The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1910-06-09
The Parable of
the Sewer
Sunday School Lesson for June 10. 1910
Specially Arranged for This Paper
LESSON TExr.-Matthew 1919. 1s-2s.

months before the last lesson.
PLACE.-Beside the Sea of Galilee.
probably near Capernaum.
Suggestion and Practical Thought
When a Boat Became a Pulpit.-Vs.
LA. When was this parable spoken?
THE same day,"-a day of which we
have conspicuously full record, when
Jesus healed the blind and dumb
demoniac. Matt. 10: 22-45). and had
a discussion with some scribes from
jerusalem. When his mother and
brothers sought him Matt. 10: 46-50).
he proclaimed his disciples as his
kindred. Then, leaving the house, he
went on TO the seashore, and there
spoke series of seven parallels.
Who made up Christ's audience?
Great multitudes." "out of every
city" as Luke says Christ had been
teaching and healing in all their cities
(Luke 8: -, and hundreds must have
followed the great rabbi and miracle
worker. to see more wonders or to
gain new blessings for themselves or
their dear ones.
What was Christ's pulpit? The
crowd was so great that. in order to
gain a vantage ground whence he
could be seen and heard, our Lord en-
tered a boat.
What was Christ's sermon? HE
spake many things unto them in para
bles." These seven parallels MARK
adds an eighth ARE a great whole,
setting forth the mystery of the king
dom in its methods of establishment,
its corruption, its outward and inward
growth. the conditions of entrance into
1t, and its final publication. Alex
ander Maclaren. The first parable is
httingly an illustration of how the
kingdom gets foothold-or fails to
in human hearts and lives, through
good and bad listening. 1t is less 1.-The
parable of the sower" than the para.
BILE of the ground" that is offered to
the sower.
-Four Kinds of Ground.-Vs. 3b-9.
What scene had Christ in mind as the
basis of the parable? "A sower went
forth to SOW"
What is the first kind of ground on
which the seed fell? "The way side"
for grainfields in Palestine are seldom
fenced, and both pedestrians and
beasts Of burden use freely the narrow
paths intersecting them. The ground,
OF course, is beaten hard, and the seed
that falls there remains conspicuously
on the surface.
What is the second kind of ground?
Stony places, where they had not
much earth"
What is the third kind Of ground?
Some fell among thorns."
How did the seed fare in that soilf
THE thorns sprung up. and choked
them"
What is the fourth kind of ground?
Good ground" rich, responsive and
permanently productive. OF course,
most of the seed fell upon such soil.
How did the seed fare in this
ground? 1T brought forth fruit. some
an hundredfold. some sixtyfold, some
thirtyfold."
Four Kinds of Hearers.-Vs. 1923.
Why did the disciples seek an ex-
PLANTATION Of the parable? II seems
simple and clear to us only because
we are so familiar With the interpre-
tation. Really, 1t was susceptible of
many meanings.
Who is the sower? Again, as in the
next parable. the Son OF man: but he
is the head farmer. and all Christians
are to be farmers under him.
What is the seed? THE word of
the kingdom" whatever utterance or
act has to do with the coming of the
kingdom of heaven on earth.
What is the soil? 1t is the heart of
man, which responds to the truth In
many ways.
Who are wayside hearers? Those
that do not understand the word of
the kingdom"
What befalls the truth in such
hearts? Then cometh the wicked
one" Satan, the reality of whose
existence and baneful activity our
Lord so often avouches, and catcheth
away that which was sown.
Who are the stony ground hearers?
They make an advance over the first
class, for they receive the word. and
even with Joy; but they obey 1t only
W certain extent ana IOr short
time. When obedience to it gets
them into trouble
Who are the thorny ground hear
ers? Those in whose hearts the word
of truth is choked by the care of this
world. the deceitfulness Of riches.
and. as Mark adds. the lust other
things"
Who are the good ground hearers?
Those that hear the word and take
1t in, receive 1t in an honest and good
heart. hold 1t fast. and bring forth
fruit with patience duke S:15, r. W.
How can any heart become good
ground? BY yielding itself to the in.
fiuence of Gods Holy Spirit.
No good seed equals the Bible In
efficacy. The word of God is the most
popular book In the world. Every
year the American Bible society is-
sues nearly two million copies or Dor
lions. and the British and Foreign
Bible society more than five million.
more than 400 languages. Think of
TIE hundreds of thousands Of preach.
ers, the 10000 missionaries, the
100000 Sunday schools with $780,