0:00:12.501,0:00:14.879 Of course, I should have expected 0:00:14.879,0:00:16.428 that this one was coming. 0:00:16.428,0:00:19.402 Age of accountability. 0:00:19.402,0:00:24.541 Si - he says, "A five year [br]old missing girl's body 0:00:24.541,0:00:28.158 was found recently encased in cement 0:00:28.158,0:00:31.971 along a river bed in Michigan." 0:00:31.971,0:00:35.843 Now, at this point, Si heard a news event. 0:00:35.843,0:00:37.889 He's using that as kind of a launching pad 0:00:37.889,0:00:39.317 for his question. 0:00:39.317,0:00:41.191 He's making some assumptions now. 0:00:41.191,0:00:44.608 "Let's assume this child [br]never heard the Gospel. 0:00:44.608,0:00:47.283 Could a Christian rightly comfort 0:00:47.283,0:00:49.942 the parents of this child 0:00:49.942,0:00:53.150 by saying that the child [br]went immediately into Heaven? 0:00:53.150,0:00:56.132 Do all children under a certain age 0:00:56.132,0:00:58.388 go to Heaven? 0:00:58.388,0:01:00.393 Do children go to hell 0:01:00.393,0:01:03.142 if they never heard the Gospel? 0:01:03.142,0:01:07.921 Is there an age of accountability?" 0:01:07.921,0:01:12.261 Now, bottom line, 0:01:12.261,0:01:15.706 the Bible does not say. 0:01:15.706,0:01:18.820 But the Bible does say some things 0:01:18.820,0:01:22.944 about some things that we can glean from 0:01:22.944,0:01:27.686 and make some dogmatic statements. 0:01:27.686,0:01:33.169 So, the first thing that [br]I would say is this: 0:01:33.169,0:01:36.258 The Apostle Paul said this. 0:01:36.258,0:01:39.164 2 Timothy 3:15 - maybe some [br]of you know this verse. 0:01:39.164,0:01:41.191 "The sacred writings..." 0:01:41.191,0:01:44.210 speaking of the Bible. 0:01:44.210,0:01:46.539 He says, "they're able to make you wise 0:01:46.539,0:01:49.078 for salvation through [br]faith in Christ Jesus." 0:01:49.078,0:01:50.505 Well, why would I read that? 0:01:50.505,0:01:52.318 Because the Bible wasn't given 0:01:52.318,0:01:55.403 to answer every question [br]that we can possibly ask. 0:01:55.403,0:01:57.464 But you know what the Bible was given for? 0:01:57.464,0:02:00.155 It was given for us who can think 0:02:00.155,0:02:02.010 and can reason 0:02:02.010,0:02:05.083 to know the way by which to be saved. 0:02:05.083,0:02:09.497 The fact is the Bible wasn't given 0:02:09.497,0:02:11.899 specifically to tell us how people 0:02:11.899,0:02:14.233 who can't reason might be saved 0:02:14.233,0:02:15.495 if they could be saved. 0:02:15.495,0:02:17.411 It's given to those who can reason. 0:02:17.411,0:02:19.044 "The sacred writings are given 0:02:19.044,0:02:21.891 to make a person wise for salvation." 0:02:21.891,0:02:23.233 And you see, a lot of times, 0:02:23.233,0:02:25.605 people get caught up with questions 0:02:25.605,0:02:28.220 that they want answers for, 0:02:28.220,0:02:30.791 but you know what's more important? 0:02:30.791,0:02:32.506 The most important thing for Si 0:02:32.506,0:02:35.979 is to know the way of life 0:02:35.979,0:02:38.385 and to make sure that he has it. 0:02:38.385,0:02:39.850 But now, that doesn't mean 0:02:39.850,0:02:41.956 that this question about children 0:02:41.956,0:02:43.663 doesn't have practical use. 0:02:43.663,0:02:46.344 I'll guarantee you, it has pastoral use. 0:02:46.344,0:02:47.786 When you come across a mother 0:02:47.786,0:02:50.772 that's lost a little child, 0:02:50.772,0:02:52.653 what are you going to tell them? 0:02:52.653,0:02:54.532 You know, is there anything we can say 0:02:54.532,0:02:57.501 to comfort them? 0:02:57.501,0:02:59.779 Okay, you know where [br]people typically go here? 0:02:59.779,0:03:01.554 They typically go to David. 