The commentaries of M. John Calvin upon the Acts of the Apostles, faithfully translated…The commentaries of M. Iohn Caluin vpon the Actes of the Apostles, faithfully translated…

¹There were in the Church. I have declared in the fourth to the Ephesians, and in the twelve of the former to the Corinthians, what difference there is (at least in my judgement) between Doctors and Prophets. It may be that they are in this place Synonyma, or that they signify both one thing, so that this is Lukes meaning, that there were many men in that Church endowed with singular grace of the Spirit, to teach. Surely I cannot see how it can hang together to understand by Prophets, those which were endowed with the gift of foretelling things: but I think rather that it signifieth excellent interpreters of scripture. And such had the office to teach & exhort, as Paul doth testify in the fourteenth of the former to the Corinthians.² We must mark Luke his drift: Paul and Barnabas were ministers of the church of Antioch, God calleth them thence now unto another place. Least any man should think that, that Church was destitute of good & fit ministers, so that God did provide for other Churches with the loss of it: Luke preventeth this, & saith, that there was such store there, that though it did help others, yet did there remain sufficient for the use thereof: whereby appeareth how plentifully God had poured out his grace upon the church, whence rivers as it were might be deducted & carried into divers places. So even in our time, God doeth so enrich certain Churches more than other, that they be seminaries to spread abroad the doctrine of the Gospel. It must needs be that Manaim who was brought up with Herod, came of some noble family. And this doeth Luke recite of purpose, that he may set forth to us his godliness, who despising worldly pomp, had coupled himself to the simple & despised flock of Christ. He might in deed have bin a principal courtier, if he had bin ruled by ambition: but that he may wholly addict himself to Christ, he refuseth not to change those ⟨p. 291⟩smokes of honour with reproach and ignominy. For if we consider in what state the church stood then, he could not give his name to the Gospel, unless he should make himself subject to common infamy. Therefore the Lord meant to teach us by his example to despise the world, that those may learn with a valiant and lofty mind to despise the world, who cannot otherwise be true christians, unless they cast away those things which are precious to the flesh, as hurtful lets and hindrances.