Lessons About the Kingdom of Heaven from the Parable of the Fishing Net

You want to take your Bibles and open to Matthew

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

chapter 13. We are in the last kingdom parable

of this passage. It is the parable of the fishing

net. Anybody in here like to fish? Okay, awesome.

Me too. Let's read together Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

Verses 47 through 52. Matthew chapter 13, verse

Matthew 13:47

47. Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like

a net that was let down into the lake and caught

all kinds of fish. And when it was full, the

fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they

sat down and collected the good fish in baskets.

but threw the bad away. This is how it will be

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

separate the wicked from the righteous and throw

them into the fiery furnace where there will

be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Have you understood

all these things? Jesus asked. Speaking of the

parables, he just taught them about the kingdom.

Yes, they replied. He said to them, Therefore,

every teacher of the law who has been instructed

about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner

of a house who brings out of his storeroom new

treasures as well as old. Okay? We're up. Let's

just surrender our hearts to this passage. Jesus,

these letters are read because you spoke them

and they are truth. And so we submit our thoughts,

our minds. our past our futures to these words

and we ask humbly and simply for a demonstration

of your power holy spirit to take these words

and transform our lives forever and we do pray

it for the glory of your name jesus do you agree

amen amen all right so some important lessons

about the kingdom of heaven from the parable

of the fishing net okay if you are Somewhat new

to the gathering, or you're just coming around,

you know that we're in this multiple year journey

of learning our identity in the kingdom of heaven

on the earth. We are in a year in which we've

been called to supernatural expansion of the

kingdom of heaven. In our soaking service, we

have what we call a soaking service. in Portable

4 at 9 a .m. before this service every Sunday

morning where we have a time of prayer and worship.

It's a sweet time, small group. You're always

welcome. You're all invited to come join us.

But Pastor Bryson this morning was talking about

how that today there are a number of Christian

leaders and Christian politicians meeting in

Washington, D .C. today. to recommit the nation

as a nation that in God we trust. And I wasn't

aware of those going on. Sometimes when I'm not

involved in social media, which is all the time,

I know I miss out on some information. But he

was talking about how Dr. Robert Jeffries and

several other big, you know, large Christian

leaders were saying that they're believing that

this united movement right now is a catalyst

to go along with the revival that is beginning

to be established in our nation in returning

to the Lord. Does that sound good to anybody

else? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we've been praying

for and experiencing revival here and wanting

more of it and praying for it and taking it across

the world. In fact, right now, Pastor Brad is

in India. The reason why we're not having testimonies

this morning about the mission trip that they

had two weeks ago is the guy's still out of the

country. So we can't even get him here, but we're

going to have testimonies hopefully next Sunday.

But we're going all over the world this year

just taking revival. And we here at this church,

we've defined revival not as a series of meetings.

Although that can be a very real part of revival,

but revival is coming alive in our intimate relationship

with the reviver in such a way that we come alive

to our purpose for the kingdom of heaven on the

earth. Because if you and I... come into intimate

relationship with the reviver. And he begins

to touch us and change us and light us on fire

with the Holy Spirit and give us kingdom purpose.

And we're going out to our workplaces and our

jobs and our sports teams and in our homes. And

we are advancing the kingdom of heaven. that

those people are getting touched, saved, set

free, ignited with passion. They're getting baptized

and anointed with the Holy Spirit and getting

kingdom purpose, and they're going out. And like

we've been talking for weeks upon weeks, that

is what revival looks like. Right? Revival's

not just a county -wide issue in which we have

some extended meetings, and then we stop. No,

revival is the church coming alive in their kingdom

purpose until the king returns. I got newsflash.

We are in revival right now. We're experiencing

revival and we're only going to grow in greater

revival. And this revival, this movement of God

is not going to stop until the clouds part and

the trumpet sounds. There is a movement that's

being established on the church in the earth

right now all over the world. And people are

tired of revivals coming and going and leaving

things unchanged or things going back. And we

are establishing a heart cry to the Lord that

says this cannot be all. There must be more.

