The cross is to the carnal part, which is the ground of images, the ground of the seducers, and the ground of the false prophet and antichrist; the cross is to that ground, to the root and life of it. This being minded, which is pure and eternal, it makes a separation from all other lovers, and brings to God, and the ground of evil thoughts comes to be opened, and the cross is to that ground; which cross overturns the world in the heart. Which cross must be taken up by all, who follow Jesus Christ [Luke 9:23] out of the world which hath an end, into the world which is without end; and all the evil things of the world must be denied. For ‘who loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him [1 Jn 2:15];’ but where the world is standing, the cross is not lived in. But <67> dwelling in the cross to the world [Gal 6:14], here the love of God is shed abroad in the heart [Rom 5:5], and the way is opened into the inheritance which fades not away [1 Pet 1:4]; where nothing shall enter which is defiled [Rev 21:27]. For God is not seen but in the eternal light whence all pure wisdom comes. This treasure is not seen but with the spiritual eye; nor received but with the pure in heart [Mat 5:, and by those who dwell and abide in the eternal light. But the carnal heart may get the words from them who had received the wisdom, who dwelt in the fear of the Lord; but they who live without the fear, may get their words, and yet know not wisdom's gate [Prov 1:20f], whence those words proceeded, having the old bottle [Mat 9:17]. Watch all, therefore, and see what ye possess. For all who gave forth the holy scripture, who dwelt in the fear of God, they possessed the life which those words proceeded from; and the secrets of the Lord were with them. Therefore, all in your measure, which is of God, wait, that it may guide your minds up to God, and follow it, and not your evil desires, nor the lust of the world; for the fear of the Lord will keep your hearts clean, and the true wisdom will be with you in the pure heart. And every one that hath this light, which Christ hath enlightened them withal, the deeds that are evil, ye know to be so by the light; and this light will be their condemnation [John 3:19f], ye know it. And all who witness this light, and love it, their eye is in their head [Eccl 2:14], which is Christ [Eph 4:15], if they be ten thousands [Song 5:10, Jude 1:14?].
G. F
Be the first to react on this!
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."