Matthew 13:47-52

We've been in this gospel for a couple years

now, and we're about halfway through it, so I

have no idea when we'll finish it, if that's

what you're thinking. I don't know. We were going

to cover verses 47 to 52. Our Lord speaking,

He says again, the kingdom of heaven, it's like

a net that was thrown into the sea and it gathered

fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew

it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into

containers, but threw away the bad. So it will

be at the end of the age. The angels will come

out and separate the evil from the righteous

and throw them, that is the evil, into the fiery

furnace. In that place there will be weeping

and gnashing of teeth." He turned to his disciples,

he said, have you understood all these things?

They said to him, yes. And he said to them, therefore,

every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom

of heaven is like a master of a house who brings

out of his treasure what is new, the new teachings

of the kingdom, and what is old, obviously what

was understood from the old covenant. Would you

join me as we ask God to help us as we look at

this passage this morning? Let's pray Father

once again would we come to you in the name of

your son Jesus admitting our own weakness and

inability and Asking God for your grace and mercy

Lord that you would meet with your people by

means of your spirit That all glory would be

given to you the father through Jesus in the

spirit God, that you would illumine the text

and help us to understand, to rightly divide

it. Lord, that we would not impose our own thoughts

or opinions upon the text, but Lord, we would

simply, Lord, see what is contained therein and

proclaim it as you have commanded. Lord, help

us this morning, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

You know, before I had children, I used to go

fishing quite a lot. Oftentimes, instead of buying

minnows, we would just go sain them. And probably

most of you have done that at some point in your

life. If you're going to sane minnows, you can

do it by yourself or you get a buddy and you

have a net that's attached to two wooden poles

and you kind of drag it through shallow water.

You drag it downstream and therefore you're kind

of trapping the minnows. But when you pull it

up, you never really know what you're going to

get. As you pull it up, inevitably there will

be some minnows present in the net. But many

times there's some crawl dads in there. some

small fish. Occasionally you even get snakes

caught in that net. Since you're going fishing,

you want the minnows, you'll separate them, you'll

put them in a bucket, and everything else you'll

just throw back. And in the text today, our Lord

tells us something. He gives one final parable

in this chapter. He describes the kingdom of

God in this way. He says the kingdom of God,

it's like a net. It's thrown, it's cast into

the sea, and it gathers fish of every kind. Now

in Matthew 13, there are seven parables in this

one chapter alone, and all of them are about

the kingdom of God, and this is the seventh and

final. Now, each of these gives some different

insight into what God's kingdom is like. The

very fact that Jesus gave seven parables in one

chapter, all relating to the same theme, It means

this is a very important topic. Now we began

with this parable of the sower and the soils,

or the seed and the sower, you've often heard

it called. This is the foundational parable.

It's the basis, if you will. And it explains

how different people react and receive the gospel.

You have rocky soil. Then you also have hard

soil. You have crowded soil. And you have fertile

soil. And each one of those four soils represents

a heart that receives or rejects the gospel.

Then you move on to the wheat and the tares.

This parable showed us that good and evil will

coexist in this world until separation comes

at the judgment, which will come at the end of

the age. We moved on to the mustard seed. This

parable reveals how the kingdom of God will start

small and experience expansive, massive growth.

Then you have the parable of the leaven. This

demonstrates the quiet, transformative power

of God's kingdom within the world. It's working

in the hearts of men and women. And then you

have the parable of the hidden treasure. This

shows the supreme value of God's kingdom. Then

the pearl of great price, the merchant who sold

everything because he wanted this one pearl.

This further emphasizes the immense worth of

God's kingdom and one's willingness to give up

everything just to have it. And then we come

to the parable of the dragnet or the net this

morning. And it shows the kingdom of God. It's

highlighting the fact you see a net and it's

gathering all kinds of people into the net. And

he says there will be a separation of the wicked,

and the righteous, and that'll come at the end

of this age. Now keep in mind the setting in

Matthew 13. Jesus in chapter 12 had been teaching

in a house, but it was so crowded. So he left

the house, he went to the Sea of Galilee. There

were so many people following the hymn that he

actually gets in a boat and the people are standing

on the shore listening to him. And he begins

to teach the people and he's using parables.

