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THE TRUE MEANING OF MATTHEW 19:29. "And everyone that has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive many times more and will inherit everlasting life." (Matt 19:29). One's first thought on the meaning of the above scripture may be of the necessity to leave one's family or land in order to preach the Word of God abroad. But this is not the meaning of the above scripture. The true meaning and reason why Christians sometimes have to leave their adult family for the sake of The Christ is conveyed in 1 Peter 4:3,4 which says: "For the time that has passed by is sufficient for you to have worked out the will of the nations when you proceeded in deeds of loose conduct, lusts, excesses with wine, revelries, drinking matches, and illegal idolatries. Because you do not continue running with them in this course to the same low sink of debauchery, they are puzzled and go on speaking abusively of you." When one stops living according to the will of the nations, those who prefer to live according to it "cannot understand it" (NEB). Because it "astonishes pagans" (Moffatt), they "go on speaking abusively of you." But since this same "low sink of debauchery" conflicts with the life of a Christian who promotes the life of Christ, such a man must already have worked out that the "will of the nations" is debauchery, and therefore lives the remainder of his life "no more for the desires of men, but for God's Will." (1 Peter 4:1-6).
These words through the apostle Peter are the
real reason why most true Christians leave family members, and in rare cases,
even the land of their birth; because they desire to live as to the
Spirit from the standpoint of God. In defiance of this are the works of the
flesh. "Now the works of the flesh
are manifest, and they are fornication, uncleanness, loose conduct, idolatry,
practice of spiritism, enmities, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, contentions,
divisions, sects, envies, drunken bouts, revelries, and things like these. As to
these things I am forewarning you, the same way as I did forewarn you, that
those who practice such things will not inherit God's
Kingdom." (Gal 5:19 If family members reject righteousness and choose to live debauched lives, then in order to secure one's salvation through the "way" of Christ, one may leave this family who are "speaking abusively of you." (John 14:6). And, contrary to the expectations of abusive parents, neither sons nor daughters can honour them if they as parents lead dishonourable lives. (Exodus 20:12). In most cases, parents who reject God have children who also reject God. Godless parents are therefore sharers in their offspring's downfall. The Christ said this: "Happy are you whenever men hate you, and whenever they exclude you and reproach you and cast out your name as wicked for the sake of the Son of man. Rejoice in that day and leap, for, look! your reward is great in heaven, for those are the same things their forefathers used to do to the prophets." (Luke 6:22,23).
17/9/01. |
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