The kingdom of heaven is like unto two men, one who believed in God and one who did not.
The first man engaged in prejudice and hatred and various other forms of ugliness contrary to love, all the while saying to the world, “I believe in God! God is with me! God is on my side!”
The other man looked at all the injustice and abuse done in the name of God, and he said to himself, “I don’t believe in God,” and spent his life relieving the poor and defending the oppressed.
In due time, both men died, and on the day of final judgment, both men were resurrected and stood before God. Gesturing with His right hand, God said, “Come, my son, enter into the eternal bliss prepared for you.”
And the Lord said to him, “I think you’ve mistaken Me for some other god…”
The man who believed in God smiled and stepped forward, but God raised His left hand and said, “No, not you,” and gestured for the unbeliever to come. The believer began to argue with God, “But wait, I believed in You, I went to church, I gave money to Your cause, I condemned sinners for You, and I even used apologetics to prove unbelievers wrong.” And the Lord said to him, “I think you’ve mistaken Me for some other god, perhaps Beelzebub. I don’t know you and you certainly don’t know Me. Depart from Me into eternal darkness.”
The unbeliever, weeping with his head down, said, “But why would You be so gracious to me and call me Your son? I didn’t believe in You.” And the Lord said, “Of course you did. You believed in justice and defended the oppressed, and you believed in mercy and relieved the poor, and that’s who I really am. So you are the true believer. Enter into the eternal bliss prepared for you.”
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:31-46).
Ty Gibson
Ty is a speaker/director of Light Bearers. A passionate communicator with a message that opens minds and moves hearts, Ty teaches on a variety of topics, emphasizing God’s unfailing love as the central theme of the Bible. Ty and his wife Sue have three adult children and two grandsons.