0:03:01.554,0:03:02.904 Some of you guys know 0:03:02.904,0:03:06.493 that David had an illicit [br]relationship with Bathsheba. 0:03:06.493,0:03:09.184 That's usually well-known. 0:03:09.184,0:03:11.479 He committed adultery. [br]He committed murder. 0:03:11.479,0:03:14.436 But, there was a child born. 0:03:14.436,0:03:16.520 You folks know about the child. 0:03:16.520,0:03:19.255 2 Samuel 12:23 0:03:19.255,0:03:21.222 You know that David was fasting. 0:03:21.222,0:03:23.060 He was fasting asking God to preserve 0:03:23.060,0:03:25.404 the life of this little child. 0:03:25.404,0:03:27.274 He saw some servants whispering. 0:03:27.274,0:03:29.174 He figured, well, the child's dead. 0:03:29.174,0:03:32.614 He went and washed himself.[br]He went and ate. 0:03:32.614,0:03:34.198 They wondered, well, this is odd. 0:03:34.198,0:03:37.305 Why did you fast then, 0:03:37.305,0:03:38.542 and now the child's dead? 0:03:38.542,0:03:42.061 It seems like you would fast and [br]pray now? You would mourn now? 0:03:42.061,0:03:44.157 He said, "now he's dead. [br]Why should I fast? 0:03:44.157,0:03:46.116 Can I bring him back again? 0:03:46.116,0:03:48.852 I shall go to him, 0:03:48.852,0:03:50.337 but he will not return to me." 0:03:50.337,0:03:52.141 And a lot of people have gone there 0:03:52.141,0:03:53.392 and they say, well, see, 0:03:53.392,0:03:55.954 David was a man after God's own heart. 0:03:55.954,0:03:57.762 We know David is a saved man. 0:03:57.762,0:03:59.457 We know David is in glory. 0:03:59.457,0:04:02.440 If David is going to go [br]to where the child is 0:04:02.440,0:04:04.210 and David is a saved man, 0:04:04.210,0:04:07.547 then the child must have been saved. 0:04:07.547,0:04:12.872 Now that's how folks would reason. 0:04:12.872,0:04:14.233 One thing I would say 0:04:14.233,0:04:16.348 in the Old Testament is 0:04:16.348,0:04:20.090 that they didn't have a super developed 0:04:20.090,0:04:23.533 theology of heaven and hell. 0:04:23.533,0:04:28.255 Now listen, some things are said [br]in the Old Testament like this: 0:04:28.255,0:04:31.439 God said - now think about this - 0:04:31.439,0:04:33.400 the same logic could be used 0:04:33.400,0:04:34.594 in other places. 0:04:34.594,0:04:37.741 Such as, think about Abraham. 0:04:37.741,0:04:40.865 Is Abraham in Heaven? 0:04:40.865,0:04:48.059 Prove it. 0:04:48.059,0:04:50.885 Luke 16 - that's a good one. 0:04:50.885,0:04:54.444 Lazarus went to Abraham's bosom, right? 0:04:54.444,0:04:56.580 Which means Abraham was on the good side. 0:04:56.580,0:04:59.142 And Jesus said too, many will [br]come from east and west 0:04:59.142,0:05:01.111 and they'll sit down [br]and they'll recline 0:05:01.111,0:05:02.877 in the Kingdom of Heaven with Abraham 0:05:02.877,0:05:03.874 and Isaac and Jacob. 0:05:03.874,0:05:05.656 Obviously, he's there. 0:05:05.656,0:05:08.531 Right? I mean, Romans 4 is all about that. 0:05:08.531,0:05:10.465 Right? He was justified by faith. 0:05:10.465,0:05:11.746 He's a justified man. 0:05:11.746,0:05:13.446 Okay, here's what God says to him 0:05:13.446,0:05:15.217 in Genesis 15:15. 0:05:15.217,0:05:19.161 He says, "you shall go to [br]your fathers in peace. 