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Matthew Henry on Ordo Amoris and Family/Nation vs. Church/God's Kingdom

 


"Natural affection must give way to divine grace. Our country is dear to us, our kindred dearer, and our father’s house dearest of all; and yet they must all be hated (Lu. 14:26), that is, we must love them less than Christ, hate them in comparison with him, and, whenever any of these come in competition with him, they must be postponed, and the preference given to the will and honour of the Lord Jesus. (2.) Sin, and all the occasions of it, must be forsaken, and particularly bad company; we must abandon all the idols of iniquity which have been set up in our hearts, and get out of the way of temptation, plucking out even a right eye that leads us to sin (Mt. 5:29), willingly parting with that which is dearest to us, when we cannot keep it without hazard of our integrity. Those that resolve to keep the commandments of God must quit the society of evil doers, Ps. 119:115; Acts 2:40. (3.) The world, and all our enjoyments in it, must be looked upon with a holy indifference and contempt; we must no longer look upon it as our country, or home, but as our inn, and must accordingly sit loose to it and live above it, get out of it in affection." Matthew Henry on Genesis 12.


Note that natural affection is not denied, undermined, diluted, or relativized by Henry or by Scripture. All our loves have as their ultimate aim and reference glorifying God, of loving and enjoying Him and serving Him. Nothing, not our closest family or our own spouse, can compare to God Himself and our heavenly Groom Jesus Christ. When those nearest and dearest to us are dead set against Christ and His kingdom, we must gladly go with God, with His greater kingdom and family in the Church, than with our own flesh and blood families, lands, and country. But today we so often hate our country, land, kin, and family as a matter of principle, not as a matter of last resort. We should love and give favoritism to our own people and place. We should bear up and labor long for our kin and country, just as a father and husband should labor long and mourn deeply for his wayward wife and children. But if we leave the faith and family of God for the sake of staying with our godless, hardened, reprobate blood relations and home country, we will have proven to made our beds with the wicked, and will have our eternal homes in hell, outside of God's kingdom, and under His righteous wrath.

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