John 12:46-48 “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. (47) And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. (48) He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him-- the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.”
Again, in the above passage of scripture, our Lord Jesus plainly tells the unbelievers what it is, that will convict them on that day. For they will see a replay of that fateful day when they heard His word of salvation spoken to them and rejected it.
Romans 10:16-18 “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?" (17) So, then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (18) But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: "Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”
So, will there be any on the day of judgement that will be able to say to God, that they never heard? Not according to the Holy Spirit. For in the above passage of scripture, He reveals to us that the word of God has gone out into the entire world, so that all will be without excuse on their day of judgement. When the scripture says that the word of God has gone out to the ends of the world, it does not mean that everyone on the earth has heard the word of God. What it means, is that God has made His word available to everyone on the earth. In other words, there are Christian gatherings throughout the earth where the word of God is proclaimed and even before the church age, there were Jewish gatherings throughout the earth where the word of God was proclaimed (Acts 15:21). Men know that the word of God is proclaimed in these assemblies, but choose to ignore them and stay away from them. Nevertheless, on their day of judgement they will recognise that God provided them opportunity to hear His word and they deliberately chose to ignore it. With regards to the comment I made about Jewish gatherings, I am not saying that the gospel of salvation was proclaimed in their gatherings, but merely stating that God’s word was being proclaimed, and for those willing to hear, God was able to lead them to righteousness through faith, as many old testament gentile believers can affirm.
Michael E.B. Maher
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