“Behold, a sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them. But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixty fold, some thirty fold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
In the parables which we have already considered we saw the setting aside of Israel because they had entirely failed to produce any fruit towards God. This introduces us to an entirely new order of things: God now takes the character of a sower. Man had proved himself to be fruitless, and now probation had ceased, and God became a giver. This makes the parable of the Sower a sort of key-parable. Our Lord said to His disciples, “Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?” (Mark 4:1313And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? (Mark 4:13).) And it is strange that to this day this is a point that many professing Christians do not see. They are busily looking for something in man, something that can be cultivated and improved and made fit for God. All a grievous mistake! Man had been tried in innocence; without law; under law; under the prophets; under Christ; but all ended in failure, and now a Sower must go out to sow His seed, and His servants sow it in the wide world.
The parable is beautifully simple. Who has not seen a sower, scattering his seed over the plowed ground? And in places where there are no hedges some of the seed literally falls on the way side and is now trodden down by passers by, or picked up by the birds; and other seed falls where there is but little earth covering the hard rock beneath, and some among the choking thorns; all forming a scene often witnessed by the dwellers in Palestine, the “great multitudes” to whom this parable was addressed.
Happily we have our Lord’s own explanation of this parable. The seed sown is a the word of the kingdom in Matthew, and “the word of God” in Luke—God’s good news to man. And it very vividly brings before us the obstacles which lie in the way of man’s reception of the preached word. The chief opponent is the archenemy Satan. He attends the preaching and catches away the seed lest it should take root. That enmity which began in the garden of Eden still exists with all its malignity and malice: he is not only God’s enemy, but he is man’s, though poor fallen man knows it not, yea, will not believe it when he is told. Why man feels not the chain of Satan by which he is led on to perdition is soon told. Satan knows what man’s propensities are, and takes care to put the chain in the direction which man likes to go; so he feels not the pulling, but blindly follows.
The seed by the way side is when the hearers understand not the word, and Satan immediately catches away the seed, and none takes root.
A very solemn fact we find as to the stony-ground hearer. He is said to hear the word, and immediately he receives it with joy. But alas! there is no root, and so when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he is offended: the seed seems to spring up, but by the heat of the sun it is scorched and withered away. The hearer has indeed heard a lovely story—the story of God’s grace—and is pleased with it; but alas! that is all.
Now here are two “immediatelys:” he receives the word immediately; but when persecution ariseth because of the word, he immediately gives it all up. Surely this should teach us wisdom as to pronouncing hastily as to the results of the seed sown. The expressions used are strong: the word is received, and received with joy; and we might to hastily conclude that the work must be real. But, alas! the conscience may not have been reached, and thus the hearer is described as having “no root in himself” and no sooner does persecution arise than he gives it all up. And we, if we have hastily pronounced it “a conversion,” are put to shame.
The hearer who receives the word among the thorns is one who “heareth the word,” but it is choked by the ordinary cares of life, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things. The heart is full of its own troubles; and this, combined with what the man is pursuing, renders the seed unfruitful: it is lost.
The last named is when the seed falls upon u good ground “and it brings forth fruit in various measures. But how came the ground to be good? Is there any good ground in fallen humanity? We know from other scriptures that there is not: “the whole world lieth in the wicked one.” “There is none good; no, not one.” Then we arc sure it must have been “prepared” beforehand. Even in nature, the soil in this sin-stricken earth requires to be prepared for the seed: how much more then is it needed in that which is “shapen in iniquity.” Thus we see how the whole work is of God from first to last, as we sometimes sing—
“Of all the gifts Thy love bestows,
Thou Giver of all good!
Not heaven itself a richer knows
Than the Redeemer’s blood.
Faith, too, that trusts the blood through grace,
From that same love we gain;
Else, sweetly as it suits our case,
The gift had been in vain.”
Those who receive the word on good ground are, in contrast to the way-side hearers, said to understand it, and keep it (Luke); and now it is too deep to be caught away by Satan, or to be scorched by the sun: for we are God’s husbandry. In Luke it is described as “an honest and good heart,” whereas man’s heart is “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.”
This parable, in a wonderful way, draws aside the curtain between us and the unseen world. God has sent forth His servants to preach the word but Satan, who is unseen, is busy to prevent its taking effect. And it is worthy of remark that in none of the cases named does the word fail to produce fruit because of the sins of the hearers. In one it is persecution because of the word, and in another the cares of life and the deceitfulness of riches. In each case it is Satan. If he does not catch away the seed at once, he knows how to stir up persecution because the word has been listened to; and then the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things (and that latter expression would include mere pleasure seeking) are powerful weapons in his hand for the detraction of souls. Yes, as we have said, the work of salvation must be of God from first to last; and thank God, He does this and does it all. He prepares the seed, and sends forth His sowers; He prepares the soil, and makes the seed take root; and thus it brings forth fruit that shall abound to His glory forever and ever.