Selected quad for the lemma: power_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
power_n	king_n	law_n	limit_v	3,744	5	10.3160	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54077	A weighty question, proposed to the King, and both Houses of Parliament together, with some queries about religion, for the good of mens souls, that they may seek after, and be established in that which gives life / by Isaac Penington.	Penington, Isaac, 1616-1679.	1663 (1663)	Wing P1220; ESTC R18887	4,751	10

A Weighty Question Proposed to the KING And both HOUSES of PARLIAMENT Together with some QUERIES ABOUT RELIGION For the good of mens Souls that they may seek after and be established in that which gives Life By ISAAC PENINGTON LONDON Printed for R. Wilson 1663. A weighty Question proposed to the KING and both Houses of PARLIAMENT The Question is this which followeth QUEST VVHether Laws made by Man in Equity ought to extend any further than there is power in man to obey Is it not cruel to require obedience in such cases wherein the party hath not a capacity in him of obeying Now in things concerning the Worship of God wherein a man is limited by God both what Worship he shall perform and what Worship he shall abstain from here he is not left at liberty to obey what Laws shall be made by man contrary hereunto The New-Testament Worship is to be in Spirit and Truth which is a principle above man's reason and cannot righteously be limited by a lower principle but the lower principle in every man should be subjected to the higher both in himself and others These things I write not in pride or conceitedness but with an humble heart and in love that God may have his due Cesar his and all men theirs and that Wrath from God may not break forth upon this Nation for surely it cannot but greatly provoke him to see his People so deeply suffer for their obedience to him in what he requireth of them I am a lover of Peace Truth and Righteousness and an hearty desirer of the Welfare and Prosperity of this Nation and that it may no more be broken up in the Wrath and Indignation of the Lord but that the peaceable and righteous Seed which he hath sown in the hearts of many may be quietly suffered to grow up to the praise of the Lord and to the good of mankind This is from one who was a Mourner over You in your affliction and is now also a Mourner over those whom ye afflict I. P. Some Queries about Religion Query 1. VVHat is true Religion Is it a gift from God bestowed on those whom he begets by the power of his Life Or is it a profession or worship of the nature of this world which a man by natural parts and industry may attain to as well as to other things Query 2. What is the sum and substance of the true Religion Is it not Love from a principle of Life Is it not a travel out of the Enmity of the creature into the Love of God Doth not the Light of Life spring in the Love and gather into the Love Doth not Christ revealed in the heart and leavening the heart with the savour of his Life teach love to Enemies to bear with them in love to seek them in love to forgive them in love to pray for them in love to wish good to them and wrestle with God for mercy towards them even while they are hating and persecuting Quer. 3. Are the Papists or Protestants or any other sort of religious persons found in this Love Do they manifest by it their Discipleship to Christ and the Power of Christ in them or rather do they not set up their several Forms and maintain them in wrath and enmity against each other Nay would they not destroy each other if they could Surely this spirit is in too many of them And doth not this give a strong evidence against their Religion that it hath but a Form and not the true Power in it and that in heart they are not the Disciples of Christ for if they were such they would of him learn the Love Quer. 4. Whether any Form of Religion if not held in the Power and subjected to the Power doth not fight against the Power keeping up an outside shew without the substance and thereby crushing the substance What form of Religion at this day in the world can suffer the Love to grow and the Life to lead and rule in the Love and the Lord of Life to exercise his Authority in the hearts and consciences of men And this is for want of Power within and because of Forms forcibly set up without for the Religion of the Gospel began in Spirit and in Power and it never can be restored and preserved but by the same Spirit and Power The renting of the Protestants from the Papists was no further good than it was in the power of the Life and the renting of others from the Protestants is no further good than it is begun and held in the same Power Nay any Party though beginning never so uprightly and by never so true and clear a leading of the Spirit of God yet so soon as it begins to invent and turn aside to a Form of its own chusing and is upheld by the reasonings and understanding of man it presently corrupts Quer. 5. Whether the power of Religion and the true Love if it were raised up and restored again would not make the world happy and set every thing in its proper place both inwardly and outwardly Is not Sense an excellent thing in man if it be guided by Reason And is not Reason a much more excellent thing if it be guided by an inward Principle of Life But Sense left to it self without the guidance of Reason how bruitish is it and Reason left to it self without the guidance of a Principle of Life falls below Sense How cruel how blind how selfish how unrighteous is man that follows the dictates of his own corrupt reason without knowing and becoming subject to that which should enlighten it and give him the right use thereof Quer. 6. Whether God will restore Religion again in the Power whether he hath such a work to do in the world and whether the time be near that God is about such a work and whether he hath already begun it and made any progress in it Is there such a thing as the Power of Religion sought after Do men grow weary of their Forms of Worship and find them empty and unsatisfactory to the hungry soul that pants after life Nay have there not been some touches and appearances of Life and Power and of the true Love in some poor weak despised ones O that men knew the times and seasons and then perhaps they would see that this is not a day for setting up of Forms but of longing and crying out after Life and Power Quer. 7. When God restoreth Religion and raiseth it up in power whether then Forms and Wayes of Worship without the Power must not needs wither and decay When the Power first appeared in the dispensation of the Gospel did not all the shadows of Moses's Ceremonies fly away and vanish before it And when it appears again shall not all the shadows and inventions of man which have sprung up since in the time of the Night vanish before the brightness of the Light of the Day Where the Power ariseth in any heart what