Friends,—Live in the seed of God that destroys the devil [Heb 2:14], who is the author and cause of wars and strife, and bringing of men and people into the earth, where the war, strife, and pride are; here the outward swordsmen have not learned yet to beat their swords and spears into ploughshares and pruning hooks [Isa 2:4]. Yet ye that are in that seed, see that ye accuse no man falsely [Luke 3:14], that hath the sword of justice, which is to keep the peace, and is a terror to the evil doers [Rom 13:3f], and to keep down the transgressors, and for the praise of them that do well [1 Pet 2:14]; this is owned in its place. But he that killeth with the sword, must perish with the sword [Mat 26:52]. So there was a time the Jews were to fight with outward weapons, with sword, and spear [Neh 4:13-18]; but there is a time, when nations shall not learn war any more, but shall come to that which shall take away the occasion of wars, which was in the beginning before wars were. And Friends take heed of blending yourselves with the outward powers of the earth. . . .
In the seed of God is the stayed state, and in that are the life and peace with God, and the offering that satisfieth God, and that perfecteth for ever them that are sanctified [Heb 10:14]. And the seed bruises and destroys the serpent's head [Gen 3:15], who is the prince of the air [Eph 2:2], the prince of darkness, the tempter [Mat 4:3, 1 Th 3:5] and the troubler; in which seed is peace and life enjoyed, and by the wisdom of it be ordered to God's glory [Wis 8:1, 1 Cor 10:31]. And there the reign of Christ is known, who is come to reign and to rule.
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."