Infant Salvation (Part 3)

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Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

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No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the apostle

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Paul said, "'But we did not yield in subjection to them "'for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel "'would remain with you.'"

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In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you.

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By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we're called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her king.

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Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. Welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth, coming to you from beautiful downtown

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Burbank on Buena Vista Boulevard, in my dreams, right? No, I am coming to you from Worcester, Worcester, Worcester, Massachusetts, and am glad to do so.

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If you don't have a copy of my new book that I wrote with Clint Archer and Byron Yon, probably,

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I don't know, three years ago, that's how it works. It takes a long time to find a publisher willing.

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This is on Harvest House, and it's called, Things That Go Bump in the

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Church, and really, it's scary doctrines explained. I take on church discipline, sin, hell, unconditional election, and does

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God still speak today? I hear voices, and it's written in a kind of a fun style, the chapters that can be.

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I mean, you don't want to have hell as a fun chapter, but it's a little lighthearted with a theme of things that are scary.

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So, here's the plan. Today, if you have not a copy in your hand, you don't have a copy in your hand, and you'd like one for free, including shipping, then you just have to email me, and I will send out one for now, but here's the catch, here's the caveat, here's the fine print.

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You just write to me and say, at info, nocompromiserady .com, hi, my name's so -and -so, this is my mailing address, and here's the key, here's the punchline, here's the payoff for listening to No Compromise Radio.

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You have to say, I've listened to every show. I know there are people out there who've listened to every show.

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I don't know why they would want to, but I know there are people out there who probably listen to hardly any shows, but if you've listened to every show, and you would be willing to admit it, the first person, and if I have mercy or grace, and there's a few of you, maybe

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I'll send more, but I will, at least to the first one, send out a copy of Things That Go Bump in the church.

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All right, and then you can send it to Clint, and maybe he can autograph it. He can sign it.

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Again, I'm just a nobody sitting here in Massachusetts, glad to talk about Christ Jesus, the

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Lord who never compromised, and it wasn't that long ago, someone asked me to sign their

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Bible. I just never get that. Of course, if you write the notes in a study Bible, okay, that one

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I could see. If your name's the Apostle Paul, I'd be curious to know if Paul would endorse the book of Hebrews.

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He'd endorse it in terms of its theological content, but would he endorse it as the writer?

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I don't think he would. I think he might tell us who wrote it, but I don't think he wrote it.

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The wildest one for the author of Hebrews is some people, I won't mention any names, say the

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Virgin Mary wrote it. Forget those masculine pronouns used that the author uses for himself.

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That's just a scribal error. So anyway, if you listen to all the shows, that would be a good payoff.

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Things that go bump in the church. We're already thinking about part two, episode two. There's lots of scary doctrines, and so my guess is if this one sells well,

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Harvest House will re -up. If it doesn't, why bother? So anyway, what we're talking about in this series on Thursdays is do babies die, excuse me, do babies go to heaven when they die?

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Yes, the first question was do babies die? Yes, sadly, and what a gut -wrenching experience that is whether the baby's stillborn, miscarriage, a little bit older.

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I think that's what we're talking about when we have a death in the family. It hurts, it's supposed to hurt. To be bereaved,

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I think comes from a root word that means to rip. I mean, the fabric of your soul and life seems ripped, doesn't it?

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And I think about the Lord Jesus Christ weeping at the tomb of Lazarus. I know what people mean when they say, we're gonna have a celebration service.

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Someone dies. It's a victory service. Well, there is victory in Jesus. I affirm that.

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We are sad. The person isn't sad. The believer is face -to -face with God.

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Of course, there'll be a body that they'll receive one day. But anyway, they are happy, blissful, and we rejoice with them.

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And so there's that element, and I do not dispute it. But funerals are supposed to hurt.

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You're supposed to cry. You're supposed to feel awful. Death is an intruder.

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Death is not natural. And so anyway, the fall and the sting of death is supposed to hurt.

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So I don't prefer victory celebrations. I know when I bury people that I love, it's not much celebrating.

