HOUSEHOLD SALVATION

A Sermon Delivered on Lord’s-Day Morning, 5 November 1871 by C H Spurgeon
at the Metropolitan Tabernacle

Acts 16:32-34, “And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.”

It sometimes happens that a good man has to go alone to heaven: God’s election has separated him from the midst of an ungodly family, and, notwithstanding his example and his prayers, and his admonitions, they still remain unconverted, and he himself, a solitary one, a speckled bird amongst them, has to pursue his lonely flight to the skies. Far oftener, however, it happens that the God who is the God of Abraham becomes the God of Sarah, and then of Isaac, and then of Jacob, and though grace does not run in the blood, and regeneration is not of blood nor of birth, yet doth it very frequently—I was about to say almost always—happen that God, by means of one of a household, draws the rest to himself. He calls an individual, and then uses him to be a sort of spiritual decoy to bring the rest of the family into the gospel net. To allure and encourage you to long for family religion, I have selected this text this morning. God grant it may answer the purpose designed. May many here have a spiritual hunger and thirst, that they may receive the blessing which so largely rested upon the Philippian jailer. Note in our text five things:

(1) A Whole Household Hearing the Word

Most likely the word of God sounded at midnight in the ears of the jailer and his household for the first time, and, on that remarkable occasion, they all heard it together. The father first, in his alarm, asked the question, “What must I do to be saved?” and received personally the answer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house;” and then it appears that all the family gathered around their parent, and the two holy men, while Paul and Silas spake unto him the word of the Lord, and also to all that were in his house. His wife, his children, his servants, all that were in his house, listened to the heavenly message.

Prisoner as he was, the Apostle Paul preached to them a free gospel, and a gospel of divine authority. He erred not from the truth in what he taught; he preached unto them the “word of God.” Would to God that all preachers would keep to the word of God, and, above all things, would exalt The Incarnate Word of God. This were infinitely better than to delude men’s minds with those “germs of thought,” those strikingly new ideas, those metaphysical subtleties, and speculations, and theories, and discoveries of science, falsely so called, which are now-a-days so fashionable. If all ministers could preach the word, the revealed mind and will of God, then hearers would in larger numbers become converts; for God will bless his own word, but he will not bless anything else. The jailor’s household all heard God’s word faithfully declared, and there was the main cause of blessing, for, alas! with many hearers, the Sabbath is utterly wasted; for, though they are attentive listeners, they are left without a blessing, because that which they hear is not the gospel of Jesus Christ.

(2) A Whole Household Believing

We know that the whole household believed, for we are told so in the 34th verse; “Believing in God with all his house:”—all, all, all were powerfully affected, savingly affected by the gospel which Paul preached to them. This household heard the gospel probably but once, certainly only once or twice, yet they believed, and here are some of us who have heard it from our youth up, and remain rebellious still.

Of this family it may be said that as they were new hearers, so they were most unlikely hearers. The Romans did not select for jailers the most tender hearted of men. Frequently they were old legionaries who had seen service in bloody wars, and been inured to cruel fights. They were, then, most unpromising hearers. Yet how often are the most unlikely persons convinced of sin, and led to the Savior. How true is it still of many who are most moral and excellent, and even outwardly religious, that “the publicans and harlots enter into the kingdom of heaven before them.”

Who are you, that you should say, “It is of no use to invite such a man to hear, for he would not be converted?” The more improbable it seems to be in your judgment, perhaps the more likely it is that God will look upon him with an eye of love. How happy a thing it was for the jailer that, in the providence of God, his hardened but probably honest spirit was brought under the influence of the earnest apostle. Bring others, like him, into the place of worship, for who can tell?

(3) A Whole Household Baptised

“He was baptized, he and all his straightway.” In almost every case in Scripture where you read of a household baptism, you are distinctly informed that they were also a believing household. First, “HE” was baptised,—the jailor; he was ready first to submit himself to the ordinance in which he declared himself to be dead to the world, and risen anew in Christ Jesus. Then “all his” followed. No minister has any right to refuse to baptise any person who professes faith in Jesus Christ, unless there be some glaring fact to cast doubt upon the candidate’s sincerity. “Why say so much about baptism?” says somebody. If this be God’s command—and I solemnly believe it to be so—do not despise it, I beseech you; as you love Christ, do not talk about its being non-essential. If the Lord command, shall his servant talk about its being non-essential? It is essential in all things to do my Master’s will, and to preach it; for hath he not said, “He that shall break one of the least of these my commandments, and shall teach men so, the same shall be least in the kingdom of heaven”? I hope it may be our privilege here to see whole families baptised.

(4) A Whole Household at Work for God

The whole household was astir that night. They had all believed and been baptised, and their very first enquiry is, “What can we do for Jesus?” It was clear to them that they could help the two men who had brought them to Christ, and they did so affectionately.

Is there a lazy church member here? Friend, you miss a great blessing. Is there a mother here whose husband is very diligent in serving God, but she neglects to lead her children in the way of truth? Ah, dear woman, you are losing what would be a great comfort to your own soul. I know you are; for one of the best means for a soul to be built up in Christ is for it to do something for Christ. We cease to grow when we cease either to labor or to suffer for the Lord. Even our children when they are saved can do something for the Master. The little hand that drops its halfpence into the offering box, out of love to Jesus, is accepted of the Lord. The young child trying to tell its brother or sister of the dear Savior who has loved it is a true missionary of the cross.

(5) A Family Rejoicing

Believing obtains the pardon of all sin, and brings Christ’s righteousness into our possession, it declares us to be the sons of God, gives us heirship with Christ, and secures us his blessing here and glory hereafter: who would not rejoice at this? If the family had been left a fortune they would have rejoiced, but they had found more than all the world’s wealth at once in finding a Savior, therefore were they glad. I have no doubt that their joy was permanent and continued. That household is now in glory: they are all there—the jailer, and his spouse, and his children, and his servants; they are all there, for is it not written, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved?” They were obedient to that word, and they are saved.

“Will my family be there?” Will yours be there? Turn it over in your minds, my brothers and sisters, and if you can give the happy answer, and say, “Yes, by the blessing of God, I believe we shall all be there,” then, I will ask you to serve God very much, for you owe him very much. You are deep debtors to the mercy of God, you parents who have godly children. You ought to do twice as much; nay, seven times as much for Jesus as any other Christians. (Sermon abridged)

FAR EASTERN BIBLE COLLEGE

FEBC continues to press on in the work of training students who have answered God’s call to the ministry of His Word. While many Bible colleges and seminaries are defecting from the Faith, even denying the present perfection of the Holy Scriptures, FEBC remains unwavering in affirming the Bible to be forever infallible and inerrant, inspired and preserved as a whole and in its parts right down to the last word and syllable (Ps 12:6, 7; Matt 5:18). FEBC upholds the traditional Hebrew Masoretic Text and the Greek Textus Receptus to be the authentic and authoritative Scriptures, and the Authorised Version or King James Bible to be the most faithful and accurate translation of those authentic and authoritative Scriptures.

This semester, the College has 104 day- time students (49 full-time, 55 part-time) from 13 countries: Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Tanzania, and Vietnam.

The Basic Theology for Everyone (BTFE) courses held on Monday and Thursday nights continue to attract a good crowd. The Monday night class on Leviticus has attracted 249 students, and the Thursday night class on Calvin’s Institutes (Part I) is attended by 144 students. Our BTFE students come from 47 different churches in Singapore.

FEBC continues to see increasing enrolment in its distance learning programme. There are a total of 99 distance learning students taking one or more of the online courses offered this semester, namely, Charismatism, 2 Kings, and Ecclesiastes.