mouth of his holy Prophets I haue beene sought of them that asked not I was found of them that sought me not he calleth vs before we call on him The 2. grace is sanctification and sanctified such as are called are by nature the children of wrath as well as other it is in vaine therefore to be called that is stirred and moued to receiue the faith vnlesse we be sanctified Iames 2. 14. What auaileth it my brethren though a man saith he hath faith when he hath no workes Herod seemed to be called and somewhat inwardly touched but he would not forsake his secret sinne of incest in keeping his brothers wife Simon Magus was baptized and so called but hee was not sanctified to leaue his gainefull sinne of couetousnes Iudas as being an Apostle was called and yet hee was a diuell and many deceiue themselues who thinke hearing of the word to be sufficient without doing Iames 1. 22. A sheepe resembleth a true Christian euery thing in a sheepe is good and vsefull his fleece is good his fell is good his flesh is good his entrals yea his excrements are good and so the sanctified Christian is a seruant vnto all the seruants of God euery good gift in him is profitable to some he lendeth his fleece cloathing the naked to some his bread in feeding the hungrie to some he lendeth his eyes and so becommeth a guide to the blinde to some he lendeth his strength and so becommeth feete to the lame to some he lendeth his vnderstanding and so becommeth an instructor of the simple he becommeth as Paul speakes all things vnto all men that hee may winne some vnto Chtist In this point of doctrine the Papists haue slandered vs exceedingly saying that our diuines in preaching of faith haue destroyed good workes whereas we professe that our calling is fruitles without holines of life See Epistle 2. Sun in Lent Preserued in Iesus Christ As it is in vaine to be called first vnlesse we be sanctified so likewise to be sanctified vnlesse we may be kept and preserued in Iesu Christ not to lose our sanctification Our life is a continuall warre-fare vpon earth and therefore though we be called outwardly and sanctified in some part inwardly yet the Dragon and his Angels fight against vs daily that we may fall from faith and hope receiued that wee may turne the grace of God into want onnesse like the dogge returned to his owne vomit and the sow that was washed to the wallowing in the mire and so end in the flesh howsoeuer we began in the spirit Demas fell away from the Gospell embracing the present world many are called but few chosen Mat. 20. 16. It behoueth vs therefore continually to pray that Christ Iesus the great shepheard of our soules may hold vs in his hands from the griping pawes and grinding Iawes of the roaring Lyon who goeth about daily seeking whom he may deuoure And surely such as are giuen vnto Christ effectually called and truly sanctified shall bee preserued to the end Zerubbabel did both lay the foundation of the temple and finish it so God will establish and make perfect his worke begun in vs Psalm 68. 28. Hee that hath begun this worke of our saluation will also performe it Philip. 1. 6. I know Gods elect may for a time lose some good meanes and some great measure of grace too Dauid and Aaron and Peter and other haue fallen foully yea fully but none finally God is more watchfull in helping vs then Satan is or can bee wrathfull in hurting vs. He which is the father of mercies giueth vs preuenient grace subsequent grace cooperant grace grace before grace and grace after grace keeping vs by his power thorough faith and preseruing vs to his heauenly kingdome It is not of our selues that we perseuere thus vnto the end and in the end it is the power of God who giueth as our Apostle sheweth here grace first to be called secondly to be sanctified thirdly to be reserued or preserued in Iesu Christ. Mercy vnto you and peace and loue be multiplied Mercy from God the father in the forgiuenes of your sinnes Peace in Christ in feeling this forgiuenes Loue in the holy Ghost in being assured of Gods grace toward vs euery day more and more Mercie from God the father of Mercie Peace from God the sonne the Prince of peace Loue from God the holy Ghost the loue of the father and the sonne Mercy in pardoning your sinnes Peace in quieting your conscience Loue ioyning you to God and one to another or hee wiâ—…eth encrease of Gods mercy toward them and a multiplication of their peace and loue toward one another That their sinnes may be forgiuen he prayes for Gods mercy that they may forgiue other men their trespasses he prayes for peace that both these may be multiplied in them he prayes