Where Do the Heathen Go?

Where do the heathen go?  Well in America, they go to Walmart, Target, 7-Eleven and Kroger every day.  But in Eternity, anyone whose sins are not freely forgiven, and their names are not written in the book of life, they wind up in the lake of fire. *Revelation 20:11-15* This is a scriptural truth which rubs sin-loving, self-righteous human nature the wrong way.

These are some of the questions that the lost "always" ask the soul-winner.  Is God a righteous God, is God a just God, is God fair to let a person die and go to hell, who has never even once heard the name of Jesus Christ?  Can a righteous and loving God let a man die and go to hell who never once heard the Gospel of Christ?  These are good questions. Is there some other way to heaven besides Jesus Christ?  Now understand, God is righteous and just, and there is no other way to heaven apart from Jesus Christ and His blood. (See John 14:6; Acts 4:12; I John 1:7.)  If a sinner can come to God some other way, that would make Jesus Christ a liar.  And a liar can be nobody’s Savior.  If Jesus Christ is not the only way, then He is none of the ways, because He lied in John 14:6.

What about those that have never heard the gospel?  Where do the heathen go when they die? Is God righteous, is God just, is God good, is God really loving that could let such a thing happen as this?

Carefully hearken now.  (See Romans 1:16-20)

** All men have some light. **

They are all guilty, and without excuse, they are not guilty because of ignorance.  Two witnesses will testify against them all in the Day of Judgment.

Witness #1 - Creation.  Creation is the outward, objective witness to all men.  (See Romans 1:19-20)  The Creation testifies to the fact of God. (See Psalm 19:1).  Aiano that is tuned, a watch with the correct time, and a building with the right temperature all needed a creator and sustainer.  The Creator made and sustains the whole universe.  The order and the systems of the universe speak of Creation.

Witness #2 – Conscience.  Conscience is the inward, subjective witness.  (See Romans 2:14-15).  Even the heathen do by nature those things contained in the law, the law is written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness.  The heathen in America and Africa know right and wrong because of their God-given conscience.  They all have a built in knowledge of God, the soul of man is restless until it rests in Christ Jesus.  The heart of man is like a round peg trying to fit in a square hole.  A man is an atheist because of moral problems, not intellectual probems.  Everyone that doesn’t believe in God is very foolish.  See Romans 1:22. Everyone has a God consciousness.  See Psalm 14:1.

An atheist is someone that has a thought of God that makes him feel guilty and uncomfortable. So the atheist says, "if I can rid of this idea of God, I can get rid of this uncomfortable feeling [guilt and fear] I have in my mind and heart.  An atheist is like a man that buys a new boomerang, and kills himself trying to throw the old one away.  The idea of God is in the atheist’s heart and the more the atheist tries to get rid of it, the more he knows God exists and he grows more immoral, vain, and dark. Jesus Christ is the true Light that lighteth every man (John 1:9).  Creation and conscience testify that all men have some light, not all light, but some.

** Light refused increases darkness. ** (See Romans 1:22)

You just can’t take truth and just put it on ice.  If you do not obey the light you have, you will digress in more darkness than before. You cannot just put truth in your pocket, and say, “that’s very interesting, I’ll spend it some day if I need it.”

The whole world lies in wickedness in their unregenerate natural state and under the influence of sin and Satan. *I John 5:19* Every unsaved man is not born of God; they are addicted to particular sins and practice and love wickedness naturally.  Their mind has a bias to sin and their mind is set on sin.  They give themselves up to sin and are immersed in sin, and are under the power of sin.  They are in the kingdom of darkness are under the power and sway of Satan, led according to his will, controlled by him, and are at his beck and call.

The opposite of truth is not error, it is sin. A man refuses truth because of the SIN in his heart, not the doubts in his head.  (See Romans 1:18)  They HOLD the truth in righteousness.  They resist, smother, and HOLD back the truth, because they want their sin more than the TRUTH. Truth and sin cannot abide together.  They say, “hold on now, don’t start preaching to me, you believe your way, and I'll mine, stop judging me!”  The sinner is in a quandary between his sin and unrighteousness, and the TRUTH OF GOD.  He holds the truth (pushes it away in his mind) and goes away into the darkness of sin even farther, and his foolish heart is darkened even more than before.

In II Thessalonians 2:9-12, the Bible says, God shall send unbelievers strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned, who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in their unrighteousness.  Unbelief leads to delusion, then a lie, and finally damnation, it just keeps getting worse, when you reject light from God.  The deluded sinner is deceived, lost and on the way to the hell he doesn’t even believe in.

All men have some light, and light refused increases darkness, and you can just put truth on ice.  (See Mark 4:25)  Don’t deny Jesus today, don’t put HIM off any longer.  If you want your sin more than JESUS, the baggage that comes with your sin, is delusion, a lie, and damnation.

