“A SOWER went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell by the way-side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundred-fold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. Now the parable is this; The seed is the word of God. Those 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. They on the rock 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. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares, and riches, and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that 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.
“No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed, but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light. For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither anything hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have. Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press. And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee. And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it."—Luke 8:5-185A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. 6And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. 7And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. 8And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 9And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? 10And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. 11Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12Those 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. 13They on the rock 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. 14And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. 15But that 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. 16No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light. 17For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. 18Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have. (Luke 8:5‑18).
THERE are two things which strike one at first, in looking at this scripture, viz., that the reception in the soul of the word of God is the communicating to it something which it had not before, and which is the cause of its bearing fruit,— bearing fruit is a sign of a tree having life;—and, secondly, the reception of the word of God puts the receiver into relationship with Christ.
Do you suppose that the Lord Jesus had, in any sense, a life of ease and comfort? Not there was not a city, or village, or hamlet in all that broad country in which His lot was cast, that has not had to own that it heard the Saviour's voice. And what did He carry to them? Glad tidings. And what, my reader, does the evangelist bring to you now? Glad tidings; fuller, and richer now, than when the Saviour preached; for He had not died then, and redemption was not accomplished.
Look at the earnest activity of the heart of Christ! What a life of ceaseless toil! There was one day when He did not preach. That was the day before He died. That day He spent in quiet, the day before the terrible morrow when He died for you and me. Now, though we have not heard and seen the Lord Himself, yet we can hear the Word of God, and thus we have the opportunity of bearing fruit, and of being put into relationship with Christ.
There are three salient points in the parable which the Lord here speaks,— the sower, the seed, and the soil.
1. Who is the Sower? The Son of Man, who is also the Son of God; He sows the seed. If Christ then be the sower of seed, He is not going to ask something of you and me. What does the sower do? He puts something into the field, which was not there before. Now, my reader, if you get into your heart that the Lord is the sower, you will get rid of the thought that He begins by being a reaper, or that He is expecting something from you. I know the thought of your heart is, Must I not bring something to God? No, you can bring nothing to Him, but you may receive something from Him, —even the Word of Life. The Sower is the Son of Man, and He has come from God's side, and His hand is full of that which He bestows, and from which, if you receive it, there will be fruit unto life eternal, and you will get into relationship with the Lord Himself.
God is not now exacting. The day of law is gone by. Moses might come and tell me what I ought to be, Jesus has come to tell me what God is, — a giver, a sower. Moses could tell me how I ought to live, but Jesus has come and told me, that since my heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, God has given up seeking to get anything out of my heart, and wants to put something into it.
2. What is the Seed? "The seed is the word of God." Jesus, as the sower, has come with the seed basket in His hand, to cast in something which He has and we have not, till He makes it ours. "The seed is the word of God." It is not what you and I think, or what you and I do. No "The seed is the word of God." Thus Peter says, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever" (1 Peter 1:2323Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. (1 Peter 1:23)). It is always by His word that God acts, and that word abides and lives forever, therefore the importance of listening to the word. "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?" says the Psalmist, and replies, "By taking heed thereto according to thy word" (Psa. 119:99BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. (Psalm 119:9)). "Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven" (Psa. 119:8989LAMED. For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. (Psalm 119:89)). Again, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee" (Psa. 119:1111Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Psalm 119:11)). The word of the Lord can save your soul, and guide it also.
Your salvation, my beloved reader, rests entirely on this, your acceptance of the word of God. God's Son is the sower, God's word is the seed sown. God's word is the mighty lever to lift you out of the state you are in as a sinner. Education will not do it. Education may make you a better neighbor, but it will not bring you to God. "Hear, and your soul shall live." It is not "work," or "pray," but "hear;" and, if God speaks, He speaks with authority. And, my friend, if you do not listen to His voice now, the days will come when you will be, yourself, the witness of the truth of God's word, and you will be constrained to justify every word of God. Yes, though you do not believe now, when you pass away from His presence into eternal damnation, you, yourself, will be the witness of the truth of that word, " He that believeth not shall be damned " (Mark 16:1616He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. (Mark 16:16)).
