Friends,—By the wisdom of God were all things made [John 1:3, Wis 7:22], and by the wisdom of God must all things be ordered again to God's glory [Wis 8:1, 1 Cor 10:31]. Transgression and sin bring death and destruction; but that wisdom is hid from all their eyes that live in sin, by which wisdom all things were made and created; which was, before sin, death, and destruction were. And so, that is it, which the creatures and creation of God must be ordered by, that wisdom which made them, and doth not change; which is hid from death and destruction, and from that which is in the transgression of life, and must not rule. So Friends every where, be tender to those that have forsaken any thing for truth. And if that their parents have put them out from them, or their masters put them away for truth's sake, and them that are put out of their places for truth's sake, such in the truth receive and cherish; that they may be kept in the service of the creation to God's glory, answering that of God in all. For every one is to abide in their places [Exo 16:29], and there to be faithful, except they be put out, or put away, and be buffeted for no fault, and take it patiently; that is thanksworthy. And do good unto all, especially to them that are of the household of faith [Gal 6:10], and be as the church of God, guided in the wisdom of the Most High, who causeth his rain to fall upon the just and upon the unjust [Mat 5:45]. And so, be ye merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful [Luke 6:36]. And know the seed of God that is heir of the promise [Gal 3:29] in every one of you, and the wisdom, by which all things must be ordered to his glory, who upholds all things by his word of power [Heb 1:3]. By which word of wisdom all things were created, and must be ordered again to the glory of the Creator; in which man will be kept clean unto God, and honour God with his substance, and glorify God in his spirit. Whereby every one's conversation will come to be ordered aright [Psa 50:23], and ye come to set down in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus [E;ph 2:6]; and to know the high calling of God in Christ Jesus [Phil 3:14], who calls out of darkness into the light [1 Pet 2:9], out of death into life. For he that calls, is holy [1 Pet 1:15], and calls into holiness [1 Th 4:7], without which none shall see the Lord [Heb 12:14].
And all Friends, be faithful in the seed and life of the Lord God; that is it which abideth in the love of God for ever, where every one hath his bread which comes down from above [John 6:35-58]. That is the birth, <150> which abideth in the house of the Lord God for ever [Psa 23:6], and shall go no more forth; which is greater than he that is in the world [1 Jn 4:4]. And in the seed and life keep your meetings with God and one with another. So in that the Lord God Almighty preserve you all to his glory.
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."