The Kingdom of God - His Drag-net

Intro

Kingdom of Heaven define

In that business there are many reasons why a person does not buy but the most common one is price.

Most often someone will come in and they will want to buy a vehicle with every creature comfort there is. Then when they see the price

One of the truths - there is a Heaven, There is a Hell.

Of all of Jesus’ parables He has now given to His disciples, I’m sure this is the one they could relate to the best because it uses an illustration from the fishing world, and most of these guys had backgrounds from that industry. Many of them left their nets when He called them saying, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

Explanation

Life and prosperity — death and destruction.

We live in a world today where people don’t want to hear about the result of sin. We want to believe that there is a loving God that is so full of grace that everyone makes it. — Unfortunately everyone does not make it.

Of all of Jesus’ parables He has now given to His disciples, I’m sure this is the one they could relate to the best because it uses an illustration from the fishing world, and most of these guys had backgrounds from that industry. Many of them left their nets when He called them saying, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

I’ve never been much of a fisherman…I don’t have much patience for it, and no luck at all! But we have some in our church who believe that since the earth is 2/3rd’s covered with water, you are supposed to be fishing 2/3rd’s of the time!

Well in Bible days, there were 2 different kinds of nets used by fishermen. A casting net is small, bell shaped, and an individual could use it by himself. The other kind of net is a drag-net, and is much larger. In Bible days a drag-net could cover as much as 1 square mile of water surface area. A group of fishermen would spread out the drag-net between 2 boats and would drag it toward the shoreline. By the time they got the net to shore it would be filled with all sorts of sea creatures, and maybe a tire or license plate!

Men on the shore had the task of going thru the catch and separating the good from the bad. There were no game wardens and PETA was nowhere to be found…it was simply man having dominion over the earth and making a living. They would separate the useful from the useless, the edible from the bluegill! It was discrimination which led to separation.

This parable reveals to us tonight what God is doing among people today. The gospel of the kingdom involves two things: invitation and then separation.

The sea in the parable is representative of lost humanity. It’s a sea of despair and hopelessness. It’s a deep, dark abyss of iniquity.

The net is the church, extending the gospel invitation. In this day of grace God is using us to throw out the gospel invitation. I, for one, am very glad to live in this age of grace, where I could so freely be saved, and now can freely invite others to do so as well. May we never get tired of casting the net / giving the invitation at the end of the service / witnessing to others in the sea.

But then once we get to shore, there will be a separation.

Matthew 13:47–50 NIV

“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw 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 blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The Invitation

The Casting

v. 47 The gospel is available to the entire sea of humanity, people of every kind. Nobody is so high the net cannot reach them, and none are so low that the net cannot descend to them. None are so small that the net cannot embrace them. None are so big that the net cannot wrap around them. None are hopelessly lost.

Titus 2:11 NIV

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.

2 Peter 3:9 NIV

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

1 Ti 2:4

1 Timothy 2:4 NIV

who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Ro 8:32

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Romans 8:32 NIV

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Isaiah 53:6 NIV

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

2 of the most beautiful words in the Bible are ‘whosoever will’! Up and coming folks and the down and out. Religious Nicodemus needed to be born again, and so did the thief on the cross.

The gathering.

Follow me and I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN

Lady Huntington

Ill.—wealthy woman in the 19th century named Lady Huntington, a wealthy noblewoman. She was personal friends w/ George Whitfield, the great evangelist. She had gotten saved during the great Welsh revival. Someone asked her how a woman of her background came to be saved, she replied, “The letter ‘M’ is partly to credit for me” and then she quoted…

wealthy woman in the 19th century named Lady Huntington, a wealthy noblewoman. She was personal friends w/ George Whitfield, the great evangelist. She had gotten saved during the great Welsh revival. Someone asked her how a woman of her background came to be saved, she replied, “The letter ‘M’ is partly to credit for me” and then she quoted…

1 Corinthians 1:26 NIV

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.

B. It will be factual. God won’t make any mistakes. He knows who is saved and who is not. I still contend He made a paperwork error when He hooked me up for life with His best girl, but maybe He really knows what He’s doing and is punishing her for something!

But when the books are opened the record will be clear. Some here may doubt their salvation, and they have the preacher fooled and the church fooled and their family fooled, but they cannot fool God!

I dreamed death came the other night

and heaven gate swung wide

With kindly grace an angel fair

Ushered me inside

And there to my astonishment

Stood folks I’d known on earth

Some I’d judged and labeled

As "unsaved", of little worth

Indignant words rose to my lips

But never were set free

For every face showed stunned surprise

No-one expected me.

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C. It will be fatal.

v. 50 I know many today are saying that God would never send someone to hell. My response is “I agree! God doesn’t send them, they send themselves as they reject the get out of jail free card offered to them by Jesus Christ!

And I realize many would go a step further and say I don’t believe in hell. But I say, “Jesus did, and now it’s your word against His!” Death is not annihilation, it is separation…from this body, from this world, and part of the separation is believer from unbeliever.

How should we respond to a parable like this? It should burden us to witness like there’s no tomorrow, for there may not be. Reading the newspaper is like reading the book of Revelation. Let’s cast the net and give the invitation before the day of separation comes!B. It will be factual. God won’t make any mistakes. He knows who is saved and who is not. I still contend He made a paperwork error when He hooked me up for life with His best girl, but maybe He really knows what He’s doing and is punishing her for something!

