Hey, podcast listeners! Thanks for streaming today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's word through the most effective media available, like this podcast. To support Pathway to Victory, go to ptv.org slash donate or follow the link in our show notes.
Now, here's today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. It just dawned on me recently the answer to this question of how children who have never accepted Christ as Savior are going to be welcomed into heaven without compromising an unchangeable, immutable God. How are children saved? They're saved the same way that you and I are saved today. We're all saved the same way. We're saved by God's grace. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. It's a question that just about every Christian has wondered.
What happens to children who die before they're old enough to believe in Jesus? For some, the concern is painful and personal. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress addresses this sensitive topic. Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce the final message in this series called, Not All Roads Lead to Heaven.
Dr. Jeffress. Thank you, David. It's been a wonderful month on Pathway to Victory. Over the last several weeks, we've addressed a pressing topic together. My teaching series is called, Not All Roads Lead to Heaven. Studies reveal that a shocking number of evangelical Christians believe that any sincere pursuit of God, no matter the expression, will ultimately lead to salvation. This series and my brand new devotional by the same title expose the danger of this wishful thinking. I've written this daily devotional for you so that you can revel in the assurance that God has you in the palm of His hand. The new devotional book is titled, Not All Roads Lead to Heaven.
You see, God's exclusive plan of salvation is the one you embrace, and He will not let you go. Plus, when you read my daily devotional, it will give you the confidence to share the gospel with those you love in a way that's both compassionate and credible. Just before we begin today's message, I'm urging you to contact Pathway to Victory so that you can request your copy. I'm pleased to send a copy to your home when you give a generous gift to support Pathway to Victory. Again, the book is called, Not All Roads Lead to Heaven, 100 Daily Readings About Our Only Hope for Eternal Life. In addition, when you respond right away, I'll also include a convenient resource that's called, Christianity, Cults, and Religions. This is a multi-folded brochure that clearly identifies the many different ways that Christianity rises above other religions as the only path to heaven.
We'll repeat the details about this time-limited offer later on. But right now, let's get started with the final lesson in our series. I titled my message with the question, Are Children Who Die in Heaven? I'm going to start with my conclusion first of all today. I'm convinced that children and infants and those who are adults who are childlike because they are mentally challenged, they are all welcomed into heaven. How do I come to that conclusion?
Well, that's what we're going to talk about today. Today, as we conclude our series, Not All Roads Lead to Heaven, we're going to look at the road to heaven for children who are too young to accept Christ as Savior. I'm convinced that there are five biblical reasons, five biblical principles that lead us to the conclusion when put together that children are welcomed into heaven.
I want you to jot them down on your notes. First of all, God has a special love for children. Because God is so intimately involved in the detail of every child's life, it should be no surprise that God values children and He mourns the death of children. In Ezekiel 16 verses 20 to 21, look at how God viewed that offer of children as a burnt sacrifice. He said, Moreover, you took your sons and daughters whom you had borne to me, and you sacrificed them to idols to be devoured.
Were your harlotries so small a matter? You slaughtered my children, underline those words, my children, and offered them up to idols by causing them to pass through the fire. Isn't it interesting that God refers to children as His children? Those children belong to God.
Again, this isn't evidence in and of itself of what happens to children, but it's the first building block, God's special love for children. Add to that, number two, the fact that God views the inherited sin of children differently than He views the willful sin of adults. Romans 5, 12, Paul explains it this way. Therefore, just as through one man, that is Adam, sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned. When Adam sinned, we inherited Adam's sin. We inherited both of his guilt, the responsibility for his sin, and we inherited Adam's corruption, that proclivity, that propensity to sin and rebel against God.
We've all contracted the sin virus. In Ezekiel 18, verse 20, God says, the person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity. The righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. In other words, we are guilty for what we do as well before God. You know, I have people ask about, and perhaps you've wondered about this phrase, the age of accountability.
The age of accountability. The question is, at what age are people responsible for their own sins? There is no such phrase, by the way, in the Bible. There's no phrase, the age of accountability in the Bible, but there is the truth that God holds people responsible for their sin when they are able to distinguish between good and evil. That's the moment of accountability before God. Deuteronomy 1, verse 39, God said, moreover, your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your sons, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, shall enter there.
