Stand fast in the faith [1 Cor 16:13] which Christ Jesus is the author of [Heb 12:2], by his heavenly ensign [Isa 11:10], in your heavenly armour, and your feet shod with the preparation of the heavenly gospel of peace [Eph 6:15], and your heads preserved with the helmet of salvation [Eph 6:17], and your hearts fenced with the breast-plate of righteousness [Eph 6:14], and so stand feeling and seeing God's banner of love over your heads [Song 2:4], manifesting that you are the good ground, that God's seed hath taken root downward in, and springs upward in, and brings forth fruits in some sixty, and some an hundred fold [Mat 13:8,23] in this life, to the praise and glory of God, always beholding the sun of righteousness [Mal 4:2], that never sets, ruling the supernatural day, of which you are children, and the persecutor's sun, (which rises and sets again,) the heat of it cannot scorch your blade, which it may do that seed that grows on the stony ground [Mat 13:6,20f].
And therefore, be valiant for God's truth upon the earth [Jer 9:3], and fear him, that can break their fetters, their jails, and their bonds in sunder, and can make your fleece to grow again, after the wolves have torn the wool from your backs; for the rod of the wicked shall not be always upon the backs of the righteous [Psa 125:3].
And therefore mind Christ, who is the first and last [Rev 22:13], who bruises the head [Gen 3:15] of him who is the head of all persecutors, to wit, the devil.
And consider how all the faithful in all ages suffered, from righteous Abel [Mat 23:25] to just Lot [2 Pet 2:7], and the children of Israel by Pharaoh, and the true prophets by the false, and Christ and the apostles by the vagabond professing Jews [Acts 19:13], (out of the possession,) and what rejoicing it was to them to suffer for the Lord Jesus [1 Pet 4:13, Acts 4:41], and how it was given unto them, not only to believe, but also to suffer [Phil 1:29]; so it was the gift of God to them not only to believe, but to suffer, and to bear them up in their sufferings.
And consider how all the martyrs and saints have suffered since the apostles' days, by the heathens and false Christians; and so there is no new thing under the sun [Eccl 1:9].
And therefore, keep your meetings in the name of Jesus, whose name is above every name [Phil 2:9], in whose name you have salvation [Acts 4:12]; and be valiant for God's truth upon the earth, and sound his name abroad, and keep in the truth, and give no just occasion to the adversary [1 Tim 5:14]; for the lamb must have the victory [Rev 17:14]. And keep in the Lord's power, that is over all, <74> and in his peaceable truth, in which you will seek the good and eternal welfare and salvation of all people.
And the prophet Isaiah speaking of Christ, says, ‘In all their afflictions he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them [Isa 63:9];’ so all Friends feel the Lord in all your afflictions.
And the apostle saith, ‘We ourselves glory in you, (to wit, in the churches of God,) for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure [2 Th 1:4].’
So here you may see the saints are one another's joy in the Lord, who doth uphold them in all their persecutions, tribulations, and sufferings; and therefore look over the devil, that is out of truth, that makes to suffer, to Christ, who bruises his head; and in Christ, who is first and last, in him have you rest, life, and peace.
And you see, by faith, ‘Moses chose rather to suffer afflictions with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season [Heb 11:25].’
So by faith, ‘he esteemed the reproaches of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt [Heb 11:26].’
And by faith, ‘Moses forsook Egypt, nor fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible [Heb 11:27];’ and so by faith God's people now forsake spiritual Egypt [Rev 11:8].
And by faith ‘the mouths of the lions were stopped [Heb 11:33];’ and by faith they endured tortures, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection [Heb 11:35]; and by faith they underwent all the cruel mockings, scornings, bonds, and imprisonments; and by faith they underwent stoning and sawing asunder, and were tempted and slain with the sword; and they wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented; of whom the world was not worthy [Heb 11:36-38],’ &c.
Now all these lived in the one faith, by which they saw him who was invisible; which is the faith of God's elect [Tit 1:1] now, (which Christ Jesus is the author and finisher of,) which faith upholds his people now, as it did then, against the persecutors in days and ages past.
And hold fast the hope which anchors the soul, which is sure and steadfast [Heb 1:9], that you may float above the world's sea; for your anchor holds sure and steadfast in the bottom, let the winds, storms, and raging waves rise never so high. And your star is fixed, by which you may steer to the eternal land of rest, and kingdom of God. So, no more, but my love to you all.
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."