Jeremiah 5:3-8 O LORD, are not your eyes on the truth? you have stricken them, but they have not grieved; you have consumed them… Chastisement is designed by God to bear fruit in a purged and penitent heart; but it may be so neglected, resisted, or abused, as to become fruitless. I. THE SIGN OF FRUITLESS CHASTISEMENT IS IMPENITENCE. 1. Chastisement is the red lamp warning of danger, and urging us to stop in the course we are pursuing. 2. But, that it may serve this purpose, there must be — (1) Reflection; (2) Sorrow for sin; (3) Return. II. THE CAUSE OF FRUITLESS CHASTISEMENT IS HARDNESS OF HEART. 1. Insensitiveness. The sufferer may feel the smart of the lash on his back, and yet be dead to the sting of shame in his heart. 2. Wilful resistance. The evil is in the will that refuses to yield to the mercy that comes disguised in bitterness. III. THE CONSEQUENCE OF FRUITLESS CHASTISEMENT IS AN AGGRAVATION OF FUTURE EVILS. The rebellious sufferer may imagine that he is free to do as he will with his sufferings; but even they are talents for which he will be called to account. For observe — 1. God's searching watchfulness. "O Lord, are not Thine eyes," etc. God searches the heart He chastises. He sees the rebellious thought, the stubborn self-will. 2. Man's increased guilt. The more there is done to awaken a consciousness of sin, the more culpable is the indifference still persisted in. IV. THE REMEDY FOR FRUITLESS CHASTISEMENT IS TO BE FOUND IN THE GRACE OF THE GOSPEL. This will give — 1. The new heart; 2. The promise of forgiveness. Christ brings love and hope, and thus He brings also the tears of repentance. (W. F. Adeney, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return. |
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