And I will give it to them, that is the land to them, and they shall possess it. Now even though these children were guilty of Adam's sin, they had contracted the sin virus, God viewed their sin differently than he viewed the sins of their parents who willfully rejected God. And that leads to a third truth, and that is children have not rejected God's revelation. In the Bible, unbelief is more than simply failing to believe God's promises. Unbelief is the deliberate decision to reject God's revelation. Let me say it again, unbelief is more than simply failing to believe God.
In the Bible, unbelief is the deliberate decision to reject God's revelation. And quoting Psalm 95, he says, today, if you hear God's voice, do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked me, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried me by testing me, and they saw my works for 40 years. Think about it, for 40 years, these Israelites had seen God's miraculous care for them. These adult Israelites had seen God send the 10 plagues that changed Pharaoh's heart and caused him to let the people go.
They had witnessed the miraculous parting of the Red Sea. They had experienced God's supernatural provision of manna and water for them. They had seen all of this, and yet they deliberately rejected that knowledge of God they had received and chose to reject God's promise of deliverance. And therefore, they are without excuse. Unlike the children who were so small and young, they couldn't put it all together. They couldn't understand what was happening. They had not made the deliberate decision to reject what God had revealed to them.
The same thing is true today. There is no one who is without excuse, because everyone who has ever lived has received a revelation of God. Look at Romans 1, verses 18 and 20.
We've looked at it often. Paul writes, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. For since the creation of the world, God's invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen being understood through what has been made so that we and they are without excuse. You know, I've said over and over in this series, no one, no one is going to be sent to hell for rejecting a gospel they've never heard. Nobody gets sent to hell for rejecting a gospel they've never heard.
That's nonsensical. The reason people will end up in hell is for rejecting whatever revelation God has given to them. Over and over again, we've seen that the Bible says God has revealed to everyone the fact that there is a God. And while that knowledge isn't enough to save a person, it's enough if rejected to condemn a person. And whenever anyone, anywhere responds to that natural revelation of God, God will send the further information that person needs to know Christ as savior. But adults today, older children, teenagers, whoever it is, they've all received a revelation of God. And the majority have chosen to reject that revelation. And because of that, they are without excuse. Contrast that to small children. They've received that revelation as well. They can look around, but they can't put it together. And so therefore, God views them differently. They have not rejected God's revelation, they just haven't accepted it yet. They're incapable of understanding it. Now listen to this.
Psalm 19 says the heavens, that is creation, is shouting out, is declaring the glory of God. That message is being broadcast throughout the entire world. The only problem is children aren't capable of hearing that message below a certain age. They can't comprehend it. Adults are able to comprehend it. And that's why I say God views the inherited sin of children differently than the willful sin of adults. Children have not made the decision to reject God's revelation.
Now may I add a caveat here? Children reach the age of accountability, I believe, at a much younger age than any of us could imagine. I think children have an understanding of right and wrong and an understanding of God far earlier than people would lead you to believe.
I know that from my own experience. I mean, I remember when I was five, I had a clear understanding of the gospel and I trusted in Christ. My girls were very young, four and five, when they became Christians as well. And parent, let me say to you without hesitation, the most important job you have as a parent is leading your child to faith in Christ and then seeing that that child grows in his or her faith.
Nothing measures up to that responsibility. The great tragedy I see over and over again are people who profess to be Christians, parents who profess to be Christians. They put a priority on everything else in their child's life, their athletic development, their academic development, their social development.
That's what's important. And so when Sundays come around, instead of being in church with their children, they're out on the athletic field playing a game because they have to get that scholarship to go to college or whatever else it is. Or when Wednesday night comes around, well, they can't come to the Teenage Bible Study or the Awanas program or whatever because they've got homework, they've got other things they've got to do. Or when it comes to selecting a church home, well, we're going to select a church home that is socially acceptable, that has the kind of children we want our children to hang around. And so they choose some moderate milk toast church where the Word of God isn't taught and where children aren't being taught, and they put their children's social development ahead of their spiritual development. Ladies and gentlemen, God will hold you and me accountable for that as parents. The most important task we have is to rear our children to trust in Christ as Savior and to follow Him.
