To all my dear friends and brethren, among whom the precious truth and power of God hath been declared, and joyfully received, whose belief, confidence, and innocency are spread abroad who are come to the vine, Christ Jesus [John 15:1], that is your shade [Psa 121:5]; whom bonds and death have not dismayed, for the worth of truth sake. And fetters, irons, whippings, stripes, and spoilings of goods, and the like cruelties and persecutions have not daunted ye, whose courage, valiantness, and boldness for the truth, have much appeared among a crooked and perverse generation [Deut 32:5], that professed Christ, and among whom he hath not had so much place of entertainment as in their manger in the outward [Luke 2:7]; whose hearts are dens of dragons [Jer 9:11], and places of darkness, and whose religion and profession they have shamed, being unfruitful in the ways of God and Christ, workers of darkness, whose iniquity hath flourished and sins sprung as the grass [Psa 92:7]; that their folly and shame might cover them, and that they might be confounded in their iniquity.
So ye in the power of the Lord God, in his might, and strength, and hand, that brings your salvation, stand [1 Cor 2:5/Mic 5:4]; in which power and arm ye see over that which brought destruction; in which power, (that is the gospel,) [Rom 1:16] life and immortality come to light [2 Tim 1:10], and captivate that which hid life and immortality; living in the power of God, see over <217> it, and in that standing, all your feet are sure. In which power of God, (the gospel,) which goes over the power of darkness, and was before it was, ye see before all transgression, and how all things were blessed; which power goes over all that which bringeth the curse, wrath, wo, misery, thraldom, bondage, and captivity, by which power of God that is taken captive, in that live and dwell; in which ye all have unity, peace, concord, love, and fellowship in the gospel [Phil 1:5], which goes over the enmity [Eph 2:16], and was before it was; in that ye bind and unite, and are established, and are gathered up to Christ, who was before transgression was, which hath scattered from God. In the power of God see over all the meetings and the gatherings, that are in the transgression, unestablished, like water; in this power is the praying to the living God, that lives for evermore. And then is the gospel, that is everlasting, preached unto all nations of mankind [Rev 14:6], and all that are driven out from God in the power of darkness; to the intent that they may all come up again to God, and have life and immortality brought to light by his Almighty power, that expels death and darkness. So, in this gospel, the power of God, let all your faith be and stand, then are ye all but one. And so all ye that have tasted of the power, sit down under your own vine [Micah 4:4], and abide in it, then will ye bring forth fruit through the power of God and Christ Jesus, who is the vine [John 15:4f] , which goes over the powers of darkness, which is the cause of unfruitfulness [Eph 5:11]. Which power of God, Christ Jesus [1 Cor 1:24], destroys the devil and his works [Heb 2:14/1 Jn 3:8] of darkness; and dwelling all in the power of God, ye will have every one of you a habitation in it. For God's power is sprung up in your hearts, so in nowise abuse it through strife or jangling, for that eats out. But all in the power of God live and dwell, which makes you subject to God, and one to another in his fear, that keeps you from sin and evil, which is the author of strife; and through the power of God ye will be all kept in unity, and peace, and love. And as many as receive the light, Christ Jesus, the power of God, which he hath lighted you with, (who hath all the power in heaven and earth given him [Mat 28:18],) he will give you power to become the sons of God [John 1:12]. Therefore every one receive Christ the light, that hath enlightened you [John 1:9], and ye shall feel the power, in which light ye shall all have fellowship; which light will give every one of you the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Christ Jesus [2 Cor 4:6], your saviour. And in the power of the Lord God, which hath gathered you over the powers of darkness, and all the meetings therein, in that power of God live, which is everlasting, and keep your meetings; in that ye may feel fulness of life, and wisdom from above [James 3:17], before that which is below was, by which ye may all be ordered to God's glory [Wis 8:1, 1 Cor 10:31], and order all things under your hands to his honour. Through which wisdom ye may be a blessing to the Lord God in your generation, and a sweet savour [2 Cor 2:15] to him <218> in the hearts of all people upon the earth, yea, the very heathen, who are enlightened, to bring them to the light, which Christ Jesus hath enlightened them withal; that they may come to the knowledge of the same salvation or condemnation.
So spread the truth abroad, ye that are in it, and have it, which the devil is out of [John 8:44], who hath darkened people from God, and his covenant, and his way; through which they are strangers to his life, and kingdom that hath no end, and dominion that is everlasting [Dan 4:3,34]; wandering in strange paths in the dark world, that lies in unrighteousness, which the devil hath made like a wilderness [Isa 14:17], full of briers and thorns, that the lambs in it can hardly walk or work. Yet work ye and labour in the power of the Lord God that lives for ever; in it make vineyards and plantations, to the renewing of people's minds in the light and power of God, and the knowledge of Christ Jesus, turning them from the enmity and the darkness, (the power of satan,) to the light, and to God [Acts 26:18], that they may be renewed into his image and likeness [Col 3:10]; that the image of the devil, and his likeness, may be defaced, which is gotten up in the hearts of men and people since the beginning, in transgression. So bring them to the great sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ, the seed of the woman [Gen 3:15], who offered up himself for the sin of the world [Heb 7:27], the top-stone, which is over all laid, who is restoring by his power, who hath all power in heaven and earth [Mat 28:18], who is restoring all things into the place, as they were in the beginning, and reconciling in one, by his power, things in heaven and things in earth [Col 1:20], destroying that which made the separation, and broke unity, which is the enmity [Eph 2:15f] in people's minds, which the light that doth enlighten every one that cometh into the world destroys: through which all people come to have peace with God, and fellowship, who do believe in it.
So spread the truth abroad, and be valiant for it upon the earth [Jer 9:3], improve your talent [Mat 25:14-30], and be the wise virgins, with oil in your lamps; that ye may enter in with the bridegroom [Mat 25:1-10]. Have salt in yourselves [Mark 9:50], that ye may savour all things, and keep your consciences clean and pure unto God and all men. Live in the cross of Christ, and rejoice in it, which is the power of God [1 Cor 1:18], and goes over all that which lives out from God, and which is in the transgression, and its fruits, to which it is death; to this cross, the power of God, all must bend and bow. And in the power of God is the fellowship of the cross, which keeps over all the fellowships in the world, and crucifies to them. And so ye who are heirs of the power of a world that hath no end, and a kingdom that is everlasting, sit down in your inheritances of the power, of the kingdom, of the blessing, of the promise, that are heirs of the same [Gal 3:29]; that ye may increase in the everlasting, in the blessing, and heavenly riches.
And though the oppressors of the earth will not let you have a foot <219> of ground, yet ye have the power of God to stand in, and so ye that are heirs of that, and Christ Jesus, whose the earth is and all things therein [Psa 24:1], and are in the power of God, separated from the power of darkness, the devil, and are come into that which was before he was, ye have nothing to lose, for all yours is the Lord's. For they that are separated by sin and transgression, drove into the earth, there they stick fast, and have much to lose; whose hearts are surfeited with the earth [Luke21:34], and to that glued; and all their fellowship is out of the cross of Christ, the power of God, and are within the power of darkness and its dominion, over whom it hath the supremacy; which the power of God goes over, in which is the son's liberty [Rom 8:21], and the saints' fellowship, that lives for ever, through which they have eternal life.
Let this be copied over, and sent abroad to the Isles, and unto New England and Virginia.
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."