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.”
Net fishing is good because of the number of fish that are caught. This is the kind of fishing the Lord is talking about in this parable.
What is the Lord trying to convey to us in this PARABLE OF THE NET?
First, the Net represents God’s church. Just as a dragnet catches every kind of fish in the sea, so the church acts as God's instrument for gathering in all who will come.
Just as the dragnet does not or can not discriminate, so the church does not discriminate between the good and the bad, the useless and the useful. God's kingdom is open to all who will accept and believe.
It is the duty of the church to accept everyone who enters the doors. It is not the duty of the church to discriminate:
• Racially
• Socially
• Economically
We are to accept all who will enter the net. That is the Scriptural position of the church
Illus: A small town near Camden, South Carolina is called Boykin. This town is so small that it only has a few stores and a church building. But yet they have a Christmas parade and normally 4 to 5 thousand people attend the parade.
But while the church building looks like a church, it is not a church. It is there mostly for show.
That is the same as many other churches today. It is all show, they are not busy reaching out to the lost. They are much too busy trying to entertain the Saints and keep them happy so they won’t leave the church.
But Christians in a real Bible-believing, Bible-preaching church reach out to the lost world, and will do everything they can to make everyone coming through their doors feel welcome.
God’s Great Commission has never changed.
Look at Mark 16:15-16, we read, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
We have looked at HIS DESCRIPTION of the church. The church is like a FISHING NET that receives all into their net. But now let’s look at-
II. HIS DUTY
The Lord Jesus has a duty that He will perform. The church goes out and throws the gospel net out, and tries to rake all the people they can into the church. But not everyone that comes through the church doors is saved. I do not know who is saved, and neither do you.
One of the reasons the Lord tells us not to judge folks in the church, is because we often make some serious mistakes in judging people.
• For example, since DNA has been available, we have discovered many people are in prison that should not be in prison.
• Through DNA we have also discovered some folks are on death row that should not be there.
Our judicial system is the best system in the world, but it is not perfect. Juries take the facts that have been presented, and sometimes they make a bad judgment about someone.
Sometimes when we think we know all the facts, we pass judgment on people in the church, and we draw the wrong conclusions.
But at the end of the age, THE JUDGE OF ALL JUDGES, who has never made a mistake, will judge every one of us.
If I had to look across this congregation and say who is saved and who is not saved, I would not be able to do it.
Illus: Someone said that there are going to be two surprises in heaven.
• There will be people there that we thought would not be there
• There will be people we thought would be there that will not be there
The Lord knows everything about us.
• He knows our every thought
• He knows every word we have ever spoken
• He knows every deed we have ever done, good or bad
• He knows how many hairs we have on our head
• He knows those who are born-again
• He knows those who think they are born-again
It is going to be HIS DUTY at the end of the age, to separate the SAVED from the UNSAVED!
And I promise you, not one of His children will be left behind. NOT ONE!
HOW WILL THIS TAKE PLACE?
Let look at the parable again. "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. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
Everyone who knows anything about fishing knows that some fish are no good.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger tells about one time he went fishing with a man from his church. He caught a big carp, and immediately Dr. Belger said, “That’s a nice one.” The man said, “Well actually it is not. This fish is no good, he is full of bones and you can not eat him.” And he killed the fish and threw him back into water.
Now that seems cruel, but once he explained to him about the fish being no good, what he did made sense.
And the Bible says that one day God is going to go through the church separating the good from the bad.
Look at verse 50, we read, “And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
We live in an age when men and women do not believe in a literal burning Hell. But in this parable, the Lord is teaching that such a place exists.
The Bible says those who have heard the Word of God preached in the church and choose to live a sinful life will be cast, “…into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
Conclusion:
It is OUR DUTY to throw the net of the gospel out to a lost world, and drag (compel) them to come to church. But it is GOD’S DUTY TO JUDGE THEM ONE DAY, SHOWING IF THEY BELONG TO HIM OR NOT!
There will come a time of separation at the close of the age, when the Lord will send the good and the bad to their respective destinations.
Our duty is to gather in all who will come. God, in the end, will give the good and the bad the reward they deserve.
The parable of THE NET ends the kingdom-parables on this note.
This is not a happy ending, but it is the ending the Lord wants.
Those who attend church today need to be told that not everyone who attends church is going to go to heaven.
I. HIS DESCRIPTION
II. HIS DUTY
