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. God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program.
On today's edition of Pathway to Victory. You know, I have people ask about this phrase, 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.
But there is the truth that God holds people responsible for their sin when they are able to distinguish between good and evil. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. Throughout our study, we've learned that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. But does God's plan of salvation make room for exceptions?
For instance, what happens to children who pass away before they're able to place their trust in Jesus? Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress explores the answer to this sensitive question. Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.
Dr. Jeffress. Thank you, David. Just before we get started, let me give a quick high five to all those who have already signed up for the Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska. Our departure is happening fairly soon, but there's still time to make your reservation. We'll be setting sail from Vancouver, British Columbia on Saturday, June 15, en route to the great frontier and would love for you to join us. This seven-day vacation is uniquely Christian, and it's an experience that will provide spiritual refreshment that you long for.
So take a look at the wonderful itinerary by going to ptv.org and reserve your spot right away while there's still room. Well, from Easter weekend until now, we've been wading into one of the most compelling and controversial subjects ever presented on Pathway to Victory. Today's culture seems to worship at the feet of inclusion. One of the outcomes of this dangerous movement is the falsehood that all roads lead to God. Well, I've purposefully exposed this lie in my new teaching series called Not All Roads Lead to Heaven. And now, to complement what you've been hearing on this program, I've written a brand new devotional book for you. It's also called Not All Roads Lead to Heaven, 100 Daily Readings About Our Only Hope for Eternal Life. By receiving a copy, you can begin or end your day basking in the assurance that God's plan for you is best, and it will give you the courage to stay the course.
This brand new devotional is yours when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. I'll say more about my devotional and other resources later, but right now, let's consider a very sensitive question among moms and dads. If the only way to heaven is through faith in Christ, what happens to infants and small children when they die? Today, we're answering the question, Are Children Who Die in Heaven?
One of the most painful assignments any pastor has is trying to console parents who have lost a child either through an accident or through an illness. You know, if the parents are Christians, they naturally want to know, Will I ever see my child again in heaven? Of course, anyone with an ounce of compassion would want to offer consolation to such a parent and give them that assurance that indeed their child is going to be in heaven.
Of course, that's complicated when you consider what we've been talking about in this series that the Bible teaches, only those who have exercised faith in Christ as their savior will be in heaven. So how does that apply to a child or an infant too young to make that decision? The issue is further complicated by the fact that there is no definitive passage in the Bible that actually tells us with absolute certainty what happens to an infant or a child who dies. You know, if we could point to a Bible verse that said, Without doubt, children who die are welcomed into heaven, well, we could rest on that verse and use it as assurance for others. If, on the other hand, there were a verse in the Bible that said, Without a doubt, children and infants who never accept Christ are destined for hell. Well, we could point that to that verse, and even though it would provide no comfort, we would have to struggle with it. But the fact is there is no verse in the Bible that tells us one way or the other what happens to a child when they die. Well, 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. You may be a parent or a grandparent. You've lost a child or a grandchild, and you've wondered about the eternal destiny of that child. Maybe you know somebody who has gone through that experience and you've wondered what to say to them.
If so, I think you're going to find this message helpful. But even if none of this applies to you, today we're going to discover some truths about God's love, mercy, and justice that I think will be a benefit as well to you. 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. Now, for purposes of brevity, I'm going to use the term children from this point on to refer to infants, to young children who are too young to understand the gospel, and for adults who are childlike because they are mentally challenged. That's what we're talking about when we talk about the road to heaven for children. 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. God's love and concern for children begin before a child is ever born.
From the moment of conception, God views that child as a human being, even while that child is being formed in his mother's womb. David expressed God's love and concern for him while he was actually in his mother's womb long before he was born. Turn over to Psalm 139, verses 13 through 16. David wrote, For thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst weave me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are thy works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from thee when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought, underline those words, in the depths of the earth.
Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance, and in thy book they were all written the days which were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. David's words reveal that in God's eyes, that fertilized egg in the mother's womb is not just some biological blob. That fertilized egg is a child, a child whom God loves, a child whom God has uniquely designed.
