Sermon Notes

Faith in Family

Sunday – 28th May 2023

Overview

1. Introduction 

2. Wives are called to be supportive of their husbands.

3. Husbands are asked to be loving and spiritually sensitive to their wives.

4. There should be a harmony of the Holy Spirit in the Family.

5. Several ways to maintain the harmony of the Holy Spirit

6. Conclusion

Introduction - Faith in Family

Faith in Family is very important. God has created us as families so that not only that we alone might go to heaven and have eternal life, but our generations and through us thousands of souls will be added to the kingdom of God. The Bible says we are created for His Glory and the Bible also says we have a glorious destiny. Our hearts should be always beating, not to gain anything materialistic in this natural realm but our hearts should always be talking and believing that through us and through our family, we will win souls for the kingdom of God.

God’s greatest purpose for a family is that families will serve in the Kingdom of God. According to the Bible, the relationship between a husband and a wife is a beautiful illustration of the relationship between the church and Jesus. Now if you are really in connection with Lord Jesus Christ there will be a reflection of our relationship with Lord Jesus Christ manifesting in our homes.

Supportive Wife

Let every wife be supportive and tenderly devoted to her husband, for this is a beautiful illustration of our devotion to Christ. 

Colossians 3:18 (TPT)

The role of a wife is to be supportive of her husband. The Hebrew word for the first man used in the Bible is Abad and for the woman is Ezer. When God created Ezer, God created her to sustain man in everything that he does. Ezer plays a more important role in holding up the faith of the family than Abad. 

God had brought man and woman into a perfect union in the Garden of Eden, it is the same union that Jesus Christ and His bride, the Body of Christ are in. This union exists in the Glory realm and therefore, this union manifests the Glory of God. When a man and his wife are in this perfect union, God’s glory descends and becomes a glorious family.

Ezer is the same Hebrew word used for the Holy Spirit which means the Holy Spirit is our helper, the Holy Spirit is our advocate, the Holy Spirit is our teacher, the Holy Spirit guides us, the Holy Spirit comforts us, the Holy Spirit leads us, likewise is Ezer, so the Word of God sums it up in a single word saying ‘Wife to be Supportive’. 

Loving and Spiritually Sensitive Husband

Let every husband be filled with cherishing love for his wife and never be insensitive toward her.

Colossians 3:19 (TPT)

The Word of God asks the Husband to be filled with cherishing love for his wife and never be insensitive towards them. Sometimes husbands are very good, but the problem is they are insensitive towards the feelings, emotions, and wants of their wives. The husband-and-wife relationship is not just physical pleasure, but it should be a unit that reflects the Glory of God.  

A husband should be sensitive spiritually to understand the emotions of his wife, then only he can build up a family which carries the glory of God. Husbands are not called to dominate but they are called to lead the families. The responsibilities should be equally handled in the family, then only there will be harmony in the family. When there is no harmony in the family, faith cannot operate. Faith in family operates when there is agreement. We believe in the faith of the Son of God. When we are agreeing with the faith of Jesus, that's when miracles happen. 

Harmony of the Holy Spirit in the Family

One of the reasons we, as families struggle, is because when there is no harmony, how much ever faith we say it will not happen. We have to believe in the harmony of the Holy Spirit. The word harmony means to be in synchronization, to go together, in unique ways, but in the Holy Spirit, we will all be coming together. 

Then you will be empowered to discover what every holy one experiences—the great magnitude of the astonishing love of Christ in all its dimensions. How deeply intimate and far-reaching is his love! How enduring and inclusive it is! Endless love beyond measurement that transcends our understanding—this extravagant love pours into you until you are filled to overflowing with the fullness of God!

Ephesians 3:18-19 (TPT)

Families are the platform that God ordained for us to grow up into the maturity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Many of us do not understand that every time we talk about God's spirituality, we always think about individualistic things. Our personal growth, our gifts, I will pray and read the word of God more, this is not it. The Bible says it is not individualistic, but it is husband and wife together as one. Then the divine love of God flows. Divine love flows only between the husband and wife together in this world. There is no other relationship that flows with divine love. So, divine love flows and the Bible says we are walking into the fullness of God manifesting in our lives. Family is more important than anything that we can think of in this world because that is where we grow into the maturity and the fullness of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we look back, we can boldly say were not the same as we are now. It is not an overnight change and there is no magical place as well, that can help us attain maturity in Christ. But it is the platform of our family with the synchronization and the harmony of the Holy Spirit God in our lives that help us to grow and to the fullness of God himself.

Ways to maintain sweet harmony of the Holy Spirit

A) Realizing that our calling is in the same family

Be faithful to guard the sweet harmony of the Holy Spirit among you in the bonds of peace, being one body and one spirit, as you were all called into the same glorious hope of divine destiny.

Ephesians 4:3-4 (TPT)

The Bible says that first of all, we have to get the understanding that our calling is the same in the family. Our offices may be different but the calling of the harmonious family is the same for serving and the missions of the Lord Jesus Christ. A family has different members and each members have their individual responsibilities but together we are created to manifest the Glory of God on this earth. We need the harmony of the Holy Spirit in our families because we all have the same glorious destiny. 

Family is precious and it plays a very important role in our spiritual life. The devil is never worried about our individual problems. The devil attacks families. It always breaks the families because the moment family breaks, there are high chances of a demonic realm opening up in our lives. But wherever there is a unity of faith and the harmony of the Holy Spirit, the demonic spirits will stand outside. 

