and yet will still remain in the vanity, and in the pleasure of their flesh. And desire only to make devout shows before God, and give good words in a soothing glozing gloss of fine hypocrisy, as if they served God in their contrived conjectures and opinions; but still they will continue in selfhood, in the outward show and ostentation.
43. These the Holy Ghost does rebuke and reprove by the virginchild in Christ's spirit, and calls them hypocrites, and wolves in sheeps' clothing, and crafty foxes born of the Serpent's ens, in whom there is the very property of toads, dogs and wild beasts; and shows them, that they draw near to God with their lips, but their heart is full of murder, gall and serpent-desire, and has no true upright lovedesire in it;
also it shows them that they are but mere flatterers and dissemblers in their office, who only seek pleasure and temporal honour and respect thereby, that so they might be able to domineer and lord it over men's bodies and souls, goods and estates, and thus they serve God only from without, with hypocritical mouths: Their heart hangs to the whoredom of Babylon, full of devilish murder and poison against him that does but touch their conscience.
44. Such children in the Serpent's craft, who are best able as cunning craft masters in sophistry to turn this subtlety most takingly and artificially, the children of the world do set up unto themselves for teachers, and will learn the way of God from them.
45. These teachers do assume unto themselves [and presume upon] the writings of the saints, and proclaim with open mouth that they teach God's word, [and that] the Holy Spirit is poured forth by their teaching and preaching;
and though their conscience does even convince them that they are not capable of the office of the ministry, and that they are in no wise the temples of the Holy Spirit who should teach in and by them, yet they care not for that: it brings them money and honour. Christ is gone up to heaven, and has placed and ordained them to be stewards and vicars in his office;
they must compose and contrive their doctrine out of the writings of the saints, and out of their reason, upon the letter of the Scripture. Their heaping together and composing of the words [in the form of their subtle reason] must be the voice of the Holy Spirit; they say the Holy Spirit is thereby poured forth into the hearts of men.
46. And though they themselves be only Cain, and in their literal and bookish rhapsody [or composing of the texts, or bare letter of Scripture] in their sermons do cast forth a great deal of light, lewd, Cainical scorn and brother-slaughter, and oftentimes mix lies and truth together;
yet the Holy Spirit must have taught, and the congregation must thank God for such holy, [sound, orthodox, evangelical] doctrine, as they call it. And after their killing of their brother there, they must also help, with boldness, courage and zeal, to murder and slay Abel, and the little child Jesus, in his members, with words and deeds.
47. Such teachers the world sets up, to learn the kingdom of God from: and whosoever can but lustily cavil, censure and condemn others in their gifts, and propose it with fine distinctions and subtle arguments, and clothe them with the mantle of reason, and hide the wolf (which thereby murders and devours Christ's flock) under the purple mantle of Christ, to him they give diligent attention; for the fleshly Serpent's heart does therewith sooth up and flatter itself in its evil property; it has even such an artificial nature and constitution.
48. Such seed these teachers, chosen of men, do sow, who only desire the calling for temporal honour and pleasure, but are not called of God, and are also without divine knowledge [and understand not what true divinity is]. They enter not by the door of Christ;
but they come into place by the election and favour of men, through the means of their own willing, walking and running: these can no way be acknowledged for the shepherds of Christ, for they are not born of Christ, and [are not] chosen to this function and divine calling.
and yet will still remain in the vanity, and in the pleasure of their flesh. And desire only to make devout shows before God, and give good words in a soothing glozing gloss of fine hypocrisy, as if they served God in their contrived conjectures and opinions; but still they will continue in selfhood, in the outward show and ostentation.
43. These the Holy Ghost does rebuke and reprove by the virginchild in Christ's spirit, and calls them hypocrites, and wolves in sheeps' clothing, and crafty foxes born of the Serpent's ens, in whom there is the very property of toads, dogs and wild beasts; and shows them, that they draw near to God with their lips, but their heart is full of murder, gall and serpent-desire, and has no true upright lovedesire in it;
also it shows them that they are but mere flatterers and dissemblers in their office, who only seek pleasure and temporal honour and respect thereby, that so they might be able to domineer and lord it over men's bodies and souls, goods and estates, and thus they serve God only from without, with hypocritical mouths: Their heart hangs to the whoredom of Babylon, full of devilish murder and poison against him that does but touch their conscience.
44. Such children in the Serpent's craft, who are best able as cunning craft masters in sophistry to turn this subtlety most takingly and artificially, the children of the world do set up unto themselves for teachers, and will learn the way of God from them.
45. These teachers do assume unto themselves [and presume upon] the writings of the saints, and proclaim with open mouth that they teach God's word, [and that] the Holy Spirit is poured forth by their teaching and preaching;
and though their conscience does even convince them that they are not capable of the office of the ministry, and that they are in no wise the temples of the Holy Spirit who should teach in and by them, yet they care not for that: it brings them money and honour. Christ is gone up to heaven, and has placed and ordained them to be stewards and vicars in his office;
they must compose and contrive their doctrine out of the writings of the saints, and out of their reason, upon the letter of the Scripture. Their heaping together and composing of the words [in the form of their subtle reason] must be the voice of the Holy Spirit; they say the Holy Spirit is thereby poured forth into the hearts of men.
46. And though they themselves be only Cain, and in their literal and bookish rhapsody [or composing of the texts, or bare letter of Scripture] in their sermons do cast forth a great deal of light, lewd, Cainical scorn and brother-slaughter, and oftentimes mix lies and truth together;
yet the Holy Spirit must have taught, and the congregation must thank God for such holy, [sound, orthodox, evangelical] doctrine, as they call it. And after their killing of their brother there, they must also help, with boldness, courage and zeal, to murder and slay Abel, and the little child Jesus, in his members, with words and deeds.
47. Such teachers the world sets up, to learn the kingdom of God from: and whosoever can but lustily cavil, censure and condemn others in their gifts, and propose it with fine distinctions and subtle arguments, and clothe them with the mantle of reason, and hide the wolf (which thereby murders and devours Christ's flock) under the purple mantle of Christ, to him they give diligent attention; for the fleshly Serpent's heart does therewith sooth up and flatter itself in its evil property; it has even such an artificial nature and constitution.
48. Such seed these teachers, chosen of men, do sow, who only desire the calling for temporal honour and pleasure, but are not called of God, and are also without divine knowledge [and understand not what true divinity is]. They enter not by the door of Christ;
but they come into place by the election and favour of men, through the means of their own willing, walking and running: these can no way be acknowledged for the shepherds of Christ, for they are not born of Christ, and [are not] chosen to this function and divine calling.
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