1296. Some Left All, and Some Left Not

Some Left All, and Some Left Not

"And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

"But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first" (Mat_19:29-30).

We have before us the result of a real confession of Christ–it is this: leaving all for Christ.

1. Those who leave all for Christ. The 9th chapter of Luke presents three would-be followers. It tells of a certain man who said, "I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest." But Jesus said unto him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head."

To the second, Christ said, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father." Jesus said unto him, "Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the Kingdom of God."

The third instance is that of the one who said, "Lord, I will follow Thee; but let me first go bid farewell, to them which are at home." And Jesus said unto him, "No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God."

In the above cases the Lord Jesus never made it easy for those who wished to follow Him. He rather placed up the bars, and kept them there.

In the 18th chapter of Luke, the rich young ruler desired to follow Christ, but Christ said, "Sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven: and come, follow Me." But the young man went away sorrowful for he was a man of great possessions.

Those who leave all, must put behind them, father, mother, brother, sister, children, houses, lands, for the Kingdom of God's sake. Thank God, there are many who have done this.

In the old days, Abraham did it; Moses did it; Daniel did it; they all did it.

In the New Testament days, Peter, James and John did it, they left their nets and their father and their mother to follow Christ; Paul did it; he counted all things but loss for Christ.

2. Those who leave not. There are many who are unwilling to turn aside from friends, from position, from possessions, to follow Christ. They are like Demas, who loved this present world; they are like Balaam who loved the rewards of unrighteousness; they are like certain false prophets who looked everyone to his own gain from his own quarter; they are like the apostates of the last days who hold "men's persons in admiration because of advantage."

Let us once more take our place where we belong. The contrast is plain and the division is marked. Have we left all, or, have we not?

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR