HE NEVER HEARD OF JESUS CHRIST

Victor M. Eskew

 

          I was told of a preacher who went to a funeral of a man who had never heard of Jesus Christ.  This man had grown up in what some call “the back woods.”  He never attended any type of church as a child.  His parents died before he was sixteen.  He and his elder brother continued to take care of the homeplace after their parents’ passing.  They lived off the land.  All of their trading was done through bartering with folks in town.  They had a land line for a telephone.  They would order their supplies and have them delivered to their property.  They stayed to themselves. They worked hard.  Many in town knew about them, but only by what some of the “iffy” reports made about them.  When the younger brother passed away, the people in town were sad.  This preacher happened to be in town visiting a friend on the day of the funeral.  His friend invited him to go, so they both attended.  One of the statements the man who presided over the funeral that day said was:  “Jud, short for Judsonia, never heard of Jesus Christ the Son of God.”  From that day forward, my friend never forgot the statement.  He knew there were possibly some in the world who had never heard of Jesus, but this was the first time those words became a reality.

          This is a very sad case.  According to the teachings of Jesus and the Bible, this man died in a lost condition.  In John 8:24, Jesus said told the Jews:  “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins:  for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”  Jesus also proclaimed these words to Thomas:  “I am the way, the truth, and the life:  no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).  Peter, one of the Lord’s closest apostles, heard and understood Jesus’ teachings.  In Acts 4:12, we have these words recorded by him:  “Neither is there salvation in any other:  for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”  If a person has never believed in the Christ and has never obeyed the gospel of Christ, he cannot be saved.  If an accountable person is not saved, he is lost. Jud never believed in Jesus Christ.  Therefore, he died lost.

          It is difficult for human beings to understand this teaching.  We wonder, how can God condemn someone who has never heard of Jesus?  Jesus gives us some insight into this in Luke 12:42-48.  “And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.  Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.  But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; the Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him asunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.  And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.  But he that knew not, and did not commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes.  For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required; and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.” 

In the text above, we have a look into the justice of God.  There are several points that men need to understand.  First, the Lord will judge His people.  Second, God has a standard of judgment that must be met.  Third, those who do the Lord’s will will be rewarded.  Fourth, there are some who will not obey.  Fifth, any who do things worthy of stripes will receive them.  Sixth, there are two categories of those who will receive stripes.  Sixth, one group knows the Lord’s will but fails to prepare themselves.  They will receive many stripes.  Seventh, those who did not know the Lord’s will and committed things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes. 

          Even though human beings see God being just with regard to punishment, they still cannot understand how God can punish those who have never come to a knowledge of His will.  The best answer to this question lies in two aspects of God’s nature.  First, God alone is sovereign, that is, He alone is Lord over all things.  He has full, complete control of His creation.  Daniel explains he concept of God’s sovereignty to us in Daniel 4:35.  “And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing:  and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth:  and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” 

Second, God is a holy God.  In Revelation 15:4, a powerful statement is made about God’s holiness.  “Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name:  for thou only art holy…”  Man does not have a complete understanding of God’s holiness.  He cannot comprehend what it means to be completely sinless.  He cannot understand the real impact of sin upon a being who is absolutely pure.  These two things, God’s sovereignty and God’s holiness, are what move God to punish all those who have transgressed His will.

          There is another thought that needs to be considered in this discussion.  We can present it in the form of a question.  The question is:  “Is God really the one who we should be blaming in this matter?”  Could it be that mankind is to blame?  When Jesus gave the Great Commission, He said to the apostles:  “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).  Thirteen men, this includes Paul, were to carry out this task.  Did the apostles accomplish the work assigned to them?  Each one of these men were directed by the Holy Spirit in their efforts (See Acts 13:2; 16:6, 7).  When Paul summed up his ministry, he wrote that the gospel “was preached to every creature under heaven, whereof I Paul am made a minister” (Col. 1:23).  If Paul carried out his obligations, surely the other twelve fulfilled their responsibilities as well.  Again, let’s give ear to the words of Paul.  “But I say, have they not heard?  Yes, verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world” (Rom. 10:18).  By the end of the first century, the apostles had taken the gospel to the world (See also Col. 1:6).  Some accepted the truth.  Sadly, multitudes of individuals rejected the gospel.  Their rejection made it impossible for the offspring of many of these individuals to hear and learn God’s Word.  In this sense, man bears a burden in his losing access to the saving message of the gospel of Christ.

          There are many in our world who are lost today.  Only the lost who call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom. 10:13; Acts 22:16).  The responsibility of preaching the gospel is just as real for Christians today as it was for those in the first century (Acts 8:1, 4).  In Romans 10:14, Paul asked:  “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?  And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?  and how shall they hear without a preacher?”  Christians need to do all in their power to find the “Juds” of the world and teach them how to be saved from their sins.