Home a Sanctuary: August 2023
Table of Contents
Home, a Sanctuary
A Safe
sanctified Atmosphere
sorely Needed
for Child development
and Training
Under loving
parental Authority
for gRowing
Christian Youth
The Christian Home - a Bastion Against the World
Among the people of God, all down through the ages of man’s history, God has intended the home to be a haven of safety, warmth, godliness and love. When the church was formed, God provided another place of protection from the influence of the world, namely, the Christian assembly. Thus today we have both the Christian home and the Christian assembly as places of safety and refuge, away from the influences of an ungodly world. Satan has constantly sought to destroy these, and particularly in these last days. Nevertheless, God still expects what He has set up to provide protection for His people, and He will give us the needed grace to maintain them, if we look to Him. Since this issue of The Christian concerns the Christian home as a sanctuary, perhaps we can look at some of the practical entities that should characterize the Christian home, if it is to be a true shelter from all that is in the world.
The Word of God
First of all, the Christian home should be a place where the Word of God is honored, read, explained, and made a part of everyday life. As the world deviates more and more from what God has given us in His Word, so we need more and more to be familiar with God’s thoughts, as revealed in His Word. Parents should encourage this by reading the Word of God together and with their children. While every exposure to the Word of God is profitable, a family reading need not be simply a dry, formal reading of the Scriptures. Rather, the Bible should be read and then explained in practical terms and applied to everyday life, within the ages and maturity of the children involved. Also, every part of the Word of God should be read in a family context. Some parents may be reluctant to read certain parts of the Bible that deal with serious sin, but while the Lord does not hesitate to expose the wickedness of man’s natural heart, He does so by bringing it into the light of His presence and warning us about it. The Word of God never excites the flesh or gives rise to sinful thoughts.
Children should also be encouraged to read the Bible on their own. If children are old enough to read, they are old enough to read the Word for themselves and to allow the Lord to speak to them through it. In this way God’s Word becomes woven into the fabric of our lives, and, as an old brother used to say, we learn to “think in the language of Scripture.”
Peace and Rest
Second, the Christian home should be a place of peace and rest. We live and move in a world of confusion and turmoil, and there is scarcely any respite from it. We are in the last days. More and more the self-centeredness, covetousness and hatred of man’s natural heart is being manifested. We may have to live and move in such a world in order to get an education or make a living, but the character of the world should not be allowed to invade the Christian home. Our homes should rather be a haven from all of this, where the soul and spirit are refreshed and restored.
Parents must take the lead in all this and foster an attitude of calmness, peace and encouragement. Such things as anger, harsh words, bad moods, sinful attitudes and irritability must be carefully avoided. If we have been wrongly dealt with out in the world and have had a hard day, it is easy to bring all this home with us and corrupt the domestic environment too. Paul could remind the Ephesians, “Ye have not so learned Christ” (Eph. 4:20). We are beginning to see “the sea and waves roaring” (Luke 21:25), referring, no doubt, to the restless and troubled state of the nations, but our homes should be a calm harbor, free of all this.
A Place of Order
Third, the Christian home should be a place of order. God is a God of order, and we see this first of all in creation, then in His regulation of His earthly people in the Old Testament, and finally in His instructions to His church. Because God’s claims and His Word have been largely set aside, the world has increasingly become a place of disorder. It has even become fashionable in some circles to lead a disorganized and somewhat sloppy lifestyle, as if this were more likely to produce a proper result. In actual fact, it is really, at least in most cases, self-seeking and a lack of energy to do what is right. Discipline is set aside, and the end result is often an undisciplined attitude toward everything, including spiritual matters. Good habits do not all come naturally; they must be cultivated and practiced.
Of course, this can be carried to an extreme, which should be avoided. When our Lord was on earth, He had to tell Martha that she was “careful and troubled about many things,” because she was “cumbered about much serving.” It is possible to spend so much time on one aspect of our lives that we neglect something else that is more important. However, this is really a lack of order, for proper arrangements in our lives would take note of priorities and deal with them accordingly. All of this only emphasizes the need for discipline and order in the home. Again, this must start with parents, who must teach by both precept and example, and sometimes by discipline. Parents must remember that they cannot teach their children something that they have not learned themselves.
