Now, we have in this chapter
a collection of parables, but we're going to read one, and
that's the last of the seven that our Lord gave on this occasion. Verse 47, please. 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 set down, and gathered the good into vessels,
but cast the bad away. So shall it be, at the end of
the world, or the consummation of the ages, the angel shall
come forth, and shall sever the wicked from among the just, and
shall cast them into the furnace of fire, there shall be wailing
and gnashing of teeth. Now, let's look particularly
again at verse 47. The kingdom of heaven is like
unto a net that was cast into the sea, and it gathered of every
kind. Now, chapter 13 of the book of
Matthew contains a set of parables that were spoken by our Lord,
I think. Four of them openly to the multitude. Three of them to the disciples. in the privacy. And verse 2 tells
us that the Lord had a great audience that day, that there
was a great crowd that was there, and the Lord ascended out a bit
and began to speak these parables in the hearing of those that
were gathered. Furthermore, the tenth verse
tells us that the disciples of the Lord themselves were also
there, and they heard these things, and the Scripture said that they
were puzzled in two ways, or puzzled upon two accounts from
what our Lord had been saying. First of all, A. As to why the
Lord would speak to them in parables, in verse 10, the last part, they
asked that question. He explained to them that parables
are a way of speaking in order that one might hide the truth
from some who do not have eyes to see, or ears to hear, or a
heart to understand." And then again, B, the disciples of our
Lord did not fully understand the meaning of the parables which
our Lord spoke. You know, our conference in Alabama
this past week was on the enigmatic Christ, the fact that He was
a mystery to many. The many did not understand some
of the plain things that He said. But here, some of the disciples
did not understand the meaning of the parables that our Lord
spoke in their hearing. For example, in Mark chapter
4 and down in verse 10, they ask the Lord about the parable
of the soils. And in Matthew 13 and 36, they
ask Him the meaning of the parable of the tares that were sown and
that grew among the wheat. We'll look at that later. Now,
there are seven parables all totaled in Matthew chapter They
are in v. 3-9, and then again in v. 18-23, the first one, the parable
of the soils, and the four different kinds of soils that represent
the four different kinds of people who hear the Word of the Lord. The second parable in v. 24-30,
opened in v. 37, through v. 43, is the parable
of the tares that a wicked one sowed among the wheat. The darnel
which came up, the bastard wheat that grew in among the good wheat. Then thirdly, in v. 31 and v. 32, the parable of
the mustard seed. A mustard seed being very small
and then growing and yet making a large tree. Fourthly, in verse
33, the parable of the leaven, which a wand took and mixed in
or mingled in the three measures of meal until all was leavened. Fifthly, in verse 44, we have
the parable of the treasure hid in the field, which a man went
and sold all that he had that he might purchase the field in
which was the treasure. And then sixthly, in verse 45
and 46, We have the parable of the pearl of great price. And again, a man sold all that
he had in order that he might purchase the pearl of great price. And then seventhly, I want for
this morning, verse 47 through verse 50, the parable of the
dragnet or the seine, if you will, or the fishing net that
was cast into the water, dragged across and through them, and
was full, and then was drawn onto the shore. Now before we
settle in upon this, let's notice some things about this cluster
of parables, such as in Matthew's account, our gospel, This is
the first time that our Lord begins to teach by manner of
parables. I think that's what surprised
and amazed the disciple. And A.W. Pink is right. That
there are no parables in the first twelve chapters of the
Gospel of Matthew. And this perhaps explains the
surprise of his disciples at the manner of his teaching. and why they ask in Matthew 13
and verse 10, why do you speak to them in parables? Implying
that they had not heard him use parables heretofore in the public
instruction of the people, and now on this occasion, bringing
forth one after the other. Jesus in essence answered them
that parables served a dual purpose. That they were useful on the
two ends. One, in hiding or veiling the
truth from some who do not have eyes to see or ears to hear. Secondly, It also has this profit
of revealing or uncovering a truth. And if we carefully consider
the Lord's words in Matthew chapter 13 verse 12 through 15, look
at that passage, He declares in His answer that His speaking
in parables unto the people in parabolic style was a fulfilling
of the judicial sentence which Isaiah in chapter 6, verse 9
and verse 10 predicted against the unbelieving Jews who rejected
Christ. And as you look at verse 13 through
15, he says that in hearing, they might not hear. They might
not understand. They might not see. Not be converted. Now these things are hidden from
the wise and the prudent. And as Spurgeon wrote along on
this place, quote, to his own disciples he would explain the
parables, but not to the unbelieving throng. In fact, the Lord explained
