“Now, the ignorant generally don’t know that such convictions of sin tend to cause them to fear and is for their good. Therefore they seek to stifle them.” “In what ways do they seek to stifle them?” Hopeful asked. “There are four ways: “They think that those fears are created by the Devil, though in fact they are truly from God. In thinking this way they resist them as things that would cause their defeat. “They also think that these fears tend to spoil their faith when, even though as deluded poor men, they do not have any faith at all. Therefore they harden their hearts against them. “They
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