the separation at the end of the age

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Mt 13.47-50

The power of the kingdom draws men into it. It draws good and bad. It is only when the net is up on shore, i.e., at the close of the age, will the good and the bad be separated.

The separation is not between the fish which didn’t get caught in the net of the kingdom and those which did. The separation is between two kinds of people who are swept into the net of the kingdom. One is kept and the other is cast into the fire.

The mystery of the kingdom is not only that the kingdom is at first limited in its scope and its effect in the world, i.e. like the mustard seed, but also the mystery of the kingdom is that the people who come under the power of God’s kingdom are mixture. Some are true disciples and some are not.

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