The Kingdom Is Like

Mt. 13:47-52

Our Lord used many parables to tell us truths we need to know. If you read the complete 13th chapter of Matthew you will find the kingdom of God likened to many things.

It is like a farmer sowing seed. Some fell by the wayside (hard, beaten path), the fowls ate it. Some fell on stony places and grew for a short while but died because it had no depth (hearts full of other things). Some fell among the thorns but thorns choked it out (no room for the seed). Some fell among good soil and brought forth fruit, some an hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty. Again he said it is like a farmer who sowed a field, he sowed wheat but during the night his enemy sowed some tares into his field and later on his workers saw what had happened. They told the owner of the field what had happened and asked should we pull the tares up. He told them to wait until harvest then they will separate the wheat from the tares. The tares has roots that run deeper and you will uproot the wheat if you try to separate them now. Again he said the kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed, very small but grows to be the largest herbs in the field. It is like a person finding a treasure in a field and sells all he has in order to buy that field. It is like a merchant looking for pearls and he finds a pearl of great price and sells all he has in order to buy that one pearl.

This brings us to our text. This net which is cast into the sea can be the gathering of people from the sea of life. You and I are going to be in the group that we rightfully belong in. In the sea you will find some sharks, snakes, barracudas, eels, perch and many other kind of fish. Some are eatable and some are not. You will find each of these fish running with their own kind. I am convinced that you will also find mankind doing the same thing. Drinking people seem to enjoy being with others who drink. Adulterers run with adulterers. Liars run with liars. People who gossip like to be with others who gossip. And by all means a Christian should want to be with other Christians.

How does a person become what they are? A  drunk starts young by taking a beer here and there and later on he goes to harder drink and before he knows it, he desires to be with his drinking buddies. The next he knows he is hooked on the habit of drinking.

The same is true of people who gossip, lie, steal and cheat. It starts small and grows. No one intends to go this way but by staying in the crowd who does it, it happens. What basket are you going to be put into? Today you can draw the net in and you see a snake, you call it a snake, you treat it as a snake. "But I will keep it and some day it will be a big beautiful bass fish." If you put it into your basket where you have your good fish and it stays there very long, you will have a serious problem on your hands. We must be very careful what kind of crowds we run with. Jesus said judgment is coming, listen to what the last message of the Bible says: Rev .22:11-19.