Dear friends,—With my love to all the faithful and tender Friends in Christ, the holy seed, that bruises the head of the serpent, (the cause of enmity,) [Gen 3:15] in which seed no enmity is, nor can come [Eph 2:15f?]; for in this seed are all nations blessed [Gen 22:18/Gal 3:8], which destroys the evil seed that brought the curse, and his cursed works and workers. So let this seed Christ rule in all your hearts, who was promised and prophesied of to come, who is come, and reigns, in whom is wisdom, salvation, life, and glory over all, the first and last; this seed doth live and reign over all that doth change and will have an end. Now in this holy seed you enjoy the blessings, and your election in it, which was before the world began [1 Th 1:4/2 Tim 1:9]. Now in this holy seed is the treasure of wisdom and knowledge [Col 2:3], and as you all live and walk in this seed, you will have wisdom and knowledge that is heavenly from this treasure; with which wisdom and knowledge you will have understanding, that all your conversations may be ordered by it aright [Psa 50:23], and to preach righteousness, and holiness, and godliness, so that you may glorify God in your lives and conversations, and all your words may be gracious [Eccl 10:12], and seasoned with grace [Col 4:6]; and whatever promises you may make to any man, you may consider before, that you may perform them [Rom 4:21]; that so your words may preach righteousness and truth; so that you may be the lights of the world, and the salt of the earth [Mat 5:13f], that by your light shining, you may answer the light in all men; and by the grace, and by the salt, you may savour that which is unsavoury; and so by your good works, and keeping to the salt, and to the light shining, you may be instrumental to open the eyes of others, to know your Father which is in heaven, that they may glorify him. [Mat 5:13-16/Col 4:6; Acts 26:18]
And my desire is, that all Friends may keep low, and meek, and humble, that he that doth inhabit eternity [7.15" class="scriptRef">Isa 57:15] may dwell with you; and that you may take upon you Christ's yoke [Mat 11:29], that you may draw with his heavenly plough, that with it the earth may be turned up, that hath oppressed and grieved the tender seed, and God's holy spirit [Eph 4:30]; so that God's plantations may be minded above the outward, that his lilies and vines may grow [Hos 14:5,7], and bring forth fruit [John 15:5] to his praise , who giveth the increase [1 Cor 3:7].
And now, dear friends, keep in the love of God [Jude 1:21], which doth edify the body of Christ [Eph 4:16]; that will bear all things [1 Cor 13:7]. And be gentle, and courteous, and kind one to another in the fear of the Lord; for there is no danger <202> in keeping low; for the danger is to such that are high and lofty, and puffed up. Such will swell; and though they may have good words, and a form of godliness [2 Tim 3:5], yet such that do so swell, will break out into bitter fruits, strife, and contention; and such go out from the power of God and his spirit, and so out of the camp of God, and then out of the unity of the spirit, which is the bond of peace [Eph 4:3]; and therefore all must keep in the holy spirit of God, if they will keep in fellowship with the saints in light, and so keep the bond of peace. For they that go from the spirit of God in themselves, though they have the whole form of godliness, they break the bond of peace; and such run into vain disputes, strife, and contention. But there is no such custom in the church of Christ, which keeps the unity in the spirit, which is the bond of peace.
And now, dear friends, in the name and power of the Lord Jesus Christ, and his spirit, keep all your meetings for worship, and your meetings for business, that you may see that all that profess the light of Christ, and his truth, and have received it, that they do walk according to truth, and as becomes the gospel [Phil 1:27], that the name of God may not be blasphemed amongst you [Rom 2:24]. And if that you of Ashly Cooper River, and that way, and Albemarle River, and that way, had once a year, or once in a half year, a meeting together, it might do very well, some where in the middle of the country, as you shall see meet, as they have in Maryland and Rhode Island. And if you had sometimes some meetings with the Indian kings and their people, to preach the gospel of peace, of life, and of salvation to them; for the gospel is to be preached to every creature [Col 2:23]; and Christ hath tasted death for every man [Heb 2:9], and died for their sins [1 Cor 15:3], that they might come out of death and sin, and live to Christ, that died for them; who hath enlightened them, with the light [John 1:9], which is the life in himself [John 1:4]; and God pours out of this spirit upon all flesh; that is, upon all men and women [Joel 2:28]. And the grace and favour of God appears unto all men [Tit 2:11]; so that all may believe in his light, and walk in his holy spirit, and receive his grace, which will teach them to live godly, &c. and bring them salvation [Tit 2:11f]; so that you may come to see the light of Christ's glorious gospel [2 Cor 4:4] set up in those parts. And God hath promised he will lift up an ensign unto the nations. And again, ‘There shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign to the people; to it the Gentiles shall seek [Isa 11:10].’ And again, he saith, ‘For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea [Isa 11:9].’ So, I desire that that part of the earth may be filled with the knowledge of the Lord.
And now, dear and tender friends, my tender desire is, that you may in nowise abuse, neither by your words, nor by your lives nor conversations, the liberty which God or the rulers have given you; but in all <203> things you may have an eye to God's glory, that he may be glorified by you all, who is worthy of all, who is the Lord of all, both in heaven and earth, blessed for ever.
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."