Enter the Kingdom's Fish-Basket, not just the Fish-Net
Entering the net is not the same as being placed in the basket. In Matthew 13:47–51, Jesus compared the Kingdom of Heaven to a fishing net that gathered every kind of fish. When the net reached the shore, the good fish went into baskets while the bad were thrown away. The message distinguishes the broad gathering of the Fishnet from the narrow sorting into the Baskets. It also gives a warning about foundations. The Words and Life of Jesus Christ must remain the True Foundation for spiritual and eternal decisions. Paul’s letters and the other Scriptures are valuable for edification upon that foundation, but they must not replace Christ or be distorted. Second Peter 3:15–16 says that some things in Paul’s letters are hard to understand. Uncertain and unprincipled people twist them as they twist the other Scriptures. Believers are therefore told to remain on guard and hold their firm position. The teaching then returns to the Fishnet. Being gathered from the sea does not complete the fina
Transcript
Are You a Fish in His Baskets or Meat in His Pot? Matthew 13:47–51, FBV: “Once more, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net thrown into the sea that caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, it was dragged ashore. The good fish were put into baskets while the bad ones were thrown away. That’s the way it will be when the end of the world comes. The angels will go out and separate the evil people from the good, and throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Now do you understand everything?” “Yes,” they replied. In this parable of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Fishnet was differentiated from the Baskets—Vessels or Pots. Not all fishes that entered the Fishnet were qualified to enter the Baskets. That is a way to describe the Life or Kingdom of God we are pressing to enter. Many will find the Gospel of entering the Fishnet very simple and comfortable, but will find entering the Baskets hard and narrow. Please, I beg you, stop using the teachings or Scriptures of Paul as any foundation or base for any spiritual doctrine. Paul’s teachings or writings are not meant to be the foundation for any of your Kingdom or spiritual decisions into eternity. Rather, the Words and Life of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself are the True Foundation. Then you may use the teachings and epistles of Paul and the other Scripture writers for edification on the Foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, not a disciple of Paul. Some of the controversies that plague Christianity over the ages stem from those who are arguing or viewing the whole Gospel and Kingdom from Paul’s letters in the Bible. Paul’s writings are Scriptures, or good, but they are easily abused. Incidentally, Paul viewed the abuse of the old commandments or old law, and somehow his own writings are also abused or used wrongly. Even Peter, citing abuse of Paul’s letters, said: Second Peter 3:15–16, GWN: “Think of our Lord’s patience as an opportunity for us to be saved. This is what our dear brother Paul wrote to you about, using the wisdom God gave him. He talks about this subject in all his letters. Some things in his letters are hard to understand. Ignorant people and people who aren’t sure of what they believe distort what Paul says in his letters the same way they distort the rest of the Scriptures. These people will be destroyed. Dear friends, you already know these things. So be on your guard not to be carried away by the deception of people who have no principles. Then you won’t fall from your firm position.” Read it again, and note where Peter said such people will be destroyed for not being sure of what they believe in distortion to Paul’s Scriptures. Now back to the parable of the Fishnet and the Baskets, describing the Kingdom of Heaven. The Fishnet first spread a nice and easy Gospel that got all of them trooping into the Fishnet by Faith without reformation. Then came the time of sorting or scanning, and faith was not used again to put them into the Baskets, but each one’s individual goodness, cleanness, and so on. The rotten, unclean, or bad fishes were not selected into the Baskets or Pots, even though they were redeemed from the sea and were part of the Fishnet fishes drawn out of the sea. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself explained that the end of the world will feature the Angels of God separating good or righteous People from evil or unrighteous People. This means the Angels of God will play a great role with the LORD in judging and separating between all of us. Ezekiel 11:11, GWN: “The city will not be your cooking pot, and you will not be the meat in it. I will judge you at Israel’s borders.” Ezekiel 11:11, LBP: “This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall you be the meat in the midst of it; but I will judge you in the border of Israel.” The Caldron, the Cooking Pot, the Baskets, the Vessels, and the Barn: These are vessels in parables the LORD used in illustrating this truth to us. They refer to the Holy City, the Kingdom of God, or Eternal Life. You are saved by faith without works, but you shall be judged by your works, not judged by your faith. The Lord is going to judge all of us by our works. Faith without Work is Dead in Judgment.