A Place of Holiness
Fourth, the Christian home should be a place of holiness. God has foretold us that in the tribulation period, right after the Lord comes and takes us home, the days will be like the days of Noah and Lot, where unbridled lust, violence and corruption were rampant. He has also given us a strongly-worded description of the last days in 2 Timothy 3:1-7, a condition of things that will lead into the tribulation period. God does not judge iniquity until it is fully ripe, and we know that the tide of evil in this world will eventually reach a crescendo before the judgment of God falls. We are already seeing this awful wave of sin beginning to rise, and, again, it is easy to allow it to affect our homes. No Christian family wants the wickedness of the world in the home, but modern technology, such as television, the Internet, and other electronic devices, tends to bring the world into our home. We cannot totally eliminate the use of at least some of these things, but they should be carefully controlled, realizing that it is not technology itself but rather the use man makes of it that causes harm. When we are exposed to the world in this way, it is very easy to adopt the world’s way of thinking and speaking — an attitude that will gradually deprive us of our joy in Christ.
Recreation and Activity
This brings us to our fifth point — proper recreation and activities for our families. It is a principle with God that He never takes something away from us without first giving us something far better in return, and it should be the same way in our homes. Children need what is given to us in Scripture as a type — honey. Honey speaks of the sweetness of nature, and throughout the Old Testament it is presented as that which enlightens and encourages, if taken in moderation. When Israel was pursuing the Philistines in the time of Saul, he forbad anyone to taste anything until his enemies were fully defeated. Jonathan, not knowing of the decree, tasted some honey he found and was refreshed. The rest of the people obeyed Saul’s order, but then dishonored the Lord by eating meat with the blood, because they were faint with hunger. In Proverbs we are told, “Hast thou found honey? Eat so much as is sufficient for thee” (Prov. 25:16). Too much honey is not good for the body, and too much of the things of nature can spoil us spiritually. However, to deny children recreation and the enjoyment of natural things will harm them spiritually as well. We are dead to sin and dead to the law, but Scripture never says that we are dead to nature, and it is most important to remember this with our children. Sinful and worldly pleasures should be carefully avoided, but children need exercise and play, and parents should provide for this.
The children of Israel were told not to “seethe a kid in his mother’s milk” (Ex. 23:19); that is, they were not to cook it in that which was designed for its nourishment. When we force the Word of God on children in an overbearing and legal manner or use it in a way that brings death instead of nourishment, we can be guilty of the same thing in principle. Let us by all means use every opportunity to bring Scripture before them, but also provide honey in suitable amounts. Games, outings, and other enjoyable activities should involve parents, if possible, and perhaps other Christian children. The Word of God wisely gives no rules as to all this, as details must be worked out before the Lord, taking all of our circumstances into account.
Teaching by Precept and Example
Finally, the home should be a place of teaching, not only by precept, but also by example. Parents should read the Word of God with their children, but children should also be encouraged to read the Scriptures on their own. Parents should teach their children good work habits and lead by example, in such things as order, finishing a job that is started, and keeping a bedroom clean. They should be taught early on the value of money and the proper use of it. The wild spending habits and consequent debt in many societies today can often be traced back to parents who did not teach their children properly, because they themselves were undisciplined in this area.
Parents should lead their children in service to others. Children can help cook and bake for others less capable, and they can also carry out thoughtful errands for neighbors or elderly friends. They need to learn early on that life is not “all about me.”
In the spiritual realm, children should be taught to evangelize. This may come easier for some families than for others, but in 2 Timothy 4, Paul told Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist.” Each one of us should be found “holding forth the Word of life” in our everyday lives; parents will teach this more by example than by precept.
Above all, a Christian household should be characterized by putting the Lord first in all things, so that it is clear to all who come in contact with it that “Christ is all, and in all.”
