Hearing With Heed
(No. 2512)
INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, APRIL 11, 1897.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
AUGUST 9, 1885.
"And He said unto them, Take heed what you hear: with what measure you
use, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be
given." Mark 4:24.
In these days we have many instructions as to preaching, but our Lord
principally gave directions as to hearing. The first part of our text,
"Take heed what you hear," may be viewed as a note of discrimination.
Be careful what you hear– hear the Truth of God and only the Truth of
God! It does seem to me as if some people say, "Here is a place of
worship. There is sure to be a sermon, let us go in and hear it." Ah,
but all that is preached is not Gospel and it is not all hearing that
will be valuable to your souls! Especially at this present time it is
incumbent upon Christians to learn how to use the discerning faculty
with regard to what is and what is not the Truth of God. Would you eat
all meat indiscriminately without tasting and testing its quality? If
so, would you not soon be ill? Does a man take any drug that may happen
to be upon the chemist's shelves? Does he not expect great care to be
exercised in the doctor's dispensary, lest he should be taking poison
where he hoped for a salutary medicine? Remember what the Apostle John
says, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether
they are of God." And when you know what the Truth of God is, be not
ready to listen to that which is contrary to it, or you will rue the
day in which you lent your ears to the deceiver! Ulysses was not unwise
when he sealed the ears of his sailors while they passed by the rocks
of the sirens, for they sang so sweetly that they tempted mariners to
run their ships upon the rocks where they would be wrecked. So dear
Friends, with sealed ears, pass by those who have nothing to
communicate that can tend to your spiritual edification–and thus carry
out our Savior's words, "Take heed what you hear."
This command is also a very clear note of warning. We take heed what we
eat and what we drink. Every person who desires to have health does
that. And shall we be careless of what we hear? May we not, by hearing
error and falsehood, engender disease in our spirit and bring our soul
into sin, sorrow and eternal ruin? Time is too short for us to be
listening to every babbler! Heaven and earth are too important for us
to be running any risk concerning our eternal state by giving heed to
the speculations of evil men!
But I am going to use the text in another sense, namely, as a word of
awakening to you who are hearers. I do not think that I need to say to
the most of you, "Hear the Word," for, if ever there were people who
loved to hear the Word of God, they are to be found in this
congregation, willing to come not only on the Sabbath, but on
week-nights, too, to hear the preaching of the Word! May you, as well
as the city of Glasgow, flourish by the preaching of the Word! May your
souls be fat and flourishing as you are willing to hear the Word! But,
alas, there are many to whom it is necessary to give an exhortation
even to come and hear the Gospel! It is getting far too commonly so in
London–the vast proportion of our population does not care about
hearing preaching. There is a good deal of the preaching that they need
not care much to hear, especially poor people who cannot understand the
Latinized English, whereas, if our glorious old Anglo-Saxon mother
tongue were used, I guarantee you that we would find people coming to
hear much more numerously than they do!
Notice, dear Friends, that there is in our text, first, a
precept–"Take heed what you hear." There is, secondly, a
proverb–"With what measure you use, it shall be measured to you." And
there is, thirdly, a promise–"And unto you that hear shall more be
given."
I. First, here is a PRECCEPT which ought to be dear to our souls. If
God commands anything, we ought to wish to know what it is that He
commands.
Take heed, then, what you hear. That is, hear with attention. Do not
hear heedlessly, for that is not really to hear. There is a mode of
attending a place of worship which cannot be of much service because
the person attending is three parts asleep. He is not sufficiently
asleep for his neighbor to nudge him, but he is quite sufficiently
asleep to require to nudge himself and wake himself up! A great many
persons, when they come to a place of worship, are like what I
sometimes find upon my garden wall. It looks like a chrysalis, but when
I take it up, I find that the living thing has flown away. Here is the
chrysalis of a man, but where is the man, himself? Oh, he is at home!