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I know mentally. I know theologically. I know intellectually. I know in the deepest crevices of my soul that these truths of the

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Bible, absent from the body present with the Lord, they're true. To live is Christ and to die, what did Paul say?

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It's gain. When I watched my mother take her final breaths, and those breaths were intermittent, and it's like you're counting, right?

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If you've been around someone who's dying, and maybe they're having a little morphine as well, they breathe, and then you're like, they're never gonna take another breath in.

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They exhale, and then you're counting. And you're waiting. And then they take the next breath.

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And then it's just longer in between each one until they finally don't take another breath.

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In those moments when my mom was dying, I think I believe the Bible to be more true than any other time.

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Now, I know there's a subjective side to this. Objectively, I understand the canon, inspiration, inerrancy.

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I understand those things. And I affirm and teach that when you hold those 66 books in your hand, you have the complete revelation from God.

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What He wants you to know, you have. Oh, we could talk about natural revelation. What does that say?

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But when it comes to specific revelation, you have everything right there. Those 66 books,

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Genesis to Revelation. But in my heart, subjectively, emotionally,

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I don't know how to quantify this because how do you quantify emotions and feelings? And I think it's right for the

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Christian to say, I think and I feel. And never the twain shall meet, right?

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Most of the time, Christians say, I feel, but they're really telling you what they think. Anyway, I just felt that it was true more than any other time.

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These are facts. In other words, when you bury people, when you watch your mother die, your hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness, correct?

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That's correct. Like John DeBriene would say when he was having a heart attack, he was not singing, shine,

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Jesus, shine. What does that mean, by the way? Shine, Jesus, shine. So when it comes to children dying, it is a very, very gut -wrenching experience.

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And I have, with my wife, she had a, there was one in between Haley and Luke, and then you go have the

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DNC afterwards and then have to wait. And I'm very thankful for the four kids that I do have. I don't know.

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Am I gonna get to heaven and see another one? That's the question today. And it's twofold for me because was the molar pregnancy even really a baby?

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Was it just like some kind of growth and tissue? And if there was a baby, where's the baby?

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So that's the question we're asking today on No Compromise Radio. If you haven't listened to the first two parts, it would really be helpful if you would because I just can't review everything right now.

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And we're dealing with this topic that, again, it's so emotional that unless you have everything set up, you're going to struggle more than you would otherwise.

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Now, what we did at the end of last show is we were looking at 2 Samuel chapter 12 in a list of verses that seem to indicate the salvation of infants who die, at least some of them.

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And I would admit it's not airtight, but it hints towards, it leans towards this very thing.

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There aren't any passages that are explicit. So I'm gonna have to go for the implicit, 2

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Samuel chapter 12. But now he is dead. Remember, David sinned with Bathsheba, although she's not called

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Bathsheba much in 2 Corinthians, excuse me, 2 Samuel 12. Uriah, the Hittite's wife, the narrator there, making sure we understand the depth and gravity of David's sin.

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And David is going to lose the son. And in fact, he does. And it says in 2

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Samuel 12, 23, but now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again?

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I shall go to him, but he will not return to me. The ESV study

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Bible says, some interpreters understand David to be saying simply that he, like the child, will someday die.

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But shall go to him seems to indicate the expectation of future personal reunion.

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And so David's son, David's baby dies at seven days old.

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I think I can prove that on page verse 18, on the seventh day the child died.

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So that we know for sure. And David ceases to mourn.

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David stops crying and weeping. And why does he do that? Because he is hopeful, he is encouraged, he is bolstered by the idea that he will see his baby one day.

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There'll be a reunion. I don't think this is just, oh, we're both going to die.

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How would that help David? I think that would hurt David. Oh, by the way, you lose a baby.

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And the advice you give to the person who's lost the baby is, you know what? You're gonna die too.

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There's lots of things that we shouldn't say to people in grief. Friends, that's one of them.