That's what the phrase skillfully wrought means, uniquely designed. And not only that, that child in the mother's womb has had a life that God has predetermined every day that the child should live and everything that should happen in those days. It's all ordained by God before that child ever draws his or her first breath. 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. If you want to know how God views the death of children, listen to the words of Ezekiel 16 verses 20 to 21. Here's the context, the children of Israel when they entered the promised land, unfortunately they adopted the pagan worship of Moloch, the false god who demanded that children be offered as a living burnt sacrifice to the god Moloch. And many of these Israelites adopted and mimicked that pagan practice of offering their children as a burnt offering to the Lord. 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 of 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. And because the Israelites had the audacity to kill God's children, God raised up the Babylonians. Who were the Babylonians? They were the terrorists of Israel's day.
They were pagans from the outside that God allowed to invade Israel to bring judgment upon his own people for killing the innocent, the children whom God said were his children. Ladies and gentlemen, God does not change. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. How do you think God views the slaughter of 1.4 million children in our country every year through abortion? God hasn't changed in his attitude at all. God hates the murder of children. And God will condemn any people, God will condemn any nation that celebrates abortion.
I have to add here, I know there are some women who have made a tragic mistake and have aborted a child. And if that's true of you, I want you to say no sin, including that sin, is beyond the forgiveness of God. God is willing to forgive all of our sins if we ask him to.
But that's a different issue than talking about the willful decision to abort to murder a child. God hates it. He views those children as his children. But not only do you see that in God the Father, you see that in Jesus the Son as well.
That special love toward children. Turn over to Matthew chapter 18, verses 2 through 4. Remember Jesus' disciples asked the Lord, who would be the greatest in the kingdom of God?
And remember his words? Verse 2 of Matthew 18, And Jesus called a child to himself, and set him before them, and said, Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as a child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
You see the picture? Jesus picks a child. There's nothing in the text that suggests it was a predetermined selection. He randomly selected a child to make an illustration. Now he was talking about humility necessary to enter the kingdom of God.
But here's the point I want you to see. If the child that Jesus randomly selected was predetermined to go to hell if he died before reaching a certain age, then the illustration doesn't work. It's nonsensical to say, be like this child, who by the way is headed for hell right now. It doesn't work. It's nonsensical. By using that child, he was saying that child is going to be in heaven.
Or think about another occasion. It's found in the passage we looked at, Mark 10 verses 14 to 16. Some parents brought their children to the Lord. They wanted the Lord to bless their child, and some of the disciples said, The Lord doesn't have time for stuff like that. But what was Jesus' response?
Look at Mark 10 verses 14 to 16. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant, and he said to them, Permit the children to come to me. Do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God, like a child, shall not hinder it at all. And he took them, that is the children, in his arms, and he began blessing them, laying his hands upon them. Now again, Jesus was using children as an illustration of humility.
But nevertheless, he gathered them up in his arms, and he said, You need to be like these children. Now again, if these children were destined to hell, if they died, it doesn't make any sense that he would say that about the children. It even makes less sense that he would bless these children, lay hands on them, and bless them if they were condemned to hell.
Pastor and author John MacArthur offers some very helpful insight on this. He said, I don't know of any place in the New Testament in which Jesus blesses unbelievers. There's no place in which Jesus blesses the cursed or the damned. Jesus blessed those children in his arms, because from heaven's perspective, they were counted among the blessed righteous ones, whose rightful eternal home was heaven. Now 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.
Let me say that again. God views the inherited sin of children differently than the willful sin of adults. Now, when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, because of Adam's willing disobedience, the Bible says death spread to all people, because all of us inherited Adam's sin.
In 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. We'll talk about this more in a couple of weeks, but the point is, 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. And Paul says the proof of that is the fact that we die. He says just as through one man's sin entered the world, and death through sin. You know how you know you've contracted the sin virus? You know how you know you're guilty before God? Because you're going to die. Death is the proof we've inherited sin.
Now let me ask you the question. Do children die? Yes. Do babies die?
Yes. The fact that anyone dies is proof that he is guilty before God. Nevertheless, God distinguishes between that inherited sin that children have received and the willful disobedience of adults. 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. When we had the ability to distinguish between good and evil.
Until then, God views sin differently in those below that age than he does those above that age. A great illustration of that truth is found in the Old Testament. Remember the story of the Israelites? After leaving Egypt, they finally made it to Kadesh Barnea, the entry point into the Promised Land. And they sent 12 spies into the new land of Canaan to see what obstacles they might have to overcome.