W. J. Prost
The Atmosphere of the Christian Home
The pervading influence in a home is often referred to as its atmosphere. When we enter a home, we readily feel whether there is the warmth of cordiality and friendship or a cold formality there. In like manner, the practical living and enjoyment of our Christianity will be felt by all who enter our homes.
In the realm of nature, the Egyptians had darkness in their homes while the plague of darkness covered the land, but by divine intervention the children of Israel had “light in their dwellings.” The same thing is true today in a moral and spiritual sense. We have the light of God, and where He Himself is enjoyed, those that “come in will see the light.”
When the Israelites obeyed the Word of God, there was a constant influence of the Word of God in their homes. They were instructed: “These words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates” (Deut. 6:6-9).
Happy Homes
If one had come into a home where all this had been followed, he would have said, “Happy is that people, whose God is the Lord” (Psa. 144:15). The occupants of such a home would have been living and breathing a God-fearing, God-honoring atmosphere, and children brought up in such surroundings would have been blessed indeed.
Our homes often tell a sad story of an attempt to mix the things of God and the things of the world. Do we speak together of the Lord’s things as those who have found “great spoil”? Those who find “great spoil” are like those who suddenly inherit great wealth and come into possession of mansions and other property. Such persons would most likely speak together of their newly found wealth and treasure when they sat in their home, when they walked by the way, when they went to bed, and when they got up. The psalmist rejoiced in God’s Word in like manner — “as one that findeth great spoil.”
Keep the Home Pure
How quickly a whiff of the world’s amusements will cause the godly atmosphere to disappear! Could we possibly enjoy and speak together of the Lord and His things and at the same time listen to the world’s entertainment coming into our homes? If we had been enjoying the things of God, the first sounds of Cain’s world would have the same effect as an icy blast from the north would have on a tropical plant. One of the devil’s masterpieces to get the world into the Christian home was the invention of television. More recently, the Internet and the social media connected with it have gone a step further, for if television brought the world into our homes, the Internet brings us out into the world. The walls and doors of our homes should shut the world outside so that we can quietly enjoy our hidden treasure, but Satan has found a way to get through the best walls and doors with all these things. As Timothy was exhorted, “Keep thyself pure,” may we paraphrase that and say, “Keep thy home pure.”
Love and Understanding
Another thing: Let us keep the atmosphere of the home such that the children shall find it the place where they are always welcome and wanted. On the outside, they will encounter the world bidding for their hearts and hands and feet, but the warmth and love of Christian parents and a Christian home will greatly offset its baneful influences. Home should be so attractive to them that they will want to be there. It should be to them the place where they can come with all their problems and all their joys and find a ready ear. Parents who are too busy to be companionable with their children defraud themselves of a great privilege, and they may unwittingly drive the children to the outside for that which they should have found in the home — love and understanding.
In these days of rush and struggle, parents are apt to relegate their children to a secondary place. The business of making a living or of having the home in perfect condition may take precedence over loving and attentive interest in the children. Sometimes parents set such standards in the style and furnishings of the home that children can scarcely live there. Children should learn to be careful with things in the home, for it is in the home that they learn how to conduct themselves, but the home should be their home, where they belong and where they love to be. Nothing will ever compensate for the loss of the child’s confiding trust in the parents, or for the loss of the child’s feeling “at home” in the home. Its sense of being loved and cared for will result in a reciprocal affection, the value of which is beyond computation.
Growing children need interests and occupations that are healthful and instructive; they have energies that need to be directed in right ways. When these are centered in the home or shared with the family, they will tend to forge a link that will withstand the pulling power of the world. A mere negative approach to the great problems will not suffice; one cannot say, “You cannot do this and cannot do that,” while giving no explanation that would instruct them in what is pleasing to the Lord or offering anything to them that they could properly do. We would stress the need of creating a home atmosphere of warmth, interest, and love, on the one hand, and of the fear of God on the other. But for all this the parents must be much cast upon the Lord.
