Heaven (Part 5) - Who's Going?, How Many are Going?, Do All Babies Go?

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Heaven (Part 5) X. Questions about heaven (both the present heaven and the eternal heaven) 1. Where is heaven? A. Heaven is beyond the boundary of the universe. B. It is above the stars in the north (Isa 14:13). C. It is above the heavens (the atmosphere and outer space). i. When Jesus Christ was raised from the dead He ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of God (Eph 1:20). ii. He was made higher than the heavens (Heb 7:26). iii. Therefore, heaven is higher than the heavens. 2. Who is going to heaven? A. Only those that are written in the Lamb's book of life will go to heaven (Rev 20:15; Rev 21:27). i. Those whose names are in the book of life are the elect whom God has chosen (Luk 10:20 c/w Joh 15:16 c/w Joh 17:9 c/w Mar 13:20). ii. Their names were written in the book of life before the foundation of the world when God chose them (Rev 17:8 c/w Eph 1:4). iii. Therefore, only the elect will go to heaven. B. The elect were chosen by God to be justified and fitted for dwelling in heaven (Rom 8:29-30). i. The elect are the church which are written in heaven for which Christ died (Heb 12:23 c/w Eph 5:25-27). ii. Evil cannot dwell with God (Psa 5:4). iii. God cannot behold evil nor look on iniquity (Hab 1:13). iv. Corrupt flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (heaven) (1Co 15:50). v. Therefore, the natural man apart from the saving and cleansing grace of God cannot enter heaven. 3. How many people will be in heaven? (Carey) A. It is true that God's elect are described as a remnant (Rom 11:5; Rom 9:27). B. Remnant - 1. a. With the. That which remains or is left of a thing or things after the removal of a portion; the remainder, rest, residue. Now applied only to a small remaining part. C. But consider, even if God's elect only comprise 10% (Isa 6:13) of the human race, that is still 800 million people (8 billion * 0.10) only counting the population today. D. It has been estimated that 90 billion people have lived since creation, so that would be 9 billion (90 billion * 0.10) in heaven. i. That is: a. 27.2 times the entire population of the USA (9,000,000,000 / 331,000,000). b. 2,372 people per sq. mile of the entire USA (9,000,000,000 / 3,794,000 sq. miles) c. 3.7 people per acre of the entire USA (9,000,000,000 / 2,428,160,000 acres) d. 129,117 people per sq. mile of MO (9,000,000,000 / 69,704 sq. miles) e. 202 people per acre of MO (9,000,000,000 / 44,610,560 acres) f. If lying in a line head to toe, they would wrap around the earth 411 times (9,000,000,000 x 6Ft / 131,477,280 Ft) ii. Put another way, if each of them would contribute $1, it would run the US federal government for 7.9 hours ($9,000,000,000 / ($10,000,000,000,000 / 365 days * 24 hours)) E. There will be a lot of people in heaven (Rev 7:9). 4. Do babies go to heaven when they die? A. Most people think that all babies go to heaven when they die. i. They think this because they think that babies are innocent and without sin. ii. To justify this unbiblical belief, they made up the "age of accountability" false doctrine. iii. The "age of accountability" is a concept taught by some which says that children are born sinless and are pure and innocent until some magical age at which they become accountable for their sins. a. At that time, they become sinners who will go to hell when they die if they don't believe the gospel, ask Jesus to come into their hearts, get baptized, do good works, or complete whatever condition any given religion teaches they must do to be saved eternally. b. Prior to the mystical "age of accountability", if the child dies, he would go to heaven since he is not yet a sinner. B. The Biblical "age of accountability" is age 0. i. Death, sin, and condemnation passed to all men through Adam (Rom 5:12, 18-19). a. Men are conceived in sin (Psa 51:5) and start sinning as soon as they are born (Psa 58:3). b. This is why God hated Esau when he was in the womb, before he had done any good or evil (Rom 9:11-13). c. God hated Esau before he was born because Esau was a child of wrath by nature (Eph 2:3). d. Nature n. - 1. a. The essential qualities or properties of a thing; the inherent and inseparable combination of properties essentially pertaining to anything and giving it its fundamental character. ii. As we have seen, babies are born with sin and start sinning as soon as they are born. a. The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). b. Therefore, if they die and are not one of the elect bought with the blood of Christ, they will go to hell. c. If they are one of the elect, they will be saved by grace just like the rest of the elect. C. Problems with the "age of accountability." i. The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23), so if babies have no sin, why do some of them die? ii. Jesus came into this world to save sinners (1Ti 1:15), so if babies are not sinners, then Jesus didn't come to save them. iii. If babies are not sinners, then they don't need a Savior (only sinners need a Savior). iv. If babies are not sinners and they are therefore not dead in trespasses and sins, then they don't need quickened (regenerated, born again) (Col 2:13). a. But if a person is not born again, he can't see the kingdom of God (Joh 3:3). b. Therefore, the logical conclusion of the "age of accountability" teaching is that no baby who dies will see the kingdom of God. v. If all babies are born pure and without sin, then Jesus did not need to be born of a virgin. a. Sin is passed down through the man (Rom 5:12) which is why Jesus had to born of a virgin and conceived by the sinless Holy Ghost. b. If all babies are born sinless, then there is a new potential Christ born everyday, and there was nothing special about the human nature of baby Jesus. vi. If all babies are going to heaven when they die, then wouldn't it be best to abort them all in the womb to ensure that none of them end up in hell? a. Does this mean that abortion clinics should be renamed "salvation centers"? b. This is the problem with heresy: it condemns itself (Tit 3:10-11). D. The truth is that babies are saved the same way that adults are saved: by grace. i. Like adults, some babies are God's elect and are therefore saved by grace, and some are not and are therefore eternally damned (Rom 9:11, 16; Rom 11:5). ii. Remember, God sees the end from the beginning. iii. God sees what is in the nature of a little baby, and He knows what kind of person that little baby will grow up into. iv. Therefore, when God judges a little baby, He does so with full knowledge of its true nature.