Now parables are these ordinary things, but they're

going to communicate spiritual truth. If there

was ever a master teacher, it's the Lord Jesus

Christ. And we see him, and he's using the things

that people were already familiar with. And he

was going to use those things to teach them what

they could never know or understand otherwise.

How are you going to know what the kingdom of

God's like? The kingdom of God is not of this

world. The kingdom of God is within, Jesus said.

So how do we know what it's like? Well, he's

letting us know. And in this final parable, he's

using very familiar image of a fisherman pulling

a net full of fish to the shore. Now, I don't

know. This is speculation. But perhaps, as Jesus

was teaching, you have a boat passing by pulling

a net, and Jesus sees that, and he uses that,

and the people are there watching it, to illustrate

some final truth about God's kingdom. Now in

this parable, there's fishermen. They're pulling

in a large net. It is filled with all kinds of

fish. And when the day is done, they sit down

and the fishermen separate the good fish from

the bad. Now when we're talking about bad in

the parable, the bad were the fish that would

be inedible or they're unclean according to kosher

law or they're just too small to eat. Those would

be bad fish. And then you have the good fish,

those that could be eaten or sold for a profit.

Now that's not the point. The good fish are representing

the people who belonged to the kingdom of God.

The bad fish are representing those who belong

to the kingdom of this world, also known as the

kingdom of darkness. You may hear it referred

to as the kingdom of man. It's everything that

is opposite God's kingdom. So in this illustration,

we see that the kingdom of God contains people

from every background, every nation. every walk

of life. There are all kinds of fish. So the

kingdom of God is not relegated to a single geopolitical

nation. America is not the kingdom of God. The

nation of Israel is not the kingdom of God. The

kingdom of God is universal for people who believe

in Christ. But we are also reminded in this parable

that a day of final reckoning is coming where

God will separate those who truly belong to Him

from those who do not. Now the implication is

that the kingdom of God will exist within this

world until the end of the age. Because God's

kingdom exists in this world, you and I as Christians,

we can expect to have difficulty. There'll be

suffering. We're still going to get sick. We

will still die. Many Christians will experience

persecution. And the reason we're going to experience

persecution is because you have two kingdoms

serving two different kings, and there's two

different loyalties that are in opposition to

each other. So the kingdom of God is already

here. And I've said that throughout this whole

chapter. It's here. It's present in seed form.

But it's not yet come in its fullness. It's not

yet come in fruition. That'll wait a future fulfillment.

And when that kingdom does arrive in its fullness,

and this is why we pray the words of prayer,

thy kingdom come. We look forward to that day.

I long for the day when God's kingdom comes in

its fullness because then there will be no more

pain. There'll be no more suffering. We will

never get sick. There'll be no more death. But

in the meantime, you and I as believers were

called to patiently endure. Endure to the end.

But the emphasis in this final parable is different.

Jesus does not emphasize the fullness of God's

kingdom. Rather, the emphasis here is on the

final judgment that is to come. Now the doctrine

of final judgment is odious to many, but it's

still true. It's true nonetheless. Just because

you don't like something doesn't make it untrue.

Now there are many people who simply ignore the

doctrine of God's judgment. They know about it,

but they push it out of mind. Others deny it.

They scoff at it. They laugh at it. And some,

well they try to explain it away. God is so loving

he will never judge anyone. But none of those

things is capable of preventing the judgment

to come. Now look at the text with me. At the

end of this age, It is very clear God will bring

all people before him in judgment. And that is

absolutely clear in the scriptures. All people

will be raised bodily to stand before God and

give an account of their lives. The London Baptist

Confession states it this way. God has appointed

a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousness

by Jesus Christ. to whom all power and judgment

is given of the Father, in which day not only

the apostate, that's the fallen angels, shall

be judged, but likewise all persons that have

lived upon the earth shall appear before the

tribunal of Christ." Why? To give an account

of their thoughts, their words, and their deeds,

and to receive according to what they have done

in the body, whether that be good or evil. Now,

that's a confession. But the doctrine of final

judgment is taught explicitly throughout all

the scriptures, both old and new. In Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12, Solomon, he says, let us hear the

conclusion of the whole matter. If you read the

whole book of Ecclesiastes, what's the conclusion?

