THE KING’S BUSINESS
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at once, while the truth often makes deep souls sad before it makes them glad; the deep work is better than the swift one. It the seed were well rooted the sun would make it grow and ripen, and so do tribula tion and persecution when the Word is well rooted. The Galations seem to have been rocky soil hearers (Gal. 4:15; 5:7; 6:12). The third class of hearers are like rich, promising but pre-occupied soul. In this case there has been real attention to the Word and appreciation of it (v. 22), it has taken some hold upon the will but there has not been whole-hearted surrender to it. They are capable of fruit bearing if they would only cast out the thorns, but they won’t, so there is no fruit: Note well the thorns, “the care of the world ” “the deceit fulness of riches “pleasures of this life” (Luke 8:14) “lusts of other things” (Mark 4:18, 19). The “good ground” hearers are those “who hear the Word ” “understand,” “accept it” in a good and honest heart (Mark 4:20 R. V.; Luke 8:15), 'hold it fast” (Luke 8:15 R. V.) they will not give it up at any cost. Sunday, February 21. Matthew 13:24-30. Here, as in the preceding parable, Jesus appears as a sower of good seed; but in the preceding parable “the seed is the Word of God,” in this parable the good seed are “the sons of the kingdom” (v. 38), but “the sons of the kingdom” are themselves the product of the Word of God (James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23) ; so there is a close connec tion between the two parables and the two sowings. It is by sowing “the Word of God” that the Son of Man sows "sons or tne kingdom.” There are in this world “sons or the kingdom” only because Jesus has sown them. The world is ‘His field.” He has purchased it by His blood; the Devil has forfeited it by his unfaithfulness, but the Devil does not like to relinquish the world of which he was once “the prince” (John 12:31). But the world belongs to Christ, “the sons of the Evil One are sown in it but they don’t, belong in it, and when the
had prophesied they would do, seeing yet not seeing, hearing yet not hearing nor un derstanding. Their “hearts waxed gross,” their “ears dull of hearing,” and “their eyes closed” by their own choice, and this is a picture of the majority today. But there were those then, and are those now, whose eyes did see and whose ears did hear. To those who thus opened their eyes to see and their ears to hear the truth of God, our Lord would reveal what many prophets and righteous men had eagerly desired to find out but which had not been revealed to them. How blessed it is to have a seeing eye and a hearing ear. The way to obtain them our Lord Himself tells in John 7 :17. Saturday, February 20. Matthew 13:18-23. Our Lord here explains the four kinds ol soil or four classes of hearers. The first class are those who hear the Word of the kingdom but do not- understand it, do not understand it because their hearts have been made hard and their ears dull by the con stant tramp of the feet and grind of the wheels of the world. The seed sown m such hearts is snatched away by the Devil through his ever present emissaries, “fowls of the air.” The introduction of the “wick ed one” into this parable is quite unneces sary unless there be a personal Devil who is busy in this sort of business. His great aim in life is to keep men from believing the Word and being saved. There are many men today who are actively sympathetic with the Devil in this purpose. The Devil does not let the grass grow under his feet; he comes as soon as the seed is sown (cf. Mark 4:15). The second class of hearers are like the thin soil on the outcropping ledge of rock; these hear the Word and im mediately, without reflection upon its real import and the cost of acceptance, reectve it “with joy” (cf, Luke 8:13). There is response to the truth here in this case, but only an emotional response, and the great deeps of the will ¡are not taken hold of. These are shallow souls that give quicker response than any one else; they are glad
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