two of the parables in great detail. Number one, that of the
sower and of the soils. Number two, that of the wheat
and that of the tares. And when He was alone with His
disciples, it was that He opened up for them so fully the meaning
of these parables. Now, another thing for us to
notice here is that the first parable, that is, the four different
kinds of soil, is not introduced in the same way as are the other
six. I agree with David Brown that
this parable is in the nature of an introductory forerunner
to the other parables, that of the soil and the hearers. It does appear that this first
parable was spoken in the hearing of the whole multitude, because
verse 2 said that a great multitude was there to hear. And when we
combine all three accounts of this parable, that is Matthew
and Mark, And Luke, he spoke many things to them. Mark 4 and
2. And he taught them many things
by parable and said unto them in his doctrine. And Luke chapter
8 and verse 4, he spoke by a parable to that multitude gathered there
that day. Now, I believe that the Lord
teaches us that the first parable is actually the key to all of
the others. That the first parable is the
key to understanding all of the others that follow. In Mark 4
and verse 13, He said concerning this parable, Know ye not this
parable? How then will you know all parables? Of course, the seed is the Word
of God. According to our Lord, Luke 8
and verse 11, and the different kinds of soil, there were four
of them, represent the state of the heart or the hearers of
the Word of God when one goes forth to sow. And clearly, establishes
the fact that the effect which the Word has on those that hear
it, it depends on the state and the condition of the heart of
that individual. Now, you throw a seed in the
ground, it does not change the ground or the nature of the ground
or make bad ground good. The Word does not make a bad
heart good. Only a degenerate heart will
truly receive and understand the Word and bring forth fruit
unto Almighty God. Only such as here in faith will
bring forth fruit unto the Lord. Now one more thing concerning
the phrase, the Kingdom of Heaven. We see this again and again in
this chapter of the Bible. In all but the first parable,
we notice that the Lord introduces them by prefacing the parable
with these words. The kingdom of heaven is like
unto. You have it in verse 24. In 31, 33, 44, 45, and verse 47. In all those six
places the kingdom of heaven is like. Now this expression
is peculiar and unique in Matthew's gospel. I count it, he uses it
at least Thirty-two times Matthew does in his gospel. And the question
is whether this phrase, the kingdom of heaven, is one and the same,
exactly synonymous with the phrase, the kingdom of God, in such places
as John 3, 3 and 5, or Acts 1 and 3, or 1 Corinthians chapter 6
and verse 9, and other places. Now, the Lord used the term. And in Matthew 13 and 10, the
mysteries, plural, of the kingdom of heaven. And in Matthew 16
and 19, Peter is given the keys to the kingdom of heaven. And
both John in Matthew 3 and 2, and the Lord in Matthew 4 and
verse 7, opened their public ministry by saying, the kingdom
of heaven is at hand. And we need to give some definition,
therefore, to the phrase, the kingdom of heaven, for in six
of these parables, the phrase is used to introduce them, the
kingdom of heaven is likened unto, and its mysteries are set
forth under several symbols or figures, such as seed, and tares,
and a treasure, and a pearl, and a mustard seed, and a dragnet,
and such like. In this kingdom of heaven there
are tares among the wheat. In this kingdom of heaven there
are good fish mingled in with bad, or should I have said it
the other way around, there is a mixture of good and of bad,
of true and of false, until the end. Now, two of the parables
have great resemblances. They resemble each other a lot,
and they are the parable of the wheat and the tare, and the parable
of the dragnet that we're studying this morning. And they are alike
in that good and bad are mixed up together in both of these
parables, and no separation is made until the end typified by
the harvest. And since it is infested with
tares, and with leaven and with bad fish, and the tares are to
be gathered out and separated and burned in the harvest. Likewise, also the bad fish will
be cast away and burned at the end of the world, or the consumption
or the consummation of the age. There is no Proof text here for
annihilation, even though they talk of destroying them by fire. Matthew 13, 49. The separation
of the good and the bad fish is explained as the severing,
or literally, the separation of the wicked from among the
just. then it would seem that this
kingdom of heaven mentioned six times in the parables and 32
times in Matthew's gospel is not the pure, final, unfinished
kingdom of God that shall come in the world to come. in which
Matthew 13 and 43, the righteous shall shine forth as the sun
in the kingdom of their Father. Now, Methinks that Gil noted
that this kingdom of heaven, number one, is not meant the
ultimate glory of the saints in heaven or that final estate
of happiness of the saints in heaven. or in the other world
that is to come. But, too, the gospel dispensation,
the times of the gospel, the times of the preaching of the
gospel and the ministering of the gospel of Christ down through
the century, in which there are many tares that are sown among