He is planning what he is going to do tomorrow, or he is thinking about
what he did not do on Saturday! How often is it that a hearer's ears
are nothing better than a mere trumpet–what is said goes in and goes
out, again–and nothing remains. I like that kind of hearing of which I
heard concerning a boy who was noticed always to be drinking in what
the preacher said. He would lean forward, and listen with eyes, and
ears and mouth all open! His mother said, "John, what makes you so
attentive ?" "Why, Mother," he answered, "I heard that if there was any
part of the sermon that was likely to be blessed to our souls, it was
just then that the devil would try to make us inattentive. So I made up
my mind that I would hear every bit of it so that God might bless me by
it." If we always had such hearers as that boy, we would be sure to
have faith worked in them and God would be glorified in their
salvation!
"Take heed what you hear," so as to hear for yourselves with a personal
application of the Truth of God. "Friends, Romans, countrymen," said
the orator, "lend me your ears." If anyone makes the same request to
you, tell him that you cannot lend your ears, for you need them
yourselves! A man said once, "While I was at the service this morning,
I was hearing for a man whom I saw in the aisle. I wondered what he was
thinking of the sermon." Never you mind the man in the aisle–breathe a
prayer to God for a blessing on him, but hear the Word of the Lord for
yourself! Hear it personally! Look, there is a group of ten or 12
people met in a parlor and there is a legal-looking gentleman with a
document in front of him. He is reading somebody's "last will and
testament." It is very dry reading. If you could listen through the
keyhole, I do not think you would stay long to hear it. It is about
freeholds, leaseholds, properties and I know not what–but just look at
the attention of the hearers!. Do you see that brother of the testator?
The lawyer has just read the clause about one hundred pounds that is
left to him. The old man has his ear-trumpet up to his ear till he
hears that piece! And now that the will passes on to, "my nephew
Thomas," down goes the ear-trumpet, for the old man does not care what
is left to Thomas!
There are two young people in the corner who have been expecting
something and they are getting very eager, for the will has gone
through a number of items and it has not mentioned them. Now see their
attention, how they brighten up, and look at one another as the lawyer
reads, "To my dear grandchild Jane and her husband, I leave_." Now they
will catch every syllable! I am sure they will and when it is done,
they will say, "Would you mind reading that piece again?" It is so
deeply interesting to them because it concerns them personally. I want
that illustration to live with you, for that is the way to hear the
Gospel preached–waiting till it comes to the piece that especially
concerns yourself and till that comes, saying, "I dare not claim that
promise, I must not take that comfort, for I am not the character
described." When, at last, there comes the portion that is your own,
then just drink it in and say to yourself, "I would like to hear that
again, for it means me–there is something in that just suitable for
me." O men and women, you have not heard the Gospel aright unless you
have heard it as your own Gospel–unless you have discovered in it a
finger pointing to yourself–your own name, your own character, written
there!
Then, dear Friends, if you would take heed what you hear,
hearretentively endeavoring to rememberthe Truth. It is a good thing to
carry home as much as you can from the preaching of the Gospel. Eat it
on the spot! Probably that is the best way to carry it away with a
certainty! What a man eats at the table will not be stolen from him by
a thief on the road home! And if you take in every Word, as you hear
it, into your very soul, saying, "O God, bless it to me now!" you will
retain it to a certainty! But do take heed that the sermon shall not be
finished when the last word is spoken. Let not our finis be yourfnis,
but let our ending be your beginning! Ministers ought to finish up with
the practical application–and that is where the hearer ought to begin.
And he should continue to make the practical application to himself
through all his life.