He says, fear God and keep His commandments.

Why? For this is man's all. This is the whole

duty of man. For God will bring every work into

judgment. including every secret thing, whether

it's good or evil. In Hebrews chapter 9, the

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

author says this, for it is appointed unto men

once to die, everyone dies, and after this the

judgment. In Jude, verse 6, there's no chapters,

just one chapter, verse 6, and the angels who

did not keep their proper domain, that's the

fallen angels, but they left their own abode,

he, that is God, has reserved in everlasting

chains under darkness for the judgment of the

great day." John 5, for the Father judges no

one, but has committed all judgment to the Son.

So Jesus is the judge. Verse 28, do not marvel

at this. Jesus said, for the hour is coming in

which all who are in the graves will hear his

voice, everyone, and they will come forth from

the grave, those who have done good. to the resurrection

of life, and to those who have done evil, to

the resurrection of condemnation. In Acts 17,

Paul speaking, he says, truly, these times of

ignorance, and he's talking to unbelievers, God

overlooked, but now he commands, he doesn't invite,

he commands all men everywhere to repent. Why?

Why repent? Because he has appointed a day, on

which he will judge the world in righteousness

by the man whom he has ordained. What man is

that? And he is given assurance of this to all

by raising him from the dead. That man is Jesus.

He's going to judge the world by Jesus. Matthew

25, the judgment of the sheep and the goats.

When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all

the holy angels with him, then he will sit on

the throne of his glory. Jesus is coming. All

the nations will be gathered before him. all

the nations, all the people. And he will separate

them one from the other as a shepherd divides

his sheep from the goats. And he will set the

sheep on his right hand and the goats on his

left. Then the king, that is Jesus, will say

to those on his right hand, come, you blessed

of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for

you from the foundation of the world. And these

will go away, excuse me. Then from verse 34,

I think I just lost my train of thought there.

Then the king will say to those on his right

hand, come you blessed of my father and here

at the kingdom preferred you from the foundation

of the world. Yeah, I skipped down to verse 46.

I'm sorry. Then what about those who are on his

left hand? And these will go away into everlasting

punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

One final one. I could, I limited this. In Revelation

Revelation 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20, it's known as the great white throne

judgment. Then I saw a great John writing he

said I saw a great white throne and him who sat

on it from whose face The earth and heaven fled

away. This is a scary scene sobering I should

say and there was found no place for them and

I saw the dead small and great standing before

God and books were open and another book was

open which is the book of life and The dead were

judged according to their works by the things

which were written in the books The sea gave

up the dead who were in it, death in Hades or

death in hell delivered up the dead who were

in them, and they were judged, each one according

to his works. Then death in Hades were cast into

the lake of fire. This is a second death and

anyone not found written in the book of life

was cast into the lake of fire. Now, Here's a

little point of emphasis in the scriptures. When

something is repeated often in the scriptures,

it is given emphasis. It's meant to emphasize.

You see how many texts I just read. The doctrine

of God's final eschatological judgment is often

repeated in the scriptures to highlight how important

this doctrine is. It is meant to make an indelible

impression upon our hearts and minds. We ought

to always live with judgment in mind. There's

a day of judgment. And in this final parable,

we see that God's net, it encompasses all people,

but it is His judgment that reveals those who

really belong to Him. John MacArthur writing

on this passage, he says, the dragnet of God's

judgment moves silently through the sea of mankind

and draws all men to the shores of eternity.

for final separation to their ultimate destiny,

believers to eternal life and non -believers

to eternal damnation. So if I ask, why is the

doctrine a final judgment? What is it? This is

it. God has appointed a day in which he will

judge angels and all mankind through his son,

Jesus Christ, everyone. When does it occur? At

the second coming. When Christ returns in glory

on that day Jesus said there will be a resurrection

of the just and unjust All people will be raised

from the dead and the final judgment will take

place after that resurrection It'll be a glorious

day for believers a day of salvation for all

who belong to King Jesus It'll be a dreadful

day a day of condemnation for all those who don't

belong to him See, on that day, God will condemn

unbelievers and He will consign them to eternal

damnation because of their sinful thoughts, words,

and actions. Now, believers, Christ has already

taken our judgment that we will have to give

an account of our own lives as stewards. This

will result in either gain of reward or loss

of reward. Now, these rewards are in addition

to eternal life. that we've already seen by faith

in Christ Jesus. You're saying, but when, can

tell us when is that, when is Christ coming back?