B) Having one faith, one baptism, one Lord, and one Father

For the Lord God is one, and so are we, for we share in one faith, one baptism, and one Father. And he is the perfect Father who leads us all, works through us all, and lives in us all!

Ephesians 4:5-6 (TPT) 

a) One Baptism

Many a time there are divisions coming in family life. The husband is ready for the baptism, the wife is not. Sometimes the wife is ready for baptism, the husband is not. When that happens, the understanding of the revelation of what one baptism can do causes issues. In the Bible, we can see three baptisms – water baptism, Holy Spirit baptism, and the baptism in the Sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. A new covenant family has to receive all these three baptisms to maintain the harmony of the Holy Spirit in their family life. 

b) One Faith

One faith means it should be the same spiritual atmosphere that husband and wife should be having. If a husband and a wife, whom God has made as one, are not going together in the same revelation of the Word of God, in the same faith, and in the same church where the Word of God is taught correctly, harmony will not be there. Divided Faith can disrupt harmony which will make us struggle for miracles in our lives. 

c) One Lord and One Father

In fact, so many children were subsequently fathered by this aged man of faith—one who was as good as dead, that he now has offspring as innumerable as the sand on the seashore and as the stars in the sky!

Hebrews 11:12 (TPT)

Here we read about a husband and a wife. They received a promise from One Lord and One Father and they both together with one accord trusted in the Lord and Father. None of their physical attributes were supportive of the fulfillment of that miracle, but still, they believed. Sarah’s Faith was weak but she tapped into the Faith of her husband Abraham and that act of hers embraced God's miraculous power towards her to conceive even though she was barren and the past age of childbearing. This godly family was able to manifest what the power of faith can do to thousands of generations. It brought unusual miracles. 

C) By releasing Forgiveness

Tolerate the weaknesses of those in the family of faith, forgiving one another in the same way you have been graciously forgiven by Jesus Christ.

Colossians 3:13 (TPT)

Many times, families struggle because they are not able to release forgiveness. In Matthew 18:23 onwards we read a parable about a debtor who was forgiven a huge sum of money by the King. On his way back, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars and he grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment because he was not able to release the forgiveness that he had received earlier. If we have been acquitted of all our guilt and sins and if we have tasted his forgiveness, we are called to release the forgiveness to our spouse, our children, our family, and everyone. Mistakes can happen by anyone, but that mistake can be overpowered and won by releasing forgiveness. 

D) Dwelling in the Word of God Always

Let the word of Christ live in you richly, flooding you with all wisdom. Apply the Scriptures as you teach and instruct one another with the Psalms, and with festive praises, and with prophetic songs given to you spontaneously by the Spirit, so sing to God with all your hearts!

Colossians 3:16

In a Christian family, it is very important that the family is always full of the word of God. If we do not get the word of God in our hearts, we will be shallow and fragile believers. The word of God will create in us a deep relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Families based on the Life-giving Words of God will experience supernaturals in their lives. 

Many times, when a family has to go through tough situations God will always be present and faithful because the harmony of the Holy Spirit is continuously releasing the revelation of faith in that family because the word of God was richly dwelling in them. 

E) Instructing and Teaching one Another

Because a husband and a wife are from two different backgrounds, there might be many things that can be opposite or different in their way. That is where both of them have to be in tune with the Holy Spirit and correct each other on the basis of the Word of God. In a family, the Holy Spirit can speak through the wife or the husband and for that, both the husband and the wife have to be a channel of the Holy Spirit. 

F) Worshipping Family

Worship is not singing two songs ritualistically and going our own ways, but worship is adoring and establishing Jesus in the family. The word of God in Ecclesiastes says, 

And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NKJV)

When the husband-and-wife worship together, spiritually pray together, and prophesy over one another by the power of the Holy Spirit, the realms of glory will be opened in that house. 

G) Having Vigorous Faith

One of the easiest ways to keep the devil away from our family is the strong vigorous faith of a husband and wife standing together.

Take a decisive stand against him and resist his every attack with strong, vigorous faith. For you know that your believing brothers and sisters around the world are experiencing the same kinds of troubles you endure.

1 Peter 5:9 (TPT)

Vigorous faith is a kind of faith with a passion for overcoming any difficulties that come and stand against the blessings of our family. When the husband and wife stand together, no demonic spirits can enter that family. There can be demonic spirits operating in our lives in the form of poverty, in the form of torment, in the form of breaking our emotions, in the form of sickness, in the form of financial problems, we need to have vigorous Faith to take a stand against it and resist them and uproot them from our families.

H) Raising Godly Offsprings

And fathers, don’t have unrealistic expectations for your children, or else they may become discouraged.

Colossians 3:21 (TPT)

Children’s shoulders are not the places to keep the unfulfilled desires of the parents. A godly husband and wife should not push their children into unrealistic dreams. Children are to be brought up by spiritual parents, those who are born again, anointed, and have the faith and the harmony of the Holy Spirit. 

I) Should manifest Jesus and the Church to the World

A Godly family should manifest the relationship between Jesus and the church to the world. They should be an advertisement of God's love. 

Concluding Prayer

Lord Jesus, we pray that you come and live in our family and restore the sweet harmony of the Holy Spirit between every husband and wife. Give us one faith, one baptism, and we are able to release forgiveness and abide in the Word of God always.

In Jesus’ name

Amen