the wheat. There are many non-elect people
that are caught up in the gospel net, if you will. There are bad
fish in the net. There are poisonous tares among
the wheat, and there are many unbelieving non-idolat that are
caught up in the gospel net. I want us to read Matthew 13
and verse 41 through verse 43 before we go any further. Matthew
13, 41. through verse 43. The Son of
Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of
His kingdom all things that offend and them that do iniquity, and
shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing
and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine
forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father, who hath ears
to hear, let him hear." Coming now to our parable of the dragnet
in verse 47 through verse 50. The picture is very familiar
and was a very familiar one in the days of Jesus while upon
this earth. And especially was it familiar
by the fact that several of our Lord's apostles whom He called
had been fishermen prior to their being called into the ministry
as an apostle. They had been called away from
their boats and their nets and their fishing to be an apostle
of the Lord. Now, in that day, a net was the
most common way of fishing in that day and on that time. And
as an example, in Matthew 4 and 21, and in Mark chapter 1 and
verse 19, We read in accounts, some were mending their nets. And in Luke 5 and 2, some were
washing their nets after a day of fishing and catch when they
were called. And the Lord said to such, and
listen now, this is important. When the Lord called them away
from their vocation as fishermen, He said in Matthew 4.19 and again
in Mark 1 and verse 17, these words, Follow me, and I will make you
fishers of men. You have fish for fish. Come
and follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Now, by the net is meant, not
a dip net like we sometimes put under a big trout to bring him
in, but it was a large net called a drag net. And it was cast out
of the boat and drawn along and drawn through the waters, catching
all such as providence did cast in the net. And when it was full
and heavy, it was drawn to shore or drawn into the boat. Now,
the first and express purpose of the casting in of the net
is what? is the catching of good fish. This is the intent and purpose
of the fishing that are good to eat, that are good to sell
in the marketplace that others might partake of them upon their
table. All the fisherman's effort, all
of his labor, is to catch fish that are good in his net. He cast his nets in the water. If peradventure, good fish shall
be cast and caught in his net. What did Paul say? I endure all
things for the elect's sake, that they too might obtain the
salvation of the Lord. But the Lord's parable, all kinds
of fish were enclosed and caught in the net. Every kind. Some
of all kinds, I think the text says to us, enclosed in the net. Not only that, but also drawn
to the shore or drawn into the boat. It is impossible to so
guide the net that only good fish are taken in it. So it is
inevitable that bad fish will also be caught in the net, for
they swim in the same waters and the same place as the good
fish, so that a separation must be made after the net is pulled
out of the water. This seining or net is an imaginative,
picturesque sight before our eyes and imagination. How clear
is the picture of that net? Will you find a personal illustration
from personal experience. When I was a skinny, toe-headed
kid in the country a long, long time ago, when grandpa and aunts
and uncles and parents wanted to go fishing, they said, let's
go fishing today. Well, they would take the seine
net, we had a little seine net, oh, 24, 30 inches high, and maybe
20 foot long and just an old stick rolled on the end. Usually
they'd make the kids roll up their britches leg or put on
their bathing suit, do the sanding through that old nasty pond. And we'd pull that thing, our
chins, right on top of the water. And we'd feel something snag,
we'd pull. Finally, when we came out on
the other side, we saw what we had. We were seining for minnows
and crawdad to use as fish bait. Well, we had crawdads and minnows
in the net, alright. We also had some little fish. We had a turtle probably, we
had a stick, and we had a boot, and sometimes a very mad water
moccasin snake. And then came the separation,
for it was impossible to catch only that that we wished to keep
for our fishing. and inevitable that the net would
be filled with whatever got in front of the net. Some desirable,
some very undesirable, and absolutely good for nothing. Benjamin Keats
wrote in his very large volume on the parables and the similitude
of our Lord in the gospel and which are recorded for us that
we might know them and we might read them. And on the dragnet,
he said, the design of our Lord in this parable is to disclose,
that is to teach, that the churches, that is, visible Christendom,
that there shall be a mixture of good and bad, sincere believers
and a mixture of hypocrites until the end of the world or the consummation
of the age. There shall be that mixture together. Invisible Christendom or the
Kingdom of Heaven. Now, as for the figures of the
parable, we see four. And let's look at them individually. First of all, there are the fishermen. And these are perhaps the most
obscure objects and characters in the parable. Usually more
than one. who toil and who labor in the
