The Net

Q: What does the Bible say about the kingdom of heaven?

The Bible describes the kingdom of heaven as a glorious, everlasting kingdom ruled by Christ. The kingdom of heaven is presented in Scripture as a majestic realm where Christ reigns as King of Kings. It embodies perfect peace, eternal joy, and righteousness, devoid of sin and sorrow. Notably, Matthew 13:47-50 likens it to a net gathering all kinds of fish, illustrating how God's sovereign grace compels Him to gather His people into His kingdom, signifying a divine plan that ensures no one will escape His grasp.

Q: How do we know that sovereign grace is true?

Sovereign grace is affirmed through Scripture that clearly portrays God's sovereign choice in salvation. Sovereign grace is foundational to Reformed theology as it highlights God's sovereign will in the salvation process. The preaching of the gospel, paired with the unyielding power of the Holy Spirit, gathers God’s elect into His kingdom, as illustrated in Acts 2:5-11. The doctrine emphasizes that salvation is not a mere offer but an effectual call where God apprehends His chosen ones. Romans 8:29-30 affirms that those whom God foreknew, He also predestined, demonstrating that His grace is unstoppable and extends fully to His elect.

Q: Why is the concept of election important for Christians?

Election assures Christians of God's unchanging grace and the certainty of their salvation. The doctrine of election is critical as it underscores God's sovereignty in choosing individuals for salvation. Ephesians 1:4-5 highlights that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, demonstrating that our salvation relies not on human decision but on God's sovereign will. This offers believers assurance of their salvation and reflects the depth of God's love. As Paul emphasizes in Romans 9, God's election determines who will be saved, showcasing His mercy and justice. Recognizing our election grounds Christians in hope and gratitude for God's remarkable grace.

Q: What is the difference between the true gospel and modern false gospels?

The true gospel proclaims God's sovereign power in salvation, while modern false gospels often present it as a mere offer. The distinction lies in the nature of salvation. The true gospel asserts that God actively saves His elect through His word and the power of the Holy Spirit. In contrast, modern false gospels often portray salvation as an option that individuals can choose, which undermines the sovereignty of God. This misrepresentation is described as trying to entice individuals with artificial bait rather than presenting the unvarnished truth of the gospel. True salvation, as depicted in John 6:44, speaks of God drawing those whom He wills, highlighting His undeniable authority and the efficacy of His grace, unlike the hollow promises of contemporary teachings.

Q: How does the net parable illustrate God's plan for salvation?

The net parable illustrates how God sovereignly gathers His elect into His kingdom. In Matthew 13:47-50, the parable of the net symbolizes God's method of gathering His chosen ones from all nations and peoples. Just as a net captures fish of all kinds, the gospel reaches out universally but ultimately gathers in only those whom God has predetermined. This parable emphasizes that at the end of time, God will separate the righteous from the wicked, demonstrating His justice and divine authority. The imagery of the net signifies God's plan for salvation as purposeful and effective, assuring believers that they are part of the elect covered by His grace.

Q: What role does grace play in a Christian's life?

Grace is the foundation of a Christian's relationship with God, enabling salvation and sanctification. Grace is central to the Christian faith, as it is through God's grace that believers are saved and transformed. Ephesians 2:8 reminds us that we are saved by grace through faith, not of our own works. This grace continues to sustain Christians in their sanctification process, illustrating God's ongoing work in their lives. Romans 3:24 further states that we are justified freely by His grace, affirming that our right standing with God rests not on our merit but on His love and mercy. Understanding grace leads Christians to live in gratitude and obedience, reflecting the transformative power of God's gifts in their lives.

