The Missing Cross to Purity

A COLLECTION

OF

MANY SELECT EPISTLES TO FRIENDS,

OF

THAT ANCIENT, EMINENT, AND FAITHFUL MINISTER


OF JESUS CHRIST,

George Fox

Volume 1 Contd.

250.-A warning to all to keep out of the vain fashions of the world, which lead them below the serious life and not to fashion themselves according to the world

Friends,

Keep out of the vain fashions of the world;
let not your eyes, and minds, and spirits
run after every fashion (in apparel) of the nations;
for that will lead you from the solid life
into unity with that spirit that leads to follow the fashions of the nations,
after every fashion of apparel that gets up.
But mind that which is sober and modest, and keep to your plain fashions,
that therein you may judge the world, whose minds and eyes are in,
'what they shall put on, and what they shall eat.'
And Friends that see the world so often alter their fashions,
if you follow them, and run into them, in that you cannot judge the world,
but the world will rather judge you.
Therefore, keep all in the modesty, and plainness,
and fervency, and sincerity, and be circumspect;
for they that follow those things, that the world's spirit invents daily,
cannot be solid;
and many fashions might be instanced,
both of hats, caps, and clothes of men and women that daily are invented,
which they that run into are near unto the world's spirit,
and their eyes are gazing after them,
when they should be upon the Lord,
from whom they should receive judgment.
Therefore all keep down that spirit of the world that runs into so many fashions
to please the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.
And fashion not yourselves according to your former lust of ignorance;
and let the time past be sufficient,
in which you have lived according to the lusts of men,
and the course of the world,
that the rest of your time you may live to the will of God,
taking no thought what you shall eat,
what you shall drink, or what you shall put on;
that therein your lives may judge the heathen,
and that you may be as the lilies.
For nothing you brought into the world,
neither any thing shall you take out.
And, therefore, while the eye is gazing after every new fashion,
and the mind and desire is thirsting to get it;
when it has it, it lifts up the mind,
and so brings under the judgment of them that are in the sober life,
and of the world also, and to be like them.
Therefore take heed of the world's fashions,
for fear that you be molded up into their spirit,
and that will bring you to slight truth,
and lift up the wrong eye, and wrong mind, and wrong spirit,
and hurt and blind the pure eye, and pure mind, and quench the holy spirit;
and through such foolish toys, and fashions, and fading things,
you may lose your conditions.
Therefore take heed of the world's vanity,
and trust not in the uncertain riches, neither covet the riches of this world,
but seek the kingdom of God, and the righteousness thereof,
and all other things will follow;
and let your minds be above the costly and vain fashions of attire,
but mind the hidden man of the heart, which is a meek and a quiet spirit,
which is of great price with the Lord.
And keep to justice and truth in all your dealings and tradings,
at a word, and to the form of sound words, in the power of the Lord
and in equity, in yea and nay in all your dealings,
that your lives and conversations may be in heaven, and above the earth,
that they may preach to all that you have to deal with;
so that you may be as a city set on a hill, that cannot be hid,
and as lights of the world, answering the equal principle in all,
that God in all things may be glorified.
So that you may pass your time here with fear,
as pilgrims, and strangers, and sojourners,
having an eye over all things that are uncertain,
as cities, houses, lands, goods, and as things below.
Possess them as if you did not;
and they that marry, as if they did not;
yet as having a city, whose maker and builder is God,
and a possession of an inheritance that will never fade away,
in which you have riches that will abide with you eternally.

George Fox

251.

My dear friends in the truth and seed of God,
in which is purity and life,
let that flow from the head to the feet,
that righteousness, and judgment may run down our streets as a stream.
For now Friends are become a people gathered in the holy name of Jesus.
Therefore all are to walk worthy of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus;
and as each has received him, so walk in him,
as becomes the gospel, which is the power of God,
which was before the devil was;
that in that your life may shine before men, to answer that of God in all,
that they may behold your good works,
and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
And so, walk in the light as children of the light and of the day.
For you know that formerly we did cry against the powers of the earth,
because that judgment, and justice, and righteousness
did not run down their streets.
And now that Friends are become a great people,
shall not judgment, and justice, and righteousness run down our streets
as a stream and a flood, to drive away all the filth from among us.

And now that Friends are become a good savor in the hearts of all people,
they have a friend in their house that will plead for them;
by which Friends have been kept and preserved in the life,
to answer the friend in their house.
And God having given them his dominion and favor,
lose it not, but rather increase it in the life;
for at first you know that many could not take so much money
in your trade as to buy bread with;
all people stood aloof of you, when you stood upright,
and gave them the plain language, and were at a word;
but now you, through the life, having come to answer that of God in all,
they say, they will trust you before their own people,
knowing that you will not cheat, nor wrong, nor cozen, nor oppress them.
For the cry is now among them that are without,
where is there a Quaker of such and such a trade?
So that they will deal with Friends before they will deal with their own.
Oh! therefore friends, who have purchased this through great sufferings,
lose not this great favor which God has given unto you,
but that you may answer the witness of God in every man,
which witnesses to your faithfulness,
that they may glorify your Father on your behalf.

And now, friends, if there be any oppression, exaction, or defrauding
by making a prize, through the freedom which God has given you,
the world will see such, and say, the Quakers are not as they were;
therefore such should be exhorted to equity and truth.
And also, if any run into debt, and aim at great things,
and make a great show in the world of other's goods,
which comes to burden others,
and lift up themselves with that which is not their own,
and are not able to satisfy them, according to their time and word;
such hurt themselves, burden others, and oppress them,
and bring grief, and cause heart rising in them
to see such grown up by oppression;
therefore such must be exhorted to justice, equity, and righteousness,
and an even measure, to do as they would be done by.

And also, such as go under the name of Quaker,
that are gotten into the earth, and settle their nests there in ease;
such come to cry against Quakers' meetings,
saying, away with your forms; and will not come to our meetings,
and hurt others, by which the world gets occasion against the truth.
Therefore such must be exhorted,
for such never knew the purchase of the truth,
and if they did, they have sold it.
And, friends, forget not the assembling of yourselves together,
as the manner of some is, and was;
for fear that there be an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God,
but exhort one another daily;
and so much the more, as the day appears,
showing the more light, the more day, the more building,
the more exhorting in the light, and in the spirit,
in fellowship one with another.
And they that do forsake the assembling of themselves together,
as the manner of some was in the apostles' days,
and is the manner of some now,
such grow more and more in the evil heart,
departing from the living God.
And this brought in the apostasy, which the apostates set up,
and all the whole body of trifling traditions.
Therefore such as be in the everlasting power of God
must exhort such to take heed and be wise.

And also, all such unruly spirits that have professed (falsely)
and got under the name of Quakers,
whose evil words corrupt good manners,
must be exhorted from house to house.

And also such young people, young women and men, that go in youthful ways,
and take liberty to go into pleasure,
and to play, and to alehouses and drunkenness;
which corrupt the earth,
which is one mark that they are dead while they live.
And these kill the just, and burden the righteous,
and cause the way of truth to be evil spoken of.
Therefore such must be exhorted to live in the truth,
and to come to that which will mortify that which leads to death;
so that truth may be adorned by them. ,

And also such that will not go to meetings, and cry against others that do,
and say, they are forms of men;
and one while they will not give the hand;
and another while they will keep on their hats when Friends pray,
and yet secretly they can go to bad house's, as several have done.
From these abominable things they must be exhorted and reproved.
And if they do not repent,
and come to judge and condemn those things that they have done amiss,
and live in that which condemns,
and give forth a paper to take their transgressions
and bad doings out of Friends' minds;
and to the people of the world manifesting their repentance.
But, if they do neither repent, judge nor condemn,
nor give forth a paper against such bad actions,
which make the world to speak evil of the truth and the right way,
then Friends must give forth a paper to the world,
to certify against them, for clearing the truth.
And better such had never professed the name,
nor known the truth,
nor come among them who were gathered into the name of Jesus,
and into the form of sound words,
and into the son of God and godliness,
than to have gone into a form of their own,
which they have received, yes even from the worst of men;
who are thereby come under the judgment of common, outward people.
And therefore Friends, all uncleanness, of all sorts,
and unrighteousness, and unfaithfulness,
and youthful ways of running out, and lifting up,
such must be exhorted and reproved;
that truth and righteousness may flow,
through which you may keep that which you have bought,
and kept through great sufferings, and some to death;
that truth in all things may be adorned.

