1 00:00:12,501 --> 00:00:14,879 Of course, I should have expected 2 00:00:14,879 --> 00:00:16,428 that this one was coming. 3 00:00:16,428 --> 00:00:19,402 Age of accountability. 4 00:00:19,402 --> 00:00:24,541 Si - he says, "A five year old missing girl's body 5 00:00:24,541 --> 00:00:28,158 was found recently encased in cement 6 00:00:28,158 --> 00:00:31,971 along a river bed in Michigan." 7 00:00:31,971 --> 00:00:35,843 Now, at this point, Si heard a news event. 8 00:00:35,843 --> 00:00:37,889 He's using that as kind of a launching pad 9 00:00:37,889 --> 00:00:39,317 for his question. 10 00:00:39,317 --> 00:00:41,191 He's making some assumptions now. 11 00:00:41,191 --> 00:00:44,608 "Let's assume this child never heard the Gospel. 12 00:00:44,608 --> 00:00:47,283 Could a Christian rightly comfort 13 00:00:47,283 --> 00:00:49,942 the parents of this child 14 00:00:49,942 --> 00:00:53,150 by saying that the child went immediately into Heaven? 15 00:00:53,150 --> 00:00:56,132 Do all children under a certain age 16 00:00:56,132 --> 00:00:58,388 go to Heaven? 17 00:00:58,388 --> 00:01:00,393 Do children go to hell 18 00:01:00,393 --> 00:01:03,142 if they never heard the Gospel? 19 00:01:03,142 --> 00:01:07,921 Is there an age of accountability?" 20 00:01:07,921 --> 00:01:12,261 Now, bottom line, 21 00:01:12,261 --> 00:01:15,706 the Bible does not say. 22 00:01:15,706 --> 00:01:18,820 But the Bible does say some things 23 00:01:18,820 --> 00:01:22,944 about some things that we can glean from 24 00:01:22,944 --> 00:01:27,686 and make some dogmatic statements. 25 00:01:27,686 --> 00:01:33,169 So, the first thing that I would say is this: 26 00:01:33,169 --> 00:01:36,258 The Apostle Paul said this. 27 00:01:36,258 --> 00:01:39,164 2 Timothy 3:15 - maybe some of you know this verse. 28 00:01:39,164 --> 00:01:41,191 "The sacred writings..." 29 00:01:41,191 --> 00:01:44,210 speaking of the Bible. 30 00:01:44,210 --> 00:01:46,539 He says, "they're able to make you wise 31 00:01:46,539 --> 00:01:49,078 for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." 32 00:01:49,078 --> 00:01:50,505 Well, why would I read that? 33 00:01:50,505 --> 00:01:52,318 Because the Bible wasn't given 34 00:01:52,318 --> 00:01:55,403 to answer every question that we can possibly ask. 35 00:01:55,403 --> 00:01:57,464 But you know what the Bible was given for? 36 00:01:57,464 --> 00:02:00,155 It was given for us who can think 37 00:02:00,155 --> 00:02:02,010 and can reason 38 00:02:02,010 --> 00:02:05,083 to know the way by which to be saved. 39 00:02:05,083 --> 00:02:09,497 The fact is the Bible wasn't given 40 00:02:09,497 --> 00:02:11,899 specifically to tell us how people 41 00:02:11,899 --> 00:02:14,233 who can't reason might be saved 42 00:02:14,233 --> 00:02:15,495 if they could be saved. 43 00:02:15,495 --> 00:02:17,411 It's given to those who can reason. 44 00:02:17,411 --> 00:02:19,044 "The sacred writings are given 45 00:02:19,044 --> 00:02:21,891 to make a person wise for salvation." 46 00:02:21,891 --> 00:02:23,233 And you see, a lot of times, 47 00:02:23,233 --> 00:02:25,605 people get caught up with questions 48 00:02:25,605 --> 00:02:28,220 that they want answers for, 49 00:02:28,220 --> 00:02:30,791 but you know what's more important? 