for loue First he begins with Gods mercy which is the fountaine of euery good and perfect gift if wee taste of his mercy we shall soone be filled with his other graces he that hath enough mercy can want nothing For as Samsons chiefe strength was in his haire so Gods chiefe vertue in his mercy Mercy good Lord is the total summe in the humble suite of a sinner O Lord haue mercy vpon vs miserable sinners is the first petition and the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ is the last in our Liturgie When I gaue all diligence Here S. Iude begins to prescribe his Salue which is an exhortation to contend earnestly for the faith and the causes mouing him to write this vnto the Saints are two 1. His duty when I gaue all diligence to write vnto you of the common saluation c. 2. Their danger because they nourished certaine seducers as serpents in their owne breasts whom hee describes by their sinne in generall verse 4. shewing their hypocriticall entring into the Church craftily crept in vngodly carriage being entred In their life turning the grace of God into wantonnesse In their doctrine denying God which is the only Lord and our Lord Iesus Christ. In particular from the 4. verse to the 17. Punishment of olde ordained to this condemnation and so S. Iude describes these wicked impostors and false brethren as Pope Celestine did his successor Bonifacius the 8. Ascendisti vt vulpes craftily crept in regnabis vt leo denying God and turning his grace into wantonnesse morieris vt canis of old ordained to this condemnation The Gospell IOHN 15. 17. This command I you that ye loue together c. CHrist in this Gospell is said to doe three things especially 1. He doth exhort his followers vnto mutuall loue 2. He comforts them against the worlds hatred 3. He promises to send vnto them the holy Ghost who being the comforter and the spirit of loue may both instruct them how to loue together and how to suffer affliction in the world Of
the fetters from Saint Peters feete and the chaines from his hands it brake thorough the first and second watch and opened an iron gate and so deliuered the seruant of God from the waiting of the Iewes What should I say more prayer is so potent that it raiseth the dead it ouercommeth Angels it casteth out Deuils and that which is yet more wonderfull it mastereth euen God himselfe for when Iacob wrestled with God he said I will not let thee goe except thou blesse me when the Lord said let me goe becommeth it Iacob to say I will not let thee goe yea beloued there be some things wherein the Lord is very well content that his seruants striue with him as namely when they haue his word for their warrant it is a commendable strife to take no refusall at his hand and in effect it is nothing else but a constant affirmation that his truth is inuiolable So the woman of Canaan stroue with Christ shee would take no denyall of that which he had promised and blinde Bartimeus made Christ as he passed in his way to stand still hee could not for the multitude lay hands on him and yet his prayers reached vnto him and held him fast vntill he receiued a comfortable answere receiue thy sight thy faith hath saued thee So when almighty God would haue destroyed his people because they worshipped the golden calse saying these be thy Gods O Israel which haue brought thee out of the land of Egypt Moses fell downe on his face before the Lord and prayed vnto his God he stood saith the Psalmist in the gap as a mediatour betweene God and his people to turne away his wrathfull indignation and this prayer was so powerfull as that it constrained the Lord in the midst of his anger to say vnto Moses let me alone that my wrath may waxe hot against them all the powers of heauen and the crying of all men on earth are not able to hold the Lord from doing any worke he is about to doe for he can measure the waters in his fist and mete heauen with his spanne and weigh the mountaines in scales and the hils in a ballance what soeuer pleaseth him he doth in heauen and in earth and in the sea yet the prayers of his children are able to binde him hand and foot and to compell him as it were to powre downe an vndeserued blessing and to turne away a iust deserued punishment the very crying of an infant that vtters no distinct voyce moues a mother vnto compassion and so the Lord pitying vs as a father and comforting vs as a mother heareth our very groanes and so fulfilleth our desires if we call vpon him in faith and feare Now the reason why the prayers of the faithfull are so powerfull is because they be not ours but the intercession of Gods owne spirit in vs powred out