And the more is acts. The more is the New Testament

scriptures in which the church comes alive to

who we really are. So when Jesus is saying, listen,

my disciples, my followers, I want to teach you

what the kingdom of heaven is like. Man, we ought

to just be hanging on every word. Yes, Lord Jesus.

Teach us what this kingdom, if you've conferred

it upon us and you expect it to flow out of it,

out of us, John 7, 37, 38, right? If you've done

that and it is our job to advance the kingdom

of heaven, then we need to know what it looks

like and what our job is. And we got to come

alive to that. So for the next few minutes, it's

got three here. Let's look at three lessons.

about the kingdom of heaven that Jesus teaches

in the parable of the fishing net. Number one,

if you're writing this down, taking notes, I

encourage you to do that. The kingdom of heaven

has a prepared timeline. A kingdom person, man,

woman, child, must live with an eternal perspective

preparing for the return of Jesus. In verse 48,

when Jesus is telling this parable, he says,

they cast a net into the lake. And when, the

time, and when it was full. And then in verse

49, he says, and this is how it will be at the

end of the age. Listen, there is a timeline set

forth by the master planner, Yahweh God. And

we are currently in the timeline of the New Testament

church anointed by the Holy Spirit. But there

is a coming, a next great and mighty turning

point in the timeline of the kingdom of heaven.

And the next turning point will be the end of

the age when Jesus returns in glory. And you

can quite literally bet your life on it. That's

exciting. It's extremely exciting and I believe

it should be also extremely sobering to wake

us up, to come alive in kingdom purpose. A kingdom

person must live with an eternal perspective

preparing for the return of Jesus. It reminds

me of... when the scripture says, it's in Galatians

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4, Ephesians chapter 1, it says, and

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

at the fullness of time, right? This timeline

that God has. And here's where I would like us

to interact with this passage. Are you living

with an eternal perspective? Are you? Because

it, it's extremely challenging. At least it is

for me. It's extremely challenging in a world

that's consumed with our momentary pleasures

and needs, right? I mean, all the advertising,

all the commercials, everything, everything in

our world is pushing us towards what you need,

what you want right now. And so it's difficult

in that type of context every day for us to live

outside of that and say, no, this is a kingdom.

eternal perspective. I don't live for today.

My focus is not on today. My focus is not the

next 10 years. My focus is not my retirement.

My focus is not even the inheritance I leave

to my children, even though the scriptures say

the righteous should do that. That's not my focus.

That's the natural outcome of seeking first the

kingdom of heaven. Because the kingdom of heaven

is eternal. And Jesus is returning. And in that

day, the net will be drawn out. So could we just

pause right here? And if you need to, could we

just repent for a short -sighted Christianity?

Could we just repent for that if you need to?

Lord, I'm sorry. Change the way I think. Lord,

let us live for the day of your return. Let everything

we do be centered around your return. Amen. I

thought it was so impactful. We had a number

of weeks ago when Christian Lehenbauer, who has

a degree in trumpet, got up and blew the shofar.

I don't know. To me, it's so sobering when he

did that because there's going to come a day

that we're... Feeding our kids or we're at work

running a crane or on patrol or digging something

with the tractor or being a mom. We're going

to be doing the things that we do every day.

And we're going to hear that trumpet sound. And

the world's going to shake. And he's going to

return with fire in his eyes. And we have to

maintain that perspective. What Jesus is saying,

at the time, when at the end of the age. Okay?

Number two. A kingdom person understands that

the final judgment, heaven and hell, are biblical

realities. Therefore, the salvation of the lost

and making disciples must be a high priority.

