cannot enjoy them and the presence and love of God let them all go and murmure not deny not the Lord let not the fear of the loss of any visible thing cause yau to act contrary to that which God hath made manifest unto you Let not your lives be dear unto you for the cause of God Oh Friends this is a day wherein God wil try who they are that love any changeable thing more then himself or who they be that wil defile their consciences and deny his Witness therein to save their estates liberties and lives and verily they that shall so do heavy plagues vengeance and judgements shall fall upon them and that suddenly the mouth of the Lord hath spoken iâ— But joy peace and glory everlastingly shal rest upon them that stand stedfast in the Faâ—th received from God Therefore dear Hearts be faithful unto death and ye shall receive the crown of Life And all you my Friends who have of this Worlds goods let the love of God stil abound in you and then you wil be constrained by it to refresh your poor brethren and sisters that stand in need this day and thereby you may take away the cause of some temptation which otherwise might fall upon them And oh my Friends I know the love and care of many of you hath been and yet is exceeding large in this particular even so let it be stil continued and the Lord shall be glorified and honored thereby and he wil be your exceeding great reward O Lord my God thou hast filled my bowels with thy eternal power thou hast filled my heart with gladness and my mouth with praises beyond all utterance also thy peace and thy glory resteth upon me thou hast mightily filled me with words and boldness yea thou hast set me above the fears of death thou hast caused me to be content with whatsoever thou hast suffered to come upon me and thou knowest I neither fear imprisonment banishment death or any other cruelty that is possible for man to inflict upon my body thou knowest J neither regard their threatnings nor the flatteries of the wicked for my trust is alone in thee and thou art my strength and my glory thou hast made me to be content to be even what ever thou wouldst have me Thou knowest I seek nothing but thy honor alone therefore wilt thou honor me before the people according to thy Word And now O Lord my God I beseech thee keep thy people in this day of tryal and hour of temptation keep them above the earth and out of the flatteries of a deceitful tongue and keep them in contentedness with thy pure will in all things Fill them with boldness and valour for thy Name and Truth that so they may be careful for nothing but to answer thy holy requirings that thou mayest have the honor and glory of all and that thou mayest exalt thy truth and them in it over all Then shall praises break forth and be multiplyed unto thee oh thou King of Saints oh thou everlasting Fountain of endless life who is able to express thy mighty and strange acts which thou art doing and about to do Oh keep thy people I beseech thee faithful in their particular measures and places oh that they may understand thy outgoing every thing so shall not thy work in any be condemned From the Gate-House Palace yard Westminst the 17th of the 11th month 1660. George Fox the younger A Second Epistle to Friends c Friends AS for you who are sufferers this day upon the account of truth whether in bonds or out of them I know and am satisfied that many of you have not need that any man teach you because you are not onely brought to the knowledge of the Anointing but it abideth in you and your delight is wholly to obey the same and whatsoever it Commandeth you it is your Meat and Drink to do it because you are born of him from whence it comes and he dwelleth in you and you in him you know his voice and are in a Readiness to obey the same and I know ye are taught of him what he requireth of you so you that are come to this state I know words as to your own particular add but litle because you injoy the end of them Yet I know when any thing proceeds from the same word and Fountain of Life of which you partake feed and drink that may be of service to others that are not come to so high a State that profess the same truth or desire the knowledge of it you can with joy hear the same and are refreshed because thereby the work of the Lord which you delight in is carried on Therefore that which is upon me in the Fear Power and Life of God I shall write and send amongst you that profess the truth as it is in Jesus that it may reach to you to whom it is of service that where the witness of God is owned it may arise and make manifest to each particular what of that which is here written belongeth unto them Friends you who are imprisoned for the testimony of truth happie are you that are faithful in your Testimony for the Lord Now this know that it is them that suffer according to the will of God and Continue in pure obedience thereunto which are acceptable unto him by Jesus Christ in their Testimony Therefore let the pure dread of the Almighty be lived in and let there be a a sure watch kept by every particular in the Light least any thing through the temptation of the Enemy get up in any