Some people say, well, that was sinful. They shouldn't have sent the spies in. No, God told them to send the spies in. He gave them the plan. So they sent 12 spies in.
The spies came back and 10 of them made this report. They said the land is as full of blessing as God promised, but there are giants in the land and we'll never overtake them. Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, said, yes, there are challenges, but God will be faithful to give us the land just as he promised.
The Israelites chose to believe the majority report. And because of that, God was filled with anger because of unbelief. And he said, no one of you except Joshua and Caleb is going to enter into this Promised Land.
Instead, you're gonna wander in the wilderness without ever entering into my rest and you will die because of your unbelief. But there is one group God exempted from that horrible judgment. That group is named in 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. God views the inherited sin of children differently than the deliberate sin of adults. And that leads to a third truth, and that is children have not rejected God's revelation. Because these children in Israel had not yet reached that age where they could be distinguishing between good and evil, they could not be charged with the same sin of their parents. And that sin was the sin of unbelief.
Now if you don't hear another thing I say today, I want you to hear this. 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. Go back to these Israelites for a moment. The writer of Hebrews offers this commentary on their sin. In Hebrews 3 verses 18 and 19 he writes, And to whom did God swear that they should not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient. And so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. And then he makes this application in verse 12 of Hebrews 3. Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart in falling away from the living God. You see, these adult Israelites did more than simply not believe God.
They chose to reject the revelation that God had already given to them. The writer again in Hebrews 3 quotes Psalm 95, written a thousand years earlier to describe the sin of these Israelites. In 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 forty years. And tomorrow we'll continue to discuss the difference between children who have inherited sin and adults who have deliberately chosen to reject the revelation of God. Before I turn things back over to David, I want to be sure you're aware that right now, and just for a few more days, you're invited to request a brand new daily devotional I've written for you and your family. It's called Not All Roads Lead to Heaven, 100 Daily Readings About Our Only Hope for Eternal Life. So many people today have typecast Christianity as a religion of hate. People who follow Jesus are pigeonholed as narrow, shallow, and unsympathetic with alternative beliefs.
Well, it's absolutely essential that we become equipped to respond to these false ideas. My brand new devotional book provides you with solid biblical truth, and it will boost your confidence in God's plan of salvation as the only path to heaven. My devotional Not All Roads Lead to Heaven will also equip you with language and tools to share your faith with family and friends. When you give a generous gift to Pathway to Victory, I'll make sure you receive a copy of my brand new devotional called Not All Roads Lead to Heaven. The deadline to receive your request is Friday, so please get in touch with us right away. Plus, when you respond today, I'll also include a helpful resource called Christianity Cults and Religions. In this expansive, full-color pamphlet, we'll examine the teachings of Mormonism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and 12 other false religions, and see how they differ from biblical Christianity.
Time is running out to request these resources, so let me encourage you to contact us today while it's still fresh on your mind. Here's David to go through the special offer one more time. David? Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. When you support the Ministry of Pathway to Victory by giving a generous gift, 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. Plus, you'll receive the brochure Christianity Cults and Religions. To make your request, call 866-999-2965 or visit online at ptv.org. Now, when your gift is $100 or more, you'll also receive the CD and DVD teaching sets for the series Not All Roads Lead to Heaven. You'll get that along with the leader study guide.
Plus, you'll receive a copy of the original bestselling book Not All Roads Lead to Heaven. If you'd like to request this complete package, call 866-999-2965 or visit ptv.org. You know, a lot of folks like to contact us the good old-fashioned way. If that sounds like you, P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. Once again, P.O.
Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins. Join us again next time when Dr. Jeffress presents the conclusion to his series Not All Roads Lead to Heaven. You don't want to miss this final message Wednesday on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. Imagine waking up to the sight of Alaska's majestic coastline or spotting wildlife from the deck of a luxurious cruise ship. Experience these unforgettable moments on the Pathway to Victory Cruise to Alaska with Dr. Robert Jeffress.
Relax with us in Alaska, and I guarantee you'll come home spiritually and physically refreshed. To book your spot on the 2024 Pathway to Victory Cruise to Alaska, go to 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.