Yes? Jesus has just got finished telling them

some parables about, you know, how great the

kingdom is that it should be treasured like a

treasure buried in a field like a pearl of great

price. And how the disciple gives up everything

to have the kingdom where some, have translated

it or interpreted to mean that we and the other

lost people of the world are the great treasure

or the pearl of great pricing. God sold everything

and paid the high price to have us back. Either

way you look at it, the point is that when we

have a kingdom perspective and we live on a timeline,

that is focused toward the next turning point

of the kingdom, the return of Jesus, it should

sober us to the fact that the final judgment

is real, heaven is real, hell is real, and we

have a great and mighty job to do right now to

advance the kingdom so that every lost person

hears the plea of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It says, Jesus speaking, the angels will come

and separate the wicked from the righteous. The

angels will come and separate the wicked from

the righteous. What does he go on to say there?

And throw them into the fiery furnace where there

will be weeping. and gnashing of teeth. It is

true because Jesus said it. There's all kinds

of interpretations of Christianity that want

to do away with hell. And I get it because I

don't like it. I don't like hell. I don't like

the thought of people going to hell. I don't

like the idea of eternal Burning and weeping

and gnashing of teeth. Too bad. It's not based

on what we like and what we feel. It's based

on the sovereign, untouchable wisdom of a loving

and merciful yet just God. And as many have preached

before, I also will teach what the Scripture

says. God sends no one to hell. They make the

decision themselves. They are doomed by their

own rejection of Jesus Christ. And no one is

without excuse because even by creation, God

reveals Himself to every man and woman on the

earth. But that doesn't take away what hell is.

And so... When Jesus says, he's been teaching

all these parables. Hey guys, I want to tell

you what the kingdom's like. And it's the sower.

It's the mustard seed. It's the yeast. It's the

treasure. It's the pearl. Isn't it interesting

that this is how he ends his teaching on the

parables of the kingdom? He says, and gentlemen,

let me tell you one last parable. At the end

of the age. there's going to be a judgment. And

he said, do you understand these things? And

they said, we do, sir. And there's an understanding

that we need to come into. Because if it goes

from an intellectual thought into the core of

who we are, then this becomes the priority of

our lives. Making disciples. And what's the first

step of making disciples? Leading the lost into

the salvation of Jesus Christ. These are all

the initials and names of people in our lives,

in this church, right? That if this happened

tomorrow, as far as we know, we don't judge men's

hearts, but as far as we know by the fruit that

we see, all these people would be cast out of

the net and into the fire. And so it should stir

in us. Like this is our life's priority. This

is why we're shifting into a kingdom mindset.

Because in the kingdom of heaven, the king is

lifted high and his reign is spread. And people

come under his salvation, under his authority.

And before we get too high and mighty about,

you know, be careful on, well, you know, the

wicked fish get thrown out. The righteous fish

get put into heaven. I sure am glad I'm the righteous

fish. Careful. Because we were all the wicked

ones. Every single one of us were the wicked

ones. And the only righteousness we have, Is

by the blood and power of Jesus Christ. And there

is no one too far gone. There's no one that's

done too much. That cannot come into repentance.

Receive the blood of Jesus. And be forgiven.

I had to go into the PD this week. The drone

team got new phones. And they had to download

a bunch of apps on. And so I was sitting in the

training sergeant's office. This officer came

in and he sat down in the seat next to him. I've

known him for several years. He was actually

the instructor at my police academy. And he said,

oh, I'm so glad I see you. I'm seeing you. I've

got a question for you. And I know this guy's

not a believer. In fact, he's on my list to pray

for. I've been praying for him for months now.

By his own admission, we had several conversations.

He's not a believer. And he said, he said, so,

I was watching this documentary and one of the

orchestrators of, what is it, Bay, where many

of the Jews were killed? Auschwitz. He was one

of the orchestrators and managers of Auschwitz.

And he said, are you telling me right now that

before they hung him, the night before they hung

him, If he legitimately came to God and asked

for forgiveness after orchestrating the death

of millions of Jews, that God would really let

him into heaven? Quite a question. I was like,

oh Lord. I know you've... Brought me here for

this month. I really was, you know, he is the

minute he starts talking about, I'm like, oh,

Lord. You brought me here in this moment. To

share the gospel with this man again. And so

I just began to tell him. Every I was like, I

won't say his name was like, sir, listen, everybody

wants justice for somebody else, but mercy for

themselves. I said, man, what he did was horrible.

