The True Christian’s Faith and Experience #031 Advice to New Friends (part 3 of 4)

Ohio Yearly Meeting's Podcast

Chapter 20, Session #31 (Part 3 of 4 parts) pertaining to advice, counsel and exhortation to those who have newly turned from darkness within, to the Light of Christ within themselves. Part 3 of Chapter 20 begins with a review and further discussion of the previous paragraphs discussed in Part 2, and it goes on to discuss the next several paragraphs.

Watch against the dead spirit of “formality”. See that your “form” of godliness is accompanied with Light, power, and virtue, since there can be a form without power. The spirit of forms captivated some in past ages and led them to reject the power. For if a spirit of forms/formality prevails even though a form of godliness is retained such as in a form of sound words, plainness and decency in clothing, excess in food and drink laid aside; respecting men’s social status; Truth and Light within professed in words, etc., yet, if your heart has gone astray; if you do not feel Life leading you, if you do not take up the daily inward cross to your own will, thoughts, emotions, and cravings, and mortify them, then you may be a mere “formalist” and your observing forms may become abominable in the sight of the Lord now, as it was among his once special people, the Jews, when He sent His prophet Isaiah to cry out against them, though they kept and observed a multitude of observances which were the very form of worship that He once commanded. But the spirit of dead formality corrupted them. The reason was not because these things were necessarily evil in themselves, but because the call of the Lord was not answered. When He spoke, they did not hear, but did evil. Yet at the same time they were performing the outward part of worship, and sat as His people and loved to hear the words of the Lord through the mouth of His prophet, but not to do them.

Do not let this evil come near you in your holy form of godliness. Keep in the form of sound words, in the fear of God, in the inward cross to self (to ego), the sound words which you were moved to speak against the arrogant spirit of this world. Honor all men in the Lord. Be courteous and kindly affectionate to all, this being the spirit of the Lord and being the true nature of Christianity.

Keep the holy form of plainness in apparel. Avoid excess in food and drink. Do not let the holy Spirit that led you there, depart from you. So, feel that power working in you to remove the root and ground from which wickedness arose, and to mortify that spirit that delighted in these things.
References:

• The True Christian’s Faith and Experience Briefly Declared.
• The quote in our introduction was from Chapter II of George Fox's Journal.

A complete list of our podcasts, organized into topics, is available on our website.
To learn more about Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative) of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), please visit ohioyearlymeeting.org.
Any who might be interested in joining any of the Ohio Yearly Meeting Zoom online studies should check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. All are welcome!
We welcome feedback on this and any of our other podcast episodes. Contact us through our website, or email us at [e-mail].