Friends—Live in the unchangeable power of God, which will keep you in righteousness, and truth, and love, and unity, and dominion over all the unclean spirits [Mat 10:1], and rough ways, and mountains [Isa 40:4] within and without: that the power of the Lord God may be supreme amongst you, and that ye may in the wisdom of the Lord be preserved. And none abuse it, but all patiently in the power of the Lord wait, that in it ye may be all kept low, in love and unity with God and one with another; <171> that in the seed ye may be kept, which is heir of the power. And all be diligent in your places, serving the Lord, and that your spirits may not be plucked down with earthly things nor limited by them; but that in the power of the Lord God ye may act over them, (the handiworks of God,) out of the entanglements and thraldom of them, and out of the vain inventions of men, but keep in the power of the Lord God over them; in which power is the mystery of the fellowship [Eph 3:9] and the dominion, and let every one's eye behold it and mind it. For that is it which will keep you out of the changeable things, and present your minds, souls, and spirits to the Lord; and there the seed comes up which is heir of the power, and of the wisdom which is pure from above [James 3:17], where the city is known that lets no uncleanness in [Isa 52:1], and the salt is known that savours all things [Job 6:6? Mark 9: 49f]. Therefore feel it in the heart, which is more than in the head or tongue; which many may strive for, but do not obtain the power nor the kingdom. Therefore all be wise in the wisdom of God [1 Cor 1:24], and let every one's eye be unto that wisdom, which the departing from sin and evil is the beginning of [Job 28:28, Prov 14:16]; that with it ye may be ordered [Wis 8:1], and do whatsoever ye have to do with it and by it. In that ye will feel his presence and blessing, that ye may know the seed immortal to have the dominion in you; that there ye may come to know Christ to reign. And your growth in the seed is in the silence, where ye may all find a feeding of the bread of life [John 6:35]. And all Friends, keep in the wisdom of the Lord that is pure and holy from above, by which wisdom ye may be preserved and kept holy and pure, above that which is below, and out of that which is below, the wise part wherein is the strife; that being kept down by the power of the Lord, the seed comes up which is heir of the power. And there innocency, and simplicity, and nakedness of heart and spirit are lived in and life is fed upon.
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."