Sermons, preached partly before His Majesty at White-Hall and partly before Anne Dutchess of York, at the chappel at St. James / by Henry Killigrew ...

The Sixteenth Sermon. (Book 16)

JOHN xvi.23.

—Whatsoever ye shall ask the Fa∣ther in my Name, he will give it you.

THESE Words are part of our Lord's Farewel-Speech to his Disciples, when he was to leave the World: the un∣expected News of which did so afflict them, that they had not the power (as himself takes notice, ver. 5.) so much as to ask him any Question concerning it. But now I go to him that sent me, and none of you ask, Whither goest thou? but because I have said these things unto you, Sorrow hath filled your heart. And very deservedly: for what more amazing, more Ominous Tidings could they have heard, than that he, for whom they had forsaken all they had, should after that forsake them? than that he, that had put Enmity between them and the World, should abandon them

to the World? he in whom they had plac'd all their Ambition, all their Hope, should at last leave them in a Riddle? A little while and ye shall not see me, and again, a little while and ye shall see me. To raise therefore their drooping and disconsolate Spirits he promises them a double Advantage by his Departure, and which could only arrive to them by his Depar∣ture. 1. That they should receive the Holy Ghost, who would establish their Faith, and wonderfully re∣joice their Hearts, by assuring them of the truth of the Doctrines he had taught them, and of their own Divine Mission. 2. That they should be under the immediate Care of the Father, by reason of whose Almighty Protection they would have no Cause to deplore his Absence, or in the least to wish for his Corporal Presence again: for they would find their Dependance on the Father much more happy, than the following his Steps through the Cities of Palestine. The Words of my Text relate to the latter of these two Advantages, Their being under the immediate Care and Protection of the Father. While our Lord abode with his Disciples, he supply'd all their Wants, solv'd all their Doubts, stopt the mouths of all their Maligners: but he let them know, that his Father was Greater than he, and would perform all these things in a more uncontroul'd and unlimited manner, than he had done, when he acted only in the Flesh by his Commission; that the Using only of his Name to the Father would be more Beneficial to them, than his Person had formerly been: for though in many things he had been kind to them, there was nothing so Precious, nothing so Difficult, nothing so Wonderful, but if they pray'd for it in his Name, the Father would bestow it on them. Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my Name, he will give it you.

In this Singular Priviledge and Prerogative promi∣sed by our Lord to his Disciples, there are three things very remarkable:

I. The Person with whom they are to have it, The Father,—he will give it you.

II. The Measure in which they were to have it; it is a Measure indeed unlimited and without Mea∣sure, Whatsoever ye shall ask, ask what you will, he will give it you.

III. By what Means they are to obtain it, by ask∣ing in Christ's Name, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Fa∣ther in my Name.

I begin with the first of these, The Person with whom they are to have this Singular Priviledge,

The Father.

This was a comfortable Promise of our Lord's to his Disciples, if they had then understood it, as they after∣wards did: but when the Words were spoken, they were but as a Parable or Proverb to them, as 'tis ver. 25. These things have I spoken unto you in Proverbs, the time will come that I shall speak no more unto you in Proverbs, but I shall shew you Plainly of the Father. How was that? in what fashion did he afterwards shew them plainly of the Father? By his Charismata, the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost which they received from him, and which bore the very Chara∣cter of the Father stampt upon them: For every Good and perfect Gift, as S^t James says, is from above, and cometh from the Father of Light. And thus he shew'd them more plainly and convincingly of the Father, than he did to Philip, when he said, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen Me, hath seen the Fa∣ther:

For he shew'd them not the Father now in the Person of another, but in their Own, in his Divine and Omnipotent Power displayed in themselves. And this was not only a Plain and Evident, but a Graci∣ous Revelation of the Father; which as it improv'd their Knowledge of him, so it gave them also De∣monstrations of his Love and Favour. The Father was both gracious to them, and present with them before, under the Law; he was their God, and they were his People: but after they had embrac'd the Go∣spel he sent his Son into the World to preach, they were admitted into a Nearer Relation; and were not only call'd the People and Servants, but the Chil∣dren of God, the adopted Brethren of Christ; and the Father of Heaven and Earth was appropriated by our Lord no less to them, than to himself; I go, says he, to my Father and to your Father, to my God and to your God.