Then, dear Friends, hear desiringly. What a blessed kind of hearing
that is when a man hears with longing, wishing, hungering all the way
through the sermon! When the fish are hungry, then is the time for
fishing, and when souls hunger and thirst after righteousness, thenis
the time for preaching! Over there is a broken-hearted sinner and he is
saying, "Oh, that I could hear something about a Savior!" Yonder is
another soul that has been crying and praying for mercy and has not
found it–and he is saying, "Oh, that I might discover the way of
mercy!" I try with all my might so to preach that souls may not miss
the way of salvation! When I was here, last week, and saw some eight
friends who came to confess their faith, I was a little disappointed
that out of that number there were only two who had been blessed under
my ministry. But a Brother to whom I mentioned it said, "Well, Sir, I
can bear witness that I have heard sermons from you of late of which I
have said that if I had been unconverted, I must have been brought to
the Lord through hearing those sermons, for they did so earnestly press
sinners to come to Christ, and they did set the Gospel so plainly
before the hearers." I felt that I could conscientiously agree with
what that good Brother said, for, if I have not preached the Gospel, I
have meant to do it. And if I have not made you understand it, I have
tried to make it as plain as ever I could.
If I liked to do so, I fancy that I could preach a very fine
sermon–one that would please gentlemen who are fond of oratory–but
that high-flown style of preaching seems to me to be wicked so long as
souls are perishing! And I am determined, as far as ever I can, to
preach the Gospel plainly and simply so that everybody may understand
it. If occasionally I make you smile, I do not mind, because sometimes
I can get the Truth of God into your heart that way when I cannot get
it in any other way. If you only get to Christ, it does not matter to
me whether you come laughing or crying so long as you are really
brought to Him. We long to bring our hearers to the Savior and,
therefore, we need them to so hear that they shall hunger and thirst
after the living God! And when they do that, they will be sure to find
Him before long.
One thing more. Take heed that you hear obediently. That is to say, put
in practice what you hear, for it is no use to hear unless you do so.
You say to a man, "You have need of such-and-such a diet in order that
you may be restored to health," and he says, "I thank you," but he
never uses that diet–and then complains that he is not any better.
Another says, "I have been to such-and-such a doctor, and I have paid
him a guinea for his advice, but I am no better." The doctor sees the
man, and he says, "Did you take the medicine that I prescribed for
you?" "Well, no, Sir, I am not partial to medicine." "And what have you
been eating?" When he tells him, the doctor says, "Why, those are the
very things that I said you were notto touch! Have you taken
so-and-so?" "No, I did not like the taste of it, so I have not gone on
with it." If he is a sensible doctor, he says, "Why did you come to me?
If you are no better, can you blame me?" "But I had your prescription,
Sir! I took it home with me and put it in a cupboard. I would have been
greatly distressed if I had lost it on the way home." "But you have not
taken the medicine?" "No, Sir, no, I have not, but I have your
prescription all right."
So people say, "I hear the Gospel regularly. I would not be absent on
the Sabbath and I go out on a Thursday evening and listen to the
preacher." "But they have not all obeyed the Gospel," wrote Paul, in
his Epistle to the Romans, and that is what we still have sorrowfully
to say–so many remain hearersonly, but not doersof the Word.
II. Now I am going to turn to the second part of the subject, which is,
A PROVERB. The text says, "With what measure you use, it shall be
measured to you." You shall have your corn measured back to you with
your own bushel.
What does this mean in reference to this subject? Just this–the Hearer
of the Gospel will get measure for measure, and the measure shall be
his own measure. For instance, those who have no interest in the Word
find it uninteresting. A man comes to listen to the Gospel without any
interest in the Gospel–he does not care an atom what it is or what it
is not and, consequently, he finds nothing interesting in the Gospel.
If he reads the Bible with no concern at all in it, he finds nothing in
it that strikes him. He may read it as a blind man passes through a
picture gallery and he may hear the voice of the minister as a deaf man
hears music. That is to say, there will be no true seeing or
hearing–seeing, he shall not perceive–and hearing, he shall not
understand. Come to a service without any interest in it and there
shall be nothing interesting to you in it. You have no longing to be
saved, no wish to escape from the guilt of sin, no desire for Heaven,
no care about God. So, of course, the dullest thing to you in all the
world will be a service where Christ is preached! You shall get it
measured back to you with your own measure.