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That's one of them. You know, it's interesting. I'll talk to parents and family members. And if they've lost a loved one, the church and other people too who love them will come alongside and try to encourage them.

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And people open their mouths and then say dumb things that are meant to encourage. So the motive's good.

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The desire is good. They just don't know what to say. So instead of saying nothing, I love you,

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I'm sorry. I'm just so sorry. You know, we brought some food over and we want to just sit here and cry with you and be with you.

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They say something. And what comes out of their mouth is not I love you, but that's the motive. What comes out of their mouth is something else.

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And so this would be in the something else category. What about David's son

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Absalom? When he died, this wicked son Absalom, one writer says he refused to be comforted because he knew

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Absalom died in sin and went to hell. Okay, so back here with the baby, the same writer says had the baby recovered,

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David could not know if he would live and become right with God and go to heaven or not. But when he died,

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David knew at once that he went to the same heaven where he himself would one day go.

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So 2 Samuel 12, 23. And again, it's not explicit, but I think that gives some hope.

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MacArthur says, suggest strong evidence for a heavenly destiny of the unborn and children who die young.

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So that's the first passage that I would go to that seems to indicate that when babies die, all or some at least would go to heaven.

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The other passage that I use, and this is in order of, it's in descending order.

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It's not as helpful, but I think there's some good teachers that would get some gleanings here.

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And that's what we wanna do is Revelation chapter five. Let me read to you verse seven and following.

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And he went and took the scroll, this is Revelation five, from the hand of him who was seated on the throne.

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And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb.

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John in Revelation regularly calls Jesus the lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

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And they sang a new song saying, worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals for you are slain and by your blood, you ransom people for God.

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And here's the part at the end of verse nine in Revelation chapter five, that gives us some insight into the question, where do babies go when they die?

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From every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priest to God and they shall reign on the earth.

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And so there's this song of great celebration and Jesus Christ is to be praised for his redeeming, his purchasing in the marketplace of sin,

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Jesus redeems with his own blood, not like a corruptible silver or gold, but by his own life.

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He gives his ransom for many. And so there is from every tribe and language and people and nation.

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It is not every tribe, people, language and nation, it's from, and that means there are no

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Unitarians in heaven. That's what Asclepius Johnson would say. Everybody in heaven's a

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Trinitarian. It says here, out of, it's a partitive genitive, it's substitutionary work, it is particular.

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You remember John Owen's conundrum, the father imposed his wrath due unto and the son underwent punishment for either all the sins of all men, all the sins of some men or some of the sins of all men.

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In which case it may be said that if the last be true, some of the sins of all men, all men have some sins to answer for and so none are saved.

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That if the second be true, John Owen says, all of the sins of some men, then the

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Christ in their stead suffered for all the sins of the elect in the world and this is the truth.

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All right, and then we could go on. But if the first be the case, all the sins of all men, why are not all men free from the punishment due to their sins?

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You answer, because of unbelief. I ask, is this unbelief a sin or is it not?

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But here we have every tribe and tongue and people and nation. Now, the

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Antichrist had power over every tribe, tongue and nation in Revelation 13, right?

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To make war with the saints and overcome them and he's got authority over those people. The question that relates to children dying here in Revelation 5 is how can it be possible that there's a multitude in heaven from every tribe and nation and tongue?

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Lewis Barry Chafer wrote, it is probable that the elect company, in order for it to be from every kindred, tribe and people, will be built up in part out of those who die in infancy.

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So every tribe, those of the same descent, people that speak the same language, the same family lineage of every tribe, people, right, the same race or stock, nation, ethnically related.

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So I think that's a hint to tell us that there are places where the gospel has not gone, but how could heaven be a place that was full of the praises of people from every tribe and tongue?

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Now, it could just be a general statement, I acknowledge that, but these are the verses that I think are the most helpful to help us build a case.

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What about the verses that tell us that there's a choosing or a sanctifying from the womb?

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How about those who, according to some, like Danny Akin would say, this is the salvation of some infants that are in the womb.

