The Dragnet, Part 2

Jesus spoke more about hell than any other preacher in the Bible. And unfortunately, churches today don't follow his example. Hopefully tonight, you'll understand more of what Jesus is saying as he speaks about the abode of the wicked. Now, our Lord said to the religious establishment of his day, these very words in Matthew chapter 23, You brood of vipers. How can you escape the damnation of hell? Those were the last official words recorded by our Lord to the religious establishment while he was on earth.

He left in their minds those words that would ring, unfortunately, throughout all eternity in their ears. How are you ever able to escape the damnation? of hell. Our Lord was concerned about the destiny of man. Our Lord was concerned about where man would end up. In fact, the Bible says in Revelation chapter one that Jesus Christ himself holds the keys to death in Hades.

In other words, he is the controller of death. He is the controller of the When you hold keys, you're in charge. You're officially in control. And Jesus is that way. And he holds the keys to death in Hades. One writer said this about hell. He says, there is no way to describe hell. Nothing on earth can compare with it. No living person has any real idea of it. No madman in his wildest flights of insanity ever beheld its horror. No man in delirium ever picture. to place so utterly terrible as this.

No nightmare racing across a fevered mind ever produces a terror to match that of the mildest hell. No murder scene with splashed blood and oozing wound ever suggested a revulsion that could touch the borderlands of hell. Let the most gifted rider exhaust his skill in describing this roaring caravan of an ending flame. and he would not even brush in fancy the nearest edge of hell. The only description that we have of hell is what the Lord Jesus Christ says about it.

In fact, if Jesus wouldn't have said anything about hell, we wouldn't believe it ever existed. We wouldn't know anything about it if it wasn't for our Lord. And so he made sure that we had a clear grasp of the destiny of man, if. he rejected the truth of Jesus Christ. In Matthew chapter 13, in verses 47 through 50, Christ gives his last parable in this section, the kingdom parables, talking about that mystery age between the time of Christ's rejection and the time of Christ's return. When we begin by looking at the parable, the sore and the soil, that gave us a picture of evangelism during the kingdom age.

that is, for the most part, people would reject the gospel, and only a very few would be the true receivers of the truth of Jesus Christ. And the parable the soul and the soil would describe for us evangelism during the kingdom age. Then we went to talk about the parable of the wheat and the tears, which speaks about the existence of the enemy throughout the kingdom age. That is, how the wheat and the tears would coexist together until the end of the age. We move from there to look at the enormity of the kingdom by looking at the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the leaven.

Christ would help the disciples to understand that even though evil would coexist with the good throughout the kingdom age, the kingdom would grow, the kingdom would expand and come to an enormous size. And then he gave two more parables, one about the treasure and one about the treasure, pearl that spoke about the entry into the kingdom. And that is, you're able to know those who are truly born again because those who know the Lord Jesus Christ are willing to do whatever it takes to obtain the priceless treasure.

They're willing to give up everything that they have in order to obtain the gospel, to obtain the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he tells us about the entry into the kingdom. Tonight, as you talk about the parable, the dragnet, we realize the end of the kingdom. What's going to happen at the end of that mystery age? What happens at the end? And this is how Christ ends these series of parables on the kingdom age. And our outline is quite simple. it's like it's been the last several weeks, we're going to talk about the implications of the parable.

And just to let you know that in the United States today, somewhere between five and six thousand people went into eternity, most of them into a Christless eternity. Tomorrow the same thing will happen. Christ knew that people were dying right and left. and they needed to know where they would spend eternity. So he ends this series of the parables with the parable of the dragnet. And by looking at the instruction, two things I want you to see. Number one is the collection, and number two is the categorization.

Let's look at it together. Matthew 13, verse number 47. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea. in gathering fish of every kind. And when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach. 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 cast them into the furnace of fire. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Christ was compassionate.

In 2 Peter 3.9, it says that God is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. The parable of the wheat and the tears emphasizes that God is long-suffering and that God is patient, and that he will allow the wheat and the tears to coexist throughout the kingdom age, that the evil will still allow, to be allowed to be a part of that kingdom mage until the Lord returns. But the parable of the dragnet emphasizes the justice of God and that that justice will not be denied.

While in the wheat and the tears, judgment is delayed in the parable of the dragnet, justice will not be denied. And God says, vengeance is mine.

I will repay, says the Lord. He said, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. The kingdom of heaven is like a net, one author said, and that net moves to the world unseen. And when the net touches the back of a fish, the creature simply swims a little further ahead of it, enjoying what appears to be permanent freedom. Men move about in this world, imagining themselves to be free, fulfilling their own desires with little knowledge that the net of judgment is coming closer and closer.

Each time men are touched by the net, they move a little further along. Eventually they will find themselves hitting the part of the net in front of them, and they will make a wild dash to escape, yet find themselves totally surrounded by the net. Finally, they will be dragged unto the shore flailing as they enter eternal death.

