Upwards Church

Do children that die go to heaven? 

Children are always objects of God’s love, not God’s judgment.   Jesus said this about children,

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom
of heaven belongs to such as these.  Matthew 19:14 NIV

Not only does the kingdom of heaven belong to children, Jesus uses them as an example of the type of faith we are to have:

“I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”  Mark 10:15 NIV

The only ones who are the objects of God’s judgment are the unrepentant.

Jesus says,  But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”  Luke 13:5 NIV

This brings up another question, many ask, “When are children old enough to be unrepentant? It’s the age that they know they are sinners and willfully rebel, disobey or reject God.  This is called the “Age of Accountability” and it varies from person to person.  Some have said, “Aggies never reach the age of accountability”  Ok, as an Aggie, I can make fun of us!  It could be some people never reach this age, typically most agree that its around the age of 11-13, some would say earlier though.

‘Will we recognize each other in heaven?'”

As I see it in the Bible. Yes.  When Jesus was transfigured on the mountain (Matt 17:1-9) there was Elijah & Moses there was recognition, they were visiting.   Jesus also got onto the Pharisees in Mark 12:27, “when God said he is God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, he is the God of the living. There is evidence that we are going to have some sort of a memory of what took place on earth, because we’ll give an account for our actions. There’s also a great story in Luke 16, where there was a rich man in a place called Hades, and he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. If you read this story, you’ll see that the rich man in Hades was concerned about his brothers that were still left behind on earth, giving us some indication of memory.   A great book by Don Piper, a guy that was dead for 90 minutes and describes his experience, its called “90 minutes in Heaven.”  He describes recognizing people.

‘Can people see us from heaven?‘  Some people who have lost a loved one want to know if Grandma is watching.

“A lot of people say, ‘Grandma is my guardian angel’, or ‘Grandma’s watching me’.

Those who say that they might be able to see us, will often quote Hebrews 12:1 that says:

‘Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses.’

And they will say that the “cloud of witnesses” are witnessing what goes on on earth.  Actually doesn’t mean they are witnessing or watching us.  They are witnesses to us by the life they have lived.  They witness the glory of God and can’t see what’s going on on earth. In Luke 16, the story about the rich man and Lazarus indicate they probably cannot see us, because if they could see us, they would be filled with grief in seeing what’s going on. There’s no grief in heaven (Revelation 21:7) so I don’t think people can see us. God is all knowing and Grandma is not.

‘Will we be married in heaven?'”

“I wish we were, because I love my wife a bunch. But, here is what Jesus said, Matthew 22:30, He said:

‘At the resurrection, people will neither marry, nor be given in marriage.’

We are not going to be married in heaven.”

For more about the series, Things that Make You Go Hmm, go to www.RidgeFellowship.com

There are very sincere, very committed believers on both sides of this question.  I don’t believe this is worth divided over, I want to be united around Christ, and so I will try to give you my perspective.  It’s a very challenging question, it brings up all sorts of debate.

All of you who have  been around Christians for much time at all, you probably know someone who appeared to be very committed to Christ and then their life totally changed and now they don’t  believe, or they’re not living like it at all.

Take a guy that went to church, professed Christ, and now mocks Christ and Christians.

When I look at him I have to ask myself, a, is he back sliden?  B, Is he a Christian who has now just fallen away?  Was he a Christian that lost his salvation, and he’s not a Christian anymore, or was he never really a Christian in the first place?  This is a very complicated, very important question.

Those who say once saved always saved, you can never lose your salvation, they will say once your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, no one can blot it out.  Good argument.  John 10:27-28, Jesus said:

My sheep listen to my voice.  .  .  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  John10:27-28

Sounds very secure.   Ephesians 1:13-14:

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.  Having believed, you were marked in him with as seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God ‘s possession.

Sounds very secure, once saved always saved.  This was my theological bias, this is how I’ve been raised and this to me is what Scripture points toward, that you are saved by grace, you stay saved by grace.

Those who say you can lose your salvation make a fair argument, pointing to Hebrews6:4-6, which says:

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have  shared in the Holy Spirit, who  have  tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance.

The Bible says it is impossible that if they fall away to be brought back to repentance.  They will often quote Luke8:13, the parable of the sower, a sower went out to sow some seed, some fell on the rock, Jesus said:

Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they  have  no root.  They believe for a little while, but in the time of testing they fall away.

These verses are the reasons why people debate back and forth as once saved always saved, or can you lose your salvation.  Again, my bias is toward once saved always saved, but I can’t say with absolute and complete certainty.

