PARABLES OF THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM (PART 6)
KC Tsai—Toronto, Canada

Editor’s note: The seven parables in Matthew 13 enable men to find the true church through the knowledge of the kingdom of God. In the first parable—the parable of the sower—only seeds that fall on good soil will grow, be deeply rooted, flourish, and bear fruit. Everyone has an equal chance to find the kingdom of heaven, but only the truly receptive heart will understand the gospel, come to the true church, and continuously walk in God’s word. In the second parable—the parable of the tares—tares sown among good seeds will ultimately be weeded out and destroyed. The devil works through false brethren to trouble the true church. True believers should not lose heart but trust God to eradicate the sons of the wicked one. In the third parable—the parable of the mustard seed—the eponymous seed grows into a huge tree that attracts birds to nest in its branches. The growing true church will suffer the infiltration of heresies. To continue to enjoy God’s abidance, the true church must firmly uphold the truth at all times. In the fourth parable—the parable of the leaven—leaven hidden within a small measure of meal leavened the entire lump. The true church must remain hypervigilant because the slightest tolerance of immorality or infidelity to the truth will corrupt and destroy the church. In the parable of the hidden treasure and the parable of the pearl, the protagonists sell everything they own to retain the treasure they have found. As a church and as individual believers, we are blessed with the priceless blessing of the truth and the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ. We must do all we can to keep this truth and proclaim this way of righteousness.

This installment concludes our series on the parables of the heavenly kingdom.  

THE PARABLE OF THE DRAGNET

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (Mt 13:47–50)

A net cast into the sea does not discriminate between the sea life it captures. However, a critical point of this parable is that the selection happens after the net has been pulled in. The good will be carefully differentiated from the bad; these are stored in the vessel, while the bad will be discarded. Such a warning echoes the conclusion of the parable of the tares.

What are the parable’s key messages for the true church?

Gathering Some of Every Kind

The true church, God’s kingdom of earth, is the fisher of men (Mt 4:19). All who are willing to believe—regardless of gender, race, or past—may enter. Just as Paul writes, “[E]ven the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference” (Rom 3:22). The target of our evangelism must, therefore, be inclusive, transcending geographical borders and racial boundaries. The local-centric methods of evangelism we have traditionally used—inviting neighbors, evangelistic counseling,^[1] long-term personalized follow-up with truth-seekers, intensive rooting and watering^[2] within the church, regular visiting and pastoring—may no longer suffice in this age of technology where the internet facilitates instantaneous connectivity. Moreover, in some countries, legal restrictions prevent their citizens from encountering the Christian faith. This is a difficult blockade that the evangelists sent by the church and we, in our personal evangelism, must overcome.  

We must have faith in Jesus’ abidance as we obediently carry out His instruction to cast our nets into the vast ocean that is the world. First, He said we are to launch out into the deep (Lk 5:4). Do not be limited by our worries or preconceived notions of who will or will not believe. Launching out into the deep water is equivalent to “enlarging the place of [our] tent, and stretching out the curtains of [our] dwellings,” a comforting promise from God conveyed through the prophet Isaiah:

Enlarge the place of your tent,
And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;
Do not spare;
Lengthen your cords,
And strengthen your stakes.
For you shall expand to the right and to the left,
And your descendants will inherit the nations,
And make the desolate cities inhabited. (Isa 54:2–3)

CASTING THE DRAGNET THROUGH THE INTERNET

The province of New Brunswick in Canada is about 1,300 kilometers (more than fourteen hours by car) from Toronto, where the nearest True Jesus Church (TJC) is located. In 2019, a New Brunswick man came across the beliefs of TJC while browsing online and contacted the church. The resident preacher of Toronto TJC then started communicating with him online and systematically introduced the church’s core beliefs to him. In 2022, he expressed his willingness to be baptized.

