Selected quad for the lemma: power_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
power_n	deny_v	form_n	godliness_n	5,889	5	9.5542	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A46888	The strong man armed cast out and his goods spoiled, or, The poor man sitting at Jesus's feet clothed and in his right mind being a true convert's testimony of the power of the Lord in turning the soul from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God ... / formerly given forth in writing unto my relations and acquaintance the professors called Independents in Nottinghamshire, declaring the cause of my leaving their assemblies ... by James Jackson, formerly a parish priest and a teacher amongst the Independents and now ... made willing to take up the daily cross and walk with the despised followers of the Lamb in scorn called Quakers.	Jackson, James, fl. 1674-1708.	1674 (1674)	Wing J75; ESTC R34953	24,289	34

not ashamed to deny that Christ is come in the Flesh indeed both they and their Grandmother the Church of Rome are willing to confess that Christ was come but the Scripture is plain That every Soul that confesseth not that Christ is come in the Flesh the same is Antichrist 3. They fear not daily to Blaspheme the Holy Spirit of God but call it A Spirit of Delusion and A Spirit of Error and most presumptuously say of them that are sanctified guided taught and anointed by the Holy Ghost That they are led by the Spirit of the Devil 4. They trample under Foot the Blood of the Covenant counting it a Weak and Unholy Thing while they impudently affirm That the best of God's Saints yea if he had no purer Saints then they are cannot be free from sin whilst they breath upon Earth when the Scriptures witness that the Blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin 5. They preach another Gospel Now the Scripture is plain That if any man or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto us then what we have already received let him be accursed Gal. 1.9 Now how can ye believe that they are Ministers of the Gospel when they know not what the true Gospel is For saith Paul I certifie unto you Brethren that the Gospel which I preach is not after man for I neither received it neither was I taught it of man but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ But your Teachers deny any such Revelation in these dayes wherefore it is hereby evident that they are Thieves crept in some other wayes and bring another Gospel then that whereof Paul was a Minister as he witnessed to the Collossians Chap. 1.23 saying Be not moved from the Hope of the Gospel which ye have heard and which was preached IN EVERY CREATURE under Heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In universa creatura whereof I Paul am a Minister And this is the Word of Faith which we preach even Christ the Word who is in thy Heart and in thy Mouth saith Paul Rom. 10. which all have heard and the Sound thereof is gone through the whole World But these men labour to pervert the Gospel and turn men from it saying That the Light of Christ in every man's Conscience is not the Substance of the Gospel nor the Power of God to Salvation 6. They have indeed a Form of Godliness but want the Power and well for them if that was the worst But they magnifie and cry up a Form and utterly reject despise and deny the Power which is the immortal Seed Christ Jesus the Light within and from such we are commanded to turn away Their Prayers and Sermons are made contrived studied and composed in their own Time Wills and Wisdom but are Strangers to the Life Power and Spirit of Prayer and deny that Christ speaks in any which is evident that he doth not speak in them They cry up and plead earnestly for Water-Baptism which Christ never Administred Instituted or Commanded to be Administred and yet they call it Christ's Ordinance Some saying Without this no Salvation and the rest say With such as wilfully neglect this have no Communion But if they had ever undergone and felt the Powerful Lively Purifying and throughly cleansing Efficacy of the Spirit 's Baptism they would know it sufficient without the Help of their Dead Cold Idolized Water-Works They are greatly affected with that Bread and Wine which after breathing upon by the Pastor is not Common but Be-sainted and so comes to be called the Lord's Supper It is evident hereby that they never did eat of that Flesh which is Bread indeed nor drink of that Blood which is Drink indeed Now it is certain that all Pictures Images Shadows Resemblances Figures and Representations which any people live in and plead for do clearly argue That they are destitute of the Power Life and Substance yea who●ely ignorant of his Living Presence in whom is hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge And as they believe in