0:05:19.161,0:05:21.038 You shall be buried in a good old age." 0:05:21.038,0:05:22.764 Now here's what God said to him. 0:05:22.764,0:05:24.998 You're going to go to your fathers. 0:05:24.998,0:05:28.257 Okay? Logical deduction, 0:05:28.257,0:05:31.500 all his fathers must be in Heaven, right? 0:05:31.500,0:05:34.323 And yet the Bible distinctly [br]tells us that's not the case. 0:05:34.323,0:05:36.116 The Bible tells us that his father 0:05:36.116,0:05:38.297 and his father's father - 0:05:38.297,0:05:40.519 Joshua 24:2 - 0:05:40.519,0:05:42.080 "Joshua said to all the people, 0:05:42.080,0:05:43.655 thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 0:05:43.655,0:05:45.873 long ago your fathers lived [br]beyond the Euphrates. 0:05:45.873,0:05:48.323 Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor, 0:05:48.323,0:05:51.246 they served other gods. 0:05:51.246,0:05:53.547 God took our father Abraham [br]from beyond the river 0:05:53.547,0:05:55.320 and led him through [br]all the land of Canaan." 0:05:55.320,0:05:56.364 You know what? 0:05:56.364,0:05:58.543 Basically, all the forefathers of Abraham 0:05:58.543,0:06:00.560 were idolaters. 0:06:00.560,0:06:06.496 And there's no indication that [br]they turned to the Lord. 0:06:06.496,0:06:10.273 So I mean, the very point that it's said 0:06:10.273,0:06:12.574 that he's going to be with his fathers, 0:06:12.574,0:06:14.576 a lot of times they had this mindset 0:06:14.576,0:06:19.017 that you know, the dead 0:06:19.017,0:06:22.936 are kind of going all to the same place. 0:06:22.936,0:06:24.248 And they talked that way. 0:06:24.248,0:06:26.375 In fact, you know what [br]comes to my mind right off - 0:06:26.375,0:06:28.780 I wasn't thinking about it earlier - 0:06:28.780,0:06:32.947 when the witch at Endor raised up Samuel, 0:06:32.947,0:06:36.369 didn't Samuel - now is Samuel in Heaven? 0:06:36.369,0:06:38.665 We would say yes, he was a righteous man. 0:06:38.665,0:06:41.550 Saul, I believe, was a lost man. 0:06:41.550,0:06:43.943 And yet, you know what [br]Samuel says to Saul? 0:06:43.943,0:06:46.543 You're going to be where I am tomorrow. 0:06:46.543,0:06:48.714 And I don't believe that [br]that's an indication 0:06:48.714,0:06:55.294 that Samuel was an apparition - [br]a demonic apparition. 0:06:55.294,0:06:57.128 And I don't think it necessarily means 0:06:57.128,0:06:59.152 that Saul was a saved man. 0:06:59.152,0:07:00.692 I believe what it means is 0:07:00.692,0:07:02.929 there's an abode where they go to. 0:07:02.929,0:07:04.522 Anyways, all that being said, 0:07:04.522,0:07:07.537 I don't think that David saying - 0:07:07.537,0:07:10.302 because see, we have this kind of talk 0:07:10.302,0:07:12.505 in the Old Testament that really showed 0:07:12.505,0:07:14.873 that they had this idea that the dead 0:07:14.873,0:07:18.828 kind of went to the same place. 0:07:18.828,0:07:20.820 You don't find this distinction 0:07:20.820,0:07:22.598 between heaven and hell 0:07:22.598,0:07:25.743 really vividly set forth [br]in the Old Testament. 0:07:25.743,0:07:28.798 They did not have an accomplished [br]theology of that there. 0:07:28.798,0:07:32.671 So I don't believe that you can make 0:07:32.671,0:07:34.018 with these other things - 0:07:34.018,0:07:35.055 the witch at Endor 0:07:35.055,0:07:36.864 and this thing said about Abraham - 0:07:36.864,0:07:38.627 it's very similar language. 