** Light obeyed increases light. **

       Creation and conscience only bring a sinner to the FACT of God.  If a man is not interested in the FACT of God, he certainly is not going to be interested in the WAY to God (Jesus Christ). God is under no obligation to show any man the WAY to God, if he is not even interested in the FACT of God.  This type of man is unthankful, doesn't glorify God, and becomes vain in his imaginations, and has his foolish heart darkened, and then will damn his own soul to hell. He commits eternal suicide, and cuts the jugular vein of his soul wide open with the jagged knife of unbelief.  Light rejected becomes lightning, but light obeyed increases light.

The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. (See Romans 1:16-17)  Well, what does that mean?  That means that God gives you a little light and truth, and if you believe and obey that truth, God will give you more truth.  See Mark 4:25.  The more you obey the light, the more light you get from God.  You keep stepping into the light God gives you until you come to Jesus Christ Himself and trust HIM.

All men don’t have enough light to save them, but all men do have enough light to damn them. If you live up to the light God has given you, you will receive more light.  The Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 was sincerely searching and obeying the light he had from God, then God sent Philip the evangelist to him and Philip preached Jesus unto him and he was saved.  The eunuch lived up to the light he had from day to day.  Cornelius in Acts 10 had a hunger to know God. Cornelius kept obeying the light that God gave him, until Simon Peter came and preached the Gospel to him.  The light from God led these two men in Acts to trust in the Light of the world, Jesus Christ.

We must live up to the light we already know, or God will not reveal any further light to us. See Mark 4:25.  Light obeyed increases light.  Now is you’re honest, you will admit that you haven’t obeyed all the light that God has already shown you, therefore your sin will start leading you to go astray into the darkness.  Beware, rejecting light is very dangerous.

If you want to understand the part of the Bible you don’t understand, then begin to obey the part you do understand, and then you’ll understand what you can’t understand.  Do you understand?  Simply obey what God reveals to you from His creation, your conscience, and His words. The problem is not in the head, it is in the heart of man – it is a sin and will problem, not an intellectual problem.  Jesus said in John 7:16-17.  If man will do God’s will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether what I say is of God, or whether I speak of myself.  If you WILL to do the will of God, only then will know the TRUTH, Jesus Christ.

An atheist says he knows there is no God.  But the atheist will also tell you that you can’t know anything for sure, but he is sure there is no God, and contradicts himself.  Of all there is to know, how much do you know?  Do you know half of everything there is to know?  Well, of course not.  But you said you know there is no God.  Wouldn’t you have to admit the possibility that God exists in the half of the knowledge you don’t have.  Well, you’re right, I am an agnostic then.  Agnostic in Latin means ‘ignoramus.’  Agnostic is just a fancy word for a doubter. Are you a doubter?  Yes I am. Well, what kind of doubter are you?  There are two kinds: there are honest doubters and dishonest doubters.  Which kind are you?  Well, what’s the difference? An honest doubter doesn’t know, but he wants to know, and therefore he investigates.  A dishonest doubter doubts because he doesn’t want to know and he can’t find God for the same reason a thief can’t find a policeman; he’s not looking for him.

If you’re an honest doubter, will you sign this statement?  God, I don’t know whether you exist or not, I don’t know if the Bible is your word or not, I don’t know whether Jesus Christ is your Son or not, I really don’t know, but I want to now the truth.  And because I want to know, I will make an honest investigation, and because it is an honest investigation, I will follow the results of my investigation, wherever it leads me, regardless of the cost.

If you’re an honest doubter, here’s your assignment, there is only one book written on face of the earth that has this purpose: that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name.  This book is the Gospel of John. Prayerfully, openly read the Gospel of John and say this to God, “God I don’t know if you exist, and if this is your word or not.  If this is truly your word, show me, and I will obey you, if you show me and speak to my heart.”

** God will judge all of us by the light we’ve rejected. **

God will not judge us by the sins we have committed, but by the light we have rejected.  (See Romans 2:5)  The righteous judgment of God will come upon all men. (Romans 2:11-12)  God knows how much light you have, and He knows how much light you could have.  Never take light from God lightly.

Here’s another Burning Question:  What is God going to do with those that have heard the Gospel and have said "NO" to Jesus Christ?  The dust off the shoes of the preacher you rejected, this dust will be brought up before you at the judgment and will condemn you.

You need to live up to the light you currently have.  Obey what you do know, and God will teach you the truth that you don’t know.  Be honest with God.  Don’t let some intellectual problem keep you from Jesus.  If you die in your sins, you’ll wake up in hell, and still never have it all figured out.  Just come like a child now and trust Christ, sincerely trust Christ with your soul.  I want you Lord Jesus, I need you, I deserve to go to hell because of my sins, but please forgive me, please accept me, you’re the only way to heaven, I cannot save myself at all, the best way I know how, Lord Jesus, I believe you died for me and rose again from the dead, I receive you as my Savior, have mercy on me, please save me, I trust in your precious blood forever.