February 12, 2012

There are certain symptoms you can’t afford to ignore. Let me list some of these symptoms: discomfort in the center of your chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back and feels like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain; pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach; shortness of breath; breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness. If you have symptoms like this, these are warning signs of heart attack, and you cannot afford to ignore them.

When Jesus walked this earth he did things and said things that were highly significant. He claimed to be God in the flesh and backed those claims up with miracles and authoritative teaching. These parables were part of that teaching. Today we come to the parable of the net. From this parable I must say that you cannot afford to ignore the kingdom of God.

I. PRESENTLY THE KINGDOM OF GOD INCLUDES MANY KINDS OF PEOPLE. Mt.13:47-50

Sometimes this parable has been interpreted to be about the church, similar to the parable of the wheat and the tares. In other words, in the church you have people who are saved and unsaved. But this parable is not about the church. It is about the kingdom of God.

In the time of Jesus, fishermen would often stretch out a large net between two boats and lower it into the water. There were lead weights on the bottom of the net and cork floats on the top of the net. Then the net was pulled and everything in its path was caught. As Jesus describes the kingdom of God, clearly he sees a situation in which there are many kinds of people who are caught up in and impacted by the work of the kingdom of God. Now this doesn’t surprise us since we know that the kingdom of God is open for everyone. Even in the Old Testament we read about how the Gentiles would participate in the kingdom of God. Of course in the kingdom of God there are men, women, and children. People from every ethnic group are found in the kingdom of God. It’s open to everyone.

Think about when Jesus walked this earth. We read that many people followed him. They heard his profound teachings and saw his amazing miracles and they were drawn to him. Many were drawn to him because they came to the conclusion that he was going to restore the kingdom of Israel. After the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 inJn.6 we read that they wanted to take Jesus by force and make him their king. Jesus revealed the presence, the power, and the blessing of the kingdom of God and many people were attracted and caught up in the net, so to speak. There was and is something very attractive and compelling about Jesus and the rule of God. Jesus went around doing good to people. His teachings pointed to a very noble way of living life. So, yes, all kinds of people came under the influence of Jesus and were swept up into the enthusiasm of the kingdom.

Now things are not always what they appear to be. In Mt.7:21, Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ’Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Very interesting! Obviously there were people who called Jesus, “Lord,” but in reality Jesus was not their Lord. In Jn.6:66-67 after Jesus gave the difficult teaching about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, it says, “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. ‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve.” Notice that those who turned away from Jesus were also called disciples. Think about the Twelve. Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus was part of the Twelve. Yet he showed that he was not a disciple of Christ

And so it is with the kingdom of God. As it was in Jesus’ day, so it is in our day. The church seeks to do the kingdom work of Jesus in the world. Christians express the love of Christ and live honorable lives in the world, and many are attracted and may attach themselves to Jesus and to his kingdom work, and yet they are not really in the kingdom of God. They have tasted of the good things of the kingdom, but they’ve never truly embraced Jesus as King.

And so we find both in the world and even in the church that people of all sorts have varyingassociations with the kingdom of God. I think of our own country. At the beginning there was a strong foundation laid by the pilgrims in New England. That foundation included a strong moral code based upon the Word of God. That foundation was used to establish many of our laws and set a moral course for the nation at large. You might say that our nation was influenced by the presence and work of the kingdom of God. People who had no relationship with Jesus were still swept into the net of the kingdom.

II.AT THE END OF THE AGE THOSE IN THE KINGDOM WILL BE JUDGED.

You can well imagine that when the fishermen pull the net up on the shore they will find all sorts of sea creatures. The net is indiscriminant. Some creatures are not edible and others might be edible but not tasty. So the fishermen have to sort the fish. They pull out all of the bad fish and dispose of them, keeping only the fish that are good for eating.

Jesus explains that at the end of the age the angels of God will come and separate the wicked from the righteous. Speaking of judgment is certainly not appropriate to many people in our culture. Most people do not feel they deserve judgment. Judgment is only for the worst in society. Most people consider themselves decent and upright. We tend to compare ourselves with one another and when we do that, each of us feels that we’re okay. In fact, we probably see ourselves as being a little better than the next guy.

But another reason why it’s inappropriate to speak of judgment today is because many people think divine judgment is passé. The idea that God is a God of wrath and vengeance has long been discarded. If there is a god, he is a god of love. So I would say that many people just do not think much about judgment anymore. And because of this, we tend to ignore or even wink at behaviors and attitudes that the Bible defines as being sinful and rebellious against the moral laws of God.