0:07:38.627,0:07:41.514 And I think you could come [br]to the same kind of deductions, 0:07:41.514,0:07:43.521 which you obviously don't want to come to, 0:07:43.521,0:07:45.892 if you start using that same reasoning 0:07:45.892,0:07:47.318 with these other cases. 0:07:47.318,0:07:49.128 And we could probably multiply these. 0:07:49.128,0:07:51.593 I know that in Chronicles and Kings, 0:07:51.593,0:07:55.027 it likewise says things about 0:07:55.027,0:07:57.053 even maybe wicked kings 0:07:57.053,0:07:59.140 going to the place of their fathers 0:07:59.140,0:08:00.792 or sleeping with their fathers. 0:08:00.792,0:08:03.323 And some of those [br]fathers were righteous men. 0:08:03.323,0:08:05.617 Some of those fathers [br]were not righteous men. 0:08:05.617,0:08:07.145 I think it was just a way 0:08:07.145,0:08:12.019 that the Old Testament [br]saints viewed things. 0:08:12.019,0:08:16.888 So I say, you know, I don't think 0:08:16.888,0:08:21.286 you can dogmatically [br]prove anything by that. 0:08:21.286,0:08:22.968 Now what can we prove? 0:08:22.968,0:08:26.407 What can we say dogmatically? 0:08:26.407,0:08:27.828 I can tell you this, 0:08:27.828,0:08:30.797 children from the womb are not innocent. 0:08:30.797,0:08:33.720 We can prove that beyond [br]any shadow of a doubt. How? 0:08:33.720,0:08:34.927 Well, it's a simple test. 0:08:34.927,0:08:36.829 We've already said tonight, Romans 3:10. 0:08:36.829,0:08:38.137 "None is righteous." 0:08:38.137,0:08:39.746 That includes every little child, 0:08:39.746,0:08:42.181 and in fact, David himself says, 0:08:42.181,0:08:44.616 "I was brought forth in iniquity." 0:08:44.616,0:08:47.108 Psalm 51:5, "...and in sin 0:08:47.108,0:08:49.724 did my mother conceive me." 0:08:49.724,0:08:52.697 You know what? Little children [br]are conceived in sin. 0:08:52.697,0:08:54.383 Little children are not righteous. 0:08:54.383,0:08:56.613 Little children are not innocent. 0:08:56.613,0:08:58.641 Little children are conceived in sin. 0:08:58.641,0:09:01.168 From day one, the moment they're conceived 0:09:01.168,0:09:03.981 it's in sin. 0:09:03.981,0:09:05.740 Let me tell you something else 0:09:05.740,0:09:07.342 that's dogmatic. 0:09:07.342,0:09:10.994 Little children die. 0:09:10.994,0:09:13.000 You say, well, that's obvious. 0:09:13.000,0:09:20.892 But, hey, the wages of sin is what? 0:09:20.892,0:09:22.419 Death. 0:09:22.419,0:09:26.564 Why do little children die? 0:09:26.564,0:09:29.973 If they're innocent, why do they die? 0:09:29.973,0:09:31.856 Well, we've already established, 0:09:31.856,0:09:32.971 they're not innocent. 0:09:32.971,0:09:35.081 There's none righteous. 0:09:35.081,0:09:40.782 We know that everybody [br]is conceived in sin. 0:09:40.782,0:09:41.641 They die. 0:09:41.641,0:09:44.130 That's one of the great evidences 0:09:44.130,0:09:48.220 that there is indeed guilt [br]associated with them. 0:09:48.220,0:09:49.717 And then let's just think about 0:09:49.717,0:09:51.902 the Romans 5 argument of Paul. 0:09:51.902,0:09:54.251 Just the fact that, listen to this, 0:09:54.251,0:09:55.735 you guys know this. 0:09:55.735,0:09:58.843 1 Corinthians 15:22 gives us [br]some of the same information 0:09:58.843,0:10:00.881 that Romans 5 gives us. 0:10:00.881,0:10:02.541 "As in Adam all die, 0:10:02.541,0:10:05.805 so also in Christ shall [br]all be made alive." 