ioi8 TheRateofthe Church CAr, he upbraid them only that once with ignorance and dulneffe, their hairefcatteringly and diforderly hanging , hindred their fight. Her fecond praife isóf the haire it felf, that the might not be thought deformed by it. Now this haire. betokeneth the whole multitude of the faithful' of thofe times, fitly fet forth by their number: her com- pardon to a flock of goates,may beunderftood {ifI be not deceived) partly of that which goeth before, and partly of that which fol- loweth. liefore, the godly Ifraelite.r fcattered through the ten tribes are called Goates. Chap. I, 8. Whofe flocks are faid to be lefie and thin- ner, becaufe they fcatter themfelves and keepnot together as fheep do. As Varro faith in his fecond book of husbandry. Chrift indeed had many heaters-, but few amongst them which tritely believed : of many called few were chofen. The bead whereon the faithful' depend is Chrift;whichwas thought then tobe.with as great danger, as the Goates hang on the fides ofMount Clilead, orany other fteep hill or rock. If any did confeffe him to be ChrifE,heAmid be call' out of theSynagogue, John 9.2 2. Therefore Nicademus durft not be Peen in this mountain of Gilead in the day time. Such was the condition of the Church at that time, her pietie quickof underftanding and chafte, but covered with hair and hid from the world , not having yet obtained ripéneffe,it wasyet thinne and reproachfull,not daring to joyn together without great danger. Verf. 2. ?hy.teeth are like, a liocke of Jbeep th.tt are even fliorne, Which corne up frórn the WaJhing : Whereof every one bear tWinne,r and none it barren.arnonofE them. Thefe teeth ( compared to a flock of'L'heep.) are the difcipies of Chia , whom he appointed as faithful' and wife difpofers to give every one of his houfhold their allowance in due feafon,Luk,12. 41. They mutt alfo be ftrong andof a kinde of bonie nature, to whom the care was committed of preparing,and as it were, chewing meat for others the better to digeft it. Thefe Cheep are even, like the cherubs ns, a. King. 6. 25. If it be asked why Chrift fent his twelve Apdittes two and two to preach, inúru ed all with like power, of teaching, of working miracles, &c. Mark46,7. It was becaufe he. would truly fer before us the two golden cherubims juif of the fame length,breadth and largeneffe of every part equally. So that Peter was not more excellent then the rett, but there was one commune adminiftratión, one authority, one jurifdiecion And the faine mea- fece had the 70. Difcirles, afterwards, boçh among themfelves and among
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