Preached by Chris Broom, 7/27/2008

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The Parable of the Net - Outline

“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 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.” Matthew 13:47-50

• There are all kinds of fish are in the net, and there are all kinds of people in the kingdom.
• There are over 25,000 identified species and there may be over 15,000 fish species not yet identified. There are more species of fish than all the species of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals combined. Some species of fish can fly (glide) others can skip along the surface and others can even climb rock. The spotted climbing perch is able to absorb oxygen from the air and will crawl overland in search of water when its water hole dries up. The smallest fish is the Philippine goby that is less than 1/3 of an inch when fully grown. Largest — Whale Shark up to 50 feet.
• The world’s largest lake trout was caught in Canada, and weighed in at 102 pounds.

What Kind of Fish Are You?
Fish #1. The blowfish.  Are you a spiritual blowfish?

The BLOWFISH is also known as the PUFFERFISH.  It is called the pufferfish because when it is threatened, it puffs up to about twice its normal size by gulping water. The blowfish contains an extremely strong, paralyzing poison called tetrodoxin. This poison is about a thousand times deadlier than cyanide.  There is no known antidote for this poison. Fugu… Japanese pufferfish is eaten in Japan, but is only cooked by specially-trained chefs who can minimize the amount of poison. Even so, many Japanese diners have died from eating this poisonous delicacy. (What are they thinking?)

Acts 24.24…Felix was afraid and sent Paul away.  (Afraid. Defensive. Prideful)

• He wasn’t a Christian.
• There are blowfish in the kingdom.
• What are you threatened by?
• Are we more threatened by the person or by the truth?
• Are we more afraid of each other than becoming like jesus.
• Are we more afraid of what people think or what God thinks?
• Are we more afraid of what people are gonna think, say and do when we preach to them or what’s going to happen to them if we don t preach and they don’t repent.
• DON’T BE A SPIRITUAL BLOWFISH.
• In this engorged state, the pufferfish can swim at only about half its normal speed. 
• Pride wastes time. You could be so much farther along.
• Repent of fear and pride. They slow you down.
• One of the arguments I have heard against laying our lives down for God and his mission to evangelize the world is that if we do, it will destroy our families. Because of this fear, so many disciples have retreated into a cocoon with their families and simply are not determined to love their neighbors as themselves (Matthew 22:39).
• The pendulum has swung so far away from the compassion Christ had on our lost world.
• In John 21, they were up fishin’ all night. We will spend a lot of time for our jobs, for money, and the desire for other things.
• I believe that God wants us to be willing to fish all day and all night, that Jesus will bring a miraculous catch as he did in John 21, and in Acts 2, and that as in John 21, the nets (our families) will not tear under the strain. He will strengthen our families when we decide to trust and obey his word and his plan for our lives. My hope and prayer is that many will be inspired to make changes in their personal and family life. Then we will confidently set about our campaign to make ourselves slaves to everyone so that we might win as many as possible (1 Corinthians 9:19).

Fish #2. The flounder.  Are you a spiritual flounder?
a. a flatfish. A fish with a flattened body adapted for life on the seafloor.
b. to behave awkwardly; have difficulties; “She is floundering in college”
1. To make clumsy attempts to move or regain one’s balance.
2. To move or act clumsily and in confusion.
Synonym: blunder.  A usually serious mistake typically caused by ignorance or confusion.

1 Corinthians 9.24:

• We are anchorless without deep convictions.
• Don’t be aimless. Get focused.
• The best and fastest way to learn a sport is to watch and imitate a champion.
  Jean-Claude Killy is a French alpine skier and a triple Olympic champion.
• Are you floundering because you are not imitation anyone as they imitate Christ?
• if you want to grow in a particular area, pick someone that is doing awesome and imitate.
• Stay focused on the prize. Satan wants to get us distracted, and busy.
• Remember why we are here?

1 Timothy 4:16:

• Watch your life and doctrine closely.
• Instead of doing this, many are floundering.
• Churches are floundering because they can’t do it on own.

Fish #3. The Crab
1. a crustacean, such as the hermit crab or king crab.  c. A horseshoe crab.
2  A quarrelsome, ill-tempered person. To find fault; criticize someone or something.

• Don’t be a crab.
• Don’t be a fault-finder.
• Build each other up.

