§. 16. Of Satans power in miracles.
1 COncerning miracles,* the Diuell cannot worke any. For Christ by the miracles which hee wrought, manifested himselfe to be the Son of God, in∣dued with diuine power. The Prophets and Apostles were declared to bee the seruants God, and assisted with diuine power; yea God was manifested to worke in and by them, by the miracles which they wrought. If the Di∣uell had power to worke miracles, miracles had not been so euident a demonstration of the power of God. ThePage 67 very Sorcerers could say of the miracles which were wrought by the ministery of Moses,aThis is the finger of God.
Obiect. Those Sorcer•rs wrought some of the mira∣cles which Moses did.
Ans.* Though there were some outward likenesse and resemblance betwixt some of those things which Moses and the Sorcerers did, as turning rods into Serpents, wa∣ter into blood, and bringing abundance of frogs; yet in truth there was a very great and maine difference betwixt them. There is no doubt but the things which Moses did, were truly and properly miracles: as for the things which the Sorcerers did, either they might be done by naturall meanes, as the Diuell might secretly conueigh Serpents, and blood, and frogs from other places to Egypt: or else the things which they did might be meere illusions, onely appearances of things which were not so: and so the E∣gyptians made to thinke they saw Serpents, blood, and frogs, when in truth there were no such things: this latter is the more likely, as may be gathered by the circumstan∣ces noted in those histories. First for the Serpents, it is said thataAarons rod deuoured their rods: Euident therefore it is, that Aarons rod was turned into a true liuing Serpent, and likely that the Sorcerers roddes were not so, because they made no resistance, but were deuoured.
2 For the waters, it is noted, thatball the water that was in their riuer was turned into blood, and so continued seuen dayes, and that they could not drinke of that water. But no such thing written of the waters which the Sorcerers see∣med to turne into blood; neither is it likely these waters were so: for the waters which they seemed to turne must needs be in Goshen, (which was free from all the plagues) in Egypt all was blood.
Page 68 3 For the frogges, those which Moses broughtcwere gathered on heapes, and made the Land stinke. But what be∣came of those which the Sorcerers brought?
Obiection. Why then went they no further? could they not as easily haue made shew of lice?
Answer. God would not suffer them any longer to delude the Aegyptians.
Fitly may I apply thatd title which the holy Ghost at∣tributeth to the pretended miracles of Antichrist, vnto all the pretended miracles of Satan, and call them lying won∣ders.
