THE SEED AND THE SOIL
By GORDON CHILVERS
By comparing men’s hearts with four kinds of soil (Matt. 13: 1-23) our Lord gave a complete summary
of all men’s reaction to His word. He
had been preaching to, and teaching the people of
The sower takes the handful of corn from the bag he
carries in front of him, and with a sweeping movement of the hand allows corn
to fall to the ground. As a result, some
falls on the hard ground. This was a
foot-path trodden-down, and hardened by those who passed over it. The seed could not penetrate this soil, so it
lies exposed on the top of the soil, but not for long. The birds had been watching the sower, and at
the earliest moment they sweep down, and carry away the seed with them. So the result of one sowing had proved to be
fruitless - except to the birds of heaven that devoured the seed.
“Some fell upon stony places,
where they had not much earth”, (verse 5).
These stony places were not loose stones
lying together in various parts of the field, but large rocks with just a thin
covering of soil over the top. This
ground, then, was only a thin layer of soil covering a barren rock. “And forthwith they
sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth.” The seed is easily able to send roots through
the thin layer of earth, but there they must stop, for they cannot penetrate
the hard rock. “And
when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they
withered away.” They had not gone
down deep, so they could not remain up for long. They had no root, so they could get no
moisture, and soon they showed the effect by being completely withered.
“And some fell among thorns.” The seeds of the thorns were already in the
ground. The seed came up with the
thorns, but as the thorns were the stronger of the two they ousted the seed. Thorns were regularly used in
There was one other kind of soil, and this rejoiced
the heart of both sower and reaper alike. “Others fell upon the
good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundred fold, some sixty fold,
some thirty fold.” Contrasted
with the first, the ground had been broken up by the plough: contrasted with
the second, it was deep, rich earth: contrasted with the third, it was clean
soil, and not filled with thorn seeds. In other words, it was ideal ground for the
seed. It received the same seed from the
same sower as the other ground, but what a difference in the results! While such a high yield as a hundred fold was
indeed high and unusual, it was by no means unknown. “Then Isaac sowed in
that land (that is, the land of the Phillistines), and received in the same
year an hundred fold: and the Lord blessed him” (Gen. 26: 12).
Such was our Lord’s paxable. The disciples did not understand why He should
speak to the people in parables. They go to Christ with their difficulties, and
He in response gives them the explanation of the parable. How thankful we are for the disciples’
question, for it brought forth from Christ the Divine explanation. “Hear ye therefore
the parable of the sower.” Our
Lord Himself called for the earnest, careful, and undivided attention of His
disciples. “When
anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh
the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was in his heart.” Christ Himself was the first sower of the
seed. He sowed the seed in
The doctrine is not understood by the first class of
hearers, though Christ’s reign is not more difficult to understand than the
reign of any other monarch. As the word
is not understood, the soil is hardened against its reception, and so the words
of Christ make no impression upon the soul. Even though the soul is regenerate, the heart
can be hardened through pride. The
Kingdom is denied as being only an earthly kingdom, and therefore not to be
sought after by Christians. Or, the
heart may be hardened through prejudice. Many of God’s people refuse the Kingdom
because they think it to be Jewish. Although
our Lord has bidden his disciples strive that they may enter the Kingdom, they
refuse their Lord’s word and say, “No, it is for Jews
only.” Some go to the other
extreme and assert that if Christ is in this kingdom, they will certainly have
a place in it as they are bound to be where Christ is. It is our Lord Himself who says so
distinctly,- “Except your righteousness shall
exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter
into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5: 20).
They say, “Oh
no, we shall all be there.” They
then who hear the word of the Kingdom with such prejudice, refuse it and so
make the word of God of none effect by their tradition. It may be that sin comes between the believer
and his Lord. We cannot close our eyes
to the fact that Christians. do sin, and sin wilfully after they have received
the knowledge of the truth; and to them Christ Himself shuts the door of the
Kingdom. They are blinded to the higher
truths of Scripture and will not seek for any prize. They simply rest on the fact that they have
eternal life and nothing can take it away from them. Satan, who is the embodiment of all evil, then
gladly takes away the seed that was sown. All sin is headed up to him, and so, by one
device or another, Satan is able to take the seed from the ground. It is a very striking and solemn thought - the
ground retains the seed no longer. It is
gone, never to return. If we refuse the
light God has given us, He will give no further light, and that which we refuse
will be taken away. So Paul says to the
Hebrew Christians, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of
unbelief in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily while it is
called Today; lest any of you be hardened
through the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb.
3: 12, 13).
“But he that received the
seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy
receiveth it.” Our Lord’s birth
was to bring joy to mankind. “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be
to all people. For unto you is born this
day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2: 10, 11). There is no message on earth like it.