50 00:02:30,791 --> 00:02:32,506 The most important thing for Si 51 00:02:32,506 --> 00:02:35,979 is to know the way of life 52 00:02:35,979 --> 00:02:38,385 and to make sure that he has it. 53 00:02:38,385 --> 00:02:39,850 But now, that doesn't mean 54 00:02:39,850 --> 00:02:41,956 that this question about children 55 00:02:41,956 --> 00:02:43,663 doesn't have practical use. 56 00:02:43,663 --> 00:02:46,344 I'll guarantee you, it has pastoral use. 57 00:02:46,344 --> 00:02:47,786 When you come across a mother 58 00:02:47,786 --> 00:02:50,772 that's lost a little child, 59 00:02:50,772 --> 00:02:52,653 what are you going to tell them? 60 00:02:52,653 --> 00:02:54,532 You know, is there anything we can say 61 00:02:54,532 --> 00:02:57,501 to comfort them? 62 00:02:57,501 --> 00:02:59,779 Okay, you know where people typically go here? 63 00:02:59,779 --> 00:03:01,554 They typically go to David. 64 00:03:01,554 --> 00:03:02,904 Some of you guys know 65 00:03:02,904 --> 00:03:06,493 that David had an illicit relationship with Bathsheba. 66 00:03:06,493 --> 00:03:09,184 That's usually well-known. 67 00:03:09,184 --> 00:03:11,479 He committed adultery. He committed murder. 68 00:03:11,479 --> 00:03:14,436 But, there was a child born. 69 00:03:14,436 --> 00:03:16,520 You folks know about the child. 70 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:19,255 2 Samuel 12:23 71 00:03:19,255 --> 00:03:21,222 You know that David was fasting. 72 00:03:21,222 --> 00:03:23,060 He was fasting asking God to preserve 73 00:03:23,060 --> 00:03:25,404 the life of this little child. 74 00:03:25,404 --> 00:03:27,274 He saw some servants whispering. 75 00:03:27,274 --> 00:03:29,174 He figured, well, the child's dead. 76 00:03:29,174 --> 00:03:32,614 He went and washed himself. He went and ate. 77 00:03:32,614 --> 00:03:34,198 They wondered, well, this is odd. 78 00:03:34,198 --> 00:03:37,305 Why did you fast then, 79 00:03:37,305 --> 00:03:38,542 and now the child's dead? 80 00:03:38,542 --> 00:03:42,061 It seems like you would fast and pray now? You would mourn now? 81 00:03:42,061 --> 00:03:44,157 He said, "now he's dead. Why should I fast? 82 00:03:44,157 --> 00:03:46,116 Can I bring him back again? 83 00:03:46,116 --> 00:03:48,852 I shall go to him, 84 00:03:48,852 --> 00:03:50,337 but he will not return to me." 85 00:03:50,337 --> 00:03:52,141 And a lot of people have gone there 86 00:03:52,141 --> 00:03:53,392 and they say, well, see, 87 00:03:53,392 --> 00:03:55,954 David was a man after God's own heart. 88 00:03:55,954 --> 00:03:57,762 We know David is a saved man. 89 00:03:57,762 --> 00:03:59,457 We know David is in glory. 90 00:03:59,457 --> 00:04:02,440 If David is going to go to where the child is 91 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:04,210 and David is a saved man, 92 00:04:04,210 --> 00:04:07,547 then the child must have been saved. 93 00:04:07,547 --> 00:04:12,872 Now that's how folks would reason. 94 00:04:12,872 --> 00:04:14,233 One thing I would say 95 00:04:14,233 --> 00:04:16,348 in the Old Testament is 96 00:04:16,348 --> 00:04:20,090 that they didn't have a super developed 97 00:04:20,090 --> 00:04:23,533 theology of heaven and hell. 98 00:04:23,533 --> 00:04:28,255 Now listen, some things are said in the Old Testament like this: 99 00:04:28,255 --> 00:04:31,439 God said - now think about this - 100 00:04:31,439 --> 00:04:33,400 the same logic could be used 101 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:34,594 in other places. 102 00:04:34,594 --> 00:04:37,741 Such as, think about Abraham. 103 00:04:37,741 --> 00:04:40,865 Is Abraham in Heaven? 