The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1912-07-11

ave your souls" James 1:2L
Jesus tells us plainly why he taught
70 much by means of parallels Matt.
l3:10-13) viz, to teach the truth to
hose who sought It, and to hide It
from those who refused to receive II.
rhe truth had to be taught, hence the
parable, that those to whom Il was
given to know the mysteries of the
kingdom might know and understand
but that to the others II might be hid
den mark 4:11-12). We have in this
lesson one of the best known of the
masters many parallels Like all the
rest Jesus draws his picture from the
common experiences Of life. Jesus
Uses the fields, the home, etc, while
Paul in his preaching and teaching
draws from the city, the army, the
markets, etc. We have in this pic
.ure the seed, the sower and the soil
We must turn to the parable accounts
n 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 SID.
Mark also tells us practically the same
thing in v. ID OF the lesson. A great
deal is being made today of seed Sc
lection and some wonderful results
have been obtained. How much more
important for us who deal with immor-
tai souls that we. select the best, viz,
the word Of God
Sought Not Adulatlon.
Next the sower ". ~. Notice he
went forth not to SOAR, nor is It
recorded that he was SORE. He did
not have crouch nor did he enter
into his work that he might receive
the adulation Of men Matt. 6:2).
1t is however the soil that seems to
be most emphasized in 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 manper by
which the seed came into contact with
each kind of soil Some fell by the
wayside." The path was we'll trod-
den. the ground was preoccupied, e. g.,
used for other purposes rather than
to yield a harvest. 1t was hard to be
broken and hence It was an easy mat
ter for the birds of the air (Satan v.
15) soon to pluck It away We need
to remember that II 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 a de-
plorable one is shown In Heb 2:1-4.
The seed in this case fell "by" the
wayside, in the next It fell "on" the
rocky ground. The first is the picture
of the needless, this is picture of
the superficial ones. Oh for a time
they did run well, they even received
the word with gladness w. 16) but
they had no stability; they lacked the
element of persistence; their surround
ings We're superficial there was no
chance for the seed to get a real grip
upon their lives.
Three Fourths Lost.
In the third place Jesus speaks of
seed that fell "among" the thorns.
liere in this worldly soil 1t is not so
much tie character of the soil as the
character of that which already occu-
pied the soil ere the sower sowed the
s ed. Tie cares of this world the |
'eceit!Ulness of riches and "other
'lirgs" ". 19) had so entered in that |
the GOOD seed never had a real chance |
IN tic sol of that human heart, hence
II was choked and yielded no fruit.
Tnere was no real grip 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
TO use that he may keep us from the
word. for he knows that by 1t we may
be saved (Luke S:12).
We have thus seen threefourths of
the word lost. OF the remaining
fourth which fell '1nto" Or. W the
good soil, not all yielded the same re-
turn. 1t all brought forth ". y 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 "a
They hear" the word. These are
the ones who appreciate Its value and I
give good heed to its precepts. (2)
They accept" 1t, Q. g., they under
stand its teachings. they take 1t into
good and honest hearts. and (S) they
hold II fast Luke 8:15 r.. W. These
are the ones of which martyrs are !
made. Thus we see four differ I