very strange and admirable yet because it is vsuall and common it cannot be called a miracle So we may sée the nature and power of some water to turne that which in nature is gold into stone that is knowne to be true by experience yet no man can shew any reason why that water should rather doe it then any other Although this be strange wonderfull yet because it is vsuall and ordinary yet in those waters it is no miracle for euery miracle is a rare worke that commeth to passe not ordinarily but very sildome This worke is called rare either in regard of the thing wrought or in regard of the manner of working it First in respect of the thing wrought as when the Lord sent downe Manna from heauen to féed such a great number of people as the Israelites were this was very rare in regarde of the thing wrought So when the Lord made the Sunne to stay in the element so likewise as we may read when the Lord made the shadow of the Diall to go back Secondly a miracle is rare in regarde of the maner of working it as when the water was turned into bloud it was not a rare thing to sée blond but the manner of working it as namely with a Rod was most rare and was neuer seene before So we do sée that Christs manner of healing the blind man was very rare Therefore a miracle if it be a miracle indéed first it must be a true worke Secondly a rare worke either in regarde of the thing it selfe or in regard of the manner of dooing it Apparantly wrought c. Thirdly a miracle must haue this annexed vnto it for it must not be obscure but apparent I meane not to the reason and iudgement of man but to mans sense that is to some of his senses or to all of them without controuersie or doubting This we shall sée in all true miracles wrought by god to be of this nature namely cleare and euident to mans senses for either men did féele them as the darknesse in Egipt or else they might touch them taste them or smell them When the Lord brought his people of Israel from Egipt all the miracles which hee by his power had wrought among them were most apparent vnto mans sense As namely when they went through the redde Sea there he made the waters to deuide themselues and to stand like mighty mountaines on each side of them in such sort that they did most mauifestly sée and behold the same So likewise they saw when Moses stroke the stony Rock so that thereout gushed water So they saw most euidently the walls of Iericho fall downe and therefore if there be any miracle which is not apparent of itselfe it is no miracle Likewise what workes so euer be done by Satan or any of his Angels if it be not euident and to bee discerned by mans sense hence wee know that it is no miracle Let vs by this property of a-true miracle examine the miracle of the Altar of the Church of Rome for in the Sacrament of the Altar after the Priest hath said a few words as these Hoc est corpus meum they teach that there a strange worke is brought to passe for the substance of the bread which was on the Altar is gone and is changed into the body of Christ if it were so then indéede it were a miracle but if it be a miracle then men may discerne it by one sense or other For let them shew me an instance where the lord wrought any miracle which he did not subiect to the senses of man but in this there is no miracle which may be discerned by the senses for the bread in the iudgment of al the senses seemeth the same that it was before to y e sight it séemeth to be the very same in substance of the same quality and colour that it was of before it hath the same taste it had before to the handling it appeareth the same that it was before and hath the same smelling that it had before there is not any sense that iudgeth now otherwise of it then it did before therfore it can be no true miracle Indéed if before I séeing it to be bread tasting smelling and touching it do iudge it to be bread should now séeing smelling tasting and féeling it perceiue it to be the body of Christ it were a true miracle But séeing to all the senses it appeareth one the same that it was before it cannot be a miracle but they say the outward forme external accident of y e bread yet remaineth but the substance of it is turned into y ◠body of Christ which though we cānot perceiue by our senses yet we are to beléeue by faith But how did Christ himselfe deale with Thomas when he doubted of his resurrection he sayd Thrust thy finger into my side and feele whether I haue not flesh bones for a spirit hath not as thou feelest me to haue he taketh away his doubt by the sence of féeling and if this true naturall body of Christ were there in the bread then might we feele it as Thomas did for Christ still retaineth that his true and naturall body although he be now glorified In-so-much therefore that in the bread there is no miracle apparent to the senses there is no miracle at all But this is the difference in Gods Church that before it was common bread ordained and sanctified by the Lord for the nourishment of our bodies but now it is the holy bread appointed and set apart and sanctified by the Lord not so much for the nourishment of our bodies but especially for the confirmation of our faith and the foode of our soules The same also is to be said of the Wine Fourthly I adde Wrought by the sole omnipotent power of God Wherin I note the workers of miracles The Lord himselfe worketh miracles but peculiarlie and properly by his power and not by his wisdom though both be infinite and that a miracle is wrought by the power of GOD I prooue by these reasons First a miracle is a worke of great power farre passing the power of all creatures therefore it must néeds be wrought by the power of the Creator Secondly it is apparent by diuers places of the word of God as Ioel. 2. 