1he Salvation of tke
Housenola- God's Plan
What Shall W e Do About Those in Our Own Family W ho Are N ot Yet Saved? . By REV. B.
DAVIDSON are told that “ Noah believed to the sav ing of his house” and he expressed his faith by taking the necessary steps to secure their salvation by the building of the ark. We must not only pray for the salvation of our households, but we must do all that is within our power by speaking or writing to them in order to secure that result. The Lord intended to destroy Sodom and said, “ Shall I hide from Abraham- that thing which I do?” The Lord hon ored Abraham by taking him into His confidence saying, “ I know him that he will command his children and his household after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord.” Gen. 18:19. God means the head of every house to have a holy, loving command over his house hold, and God honors those who do this. Abraham was honored with special fel lowship and brought into God’s confid ence upon the ground of commanding his house. The word “ house” means not only our family, but also our servants. Abraham sent 318 men of his household to help Lot, so Abraham’s household must have been a very large one. Judgment on Households The High Priest Eli was a great con trast to Abraham. His own personal life was good, but “ his sons made them selves vile, and he restrained them not,” 1 Sam. 3:13, and God brought a terrible judgment not only on his household, but upon himself and the nation for this sin. Eli’s sons were slain, Israel was de feated, the ark of the Lord captured, the whole land conquered, and Eli broke his
G OD has made heaven on the family principle. The Lord Jesus speaks of heaven as “ My Father’s house” and His family are the redeemed. The final scene in the Bible is the Father at home and His family all around Him — a scene of perfect blessedness, the final consummation of redemption. God has made this earth on the fam ily principle and it is His purpose that every household or family should be a little miniature of heaven. We see God’s deepest and most precious truths in fam ily life and we understand God best as we see Him revealed by His Son as the Father. It is the express will and purpose of God that whole families should be saved and we can trace this purpose from Noah downwards. In Gen. 7:1 the Lord said to Noah, “ Come thou and all thy house into the ark.” The ark is a type of Christ, and the waters of the flood a type of the wrath and judgment of God on sin. Noah did not approach God on this matter, but God came to him and expressed His purpose that all his house should be saved. “ He is not willing that any should perish.” It is important that we understand God’s will in this vital matter because it affects us all deeply. Every believer desires the salvation of his house, but many do not know whether it is God’s wilt. This naturally weakens faith and hinders their salva tion, but if we see clearly from the Bible that it is always God’s will to save whole households, then we can with cer tainty receive the salvation of our fam ilies by faith and they will be saved. We
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