Who defines the line? What you've done, what

I've done, what that man did, what many others

have done. And I just began to present the Gospel

about how God revealed Himself to Moses as the

gracious and compassionate One, slow to anger.

That was His glory. But how He was also just.

And that we can trust Him. And I'm going too

long with the story, but what I'm saying is I

tried to express to him that no one has ever

gone too far. That that's the whole reason that

Jesus came. Matthew 9, chapter 12, you can turn

there. I'll just read it for you. Jesus speaking.

He says, I know you've heard this passage before,

but let... Let the weight of it settle on our

hearts. Jesus said, it's not the healthy who

need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn

what this means. I desire mercy, not sacrifice.

For I have not come to call the righteous, but

sinners. It was the heart of Jesus. To come into

the impossibility of hard hearts and give by

kindness the gift of repentance. And so, I'm

just saying all that to say when we read this

parable, we need to let God do His work of fire

to refine our hearts to know that the lost...

Are the whole reason that he came. And they should

be a higher priority in our life. Than what they

currently are. Can anybody say that? There's

some of you that are passionate evangelists in

there. But is there anybody here that can say.

God I need you in my heart to make this an increased

priority. Because as we've said many times in

the last past weeks. For us, we're going to party

on the day that the trumpet sounds. It's the

most glorious day we've been looking forward

to for millennia as the church. But for these

people who have not yet come into the knowledge

of God through the blood of Jesus, it's the worst

day of their existence. And we need to be motivated

by that. Not manipulated. I'm not here to manipulate

anybody. I'm saying, me first. I am the person

that needs to have an eternal perspective and

hear the parable of Jesus and say, in that day,

at the end of the age, the angels will come and

they'll separate. And what is my responsibility

and job in that day? My responsibility is that

everyone in my sphere of influence that God has

given me in that day will not be able to say,

no one shared the gospel with me. That's our

job. Our job is that in the sphere of influence

that God has given us in that day, not one person

connected to us should be able to say, no one

shared the love of God in the gospel of Jesus

Christ. And I am failing miserably, but I will

not stop. Can we just... Pause right here and

say, Lord, do it in us. Lord, we apologize for

not treasuring the sick and the sinner. They

are your treasure. Help them to be our treasure.

God, give us eyes to see our opportunities. Anoint

us with boldness in the moment. And give us peace

when we've done the job you've asked us to do.

But Father, not till then would you motivate

us with proper, eternal understanding. We ask

it in Jesus' name. Amen. I call it the big four.

I've never really heard anybody say that, but

just in my mind, I call them the big four when

Jesus is teaching. Love the Lord God with all

your heart, right? Love your neighbor as yourself.

Seek first my kingdom and make disciples. In

my mind, those are the four most important things

that Jesus put in place in the New Testament

church. Making disciples is so important. And

it's not a class at church. It's living the kingdom

lifestyle so that the lost world is drawn into

love with the king and then teaching them to

do the same. Right? So, let's be about it. You

okay? Alright, let's close with this. Number

three. These are just lessons that I'm trying

to derive from this parable of Jesus and the

fishing net. This focuses on the last portion

that he spoke to his disciples. Number three,

the mature Christ follower should pursue and

operate in fresh revelation of the Holy Spirit

while never neglecting the core truths of the

Bible, both Old and New Testaments. I know this

is not flashy, but this is so good. for us to

hear jesus he's telling all these parables he

finishes up with the parable at the net he asked

his disciples do you understand this they said

yes i read a couple commentaries on this passage

and and both uh well more than two of the commentators

were saying did they really understand everything

jesus taught them probably not but do you tell

jesus no when he says you understand all these

things i just taught you i just thought it was

funny They replied, yes. And I just think it's

very impactful what Jesus says to close out all

these teachings about, all these parables about

the kingdom of heaven. He says, therefore, every

teacher of the law, the Greek word is actually

scribe, every learner, everyone who is set to

learn the ways of God and teach them to others.

