William Penn – death, July 30, 1718

If men be good, governments cannot be bad.

 

He that lives to live forever, never fears dying.

 

Humility seeks not the last word not the first place.

 

– William Penn, Fruits of a Father’s Love (Philadelphia: Benjamin Johnson, 1792), 45.

 7/30 William Penn died 1718, Quaker, founded Pennsylvania where Quakers (& others) experienced religious liberty, (born 10/14/1644) wrote “No Cross, no Crown; a Discourse showing the Nature & Discipline of the Holy Cross of Christ” (1688) and England’s Greatest Interest…Parliament, Truth Exalted

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Joseph John Gurney – birth, Aug. 2, 1788

…Beloved friends, the professing church of Christ stands in need of greater purification than it has yet attained to…there are many spots on her garments; she is defiled by the dust of the earth; and her garments are very much tattered. But when the professing church of Christ under every name, comes under the baptizing influence of the Holy Ghost, and comes to be led and guided in all things, by the uncompromising principle of life and light, then she will arise and shake her garments from the dust, then she will appear in her beauty, and there shall no more pass through her borders, the uncircumcised and the unclean.

            – From Sermon by Joseph John Gurney, North Meeting-house, New Street (Philadelphia) First-day                Afternoon, Second Month, Eighteenth, 1838.    Hopper, Edward. Sermons and Prayers Delivered in the      City of Philadelphia by Joseph John Gurney. Philadelphia: Kay & Brother, 1938.

…The guidance of the Spirit of truth, which leads into all truth and into all virtue, will never lead any man, either in opinion or practice to any thing which is Contrary to Holy Scripture.

            – From Sermon by Joseph John Gurney, North Meeting-house, New Street (Philadelphia) First-day                Afternoon, Second Month, Eighteenth, 1838.    Hopper, Edward. Sermons and Prayers Delivered in the      City of Philadelphia by Joseph John Gurney. Philadelphia: Kay & Brother, 1938.

…The Spirit of truth can never by any possibility contradict itself.

            – From Sermon by Joseph John Gurney, North Meeting-house, New Street (Philadelphia) First-day                Afternoon, Second Month, Eighteenth, 1838.    Hopper, Edward. Sermons and Prayers Delivered in the      City of Philadelphia by Joseph John Gurney. Philadelphia: Kay & Brother, 1938.

…The true reason, I believe, why so many who profess the name of Christ, are unwilling to be guided by the unflattering and uncompromising voice of the Spirit of God, which dictates a straight-forward course of unbending holiness, without turning to the right hand or to the left; they are displeased at the cross; they cannot bear the mortification of their heart’s lusts; the world, the world is their God; self is their idol; and they will not renounce the world; they will not renounce self, and walk in the narrow way.

            – From Sermon by Joseph John Gurney, North Meeting-house, New Street (Philadelphia) First-day                Afternoon, Second Month, Eighteenth, 1838.    Hopper, Edward. Sermons and Prayers Delivered in the      City of Philadelphia by Joseph John Gurney. Philadelphia: Kay & Brother, 1938.

 

…Though it is a narrow way, it is a way of peace.

            – From Sermon by Joseph John Gurney, North Meeting-house, New Street (Philadelphia) First-day                Afternoon, Second Month, Eighteenth, 1838.    Hopper, Edward. Sermons and Prayers Delivered in the      City of Philadelphia by Joseph John Gurney. Philadelphia: Kay & Brother, 1938.

 

We must follow him in the path of self-denial; we must follow him in his walk of holiness; we must follow him in his course of ever -abounding charity; we must, though at an immeasurable distance, imitate his patience, his meekness, his forbearance, his subjection to his Father’s will, his love for his enemies…if we would follow him and partake of his glory in the world of spirits.

            – From Sermon by Joseph John Gurney, North Meeting-house, New Street (Philadelphia) First-day                Afternoon, Second Month, Eighteenth, 1838.    Hopper, Edward. Sermons and Prayers Delivered in the      City of Philadelphia by Joseph John Gurney. Philadelphia: Kay & Brother, 1938. 

Joseph John Gurney was born 8/2/1788.

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Robert Barclay – birth, Dec. 23, 1648

That it is not lawful to give to men such flattering titles as, “Your Holiness,” “Your Majesty,” “Your Eminency,” “Your Excellency,” “Your Grace,” “Your Lordship,” “Your Honor,” &c., nor use those flattering words commonly called “compliments.””

 

So the question is, First, Whether the civil magistrate hath power to force men in things religious to do contrary to their conscience, and if they will not to punish them in their goods, liberties, or lives? this we hold in the negative.

 

Since we have placed justification in the revelation of Jesus Christ formed and brought forth in the heart, there working his works of righteousness and bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit.

Robert Barclay was born this date 12/23/1648 in Gordonstoun, Scotland.  He represented Scotland in the British Parliament.  He became a Quaker and is primarily remembered for his classic Apology for the True Christian Religion (1676). 

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William Penn – birth, Oct. 14, 1644

“Fear and gain are great perverters of mankind:

where either prevails, the judgment is violated.”

 

– William Penn, Fruits of Solitude in Reflections & Maxims (Philadelphia: Benjamin Johnson, 1792), 34. 

 

William Penn, born today 10/14/1644, London, Quaker, named Pennsylvania for his father.

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John Woolman – death, Oct. 7, 1772

…The spirit of lotteries was a spirit of selfishness which tended to confuse and darken the understanding. 

                         – Woolman, John, Journal, (London: Edward Marsh, 1857), 107.

 

The Quaker, John Woolman, died this date – 10/7/1772.

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