Will We Win Our "Household" to Christ?

I am sure you have heard the often quoted story of the Philippian jailer in the book of Acts, which misguided ministers use to convince their followers that God will save their family members. After all, they say, "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ... and you shall be saved and your house" (Acts 16:31). What about it friend? If YOU believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, will your family members be converted, and "saved" in the end? Is this something which God is promising to the holy Ghost filled person? Are you really responsible for your husband, your father, your child? Is their future salvation something which your faith will obtain? By "believing", will others' names be written in the "book of life from the foundation of the world?"

No one can go far into the scriptures, and into a walk of faith without finding himself standing alone. Everyone who has been used of God has been forced to stand alone and to bear persecution; for the truth has not been in fashion since man first acted upon serpent's lie in the garden of Eden. Those who are determined to obey God and come to a complete understanding of His word have been compelled to travel alone, finding their greatest help in the solitude of God's presence. From the altitude of this spiritual condition some have drawn others up to their level. One must stand above the masses, if he would in some way influence others to walk with God.

Had Abraham gone to live with Lot in Sodom, his influence would have availed but little. It was as he stood alone with God on the highlands of faith that his intercessions secured Lot's deliverance. Moses, in making this same kind of separation, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction and isolation in the valleys and on the mountains alone with God. In the midst of a wicked and sinful nation, Noah built the ark singlehandedly. Daniel prayed alone three times a day when all others were afraid of the king's command. Elijah sacrificed alone and brought down the fire from heaven after the false prophets had failed. Jeremiah prophesied and wept alone while his people were taking life easy and drifting away from God into captivity. The apostle John was alone on the Island of Patmos when he received the revelations of God for the pastors of seven congregations in Asia. The Apostle Paul, in describing his appearance before Emperor Nero to answer with his life for believing and teaching contrary to the theories and doctrines of men, wrote, "No man stood with me; but all men forsook me." One of the most evil doctrines in Christianity is what is being taught nearly everywhere: "we're going to win the world for Jesus". Evil shepherds are teaching their followers that the amount of people that follow them is an indication of God's approval on their works. They are telling you that YOU must win the world to Christ, and the burden is great. This is a "commandment of men", for nothing is farther from the truth, and more of a weight to the soul hungering to obey the Spirit.

Jesus prayed alone in the garden while his disciples slept. Yes, he was there all alone bearing the agony of that sad hour with not a soul on earth to befriend him. Oh, the sorrow, grief, and loneliness our Lord endured! He suffered, bled, and died alone, alone!

Certainly, how you live in this life will influence others. But living righteously will not bring in masses - it will, in most cases, isolate you. Through the centuries, our Lord has singled out men for the higher things in his kingdom, and these men have been the target of mass criticism, enmity, and hatred - not only from the world but also from many unwise children of God. The religionists of Jesus's time praised Moses and the prophets and persecuted Jesus and his apostles. During the early days of the Popes, Christians praised Moses, the prophets, Jesus, the apostles, and persecuted the saints. And Christians today praise the patriarchs, the prophets, Jesus, the apostles, and the martyrs, and persecute all who stand for the truth. If you are a holy Ghost baptized saint of God, the greatest danger you must overcome is "Christianity". Those in it say they want to "win the world for Jesus", but to most we may apply the words of Stephen, who told misguided religious men: "they do always resist the holy Ghost; as their fathers did, so do they" (Acts 7:51).

The Spirit of God is not telling you to win anybody to "Christianity", and the fact that you CAN win somebody to it merely proves it is not of God. Christianity is not Christ. If a man or woman comes to Christ Jesus, it will be because the Father draws them. Will you win your household to Christ? Jesus had something to say in this regard: "A man's foes shall be they of his own household". Did Jesus mean what he said?