So yes, this probably most, It mostly applies

to me, and I'm taking it in all of its weight

as a teacher of the Scripture. But I do not believe

it's just a truth regulated to me. I think the

word scribe was important and intentional as

someone who is learning and regurgitating the

ways of God. That's what a scribe did. Learning

and regurgitating the ways of God. So he's saying

every scribe. who has been instructed about what?

Who has been instructed about the kingdom. Then

they're like a homeowner who brings out of the

treasure chest, out of the storehouse, the treasures

of the kingdom, both new and old. And I think

I put up there this quote from Charles Spurgeon

that I thought was really good regarding this

passage. He being the kingdom person, he is not

weary of the old, he is not afraid of the new.

That is so good. That we as Christ followers,

if we're going to be mature, if we're going to

be established people of the kingdom of heaven,

then we can't grow weary of the old. Jill. Jill's

been reading through Bible recap, and we often

read at the same time in the morning, sitting

on the couch. And I've watched her over the last

couple of months struggle through some really

hard passages going through the Old Testament.

And she's working through it, and she's listening

to things, and we get to talk about it some.

She's praying, asking her own questions of God

about it. Listen, there's no doubt that there's

a lot of difficulty. There's a lot of hard things

to read and understand in both the Old and the

New Testament. But I was sitting with a friend

at lunch this week, and he said, hey, I've been

drawn closer to God than I've ever been before.

And he said, it's because I heard this preacher

teach this teaching. And he said, when it comes

to the disciplines and the things of God, it

may start as drudgery. But if you keep going,

it will become a discipline that then turns into

delight. And I thought, that is so good. Because

there's some of us that we just, we are so social

media indoctrinated that we're looking for the

next hot topic. We're looking for the next fad.

We're looking for the next wind that blows through.

We want the freshest revelation. We want to know

something that no preacher has ever thought of

before and released in social media. We just

want to be blown away. And listen. Yes, we love

truth from the Holy Spirit. We love revelation.

But sometimes the mature follower of Christ just

keeps reading the hard things, keeps digging

in no matter how they feel until that drudgery

establishes as a discipline that will then bring

delight in our heart. That we delight in the

law of the Lord day and night. Because we're

planted by the streams of water. And our fruit

will be yielded in season. Right? Does that make

sense? Don't be afraid of the new. Some of you

need to hear that. You're like, man. I don't

like what's going on here. I don't like this

or that. And that's okay. Just make sure your

preferences. Are in the Bible. I'm talking to

myself. Because there's things that happen at

this church. That are not my preference. Do you

believe that? There are things that happen here.

That are not my personal preference. If I were

the boss. I would do it different. But guess

what? I ain't. First of all. I have the elders.

They're my boss. But I have a much bigger boss.

His name is Yeshua, the head of the church, right?

And so when my preferences begin to rub me raw

about what I like and don't like, I have to take

it to the holy word of God from the beginning

to the end and say, God, does this fit into your

scripture? Then flesh, shut up. Be quiet. You

have no right. I find it interesting that Jesus,

when he's talking about this, he says, and the

owner of the house brings out treasures. I love

it. Do you see the truths of God as treasure

or annoyance? Honestly. Do you see the word of

God as a beat down or life? And Jesus says that

homeowner will bring the treasures out of the

what? The storeroom or the storehouse. It's very

similar to the concept that Jesus talks about

in Danny and I's Disciplemaker JD. He says that

the heart is the storehouse. It's the storehouse

that you put the treasures of the truth in. And

out of that, the mouth flows. Out of that, everything

flows. That's why... The scripture tells us that

we have to protect and guard the heart. So Jesus

is saying, your heart is a storehouse and you

will bring treasures both new and old. Let me

ask you, do you have treasures in the storehouse?

