Christ First Forum

THE WAYSIDE HEARER...
Here the seed does not have a chance to 'take root.' The Devil's Birds, 'criticism', 'doubt,' 'unbelief,' 'prejudice,', 'preoccupation,' etc., snatch up the seed BEFORE IT CAN BE WORKED INTO THE SOIL...

THE STONY GROUND HEARER...
Here the seed takes 'root' but dies before it can grow up because of the 'shallowness' of the soil. Emotional souls caught by some sudden fear of hell, or moved by some strong appeal, profess conversion, but not counting the cost they SOON FALL AWAY. Jesus mentioned 'two stones' that underlie the soil of the heart of the Stony-Ground Hearer, Tribulation and Persecution.

THE THORNY-GROUND HEARER...
Here the seed takes 'root,' grows up, but does not bear fruit. The soil of the heart of the Thorny-Ground Hearer contains the seeds or roots of 'thorns' and these spring up, and outgrow, and over shadow the wheat, and absorb from the soil the nutriment needed by it. Matthew mentions two of these 'thorns', the 'cares of the world' and the 'deceitfulness of riches' mentions another, the 'lust of other things,' and Luke a fourth, the 'pleasures of this life.

THE GOOD-GROUND HEARER...
Here the seed takes ROOT and GROWS UP, BEARS FRUIT, but the amount varies. Some brings a forth a 100 fold , some 60, some only 30. Why is this?

It was not the fault of the soil...That was equally good all over the field, even on the Wayside and in the Stony and Thorny parts.

Why then?

It was the LACK OF CULTIVATION.

If the soil had been properly cleared, tilled, and cultivated, and the proper atmospheric conditions prevailed, it would have brought forth a uniform crop of 100 fold.

This parable teaches us that Christianity is a NEW THING that it is not like weeds that grow up spontaneously of themselves, but it must be sown and cultivated like wheat.

The figure is a lowly agricultural one, that of a farmer sowing seed, and not of a King setting up a Kingdom.

In other words this AGE is an Agricultural One for the purpose of getting the WHEAT OF THE CHURCH.