Trust in the power of God and maintain unity in love to overcome the forces of evil.
George Fox encourages believers not to fear the powers of darkness but to gather in unity and love, relying on the unchanging power of God. He emphasizes the importance of maintaining faith in Christ, the second Adam, who brings sanctification and redemption, allowing believers to reign in peace and harmony. Fox urges the community to dwell in the love of God, which strengthens and edifies the body of Christ, and to let the Word of God guide and transform their lives, overcoming all that opposes it.
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Fear Not the Powers Of Darkness (1653)
Friends, - Fear not the powers of darkness, but keep your meeting, and meet in that which keeps you over them; and in the power of God ye will have unity.
And dwell in love and unity with one another, and know one another in the power of an endless life, which doth not change. And know the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, which is above the first Adam, the earthly, where all strife and transgression is. And all Friends everywhere, be faithful in the life and power of God, and keep your meetings (above all the world) in that which changeth not, that nothing but Christ may reign among you, the power of God, and wisdom of God, the sanctification and redemption; that the just over all may reign, and the seed of God may have the dominion in you all; that with that ye may all be ordered to the glory of God, and kept in the bond of peace, and reign i the live of God, (which is out of the iniquity, and rejoiceth not in it,) which thinks no evil. And have this love shed abroad in all your hearts, and feel it abiding in you; which love of God edifies the body. and know the word of God abiding in you, which was in the beginning, and brings to the beginning; which word being ingrafted, it saves the soul, and hammers down, and throws down, and burns up that which wars against it.
G.F.
Sermon Outline
- Fear Not the Powers of Darkness
- Know the second Adam, the Lord from heaven
- Faithfulness in the life and power of God
- Keep your meeting and meet in the power of God
- Unity in love and endless life
- Above the first Adam, the earthly
- Strife and transgression are overcome
- Keep meetings in the unchanging power of God
- Christ reigns among you
Key Quotes
“And dwell in love and unity with one another, and know one another in the power of an endless life, which doth not change.” — George Fox
“And have this love shed abroad in all your hearts, and feel it abiding in you; which love of God edifies the body.” — George Fox
“which word being ingrafted, it saves the soul, and hammers down, and throws down, and burns up that which wars against it.” — George Fox
Application Points
- Trust in the power of God to overcome the forces of evil.
- Maintain unity in love and the power of an endless life in your meetings.
- Allow Christ to reign among you by being faithful in the life and power of God.