21. 30. there the holy Ghost ascribeth the working of miracles to the Lord himselfe I will shew wonders in heauen and earth saith the Lord feare not O land for I will do great things Thirdly the holy Ghost vseth this as an argument to prooue that Iehouah is the Lord and is onely to bee serued Leuit. 26. Deut. 28. Albeit the Magitians of Egipt could worke many admirable wonders by their owne Arte and by the instruction of the Diuill yet they confessed that the workes of Moses were not done by Moses power nor by any actor skill that was in Moses nor yet by naturall causes but by the finger
wee haue spoken before which is an vnbeceaueable miracle for it is not done to deceiue any but to magnifie the worke thereof and for the good of them for whom it is wrought and for the profit of those which behold it it is called diuine because it is wrought by the soule omnipotent power of God Besides this there is a false vaine and deceiueable miracle false I say because it is not this for whatsoeuer is not this is a false Miracle and vaine because it cannot haue any good Godly profitable and holy vse to the conscience of man and deceiueable because it deludeth men that are to discerne and iudge of it This is the miracle which the Pharisees here speake of the which is granted to bee done by the wicked Elsewhere in the scriptures wee read who are the workers of this miracle as namely Sathan himselfe doth often-times worke it So also his Ministers do often-times worke the same for the holy Ghost teacheth vs Math. 24. 24. That in the latter dayes there shall come false Christs and false Prophets and shewe great signes and wonders so that if it were possible they should deceiue the very Elect. Wée must not imagine that the false Christs shall worke true miracles but they shall worke such strange and wonderfull things that they should carry away many after them nay if the Lord had not decréed in his secret counsell to saue them that they should neuer fall away they would also deceiue them Whereby wee may bee admonished that séeing wee are in the last age of the world that fearefull times are at hand wherein false Christs shall arise and deceiue many And is not Satan now strong in the hearts of the reprobates that they will teach false doctrines Now what if Heretickes and Scismatickes should haue power to confirme their doctrine by miracles and strange wonders would not many beléeue in them Let vs therefore as Paule taught the Galathians prepare our hearts that if an Angell from Heauen teach vs any other doctrine then that which wee haue receiued in the written word of GOD let him bee accursed The Holy Ghost also foretelleth vs 2 Thes 2. 9. That before the comming of CHRIST to iudgement shall appeare Antichrist with all power with signes and lying wonders The Holy Ghost doth before admonish vs hereof That wee should not wauer at euery motion nor fall away at euery tryall but bee constant and hold fast the Doctrine which wee haue receiued from the Lord by his Prophets his Sonne and his Apostles then although wee bee tryed with Hereticks and Scismatickes and séeme to ourselues and to others to be lost yet wee shall bee reserued to eternall saluation But some man may say If Sathan can worke such miracles and the Lord would haue false Christs to arise and worke wonders how shall wee iudge of a miracle that is done whether it proceed from the Lord or from Sathan and his Ministers from a good cause and worker or from an euill and what wee are to holde and thinke of the power of Sathan how farre it reacheth and what it is able to doe I answer that this is a very necessary point to bee knowne and séeing wee haue entred into the handling of miracles wee will shew what miracles can bée wrought by Sathan what is his power where it beginneth and where it endeth The third part of this Sermon Now therfore it remaineth to speake of the power of Sathan Certaine it is and wee are to beléeue it by faith that the power of Sathan is not equall to the power of GOD it is not so strong so large and so wide it is euery way infinitly lesse there is no comparison betwéene that which is infinite and that which is finite If wée compare it with good Angels it will be lesse then some and greater then other some as afterward we shall more plainely sée but