Christ was compassionate. If you go back to Matthew 5, remember his very first sermon? It's very interesting to note that the very first sermon Jesus preached, he talked about hell.

And the very last sermon he gave, he talked about hell. Think in your own minds, when is the last time you heard a message on hell? Now, if you've been at Christ's Community Church, you've heard several messages about hell. But when was the last time your pastor at your church preached on hell? And the consequences of sin. being eternal separation from God forever. Jesus began his ministry preaching about hell. He ended his ministry, preaching about hell. And all throughout his ministry, he talked about hell.

Matthew 5, verse number 22, whoever shall say thou fool shall be in danger of hellfire. Then in verse of 29 and 30 of Matthew 5, he says this. If your right hand offends you, pluck it out and cast it from you. For it's profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast in, to hell. And if you're right eye, offend you, or right hand, excuse me, offend you, cut it off, cast it from you. If it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell.

That's his very first sermon, the sermon of the Mount. You go over to Matthew chapter 8, verse number 12. Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 8, verse number 12.

He says these words. We'll pick it up in verse number 10. Surely I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. He's talking about the centurion who who had great faith and gave his life to God and Christ says, I am not seen any faith like this in all of Israel.

And then he says this, and I say to you that many shall come from east and west and recline to the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom, that is the Jewish people, those that are of the covenant people, he says this, but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness. in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Christ says, man, this Gentile, man, he gave his life to Christ.

He had faith. He believed in me. And I'm telling you that the people that are my people, the Jewish people that I love and that I came to die for and they're rejecting me. I'm going to tell you that those people, the sons of the kingdom, many of them, are going to die in their sins because they will not believe in me. And they will be cast into a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. He's saying, listen, just because you're in the right family, just because you're in the right nation, doesn't mean you're going to go to heaven.

The only way you can get there is when you have faith and trust in Jesus Christ, our Lord, to get you out of your sinful condition. And Jesus preached that over and over again. Then over it. In Matthew chapter 11, he says the same thing again. We're just leading up to Matthew chapter 13 here. In Matthew chapter 11, verse number 20, what does you say? Woe to you Corrason. In fact, he says in verse number 20. Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his miracles were done. Here is Christ.

He's doing all these miracles. Man, he's healing people. People are being raised from the dead. People who are blind and see. People who are deaf can now hear. People who couldn't speak can now speak. Those who are paralyzed can walk, can run, can jump. It's an amazing scene. He's done all these miracles. And now, because they refuse to believe in him, he rebukes them and listen to what he says woe to you Corazon woe to you Besseda for if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you they would have repented long ago and sack off in ashes nevertheless I say to you it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you and you Copernum will not be exalted to heaven will you you shall descend to Hades, for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom, which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.

Nevertheless, I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you. Man, what a rebuke. I mean, Sodom was a sin-filled, lustful city. He says, on the day of judgment, they're going to have a better place in hell than you. Why? Because you had all these miracles done in front of you. You had me walking with you and you refused to believe. Wow. That's amazing. Over in Matthew 12, verse number 36, Christ said it this way. And I say to you that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgment.

For by your words, you shall be justified and by your words you shall be condemned. You can read about hell in Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Mark 9, Luke 6, Luke 12, Luke 16. And in fact, on Luke 16, he told a story about a rich man who died and went to hell because he wanted you to understand. And it's not a parable. It's a true story. First of all, Christ doesn't tell you it's a parable.

And second of all, he gives you the names of the people in the parable. I mean, in the story. It's not a parable. It's a true story. The rich man died and went to hell. And Christ lets us know, this man would scream to Abraham to send Lazarus just to tip the end of his finger in water that he might cool his tongue. Based on the example of Christ, our emphasis should be a preaching about judgment and a preaching about hell. But you know what you find? You find very little written about it and hardly anybody's speaking about it.

Why? Because that's not the way to grow a church today. It's not the way to meet your building expenses. That's not the way to make people happy. I love Jesus. He didn't care whether or not people were happy. He just cared whether or not they were holy. Right? That's what we should be concerned about. Their holiness. Not their happiness. That's important. We've looked at the instruction, interpretation. Look with me now.

the implications. Christ gives him to us in Matthew 13. He says in verse number 51, these words, have you understood all these things? The first thing I want you to see is the question.

Have you understood all these things? Jesus wants them to get it. He's called them, he's trained them, he's instructed them, he's worked with them. He says, listen, fellas, do you get this? Do you understand this? Do you understand the mystery of the kingdom? Do you understand how it's going to begin, how the majority of people will reject the gospel, and how those who reject the gospel will coexist with those who receive the gospel until the end of the age? But don't worry, the kingdom age will grow to great size based on the mustard seed and the leaven.

