Encouragement Page
22 May 2005

The RPG writing for 29.4.2005 was on Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman recorded in the gospel of John. The notes explained that "No sinner is beyond the reach of Christ the Saviour. He reaches out to all, respected men like Nicodemus, social outcasts like the Samaritan woman." My instant reaction was to wish that our Saviour has also reached out to my dad.

While doing my QT that morning, dad was warded in Singapore General Hospital for heart problem. He was admitted a few days earlier for breathlessness. Doctors concluded that he had a heart attack and internal bleeding. It was not his first hospitalization but this time it was more serious. He was frail and tubes had to be inserted into his nose to help him breathe.

Thank God for preserving him. He was discharged on 2.5.2005. Would he capitalize on the extension of time to confess his sin and receive Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Saviour?

I rejoice whenever members bring their parents to church. To me it is a very special blessing for a family to be saved, and a privilege to be able to serve God actively as a family. For those of us who have unsaved loved ones, I am sure it is also your desire for them to be part of God’s family. But, will they be saved?

It is certain that the family unit is established by God. Didn’t He create Adam and Eve as a family? It is of great comfort to know that God desires to save the household. This was demonstrated by His instructions to Noah to build the ark. It was not to save Noah alone but his whole family (Heb 11:7). The angels who went to get Lot out of Sodom, hastened Lot to take his wife and two daughters with him after his sons-in-law mocked at his plea (Gen 19:14-15). In another example, Joseph consoled his brethren that it was God who had sent him before them to save their lives (Gen 45:7). In the New Testament, there was the salvation of Lydia and her household (Acts 16:14-15) and the Philippian jailor and his family (Acts 16:31-32).

Our longsuffering God wants our family to be saved. However, they must make their own decisions (Rom 10:9–10) and be responsible to God. Although it is their personal decision and responsibility, He has given us an important part to play in their salvation. Our lives must be exemplary. We must expose them to the gospel as often as we can. We must also pray that their spiritual eyes may be opened and their hearts receptive to the gospel.

If God should bless us with the salvation of our loved ones, our appropriate response is to serve Him as a family. In his sermon on household salvation, CH Spurgeon pointed out that after the Philippian jailor and his household were saved, they were actively serving God. Even though it was midnight, they took Paul and Silas from the cell into their home and washed them and provided them with food (Acts 16:32-34). According to Spurgeon, "it is a great mercy when you have a family saved and baptised, if the whole household sets to work to serve God, for there is something for all to do." How true!

It is heartening to observe that in our church quite a few households are already serving God actively. Each one of them is an example and encouragement to us. Recently, I was immensely uplifted by the testimonies of one of our elders and his wife. The elder shared that in spite of his physical health, it is his desire to serve God wherever He leads. His wife added that her call is to serve God behind the scene by supporting her husband wholeheartedly. She does so by praying for God’s strength to sustain him and to do her best to help him focus on his service for God. As for their children, they are serving God actively in their respective ministries.

It is God’s desire that our loved ones "should come to repentance" (2 Pet 3:9). May that encourage and help us in our efforts in reaching out to them with the gospel. He has also given us the example of the Philippian jailor and his household (and others) to follow. May we together with our household do our best to serve Him actively. Amen!

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