Dear friends,—In Christ in whom we have peace, purity, holiness, and righteousness, you must be kept holy and righteous to the glory of God, and righteousness, and holiness, and purity, must wear and outlive all that is contrary to it; and patience, and meekness, and humility, and kindness, and sobriety, must wear out passion, envy, strife, and wrath, high mindedness, and loftiness, and wilfulness. And therefore consider, the holy men and women of God must not strive, but be gentle to all; and in that alone keep their dominion: for truly, friends, love gathereth into love, and edifies the body of Christ [Eph 4:16/12]. And let nothing be done with strife [Phil 2:3], but in love, to the glory of God [1 Cor 10:31], in the name of Christ, and in his power; so that you may all see and feel Christ among you, ordering you all to his glory with his wisdom, which is pure, peaceable, and easy to be entreated [Jas 3:17]; so that none may be burdened nor oppressed in your meetings, but that the life and seed may reign in you all; and so the Lord may have the glory of all, and ye may all have comfort in him your head. And do not much strive with unruly talkers [Tit 1:10], but keep your peace in the spirit and power of Christ, that will overcome and wear out all that is contrary to it. So that all may keep their own habitation [Jude 1:6] in Christ Jesus, who is over all, the first and last [Rev 22:13]; <232> and in his power and spirit live and walk, so that you all may be trees with fruits [Jude 1:12], and wells with water [2 Pet 2:17], and have bread in your own tabernacles [Exo 29:32], and your own lamps trimmed and burning [Mat 25:1-10], and that there may be no strife among you, but dwell in love; for he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God [1 Jn 4:16]; so, God who is love, is to be your salvation. And condescend to the meek [Rom 12:16], and to every appearance of the Lord God, and make every one's condition in the truth your own; in that you will deny yourselves, and become all to all in the truth, so that none may be hurt in the truth, nor made to stumble [Rom 14:13], nor the blind caused to wander [Deut 27:18], but be directed into the right way, and all as the tender plants may grow together, as the Lord's planting [Isa 61:3], and he watering them, and giving the increase [1 Cor 3:7] and growth to his glory; so that the Lord may have the praise and glory of all his works. Amen.
And be careful in all your meetings, that they may be kept peaceable in the wisdom of God, that is pure and peaceable, and easy to be entreated [Jas 3:17]; so that ‘wisdom may be justified of her children [Mat 11:19].’ That there be no harshness or fierceness, but meekness and mildness, and gracious language, which will edify and season the hearers, and be of a good savour. And this will honour the seed Christ, from whence grace and truth cometh [John 1:17], and will be to your comfort, and show forth whose children you are; for, as Christ said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, they are children of God [Mat 5:9].’ And therefore all do this work, that you may have this blessing. And so, with my love to you all, that are convinced of God's truth, as though I named you all; and all to dwell in love; then you all do dwell in God, as I said before; and so the Lord God Almighty preserve you all in Christ your sanctuary. 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."