Dear friends,—In the love of God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, look above all your outward sufferings, and him that is out of truth [John 8:44], that makes you to suffer; and let nothing separate you from the love of God which you have in Christ Jesus [Rom 8:38f], by whom all things were made [John 1:3]: I say, let not the birth of the flesh [Gal 4:29], with all his carnal weapons [2 Cor 10:4], jails, and prisons, threats, or reproaches, move you, nor separate you from the love of God, nor from your foundation, the rock of ages , Christ Jesus [1 Cor 3:11/Isa 26:4 KJV margin]: but feel the well of life springing up in you [John 4:14], to nourish the plant that God has planted in you, of his renown [Ezek 34:29], that that may grow up within his hedge, his power, which will keep out the devil and all the venomous beasts [Acts 28:4], from entering into God's garden, or kingdom. And therefore let your faith stand in the Lord's power, which is your hedge and defence, and which is your keeper [1 Pet 1:5], and will keep you safe, that you need not be afraid of your enemy, your adversary; for the Lord's power is over his head, and you within his power, then nothing can get betwixt you and God; and in the power of the Lord is the city set upon his hill, where the light shines, and the heavenly salt is [Mat 5:13f], , and the lamps burning, and trumpets sounding forth the praise of God [Psa 150:3], of the eternal joy, in his eternal word of life [1 Jn 1:1], that lives, and abides, and endures for <128> ever [1 Pet 1:23]. And so to the praise and glory of God you may bring forth fresh and green fruit, being grafted into the green tree that never withers [Psa 1:3/John 15:5/Rom 11:24/Luke 23:31].
Oh! be valiant for God's glory and his truth upon the earth [Jer 9:3], and spread it abroad, answering that of God in every man and woman's conscience [1 Pet 3:21?]; knowing him that hath brought everlasting peace into the earth: so, that the songs of salvation may be in your mouths; for it is said, ‘With the heart man believes, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation [Rom 10:10].’ So every true believer will confess to Christ his salvation, their way, light, and life, out of death and darkness; their prophet, to open to them; their shepherd, to feed them; and their bishop, to oversee them; their captain and commander, to command and to lead them; their counsellor, to counsel them; and their priest, who hath offered himself for them [Heb 7:27], and also sanctifies them, and offers them up to God: to whom be all praise and glory for ever. Amen. . . .
And as for truth in this part of the world, and in America, it prospers, and spreads, and goes on; and by it many men and women are made God's free men and women, being redeemed from him that is out of truth [John 8:44], that they may serve God in the new life (Rom 6:4/7:6] n Christ Jesus, (out of the old life in Adam in the fall,) and so come to live in the heavenly unity, wisdom, love, and dominion.
So, in that love that bears all things [1 Cor 13:7], and keeps your hearts, minds, and souls up to God [Mark 12:30], which comes from God, through which you come to love God, and Christ, and one another; in that live and dwell.
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."