Next, those who desire to find fault, find faults enough. There are
some persons who attend even the House of God with a view simply of
finding fault. I have great pleasure, generally, in obliging people who
wish to find fault–they shall always have faults enough to find if
they want them. There shall be a fault in style, a fault in this, a
fault in that and a fault in the other. If you want to find fault–if
it is any source of pleasure to you, well, it is no trouble to us, so
you can proceed! The critic of the Gospel will find so much to object
to in it that he will almost think it was meant for him to object
to–and so it was, in a measure. The offense of the Cross has not
ceased. It is still a stumbling block to you that believe not, and you
shall stumble and fall and be broken to pieces by it. Therefore,
deceive not your own souls over that matter–with your own measure it
shall be measured back to you. What you fish for, you shall catch.
On the other hand, those who seek the solid Truth of God learn it from
any faithful ministry. Here is a person who comes to hear the Gospel
with attention. He says, "I would like to know all about this Gospel. I
want to be taught the truth concerning sin and its remedy. I want to
know the truth concerning the Holy Spirit and the work that He performs
in the heart. I want to hear about the Lord Jesus Christ and His
atoning Sacrifice, I want to know about the life of a Christian, his
comforts, his trials, his joys, his duties." Well, if you hear
attentively, desiring to know and to be taught, you shall find much
that is worth knowing, much that will attract you, much that will call
you to a yet closer attention, much that will make you want to know
still more, much that will make you eager to be taken behind the scenes
that you may wonder what the parables mean and what the Holy Spirit
intends to teach you! I am sure there never was a person who
attentively considered the great plan of salvation in its details who
did not find much that was well worth his most careful consideration!
Further, those who hunger find food. Here is another man who comes, not
merely with attention to know, but with a hungry desire to receive the
benefit of the Gospel into his own soul and, dear Friends, if you come
hungering, you shall be filled, for this is our Savior's
declaration–"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after
righteousness: for they shall be filled." What a blessed thing the
Gospel is to the man who really wants it! It is a blessed thing to be
empty, because then you understand the fullness of Christ! I was
standing, one day, under one of the great beech trees in the New
Forest, marking with delight the various twists of the branches. The
beech tree always has a special charm to me and I thought to myself,
"This beech tree greatly interests me." But there was a squirrel
running along one of the branches and he stopped and looked at me–and
as I was quite still, he looked till he did not want to see any
more–and he passed round the trunk, and then came in sight again as he
worked his spiral way right up to the top! And I said, "Ah, little
squirrel, this beech tree is more to you than it is to me. To me, it is
only a thing that I look at with curiosity and interest. But to you, it
is your home, it is your granary–you get your beech nuts and hoard
them away. And here you live and here you have your young. Winter and
summer this is your place of abode. In the summer to sport in and in
the winter to hide in. This beech tree is everything to you."
Now, to the mere hearer, the Lord Jesus Christ is just like what that
tree was to me. The mere hearer looks at Him with some interest, but to
a poor hungry sinner, Jesus Christ is everything! He is a home for his
desolation, raiment for his nakedness, food for his hunger, light for
his darkness, liberty for his bondage, joy for his despair. He is his
Heaven upon earth and his Heaven in Heaven! Dear Friends, this is the
way to hear the Gospel–with a great craving hunger of soul, for as
much as you really want, that you shall have. If you bring a great
measure of need to the sanctuary, the Truth of God shall be measured
out to you so as to fill it! Your utmost desires shall be exceeded, for
God is able to do for us exceeding abundantly above what we ask or even
think!
Then, next, those who bring faith receive assurance. I will suppose
that there is a poor soul here that comes to Christ and says, "I heard
the Gospel and I believe it."Very well, then, you shall have more faith
given you and, when you have twice as much faith, if you come with that
and say, "Lord, I believe more firmly and truly than ever," you shall
have as much faith again given you. And then when you come and say,
"Lord, I feel confident of it," you shall have twice as much confidence
given to you! And when you get that double quantity of confidence and
then come and say, "Lord, I am assured, I do believe. I am saved, I am
sure of it," you shall have a double quantity of assurance given to
you, till you get to "full assurance of faith," for, "with what measure
you use, it shall be measured to you." If you measure out an immense
amount of faith in Christ, you shall have an immense quantity measured
back to your faith!