hope of a good catch and troll in all kinds of water and in
promising places that are the fishermen. Secondly, there is
the net. John Gill likened it to, quote,
a piece of curious artifice and workmanship, unquote, and especially
designed to enclose the fish in its confines. It was designed
for the catching or the taking of fish. It had but one purpose. For but one purpose was it cast
in the water. And that was the catching of
fish and cast in for that purpose. Thirdly, there is the sea. There is the great body of water,
that dark and murky and muddy place that is the natural habitat
of fish, good and bad, whereby all manner of fish providing
a hiding place for them. And then fourthly, there are
the fish themselves that are enclosed in the net. The net
encircles them, they are enclosed in it, they are drawn along together. They are pulled up on the shore
to see what manner of catch is there. Now, several good commentators
are agreed that what we have here is a mystical description
of the gospel dispensation or time. The ministry and the ministration
of the times of the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And that along that line, the
sea is a symbol of humanity, the world of mankind, wherein
are all kinds Every kind there is, every kind imaginable dwell
in the world. And the gospel net, or the gospel,
is preached among them. The net is, as it were, drawn
through the ocean of mankind. and it will enclose and draw
not only the elect of God, but also a mixed multitude. A good many that are not of the
number of the elect shall be found among them and gathered
in to the visible churches. Remember when Israel went out
of the land of Egypt, that a mixed multitude went with them. Exodus chapter 12 and verse 38. Not just Egyptians perhaps, but
others of other countries and nationalities who had been there. Seeing the wrath of God upon
the land, and seeing the blessings of God upon Israel, some were
willing to forsake their country their family and their friends,
and join in with Israel in the wilderness. Not because they
loved God did this mixed multitude go, but as Matthew Henry said,
because it was laid waste by the plagues of God upon the nation,
and they went. Because it was evident that God's
favor was upon the Jew, and was against Egypt and Pharaoh, that
God had set His face and had lifted His hand up against the
Egyptians. Many therefore went as a mixed
multitude from a sense of self-preservation to avoid the judgment upon their
land and the loss of their life. And so they ran in among Israel,
a mixed multitude. Some may have gone with the Jews
because they had married a Jew, as it were with some in Leviticus
24. And verse 10, many a person,
I tell you, my brother and sister, has gone to church and even joined
simply to please a spouse or that the children might be raised
in what is called a Christian home or a Christian family. And yet it was this mixed multitude
among Israel that first fell to lusting in the wilderness
and its hardness You'll find that in Numbers 11 and verse
4. They grew tired of the heavenly
manna every morning and every evening of their life. And they
desired again the flesh pots of Egypt, the onions and the
leeks and the garlic that they remembered there. And now, nothing
but manna morning, noon, and night. When we read of the good
and the bad fish that are caught in the net, we do not take it. as teaching that some are innately
good in themselves. That cannot be the teaching of
this parable, for the Scripture is clear. There is none good,
there is none righteous, no, not one. They are not good of
themselves. Any more than the good ground
in the parable of the soil and the soar made itself good, nor
did the fish. Matthew 13 and verse 8. It is
a heart prepared by sovereign grace that is ready to receive
the Word of the Lord. And the good fish are the elect
of God, chosen before the foundation of the world. Now the question
is this, how is it that so many bad fish are taken in the gospel
net? It is teeming as we look out
upon the world today with those who are not in Christ, nor do
they know Christ, as mentioned earlier. one might be enclosed
in it because he is married to a believer. Another might be
the child of Christian parents and raised in the church, taught
the doctrine morally restrained in their younger days. Another
might have fallen in the clutches of some of these very persuasive
soul winners that are going about today. Another might have decided
to try Jesus and attend church in some crisis or tragedy that
has come in their life. How many have done this and do
this all of the time? Another might be fleeing from
a burning and accusing content, and to seek to soothe it with
religion. Another may have head knowledge
of the Word, but not heart knowledge of the things of God. Another
may go to church simply out of curiosity to see what are all
these people doing and what are they interested in. Another may
go because of the fame of the preacher. for he is known far
and wide." And others might desire to hear the famous man. Jesus
said, the net gathers of every kind. And in verse 47, of which
all fall into one class or the other, either good or bad. like that vast multitude that
left Egypt had mingled in a mixed multitude that had no heart for
God, as the woman hid leaven in the measures of meal, as there
were tares that sprung up and sought to choke out the wheat.