P. Wilson (adapted)
Let Them Make Me a Sanctuary
When the children of Israel were delivered from Egypt and all that characterized it, God’s immediate desire was, “Let them make me a sanctuary: that I may dwell among them” (Ex. 25:8). The Israelites had been in Egypt for many years, and God had multiplied them greatly, but never in all their history there had God asked them to make Him a sanctuary. No, Egypt is a type of the world, and sadly, they had learned there how to worship idols (see Josh. 24:14). It was not a place where they could rightly serve God, or where they could build Him a sanctuary.
However, once they were in the wilderness and free from Pharaoh’s domination, as a redeemed people they were able to build a place where Jehovah could dwell among them. It was always God’s wish to dwell among His people, and although Israel could not approach God with the same nearness as that which we enjoy in this time of His grace, yet He wanted to dwell among them. The tabernacle and later the temple enabled God to do this, until Israel had so dishonored Him that, for His own glory, God was obliged to allow them to be carried into captivity. That beautiful temple that Solomon built was also destroyed.
The Home
Today, in this time of God’s grace, we know that “God ... dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men’s hands” (Acts 17:24-25). Rather, the assembly, as the house of God, is the “habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22). The Lord Jesus could say, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20). Our homes are not mentioned in this same way, but I believe that when we consider our homes, we are entitled to make an application of what the Lord said to Moses: “Make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.”
During our married life, my wife and I built two homes: that is, the homes were built according to plans that we submitted to the builder. Not only did we have to come up with the plans, but we had many other choices to make — such as what kind of floors we would have, what kind of light fixtures and plumbing fixtures we would use, and what colors we would paint the walls. Even if people buy a home that is already built, they often make some modifications to it, or have some renovations done. We all have our own ideas about what we would like in a home.
The Atmosphere of the Home
However, the Lord is not concerned about whether our home in this world is large or small, or whether it is furnished in a certain way. No, it is the atmosphere of our home that makes a difference to Him. When our Lord was here on earth, the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus in Bethany was evidently a place where He felt at home. Nothing is said in the Word of God about the size of that home or its furnishings. Rather, those who lived there created an atmosphere where our Lord could be comfortable and relaxed. It is significant that He went there just before He went to the cross, for it was a haven where He could be away from all that was being plotted against Him in Jerusalem.
I would suggest that, in the same way, the Lord looks for a sanctuary where He can find rest, in a world that has rejected and crucified Him. The house of God was to be, and still is, a habitation of God through the Spirit. However, in the sad history of Christendom, it has now become a “great house,” in which there is much of empty profession as well as reality (2 Tim. 2:20). A faithful believer cannot leave the great house, but he is obliged to separate from what dishonors the Lord in that house.
A Place for the Lord
We may speak of a home which is a sanctuary for us and our children, away from the influence of this world, but in order for this to happen, our homes must be places where the Lord Himself could find rest and peace. He must have the preeminence, for where He can be at home, we ought to be at home also. Amid the disorder and confusion in the great house, the Lord looks for Christian homes where His Word is honored, read and practiced, and where He too can find rest.
In the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, we read in John 12:2 That “there they made HIM a supper.” It was not merely that they made supper, and then invited the Lord. No, it would seem that the supper was made expressly for Him, while all the others partook of it too. This is giving Him the preeminence, for it was His supper. I realize that this incident is a type of what the remembrance of the Lord should be, but it should be like that in our homes too. Yes, there are certain things that we do for our own comfort, and there is nothing wrong with that. Yesterday my wife and I went out and ordered a new mattress for our bed, as the old one is sagging a little. But in the moral and spiritual realm, Christ must be before us, and not merely our own comfort, even in divine things. If we make our homes a sanctuary for Him, He will want to dwell among us. Then not only will we gain immeasurably from this, but our Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified.
W. J. Prost
Teaching the Little Children the Law of the Lord
Let us think of the godly father in Israel, teaching his little children the law of the Lord. In those days men did not have such nicely shaped books as we now have; the words of the law of God were written on long pieces of skin, wound up around a roller. The father would hold this roll and teach his children from it.