Second, Jesus said we should let down the net on the right side of the boat (Jn 21:6). The disciples had toiled futilely all night, yet they obediently cast the net again at the Lord’s instruction. As a result, the Lord bestowed upon them a net full of fish. Do not be discouraged by past adverse experiences in evangelism. For example, some have read our church’s evangelistic pamphlets or websites but decided to remain outside of the dragnet. Some have seen the “place of our tent” but decline the invitation to enter. We need not be discouraged. Instead, we prepare by weaving a net that is strong, compact, and without any holes. And then, when we let down the net again on the right side—we fulfill our commission and evangelize in faithful obedience to the Lord’s instructions—we, too, will draw in a net full of fish. Then, we must pray sincerely for the Lord Jesus’ mercy and love to keep them in.

Gathering the Good, Discarding the Bad

The kingdom of God is the church, and the sea creatures of every kind in the dragnet represent all the believers. We will undergo the selection process with only two possible outcomes: being placed into the vessel (eternal life) or the furnace of fire (eternal condemnation). Peter alerts us that judgment begins from the house of God (1 Pet 4:17), which is the church.

Two days before the Lord Jesus was delivered to the authorities (Mt 26:2), He spoke the parable of the goats and the sheep. He said, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats” (Mt 25:31–32). Both the sheep and goats belonged to the Lord Jesus, but they received strikingly different sentences. The sheep would inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world, but the goats were cursed and cast into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Mt 25:34, 41).

It is entirely by God’s grace that a person enters the true church, which the Holy Spirit has established on earth. Nonetheless, how we respond to this blessed opportunity determines whether we remain in the vessel or are tossed away. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ allows us who are born of the flesh to be reborn, no longer born of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (Jn 1:13). Subsequently, a reborn man must follow the wind of the Holy Spirit; he must have the sound of the wind as well as be transformed by the wind. In other words, to remain in the true church, we must be continually renewed through the power of the Holy Spirit to truly become a man who abides in the Spirit.  

[You] have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him. (Col 3:10)

A reborn man must constantly walk by the Spirit (Rom 6:11–14), conducting himself as the holy and beloved elect of God (Col 3:12–17), in order to gradually attain the image and nature of God. Consequently, he will pass the final selection, be welcomed into the spiritual true church, and stand to inherit the kingdom prepared for him from the foundation of the world.

CONCLUSION: TRUE DISCIPLES OF THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM

Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?”
They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there. (Mt 13:51–53)

In the Bible, the scribes and Pharisees are usually mentioned concurrently. They were always spying on Jesus, enticing Him to speak so that they could find fault and falsely incriminate Him. They had a deep knowledge of the Mosaic Laws and Jewish customs, but they used this knowledge to judge others instead of spurring themselves to improve. When the Lord Jesus was teaching in the temple, He once said:

“Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.” (Mk 12:38–40)

After speaking the seven parables, Jesus said, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.” As believers of the true church, we should be wary of falling prey to the hypocrisy and legalism of the scribes and Pharisees. Do not merely nitpick through the wording of the Old Testament or simply put on an outward appearance of a pious and learned scribe to impress others. Instead, use the New Testament teachings to nurture ourselves spiritually. The Lord Jesus constantly cited Old Testament Scripture but emphasized a deeper observance of the truth. Thus, we must learn from the Lord Jesus to neither neglect the old nor the new, and use Scripture not to burden or judge but to help ourselves grow in favor with God.

The Lord Jesus also asked His disciples whether they understood all these things. The true church must continually examine herself. She seeks to make men disciples of the kingdom of heaven and enable them to receive the salvation grace revealed in the New Testament. However, to truly comprehend all the promises of the New Testament, the church must also understand the Old Testament basis of the salvation truth. This is the only way to obtain the complete, common faith. Today, some Christian denominations undervalue the Old Testament or even ignore it. How can mere reliance on half the Scriptures lead one to the complete truth of the Bible? The Lord Jesus said:

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” (Mt 5:17–18) 

Forever, O LORD,
Your word is settled in heaven. (Ps 119:89)

God’s word is absolute and immutable. For example, in the Old Testament, He said, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. …For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” (Ex 20:8–11). In the New Testament, Jesus emphasized that the Sabbath was made for man. Therefore, as Christians, we, too, must observe the Sabbath.

In summary, Jesus’ closing remarks after His parables of the heavenly kingdom remind us that the Old and New Testaments are inextricably linked and that knowledge of the truth is not enough. As God’s true church, we must live and walk in His most holy teachings and commandments, which transcend time.