in the name of Christ his owne sonne in whom he is euer well pleased For as for vs we know not what to pray as wee ought but the spirit it selfe makes request for vs with sighes which can not be expressed it is the spirit whereby we cry abba father as in vs the spirit makes request for vs so with the father he grantes our suites and forgiues our sinnes that for which we pray euen he giueth vnto vs who giueth vs this grace to pray God inuiteth vs to come vnto him and to call vpon him in all our troubles and his holy spirit when as we present our selues before the throne of grace helpeth our infirmities and maketh intercession for vs and therefore no maruell if the Lord be bound by deuoute men with his owne promises as Sampson was by Dalila with his owne haire Let these godly meditations strengthen our feeble hearts and weake handes that they faint not in deuotion but according to the paterne of the Saintes here and the precept of Paul elsewhere we may without ceasing alwayes pray that is vpon all occasions offred as well for our selues as other Omne quod agis â—…ratione obsignato id verò maximè de quo mentem vides dubitantem Behold the Angel of the Lord was there present I am occasioned here to treat of two questions especially The first concerning Angelical protection in generall as namely whether Angels helpe and keepe men from euill or noe The second whether beside the generall protection of many or all Angels in common euery man hath one peculiar Angel as his peculiar guard and guide The doctrine concerning Angelicall protection in generall at the first appearance may seeme strange because the Scripture teacheth vs expresly that the pathes of man are directed by the Lord and Psalm 34. 18. Great are the troubles of the righteous but the Lord deliuereth him out of all and for this so particular care and prouidence God is often compared vnto a father mother pastour bridegroome buckler Eagle c. To shew that he only is to vs all in all Esay 63. 16. Doubtlesse thou art our father though Abraham be ignorant of vs and Israel know vs not yet thou O Lord art our father and our redeemer As who would say those that are fathers according to the flesh are not worthy of that name if they be compared with thee can a woman forget her childe and not haue compassion on the sonne of her wombe though she should forget saith the Lord Esay 49. 15. Yet I will not forget thee behold I haue grauen thee vpon the palme of my hands and thy walkes are euer in my sight If thou beest burdened with vnrighteousnes Christ is thy righteousnes if thou need helpe he is thy strength if thou feare death he is life if thou desire heaueÌ„ he is the way if thou hate darknes he is light if thou seeke for meate he is food for although he be but one in himselfe yet he is all things vnto vs for the relieuing of our necessities which are without number and therefore if the rule be true non sunt multiplicanda entia sine necessitate what need any man expect other side from other powers though Angelicall and neuer so great seeing almighty God himselfe is the keeper of Israel our immediat protectour strength hope and helpe in trouble Answere is made that Angelical custody doth not extenuate but rather extoll the greatnes and goodnes of God toward mankind for as much as it is an execution of his high and holy prouidence For as by the wisedome of an excellent Emperour all the Towers all the Cities all the Castles are fortified with men and munition against the common enemies assault lest by barbarous inuasion they should be destroyed euen so because the deuils are in euery corner raging and ranging for our ouerthrow God hath ordained for our guard that an host of Angels should pitch
c. And not the names of Idols as Venus Mercurie Bacchus or the strange names of Saxon and Romane infidels and therefore the Popes and Cardinals are worthily censured by reuerend Fulke for that hauing most antichristianly renounced their names giuen in baptisme by which they were first dedicated vnto Christ they chuse many times vnto themselues prophane names as Sergius Leo Iulius Caesar Sixtus c. 3. We may learne from hence that imposition of names is a duty belonging properly to parents especially to the father and therefore Gabriel said vnto Zachary thou shalt call his name Iohn And in our present text the determination of the question about the childes name was wholy referred vnto the father they made signes to his father how he would haue him called and he asked for writing tables and wrote saying his name is Iohn Not so but his name shall be called Iohn It may be Zachary being now dumbe and not able to speake