Thank you. Matthew 13. Matthew
13. I hope you've enjoyed these parables,
profited from them and blessed by them. I know I have. I've
learned a great deal. We still preach in part and know
in part only. This is the last of seven parables,
verse 47. Again, the kingdom of heaven
is like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of
every kind, which when it was full they drew to shore, and
sat down, and gather the good into vessels to cast the bad
away. So shall it be at the end of
the world. The angels shall come forth and
sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them, the
wicked, into the furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing
of teeth." Again, the Lord says, again, the kingdom of heaven.
He reminds us mercifully reminds us of the kingdom of heaven.
We read so much of the kingdom of heaven. Our Lord came preaching
the kingdom of heaven was at hand. Scripture speaks of the
glorious majesty of his kingdom. Christ is the king in that kingdom. King of kings. There's a psalm
that says kings shall bring their glory into it. We're going to
see King David. We're going to see King Solomon,
Josiah, and so on and so forth. A glorious kingdom. Thousands
and thousands, a vast kingdom. Ten thousand times ten thousand. Scripture says it's an everlasting
kingdom. No end of his kingdom, of his
dominion, of his government, his reign. No end. A kingdom
of inexpressible beauty. The eye hasn't seen it. The ear hasn't heard. The heart
hasn't known the things God has prepared for them that love Him
because He first loved them. A kingdom of perfect peace. Perfect, unbridled joy. Unending joy. unspeakable glory,
perfect love, harmony, wherein dwelleth righteousness, where
all of God's people dwell with Him, and He with them, and enjoy
one another, a kingdom without sin, a kingdom without sorrow,
No more tears. No more pain. No more death. Does that appeal to you? Again,
the kingdom. Again, the kingdom of heaven
is like unto a net, he said, cast into the sea and gathered
of every kind. A net. The making up of God's
kingdom. His family, His kingdom, His
people is what it is. It's a church, it's a kingdom,
it's people. The making up of His kingdom,
the gathering in of His people, the salvation of His people is
likened unto a net. This is another picture of the
gospel. The net. Gospel net. A net is something that encompasses
fish. A net is something that surrounds
the fish and encloses the fish so that they are apprehended. They're apprehended and they
can't get out. That's our gospel. That's how
the gospel differs from this modern gospel. God's salvation. the only salvation there is,
true salvation, is God's sovereign, electing, apprehending grace
and gospel. That God sends it out to apprehend
one of His elect, and they're not getting away. I like that. It's like a net. The Spirit of
God, through the preaching of the gospel, in power, closes
in on Hems up and finally catches one of God's elect. Apprehends
them so that they cannot get away. The modern false gospel
is a sham. It's a salvation that saves no
one. It's a mere offer. I liken it under modern fishing
techniques. Modern fishing uses lures and
artificial bait to try to trick the fish or entice the fish. Try to woo them, so to speak,
to trick them and entice them, and that's exactly what modern
religion does. It resorts to all manner of tactics
and techniques and plots and ploys to try to get people to
come into this kingdom. They use things that aren't real. The dead works like artificial
bait and tricks and try to make something look real that's not. And people, sad to say, people
swallow it all hook, line, and sinker. Anything and everything
that's thrown at them to entice them. God doesn't use bait. He only uses His word. He gives
the command. God doesn't ask anybody anything. He tells them. God gives the
command. God doesn't try to catch fish
or men. God doesn't try it. God does
as He will. With whom He will. When He will.
According to His will. And none can stay His hand. I
love that. The Lord caught some fish when
he was on earth and he caught some fish. Twice the Lord had
the disciples cast the net. And he's the one that put the
fish in that net, wasn't he? They had toiled. See with man
this thing of salvation is impossible. With man, it's impossible. It's
not by might, not by power, but by the Holy Spirit, the Sovereign
Spirit of God, the Sovereign Power of God, to bring people
into His Kingdom. And He uses His Word, men to
preach it, but it's not the preacher. It's not the soul winner, so
to speak. No, no. It's the Spirit of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ twice had
His disciples who had fished all night and caught nothing.
