f the kingdom by partial
surrender of his earlier allegiances; he must renounce everything
foreign to the kingdom or he can never be numbered therein. If he
willingly sacrifices all that he has, he shall find that he has enough.
The cost of the hidden treasure, and of the pearl, is not a fixed
amount, alike for all; it is all one has. Even the poorest may come into
enduring possession; his all is a sufficient purchase price.

THE GOSPEL NET.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast
into the sea, and gathered of every kind: which, when it was
full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good
into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end
of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked
from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of
fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."[640]

Men of many minds, men good and bad, all nationalities and races, are
affected by the gospel of the kingdom. The "fishers of men"[641] are
skilful, active, and comprehensive in their haul. The sorting takes
place after the net is brought to shore; and, as the fisherman discards
every bad fish while he saves the good, so shall the angels who do the
bidding of the Son of Man separate the just and the wicked, preserving
the one kind to life eternal; consigning the other to destruction.
Unwise efforts to carry the application of the parable beyond the
Author's intent have suggested the criticism that whether the fish be
good or bad they die. The good, however, die to usefulness, the bad to
utter waste. Though all men die, they die not alike; some pass to rest,
and shall come forth in the resurrection of the just; others go to a
state of sorrow and disquiet there to anxiously and with dread await the
resurrection of the wicked.[642] Similarity of application in the
present parable as in that of the tares, is apparent in the emphasis
given to the decreed separation of the just from the unjust, and in the
awful fate of those who are fit subjects for condemnation. A further
parallelism is noticed in the postponement of the judgment until the
"end of the world," by which expression we may understand the
consummation of the Redeemer's work, subsequent to the Millennium and
the final resurrection of all who have had existence on earth.[643]

Following His delivery of this, the last of the group of parables
recorded in the thirteenth