0:10:05.805,0:10:08.894 The fact is, all in Adam die. 0:10:08.894,0:10:11.044 Why? Because all in Adam have sinned. 0:10:11.044,0:10:13.332 All in Adam are guilty of Adam's sin. 0:10:13.332,0:10:15.235 All in Adam are condemned. 0:10:15.235,0:10:20.425 All in Adam are under the judgment of God. 0:10:20.425,0:10:23.569 You know what the Scriptures say? 0:10:23.569,0:10:26.294 We were children of wrath 0:10:26.294,0:10:28.013 like the rest of mankind. 0:10:28.013,0:10:29.250 You know what that means? 0:10:29.250,0:10:31.644 All the rest of mankind - [br]children of wrath. 0:10:31.644,0:10:33.362 Little children are conceived 0:10:33.362,0:10:34.703 children of wrath. 0:10:34.703,0:10:35.991 They're in Adam. 0:10:35.991,0:10:37.461 They're guilty of Adam's sin. 0:10:37.461,0:10:39.008 They're guilty of original sin. 0:10:39.008,0:10:41.781 They are under the condemnation of God. 0:10:41.781,0:10:44.338 Death is a reality in their lives. 0:10:44.338,0:10:45.977 Death is a wage of sin. 0:10:45.977,0:10:47.168 Clearly, they die. 0:10:47.168,0:10:48.850 Clearly, the implications of sin 0:10:48.850,0:10:50.087 are upon their life. 0:10:50.087,0:10:52.819 Clearly, they're not [br]conceived in innocence. 0:10:52.819,0:10:56.023 Clearly, their conceived in iniquity. 0:10:56.023,0:10:59.989 Those things we know to be true. 0:10:59.989,0:11:02.395 I'll tell you something else. 0:11:02.395,0:11:06.651 God had infants slaughtered. 0:11:06.651,0:11:08.079 That's another thing we know 0:11:08.079,0:11:09.255 absolutely for certain. 0:11:09.255,0:11:10.892 I'll just give you one instance - 0:11:10.892,0:11:12.840 1 Samuel 15:3, "Go and strike Amalek 0:11:12.840,0:11:15.809 and devote to destruction [br]all that they have. 0:11:15.809,0:11:16.941 Do not spare them. 0:11:16.941,0:11:18.781 Kill both man and woman, 0:11:18.781,0:11:22.509 child and infant." 0:11:22.509,0:11:26.591 I mean, I'm in Judges now, 0:11:26.591,0:11:32.144 but I just recently read through Joshua. 0:11:32.144,0:11:34.240 I was imagining what [br]it would have been like 0:11:34.240,0:11:35.464 to have been an Israelite 0:11:35.464,0:11:38.891 going into those Canaanite villages 0:11:38.891,0:11:41.911 where they were told to destroy everybody. 0:11:41.911,0:11:46.993 I mean, folks, when those [br]walls of Jericho came down, 0:11:46.993,0:11:51.647 there was only one lady [br]and her family spared. 0:11:51.647,0:11:53.535 Everybody else, under the sword. 0:11:53.535,0:11:56.935 You think about going in with the sword. 0:11:56.935,0:11:59.150 You've got pregnant mothers. 0:11:59.150,0:12:01.752 They slaughtered them on the spot. 0:12:01.752,0:12:03.256 You've got a little infant - 0:12:03.256,0:12:05.918 they slaughtered them. 0:12:05.918,0:12:10.137 And that was God ordained. 0:12:10.137,0:12:11.493 Now you think about God 0:12:11.493,0:12:14.445 having little children put to death. 0:12:14.445,0:12:19.481 Does that speak of innocence? 0:12:19.481,0:12:21.831 But then let's go here, 0:12:21.831,0:12:24.639 we know that the Bible teaches us as well 0:12:24.639,0:12:27.577 God is good. Psalm 52:1. 0:12:27.577,0:12:30.908 "The goodness of God endures continually." 0:12:30.908,0:12:32.481 How about this? "God is just." 0:12:32.481,0:12:33.963 Deuteronomy 32:4. 0:12:33.963,0:12:36.948 "God is a God of faithfulness [br]and without iniquity. 