The Importance of the Home in God's Economy
Messages for the Perfecting of Parents — "Home" Series
Message One
Set out below are twelve points that paint a complete picture, helping us to recognize how vital a place the home holds in God's economy.
I. The Home — The Unit of God's Allotment in the Divine Economy
Gen. 2:18 — And Jehovah God said, It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper as his counterpart. Gen. 2:24 — Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
After re-creating the heavens and the earth, what God most rejoiced in was not a perfect, fine universe — what His heart desired was to gain man. So after He made man He said, "It was very good." Very good was very good — yet Jehovah also said, "It is not good for the man to be alone." God had His "very good" creation; how could He still say it was not good for the man to be alone? This shows that the joy of God's heart is not just in one person; what God rejoices in is a home.
On earth, when we speak of a good nation or a good society, there must first be sound families. But why does a sound family produce a good nation and society? Because, according to the Scriptures, the original desire in God's heart was a home. When God said it was not good for the man to be alone, He took a rib from his side and built it into a woman — and thus a sweet home was formed.
After this, God saw that man would leave father and mother, cleave to his wife, and the two would become one flesh. From God's original heart we recognize deeply what God wants: He wants to gain on earth a sweet home in order to complete His divine economy. Within us we need a clear recognition of what God's heart is set upon — to see that God cannot accomplish His economy apart from the home; nor can He carry out His divine will without it.
II. The Home — The Unit for Living the Church Life, Entering the Ark
Gen. 7:1 — Then Jehovah said to Noah, Come into the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this generation. Heb. 11:7 — By faith Noah, having been divinely instructed concerning things not yet seen and being moved by pious fear, prepared an ark for the salvation of his house, through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
The home is also the basic unit for entering the ark and living the church life. In Genesis 6, when God saw that all the earth was corrupt, His heart was to call out from the corrupt earth a company of people after His heart. So in chapter seven He said to Noah, "Come into the ark, you and all your household." Noah was righteous in God's eyes and most reverent — yet the righteous man was Noah alone, while the ones who entered the ark were Noah's whole household. Here we see again how God's commitment is to the home and the joy His heart takes in it. The righteous is one person, but those who entered the ark were the whole family. As Hebrews 11:7 confirms — Noah, by faith, prepared an ark for the salvation of his house. Those rescued by the floodwaters were not the righteous Noah only, but Noah's whole house — and this is the most basic unit of the church life.
From experience we have all observed: when one brother loves the Lord, or one sister, alone, things may not be sweet; but when the brother loves the Lord and the sister keeps pace, then it becomes truly sweet. If husband and wife are in one accord, the children too will easily pass through a sweet church life — and that home becomes a wonder of admiration to all. In the church life, when there is a sweet home, the locality recovers and is restored. Because at the very heart of God is a desire to gain a family that loves Him — these are the basic units through which the divine economy is carried out.
III. The Home — The Unit of God's Salvation
Ex. 12:3 — Speak to all the assembly of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month each man shall take a lamb according to his fathers' house, a lamb for a household. Ex. 12:4 — And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor next to his house shall take one according to the number of the persons in the houses; according to each man's eating you shall make your count for the lamb. Ex. 12:5 — Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Ex. 12:6 — And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; and the whole congregation of the assembly of Israel shall kill it at twilight. Ex. 12:7 — And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. Josh. 2:19 — And anyone who goes forth from the doors of your house into the street, his blood will be upon his own head, and we will be innocent. And whoever is with you in the house, his blood will be upon our heads if a hand should come upon him. Josh. 6:17 — And the city shall be devoted to Jehovah for destruction, it and all that is in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in her house, because she hid the messengers we sent.
The home is also the unit of God's salvation. According to Exodus, at the time of the passover God commanded the people of Israel to take the lamb on the basis of the home: one lamb per household, and to put the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and on the lintel — declaring that the result of the gospel salvation, in fact, falls upon the whole house. According to Exodus 12, the eating of the passover lamb was according to the home. If the household was too small to consume one lamb, then they should join with the next-door neighbor to share it.
Furthermore, the blood of the passover lamb is put on the doorposts and on the lintel of the house in which they live — not on each individual person. This shows that the Christ who is the passover Lamb is for not only individuals but also the home. Therefore, to take the passover only as individuals would be against God's economy. If we do not consider the whole household as the unit of God's salvation, we depart from the principle of His economy. (See The Exercise and Practice of the God-ordained Way, p. 9.)