Here is what I will say with absolute and complete certainty, and that is that your salvation is never based on what you do, but always based on what you believe.  It’s not based on what you do, it’s based on who you trust.  Ephesians 2 says that it is by grace are you saved through faith, it’s not by works so no one can boast.

You are only saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ and Christ alone.  If you are saved by grace, you will stay saved by grace.  Therefore if you are saved by grace and you fall into some sort of sin, you stay saved by grace.

Is it possible for people to lose their salvation?  This will probably be debated until Christ returns.  Again, from my perspective, I do not know how anyone can taste the goodness and the grace and the power and the presence of the risen Christ, and ever walk away and totally reject Him.  I do see how people can doubt, go through a series of questions, fall into different temptations and sins, but I do not understand how anyone who has been truly transformed by the resurrected Christ, could ever walk away from His goodness.

My bigger fear is that there are many people today who have head knowledge of Christ, but not a heart relationship.  They believe in the story, but have never met Him personally.  My fear is that there are many people that are going to miss heaven and eternal life by 18 inches (that’s the distance between your head and your heart), because Jesus said that many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, and He’ll say, ‘I never knew you’.

If there is any fear, or any insecurity, or any doubt; I would say this to you, call on Christ. “Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” Romans 10:13.  Trust Him, not your good works, not religion, not church membership, but Him and Him alone.  And when you meet Him, you will be transformed, you will be forgiven, you will be filled with the spirit of God.

For more about the series, Things that Make You Go Hmm, go to www.RidgeFellowship.com

Let me just give you some stats and then tell you some stuff from my personal perspective.

In the U.S each year, about one million people attempt suicide. Tragically, about one in fifteen succeed. That number of attempts has doubled in the last 10 years. There’s a lot of hurting people.

I just want to say first of all, is that I’m going to try to answer this, and I want to do it as compassionately as I can, because there are many of you who have experienced loss, someone that you love. My heart breaks for you. Some of you may be at a place where you feel like the world is so dark, you’ve actually thought about that maybe in the past, or even contemplated recently of taking your own life.

As a pastor, to officiate at one funeral of a suicide is too many. I’ve attended or officiated at too many.  Each time, it’s the most gut-wrenching thing you could ever imagine. So, it’s with an understanding of what many of you have experienced that I will try to answer this question.

Some Biblical examples, just in case you want to research kind of what happened in the Bible. There’s several; Judges, Chapter 9, shows one time when a guy named Abimelech asked his armor bearer to kill him. That would probably qualify as suicide. Saul, in the Old Testament, when he was mortally wounded, fell on his own sword. Again, that probably would qualify as suicide. In the New Testament, Judas, after he betrayed Christ, went out and took his life, unable to handle what he did.

What happens to someone when they commit suicide eternally? While the Bible doesn’t say directly, here’s what happens. Those who say unquestionably, if someone commits suicide they go to hell, they’ll often use 1 John 3:15, the Bible says:

Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

They’ll say taking your own life is obviously murder, so therefore you will not go to heaven. It’s interesting though, if you think about Samson, you may remember in the Old Testament you can read about him. He took his own life, admittedly trying to take out the enemy, the Philistines. But, he’s listed in the chapter of faith, Hebrews Chapter 11; implying most likely, that even though he did take his life he would spend eternity in heaven.

Here’s my take. Romans, Chapter 5:1 says this:

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.

I see only one sin in the Bible which is unforgivable. That is the unpardonable sin, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:31), which is an ongoing un-repentance.  I believe that is a different sin than taking your own life. I do believe that taking your life is unquestionably a sin, it’s also one of the most selfish things that you can do. It is my hope that just as all other sin is forgivable, that this one is as well. It is my guess that a Christian who takes his life can be forgiven. But, I say that with more caution than you could ever imagine; because I beg you, never, ever use that as a justification or to rationalize a decision as such. I would never risk my eternal destination based on a dark moment. I believe there are people who can be under severe demonic attack, demonic oppression, maybe they are chemically imbalanced, maybe they are at a very dark place and in a moment of panic and sheer fear of thinking life will never, ever get better; they make a sinful, a stupid and a selfish decision. It is my hope that God has grace through His Son, and I believe He does, to forgive them. But I will tell you, if you ever contemplate suicide, it is never the answer. You will leave a wake of more pain than you can possibly comprehend. There is always hope.

If you are considering this, I want you to tell somebody today. Call the suicide hotline 24/7 the number is 1-800-273-8255.  I want you to tell Christ, I want you to call on Him. There is always help in Christ, there is always healing in Christ, there is always forgiveness in Christ, there is always love in Christ. Call on Christ, call on His people and let them comfort you in this time.

For more about the series, Things that Make You Go Hmm, go to www.RidgeFellowship.com