And there are many of you right now who have children who have far surpassed that age of accountability. Let me encourage you to start praying for that child's salvation. Make sure they're in a Bible-believing church and take advantage of all the opportunities. And thirdly, make sure that you have a time when you talk to that son or daughter about his need for Jesus Christ. Don't allow your children to be guilty of rejecting God's revelation. That leads to a fourth truth of why I'm convinced that children are in heaven, and that is salvation is based on God's grace, not on our faith. You may say, well, pastor, I want to believe that children are in heaven, but you've said so many times in this service and in this series that only those who trust in Christ can be saved. Are you saying that somehow God bends the rules for children? And if He bends the rules for children, why can't He bend the rules for some other people, sincere followers of other religions or those who've never heard the gospel? Why can't He do that as well? I'm going to have to confess something more than I probably should confess.
I've asked the same question myself. I have struggled with this issue for years of what happened to children when they die. And all, frankly, I've been able to say through the years is, well, we just have to depend upon God to do the right thing. Kind of like Abraham said in Genesis 18, 25, shall not the judge of the earth do that which is right.
That's the best I could come up with. But as the day approached that I was going to have to preach this, I had to come up with a sound answer to this question. And I'm telling you, it dawned on me.
I mean, it just dawned on me. One day recently, the answer to this question of how children who have never accepted Christ as Savior are going to be welcomed into heaven without compromising an unchangeable, immutable God. How are children saved? They're saved the same way that those in the Old Testament before Christ were saved. They're saved the same way that you and I are saved today. We're all saved the same way. We're saved by God's grace. That's how we're saved. We're not saved by our faith. We're saved by God's grace. God's grace demonstrated in Jesus Christ when he came and died and paid our sin debt for us. That's how we're saved. We're saved by grace that is accessed through faith. The means of our salvation is God's grace in sending Christ to die for us. Faith is simply the way we access that grace into our lives. Isn't that what Paul said in Ephesians 2, 8, and 9 when he said, For by faith you have been saved. No, that's not what he said. He said, For by grace you have been saved through faith.
And that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not a result of works that no one should boast. Perhaps this illustration will help clear it up for you. This unfortunate woman is trapped on the third floor of a burning apartment building. She's out on the ledge. She knows she's about to die. But fortunately, below her is a group of firemen who are holding a net. She's got a need.
The firemen have the provision to meet that need. But the only way for her to access that provision is to be willing to take that leap of faith, so to speak, that lands her in the net. Now, if she does so, what is it that saved her? Was it her jumping? No, lots of people jump from windows and splatter on the concrete. What saved her was the net.
Her faith, so to speak, was simply the way she was able to meet her need with the provision below. Now, let's change the illustration for a moment. The apartment building is on fire, but a fireman goes up to the third floor to search for any potential victims. And as he goes from room to room with that burning floor, he finds a three-year-old toddler by himself. That toddler can't comprehend what's going on.
He sure doesn't understand how to get out, and he's incapable of jumping. So what does the fireman do? He scoops up that child in his arms. He goes to the ledge.
He looks below at the net, and he takes that leap into the net. What is it that saved that child? The same thing that saved the woman.
It was the net. The only difference was the fireman is the one who scooped him up into his arms and allowed him to access the provision below. I think that God does the same with small children who are incapable of exercising faith.
What does he do? He simply scoops those children up in his arms and carries them safely into heaven. How are they saved? The same way we're saved, by God's grace. That's the answer to me of how children are saved.
And that leads to a fifth reason that I believe children are in heaven, and that is the promise of 2 Samuel 12, verses 21 to 23. We'll talk about this story more in detail, but you all remember the sordid story of King David and his one-night tryst with Bathsheba? When Bathsheba finally gave birth to that child that was the product of their ungodly alliance. When the child was born, he was immediately sick. And so David went into a time of mourning and praying and fasting, asking God to heal his son. While he did so, David refused to eat. He refused to bathe.