of you that is contrary to the Lords pure Light and you joyn to it and thereby you and your Testimony come to be defiled and the Lord dishonoured And Friends this know that there are many temptations which oft-times accompany those that are in bonds for the truth which are to be watched against in the pure Light which makes them manifest or else there is a great danger Now it is upon me to speak something concerning someof them that you may watch against them as your deadly Enemies mark as there is a true joy that springs in those that in the true simplicity do suffer for the cause of God so also there is this temptation that sometime may be presented to some in bonds mark even to think highly of themselves because they are put in prison for the truth ye even to think of themselves because of their sufferings above what they are Now where this temptation is joyned to it puffeth such up in the fleshly false joy and leads out of the fear above the Cross and so becomes very dangerous unto them and such become very burdensome to them that abide in the truth and suffer according to the will of God therefore where any hath such a temptation Oh watch against it that it prevail not and where any are sensible that such a temptation hath prevailed let such sink down to
Two general Epistles SENT IN MANVSCRIPT TO Friends of truth BY GEORGE FOX the younger And now Printed for their further service LONDON Printed for William Warwick 1663. Two Epistles sent in Manuscript to Friends c. The Servant of Jesus Christ and prisoner for the Word of God sendeth greeting unto the Flock of God who in this day suffer bonds and other tribulations and cruelties for the precious Truth even for obeying the Gospel of salvation which is the Power of God OH ye beloved ones who have valued the eternal Truth above your nearest and dearest Relations Liberties Estates Lives and have hazarded and given up all freely in the Cause of God your reward is with you which is free Oh ye heirs of eternal life ye babes of God born of the Seed Royal ye children of the promise who are counted for the Seed the glory and peace of God resteth upon you and the Arm of my Father is your strength the Lord our righteousness is his Name who is your strong Tower the place of your safety Oh my beloved Friends my bowels are filled with the streams of Eternal life and love which runneth forth freely unto you who are highly favoured of God who are counted worthy to suffer for his living eternal truth blessed be you of the Lord my Saviour happy are you ye children of the Most High filled be your bowels with the springs of eternal life and filled be your hearts and mouths with the high praises of Emanuel Oh Friends through faith in the blood of the Lamb do you stand and in it shall you overcome and obtain the victory over the Beast false Prophet and Dragon whose hour this is in the power of darkness which is given to them for a moment to try your precious Faith Therefore my beloved ones who know the clefts of the Rock and the place where the King is found O retire all thither and solace your selves under the banner of his love remove not away from the springs of his strength virtue which he hath opened unto you but dwel in his patience and wait in his Light in the pure stilness til he arise and make his enemies his footstool Oh Friends you that cannot act contrary to the wil of Emanuel you that cannot bow down to any other image but the Light of the glorious Gospel which is the image of the invisible God you that cannot cease from worshipping him in the spirit and truth you that cannot cease petitioning him and meeting together in his Name notwithstanding the Decree of the Rulers and the raging of the wicked I feel you in Daniels spirit and enjoy you in that power which stoppeth the mouths of the Lyons you whose bodies are cast into Prisons Dungeons and Holes you who are numbred with transgressors and are separated from your outward Relations you who have given up your Estates and Lives and all or are freely willing so to do if you be called to it I know the Lord my God is not wanting to you I know you are filled with his pure peace power and presence I know you have all and enjoy all that the Lord seeth to be good for you even as I your brother do who suffereth with you and thus we receive an hundred fold even in this time with persecution and eternal life in the World to come is ours faint not Oh my Brethren and Sisters in the overcomings of the Power Love Virtue Mercy and Joy of our God which filleth my Vessel do I salute you all and am near unto you in the spirit of love rejoicing to hear of your faithfulness and courage Ah my amiable ones multiplied be your faith and strength in the power of the eternal God for we are not yet come to the depth of our tryals Verily it is but a remnant that wil follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth Oh ye Virgins who defile not your selves with the weaker things but are washed and pure in the chast life of the Lamb and redeemed from the earth by his power his righteousness is your garment yea his spirit is your covering his eye is upon you for