And this being the blessed Condition not only of the first Disciples, but of all true Believers since, I cannot chuse but take Occasion from hence to say, That those Christians are not sensible of their own Priviledge and Dignity, that go a Compass to God, when they are allowed the Directest and Shortest Way to him; who keep a Distance, when they are invited and encouraged to make a Near and familiar Address; out of an affected Humility move them, that they may move her, that she may move Christ, that Christ may move the Father. What a trifling Ambages is this, after our Lord has promised an Im∣mediate Access? and upon no better ground, but because, forsooth, the like is practised in the Courts of Earthly Princes; where Strangers and Unknown Persons are not allow'd to make their Approach to the King without the Introduction of some in Place.

Alas! to the Court of Heaven there comes no Stran∣gers or Unknown Persons, all the Suters there are Sons, and these use not to implore the help of Ser∣vants, but being first in Power and Place themselves, go directly and boldly to the Throne of the King their Father: as S^t Paul, Heb. 4.16. encourages the Faithful to do, Let us come boldly, says he, to the Throne of Grace: and our Lord at the 16^th Verse of this Chapter speaks, as if his own Mediation were not always necessary: At that day, says he, ye shall ask in my Name, and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you, for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. Those that believe that Jesus is the Christ, as the Apostle says, are born of God, and begotten of his Spirit, and they need no other Advo∣cate to speak for them, but the Spirit, and such their Propinquity by Faith; and to distrust their Inte∣rest, were to distrust God's Love and Christ's Truth; and we may say of such a Diffidence, what one says of the like in humane Alliance,—peccat, Qui com∣mendandum se putat esse suis, he sins against the Right of Kindred, that thinks he needs to be recommended to his own Relations.

Therefore, though we decline not, with the rank∣er Socinians, the Intercession of Christ, who say, He is mere Man, and not God, and consequently that all Prayers made to him are idolatrous: Nor yet com∣ply with the more allay'd and qualify'd Poyson of o∣thers of them, who allow it lawful to pray to Christ, but not necessary: yet we may vindicate the Prero∣gative given to a Disciple in my Text, against the Shew of Wisdom, in Will-Worship and Humility, pra∣ctis'd in the Church of Rome. For we who are rightly instructed in the Close Conjunction of the

Father and the Son, that teach he is both God and Man, know it is indifferent, whether we supplicate the Father or the Son; whether with our Lord him∣self we say, Father, into thy hands I commend my Spirit: or whether with S^t Stephen, Lord Jesu re∣ceive my Spirit, who praying after this manner, is said also to have call'd upon God. And in truth, when our Lord sends his Disciples in my Text to his Father, he neither extinguishes his own Adoration, nor Mediation: but sends them from his Humane Na∣ture, as I may say, to meet them again in his Divine. And this is the true Importance of his sending them to the Father: but they were not capable at this time of receiving the Doctrine of his Divinity: for a lit∣tle before, in plain terms without a Figure, he had discoursed to them of his Death and Passion, and those to whom it was a hard Saying, That they should eat his Flesh and drink his Bloud, would have thought it a much harder to have heard, That he was the Eternal God, and could yet be Crucify'd by Wicked men. Not willing therefore to force their Reason either by his Argumentation or Authority, he let this Mystery alone to be revealed in due time by the Ho∣ly Ghost, and establisht their Comfort on a Founda∣tion more easie to be conceived by them, the Good∣ness and All-Sufficiency of the Father: For however they did believe their Master to be an Extraordinary and Divine Person, they could not chuse but believe their God was Greater; and if it were a happiness to follow the Son, it must be yet a higher Felicity to be Favourites to the Father, of whom the whole Family of Heaven and Earth is named.

Now this being the Condition which a Disciple was left in at his Lord's Departure, he had no reason to mourn and languish for his Absence; with S^t Augu∣stine

to desire to see Christum in ore, Christ's natural face again, while he enjoyed Christum in Patre, Christ in the power and presence of the Father. When a less Person at his Departure gives us the Fa∣vour of a Greater, we may say, He does not Desert us, but bestows his Absence on us. But Christ's Care of his Disciples and kindness to them will be seen yet more in the Unlimited Measure in which they were promised God's Favour, exprest in these Words, Whatsoever ye shall ask—he will give it you. Which is the next thing I am to explain.