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Jeremiah 1 .5, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you,

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I appointed you a prophet to the nations, Jeremiah 1 .5. Also, it says in Luke chapter one, and Zechariah was troubled when he saw him and fear fell upon him.

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But the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name

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John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the

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Lord, and he must not drink strong wine, or drink wine, rather, or strong drink. And he will be filled with the

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Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the

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Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready for the

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Lord a people prepared. And so, you would have here people that were regenerate, before born, okay?

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So, if that's the case, then these verses are helpful in this particular area.

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Do some kids go to heaven when they die? Do all of them go to heaven? Now, there's some other verses that aren't too convincing, but people use for this topic.

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And again, I think what we want to do, of course, is we want to say we love these little children, and certainly, we want

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God to love them, too. We know he loves them as a creator, but does he love them as his children, that is to say, his spiritual children, his elect, his bride?

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Now, some say, let's see, what verses would

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I want to go to? Spurgeon wants to go to Ezekiel 16 .21,

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saying that children that die go to heaven. So, Spurgeon uses Ezekiel 16 .21,

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but I'm not too convinced. And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had born to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured.

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Were your whoring so small a matter that you slaughtered my children? So, God is talking to the wicked

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Israelites. They have offered up their children as a sacrifice to Molech, and then

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God says, you've slaughtered my children. The parents may say, you know,

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I'm gonna offer you up, but they're still God's children, and takes them to heaven. And in all your abominations and your whorings, you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood.

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And some have said this is, when it comes to abortion mills and clinics, killing

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God's children. Maybe this could be Planned Parenthood's life verse. There are other passages in the

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Bible that people use to try to construct the idea that children go to heaven when they die.

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And I'm not saying I don't believe that they don't go to heaven when they die. I'm just saying these verses, I would rather use 2

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Samuel 12 and Revelation than these verses. Here we have

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Matthew 18, verse one. And at that time, the disciples came to Jesus saying, who's the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

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And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

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Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

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Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me. And whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

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And so people want to use this and say, see, this is Christ's love for babies and for infants and therefore they go to heaven because we're talking about entering the kingdom of heaven.

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And there we have conclusive evidence. Well, these aren't infants, but these are children, first of all.

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And second of all, the language here is of comparison.

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And so it says, like children, humbles himself like this child, one such child.

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It also talks about one of these little ones who believe in me. This has nothing to do with infants.

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And so if you want to use this to say, children don't go to hell when they die, I don't want children to go to hell when they die either, but you can't use this verse.

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Jesus is saying, if you want to take a child of God, someone who's adopted into the family because they've been regenerated and have responded in conversion with faith, you don't want to make them stumble.

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Now, some also use Matthew 19, and I don't think this has to do with children's salvation either, infant salvation, but I'll read the verses.

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Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, let the little children come to me and do not hinder them for to such.

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See, these ones with childlike faith. One thing about children, they're dependent. They don't offer anything to the family besides love, but they don't pay the bills.

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They don't pay the rent. To such belongs the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them and went away.

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I didn't baptize them. He didn't say you're going to go to heaven when you die or if you die, he blessed them.

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That's what he did. He blessed them. So my name is Mike Gabendroth. This is No Compromise Radio. And again, we're just trying to work through these issues because it's going to come up and you're going to wonder, and you're either going to be affected by it directly or indirectly when you're around other people and those in the church.

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So we want to go back to what does the Bible say about these issues? And then I'll get to this next week, but we're just going to trust the

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Lord. The Lord of the universe is going to do right, right? He's going to rightly take care of everything.

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He's just, he's merciful, he's kind. He's by nature a savior. And we know we can trust him.

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If he's given us these children, we can trust him. No matter what, he's faithful. Great is thy faithfulness.

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You can write me at info at nocompromiseradio .com. And maybe you want to go to Israel with us, February 17th, 2015.

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No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

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Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life transforming power of God's word through verse by verse exposition of the sacred text.

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Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at six. We're right on route 110 in West Boylston.

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You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

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The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE its staff or management.