1. A couple of months ago, the Sword of the Lord published a sermon by a great preacher from the past, John Linton (1888-1965) -- "Getting Your Family In" (March 14, 2014).
2. Mr. Linton used as his text Acts 16:31. He stressed that preachers and soulwinners should not leave out those last three words -- "and thy house."
3. Note the repetition here in verses 31-34 -- "thy house...in his house...he and all his...into his house...with all his house."
4. When I read John Linton's sermon, I immediately thought that some readers would misunderstand him. He was not suggesting that if a person gets saved, automatically his family will get saved too.
5. So I was not surprised when the Sword published an explanation a few weeks later, in response to many complaints from readers.
6. I appreciate John Linton's emphasis, and this Mothers Day I want to preach about how mothers can win their families -- husbands and children, as well as other relatives -- to Christ.
7. Certainly this is emphasized in Scripture. Noah was able to get his family on the ark.
8. Rahab the harlot said to the two Jewish spies, "Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token: And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death" (Joshua 2:12, 13).
9. And we see in Joshua 6 that God honored her request (cf. 6:17).
10. It was Joshua himself who said, "But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD" (Josh. 24:15). We need more men like Joshua!
11. The Bible teaches that the husband is the head of the home. First Corinthians 11:3 says, "But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God."
12. Ephesians 5:23 says, "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body."
13. Sadly, many husbands are not properly functioning as the head of the home because they are not saved. So this Mother's Day, I would like to preach on how mothers can win their families -- husbands and children, as well as other relatives -- to Christ.
14. By the way, I Peter 3:1-2 teaches that a godly submissive wife can win her unsaved husband to Christ by their "conversation" (conduct).

I. IT IS A BLESSING SEEING THE ENTIRE FAMILY SAVED

1. Note the word, "rejoiced" (Acts 16:34). We see this several times in the book of Acts. In Acts 10, an angel said to Cornelius, "Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved" (cf. Acts 11:13, 14).
2. And in Philippi, Lydia and her household were saved first, before the Philippian jailer and his household (Acts 16:14, 15).
3. When Paul and Silas added, "and thy house," they were saying that the blessings of salvation are offered to the entire family as well as to the individual.
4. This does not mean that the Philippian jailer's family would be saved automatically simply by his believing; but that he could direct his family to Christ.
5. And that is exactly what he did (Acts 16:31-34).
6. Paul and Silas were drawing his attention to his family. The Philippian jailer was reminded that his family members also needed to be saved, and he was given the assurance that if they heard the Gospel and believed, they would be saved.
7. Second Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
8. God is not willing that any unsaved husband or dad or wife or mother or child or mother-in-law or father-in-law should perish!
9. "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise." The "promise" in II Peter 3 specifically refers to our Lord's promise to return. But remember, the Lord keeps all His promises!
10. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened" (Luke 11:9, 10).
11. Some Christian wives have been asking, and have been fervently praying, and yet their husbands and their children are hard and stiff-necked and as cold as ice.
12. Perhaps the situation calls for prayer and fasting (cf. Matthew 17:14-21).

II. CLAIM THE PROMISES OF GOD

1. When my wife was saved as a high school student, she claimed Acts 16:31 for her Roman Catholic family and they were all saved.
2. We claimed it for our children and they were all saved.
3. Now we are claiming it for our grandchildren!
4. When studying the Bible, we need to remember there is always one correct interpretation, but there could be many applications. I know a man who got saved listening to a pastor preach a message from Malachi 3:8 -- "Will a man rob God?"
5. The man was greatly convicted because he was a thief. The context of Malachi 3:8 deals with believers not paying their tithes and offerings, but the Holy Spirit convicted this thief and he was gloriously saved.
6. Today he is a pastor.
7. Here is a more appropriate example: A Christian lady was burdened for her unsaved children. A Christian friend, knowing of her heavy burden, joined with her in praying for her children.
8. One day, while this friend praying and reading her Bible, she came upon these five words at the end of Isaiah 49:25 -- "I will save thy children." She was so excited she rushed over to her friend's house to share this Scripture with her.
9. Now, the interpretation of this verse in its proper context is that the people of Israel will be delivered from their oppressors when the Lord Jesus returns to establish His millennial kingdom.
10. But the application brought great peace to this woman. She claimed God's promise; she continued to pray; and all her children were eventually saved.
11. Many of us are greatly concerned about the nearly 300 Christian girls kidnapped by Muslim terrorists in Nigeria. Perhaps this Scripture could encourage some of these distraught parents -- "But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children" (Isaiah 49:25).
12. F.B. Meyer said, "We must have a promise in our hand. This is the true method of dealing with God. Search the Bible for some holy word which exactly fits your case. It will not be hard to find one, since it abounds with personal incidents, culled from every conceivable variety of life. Then, when it has been discovered, and perhaps borne in on you by the divine Spirit, take it with you into the presence of God, or place your finger upon it as pass into the presence-chamber with hushed and reverent step. The promises are our inventory of possession, and our need should make us look up for and claim the blessing intended to meet it" (Secret of Guidance).

