Dear friends, to whom is my love in the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom were all things made [John 1:3], and by whom all things do consist, and who filleth all things [Eph 4:10], and doth uphold all by his word and power [Heb 1:3]; who is the first and last [Rev 1:11], the holy head of his holy church [Col 1:18], and the door into the holy way, for his holy people to walk in, and the setter up of a holy worship in the holy spirit and truth, to worship the holy God in; and the setter up of a holy religion, to keep from the spots of the world [Jas 1:27]; which religion is pure in his sight. And this never came out of the brain-beaten stuff of man, nor of his chamber of imagery [Ezek 8:12]; but for his people to walk in, that they might sing forth his praises in righteousness.
And therefore, all Friends, in your men and women's meetings, be faithful, and see how you do grow in the truth and power of godliness, and are circumcised; and witness your renewings into the heavenly image of him that created you [Col 3:10]; and that you all may be fruitful in the knowledge and grace [Col 1:10?] of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the orderer of all things [Wis 8:1]; and wear his livery and fine linen [Rev 19:14], the righteousness of Christ; and hold forth his ensign and his standard, and all to be filled with his grace, and love, and peaceable truth, and be over all outward earthly things; so that none be carnally but spiritually minded [Rom 8:6]; and <44> walk as becomes the glorious order of the gospel [Phil 1:27], having the water of life in your cisterns, and the bread of life in your tabernacles, and fruits on your trees, to the praise of God. Amen.
And all your family meetings do not neglect, among your whites and negroes, but do your diligence and duty to God and them; which you will not neglect, if you keep in the faith of Abraham [Rom 4:16], and of the blessed seed which inheriteth the crown. And be at peace among yourselves, that each one show that you are in Christ the prince of peace [Isa 9:6]; and that doth show that you are the disciples of Christ, and learners and followers of him. So possess him who is life eternal. Amen. . . .
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."