This Gospel [good
news] of the Kingdom is accepted by heart and
mind. There is a great desire to
participate in the benefits of this kingdom, but the enthusiasm does not last. There appear to be prospects for these people,
but they did not count the cost. They
are equally quick in receiving and in letting it slip, “Yet,” our Lord continues, “hath he no root
in himself, but duieth for a while: for when tribulation comes” (this
word is connected in its root meaning with the threshing roller - something
which crushes exceedingly small). We
remember the words of our Lord to Peter on the very night of his trial, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he
may sift you as wheat” (Luke 22: 31).
That is what disturbs these hearers. “Or persecution arises
because of the word, by and by he is offended.” There is receptiveness but nothing more, for
their acceptance of truth is short lived.
They found there was opposition from the world, the
flesh, and the Devil, and even (sad to say) from their fellow believers. They find to their horror that the doctrine is
not fashionable. This is the time to
suffer loss for Christ, but they are not prepared to pay the price, and they
are amongst those who fall away. So once
there is difficulty over the truth they have accepted, they let it go just as
quickly as they received it. They are
like sponges which absorb any liquid without the slightest difficulty, but
immediately you start squeezing the sponge it lets out the liquid even more
quickly. Believers can be without depth
of spiritual kowledge or experience. They
cannot stand the heat of persecution and trial. In that case their spiritual life will soon
wither. These Christians are like
weather-cocks, they agree with the doctrine that is fashionable at the time and
which is accepted by those in whose company they find themselves. If their associates accept the Word of the
Kingdom, then so do they. If the others
do not accept it, then nor do they. They
have never taken heed to the exhortation of the Apostle Paul that we “be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about
with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness,
whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but; but speaking the truth in love, may
grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ” (Eph. 4: 14, 15). It is always difficulty and hardship that
cause the people to go back. When Jesus
said He was the bread of life which came down from heaven, “many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, This is an
hard saying; who can hear it?” (John 6: 60). “From that time many
of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him” (John 6: 66). How very sad this must have been to the first
Sower of the seed - Christ. He gave this
parable just before these people went back! What a warning they had, yet it was depised.
“He also that received seed
among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the cares of this world, and
the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.”
There is a divided heart and so the
fruit was not perfect. The trouble was
that the seed could get no sun. When a
believer loses touch with the Sun of Righteousness his Christian life will soon
be clouded, and he will bring forth no fruit to perfection. If any man is to seek first the
Secondly - ambition. If ambition controls a man’s life there are
many things he will be tempted to do which are not agreeable with the Christian
character. He may be called upon to
compromise in certain ways if he wishes to attain to the highest that this
world has to offer. There is too the possibility
of the unequal yoke. There may be
attendance at social functions when it is not popular to be too exact in speech
or conduct. There is the possibility of
having to keep on good terms with a senior and this may bring disastrous
effects. Wm. Taylor speaking of ambition says:- “If
the office seeks him he may be safe and may keep himself in the line of
spiritual growth; but if he seeks the office with overmastering ambition let
him beware, for if he persist in such a course he will choke out his Christian
life.”
Thirdly, there are riches - the deceitfulness of
riches. The great Puritan preacher Jay says:- “Some
years ago when preaching at
Our Lord looked on a young man and loved him. The young man had said that he had kept all
God’s commandments from his youth up. “Jesus said unto him - If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that
thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and
come and follow me. But when the young
man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions”
(Matt. 19: 21, 22). The young man can say nothing - his riches
completely barred his road to the Kingdom. Christ then turns to His disciples and says, -
“Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly
enter into the kingdom of heaven. And
again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle,
than for a rich man to enter into the
So, the Devil
takes the first seed, and flesh takes the second seed and the world takes the
third seed, leaving only one to delight the heart of the Lord. “He that received
seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it;
which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundred fold, some sixty,
and some thirty.” They were regenerate like the
others but they were not content with anything less than a life lived wholly
for God. In the words of Luke, those “on
the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the
word, keep it” (Luke 8: 15). (That is, “holds it
so that it doesn’t run away,” (D.
M. Panton). Here was not a prejudice
against the word, but the willing reception of it for Christ’s sake. As a result they bring forth a magnificent yield
of the fruit of the Spirit which is, “Love,
joy,peace,longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance”
(Gal. 5 : 22, 23). There was a difference in the yield even when
the seed fell on good ground (possibly because there were differences in the
gifts dispensed by Christ), but even the last brought forth thirty fold. This class of hearers fully understood the
teaching and its consequences and give it their whole-hearted allegiance, and
it becomes the only ambition of their life. Their heart is honest. That is, they look the matter straight in the
face and accept God’s word at its face value.
They hold fast the truth and practise all they know to be right. This is the only class to bring forth fruit. Persecution, cares, and losses come, but still
they go on. There are differences in
fruit now; there will be differences in glory in the day to come. There was no defect in the seed, for it was
all the same; nor in the Sower, for He was the same in each case. The difference was in the soil alone, that is,
the hearer. The way may be tedious, but
we are pressing on to a goodly land. Take
heed how you hear!
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