III. GOD HAS ALREADY SANCTIFIED THE FAMILY MEMBERS (I COR. 7:13-16).

1. First Corinthians 7:14 teaches that an unsaved man with a Christian wife is set apart unto God in spite of himself.
2. He may be a wicked scoffer, a drinker or a gambler, etc. but God has sanctified because of his Christian wife.
3. First Corinthians 7:14 refers to the influence of the saved wife upon the unsaved husband, and the influence of the saved husband upon the unsaved wife.
4. The unsaved husband is "sanctified by the wife" (7:14).
5. Now, there are different senses of sanctification in the Bible. Here the apostle Paul is referring to sanctification in the sense of the believing wife, because of her faith, the husband and other members of the family are in a sanctified state.
6. What this means is that they have a privileged opportunity by their contact with a Christian. The unsaved spouse and the unsaved children benefit from the saved family member(s).
7. It is in this sense that they are said to be "sanctified."
8. There is a great opportunity to win them to Christ (I Cor. 7:16).
9. It is the plain duty of the Christian wife to seek the salvation of her husband and children, and other relatives.
10. The great preacher H.A. Ironside said, "When God saves you, it is evident He wants to save your whole house" (Acts). "I may be addressing wives who are breaking their hearts over unsaved husbands. Will you not take comfort from this, 'The unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife'? Or I may be addressing husbands who are grieved because the wives that they love are still out of Christ. You too may be comforted, for 'the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband.' Keep on praying, keep on bearing them up before God, believing that if He has saved you out of an unconverted family, it is because He wants the whole household for Himself. That is what is indicated when the pagan jailer cried, 'What must I do to be saved?' and the answer came ringing and clear, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house' (Acts 16:31). In other words, God is saying, 'Jailer, I not only want you, I not only want to cleanse your heart, but I want to make your household a Christian one, a testimony to My grace right there in Philippi,' and so it came to pass. So keep on praying. And your children are sanctified because they have a father or a mother, as the case may be, to take them to God in prayer and to teach them the Word of God, and you can count on Him to bless that ministry to them by bringing them eventually to Christ" (I Corinthians).
11. Just as Acts 16:31 does not teach unsaved family members are automatically saved, neither does I Corinthians 7. However, both these passages remind us that God delights in saving whole families.
12. God is displeased and God is dishonored when an unsaved husband (or wife) stays home from church, and the Christian wife comes to Sunday School and church services without him.
13. What a great harvest we could see -- yea, what a great revival we could see -- if some of these unsaved husbands would get right with God!
14. According to a Hartford Institute for Religion Research report, more than half the churches in the U.S. are in stagnation or decline, and more than 4,000 close down every year.
15. The Institute’s report finds that while 40% of Americans say they attend church weekly, only 20% do, based on actual attendance. (Many are lying about their church attendance!)
16. Most "megachurch" growth is from absorbing attendance of closed or dead churches. It’s not caused by soulwinning.
17. I think the main problem is unsaved dads and unsaved husbands.
18. Furthermore, some men are saved but they are weak -- they do not attend evening services, don't tithe, don't go soulwinning, etc.
19. Many don't even pray or read the Bible!

CONCLUSION:

I think oftimes, as the night draws nigh,

Of an old home on a hill,

Of a yard all wide and blossom-starred

Where the children played at will;

And when the night at last came down,

Hushing the merry din,

Mother would look around and ask,

"Are all the children in?"

'Tis many and many a year since then,

And the old house on the hill

No longer echoes to childish feet,

And the yard is still, so still;

But I see it all as the shadows creep,

And though many the years have been,

Since then I can still hear mother ask,

"Are all the children in?"

I wonder if when the shadows fall

On the last short, earthly day,

When we say good-bye to the world outside,

All tired with our childish play;

When we step out into that Other Land,

Where mother so long has been,

Will we hear her ask, just as of old --

"Are all the children in?"  -- Florence Jones Hadley