Philippians 2:14

• Do everything without complaining.
• Be blameless and shine like a star as you hold out the Word of Life!
• That is God’s dream for His disciples.
• We should make every situation we are in different.
• Don’t be a crab: you won’t light up the room.

Fish #4.  The shark.  Are you a spiritual shark?
Sharks are everywhere.  They live in waters all over the world, in every ocean, and even in some rivers and lakes.  Unlike bony fish, sharks have no bones; their skeleton is made of cartilage, which is a tough, fibrous substance, not nearly as hard as bone.  There are many different species of sharks that range in size from the size of a person’s hand to bigger than a bus. Fully-grown sharks range in size from 7 inches long (the Spined Pygmy shark), up to 50 feet long (the Whale shark). Most sharks are intermediate in size, and are about the same size as people, 5-7 feet long.  Sharks may have up to 3,000 teeth at one time. Most sharks do not chew their food, but gulp it down whole it in large pieces. The teeth are arranged in rows; when one tooth is damaged or lost, it is replaced by another. Most sharks have about 5 rows of teeth at any time. The front set is the largest and does most of the work.

SHARK ATTACKS
When some sharks (like the Great White or the Gray Reef shark) turn aggressive prior to an attack, they arch their back and throw back their head. This places their mouth in a better position for taking a big bite.

FEEDING FRENZY
Occasionally, a group of sharks will attack a food source (for example, a school of fish) in a maniacal fashion. They will wildly attack the food and anything in the area, even each other, sometimes wounding or eating fellow sharks.

Acts 20:28

• Paul warns the Elders of the churches to be on their guard!
• Savage wolves attack the church.
• Even from within the church, some will rise to distort the truth and draw disciples away from God.
• We have to be on guard.
• Be careful because in the kingdom there are sharks.
• Some are not in the kingdom for the right reasons.
• Don’t be a spiritual shark. Stay humble.
• If you see one, scream Shark! Get out of the water!
• I’ve seen people I love very much become intense persecutors of the church.
• Paul says in Galatians to let sharks, including himself, to be condemned!

Other Bad fish that we could talk about are:

• Large mouth bass.
• Bigmouth sleeper.
• Three-eyed flounder.
• Lumpfish.
• Tonguefish.
• The one that got away.

Here are some Good fish:

• Angel fish.
• King fish.
• Starfish.
• Flying fish.
• Swordflsh. A large game fish having a long sword like extension of the upper jaw that is used chiefly as a means of defense and attack.
• My personal favorite: the Holy Mackerel.

Fish #5.  The Salmon.  Are you a spiritual salmon?

They are born in fresh water, migrate to the ocean, then return to fresh water to reproduce. Folklore has it that the fish return to the exact spot where they were born to spawn and modern research shows that usually at least 90% of the fish spawning in a stream were born there.  In all species of Pacific salmon, the mature individuals die within a few days or weeks of spawning, and even in those species of salmon that may survive to spawn more than once, post-spawning mortality is quite high (40 to 50%.) 

UPSTREAM JOURNEY:

When they begin they cease feeding. They swim more or less as a group. Some species must cover 30 - 50 km. per day. They have to swim at incredible rates. The long journey is a remarkable feat. The trip upstream can present many obstacles. The fish faces both natural and man-made hazards. Swimming against the current, the salmon may encounter waterfalls, dams, fallen trees, adverse water conditions and predators.
Since the salmon have been programmed to return to the same tributary of the river and even the same stream and gravel shallow in which their parents spawned and they themselves were hatched, they swim on.

Bottom Line: The salmon knows that the ocean water is not it’s home. Therefore it sets out on a journey that when all is done will cost the fish it’s life.

So many people are floundering: Lives broken, talents wasting, fires quenched, dreams dashed. They are tossed back & forth, in desperate need of help, with no notion of purpose. So many people, when confronted by the word, will respond like blowfish: Threatened and Defensive. I urge you to have hearts that are open, hungry to change. Then you will see your wounds healing and your vision clearing. If you will welcome the sometimes painful molding of God’s hand, longing to be changed, begging to be called, demanding nothing and surrendering all, you will find yourself in the Master’s hands: Ready to be used by him to help other. This world is not our home.  We are on an upstream journey that when all is done, will cost us our lives.  All that will matter in the end is 1. do we make it, and 2. who is there with us that we helped to make it as well. Let’s keep fishing!

- Chris Broom

Categories: Sermons