Why we know not; but He knows. Punish He
must, unless we repent--unless we turn our wills toward His will.
And woe to the stiff-necked and stout-hearted man who, like the
wicked king Jehoiakim, sets his face like a flint against God's
warnings. How many, how many behave for years, Sunday after Sunday,
just as king Jehoiakim did! When he heard that God had threatened
him with ruin for his sins, he heard also that God offered him free
pardon if he would repent. Jeremiah gave him free choice to be saved
or to be ruined; but his heart and will were hardened. Hearing that
he was wrong only made him angry. His pride and self-will were hurt
by being told that he must change and alter his ways. He had chosen
his way, and he would keep to it; and he cared nothing for God's
offers of forgiveness, because he could not be forgiven unless he did
what he was too proud to do, confess himself to be in the wrong, and
openly alter his conduct. And how many, as I first said, are like
him! They come to church; they hear God's warnings and threats
against their evil ways; they hear God's offers of free pardon and
forgiveness; but being told that they are in the wrong makes them too
angry to care for God's offers of pardon.
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