It must be noted however, that Jesus was not altogether referring to one's natural family alone. For example, who were Jesus' worst enemies? The household of Joseph and Mary or the household of Israel? The household of Israel, of course. Who were Paul's fiercest opponents? Were they not believers from the household of Israel? From the beginning, all who have determined to follow God fully have been most cruelly persecuted by the God's own people. The Jews forced Pilate and the Romans to kill Jesus. Paul was called into question by elders of the congregation concerning the gospel which he preached. Today, the fiercest opponents of the truth we are preaching comes not from the world, but from God's own children who don't want to suffer in defense of the necessity of the holy Ghost baptism (with the evidence of speaking in tongues) as the ONLY way to please Jesus!

It is only human to drift with the tide of public opinion. But it is divine to follow the Spirit of God and stem the tide. Dear reader, should you like to stand with the crowd, or should you prefer to stand alone with God, and thus prepare yourself to help the crowd? The "crowd", (those in the body of Christ) needs leaders, men who will pay the price and dig deep into the hidden things of God, things that God wants His people to have and use, such as the signs that followed the early congregation in the days of the apostles.

Multitudes of dissatisfied and disappointed believers do not even dream of walking alone with their God. They have been told to stay where they are. But we are telling you to "come out" from among the disobedient throngs of Christianity's denominations. Every one of them. You may be alone for a time, yet, God often appoints His dear children to suffer pangs of loneliness, or the pain of betrayed friendship, the loss of loved ones, the heart cry of misunderstanding, that we might know to some degree the utter loneliness of our dear Lord. It is not in a crowd that the soul grows most vigorously. It is when you seek the truth above everything else.

However, merely being alone will not suffice. One can do wrong when alone. In fact, it is easier to do evil when no human eye can see. "Character", someone has said, "is what you are in the dark." We must use our seclusion properly. Our flesh is sure to be present when we are alone. God will be there, too. So you see, the benefit we gain by drawing aside to be alone with God for a time will depend on how we use this time.

One of the ways of growing in the knowledge of our Lord is by Bible reading and study. We can, I am sure, do this best when alone; for we can, if we choose, combine prayer with reading of the Book. Moreover, it is possible to see our faults best when alone, when there are no friends or foes there to interfere with our judgments.

Growth in grace requires much prayer, and solitude is often essential to prayer in its most effective form. Jesus recommended drawing aside into one's "closet" to pray, knowing that God will openly reward all who come to Him in heartfelt, secret prayer. It is difficult, I know, to find time in these busy days to be alone. Nevertheless, it pays to be alone with God. Alone with God! What a blessed place! Sweet refuge, where the heart can unfold itself. Alone, alone with God!

The "many" in the body of Christ will normally be those who are, in fact, "ungodly". The "ungodly" are frequently defined as "disobedient children of God", as opposed to those who have never been converted. Of course, the unconverted are unlike God, but God also has children who are very unlike Him. In 1Peter 4:18, we find three categories of men: the righteous (obedient believers), the ungodly (disobedient believers), and the sinner (the unconverted). In that verse, Peter asks, "And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?"

The ungodly are those children of God who teach wrong things concerning their heavenly Father. "Blessed is the man", the Psalmist says, "that walketh not in the counsel [doctrine] of the ungodly" (Ps.1:1). This concern for the saints is echoed by the Apostle Paul when he wrote (2Tim.2:16-18), "Shun profane and vain babblings [false teachings], for they will increase unto more ungodliness . . . of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus [two believers], who concerning the truth have erred". How sad it is when a precious child of God turns from righteousness, and falls into unclean behavior and false teaching--to be numbered among the ungodly, destined to be destroyed! "The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish."

Only the godly, the obedient children of God, will be able to stand when "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." There is a sure reward of eternal life for the righteous, but the ungodly and the sinner shall be swallowed up together by the wrath of Almighty God.

Does God promise that a person's family will come to Christ because they believe? The answer is the same as, will the "ungodly" children of God obey Christ because you do? Sadly, that's what many sincere followers of Jesus are being taught. The evidence is quite to the contrary. The "godly" will be very small in number - for "narrow is the way that leadeth to life, and few there be that find it". Living for God often means living "alone". Think about that next time you are told that you need to "believe on the Lord Jesus, and by doing so, you will win your family to Christ" . . . If you obey God, you may be waiting an awfully long time!

Return to Main Page