Or do you rely on the preacher? Or your Bible

app? Do you know what I'm saying? The times,

are you with me? The times where you need it

in a moment's notice. Do you have treasures in

the storehouse? Have you put the word in? Have

you read it? Cherished it? Meditated on it? Memorized

it? Journaled about it? Studied it? Both on your

own and with groups and at church. These treasures

are everything for us because if we don't have

both old and new concepts, understanding treasures

of the scripture, then we have no truth to stand

on. And I don't know if you know this, but the

devil, he's a cunning liar. And he's had millennia

after millennia to fine -tune his craft. He's

a liar. And if we don't have the truth in the

storehouse, it's hard for us to stand on what

is true. You know what I'm saying? If we're basing

it on last week's sermon or what social media

is telling us that God says or whatever it may

be, that's when we get swayed back and forth.

Like the Bible says, like infants tossed to and

fro. But we want to be people, storehouses of

truth. So how does that apply? Don't give up.

This right or wrong, I'm just going to tell you,

there are many days I wake up, I don't want to

read the Bible. I'm just going to be honest.

There are many days that it's a discipline for

me. And I'm going to tell you, there are days

I read the Bible and I go, okay. And I don't

feel like it's highly impactful or it didn't

rock my world. But you know what? The next day,

do it again. I just want to encourage you. It's

not just about the light bulb heaven opens. And

those are great. And we love those. We're there

with them. We open the scripture and it's like,

boom. But there's also the cumulative effect

of discipline. Doing it day in. Day out. And

people are like, well, that's not organic. If

I don't feel passionate about it, it's fake.

Well, I dare you to try that routine in marriage.

No. No, faithfulness is not determined by the

hot, passionate moments. It's determined by devotion

in the drudgery, in the hardship, in the day

in and day out. Amen? Has anybody been married

here for a long time that can say amen to that?

I love the hot, passionate moments of marriage.

But I know that's not the reality of every day.

And so I show my devotion by daily sacrifice,

daily service, daily being there. And my wife

does the same. And it's the same thing with the

Lord. So don't give up. There have been entire

seasons. weeks, months, sadly, sad for me to

say, there have been months of dry seasons where

I'm reading the Word out of sheer discipline.

It probably shouldn't be that way for a preacher.

I'm just saying, there have been times in my

life where I feel like, wow, this is dry. So

what? It's not written for my pleasure. It's

written for my instruction. It's written for

me to understand who God is and His way is far

from my life. So let's be people of treasures

of old and new, consistent, but let's put the

treasures in the storehouse so that we'll be

ready in the moment of kingdom. Listen, if that

guy had asked me that question and I didn't have

the Bible, I mean, I'd have been like, can I

get back to you? I mean, because if you don't

have the Bible in your heart when somebody asks

you a question that's counterculture, if you

don't have eternal truth and confidence in it,

you got nothing. But when someone comes with

a provoking question that you have a feeling

they really want to catch you in, But all you

can do is fall back on the eternal, perfect word

of God that you've hidden in your heart. Then

there's confidence in that. There's trust in

what God will do. Does that make sense? Okay.

Could we close by just standing up together?

Is that okay? You really get your exercise in

this church. It's good for us. Alright. If...

If you feel led to recommit to faithfulness to

God's Word and boldness to share the Gospel,

would you just tell Him that right now? Would

you ask for His help? Jesus, as hard as it is

to... read the words of this parable, I'm thankful

for them. And God, we just recommit to You that

we are going to be a people of Your Word. We're

going to be a people of eternal perspective.

We're going to be a people ready in the moment

to share the Gospel everywhere You send us. Because

just as you loved us and saved us, we want that

for everyone else. And God, send us all over

the world this year. All over the world with

that gospel and boldness. We ask, I pray for

my friends that they would have encounters with

you this week that draw their hearts closer to

you. And I pray that all of us would not miss

one opportunity to release the kingdom. Lord,

help us to see it. Help us to see it. Help us

to hear it in the moment. And give us the anointing

of power and boldness to come through. It's all

for the glory of your name. In Jesus' name we

pray. Amen.