The Arvada enterprise., 1918-02-14
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY II
JESUS TEACHING FIVE PARABLEs
-FOUR KINDS OF GROUND.

|
-FOUR KINDS OF GROUND.
LESSON TExT-Mark 4:1-1o.
GOLDEN TExT-Take hesd Therefore
how 70 hear.-Luks S:14
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL FOR
TEACHERS-Natt 13:1-So; s-N
PRIMARY TOPIC-Jssus telling q story
about sowing seed.
PRIMARY MEMORY vERsE-Bs 70
doers Of the word.-Jamss In
Jesus tells us plainly why he taught
so much BY means Of parallels { Matt.
1s:10-18). The truth had to be taught |,
hence the parable, that those to whom
1t was given to know the messages Of
the kingdom, those who sought 1t,
might know and understand, and that
to the others 1t might be hidden (Mark
4:11. 12). Like all his parallels, Jesus
draws his pictures from the common
experiences Of life-the neld. the home,
etc. Paul draws his illustrations chief
ly from the city. the army. the market.
In studying this lesson we must turn
to the parallel account as given by
Luke and Matthew to get the full and
complete picture.
What Is the seedf Luke says that
Jesus told his disciples that the seed
was the Word of God (Luke 18:11).
We get the same thought in verse four
teen of the lesson. A great deal 10 be-
ing made today Of seed selection. Some
wonderful results have been obtained.
How much more important for those Of
us who deal with immortal souls that
we select the best seed, l. g., the Word
Of God.
The second consideration 10 the
sower ". ~. Notice he went forth not
to soar" not IL 1t recorded that he
was "sore" because the people did not
all receive the seed alike. He did not
have crouch; he did not enter into
his work that he might receive the
adulation Of men (Matt. 6:2). It il,
however. the "soil" that seems to be
most emphasized In both the direct
teaching and also the explanation Of
the parable. There are four kinds Of
soil. The manner by which the seed
came into contact with each kind Of
soil IL significant. Some fell ''by" the
wayside: the path was well trodden:
the ground was preoccupied; e. g.. 1t
was used for other purposes than to
Yield q harvest: 1t was hard to be
broken. and hence It was an easy mat
ter for the birds Of the air ". 15) to
come and pluck 1t away. We need to
remember that II men receive with
meekness the implanted word. there
will, Of course, be no such opportunity
for the evil one. The trouble In this
case was that the Word was not i'm
planted. Thus 1t IL that one-fourth of
the seed II lost. The result Is q deplor-
able one as we see from Heb. 2:14.
Is the soil Of our life 10 hard that God
must drive the plowshare clean
through 1t ere there Is q chance for the
seed to take root1 FPS. 120 :8).
The next fell ION" the rocky ground.
The first II picture Of the hardened.
and this IL q picture of the superficial
hearer. For time they did run well.
They even received the Word with
gladness ". 16). but they had no sta
bility because they had NO root. They
were superficial. There was no chance
for the seed to get real grip on their
lives. The earth yields Its increase
though We do not understand. 90 God
will add his o6 per cent to our 8 per
cent. Tho oak tree comes from small
seed.
In the third place Jesus SPEAKS Of
the seed that fell among" the thorns.
Hero u the worldly soil. It 10 not %
much the character Of the soil, II 10
the character Of that which already oc-
cupied the soil ere the sower sowed
the seed. The cares Of this world. the
deceitfulness Of riches and "other
things" had 20 entered in that the
good SEED never had . chance In the
soil Of the human heart. 1t was choked
and yielded no fruit. There was no
real grip Of the will. NO whole-hearted
surrender. The cares Of life that keep
the housewife or the business man;
the deceitfulness Of riches that snare
men and choke the word which at one
time gave such promise In their lives;
the lusts and other things which the
evil one knows 20 well how to use kssp
% from the Word. for Satan knows
that BY II We are to BE- saved (Luke
1912. Are We impulavsf Do We
make vows soon forgotten. ties that
soon fade away o. fall beneath the
temptations for lack ol rootf May
God blast and turn up the subsoil Of
our hearts BY strong convictions Of sin.
and % occupy the soil that there u no
opportunity for other things.
We have thus seen three-fourths Of
the ssed lost. OF the remaining
fourth, that which fell "into" (R. w
the good soil. not all yielded the same
return. Il all brought forth ". y: II
all yielded; Il all sprans up. but not all
In the same ratio.
There are three Distinguishing fea-
lures Of this last kind Of hearers: ~
They hear the Word. These are the
ones who appreciate its value and give
good heed to it, preccpts. t2) They &C.
ccpt Il e. 4. they understand Its teach.