But when the books are opened the record will be clear. Some here may doubt their salvation, and they have the preacher fooled and the church fooled and their family fooled, but they cannot fool God!

I dreamed death came the other night

and heaven gate swung wide

With kindly grace an angel fair

Ushered me inside

And there to my astonishment

Stood folks I’d known on earth

Some I’d judged and labeled

As "unsaved", of little worth

Indignant words rose to my lips

But never were set free

For every face showed stunned surprise

No-one expected me.

📷

Preach Better with PRO

Add your email to get started, plus get updates & offers from SermonCentral. Privacy Policy.

C. It will be fatal.

v. 50 I know many today are saying that God would never send someone to hell. My response is “I agree! God doesn’t send them, they send themselves as they reject the get out of jail free card offered to them by Jesus Christ!

And I realize many would go a step further and say I don’t believe in hell. But I say, “Jesus did, and now it’s your word against His!” Death is not annihilation, it is separation…from this body, from this world, and part of the separation is believer from unbeliever.

How should we respond to a parable like this? It should burden us to witness like there’s no tomorrow, for there may not be. Reading the newspaper is like reading the book of Revelation. Let’s cast the net and give the invitation before the day of separation comes!

…not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

She continued, “notice that it does NOT say, ‘not any’, but not ‘many’.”

Not many rich get saved because their wealth gives them a false sense of security. Jesus said such conversions ‘hardly’ happen. But he also said, what does it profit if you gain the whole world and lose your own soul!

The gospel net does indeed gather fish of every kind.

William Colgate

founded his company over 100 years ago. He was an avid Christian, and his church one season was praying for souls to be saved, and for church growth. A poor woman had been attending and came forward for membership. Churches in those days would take a vote on receiving someone new into the body, and someone voiced opposition to the poor woman joining. Colgate stood and said, “we need to go back and re-make our prayers.” He elaborated, “we have been praying for God to save sinners, but we need to specify what kind of sinners we want Him to save!” The congregation got the point and the woman was added to their number.

Our Individual Role - to fish.

We won’t catch them all.

We will catch some.

Cast the big net to catch all kinds.

1 Corinthians 9:22 NIV

To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.

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To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

Ill.—When Jack Hyles first wanted to start his bus ministry in Hammond, IN he was met w/ criticism from a deacon in the church who said, “Preacher, this new idea of a bunch of kids in church whose parents don’t come…I don’t like it.” Dr. Hyles said, “Brother, this idea isn’t new, D.L. Moody was bringing in hundreds of kids 100 years ago in our area [Chicago].” “Yeah, but all those buses sitting out on our parking lot doesn’t look good.” Hyles replied, “Moody brought them in wagons lined out front of the church.” The man said, but do you know the mess of oil such vehicles will leave?” “Yes, but Moody’s wagons were horse drawn, don’t you know they left a mess, too?!”

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In spite of the problems that come as you reach out to all kinds, I’m proud to be a part of a church that casts a big net for some of every kind!

The invitation involves casting and gathering of every kind…

The Separation

v. 48-50 The interpretation of this parable reaches out into the future. Someday a great separation will take place, and it won’t be the good people going to heaven and the bad to hell. No, it’s the saved and the lost. There are sheep and there are goats, just and unjust.

It if Final

v. 49 ‘so shall it be’ – No loopholes, no way out…now it is too late.

Ill.—the devil has some success at convincing people there’s no hell, some he even has believing there’s no heaven, but his best tool he whispers in the most ears is not that there’s no hell or no heaven, but that there’s no hurry! But on this day in our text ‘so shall it be’…the end, no more chances and no more hope! Its time we warn our loved ones and even complete strangers because the time is very short!

It is Factual

God won’t make any mistakes. He knows who is saved and who is not. I still contend He made a paperwork error when He hooked me up for life with His best girl, but maybe He really knows what He’s doing and is punishing her for something!

But when the books are opened the record will be clear. Some here may doubt their salvation, and they have the preacher fooled and the church fooled and their family fooled, but they cannot fool God!

I dreamed death came the other night

and heaven gate swung wide

With kindly grace an angel fair

Ushered me inside

And there to my astonishment

Stood folks I’d known on earth

Some I’d judged and labeled

As "unsaved", of little worth

Indignant words rose to my lips

But never were set free

For every face showed stunned surprise

No-one expected me.

📷

Preach Better with PRO

Add your email to get started, plus get updates & offers from SermonCentral. Privacy Policy.

It will be Fatal

v. 50 I know many today are saying that God would never send someone to hell. My response is “I agree! God doesn’t send them, they send themselves as they reject the get out of jail free card offered to them by Jesus Christ!

And I realize many would go a step further and say I don’t believe in hell. But I say, “Jesus did, and now it’s your word against His!” Death is not annihilation, it is separation…from this body, from this world, and part of the separation is believer from unbeliever.

Conclusion

How should we respond to a parable like this? It should burden us to witness like there’s no tomorrow, for there may not be. Reading the newspaper is like reading the book of Revelation. Let’s cast the net and give the invitation before the day of separation comes!