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“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 13:47-50
We see the commonality here with the parable of the wheat and tares. We know from last time that not everyone who is in our churches are real Christians. There are wheat and there are tares. People who genuinely love Christ and those who do not.
Now, I know a few days ago, I said I might skim over this one because it’s so similar in its message. But I changed my mind. The reason is, because Jesus brought it up in a new way and I think it’s important that we see both pictures.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind.”
It’s let down in the sea. My study bible says that this net was shaped like a long wall, and was dragged toward the shore by both ends. Its mission was to capture as many fish as possible.
Now, what we are seeing here is the gospel (The net) being proclaimed in the world (The sea.) It hits many people. Tons of men and women have been told the gospel. We have been seeing it spread across the whole world. The gospel is for every nation and every people group. It’s a net filled with men and women of every background, color and size. Christ came to make a people for himself and for the glory of his grace.
But, this doesn’t seem to be a net that captures to eat, but to sweep men and women out of the world and its system. Sweep them out of the power of the devil, who has blinded the men and women in the world. But there’s something even more to notice.
“When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad.”
The problem was that some of the fish were considered “unclean.” So, they were sorted. The ones without scales and fins were no good so they were separated from the rest.
This is interesting to think about. The gospel goes out and it draws people. It gathers people.
But, if we connect this to the parable of the sower, we can know that when it gathers, it gathers men and women with different soils. It affects men and women differently due to the hardness of their hearts. There’s a mixture.
And what do we see in the parable of the sower? What do these fish consist of?
We had:
1. The path or the ones who have the seed snatched by birds. They hear and reject.
2. The rocky ground or shallow belief. Ones who can’t deal with rejection.
3. The thorns or those who love riches. They love the world.
4. The good soil. Those who find the treasure and sell all they have with joy. They love Jesus.
The reality of our Churches
These four groups are what are in the net. These four groups are who we rub shoulders with week in and week out. But, in the parable of the net. Jesus just simplifies it for us. He says that the fish are good and bad.
In relation to the sower, we see that the good are those who receive the gospel and bear fruit. And the bad are the other three.
First John carries the definition even further when speaking about loving the world. It says, the things of the world are the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and the pride of life. This is the last three in a nut shell. They love the world and they love life so much that they can’t get made fun of and love what it offers.
This is what fills our churches. This is again, why we have so much problems. And in today’s church we have lowered our standards so low that we don’t try to distinguish at all. We consider everyone a Christian and love counting up our, “on the spot” baptisms. We have made no room for a testing period like we read in the books like first Timothy. We don’t look at a mans life with criticism because we consider it narrow minded and unloving. This has made this mixture even thicker because, we invite all to join in every area, and are open to all being apart of our Sunday meetings— whether Christian or not. And we think, Who cares, because we must train and soon they will become better people. People who will give and serve.
The reality is that we don’t need to be looking for those who give and serve but those who genuinely love Christ. Giving and serving are what happens as a byproduct of real love. It’s not the end of itself. We aren’t waitressing. We are worshiping Christ and loving each other. That’s the church.
We must realize this reality and lead our congregation to recognize this reality. We are in the midst of true and false. Good and bad. Converted and not. The sooner we accept this, the better we will be as a church. The better we will be in our discernment.
“So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Lastly, we have a reality that is terrifying. Final judgment and no fakers. Hell is a real place and what we are doing isn’t a game. It’s not a popularity contest. It’s not us being “Somebody.” It’s eternal and serious.
This should push us, I think, in four things:
1. Honesty.
We have to be open about our sin. We must be going to church on Sunday morning with the main focus to edify and love one another. Honestly. We must consider each other as family and not as coworkers. We must get honest and lay aside pride. The desire to use authority to Lord it over people has to go. Honesty is us coming together and laying it all down and having our main goal to love each other and Christ. This isn’t a hang out or a business meeting. We are a Church. A people who love Christ. Honestly, do we look like that?
2. Repentance.
We have to get serious about sin. And I’m not talking about drugs and murder. Although those are important. Im talking about partiality, arrogance, slander, lust, deception, manipulation, gossip, self glorification, wanting to be the “main man.” We weren’t called to this. Jesus said if you want to be great, you must be a slave to all. We must get serious about our sin.
3. True affections.
We must cultivate a community that actually loves each other. Like actually love the people around us. And this will only happen when we turn up our affections towards Christ. We have to see the Gospel and fall in love with it. It has to be our focus all the time until it causes our whole being and life to change. We need to care. Genuine love for the body and Christ have to be a reality that overflows from our congregations and lives. Jesus said that they will know you are my disciples by the way you love one another. That’s discipleship 101. No love for your brother, no love of God dwelling in us. Go read first John.
4. Urgency in scripture.
We again, must become creatures of the word. Soaking our minds in the word of God and watching it affect every arena of our life. Many people don’t spend enough time with the book. They have so much to do other than read the book. The urgency though, is pressing in this area. We must be able to know the way to salvation. We must know how to be examples of love. We must be able to lead and teach those in our body. Why? Because judgment is coming. Christ is coming back. The fish will be sorted. Let us live like it.