In Joshua 6:17 we read the story of how the harlot Rahab received the spies of Israel: she hid them, and was therefore in line with God's economy — and the result was that what was saved was not herself alone. God ordered that everyone in her house was to live. Here we see, once again, that God's heart is not on isolated individuals — God's heart is set on home after home.
In the New Testament, the salvation of the whole household of the Philippian jailer is a particularly powerful confirmation that God's salvation is by household. Besides this, there are also the household of the nobleman (John 4:46, 53), the household of Crispus, a ruler of the synagogue in Corinth (Acts 18:8), and the household of Stephanas, another believer in Corinth (1 Cor. 1:16). Their stories of household salvation likewise prove that God's salvation is by household. This is God's heart toward sinners, something He delights in, and the goal the Lord's redemption aims to achieve. We must, like the saints of old, take part in God's heart, leading our whole house to be saved, in order to attain the goal of the Lord's redemption.
IV. The Home — The Unit for Keeping the Feast and Rejoicing
Deut. 16:11 — And you and your son and daughter, and your male servant and female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates and the sojourner and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst shall rejoice before Jehovah your God in the place where Jehovah your God will choose to cause His name to dwell. Deut. 16:14 — And you and your son and daughter, and your male servant and female servant, and the Levite and the sojourner and the orphan and the widow who are within your gates shall rejoice in your feast.
The home is also the unit for keeping the feast and rejoicing. Deuteronomy 16:11 and 14 tell us that the people of Israel were to keep the feast year after year — and the feast was kept not as individuals but as households going forward. This refers to the Feast of Weeks, that is, the Feast of Tabernacles. "You and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant" — all are to rejoice. Not only do individuals rejoice; sons and daughters rejoice together; even the menservants and maidservants in the household share in the rejoicing. From this we see that what God's heart cherishes is home after home: not only one's own sons and daughters, but even the servants in the home, on account of the family, share in the rejoicing.
In the church life and in special meetings, when a brother goes alone, he always feels something is missing. Likewise, when a sister goes alone, she finds it lacking. Especially if husband and wife can join together in the church life and attend the special meetings, the inwardness of the experience is far more wonderful. Every year-end as we have the year-end display, the atmosphere of the whole hall is unusually warm — beyond any other reason, because the families are gathered together. There is no other explanation. When you see one family of every size — and one family of every size — coming for the feast, enjoying it, this is the joy of God's heart: what God loves, what He rejoices in, is to gain home after home. Even the salvation that God has given is in fact according to the home; service is according to the home; even rejoicing — God hopes that it should be according to the home, with one whole family sharing together.
What follows, from points five through twelve, is a very clear picture: in the church life — in service, in gospel preaching, in feeding, in perfecting — the home is the best practical unit.
V. The Home — The Unit for Serving God
Josh. 24:15 — And if it seems wrong in your sight to serve Jehovah, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve, either the gods from across the River, whom your fathers served, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah. Num. 18:11 — This also is yours, the heave offering of their gift, even all the wave offerings of the children of Israel. I have given them to you and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a perpetual statute; everyone who is clean in your house may eat it.
Joshua 24:15 records Joshua's farewell declaration to the people of Israel. This word not only points out that he and his whole house are the object of God's salvific work; it also tells us that serving Jehovah on the basis of the home is the result of God's salvation. May this be the heart's vow of every one of us before God — and may we declare it to all the heavens and earth! (See Life Lessons, pp. 12–13.)
I want especially to speak a word now to those who are heads of families. According to the Scriptures, those who bear responsibility are mostly heads of families. The one who is a head of family must especially before God take a responsibility — to bring his whole house back to the Lord, and to bring his whole house into service. As the head of family, on the ground of the home, he must declare and break through. Even with a small child who does not yet believe, you can still tell the child, "I — and this whole household — am one that believes the Lord. For this whole family is something I take responsibility for, not he." You may stand on Joshua 24:15 and declare before God, before the children, and before the whole family: "As for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah." From that moment onward, it must be acknowledged: this family is a family that believes the Lord. You believe and stand on this declaration to speak — and you also let your wife and children stand on this position. No matter what, hold on to this one thing: I am the head of the family, and this family must believe the Lord. I, this household, cannot but pursue the divine reality. I have decided this: I revere God. I have firmly decided this: this is a family that believes the Lord. You declare with faith; you lead with authority — and you naturally bring your wife and children in.
