"47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; 48 and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. 49 So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Some of you may remember the radio program that became a television series which starred Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday and his sidekick, Bill Gannon, played by Harry Morgan, before he went on to become Colonel Potter in M.A.S.H. It had an ominous intro theme intended to strike fear in the heart of criminals. Dragnet always began with the same introduction: "Ladies and gentlemen, the story you’re about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent." Followed by Friday saying "Los Angeles, California, I work here, I'm a cop." When the case was introduced only a few basic facts were given; "It was Sunday September 11th. It was warm and muggy in Los Angeles, we were working the day watch.."
Today, we’re going to hear a story, names have not been changed and we're going to examine more than just the facts, we'll be looking at God's truth.
First, let's pray
The last of the eight parables on the kingdom here in Matthew 13 is parable about separation, judgment, and preaching and teaching, this is the climax. This first gives us a warning, the second gives us a call to proclaim the warning to an unbelieving and condemned world. During His earthly ministry, Jesus often spoke about hell, the lake of fire, the fiery furnace where there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. In Matthew 23, after prescribing a series of "Woes" on the Pharisees, He said "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?" For some, it's difficult to imagine such harsh words could ever come from the lips of our Lord.
If we who teach are called to model our preaching after His, and we are, hell then, must be a major theme of our message. Because Jesus said more about hell than all the other biblical preachers combined. The parable of the dragnet is a terrifying warning about what happens to the wicked when they are separated from the righteous in the last days. This is a sobering warning, a vivid illustration about the peril of judgement.
The story Jesus uses to illustrate His story would have been familiar to His hearers, particularly those who were fisherman. When He called His disciples who were fishermen He said, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Much like today, there were essentially three methods of fishing on the Sea of Galilee. One of course, is a line and hook used to catch one fish at a time. The other two types involved using a net, like the one Jesus instructed Peter to do when He needed money to pay the two drachma temple tax, a religious tax imposed by the Jewish religious leaders to support the temple in Jerusalem.
As we open our Bible to Matthew chapter 13, verses 47 through 52, keep in mind that Jesus using a metaphor to illustrate something far more important, faithful and unfaithful people. Not a single living person on the earth has any real understanding of the indescribable horror, the intensity of the roaring unending flames, the terrifying screams. Not even the most grueling murder scene could suggested a place so utterly terrible as hell. There's nothing on the earth that even begins to compare to it. Jesus is allowing in this period of time, good and evil to grow together. Similar to the parable of the Wheat and the Tares. So let's get started, shall we?
Open your Bibles with me to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter thirteen verses 47 through 52. Matthew 13:47-52. I invite you to follow along with me as I read them. Let us open our hearts for what the Spirit of God has to say to each of us.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
"Have you understood all these things?" They *said to Him, "Yes." And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old."
As Jesus begins His interpretation, He uses the analogy of the good and bad fish to represent God's judgement at the end of the age. While this parable is similar to the Wheat and Tares, which emphasized the coexistence of believers and unbelievers in the period of the kingdom, this parable emphasizes their separation. The first phase of His judgement is the separation of the righteous and the wicked, or the tares from the wheat. While some maybe temporarily moved by the Gospel, the quickly return to the old ways of thinking and living.
The dragnet of God's judgement moves slowly and silently through humanity as it draws all men the the shores of their eternal destination. Unaware God is working in the world, as the invisible net drags across humanity, it touches upon every person, though many will think they have escaped it, not realizing they are encompassed in God's sovereign plan. Unable to perceive the kingdom, they are oblivious to the things of God. Jesus is not giving us a full description here, but is focusing on the final judgement at the great white throne in Revelation 20. When man's day has come to an end and Christ sets up His glorious kingdom, judgement will come!
In this age of progressive Christianity, which focuses only on God's love, I believe there is no doctrine more difficult to accept than the doctrine of judgement and hell. Yet, Jesus speaks of hell far too often, of this horrible reality to either deny or ignore, promising no escape from the endless torment for those who have refused His gracious, loving offer of salvation.
In Matthew chapter 5, He says "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell."
In Mark 9, He tells us "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, [where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, [where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched."
This is a fearful warning that every human life is moving toward the inevitable separation of the redeemed and the damned! I am deeply saddened to say, that most of them will end up in hell.
Let's look at verse 47, "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind." Here Jesus gives us the imagery that we need to understand His teaching. Fishing in Jesus' time was a common way of life, and means of financial support. In many areas of the world, it still is today. When Jesus came across Peter and Andrew they were fishing, casting a net into the Sea of Galilee. As the boat left the shore, it would sometimes drag the bottom and every form of life would be caught in that net along with a conglomerate of other things like seaweed. It literally catches everything in its path.
And in verse 48, He says "And when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away." Because the net indiscriminately draws in all kinds of fish and the bad would be thrown away.