if wee compare it with the power of man it is farre greater euery way but yet wee must know that is a finite and naturall power not supernaturall for then none could bee saued it is mightie but yet not Almightie but that we may better conceiue of it let vs lée wherein it lyeth All the power that Sathan hath consisteth in two points First in his knowledge or vnderstanding Secondly in his déed action or worke For according as a mans knowledge is such is his déed so is Sathans as his knowledge is great so also his worke great For his knowledge it is to bee considered whence it ariseth and how hee commeth by it so shall wee better iudge of the greatnesse thereof Hee hath his knowledge by these meanes that follow First from his spirituall Nature for by Nature hee is a spirit and therfore by nature hath the measure of knowledge giuen by GOD to a spirit which is great Wee know that there is a greater measure of knowledge in man then is in a brute beast by reason of that nature which the Lord hath giuen to man aboue beasts So the Diuill is made of a spirituall substance and of that onely so that hee hath not a body which might hinder him to sée into the nature quality and operation of a spirite and therefore being a spirit he hath the knowledge of a spirit In that therefore he is a spirit hee hath a greater famili aritic with our spirites then otherwise hee could haue In regarde therefore of his Nature his knowledge is great Secondarily the measure of his knowledge may bee discerned by his creation GOD created him a good Angell and gaue him the same measure of knowledge that hee gaue to other Angels Looke therefore what knowledge is in a good Angell by creation the same knowledge is in Sathan by his creation It may bee that hee retaineth still that measure of knowledge which hee then receiued albeit as it may bee thought that as man by his fall lost a great measure of that knowledge which hee had by his creation so the Diuill lost a great measure of his knowledge by his Apostacie from the Lord. Further it is to be knowne that the diuil being now fallen is not of the consultation of the Lord as the good Angels are for they stand alwaies before his face ready to doe any thing that hee shall command them for the good of the Elect and therefore they are of the consultations of the Lord but Sathan is not so and therefore hee cannot haue so great knowledge as they haue which is a great comfort to those that be the true children of GOD that the good Angels by the measure of their knowledge are more able to saue and defend vs then the Diuill is by the measure of his knowledge to harme vs. Thirdly the Diuill since his fall hath increased his knowledge both on the things on earth and of the wayes of God by long obseruations and continuall experience who hath alwayes had experimentall knowledge of the nature of man for he is well acquainted
in the mouth of all the false Prophets although they themselues did not at that time perceiue it So he possessed mens bodies as in the Gospell when our Sauiour had cast him out of a man hee straight way went into a heard of Swine and euen so he is able to draw mens bodies after him Wée may also sée his power by a comparison with the good Angels 2. Kings 19. An Angel of the Lord slew an hundreth and 85000. men of Zenacheribs Host in one night Now the same power is in Sathan by his creation which hereby appeareth to be very great So when he carried Christs body vpon a Pinacle of the Temple and vp into a Mountaine to tempt him And Acts 16. 19. there were exoreistes that would cast forth Diuils in the name of Iesus but the euill spirit in the man ranne on them and ouer-came them so that they sled out of the house naked and wounded It is therefore certaine that Sathan is of a wonderfull power and that the children of God haue oftentimes tried both in themselues also in others Among many other I remember one that is worthy remembrance There was a man in Geneua who féeling some-thing to fall out contrary to his minde and for diuers causes which is not néedfull to repeate blasphemed God desired that if there were any Diuils they might come and take him away who was presently in the ayre and neuer heard of after saue only that his cap fel off his head which sheweth that Satan hath great power This teacheth vs that mē must not be carelesse but must looke to themselues For Sathan is a roaring Lion seeking whom hee may soonest deuoure watch therefore and pray least yee fall into temptation But if Satans power be so great how comes it to passe that many men doe so well in this world I answer this power is barred and limitted by the Lord and that by two especiall limits The first limite is his Nature for hee is not able to doe any thing then that which his naturall disposition will permit and suffer The second limit is the will of GOD for hee can doe nothing against the will of GOD. Except the Lord doe eyther permit him or command him hee is not able to doe any thing at all As it is also in other creatures the waters