All dear friends and brethren, keep up your testimony in the light, power, and spirit of God, for the worship, that Christ set up above sixteen hundred years since, in the spirit and truth [John 4:24], (which truth the devil is out of [John 8:44], who is an unclean spirit,) which is a worship that cannot be shaken [Heb 12:27?]. And keep up your testimony, against the anti-christian ministry, that is inwardly ravened from the spirit of God, and the light of Christ, and his anti-christian tithes, and maintenance, which he hath set up, by that inwardly ravening spirit [Mat 7:15], who hath ravened from the spirit of Christ, who said, ‘Freely you have received, freely give [Mat 10:8];’ and Christ's ministers coveted no man's silver, nor gold, nor apparel [Acts 20:33]. And keep up your testimony in the power of Christ, for the church that is made of living stones [1 Pet 2:5], (which he is the head of [Col 1:18],) who are the first-born written in heaven [Heb 12:23], a spiritual household, a royal priesthood, that offer up spiritual sacrifices [1 Pet 2:5/9]. So that every one may have something to offer from the spirit to God, who are of the church that is in God [1 Th 1:1]; gathered by the power and spirit of Christ to him; who feed on the bread that comes down from heaven [John 6:34-57]; and drink of the heavenly wine [Mat 26:29?], and so become flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone [Gen 2:23, Eph 5:30], and sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus [Eph 2:6] ; who is the heavenly and spiritual head of his church, which is written in heaven, &c. And also keep your testimony, for your pure and undefiled religion [Jas 1:27], &c. and for the wisdom that is above [Jas 3:17], &c. And keep your testimony for the cross of Christ, which is the power of God [1 Cor 1:18], by which the world is crucified to you, and you to the world [Gal 6:14]. And you that were dead, and are risen with Christ, keep your testimony for those things, that you have sought, and have found, and received from above, (those heavenly things,) where Christ sits, at the right hand of God [Col 3:1].
And likewise, keep your testimony for the new and living way [Heb 10:20], Christ Jesus; and likewise for the light of Christ, which you believe in, and become children of the light and of the day [John 12:36, 1 Th 5:5].
And keep your testimony for your men and women's meetings, in the power of God, by which you are gathered out of the apostacy, and over it, into the everlasting gospel order, as was in the apostles' days. Which gospel order is not of man, nor by man; but by Christ [Gal 1:12], the spiritual man.
And all ye that are ministers of this gospel, help and encourage all those women in their meetings, that labour in the gospel; and the women may in the same power of God (the gospel) help and assist you. So that you may be helps-meet [Gen 2:18] together, in the restoration by Christ, in his glorious gospel and order, who never fell, nor changed, nor will <85> change. So that all the plants that God hath planted, may flourish, bud, and spring, and bring forth fruit, to the praise and glory of God, in his power. And this gospel of Christ Jesus, is everlasting, and holy, and glorious; which you all, that feel it, are heirs of; which hath brought life and immortality to light [2 Tim 1:10] in you; which gospel, the power of God [Rom 1:16], was before the devil was, that had darkened you. Now, in this power of God, the gospel, is all your comfort, and glad tidings; and an everlasting joy, in this everlasting gospel; and an everlasting possession and comfort, in the everlasting order, which is the gospel of Christ Jesus, who is the first and last, the spiritual heavenly man; his spiritual and heavenly order, for his spiritual and heavenly ones to keep and walk in.
And, friends, keep your testimony against the world's vain ways, words, fashions, customs, and worships, as you did at first, and to your proper, sound, plain language.
And, friends, keep your testimony to the Lord in all your sufferings and afflictions; for by the testimony of Jesus, and the blood of the Lamb, did and do the saints overcome; and the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy [Rev 19:10]; by which they see him that gives them their victory; and they feel him that suffered for them; and in all their sufferings and afflictions, he suffers with them, and is afflicted with them; who is able to save to the uttermost [Heb 7:25], and to help and succour you in all distresses; who is blessed for ever. Amen.
And, friends, keep your testimony (who are children of the new covenant, and are taught of God; in whose hearts God hath written his law, and put it in your minds [Jer 31:31-34) for your counsellor and leader, which God hath given you; and for your prophet, which God hath raised up, whom you ought to hear [Acts 22]; and for your shepherd, that God has given, who laid down his life for you [John 10:11,15], who hath redeemed you from the world's hireling shepherds [John 10:12f, Ezek 34:10], and feeds you in his pasture of life, and brings you to rest in his fold [Ezek 34:14]. And keep your testimony for Christ, your priest, who is made higher than the heavens [Heb 7:26], who laid down his life for you, and sanctified you, and presents you to God, without spot or wrinkle [Eph 5:27, Col 1:22]; who is holy, harmless, and separate from sinners [Heb 7:26]. And so keep your testimony for your heavenly spiritual bishop, Christ Jesus, who is the bishop of your souls [1 Pet 2:25], who doth oversee you with his light, power, and spirit.
And keep your testimony, for the sufferings and resurrection of Jesus Christ; for they that suffer with him, shall reign with him [2 Tim 2:12]. But they that shuffle, and flee in the time of persecution, and deny him before men, such he will deny, or be ashamed of, before his heavenly Father [Mat 10:33/Luke 9:26]. Who deny him, or are ashamed of him, before earthly men, such fear the wrath of men, more than the wrath of God; and such are the stony <86> ground, whose blade is scorched up by the heat of persecution [Mat 13:20f]; but the good seed sown in the good ground, that brings forth thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold [Mat 13:23] in this life.
And keep your testimony for your unity in the faith [Eph 4:13], that gives you victory [1 Jn 5:4]; and your fellowship and unity in the spirit, which is the bond [Eph 4:3]of the Prince of princes [Dan 8:25], King of kings, and Lord of lords' [Rev 19:16] peace. 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."