0:12:36.948,0:12:40.150 Just and upright is He." 0:12:40.150,0:12:41.393 And you know what? 0:12:41.393,0:12:43.516 God didn't need to offer mankind 0:12:43.516,0:12:46.958 any way of salvation, and yet He does. 0:12:46.958,0:12:48.501 And we know that Scripturally. 0:12:48.501,0:12:52.796 God has offered man a way of salvation. 0:12:52.796,0:12:54.738 Call upon the name of the Lord 0:12:54.738,0:12:56.503 and you will be saved. 0:12:56.503,0:12:59.056 I'll tell you what, 0:12:59.056,0:13:01.787 little children, little infants, 0:13:01.787,0:13:06.819 little children in their mother's wombs, 0:13:06.819,0:13:09.396 cannot call on the Lord. 0:13:09.396,0:13:11.649 They don't have the faculties to believe. 0:13:11.649,0:13:13.077 And I'll tell you this, 0:13:13.077,0:13:15.959 if there is another way of salvation, 0:13:15.959,0:13:18.108 God never tells us it. 0:13:18.108,0:13:19.368 Right? 0:13:19.368,0:13:21.598 There's only one way of salvation 0:13:21.598,0:13:23.436 we know of in all the Scripture. 0:13:23.436,0:13:27.152 And little children are incapable of it. 0:13:27.152,0:13:30.483 Right? I can dogmatically say that. 0:13:30.483,0:13:33.656 How shall I be saved?[br]Call upon the name of the Lord. 0:13:33.656,0:13:36.539 They told the Philippian jailer, 0:13:36.539,0:13:38.709 "believe on the name [br]of the Lord Jesus Christ 0:13:38.709,0:13:40.504 and thou shall be saved." 0:13:40.504,0:13:44.022 There's one way given among men. 0:13:44.022,0:13:46.764 It's in Christ and it's [br]by faith in Christ. 0:13:46.764,0:13:48.399 There is no other way. 0:13:48.399,0:13:50.977 There's no other way given in Scripture. 0:13:50.977,0:13:52.621 It can't be argued. 0:13:52.621,0:13:54.964 Little children do not have the faculties. 0:13:54.964,0:13:56.268 There are little children 0:13:56.268,0:13:58.199 aborted in their mother's wombs, 0:13:58.199,0:14:00.786 or miscarried in their mother's wombs, 0:14:00.786,0:14:04.345 at a day after, at a month after, 0:14:04.345,0:14:09.155 at a week after conception. 0:14:09.155,0:14:11.787 There's no faculty there [br]for them to believe. 0:14:11.787,0:14:14.154 At least, that we know of. 0:14:14.154,0:14:15.652 Not that we can imagine. 0:14:15.652,0:14:17.210 There are people born retarded 0:14:17.210,0:14:19.782 that we can't imagine have faculties. 0:14:19.782,0:14:22.304 If there is another way of salvation, 0:14:22.304,0:14:26.173 we don't know about it. 0:14:26.173,0:14:29.302 But then let me say this, 0:14:29.302,0:14:32.196 and this is really the last thing 0:14:32.196,0:14:34.368 I would say on this subject. 0:14:34.368,0:14:36.367 Romans 1:18, 0:14:36.367,0:14:38.229 "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven 0:14:38.229,0:14:40.527 against all ungodliness and [br]unrighteousness of men 0:14:40.527,0:14:43.363 who by their unrighteousness [br]suppress the truth. 0:14:43.363,0:14:45.452 For what can be known [br]about God is plain to them 0:14:45.452,0:14:47.307 because God has shown it to them. 0:14:47.307,0:14:49.768 For His invisible attributes, [br]namely His eternal power 0:14:49.768,0:14:51.838 and divine nature have [br]been clearly perceived 0:14:51.838,0:14:53.594 ever since the creation of the world 0:14:53.594,0:14:55.171 in the things that have been made, 0:14:55.171,0:14:56.851 so they are without excuse." 0:14:56.851,0:14:58.384 Can I tell you something? 0:14:58.384,0:15:01.435 God damns men who have [br]never heard the Gospel. 0:15:01.435,0:15:03.180 God damns men that have never 0:15:03.180,0:15:05.430 heard the name of Jesus Christ. 