mwdegutis Loc: Illinois

Read this with an open mind and a contrite heart...it might change your life.

For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry? Luke 23:31

Among other interpretations of this suggestive question, the following is full of teaching: "If the innocent substitute for sinners suffers in this way, what will be done when the sinner himself--the dry tree--falls into the hands of an angry God?"

When God saw Jesus in the sinner's place, He did not spare Him; and when He finds the unregenerate without Christ, He will not spare them. O sinner, Jesus was led away by His enemies; and you will be d**gged away by fiends to the place appointed for you. Jesus was deserted by God; and if He, who was only an imputed sinner, was deserted, how much more will you be?

"Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani?" What an awful shriek! But what will be your cry when you shall say, "O God! O God! Why have You forsaken me?" and the answer shall come back, "Because you have ignored all My counsel and would have none of My reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you."

If God did not spare His own Son, how much less will He spare you! What whips of stinging pain will be yours when your conscience smites you with all its terrors. You rich, you merry, you most self-righteous sinners--who would stand in your place when God says, "Awake, O sword, against the man that rejected Me; smite him, and let him feel the sting forever"?

Jesus was spat upon. Sinner, what shame will be yours! We cannot sum up in one word all the mass of sorrows that met upon the head of Jesus who died for us; therefore it is impossible for us to tell you what streams, what oceans of grief must roll over your spirit if you die as you are now. You may die in this state; you may die now. By the agonies of Christ, by His wounds and by His blood, do not bring upon yourselves the wrath to come! Trust in the Son of God, and you shall never die.

Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg. Copyright © 2003, Good News Publishers and used by T***h For Life with written permission.

skott Loc: Bama

This is a political site.

alabuck Loc: Tennessee

--------------
It leaves out the most important reason for Christ's death, the atonement. Christ suffered so that all who believe in Him may be saved.

mwdegutis Loc: Illinois

This forum is General Chit-Chat (non-political talk)

mwdegutis Loc: Illinois

If you read closer, it does speak of atonement…

…If the innocent substitute for sinners suffers in this way…

…When God saw Jesus in the sinner's place…,

…when He finds the unregenerate without Christ, He will not spare them...

…Jesus was spat upon. Sinner, what shame will be yours! We cannot sum up in one word all the mass of sorrows that met upon the head of Jesus who died for us…

…By the agonies of Christ, by His wounds and by His blood, do not bring upon yourselves the wrath to come! Trust in the Son of God, and you shall never die...

alabuck Loc: Tennessee

------------------

I thought this sounded familiar. Matthew Henry (1662-1714) commented, "If God delivered him up to such sufferings as these, because he was made a sacrifice for sin, what will he do with sinners themselves, who make themselves a dry tree, a corrupt and wicked generation, and good for nothing! The bitter sufferings of our Lord Jesus should make us stand in awe of the justice of God. The best saints, compared with Christ, are dry trees; if he suffer, why may not they expect to suffer? And what then shall the damnation of sinners be! Even the sufferings of Christ preach terror to obstinate t***sgressors."

What Spurgeon says sounds very similar to Henry. In Henry's time, interpretations of the Bible tended to sway toward an 'angry God' than toward a 'loving God.'

Personally, I would say this proverb about green wood and dry wood is rather difficult to interpret. I think it means that if the innocent Jesus (green wood) suffered at the hands of the Romans, what would happen to the guilty Jews (dry wood)? The “green wood” is hard to burn, so if the fire is so intense that it burns the green wood up, the dry wood doesn't have a 'snow-ball's' chance. God would not spare the rebellious, hard-hearted, Jewish nation from judgment.

Thus, Jesus expressed his grief over the Jewish nation for the last time. I can see where the proverb could be applied to individuals; I just don't think that 'individuals' is where Jesus was directing His words. Remember, this occured within His last hours before His death on the cross. Also, Verse 31 is the LAST portion of the entire passage. Note that Jesus begins His conversation by addressing the "Daughters of Jerusalem, ..." He was speaking to a group of followers from Jerusalem, not necessarily each, individual follower.

Luke 23:28-31; (28) But Jesus, turning to them, said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. (29) “For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which Daughters of Jerusalem, nursed!’ (30) “Then they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’ (31) “For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?”

fiatlux

God would have you, in a way, be bigger than he is. Love your enemy without any word of complaint or judgment. Turn the other cheek and walk the extra mile joyfully without a single thought against those who oppose you. Your worst enemy is your baby brother or sister. Look and care for them in this way. Leave all judgment to God, whisper not a word of it or even let it come to mind.