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George Fox

George Fox (1624 - 1691). English Dissenter, founder of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), born in Drayton-in-the-Clay, Leicestershire. Apprenticed as a shoemaker, he left home at 19, seeking spiritual truth amid Puritan and Anglican tensions. In 1647, after visions and direct experiences of God, he began preaching an “inner light” accessible to all, rejecting clergy and formal worship. By 1652, he gathered followers in northern England, forming the Quakers, known for pacifism and simplicity. Fox traveled across England, Ireland, the Netherlands, and America, enduring eight imprisonments for his beliefs, including at Lancaster Castle. He wrote Journal (1694) and numerous letters, shaping Quaker theology with calls for equality and justice. Married to Margaret Fell in 1669, a key Quaker leader, they had no children, but she had eight from her prior marriage. His 1660 Declaration rejected violence, influencing conscientious objection. Fox’s emphasis on personal revelation transformed Protestantism, and his writings remain central to Quaker thought.
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Sermon Summary
George Fox emphasizes the importance of faithfulness to God, urging believers to live in His truth and righteousness, which will serve as a blessing in their generation. He highlights the trials of faith and worship, contrasting those who gather in the name of Jesus with those who are rooted in the fall of Adam. Fox encourages the faithful to dwell in the security of Christ, the second Adam, and to be valiant for the truth, assuring them of their eternal inheritance in the kingdom of God. He reminds them to remain steadfast and not be swayed by worldly distractions, as they are called to reign with Christ and be a light in the darkness. Ultimately, he calls for a life lived in the spirit and truth, celebrating the mysteries revealed to them by God.
Epistle 231
My dear friends,—Be faithful to the Lord God every one, in the truth and power of God, and his righteousness, that it may flow over all [Amos 5:24], and walk and live in it, that to the Lord God you may be a good savour [2 Cor 2:15], and a blessing in your generation. Look over all sufferings, and that which makes you to suffer. Dwell in the rock, which is above all storms and tempests [Jer 48:28/Mat 7:24f]; for now is the trial of your faith [1 Pet 1:7], now is the trial of your meetings, (who are gathered in the name of Jesus, [Mat 18:20]) by them that are gathered in the name of Adam in the fall; now is the trial of your worship, which is in the spirit and truth [John 4:24], by such as worship out of the spirit and truth. And now is the trial of your fellowship in the gospel [Phil 1:5], the power of God [Rom 1:16], by such whose fellowship lies in outward things; now is the trial of your church, which is in God [1 Th 1:1], by those that have their church in the fall, unsanctified; and now is the trial of your faith, and your gospel fellowship in it, which is a mystery [Eph 3:9], and Christ the second Adam [1 Cor 15:45,47] is a mystery to fallen Adam, and truth is a mystery to all them that are out of it, and the light is a mystery to all the builders and stumblers at it [John 11:10], and haters of it [John 3:20]; and godliness is a mystery [1 Tim 3:16] to all the ungodly. Therefore may you praise the Lord, and bless his name, who hath revealed these mysteries to you in the day of trial, by which you may withstand the day of darkness, and the hour of it. For those that have oil in their lamps enter in with the bridegroom, who have heard his voice at midnight [Mat 25:6,10]. And so happy and blessed are all you that have laid up in store against this day [1 Tim 6:19], and the time that is now come, whose bread fails not [Isa 51:14], nor water [Isa 58:11], and have found the landmark of your everlasting portion and inheritance in the kingdom, where nothing that defiles can enter [Rev 21:17]. And therefore be valiant for the truth upon the earth [Jer 9:3], and fear no amazement [1 Pet 3:6], but fear the Lord, who upholds all things by his word and power [Heb 1:3], in whom is all your fresh springs of life [John 4:14]. Live and walk in the second Adam, the Lord from heaven [1 Cor 15:47]; and all keep out of Adam in the fall, that is earthly, that you may sit down in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus [Eph 2:6], that never fell [1 Pet 2:22], who is your life, who is your peace and salvation, who redeems you from the earth [Rev 14:3], that you may reign upon the earth, who makes you kings and priests to God [Rev 5:10]; and blessed be the Lord for ever, who reigns, and lives, and rules amongst his flocks and assemblies, gardens, plants, vineyards, babes, children, sons and daughters, servants and prophets, watering them with the water of life [Rev 21:6], giving the increase [1 Cor 3:7] of life to them; glory and praise be to his name for ever. And God accepts you in his son, the second Adam, the seed Christ [Gal 3:16] Jesus, who reigns. But God is displeased with people as they are in Adam in the fall, as they are out of <246> Christ. And so in him be faithful, who is your crown, let no man take your crown [Rev 3:11] from you. Yea, I say, be faithful to him who was the ‘Lamb slain from the foundation of the world [Rev 13:8],’ who reigns and sits down at the right hand of God, till all his enemies be made his footstool [Psa 110:1]; he who was glorified with the Father before the world began [John 17:3], sit down in him, the amen and faithful witness [Rev 3:14]. G. F.
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George Fox (1624 - 1691). English Dissenter, founder of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), born in Drayton-in-the-Clay, Leicestershire. Apprenticed as a shoemaker, he left home at 19, seeking spiritual truth amid Puritan and Anglican tensions. In 1647, after visions and direct experiences of God, he began preaching an “inner light” accessible to all, rejecting clergy and formal worship. By 1652, he gathered followers in northern England, forming the Quakers, known for pacifism and simplicity. Fox traveled across England, Ireland, the Netherlands, and America, enduring eight imprisonments for his beliefs, including at Lancaster Castle. He wrote Journal (1694) and numerous letters, shaping Quaker theology with calls for equality and justice. Married to Margaret Fell in 1669, a key Quaker leader, they had no children, but she had eight from her prior marriage. His 1660 Declaration rejected violence, influencing conscientious objection. Fox’s emphasis on personal revelation transformed Protestantism, and his writings remain central to Quaker thought.