The Dragnet

Matthew 13:47-51, “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. Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.”

1. The Fish:

a. Now this is a picture of a dragnet. Do you remember the television show Dragnet? Well, just as a Sergeant Friday was dragging his net through the streets of Los Angeles to catch those evil-doers, God has His net going through the nations of this world to win souls. That’s a dragnet.

b. If you’re ever out on the beach, you may see some large shrimp-boats called trawlers. They have outriggers on each side and two large wooden objects connected to them called doors and behind these doors is a big net, with a pouch. They let these heavy doors down and they sink to the bottom and scrape along the bottom and hold the mouth of that net open. And those fishermen go back and forth over the shrimp beds; and the shrimp, crabs, fish, stingrays, eels, sharks, turtles, everything is swept into the mouth of that big net. And after they’d gone back and forth, they winch up the net. And it would be full of all kinds of sea creatures that they dump on the boat. Then these fishermen start culling through the catch and keep the shrimp and other good fish, but the rest, the by-catch, goes overboard. Jesus said that’s what it’s going to be like at the end of the age. Only it’s not fishermen that are going to be doing this; it’s angels that are going to be separating the good from the bad.

2. The Fishermen:

a. Now, what is my job? What is your job in this day and this age? Our job is to draw the net. God’s job is the sort the catch. Our job is to draw the net. Jesus said, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” And notice in this parable, Jesus says, “…they drew to shore…” not "he" but "they." That is the first time we have "they" in the parables. “They” are those who are following Jesus and fishing for men by witnessing and sharing the gospel.

b. Our job is to fish for men – to share the gospel. Salvation is not our responsibility. We can’t cause anybody to believe or not to believe. What we must do is share the gospel – give all the opportunity, “None need perish!”. The kingdom of God is like a net that we just draw through the nations of this world. And then at the end of the age, God, the One who separates the wheat from the tares, the same God, is the One who is going to separate the good from the bad.

3. The Future:

a. God knows exactly, precisely, what the situation is going to be like. Do you know what God has told us in Matthew 13? He told us 2,000+ years ago what will happen in our time. He said that not everyone is going to hear the gospel. And not everybody who hears the gospel is going to be saved. He said there are going to be hypocrites in the church. He said there’s going to be an attractive false gospel. He said there’s going to be corruption in the church. He says Israel is going to be persecuted, trampled like a treasure, buried in a field; but that He’s coming back to claim what’s His. He also said He’s coming back for a glorious church! And then He said He’s going to come and sort the catch. And it will happen and is happening exactly as God said.

b. Now, you see, if you have false expectations, if you think that the gospel is going to convert the world, or if you think that hypocrites prove the Bible not to be true, or if you think that false cults will never arise, you’ll say, “What went wrong?” Nothing has gotten out of God’s control. It is exactly, precisely, as God said it would be!