The God of Israel was very particular that the little children should be taught His commandments, as this one passage suffices to show: “Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law; and that their children, which have not known anything, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God” (Deut. 31:12-13). And none the less in these our days does our God look to godly parents to teach the young His holy Word. In the New Testament we find how that from his babyhood Timothy had known the holy Scriptures: His godly grandmother, Lois, and his mother, Eunice, instructed him well in the holy words which are able to make us wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus; and as we think of this, we can only say that the early training by a pious mother is the greatest blessing any child can have.
Searching the Scriptures
As well as the large rolls or books, there used to be little rolls for the children containing portions of the Scriptures, so that they might be made familiar with the great truths God has revealed, which the scripture says “belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29.) Indeed, the teaching of the Word of God to the children was not only insisted upon in the Scriptures, but was practiced diligently in Judea in the times of our Lord.
We would earnestly press upon every Christian parent the solemn necessity of teaching the children the great truths of the Bible. Children are always pleased to search out things in Scripture. They find great interest in looking out for themselves, or, if too young for that, with their parents, Bible truths as to the holy Trinity, the hatred of God against sin, the greatness of God’s love to sinners, the value of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the everlasting existence of man hereafter, and other great truths God has revealed to us.
Every child in every Christian home should know something at least of such truths, and we are assured that with a parent’s encouragement, the children would delight in searching the Scriptures. The Lord bids us search or explore the Scriptures! We look for things when with our children in our walks, and everything we find in nature fills us with interest. In the Word of God there are beauties and wonders on every page, but searching is needed. And in our day those children who have been grounded in the Word of God will rise up and call their parents blessed. In this day of growing infidelity, what greater joy can godly parents have than seeing their children delighting in the Word of God?
Faithful Words for Young and Old, Vol. 13
Privilege and Need
Which is greater in the Christian home, the need of the children or the privilege of the parents? It is not an easy question to answer, and balance is needed. Never has there been a time when children needed protection, loving care and instruction more than at the present time. Parents, now as always, have the privilege to protect and show loving care and to give instruction in righteousness to those in their family whom they love so much.
Parents need to have wisdom, energy, and a desire to fulfill their responsibility and privilege in their home. The wisdom for this is found in God’s Word. In prayer we can ask for the energy and desire to complete properly our responsibility and privilege with our children.
A Pattern
We find a pattern in Psalm 78. The first verse says, “Give ear, O My people, to My law: incline your ears to the words of My mouth.” It is not only, “Read my lips,” but it is clearly stated truth from God to which we are to pay attention. Then it speaks of “a parable” and “dark sayings of old.” These are proverbs and much wise instruction found throughout God’s Word. In short, we need the Bible! Do we read it? Frequently?
Verse 3 says, “We have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.” This is God’s way of passing on truth, wisdom and instruction from one generation to another. Where do you and I fit into this chain?
First, no doubt, it is as a child; then after some years as a parent. Later in the chain of privilege and responsibility it is as a grandparent. So in verse 4, “We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord.”
Again, we ask: “Which is greater in the Christian home, the need of the children or the privilege of the parents?”
Make Them Known
Verse 5 says, “He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children.” Then more follows: “That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children.” And it tells us why: “That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.”
Next, in verse 8, we are warned about failure in our human history: “Might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God.” Our children are exposed to this kind of people in their school life and in the neighborhood around us. Even rebellion is taught and put forth as “a right” that belongs to man.
These last days are perilous times (2 Tim. 3). These things are here now: “Men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good” (vss. 2-3).
Without telling you where to find it, but desiring that you will search for it and read more, we put down a few words from the wisest man who lived in this world, other than our blessed Lord Jesus. He said, “I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.”
C. Buchanan, Christian Treasury, Vol. 5
Holding the Fort, and Helping the Truth
“I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. ... If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds” (2 John 5,10-11).
An inspired epistle to a lady and her children! This short letter stands alone in this respect in the New Testament.