Whatsoever ye shall ask—he will give it you.

This was a large Promise, and yet as largely and stupendiously made good. For, 1. Such was the Power of a Disciple by Prayer upon Earth, that he could cast out Devils, chase away all Diseases, heal all Infirmities, call the Dead out of their Grave, and send the Living into it. 2. Such was his Power in the Sea, that when the Ship was become a Prey to the merciless Element, and nothing but Death and De∣speration appear'd to all others, a S^t Paul could say, Not one of the Company shall perish. And why so? Because he had pray'd, and God had given him the Lives of them that sail'd with him. 3. Such was his Power in Heaven, that the Holy Ghost stood press'd and ready, as I may say, upon the laying-on of the Apostles hands, as upon a Sign given, to descend in all his various and wonderful Endowments. S^t James notes, that Elijah by the power of prayer shut the Windows of Heaven, and caused a Dearth; and again open'd them, and made Plenty: But the Prayers of the Apostles wrought not only Wonderful Effects in the second Region of the Air, in the Magazines of

Snow and Rain, but entering into the Heaven of Hea∣vens call'd down Showres of Supernatural and Divine Graces; And though before the time of Christ, it was said, That 'twas not known, that God so hearkened to the Voice of a Man, as he did to Joshua commanding the Sun to stand still: yet after Christ's ascension, he frequently hearkened to the Voice of Men, and ef∣fected greater Wonders: For after this Promise was once of force, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my Name, he will give it you; nothing was impossi∣ble, nothing was difficult to a Disciple of Christ.

But some perhaps will say, That it does not ap∣pear that this Promise was fulfilled according to the Extent and Latitude of it, even to the Apostles themselves, not to say how little of it has been made good to the Faithful since. For undoubtedly S^t Paul was not the only Person that prayed thrice, i. e. often and instantly, that the Thorn in his Flesh might be ta∣ken away, and was not heard: but others also of the Apostles and first Planters of the Gospel made many earnest Supplications for Success to their Endeavours and Deliverance in their Persecutions, and were not answered in their Petitions. So that this Promise, Whatsoever ye shall ask, &c. seems to be 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a Promise with Repentance, which was never made good.

To this may be said in general, what S^t Paul says of all God's Promises, That in him they are Yea and Amen, i. e. Truths which are ratified with Perform∣ances. But when we meet with such General and Unlimited Expressions, as this in my Text, Whatsoe∣ver ye shall ask, he will give it you, though we ought to look upon them as no more than what God is both able and willing to perform, when any Just Cause shall require, yet they are only then to be ex∣pected

from him, when a Just Cause does require: For we must not imagine, because he promises ac∣cording to the Greatness of his own Power and Goodness, that he promises according to the Extrava∣gance of Mens Lusts and Phancies; because he pro∣mises Liberally, that he promises also, like Herod, Licentiously; who at a wanton Banquet engaged the one half of his Kingdom to a dancing Damsel, and gratify'd a Harlot with the Head of a Saint. God's Unlimited Promises are to be understood like the Unlimited Promise of the Good Samaritan, when he left the Wounded Man in the Inn: Whatsoever thou spendest more, says he to the Host, I will give it thee, i. e. in Order to the hurt man's Recovery; the Credit did not extend to the Purchace of the Inn, in case his Guest had desired it. And if we shall thus receive the Words of our Lord cum grano Salis, as they say, but with two Grains only of prudent Interpretation cast into them, we shall understand their just Latitude and Extent. Whatsoever ye shall ask, he will give it you, i. e. si justum, si rationabile, if it be Righteous, if it be Reasonable.

First, If it be Righteous, Righteous in the Mat∣ter, Righteous in the End, and Righteous in the Manner of the Petition. 1. Righteous in the Matter, if it be something Pious or Charitable that is pray'd for, something for God's Honour, or the Spiritual Advantage of the Votary, something, in a word, worthy to concern and engage Heaven in: for if men shew themselves over-much in love with the things of this Life, too solicitous for that which is Vile and Transitory, when they have the Promise of things Eternal, this declares a Degenerateness in their Affections, and an Indecorum that is reprovable, and not rewardable, as 'tis said, indecorum est ei curare de

cibo, qui militat de regno, Care of the Belly and the Kitchin, ill becomes him, that is in pursuance of a Kingdom. Such as these, while they pray to God, despise him; and let them not hope, while they set at Nought the Glories of Heaven, that he will regard their abject Desires; he promised to give to them that ask'd in his Son's Name, not in the Name of the World.