And all such as are tattlers, busy-bodies, backbiters, and gossipers,
are to be exhorted to mind their own conditions,
that they may live in the truth,
and not to draw others out to words, wherein there is no profit;
that truth may flow, and the life may flow,
and the unity may increase in the spirit and power;
that all may come to live in the gospel order,
which was before the devil, or enmity, or adversary was.

And all such as cry, 'Away with your laws, we will have none of your laws.'
To such as come to the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus,
which makes free from the law of sin and death,
and puts down that authority;
which life was before death and sin were, and remains when they are gone;
and in the life in Christ Jesus,
is the saints' fellowship and unity and bond of peace.
All such as cry against laws so much, are the sons of Belial,
and would be without the yoke of the law of the son of God.
Such always were the stirrers up of mischief and schism from the body,
and they took liberty to say any thing;
as you may read in the book of Kings,
in the days of Jezebel, and in the days of Stephen;
and yet these that cry so much against laws,
yet they live themselves in the law of sin and death;
which they obey when they do evil;
who are without the understanding of the righteous law,
which the righteous live in and see.
Therefore, such must be exhorted and reproved,
if they go under the name of Quakers, and are not in the life.
That justice, judgment, and righteousness
may flow as a river, and as a stream, and drive away all the filth from among us;
that nothing but the power of God,
and the life of truth, may rule among us;
that the living God, which has blessed you with his heavenly riches and mercies,
and largely manifested them among you,
may be in all things honored, magnified, and exalted.
To whom all belongs, God over all, blessed forever.
So that everyone may adorn the truth, and the gospel,
and mind the Lord's business above their own.
And everyone be tender of the glory of God,
and be careful, that in nowise his name and truth be dishonored.

George Fox

So let this be read in all your men and women's meetings,
who are to take notice of all such things.
So no more, but my love in the universal seed of God,
which never sinned,
which is first and last, the top and cornerstone.

252.
To Friends in the ministry, scattered abroad in Virginia, Maryland, New England,
Barbados, and other plantations beyond the sea

To all you that minister abroad in those parts, this is the word of the Lord to you all:
live in lowliness of mind, and meekness of spirit, and pureness of heart,
and be examples in your lives, and chaste in your conversations,
in holiness of mind, that you may be a good savor
among the people where you come.
Let all ungracious, light, unseasoned expressions,
be kept out of your minds and mouths, which edify not the new life;
and keep single unto God, and single hearted to man,
and plain in all things, and low.
For it is the word of the Lord, and the light of God,
that prophesied and revealed
the dispensation of the gospel of Christ unto people.
Be you faithful in it, and walk answerable to it,
and to that holy gift or manifestation of prophecy.
And let none be lifted up with it, for life brings low, and down,
as you are kept in the holiness of it, and the wisdom of God;
through which you answer that of God in all.
This does not hinder the effect of that which you have to minister;
but the life is opened to receive it,
in walking and answering that which you have to minister;
though the contrary part may rise up against you.
Be at unity among yourselves,
that you may not make sects nor schisms, nor stumble the weak.
For you know that cursed spirit that made rents
and got into the affections and uppermost part of people,
has buried the witness of God in many, and made open rents,
(which may break also into other ages against truth, and them that live in it),
which in time will wither and fade away, as grass upon the house top,
and their arrows will turn into their own bowels,
that are shot against the righteous, both of the professor and profane.
And so be valiant for the truth upon the earth,
abhorring all uncleanness and unrighteousness,
flying all youthful ways and fond affections below,
being kept above them, showing the new life to them that be in the old,
and a new conversation to them that be in the vain,
and gentleness to all the perverse,
and straightness to all the crooked,
and plainness to all the rough,
and lowliness to all the mountains of ungodliness and unrighteousness;
for the Lamb must have the victory.
And so you may be one another's crown, joy and rejoicing in the Lord,
and not one another's sorrow and grief.
And so, that all may be brought to the witness of God,
(which first convinced them), who have run out, and to the life to answer it;
through which you may come to have unity with God,
and with them in the eternal and everlasting life.
And some of you should take some of the eminent, true, good, and upright Friends,
and go and discourse with some of the heathen kings,
desiring them to gather their council and people together,
that you may declare God's everlasting truth,
and his everlasting way of life and salvation to them;
knowing that Christ is the promise of God to them,
a covenant of light to the Gentiles, (which is the heathen),
who is also the new covenant to the Jews;
for you have been among the old, rotten hearted professors,
and seen the power of the Lord come over them.
So, now turn to the Gentiles, to whom Christ is given for a covenant of light,
and of salvation, to the ends of the earth.
So that the light must be preached and sounded throughout all the heathen kings and princes' countries;
and therefore, as you feel and are moved, about six or more persons,
living in those parts near unto them, to go with you, as I said,
and desire the king to gather his council and subjects together,
that they may hear that which has been promised to them,
God's everlasting covenant of light,
and life, and salvation, to the ends of the earth.
And so, be faithful in his power, which was before the devil was;
who has darkened people, and set them one against another.
You having on the armor of light, which was before the power of darkness,
(and which must stand against them),
and having on the breastplate of righteousness,
that you may stand against all unrighteousness,
and the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God,
which was before the world was;
through which you may savor and discern in wisdom,
and in understanding you may judge,
and feel by the word of reconciliation
committed to God's servants, his sons, and his daughters;
which word of faith is now preached,
even the same which was among the apostles, which all must obey and do;
which reconciles to God, and to just men's spirits, and to one another.
So no more, but my love to you all in the everlasting seed of God that never changes.
For the word is the same now as it was in the beginning, in ages past, manifested over all;
which many thousands have received; Glory and blessing to the Lord God forever.
So be faithful, that you may be one another's crown,
and rejoicing in the Lord, going together in the love and fear of the Lord.
For Friends in Maryland were a pretty people;
and Friends, you have had large experience of that spirit that run into the hat,
(those who claimed and formed a sect based on keeping the hat on in prayer)
that it was not of God, which scatters to the world, (and begot none to God),
which is to be bruised by the seed of God,
Christ Jesus, which gathers to God.

George Fox

London, the 1st of the 7th month, 1667.

253.
To Friends in Holland.

Dear Friends,

In the everlasting power of the Lord God I salute all the faithful and upright,
among whom the Lord has joy and delight;
in everlasting power of God have you your unity, fellowship, and dominion.
And so friends, all sufferings of Friends, of what sort so ever,
for conscience sake to Christ,
in Holland, in Germany, in Zealand, Gilderland, in the Palatinate,
in Freezland, Sweedland, Switzerland, and Bamburg,
send an account for what they have suffered, and by whom;
together with the examples that are fallen upon the persecutors;
with their mittimuses and examinations,
send all these to London, to Friends there;
that if any ambassadors or agents, out of any of those places, come to London,
Friends may make application to them;
for there are some Friends, who are ordered for the same purpose,
to take knowledge of such things.
And likewise, if any Friends have come over into those parts of the world,
and have not walked answerable to the gospel of truth,
but have walked scandalously and disorderly;
whether they have been such who have come over to minister,
or seamen, and factors, or merchants, or masters of ships,
whereby the Lord God has been dishonored,
and his holy name blasphemed, by which his people are called.
And also all such who have not been faithful in their callings between man and man,
but have been deceitful in their callings,
and have been exacters, and have not been true to their word;
by such doings they cause the holy name of the Lord God,
and his righteous truth, to be evil spoken of.
That a list of all such may be gathered up, and sent over to London,
of such who are to receive them; and that if they condemn those things,
and have given forth a paper of condemnation against them,
if so, that we may have a copy of it also,
to take away the reproach of their transgressions from Friends.
And let the faithful Friends among you meet together,
to consider and take care about these things.

George Fox

254.

