‘K’ is for the Kingdom and all who would know the way to it
A. INTRODUCTION
George Fox’s tract To all that
would know the way to the kingdom (whether they are in forms, without forms, or
are above all forms. A direction to turn your mind within, where the voice of
God is to be heard, whom you ignorantly worship as afar off; and to wait upon
him for the true wisdom. That you may know truth from error, the word from the
letter, the power from the form, and the true prophets from the false) was
written and published in 1654 just as the ‘Valiant Sixty’ Quaker ministers were
beginning to unleash their vigorous and wide-reaching preaching campaign on the
world. It is therefore an extremely important articulation of key aspects of
the early Quaker message.
B. THE KEY POINTS IN SUMMARY
In summary, Fox makes the following eight points:
1. The Spirit is available to
all people- Fox proclaims that the new covenant has come in which the
Spirit of God becomes available to all people since it has been poured out on
all flesh. Divine revelation has not ended and God now speaks to all people through
the Spirit which is Christ.
2. Only the Spirit of God can
bring people to the Kingdom – Fox asserts that only the Spirit of Christ
has the capacity to transform people if they follow its guidance. This Spirit has
the power to bring people into the kingdom of God. It reveals sin and provides
the power to overcome it.
3. The nature of sin and
salvation – Fox suggests that sin results from people ignoring Christ as
their inward teacher and as a result becoming separated from God. Therefore, salvation
comes by turning to the transformative power of the inward teacher. He rejects
the idea that salvation comes by grace alone because this allows people to
justify continuing to live in sin. Salvation always involves real
transformation through the power of God.
4. Outward physical things do
not have the power to save - Fox states that God is a Spirit that is
present within us all. Therefore, God cannot be known through outward physical
things. Only the inward spiritual power of God can teach and transform us. God
is the Word and the primary authority rather than the scriptures or human ideas
and institutions.
5. The nature of the True Church
– Fox makes clear that the true church is formed when people are gathered to
be taught directly by Christ who is their only leader and source of authority.
The true church is not based on outward human authority, physical buildings or
the letter of scripture.
6. The nature of the false
churches – Fox accuses the ‘false churches’ of adopting old covenant ways. He
states that they are focused on man-made practices and physical things that by
their nature lack divine power. This includes church buildings, the letter of
scripture and human authority. The gospel is freely given as a gift but the priests
of the false church preach it for financial gain.
7. Spiritual Counsel – Based
on these understandings, Fox gives some simple spiritual counsel. He asserts
that people need no other teacher than the Spirit of Christ (e.g. it is only
the Spirit that can interpret and make sense of the Bible). He therefore
encourages people to pay attention at all times to the guidance of the Spirit that
is within them. People need to take time to listen to this guidance. This is
what really matters.
8. The Kingdom of God is coming
on earth – Fox argues that the final defeat of evil is coming very soon
because God is about to establish his rule on earth. He states that, when this
happens, the power of unjust government and the false churches will be
destroyed. For the people of God, loyalty to the way of the Kingdom inevitably
brings them into conflict with the world.
I have produced a modern English paraphrase of this text which is set
out below.
C. To All That Would Know the Way to the Kingdom - A Paraphrase in
Modern English
We all require a baptism in the Spirit if we want to know and enter the
Kingdom of God. It is through the Spirit that the things of God are made know.
It was through the Spirit that the apostles were able to see the Kingdom of God
and live within it. (Rev 1:9 & Col 1:13). It is possible on earth here and
now for us all to receive the Spirit of Christ which has the power to bring us
into the Kingdom and to make us sons of God. (John 1:12-13)
The Spirit of Christ is available to everyone. If you pay attention to
this Spirit and are guided by it you will become what God intended a human to
be (e.g. it will teach you what is good and make you aware of what is bad). The
Spirit of Christ will draw you away from the idolatry, division and evils of
‘the world’ and take you instead to the ways of God and God’s Kingdom. The things
of the world are corrupt and perishable; the things of God are pure and
eternal. Those who focus on the things of ‘the world’ give priority to the
letter of scripture over the Spirit of Christ (the Word of God) but God’s
Kingdom cannot be known through such outward things.
In the old covenant, although Abraham, Moses and the prophets were
guided directly by the power of the Spirit, the Jews generally focussed on outward
things that have no power rather than the Spirit and this lead them to reject
Christ. Today, those who focus on outward things also reject Christ. However,
those who are guided by the Spirit of Christ (the real power) reject the ways
of ‘the world’ and grow closer to God all the time. This causes conflict with
‘the world’.
The Spirit of Christ will show you the falseness of all those who base
their faith on the things of ‘the world’ rather than the things of God. The
Spirit of Christ is eternal and unchanging and if you follow it you will be led
in unity to the one true way. This will free you from the temptations and evils
of ‘the world’ and from all false man-made religion. Instead you will become
part of the one true church that is gathered and taught directly by God (rather
than by outward things and human teachers).
The Spirit of Christ is always with you whatever you are doing. Rather
than dwelling in your own thoughts and wandering mind, pay attention instead to
the Spirit which will reveal what is wrong in you and teach you what is right.
The first thing you must do is take time to listen for and hear the Spirit of
Christ working within you. This will reveal what is wrong in you and give you
the power to overcome it.