good though the Whore may yet a little while prevail against your bodies though she may yet drink some more blood yet be not dismayed seeing you know that by which victory shall be obtained and all these things shall work together for good to you that love the Lord and not your lives unto the death Oh ye Babes of God this day have I long waited and looked for of it have I been made to prophesie and in the Faith Word and Power of God I further testifie that this day must yet be hotter for a little space that no dross may remain among the pure gold of which the Jewels are to be made up but my Friends the Lord our King in whom we have trusted he shall arise and work such wonders In the earth even in this age as shall astonish and amaze the Heathen and cause the ears of many that shall hear thereof to tingle and mens hearts shall fail them because of those things that they shall behold but as for you who know the word of eternal life hold that fast and look ye not out nor back remember Lots Wife neither let in fears but watch and wait in the eternal counsel of my Father and he wil minister strength proportionable to every ones trial and be a safe hiding-place to the meek And all you whom the Lord God hath touched with his living Power and visited with his eternal truth and counted worthy and hath begotten you into the knowledge of his truth in any measure and brought you to believe in the same though you be yet out of bonds know this my Friends that this is a day wherein God wil try your faith and love which you have professed in and to him yea this is a day wherein a mighty storm is arisen which wil shake down the unsound and the untimely fruit that so the sound which partakes of the sap and virtue of the tree may be clearly made manifest yea this is a day in which the good Husbandman wil separate the seed from the chaff which he wil scatter by his searching winds therefore I beseech you all who have any true love unto God and the way of his holiness keep close to the measure of his invisible Life Power in your own vessels that so you may retain strength and he made able to stand witnesses for his Name and I exhort and warn you all that you suffer not your minds to be entangled or encumbered with the cares of this life lest thereby the enemy get advantage against you and so you lose your strength Oh take heed of he Enemies temptations if he come unto you and offer you the things of this life that may seem pleasing to the creature and tell you that you shall enjoy them if you wil bow unto him consent not to him for if you
the pure judgement of the Lord and wait therein til through faith and patience victory be obtained And Friends let the fear and the mighty dread of the Lord God be upon you in receiving of the Creatures or else the simplicity in you may soon be betrayed Oh there is a great danger concerning those things if the pure life which is more then meat be not continually lived in Many whose hearts are open not knowing what you who are in bonds may want may bring and offer you much and some may urge things upon you therefore you had need to stand in the pure fear wisdom and authority of God in the self-denial or else those things may soon become a snare unto you and so fleshly liberty and ease may be Run into and may grow upon you whereby the true savor and feeling of the living truth may be lost therefore keep low and watchful that so you may be preserved sincere to the Lord in his authority standing out of and denying all superfluity And you who have but little of this worlds goods who are in sufferings and do rather want then a-abound Oh Friends commit your cause to God and let not the enemie on the other hand prevaile in tempting you to look out or to distrust and thereby cast you down and bring your precious life under but in the Faith and Patience of the Lamb abide doing the things that is lawful and aright in the sight of God and he will assuredly provide for you Oh do not in any wise do evil that good may come thereof the woe will be upon them that keep you from providing for your families and they in the day of Gods judgments which hasteth will be found and counted worse then infidels and not you who are willing to labour for your families if you could have your liberty without sinning against the Lord and all Friends be watchful one over another in the true love which thinks no evil and live in it and bear one with another and be subject to the power in one another and that will bring you to know how to abound and how to suffer want and it will constrain you to be helpful one to another both in and out of bonds yea it will bring you into contentedness in every condition Oh dear hearts I know there are many of you that are out of Prison whose sufferings this day are as great and some far greater then those that are in but well wil it be with you who are faithful and obedient in your places and measures whether in bonds or out and ill will it be with the unfaithful and disobedient where ever they be therefore keep to the Lords living eternal power that you may be carried through all your tryals within and without in your several