Sermon: “Lord God, Save My Whole-Family!”

May 5, 2024
Good Morning Saints and Happy Sunday!

I’m on Fire to See All Families Saved!
Today, I am not going to start with an Introduction/ Review of the things we have taught and learned recently. I am just going to jump right in with preaching because my heart is on fire for the lost! Saints, we are living in the last days, in which the perils of life grow more dangerous every day. We have sheer “chaos” in our streets.

Anytime in our cities we have men walking down the street randomly punching women in the face, and teenage girls attacking and robbing the elderly on our streets, you know that the world is on fire! These, and sundry more acts of violence in our nation, and around the world, lets us know that there are multiplied millions of people who do not know the Lord!

We live in a time when there are many young people and children who do not know Jesus Christ, and have never set foot in a Church or Sunday school. Should Jesus Christ tarry, I shudder to think what our nation and world will be like in the years and decades to come, as the hearts of people wax colder against God and iniquity abounds everywhere.

Furthermore, the American population continues to grow more anti-God with an increasing number of people who identify themselves as atheist, agnostics, or “none” religion. But, I tell you the truth, every person on planet earth needs Jesus Christ. Everybody needs the Lord, and my heart cries real tears for those who have not allowed Jesus Christ into their hearts. For Jesus stands at the door and knocks for every person to receive Him and to sup with Him. (Rev. 3:20)

The Holy Bible clearly warns that there is coming a day when this earth shall be no more. We must be sober and awaken to it as the holy people of God, and make sure our whole-families draw nearer to God. We preach a lot about our citizenship is in heaven, and rightly so. But, before folks can get to heaven, they must first be delivered from hell and destruction. Take to heart the following Scripture from I Thessalonians 5:1-11, it reads:

But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.

2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

Now Saints, examine the Scriptural account of the manner in which the earth will be destroyed, as recorded at I Peter 3:9-13.

9 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.

13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Saints, the Day of the Lord is coming when this world will be destroyed with fire and fervent heat, and those who do not know the Lord; those who have refused to believe in Jesus Christ will perish with it.

As the Scripture says at II Peter 3:9, God is “long- suffering” towards us and does not want “any” person to perish. God wants every person to repent of their sins, and through the atoning sacrifice of the precious blood of Jesus Christ, to come to Him and receive eternal life. Yes, Saints, God wants your entire family saved from the wrath which is to come; from the oldest to the youngest!

So I ask you this morning. “Is your whole-family saved?” Is every member of your family, immediate and extended, from the oldest to the youngest, a born-again Christian? How can we have our citizenship in heaven, and not see to it that our whole-families are citizens of the commonwealth of heaven as well?

As we read at, I Thessalonians 5:8-9. God has entrusted us with the “hope (expectation) of salvation,” and we are also to put on the “breastplate of faith and love;” (parts of the Whole Armor of God) and extend God’s salvation to our whole-families (and every person on earth) so that we all are rapture ready when Jesus returns.

I don’t know about you, but I want every man, woman, boy and girl in my family to be saved, sanctified, and filled with the precious gift of the Holy Ghost. I want every person that I see on the street saved, just like the Bible promises at Acts 2:38-39. The Apostle Peter wrote:

Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

Praise God, I want this promise fulfilled not only in my family, but your family too, and every family on the earth. Yes, I want every family covered, and accepting of the blood of Jesus Christ, to come and make their dwelling place the Lord’s House (The Church of Jesus Christ). I want every family “blessed” and experiencing the manifestation of the “Blessing of Abraham,” as God promised Abraham and his seed after him. (Gen. 12:1-5, 13:1-2, Gal. 3:6-9 & 13-14, 26-28) Yes, wealth, health, and riches throughout our generations belong to those who have faith in Jesus Christ and His finished works on the cross. (II Cor. 8:9)

Finally, after the last trump of God has sounded, I want us all to be caught up together to meet Jesus Christ in the middle of the air, and forever to be changed into our glorious incorruptible bodies. (I Cor.15:52) For every person, in every family, we must lower down the bloodstained-scarlet-crimson rope of hope in Jesus Christ to them; to receive God’s salvation before it is too late!