104 00:04:40,865 --> 00:04:48,059 Prove it. 105 00:04:48,059 --> 00:04:50,885 Luke 16 - that's a good one. 106 00:04:50,885 --> 00:04:54,444 Lazarus went to Abraham's bosom, right? 107 00:04:54,444 --> 00:04:56,580 Which means Abraham was on the good side. 108 00:04:56,580 --> 00:04:59,142 And Jesus said too, many will come from east and west 109 00:04:59,142 --> 00:05:01,111 and they'll sit down and they'll recline 110 00:05:01,111 --> 00:05:02,877 in the Kingdom of Heaven with Abraham 111 00:05:02,877 --> 00:05:03,874 and Isaac and Jacob. 112 00:05:03,874 --> 00:05:05,656 Obviously, he's there. 113 00:05:05,656 --> 00:05:08,531 Right? I mean, Romans 4 is all about that. 114 00:05:08,531 --> 00:05:10,465 Right? He was justified by faith. 115 00:05:10,465 --> 00:05:11,746 He's a justified man. 116 00:05:11,746 --> 00:05:13,446 Okay, here's what God says to him 117 00:05:13,446 --> 00:05:15,217 in Genesis 15:15. 118 00:05:15,217 --> 00:05:19,161 He says, "you shall go to your fathers in peace. 119 00:05:19,161 --> 00:05:21,038 You shall be buried in a good old age." 120 00:05:21,038 --> 00:05:22,764 Now here's what God said to him. 121 00:05:22,764 --> 00:05:24,998 You're going to go to your fathers. 122 00:05:24,998 --> 00:05:28,257 Okay? Logical deduction, 123 00:05:28,257 --> 00:05:31,500 all his fathers must be in Heaven, right? 124 00:05:31,500 --> 00:05:34,323 And yet the Bible distinctly tells us that's not the case. 125 00:05:34,323 --> 00:05:36,116 The Bible tells us that his father 126 00:05:36,116 --> 00:05:38,297 and his father's father - 127 00:05:38,297 --> 00:05:40,519 Joshua 24:2 - 128 00:05:40,519 --> 00:05:42,080 "Joshua said to all the people, 129 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:43,655 thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 130 00:05:43,655 --> 00:05:45,873 long ago your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates. 131 00:05:45,873 --> 00:05:48,323 Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor, 132 00:05:48,323 --> 00:05:51,246 they served other gods. 133 00:05:51,246 --> 00:05:53,547 God took our father Abraham from beyond the river 134 00:05:53,547 --> 00:05:55,320 and led him through all the land of Canaan." 135 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:56,364 You know what? 136 00:05:56,364 --> 00:05:58,543 Basically, all the forefathers of Abraham 137 00:05:58,543 --> 00:06:00,560 were idolaters. 138 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:06,496 And there's no indication that they turned to the Lord. 139 00:06:06,496 --> 00:06:10,273 So I mean, the very point that it's said 140 00:06:10,273 --> 00:06:12,574 that he's going to be with his fathers, 141 00:06:12,574 --> 00:06:14,576 a lot of times they had this mindset 142 00:06:14,576 --> 00:06:19,017 that you know, the dead 143 00:06:19,017 --> 00:06:22,936 are kind of going all to the same place. 144 00:06:22,936 --> 00:06:24,248 And they talked that way. 145 00:06:24,248 --> 00:06:26,375 In fact, you know what comes to my mind right off - 146 00:06:26,375 --> 00:06:28,780 I wasn't thinking about it earlier - 147 00:06:28,780 --> 00:06:32,947 when the witch at Endor raised up Samuel, 148 00:06:32,947 --> 00:06:36,369 didn't Samuel - now is Samuel in Heaven? 149 00:06:36,369 --> 00:06:38,665 We would say yes, he was a righteous man. 150 00:06:38,665 --> 00:06:41,550 Saul, I believe, was a lost man. 151 00:06:41,550 --> 00:06:43,943 And yet, you know what Samuel says to Saul? 152 00:06:43,943 --> 00:06:46,543 You're going to be where I am tomorrow. 