I think Joshua 24:15 is the declaration every head of family ought to have. You bring your sons and daughters and those in your house under your charge — telling them, "As for me and my house, we will surely serve the Lord." For this whole household is yours; that one whole family serves the Lord — this is what you have decided. When you stand on such a position, you will see — those below cannot but follow; they have no way of escape. This is a wondrous thing! (See Lessons for New Believers, vol. 2, pp. 394–395.)
In Numbers 18:11, God said to Aaron, "This also is yours, the heave offering of their gift, even all the wave offerings of the children of Israel. I have given them to you and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a perpetual statute; everyone who is clean in your house may eat it." How wonderful — God's word here says, "I have given them to you and to your whole household." The heave offerings and wave offerings of the children of Israel were given to Aaron, and yet they were also given to all his house to serve as their everlasting portion. Once again we see the heart of God: through one person He desires to bestow grace and enjoyment on a whole household.
VI. The Home — The Most Suitable Place for Preaching the Gospel
Acts 10:2 — Devout and one who feared God with all his household, giving many alms to the people and beseeching God continually.
When it comes to serving God there are many aspects, but we say "Beget · Feed · Teach · Build" — and the first step is to beget life through the gospel. So as we look at the bullet points, the home is the most suitable place for preaching the gospel. The example given here is that of Acts 10: when Cornelius received the revelation from God, he sent men to fetch Peter — who at that moment was praying — and brought him back to the home, where they preached the gospel to the household, the relatives, and the close friends. Whether you love the Lord, or whether you have learned to preach the gospel, gospel preaching has many methods. In the old way of practice, when we wanted to preach the gospel, we drew people to come to the meeting hall. This practice has gone on for many years; we have surely received grace, but always there is a feeling of something missing. In our student-age experience we used a school classroom — and equally, there is the same lack. Where, then, is the best place to preach the gospel? The best is to open up the home.
The new way of practice takes the home as the unit. If we invite all our relatives, friends, and neighbors to come to the home, all are happy. If today does not work, change to tomorrow; if the morning does not work, change to the evening. This way it is very easy to bring those for whom we have a burden right into our home. Of course, this has now been practiced for many years; in our deepest part we say Amen! — the most suitable place for preaching the gospel is the home.
VII. The Home — The Unit for Believing and Being Saved
Acts 16:30 — And leading them outside, he said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Acts 16:31 — And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household. Acts 16:32 — And they spoke the word of God to him together with all those in his house.
In Acts 16, when the question of the Philippian jailer arose — when Paul and Silas, by God's help, sang hymns and praises in the middle of the night, and the prisoners listened, and the prison doors all opened, and the chains all fell off — the jailer was about to take his own life in panic. Paul said, "Do not harm yourself! we are all here." So the jailer said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Paul replied, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your house." The one who believes is you — but the one saved is your whole house. From this case study we discover: God's heart is on home after home.
VIII. The Home — The Most Suitable Place for Feeding New Ones
Acts 5:42 — And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and announcing the gospel of Jesus as the Christ.
After a person believes and is saved, he still needs to be fed. Acts 5:42 records that at the beginning of the church, three thousand were saved, and five thousand were saved. Today, if we want a great meeting hall, it is no easy matter; but back in those days, three to five thousand stood up at once — there were eight thousand of just the men, and the whole church was added together. It might have been almost ten thousand! If you wanted to find a public hall to gather such a multitude, this was an extraordinarily difficult matter. So God in His wisdom gave them a path of wisdom — house to house. At that time, house to house, they did not cease teaching and announcing Jesus as the Christ. After several centuries, the church lost what God had originally appointed; gradually it slipped, going downhill.
Praise the Lord! Since 1984 onward, since we have recovered the practice of the new way, we have seen that the home is the most important place in the practice of the new way. As far as feeding goes — when we have learned to feed in this way, we will sometimes invite saints to share a meal in the dining hall. But however attentive and warm one's hospitality at the meeting hall is, it is still not as sweet. To invite a small lamb to the home for feeding — there is no pressure, completely at ease; if there is time, share a simple meal; if not, have some fruit — and inwardly it feels truly warm. Through these years, we have come to believe and bear witness: the best feeding, the most convenient, the most timely, the most accessible, the place where everyone can be supplied — is our home. Our home is the best place for feeding.
