On Judgment Day There Is No Middle Of The Road

On Judgment Day There Is No Middle of the Road

Matthew 25:31-46

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

It does not matter who you are. It does not matter where you are. It does not matter what you are. It does not matter whether you are rich or you are poor, whether you are a very important person or a very insignificant nobody. The facts of the matter are clear: You are a human being. You have been conceived. You have been born. You possess a human body and an immortal human soul. Now that you have come into existence, you will continue to exist forever, either in the presence of God’s eternal love or subject to God’s eternal fury. And there is waiting for you an appointment, a date with the Almighty that cannot be canceled. You must stand before the Lord Jesus Christ when he comes with all his holy ones to judge the living and the dead. There is no changing that reality.

Many people think that death is the end of the road. They figure you only go around once, and when your time is up, you die, you’re dead, you’re gone, and there is nothing more. Many people think they can avoid their date with the Almighty. Some imagine that if they are buried deep enough or buried at sea or their bodies are cremated and their ashes scattered to the four winds, God won’t be able to find them on Judgment Day. They are mistaken. Still others propose to have an "arrangement" with God and try to go through life walking down the middle of the road. The agnostic says that "he doesn’t know" whether God even exists or not, but he figures that on Judgment Day he’ll have a way out by being able to say, "But God, I never outright denied that you exist." Others figure that they have plenty of time to get serious about their relationship with God—like when they’re done with college and get a real job. Or when they finally settle down and have kids. Or when they are finally retired and have more time for God. Well, brothers and sisters, death and judgment are not the end of the road. In fact, quite to the contrary, they are only the beginning. But on Judgment Day there is no middle of the road.

Jesus illustrates that fact for us as he gives his disciples a description of Judgment Day. He says, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.” Jesus says there are only two places to stand on the Day of Judgment—you’re either on the right hand or on the left. You stand either among the sheep or with the goats. There is no middle of the road.