Dear friends,—I understand by a letter from a Friend, a captive amongst you, dated the 20th of the 10th month, 1681, that you have a meeting there in Algiers of about twenty. I am glad to hear you meet; and it is very well, that you have so much liberty from your patrons; and my desire is, that the Lord may preserve you all, that do meet in the name of Jesus [Mat 18:20], that in your lives, and conversations, and words, you may preach righteousness, and holiness, and godliness, and the life of truth; so that you may answer the spirit of God, both in the Turks and Moors, and the rest of the captives; that God's city may be set upon the holy hill there, which cannot be hid [Mat 5:14]; but that all may see it with the light wherewith Christ hath enlightened every man that cometh into the world [John 1:9]. And that Christ's ensign may be set up in those parts [Isa 11:10]; that with his light in all men, they may all see it, and flock to it; and Christ the ensign furnisheth all that come to him, with heavenly armour and spiritual weapons [Eph 6:11]. Now Christ enlightens every man that cometh into the world, that every one may believe in the light, and may become a child of the light [John 12:36], and have eternal life, and be saved. And so the gospel of salvation, the power of God [Rom 1:16/Eph 1:13], is to be preached to every creature under heaven [Col 1:23/Mark 16:15]. And he that believes, is saved [Mark 16:16], and hath the salvation; for Christ by the grace of God, hath tasted death for every man [Heb 2:9]. And the grace of God that brings salvation, hath appeared to all men [Tit 2:11]. And therefore all men, if they will have salvation, it must be by believing, receiving, and walking in the grace of God, which brings it. And the Lord pours out of his spirit upon all flesh [Joel 2:28]; and therefore, all men and women must come to this holy spirit of God, by which the spirit of enmity may be slain [Eph 2:16] and crucified in them; that in this holy spirit of God, they may all be in love and unity; and with the spirit of God, they may all come to know the eternal, immortal God, and serve and worship him in his holy spirit of truth, which he hath poured upon them. And in this, all will honour God, and glorify him through Jesus Christ in his new covenant of light and grace.
And so, my dear friends, be faithful and valiant for God's truth upon earth [Jer 9:3], and do not deny the name of Jesus [Rev 3:8], in whom you have salvation; whose name is above every name under the whole heaven [Acts 4:12/Phil 2:9]; that ye may all be with his light built upon him your rock [Mat 7:24f] and foundation that stands sure [2 Tim 2:19]. And now, my dear friends, though you remain as captives, yet if ye be Christ's and God's freemen [1 Cor 7:22], who leads the devil into captivity, that led you captive into his prison of death, darkness, and corruption: if Christ, I say, has led you out of that prison and captivity, <194> into the glorious liberty of the sons of God [Rom 8:17], stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free; and be not entangled with any yoke of bondage [Eph 5:1], to bring you out of that heavenly, spiritual liberty. For in this you are free, notwithstanding the prisons and captivity of men; and they are but small matters to it. And therefore trust in the arm [Isa 51:5] of the Lord's power, who can lay the mountains low, and remove the hills out of their places, and make his lambs to skip over all [cf Psa 114:4]. And therefore mind the Lord and his power, that is over all that, that makes you to suffer. Now your sorrows and afflictions may bring many to call upon the name of the Lord, when he has brought you low; for God is merciful and gracious to the righteous, and his mercies endure for ever. And though hunger, and thirst, and cold, many times you are in, and many distresses, yet the Lord is able to support you. And now, that you may mind the Lord in your poverty, and prize his mercies; and consider how he brought them down that did not enough prize his mercies, and liberty, and plenty. And ye may read the 107th Psalm throughout; there ye may see how the Lord brought down such as contemned his counsel, and rebelled against his words [Psa 107:11]. Well, what can you tell but that this may be the day of the Lord with you, in your captivity, to bring down your hearts [Psa 107:12] and spirits, that with the spirit of the Lord you may turn to him, who is a God at hand; and that you may call upon the Lord in truth [Psa 145:18] and righteousness, that all your sufferings, afflictions, and captivity may be sanctified to you. So that you may say, ‘all things shall work together for good, to them that love God [Rom 8:28].’ And so with Job you may bless God, ‘who giveth and taketh away [Job 1:21],’ and that you may glorify God in whatsoever condition you may be; that no trouble may move you; and that you may rejoice in afflictions, persecutions, and tribulations [Mat 5:11f] in the Lord, through his spirit that doth uphold you [Psa 51:12]. And as you do walk in the light [1 Jn 1:7], grace, spirit, and gospel, you may turn others to it. That you may have unity with them in it; and that they may come out of the spiritual prison of death, darkness, and corruption, and captivity, into the liberty of the sons of God in Christ Jesus. Amen.
So with my love to you all in the holy seed Christ Jesus, that reigns over all from everlasting to everlasting. The Lord preserve you all tender vines in him. 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."