Then your mouth indeed may be full of second-hand talk
about the gospel. But what gospel? I call that a devil's gospel,
and not God's gospel, which makes men fancy that they may continue in
sin that grace may abound. I call any grace which leaves men in
their sins the devil's grace, and not God's grace. Certainly it is
not the gospel of the kingdom of God; for if it was, it would produce
in men the fruits of that kingdom, righteousness, and peace, and joy
in the Holy Spirit, instead of the fruits which we see too often,
bigotry and self-conceit, bitterness, evil-speaking, and hard
judgments, and joy in a most unholy and damnable spirit, not to
mention covetousness and deceitfulness, or even in some cases
wantonness and lust. And yet such men will often fancy that they
belong especially to God, and doubt whether He will have mercy on any
who do not exactly agree with them; while in reality God and His
kingdom have utterly left their hearts, and they are as blind and
dark as the beasts which perish. May God preserve us from that
second death which comes on sinners, when, after a sinful youth,
their terrified souls begin to cry out in fear at the sight of their
sins; and they, instead of casting away their sins, keep their sins,
or change old sins for more respectable and safe new ones, and drug
their souls with false doctrines, as foolish nurses quiet children's
crying by giving them poisonous medicines.
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