Friends,

Let your affections be set on things that are above;
for if they be on things below, then your minds, bodies, souls, and spirits,
will be brought into bondage,
and in that the evil will get into you and burden you,
which ought to be kept down by the seed of life:
and learn the true humility of Christ the second Adam.
And so all they that watch for the soul, must have the immortal eye;
for the soul is immortal:
and therefore all eyes must be kept above that which is mortal,
and out of it up to the immortal God,
whose dwelling is in the light.
And so mind the gospel, which is immortal,
and the government of him that never sinned nor fell,
and to know the increase of it daily, which has no end.
For the Lord is establishing his church in righteousness and truth,
whose church is without spot, wrinkle, and blemish, or any such thing.
And his people are a holy generation, and they are to stand up for holiness,
in which holiness they will see God among them;
and let everyone see that they do keep their own vineyard clean.

Dear friends, mind the gospel, which is the power of God,
that was before the devil and old Adam were;
in this power is the comely order;
and out of this power is all the uncomely orders.
And so know the government of Christ, and the increase thereof, which has no end;
and this governor and government was before the devil and old Adam was,
and will stand when all that is gone.

George Fox

255.

Dear Friends,

All who from the beginning have been convinced of God's truth,
and are turned to the world, or gone into drunkenness, swearing, pleasure,
and looseness, or to the old mass-house, or have sold the truth for a wife or husband,
and gone to the priests covertly to be married, contrary to the truth they have professed:
these all must be admonished to come to the light that did first convince them,
and give forth a paper of condemnation, and send it to the priests,
and to those places where they have dishonored God, his truth and people.
And so to clear the truth, that none may make a jest of their transgressions;
by walking out of the truth, cause the blind to wander;
so that the house may be swept,
and you being a holy generation, may stand up for holiness in your generation,
as the wicked world stands up for unholiness.

George Fox

Surrey , the 10th of the 7th month, 1668.

256.

My dear friends,

Live in the wisdom of God, which is gentle and pure from above, and easy to be entreated;
all bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
And if any weakness should appear in any in your meetings,
not for any to lay it open and tell it abroad, this is not wisdom that does so;
for love covers a multitude of sins, and love preserves and edifies the body;
and he that dwells in love dwells in God;
for God is love, and love is not easily provoked;
and therefore keep the law of love,
to keep down that which is so provoked;
for that which is easily provoked has words, which are for condemnation.
Therefore, let the law of love be among you,
which is not easily provoked;
and this law of love being among you,
it will keep down that which is so provoked, and its words;
and so the body edifies itself in love.

George Fox

257.

Dear friends,

Be faithful in the service of God,
and mind the Lord's business, and be diligent,
so will the power of the Lord be brought over all those that have opposed it.
And all you that are faithful, go to visit them that have been convinced,
from house to house, that if it be possible you may not leave a hoof in Egypt.
And so, everyone go seek the lost sheep,
and bring him home on your backs to the fold,
and there will be more joy of that one sheep than the ninety and nine in the fold.
And, friends, all take heed of sleeping in meetings, and sottishness, and dullness;
for it is an unsavory thing to see one sit nodding in a meeting,
and so to lose the sense of the Lord.
And it is a shame and a sadness both, and it grieves the upright and watchful,
that wait upon the Lord, to see such things;
and for the priests, people, and others, that come into your meetings,
and see you, that come together to worship God,
and to meet together to wait upon him, and to have fellowship in his spirit,
for you to sit nodding, it is a shame and an unseemly thing.
Therefore be careful and watchful, and let it be mended;
and mind the light and power of Christ Jesus in you,
and that will condemn all such things, and lead you out of, and above, such things,
and make you watchful one over another for your good.

George Fox

Let this be read in all your meetings

258

Dear friends,

In the truth of God that change not, is my love to you,
in that which is unfeigned and everlasting,
in the same power, and the same seed of life as ever was,
and was at the first going forth among you.
And so friends, the Lord in his everlasting and mighty power has moved some to go over in those parts
to declare his word of life and everlasting gospel.
And some have not walked afterwards as becomes the gospel,
both them that have declared it, and them who have received it;
whereby there has been a stop to the progress of the truth and power of God,
that it has not had its full course;
and by that, burdens have been brought upon the just and innocent,
and the mouths of the world, instead of stopping them,
they have opened them to speak evil of the truth and way of God.
And so, friends, this is the thing in short and plainness,
all that have come over into your plantations, and islands,
either to minister or plant, or as passengers to see the country,
or seamen masters of ships, factors, or merchants,
that have dishonored the Lord God and his truth,
and have opened the mouths of the world to blaspheme God,
and to speak evil of his way and holy truth that the righteous live in:
such, I say, before mentioned, that have gotten into drunkenness,
or looseness in words and life, and have not been faithful in their dealings,
or have showed any immodest carriages,
or are gotten up into those things which the power of God did not set up in the beginning,
(which faithful Friends have continued in),
and have gone into sects and arguing,
which is out of the power of God which Friends are in,
who keep their habitations in Christ Jesus, in whom there is peace.
And all such likewise, who are gone into uncleanness,
and such who pretend to preach the gospel,
and are sat down in the earth, like Demas,
and have forsaken the gift of God,
and sit down in the earth, and esteem the earth before it;
and so set up their own business, and slight the Lord's.
And such who are gotten into the rotten principles of the Ranters,
who wear their hats when Friends pray;
who, out of the wisdom of God, would manifest to the world a separation,
and to show that they are not of the spirit, power, and mind, as Friends were in at the first.
As also, all such that raise false reports,
which are forbidden by the Lord among his people.
These things are to be searched out to the bottom,
that righteousness and truth may flow, and have its passage through all hearts,
and all may come to the habitation which they had at the first;
and all that is contrary may come to judgment and condemnation.
For the house must be swept and cleansed of all the things above mentioned that have gotten into any,
that all may come up into the sanctified life;
for the Ancient of days is come, and the judgment is set,
and they that have kept their habitations witness this.
And therefore, friends, this is my advice to you,
I would have you to gather up a list of all these things aforementioned,
in all your islands and plantations,
let them be searched thoroughly,
that what is for judgment and condemnation may be brought to it,
and that you may send an account to Friends at London of such that come from there,
that have been since scandalous in their conversations.
So that every one may come to that which did at first convince them,
and to condemn their contrary actions.
And that papers may be sent to the world,
who have known their transgressions,
to clear truth and Friends, and to fetch it out of their mouths;
that so they may not feed upon anyone's transgressions;
that the miscarriages of some may not be charged on the body of Friends.

George Fox

259

My dear friends,

Be faithful in the truth which the devil is out of;
in which truth you have dominion over him.
And live in the power of God, which was before the devil was;
in which power of God, which is the gospel, is your fellowship.
And live in the light, which was before darkness was, and the power of it:
in which light is also your everlasting fellowship;
and in this you will know God's dwelling, which is in the light.
And dwell in the life, which was before death was,
and the devil, the power of it;
and in this life you will have dominion over death and the power of it.
And so you do well that take heed to the light, and walk in it;
and they that do evil do not take heed to the light.
And so walk in the light, as children of the light,
and that you will have fellowship one with another,
and with the son and the Father.
And so mind the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls;
and that will keep your eyes and minds over all that which is not able to save,
and keep your feet on the top of that.
And so be of that of good faith which gives you victory and access to God,
in which you do all please God, and have unity one with another.
And so mind the seed of Christ, which is over all that which makes to suffer,
And was before that was, and will stand when that is gone that makes to suffer;
in that seed live, and know it your crown and life,
and in that you will be one another's crown and joy in the Lord God blessed forever.
And so keep your meetings in the name and power of the Lord Jesus Christ that never fell;
and the seed Christ reigns, in whom you have life,
that was with the Father before the world began.

