The journal of George Fox, vol. 1 of 2 : $b Being an historical account of his life, travels, sufferings, and Christian experiences.Fox, George
Religion
The journal of George Fox, vol. 1 of 2 : $b Being an historical account of his life, travels, sufferings, and Christian experiences.
Fox, George
Fox, George, 1624-1691
The next First-day I came to FIRBANK CHAPEL, in Westmoreland, where
Francis Howgill, before named, and John Audland,[16] had been preaching
in the morning. The chapel was full of people, so that many could not
get in. Francis Howgill said, he thought I looked into the chapel, and
his spirit was ready to fail, the Lord’s power did so surprise him; but
I did not look in. They made haste, and had quickly done, and they and
some of the people went to dinner, but abundance stayed till they came
again. Now John Blakelin and others came to me, and desired me not to
reprove them publicly; for they were not parish teachers, but pretty
tender men. I could not tell them whether I should or not (though I had
not at that time any drawings to declare publicly against them), but I
said they must leave me to the Lord’s movings. While the others were
gone to dinner, I went to a brook and got a little water; and then came
and sat down on the top of a rock hard by the chapel. In the afternoon
the people gathered about me, with several of their preachers. It was
judged there were above a thousand people; “amongst whom I declared
God’s everlasting truth and word of life freely and largely, for about
the space of three hours, directing all to the Spirit of God _in
themselves_, that they might be turned from darkness to the light, and
believe in it, that they might become the children of it; and might be
turned from the power of Satan, which they had been under, unto God; and
by the Spirit of truth might be led into all truth, and sensibly
understand the words of the prophets, and of Christ, and of the
apostles; and might all come to know Christ to be their teacher, to
instruct them, their counsellor to direct them, their shepherd to feed
them, their bishop to oversee them, and their prophet to open divine
mysteries to them; and might know their bodies to be prepared,
sanctified, and made fit temples for God and Christ to dwell in.” In the
openings of heavenly life, I explained unto them the prophets, and the
figures, and shadows, and directed them to Christ, the substance. Then I
opened the parables and sayings of Christ, and things that had been long
hid, showing the intent and scope of the apostles’ writings, and that
their epistles were written to the elect. When I had opened that state,
I showed also the state of the apostacy since the apostles’ days; that
the priests have got the Scriptures, but are not in that Spirit which
gave them forth, and have put them into chapter and verse, to make a
trade of holy men’s words; and that the teachers and priests now are
found in the steps of the false prophets, chief priests, scribes, and
Pharisees of old, and are such, as the true prophets, Christ, and his
apostles cried out against, and so are judged and condemned by the
Spirit of the true prophets, and of Christ, and of his apostles; and
that none, who are in that Spirit, and guided by it now, can own them.
Footnote 16:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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