Dear friends,—All live the life of the true christians, and not the life of old Adam, that went from God's command and voice; nor like the Jews, and such as have got the name of christians, that say, there is no hearing of God and Christ's voice now, which are out of the life, power, and spirit, grace, and truth, and image of God, that the true christians were in, and Adam and Eve before they fell [Gen 1:27]; so that none can live the life of the true christians, and the holy prophets and apostles, except they are in the same power and spirit, grace and truth, and faith and image that they were in, which is a life above the world and its God, in whom there is no truth, no life, light, nor power of the living God abiding in them. And therefore, before any can live the life of the saints, they must bow to the name of Jesus [Phil 2:10], their saviour, in his light, grace, and truth, and power, and spirit, which cometh from him, who submitted himself to the shameful death of the cross [Phil 2:8], and destroyed death and his power [Heb 2:14], who had no sin, nor guile in his mouth [1Pet 2:22], and is risen again for our justification [Rom 4:25], and so hath tasted death for every man [Heb 2:9], and given himself a ransom for all [1 Tim 2:6], that all should now bow at his name, Jesus, a saviour; and so to his power and authority bow, who hath all power in heaven and earth given to him [Mat 28:18]. So all men have bowed under death and sin by transgression. And Christ hath submitted to the cross and death for them, and hath borne their stripes for sin and iniquity [Isa 53:5], who had no sin, neither knew any, to bring us out of death and sin. Therefore, every one must bow at the name of Jesus, (as before,) whatsoever they do in word or deed, it must be done in the name of Jesus; and before that they can confess to Jesus Christ [Phil 2:11], to the glory of God the Father, they must all bow at the name of Jesus, and bow <165> to his grace, and truth, light, spirit, and power that cometh by Jesus, which they know; him the fountain, the rock and foundation to build upon, who brings out of death and darkness into light and life, and a kingdom and a world that is everlasting; and there to have food and clothing that is everlasting.
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."