The Net

and through 52. Let's listen together to God's word. Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net. It was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore, and they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but through the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous, and throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will be weeping in gnashing of teeth. Have you understood all these things? Jesus asked. Yes, they replied. He said to them, therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old. May God bless to our hearts. The reading of this holy word. Become to the end of these parables on the kingdom of heaven, the parables where Jesus has made a number of comparisons. Instead, the kingdom of heaven is like. We look at the parable of the sower as he went and scattered his seed in the field and the different soils that it fell upon. We look at the parable of the wheat and the pears. We consider the parables of the great treasure and the pearl of great price. And I think it's particularly providential. God was good to us and that I was really unable to preach last week. And my father was able to minister to us with a sermon on speaking another home and thinking about and focusing on heaven, which is so much of what Jesus has actually done in these parables. He pointed us toward the final goal, the final objective, which is our place in the kingdom of heaven. Last week's message did that in a powerful way. And so today it's fitting to close up these parables of the kingdom by looking at a parable who's the point of which is to talk about the coming judgment. The point of the parable of the net, I believe, it's very similar to the other parables. There are many aspects of the parable which are like the other parables. But I think that this parable is placed at the end of these series by Jesus and by Matthew in order to focus our attention very clearly on the fact that there is indeed a coming judgment. On the fact that there will be a separation one day between the righteous and the wicked and to point out very clearly that the fate of the ungodly will be terrible in that day. We don't like to talk about hell, a sermon last week on the glories of heaven and focusing our thoughts on the kingdom of God is much easier for us to listen to and to accept. And when we begin to talk about hell, we become very, very uncomfortable. And yet it's profoundly important for us to consider the whole council of God and to consider the implications of the text before us. I read this week the story of the Methodist preacher Peter Cartwright who was once preaching in a great revival meeting and he stood up and he said, all of you who desire to lead a new life and to give your heart to God and go to heaven, will you please stand up? And throughout the congregation, just as John has done, there was a scattering of people who stood to their feet and made that commitment and Cartwright stood there for a few moments and then he said, all of you who do not wish to go to hell, please stand up and everyone was on their feet. Everyone wanted to make sure that they avoided the horrible punishment of hell and they're pointed out to us very clearly in our text today. And I want to make several observations this morning about things that we can see in the text regarding the end of the age, in the coming of the kingdom of heaven. The first thing I want us to see this morning is that there will indeed be a final judgment one day and it is inevitable. The final judgment is coming and cannot be avoided by anyone. We see that very clearly in the picture that Jesus uses, the illustration that he gives in the parable is that of a dragnet. Now throughout the scripture, there are a number of different methods of fishing. My good friend Arnie is a fisherman and he has taught me a lot about fishing and I've learned a little bit about a line and a reel and a casting and an abating of the hook where you go out and you dip the line in water and you hope and pray for one fish at a time. And he's pretty good at it, my friend Arnie, he's taught me a lot about it. We don't see that a whole lot in the scriptures, there's one instance where Jesus points this method out when he has Peter go out and catch a fish to collect a coin to pay the temple tax. But most of the time in the scriptures we see the use of necks in fishing. And a lot of times, fishermen will stand on the shore and use a single casting net which they throw out into the water and a circle and it lands and they pull it up and drag it in and whatever's in the net at the time they catch. But the type of net that is spoken of in this particular parable is a very specific kind of net. It's a drag net, there's a specific word that is used very infrequently in the New Testament to describe this type of operation. A drag net most often was used by two or more men, one of whom would typically stand on the shore and hold the end of the net while the others would get into a boat and head out from the shore, letting out the net as they go along. The top of the net was secured with cork floats to keep it on top of the water and the bottom of the net was loaded with weights to cause it to sink down. And as the boat went out, it would make a turn in the semi-circle and come back into the shore. And as they made their way back to the shore, the boat would sweep around and finally everything in its path would be caught. Everything would be pushed irreversibly into the shore. And I think that one of the keys to understanding the point of the parable is that the fish have only one direction in which to move. They can swim away from the net only by moving closer to the beach. In our own lives we may do everything possible to avoid the call of God on our lives. We may feel that net, we may feel the push, the tug of the Holy Spirit, the calling of God to change, to turn from sin and repent. And we may run away, but we're only running in one direction, and it's inevitably toward a final judgment. None of us will escape. I think the second thing that we see in this parable about that final judgment is that it involves an absolute separation. We see in the parable the fisherman on the shore dividing the wicked from the righteous, the good from the bad, the words that are used in the text they're actually have to do with the beautiful ones and the yucky ones that are being separated, ones from the other, the ones who are good and desirable, and those who are worthless