that the neighbours asked Elizabeth his wife how the childe should be named or happily hearing their consultation about this businesse she might as knowing the Lords pleasure herein answere them vnasked his name shall be called Iohn Here then a question is moued by what meanes Elizabeth vnderstood Gods expresse commandement in appointing his name seeing her husband to whom only Gabriel had made this knowen was mute to this obiection answere is made that she knewe the name by reuelation as a prophetisse per prophetiam didicit quod non didicerat à marito saith Ambrose or as other assoyle the doubt it may be Zachary signified so much vnto her in writing heretofore as now to his neighbours and kinsmen for he asked for writing tables and wrote saying his name is Iohn Here then obserue that the parents of Iohn obeyed the commandement of God before the counsell of their friends and kinsemen albeit they were neuer so deare to them Agamus quae Christus iussit vt adipiscamur quae Christus spopondit verit as illius nobis adsit illi fides nostra non desit c. If the Lord say follow me then instantly we must forsake all and leaue the dead to bury the dead Matth. 8. 22. His name is Iohn As if Zacharie should haue sayd I gaue not this name but God himselfe hath appointed it The words of his Angel thou shalt call his name Iohn are non solum praedictio sed etiam praeceptio nominis imponendi Now the word signifies fauoured of God or the grace of God a name fit for the Baptist in many respects as first for that he was the fore-runner first preacher of Christ of whose fullnesse we receiue grace vpon grace for the law was giuen by Moses but grace and truth came by Iesus Christ. The bunch of grapes that the spies of the children of Israel caryed from the land of promise was borne by two strong men vpon a staffe or pole he that went before could not see the grape but he that was behind might both see eate of it So the Fathers of the old testament did not in like manner see the bunch of grapes that was the son of God made man as they that went behind vnder the new testament saw and tasted it after Iohn had openly shewed this grape behold the lambe of God that taketh away the sin of the world 2 The Baptist is so called as being filled with the holy ghost abounding with a great many prerogatiues of grace both in his conception birth and conuersation 3 So called as being borne not by natures ordinarie power but bestowed vpon his parents by Gods extraordinarie grace 4 So called as being gratious among men for many reioyced at his birth and moe at his doctrine Hierusalem and all Iudea went out vnto him in the wildernes and were baptized of him in the riuer Iordan To compendiat all these notes in a few words Iohn was gratious In the sight of God the Father as being vpon the point his Godfather imposing his name by the mouth of his Angell Sonne for Christ highly commended him in respect of his calling and carriage Holy Ghost as being strong in spirit and going before Christ in the power of Elias Luk. 1. 17. 18. Men Kindred The blessed virgine Mary visited his Mother afore his birth Luke 1. 40. Other Cousins reioyced at his birth acknowledging it for a great mercy Straungers Good who were both aduised by him and Baptized of him he spake comfortably to Ierusalems heart and therefore gracious in the eyes of all good people Bad for they thought his life too strict Matthew 11. 18. and his greatest enemy cruell Herod who bound him and put him in prison and in fine beheaded him also for Herodias sake his brother Philips wife did notwithstanding reuerence him and in many things heard him gladly knowing that he was a iust man and an holy We may pronounce then in some sort of Iohn as the Psalmist of God according to thy name so is thy praise vnto the worlds end Iohn is thy name and gratious was thy person O blessed Saint if thou wert now liuing thou wouldest goe to the courtes of Princes and tell Herode to his face whilest other Prophets happily sowe pillowes vnder his elbowes that it is not lawfull for him to haue his brothers wife if he were now liuing hee would call our Pharisees a generation of vipers if hee were now liuing he would not stand vpon by-questions and idle disputations which are fruitlesse but the summe of all his sermons should be repent for the kingdome of heauen is at hand If he were now liuing and preaching in the wildernes he would teach vs all to be more modest in our apparell and moderate in our diet This gratious Saint hath a surname added to his name called Mat. 3. 