Nearing Midnight: "If" Is for Children - Terry James -
Reading through a news article today, the title of an old song sung by Roger Whittaker came to mind, and then the melody of it running through my head caused me to listen to it on YouTube.
"I Don't Believe in 'if' Anymore" begins with a driving beat, telling all the fearsome things of war and trouble the youth of this world face-how they fight the battles to save their nations, etc. The song then gets into a haunting rendition of how the dreams of children are built on "if".
But the lyrics and melody state that "if" is for children. "It's an illusion," the lyrics say. "If's an illusion. If is for children, building daydreams....I don't believe in if any more..." the song goes on to conclude.
Anyone who knows me knows that I have a grandfather's heart for children. Some even think I, myself, am under an illusion by thinking that the Heavenly Father's great plan in the Rapture is to include all children under the age of accountability-those who are too young to make the decision to accept or reject Christ for salvation.
But despite those who think I'm a bit too soft-hearted (and even some think, "soft headed") in this regard have it wrong. In this case, I'm not thinking with my emotional heart, but with my belief that God's Holy Word explains His Holy character.
The God who has given His love letter to mankind deals one on one with each person He has determined to be born into this fallen world. Salvation is an individual matter. It is not a corporate matter, in which He "grandfathers in" all who are born under a certain religious system or to a certain Christian parent or family and brings them into His heavenly family.
The only way we go into eternity to be in God's heavenly presence following this earthly life is by accepting God's Son and His sacrifice on Calvary's cross. When we believe in Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, then confess that belief with our mouths, we are instantaneously brought into God's heavenly family forever (Romans 10: 9-10).
The Rapture is only for those who have made that simple commitment. Nonetheless, those who have never had the opportunity to believe, whether because of mental incapability or because they are too young to understand, will instantly go to Christ when He calls believers to Himself (Revelation 4: 1). Otherwise, God's very character would be in question. His righteousness would be impeachable, and that is absolutely impossible.
So it was that I was cogitating a bit on all of this after reading some really depressing headlines, and I thought of that word: "if."
What "if" the Rapture might, in large part, be about to take place for the sake of the children below the age of accountability of this world? Their suffering is unbelievably great in some parts of this increasingly evil sphere.
The news headlines can deflate the spirit of even the most optimistic. Some of them follow:
New, Larger Wave of Locusts Threatens Millions in Africa
Weeks before the coronavirus spread through much of the world, parts of Africa were already threatened by another kind of plague, the biggest locust outbreak some countries had seen in seventy years. Now the second wave of the voracious insects, some twenty times the size of the first, is arriving.
The Virus Vaccine Fetal-Tissue Question
It's enough to make your head spin. In the midst of the worldwide deaths from the coronavirus, we find ourselves in the midst of another killing issue-that of abortion.
Giant Asian Hornets That Can "Kill with a Single Sting" to Invade Virus-Stricken US-The US Sun
Giant Asian hornets that have begun to invade the coronavirus-stricken US may cost the economy millions of dollars a year.
Awakening Volcanic Region in Iceland "Could Cause Disruption for Centuries"
There are other news headlines even more spirit-deflating. However, the above are some immediately surrounding the headline story that pushed my buttons on the "if" matter, in regard to children below the age of accountability. Here is that headline:
Coronavirus: The Children Struggling to Survive India's Lockdown
The sudden imposition of a twenty-one-day lockdown in India to stop the spread of the coronavirus has thrown the lives of millions of children into chaos. Tens of thousands are calling helplines daily while thousands are going to bed hungry as the country shuts down to battle the pandemic. With 472 million children, India has the largest child population in the world.
The number is staggering. There are more than 472 million children in India, alone! Many, the story tells, are totally on their own. Many are very young kids, having to find scraps of food when and where they can. These have little hope of salvation of their souls through the process given in Romans 10:9-10.
Some who confute my belief that these will go to Jesus when the Rapture takes place would say that these little ones will go to Him if they die under that age-of-accountability rubric. After all, millions have died in wars, and God hasn't intervened. Thus they went to Him when they died.
The argument holds no spiritual water whatsoever with me. We are talking about two entirely different scenarios: physical death vs. spiritual separation forever.
We are talking about one thing more-the most important matter: the very character of God.
God has promised to keep believers from that hour of testing -the Tribulation that will follow the Rapture of the Church. These will not face that terrible time of God's judgment and wrath.
Yet children don't have the capability to "believe."
The argument I've heard is that children below the age of accountability, like all other people, will have to come to the point that they can "believe." If they don't believe, they can't be "saved." They can die during the time following the Rapture and then go automatically to Heaven.
Nonsense, I say-and totally out of character for the God of our Bible.
If children of this young age go to be with God in Heaven when they die-and we know they do, as King David related upon the death of his and Bathsheba's child-without first "believing," why must the child first "believe" before being Raptured? David's infant son never came to the point of "believing" for salvation.
Every child during the Age of Grace in this accountability category will go to Jesus at that glorious moment of Rapture.
"If" the children are too young to believe for their individual salvation, they will be rescued from the Tribulation storm that is coming. That rescue will include every child just conceived and those in the womb, including the millions on the very brink of being aborted.
People currently are in near-panic over fear generated by a microscopic virus. Just imagine, tragically, the "crisis" the disappearance of billions of children, even those yet unborn, will create for those left behind!
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