To all the elect, chosen and faithful [Rev 17:14], who are of the royal seed of God, living stones [1 Pet 2:5], elect and precious [1 Pet 2:6], knit and built up together [Col 2:19/1 Pet 2:5], and united, the family and household of God [Eph 2:19], and come to his mountain, that is established upon the top of all mountains [Isa 2:2], that walk in the light of the Lord [Isa 2:5], in unity and covenant with God, in the covenant of life and peace [Mal 2:5] with him. Who in this the Lamb's day are the gold tried in the fire [Zech 13:9]. Who have been tried by goods spoiling, by bonds, by whippings, by mockings, and reproaches in the day of the Lamb's power, and some have been tried unto death; and ye have proved to be the pure gold, that hath come out brighter and brighter. Who have not feared the waves of the sea, nor the winds [Mat 8:26]; who fear not the storms nor the weather; whose anchor holds, which is the hope, the mystery [Col 1:27], which anchors the soul [Heb 6:19] which is immortal, to the immortal God. Among whom the star of Jacob [Num 24:17] is seen, and the morning star [Rev 22:16] is risen, and the sun of righteousness [Mal 4:2] shines, and the Lamb's voice is known [Rev 18:23?], the church in her glory and beauty is appeared and appearing; the marriage of the lamb, and the bride [Rev 19:7], and the wedding day is known, in which there is unity; and the virgins sing praises, and follow the Lamb, because of his sweet ointment; and the virgins are upon Mount Zion. And the gospel is going forth unto all nations, kindreds, and tongues [Rev 5:9]; and life and immortality are coming to light through the gospel [2 Tim 1:10], which is the power of God [Rom 1:16]; and the mystery of the fellowship [Eph 3:9] is known, which is in the power. And for want of the power, the gospel, in which is the fellowship, hath Christendom been on heaps, and the heathen ignorant. And now ye who know the power of God, ye know the gospel; and ye who are in the power of God, ye are in the mystery of the fellowship. So mark, the fellowship is a mystery, and the mystery of the fellowship is everlasting. So, if any wants the power of God, he wants the mystery, in which is the fellowship, although he may have all the scriptures.
2. And now, friends, if any be moved of the Lord God by his power, be obedient to it, and wait in the life and in the power, and it will direct you to the glory of God, in his wisdom, not to abuse it; that whatsoever ye do, ye may do it to his glory [1 Cor 10:31], ye answering the just principle of God in every one.
3. If any be moved to go to the steeple-houses, or markets, or to reprove sin in the gate, or to exhort high or low, or to reprove them; reason not with flesh and blood [Gal 1:16], nor quench the spirit [1 Th 5:19]. And when ye have done, in the same spirit live; and then ye will have peace, and <158> rest, and fellowship with God, and one with another. For the unity is in the spirit, and it is the bond of peace [Eph 4:3].
4. And all Friends, in your meetings do not quench the spirit. And take heed, and do not judge one another in the meetings; but have patience until the meetings be done. So, if any have any thing upon him to speak to another, he may speak to him after the meeting is done [Mat 18:15]; that will cover one another's weakness, and not hurt others.
5. And all Friends every where, wait to feel the power of God in yourselves in your meetings. And take heed of sleeping, and feel the power of God in one another; that ye all may be in the mystery of the fellowship. For wo unto them, that are at ease in Zion [Amos 6:1]! I warn and charge you all in the presence of the living God, that none make their habitation in the earth, or build tabernacles there, lest ye become vagabonds from the Lord [Gen 4:14]. But let every one rest in his habitation in God, and here is no vagabond; but there shall every one know an heirship, a habitation, and an inheritance. And I warn and charge you from the Lord, not to make any of the world's jewels your God; but live all in the power of the Lord God, in which ye will be carried over the spirit of the world [1 Cor 2:2].
6. And Friends all every where, dwell in the love and fear of the Lord God, and in peace one with another, and in the power and life of the Lord God keep your meetings; and live in the mystery of the fellowship of the gospel [Phil 1:5], which is everlasting.
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."