(Read Matthew 13:1-231The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. 2And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. 3And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. 10And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 13Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 15For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 16But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. 17For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. 18Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. 19When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. 20But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 21Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 22He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. 23But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. (Matthew 13:1‑23).)
THE Gospel of Matthew, written for the Jews, presents the Lord Jesus as their King―alas for them―refused. Let us glance briefly over the first twelve chapters. We see in the first chapter the genealogy of the King. His right to the throne by birth is incontestably proved. In the second the circumstances connected with the birth of the King are recorded, and Gentiles come to see Him who is King of the Jews but whom the Jewish nation know nothing of―not even that He is born. The third chapter relates the proclamation of His kingdom by John the Baptist. The fourth chapter gives the temptation in the wilderness, and the moral overthrow of the usurper―Satan. In chapters 5-7, the so-called Sermon on the Mount, we find enunciated the laws, the rules, and the moral principles of the kingdom of which this Blessed One is the King. In chapters 8 and 9 the powers of the kingdom are described. Every possible miracle that Messiah could perform is there found, a complete testimony to the glory of the King. In the tenth He sends His disciples out to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom largely, and also to show its powers-miraculous healing. In the eleventh, we find that even John the Baptist began to doubt if Jesus were the Messiah, and the cities, in which most of His mighty works were done, refuse to believe Him. In chapter 12 not only do the rulers of the nation refuse to believe Him, but they attribute to Satanic power that which was the activity of grace in the power of the Holy Ghost. What He was doing in the grace and power of God, and thereby fulfilling Scripture, they said, was the work of a man filled with the devil. As a nation the Jews definitively, when tested, reject their King. That nation’s history is over.
As a result of this, Christ breaks the links that exist between Him and Israel, He refuses to own them, as connected with Him in the flesh. But some He does own, for “he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother” (12:49, 50). The only way in which we can manifest that we are in touch with Christ is by doing His will. You and I did our own will, just because it is the nature of the unregenerate heart so to act, irrespective of God’s will. Sin is the will of the creature in activity.
Let us now ponder the scene presented in Matthew 13. The Lord’s action is significant as He pushed off in the boat. (Compare Luke 5:33And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. (Luke 5:3).) God was going to bring in a totally new kind of ministry. Till now God had been seeking something from man. He was responsible to give God his duty, his love, his service, but he had totally failed to do so. The owner was looking for fruit in the vineyard, but he found none: nothing but leaves. Until now man was under law, and the law was the declaration of what the creature ought to be. That law he had not kept. He had broken it in every point, was therefore guilty and lost, but when the Lord Jesus comes, in grace, to save him, He is not wanted. This shows that man was absolutely under Satan’s power. Nothing was to be got out of man, so God begins a new kind of ministry with him, and that work is, that He wants to put something into him. The Lord sows the seed to produce fruit. He is not looking for something from us. God is not now a claimer, nor a receiver, but He is a giving God. He gave His Son, He has given us His Spirit, what better could He give? The fruit will come in due time if only we receive and retain the seed. Grace works now by sowing the seed—the Word of God—in the heart, and the Lord is the sower. If you have not received the Word of God, there is no link between your soul and God. The effect of its reception is to produce new life. How is a man born again? It is all the work of God, though His Word and His Spirit. When the Word of God gets down into a man’s conscience, he bows before God, and owns everything; and I do not think anyone is ever really blessed in any other way.
Now note well that the sower is the Son of Man (vs. 37), “the seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:1111Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. (Luke 8:11)), and the soil is the heart of man. This soil is presented to us in four different ways.
1. “Some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up” (vs. 4). “Those by the wayside are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved” (Luke 8:1212Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. (Luke 8:12)). To hear and believe is God’s way of salvation. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)). The jailer at Philippi was saved this way. Christ is the only way. Jesus saith, “I am the way, the truth, and the light” (John 14:66Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)).
Man is a poor, undone, helpless sinner, but salvation is offered to him by God. Salvation, freer than the air you breathe, is offered to you in the name of the Lord Jesus. “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:4343To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. (Acts 10:43)). I should like you to know who is the most out-and-out believer in sudden conversions. Well, it is the devil. Mark that. The devil has a great deal more confidence in the gospel than most men that preach it. He knows the gospel converts a man where he sits, therefore, he says, “I must take away the word immediately, lest he believe, and be saved.” Hearing, believing, and being saved, is God’s order.
The gospel, my friend, can save you just where you read this. If the arrow of conviction got into your soul there would be a wonderful change in you. But if you are only a “wayside” hearer, Satan takes away the seed―the word―which in sinful carelessness and hardness of heart you do not believe, and you are left, untouched and unsaved.
2. But we read that “some fell upon stony places.” These are they “which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.” When tribulation or persecution comes, they give it up. There is no root. Oh! if only God’s Word got really down into you, it would take root downward, and bear fruit upward. The “stony-place” hearer receives the Word for the joy of it, and gives it up for the trouble. I believe that this class is mostly found among the young. It is both a blessed thing to be a Christian, and a joyful thing. But the gospel does not make a man cheery all at once. It makes him serious at first, because he sees his sins, and has to face God about them. When believing and pardoned then comes the joy. To cleave to Jesus, and Jesus only, is joy unspeakable.
3. But, thirdly, “some fell among thorns.” Who does this represent? Our Lord explains. “He also that received seed among the thorns, is he that beareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful” (vs. 22). True indeed is the word, “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:2323And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! (Mark 10:23)). Judas loved money, and sold Christ for it. Balaam “loved the wages of unrighteousness.” Do not imitate these men. They both loved money, and thought little of Christ. This thorny-ground class is perhaps the largest of all. If you are still of it, may the Lord, in His mercy, arouse you ere it be too late. You will find this class of hearers of the Word everywhere. They are as thick as the leaves of the forest. Time is too short, and eternity is too long for you to trifle with God’s Christ, and His salvation any longer. Let not “cares,” “riches,” or “the lust of other things” rob you of God’s salvation. The devil will use anything to effect this, anything under the sun just to keep Christ out of your heart. You have eternity before you; would to God that you realized it. Where will you spend eternity? Face this reality, I pray you.
4. But the fourth class is cheering to look at. “He that received seed into the good ground, is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit and bringeth forth some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Everything turns on understanding the Word. I can understand no word in Scripture without divine apprehension. The object of the book of Proverbs is “to perceive the words of understanding” (1:2) as well as “to know wisdom and instruction.” Again, “A man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels” (1:5). Again, “With all thy getting get understanding” (vs. 7). Are you resting on anything but Christ? If so, you have no understanding. Of the real Christian it is written, “We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 5:2020And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. (1 John 5:20)). I wonder whether you have got this yet, my friend.
In Luke 8 we read that the seed which fell “on the good ground are they which, in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” Do you know what God says about the heart? “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:99The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)). An honest heart is a heart that knows the truth about itself, viz., that it is utterly dishonest. A good heart is a heart that knows it is bad to the core. My dear friend, you need not be afraid to know what you are. When you have learned the truth as to yourself, you will find that God comes out and shows what He is, a living, loving, blessed Saviour. The Word tells you of your own ruin and guilt, on the one hand, and the love of God, and of Christ on the other hand. The gospel―the seed, the Word of life-shows how God has come out to meet the state and condition of the soul through the death of His own beloved Son. “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of, all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,”― “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). When this is really believed the Word is kept, and the believer brings forth fruit with patience.
W. T. P. W.