Middletown transcript., 1918-02-16
IMPROVED uNlfoRM INTERNATIONAL
SUNlAYSC|lO0L
LESSON
(By E. o. SELLtRS, Acting Director OF
the Sunday School Course Of the Moody
Bible Institute. Chicago.)
Copyright. 1917. Western Newspaper Union:l
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY II
JESUS TEACHING FIVE PARALLELS
-FOUR KINDS OF GROUND.

TVOn NtNOo VT 0"ONos
LESSON TEXT-Mark 4:1-20.
GOLDEN TEXT-Take heed therefore
how ye hear.-Luke S:1s.
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL FOR
TEACHERsLMatt 1910; s6-4s.
PRIMARY TOPIC-Jesus telling story
about sowing seed.
PRIMARY MEMORY vERSE-Be -
doors Of the word.-Jarnes liz.
Jesus tells us plainly why he taught
80 much by means Of parallels { Matt.
13 :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 1t.
might know and understand. and that
to the others It might be hidden mark
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 (Luke 18:11).
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 have been obtained.
How much more important for those of
US who deal with immortal souls that
we select the best seed, l. 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 (Matt. 6:2). 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 manner by which the seed
soil is significant. Some fell "by" the
wayside; the path was we'll trodden;
the ground was preoccupied; e. G.. 1t
was used for other purposes than to
yield a harvest; it was hard to be
broken. and hence it was On 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 was that the Word was not i'm
planted. Thus it Is that one-fourth OF
the seed is lost. The result is 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 chance for the
seed to take root? FPS. 100 ~.
The next fell ION" 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 real grip on their
lives. The earth yields its increase
though we do not understand. So God
will add his 95 per cent to our 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
q harvest. In which category are wet
In the third place Jesus speaks Of
the seed that fell among" the th0rns.
Here is the worldly soil. 1t is not so
much the character Of the soil, 1t IL
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 "0ther
things" had 30 entered in that the
good seed never had a chance in the
soil Of the human heart. 1t was ch0ked
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 so well how to use keep
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 that
soon fade away or fall beneath the
temptations for lack Of root? May
God blast and turn up the subsoil Of
our hearts by strong convictions of sin,
and so occupy the soil that there is no
opportunity for other things.
We have thus seen three-fourths Of
the seed lost. OF the remaining
fourth, that which fell Into" Or. w.
the good soil, not all yielded the same
return. It all brought forth ". y; it
all yielded; it all sprang up, but not all
in the same ratio. We need to remem-
Der at this point that this parable
plainly teaches us that we who receive
the implanted Word, we who receive
and obey, shall in turn become the
seed Of the kingdom.
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 heeS>to it's precepts. (2) They &C.
cept it e. &. they understand its teach
ings. They take it into good and hon