George Fox

260

Dear Friends,

If the truth make you free, then are you free indeed.
So then there are none made freemen, but by truth;
and all that are freemen, they are made free by the truth, they are God's freemen;
they are free citizens, they are freeholders of an everlasting inheritance,
and free in an everlasting kingdom; and they are free heirs of salvation;
and they are free in the heavenly city Jerusalem which is from above;
and they are free in the power of an endless life, which was before death was.
So they are not captives, they are not bondmen, they are not servants, nor slaves.
But (mark) free men and free women.
And what has made them free men, and free women, but truth?
For if the truth has made you free, then are you free indeed,
So, free to worship God in the spirit and in truth, (which the devil is out of),
to serve the Lord God in the spirit and in the new life.
They are above the serpent, and from under his control;
and from under the control of old Adam, and his beggarly rudiments,
and will-worships, and false righteousness.
Truth makes free from all these; and makes free to be partakers of Christ Jesus,
and of his blood, and his spirit, and mind;
who is the prince of peace, and prince of life;
and makes free to be partakers of the divine nature and precious faith;
and to be members of the true church, and gospel fellowship,
and power of God, which was before the devil was.
So stand fast in the liberty with which Christ has made you free,
free from the devil, dragon, and serpent, and all slavery and servitude.
For free men do walk in their freedom;
for it is the truth makes them free, and so to triumph in glory.
And so, if the truth have made you free, then are you free indeed;
free from all the will-worships, and from all the windy doctrines;
from all the evil inventions, traditions, imaginations, and notions,
and rudiments of Adam in the fall, who are from truth;
and free from the devil, who is out of truth.
So it is plain, none are free but by the truth, and all in the truth are free men.
And all out of the truth, are slaves in old Adam, and slaves to sin and satan,
and to his will-worship, and to their own self-righteousness,
and to their rudiments, doctrines, and traditions;
serving divers lusts, pleasures, and corruptions,
and serving the creatures more than the Creator, who is God blessed forever,
and serving the desires of their own minds;
and so as slaves are kept in bondage;
all in prison all in the bonds of death and jaws of death;
for who are out of truth are no free men.
Though they be high priests, and readers, preachers, and expounders,
as the great high priests, and the lofty Pharisees and scribes were,
professing the scriptures, yet not in the truth, and so not freemen.
For they are in malice and envy, like Cain; oppressors, like Pharaoh;
raging persecutors, like Nebuchadnezzar and the Jews;
as wild as Ishmael, as profane as Esau;
out of the truth are all those found,
fasting to smite with fists of wickedness, lifting up bloody hands,
mingling their sacrifices with the blood of the persecuted,
praying to the magistrates for persecution.
All this is out of truth, and not in the freedom;
so not free men, but doing the devil's lusts and service, as the Jews did.
And so, if the truth make you free, you are free indeed;
you are free from all those things above mentioned.
The truth makes free from envy, and from profaneness, and from wildness,
and from wickedness, and from the bloody hands.
Free from the fasts of those that hang down their heads like a bulrush,
free from the persecuting spirits,
free from the false prophets, deceivers, seducers, antichrists;
and all antichristian false prophets, deceivers, and seducers,
are satan's bond slaves, vassals and bondmen;
and being with his oars chained in his galleys,
they carry his wares, and do his work up and down the world; which is the sea.
But truth makes free from all these,
free from the hypocrite's hope, which perishes; free from Nebuchadnezzar's fury.
and it makes free from the wild heifer's nature, and from the dog, swine,
horse; viper, cockatrice, serpent's nature, and from the spider, and his web;
and from the oak and cedar, and the bramble and briar, and bear, and lion.
The truth makes free from all these, and brings man and woman into the image of God.
And so, if the truth makes you free, then are you free indeed.
And the truth is Christ, and Christ is the truth,
which makes you free from all falsehood,
and makes you free from the world, which lies in wickedness and unrighteousness;
by which you come to be free men of the world which has no end.

'And a highway shall be there, and a way,
and it shall be called the way of holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it.'
Mark,' the unclean shall not pass over it.' Isaiah 35:8
This way, which is called the way of holiness, was spoken of by prophecy;
and this way is Christ, who is the way of holiness,
who is above the unclean, and destroys it, and the ground of it, the devil;
and so the unclean cannot pass over this way of holiness.
this is our way, who are in scorn called Quakers, to wit, Christ.
And this way of holiness shall be for the way-faring men,
though fools, yet they shall not err therein;
where no lion, nor ravenous beast, nor lion's whelp shall go thereon.
All the ravenous beasts ate without, in the way of the world, without Christ and God.
But the redeemed shall walk in this way of holiness, Christ Jesus;
and the ransomed of the Lord shall walk in this way of holiness;
and they that do return from the way of the world to Zion,
shall walk in this way of holiness with singing and everlasting joy upon their heads.
And they that walk in this way of holiness, Christ Jesus,
shall obtain joy and gladness; and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Isaiah 35:8-10
And all that walk in this way of holiness,
their deaf ear is unstopped, and their blind eye is opened.
And the lame man here shall leap as a hart,
and the dumb man's tongue shall sing.
And here he shall see waters gush out of the rock,
and streams out of the desert, in this way of holiness.
And here he shall see in this way the parched ground become a pool,
and the thirsty land full of springs;
and in the habitation, where dragons lay,
shall be grass with reeds and rushes, which begin to spring. Isaiah 35:5-9
Glory be to the Lord forever.
And this way of holiness, which the prophets prophesied of, is Christ Jesus, the way,
who said of himself, "I am the way";
and he is over all the fallen ways, and before the way of the serpent;
glorified with the Father, before the world began.
And this is the way of the wayfaring men,
who have been way-faring up and down from religion to religion,
from worship to worship, from one people to another,
from one minister and teacher to another,
and could not sit down in any of their ways,
but way-fared, traveled and sought.
And now, glory be to the Lord forever,
thousands of these way-faring men are come to find their way, Christ Jesus,
and, though fools, yet shall not err therein; that is, they shall not err in their way.
They shall not err in Christ Jesus,
for there is no error in him, for he was before error was;
for Christ the way, destroys the devil and his works, the ground of all error;
So though they be called fools, (these way-faring men),
by all the sons of Adam, that are set down in their own rudiments,
and have persecuted these way-faring men as fools,
because they would not sit down with them in their rudiments, worships,
self-righteousness, and national church, which national powers have established;
yet those way-faring men walk on in their way, Christ Jesus,
where, though fools, yet they shall not err in the way, Christ Jesus,
though they be called fools by all the sons of Adam,
who are in their own ways and rudiments;
yet those fools shall not err in the way, Christ Jesus,
though counted fools for Christ's sake.
And they see how all the wise men in old Adam mixed with the wisdom of the serpent,
how they are all in their own ways, worships, and religions;
and all the sects in it, how they are like tradesmen,
plucking from one church to another, and getting customers,
and drawing people from one another's church to their own ways;
and tearing one another to pieces,
to get people from one another's church to themselves.
And so are like lions, and ravenous beasts one against another,
to get from one another's church to maintain themselves;
and thus they seek the people's, not the people;
and feed themselves, and not the flock;
for they are out of the way Christ, and sit down in their own ways.
But, for the way-faring man, the way of holiness is;
for him, that is way-faring and seeking up and down for his beloved.
'I sought my beloved by night, and the watchmen smote me.'
Did not the way-faring man go to the Papists and say,
'You watchmen of the night, did you see my beloved?'
What is thy beloved more than another's beloved, said they.
What is thy religion, more than another's religion?
Or thy profession, more than another's profession?
So the Papists smote and wounded the way-faring men.
The way-faring man did not ask the Papists for their beloved ;
or the Papists had a beloved, a mass-book;
but he asked them for his own beloved, Christ Jesus.

Well, the next watchmen were the Common-prayer-men of every parish.
The way-faring man went to those watchmen of the night,
and said, did you see my beloved?
They stormed at the way-faring man,
and said, what is thy beloved more than another's beloved,
and thy religion more than another's religion?
They smote him, and wounded him also.
Well, the next watchmen of the night were the Presbyterians;
they were also the watchmen of some people,
the way-faring man went to them,
and said "you watchmen of the night, did you see my beloved?"
And they were exceeding angry,
and said, "what is thy beloved more than another's beloved,
and what is thy religion more than another's religion?"
He did not ask them for their beloved;
for he knew they had a beloved, their directory.
And these watchmen smote the way-faring men,
and punished some, spoiled some of their goods, and killed some,
(as some at New England), because they would not follow their beloved,
as the Papists and others had done before them.

