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Heaven is like a Net

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"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.(Genesis 42:6)

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When Jesus was on this earth, He gave various examples of the kingdom of heaven to people. Today, Jesus shared the secrets of the kingdom of heaven with the nets used for catching fish. Jesus told the people the story of a fisherman catching a group of fish.

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There were fishermen who caught fish in the sea. These fishermen were people who caught fish in a special way.
They anchor large nets at both ends of two boats to catch a lot of fish at once.

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Two boats with nets anchored on both sides start to move together.
The fish caught between the two boats could not escape and were caught in the net.
Large and small fish are caught in the net.

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When the fishermen think their nets are almost full, they drag their nets out to sea.
Various fish were caught in the nets that were pulled to the shore.
The fishermen sit around the nets and start sorting the caught fish.

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Fishermen start putting fresh and good fish in a separate basket.
The good fish will be filled in different baskets for each type.
The good fish in each of the different baskets are specially identified and used for each need. 

8

Not all fish caught in the same net are placed in the basket. Fishermen separate fish that cannot be placed in baskets.
The poor fish that the fisherman could not use were thrown away.

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After Jesus talked to the people about the fish caught in the nets, He told them the secret of the kingdom of heaven. “It will be like this at the end of the world.
The angel will come and separate the wicked from among the righteous.”
The story Jesus told the people was to explain what would happen in the last days of the world when Jesus returns.

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The day when Jesus comes back to this earth will be the last day of this world.
When that day comes, everyone will be judged on their own lives before Jesus.
The angels who received Jesus' command were to separate them into the righteous and the wicked, just as a fisherman separates fish.

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Angels lead the righteous people who believe in Jesus and live uprightly according to the Word to the eternal kingdom of heaven.
The book of Revelation tells us how God welcomes them.

[And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”]
(Revelation 21:3-4)

God comforts the righteous in everything they struggled to live by the word of God on earth and frees them from all suffering.

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The heaven where the righteous go is made of pure gold as clear as glass. The base of the castle is adorned with various jewels. There are 12 gates, which are made of a single large pearl. The righteous will enjoy the blessing of living with Jesus forever in this heaven.

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Jesus also spoke about the judgment that the wicked will receive.

[and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ](Matthew 13:50)

On the Last Day of Judgment, the angels cast the wicked into the eternal fire of hell, like a fisherman throwing away useless fish.
The wicked will live there weeping, tormenting, and grinding their teeth.

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Many fish were caught in the nets that the fishermen threw up.
However, not all of the fish caught in the net fit into the basket.
Fish that did not fit into the basket were discarded because they did not meet the standards set by the fisherman.

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The way people enter the kingdom of heaven on the last day when Jesus comes to this earth is the same. People can enter the eternal kingdom of heaven only if they pass the standards set by Jesus. The condition is clearly stated in the Gospel of John.
[Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God](John 1:12)
If we accept Jesus as our Savior and have faith in Him, we will receive the blessing of children of God and go to Heaven. 

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No matter how great you are in the world, and no matter how much you live a life that is respected by people, if you do not have faith in Jesus, you will never be able to enter the kingdom of heaven.
This is because Jesus did not allow him any other way to enter the kingdom of heaven. 

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Through the story of the net that Jesus told us, we learned what will happen in the last days.
We are the people who have a responsibility to convey this secret to many people who are still living without realizing this secret of heaven.
Whenever we have the opportunity, we must be people who share the secrets of heaven that will happen in the last days we hear today.

(This is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)