And know this, that the only way that people get into the kingdom is those who see the value of the gospel, who see the value of our relationship with Jesus Christ, and are willing to give up everything to follow the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Do you understand this? Do you understand the end of the age and what's going to happen at the end? Do you understand this? And the disciples said what? Yes. Yes. I ask you that question this evening. Do you get it? Do you understand it? Could you say yes?

Yes, I understand it. How well you understand the question will be how well you respond to the commission. That's a point. says this. And he said to them, verse number 52, therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old. Say, what in the world is Jesus saying? Oh, it's very simple. He says this, every scribe, every learner, every teacher, every interpreter, every interpreter, the law who is instructed and now you disciples have become like scribes you have been instructed you have been taught you have learned about the mystery kingdom age in fact you know more than the scribes though because they know nothing about the mystery age all they know is what it was read about in the old testament but what i've given to you what i've revealed to you is that kingdom age that church age that mystery period between my rejection and my return and so you are more educated than the scribes You are better at learning than they are because they have rejected the truth.

Just as Jewish leaders train their scribes, Christ says, I have trained you to become biblical scholars.

I want to know something. If you understand the mystery age, you're a biblical scholar. You're a biblical scholar. If you understand what's going to happen between the rejection of Christ and the return of Christ, you, according to God's word, are a biblical scholar. Christ says, here's the commission.

He says, every scribe was being. become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven, of this mystery age, is like a head of a household who brings forth out of his treasure things new and things old. The householder would be the one who would be the steward of the house. He would dispense the supplies. He would dispense the good and the bad, and he would make sure that the good and the bad were dispensed at an equal level so that the bad didn't become so bad it was useless. He made sure that what people needed they got.

He says, you're like the householder. You're like the guy who dispenses the goods, both old and new. And you are to bring it forth. You ought to fling it out. You're going to carry forth this truth, both old truth and new truth, both what's in the Old Testament and what's in the New Testament. What you have learned from of old and what you have just learned today, you have become scholars. And what you need to do is to make sense. sure you fling it out you scattered abroad you dispense the good the old with the new you make sure everybody knows the truth you make sure they hear about the kingdom age you make sure they hear about the destiny of the wicked you make sure they know the truth thirdly your reaction there's a question do you understand Yes, I understand.

Then there's a commission. The commission is this. You are to suspense for both what is old and what is new. You are to give out the whole council of God. What's your reaction? What will you do? How will you respond? So important. Folks, let me tell you something.

You need to tell people the truth. Don't mince words with people. Tell them the truth about their eternal destiny. Let me read to you what God said to Ezekiel.

Listen careful. Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the House of Israel, so you will hear a message from my mouth and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, oh wicked man, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way. That wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require. from your hand. I'm telling you right now if you understand the truth of God's holy word and you know somebody who doesn't understand the warning of God, the judgment of God, the wicked abode of those who reject the gospel, if you know what's going to happen to them and you don't tell them and they die in their sins, their blood is on your hands.

But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life. You are free from his blood. You are free because you have done what your responsibility is to do. Listen, there shouldn't be anybody who goes by our path, who doesn't know the Lord, that we don't say to them, if you reject the gospel, you will burn into hell. I don't care what anybody else says. God said, this is what will happen to you.

And God said to Ezekiel, listen, if you don't warn the wicked man of his ways and help him understand that this is what's going to happen to him if he doesn't repent, you don't do that. And he dies, shame on you, Ezekiel. That's your fault. But if you tell him, and he turns away, you are free, Ezekiel. And that's what Paul said in Acts chapter 20. When he said to the Ephesian elders these words, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. He says, therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.

I am free from the blood of all men because I gave you the entire counsel of God. I warned you about the judgment of God. I warned you about the damnation of the wicked. I told you about those things. I am free. I am innocent of the blood of all men. So important. Paul would say, knowing the terror of the Lord, knowing the terror of the Lord, We persuade men. That's the way we should be. I've had the great privilege of coaching my son's baseball teams throughout the years. And God has allowed me the opportunity to talk to those teams at the end of the year.

And I've always asked for a time. I've asked for a time to say, I want to address the boys. At the end of the year, barbecue, at the end of the year awards presentation, at some tournament that we go to. And I praise the Lord that God has opened the door. and give me the opportunity. And every time I do, I tell them one thing. If you don't turn from your sins and put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you will go off into a Christless eternity and you will burn in hell. These are 14-year-old boys, 13-year-old boys, 12-year-old boys.

But you know what? I don't know if I ever see those boys again. But I got to tell them. I got to tell them the truth. If they respond, they respond. If they don't, they don't. But you know what? I am innocent of their blood. I don't have the opportunities that most of you have. You're going to face with the world every single day. You work with them, you talk with them, you associate with them, you do all kinds of things with them. I don't have that opportunity. But when I get that opportunity and get unbelievers together in a group, it's my responsibility, not just because I'm a preacher, but because I have responsibility to dispense as a householder, both old and new, the truth of God.

And so do you. Let's pray.