So there are both good and bad fish caught in the net that is
cast into the ocean of humanity. It is not fully manifest what
sort of fish are in the net until, number one, it is full, and number
two, until it is drawn under the shore. We never knew what
was in our seine until we drew it to the bank of the tank or
the pond or the slough. And so when the time comes for
the great separation when the net, as it were, has been drawn
out of the lake for the final time, then will be separated
the good from the bad, as the sheep from the goats. In drawing
the net through the waters to seeking good fish, it is impossible
to enclose only the good fish. In the end, the bad are separated. They are cast out into the fire
of destruction, while the good are gathered into the vessels,
for they are that for which they were fishing. Even so, in the
proclamation of the gospel, in fishing for the elect, it is
also impossible to avoid taking some unbelievers and false professors
and hypocrites and pretenders and worldlings in the net. Some reprobate. So that in the
gospel net, there is both elect and non-elect. There are both
saints and sinners. There are both true and there
are false. Let us remember, as the net is
drawn through the lake, or the ocean, or the river, or whatever,
only a small portion of the totality of the fish are ever caught and
enclosed in the net. Far a minority of them are ever
taken in the net and caught. Only a small portion. Even so,
there are multitudes that are never drawn by the gospel net,
not influenced by the Word of God or the gospel. They're not
all caught, or of the number of the elect. who are taken in
the ministration of the gospel. Now, in closing up our study,
let's consider the test which the Lord gave to His very own. After saying these things, He
gave them a test, as it were. We did not read it, but it begins
in verse 51. Jesus said unto them, Have you
understood all these things? They say unto Him, Then said
he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed into
the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder,
which brings forth out of his treasure things old and things
new. Let it be noted in Matthew 13.36,
Mark 4 and 10, that it was in private, in private, that our
Lord explained the parable of the sower and the soil and the
parable of the tare and the wheat, and the good and the bad fish.
They needed to be aware that there would be different kinds
of hearers, and that tares and that good seed would be together,
and good fish and bad fish would be caught as they were the fishermen
of men. Did they realize this? Did they
understand this? They answer, yes. Yes, Lord,
we understand. The Savior tells them, every
scribe that is well instructed in the kingdom of heaven, knowing
it in mystery form, using a metaphor of a householder with a great
treasure to bring out treasures that are new and that are old. Even so, ministers, he said,
taught and grounded in the Word of God, are able to bring out
of their spiritual storehouse things old and things new, and
well supply those that hear words at their mouth, to fortify them
against deception, to open to them the things of God. Because
Christian teachers are pupils of the kingdom, able to explain
and expound on the things of God. Now this application, there
are many false ones, in the visible kingdom of God, our Christendom. There are many tares. There are
many bad fish caught in the nets of Christendom. Therefore, let
us examine ourselves, not others, but ourselves, whether we be
good and whether we be in the net. and whether we be of Christ. Oh, may it be so, because there
are good and bad that will inevitably be scooped up as the ministry
of the gospel is carried on through the ages. Good and bad fish will
be caught, but they will be separated at the appointed time. All right,
thank you for your kind attention.