One of the last of the inspired writings, it emphasizes that in weakness God manifests His power. When men in times past abandoned the truth and failed the Lord, women stood firm and maintained the ground for God. This we see when Mary of Bethany poured her precious ointment upon Him, while His disciples quarrelled as to who should be the greatest. We also see it when Mary Magdalene stood alone at His empty tomb, while the rest sought the comfort of their own homes. These are examples of devotion that shall never be forgotten, along with the faithfulness of this nameless lady who held herself and her household for the Lord.
She may have lived in a great pagan city in which there may have been a Christian assembly; we do not know for sure. But whatever the condition of things where she lived, this lady and her children had remained faithful to the Lord. Thus it is not an exhibition of weakness which is given us in this epistle, but of “power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7). It is a blessed thing when a company of Christians continues steadfastly on its way in the same path, but in this case, it was a household that walked in the truth, and this greatly gladdened the heart of the Apostle.
The Doctrine of Christ
The instruction given here must be heeded by all saints who desire to be faithful to the Lord, whether individually or collectively, for the rigid exclusion of evil doctrine here spoken of is of paramount importance. But the letter was not written to an assembly of saints, but to a lady — possibly a widow — and her children. This should be great encouragement to us, for it shows what the grace and power of God can do for those who are dependent upon Him.
The attempts of the devil to break down this lady’s faithfulness to Christ had failed; he had not been able to capture her house. It had stood firm in the presence of his assaults, so he changed his tactics and tried to accomplish by subtlety that which he had failed to do by force. The Apostle knew of this, and he wrote to her to warn her that if any came to her house in the guise of a Christian minister, yet not bringing the doctrine of Christ, her doors were to be barred against him.
The Atmosphere of Love
But there was another danger that threatened from within, and they needed to be reminded of the commandment of the Lord. John had often pressed it upon them, but now he writes the same thing to them: “That ye love one another.” Love is also the atmosphere in which the children of God live and thrive; it is the power that inspires all true activity. Apart from this a man is nothing, even though he may stand rigidly for purity of doctrine. What pleasure could the Lord find in a man who, while he refused all complicity with a heretic, did not love his brethren?
Where the Lord’s command is kept, whether in the assembly or the household, there He is supreme. But here it is not only the Lord’s commandment, but the Father’s. How wonderful that grace should have set the saints in the path of obedience to the Father’s will — a path trodden perfectly by the Lord when here, and in which we are to be His followers! In His lowly obedience to His Father’s command, He was maintained by the Father’s hand and abode in His Father’s love. And we also, if our hearts are set for this path, shall find help from that same most blessed source of all blessing! Let us contemplate it in the presence of God our Father and fear no more either the power or subtlety of the devil, for from it we learn that the assembly, household or individual that is set upon walking in the truth is the object of the Father’s special care.
Walking in Truth
“Walking in truth” does not mean that we merely hold the doctrines of Christianity intact. It involves this, surely, but it is more; it is obedience to the Father and love to one another. Further, as the letter reveals, it means resisting all attempts to introduce subversive teaching contrary to that which we have learned from the beginning.
Obedience to the Father’s command will result in love to one another and make us valiant for the truth. True love does not wink at evil. It is not that weak and false charity that preaches a universal brotherhood and runs with any man who is plausible and popular, no matter what his doctrine may be. Such charity as that is of the devil, produced by modern looseness in spiritual matters. What an amazing thing it is that in Christendom every God-dishonoring and Christ-denying doctrine that was ever propagated beneath the sun should find a home! And yet it is the fulfillment of the parable of the great mustard tree in which the foul birds of the air find a lodging (Matt. 13:31-32). We should not be taken by surprise when we find it so.
