Opening illustration: A certain man went to Church one Sunday. He frowned when the organist missed a note during the opening hymn. He gave a mean stare at two teenagers talking to each other when the congregation was at prayer. During the Scripture readings, he kept looking impatiently at his watch. When the collection basket was passed he felt that the usher was watching to see how much he gave. During the sermon, he felt mighty pleased with himself when he caught the preacher making a slip of the tongue. He was tight-lipped during all of the worship songs. As he slipped out a side door during the closing hymn, he muttered to himself, "That was terrible. What a bunch of clods. Never again!"
A certain other man went to Church one Sunday He was edified by the organist’s moving rendition of "Amazing Grace." He marveled at the sight of a father exchanging hugs with the little child draped over his shoulder. He had but one thought when the collection basket was passed: "Some of what I give will be used to serve the needy. Am I giving enough?" He listened attentively to the Scripture readings, which spoke of God’s incredible love for the human family. He heard something in the sermon that helped him with a question that had bothered him for a long time. He enthusiastically joined in the singing of the closing hymn of praise. As he left the Church, he said to himself, "How good it is to be here and share in the experience of the Presence of God!"
Both men had gone to the same Church, on the same Sunday! Why was each one’s experience of the same place so different? You could more or less easily see where each one is going if there were to die today. The judgment is inevitable in the Kingdom of Heaven. Where are you destined? (From a sermon by Don Hawks, "What Am I looking for?")
Let us turn to Matthew 13 and catch up with the parable Jesus is talking about the Kingdom of Heaven.
Introduction: We remember that the Kingdom is defined as the rule and reign of the Lord Jesus over His people. For now that is an invisible, internal kingdom. Jesus rules over our hearts. In an age to come, it will be a visible, physical kingdom too.
Also, we’ve said that in these Kingdom parables, Jesus has been revealing something about how God will establish His purposes in the world. It will be done by sowing the seed of His Word among men – although not everyone will receive it. It will be done by allowing the seed to grow together – the good and the bad – until the harvest. It will be accomplished through small things and will spread from seemingly insignificant means. And, we saw in the last couple of parables that those who make up the kingdom of God are viewed as valuable treasures in His sight. In this parable, Jesus shares another truth about the coming of the kingdom. There will be a judgment day.
What is the role of the Dragnet in the Kingdom of Heaven?
The Parable of the Dragnet is about the end-time judgment of all souls. This includes all people living at the time of the Lord’s return, and all the dead who have ever lived upon the earth from the beginning of time. The sea gives up the dead in it and death and Hades give up the dead in them. Those who are alive and remain at the coming of our Lord Jesus will appear at this judgment (Revelation 20: 12-15). In other words: Everyone who has ever lived or will live appears before this judgment which is commonly referred to as the “Great White Throne Judgment” (Revelation 20:11).
1. The Picture of the Judgment (47-48)
Again Jesus uses a common story with a spiritual truth: a fish story. Now, I’m not much of a fisherman. If I had a fish story to tell, it really would be a BIG ONE because I haven’t been fishing for a long time to have a real fish story. But I have found that in Galilee there were three common types of fishing.
There was the hook and line method which Peter used to catch a fish with a coin in his mouth that Jesus used to pay taxes. There was the small casting net method in which a man would hand cast a net in shallow water over schools of small fish.
Then there was the large "dragnet" method in which a large net would be pulled between two boats to catch large amounts of fish. When this method was used, all types of things: weeds, rocks, trash, small fish, large fish - anything in the path of the net would eventually be caught by the fishermen using a dragnet.
It is in the nature of the drag-net that it does not, and cannot, discriminate. It is bound to draw in all kinds of things in its course through the water. Its contents are bound to be a mixture. If we apply that to the Church, which is the instrument of God's Kingdom upon earth, it means that the Church cannot be discriminative but is bound to be a mixture of all kinds of people, good and bad, useless and useful.
When this net was full it would be drawn to shore where the fishermen would go through their catch. They would put the good catch into containers to be sold and the rest would be discarded. This was the method of fishing Jesus was referring to in this parable. The second point concerns:
2. The Principle of the Judgment (49)
Jesus compares the dragnet to the judgment by saying in vs. 49, "This is how it will be at the end of the age." There is coming a time when all men, like all the fish in the sea will be divided up and they will be either kept or discarded. So, this parable pictures the time in the judgment when the angels of justice will "separate the wicked from among the righteous."
This will be an awful time for unbelievers – not only because of the separation, but for the surprise of it as well. Many will be caught in the net thinking everything is cool, but it will be nothing but uncool for them. At this time, their fate will be sealed as they are headed for eternal separation from God and all things good.
But equally this parable teaches that the time of separation will come when the good and the bad are sent to their respective destinations. That separation, however, certain as it is, is not man's work but God's. Therefore it is our duty to gather in all who will come, and not to judge or separate, but to leave the final judgment to God.