2. Righteous in the End. The End of what men desire should be the Glory of God: for if it be to satisfie their Pride, Revenge, Concupiscence, &c. 'tis enough again to put an Embargo upon their Re∣quests, as S^t James says, Ye ask, and ye receive not, because ye ask for your Lusts: and though God has promised to have his Ears open to faithful Prayers, he has not engaged to assist Sin, or to be accessory to Wickedness.

3. Righteous in the Manner, if men lift up pure and holy Hands, sincere and faithful Hearts, without Hypocrisie and without Presumption, neither doubt∣ing nor tempting God: constant, but with resigna∣tion; devout, but yet humble; Zealous and Fer∣vent, but without Murmuring and impatience. Hea∣ven is taken by Violence, but 'tis by an Agonistical, not a Hostile Violence; by contesting with our own Sins, not by quarrelling with God; his Kingdom is not to be storm'd after the manner the Poets feign'd the Giants to assault Olympus, but to be conquered by Submission, Duty, and Devotion; God is to be wrestled with, as Jacob did with the Angel, in Faith and Prayer; and they are brutish, who, because he has promised his Servants shall have power With him, expect to have a power Over him.

And thus as our Prayers must be Righteous, have nothing in them repugnant to God's Holiness

and Majesty; so, secondly, they must be Reasonable, i. e. agreeable to God's Divine Will: for Reasonable here is not to be measur'd by what is Reasonable to us, but to God; that which is often Good and fit in our Eyes, is not so in his. If therefore, as S^t John says, we ask according to his Will, he heareth us. And a thing may be supposed to be ask'd according to his Will three Ways.

1. If it be not contrary to his Decrees, something which he has predetermined: for these are immuta∣ble, and though Noah, Daniel, or Job, should inter∣cede, they should not prevail: again, as reducible to these, if the Prayer be not against the Decrees or Laws of Nature: For though I confess the Promise made to the Apostles in my Text, relates chiefly to things of a Miraculous Nature: yet the Promise in that part is not to be extended beyond the Apostles Own Persons, or the Time of the first planting the Gospel. To bring about some great Designs of his in the World, God thought fit to interrupt and dis∣compose the Order of Nature; but 'tis not for Men, at their Pleasure, to think to do the same: Miracles, 'tis true, were wrought by Men, but they were ne∣ver wrought by the Will of men; and 'tis a Fanatick Presumption to tempt God in this kind, when they are not mov'd to it by a Divine Spirit. And if Mi∣racles were to be perform'd at the asking of every Follower of Christ, if every Prophet or Preacher of the Gospel in these days might divide the Sea, and call down Fire from Heaven, every faithful Com∣mander cause Hail-Stones to be cast from the Clouds upon his Enemies, and the like; not only the Har∣mony of the Creation, the Laws of Agents and Pa∣tients would be confounded, but the Harmony of Religion: For if such a present certain Impetration

of all things of this Life did attend every true Chri∣stian Professor, that their Prayers were answered with a Miracle, who would not be a Professor or Believer on these Terms? and what Praise were it to be a Believer? The Congregation of the Faithful would be encreased on this account, but the Vertue of Faith would be wholly destroyed.

2. If that which is pray'd for, be not foreseen by God to be hurtful to him that prays, as 'tis said, dan∣do irascitur, & non dando miseretur, if he gives, he's angry; and if he denies, he's merciful. If a Child aks of his Father a Fish, says our Lord, will he give him a Serpent? Or if he asks a Serpent instead of a Fish, will he give him a Serpent? The Gentiles in∣deed complained, that their Gods, which were De∣vils, easily granted them Evil things, but were inex∣orable when they sought Good things at their hands, Evertere Vrbes totas optantibus ipsis Dii faciles: But the Father of Heaven and Earth gives only Good things to his Children.

