TO all my dear Brethren, the Flock of God everywhere; keep together in the Power up to God, and none be discouraged or disheartned at the Enemies without . . . but be bold all in the Power of Truth, triumphing over the World. Hold your Freedom, and keep and stand fast in it that ye may be armed with Wisdom and furnished against your Enemies, who are Wiser in their Generation, than the Children of Light. But the Wisdom of the Most High is spreading and making itself manifest in your Hearts . . . and waiting in that which is Pure, it will lead you into that which was, before the World was. . . . Your Strength is, to stand still, that ye may receive Refreshings; that ye may know how to Wait, and how to Walk before God, by the Spirit of God within you.
And Friends every where, Meet together, . . . and watch over one another in that which is Eternal, and see every one, that your Words be from the Eternal Life. . . . And all Meet together every where, and in your Meetings wait upon the Lord; and take heed of forming Words, but mind the Power, and know that which is Eternal, which will keep you all in Unity, walking in the Spirit and will let you see the Lord near you and amongst you.
So, God Almighty be with you, and multiply you, and give you the Dew of Heaven, the heavenly Dew, the living Mercies (which nourisheth the tender Plants, which causeth them to grow, bud and bring forth) and water you with his Blessings.
. . . So, the Lord God of Power be with you all, my dear Hearts! I am with you in the Spirit, and in the Love of your God, your Father and Mine. . . . God Almighty bless you and keep you all, my dear Hearts!
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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."