THE KING’S BUSINESS HEART OF THE LESSON B y T. C.
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H orton... an easy prey to sentimental, shallow preach ing and teaching. They have no set pur pose ; no deep conviction. They never count the cost. A little trial, a little per secution comes, and they are gone. The very thing which more deeply roots a real believer, is their undoing. These hearers go back to their worldly life when they hear Jesus say “foxes have 1 holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.” The third class are the insincere hearers. The ground is good, but thorn-choked; has not been thoroughly prepared; no deep plowing here; roots not cut off. So there is a conflict between the Word and the old nature. There is an absorption in things which preclude the possibility of producing a strong life; an unwillingness to surren der; no time for the Word of God or. prayer. They become half-hearted Chris tians; double-minded. Beware of allowing earthly longings to grow unchecked. The last is the earnest or sincere hearer. They hear the Word, accept, appreciate and appropriate it. There is deep rooting; a sturdy stock. The glory of the seed is its fruit. The possibilities are thirty, sixty, an hundred fold. Let u>s beware how we hear; how we sow; how we prepare tbe ground. Go deep. The seed is all right; it is qtiick and powerful. PRACTICAL POINTS , (1) Resisting the truth is hardening the ■soil. (2) Satan, is a seed snatcher. (3) Don’t let your heart be a highway for worldly feet. (4) Impulses are good, but an intake is bet- tei. (5) Weed out the weeds, and work in the Word. ( 6 ) Plow deep before you plant the seed. (7) There is eternal life in the seed of the ' Word. ( 8 ) If your >soul is to be a conductor of the message, remove the insulators.
W E are in the fields with the Master today. How He loved to take His lessons from the scenes around Him ! He has a message about the sower, the seed, the soil, the sunshine and the'showers. When He thinks of the soil, He thinks of the soil of the human soul. When He thinks of the seed,'He thinks of the life- giving Word of 'God (Luke 8:11). He speaks of one kind of seed here, but of different kinds of soil—soul-soil. This seed of which He speaks has a body —it is truth.. The life in the seed is the Holy Spirit. The seed has a germinating quality. One grain of seed has productive power sufficient to grain the world. Its power lies in its ability to beget life. By the seed of the Word, men are born again (1 Peter l:2 3 ;'Jarnes 1:18). By this seed life is sustained (James 1:21); and, again, by this seed life is manifested (James 1:22). The Lord speaks of four kinds of soul- soil into which the seed falls. He sees four attitudes of mind with reference to the truth. Now four is the world number, and no doubt he intends to teach iis an exceed ingly important truth with reference to our service in seed-sowing. When we are preaching and teaching, or soül-winning, it will greatly-aid us to know thjs fact. There is the wayside heart. This is the - indifferent class; those who are preoccu pied ; the careless, heedless worldling. The truth makes no impression. All kinds of feet have run through that heart. If anything is done on this ground, it must be plowed deeply before the seed is sown. The soil of the heart of little people is very sus ceptible to the truth ; make the most of it before the world makes a highway of the heart. Then there is the shallow-hearted hearer; underneath there is the hard shale. There is no depth of character. These hearers give good promise; they respond quickly; they are emotional, sentimental and become
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