1. Iohn the Baptist either for that he baptized Christ or else for that he was the first Minister of holy baptisme And his mouth was opened immediately The dumbnes of Zachary saith Eusebius Emisenus Et fidem reipraesentis expressit mysterium figurauit it was a seale of Gods present promise for when olde Zachary doubted and said vnto Gabriel at the 18 verse whereby shall I know that I shall haue a sonne the Lords Angel answered behold thou shalt be dumbe and not able to speake vntill the day that these things be done because thou beleeuest not my words which shall be fulfilled in their season His punishment is answerable to his fault he was stricken deafe for that he would not hearken vnto the word of God and dumbe for that he contradicted it hee was made mute through vnbeleife but as soone as he beleeued his mouth was opened quam vinxerat incredulitas fides soluit so that Zacharie might apply that of the Psalmist vnto himselfe I beleeued
wherewith thou hast loued vs for they loue those whom thou doest loue they keep those whom thou doest keep they forsake those whom thou doest forsake neither can they abide such as worke iniquity because thou also hatest all them that worke iniquity When we doe well the Angels reioyce but the deuils are sad when we doe ill the deuils reioyce but the Angels are sad grant therefore good Lord that they may alwayes reioyce ouer vs that both thou alwayes mayest be glorified in vs and we may be brought with them into thy fold that together we may praise thy name O creator both of men and Angels To the second quaere whether beside the generall protection of all Angels in common euery particular man hath one peculiar Angel for his guard I finde that many learned and ancient doctours hold the affirmatiue part So S. Basile categorically to euery one that beleeueth in Christ an assistant Angell is appointed vnlesse we driue him away from vs by our wicked actions for as smoake driueth away bees and stinch doues so filthy sinne the Angel the keeper of our life The which assertion he confirmes elsewhere more at large by diuers testimonies of holy writ so S. Hierome that euery one of vs hath his Angel many places of Scripture teach as namely that of Christ Mat. 18. 10. See that ye despise not one of these little ones for I say vnto you that in heauen their Angels alway behold the face of my father c. As also that which is recorded Acts 12. 15. It is Peters Angel So Chrysostome euery faithfull one hath his Angel in deede at the first holy Angels were according to the number of the nations but now not so but according to the number of the faithfull So Theophylact all men especially the faithfull haue their Angels So Gregory Nyssen speaking of this argument insinuates that it was ordinarily holden of the fathers a true speech hath descended vnto vs by which we beleeue that our nature since our fall into sinne is not altogether forlorne of the diuine clemencie neither left without his succour but that then also there is giuen to euery man one of the Angels as an helper and protector So Primasius vnto euery man as the Doctours say there is generally giuen an Angel for his custody and this either from his birth or rather from his baptisme Vnto these fathers I might adde Origine Iustine Martyr Clemens Alexandrinus Augustine Eusebius c. As also most of the schoolemen and many protestant diuines Yet for mine owne part I say saluo semper meliore iudicio with Caluin institut lib. 1. cap. 14. § 7. An singulis sidelibus singuli angeli sint ad eorum defensionem attributi pro certo asserere non ausim and my reason is for that I see not any cleare ground in holy Bible for such an assertion The two chiefe places in the iudgement of all diuines aswell ancient as moderne are Mat. 18. 10. and Acts 12. 15. The first whereof as Caietan and other popish expositours obserue proues not euidently that euery little one hath one peculiar Angel for his guardian in particular but only that all are appointed ouer all in generall as the Scripture construeth it selfe Luke 15 10. Saying of euery one of those little ones which turne from their sinnes that all Gods holy Angels reioyce at it and as for the wordes of the disciples astonished at the sudden newes of Peters comming it is not he but his Angel answere is made that this allegation is a very slender proofe because the disciples in Maries house being amazed vpon the strange report of Rhode spake they knew not what so we might proue that the Saints departed may dwell in tabernacles because Peter said Lord let vs make tabernacles one for Moses another for Elias and whereas it is further obiected that they spake after the common opinion of men in that age we reply that in those dayes it was