See, man can't do anything, can't bring anybody into God's kingdom.
Christ alone must do that. And twice He told them to cast
their nets on the right side of the ship. Twice He did it.
In the beginning, when He first revealed Himself to them. That's
how they knew it was the Lord. The one who knew the fish and
the sea, the Lord knoweth them that are His. and knoweth our
thoughts. And that's what drove Peter to
his knees. He knew that the Lord knows every
fish in that ocean and directs them. He knows every thought
in his head. And Peter bowed before this sovereign
Lord, sovereign Master of the sea. In the end, when they thought
he was dead, he appeared again. Children, do you have any meat?
Cast your net on the right side. That's the Lord. They did that second time. They
brought in, it says, what was it, 153? There's an exact number
given. Why is that? Why was that important?
The Lord broke that down, didn't He? It was, I think, 153. Is
that important? Well, see, the Lord has numbered
His people. He numbered them. There's a people
which no man can number. as the stars of the sky. But
he'd tell them the stars. He knows them all by name. He
put every one of them in place. The very hairs of your head are
numbered. How much more his people numbered, numbered. He was numbered
with the transgressors. Had to have that. But the Lord
had them cast the net into the sea twice, and twice so he commanded
those fish to get in that net. Another time, Peter, they came
and said, we don't have any money for our taxes. And he said, Simon,
go down to Lake Galilee and catch a hook. No bait on it. No bait. A bare hook. Any fisherman in here that's
ever caught a fish without bait on it? Huh? It's just not possible
as John. It's not possible as Kelly. Most of the time, I don't catch
anything with ever baiting on the man. Dead or alive. But catch a hook in there. And he brought out a fish. You
know how many fish there are in that lake? And in that fish's
mouth was the exact amount of money needed to pay their taxes. You may be wondering where your
tax money is going to come from. That's the same place. Same Lord. Not making light. I'm saying
that for your comfort. Really. Everything has been ordered
by our Lord. He orders it all. But the kingdom
of heaven is like a net cast into the sea. And we're in a
gathered, verse 47, of every kind. Go over to Acts 2. Acts 2. Preaching the gospel
through the power of God, the power of His Spirit, The sovereign
command of our Lord gathers in a people out of every kindred,
nation, every tongue, every tribe, all peoples. Acts chapter 2 is
a wonderful illustration of this. Acts chapter 2. The Lord began
making up His kingdom back with the first man and woman. Adam
and Eve and Abel and on and on it went. Noah and Shem. Japheth,
their posterity, and even some of Ham, and Abraham, and all
sorts of people, every color, shape, and size. Every tribe,
nation, kindred. Here in Acts chapter 2, the apostles
were preaching verse 5, that there were dwelling at Jerusalem
Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. And verse
9, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, dwellers in Mesopotamia and Judea,
Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia and Egypt and parts
of Libya by Cyrene. Strangers of Rome, Jews, Proselyte,
Cretes, Arabians. What were the apostles doing?
The thing the Lord sent them to do. What he sends all of his
preachers to do. The only thing that draws God's
people into his kingdom. The power of God unto salvation. The preaching of the gospel.
That's all they did. They didn't try to entice people.
They didn't try to woo people. They didn't try to bribe people.
They didn't try to coerce people. They didn't offer anything. They
didn't bribe them with anything. They wouldn't pack a few Sunday,
you know, and put ten dollars under the... and have a spaghetti
dinner and see how many people would get in. No sir. God knew. God brought them all there to
hear the gospel. Some believed, some didn't. That
was of the Lord. They did one thing. They stood
up and preached. And they said, after it was over, verse 11,
they heard them speak in their languages the wonderful works
of God. They stood up and preached. Now,
you know. You know this message at Pentecost. What did Peter
preach? What did Simon Peter, on behalf
of all the apostles, stand up to preach? Christ. and Him crucified. The Lord seated
on a throne. Not a pitiful, helpless Jesus
who wants to, tried and can't, and failed and wants to, stands
outside and wants you to flee. No, no. A sovereign, successful
Lord. A substitution and satisfaction. A sovereign, successful, seated
Lord. A Lord on a throne. A Lord who
came to do what God sent Him to do and He did it. and went
