interpretation: ‘Praying in the Spirit’ for Warnock is not a technique but a fruit of the cross-path: only those who have learned to walk in the wisdom of the cross truly penetrate the heavens in prayer.
Lying to the Holy Spirit
“Peter told them that they ‘lied not to men, but to the Holy Ghost’! In their silence concerning what they did, they were giving the impression they were giving their all as the others were doing. They were lying to the Holy Ghost!” — Ch. 2 (concerning Ananias and Sapphira, Acts 5)
“I really believe if God’s glory were to suddenly come into our midst in this hour, we would have multitudes falling dead in the pulpit or in the aisles of our churches, as happened to Ananias and Sapphira in the early Church.” — Ch. 2
Interpretation: Warnock uses Ananias and Sapphira to illustrate the holiness of the Spirit in the community: where God’s glory dwells in His people, deception before the Spirit is life-threatening.