Alright, let's take our Bibles and turn with me to the book of Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13. Now we've been going through the parables of our Lord. There's seven parables that the Lord has been pleased to preach and teach through this blessed chapter in verses 3 through 8. chapter 13, he taught how the effect of the Word of God is wrought upon his people. He taught in this parable that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a sower that goes through and sows the seed of the Word of God. And as the seed is sown, it falls on different types of soil. You've got wayward soil, stony ground, thorny ground, and finally, good soil. And from that, we learn that God's Word has a lasting and effectual effect only upon that soil made good in regenerating grace by God's Spirit. And then the next parable he taught was found in verses 24 to 30, and what that parable was about was how found within the kingdom of heaven, there's always mixed types, mixed people, mixed company. It's like a man that sowed good seed in his field, but an enemy comes and sows tares in the same field that the Lord has His people, sown throughout all the world, and Satan has sown reprobates in the same places. And we learn that there's always going to be found every true assembly of God's making. There's always going to be tares found among the wheat. They're always there. And then in verses 31 and 32, in that particular parable, he talked of how the way that the church, the kingdom of heaven, prospers in the world. He said it's like a grain of mustard seed. Now, when a grain of mustard seed, which is the tiniest of all seeds, is planted, It's setting forth that the church appeared in its earliest conception into this world. It appeared so that it was just almost insignificant. But by the grace of God, His kingdom would grow to be the greatest among herbs. It set forth the glorious expansion of God's people in God's timing to His honor and to the eternal good of his people. And then in verse 33, he taught concerning the kingdom of heaven. He said how the kingdom grows in grace. He's teaching something different about every one of these parables is teaching something different concerning the kingdom of God. In that particular parable, he was talking about leaven that's placed within meal. Now this is not leaven. as we think of leaven as a type of sin, but it's leaven as a picture of the life of Christ, a living thing, as it's set and placed within God's people. It's set forth in the gospel. Life is imparted into the vessels of God's mercy, And then it's placed in grace, in regenerating grace, and it graciously has a consuming effect upon the whole of a believer. Everything about a believer is new. Old things passed away, all things are made new, so they grow. And then in verse 44, concerning the the kingdom of heaven, it's speaking of the humiliation of Christ to come into this world, to be made flesh for His people, to find them, of which He's known them eternally. but he's going to find them in calling them out. It says that the parable of the treasure hid in a field, and the treasure is the church. And God has a people throughout all the world, every nation, kid, tribe, and tongue, and he's got some sheep, and they are his treasure. And the parable said to be found by a man, that man that loved the church and gave himself for her, the man, Christ Jesus. And He, because of His love for ourselves, all that He has, He humbled Himself, laid aside the essential glory, which He never relinquished, but He veiled it in human flesh, and He came as the Servant of Jehovah to buy the field of the whole world, that He might gather out of the world all of His elect. And then in verse 45 and 46, he told a parable that revealed the quickening effect that the gospel has upon his people. How his people, in regenerating grace, are caused to see and made willing in the day of God's power. It says his sheep, they're like men before they're converted. that are looking for goodly pearls. You know man by nature, he's looking for these the goodly pearls of this world's false religion. He thinks one's just as good as the other. But when the Lord stops him in his tracks, he arrests him like he did Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. He stops him, gives him a new heart, and then that man in regenerating grace rejects everything that he ever thought that he wanted, and now he realizes he sells all that he has. Paul the Apostle says, those things that were gained to me, he said, now I consider loss for the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. So he buys that pearl, that Christ is the pearl of great price. He buys Him by faith, purchased without money and without price. So those were the first six parables that the Lord taught us in Matthew chapter 13. Now today we're going to look at the last of these parables in this chapter and it's going to be found in in verses 47 to 50. Now let's just let's look at Matthew 13 verse 47 to 50 and let's read these verses. 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, 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, shall cast them into the furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Now, this last parable is going to set forth how God is gathering His people, gathering His kingdom unto Himself. This is the God-ordained way that God's kingdom, His church, His bride, His elect is gathered. It's not gathered by the man honoring ways of self-righteous works, but it's gathered like a fisherman fishes with a net. Now, this net, it said in verse 47, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net as cast into the sea. Now, when the gospel which is the net, that is the gospel, a net is cast into the water. We cast the water, I mean cast the net into the water like a fisherman that's casting his net. I mean we cast the net into the world, I'm sorry, like a fisherman casts into the water. And when he casts, he throws his net out there and it just hits the water and he can't see what's out there. All he can see is the top of the water. So what he does, he throws the net out. And the net goes out, and it hits out in the water, and there's all kinds of fish out there. He don't know what kind there is, he just knows that he's fishing. And so he throws the net of the gospel out. Hold your place right there, and turn to Mark chapter 16. Mark chapter 16. Mark chapter 16, verse 15 and 16. Here's what the Lord said concerning the throwing of the net. He said, you go into all the world and you preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned. So here's what we're doing. When we cast a net into the world, whether it be by internet, whether it be television, newspaper, whatever it is, what we're doing is we're going to cast a net into the world, and we're going to let that gospel go forth. God's people are going to be called out like this, but we don't know who they are. We don't know where the sheep are, so we do what the Lord has instructed us to do. And we tell all men, when we cast this net, Acts 17 30, in the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. Now let me tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to preach the gospel of the glory of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm going to tell all men, God commands all men to repent. to think differently on how God justifies a sinner. And so we throw that net out, and we're gonna trust God. We're preaching the same gospel to everybody. As Mr. Spurgeon said, if you just mark everybody that's one of God's people with an E for elect, I'll just preach to them, but I don't know who they are. So I'm gonna preach to everybody. So we preach the gospel, And we believe that God's going to bless it. The Lord said in John 6.37, He said, All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me, and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out. But I don't know who they are. So I'm going to take the only means that God Almighty has set forth that He's going to bless and this net goes forth. We don't try to improve on it. I'm not going to tie little prizes on it and give little rewards on the net and promise the fish. I'm going to throw the net. That's all I'm going to do. I'm going to set forth the net of God's gospel and I'm going to providentially, I'm going to trust God to providentially bless it. So we know that the Lord is going to call out His own. So as that net is cast into the sea of this world, God has promised that there shall be found in that casting, here's what you're going to pull in. You're going to pull in all kinds. That's what he said. Look at verse 47 again. It says, again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind. Gathered of every kind. You're gonna have all kinds that are gonna come in here. This same truth was set forth. Hold your place. Turn to Matthew 22. Matthew 22. Matthew 22. Let's read verses one to 10. Matthew 22, one to 10. The same thing. We preach the gospel, we tell all men to repent, as we cast that net out, all kinds come in. Matthew 22, 1 to 10, Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables and said, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king which made a marriage for his son. Now here's the father that's made a marriage for the Lord Jesus Christ. He sent forth his servants, preachers, Call them that were bidden to the wedding. And they would not come. That's a picture of the Jews that rejected the gospel, that rejected Christ. Again, He sent forth other servants saying, tell them what you're bidden. Behold, I've prepared my dinner, my oxen, my fat ones are killed, all things are ready, come to the marriage. They made a light of it. Went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise. The remnant took his servants and treated them spitefully, slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth. He sent forth his armies, destroyed those murderers, burned up their city, then said he to his servants, the wedding is ready. But they which were bidden were not worthy. Go you therefore into the highways, as many as you find, you bid to the marriage. So those servants went out to the highways and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. And the wedding was furnished with guests. And just to look at the next few verses, you're going to see what happens. I don't want to get ahead of myself here, but look what happened. Did the Lord say to get them all in here? Bad and good, you bring them in. Look what's going to happen when God makes the distinguishing decision. When the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. And he said unto him, How camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, you bind him hand and foot and take him away and cast him into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Many are called, few are chosen. So what are we doing? We're going to cast that net and here's what's going to happen. We know that all kinds are going to be here. We've seen that here. You know, we know that only the Lord's sheep are going to be saved, but like in the parable of the tares, every gospel assembly there's going to be found every different kind. We're going to have some that believe and some don't, some come out of curiosity, some come to appease a guilty conscience and any other number of reasons, but they're always going to be among the sheep. There's always going to be some good and bad, you know, and the Lord is the one who's allowed this mixture. 1 Corinthians 11, 19 says, for there must be heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. You know how you tell a crooked stick? Put a straight one next to it. All of a sudden you see one of them's crooked. So we continue to preach the gospel. This is what we're doing. We preach the gospel, we preach the gospel, we throw the net, we throw the net, we invite men to come, we tell them you come here, you come and repent, and we continue to preach. And then 48 says, and when it was full, they drew to shore, sat down and gathered the good unto vessels, cast the bad away. Now, I'm going to tell you something. It's coming a time when this casting is going to be over. When it's full. That's the end of the world. We're going to preach as long as the Lord gives us time. As long as I'm able to think, and that's starting to wane, but as long as I have the ability to preach when it's full, or when the end of the world comes. When the time of the Lord's determination This world is going to cease. We're not going to be doing this forever. And all of His sheep have been gathered. They've all been converted. God's got a people and He's going to convert every one of them. When the last sheep has been called and God determines it's over, then they're going to draw to shore. And they're going to sit down. It's going to end. And the trump of God is going to sound, and God is going to call all men unto the judgment, and there's going to be a gathering, and in that day there's going to be a separation. That's what he said, verse 48. It said they sat down, gathered the good, into vessels and cast the bat away. Now there's going to be a separation. This gathering, this separation is revealed to be by the means of God's angels. God's angels are going to do this. They said, how do you know that? Well look at verse 49. So shall it be at the end of the world, the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just. It's just like fishermen do. You go out there and you throw a net and you start pulling stuff in, you're going to have some good fish, you're going to have to have some bad fish, you're going to have to have old boots and you're going to have to have You're going to have beer cans and you're going to have everything else you're going to drag in with that net. And you're going to start throwing stuff out that's completely useless and worthless, just like a fisherman does. God's going to send His ministering spirits, His angels that have been placed over, according to Hebrews 1.14, over God's sheep. God has angels that are ministering spirits that are sent to ministers to those who shall be heirs of salvation. And obviously these angels know who they are. God revealed them to them. There's mine right there. And God is going to take them and they're going to separate the sheep from the goats. And they're going to usher into the very presence of God those who have everlastingly been loved of the Lord just like in the case of the rich man and Lazarus. Remember, Lazarus was an old beggar and he sat at the door of a rich man that fared sumptuously every day just trying to get some crumbs. Dogs licked his sores and stuff like that. And it says in Luke 16 about Lazarus when he died, it says, And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. Now can you imagine? The moment a believer leaves this world, when his soul separates from his body, the angels are going to usher him into the presence of God according to that word. It wasn't a parable. That was an event. So there's going to be a separation of the people, but it's going to be the sheep and the goats. The sheep on the right hand, the goats on the left. And the sheep are going to enter into the kingdom that's been prepared for them from before the foundation of the world. And the goats shall be cast out into the furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. So the Lord said, now this is how it's going to end. This is how it's going to be throughout the world. all of the life of this world from the very beginning. This is how God's been gathering His people. We cast the net of the gospel. We preach the gospel. Noah was a preacher of righteousness before the flood. God sent a preacher. And he's got preachers today, and that's what they're doing. They're just casting the net. They pull them in. They come into an assembly. And you've got all kinds. You've got wheat and tares. the Lord said concerning the tarry, leave them alone, leave them alone, leave them alone. I'm going to separate them, don't worry. Don't worry, God knows who are his. So he taught this blessed parable. And then he asked his disciples in verses 51, he asked them a question. Jesus saith unto them, have you understood all these things? And they say unto him, He said, you know, that was a precious question. What a real bit of information I needed. I needed to hear that. The Lord, the all-wise, you know, omniscient, that means He knows everything. He asked His disciples, now He knew the answer. He knew the answer to the question. Have you all understood what I'm saying? I could ask you that, and I don't know if you understand or not. But the Lord knew. But He did that for us. He did that for our instruction. He was teaching us, showing us the necessity of being sensitive to their hearers. You know, if someone is listening to what I'm saying and you don't understand what I'm meaning, what I'm preaching is doing absolutely no good. You don't understand me. I want you to understand what I'm saying. So a God-called minister desires that his hearers understand what he's saying. My wife has told me, I'll ask her, you know, she'll tell me one time, she said, look, people may not agree with you, but they understand what you're saying. That's what I want. I want you to understand what I'm saying. So the Lord asked them for our instruction He said, have you understood all these things? They said unto him, we have, and we do, we understand, we don't understand the fullness of the depth of all of it, but we understand what he's been teaching us. And then he said unto them, this will be the last verse for today. He said, then said he unto them, therefore, since you understand, every scribe, that is every preacher, which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that's a householder. He's a steward. He's a steward. God has called me to preach the gospel. I've got a commission. And I'm a steward of the gospel. He said, he's likened to a man that is a householder which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. What does that mean? Well, there's some things that God has taught his people, his preachers, concerning the kingdom of heaven. They were given to his preachers, not to be held on to. I try to come up and try to prepare and try to read and seek the Lord's guidance and direction. And these things are not just for my own personal, you know, they are for my personal, but I'm to distribute them. I'm like a householder, a steward. And these things that have been instructed to teach, not only those things that I was first taught, there's some things that I've learned when I first began to hear. But I'm going to tell you something, when he said things new and old, I mean, there's some things that God teaches us every day. We don't know everything. I mean, we know in part, see in part, see through a glass darkly, and God teaches us something. I mean, we'll see something in a scripture that we've seen and seen and seen, and all of a sudden, we see it. I never saw that before. But the things that I had learned and that you know and learned years and years and years ago, we continue to teach those things. That's why Paul says, you know, to say the same things unto you to me is not grievous. He said for you it's safe. We need to hear these things new and old. Oh, the blessing of hearing and beholding and being refreshed again concerning those things that's been taught us by the Spirit of God through the preaching of the gospel. So these blessed parables that the Lord has taught, these refreshing lessons on how God's dealing with His people have been taught by Him to us for His glory and our good. And I pray that the Lord bless them to us for His sake. Amen.