back to heaven and sat down expecting his enemies to be made his principal.
A Lord who came to pay the price for his people's sin, and he
paid it all, and every one of those for whom he died will be
redeemed, will be brought into his kingdom. And sat down, and
God sent the Holy Spirit to round them up. They'd run up into that
net, the gospel net. And they did. Three thousand. 3,000 to be exact. That's what the Lord uses. That's
the only gospel. If anybody preaches any other
gospel, any other Lord, any other God, any other gospel, it's a
false gospel. No one has ever been saved by
it. They're all deluded. There are false prophets who
preach God loves you, Christ died for you, now won't you let
him into your heart? That's a false gospel. Anybody who preaches
that is a false prophet. Anybody who was supposedly saved
under that is lost, as I speak. And one God, one Lord, one faith,
one gospel, one power of God. A God who is God. A Christ who is Christ. Salvation that saves, a blood
that atones. God who chooses. That's the only
gospel there is. There is no other. There's no
other. And all who have been saved,
all who believe this gospel know that it was God that apprehended
them. Every single person He brought
into His kingdom know that they didn't choose to do so. They
weren't offered a choice. They weren't given any choice
at all. They were apprehended like Jacob, of all. They all
know. That it was the Lord who came
to them and laid hold of them through the preachers of the
gospel and said, you will believe this, won't you? You will bow,
won't you? Yes, I will. They are made willing
in the day of His power. There just is no other gospel.
It's not a matter of changing doctrines. It's not a matter
of coming to a better understanding. It's being brought from death
to life, from darkness to life. It's being out in the world like
everybody else, lost, dead, without God, without Christ. But God
comes and puts them as a brand for the burning. It sends his
net and it closes them and says, you're mine. I bought you with
a price. You're not going anywhere. You're
coming to me. That's the gospel. There is no
other. There is no other. This book does not tell of any
other gospel. Well, in verse, go back to our
text. It says in verse 48, which when it was full, when it was
full, Scripture speaks of the fullness of time. In the fullness
of time, God sent forth His Son. There are no dispensations. Oh, no, no. Known unto God are
all His works from the beginning of the world. God has saved His
people the same way from the beginning. One way. There's one
way. There's one truth. One Lord. One salvation. One Spirit. They
say the Spirit wasn't given until after. Oh, that's not so. That's not so. Did not David
say, take me up thy Holy Spirit? All through the scripture, the
Old Testament that is, the Spirit of God would apprehend, move
upon people and bring them to Christ. Moses wrote of me, Christ
said. Abraham rejoiced to see my day,
he saw it and was glad. The hymn gave all the prophets
witness. They are they which testify of me. Abel believed
Christ. Abraham, Moses, Noah. Preacher
of righteousness. Oh, the Old Testament saints
heard the gospel. That rock was Christ. That's
it. Oh, it's all the same. But in the fullness of time,
God sent forth His Son. What God had purposed to do,
He sent Christ to fulfill. God predetermined the salvation
of His people, and there's not any possibility whatsoever that
any of them should be lost. And Christ came and did that
work, and the Holy Spirit goes and gets them, and in the end,
they're all going to be there. All that the children, all the
children God has given to Christ. And in the end, when it's full,
Scripture talks about the fullness of the Gentiles, doesn't it?
In Romans 11, I believe it is, the fullness of the Gentiles.
The Jews, you know, the Lord gathered thousands and thousands
and thousands in the early time, and now it's the Gentiles. And
this gospel is going out all over the world, the Gentile world,
and bringing them into his kingdom. Into his kingdom until it's going
to be full. Until time is full and it's open. There will be an end. And verse 49 says, so shall it
be at the end of the world. It's all going to come to an
end. The end of the world. Man's secret thought is that
we shall live forever. This world is all they know,
it's all they want to know. But we have here no continuing
city. We're not trying to save our
planet. I advise you not to polish the
brass on this Titanic. Forsake it. Forsake it. Seek a new world. But our Lord said it's going
to come to an end. Our Lord spoke of it more than
anyone at the end. He'll send his angels. They'll
come forth and sever the wicked from among the just. And when
this gospel is preached, it has a sanctifying power. That's what
