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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 remaining steadfast in Christ, who is our sanctuary and source of peace, rest, and salvation. He encourages the faithful to keep the word of patience and the testimony of Jesus, assuring them that those who endure will be kept safe during trials. Fox highlights the significance of the word of God, which reconciles and strengthens believers through all afflictions. He calls for a bold confession of Christ before others, reminding them that true faithfulness leads to salvation. His message is a reminder of the eternal hope and strength found in Christ amidst life's challenges.
Epistle 385
Dear friends,—With my love to all the prisoners and the faithful, as though I named them. It is the time now for all the faithful to keep in Christ their sanctuary, in whom you have all peace, rest, life, and salvation, and by the testimony of Jesus, and the blood of the Lamb [Rev 12:11], whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life, before the foundation of the world [Rev 21:27/17:18], they were they that did overcome [Rev 12:11], and did eat of the hidden manna, and had the new name [Rev 2:17]. And therefore now is the time to keep the word of patience , and the testimony of Jesus; for they that keep the word of patience, the Lord will keep them in the hour of temptation, which will come upon the whole world, to try them which dwell upon the earth [Rev 3:10]; for the word was before the world was, and the <233> tempter; for all things were made by the word [John 1:3]. And it is also the word of reconciliation [2 Cor 5:17], the word of power [Heb 1:3], the word of wisdom [1 Cor 12:8], and the word of life [1 Jn 1:1], and the word of salvation [Acts 13:26], by which people are reconciled to God, that are born again of the incorruptible seed by the word of God [1 Pet 1:23]; and they feed and grow by the milk of the word [1 Pet 2:2], which lives, and abides, and endures for ever [1 Pet 1:23], which strengthens all the faithful, in all ages, in all their afflictions, imprisonments, and sufferings; and it is the same to God's people now in this day of trial, to preserve all his people every where, in his spirit and power, faithful to himself; for, he that endures faithful to the end shall be saved [Mat 10:22]. And Christ saith, ‘He that is ashamed of me before men, him will I be ashamed of before my Father, and his angels which are in heaven [Mat 10:33/Luke 9:26].’ And therefore it is good to confess Christ before men [Mat 10:32], to be your priest, prophet, your shepherd, your bishop [1 Pet 2:25], your way, your mediator, that makes your peace betwixt God and you; and be valiant for his glorious name and truth upon the earth [Jer 9:3]. And so with my love in the seed, in which you and all nations are blessed [Gen 22:18]. 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.