The Parables
Series
#5
"DRAGNET!"
TEXT: Matt. 13:47-50
INTRO: A famous
rock group years ago wrote a song about dying that had a phrase in it that said,
"I DON'T
KNOW IF THERE'S A HEAVEN, AND I PRAY THERE AIN'T NO HELL, I JUST WANT TO DIE
NATURALLY!"
ILLUS: You
might wonder why I believe in heaven in an age like this. One of the
Russian cosmonauts came back and said, "Some people say God lives out
there. I looked around, and I didn't see any God out there." Billy
Graham's wife, Ruth, says he looked in the wrong place. If he'd stepped
outside the space ship without his space suit, he would have seen God very
quickly. -- Leighton Ford, "Hope for a Great Forever," Preaching
Today, Tape No. 96.
It has become somewhat
fashionable today to talk about life after death ... especially the many reports
of people who have died and returned to life, except most of what you hear is
that there is soft lights, love, peace, harmony after life, not much is said
about hell, only the prospect of a warm loving place like
heaven.
It is much more convenient to
believe there is a heaven, but most don't want to think of the possibility that
there is a hell!
PROP.
SENT: Jesus teaches us that one day
there will be a separation of all people; some
to heaven, and some to hell ... it is as real as the fact that you are here and
alive today!
A. Dragnet
& the Gospel Matt. 13:47a
1. The preaching of the Gospel is like
a net thrown in the sea of humanity.
2. It is our duty to spread the
Gospel, you don't catch fish without throwing out the
net!
a. Remember Jesus' words to Peter and
Andrew in Matthew 4:19, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of
men."
b. This is still true for His
disciples today!
c. Too many churches today still think
the “Gospel” is only about the church, it is NOT! It is about the church reaching the
masses of humanity with a message that God has “good
news” … Christ has made a way of cleansing through His son Jesus
Christ.
ILLUS: A
person may go to heaven-
without
wealth
without
beauty
without
learning
without
fame
without
culture
without
friends
But
no one can go to heaven without Christ. – Source
Unknown
d. The church is supposed to be “throwing out the
net” and trying to bring in a catch!
3. The very fact that Jesus introduces
this concept with “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is
like…” suggests the importance of
command for the believer to “reach out” with the
Gospel!
a. The “once
again” meant that Jesus tried to get this point across
already!
b. This is critical for the church –
especially since Jesus is repeating the concept with another
parable!
c. Yet, how many churches today have
mandated reaching out vs. taking care of just the flock they
have?
d. The church cannot afford an inward
focus.
B. All
Kinds Matt.
13:47b
1. The beauty of the Gospel like a
dragnet is that more than just a single type is caught in this net. Notice Jesus said, “…and caught all
kinds of fish.”
2. Distinct types – the Gospel will
have broad appeal to a variety of people, it is beyond a personality type.
a. Personality
differences
b. Emotional
differences
c. Race
differences
d. Different in
talents
3. Variety is
beautiful!
a. The church benefits from the
differences!
b. God never designed that we be
alike, just alive!
4. The Gospel and salvation was meant
for everyone. Christ died for
all! Yes it is true that not
everyone will be saved, but potentially everyone could be! The Gospel wasn’t meant for just a
certain segment of society, or a certain ethnic group.
a. Christ’s hope was for “all” to
come: 2
Pet 3:9 “The Lord is not slow in keeping
his promise, as some understand slowness.
He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to
come to repentance.”
b. And the Gospel will touch many, a
variety were “caught” in the net!
5. The church must be careful never to
think that a “certain” type of person only can become true
Christians … the door must remain open for the diversity of whom God calls into
the kingdom.
a. Some people never catch fish
because they quit too early!
b. Others never learn how to fish
properly!
c. Some are just too lazy to let down
the net!
d. Others might not want to help deal
with the catch anyway!
II. "SEPARATE ACCOUNTS!" Matt.
13:48
A. Collection Time
Matt. 13:48a
1. Day of
reckoning:
a. When time is full or complete there
will come a day when the final “harvest” of fish is over … when they are
gathered up
“on
shore.”
b. There is coming a time of fullness
– Note in the text that it said, “when the net was full” … indicating there is a
time when it is over! God has an
end to time just like there was a beginning to it! Anything that has a beginning also has
an ending!
