Discerning God’s will & Spheres of Influence

[David Seargent]

In 17th. Century England, God raised up a prophet named George Fox, the founder of the Quaker movement. Unlike reformers such as Luther and Calvin, Fox had no great theological dispute with the “official” church of his time, but unlike most preachers of his day he saw Christianity as something to be experienced and not merely believed as an intellectual exercise. From such texts as John 1:1-14 and (especially) Revelation 3:20, Fox taught that Christ spiritually comes to everyone, but most are not aware or simply turn away. For those who do recognize and open to him, Christ spiritually unites with their spirit and they are born again. Fox taught that this indwelling of Christ in the believer is not just a dogma but a living and life-changing experience. God speaks to us and leads us through the indwelling Christ. It follows that if all true Christians are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and all have “the mind of Christ” a meeting of Christians should all be able to reach consensus as to the will of God in any situation IF they all surrender their personal prejudices and views to the over-riding guidance of the indwelling Christ through the Holy Spirit. Meetings for congregational business of Quaker groups were therefore held in an attitude of collectively waiting on the Lord; similar to their worship meetings which had no specific preacher or form of service and in which the congregation remained in prayerful silence until  one of their number was moved by the Spirit to deliver a message, a prophecy, a spoken prayer etc. If no-one was so moved, the meeting continued in reverent silence.

Most Quakers still use this form of meeting for church business today and some other non-Quaker Christian groups are adopting it. Indeed, this appears to be a move of the Holy Spirit which I believe will go far beyond church business. God, through George Fox, has given us a form of meeting through which secular business, government and other spheres of influence in society can be reached with the voice of God speaking through gathered groups of Christians within these spheres.

I humbly ask that you prayerfully read the following net resources (both free!)

https://www.christianityoasis.com/puritypublications/5145/HolySpiritGuidedConsensus.htm

and

oikoumene.org/resources/documents/eden-grace-on-quaker-business-practice

I would ask that you seriously consider the message in these publications and (where possible) gather together several Christian friends to collectively discuss and (especially) pray and wait on the Lord as to what may be done to bring about this vision within the sphere of influence in which you are located.

God bless.

 

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