He Taught Them Many Parables… (The Parable Of The Net) # 3

Many of the things we hear about the kingdom of heaven today are not the truth.

For example, many ministers today, if they do not come out and preach it, they imply that if you live a good moral life and attend church frequently, when you die you will go to heaven.

But the fact is, the Bible teaches that you can live a good moral life and attend church every time the doors are open, and still go to a Christ-less eternity.

EVERYONE IS NOT GOING TO HEAVEN WHEN THEY DIE.

Look at Matt. 7:22-23, we read, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

From this Scripture, we know He is addressing this to church people. From what these two verses teach, they not only attended church, they also worked in the church, because the Bible says they were doing “Many wonderful works.”

Many will stand before the Lord at the end of the age and hear Him say, “I never knew you: depart from me.”

Many today are being told what they want to hear.

Illus: The Spanish people are always eager to help others, especially foreigners. Tourists are warned that if they ask directions, people will give them, even if they don't know what they are talking about. They'd rather give you wrong information, than have to disappoint you by saying they don't know.

This is bad, but this is really bad when it comes to spiritual guides. They must always give the right directions.

The Lord always taught the truth about the kingdom of heaven. To express these truths, He was a master at using parables. That is, taking something they were familiar with and comparing it to a spiritual truth he wanted to teach them.

WHAT CAN A STORY OF A DRAGNET AND A GREAT CATCH OF FISH TELL US ABOUT GOD'S KINGDOM?

The Lord knew that many of the people of that day were farmers or fishermen. He took the knowledge they had of these things, and used it to illustrate the spiritual lessons he wanted to teach them.

Let’s look at-

I. HIS DESCRIPTION

Look at Matt. 13:47-48, we read, "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.”

One of the most common ways of fishing in Jesus' time was with a casting net (or hand net), which was thrown from the shore.

Look at Matt. 4:18-20. This seems to be the kind of fishing that Peter and Andrew were doing. For example, we read, “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.”

The other way of fishing was from a boat. That is, the dragnet or trawl which was let down or cast into the waters from a boat. As the boat moved through the waters, slowly the dragnet was drawn into the shape of a great cone which indiscriminately took in all kinds of fish.

This kind of fishing generally is so successful at catching fish, it usually takes several men to haul such a net to shore.

Such is the case in Luke 5:1-7, we read, “And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came.”