Dear friends,—I was moved to write these things to you in all those plantations. God, that made the world, and all things therein, giveth life and breath to all [Acts 17:25], and they all have their life and moving, and their being in him [Acts 17:28], he is the God of the spirits of all flesh [Num 16:22], and is no respecter of persons; but ‘whosoever feareth him and worketh righteousness, is accepted of him.’ [Acts 10:34f] And he hath made all nations of one blood to dwell upon the face of the earth [Acts 17:26], and his eyes are over all the works of his hands, and seeth every thing that is done under the whole heavens; and the ‘earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof.’ [Psa 24:1] And he causeth the rain to fall upon the just and upon the unjust, and also he causeth the sun to shine upon the just and the unjust [Mat 5:45]; and he commands to ‘love all men [1 Th 3:12],’ for Christ loved all, so that he ‘died for sinners. [Rom 5:8]’ And this is God's love to the world, in giving his son into the world; ‘that whosoever believeth in him should not perish.’ [John 3:16] And he doth ‘enlighten every man that cometh into the world,’ [John 1:9] that they might believe in the son. And the gospel is preached to every creature under heaven [Col 1:23]; which is the power that giveth liberty and freedom, and is glad tidings to every captivated creature [Isa 61:1] under the whole heavens. And the word of God is in the heart and mouth, to obey and do it, and not for them to ascend or descend for it; and this is the word of faith which was and is preached [Rom 10:6-8]. For Christ is given for a covenant to the people, and a light to the Gentiles [Isa 42:6], and to enlighten them, who is the <145> glory of Israel [Luke 2:32], and God's ‘salvation to the ends of the earth [Isa 49:6].’ And so ye are to have the mind of Christ [Gal 2:16], and to be merciful, as your heavenly Father is merciful [Luke 6:36].
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."