and wicked. Now they're not chosen because they're beautiful and they're not thrown away because they don't look quite right. They're separated on the basis of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're separated perfectly by the one who knows how to separate. But it's interesting as we think about the image before us, the net gathers everyone in, and there's a mixture. As we think about the world in which we live, we see that there are all kinds of people in the world. There are those who have differing degrees of goodness in their lives. There are those who have differing degrees of beauty and ugliness in their lives. There are all sorts of people. And even within the Church of God, there are those who may appear to be beautiful fish, and there are those who may appear to be ugly. But they will only be known on the last day as the final judgment by the one who will absolutely separate them in the perfect way. But it's important to remember, but on that day you will be one or the other. There will be no in-between. There are so many people who live their lives today thinking, well, I like to have a little religion in my life. I like to have some of the comforts of church. I like some of the blessings of being involved in the family of God, but I don't want to go whole hog out. I don't want to make a full commitment. I'm just going to live sort of in-between. Are they dabble here and they choose here, and they select here different aspects of religion to appease themselves and make them happy? And they have one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom of God. On that day, the separation will be made, and you will be in one camp or the other. There is no middle ground. You will either be in those who have been carried away to eternal life or those who have been thrown into the fire where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. An absolute separation will be made at that day. The other thing that we need to think about when we consider this absolute separation at the final judgment is the fact that it was previously determined. Think back over all the parables that we've studied already. Are you the good soil? Are you one whose life has taken root in the gospel of Jesus Christ? Are you one who has pursued the great treasure that was hidden in the field? Are you the one who has purchased the pearl of great price? Are you one who has embraced the free offer of the gospel that is ours in Christ Jesus? Because when it comes to that day, when the net is dragged up on the shore, there will be no changing then. There won't be another opportunity once you're flopping around in the sand to move into another camp. It has to do with our lives here and now and the choices that we make today and how we respond to the free offer of the gospel that is given to us in Christ. God calls us to salvation and he extends to us the offer of the kingdom of God and we need to decide today. Today is the day of salvation to turn and respond to him because when we're flopping around on the beach, it will be too late. I would encourage you this morning if you're not in Christ now, if you're not certain that you're good soil where the gospel has taken root, if you're not positive that you've acquired the pearl of great price, if you're not absolutely 100% convinced that you are in Christ, then today is a day to make a decision for it to be so. Let Christ be the Lord of your life except the free offer of the gospel that he extends to you, the power of God to salvation that comes through Jesus Christ. Be determined today that when the day of separation comes, you will be one of his own. Another aspect of the separating that takes place that day on the beach, Jesus tells us in this parable that we will know that the judgment is real, that the separation is for certain and the time for repentance is now. Jesus tells this parable so we will hear him, that we will believe him and that we will turn away from anything that keeps us from him. Jesus tells this story to warn us to make us aware of the coming judgment and to respond and faith in obedience to him. I challenge you this morning, here is the gospel, here is the glorious news that Jesus Christ offers you salvation freely, that he extends to you his own righteousness in place of your filthy self-righteousness that you might stand before God as one of his own children. I would also this morning have us consider the nature of the judgment that faces those who have been separated out. Those who have been separated among the wicked were thrown into that everlasting fire, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. I want us to consider for a moment the nature of that state. When we read the passage of Scripture that we have read in our text this morning, when we read the lesson that Don read from Luke chapter 16, and throughout the Scripture we hear and see the imagery of fire, and a lot of people want to know now, is hell really fire? Is it real fire? Is it a lake of fire? Is it eternal burning? The Scripture seems to teach that that is the case. I also know that the Scripture often uses imagery to teach us things which we cannot comprehend otherwise. I don't know that I would stake my reputation or my life on the fact that there will be real fire, but I think the image is profound for us because fire causes such tremendous pain. I've shared with you how badly my hand hurt when my cat did it. I cried. I did. I cried when my cat bit my hand. It hurt. But I say what I've been burned before. And oftentimes even a small burn, nothing out of candle. Getting too close to the stove. Think of the pain that dwells there and remains there over an extended period of time, and how you're reminded of that pain every time that area is touched. There is a real sense where the suffering of the wicked and hell is so intense and so horrible that if it is not an actual physical suffering by fire, only such physical suffering could be used to describe the type of suffering and pain that will be experienced by those who are not in Christ Jesus. It's an intense suffering and a person is a fool who does not avoid it at any cost. Another aspect of that horrible day, that horrible separation that will take place for the wicked, one that is not specifically taught in our parable but is taught throughout Scripture, I think, and particularly in the story that Don read of the rich man in Lazarus, Lazarus is that we will have memory in hell. Those who are separated from God and eternity