Is not this a delightful proverb of the Kingdom of Heaven, that every
hearer shall receive according to what he brings? If he brings great
desire, great attention, great faith–he shall receive just in the same
measure, according to the abundant Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. But
remember that no man gets saved by an inattentive hearing of the
Gospel. No man gets saved by a careless hearing. No man gets saved by a
forgetful hearing. No man gets saved by a fitful, occasional hearing of
the Gospel–it is God's usual way to save men by their using the means
of Grace, by their constantly, attentively, intensely, earnestly
hearing the Word of God! There is no merit in merely hearing. There is
no merit, even, in faith in and of itself. God has appended the
blessing of faith to hearing and the blessing of salvation to faith.
Therefore, give a large measure to God in your hearing that He may give
a large measure back to you according to the proverb, "With what
measure you use, it shall be measured to you."
III. Now I have to finish with A PROMISE–"Unto you that hear shall
more be given."
This is a very great and very gracious word, but I will not speak long
upon it. "Unto you that hear, shall more be given." More what? Why,
first, more desire to hear It is the man who has heard the Gospel who
loves to hear it. I think that the best preaching of the Gospel is when
the preacher, himself, enjoys it–when he himself is heartily in love
with it–that is a part of the unction that God gives to go with it.
When a cook is preparing a dainty dish, I think he smiles as he sends
it up to his lord's table. And he has some enjoyment of it himself. I
love to preach a Gospel of which I feel the sweetness in my own soul.
So, dear Hearer, if you begin to feel the sweetness of hearing the
Gospel, you shall feel more of it! Those who are tired of preaching are
those who do not often hear it. If it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and
you have often heard it, you want to hear it again. You will be like
the Duke of Argyll in Rutherford's day, when Rutherford preached about
Jesus. The Duke stood up and said, "Ring that bell again, for I love to
hear the music of that sweet name." That bell can never be rung too
often in the ear that knows its melody, "Unto you that hear shall more
be given"–more desire to hear, more delight in hearing will God bestow
upon you.
"Unto you that hear shall more be given." That is, more understanding
of what you hear. At first a man does not understand much of the
Gospel. He gets as far as the A B C of it and that saves him. But "unto
you that hear shall more be given." There are certain parts of God's
Word that we do not yet fully understand. I am speaking for myself and
most people. Ought we, then, to read them? Yes, certainly! If you do
not understand them, keep on reading them. Why? Because if you were a
child and your father wrote you a letter, and there was a part of it
that was beyond your comprehension, if you were a sensible child, you
would say, "Well, I do not catch my father's meaning, but I shall read
his letter again." So, Beloved, say to yourself, "I cannot fully
comprehend this Scripture, but I know that my Heavenly Father meant
something by it. And I love Him so much that I like to read His very
Words, even if I do not catch His meaning,"
As you keep on reading, you will say to yourself, "I understand that
sentence, which was not plain before. I have not learned the meaning of
all the letter yet, but I shall read it again." You read, and read, and
read and, at last, by the reading you read yourself into the
understanding of it! I am sure it is so with the study of God's Word.
If the Lord had written the Bible all so very plainly, it would have
been meant for us when we were merely babes in Grace and there would
have been nothing for us as we advanced! Therefore He has written some
part of it a little less simply and some way farther on there are
greater difficulties, still, on purpose, that when our senses have been
exercised by being used, we may come to the fullness of the stature of
men in Christ Jesus. If you do not understand the Word that you hear,
then hear it again and again till, at last, the Light of God breaks in
upon your soul, for, "unto you that hear shall more be given"– more
understanding of what you hear.