153 00:06:46,543 --> 00:06:48,714 And I don't believe that that's an indication 154 00:06:48,714 --> 00:06:55,294 that Samuel was an apparition - a demonic apparition. 155 00:06:55,294 --> 00:06:57,128 And I don't think it necessarily means 156 00:06:57,128 --> 00:06:59,152 that Saul was a saved man. 157 00:06:59,152 --> 00:07:00,692 I believe what it means is 158 00:07:00,692 --> 00:07:02,929 there's an abode where they go to. 159 00:07:02,929 --> 00:07:04,522 Anyways, all that being said, 160 00:07:04,522 --> 00:07:07,537 I don't think that David saying - 161 00:07:07,537 --> 00:07:10,302 because see, we have this kind of talk 162 00:07:10,302 --> 00:07:12,505 in the Old Testament that really showed 163 00:07:12,505 --> 00:07:14,873 that they had this idea that the dead 164 00:07:14,873 --> 00:07:18,828 kind of went to the same place. 165 00:07:18,828 --> 00:07:20,820 You don't find this distinction 166 00:07:20,820 --> 00:07:22,598 between heaven and hell 167 00:07:22,598 --> 00:07:25,743 really vividly set forth in the Old Testament. 168 00:07:25,743 --> 00:07:28,798 They did not have an accomplished theology of that there. 169 00:07:28,798 --> 00:07:32,671 So I don't believe that you can make 170 00:07:32,671 --> 00:07:34,018 with these other things - 171 00:07:34,018 --> 00:07:35,055 the witch at Endor 172 00:07:35,055 --> 00:07:36,864 and this thing said about Abraham - 173 00:07:36,864 --> 00:07:38,627 it's very similar language. 174 00:07:38,627 --> 00:07:41,514 And I think you could come to the same kind of deductions, 175 00:07:41,514 --> 00:07:43,521 which you obviously don't want to come to, 176 00:07:43,521 --> 00:07:45,892 if you start using that same reasoning 177 00:07:45,892 --> 00:07:47,318 with these other cases. 178 00:07:47,318 --> 00:07:49,128 And we could probably multiply these. 179 00:07:49,128 --> 00:07:51,593 I know that in Chronicles and Kings, 180 00:07:51,593 --> 00:07:55,027 it likewise says things about 181 00:07:55,027 --> 00:07:57,053 even maybe wicked kings 182 00:07:57,053 --> 00:07:59,140 going to the place of their fathers 183 00:07:59,140 --> 00:08:00,792 or sleeping with their fathers. 184 00:08:00,792 --> 00:08:03,323 And some of those fathers were righteous men. 185 00:08:03,323 --> 00:08:05,617 Some of those fathers were not righteous men. 186 00:08:05,617 --> 00:08:07,145 I think it was just a way 187 00:08:07,145 --> 00:08:12,019 that the Old Testament saints viewed things. 188 00:08:12,019 --> 00:08:16,888 So I say, you know, I don't think 189 00:08:16,888 --> 00:08:21,286 you can dogmatically prove anything by that. 190 00:08:21,286 --> 00:08:22,968 Now what can we prove? 191 00:08:22,968 --> 00:08:26,407 What can we say dogmatically? 192 00:08:26,407 --> 00:08:27,828 I can tell you this, 193 00:08:27,828 --> 00:08:30,797 children from the womb are not innocent. 194 00:08:30,797 --> 00:08:33,720 We can prove that beyond any shadow of a doubt. How? 195 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:34,927 Well, it's a simple test. 196 00:08:34,927 --> 00:08:36,829 We've already said tonight, Romans 3:10. 197 00:08:36,829 --> 00:08:38,137 "None is righteous." 198 00:08:38,137 --> 00:08:39,746 That includes every little child, 199 00:08:39,746 --> 00:08:42,181 and in fact, David himself says, 200 00:08:42,181 --> 00:08:44,616 "I was brought forth in iniquity." 201 00:08:44,616 --> 00:08:47,108 Psalm 51:5, "...and in sin 202 00:08:47,108 --> 00:08:49,724 did my mother conceive me." 203 00:08:49,724 --> 00:08:52,697 You know what? Little children are conceived in sin. 204 00:08:52,697 --> 00:08:54,383 Little children are not righteous. 