That day and hour is unknown. Why did God not

declare that day or hour so that God's people

will be watchful and prayerful at all times?

Jesus said in Matthew 25, watch therefore, for

you need, you know neither the day, not even

the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. So

when we look at this parable here, the words

of Jesus are meant to be taken seriously. We

don't trifle with them. He says this. Now listen,

this is the word. This is Matthew 13, verses

Matthew 13:47

47, 48, 49. So it will be at the end of the age,

the angels are going to come forth, and they

will separate the wicked from the just, and he

will cast them to the furnace of fire, and there

will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. A day

of separation is coming, friends. Right now,

the kingdom of God exists within this world.

But there'll be a day when there's a distinction.

God's people will be removed from the world,

and the world will face eternal judgment. There'll

be a day of distinction, a day of separation.

The sheep will be separated from the goats, the

righteous from the wicked, or as Jesus said in

Matthew 13, the good fish will be separated from

the bad fish. Now who are the wicked that Jesus

is speaking of? When we talk about a separation.

Now when we talk about wicked people, in our

own vernacular, if we're talking about wicked

people, we think of people like Hitler, Lenin,

Stalin, Mao Zedong, men like Dahmer, Ted Bundy.

We think those men. Or sex traffickers, pedophiles.

We think of people who have done morally reprehensible

things. How does the Bible refer to wickedness?

The wicked are those who have rejected the gospel.

They rejected Christ and His message. The wicked

are they who are lost in their sin and they are

still in Adam. They've never been transferred

out of the kingdom of darkness. Now when we look

at the Jesus's words and they're strong words,

I don't believe he's trying to scare people at

all, nor am I. Rather, I think the words are

meant to wake us up. to think soberly what is

to come. They're meant to cause people to seek

salvation in Christ, the true Lamb of God, who

takes away the sin of the world. Jesus is letting

all people know in advance what is going to happen,

what's going to take place. And to be forewarned

is to be forearmed. So this warning that Jesus

gives when we're reading this, we're hearing

it in church, we are meant to prepare for that

day. Knowing the danger that awaits allows one

to prepare for it. You must prepare to stand

before God one day, because the day of judgment

is coming. How will you fare when you stand before

Him? What will you offer as a defense? What will

you present to God as a claim to your righteousness?

Or I should better ask it this way, on what basis

do you hope that God will accept you? There's

nothing you can bring in your hand that's going

to do it. No works will suffice. Ask Cain. Remember,

he brought the best of his garden. He was rejected.

You can only come into the kingdom of God based

on the merits of another. I can't claim to be

righteous. I have sinned and fallen short of

God's glory. But Jesus Christ is righteous, and

I am in him. What will you say on that day? You

won't have a defense. You are guilty. Your only

hope, your only defense is this, that Jesus died

and he rose again for me. And I trust that what

he did, his work, was effective in securing my

salvation. You trust. You believe. in what Jesus

did at the cross, that it was enough to save

you and you own him as your king. The word said

that the wicked will be cast in the furnace of

fire. And he said there's wailing, weeping, wailing,

gnashing of teeth. Now the doctrine of final

judgment's hated, but if there's one doctrine

that is hated more than all, it's the doctrine

of hell. And there are many preachers today who

don't believe in it. Hell as defined by the Bible

is conscious suffering separated from God for

eternity. It is a horrible thought. We all want

to put it out of our minds, but it's still true.

Our minds cannot even begin to conceive of the

infinite horror and misery that is hell. Can

you imagine infinite pain? Infinite torture?

I know, but our Lord taught it. And he said,

not Ryan, he said, the wicked will be thrown

into a furnace of fire. Those who are cast into

that furnace, he says, are wailing. They're gnashing

their teeth. Why? They're in torment. This is

not annihilationism. John Stott taught in annihilationism.

I like John Stott. I thought he was a great theologian.

I vehemently disagree with him here. The doctrine

of annihilationism says after death, the righteous

go into heaven, paradise, forever with the Lord,

and the wicked cease to exist. They just, they're

annihilated. It's not what the Bible teaches.