The next watchmen were the Independents and Baptists,
the wayfaring man went to them also;
for they were the watchmen of some people,
and said unto them, you watchmen of the night, did you see my beloved ?
And these watchmen of the night were also exceeding angry, and said,
what is your beloved more than another's beloved,
and your way more than another's way,
and your religion more than another's.
And these watchmen of the night smote cruelly.

Then the way-faring men went to the private meetings
of the Manifestarians and Seekers;
and these watchmen fell a mocking, and scoffing, and railing,
and smiting with the tongue, and thrust them out of their meetings.
And when it was asked them, if they saw the wayfaring man's beloved?
They scoffed at their beloved.
And so the way-faring men way-fared up and down
from watchman to watchman to seek their beloved;
and many were imprisoned and persecuted by some of these watchmen of the night.
And now, glory forever be to the Lord,
thousands of these way-faring men have found their beloved,
and have found their way, Christ Jesus, and a fool shall not err therein;
for there is no error in Christ Jesus, all the error is out of Christ, who is the way,
wherein the way-faring men, though counted fools, yet shall not err.
And now my beloved is mine, and I am his;
we are come to the banqueting house, and his banner over us is love.
And the watchmen of the night told the way-faring men,
that there was not any way, but there was error in it;
and that all the religions, and worships, and churches erred.
And so the way-faring men way-fared up and down to find the way of holiness.
For all the ravenous beasts, and the lions' whelps trod in the way of error.
And all those night watchmen were among the ravenous beasts and the lions' whelps;
and so neither the watchmen nor ravenous beasts could pass over this way of holiness,
nor enter into it, which is the way for the way-faring men,
the way of holiness, where the fools shall not err;
which fools, all the wise men in old Adam, and the serpent's error, cannot see,
nor their ground, nor how they err in their own ways.
And this is the eye which the wayfaring man has opened in him, who sees his beloved.
And the way where the fools shall not err in.
And all shall come to this way of holiness, in which the fools shall not err,
which is the way of the way-faring men, into which all must come;
and out of the way of the serpent, and out of the way of old Adam in the fall.

And did not you watchmen of the night tell the way-faring men,
that the scriptures were not truly translated that speak of a way of holiness,
and a ' way that the way-faring men, though fools, should not err therein?'
For you watchmen of the night could not see this way of holiness:
for, do you not say, that a fool will err in every thing he does?
And was it possible there should be a way wherein the fool should not err?
for you said, the wisest man that was, sinned;
and here have not you wise men of old Adam manifested your error and ignorance of the scriptures and the way of holiness,
which is the way-faring man's way;
for all error is in your own way, and there is no error in Christ, the way of holiness;
for way-faring men and the fools shall not err therein;
that is to say, they shall not err in Christ Jesus;
for he was before error was, and destroys the ground of it.
The outward Jew worshipped in his outward temple made with hands,
at outward Jerusalem, and they came up yearly to worship there;
and if they did not come up to worship at outward Jerusalem,
and keep the feast of tabernacles in the temple, upon them should be no rain;
and their eyes were to rot out of their heads, and their tongues out of their mouths,
that fought against Jerusalem, as in Zechariah:14:12.
So the outward Jew had but one temple in the whole world,
and there they went to worship in it; and the priest had a chamber in the temple.
And when Christ came, he ended the priesthood, he ended the offerings,
and the temple, and the worship therein of the outward Jews;
and set up another worship in the spirit and in the truth:
for when the woman of Samaria, that came to Jacob's well, said unto Christ,
how that our fathers worshipped in this mountain, where Jacob's well was,
and the well was made before Jerusalem was, or the temple either;
for Jacob died in Egypt, and afterward his sons came out of Egypt,
and built a temple in Jerusalem;
and so there they set up a place of worship after the well was made;
so Christ said unto the woman, 'The hour is coming, and now is,
that they that worship the Father must worship him in spirit and truth ;
and not at Jerusalem, nor at this mountain is God worshipped;
'For God is a spirit, and they that worship him,
must worship him in the spirit and in the truth:'
and then did Christ set up his worship,
which was before the pope's, Turks', Common-prayer,
Presbyterian, Independent, and other worships were;
and the worship that Christ Jesus set up, was in the spirit and in the truth.
Now where is this spirit, and where is this truth?
Is it not within people?
So, as the Jew outward was to worship in the temple,
and there was but that one temple commanded of God to be built,
which Christ came to end, who set up his worship in the spirit and in the truth.
So seeing the true worship is in the spirit and in the truth,
and the truth is within you, in the inward parts,
the spirit of God is within you, you must not grieve, vex, nor quench it.
And so every man and woman in the whole world
must come to the spirit and truth in their own hearts,
by which they must know the God of truth, who is a spirit,
and to feel the spirit in their own hearts,
and in the spirit of truth to worship the God of truth, who is a spirit.

So now, as the Jew outward was to offer his sacrifice in the outward temple,
and no where else, which temple is now thrown down,
he is not a Jew who is one outward,
but he is a Jew who is one inward, in the spirit and in the truth;
and so, all you Jews inward, in the spirit,
you must worship in the truth and in the spirit.
And so, the Jew inward can worship no where but in the temple.
What temple ?
It is not a temple that is made with hands?
The Jews outward worshipped in the temple that was made with hands;
but the Jew inward his worship is to be in the spirit, and in the truth,
and in a temple not made with hands.
So to worship in the spirit, and in the truth, is to worship in the temple,
and no where else.
And so, every man and woman in the whole world must worship in the temple.
What temple?
The temple that is not made with hands; where the spirit of truth is.
'Know you not, that your bodies are the temples of the holy ghost;' that is to say, the holy spirit;
and so, every man and woman must be brought to truth in their own hearts,
and brought to the spirit of God in their own hearts.
This is the standing and perfect worship,
and it will stand when all the worships of old Adam are gone,
and when the Jews', and Turks', and Christians' worships, that be not in the truth, are gone;
for this is a standing and perfect worship; the spirit of God is perfect.
And this is an universal worship,
and brings every individual man and woman to the spirit of God in their own hearts.
This makes no sect, but everyone in the spirit,
which is the bond of peace, is in the truth, which the enmity is out of;
and this spiritual worship is in the spirit and truth, Christ Jesus,
the spiritual man, the heavenly man, which the second Adam,
the Lord from heaven set up above sixteen hundred years since.
And so, everyone is to be in it, and to walk in the truth, and in the spirit,
and to come to the truth in their own particulars.
For that spirit makes sects, which persecutes people for not following them;
but they are all to worship in that spiritual worship, which Christ Jesus set up;
and every son and daughter of Adam
is to come to the truth and spirit in their own hearts;
and so in that spirit and truth to worship the God of truth, who is a spirit;
for he seeks such to worship him.
And Christ persecuted none for not following his worship;
but all are condemned by the spirit in their own selves, who grieve it,
and vex and quench it,
and all are condemned with the light and truth that hate it,
who will not come to it, but hate it.
So they all that persecute about religion run into heaps, and sects, and darkness,
and with the light are condemned.
And so none can worship the God of truth,
but who come to the truth in their own hearts;
and none can worship God, who is a spirit,
but who come to the spirit of God in their own hearts,
which mortifies sin and evil;
which spirit leads into all truth.
So everyone who is a Jew inward must worship in the spirit and truth;
and everyone must be brought to the temple which is not made with hands,
and to worship in the spirit which Christ set up, who is the spiritual man.
Carnal men may set up worships,
who have not the same spirit and power the apostles had.
And such lead people into sects and heaps, and lead people out of the spirit,
and persecute one another about their worships,
which is not the way of truth, nor the command of Christ,
but on the contrary, 'to love one another.'
So all that worship in the spirit and truth,
come to the spirit and truth in their own hearts,
and love one another, and love enemies.
And so, the outward Jews' priests had chambers in the temple,
which priests, chambers, and temple, Christ has ended,
so let Christ Jesus now have a chamber in your temple,
to sanctify your temple, and cleanse your temple,
that the glory of the Lord may fill your temple.
The Jews' priests were to cleanse the temple,
and when they had cast the rubbish out of it, the glory of the Lord filled their temple:
and so Christ, as I said before, has ended the Jews' priests' chambers and temple.
And so all you who are Jews inward in the spirit,
let Christ your priest have a chamber in your temple,
that he may cleanse your temple, and cast the rubbish out of it,
which is come in by transgression,
who renews you up into the image of God,
that Adam and Eve were in before they fell;
so that the glory of the Lord may fill your temple.
And so as the Jew outward had but one temple to worship in,
the Jews inward must not have two; for then they make a sect,
and go from truth in their own hearts, and from the spirit of God.
And so to worship in the truth and in the spirit, is to worship in the temple.
So every man and woman come to this one temple.
Where is this one temple ?
Where the spirit is in the heart, and the truth in the inward parts:
and this is the temple that is not made with hands;
‘do you not know that your bodies are the temples of the holy ghost?'
And so this is the true worship that Christ set up, in the spirit and in the truth;
every man and woman in the whole world must come to it,
the truth in their own hearts,
that by it they may know the truth, and the God of truth.
And by the spirit they may know God, who is a spirit,
and so worship him in the spirit and in the truth;
and this is the standing universal worship, that Christ the second Adam,
the Lord from heaven, the spiritual man,
set up above sixteen hundred years since, John 4.
when he denied the mountain worship, where Jacob's well was,
and the temple worship of the outward Jews at Jerusalem,
where they went to the outward temple yearly to worship.
And so all are to worship in the spirit,
and come to the spirit and truth in their own hearts;
and in that to worship the God of truth, who is a spirit, as Christ commanded.
And so by the spirit of truth, they come to Jerusalem, which is above,
which comes down out of heaven from God.
So this is a true, certain, standing, infallible, and perfect worship;
for truth and the spirit of God are certain, infallible, and perfect;
and so this worship is a certain perfect worship.
And so everyone, come to the truth in your own hearts, and to the spirit of God,
or else you cannot worship the God of truth, who is a spirit:
and every man that worships in the whole world,
who would find this spirit and truth, they must go into the temple.