3. If there be not something that is Better for the Petitioner, than that which he prays for, though Good; and which undoubtedly he would have de∣sired before it, if he had understood it: and thus 'tis said again, Non tribuit quod vellem, ut tribuat quod mal∣lem; God gave me not what I ask'd, that he might give me what I aim'd at; he denied the Form of my Re∣quest, that he might grant what was more Advanta∣geous for me. And 'twas with this purpose of con∣ferring a Greater Benefit than was ask'd, that God de∣nied S^t Paul praying thrice, that the Thorn in his Flesh might be taken away: for he gave him his Grace to support him in that Temptation or Afflicti∣on, whichsoever it was, which was better for the A∣postle, than to have removed the Evil: for that

would have deprived him both of the Tryal and re∣ward of his Vertue. And on this account 'tis said, Heb. 5.7. of our Lord's praying that the Cup of his Passion might pass from him, That he was heard in that he fear'd, though God made him drink up the very Dregs of that bitter Potion.

And thus we see, though the Promise made in my Text extends not to the Exorbitant Desires of fond Men, nor yet to the Mistakes or Weaknesses of those that are Pious and Righteous, yet it reaches to all their great and important Concerns, to all that is be∣hoof ful and best for them, that 'tis commensurate to God's Goodness and Wisdom; and 'tis not to be ima∣gin'd, that when he promises his Creatures to be merciful to them, he obliges himself to do any thing unworthy of his Majesty; that when he says, he will hear their Prayers, he divests himself of his Soveraignty, renounces his Wisdom, or any other of his Attributes. We must not therefore liken God to Antigonus King of Macedon, that was Sir-named 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or the Giver, for giving much in Words and little in Deeds, because upon every trifling Petition he does not unframe the World, or break the Course of Providence. The Words of our Lord, Whatso∣ever ye shall ask the Father in my Name, he will give it you, as they are not to be swallow'd crudely, as if a Fortunatus's Cap were promised; so neither on the other side are they to be received with Doubting and Suspicion, as if they were fallacious and de∣ceiveable: For in case their Petitions are retarded, or not answered in kind, it becomes not Christians pre∣sently to entertain thoughts like the Heathen, who were perswaded that the Winds had power to scatter their Prayers before they reach'd Heaven, Terribilis{que} Notus jactat mea verba precesque: nor yet, should it

be so that their righteous Requests succeeded not to their Expectation, are they to stagger in their Faith like Cato, who because his honest Vows for Pompey and the Commonwealth were not heard against the Usurpation of Caesar, doubted of a Providence. Both this melancholy Mis-giving, that God often re∣gards not our Prayers, though they are Just; and the other Sanguine Folly and Credulity, that it is fit for him to grant whatever is desired, spring from one and the same Root, viz. the Immoderate Love of Earthly things: For the truly Faithful, who set their Affection on things above, feel neither such Flashes of fond Hopes, nor Damps of black Despair: but being Indifferent to Worldly things, and wholly resign'd to God's good Will and Pleasure, they can think it rea∣sonable, that the Ends of his Providence, and the Inte∣rests of his Glory should be serv'd in the first place. And then for those that depend and hang on Christ in hopes only of Preferment in his Imagin'd Temporal Kingdom, if his Followers for the Loaves, his Disci∣ples, as I may call them, of the Basket, be disappoint∣ed, 'tis no great marvel, nor matter: for 'tis not said, Whatever ye shall ambitiously, wantonly, or a∣ny other way inordinately covet, ye shall receive: but, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my Name, he will give it you, i. e. Whatever ye that are my Disciples shall duly pray for, if you request it in my Name, as nothing is difficult to my Father, so you will find there is nothing so precious that for Love of me he will not grant you. Which brings me to my last Part, The Means by which we are to obtain our Requests, By asking in Christ's Name.

Whatsoever ye shall ask in my Name.