205 00:08:54,383 --> 00:08:56,613 Little children are not innocent. 206 00:08:56,613 --> 00:08:58,641 Little children are conceived in sin. 207 00:08:58,641 --> 00:09:01,168 From day one, the moment they're conceived 208 00:09:01,168 --> 00:09:03,981 it's in sin. 209 00:09:03,981 --> 00:09:05,740 Let me tell you something else 210 00:09:05,740 --> 00:09:07,342 that's dogmatic. 211 00:09:07,342 --> 00:09:10,994 Little children die. 212 00:09:10,994 --> 00:09:13,000 You say, well, that's obvious. 213 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:20,892 But, hey, the wages of sin is what? 214 00:09:20,892 --> 00:09:22,419 Death. 215 00:09:22,419 --> 00:09:26,564 Why do little children die? 216 00:09:26,564 --> 00:09:29,973 If they're innocent, why do they die? 217 00:09:29,973 --> 00:09:31,856 Well, we've already established, 218 00:09:31,856 --> 00:09:32,971 they're not innocent. 219 00:09:32,971 --> 00:09:35,081 There's none righteous. 220 00:09:35,081 --> 00:09:40,782 We know that everybody is conceived in sin. 221 00:09:40,782 --> 00:09:41,641 They die. 222 00:09:41,641 --> 00:09:44,130 That's one of the great evidences 223 00:09:44,130 --> 00:09:48,220 that there is indeed guilt associated with them. 224 00:09:48,220 --> 00:09:49,717 And then let's just think about 225 00:09:49,717 --> 00:09:51,902 the Romans 5 argument of Paul. 226 00:09:51,902 --> 00:09:54,251 Just the fact that, listen to this, 227 00:09:54,251 --> 00:09:55,735 you guys know this. 228 00:09:55,735 --> 00:09:58,843 1 Corinthians 15:22 gives us some of the same information 229 00:09:58,843 --> 00:10:00,881 that Romans 5 gives us. 230 00:10:00,881 --> 00:10:02,541 "As in Adam all die, 231 00:10:02,541 --> 00:10:05,805 so also in Christ shall all be made alive." 232 00:10:05,805 --> 00:10:08,894 The fact is, all in Adam die. 233 00:10:08,894 --> 00:10:11,044 Why? Because all in Adam have sinned. 234 00:10:11,044 --> 00:10:13,332 All in Adam are guilty of Adam's sin. 235 00:10:13,332 --> 00:10:15,235 All in Adam are condemned. 236 00:10:15,235 --> 00:10:20,425 All in Adam are under the judgment of God. 237 00:10:20,425 --> 00:10:23,569 You know what the Scriptures say? 238 00:10:23,569 --> 00:10:26,294 We were children of wrath 239 00:10:26,294 --> 00:10:28,013 like the rest of mankind. 240 00:10:28,013 --> 00:10:29,250 You know what that means? 241 00:10:29,250 --> 00:10:31,644 All the rest of mankind - children of wrath. 242 00:10:31,644 --> 00:10:33,362 Little children are conceived 243 00:10:33,362 --> 00:10:34,703 children of wrath. 244 00:10:34,703 --> 00:10:35,991 They're in Adam. 245 00:10:35,991 --> 00:10:37,461 They're guilty of Adam's sin. 246 00:10:37,461 --> 00:10:39,008 They're guilty of original sin. 247 00:10:39,008 --> 00:10:41,781 They are under the condemnation of God. 248 00:10:41,781 --> 00:10:44,338 Death is a reality in their lives. 249 00:10:44,338 --> 00:10:45,977 Death is a wage of sin. 250 00:10:45,977 --> 00:10:47,168 Clearly, they die. 251 00:10:47,168 --> 00:10:48,850 Clearly, the implications of sin 252 00:10:48,850 --> 00:10:50,087 are upon their life. 253 00:10:50,087 --> 00:10:52,819 Clearly, they're not conceived in innocence. 254 00:10:52,819 --> 00:10:56,023 Clearly, their conceived in iniquity. 255 00:10:56,023 --> 00:10:59,989 Those things we know to be true. 256 00:10:59,989 --> 00:11:02,395 I'll tell you something else. 257 00:11:02,395 --> 00:11:06,651 God had infants slaughtered. 