Evil Without – Truth Within
True love is jealous for the truth. It will not bid the heretic “God speed.” It will withdraw from him, and avoid those associations where he is tolerated. He who denies the truth of Christ is a deceiver and an antichrist, and to hold intercourse with him is to play the traitor to the Lord. True love will close the door against the evil teacher, for it knows that if Christ is to be kept in, the deceiver and antichrist must be kept out. It also knows that if evil teaching is admitted, the very springs of life will be poisoned and that all true godliness will wither and die, for he who “abideth not in the doctrine of Christ has not God.” If God be taken from us what life do we have! So, as a mother would refuse to allow polluted or poisoned food to come into the house and upon the table where her children feed, true love will keep far distant all that is not the truth. And if this cannot be done in the church at large, then it must be done in the Christian home; it is the privilege and responsibility of the head, as well as of each member of it, to be valiant and diligent in this regard. May the grace and mercy of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, maintain many in the truth until we see the Savior face to face, when our joy will be full.
J. T. Mawson (adapted)
Witnessing for Christ
I remember once coming away from a Christian home when this thought struck me: The name of the Lord Jesus Christ was not once mentioned! It brought to mind the words of a beloved aged brother: “There is no such thing as a purely social visit.”
To make and return visits is a kindness, sometimes needful, and ought to be an encouragement, but it is sad if Christ is left out of the conversation. An evening or a day spent in relaxation or visiting without one word about Christ and not one thought of God in the heart is an awful blank and waste of time.
Although when visiting one another we do not seek to “preach,” yet we should always meet to encourage one another, and a serious word “fitly spoken” might shine “like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” And even though what we say or our Christian conduct may at times produce a laugh, nevertheless the Lord’s approval and the testimony of a good conscience is sufficient.
If unavoidably the company we are in is such that we cannot introduce a serious thought or word about our Savior, let us be happy that it cannot prevent our quietly communing with Him above. Circumstances may surround us and limit our actions, but they cannot roof us in and prevent our looking up!
Ichabod Homes
On how many homes and at how many tables, it may be, is “Ichabod” to be written: “Christ is not here; His glory is departed.” At whatever table our Savior sat while on earth, the company was sure to be fed with some heavenly dishes of sacred truth. So should it be our constant endeavor never to leave anyone the worse for our having been there, but the better. Why should we not be as earnest about our Savior and precious souls as the carnal Christian and the unbeliever are about their pursuits?
Recently in talking to a gentleman newly converted to Christ, he told me what had been the means to lead him to the Lord. In the normal course of his business, he came in frequent contact with a young Christian girl. He said, “It wasn’t so much what she said that attracted my wife and me to her, but that in her attitude and actions we could see that she had something that was real and alive. What drew us was Christ seen in her.”
This is a testimony we well might envy. Let us ask ourselves, Do those with whom we meet, work, visit and converse see something different—something of Christ in us?
Something of Christ in Us
Witnessing for the truth is not trench warfare. Those who stand for Christ must stand out in the open! Is it not sad that so many of us are like the stream that dries up in summer and freezes up in winter? I wonder what we would talk about with those whom we meet if we knew that this might be the very last conversation with them. Would it be politics, our work or sports? No, I don’t believe so. We would discuss vital issues — the coming of Christ and eternal matters. Our Lord is coming one of these moments. Our next conversation may well be our last. We are to shine as lights in a dark place, and what He is to our hearts is really the essence of what we should say, and would surely be seen in our walk and ways.
Everywhere and all the time, at home or visiting, and in every company, we should do all to the glory of God. He gives us all that we enjoy below, and He will soon make us to sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb where the conversation will savor entirely of Him and enrapture our hearts forevermore.
Christian Truth, Vol. 28
Guarding the Home
The Lord Jesus loved the church and in return is loved by the church. It tells us, “We love because He has first loved us” (1 John 4:19 JND). His love is the stronger love. He loves us far more than we love Him. And so the pattern that is shown us in Genesis is that Adam was held responsible. He was called upon to till his garden, but he was also called upon to guard it. How important this is! The husband has that place of responsibility before God to guard his home. Just as there is an enemy who seeks to introduce what is false and what is worldly into the assembly, so there is an enemy who wants to introduce what is false and of the world into our homes. We are to guard our homes and not allow into those homes that which is going to become a source of heartache and sorrow, that which can only result in dishonor to the Lord.