And so in the spirit and truth worship God, who is a spirit;
and this spirit gives an understanding to know God,
who is a spirit, and the truth,
and to know the God of truth,
who is to be worshipped in the spirit and truth,
who is God blessed forever. Amen.

George Fox

261

Friends,

To call men 'masters' or 'gracious lord,' and putting off the hat to them,
and the man's scraping with his foot, and the woman's making a curtsy.
these titles and fashions not giving and observing,
does not break the law of Christ, nor of God,
which respects no man's person, but they are the customs of nations which are vain;
and the great manners and civilities that lie among Christians,
are in saying you to one man, and the man's putting off his hat,
and scraping with his foot, and the woman's bending her knees;
and in these and such like things lie their civilities,
their honor, and manners, and well-breeding, as they call it.
But the right manners are to keep people from evil words,
which corrupt good manners, and God's law;
and Christ respects no man's person.
And man and woman in their not doing, nor scraping,
and bowing, are not unmannerly, nor uncivil;
for man was forbidden by the angel to bow to him,
but to bow to God, and to worship him,
and to bow at the name of Jesus,
who is called, the power of God, and the word of God;
for the angel said to John, he was his fellow-servant.
So servants were not to bow one to another;
and if they do, is it not reproved by the angel, and reproved by Christ,
he seeking honor one of another?
For 'how can you believe, said Christ, that receive honor one of another ?' John 5.
So it is a mark, that they are unbelievers, who receive honor one of another;
and they are like the Pharisees, that love the praise of men,
and are called of men master, and like the heathen, that will be called 'gracious lords.'
For, said he, you are all brethren,
and have one master and Lord, Christ Jesus, and one Lord, who is the creator of all.
For all things were made subject to man, and man subject to God;
all creatures were to fear and dread man and woman,
but men and women were to fear and dread God.
So all christians are to have one heavenly spiritual head, Christ Jesus,
and heavenly spiritual master,
and they all as brethren are to serve and worship him.
And the prophets and apostles used thou to God and Christ, kings and princes,
and great men and women, as you may see in the scriptures,
and they were never offended at it.
And you never heard in all the scriptures of any that feared God,
that were offended at any for saying thou to a single person,
and standing with their hats on,
(unless it were the Pharisees, that loved the praise of men),
as it is said in the book of Job,
‘If I give flattering titles to men, my maker would soon take me away.'
And so all their flattering titles, and loving the praise of men,
and seeking honor one of another,
comes from that ground that is out of truth,
in the image of the beast and the dragon, who will be worshipped;
but the angel would not be bowed down to by the servant of the Lord;
he says, God must be worshipped.
So they that worship the beast and the dragon, receive the mark from the dragon;
he brands them and marks them with his spirit, (out of truth),
and then he receives honor from them, and the vain glory they give to him;
but they who are sealed with the spirit of promise,
have their Father's mark in their foreheads;
these worship the living God, and are in his image and his likeness,
that he made them in the beginning,
and in the spirit of Christ Jesus, and those are Christ's.

George Fox

262

All Friends and people,

That is to be condemned in yourselves, which has led you from Christ,
from God, and from unity in the light;
I say, that is condemned by the light, and must be executed and killed,
and stoned with the living stone, and run through with the living sword,
and hammered down with the living hammer to pieces,
and burnt up with the living fire, and so made an end of.
For that which leads into looseness, whimsies; imaginations, false, visions,
though it be condemned, yet, if it be not executed, it is in danger to rise again;
and if it rise again, and get over you, it will be your ruler,
if it get out of prison and be alive, and not executed.
For after a thing is condemned, as drunkenness, adultery, fornication,
or any manner of looseness whatsoever, or running out from the spirit and light,
if it be condemned, and judgment passed upon it,
if it be not executed, there is danger of its reviving.
For after a thing is condemned, and judgment passed upon it, it is to be executed.
For you know, after a thief or a murderer is condemned and judged,
and have sentence passed upon him,
yet he is not executed that day; the execution comes afterwards.
And therefore, after condemnation or judgment is passed upon any inward evil,
or any outward action of evil,
let execution be speedily done with the living hammer,
and the living sword, and the living stone;
that the living fire may burn it up and consume it.

No man after he has beaten his child, hates him ever afterwards,
but loves him, if he repents and changes;
so does the eternal Father.
And if a child falls down into the dirt,
he does not go and tumble him more into the dirt,
or into the ditch, and there let him lie in the dirt and ditch,
but takes him out and washes him;
and so does the heavenly Father,
who leads his children by his hand, and dandles them upon his knee.
And so, all that be called fathers in the truth, or mothers,
their tenderness should be the same to all little children in the truth,
that can hardly go without leading,
that sometimes may fall into the dirt and ditch, and slip aside,
and then be troubled, and cry.
To such there should be tenderness shown, and to wash them, and help them;
and love to such should be manifest;
for there is a difference between a stubborn, rebellious, and willful child,
and one that is penitent;
for those must have great chastisements,
who know the will of their Father, and do no do it;
they must have greater stripes,
and sorer stripes they must look for (be sure to expect it) than the other.
For Christ is manifest in the flesh, to condemn sin in the flesh,
all that witness Christ in them, male and female;
I say, Christ manifest in their flesh;
he condemns the sin that is in their flesh;
yes, and makes an end of sin, and finishes the transgression,
and brings everlasting righteousness into them.
But first he condemns the sin that is in their flesh,
the unrighteousness in their flesh, and ungodliness in their flesh;
the liar, the swearer, that is in their flesh;
the adulterer, the fornicator, the idolater,
and all sin, whatsoever it is, he condemns in the flesh.
So Christ is manifest in the flesh, to condemn the sin that is in the flesh;
everyone that witnesses Christ condemning sin in the flesh,
that they through Christ, that condemns sin in the flesh,
might become God's righteousness, and so God's new person..
But the sin being uncondemned in the flesh, they are of the serpent,
of the unrighteous one, of the ungodly one, who adulterated from truth, they are his.
But the sin being condemned in the flesh, Christ is manifest in the flesh,
so that they become Christ's;
they are God's, and are in Christ,
who destroys the devil and his works, that are out of truth.
And these know the new life, which God is served in;
and these know the new earth, wherein dwells righteousness;
and these know the old earth, wherein dwell unrighteousness.
And these can bring forth things new and old.