by their own sin will have a memory. If you go back to Luke chapter 16 and the story that Don read, we see in verses, verse 25 of Luke chapter 16, Abraham says to Lazarus, Son, remember, remember the things that happen in your lifetime. Remember the things that you had in that life. Remember how you enjoyed the blessings and prosperity and the good things of life without any thought of God. Remember, you may have had some sense of heaven on earth but that will be gone forever on that day. If you are without Christ now, learn that no matter how bad you think your life is now, no matter how horrible you think your existence on earth here has been, there will nevertheless come a day when it will seem good. It will seem great compared to the suffering you will experience when you are separated from God. And your memory of the good things in this life, the relationships that you have had, the joys that you have experienced will haunt you through eternity unless you repent now and come to Jesus Christ. Jesus tells this story that we might repent and turn away from our sin. There is also the aspect of guilt that we will have when we are there. It is guilt over the role that the wicked have played in bringing others to their end. Over 100 years ago, during one of the last great revivals that took place in Great Britain, there was a minister by the name of Brown Low North who preached a series of powerful revival sermons on the story of Lazarus and the rich man. And he made this point very well in one of those sermons when he refers to the incident where Lazarus, where the rich man is interceding for his brothers. In verse 27 to 28, we read how the rich man said to Abraham, I beg you, Father, sin Lazarus to my father's house for I have five brothers. Let him warn them so that they will not also come to this place of torment. Why do you suppose the rich man was concerned now about his brothers? Not because of any love that he had for them. There was no love and hell. I think that the reason Brown Low North preached this sermon and the thing that he concluded is it was because of the guilt that the rich man had. North concluded the one thing that can add agony to the agony of the loss is the being shut up forever in hell with those that they help bring there. Godless Father, be warned. You lead your sons along the path that you have chosen for yourself. They will be present that day to condemn you and to curse you as you share with them. Eternal punishment. Godless Mother, be warned. If you fail to teach your daughter the truth of the Scriptures and to point them to Christ Jesus, they will suffer eternal separation from God and you will bear the guilt within that day. Matthew wrapped up the parable by telling us Jesus asked his disciples the question, have you understood these things? Have you understood? And the disciples reply that yes, they have. And I think probably with Jesus there teaching and expounding and pointing out to them the truths of these things that they did. But I would ask this morning if we understand the truths of these parables, the truths of the messages of the kingdom of heaven, and the message that is before us today in this parable, the message that there will indeed be a final judgment, that there will indeed be a hell, a place of eternal torment and punishment for those who are without Christ. But I would also say to you this morning that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. For his desire is that they might all be saved. Let me share with you a few passages from the Word of God. Ezekiel chapter 18 verse 23 says, Do you think asks the sovereign Lord that I like to see wicked people die? Of course not. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. Second Peter, chapter 3, in verse 9 says, The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some counts slackness, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God, in his great love for mankind, sent his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to become the perfect Lamb of God, to become the one who would take our sins and the punishment that we deserve upon himself. And then to give us his righteousness, that we might have eternal life. God and his grace in love has done everything to make the way for us to avoid the eternal punishment. And the only thing that can keep us from experiencing the greatness of the gospel and the grace that is ours in Christ Jesus is when we cling to our own self-righteousness and reject the righteousness of Christ. When we turn our backs on the free offer of the gospel and say, I'm going to continue in my own ways and I'm confident in myself in my flesh. When we arrogantly believe that our self-righteousness will gain us a place in heaven, we're sadly mistaken. There is no possibility of escape. The dragnet pulls us all to the shore where judgment will take place. But the great news is God has made the way for us to be among those that are rescued from death, rescued from the fire and given eternal life through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This morning I would say to you, embrace Jesus, embrace the free offer of the gospel that is ours in Christ Jesus. Repent of your sins, turn from your wicked ways and respond to the love that God extends to you and his son, Jesus Christ. Don't leave here this morning unsure of where you will spend eternity. Embrace the Lord Jesus Christ, know Him, love Him and receive Him today. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we do indeed come to you and ask that you would open the eyes of our hearts, give us ears to hear and hearts to receive and respond to the message of the good news of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray, Heavenly Father, that you would indeed change us, that you would make us like Christ, that you would rescue us from the fate of death and eternal separation from you. We pray, Heavenly Father, that you would work in the hearts of everyone here this morning who perhaps does not know Christ, that they would be aware of the fact that there is coming inevitably a day when they will be judged, when they will have to stand before you and be held accountable for every action in their life. And it's only as they are clothed in the righteousness of Christ that they can stand before you with joy and thanksgiving and gratitude because of his work on our behalf. Work in our midst this morning, Lord God, bring about repentance and life. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.