THE CHRISTIAN HOUSEHOLD
[p. 363] THE CHRISTIAN HOUSEHOLD
CAC One was thinking that in the case of this dear sister, Lydia, she had a very definite thought of her house as well as herself being for the Lord. We are not told particularly what they said to her but that she “heard; whose heart the Lord opened to attend to the things spoken by Paul” (verse 14). The effect of it was that in taking the place of baptism she brought her house with her.
Rem The apostle could then enter her house.
CAC Evidently she thought of her house being a place for the Lord. There are three spheres of responsibility and privilege:
Firstly, our bodies. “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your intelligent service” (Romans 12: 1). This is personal and individual.
Secondly, the household. A place where faithfulness to the Lord is manifested. In the mind of God the household of a believer is a sphere that comes under the authority of the Lord and partakes of blessing from Christ, a sphere preserved from the corruption and lawlessness dominating the whole scene around. Mr. Stoney used to say that we could have the millennium in our households. I do not suppose he meant as to circumstances but as to moral conditions, subjection to the Lord and security from evil. The household is recognised by God. The household goes with its head. We are all privileged to put the death of Christ between us and the world. The blood on the lintel (Exodus 12) puts the death of Christ between us and the judgment of God. The Red Sea (Exodus 15) puts the death of Christ between us and the world. It is the measure of our separation from the world. Thirdly, the assembly.
[p. 364] Rem The flood was between Noah and “the world of the ungodly”.
CAC That immense volume of water was the measure of the separation between the ark and the world. In taking the ground of baptism we put the death of Christ between us and the world. The Christian belongs to Christ, so do his children. In faith the children are put on that ground for blessing.
Ques Why is the case of the woman given us first in Acts 16? And in regard to Moses (Exodus 2) it is the mother who acts.
CAC The mother often takes the lead: it is very striking.
Ques Is the subjective state set forth in her?
CAC Yes, the mother is the great influence in the household after all. Children derive character from the mother. It is good to see that the woman can take up the exercise. There is the baptism of the household after which the Lord’s servants come in (verse 15). “He that receives you receives me, and he that receives me receives him that sent me” (Matthew 10: 40). Where the Lord’s servants can go and find a suitable place, the Lord can go and the Father can go: there is a place for divine Persons. The assembly is made up of suitable households, suitable for the Lord to come into. If the Lord is to come in there must be nothing unsuitable in the household. Lydia became the support of the testimony in Philippi. They went back to Lydia (verse 40). Things were suitable there. It should be an exercise for christian parents not to take up baptism merely because it is customary, but with the desire that the Lord’s claims and His grace be owned in the household and His sufficiency counted on.
Ques “The name of the Lord” is connected with baptism in the Acts but not in Matthew 28. Is it because the household is the sphere where the Lord is recognised?
CAC It is a refuge in the midst of evil. What a comfort to come ourselves under the control of the Lord and to bring our children there, to “bring them up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6: 4), that they may be preserved from all that would be injurious to them. A christian parent would not like to put his children in the fire as the nations in the land of Canaan did (Deuteronomy 12: 31). If you bring up children for the world you are putting them in the fire. One would rather be on the line of “snatching them out of the fire” (Jude 23). A world of idolatry and lawlessness is like fire. We are privileged to be safe under the Lord’s control. If I allow Him to control me I shall be safe and thus able to nourish the child in the kind and blessed control of the Lord. They are not to be vexed (Colossians 3: 21).
To do what is pleasing to the Lord is the only happy path. If He had not died we could not take up baptism but we want the children for the Lord. The world is like Moloch, full of corrupting and destructive influences. We are safe and happy if the rule of the Lord is accepted. After I was converted it was my greatest grief to have been so long not under His control. There is no need for a child of christian parents to live any time in self-will. Christ’s rights to him have been owned in baptism and he can own it and find real happiness in so doing and be preserved thereby. There is wonderful safety under the control of the Lord! The christian parent puts the children there in faith. They belong to the Lord. The christian household is a place where the Lord can come in and find everything there as He would have it be. One feels it is a very great privilege.
Rem The apostle does not go into the jailor’s house when coming out of prison.
CAC Lydia had shown such faithfulness that the testimony could go out from Lydia’s house and return there.
Rem “If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord”. I suppose questions are settled for children by their parents and thus it is a question of obedience for them.
CAC Yes. “Obey your parents” and “Honour thy father and thy mother” (Ephesians 6: 1, 2). A christian parent [p. 366] desires the best good for his or her children. There is everything to be gained on the line of obedience.
Rem The letter to the Philippians shows what the establishment of these first two christian households in Europe led to.
CAC The assembly takes its character from the households. The households are, as it were, the base of operations for the Lord. If the Lord has not His place in the households, He will not have His place in the assembly.
Rem The three spheres you have pointed out are most important. There are no claims like the claims of the Lord for He has died for us. One sphere is dependent on the other.
CAC If I have come under His control it prepares me to bring my household under His control. The Christian has been encouraged himself first before he can encourage his children. We prove the nurture and admonition of the Lord ourselves first. His instruction and admonition is known first ourselves. Then, as knowing His patience and grace with us, we can patiently and graciously seek to deal with those who come under our influence.
All christian privileges carry responsibilities.
The first suggestion of faith on the part of parents with regard to their children in the Scriptures is in the names they gave them. For instance, Enoch calls his son Methushelah (Genesis 5: 21) meaning, “when he dies it comes”. What comes? The flood. That was primary fulfilment of Enoch’s prophecy, “Behold, the Lord has come amidst his holy myriads, to execute judgment against all” (Jude 14, 15). Methushelah died the year the flood came. After his death, the flood came. Lemech called the name of his son Noah (repose) saying, “This one shall comfort us concerning our work and concerning the toil of our hands, because of the ground which Jehovah has cursed” (Genesis 5: 29). The earth after the flood typifies “newness of life” for us.