258 00:11:06,651 --> 00:11:08,079 That's another thing we know 259 00:11:08,079 --> 00:11:09,255 absolutely for certain. 260 00:11:09,255 --> 00:11:10,892 I'll just give you one instance - 261 00:11:10,892 --> 00:11:12,840 1 Samuel 15:3, "Go and strike Amalek 262 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:15,809 and devote to destruction all that they have. 263 00:11:15,809 --> 00:11:16,941 Do not spare them. 264 00:11:16,941 --> 00:11:18,781 Kill both man and woman, 265 00:11:18,781 --> 00:11:22,509 child and infant." 266 00:11:22,509 --> 00:11:26,591 I mean, I'm in Judges now, 267 00:11:26,591 --> 00:11:32,144 but I just recently read through Joshua. 268 00:11:32,144 --> 00:11:34,240 I was imagining what it would have been like 269 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:35,464 to have been an Israelite 270 00:11:35,464 --> 00:11:38,891 going into those Canaanite villages 271 00:11:38,891 --> 00:11:41,911 where they were told to destroy everybody. 272 00:11:41,911 --> 00:11:46,993 I mean, folks, when those walls of Jericho came down, 273 00:11:46,993 --> 00:11:51,647 there was only one lady and her family spared. 274 00:11:51,647 --> 00:11:53,535 Everybody else, under the sword. 275 00:11:53,535 --> 00:11:56,935 You think about going in with the sword. 276 00:11:56,935 --> 00:11:59,150 You've got pregnant mothers. 277 00:11:59,150 --> 00:12:01,752 They slaughtered them on the spot. 278 00:12:01,752 --> 00:12:03,256 You've got a little infant - 279 00:12:03,256 --> 00:12:05,918 they slaughtered them. 280 00:12:05,918 --> 00:12:10,137 And that was God ordained. 281 00:12:10,137 --> 00:12:11,493 Now you think about God 282 00:12:11,493 --> 00:12:14,445 having little children put to death. 283 00:12:14,445 --> 00:12:19,481 Does that speak of innocence? 284 00:12:19,481 --> 00:12:21,831 But then let's go here, 285 00:12:21,831 --> 00:12:24,639 we know that the Bible teaches us as well 286 00:12:24,639 --> 00:12:27,577 God is good. Psalm 52:1. 287 00:12:27,577 --> 00:12:30,908 "The goodness of God endures continually." 288 00:12:30,908 --> 00:12:32,481 How about this? "God is just." 289 00:12:32,481 --> 00:12:33,963 Deuteronomy 32:4. 290 00:12:33,963 --> 00:12:36,948 "God is a God of faithfulness and without iniquity. 291 00:12:36,948 --> 00:12:40,150 Just and upright is He." 292 00:12:40,150 --> 00:12:41,393 And you know what? 293 00:12:41,393 --> 00:12:43,516 God didn't need to offer mankind 294 00:12:43,516 --> 00:12:46,958 any way of salvation, and yet He does. 295 00:12:46,958 --> 00:12:48,501 And we know that Scripturally. 296 00:12:48,501 --> 00:12:52,796 God has offered man a way of salvation. 297 00:12:52,796 --> 00:12:54,738 Call upon the name of the Lord 298 00:12:54,738 --> 00:12:56,503 and you will be saved. 299 00:12:56,503 --> 00:12:59,056 I'll tell you what, 300 00:12:59,056 --> 00:13:01,787 little children, little infants, 301 00:13:01,787 --> 00:13:06,819 little children in their mother's wombs, 302 00:13:06,819 --> 00:13:09,396 cannot call on the Lord. 303 00:13:09,396 --> 00:13:11,649 They don't have the faculties to believe. 304 00:13:11,649 --> 00:13:13,077 And I'll tell you this, 305 00:13:13,077 --> 00:13:15,959 if there is another way of salvation, 306 00:13:15,959 --> 00:13:18,108 God never tells us it. 307 00:13:18,108 --> 00:13:19,368 Right? 