0:15:05.430,0:15:07.970 And He is absolutely just in doing so. 0:15:07.970,0:15:08.944 You know why? 0:15:08.944,0:15:11.154 Because what can be known about God 0:15:11.154,0:15:15.241 has been revealed in the creation 0:15:15.241,0:15:17.120 so that they are without excuse. 0:15:17.120,0:15:19.408 What I would say is this, 0:15:19.408,0:15:23.076 definitely, God tells us 0:15:23.076,0:15:28.094 and He wants to make it clear 0:15:28.094,0:15:31.535 that those that don't hear 0:15:31.535,0:15:34.093 are justly condemned 0:15:34.093,0:15:37.628 and they are without excuse. 0:15:37.628,0:15:40.488 Now the case could be made for children 0:15:40.488,0:15:42.793 that they have an excuse. 0:15:42.793,0:15:44.577 They never had an opportunity 0:15:44.577,0:15:47.236 to reject the light. 0:15:47.236,0:15:52.652 So it may be that in light of that, 0:15:52.652,0:15:55.852 they have an excuse by which 0:15:55.852,0:16:00.383 God in His mercies - and [br]because they're in Adam, 0:16:00.383,0:16:04.176 what Christ did on the cross, 0:16:04.176,0:16:06.338 although they may not have ever committed 0:16:06.338,0:16:08.905 any of their actual sin, 0:16:08.905,0:16:14.077 condemnation came upon [br]all men through Adam. 0:16:14.077,0:16:18.295 And you know what? 0:16:18.295,0:16:22.137 It may be that in the death [br]of Christ on that cross, 0:16:22.137,0:16:29.303 it may be that He [br]cancelled out Adam's sin. 0:16:29.303,0:16:31.618 And it may be that there is a way 0:16:31.618,0:16:34.600 that God has made that we know not of 0:16:34.600,0:16:38.171 and is not expressly [br]declared in the Scripture 0:16:38.171,0:16:41.672 because they are without excuse. 0:16:41.672,0:16:44.634 But you see, all I'm trying to say [br]is what the Scripture says. 0:16:44.634,0:16:48.010 And men, oh boy, they are [br]so dogmatic on both sides. 0:16:48.010,0:16:50.998 You can go talk to one [br]of our favorite missionaries 0:16:50.998,0:16:52.766 over in China, 0:16:52.766,0:16:58.990 and he does not believe [br]it's consistent with God 0:16:58.990,0:17:02.224 that God would have them struck dead 0:17:02.224,0:17:04.555 and then usher them straight into glory. 0:17:04.555,0:17:06.323 He believes there's an inconsistency. 0:17:06.323,0:17:07.712 And yet on the other hand, 0:17:07.712,0:17:10.120 one of our other favorite [br]patron saints of old, 0:17:10.120,0:17:12.498 Charles Spurgeon was dogmatic 0:17:12.498,0:17:14.486 that all children - 0:17:14.486,0:17:16.683 and of course, I think [br]the safe thing to say 0:17:16.683,0:17:22.866 is all elect children are in Heaven. 0:17:22.866,0:17:24.595 Because the fact is that when you 0:17:24.595,0:17:26.751 boil it all down, 0:17:26.751,0:17:29.021 and I know John MacArthur [br]wrote a book on it 0:17:29.021,0:17:30.335 and he's dogmatic, 0:17:30.335,0:17:32.675 and I know John Piper just recently 0:17:32.675,0:17:34.786 lost a little grandchild 0:17:34.786,0:17:38.165 just right after it was born. 0:17:38.165,0:17:40.627 And he doesn't get real dogmatic. 0:17:40.627,0:17:42.634 I've heard him before, he appeals 0:17:42.634,0:17:44.321 to this text in Romans 0:17:44.321,0:17:47.089 that maybe they have an excuse. 0:17:47.089,0:17:49.753 The fact is I've given you some things 0:17:49.753,0:17:51.685 I think we can be dogmatic about, 0:17:51.685,0:17:53.879 and there's just some things we can't be.