God’s Salvation is to Be Used to Win the Whole Family to Christ

Saints, God wants you to know that, “You” have been chosen and called to stand in the gap for your whole-family, and to lead them to Jesus Christ to receive God’s salvation. In evangelizing your family to Jesus Christ, do not even consider your past or present performance. Resist the devil with the Word of God as he attempts to guilt and shame you about past or present sins in your life. Rebuke any thought of being unworthy to bring your whole-family to Jesus Christ. (James 4:7 & Rom. 8:1-2) For God has more than qualified you for the job!

God has blessed you with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus, and one of the spiritual blessings you possess is “God’s salvation.” (Eph. 1:3) Yes, God’s salvation belongs to you. You own salvation, as it is a free gift from God that has been placed in your born-again heart. See Ephesians 2:8-10, it reads:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Not only do you own God’s salvation, but you are to share God’s salvation through Jesus Christ with your whole-family and others. If you search your heart right now, the Holy Ghost will witness to you, that you desire your whole-family to be saved. You know in your heart that every member of your family needs to be saved. In your heart, you even can see them being saved by the blood of Jesus Christ!

This is a “good work” from God given to you from the foundations of the world. I would even say that this is the first and greatest good work that God has anointed and appointed you to do for His glory. As such, God expects for us to walk in it. Sadly, in Christian Circles, there seems to be little or no preaching on it, but we must walk out the faith of Jesus Christ and go win our whole-families to Christ! We have been given the power of the Holy Ghost, to among other things, draw every family member to Jesus Christ to receive salvation!

Jesus Christ said to the disciples, that “freely” they had received the authority and power to preach the Kingdom of God to every household where he sent them, and to do manifold miracles. Freely they had received from Jesus this mighty authority and power, and Jesus commanded that freely they were to give it away through His name. (Matt.10:8) Freely we have received the gift of salvation, and freely we are to give it away!

All God needs from you and me to win our whole-families to Jesus Christ, is our “belief” (trust, reliance, dependence) in Him. To trust that He is God, the Creator of all things, and that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God whom God sent into the world to save us all from sin, death, hell and destruction. (John 3:16) Then, God needs us to “act” on His Commandment by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with our families. (Mark 16:15-20)
–Invite your whole-family to Sunday school and Church.
–Share with your whole-family Scriptures on salvation through Jesus’ name.
–Sing songs of praise to the Lord with your whole-family.
–Give personal testimonies to your whole-family about what Jesus has done for you.
–Offer to pray with your whole-family and heal the sick among them.

Never give up on your whole-family coming to Jesus Christ. Keep on confessing the promise at Acts 2:39 without wavering, and live the Christian life before them, and they will all come to the Lord. (II Cor. 3:2-3)

This is what I call “Linking up faith with works!” This is what pleases God. If we say we have faith in God, then we must also have corresponding actions that match our faith. Walk in faith and watch God move on your behalf and bring salvation to your whole-family. We stir up our faith to bring our families to Christ by examining examples of “whole-family” salvation recorded in the Bible.

The Story of Rahab is Fertile Ground for Building Faith in Whole-Family Salvation

As I think about “Whole-Family Salvation,” there are several stories that come to mind that I will briefly mention recorded in the Old and New Testaments that can be used to build our faith for it through Jesus Christ. For example, in the Old Testament, Abram (Abraham) preached the gospel to his household and the souls he gathered in Haran, (many thousands of believers) and they left with him for a land that God would show him; the land of Canaan. (Gen.12:1-5)

Also, in the New Testament, there is the story of the conversion of the Roman prison-keeper, who after a great earthquake in the mid-night hour, witnessed the prison doors opened and shackles fall off of the prisoners, the Apostle Paul and Silas, who were singing songs unto the Lord. Immediately afterwards, the jailor gave his life to Christ and took Paul and Silas to his home; where they preached to the jailor’s household, and “all” therein were saved and baptized. (Acts 16:23-33)

However for this Sermon, the Holy Ghost leads me to highlight in detail the remarkable story of Rahab the once harlot.

Rahab’s great faith in God, with corresponding heroic actions were remembered by New Testament writers in James 2:25-26 & Heb.11: 31; shown respectively below.

Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

Hebrews 11:31says:

By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

Make no mistake about it Saints, though known as Rahab the “harlot,” God loved Rahab and His grace and mercy was great upon her. Her story pointedly illustrates for us that God pays far more attention to the “belief” and “motives” of the heart of people than their outward appearance, behaviors, and performance. (I Sam. 16:7 & Jer.17:10) That, though our sins maybe as scarlet, God is able to make us white as snow, thou they be as crimson, they shall be as wool; when we come to God and reason together with Him. (Is.1:18)

Let’s delve into the story of Rahab, which is principally told in Joshua Chapter Two. But let me first set the scene. Rahab’s story of deliverance took place in the days when Israel was preparing to conquer the city of Jericho, her hometown. About 1,000 years before the birth of Jesus. Chapters 2-6 capture Israel’s conquest of the city of Jericho.

Rahab, a Canaanite, like all of the Canaanites, worshiped false gods, in particular the god of Ashtoreth. Supposedly, Ashtoreth was the goddess of love and fertility and wife of the god Baal. God had judged the Canaanites at Jericho for their wicked works, and had given the land into Israel’s hands.

At that time, Jericho was the most important Canaanite fortress city in the Jordan Valley. Jericho was a stronghold directly in the path of the advancing Israelites, who had just crossed the Jordan River. (Joshua 3:1-7)
Before entering the land west of the Jordan, Joshua (the anointed successor of Moses) secretly sent two spies to search out the land and Jericho to send back military intelligence for the upcoming battle for the city. The spies journeyed to Jericho and stopped at Rahab’s house and lodged there.

Rahab’s house was on the wall of Jericho (Illustrated above) and an ideal location for gathering information about the city and military presence, and provided a quick escape for the spies. Also, God directed the spies to Rahab’s house because God knew her heart was open to Him and that she would be instrumental in the Israelite victory over Jericho.

Throughout the Holy Bible we find God using people with simple faith to accomplish His great purposes, no matter what kind of past they have had or how insignificant they may seem to be to society. As we will see in a moment, in Rahab’s case, she didn’t let her past keep her from the new role God had for her. Just as we must not let our past stop us from doing the good works of God, including winning our whole-families to Christ.

From here we will read and examine Passages of the Scripture from Joshua 2:1-21 on the story of Rahab.

And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.

21 And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

There are many aspects of Rahab’s story we could focus attention on. But I want to first highlight Rahab’s expression of faith in the God of Israel and her actions which proved her faith. She risked her life for the sake of fulfilling God’s purpose and saving the lives of the spies. In Verses 9-11, we see that Rahab had heard about the great exploits of Israel (likely from the men who visited her over the years) and was convinced even before the spies arrived to her house that the God of Israel had given the land, including Jericho, to Israel.

To this end, Rahab took the initiative to hide the spies on her roof, and told them what was in her heart that she had both heard and believed about the God of Israel. More specifically, that God had caused Israel to inherit the land; the people of Canaan greatly feared them; that God dried up the Red Sea when the children of Israel came out of Egypt; and had destroyed the adversaries Israel; Sion and Og.

Finally and most important, Rahab confessed to the spies that the God of Israel is the only true and living God, saying “…for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.” In so doing, Rahab was saying that she no longer desired to worship the false god(s) of the Canaanites, and was ready to worship the only true and living God. Furthermore, in Rahab’s confession of her belief in the God of Israel she took heroic steps that proved she trusted in God by lodging and hiding the spies from the king of Jericho, as well as misleading the king about the spies’ location.

But even more impressive was Rahab’s love and devotion for her family in the time of crises. In Verses 12-13, thinking first about her whole-family, Rahab reached a sworn agreement with the spies to protect and deliver her family from death and destruction when Israel invaded Jericho.

She posited to the spies, that given she had shown kindness to them in not giving away their location to the king, that the spies should in return do her a favor by saving her whole-family: Father, mother, siblings and all their children, as well as her own life, from death.

Thereafter, the spies took a rope from Rahab and used it to escape, and gave to Rahab a scarlet rope to hang from her window to signal the Israelites to pass by her house in the battle and save her family alive. The only way the whole-family could be guaranteed safety was if they all came to, and remained in Rahab’s house, until the victory was won with the scarlet rope hanging from the window. (Verses 18-19)

The scarlet rope hanging from Rahab’s window, was similar to the children of Israel when they were in bondage to Egypt, and God passed through with the 10th plague of judgment on the land of Egypt, striking down the firstborn of every household. But the children of Israel had been told to mark their doors with the “blood” of the lamb they had sacrificed as a Passover offering, and so God passed over their homes. (Ex.12:13-28) And in Rahab’s case, the Israelite army would Passover her house on the wall of Jericho.