308 00:13:19,368 --> 00:13:21,598 There's only one way of salvation 309 00:13:21,598 --> 00:13:23,436 we know of in all the Scripture. 310 00:13:23,436 --> 00:13:27,152 And little children are incapable of it. 311 00:13:27,152 --> 00:13:30,483 Right? I can dogmatically say that. 312 00:13:30,483 --> 00:13:33,656 How shall I be saved? Call upon the name of the Lord. 313 00:13:33,656 --> 00:13:36,539 They told the Philippian jailer, 314 00:13:36,539 --> 00:13:38,709 "believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ 315 00:13:38,709 --> 00:13:40,504 and thou shall be saved." 316 00:13:40,504 --> 00:13:44,022 There's one way given among men. 317 00:13:44,022 --> 00:13:46,764 It's in Christ and it's by faith in Christ. 318 00:13:46,764 --> 00:13:48,399 There is no other way. 319 00:13:48,399 --> 00:13:50,977 There's no other way given in Scripture. 320 00:13:50,977 --> 00:13:52,621 It can't be argued. 321 00:13:52,621 --> 00:13:54,964 Little children do not have the faculties. 322 00:13:54,964 --> 00:13:56,268 There are little children 323 00:13:56,268 --> 00:13:58,199 aborted in their mother's wombs, 324 00:13:58,199 --> 00:14:00,786 or miscarried in their mother's wombs, 325 00:14:00,786 --> 00:14:04,345 at a day after, at a month after, 326 00:14:04,345 --> 00:14:09,155 at a week after conception. 327 00:14:09,155 --> 00:14:11,787 There's no faculty there for them to believe. 328 00:14:11,787 --> 00:14:14,154 At least, that we know of. 329 00:14:14,154 --> 00:14:15,652 Not that we can imagine. 330 00:14:15,652 --> 00:14:17,210 There are people born retarded 331 00:14:17,210 --> 00:14:19,782 that we can't imagine have faculties. 332 00:14:19,782 --> 00:14:22,304 If there is another way of salvation, 333 00:14:22,304 --> 00:14:26,173 we don't know about it. 334 00:14:26,173 --> 00:14:29,302 But then let me say this, 335 00:14:29,302 --> 00:14:32,196 and this is really the last thing 336 00:14:32,196 --> 00:14:34,368 I would say on this subject. 337 00:14:34,368 --> 00:14:36,367 Romans 1:18, 338 00:14:36,367 --> 00:14:38,229 "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven 339 00:14:38,229 --> 00:14:40,527 against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men 340 00:14:40,527 --> 00:14:43,363 who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 341 00:14:43,363 --> 00:14:45,452 For what can be known about God is plain to them 342 00:14:45,452 --> 00:14:47,307 because God has shown it to them. 343 00:14:47,307 --> 00:14:49,768 For His invisible attributes, namely His eternal power 344 00:14:49,768 --> 00:14:51,838 and divine nature have been clearly perceived 345 00:14:51,838 --> 00:14:53,594 ever since the creation of the world 346 00:14:53,594 --> 00:14:55,171 in the things that have been made, 347 00:14:55,171 --> 00:14:56,851 so they are without excuse." 348 00:14:56,851 --> 00:14:58,384 Can I tell you something? 349 00:14:58,384 --> 00:15:01,435 God damns men who have never heard the Gospel. 350 00:15:01,435 --> 00:15:03,180 God damns men that have never 351 00:15:03,180 --> 00:15:05,430 heard the name of Jesus Christ. 352 00:15:05,430 --> 00:15:07,970 And He is absolutely just in doing so. 353 00:15:07,970 --> 00:15:08,944 You know why? 354 00:15:08,944 --> 00:15:11,154 Because what can be known about God 355 00:15:11,154 --> 00:15:15,241 has been revealed in the creation 356 00:15:15,241 --> 00:15:17,120 so that they are without excuse. 