Friends,—There was a time when the apostles preached Christ that died at Jerusalem; and they witnessed him forth, and brought (for proof) the prophets' testimonies who prophesied of him. And they that preached Christ's sufferings at Jerusalem, showed the fulfilling of the prophets and the law, and all that was written of him. And after, the apostles preached Christ the substance (the end of the types and figures) [Col 2:17] amongst them that had the prophets' words, and the law, and the outward temple; and they showed them out of the prophets' words, and out of the law, that that was the Christ that died at Jerusalem, and suffered without the gate [Heb 13:12].
And then there was a time that the apostles preached Christ in them, to them that did believe and had received him; ‘Know ye not, that Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?’ [2 Cor 13:5] And, ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory.’ [Col 1:17] And, ‘If Christ be in you, the body is dead.’ [Rom 8:10] And, ‘They that are Christ's, have crucified the affections and lusts, and all things are become new.’ [Gal 5:24] But this was spoken to them that believed, who where the saints, to them ‘Christ in them’ was preached, the substance of what the prophets prophesied of; and to believe in him who was risen, the resurrection. But to the world the apostles preached repentance [Luke 24:47], and to believe in Jesus Christ; and taught faith towards God. But to them who were redeemed out of the world, in and to whom the son of God was made manifest, (who were brought to God, the judge of all, and to the church in God, and to the innumerable company of angels [Heb 12:22], and to the spirits of just men, who were made perfect [Heb 12:23] in him through faith towards God,) preaching repentance and the doctrine of baptism was needless, in whom it was fulfilled, to and in such as were brought to God. He that can receive this may, for to it there is no private meaning.
There is a time of preaching faith towards God; and there is a time to be brought to God. But such as are here deny the first priesthood, <144> and witness the second with the eternal spirit of God; who witness him without father or mother [Heb 7:3], a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedeck [Heb 6:20].
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."