PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

The household is yours, and you have the power to decide whether this house will serve the Lord. When you take this stand, everyone who is under you will come to the Lord; they will have no other way to take. This is marvelous!

EXAMPLES IN ENGLAND

I read about this in the Bible in my earlier days, but I did not have much experience of it then. Thank the Lord, when I was in England, He provided me the opportunity to meet brothers who also believed in household salvation. I found dozens of families here and there where whole households were Christians. This gave me a very deep impression. God works according to the way man believes. Among them almost every household experienced household salvation. "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household." There were very few exceptions among them. They were all saved by households--father, mother, wife, children, and all. I was very amazed as I spoke to them one by one.

Once I visited Mr. George Cutting, the author of the famous booklet "Safety, Certainty, and Enjoyment." …When I met him, he said, "Brother Nee, I cannot live without Him, and He cannot live without me." He had such a deep fellowship with the Lord. Thank the Lord, there were over eighty members in his household. All of them were saved. Every one of his sons, daughters-in-law, grandsons, granddaughters, nephews, nieces, great-grandchildren, old or young, male or female, were saved. George Cutting himself believed in the word: "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household." His whole household was saved….

THE NEED TO BRING THE WHOLE HOUSEHOLD TO THE LORD

I hope that the newly saved brothers and sisters will pay attention to this matter. Once you are saved, you should gather your family members together and declare to them, "From this day forward, my household belongs to God." You need to declare this whether or not they belong to the Lord and whether or not they agree. You are the head of the house and you should do this. You should take the matter into your own hands. You should declare that your household will serve the Lord. When you exercise your faith to stand firm this way you will prevail.

If those who are saved through us are saved household by household instead of one by one, what a difference it will make! Brothers and sisters, do not be too loose with your children at home. One of the greatest failures of the Protestants is that they are too loose with their next generation; they allow their next generation to have the freedom to choose their own faith. The Catholics do not have to preach the gospel. Their increase through natural birth alone is greater than the increase the Protestants have in a lifetime. Have you seen Catholics preaching the gospel on street corners like the Salvation Army? No. They just propagate through natural birth, generation after generation. Two become four, and four become eight. Every Roman Catholic child automatically becomes a Roman Catholic. The Catholics do not pay much attention to increase from the outside. As long as a person is born into Catholicism, he is dragged into the religion whether or not he eventually becomes a true believer. It is no wonder that the Catholic population exceeds the Protestant population by more than three times. Do not be nonchalant in this matter, and do not allow your own children to drift away.

Let me repeat: A new believer needs to declare right from the start that his household belongs to the Lord. Not only must he be the Lord's individually; he also must declare that his household is the Lord's. Take full control of this matter, and it will be done for you. You have to declare again and again at home, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. All who live in this house should decide to serve the Lord." You should bring your family to the Lord. You should not make any excuse. Do not allow anyone to drift away.

Household salvation is one of the greatest principles in the Bible. Once you are saved, your whole household should be saved. As an individual you must first stand firm for the Lord, and then your household will change. I hope that you will pay attention to this matter. This is a great blessing….(Messages for Building Up New Believers, Volume 2, pp. 317-320, Watchman Nee published by Living Stream Ministry 1997)