357 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:19,408 What I would say is this, 358 00:15:19,408 --> 00:15:23,076 definitely, God tells us 359 00:15:23,076 --> 00:15:28,094 and He wants to make it clear 360 00:15:28,094 --> 00:15:31,535 that those that don't hear 361 00:15:31,535 --> 00:15:34,093 are justly condemned 362 00:15:34,093 --> 00:15:37,628 and they are without excuse. 363 00:15:37,628 --> 00:15:40,488 Now the case could be made for children 364 00:15:40,488 --> 00:15:42,793 that they have an excuse. 365 00:15:42,793 --> 00:15:44,577 They never had an opportunity 366 00:15:44,577 --> 00:15:47,236 to reject the light. 367 00:15:47,236 --> 00:15:52,652 So it may be that in light of that, 368 00:15:52,652 --> 00:15:55,852 they have an excuse by which 369 00:15:55,852 --> 00:16:00,383 God in His mercies - and because they're in Adam, 370 00:16:00,383 --> 00:16:04,176 what Christ did on the cross, 371 00:16:04,176 --> 00:16:06,338 although they may not have ever committed 372 00:16:06,338 --> 00:16:08,905 any of their actual sin, 373 00:16:08,905 --> 00:16:14,077 condemnation came upon all men through Adam. 374 00:16:14,077 --> 00:16:18,295 And you know what? 375 00:16:18,295 --> 00:16:22,137 It may be that in the death of Christ on that cross, 376 00:16:22,137 --> 00:16:29,303 it may be that He cancelled out Adam's sin. 377 00:16:29,303 --> 00:16:31,618 And it may be that there is a way 378 00:16:31,618 --> 00:16:34,600 that God has made that we know not of 379 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:38,171 and is not expressly declared in the Scripture 380 00:16:38,171 --> 00:16:41,672 because they are without excuse. 381 00:16:41,672 --> 00:16:44,634 But you see, all I'm trying to say is what the Scripture says. 382 00:16:44,634 --> 00:16:48,010 And men, oh boy, they are so dogmatic on both sides. 383 00:16:48,010 --> 00:16:50,998 You can go talk to one of our favorite missionaries 384 00:16:50,998 --> 00:16:52,766 over in China, 385 00:16:52,766 --> 00:16:58,990 and he does not believe it's consistent with God 386 00:16:58,990 --> 00:17:02,224 that God would have them struck dead 387 00:17:02,224 --> 00:17:04,555 and then usher them straight into glory. 388 00:17:04,555 --> 00:17:06,323 He believes there's an inconsistency. 389 00:17:06,323 --> 00:17:07,712 And yet on the other hand, 390 00:17:07,712 --> 00:17:10,120 one of our other favorite patron saints of old, 391 00:17:10,120 --> 00:17:12,498 Charles Spurgeon was dogmatic 392 00:17:12,498 --> 00:17:14,486 that all children - 393 00:17:14,486 --> 00:17:16,683 and of course, I think the safe thing to say 394 00:17:16,683 --> 00:17:22,866 is all elect children are in Heaven. 395 00:17:22,866 --> 00:17:24,595 Because the fact is that when you 396 00:17:24,595 --> 00:17:26,751 boil it all down, 397 00:17:26,751 --> 00:17:29,021 and I know John MacArthur wrote a book on it 398 00:17:29,021 --> 00:17:30,335 and he's dogmatic, 399 00:17:30,335 --> 00:17:32,675 and I know John Piper just recently 400 00:17:32,675 --> 00:17:34,786 lost a little grandchild 401 00:17:34,786 --> 00:17:38,165 just right after it was born. 402 00:17:38,165 --> 00:17:40,627 And he doesn't get real dogmatic. 403 00:17:40,627 --> 00:17:42,634 I've heard him before, he appeals 404 00:17:42,634 --> 00:17:44,321 to this text in Romans 405 00:17:44,321 --> 00:17:47,089 that maybe they have an excuse. 406 00:17:47,089 --> 00:17:49,753 The fact is I've given you some things 407 00:17:49,753 --> 00:17:51,685 I think we can be dogmatic about, 408 00:17:51,685 --> 00:17:53,879 and there's just some things we can't be.