a receiued opinion that dead men did walke as it appeares by Herod who thought our Sauiour was Iohn Baptist risen againe from the dead Vox populi is not alway vox dei common errours are no certaine rules of truth and what if that place were so manifest as they could wish it why might it not be construed thus it is his Angel that is some Angel which almighty God hath sent for his deliuerance this being according to the Scripture more then that to haue it his particular Angel so the present text here behold the Angel of the Lord was their present and a light shined in the prison and he smote Peter on the side and stirred him vp saying arise vp quickly and his chaines fell from his hands c. The Gospell MAT. 16. 13. When Iesus came into the coasts of the city which is called Caesarea Philippi c. THis Scripture being a dialogue betweene Christ and his Apostles of it owne accord falleth into two questions and two answeres vnto those questions 1. Quest. Whom do men say that I the sonne of man am answere some say thou art Iohn Baptist c. 2. Quest. Whom say ye that I am answere thou art the Christ the sonne of the liuing God the which answere is commended blessed art thou Simon c. rewarded vpon this rocke I wil c. Caesarea Philippi there were two Caesareaes one called Stratonis vpon the mediterrane sea which Herod sumptuously built in the honour of Augustus Caesar another called Caesarea Philippi founded by Philip brother of Herod the tetrarch who beheaded Iohn the Baptist in honour of Tiberius Caesar at the foote of Libanon Philip built or rather repaired and enlarged this towne out of his seruiceable loue to Caesar but yet for his owne glory he did adde a Philippi to Caesarea The Papists in mingling the blood of their Saints with the pretious blood of our Sauiour and in making themselues also by relying too much vpon their owne merits halfe mediatours and ioint purchasers of saluation with Christ haue set vp in the Synagogue of Antichrist as it were a Caesarea Philippi The Iesuited Papists especially swearing to the Kings Supremacie with a Romish equiuocation or Spanish reseruation adde a Philippi to Caesarea This as some thinke was the City where the Kings in old time receiued their tribute and therefore the King of heauen aptly required of his disciples in the very same place tributum confessionis or it may be that Christ exacted this cōfession of faith in the coasts of Caesarea Philippi to signifie that his Apostles should not only preach the Gospell among the Iewes but also that their sound should goe through all the earth and their words vnto the ends of the world or he made this demaund farre from Hierusalem out of the Scribes and Pharisees hearing that they might the more fully and
dearth obserue 1. Gods iustice in punishing the wicked with a dearth and that a great dearth and that through out the world 2. Gods mercy in preseruing the godly foretelling it by his Prophet Agabus and so consequently preuenting the rage of it by the prouident care and charitable contributions of Disciples and brethren In the death obserue the Murtherer Herod the King Martyr Iames the brother of Iohn Matter or cause why for that he was of the Church Manner with the sword Dearth is one of Gods foure sore iudgements Ezechiel 14. 21. Barrennes of the ground is a maine string of his whip against sinne when saith he the land sinneth against me by committing a trespasse then I will stretch out mine hand vpon it and will breake the staffe of the bread thereof and will send famine vpon it If ye will not obey me nor hearken vnto my commandements I will make your heauen as iron and your earth as brasse your strength shall be spent in vaine neither shall your land giue her increase neither shall the trees of the land giue their fruit Famine then is brought vpon a kingdome by Gods appointment and that for the sinnes of the land and surely Saint Luke points at the causes of this vniuersall dearth in saying it came to passe in the dayes of Claudius Caesar. For by the worlds Emperour we may iudge much of the worlds estate the vices of Princes first infect the nobles and then afterward the nobles infect the gentlemen and the gentlemen in fine corrupt the commons qualis rex talis grex such prince such people It is reported of this Claudius that he did indulgere conuiuijs concubitibus effusissimè growing thorough his intemperance so dull and vnfit for any good seruice that his mother vsed to say he was a monster of men a worke of nature begun but not finished he got his Empire by corrupting the souldiers and during his reigne he serued his belly committing all vncleannes euen