The Christian's Duty To Forsake All For Jesus Christ

Book: 
The Christian's Duty To Forsake All For Jesus Christ
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Reviewer: 
Joseph J. Adrian

In The Christian's Duty To Forsake All For Jesus Christ, Puritan Pastor, Thomas Mockett, launches a nuclear attack against an error that has permeated God's Church (dressed in different garb) throughout the centuries. One of the disguises in our day (designed to destroy men's souls) is the teaching that Christ can be your Savior but submission to Him as Lord is up to you, it is not a necessity. If Mockett is correct, then the disciples of Christ must be willing to forsake all for Him. I'm sure he stands on an unshakeable biblical foundation. Thus any casual embracing of God (no matter its appearance in the teaching of men, be it ever so varied) will land those who think this is possible in Hell. You would need to rewrite the Bible, or tear out portions of it, to escape that conclusion.

This fundamental error——that it is possible to be a nominal lover of God and have a good standing before Him——has reared its ugly head throughout the history of man. Can I love the God of the Bible and love other things as much or more? It is not possible. Is it possible to be a casual follower of Christ? Matthew 16:24 ". . . If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me." In Hebrews 11:8, God called Abraham to the land of promise (and we are given the narrative of Abraham leaving his home, family, friends and go where the Lord told him to go)-—"Abraham was well content to do anything, and be anywhere, God would have him to be." Abraham was no casual lover of God or half-hearted follower of God. To use poker terminology, "he was all in."

To value Christ as we should, on the one hand, we must behold the beauty of His person, see the necessity of his sacrificial life and death for us (his willingness to become sin for us) so that we may have his righteousness, but also we must see the vanity of this world (the worthlessness of it, the temporary nature of it——it will one day perish); then seeing this, there will be a willingness to part with all for Christ. We desire Christ above all, for he is of much greater value than the whole world and everything in it. ". . . when a man looks on the world, and all the good things in it, riches, honor, pleasures, etc. they will see that the world and all worldly things are but rubbish, dross, and dung in comparison of Christ."

How can I discern what I love most? You cannot serve two masters. Either God has your heart or the world has your heart. You cannot have a supreme love for two things that are diametrically opposed to one another. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in Him." 1 John 2:15. Where your treasure, there will your heart be also. "You are of the world, if you trust in any worldly thing, and those things mean more to you than being saved by God, or delight in them more than spiritual things."

Mockett's treatise on "Forsaking All For Christ" is not for the faint of heart; it is a necessary work to help dispel any notion that the Things of Eternity are to be trifled with, they are not to be taken lightly. It's among the most convicting books I've ever read.