one at a great Distance from them out of their View and Knowledge so is it very convenient they think to necessitate these Carnal Ordinances to reduce their unmindful and forgetful Thoughts into more serious Remembrance till he come And yet these men will condemn the Papists though they be far short of their Devotion in this very Thing And so are they seen in the Light to be Wolves in Sheep's Cloathing ravened from the Life and Power of those Saints whom they are imitating upon the Stage of their Formal Profession Wherefore my dear Frieds Come out from amongst them and be ye separate lest ye be drunk with the Wine of their Fornication For verily the Lord is risen to plead his own Cause and be a swift Witness against these Sorcerers who are sporting themselves in the day time And as those Souldiers regarded not a Crucified Jesus so near them but their Minds were taken up in parting casting Lots for his Raiment so these men are so exercised in the Out-sides of Religion Ordinances so called and Worship that they are not at all concerned with the In-side which is the Life and Power of Godliness even Christ within the Hope of Glory Answ 5. And Lastly As I have plainly declared the Reasons of my departing from your Assemblies so shall I witness faithfully to the Truth as it is known and practised by the Holy People of God called Quakers with whom I now walk and of whom I declare and testifie First That they are built and rooted in upon the Right Foundation even Christ Jesus the Lord who is their Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption in whom alone they are justified by Faith and saved That Root from whence they receive Life Nourishment Power and Growth is the only Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles the Rock of Ages the Stone which your Builders and thei● Brethren the Priests ever rejected disallowed and set at nought which is Christ in us the Hope of Glory Whereupon it is evident that we differ in the Root from all the People in the World though of several Forms and Perswasions For plainly the Papists Prelates Presbyters Baptists and Independents though they all differ in their Forms Appearances and Circumstantial Opinions yet do they all agree and meet in one and the same Faith Foundation and Root The Words Writings Declarations and Testimonies of the Saints recorded in Scripture are the Foundation and Ground of all the Professing People in the World and all of them being Strangers to that one Spirit that gave forth the Scriptures are run into several Sects and Opinions as they do carnally understand and conceive they have Rule and Teaching in the Bible But however they will own no other Light Law Gospel Rule Revelation and Word of God but their Bibles But now this peculiar People whom the Lord hath gathered from amongst all the Babylonish Confusions and Divisions under Heaven are built upon the Foundation

I had no Benefit of any Outward Help Teaching or Counsel but he who before had been my Reprover was then my only Teacher who sealed Instruction upon my Soul whose Voice I heard which did shake and shake the Heavens and the Earth also and caused me to cry out Lord What wouldest thou have me to do And being brought to the Foot of God could truly say Speak now Lord for thy Servant heareth And abiding in this broken and shattered State I clearly felt the Judgment of the Lord powerfully at work in my Soul as an Ax at the Root of the Tree and as a Refiner's Fire till the Life and Power of Sin was slain subdued and mortified perfectly in my Will and Affections then was the Lord Jesus revealed in me whom I had pierced the New Birth Discerned which is created after God in true Holiness and the Immortal Pure Precious Seed of the Eternal God which ever before had been pressed down trodden under and held in Bondage arose yea the Tender Plant of his own Right Hand sprung up in me panting and vehemently breathing after and never since could be satisfied but with his Living Presence Behold these things worketh the Lord oftentimes with men looking upon men And if any say I have sinned and perverted that which is Right and it profitted me not he will deliver his Soul from going into the Pit and his Life shall see the Light And this is the Sum of the Confession which I was not ashamed to witness in your publick Assemblies both at Nottingham and other places in the year 1668. Objection But it is probable some of you will object saying After this Change was wrought thou didst Joyn to our Assemblies Owned us Prayed with us Preached amongst us and seemed to enjoy Refreshings and Satisfaction in our Assemblies wherefore then art thou now departed from us and gone to the Quakers Answer 1. Notwithstanding that great and notable Work begun in my Soul and in some measure effected by the Mighty Power of the