So also, with hearing, shall be given move assurance of the truth of
what you hear. Those who reject the Bible are generally people who have
never read it. Those who read it, usually receive it, and those who
read it more, receive it yet more firmly. Those who hear the Gospel
again and again, and again, get more and more sure that it is true. At
first they hope it is true. Then they thinkit is true. Soon, they
believeit is true and, farther on, they knowit is true. And yet farther
on they are so delighted because it is true that they feel that they
could die in the defense of it! "Unto you that hear shall more be
given"–you shall become more and more sure of the truth of what you
hear.
"Unto you that hear shall more be given." That is, more personal
possession of the blessings of which you hear. You shall get a firmer
grip of it for yourselves. You shall get a clearer view as to your own
interest in it. Once, when Jesus passed by, I touched the hem of His
garment with my finger and I was made whole. But when Jesus came
nearer, he that had touched His garment's hem came nearer, still, and
laid hold upon His hand, bowed at His feet and held Him and said, "I
implore You to abide with me." As he went further, he came to lean his
head upon the bosom of his Lord. The more you know of Christ and the
more you hear about Him, the more shall you feel sure that He is yours
and the more shall you abide in Him, trust in Him and find joy and
peace through believing in Him.
"Unto you that hear shall more be given." That is, more delight while
hearing the glorious Gospel. No one of us knows how much God can give
to a man. There is a cornucopia, in the hand of God, that is infinitely
full of delights to the man who is willing to receive them. He who is a
little Christian has little joy. He who gets but little of Christ and
hears but little of Christ, has but little comfort. But he who will go
into this business, heart and soul, and invest his whole capital of
body, soul and spirit in it–he is the man who shall be rich to all the
intents of bliss.
"Unto you that hear shall more be given," and yet more, and yet more,
and yet more–you shall become holier, stronger, more useful, more
happy, more heavenly! That word, "more," is so big that when you have
thought about it as much as you like, it is still, "more." And then,
when you have expanded your conceptions of it, it is still "more." And
when you seem to have gone to your utmost imagination, it is still
"more." And when you fancy that you have exaggerated, yet still it is
"more," for, "more" must be always more than he who has the largest
powers of thought shall ever be able to compass!
Therefore, Beloved, I say to you, in conclusion, let us give to the
Gospel that earnest kind of hearing which I have tried to describe. And
let us so give it that we get a blessing from the Master as the result.
And, first, hear the Gospel. You who do not often hear it, I pray you,
hear it! It must be wisdom to hear what God has to say. It is so sweet
to our souls that we want you, also, to hear it. It has done us so much
good that we entreat you to hear it. Do not waste your Sabbaths–there
are few enough of them in any lifetime–and you will soon be in the
place where the tolling of a Sabbath bell will never be heard! Do, dear
Friends, you who do not often go to the House of God, do hear the Word.
It is the happiest, the wisest, the most profitable way of spending the
Sabbath.
And you who do hear, hear well. The Word deserves good hearing. It
comes from God. It is about your immortal soul. It is about Heaven and
Hell. It is about Him who died for sinners. Do not count that a trifle
which cost His life's blood! The story deserves most solemn hearing.
Remember, if you are an unconverted person, the Gospel is your only
hope–you cannot expect to find salvation by going anywhere else than
by going to hear the Word of God! The way of salvation is by faith in
Christ, but "faith comes by hearing." It is while you are hearing the
Gospel that you are led to believe it! Its evidence lies in itself. The
Cross enlightens men by its own light! Therefore, do hear all you can
about it.
Let me further say to you, dear Friends, hear often. I find that when
any of those who have regularly come to this place of worship begin to
stay away, they do not improve spiritually. A dear Brother who came to
see me this week, had been absent for a year and a half. I should have
liked you to have seen the joy with which he told me that, though he
had been obliged to be away through poverty, he could not longer endure
what he had been doing to try to make a living. He had given it up,
cost what it might, because he felt that if he did not come to hear the
Gospel, he would starve! And he was quite right. I am sure that you
cannot absent yourself from the frequent hearing of the Word if you are
a Christian, without being like a man who goes without his meals.
