And the Lord said, Where unto shall I liken the men of this generation?
and to what are they like? They are like unto children sitting in the mar-
ket-place, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you,
and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not wept.
For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye
say, He hath a devil. The Son of Man is come eating and drinking; and
ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans
and sinners! But wisdom is justified of all her children.-LUKE vii. 31-35. 128
And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins;
wherein in time past, ye walked, according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience; among whom also we all had our conver-
sation in times past, in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of our
flesh, and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he
loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with
Christ; (by grace are ye saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made
us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; that in the ages to come
he might show the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness toward us,
through Christ Jesus. - EPHESIANS ii. 1—7. 205
THE STUBBORN SINNER SUBMITTING TO GOD.
I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chas-
tised me and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn
thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God. Surely,
after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote
upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear
the reproach of my youth. Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a pleasant
child? For since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still:
Therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon
him, saith the Lord. - JEREMIAH XXXI. 18, 19, 20.
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