He refused to change his clothes. But then word came to David that his son had in fact died. And surprisingly, when David heard that news, he stood up, took a bath, put on new clothes, began to eat, and well, almost had a party of celebration.
And his men were perplexed. They asked him in 2 Samuel 12, 21, why, David, did you fast and weep while your child was alive? But now you are going on with your life when your child has died. David answered in verse 22, while the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. For I said, who knows that the Lord might not be gracious to me that the child may live?
But now that he has died, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me. Do you hear what David is saying? He was saying as long as my child was alive, I didn't mourn and fast.
I prayed because God might heal my child. But now that he's decided not to, why should I go on doing that? I'm going to get up. I'm going to put on my clothes. I'm going to get on with my life. Because even though my child can't come back to me, I'm going to go with him.
Now here's the point. If that child of David's was on his way to hell, then David would be saying, my child can't come back to me, but I'm going to go with him and be in hell forever. That's no reason to have a party, is it?
No making sense to celebrate that. He'd be mourning all the more if he thought his child was in hell and that one day David himself would be in hell. The only sensical interpretation of this verse was David saw as a reason to celebrate the fact that his son was in heaven in the presence of God. And he rejoiced in the fact that one day he would also be in heaven to be reunited with his son and his Lord. Now, admittedly, this passage in and of itself doesn't make the airtight case that children are in heaven. But I think when you take this truth and add it to all of the other truths we've looked at today, and then you couple that with the knowledge that God is loving, just, and merciful, and as Abraham said, can be trusted to do what is right. I think we can say with absolute certainty that God welcomes children into heaven. All of us know someone who has lost a child.
Maybe you've been through this tragedy in your own family. I'm hoping today's teaching encourages you to continue trusting in our just, loving, and merciful God. As another means of encouragement, I've written a brand new daily devotional for you and your family. It's called Not All Roads Lead to Heaven, 100 Daily Readings About Our Only Hope for Eternal Life. Sometimes we question whether God's plan is the right plan. Sometimes our best friends and family begin to question what we believe. This devotional is intentionally designed to encourage you, to boost your confidence, and to help you rest in the assurance that your eternity is secure. And it's yours today when you give a generous gift to Pathway to Victory. As a mom or dad, perhaps even a grandparent, we long to have our families embrace the truth of the gospel.
But our children and grandchildren are bombarded with pushback from their friends. Many of them are asking, how can God allow good people to suffer and die? Or won't Jesus give well-intentioned people a pass? You can bring a ray of hope to them by providing these daily readings. Ask for the devotional today.
Again, it's called Not All Roads Lead to Heaven. Thank you so much for your generous financial support of Pathway to Victory. We know that God is using your generosity to accomplish His plan, because we receive constant feedback from grateful listeners around the world. We couldn't see these results without generous friends like you.
David? Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. Today, when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, you're invited to request a copy of the brand new 100-day devotional based on the bestselling book by Dr. Jeffress, Not All Roads Lead to Heaven. You'll get that along with a copy of the brochure, Christianity, Cults, and Religions. To request these resources, call 866-999-2965, or go to ptv.org. Now, when your gift is $50 or more, we'll also send you the original bestselling book, Not All Roads Lead to Heaven.
That's two fantastic books, one brand new and one a bestseller. Now, if you already have your copy of the original Not All Roads Lead to Heaven, that extra copy would make a wonderful gift for a friend or a family member. To make your request, call 866-999-2965, or go online to ptv.org. If you'd prefer to send your donation by mail, write to PO Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. That's PO Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222.
I'm David J. Mullins. Some people worry whether they'll go to heaven when they die, but gratefully, the Bible says we can know for certain. Hear a message called, Eternally Secure. That's Thursday on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. The Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska with Dr. Robert Jeffress set sail from Vancouver, British Columbia on June 15, 2024. Join me along with musical artists Rebecca St. James and Michael O'Brien and comedian Dennis Swanberg for a vacation you'll never forget.
I promise you will come back spiritually, physically, and emotionally refreshed. Book your spot on the seven-day Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska at ptv.org. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His Word. To become a Pathway partner, go to ptv.org slash donate or follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.