3. We look now at the Soil. This is the heart of man. The Lord brings before us four classes of soil on which the seed can be cast. First, The wayside.
Look at it. The Sower sows, but it is a hard beaten track, many feet have trodden it down, it is as hard as the nether millstone. Is that your heart, my reader? You have heard the word often. Have you received it yet? Do you say, “I do not believe in people being converted so easily "? Read the twelfth verse, " 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." Yes, no one so fully believes in the simplicity of the gospel as the devil. He knows, full well, it is only to "hear," "believe," and “be saved." What is he doing now with you? Trying to distract your thoughts as you read these lines, lest you should "believe and be saved." Are you interested? The devil will suggest to you not to be in a hurry—to think over the matter a bit. Ah, my friend, there will come a day of bitter sorrow to your soul,—the day of the harvest,—for a harvest there will be, and a full garner too, but you will not be there, for you have not believed the gospel. "The Lord will see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied," but will your voice join in the blessed songs of that harvest-home? No, no! Wayside hearer, you will know of the harvest, you will see what the magnificence of His grace is to others but from your heart can only arise the bitter wail, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and I am not saved" (Jer. 8:2020The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. (Jeremiah 8:20)).
But are you hearing and believing the word of God, my reader? Then the same word says you are saved. How simple! Have you been till now a wayside hearer? Oh, be that no longer.
Look we, in the second place, at the rocky-ground hearers. This class is the emotional one. The wayside are the indifferent hearers, who hear the gospel, week after week, and care nothing for it; but the rocky hearers have a little bit of earth on the surface, their hearts are apparently softer, but no plow has ever plowed up the ground. Feelings may have been touched, but the word of God has produced no effect on the conscience. There is no fruit, and by and by, when trouble comes for the word's sake, they give it up. They are an emotional class. The gospel will bring them to the feet of Jesus to-day, and a string-band will carry them to the ball-room to-morrow. They receive the word for the joy of it, and give it up for the trouble connected with it. They have no root. Sorrowful state to be in!
The third class, the thorny-ground hearers, are the middle-aged, sober men and women we meet by thousands every day,—mothers of large families, full of cares; men full of business; others overwhelmed by riches. But cares should not keep you from Christ, for He says, "casting all your care on him, for he careth for you." And riches should not keep you from Christ, for you can use them for Him. A very large proportion of the thorny-ground hearers are those who are governed by the "pleasures of this life." They are not rich, they are not poor; they have enough to go along easily with, and "enjoy life," as they call it. Their thoughts are all for this life, and so the word of God is choked by the thorns,— the pleasures of the flesh and of the mind, which the devil knows well how to pander to, in order to keep souls from Christ.
Now look at the last class,— the blessed class, I may call them,— those who have an "honest and good heart;" that is, a heart that owns the truth that there is nothing good about it. A person without guile, is a person who is transparent and does not want to be thought what he is not. A broken heart, is a person agonizing before God on account of his sin. The plowshare of conviction has gone in, and the deeper the furrow the deeper the root for the seed. But oh, my friend, if you have never been anxious about your soul before, it is high time you were. It will be too late when the sickle of judgment is put in, and you are swept away.
The prodigal had an "honest and good heart” when he said,” Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." A man who knows he is lost, and owns it, crying “God be merciful to me the sinner," has an" honest and good heart.”
If you have not known these soul convictions all is wrong with you, the word has not gone down into your heart, and there is no fruit in your life. But a soul that has known this deep conviction of sin, knows that he is, lost; and when God comes and says to that soul, “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost," he believes it.
When he hears that "Christ died for the ungodly,” he believes it. Yes, he rests on the word of God, and lives by it as a new-born babe. This is the “honest and good heart," the soul that hears the word of God, and does it. Which of the four classes are you in? In one you must be. Oh, be not among the hardened and indifferent; nor among the emotional, who receive the word of God to-day and give it up to-morrow; nor yet among those who let their cares, riches, or pleasures keep them from Christ; but be among those who, having the word of God, keep it, and bring forth fruit unto God,—of whom the Lord declares "they are mine," and shall be " mine in the day when I make up my jewels." In the harvest where will you be? Not to be with Christ, will prove the unreality of any profession you have made now.
W. T. P. W.