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THE KING’S BUSINESS
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sliders. The truth being, however, that the heart of stone had never by God’s, trans forming . power become a heart of flesh; Christ had never dwelt in their heart by faith; they had never been born from above (Ezek. 30:26; Eph. 3:17; John 3:7). III. T he Pre-Occupied H earer, vv. 7-18, 19. Here is good soil and plenty of it, but it is already occupied raising thorns. Thorns wound and hurt, and their end is to be burned, They make useful property use less. The seed grows but it is choked. But for the thorns there would be a crop. This hearer is a good-hearted companion, a good business man, a money maker, a man who can make his way among men, and he knows it. The Word gets into his heart and grows, but business cares and worldly lusts grow quicker; The men who were invited by the king to his sonls mar riage feast spurned it, one for his farm and another for his commerce (Matt. 22:5). Those who might have attended the great supper thought the buying of a field, the proving of a yoke of oxen, th e 'marrying a wife, of greater importance (Luke 14:18- 20). They let the good crowd out the best. “Ye can serve God and mammon” is the popular revision of the old truth, but some how men are losing their (spiritual) lives in attempting it. A prominent minister in Chicago was recently bowed down in tears, over many of his church members, who only a few years ago were in comfortable circumstances and godly, but today are wal lowing in luxury and godless. The thorns have choked the good seed. IV. The Fruitful H earer, w . 8-20. Mark tells us these hearers are those who receive (R. V. accept) the Word. Mat thew tells us they “understand” what they hear, and Luke tells us they “hold it fast in a good and honest heart.” Is it any wonder they bring forth thirty, sixty and an hundred fold?
Where the seed is sown in good ground there will always be some .fruit ; there may not always be fruit in the same proportion. One Christian may grow in Christ-likeneSs mote abundantly than another, but every Christian will develop some likeness to the Master. What can we do to bear fruit an hufufred fold? Secure, at all costs, time to study and meditate on God’s Word and to com mune with Him in prayer. By His grace put away as soon as tve recognize it every thing that He shows us displeases Him, even though it may not be sinful in itself. Go to work definitely, systematically and prayerfully to win others to Him. The “thorns” choke the good seed, just as the promising profession of many men has been destroyed when they began to worry about the things of this life, or began to grow so rich that their energies were drawn away from spiritual things and concentrated on earthly things (Matt. 6:33; Phil. 4:19; 1 Tim. 6:10). The “good ground” produces a crop vary ing in quantity, but it yields some return. The Word is treasured in the heart, medi tated upon, prayed over, practiced daily, and the life is transformed accordingly. Such an one grows in grace, becomes like the Master in character and rejoices the Sower (Gal. 5:22, 23). V. T he Question. Which kind of soil am I? The soil can not change itself. We cannot change our hearts, but the Lord Jesus can and will, if we really desire Him to do so, and ask Him. Am I honestly seeking to care for ' the seed, so far as I can ? Am I giving it a fair chance? Am I, having received the seed myself, seeking in turn to sow it in other hearts? What am I sowing? What did Jesus say the thorns meant? Mention some thorns: wealth, poverty, busi ness, pleasure.
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