All my dear friends,—Keep up your heads above the waters and the sea, in which there is a tempest. Fear not the devil, nor all his darts nor weapons, nor all his soldiers and instruments that he keeps in league with; but mind the power of God and the light of Jesus, and be clothed with, and put on the armour of light [Rom 13:12], and the helmet of salvation, and the breast-plate of righteousness, the shield of faith [Eph 6:14,16f], in which ye have victory [1 Jn 5:4], and unity [Eph 4:13], and access to God [Rom 5:2]. And dwell in patience and love to God, and one towards another; for the lamb must have the victory over them all, the wild beasts in the field or wilderness, who are in the fall from God. And though these beasts' horns be never so long, yet the lamb shall conquer them; who gets the victory, and overcomes [Rev 17:14], and takes away the sin [John 1:29]. And the lamb hath wisdom, the lamb hath power; follow him, then ye shall have his mind, wisdom, and patience; and in that ye follow the spirit of truth, and are led by that [John 16:13/Rom 8:14] (against which there is no law [Gal 5:23]) in which there is life and peace, and fellowship with the son and the Father, and all the saints, and their words. Therefore live in the truth, and then ye live in Christ the way [John 14:6], that lives, who was before the untruth was, in which the many ways in the wilderness are. And living in the truth ye live in the love and unity, yea, in that which was before the enmity was, and imperfection; in which truth is all perfection of love, and life, and light, which light, <137> life, and truth is the way to God, in whom the church is which Christ is the head of [Col 1:18]. And who come to this church they come into God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; and who come to God, they must come into the light, life, and truth. And that is the way in which people are renewed into God's image of holiness and righteousness again [Col 3:10/Eph 4:24], in which God is seen. Which way is out of the ways of man, that is fallen from the image of God's righteousness and true holiness; in which way are all the gadders abroad from God, out of the life.
G. F.
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George Fox (1624 - 1691)
Was an English Dissenter and a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends. This was a group the Lord started through the ministry of George Fox. God called him apart from all other forms of Christendom in his day because of the lack of Biblical obedience and holiness.The emphasis in George Fox's ministry was firstly prophetic. He called out the people of God to show them that they had the Holy Spirit of God and could be taught of Him and not to solely rely on the teachings of ecclesiastical leaders. Secondly, he spoke directly to many ministers in his day to show them they were hirelings and did not have a true shepherds heart for the people of God rather they were seeking after financial gain.
Founder of the Society of Friends (Quakers). George Fox was born in Drayton-in-the-Clay, Leicestershire, England, the son of Puritan parents. Little is known of his early life, apart from what he wrote in his journal: "In my very young years, I had a gravity and stayedness of mind and spirit not usual in young children. Insomuch that, when I saw old men behave lightly and wantonly toward each other, I had a dislike thereof raise in my heart, and I said within myself, `If ever I come to be a man, surely I shall not do so, nor be so wanton.'"
At the age of 19, he gained deep, personal assurance of his salvation and began to travel as an itinerant preacher, seeking a return to the simple practices of the New Testament. He abhorred technical theology, and preached a faith borne of experience, freshly fed and guided by the immediate presence of the Holy Spirit.
Fox was persecuted almost daily, yet his power of endurance was phenomenal. He was beaten with dogwhips, knocked down with fists and stones, brutally struck with pikestaves, hard beset by mobs, incarcerated eight times in the pestilential jails, prisons, castles and dungeons--yet he went straightforward with his mission as though he had discovered some fresh courage which made him impervious to man's inhumanity.
He undertook as far as possible to let the new life in Christ take its own free course of development in his ministry. He shunned rigid forms and static systems, and for that reason he refused to head a new sect or to start a new denomination, or to begin a new church. He would not build an organization of any kind. His followers at first called themselves "Children of the Light," and later adopted the name "The Society (or Fellowship) of Friends."
Fox preached and traveled for 40 years throughout England, Scotland, Holland, and America. His life demonstrated the truth of his famous saying, "One man raised by God's power to stand and live in the same spirit the apostle and prophets were in, can shake the country for ten miles around."