I would like to speak specifically to the heads of households. In the Bible most of those who bore some responsibility were the heads of households. The head of a family has the special responsibility before God for bringing his whole household to the Lord and to His service. You need to take your stand as the head of your family to declare that your household will believe in the Lord and that you will not tolerate anyone who will not believe. The head of the household can decide for his entire household. Even if the little children do not believe, you can still say that your household will believe in the Lord, because this household is yours and not your children’s. You are responsible for your household, not your children. You can declare Joshua 24:15 before the Lord and before your whole family: “As for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah.” You have to acknowledge that your family is a believer’s family. You need to declare this by faith, and you need to put your wife and children on this ground. Always lay hold of this fact: I am the head of my family, and my family will believe in God. My household will not believe in the devil. I have decided that this family will be a family that worships God. I have decided that this family will be a family that believes in the Lord. If you declare this with faith, and if you exercise your authority to take the lead, your children will go along.
I believe the head of every household should make the declaration of Joshua 24:15. You should gather your children and dependents together and tell them, “As for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah.” Then as long as you are in the household, your household will serve the Lord. The household is yours, and you have the power to decide whether this house will serve the Lord. When you take this stand, everyone who is under you will come to the Lord; they will have no other way to take. This is marvelous!
I read about this in the Bible in my earlier days, but I did not have much experience of it then. Thank the Lord, when I was in England, He provided me the opportunity to meet brothers who also believed in household salvation. I found dozens of families here and there where whole households were Christians. This gave me a very deep impression. God works according to the way man believes. Among them almost every household experienced household salvation. “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household.” There were very few exceptions among them. They were all saved by households—father, mother, wife, children, and all. I was very amazed as I spoke to them one by one.
Once I visited Mr. George Cutting, the author of the famous booklet “Safety, Certainty, and Enjoyment.” The best-selling book in the world is the Bible. The second best-selling book is this booklet. Although it is small, it is one of the most widely circulated books in the world. When I met Mr. Cutting, he was over eighty years old. His hair and beard were all white. He was in bed all the time, and his mind was not very clear. When I met him, he said, “Brother Nee, I cannot live without Him, and He cannot live without me.” He had such a deep fellowship with the Lord. Thank the Lord, there were over eighty members in his household. All of them were saved. Every one of his sons, daughters-in-law, grandsons, granddaughters, nephews, nieces, great-grandchildren, old or young, male or female, were saved. George Cutting himself believed in the word: “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household.” His whole household was saved.
George Cutting was very serious about this matter. He paid much attention to household salvation, not just individual salvation. He had at least eighty to ninety people in his household. All of them were saved. Thank the Lord, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household.” Faithful is the word.