Furthermore, home meetings will yield many positive influences. In the home meeting, every individual becomes a pursuer, a server, a preacher, a teacher, and naturally also someone who lives the church life and bears testimony. We hope to encourage that the home is opened up to be a meeting place. From the negative side: you yourself feel that there are some things in the house that need cleaning up; if you don't open up, those things either remain or remain for three more years. You may continue attending the larger meetings, but still have no feeling about those dark, hidden things. But if you open up your home, before you lose your temper at your wife, you will first think it over — you will remember that in another half hour the saints will be coming for the home meeting. This is speaking from the negative side. From the positive side, there are many more benefits and blessings. When the saints come to your home, they bring the Spirit; they bring Christ; and they bring many prayers, blessing your home. For example, one saint enters and says, "Lord, may You bless this family." Another says, "Bless this family — Lord, remember each one." When the Lord lends an ear to such prayers, you will receive many blessings.
You may say, "I am too weak; there is no way to open my home." But when you have opened the home, many strong people will come — the poor are perhaps poor, but those who come are rich. The home meeting will be your salvation — making the strong rich and the weak rich. The original Greek of Acts 5:42 indicates that they gathered house-to-house. So do not select certain promising families and only meet at those promising families. That is wrong. Every saint's home has hope.
We must all "open up our home." Find someone in the family to meet with — not necessarily picking up another person to meet with first; we can begin meeting with our own. We can meet with our wife and children. If we set up such meetings, our heart and spirit are stirred and kindled. First we ourselves are kindled; our heart and spirit are also burning, and many things are squeezed out. Therefore, do not say I am too weak, I cannot overcome my own self, I cannot overcome my temper, I cannot control myself, I cannot do this or that. Just simply set up a meeting in your home.
I have seen many examples — once you have set up a meeting in your home, the Holy Spirit will bring people in, and they will gradually come. Do you want to be sanctified? Set up a meeting in the home. Do you want to be spiritual? Set up a meeting in the home. Do you want to clearly understand the Scriptures? Without setting up a meeting in the home there is no way you will be able to be more clear about the Scriptures. The home meeting will surely cause you to pursue the truth and spiritual knowledge — yet at the very moment you pursue, hoping to teach others, you yourself are taught, you receive light, you receive feeding. I remember my own past: when I wanted to teach others, I myself opened the door and saw I needed to be taught. Today in the recovery of the Lord, the step we should take that is sure, single, and exclusive is to push the home meeting. This is the unique path.
IX. The Home — The Familial Relationship for Transmitting Faith
2 Tim. 1:3 — I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers in a pure conscience, while unceasingly I have remembrance concerning you in my petitions night and day, 2 Tim. 1:4 — Longing to see you, remembering your tears, that I may be filled with joy; 2 Tim. 1:5 — Having been reminded of the unfeigned faith in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded dwells also in you.
When we continually feed a new one, that one in the Lord gradually grows up, and we shall see he can become a person of faith. Hence Point Nine: the home — the familial relationship for transmitting faith.
In 2 Timothy 1:3–5, we see Paul testify concerning Timothy. He said that Timothy "follows in the footsteps" of his forebears, and serves God with the same pure conscience. Linked to Paul, Timothy serves God, having received from his forefathers. In other words, Timothy was raised up in a family with a pure conscience. Paul also said to Timothy, "Having been reminded of the unfeigned faith in you" — where did this faith come from? Paul continues, "…which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice." And he goes on, "I am persuaded, in you also." Here, we see that the unfeigned faith was first transmitted from the grandmother to the mother, and then from her to Timothy. How does faith continue to be transmitted? There must be a healthy family. A healthy family can transmit the spiritual reality from generation to generation.
Today in the practice of the church it is the same. Whenever a husband and wife are of one accord and the whole family loves the Lord, their children are easily kept in spirit; from a young age they live in the church life and receive a spiritual upbringing. So the home is the familial relationship for transmitting faith.
X. The Home — The Basic Unit for the Prayer Battle
1 Pet. 3:7 — Husbands, in like manner dwell together with them according to knowledge, as with the weaker, female vessel, assigning honor to them as also to fellow heirs of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.