separation is, a sanctification, setting apart like the Jews and
the Egyptians, the Israelites. and the Egyptians. What made
the difference? What does the scripture say?
The Lord doth put a difference between the Jews and the Egyptians.
The Lord revealed himself to the Jews and not the Egyptians.
The Lord gave the Jews, the Israelites, the Passover, put the blood on
their torpos, not the Egyptians. That's particular redemption
in it. It sure is. There is no other
gospel. Anybody who preaches a general
atonement Preachers of false gospel. Anybody that trusts in
a blood that was shed for those in hell as much as those in heaven,
what good did that blood do you? Nothing. Nothing. But oh, the hope of God's people
is that when God sees the blood, He will pass it on. That is the
blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, that cleanses us, that puts
away every sin. effectual blood, sovereign blood,
the blood that God shed, His own blood which He shed for His
church. R.I. verse 48 says, When it was full,
they drew it to shore, and sat down and gathered the good into
the vessels, but cast the bad away. Good and bad. They gathered the good into the
vessels fit for the master's use, but cast the bad Good and
bad, like tares and wheat that we've read about. Goats and sheep. Our Lord is one such. When it's
all over, He said, then the Lord the King will sit on His throne
and He'll separate the goats from the sheep. Goats and the
sheep. Save them on His right hand,
the sheep. Enter into the kingdom prepared for you. Prepared for
you. Chosen. And the rest he'll cast
into out of darkness. Who determined, in the flood,
when God told Noah to go out and get clean animals and unclean? You ever thought about this?
Who determined what animals clean and what's unclean? And we still
today look at those animals, by and large don't eat. some
of those animals. We do eat things now that aren't
worth eating. But who determined then what
was a clean animal? God did. He said this is clean
and this is unclean. Not fair? This is clean. He said so. That's what made it clean. This
is unclean. Because he said so. That just
entered into my mind for the first time. Who determines who's
good and who's bad? They all look alike pretty much,
don't they? God does. Two men came into the
temple one day. One looked good to everybody,
the other one looked real bad. A Pharisee, a publican. God said,
of the man that everybody thought was good, He says, wicked. And
the man everybody thought was bad, He said, justified. That's my problem. You know what?
God looked down to see if there were any. He said, they're all
together become filthy. So what did God do? Clean. He chose something. Clean. Unclean. They're all unclean. It's not like there's some good
fish out there. That's who God chooses. Oh, no, no, no, no.
There's none that do it good. No. Not one. What about after they're saved? What did Paul say? Finest man,
one of the finest men to ever live, what did he say about himself?
In my flesh. Well, no. Good thing. If there's
any good, it is God that worketh in us, both the will and do of
his good will. That's right. Who maketh these
different? And it's the blood. It's the
righteousness of Christ imputed to us, not by work. We don't
have any good works. God Almighty imputed, charged
the good works of our Lord Jesus Christ to us. I love that. I love that. You know who's playing? Those
that love that. Let such as love thy salvation
say, the Lord be magnified, the Lord's righteousness, the Lord's
choice, the Lord's mercy, the Lord's will. That's how you know. That's how you know. And yes,
they have good work, but they don't trust in them, and that's
not what saves them. No, sir. Good, bad, just, And
I was going to have you turn to Romans 3 and Romans 1 and
Romans 2 and Romans 3, but I'm out of time. But you know those
verses, don't you? Romans 1, he sums up the whole
Gentile world as filthy. God gave them over. Look at our
world. It's a filthy place, a wicked,
vile place. It's wretched, miserable, poor,
blind, and naked. Chapter 2, you have the Jews,
the religious people, you know, that look good to everybody,
that sound good, and they're religious. And what does God
say about them? They don't keep the law either.
They don't keep it either. They know it, but they don't
keep it. And then chapter 3 says, are we any better than they?
Are we any different than they? No, we're before proved. All come short of the glory of
God. None that there was good, but being justified freely by
the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. Chosen. Righteous. And the whole book
of Romans goes on to tell how that God did this for His chosen
one. The ones that He said, these