It's eternal conscious punishment. The wicked

will stand before God, they're raised, and they

stand before God because they sinned and committed

treason against the living God. And now they

must give an account. And the day's dreadful.

So how can you or I be spared from this condemnation

knowing we're guilty? Hear the gospel, my friend.

Romans chapter 8 verse 1, there is therefore

Romans 8:1

now no condemnation to a group of people, to

those who are in Christ Jesus. For those who

are savingly united to Christ, you won't be condemned,

but You must be taken out of Adam in which you

were born and placed in Christ. You must be born

again. How do you get in Christ? In Galatians

3, Paul wrote this, For you are all the children

of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many

as you have been baptized into Christ have been

put on Christ. In John 3, we love John 3, 16,

for God so loved the world that he gave his only

begotten son that whosoever believeth in him

should not perish but have everlasting life.

I love verse 17 as much. For God did not send

his own son into the world to condemn the world,

rather that the world might be saved through

him. Verse 18, he who believes in him, in Jesus,

is not condemned. But he who does not believe,

these are the words of Jesus, is condemned already.

Why is he condemned? Because he has not believed

in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

See, we're joined to Christ by faith. John 5

John 5:24

verse 24, most assuredly I say to you, he who

hears my word and believes in him who has sent

me has everlasting life. And he shall not come

into judgment. Praise God. but it's passed from

death into life. The one who believes and calls

upon Christ has passed from death into life.

Paul told the Colossian Church, he said believers

have been delivered from the power of darkness,

the kingdom of darkness, and conveyed us, transferred

us into the kingdom, the basileia, the basilica

of the son of his love. Praise God for His grace.

Now here's the question I want to pose to you.

What does it mean to believe? Because some people

believe that simple belief is mere knowledge

or a scent. There's so many people like, oh,

I believe. Oh, yeah, Jesus sat on the cross.

Jesus is a savior. I sent to that. That's not

what the Bible speaks of. The time of the Reformation

in order to... tried to describe saving faith,

there was three Latin words that were used, notitia,

assensis, fiducia. So the first one's notitia,

and it means knowledge. Knowing, this is knowing

the core information of the gospel. I know that

Jesus was born of the virgin. I know that he

suffered under Pontius Pilate. I know that he

died and was raised again on the third day of

the new life. I know that, I understand, I have

knowledge of the content. Then there's assensis.

You can see the word assent. Not only do I know

that, But I agree with that. I assent to that

being true. I know that Jesus died. I agree that

he died and he rose again. I'm persuaded that

the claims about Christ are true. And the third

aspect is fiducia. This is trust. This is a personal

reliance. Confident trust. This is where you

place your entire being upon Christ and you stand

in that conviction. So, Notitia and Assensus

are not enough to define true faith. Why? James

says, even demons possess the right information.

Notitia, they know about Jesus, and they mentally

agree that it's true. They know better than anyone

that Jesus died and rose again. But they're not

trusting and submitting to Christ. True saving

faith requires all three. And Fiducia, that last

one, trust is what turns mere head knowledge.

into a life -changing, active commitment. You

trust Him. All your eggs are in the one basket

named Jesus. So how can you escape this coming

judgment? The same way that Noah escaped the

flood. You got to get in the ark. The ark is

Jesus. And just as Noah's ark had only one door,

so the ark of Jesus has one door, and it's the

door of faith. You must abandon, friends, all

attempts at self -righteousness. You're not righteous

before Him on your own. And you flee to Christ,

who will save you from the wrath to come. In

the ancient world, when a criminal was crucified

under Roman law, a list of his crimes would be

written out and nailed to the criminal's cross.

Why? So that everyone who was there, they would

know why that criminal was being crucified. Here

is a list of his crimes, and here's what Rome

said must happen. In Colossians 2, Paul did something

extraordinary, and I don't know if you thought

about it this way. He says, and you, speaking

of us, who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision

of our flesh, God made alive together with him

Christ, having forgiven us all our trespasses.

Notice verse 14. by canceling the record of debt

that stood against us with its legal demands.

The law was here, the law said don't, we did.

