Counterfeit piety — is double iniquity!

(Thomas Watson, "Dearly Beloved" 1662)

"Surely, You desire truth in the inward part." Psalm 51:6

Be sincere! Be what you seem to be!

Do not be like rowers in a boat, who look one way — and row another way.
Do not look heaven-ward by your profession — and row hell-ward by your life!

Do not pretend to love God — and yet really love sin.

Counterfeit piety — is double iniquity! Let your hearts be sincere and upright with God.

The plainer the diamond is — the richer it is. Just so, the more plain and sincere the heart is — the more does God value His jewel.

A little rusty gold — is far better than a great deal of bright brass. Just so, a little true grace, though rusted over with many infirmities — is better than all the glistening shows of religious hypocrites.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?" Matthew 23:27-28, 33

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