In verse 49, Jesus describes the inevitable separation between those who have received Him and those who have rejected Him. "So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous." It happens without them even knowing and by the time they realize what's going on, it's too late. The world will ultimately be caught in the net to be separated. The angels are the separators, folks that separation is moving closer and closer all the time. God has been tolerating evil in the world along with the righteous, patiently awaiting for people to repent and come to Christ but that's quickly coming to an end. When man’s day is over, judgement comes and the eternal destination of every soul that has ever lived will be determined.
Because God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, so I beseech you not to take sin lightly. Jesus is so concerned about people going to hell, He's warned us about hell many times. Contrary to what many people believe, hell is not a place of reliving bad memories, or a party for sinners to continue in unrebuked sin. When a person dies, their soul goes out of the presence of God, immediately into the torment of hell. Hell is a place of impenetrable darkness, eternal punishment, misery, unrelenting pain and infinite torture far beyond what the finite human mind can comprehend. Hell is a place of never ending, unquenchable fire, where the worm never dies.
When the physical body is buried, as it begins to decay, worms can attack the flesh for as long as it exists, and then no more harm can be done. In hell, the sinners body is fitted for eternity to endure forever, since the flesh can never be consumed or destroyed, the worms that attack it never cease. Yes, folks, the torture and torment of hell is forever.
Verse 50, "And will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." If there was any topic in Scripture that I wish I could eliminate, that I wish I could just ignore and not teach, this is it! Because every person who willfully rejected Christ, who has refused His gracious invitation of salvation will enter into hell to suffer immense, permanent, never ending torment. These very serious words of warning from our Lord are so inconceivable to us, even so shall it be for this wicked generation. We dare not neglect them!
The writer of Hebrews 10:28-30 says "Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge His people." It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
Throughout Scripture, Jesus gives us many, many warnings by the way. One such warning is found in Luke chapter 16, Jesus tells us a story of a rich man who that died and went to hell. "Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham *said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’"
Hell is so terrifying, I find it hard to believe so little is preached about it today. I could spend the rest of my time just preaching and teaching on all the passages that Jesus taught about hell. Men fulfilling their own lustful desires of the flesh, imagine themselves to be free, with no threat of judgment, nothing could be further from the truth! In the body we have now, we couldn't endure hell, it would be consumed in a moment. Just as God fits the redeemed with new glorified bodies suited for heaven, He fits the damned with new bodies suited for hell where there will be no relief. I cannot stress enough, Hell is not mythological, it's not an allegory, Hell is a real literal place for those who have rejected Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross for the atonement of their sin and the servant who knew Him and didn’t do what is right. God didn't prepare men for hell, He prepared it for the devil and his angels. Yet some people choose to go there. But you don't need to, if you will receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
In verse 51, Jesus asked them the question, "Have you understood all these things?" They *said to Him, "Yes." The word Jesus used for understood is the Greek verb "syníēmi," which means to perceive or put together. In other words, Jesus is asking them, "Are you putting all these things together? Do you understand the good and evil will coexist together until the time when they will be separated in judgement? Do you understand the separation of the righteous and the wicked in inevitable? This in order to obtain the priceless kingdom of heaven, you must be willing to give up everything you now have?"
Though they answered "yes," like us today, their understanding was limited, less than perfect. They understood as much as they were capable of. Knowing they could not possibly fully understand, but in a general sense. Even with the clear revelation of the present age, and, to some extent, the perspective of history, we cannot fully comprehend Jesus' teaching. Jesus did not challenge their assurance, but rather accepted their response, otherwise, He wouldn't have said what He did in the following verse.
That brings us to verse 52, "And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old." What He is saying is if they were truly instructed in these truths, here’s what you’ll be like, a scribe or "grammateús," meaning an interpreter learned in the Law, the Old Testament. Then He says "who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven," disciple is the verb "mathēteúō." In other words, you have been discipled, prepared, trained, instructed in the things of the kingdom of heaven. You are like a man who is the head of his house, "who brings out of his treasure things new and old." Under Jesus instruction, they were nurtured and trained in perfect balance, of things both old and new, so that they could be laborers and go out into the harvest and warn men.
In Closing..
The world is full of people who are not going to be part of the kingdom, they're going to hell, like the disciples, you and I have a tremendously responsibility to go out and warn others. Thanks to the writers of the Bible, who under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, have provided us with everything we need to accomplish our assignment. Now, it's up to us to persuade them by boldly and courageously telling them them truth and sin, judgement and hell. Lovingly sharing with them the Good News and pointing them to the cross of Christ. Introducing them to the only Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ. Who will soon return to establish His eternal kingdom, where He will forever rule and reign as the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
One day soon, every knee will bow before Him, today you have a choice, whether you bow to Him as Lord and Savior, entering into the kingdom of heaven or bow to Him in Judgement at the Great White Throne and be cast in hell with Satan and his demons. Jesus is longsuffering, patient, not wanting anyone to perish, but He will not wait forever. Since no one knows the day or the hour of His coming, I strongly encourage you not to delay a moment longer. Tomorrow may be too late.
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen