“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into
the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they drew it
up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers,
but the bad they threw away. So it will be at the end of the age; the angels
will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will
throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 13:47–50, NASB95)
A number of years ago one of our sons was given the
opportunity to spend his summer before his senior year of high school in Alaska
fishing with a close friend and his family. They had a commercial salmon
fishing permit, and they would go every year there to fish with nets. And as
they pulled in the nets they had to sort through and separate the flounder and others
from the salmon. One they kept and all of the others went right back into the
water. According to this parable the kingdom of God is like a dragnet cast into
the sea which would be used to gather in all of the fish, without any escaping.
Once the fish are brought in they likewise will be separated with the good fish
(salmon in the case of our story) being kept and the bad (everything else) not
being thrown back to continuing swimming, but thrown away—cast into the furnace
of fire.
This is ultimately a picture of two kinds of fish and two
destinations. There are no other options. Scripture tells us that one day we
will all appear before God some to inherit life and some cast away into the
lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). “And the
beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his
presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and
those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of
fire which burns with brimstone.” (Revelation 19:20, NASB95) … “And the devil
who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the
beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night
forever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10, NASB95) … “Then death and Hades were
thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And
if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into
the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:14–15, NASB95)
Clearly we can see from these verses that God is not playing
games with eternity. What happens when the net is pulled in has eternal
consequences. The good fish, who Jesus named as the righteous, will receive
eternal life and the bad fish, who Jesus named as the wicked, will be thrown
into a lake which in this case is the lake of eternal fire and is known as the
second death. For them it is the second death because physically we all die
unless we are taken when the Lord comes or are separated at the end of the
Great Tribulation (Matthew 25). But for those who are declared righteous, they
will only experience death once as they are the recipients of eternal life.
“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and
after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the
sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin,
to those who eagerly await Him.” (Hebrews 9:27–28, NASB95) Throughout time there
have been those preachers known as fire and brimstone preachers. These are the
ones that drive home the destiny that awaits those who reject salvation in
Jesus Christ. They speak of an eternal future that is certain in its torment
and wailing. They plead with people to “turn lest they burn.” For those who reject God
their future will be one of total separation from Him, with no change of course
at any time. It will be a permanent judgment, and the only way to avoid this is
to accept God’s gift of salvation in His Son—to believe that Jesus died for our
sins and rose from the dead.
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also
received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that
He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the
Scriptures,” (1 Corinthians 15:3–4, NASB95) … “But now Christ has been raised
from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man
came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all
die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order:
Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then
comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He
has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He
has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished
is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:20–26, NASB95)
For those of us who have trusted Christ and who have the
assurance of salvation and eternal life, we have been entrusted with the
greatest message man can ever know. We have been called by God to be His
ambassadors to the fish who are dying. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is
a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now
all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and
gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ
reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them,
and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are
ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg
you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to
be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
(2 Corinthians 5:17–21, NASB95)
As Jesus called His disciples, so do we also have the opportunity
to be a part of the greatest catch ever made. Consider the words of Jesus and
the response of Peter and his brother, Andrew, “Now as Jesus was walking by the
Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his
brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to
them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left
their nets and followed Him.” (Matthew 4:18–20, NASB95)
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