For they that are led by the spirit of God, are the sons of God;
they that are led by the spirit of the devil, are the children of the devil,
and his works they do, the works of their father;
as they that are led by the spirit of God, his works they do, the works of their father;
and all they that quench the spirit of God, and vex the spirit of God,
and grieve the spirit of God, and hate the light of Christ,
and walk despitefully against the spirit of grace, and turn it into wantonness,
and disobey the word of God in their hearts and mouths;
surely you all may see such are not the sons of God, and do not the works of God;
though they may profess the scriptures from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation.
Neither does that birth know the scriptures,
for they are known by the spirit of God, the holy ghost,
which led the holy men of God to speak them forth;
by the same spirit are they known again.
And Christ, who was conceived by the holy ghost, born of the Virgin,
he is known by the holy ghost again,
which led the holy men of God to give forth scriptures;
which now leads into all truth.
And all them now, who despise revelations,
inspirations, prophecies, gifts, and talents,
they despise the spirit of God and his gifts.
Such are neither ministers of God, or Christ, nor his sons;
but are the sons of him that is out of the true spirit that is of God,
in the darkness, Babel, and confusion;
who think they can do great matters with their languages,
and with them make a trade of the scriptures;
who cannot endure any people should come to the spirit that gave them forth;
for none can walk in the spirit that quench it, and vex and grieve it.
And none come into the church fellowship
that grieve, and vex, and quench the spirit of God.
For the fellowship is in the spirit, that is the bond of peace;
and none are led into all truth, but by the same holy ghost
that was in the holy men of God, that gave forth the scriptures of truth.
And all that are led by this spirit of truth,
are led away from the spirit of the devil, that is out of truth.
And all that are led by the spirit that is out of truth,
are the first birth of the flesh, and of that murderer;
who will persecute him that is born of the holy spirit of God, which leads into all truth.
But they that are led by the spirit that is out of truth,
are out of both the Father and the son.
And they that are led by the spirit of truth, are the sons of God;
and here are both in the Father, and in the son, and in the truth, which abides forever.
And here the heir, the son, inherits his possession,
his inheritance in the kingdom that never has an end.

The true hope, the true cross, the true faith,
the true worship, the true religion,
the true way, true image,
and true fellowship have been lost since the apostles' days,
among those called christians, who are out of the life.
And they that have lost the cross of Christ, which is the power of God,
in which is the true fellowship,
they have set up a wooden or a stone cross,
so false crosses, false christians.
They that have lost the true hope, which purifies, as he is pure,
they have set up a purgatory to cleanse them when they are dead.
And others cry up a body of sin and death on this side of the grave,
with their hypocrite's hope;
and they have lost the true ministry,
and set up a false one, to preach up imperfection.
And people were imperfect in old Adam before Christ came;
for the law made nothing perfect;
but the true minister, Christ in you the hope of glory, does make perfect,
both in the Apostles' days and now.
'Christ in you, the hope of glory,' said the apostle, whom we preach,
'warning every man, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.'
So the perfection is in Christ Jesus; the imperfection is in old Adam.
So this is the true hope that purifies,
which everyone that has it purifies himself, even as he is pure.
And everyone that has not a possession of this hope,
pleads for impurity and imperfection,
and a body of sin and a body of death unto their grave,
and a purgatory when they are dead.
Such have a profession of the scriptures, like the Pharisees;
and the hypocrite's hope which shall perish.

And the true faith has been lost since the apostles' days;
the true faith which purifies the heart, which is the faith of God's elect,
which faith gives victory over that which separates from God;
in which faith you all please God;
which faith is the gift of God, and Christ is the author of it:
everyone look unto him for it, for the finishing of it, who is the author of it.
In this faith have all the saints unity in that which gives victory over the devil;
for by the faith, which is the shield, do they resist him and quench his fiery darts;
and they resist him that would defile them and make them imperfect,
and lead them into those things which would displease God.
And all that are out of this faith, they cry, no victory while we are upon the earth;
but they must have a body of sin unto the grave, and a purgatory to cleanse them in;
these are all in the error concerning the faith;
these have made shipwreck of faith and a good conscience;
these are all in the dead faith,
and so cannot preach in the true and living faith of God's elect.
These are all out of unity; for the unity is in the faith, which gives victory over the devil.
These are out of the just life; which just lives by his faith
The life that I now live, is by the faith of the son of God;
yet it is not I, but Christ that lives in me,' said the apostle.
And all that walk in the faith of God's elect, which is the victory over the devil,
walk in unity over the enmity.

And the true worship has been lost since the apostles' days;
yes, the worship that Christ set up above sixteen hundred years since,
in the spirit and in the truth;
yes, in the spirit of God,
which was before the spirit of the devil was, who is out of truth;
and in the truth, which the devil is out of.
In this spirit, and in this truth,
God, who is a spirit, and the God of truth,
seeks that men should worship him in the truth;
and so every man and woman must come to truth in the inward parts,
and to the spirit of God within themselves,
if they be worshippers of God in the spirit and truth, which the devil abode not in.
And this is the standing and perfect worship, in which there is unity in the truth;
for the enmity is out of it, and he cannot get into it.
Glory be to God forever!
And men that have erred from the worship that Christ set up,
above sixteen hundred years since,
they are from the truth within, and the spirit of God.
And by that unclean spirit they have worshipped images;
they have worshipped the works of their own hands;
they have worshipped the dragon; they have worshipped the beast;
they have worshipped the creature; they have worshipped angels,
persecuted one another about their worships,
and they have persecuted the true worshippers.
These are in the blind zeal, who have hated the light.
And so none can worship God, who is a spirit,
but they must come to the truth in their inward parts,
and to the spirit of God in themselves;
by which spirit they must know God to be a spirit, and to worship him in the spirit.
They must know God to be the God of truth, and then worship him in the truth;
which the devil is out of, in the enmity, an adversary.
And this is the standing, perfect, infallible worship,
that Christ Jesus, the perfect, infallible man, set up above sixteen hundred years since.

And the true way is lost since the apostles' days,
which Christ set up above sixteen hundred years since;
who said, 'I am the way to the Father; and no man comes to the Father, but by me.'
So no one comes out of old Adam, but by Christ, the second Adam.
No one comes out of darkness, but by Christ, the light;
no one comes out of death, and from under the prince of death, the power of it, but by Christ, the life.
So he is the way to God.
No one comes out of unrighteousness, but by Christ, the righteousness;
no one comes out of the wisdom below,
but by Christ who is the wisdom of God, which is from above.
And no one comes out of error and evil, but by Christ, the truth.
So is he the door and the way to God Almighty.
And no man comes to the Father, but by him.
No one comes out of captivity or prison, but by Christ the heavenly man.
And so, they having erred from Christ, the way,
they have set up so many ways in Christendom among them;
and fall out about their ways one with another, enmity being among them.
Now Christ is the way, which the unclean cannot walk in,
who was before the unclean way was; for he is over all the unclean;
and he is over all the perverse and crooked ways, and mountainous ways,
and evil and unrighteous, and ungodly ways; he is over them all.
And none come to this new and living way, Christ Jesus,
but who come to the grace of God in their hearts;
the spirit of God in their hearts.
So he is the new and the living way, who is the first and the last,
the beginning and the ending, set up from everlasting to everlasting.
And all that be out of this new and living way,
though they have all the scriptures, from the beginning of Genesis to the Revelation,
yet they are dead, and under the power of death;
which Christ the way destroys, through death, yea the power of death, the devil;
and was before death and his power was.
Here is the new and the living way.

