Dear friends, that are in prison, and all Friends and sufferers that are in the county, to whom is my love in the Lord's eternal power, and seed of life, that reigns over all, in whom you have peace with God, and riches that are everlasting.
Now, dear friends, your sufferings have been long in that county, and great have been your trials, and spoiling of your goods, through your dversaries' and persecutors' rage against you; but the Lord's secret hand and power is that which hath upheld you through all to himself; And therefore we may say, ‘What shall separate us from the love of God that we have in Christ Jesus? Shall tribulations, persecutions, powers, or principalities, thrones or dominions? Nay, there is not any thing able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus [Rom 8:38f],’ whom you have chosen: a priest that is from above, not from below, who has offered up himself to God for you [Heb 7:27], who is not like the Jews' priests, that had the tithes of the people [Heb 7:5] for offering up their outward offerings, and such like services. So you have a priest from heaven, that is made higher than the heavens [Heb 7:26], and is the prophet that God has raised up <200> like Moses, whom you are to hear [22" class="scriptRef">Acts 3:22] in his light, grace, and truth. And he is your shepherd from heaven, who has laid down his life for his sheep [John 10:15], who is above all the earthly shepherds below; and this shepherd will feed you with that which is heavenly. And he is your bishop [1 Pet 2:25] from heaven, to oversee you, that you may be kept from sitting down in any earthly place with your minds, spirits, and souls, but only to sit down in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus [Eph 2:6], who is the heavenly and spiritual bishop, who lives for evermore [Rev 1:18], the first and last, the beginning and ending [Rev 22:13], who is the first-born of every creature [Col 1:15], and the first begotten from the dead [Rev 1:5], who does quicken, and makes alive [1 Cor 15:45,22], and begets from the death, and makes them to sit together (whom he has made alive) in the heavenly places in himself.
And now, dear friends, I do feel the Lord's eternal power present with you in all your sufferings, how it hath and doth support you; and therefore let your faith be steadfast in the power of God, which will keep you all unto the day of salvation [2 Cor 6:2]. And that you may all be valiant and faithful for God's truth upon the earth [Jer 9:3] in this day of trial and persecution, from both teachers, professors, and profane, which are below, whose persecuting spirit will have but a time. And therefore be of good faith; for a sparrow shall not fall to the ground without the will of the Father; and ye are of more value than many sparrows [Mat 10:29,31]. And ‘Blessed are they which suffer persecution for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven.’ For so the old persecutors persecuted the prophets and apostles before you [Mat 5:10-12]. But rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings [1 Pet 4:13]; for the spirit of glory, and of God, rests upon you [1 Pet 4:14], who are railed upon [Mark 15:29], and suffer for his name sake [Acts 9:16]. And though he is evil spoken of by your persecutors, but on your part he is glorified [1 Pet 4:14], that suffer for his name. And therefore let none be ashamed to suffer as a christian, but let him glorify God [1 Pet 4:16] in his sufferings, who doth support him.
And so, dear friends, live in love and unity, and be kind, and courteous, and tender hearted one towards another; yea, and to all your persecutors, that you may heap coals of fire upon their heads; and so overcome evil with good [Rom 12:20f]. And so the God of all peace establish you all upon his heavenly rock and foundation of life, (Christ Jesus,) which standeth sure [2 Tim 2:19], and cannot be moved [Heb 12:28]. And so with my love to you all in the holy seed, in which all nations are blest [Gen 22:18/Gal 3:8]. And in this seed, the Lord God Almighty keep and preserve you, which bruises the head of the evil seed [Gen 3:15], that makes you to suffer. And the Lord God Almighty arm you with his armour, and strengthen you, that you may be able to <201> stand to his glory, and that he may be glorified in and among you. Amen. So fare ye well in the Lord.
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."