places For my Friends the day will yet be very hot yea it must so be that that which can abide the fire may be made manifest clearly and remain in its purity and that the dross which hath been mixed with the pure may also be separated from it and be made manifest to be but dross and you that are in bonds take heed of looking out at time or place or at the cruelty of the Enemie poor hearts I know some of you suffer exceeding much hardship this day in your Testimony for the Lord yet I know the presence of my Father is freely with you who in the innocency and simplicity of your hearts gives up to his pure will in all things Oh Friends take heed that none of you yeild to uphold any wicked Custome or oppression which many of you may be tempted to in Prisons may suffer much for denying them but better is it so to do then to offend the Lord who is the reward of the faithful Oh Friends this is a day the Lord hath mightily discovered the Beast his Power Names and horns And this is a day wherein the Lord is Calling and Leading his People to bear a clear Testimony against all those things Therefore take heed to your selves that you give not your Power to the Beast by bowing to any of his Names Fear not his Horns Receive not his Mark though he suffer you not to buy nor sell Oh Friends watch for you will be tempted and all both bond free whose Names are not written in the Lamb Book of Life will be compelled and all that follow the Lamb this day must come through great tribulation for he is opposing the Beast and breaking through his Power Horns Names and Markes And behold there is great Power and authority given to the Beast that he may try the Inhabitants of the Earth and that the Virgins that follow the Lamb who love not their Lives to the death may be clearly made manifest and separated from all the dirtie professors of his Name that will bow and fall under the power of the Beast to save themselves and say in their heares who is able to make war with them and verily great will be the number of such Therefore dear hearts stand stedfast and watch unto prayer and wait in the power that is endless that your understandings may be kept open and clear that you may see all the snares of the Enemie and that you may feel Power to resist in the time of need For my Friends this know that those that start not a side but followeth the Lamb whithersoever he goeth many of them have greater things to pass through and to suffer then an inprisonment Therefore wait that you may be prepared for whatsoever the Lord may suffer to come upon you for the tryal of your faith Oh take heed of Dirty ingagements Bonds or Tyes better were it for you that have Estates to loose them or for you or others to suffer Imprisonment Banishment Death or any other cruelty if the will of God be such as to give your adversaries so much power then to bring your selves â—nto bonâ—â—â—gâ— who in any measure are made free by the Lord Friâ—nds the Children of the Promise are counted for the seed and the seed royal is free and is not to be compelled to any thing by man but what it declares to and does among the Sons of Men to stand and to be done in its own freedom and liberty and this seed cannot beg its freedom and liberty of any mortal not never did neither can it nor give its power to the Beast but through suffering it breaks down and through the Beasts compelling power and so by its own power in the Father it conquereth its Enemies and works it self into the dominion over all all power must bow down to it and serve and obey it therefore all you that know the truth the seed Royal feele his power that Redeems out of all Earthly things that so you may be willing to suffer for him with whom ye desire to reign and be willing to bear the Cross and despise the shame Then shall you obtain the Crown which is immortal but whosoever draws back my soule shall have no pleasure in him saith the Lord God Therefore my Friends stand out of all mortals in the immortal seed and consent not neither bow to or joyn to or do any thing that the Life of the seed drawes or leads not to what ever you may see others whom you have esteemed to be before you in the truth Consent to yet do nothing to save your selves by imitation without feeling the Life to lead you but whereunto every one of you hath attained in the knowledge of the life of God walk you by the same rule and minde the same thing knowing this that there are first that shall be last and there are last that shall be first so the Lord God keepe you in his authority Life and Wisdom to the end Amen I am your endeared Friend in the power of the Righteousness of the Lamb in which I war against his Enemies not with carnal weapons therefore I fear not man whose heart is filled with cruelty neither am I dismayed at the power of those that seek my Life for it is in the hands of him that pleads my cause who will set up his own Kingdom and establish it in Righteousness and destroy them that will not serve and obey him let him do what he pleaseth with it Glory to him in the highest Halelujah George Fox the younger From the Pallace-yard Gate-house 30th 11th Month 3 1660.