should by nature ouer-flowe the whole earth yet they doe not because it is the will of God So also is it with Sathan as appeareth when the Lord gaue him power of all Iobs goods beyond the Lords will he could not go for the Lord will not suffer him to doe any thing to his children but onely th◠which shall tend to their good Ar thou in misery or in any dangerous distresse wherein thou art most subiect to the cruelty of Sathan bee of good comfort Sathan is limited hée cannot doe any thing to thée but onely that which the Lord commandeth him But may not Sathans knowledge and power bee vsed I answere it may God vseth it in punishing trying and correcting his children Againe the Apostles vsed his power for they haue deliuered men to Sathan as Paule did 1. Tim. 1. 20. Himeneus and Alexander and as hee would haue done the incestuous Corinths But may not la man vse it in familiar sort in talking barganing and consulting with Sathan No. This is forbidden Deut. 18. Leuit. 20. and wee are commanded to resist the Diuill and to flie from him wee must not therefore consult with him He may oftentimes tell the trueth but wee must not accept it Christ gaue vs example hereof for hee sayd that Christ was the Sonne of God which was a trueth yet Christ commanded him to bee silent to teach vs that the truth is not to be receiued from him for he is the Father of lyes Héere then all men are forbidden to séeke vnto Sathan to know any trueth whatsoeuer And therefore hereby wee condemne those that vse witcherie by the counsell of Sathan and in the former places the very action of consulting with Sathan though no harme come thereby is flatly death to the partie I would this law were established in all Christian Churches then there would not be so many witches in that kinde as now there are I confesse indéed there be some which be counted witches which indéed are not as namely those which hurt Cattell as Oxen Horse Swine or such like or else children not from the counsell of Sathan but by the traditions of other women by poysoning them in dooing nothing but vsing the naturall causes thereof Those I would haue punished yet not in the name of witches but in the name of murtherers Some men thinke that they may ouerrule Sathan by coniuration in vsing this preparation which is set downe by some of late that they must make a Circle and in it make Triangles Quadrangles and Crosses and speake certaine words as saying the Pater-noster and many other such like things that they may call vp Sathan in what shape they will and hee will appeare and doe for them that which they desire But is Sathan a friend of theirs can any such things make him obedient to man Doest thou thinke that y ◠canst ouer-rule him by this means No surely but hee rather by this meanes deceiueth thée and all that are of thine opinion And thus hée deceiueth them that vse Characters So there bee Charmes vsed to get away the Head-ache and Tooth-ache But doth the Charme get it away No Sathan knoweth before that thy headache shall goe away and therefore causeth thée to vse that Charme and thereby would mooue thée to ascribe it to the Charme But when Sathan whispereth men in their eares how shall they know whether it bée hée or a good Angell that speaketh to them I answer there be diuerse manifest tokens whereby thou mayest discerne this First the Lord doth not now vse such meanes to reueale his will vnto men thou art therefore alway to suspect it to be of Sathan Secondly if it be a good Angell thou maiest know by this for if it bee a good Angell it will tell thée eyther at first or at last what it is and for what it commeth and from whence as in times past the good Angels shewed themselues to Abraham and Lot Thirdly if it bee a good Angell hee will allure thee to kéepe the written word of God if hee doe not then suspect him The vse The vse of all this doctrine is to lead vs vnto God to acknowledge him to bee our onely Lord and Sauiour and to embrace the Sonne of God as our King In all things therefore wee must goe vnto him But whereas it is said How can a man that is a sinner doe such Miracles it may bee asked whether Gods enemies can worke any miracles I answer hee that worketh is not against Christ but with him and wee sée that those which indeuoured Acts. 16. to worke a miracle could not And there was a dissension among them Herein we sée that the Lord doth so worke that Christ and his doe finde fauour among their enemies and that by their dissension among themselues Here wee sée that Schisme is neither a note of a false Church nor yet of a true Church heere it is in a false Church Schisme ariseth of the diuersitie of knowledge and iudgement of men for all men haue not one knowledge and iudgement and all sée not the trueth and if they should yet all haue not the like yéelding affection therevnto Wee are therefore to prepare our selues to méet with schismes for it is necessary that there should be Heresies 1. Cor. 11. 10. that in the Church of God that those which are approoued might be knowne FINIS