“The Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:16-17). It is important to see that this commandment was given to the man; it was not given to Eve. This is all tied together with the place of responsibility that the husband has in the Christian home. To till it and to guard it are his responsibility as the head of his home, to ensure that his home is ordered in a way that is obedient to the Word of God.
J. Brereton
Children in the Family
It is a principle with God that He never takes away something without giving us something better in return. While we cannot prevent our children’s exposure to this world (nor should we attempt entirely to do this), we can give them something better to fill their hearts and minds — things which are of eternal value. This means more than simply reading the Word of God to them and praying with them. These things surely are most important, but the Christian is meant not only to take in, but also to give out. An old brother used to remark that if we were more diligent in the work of the Lord, we would not have time to get into so much trouble and sin in our lives. So much of today’s electronic and social media is a “time waster,” and our time down here is so precious, in view of our Lord’s near return. Let us center our lives around the Lord and be found not only learning more of Him, but teaching our children how to use their time for the Lord and for the help and blessing of others. If we look around us, we will find that there is no lack of opportunity for us to do this. Then we will find, with the Lord’s help, that “our whole spirit and soul and body” will be “preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:23).
W. J. Prost
Good Soil for Growing
The Christian home should be the soil where Christian character grows.
Christian Shepherd, 2000
Wisdom to Apply His Word
We seek to serve our own generation by the will of God (Acts 13:36). The Word of God is always the present truth and suited to the needs of this generation when guided by the Spirit in speaking it forth. The moral ways of God do not change with dispensations, but wisdom is needed in applying His Word. The enemy seems to be making a special attack on the Christian home and assembly, and we should not be ignorant of his devices (2 Cor. 2:11).
J. N. Darby
Better Things
There were six in the room where death had been;
The little maid was one,
Two were the parents with broken hearts,
For all they could do was done.
Three were the pitying men who came
To the house where the dead child lay,
And death was stronger than all of them,
For death had had its way.
The power of man and the strength of man
Were vain to help or save,
And the mother-love could not restore
The life that once she gave.
But Life had followed the feet of death
To banish man’s despair,
And the child came back from the gates of the grave;
There were six, and Jesus — there.
The Raising of Jairus’ Daughter, Mark 5:35-42
A. J. Flint
And Jesus
We find in the fourth chapter of Genesis that God introduced children. Cain was born into the family of Adam and Eve. “She conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord” (vs. 1). The name Cain means acquired. How many dear Christian parents have looked upon their firstborn and said, “How wonderful, we have gotten a child from the Lord.” Another has said, “Whatever Eve’s own condition as believing the promise, what she says at the birth of Cain was the expression of the thought that the fulfillment of promise was in nature, which could not be. Sin was there and death, and the judgment of the hope of promise connected with nature had come in. ‘I have gotten a man from Jehovah’ was faith in promise.” But sinful human nature cannot protect either the home or the children in it. And Cain had to go out from the presence of Jehovah. We must learn, “Unless Jehovah keep the city [the home], the keeper [the parents] watcheth in vain” (Psa. 127:1).
When Eve had the second-born child, it tells us, “She again bare his brother Abel” (vs. 2). The name Abel simply means vanity. There is a real message here. If we look upon the children whom the Lord has put into our families as something simply that we have gotten from the Lord, we are not looking upon them in the way God intends us to. Cain, the first man born into this world, ended up as a murderer. He killed his own brother. Did Adam and Eve have any responsibility for what Cain did to Abel? Indeed they did. I have no doubt that Adam and Eve realized, as they saw the body of their dead son, just what the enormous consequences were of losing the garden. Adam allowed into the garden that which he was supposed to guard against, and it resulted in this tragedy of seeing Abel dead and Cain going out from the presence of the Lord.
This should speak to our hearts, particularly to those of us who have young children. We should not allow anything to come into our homes that is going to stop that flowing of the river that God intends to be in the home, or that is going to cost us our garden. Adam was responsible, as the head of his home, to guard it. In his children he reaped the consequences of his failure to exercise that responsibility.
John Brereton (adapted)