sitteth only in honour and voluptuousness. He hath raised wars among the people, so that people are at variance, and set up opinions, and have stirred up the anger of God, for they are gone away from God with their opinions, and so the anger of God hath ruled over them, and oftentimes destroyed them; for that which hath no good in it, God will never endure it in his country, but giveth it up to the anger, though indeed itself runneth headlong into it, and whetteth the sword, so that one people devoureth another: From the beginning of the world to this time, all contentions, disputations and wars, as also envy and malice, have risen from Antichrist, who will be honoured as a god in the form of an angel, and the devil dwelleth in him.
17. Which Antichrist is plainly to be discerned by Cain and Abel, in that Cain slew his brother for faith [and religion's] sake, for Abel had set his heart upon God, and had committed himself to God, which [whom] God loved, and accepted his sacrifice; and Cain had set his heart upon this world, and would be a lord upon earth, and his mouth gave God good words, but his heart stuck fast in an earthly conceit [and opinion] : He loved the spirit of the Mammon of this world, and the devil slipt into it, and so his sacrifice was not acceptable to God, but the smoke fell down to the earth, and the devil accepted his sacrifice, and so he slew his brother by the devil's instigation, and in his false conceit and opinion: He desired the glory, honour, and power of this world, and Abel desired the love and grace of God.
18. Thus, dear people, all over the earth, ye see that ye are all of one flesh, but that you have divided yourselves one from another, which the devil in the Antichrist hath brought to pass: Your fear of God hath many times been great, and ye have done great honour and reverence to men, even from a good meaning out of your love, as thankful people towards the government of the Holy Ghost: But because ye have given such honour to men as belongeth to God, (though God was contented, so long as they continued in the love of God in humility), therefore they are fallen off from what they were, into lust after temporal honour, and have fallen into a lust to domineer with cunning and deceit, over your goods and souls, and are become a snare unto you; for the Antichristian devil is slipt into them, and the spirit of God is departed from them, and they have no more spoken from the spirit of God, but from their pride and art: Strange languages must do the work, and must be the bringers forth of the Mysterium Magnum.
19. But behold, dear brethren, how very thievishly they have dealt with you, they have set themselves up over the earth, and have drawn to themselves all power, might, and honour, and ascribe all authority to themselves, and have blinded you with flattering hypocrisy, and have
sitts only in honour and voluptuousness. He has raised wars among the people, so that people are at variance, and set up opinions, and have stirred up the anger of God, for they are gone away from God with their opinions, and so the anger of God has ruled over them, and oftentimes destroyed them; for that which has no good in it, God will never endure it in his country, but gives it up to the anger, though indeed itself runns headlong into it, and whetts the sword, so that one people devours another: From the beginning of the world to this time, all contentions, disputations and wars, as also envy and malice, have risen from Antichrist, who will be honoured as a god in the form of an angel, and the devil dwells in him.
17. Which Antichrist is plainly to be discerned by Cain and Abel, in that Cain slew his brother for faith [and religion's] sake, for Abel had set his heart upon God, and had committed himself to God, which [whom] God loved, and accepted his sacrifice; and Cain had set his heart upon this world, and would be a lord upon earth, and his mouth gave God good words, but his heart stuck fast in an earthly conceit [and opinion] : He loved the spirit of the Mammon of this world, and the devil slipt into it, and so his sacrifice was not acceptable to God, but the smoke fell down to the earth, and the devil accepted his sacrifice, and so he slew his brother by the devil's instigation, and in his false conceit and opinion: He desired the glory, honour, and power of this world, and Abel desired the love and grace of God.
18. Thus, dear people, all over the earth, you see that you are all of one flesh, but that you have divided yourselves one from another, which the devil in the Antichrist has brought to pass: Your fear of God has many times been great, and you have done great honour and reverence to men, even from a good meaning out of your love, as thankful people towards the government of the Holy Ghost: But because you have given such honour to men as belongs to God, (though God was contented, so long as they continued in the love of God in humility), therefore they are fallen off from what they were, into lust after temporal honour, and have fallen into a lust to domineer with cunning and deceit, over your goods and souls, and are become a snare unto you; for the Antichristian devil is slipt into them, and the spirit of God is departed from them, and they have no more spoken from the spirit of God, but from their pride and art: Strange languages must do the work, and must be the bringers forth of the Mysterium Magnum.
19. But behold, dear brethren, how very thievishly they have dealt with you, they have set themselves up over the earth, and have drawn to themselves all power, might, and honour, and ascribe all authority to themselves, and have blinded you with flattering hypocrisy, and have
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