Morning By Morning #99

If men do these things when the tree is green,
what will happen when it is dry?

Luke 23:31

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

One very instructive interpretation of this thought-provoking question is this: If Jesus, the innocent substitute for sinners, suffered so hor-rifically, what will happen to a sinner—“the dry tree”—once he finds himself in the hands of an angry God? When God saw Jesus in the sinners’ place, “He…did not spare his own Son” (Rom. 8:32), and when He faces those who are unconverted and without Christ, He will not spare them either.

Dear sinner, in the same way Jesus was led away by His enemies, you will be dragged away by Satanic forces to the place appointed for you. Jesus was deserted by God, and if He was deserted—He who was considered a sinner only by virtue of the imputation of our sins to Him—how much more will you be?

What a terrible scream when “Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’” (Mark 15:34). One day you too will cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (v. 34). Then your answer will come, “Since you rejected me when I called,…since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you” (Prov. 1:24 – 26).

If God “did not spare his own Son,” how much less will He spare you! What whips of burning steel will be yours when your conscience finally strikes you with all its terror. You who are the richest, the happiest, and the most self-righteous of sinners—who will take your place when God says to you, “‘Awake, O sword’ (Zech. 13:7), against this person who has rejected Me; strike him, and may he feel the pain forever”?

If “they spit on [Jesus]” (Matt. 27:30), dear sinner, what shame will be yours! It is impossible to express the massive sorrows that converged on the head of Jesus, who died for us. Thus, it is even more absurd to think we could fully explain what streams—No! What oceans—of grief will crash over your spirit if you die as you are. And you may die this way—you could even die right now.

I plead with you, therefore, on the basis of the agony of Christ, His wounds, and His blood, do not bring the coming wrath upon yourself! Trust in the Son of God, and you “will never die” (John 11:26).

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

The truth is, everyone deserves death, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Perhaps you have heard the message of the gospel of Christ many times, but have never been saved and thereby still “fall short” of what you need for eternal life. “Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith” (Heb. 4:1–2).

Why not combine the gospel message you have heard with faith this morning? “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). Ask Him to save you—to give you Jesus—and you will no longer “fall short of the glory of God,” for He is “the glory of God”!