The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1918-02-14
IMPROVED UElfoRM INTERNATIONAL
SUNMSQlO0L
LESSON
CBy E. o. SELLERS, Acting Director Of
the Sunday School Course Of the Moody
Bible Institute. Chicago.)
Copyright. 1917. Western Newspaper nion.)
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY II
JESUS TEACHING FIVE PARALLELS
-FOUR KINDS OF GROUND.

VEACHERS-Matt. $780,; 36-43.
PRIMARY TOPIC-Jesus telling a story
about sowing seed.
PRIMARY MEMORY vERsE-Be We
doors of the word.-James 1:22.
Jesus tells us plainly why he taught
so much by means of parallels { Matt.
:1O-13). 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 it,
might know and understand, and that
to the others 1T might be hidden mark
Ash, 12). Like all his parallels, Jesus
draws his pictures from the common
experiences Of life-the field, 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 seed? Luke says that
Jesus told his disciples that the seed
was the Word Of God duke 1S:11).
We get the sanse thought in verse four
teen Of the lesson. A great deal is 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, /. e., the Word
of God.
The second consideration is the
sower ". ~. Notice he vent forth not
fn SSSnOrO NOT iS - ,,nooU<3nI thn% 1o
was 'sore" because the people did not
all receive the seed alike. He did not
have Il crouch; he did not enter into
his work that he might receive the
adulation of men (Matt. Cay. 1t is,
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 name by which the seed
came into contact with each kind Of
soil is significant. Some fell Shy" the
wayside; the path was we'll trodden;
the ground was ~preoccupied; e. g., it
was used for other purposes than to
yield u harvest; it was hard to be
broken, and hence it "a an easy mat
ter for the birds Of the air ". 15) to
come and pluck it away. We need to
remember that if, men receive with
meekness the implanted word, there
will, Of course, be no such opportunity
for the evil one. The trouble in this
case vas that the Word was not i'm
planted. Thus it is that one-fourth Of
the seed is lost. The result is Il deplor-
able One as we see from Heb. 2:1-4.
Is the soil Of u life so hard that God
must drive the plowshare clean
through it ere there is q chance for the
seed to take root? (Ps. 1919 BY.
The next fell ION" the rocky ground.
The first is d picture Of the hardened,
and this Is a picture of the superficial
nearer. For a time they did run well.
They even received the Word with
glndness ". 16), but they had no sta
bility because they had no root. They
were superficial. There was no chance
for the seed to get a real grip on their
lives. The earth yields its increase
though we do not understand. So God
will add his IS per cent to our 5 per
cent. The oak tree comes from small
seed.
In the third place Jesus speaks of
the seed that fell among the thorns.
Here Is the worldly soil. 1t is not so
much the character of the soil, it is
the character of that which already &c
cupied the soil ere the sower sOwed
the seed. The cares of this world, the
deceitfulness Of riches and "other
things" had so entered in that the
good seed eve had Il chance in the
soil of the human heart. 1t was choked
and yielded no fruit. There vas no
real grip Of the will, no w~hole-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 n
time gave such promise in their lives !;
the lusts and other things which the
evil n knows s. we'll how to use keep
us from the. Word, for Satan knows
that by it we are to be saved duke
1912. Are we impulsive? Do we
make VOWS soon forgotten, ties that
soon fade away or fall beneath the
temptations {for lack Of root? May
God blast ard turn up the subsoil Of
our hearts bAstrong convictions of sin,
and SO ccc' the soil that there is no
opportunity for other things.
We have thus seen three-fourths Of
the seed lost.'NH OF the remaining
f~ourtlA that which fell into" Or. w
the GOOD soil, mot jAall. yielded the same
return. (It'all brought forth ". y; it
all yielded; It all sprang up, but not all
in fine same, fqti6.lf
There are three distinguishing fea-
lures Of thlSfast kind of hearers: (1)
They hear the Word. These are the
ones who appreciate its value and give
good heed to its precepts. (2) They ac-
cept it e. G. they understand its teach
ings. They take 1t into good and hon
est hearts. (3) They hold it fast
duke 9:15 r. w These are the
ones of which martyrs are made.
Jesus was a great open-air preacher
wv. / ~ and like all others he has