 often hear the statement question what happens to the people who don't get to hear the gospel because they are in some undiscovered area of the world but doesn't the Lord answer this in Romans 10 9 18 verse 18 he quotes but I say to you that surely they have never heard have they indeed they have their voices have gone out into all the earth and they're oh I see what you're doing I see what you're doing and let's go there matter of fact let's go to Romans 10 all of it none all of it but let's start in verse 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and by the way this is clearly the Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised from the dead you will be saved for with the heart a person believes resulting in righteousness and with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation for the scripture says whoever believes in him will not be disappointed so you must be believing so in the word whoever is pos high Pistuan remember we said earlier that a believer is identified as the one who is believing the believing present active parasympanist we see here pos high Pistuan in him will not be disappointed for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek for the same Lord is Lord of all a bounding in riches verse 13 whoever or the one that's calling on the name of the Lord will be saved so you must call upon the name of the Lord to be saved but here it is verse 14 how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed how then will they believe in whom they have not heard and how will they hear without a preacher now this applies to everybody all of this applies to everybody the person that that's calling on him and believes on him will be saved but we got to keep in mind who Paul is bringing up in chapters 9 to 11 verse 15 how will they and how will they preach unless they are sent just as it is written how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good tidings verse 16 look what he says however they did not all heed the good news question who is the they that Paul is referring to who is Paul says however they did not all heed the good news who could the they possibly be that Paul is referring to well remember Paul in chapter 9 continuing in 10 and 11 Paul is is bothered upset distress about an issue concerning Israel they're not believing anymore when the Spirit first came it fell on Jews first now and Jews are not not so much there are some in Paul brings this up but there is a partial hardening over Israel there's a spirit of stupor over Israel okay and that's going to be until the fullness of the Gentiles so quickly says in verse verse 16 however they did not all heed the good news that is the Jews wise why don't know they says for Isaiah says Lord who has believed our report I co-aid who has reproved who has believed our report so faith comes from the by the way this not a verb hearing this is the now the report faith has faith comes from that report and the report by the word of God and the reason why I say the report versus the hearing because I don't want to confuse you even though it says the hearing it's not the verb hearing it is the noun hearing which refers to report which is easier for for us understand look what he says verse 18 this is the part that you brought up but I say surely they have never I'm sorry but sure but I say surely they have never heard have they and then what's the response they indeed they have they have heard their voice has gone out into all the earth and their words to the ends of the world but I say surely Israel did not know did they first Moses says I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation by a nation without understanding will I anger you so his point here is about Israel I understand what you did you were thinking of what about the people in all the world surely they've heard to this is not saying that all of the people all over the world have heard about the gospel now it's becoming harder and harder to make that statement as we move further and further along more and more people are going to hear the gospel more and more folks going to reject it what happens to a person who is somewhere where they haven't heard the gospel they're in the they're in the far reaches of the world someplace out in fairy tale land where they have simply not heard the gospel you know somewhere in California where they haven't heard the gospel or New York or Washington DC somewhere where the gospel has not reached I'm kidding but someplace where maybe they worship another God maybe they don't speak a language that we know and no one has ever shared the God they never heard about a Jesus they never heard about needing to have be repentant of sin and so forth and that there's a debt owed to God they never heard that what happens to them when they die here is the honest to goodness answer we don't know all we do know is that you must place your faith in Christ for salvation now here is where the controversy comes up one that's not fair what do you mean they didn't have they didn't have a chance they didn't have an opportunity well so the way this works is some people will start trying trying to construct how this stuff works for example what about I don't know a baby a baby doesn't have the opportunity to make a decision one way or the other and then there are those that are gonna believe that hey if this baby dies God is going to sovereign out of his love bring them in because they just didn't know didn't have the opportunity same thing with those that are severely or mentally handicapped they don't have the ability to choose they don't know they're left from the right there are people out there that are like that what about them will God's will God save them as well does their soul matter and so there are those that believe it yeah they'll be saved also okay well do you apply that to people who also just as though that they are older they had no opportunity to say yes or no and that's where people so I said now I don't know about them well it depends on what you think happened at the cross if you think what Jesus did on the cross paid for original sin in other words that the and there are there are some that believe so and there's a good case to believe so that on the cross the debt prior was taken care of and that you did not inherit your fathers or your forefathers sin though you may have inherited his nature or his propensity to sin you didn't inherit the debt the reason why that might come up for some people or believe that is because in Jeremiah when when they're saying that's not just in Jeremiah also it's also in his heels well another places where there's his proverb that said that the children's teeth are set on edge because the fathers ate sour grape and because of that what they're saying is that the children are dealing with the sins of their fathers and then it goes on to say that no longer will that happen so there are some that says that because of that what he does on the cross means that everybody's sin is their own sin and their five of sin so they're not they're not imputed with sin anymore from Adam or from anyone else but there are passes that seem to kind of negate that that in Adam all die because Adam sinned so you've got passes that might seem to if you have that tack or don't take that tack there's some passes that we got to kind of wrestle with and so what will God do with the person over in the backwoods of some place that we have no idea they don't even know about us we don't know about them what does God do does he in turn does he give them some sort of special means of grace some sort of dispensational so as Tony Evans said this trans dispensational we don't know this is him pontificating that this might happen but there's no scripture to say so but you know what the scripture also that there is no scripture that even brings up if a there's no scripture that lays it out just like we just laid it out I believe you could also say that hey if that person's over there and never heard the gospel you could also say that even if he heard the gospel he still wouldn't have because who determines when you're born God who determines where you're born God who determines under what circumstances and what family and so that you are born God you all could have easily been born in Afghanistan which by the way would suck I'm just gonna be honest with you I'm glad I'm not born in Afghanistan or living there but how vastly different would your life be maybe even your profession of faith there versus here who determines where I'm born when I'm born into whom I'm born to God does that he gives life and he takes life and so someone can say hey they're over there God knows what they will and what they won't do so in the end you can posit different hypothesis you can ultimately there's no hard and fast answer I do know this though that you must place your faith in Christ all of you here that are listening everybody here in America and the UK and and everywhere else that we know that that civilized enough to know and heard the gospel you have no excuse according to Paul Paul says you oh man have no excuse and so I would personally treat treated as though everybody needs to hear the gospel even children so as often and as early as they can hear it give the little child the gospel give the three-year-old the two-year-old the five-year-old the six-year-old the gospel the Bible doesn't say that you have to fully understand the gospel in order to be saved you just have to believe the gospel well what about how Jesus exists to the four-year-old yeah the four year-old needs to understand how the Trinity works he won't she won't the four-year-old needs understand how the Holy Spirit works as he don't he won't she won't so all I do know is that you grown folk who have the ability to think and understand make sure you have understood it and then share the gospel with others