The Brinkley argus., 1912-07-12
LESSON FOR JULY 14.


 LESSON FOR JULY 14. THE SEED IN FOUR KINDs or SOIL.
 LESSON TExT-Marl 4:1-21.
 GOLDEN TExT-"Receive with meek i ness the implanted word which Is able to | save your souls" James 1:2l.
 Jesus tells us plainly why he taught so much by means of parables Matt. 13:1O-13) viz, to teach the truth to those who sought 1t. and to hide 1t from those who refused to receive H. The truth had to be- taught, hence the parable, that thosei to whom 1t was given to know thf mysteries of the Kingdom might kjbw and understand but that to the fhers 1t might be hid den tMark 4:1t1k) We have in this lesson one of te best known of the masters many arables. Like all the rest Jesus drav his picture from the common expe1ences of life. Jesus uses the field& the home, etc. while Paul in his p5eaching and teaching draws from tho city. the army, the markets, etc. We have in this pic ture the seed, tAe sower and the soil. We must turn toNhe parable accounts in Luke and Matthew to get the full and the complete picture.
 What Is the seed? Luke records that Jesus told the disciples that the seed is the. word of God Luke S:11). Mark also tells us practically the same thing in v. IA of the lesson. A great deal Is being made today of seed se- lection and some wonderful results have been obtained. How much more l important for us who deal with immor- 1 tai souls that we select the best, viz., the word of God.
 | Sought Not Adulation.
 Next the sower (v. 4). Notice he went forth not to SOAR. nor is 1t recorded that he was SORE. He did not have grouch nor did he enter into his work that he might receive the adulation of men (Matt. 6:2). It Is however the soil that seems to be most emphasized inr this lesson. both in the direct teaching and also in the explanation of the parable There are four kinds of soil and 1t Is also very significant the manner by which the seed came into contact with each kind of soil Some fell by the wayside." The path was well trod- den, the ground was preoccupied, c. g., used for other purposes rather than to yield harvest. It was hard to be broken and hence it was ar easy mat ter for the birds of the air Satan V. i 15) soon to pluck it away. We need to remember that if men receive with meekness the implanted word there will be of course no such opportunity for the evil one. The trouble is that in this case the word was not implant- ed. Thus 1t is that one-fourth of the seed is lost That the result is de- plorable one is shown il Heb. 2:1-4. The seed in this case fell "by" the wayside. in the next 1t fell "on" the rocky ground The first Is the picture of the needless. this is picture of the superficial ones. Oh for time they did run we'll they even received the word with gladness (v. 16) but they had no stability; they lacked the element of persistence; their surround ings were superficial, there was no chance for the seed. 10 get a real grip upon their lives.
 Three Fourths Lost. >~ In the third place Jesus speaks of seed that fell "among" the thorns. Here in this worldly soil 1t is not so much the character of the soil as the character of that which already occu- pied the soil ere the sower sowed the seed. The cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and "other things" fv. 19) had so entered in that the good seed never had real chance in the soil of that human heart. hence 1t was choked and yielded no fruit.
 There was no real grin of the will, no whole-hearted surrender. How often these thorns. "the cares of life" keep the housewife. or the business man away from the word How often the "deceitfulness of riches" snare men so as to choke the word that at one time gave such promise in their lives. And then the "lusts and other things" which the evil one so we'll knows how l to use that he may keep us from the word. for he knows that by 1t we may be saved Luke 8:12),
 I We have thus seen threefourths of the word lost. Of the remaining fourth which fell into" fR. VI the good soil. not all yielded the same re- turn. It all brought forth tv. D 1t all yielded, 1t all sprang up, but not all in the same ratio. We ought to re- member at this point that this parable plainly teaches us that we who receive the implanted seed. we who receive and obey shall in turn become the seed of the kingdom.
 There are three distinguishing feat ures of this last class of hearers C) | They hear" the word. These are the ones who appreciate its value and give good heed to its precepts. t2) Ix.