with greedines no maruaile then if the Lord sent a dearth in the dayes of Claudius no wonder if he denyed the fruites of the ground vnto such a drunken and dissolute generation in our age moe then one Claudius reignes there be many Kings of good fellowes in the world drunkennes domineers in euery place the country village not excepted abusing the manifold blessings of God in wantonnes and idlenes and therefore wee may feare iustly that the Lord ere it be long will send some great dearth among vs as hee did in the dayes of our forefathers he hath already whet his sword and bent his bow and prepared his arrowe to shoote at vs he hath in these latter yeares turned our winters into sommers and our sommers into winters so that whereas Christ said the haruest is great and the labourers are few we contrariwise the labourers are many but the haruest is little he hath in the spring nipped the fruites of our trees and in autumne taken away the flockes of our sheepe hee hath also cursed our basket and our dough in so much as the poore haue long felt a dearth and the rich also begin to feare a famine the which is the most grieuous of all the foure sore iudgements of God for the noysome beasts and the sword kill in a moment but there be many lingring deaths in a dearth as the Prophet in his lamentations they that be slaine with the sword are better then they that be killed with hunger and to the same purpose Vegetius ferro saeuior fames And as for the pestilence there was alwayes in nature so well as in name so great affinity betweene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that as Physitians and experience daily teach after a great dearth ordinarily there followeth a great plague because men in a scarsity of victuals are constrained out of necessity to feed on vnwholsome and vnsauory meates in holy Bible we find example that extreame hunger made mothers murtherers and so turned the sanctuary of life into the shambles of death Lamentat 4. 10. The hands of pitifull women haue sodden their owne children which were there meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people Famine then as S. Basile termeth it is the top of all humane calamities for whereas the noysome beasts and the sword and the pestilence make quicke dispatch out of misery fames diutiùs malum ocyùs torquet lentiùs tabefacit sensim occidit In this great dearth it is certaine that the godly suffered among the wicked the good among the bad the beleeuing Christians among vnbeleeuing Gentiles the Church of Antioch as we read in the former part of this present Chapter endued with many notable graces and adorned with this eminent honour that the Disciples were first called Christians in Antioch is afflicted now with a grieuous dearth I say now when her goods were partly taken away by the rage of persecution and partly giuen away to releiue the poore brethren all the world was infested with this dearth and the Church in these respects more then all other of the world Now the reasons are manifold why God suffers his owne people to be crossed 1. To bridle the lust of our flesh that wee should not be condemned with the world 2. To teach vs patience saying with holy Iob shall we receiue good at the hand of God and shall we not receiue euill 3. To shew that he is as well able to deliuer vs in aduersity as to keepe vs in prosperity Psalm 37. 19. The godly shall not be confounded in the perillous time and in the dayes of dearth they shall haue enough So wee finde here that God in his anger remembring mercy comforted his Church in this vniuersall hunger-rot ouer all the world first in foretelling it and afterward by stirring vp the charitable mindes of good people to preuent the furiousnes of it as wel in themselues as in other he foretold this famine for surely the Lord God will doe nothing but he reuealeth his secret vnto his seruants the Prophets He foretold the flood vnto Noe the destruction of Sodome to father Abraham and righteous Lot the dearth in Egypt vnto Ioseph Gen. 41. And here the Prophet Agabus not by starre-gazing or figure-flinging or coniuâ—…ing or any curious arte but by the spirit signified that there should be great dearth thorough out al the world which also came to passe in the dayes of Claudius the Emperour It is obiected here which is said Mat. 11. 13. All the Prophets and the law prophesied vnto Iohn how then could there be Prophets in this age to this obiection answere is made that the meaning of those words is that Christ is the end of the law and the Prophets and so consequently their office who prophesied hee should come was at an end when Iohn the Baptist