Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1918-02-15
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY II
JESUS TEACHING FIVE PARALLELS
-FOUR KINDS OF GROUND.
LESSON TEXT-Mark 4:1-2O.

how We RI S:1S.
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL FOR
TEACHERS-Matt 131-3O; 36-43.
PRIMARY T~OPIC-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
10 :10-13). The truth had to be taught;
hence the parable, that those to whom
it was given to know the messages of
the kingdom, those who sought it,
might know and understand, and that
to the others it might be hidden Ozark
All, 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 Uuke IS :11). !
We get the same thought in verse four
teen of the lesson. A great deal is be-
ing made today of seed selection. Some
wonderful results nave been obtained.
How much more important for those of
us who deal with immortal souls that
we select the best seed, i. e., the Word
of God.
The second consideration is the
sOwer ". ~. Notice he went forth not
to soar" not is it recorded that he
was "sore" because the people did not
all receive the seed alike. He did not
have a crouch; he did not enter into
his work that he might receive the
adulation of men (AIatt. 6:2). It is,
however, the "soil' that seems to he
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 is significant. Some fell 'by'' the
wayside the path was well tredden;
the ground was preoccupied; e. g., it
was used for other purposes than to
yield a harvest; it was hard to be
broken, and hence it was an easy mat
e 1OL IN UAldo VI LC III W. ACJ "
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 was that the Word was not i'm
planted. Thus it is that one-fourth of
the seed is lost. The result is a deplOr~
able one as we see from Heb. 2:1-4.
Is the soil of our life so hard that God
must drive the plowshare clean
through it ere there is a chance for the
seed to take root? CPS. 129 :3).
The next fell "on' the rocky ground.
The first is a picture of the hardened,
and this is a picture Of the superficial
hearer. For a 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 a real grip on their
lives. The earth yields its increase
though we do not understand. So God
will add his 90 per cent to u 5 per
cent. The oak tree comes from small
seed. AS we plant, let us expect great
response from our feeble efforts, but
we need to expect the times of storm
to follow the seed sowing, and unless
the seed of the kingdom gets a real
grip on our lives there is no chance for
a harvest. In which category are we?
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 Oc-
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 never had a chance in the
soil of the human heart. 1t was chOked
and yielded no fruit. There was nc
real grip of the will, no whole-hearted
surrender. The cares of life that keeI
{ 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 so well how to use keeT
] us from the Word, for Satan knows
that by it we are to be saved (Luke
1912. Are we impulsive? Do we
make VOWS soon forgotten, ties tina.
5 seOn fade away or fall beneath the
] temptations for lack of root? May
God blast and turn up the subsoil o.
e our hearts by strong convictions of sin
- and so occupy the soil that there is Ii,
t opportunity for other things.
We have thus seen three-fourths O
[ the seed lost. OF the remainin:
e fourth, that which fell into Or. "
the good soil, not all yielded the sam,
return. 1t all brought forth ". y; i
all yielded; it all sprang up, but not al
in the same ratio. We need to remem
! Der at this point that this parabl
n plainly teaches US that we who receiv
It the implanted Word, we who receiv
< and obey, shall in turn become tn
. seed of the kingdom.
There are three distinguishing fea
1t lures of this last kind of hearers: Il
They hear the Word. These are tn
ones who appreciate it's value and Civ
good heed to it's precepts. (2) They az
o cept it e. e. they understand its teach
} ings. They take it into good and hon
n est hearts. (3) They hold it fas
II duke 8:15 R. W These are til
a ones of which martyrs are made.
&c Jesus was a great open-air preache
- wv. l p and like all others he ha
various kinds of hearers the hal
hearted nearer the shallow-hearte
he nearer. The way to reach the masse
I" is to go where the masses are and i
going to them we are not to preac
philosophy or sociology or Shak,
II speare but in his words. SOW tn
a seed which is the Word Of God" (Luk
, P.11N