Our ‘worldly’ ways of reasoning and understanding cannot comprehend
God. The true church cannot be established by the letter of scripture or by
clever human ideas. It can only be gathered by the living Spirit of Christ
working within us. The Spirit undermines all our ‘worldly’ assumptions and
ways. The Bible is not the Word; the Bible itself says that God is the Word. The
Word of God which came in a human form in Jesus Christ is the head of the
church. The church is not a building; it is a gathered people led by the Spirit
of Christ (which is the Word of God). The false church of outward buildings and
the outward scriptures is not acceptable to God.
God will soon act decisively to defeat the evil and disobedient powers
of the ‘world’ and to overturn all the false churches. When this happens God’s
rule will be established on earth forever and the power of unjust government
and false church (that have always worked together) will be undermined and
destroyed. The old outward forms (such as formalised prayers, preaching and
singing) will be seen to be worthless because they lack the living spirit of
Christ (the Spirit that inspired the scriptures). Christ is available to you
and can transform you into the sons of God. In this way God will govern his
people and be the head of his church.
Christ enlightens every one of us and if you recognise the Spirit and
follow it you will be transformed. However, those who reject the Spirit and
ignore the evil it reveals in them will remain separated from God. You will
find that the teaching of the Spirit within you will be consistent with the
teaching of Jesus Christ. When you do wrong you will know it is wrong because
the light within you will tell you so. If you reject your inward teacher you
are showing your contempt for God.
I am not promoting the idea of human free will. The Spirit of Christ is
contrary to the human will. The Bible cannot free you from sin, only the living
Spirit of Christ can do that. The Bible is a declaration of the Spirit that
existed before the Bible was written; it does not have the power of the Spirit.
The Spirit inspired the writing of the Bible but the Bible is not the Spirit
itself. The living Spirit of Christ is scripture within you and it will enable
you to understand the meaning of the outward scriptures. Christ is able to free
you from sin.
You do not need to ask God to show you your wrongs for these are
already revealed to you by the Spirit working within you. Not only does the
Spirit reveal sin but it provides the power to overcome it. Yet those who say
that we are saved by God’s grace alone often use this as an excuse to continue
in sinfulness. This abuse cannot continue any longer. It is useless to build up
status and wealth on this earth for only God is worthy of such glory.
The guidance of the spirit that is made available to all is a gift of
grace from God. The root cause of all the evils of ‘the world’ (e.g.
drunkenness, swearing, pride, haughtiness, oppression and injustice) is that humans
ignore their inward teacher that was given by the grace of God. But God will
have victory over evil. God is pouring out the Spirit on all and men and women
are being called to proclaim the way of God through their actions and their
words. This is a cry for justice, righteousness and equity.
God is coming to destroy evil and to reign on earth. Those who follow
the Spirit of Christ will be part of this process. Those who reject the Spirit
of Christ and continue to persecute the saints will be condemned.
Those who reject the Spirit of Christ within them have chosen to value
human pride and vanity. They choose to believe those who tell lies about the
nature of God (Jer 5:31). They are only interested in their own gain (Isa
56:11) and do not follow the way of God (2 Pet 2:15). They follow those who
judge, preach and prophesy for financial gain (Mic 3:11 & Ezek 34:2-15).
When we follow the Spirit of Christ we follow the same Spirit that inspired the
prophets, the apostles and those who wrote the scriptures. We don’t need paid
judges, priests and prophets because we all have direct access to Christ
ourselves. Therefore those who seek to make money from what is freely given
(i.e. the clergy) are evil. For if we support these evil people then we would
be evil too.
If we agree with those who argue
that God no longer reveals himself to humans we would be denying Christ because
it is Christ who continues to reveal God to us (e.g. Paul did not become an
apostle until Christ was revealed in him). You cannot be a minister of Christ
if you deny that God continues to reveal himself to us through the Spirit of
Christ.
The true prophets speak the words of God. However, the false prophets
only speak their own words. The true prophets have always condemned this.
God is revealed to us as a free gift through the Spirit of Christ
working within us. Those who seek payment for their preaching and rely on the
letter of scripture rather than the living Spirit of Christ are shameless
people. You need no other teacher than the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit will be
your teacher and will make sense of the Bible for you. If you reject your
inward teacher you will be condemned by God who is coming soon to establish his
reign on earth.
God who created all things is not to be found in physical buildings and
special places (like temples and church buildings). People can only know God
when they have received God within because the human body is the real temple of
God.
If you reject the Spirit of Christ within you, it will not be possible
to understand the scriptures or to enter the Kingdom of God. The Spirit of Christ
provides the only way to God. Without the Spirit of Christ you will not be able
to understand what the prophets and the apostles have said for it was the
Spirit that produced their words.
Those who accept the Spirit of Christ and believe it, become the sons
of God because God is working through them.
D. THE FULL TRACT AVAILABLE
ONLINE
If you would like to read the full original tract, it is available
online as part of the Earlham School of Religion Digital Collection. Use the
link below:
This is wonderfully clear and helpful, Stuart, many thanks.
ReplyDeleteIn Friendship,
Craig
Many thanks Craig.
ReplyDeleteIn friendship,
Stuart