are going to be clean. A people chosen by God before
the foundation of the world, who would be rotten to the core,
whom God would say one day, clean. You're going to be mine. A love
made out of the same love that He's going to conform them to
the blessed image of His Lord. Clean, holy, righteous, unblameable,
and unreprovable in God's sight. It's all His doing. His choice,
His work, His glory. There is no other gospel. Nets. It's a net. Say, what's that
got to do with the net? Well, it's everything. The net brought them in, and
the net, He chose them, He determined who was good and who was not
good, who was just and who was wicked, and cast some into the
furnace of fire. You know, everybody in glory,
every single saved son of Adam thinks they know they don't belong
in heaven. They don't deserve to be there. Someone once said, kind of like
this, It's going to be three surprises when we get to heaven.
Not really, but it sounds good. Three surprises. One, we're going
to see some people there we didn't expect to see there. Just an
illustration, you know. Number two, we're going to be
surprised, some people not there we expected to be. Probably not,
but, like I said, the biggest surprise of all. Can't believe it. There's going
to be silence in heaven for 30 minutes. That's because we're
all going to be sitting there, standing there dumbfounded, spellbound
with our mouths open. Can't believe I'm here. I can't
believe He chose me. Now I'm going to sever. We're going to say amen to the
death of the wicked, and we ought to be right in the middle. People just like us. A brother,
a sister, a wife, a husband, a parent, a child. Who makes you different? So he said in closing, verse
51, he said to his disciples after all these parables, have
you understood all these things? They said unto him, Yay, Lord! I have to laugh at that. We can
study these things. They were just with him for a
year. Four young fellows, they're all young in their thirties or
early forties. Yay, Lord! Yeah, we understand. Oh, do you
now? But we can study these things. All our lives and milk still
not fully understand. the Lord's great mercy and grace,
electing grace, purpose and will and works. They said, yes, Lord. And he said in verse 52, then
said he unto them, every scribe which is instructed under the
kingdom of heaven. Now, I guess that's me, the one
who's just repeating what the Lord has said, a scribe, transcribing. and instructed, you must be chosen
and instructed to do this, into the kingdom of heaven. That's
his subject. That's what he preaches. That's who he preaches. He's
like unto a man that's a householder. He's been given charge of a house
that belongs to someone else. It's his master. And here's what
he's to do. He's to bring forth out of his
treasure. He brings forth out of the Lord's
treasure. What a treasure. What a treasure
this is. The more you look at it, the
more you read it, the more I read this book, the more glorious
it becomes. The more I preach from it, the
more I realize I've left out that I don't know. It's just
a vast treasure. Oh, the unsearchable riches. of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
half has never been told. Haven't even come close. All
these years. Thousands of years. But He brings forth, and we have
this treasure in earthen vessels. He brings forth out of this treasure
things new. If you don't see something new
every time the Gospel is preached, if you don't hear something new,
you should. We should learn something. Maybe
we haven't listened as a little child, but things new, the gospel
should be good news every time we hear it. Fresh and new. And oh, the gospel is good news. His mercy is new every morning. Good news, things new, revelation. We've got a lot to learn. If
we're listening correctly, we're little children, we ought to
learn something. But, as Paul said to the Thessalonians, things
you already knew. New things about old things. New things about the old, old
story. Same old truth, but a new way
of seeing it and hearing it. New thing. Gospel is new, but
as old as God Himself. What a truth. Okay. Thank you.

The Net

What does the Bible say about the kingdom of heaven?

How do we know that sovereign grace is true?

Why is the concept of election important for Christians?

What is the difference between the true gospel and modern false gospels?

How does the net parable illustrate God's plan for salvation?

What role does grace play in a Christian's life?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

About

Legal

Subscribe

The Net

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

More from Paul Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Paul Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book