The law said do, and we did. So there's a record

of debts, a long list of our crimes. This he

set aside, notice what Paul said, nailing it

to the cross. Why is that important? Because

the record of crimes that you and I had committed

against God, That list was nailed to Christ's

cross, and Christ bore that punishment. Our debt

was canceled. Our record of wrongs was cleared.

How? Our sin was placed on Christ. God hath laid

on him the iniquity of us all, Isaiah 53 -6.

The list of charges against us was nailed to

the cross of Jesus Christ, and he, not we, bore

the punishment for those sins. Praise God. That's

really good news. Peter, writing about this,

he said, who his own self bear our sins in his

own body on the tree. That you and I, that we

being dead to sins should live unto righteousness

by whose stripes you were healed. Jesus' sacrifice

satisfied divine judgment or justice. And it

propitiated divine wrath. Propitiated means it

satisfied. God was pleased with what Christ has

done. You wonder how you can be saved? By the

bloody death of Christ who cried out, it is finished.

His stripes, His bloody stripes healed us. His

bloody wounds healed us. Why? Because He paid

the payment and the penalty for our sins so that

you and I could be reconciled back to God. The

truth is, it's just one of two ways. Either you

pay the punishment for your sins, or Christ pays

it for you. Either you suffer for your sins,

or you trust in the suffering of Christ. For

believers, our sin was nailed to Christ's cross.

And as the song says, we bear it no more. Praise

the Lord. So you say, now what? God's net, friends,

because the day has not yet come, God's net is

still in the water gathering fish. But at the

very same time that God's net is in the water,

the gospel is being preached, it's being proclaimed,

and Christ invites sinners to still come to him

and be saved. John 3, I read earlier, for God

did not send his son into the world to condemn

the world, but that the world through him, through

Christ, might be saved. And he who believes in

him is not condemned. He who believes in Him

is not condemned. But, but, a giant preposition

here, don't be deceived. Jesus told us a day

is coming and God's net will be drawn to the

shore and then King Jesus will separate the fish

that belong to Him from those who do not. John

3, 18. but he who does not believe is condemned

already." See, the question is not whether you're

in God's net. All people are. All people are

going to be raised. The question is not, are

you in the net? The question is, are you in Christ?

Today, the Lord Jesus, who will one day stand

over all creation as judge, offers himself in

grace as your Savior. His mercy His grace are

available to any and all who will come to Him

in faith. And if you're here and you know Christ,

you've been saved to the church. You and I have

been taken, taken out of the kingdom of darkness.

We've been placed into God's kingdom of light.

We are to live as citizens of the light, citizens

of God's kingdom. The apostle said it this way,

showing forth the praises, showing forth the

praises of Him who's called us out of darkness

and into His marvelous light. My friends, our

lives are not our own. We're bought with the

price. Let us glorify Him. Let us worship God

today, humbly, yet joyfully white, for the gift

of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So let us

come and feast upon our Savior. at the table

of the Lord as those who have been marked out

as good fish by God's grace. Let's pray. Father,

we thank you so very much, Lord, for your word.

Lord, I'm thankful that you cared enough about

us, Lord, to tell us, Lord, to proclaim, Lord,

not only salvation, but a judgment that is coming.

Lord, we do not want to be the proverbial ostrich

who sticks its head in the sand, who is willfully

ignorant of that which is to come. The Father,

help us, Lord God, to think soberly about what

Christ has said. Today is the day of salvation.

The ark is still open for all who will enter

in by faith. God, let us, Lord, proclaim that

beautiful message. But let us warn those who

would scoff or laugh or mock at the day of judgment.

Lord, it's sobering. It's a fearful thing to

fall into the hands of the living God. Lord,

I pray you'd give me grace to preach. Lord, I

pray that those who are here this morning, they

would listen to your word, but they would hear

the good news of the gospel that Jesus Christ

came to save sinners. Lord, I pray that now as

your church, we as your people who've been marked

out, we come to the table of the Lord and we

feast upon our Lord. Oh God, we see his broken

body and we see his shed blood. This is our only

hope. This is what we offer to you. It is enough

that Jesus died and that he died for me. Lord,

we thank you for this. In the blessed name of

Jesus, we pray, amen. In just a moment, the deacons

will come and they'll pass out the elements.