Let us also recognize Rahab’s faith-filled actions to “bring” her whole-family to her house to secure their safety. It’s not written specifically in the text, but safely we can assume that in order for Rahab to “bring” her whole-family to her house, she had to immediately go and tell her family about the battle that was about to ensue between the Israelites and Canaanites, and that death and destruction of the city was imminent. In love and hope, can’t you see Rahab urging and compelling her family members to gather their things as quickly as possible and to come with her to her house, and remain there to be saved from death and destruction?

In Chapter 6 is recorded Joshua and Israel’s conquest of the city of Jericho. God commanded Joshua to go around the walls of Jericho for six-days in silence, once every day, and seven times on the seventh day. Then at the command of Joshua they were to shout. God commanded also that the city be attacked by seven priests blowing horns, with the Ark of the Covenant in front of them and all the people behind the Ark of the Covenant…and the walls came down at the shout of Israel on day seven, and Israel plundered the city. Now see Verses 21-25 of Chapter 6, which details how Rahab and her family faired.

21 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.

25 And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

Only Rahab and her whole-family were spared among the Canaanites in the battle of Jericho, and her family dwelled with Israel in prosperity thereafter. As a memorial to Rahab, in the New Testament as I read earlier, she is forever remembered for her heroics in hiding the spies that Joshua sent out. Ultimately, Rahab married Salmon, an Israelite from the tribe of Judah. Her son was Boaz, the husband of Ruth. Joseph, the legal father of Jesus, is her direct descendant. Thus, Rahab’s name is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. (Matt.1:5)

In closing, when I think about Rahab’s remarkable story and how she came to God. There is one particular asset she had that I reflect on. That is, for many years, the men who came in contact with her, perhaps many for wicked designs and pleasures, told her stories about how God was with Israel and had favored and caused them to triumph over their enemies. Isn’t it simply amazing to think that in a “prostitutes” house where all manner of wickedness would take place, that God’s name and chosen people would be discussed? This shows us that God has many ways to prick our hearts and minds to repent and turn to Him for salvation, and to become totally committed instruments to carry out His divine will and purposes. Rahab’s story reminds us that to the utmost God can save us, and that no one is beyond redemption and salvation. God’s exceedingly great grace and mercy is for everyone.

From the visits and conversations of these male suitors Rahab had learned enough to reach the correct, saving conclusion that she acknowledged to the spies: “For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.” It is this change of heart, this faith—coupled with the actions prompted by faith—that saved her and her whole-family from death and destruction.

As we close this Sermon, Saints, take a moment and think about how throughout your life God has used various people to talk to you about Jesus Christ. Think about how God used family members, pastors, Sunday school teachers, born-again Christians, and even perhaps sinners to talk to you about Jesus. These conversations all served to help prepare your heart to eventually hear the knock and voice of Jesus Christ at the door of your heart to let Him come in and sup with you.

We all need to follow the example of Rahab who exhibited great faith in hiding the spies and saving her whole-family from destruction. She moved quickly to warn her whole-kinfolk that destruction was shortly coming, and brought them all into her house, the place of safety, and to remain there until they were rescued by the Israelites.

In like manner, let us also move quickly to go to our whole-families and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to receive God’s salvation for the time is short.

WE BODLY DECREE: “LORD GOD SAVE MY WHOLE- FAMILY!”

Compel your whole-family to come into the House of the Lord, the Church of Jesus Christ, and encourage them all to remain planted in Church, and covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, as we see the Day of the Lord drawing nigh. Tell them about Jesus Christ and your relationship with Him at family reunions, graduations, birthday parties, bridal showers, baby showers, home-going services, and when they stop by your house for a visit and a slice of pizza and apple pie.

See to it that all the family receives God’s salvation, according to Acts 2:38:

Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Amen to the preaching of God’s Word. Your whole-family shall come singing “Bringing in the Sheaves!

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