In the church life, very often we need a spiritual prayer battle — and this prayer battle is not just spiritual warfare against fleshly people; the prayer battle the church most needs is the warfare against the evil spirits in the heavenlies. The pattern given here is 1 Peter 3:7 — on the one hand, we see the sister is the weaker vessel; on the other hand, she is also a fellow heir with us of the grace of life. Therefore, husbands must give the sister her proper honor, so that the husband's and wife's prayers are not hindered. From this we see that for the husband and wife together to pray, to be able to do spiritual warfare, requires the prayer of one accord.
In the prayer of spiritual warfare, who is the most convenient one to coordinate with? Although coordinating brothers also have unity, the most convenient companion is the one with whom we share a home — one's wife. The most convenient one for prayer in the household is one's spouse. In the spiritual realm too, the children clearly grasp how things should go. Every family wants the most convenient prayer companion in the household — and in our whole life, the longest companionship is that of husband and wife. They want to pray, but at times not necessarily together; yet the husband-and-wife prayer should have its time, and the most easily attained prayer at the right time is together. From this we see that the basic unit of prayer is the home.
XI. The Home — The Foundation and Condition for Serving the Church
1 Tim. 3:4 — One who manages well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity 1 Tim. 3:5 — (But if one does not know how to manage his own house, how will he care for the church of God?);
When a believer has been fed, his faith gradually grows up, and he learns the spiritual warfare; he sees again that he is to learn how to serve in the church. This passage spoken about the elders is especially meant for those who teach. Paul said how an overseer could go about managing the church — only if he could first manage his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. As Paul said, "If one does not know how to manage his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?" In other words: an overseer must first put his own house in order, then take care of the church.
But the question is, how does an overseer manage his house? We see the responsibility belongs to the brothers; the brother must be one who is in coordination with his wife — neither the wife alone nor the brother alone is the means; or perhaps it could be said that even though the brother is the one who manages, the way of managing is to be in mutual coordination, in mutual submission with his wife. Most importantly, the sister must be capable. A family of one accord — children easy to bring up, the children loving the Lord, obedient, listening — by our observation, is mainly not on account of the brother but on account of the sister. The principal reason is that the sister fully fulfills her portion, so that the home is at peace and harmonious. The home runs smoothly. To say it the other way around — when an overseer has a good home, the reason he can manage the family well is because of a good sister.
Therefore, the home becomes the foundation and condition for serving the church — and the sisters occupy a place no less important. Sisters must place importance on this. They must fully exhaust the function within the home, and so cause the brothers to serve without anxiety in the rear. Then, the brothers' service in the church will have a stable foundation.
XII. The Home — The Base for Church Meetings
Rom. 16:5 — And greet the church, which is in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the firstfruits of Asia unto Christ. 1 Cor. 16:19 — The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Prisca greet you much in the Lord, with the church, which is in their house. Col. 4:15 — Greet the brothers in Laodicea, as well as Nymphas and the church, which is in his house. Phlm. 2 — And to Apphia the sister and to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church, which is in your house:
There are also many beautiful patterns and examples here. In Romans, we see Priscilla and Aquila's home as the meeting place of the church. Then, in Philemon, we also see that Philemon's home was the meeting place of the church in Colossae. Why could it be this way? Because he had a sweet coordination — his wife Apphia, and a child who faithfully followed, Archippus. We believe that for the church in Colossae to meet in Philemon's home, Apphia surely occupied a very great function. Moreover, that Archippus did not wander outside but could coordinate in the church and in the home — I believe the function of the mother is the greatest. The home being opened up to become the base for church meetings — the sisters are by far the largest factor.
In the practice of the new way, the small group naturally gathers in the home; the vital group, too, is a unit based on the home. Only the district meeting, where there are many people, must — when there is no home that can be opened — meet on a rented site. But just look — places that we would borrow or rent for district meetings are always not as good as gathering together in a home. For example, if we have one district where the prayer-meeting is held in a meeting hall, after a long time we feel the number is not ideal; but for two or three months running, when we move to a saint's family home for the meeting, the number jumps up at once. The brothers and sisters seem especially to treasure the home meeting — and prayer also feels especially in the Lord's presence.
Therefore, "Home" in the whole divine economy occupies a most important place; and the whole reason a home can be feeding is that, in the church life, the sisters are the most basic, the most important factor. When a sister rises up to operate, when a sister rises up to fulfill her portion, then a home is built up — built up into a unit of blessing in God's divine economy.
— End of Message One —