ILLUS: In
the day when all men will stand before God, the significant question for each of
us will no longer be what we think of Christ, but what he thinks of
us. – Elva J. Hoover – Edythe Draper, Draper's Book of
Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,
1992). Entry 4718.
c. Stewards will always have to give
account for what they have been entrusted with ... all men has been entrusted
with time and their own soul!
d. The church and the believer will
have a final moment when there will be no more throwing the net out! The final catch will be done, everything
is brought “on
shore” and the catch will be evaluated (sorted) by the great fisherman! (Christ)
2. "Lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in
Heaven..." Matt.
6:19-20
a. Jesus is speaking here of the moment of
finality. The end will
come, there will be no more opportunity for a new catch; the final catch is
brought “on
shore” and the entire catch is going to be
sorted.
b. There is coming this event sometime in
the future, and none of us knows when it will happen.
c. It could be right around the
corner, or a hundred years from now.
d. The critical point: What are you
– a good catch or a throw-a-way? You
WILL BE one or the other!
B. Eternity
Revealed
Matt. 13:48b
1. Good
Fish -- those who accepted Jesus Christ as savior. And because they did they invested in
God's Kingdom rather than laying up treasures only on
earth.
2. Bad
Fish -- (Charlie the tuna
type) those who invested in this world or just themselves! For them life was about “self” … not the “savior.”
3. It will matter tomorrow who you
know today!
a. Your eternal dwelling is determined
by your present decision concerning Jesus Christ.
ILLUS: As
John and Betty Stam, early missionaries to China, were led to certain execution
by their communist captors, someone asked, "Where are you going?" After saying
he didn't know where the guards were going, John added, "But we're going to
heaven." -- "Hudson Taylor and Missions to China," Christian
History, no. 52.
b. No one goes to heaven just because
they think they deserve it, only because their sins are forgiven through
Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary.
c. And there is no “second” chances, the catch is separated
only once … and there is no other opportunity for another
catch!
III. "ACCOUNTS CLOSED!" Matt.
13:49-50
A. Separation
Matt.
13:49
1. Wicked from righteous. These 2 verses are still connected with
the preceding parable … explaining the previous
parable.
2. The separation of righteous from
unrighteous will be real and final, there is no guesswork in Jesus’ language
here!
3. It is convenient to not believe in hell, but to hope for a heaven ... the problem is
that it is convenient AND catastrophic!
ILLUS: If
you insist on having your own way, you will get it. Hell is the enjoyment of your own way
forever. – Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) -- Edythe Draper, Draper's
Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers,
Inc., 1992). Entry 5695.
4. Hell will be a real place of real
torment!
a. That's not man's teaching, but it
is Jesus’ teaching.
b. How people can say Jesus was a
great moral teacher and then just choose to ignore this part of His teaching
makes no sense!
5. Heaven holds to the reality of real
bliss as well!
6. A real end of time exists; God will
call it to a halt one day and usher in eternity. No “change of mind” will be allowed at
this point; today is the day of salvation!
B. Cashed
In! Matt.
13:50
1. Eternal dividends on
investments.
a. Righteous to
heaven
b. Wicked to
hell
2. God
pays great interest in
this life on our investments! The
“returns” on what we dedicate to the Lord are far in excess on what we give, and
they last “forever.”
a. And Christ paid the entire price to
allow us “in!”
b. Why anyone would NOT take advantage
of such a generous opportunity is lunacy!
3. The
Devil charges great
interest on his accounts and the goods of this world that are opposed
to God.
a. He is a loan shark! In the end the devil will bankrupt every
person who has followed him and ignored Christ! They will be eternally separated from
God not because God has sent them to eternal hell but because they chose NOT to
be with Christ!
b. Demands your life! Unlike Christ who “gave
Himself” to us, Satan “takes everything” from those who serve this
world and self.
c. The final “dragnet” has not been
cast yet … but could any day. The
“good
news” (Gospel) is that you have the opportunity yet to be a “good
catch.”
CONCLUSION:
There is coming a
dragnet when we will be given a place in eternity, destinations are only two --
Heaven or Hell, what kind of fish are you, worth keeping or throwing
away!?