My dear friends in the heavenly relation, and Zion's children, amongst whom the stone that the builders rejected, is elect and precious, and in him Christ, you are elect, who is the head of the corner [Psa 118:22/ 1 Pet 2:6] of God's building; and therefore in the name of Jesus keep your meetings, in whom you all have salvation, and not by any other name under heaven [Acts 4:12]. And though the Lord may try you, where your minds are, and in what, by the outward powers, yet be valiant for God's truth upon the earth [Jer 9:3]; and if some of you be cast into prison, and your goods be spoiled, the seed is upon the head of him that maketh to suffer, and will remain when he is gone: and the Lord God who giveth the increase [1 Cor 3:7] of all, both invisible and visible, can make the fleece to grow again [Job 42:12]. And therefore let your faith be in the power and word of life [1 Jn 1:1]; and the authority of your men and women's meetings is the power of God; and all the heirs of the gospel are heirs of Christ, the heavenly man [1 Cor 15:47], and of his government, of the increase of which there is no end [Isa 9:7]. And so all walk in Christ [Col 2:6], who bruiseth the serpent's head [Gen 3:15], that hath <124> gotten between you and God; so as you all are in him, then nothing can get between you and the Lord God [Rom 8:38f]. And so in the glorious order of the gospel, the power of God [Rom 1:16], dwell, which is over the devil, and the world, and before he and it were, and the power of God will be when he and it are gone: this is the everlasting gospel [Rev 14:6], which bringeth life and immortality to light [2 Tim 1:10]; and that you all may see over him that hath darkened you, to him who was before he was, and the power of God will be when he is gone. And therefore walk in the glorious, blessed, peaceable, and comfortable order of the everlasting gospel; for the gospel, the power of God, is the gospel of peace, and the truth is peaceable: the devil, the destroyer and adversary, abode not in the peaceable truth [John 8:44], and the kingdom of God stands in peace and joy in the holy ghost [Rom 14:17]; and the unity of the spirit is a bond of peace [Eph 4:3] ; yea, the bond of the heavenly man [1 Cor 15:47], the Prince of princes' peace [Dan 8:25], that bond must be kept, by all Zion's children, the heirs of life.
And all seek the peace and good one of another, and dwell in the love of God, that does edify the body of Christ [Eph 4:16], and bears all things, and endures all things [1 Cor 13:7]; and build up one another in the most holy faith [Jude 1:20], which you have from Christ, the Holy One; for ‘holiness becomes the house of God. [Psa 93:5]’ And therefore all mind that which becomes his house; and now is the time for every one to put on the armour of God [Eph 6:11], and to take his weapons and arms, that you may stand by God's ensign [Isa 11:10?] in the truth, against him that is out of truth [John 8:44], keeping on your helmet of salvation [Eph 6:17], as a token of your victory; and your breast-plate of righteousness, which preserves both mind, heart and soul; and your loins girded with truth [Eph 6:14], that you may be valiant for it [Jer 9:3]; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel [Eph 6:15], the power of God, that your feet may stand fast over all slippery places, in the power of God, the gospel, that is sure and everlasting: here is your armour; and your weapon is the sword of the spirit, the word of God [Eph 6:17], the word of life [1 Jn 1:1] and salvation [Acts 13:26], and wisdom [1 Cor 12:8] and reconciliation [2 Cor 5:19]; that is as a sword [Heb 4:12] and a hammer [Jer 23:29], to cut down and hammer down that which hath made a separation betwixt you and God, and is as fire [Jer 23:29] to burn it up. And the shield of faith [Eph 6:16], that is your shield by which you have victory [1 Jn 5:4] and access to God [Rom 5:2]; by which faith all the just live [Hab 2:4, Rom 1:17], and are saved, and contend for it, which is declared to the saints [Jude 1:3] by Christ, who is the author and finisher of it [Heb 12:2]. And by this faith you come to Christ, the author, and as many as receive him, walk in him [John 1:12/Col 2:6], that you may be always fresh and green in him, who bruises the head of the serpent [Gen 3:15], that hath made people lean and barren, and hath made so many barren mountains, which Christ is gathering and calling his people from, that they might walk in the light of the Lord [Isa 2:5], and come to the mountain of the house of the Lord, that is established above all the mountains, where God <125> teaches all his, the way [Isa 2:2f] of life, truth [John 14:6], and salvation [Acts 16:17]. And the mountain of the house of the Lord is always green, with fresh springs and fruitful, and all that live under God's teaching know it. So serve God in the spirit, and in the newness of life [Rom 6:4/7:6], which is over the old, that the Lord God's presence may be felt amongst you; and his son, a prophet to open to you, and a priest to sanctify you, a bishop to oversee you, and a shepherd to feed you; the rock of your age, and ages [Isa 26:4 KJV margin], the foundation of your generation, and many generations; and who are in him, who was elected before the foundation of the world, they build upon him, who is the first and the last, the beginning and ending [Rev 22:13]; in him you have all life and salvation, who is the Amen [Rev 3:14]. . . .
And all that are not faithful, let them be admonished to faithfulness, that so they may come into the light, and life, and service of God and Christ; for all the wise hearted and faithful women, in the time of the law, were to work about the tabernacle of God, and the holy things [Exo 35:25f]: and they were called the assemblies of the women [Exo 38:8].
And all the women in the time of the law were to offer sacrifices upon God's altar, as well as the men. And now in the time of the gospel, which hath brought life and immortality to light [2 Tim 1:10], God doth pour out of his spirit upon all flesh [Joel 2:28, Acts 2:17]; and therefore live in the gospel, and its order; and all true christians, men and women, do offer their spiritual sacrifices [1 Pet 2:5] to God, who is a spirit [John 4:24].
And therefore, my friends, be valiant for God's truth upon the earth [Jer 9:3]; dwell in love [1 Jn 4:16], that will bear all things [1 Cor 13:7]; and let there be an order entered in your books, that there be no provoking words [Gal 5:26] spoken in your meetings, but if any have any thing to say, let them speak to them in love privately [Mat 18:15/Eph 4:15]. And when ye have settled your six women's meetings, then you may have a six weeks', or a Monthly as well as a Quarterly Meeting, as you may see meet. And so that all your wells of life may be kept open, and every one have a fresh spring springing up in you; so that in every one of you the living water of life may flow [John 7:38]; so that ye all may be refreshed with the fountain of life [Psa 36:9], and feel Christ a bishop [1 Pet 2:25] to oversee, and a counsellor [Isa 9:6] to counsel, and a king to rule in your hearts, and a prophet to open, and a shepherd to feed you [Isa 40:11] with his heavenly food.
And so see that nothing be lacking among you [1 Th 4:12], both inward and outward; <126> and whatsoever is decent, comely, modest, virtuous, righteous, and of good report [Phil 4:8], follow after, and be steadfast upon Christ the rock and foundation. And whatever you do, let it be done in the name of Jesus [Col 3:17], (that is, in his power,) and mind the gospel of peace, and its order, which hath brought life and immortality to light [2 Tim 1:10], that you may be preserved in life, and in immortality, by the immortal power. And all to be children of the wisdom that is from above, which is pure and peaceable, and easy to be entreated [Jas 3:17], keeping the unity in God's holy spirit, in which is the bond of the Prince of princes' peace [Eph 4:3/Dan 8:25], in whom you have all peace, life, and salvation. . . .
And so if you do write to New England and Jamaica, where I hear they have precious men and women's meetings, it might do well to encourage one another in the work and service of God: so that the women may all be helps-meet to the men [Gen 2:18] in the restoration, in the image of God [Col 3:10], as man and woman were in before they fell. So with my love in the seed of life to all Friends in the island.
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."