This past week a book came out which chronicles an 18 month affair that Mimi Alford (69) had with the late President Kennedy when she was a 19 year old intern at the White House. Her television interview conveyed no indication that this was wrong or inappropriate. After all it was the president and, as she explained, she kind of wanted to do it. “I should have felt guilty,” she said in the interview to promote her book. “He was married to Mrs. Kennedy, but I didn’t, at the time, feel guilty.” She went on to marry and divorce. The article I read said, that “her history with Kennedy was so much to bear that it ruined her marriage.” I only cite this because it is a blatant example of what goes on all the time in the lives of people. Deceit, theft, immorality, murder, racism, violence, immoral thoughts, pornography, witchcraft, gossip, abortion, divorce, disobedience to parents, slavery, and much more is common in our world.

In Eph.4:19 Paul writes, describing mankind, “Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.” And in Rm.1:32 Paul writes, “Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. The very fact that everyone has a conscience and a sense of right and wrong, should give us pause. If there is no ultimate accountability then there is no real guilt. But the Bible makes it clear that we are accountable to God, our creator. The Bible makes it clear that disobedience to God and rebellion against God, brings God’s just punishment.

It may seem that people get away with doing sinful things, but not really. God sees all that we do and he knows the motives of our heart. I remember hearing a person explain away her sin by saying, “God understands me,” as if to say that because God understands her, her sin is understandable and okay. God does understand us all too well, but that never diminishes the sinfulness of our sin.

And so, Jesus says that at the end of the age, judgment is coming. The wicked are going to be separated from the righteous. The wicked are going to be thrown into the fiery furnace where there is weeping and great despair. Who are the righteous and the wicked? Well, the righteous are those who have embraced God’s provision for salvation. The wicked are those who have ignored or rejected God’s provision for salvation. God’s provision is found in Jesus Christ. If you do not know Jesus Christ, you will be judged with the wicked, and no matter how righteous you may think you are, will be of little consequence. In that day the only opinion that counts is God’s opinion. And that leads me to ask the question…

III.ARE YOU PREPARED FOR THE JUDGMENT OF GOD?

Last Sunday we watched the super bowl. It is the final test to determine the champion NFL football team. Those athletes do not begin their preparation on the morning of the big game. They have been preparing themselves ever since the day they began to play football. They are constantly practicing and honing their skills. In other words, if you wait till the day of test to begin to prepare, you will fail the test. The time to prepare for judgment is now.

So you may be wondering, “How does one actually prepare for the judgment of God?” Is God going to ask us some questions? In Mt.12:36 Jesus says, “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.” Have you spoken some careless words? In Rm.14:10 Paul writes, You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.” Do you judge others? Do you look down on others? Yeah, I’d say there’s going to be some questions.

Is God going to play a dvd of our lives? In Heb.4:13 it says, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Is there anything hidden in your life that you don’t want exposed? How will you fare in the judgment?

According to the Bible, the only way to be prepared to face the judgment of God is to embrace Jesus as your Savior and Lord by entrusting your life and eternity into his hands. I use the word, “embrace” because Jesus did for us what no one else would ever do. He took the guilt of our sin upon himself. Not only that, but he bore the punishment our sin when he died on the cross. Through his death and resurrection Jesus made it possible for God to freely forgive our sins and to grant us eternal life in his eternal kingdom.

When we embrace Jesus as our Savior and Lord, it means we let go of every other thing that we have been counting on to stand us in good stead before God. It means that we recognize how undeserving we are to receive forgiveness because of our sin and we turn away from sin to cling to Jesus for salvation. It means that in humble gratitude we cast ourselves upon Jesus and surrender to him forever as our King. This is done by faith because we cannot see Jesus. It is done by faith because we must trust Jesus to keep his word.

There are many people who have high blood pressure and they take medication to keep their blood pressure down. Sometimes these medications seem to lose their effectiveness and so a person has to find a new medication. The doctor may prescribe this one or that one until the best is found. It’s kind of hit and miss. There are some people who have such weak hearts, that they need a heart transplant. It’s a matter of life or death. There is nothing hit or miss about it. Either you get the new heart or you die. Coming to Jesus is not like changing blood pressure medications. Coming to Jesus is more like getting a heart transplant. Your life and eternity hangs in the balance because you are a sinner and facing the judgment of God. Only Jesus can save you from your sin. Only Jesus can prepare you to face the judgment of God. You cannot afford to ignore the kingdom of God. Will you not turn to Christ today? Amen