Roanoke Rapids herald. [volume] (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) 1914-192?, 1918-02-15
IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
SUNl4SQ10QL
LESSON
Wy IL, ", .-.s..,.I.I..., tt.t. .SifeCtOr OF
the Sunday School Course Of the Moody
Bible Institute, Chicago.)
Copyright 1917. Western Newspaper Union,)
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY II
JESUS TEACHING FIVE PARALLELS
-FOUR KINDS OF GROUND.

PRIMARY MEMORY vERSE-Be ye
doors Of the word-James l:22
Jesus tells us plainly why he taught
so 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 II.
might know and understand, and that
TO the others It might be hidden Mark
Al, 1o). Like all his PARALLELS, Jesus
draws his pictures from the common
experiences of lfe--the field, the home,
etc. Paul draws his Illustrations chief
~ from the city, the army the market.
In studying this lesson we must turn
to the parallel account as given by
Luke and Matthew 70 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:1D.
We get the same thought In verse four
teen Of the lesson. A great deal IL 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 IL the
sower ". ~. Notice he went forth not
to soar" not Is II recorded that he
was "sore" because the people did not
all receive the seed alike. He did not
have II crouch; he did not enter into
his work that he might receive the
ndulation Of men Matt. 6:2). II 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
came into contact with ench kind Of
soil is significant. Some fell "by" the
wayslde; the path was well trodden ;
the ground was preoccupled; g. e., II
was used for other purposes than to
yield a harvest; 1t was hard to be
broken, and hence 1t was an easy mat
ter for the birds Of the air ". l5) to
come and pluck 1t away, We need 10
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 II Is that onefOurth of
the seed Is lost. The result Is II depl0r.
,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 1t ere there is chance for the
seed to take root? Cps. 100 ~.
The next fell "On" the rocky ground
The first Is n picture of the hardened
and this Is Il picture Of the superficial
hearcr. For n time they did run well.
They even received the Word with
gladness ". 16). but they had no sta
billty 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 % 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
Ia follow the seed sowing, and unless
the seed of the kingdom gets real
grip on our lives there Is no chance for
a harvest. In which category nre we!
Ii The third place Jesus speaks Of
the seed that fell among" the thorns.
Here Is the worldly soil. II Is not 50
much the character of the soil. II is
the character Of that which already &c.
the seed. The cares of this world, the
deccitfuness of riches and "other
things had so entered In Tint 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. Til cares of life that keep
the housewife or the business man
The deceltfuIness 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
ps.l one knows 50 well how to use Keep
us from the Word, for Satan knows
that by II we are to he saved Luke
1S:i2). Are we inIpulsiye? Do we
make VOWS soon forgotten. lies that
soon fade away or fail beneath the
temptations for lack Of root? May
God blast and turn up the subSoi Of
our hearts by strong convictions of sin,
and 81 occupy the soil that there s no
opportunity for other things
We have thus seen three.fourhS 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; 1t
all yielded; II all Sprnng up bnl not all
in the same ratio. We need to remem
her NJ 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: az
They hear the Word, These are the
ones who appreciate Its value and give
good heed TO its precepts. (2) They ac-
cept II @. &. they understand its teach
lngs. They take II into good and hon.
est hearts. (3) They hold 1t fast
duke S:15 II. W These are the
ones Of which martyrs are made.
Jesus was a great open-air preacher
wv. y and like all others he has
various kinds of hearers the half
hearted nearer the shallow.hearted
hearer. The way to reach the masses