If you miss your regular meals, you cannot stay well. You may say, "I
ran into such-and-such a place and had something to eat." But it does
not do, either for the body or the soul, to have just a little mite of
meat here and there. You must especially get your spiritual meals
regularly and have them where your soul is really fed. Do not go where
it is all fine music and grand talk and beautiful architecture–those
things will neither fill anybody's stomach, nor feed his soul. Go where
the Gospel is preached, the Gospel that really feeds your soul, and go
often!
Lastly, if you have heard well, and heard often, try to hear still
better. Expect more out of the Gospel. No, more than that, come to
Christ Himselfand get, at one stroke, the choicest blessing you can
ever have, namely, immediate and full salvation by faith in Jesus! Then
go on to know more and more of what that treasure is and glorify your
God, world without end!
May the Lord's blessing rest upon you all, for Jesus' sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MARK4:1-25.
Verse 1. And He began again to teach by the seaside: and there was
gathered unto Him a great multitude, so that He entered into a ship,
and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.
You can easily picture that scene–the Master sitting down in the
vessel with a little breathing space of water between Himself and the
crowd. And then the multitude on the rising bank, standing one above
another, and all gazing upon the Teacher who sat down and taught them.
It ought to reconcile any of you who have to stand in the crowd here
when you remember that the hearers all stood in those days–and only
the preacher sat down!
2, 3. And He taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in
His doctrine, Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow. He did
not go out to show himself, to let people see how dexterous he was at
the art of sowing seed. But he "went out to sow." And every true
preacher should go out with this one design–to scatter broadcast the
good Seed of the Kingdom, and to try to obtain for it an entrance into
the hearts of their hearers.
4. And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and the
fowls of the air came and devoured it up. He could not help that. It
was not his fault, but the fault of the wayside and of the fowls. So,
when the Word of God is denied entrance into men's hearts, if it is
faithfully preached, the preacher shall not be blamed by his
Master–the fault shall lie between the hard heart that will not let
the Seed enter in, and the devil who came and took it away.
5. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and
immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth. Persons
with shallow characters are often very quick in receiving religious
impressions, but they also lose them just as quickly. Those who are
hasty and impulsive are as easily turned the wrong way as the right
way.
6-8. But when the sun was up, it was scorched and because it had no
root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thornsgrew
up, and chokedit, and it yielded no fruit And other fell on goodground,
and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth,
some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. Thank God for that!
There were three failures, but there was one success, or, perhaps we
might more correctly say, three successes. There were three sorts of
ground that yielded nothing, but at last the sower came to a piece of
soil that had been well prepared and, therefore, was good ground which
yielded fruit, though the quantity varied even there–"some thirty, and
some sixty, and some an hundred."
9. And He said unto them, He that has ears to hear, let him hear Some
people have ears, but they have not "ears to hear." They have ears, but
they close them to that which they ought to hear. When a man is really
willing to listen to the Truth of God, then may God help him to listen
with all his heart–spiritually!
10-12. And when He was alone, they that were about Him with the twelve
asked of Him the parable. And He said unto them, Unto you it is given
to know the mystery of the Kingdom of God: but unto them that are
without, all these things are done in parables: that seeing they may
see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand;
lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be
forgiven them. This judicial blindness had happened to the Jews–they
had so long closed their eyes to the Light of God that, at last, God
closed them and they were blinded. They had refused to heed so many
messages sent to them from the great God that, at last, this sentence
was pronounced as the punishment of their sin–that they should die in
their sins and that even the preaching of the Word by the mouth of the
Lord Jesus, Himself, should be of no use to them! That is one of the
most awful judgments that can ever happen to anyone, when God puts a
curse even on a man's blessings–and when the Gospel, which should be a
savor of life unto life, becomes a savor of death unto death.