And the true religion has been lost, and erred from since the apostles' days.
The religion that is pure from above, and undefiled before God,
which keeps from the spots of the world, which is to visit the widows and the fatherless.
Now they that are out of this religion have made many religions,
but they are spotted and defiled, and they cry up a body of death, and sin,
and imperfection to the grave, and a purgatory when they are dead.
And their widows, and their fatherless, and strangers go begging up and down their streets and highways;
so their streets and highways are judges against them and their bodies of death,
and their purgatories manifest their errors and ignorance from this pure religion,
that comes down from above, which is not of man's making;
but comes down from God, which is pure before God, and undefiled in his sight,
that keeps from the spots of the world. (Mark, the spots.)
And these do not cry up a body of death, nor a purgatory when they are dead;
they are kept from the spots of this world.
So they are far degenerated from this pure religion from above,
(which is undefiled before God, which keeps from the spots of this world,
and leads to visit the fatherless, widows, and strangers),
whose religion is, that they must have a body of sin and death unto the grave,
and a purgatory when they are dead.
And their fatherless, and widows, and strangers must go a begging in the streets.
All these religions are from below, and of their own making, and not from above,
but of him that is out of truth.
And all they that come to this pure religion, that is from above, and come to receive it,
it must be by the spirit of God within, and the light of Christ within,
and his grace within, and his faith within.

And the image of God in them has been lost since the apostles' days,
that man and woman were renewed into by Christ;
and therefore they have set up so many inventions of their own brain,
and outward images, and likenesses, and worship them;
for man and woman was in the image of God, before they fell.
And when they fell from the image of God,
they set up many images of God, and man, and other creatures,
of things in heaven and things in earth.
And when Christ came, he renewed man into the image of God again, and into his likeness;
but since the apostles' days have they lost this image of God, and this likeness;
and made a profession of Christ and the apostles' words, as the Jews did of the law,
and worshipped the works of their own hands, and images.
But now is Christ renewing man again into the image of God, as they were in the apostles' days;
yes, also I say, that Adam and Eve were in before they fell.
Yes, and in this image of God they will reign over all images and image makers,
either with hand or brain;
for they have made those images and likenesses by the evil spirit, that is out of truth,
which the spirit of truth leads out of, and above them, and from their works.
Glory to God forever, for his image and his likeness is led into by Christ Jesus,
and into Adam and Eve's state before they fell;
and not only into that state,
but into Christ Jesus that never fell.

And the true praying has been lost since the apostles' days;
for none can pray truly, but by the spirit of God, unto God, who is a spirit,
or unto Christ, who is a quickening spirit.
And all they that have erred from the spirit, cannot abide to hear talk of it;
and yet may have the scripture from Genesis to the Revelation,
and make prayers, and say them over, and give them to others to say over;
and so pray by the book, and that must help his infirmity;
and so have erred from the spirit, and from the true doctrine of the apostles,
who said, the spirit must help their infirmities; and they must pray in the spirit.
So all that grieve; and vex, and quench the spirit of God,
cannot pray in it to God, who is a spirit.
But they think to be heard by their much babbling,
and ask and pray, but do not receive.
And everyone must come to the spirit of God in themselves,
and to the light, and to the faith that purifies his heart,
and to the spirit of grace and supplication;
and by this his mind is to be turned towards Christ, who prays to God,
and asks in the name of Jesus, and in the power, and light, and spirit of Christ.

And the true fellowship has been lost,
and sanctification, and belief, and the righteousness since the apostles' days.
For many have had the letter, but lost the life;
the belief, but lost the possession;
the profession, but lost the substance, Christ Jesus;
but the true fellowship is in the gospel, the power of God,
which was before the devil was.
And since men lost this power of God they have not known the scriptures aright,
but they have set up fellowships by that spirit which is of him that is out of the truth,
that have destroyed one another,
and persecuted them which are in the power of God, which is the gospel,
which was before the devil, and all the fellowships in old Adam were,
and will be when they are all gone.

Now the gospel fellowship is a perfect fellowship,
a pure and a holy fellowship, it is an everlasting fellowship;
for the power of God is everlasting,
it is over the Jews' fellowship in the outward things,
and the Gentiles' invented fellowships, and the fellowships of bread, water, and wine;
for these are no mysteries, the world's fellowship is no mystery,
the fellowship of bread, water, and wine is no mystery;
but the gospel fellowship is a mystery
and none see it, but who come to the light of Christ, and to the truth in the inward parts.
For this is a standing fellowship, the gospel, the power of God;
and all fellowships out of it are imperfect and corrupt, where the body of death;.
and sin, and their purgatory are pleaded for,
which fellowships below, men make, and are of men, and from men;
but the gospel is not of men, nor by men but of God, and from Christ.
So this fellowship is the church fellowship that is in God,
and it is a pure fellowship, the gospel fellowship is,
which gospel brings life and immortality to light,
and expels away all that which darkens, and burdens,
and loads the soul, mind, spirit, and heart.
So this is glad tidings to the immortal soul,
which comes by the immortal power up to the immortal God,
where life and immortality comes to light,
and to shine over him that has darkened it.
Here is liberty to the immortal soul, mind, and spirit in the gospel, the power of God,
which is the gospel fellowship, which is a mystery,
(but bondage and darkness to the other),
so life and immortality are hid from all them that make fellowships below,
and have their fellowships by men, and of men,
who are out of the power of God, the gospel;
and make fellowships of old authors, and make fellowships of the scriptures.
But being erred from the spirit, they know not the scriptures, nor the power of God,
and there they are in strife and enmity in their fellowships,
and falling out about their bread and wine, some taking it one way, some another;
and falling out about their handiworks,
and plucking people from one another to themselves,
and not to Christ, nor his gospel fellowship,
that came not by men, neither was it of man.
So they that deny revelation cannot preach Christ until he be revealed,
nor can preach the gospel until it be revealed.
And they that say revelations are ceased, they may as well say, there is no gospel;
and so have no Christ to preach, and are only ministers of the letter;
neither have they the secrets of God to preach,
which are revealed to them that fear him.
And that is the spirit of darkness from the prince of darkness,
that is out of the fellowship of the gospel, where is enmity,
which speaks itself sufficiently abroad among all their fellowships;
and into this fellowship of the gospel, the power of God,
which was before the devil was, he cannot get.

And the righteousness has been lost since the apostles' days;
therefore people have been found in their own self-righteousness and unrighteousness;
and therefore they are all found out of peace with God,
and with Christ, and one with another;
for where there is righteousness there is peace.

And sanctification has been lost since the apostles' days;
therefore both teachers and hearers are found in uncleanness,
and preach up the body of death, and sin, and a purgatory;
and so have forsaken him that should sanctify them, and make them clean.

And the sanctifying belief has been lost since the apostles' days;
for he that believes is born of God;
and he that believes in the light, may become a child of the light;
everyone that comes into the world are enlightened by Christ,
that they should believe in the light, as he commands them,
and so become children of the light;
and he that believes, overcomes the world.
And if there be no overcoming on this side of the grave,
as the world's preachers made of men, say,
then there is no true believing on this side of the grave;
and therefore the world is not overcome in them;
and he that is their god, is of the world also.
For ‘he that believes, overcomes the world;
for greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.'
So this greater overcomes the less,
and he that believes passes from death, and sin, that brings death,
and the devil the power of death:
so becomes a child of light and of the day;
and of the light which was before darkness was, or the prince of it;
for this is the belief that overcomes the world;
that sanctifies the unbelieving husband, and the unbelieving wife,
else their children were unholy, but now they are clean. 1 Cor 7:14.
For this belief is greater than he that is of the world,
which overcomes him that would defile;
for this belief is Christ, which passes from death to life,
it takes away the root of sin and iniquity, which is complained of in the scriptures,
which they were born in, though they had the law which made nothing perfect,
which took hold of their outward actions or branches;
but this belief makes the root holy,
and if the root be holy, the branches that spring from the root will be holy also.

And all you that preach up a body of sin and iniquity,
and that you must have a body of sin and death unto the grave,
and a purgatory when you are dead.
Neither man nor woman of you believes correctly;
for the believing wife sanctifies the unbelieving husband;
and the believing husband sanctifies the unbelieving wife;
else their children were unclean, but now they are holy.
So from this sanctifying belief you are all erred since the apostles' days.
But have made beliefs and creeds of your own,
and then say, there is no overcoming on this side of the grave:
you may as well say, there is no true belief.

George Fox

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