It’s not a happy time for the unbeliever, but it’s not a happy time for God either. God has no pleasure in the destruction of wicked people. In Ezekiel 18:23 (NLT), the Lord asks, "Do you think … that I like to see wicked people die? Of course not! I only want them to turn from their wicked ways and live." And in 2 Peter 3:9 (NLT) it says, "The Lord … does not want anyone to perish so He is giving more time for everyone to repent." And Luke records in 19:41 how Jesus wept over Jerusalem because the people would not repent. In fact, Matthew 25:41 (NIV) tells us hell was not created for men but was "prepared for the devil and his angels." So, those who are caught unprepared on judgment day will suffer the consequences against the will of God. This leads to the third point of this parable:
3. The Peril of the Judgment (50)
Jesus says that the wicked will be thrown "into the fiery furnace" where the only sounds will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth." That means that not only will there be the moans and groans of people in torment, but the “Gnashing of teeth” refers to what people who are still defiant toward God will be doing. Have you ever seen anyone who was so mad they gritted their teeth at the person? That is how some people will react in the lake of fire.
Now, the reality of hell is hard for many people to accept. I don’t like to think about it myself, but if we are to be true to the Word of God, we have to accept it. Jesus spoke a lot about hell because He wanted folks to understand the reality of eternal punishment. He wanted people to know that when they die, they don’t just cease to exist. They will spend eternity somewhere.
That is why Jesus spoke this parable about a time when God will separate everyone and those who have not personally accepted Christ will be thrown "into the fiery furnace." He wanted people to know about this awful place that was actually prepared for the devil and his angels, but would be populated by those who would reject Him and rebel against Him. He wanted people to know that Hell was a real place of everlasting punishment and torment and “outer darkness.”
However, amid this uncomfortable truth of God’s judgment also comes a message of hope. Even to the pious religious crowd whom Jesus had identified as blasphemers earlier, there is given one more invitation to believe. In verses 51-52, we see:
4. The Proclamation of the Gospel (51-52)
Jesus asked the crowd, "Have you understood all these things?" It is as though He’s asking, "Have you put all this together yet? Do you get what I’ve been talking about in these parables? Do you have wears to hear the gospel message?" That’s a good question for us. Do we understand about the kingdom of God? Have we put together these truths? Do we really believe that even though we live alongside unbelievers like wheat and tares, like good and bad fish that there is a time coming when we shall be separated? Do we understand the reality of the judgment? Do we believe the torments of hell?
We might say “Yes” but our actions say “No” because we don’t have a sense of urgency. We do very little to keep people out of hell. Our actions say “No” when there’s only a handful who attend a witness training class on Wednesday night. Or when only a few people are being saved and baptized every year.. The disciples answered, "Yes." Though their understanding was far from perfect they understood what they could at the time.
According to vs. 52, those who responded by saying “Yes” would become the future scribes, students and teachers of the truths of God’s Word. Such a person was to be like an "owner of a house." As we all should know, the head of a house is the person responsible for the welfare of a family. He would make sure all the essentials of the home were in ample supply to sustain and maintain the family. The head of the house would "bring out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old." In other words, He would not waste his supplies of food and clothing. Only when the old was used up or worn out would he bring out the new.
There is something very suggestive here. For it means that Jesus never desired or intended that any man should forget all he knew when he came to him; but that he should see his knowledge in a new light and use it in a new service. When he does that, what he knew before becomes a greater treasure than ever it was.
Later as the disciples became apostles would undertake the task of dispensing both "new and old" revelation. They were to proclaim the truth and bring it to the forefront. Likewise, believers have the task of proclaiming the truth of God’s Word even if it is not popular. It wasn’t popular for the disciples. Almost all of them were martyred for their defense of the gospel. So it won’t be popular for us either. But we must do it.
Illustration: There is a story told of a pioneer family traveling across the western plains in a covered wagon. They watched in horror as a huge prairie fire rushed toward them driven by a strong wind. They were afraid they would be killed by the fire, but the man acted quickly. He jumped down and quickly lit the dry prairie grass around their wagon. As the fire he set burned downwind, he then pulled his wagon onto the burned-out area and his family stood there as the fire swept past them. Of course, the fire didn’t burn what had already been burned, so they survived. They found safety where the fire had already burned.
There is one place where the fire of God’s judgment against sin has already fallen--at the cross of Jesus Christ. Maybe that was the message Michelangelo was hiding in his painting of the last judgment. You can choose to wait and stand before God at the final, terrible judgment. Or you can choose to stand at the cross where God’s wrath against sin has already burned. I don’t know about you, but I’m standing at the cross of Jesus! (From a sermon by David Dykes, God’s Dragnet)
Application: The final question which it leaves with us is this: Are you really changed by your contact with Jesus Christ and are you still changing? Everyone in this congregation in one way or another has had a contact, a touch, with Jesus, has heard his voice. What has it done to you? What has happened? Are you gradually moving more and more into wholesomeness, into health of spirit, into a departure from childish ideas and actions? Are you becoming genuine and loving and concerned for others? Or does your form of Christianity leave you unchanged within, outwardly pious and respectable, outwardly part of the Christian community, singing the hymns, attending the meetings, doing all the expected things, but inwardly just as bitter and resentful, just as self-centered and concerned for your own ends, seeking after prestige and favor and advancement just as much as you always have been, perhaps more difficult to live with at home? That is what this parable is driving at. Do you have a sense of urgency? May God challenge us to a greater sense of understanding and urgency!