13. And He said unto them, Know you not this parable? And how, then,
will you know all parables?"For this is one of the simplest of them
all. If you do not understand thisparable, what willyou understand?"
14, 15. The sower sows the Word. And these are they by the wayside,
where the Word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan comes
immediately and takes away the Word that was sown in their hearts.
There is always a bird where there is a seed lying on the road. And
there is always a devil where there is a sermon heard but not received
into the heart. "Satan comes immediately." He is very prompt. We may
delay, but the devil never does. "When they have heard, Satan comes
immediately and takes away the Word that was sown in their hearts."
16, 17. And these are they, likewise, which are sown on stony ground;
who, when they have heard the Word, immediately receive it with
gladness; and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time:
afterward, when affliction or persecution arise for the Word's sake,
immediately they are offended. These are the people that trouble and
grieve the hearts of earnest ministers. And there are some revivalists
who never go to a place without getting quite a lot of persons to come
forward and say that they are converted. Why, I know a town where,
according to the accounts that were put forth by certain preachers,
there were so many professed converts every night that all the people
in the town must have been converted–and a good many more from the
surrounding villages! But nobody can find them now. Were they
converted, then? I think not. But that is the style in which much has
been done by some whom I might name.
Yet there is some good even in their work! The sower in the parable is
not blamed because his work was so evanescent–how could he prevent it?
As the soil was so shallow, the apparent result was very quick and the
disappointment was equally quick. I do trust, dear Friends, that you
will never be satisfied with temporary godliness, with slight
impressions soon received and soon lost. Beware of all that is not the
work of the Holy Spirit! There must be a breaking up of the iron pan of
the heart! There must be a tearing out of the rocks that lie under the
soil or else there will be no harvest unto God.
18, 19. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear
the Word, and the cares ofthis world, and the deceitfulness of riches,
and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the Word, and it
becomes unfruitful The seed cannot grow in such soil as that. The man
is too busy, or he is wholly taken up with pleasure. The women are too
proud of themselves, or even of the clothes that cover them. How can
there be room for Christ in the inn when it is crowded with other
guests?
20. And these are they which are sown on goodground; such as hear the
Word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirty fold, some
sixty, and some an hundred. All converts are not equally good. I am
afraid that in our churches there is a large number of the thirty-fold
people. We are glad to have them, but they are not very brilliant
Christians. Oh, for some sixty-fold converts–some who are fit to be
very leaders in the Church of God! And when we get up to a
hundred-fold–when it is not merely one hundred per cent, but one
hundred gathered for every one sown–then are we indeed rejoiced! When
everything that is good is multiplied over, and over, and over, and
over, and over again, a hundred for one, and when each one of that
hundred bears another hundred–that is the blessing we long to see!
This hundredfold Seed has in it the capacity for almost boundless
multiplication! At the first sowing, we get a hundred-fold return. But
what comes of the next sowing, and the next, and the next? God send us
this style of wheat! May we have a great quantity of it!
21. And He said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a
bushel, or under a bed? And not to be set on a can-dlestick?So this
wheat, then, is meant to be sown! The Word of God is intended to be
spread. "Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed?"
If it were put under a bed, it would set the bed on fire and so, if you
have true Grace in your heart, there is nothing that can smother its
light–the fire and the light, together, will force their way out.
22. 23, For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested;
neither anything kept secret, but that it should come abroad. If any
man has ears to hear, let him hear Tell out, then, what God has told
you–and let everybody hear from you the Truth of God as you, yourself,
have heard it. See the compound interest that there is to be in this
blessed trading for Christ?
24, 25. And He said unto them, Take heed what you hear: with what
measure you use, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear
shall more be given. For he that has, to him shall be given: and he
that has not, from him shall be taken even that which he has. When the
Gospel is not received, when a man refuses it, it becomes a positive
loss to him. There is a way by which it so works that what a man
thought he had, disappears. Some have been made worse by the preaching
of that Word which ought to have made them better. May it not be so
with any one of us!