Friends,—The apostle saith, ‘I will therefore that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety, and not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array, but as becometh women professing godliness, with good works [1 Tim 2:9f].’ 1 Tim. ii. 9, 10. And likewise Peter saith in his general epistle to the church of Christ, to the women, ‘Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and wearing of gold, and putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of a great price; for after this manner in old time the holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves [1 Pet 3:3-5].’ 1 Pet. iii. 3, 4, 5. . . . <297> . . . .
And all you that have been convinced of the Lord's truth, by his spirit, take heed of satan taking you up into a mountain, and of his showing you the glory of the world [Mat 4:8] , and of your minds and eyes going after it, and receiving of it; and so in that you fall from the spirit and <298> truth of God that did convince you, and then to worship the devil [Mat 4:9], the king of pride, the god of the world [2 Cor 4:4], that abode not in the truth, in whom there is no truth [John 8:44]; and he to lead your minds and eyes after every new vain fashion of the world that passeth away [1 Cor 7:31], and that lieth in wickedness [1 Jn 5:19]; and so draweth you to the love of the world, which is enmity to God [Jas 4:4], and into the wisdom of the world, by which ye do not know God [1 Cor 1:21]; and then to such the gospel of life and salvation is hid [2 Cor 4:3], in whom the god of this world hath blinded their minds [2 Cor 4:4]. And in such disobedient ones the prince of the air rules [Eph 2:2], and gets into them by disobeying the truth; and in such Christ doth not rule in their hearts by faith [Eph 3:17]; and it is not like, when they make shipwreck of it, and a good conscience [1 Tim 1:19]. And therefore, walk in the light of Christ, and grow in his grace, and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, [2 Pet 3:18] that bruises the serpent's head [Gen 3:15], and destroys the devil and his works [Heb 2:14/1 Jn 3:8], that you may all be established upon Christ, the rock and foundation.
And if ye do believe in the covenant of light, life [Isa 42:6/Mal 2:5], and grace; then, why do not you all train up your children in the same? Did not the Lord command the Jews to train up their children in the old covenant, and teach them to walk in it [Prov 22:6]? And were not all the males to be circumcised? And they that were not circumcised were to be cut off from the congregation of the Lord [Gen 17:10,14]. So are not all you that profess the new covenant of grace, light, and life, and the gospel of salvation preached to every creature [Col 1:23], and the grace of God which brings salvation, that hath appeared unto all men, to teach them to live godly, and to deny ungodliness [Tit 2:11f], &c. I say, are not you all to train up your children and families in this light of the gospel and grace of Christ which brings salvation, and brings them into favour with God, that you may have the comfort of your children in this world, and in that which is everlasting? And that they may be circumcised with the spirit [Rom 2:29] of God, which he poureth out upon all flesh [Joel 2:28], that with his spiritual circumcision the body of death and sins of the flesh [Col 2:11/Rom 7:24] may be cut off, which are come into man and woman by transgression, that neither you nor they might die in the body of death, and in the sins of the flesh, and such do not die in the Lord [Rev 14:13]; for they that are not circumcised with the spiritual circumcision are cut off from the heavenly Jerusalem [Heb 12:22], and the kingdom of God and Christ, and from the church of the living God written in heaven [Heb 12:23]. And therefore, if you will have the comfort of your children in this world, and that which is to come, train them up in the fear of God [Psa 34:11], and in his covenant of light and grace; which grace brings their salvation, and brings them into favour with God, and into the spiritual baptism and circumcision, so that they may serve and worship the living God in his spirit and truth [John 4:24]. Amen. <299>
And if children and young people must be left, and let alone to themselves, and not be admonished, exhorted, and restrained from the evil and vanities of the world, then why did Moses, and the prophets, and the apostles, which were sent of God, exhort the people to train up their children in the fear of the Lord, and to teach them his law while they were young, that they might not depart from it when they were old [Psa 34:11/Prov 22:6]? And if that they did, the Lord did judge them, as ye may read in the scriptures of truth [Dan 10:21]; and if that they must be left to themselves, and not restrained from evil, then how came it to pass that old Ely lost his life, and his priesthood, and the ark of God, for not restraining his children from evil [1 Sam 2 - 4]?
And again, if that they must be left to themselves, why did the prophets and the apostles say, that they must not quench, nor vex, nor grieve, nor rebel against the spirit of God [1 Th 5:19/Isa 63:10/Eph 4:3], nor turn the grace of God into wantonness [Jude 1:4], nor walk despitefully against the spirit of grace [Heb 10:29]; but walk in the spirit [Gal 5:16], and in the truth [3 Jn 1:3], and in the light [1 Jn 1:7], and to love it, and not to hate it; for they that do not love the light, but hate it, are condemned by it [John 3:19f], and so grow in the condemnation, and are not in the justification of life.
The Lord God commanded Abraham to circumcise himself and his children and servants, that were bought with money, and were born in his house. He was to bring all his males into this covenant of outward circumcision; and the Lord said, ‘That soul shall be cut off that is not circumcised, he hath broken my covenant [Gen 17:14]’ of outward circumcision, as you may see. Gen. xvii. Here you may see Abraham was to teach and instruct his family and servants [Gen 18:19], and he was not to keep any man or servant that was uncircumcised in his family. . . .
And now, do not say but you are all warned in your lifetime; and therefore prize your time, while you have it, that you spend it to the honour and glory of God.
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."