Lord yet was there after some time a certain Deadness Coldness and Darkness drawn over me again occasioned through Weakness Unwatchfulness and Formality whereby that good Condition was lost nevertheless I found and felt tender Breathings moving in me thirsting and seeking for renewed Testimonies of the Love of God then in the Simplicity and Uprightness of my Heart not knowing a more likely way to obtain Satisfaction I joyned to your Society and can truly affirm though I now see it was no better then seeking the Living among the Dead that the Lord was pleased in the Condescensions of his Love many times to stoop down and reach forth from the openings of his Bosom Refreshings and Nourishment to that tender Babe of his own begetting yea while I frequented your Assemblies Answ 2. And as I continued Faithful and Obedient to that measure of Light and Knowledge which was revealed in me it is well known to all or the most of you what Censures Opposition and Contradiction both I and the plain Scripture-Truths which I declared in your Assemblies suffered from many of your Brethren charging me That I was leading into Quakerism long before I understood either by word or Writing what the Quakers held Answ 3. But however these Censures occasioned a free and impartial Search into the Quakers Principle Doctrine and Practice for verily before I was as much afraid of the Quakers as ye can be But standing single in the Will and Counsel of the Lord desirous to prove all things and hold fast that which is good abandoning all Consultations with Flesh was resolved to cease from Man and to cleave unto the Truth as the Lord should reveal and discover the same to me waiting in this Unbyassed Unprejudiced and Dis-engaged Frame examining carefully the Principle Foundation Doctrine and Practice of this Despised Holy People great Clearness and Satisfaction arose in my Soul for as Face answered Face in a Glass so were the Truths delivered by them owned and embraced by the Witness of God in my own Conscience and the same Spirit Light Life and Power which is manifest in them I came to feel in a measure in my own Particular And yet for all this before I came to any visible Closure with them I sate down and counted the Cost and am made willing freely to endure the Cross and undergo the World's Reproach and Shame knowing that whoever will be Christ's Disciple must deny himself and take up his Cross daily and follow him And truly Friends the Day of the Lord's Power is come and felt whereby I am made willing to forsake Fathers and Mothers Brethren and Sisters Parsonages and all kind of Ecclesiastical Promotions Friends Honours Pleasures Profits Houses Lands Goods yea and Life is self to follow the Lamb and fall in with his Interest as it is only witnessed and embraced by and amongst the Children of Light by the World called Quakers Answ 4. But if it were possible I desire to make clear to your Satisfaction that there was sufficient Ground for me and so there is for you who have any Tenderness and Breathings in your Souls after the Lord to separate your selves from the Tents of those Ungodly Men your Teachers who are no better then Filthy Dreamers Blind Guides and Belly Gods who belch out nothing but Blasphemies Lyes Slanders False Accusations and Evil Speeches against God and Christ his Wayes Truth and People and this I see and declare against them in the Light For verily there is and I witness it an Honest Gracious Tender Principle in many of you called Independents which kindles in you perfect Hatred against Sin and unsatisfied real Breathings and Pantings after the Sensible Living Presence of the Lord But your Leaders cause you to Err and ye are scattered upon the dark and barren Mountains And this I testifie in the Name of the Living God That it will be so with you while ye follow these Wandring Stars Clouds without Rain Seducing Spirits your Pastors and Teachers who are Ravening Wolves and Ministers of Antichrist whom ye ought not to receive into your Houses nor bid them God speed For 1. They are altogether Ignorant of the True God and all the Knowledge that these men pretend to have of the Deity is attained by Reading and Hear-say for they will confidently affirm That Vision and Immediate Revelation is ceased Judge ye therefore what Knowledge these men have of God when the Scriptures say No man knows the Father but they to whom the Son reveals him 2. They Reproach and despise Jesus Christ the only Son of God of whom the Scriptures witness and testifie to be the True Light which enlightens every man that comes into the World But they are not afraid to say The Light in every man is but a Natural Light and at the best not able to save those who believe in it and obey it And to discover themselves more plainly to be the Ministers of Antichrist they are