Though all the Favour Men receive from God is in the Name, or for the Sake or Merits of Christ, yet even that Meritorious and prevailing Name will bene∣fit them nothing, unless they be Faithful Persons, or such as are dispos'd to be so, such as those to whom the Promise in my Text is made; and no small Em∣phasis or Stress is to be put in this Particle [Ye] what∣sover Ye shall ask, Ye that are my Disciples, Ye that have received me as coming from the Father, believed my Miracles and my Doctrine, rely'd upon my Pro∣mises, continu'd with me from the beginning to the end, notwithstanding the Scandal that so many others took at the Meanness of my Condition, and the Se∣verity of my Precepts. The Promise, I say, is not Universal to all Men; no, nor yet to the mere titu∣lar Professors of Christianity, who (as the Jews of old cry'd, The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, even when they were Idolaters and Apostates, so) cry in these days, Lord, Lord, but do not the Will of God. A Vain and Superstitious Citation of Christ's Name will avail none in their Prayers, his Name is no Charm; and if there be no Vertue in the Users of it, there will be as little in the Letters or Sound as in other Names. Which the Sons of Sceva the Jew found Acts 19. when they call'd over the Evil Spirits the Name of the Lord Jesus in imitation, but not with the Faith of S^t Paul: for the Name pro∣tected them not, but left them to the Outrage of the Devil, strengthen'd, and not subdu'd by the undue Invocation of it. Saint Peter best interprets these Words [in my Name] Acts 3. when he cur'd the Lame man in the Name of Christ, His Name, says

he, through Faith in his Name has made this man Strong. And our Lord himself, John 15.7. shews, that 'tis not the Vocal, but Vertual Using of his Name that prevails, If you abide in me, says he, and my Words in you, ye shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. So that the true Quatenus, or Reason of the Return of men's Prayers, the Secret wherein their Strength lyes (as Samson's did in his Hair) is their Discipleship to Christ, or in other words, their doing the Will of God: this only pow∣erfully insinuates, and effectually presses his Name to the Father. When mere Nominal Christians present themselves before God in the Congregation of Belie∣vers, 'tis but as Satan intruded (Job 1.) among the Sons of God, they are of their Company, but not of their Number; neither will they find any Ad∣vantage by using Christ's Name. God is not to be impos'd upon, like Isaac, by false Pretences, by counterfeit Hands, a borrow'd Name, or Garments, but will discover the Cheat through all; and he that to the Righteous is all Ear, to the Wicked will be as an Idol, that has Ears and hears not; those, I say, that regard not the Words of his Commandments, nor understand the Voice of his Spirit, are to him also as Barbarians, as a People whose Language he under∣stands not. Nay, and 'tis well if it fares no worse with them, than not to be understood, and that their Petitions are only answered with Silence: for God many times breaks forth in Fury and Indignation a∣gainst such for their double Provocation of him, for rebelling against him, and presuming to make Ad∣dresses for his Favour. Vnto the Wicked, says God, What hast thou to do to declare my Statutes, or that thou shouldest take my Covenant into thy mouth, seeing thou hatest to be reformed, &c.? Such as these

when they make their Prayers, add Sacriledge to Dis∣obedience; and as they have corrupted themselves, they prophane the Ordinances of Religion; and God is not only deaf to their Devotion, but angry at their Presumption. Men themselves are not patient of such an Usage, that those that injure them (be they never so much their Near Relations) should impor∣tune them for the highest Benefits. And can we ima∣gine that God should brook the bold and impudent Sollicitations of those that Sin against him, which are his only Enemies, be they Jews, or be they Christi∣ans? Esse Christianum grande est, non videri, as S^t Je∣rome says, 'tis a Blessed and Glorious Priviledge to be a Christian, but not only to be call'd one; and they are hugely deceiv'd, as the Father goes on, that think a Good Name can profit those that do wickedly; a fair Appellation justifie such as have foul Manners. If we will have God Kind and Propitious to us, we must be first Kind to our Selves; if we will have his Ears open to our Prayers, we must keep our Ears o∣pen to his Commandments; we must be Obedient, if we expect he should be Gracious; like David we must search and try our Hearts, whether any Iniqui∣ty be found in us, for we may assure our Selves, where Iniquity is found, Favour will not be found. There is no Name under Heaven given among men, whereby they can be sav'd, but that of the Lord Jesus: But as we must not trust in a Wrong Name, so nei∣ther must we trust in the Right Name a Wrong Way; we must not entertain Vain Confidences in our Savi∣our himself, hope that he will countenance any thing contrary to his Gospel: as S^t Paul says, Let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from Iniquity. Which God give us Grace all to do: to whom be ascrib'd all Honour, Glory, &c.