O Friends! look not out; for he that doth, is darkened [Eccl 12:3]. And take heed of lightness; take heed of the world, and of busying your minds with things not serviceable. A wise man's eye is in his head [Eccl 2:14], but a fool's eye is gazing up and down [Prov 17:24?]. Oh! be valiant for the truth upon the earth [Jer 9:3], and tread upon the deceit! And keep to yea and nay [Mat 5:37]; for he that hath not power over his own tongue, his religion is vain [James 1:26]. And take heed of knowledge, for it puffeth up [1 Cor 8:1], but dwell in the truth, and be what ye speak; he that abideth not in the truth, is led by the evil one [John 8:44]. Wait on the Lord, he will perfect his work amongst you; he that hearkens diligently to the teacher within [Isa 55:2?], denieth all outward hireling teachers [Mic 3:11]. He that is made the temple of the holy ghost [1 Cor 6:19], placeth no holiness in the world's temples. The teachers without exalt the carnal mind [Rom 6:7], but the teacher within destroyeth it. There is not a word in all the scripture to hold up the practice of sprinkling infants, nor the word sacrament, nor to hold up an hour glass, to preach by for an hour's time in a place; but the vain mind doth hold up many things, which Christ doth not command. Earth maketh masters, (amongst earthly men,) but let him that ruleth, rule in love; for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof [Psa 24:1]. And he that laboureth, let him labour as to the Lord, in love. So let love be the head in all things, and then the Lord is exalted; then there is no eye service, but singleness of heart [Col 3:22]; then all that is done, is done as to the Lord [Col 3:23]. So be faithful in all things, and keep from the world's vain customs. Do not wear apparel, to gratify the proud mind, neither eat nor drink, to make yourselves wanton; for it was created for the health, and not for the lust, to be as servants to us, and we servants to God, to use all those things to his glory. To whom be praises, honour, and glory for evermore, who hath created all things to his glory, and so to be used and spent. Do not make profession to be seen outwardly, for Christ was condemned by the world, and the formal professors, and all his followers are as wonders to the world. Therefore marvel not if the world hate you [1 Jn 3:13], but rejoice. Look not back, but keep forward, knowing that the world is enmity with God [James 4:4]. Ye that know the light, love one another, and dwell in it, and know one another in it.
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."