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[0:00] In dependence upon the health of God, for his blessing, I venture to speak again from the words found in the 18th verse in the 13th chapter of Matthew.

[0:26] To hear ye therefore the parable of the sower, his words found in chapter 13 of the gospel according to Matthew in verse 18.

[0:44] No parable, however, telling can give a full picture of any gospel truth.

[0:57] They are not intended for that purpose, but to give us in a very instructive way one particular aspect of truth.

[1:11] Now in the preaching and teaching of the word, the power of the Holy Spirit is most necessary. Nothing can possibly be done without his gracious influence.

[1:26] Even the word of God, with all the life that is in it, is not effectual apart from the life-giving application of the Spirit of God.

[1:41] That, of course, is very fully expressed elsewhere in the Scriptures. The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.

[1:54] But in this parable, we do not have that aspect of the truth brought before us. Here the emphasis is upon the preparation of the sower.

[2:08] The effect of the sower, that is the house. And the effect of the same seed, sown by the same sower in different soils.

[2:20] Now that on the wayside, which really means a trodden down path running round or through the cornfield, could well have borne fruit if it had been dug up.

[2:39] For the soil must have been the same as the other. But gradually, it had become hardened. And so the seed did not penetrate into it.

[2:56] We might say that the thorny ground might well have borne fruit if only those thorns had been dug out first. But they were too strong.

[3:08] And the seed itself, or the growth of corn, was choked. And so we learn so plainly how our hearts need to be prepared to receive the word.

[3:27] And dear friends, as you come here to the house of God, and do seek for theirs. The line of the hymn is very suitable as we sing often, Prepare us to receive thy word.

[3:45] Or as that verse we sang this morning, May we receive the word we hear, Each in an honest heart, Horde up the precious treasure there, And never with it part.

[4:03] That is so much that which is expressed by the good ground hearers. If our hearts are hard and cold, How can we expect, really, The word of God to have any lasting effect?

[4:27] We so need the spirit of God To prepare our hearts. We must surely understand, In the figure that is used here, That no sewer would sow on ground which had not been prepared at all, All over the world.

[4:50] It is known that, Generally speaking, The hard ground has first to be well broken up. It has to be broken into pieces, Right into a suitable depth, So that the seed, And the roots which follow, May have that depth of soil, That was lacking in two of these cases.

[5:19] So, As you come to the house of God, I would do pray that your hearts may be prepared, That as you sing the hymns, And as you read the word, There may be that preparation of heart.

[5:39] It is such an important matter, As the Savior so expresses it here. It is in the end, All the difference between eternal life and peace, And eternal condemnation, And suffering and despair, Whether or not, By the grace of God, We do receive the only word, The gospel that is able to save our souls.

[6:16] To be saved, We must receive that word. We read of those on the wayside, And how the devil, Caught away that word, Lest they should believe, And be saved.

[6:34] Well, dear friends, As you well know, There are four kinds of ground, Which are brought before us here, For our instruction, And for our prayerful consideration.

[6:48] There is first, The wayside ground. Some seeds fell by the wayside, And fowls came, And devoured them out.

[7:01] As I said, The wayside was really, A trodden down path. And, In the course of time, That soil had become, Very hard.

[7:16] We are all familiar, With instances of this. And I suppose, That we have all seen, Instances of sowing of the soil, And how very often, When it is done, There are, Circling around, Those who are doing it, These flocks of birds.

[7:38] They like the seed, They are very watchful, For an opportunity, To swoop down, And, To devour the seed, Which is sown.

[7:53] And there, On the wayside, Is the ideal opportunity, For them. It lies all on the surface. They can see it, And in a moment, They can catch it away.

[8:06] And then of course, It's gone. It's gone forever. Now the Lord Jesus, Himself says, That often, Or implies that often, When the word of the gospel, Is preached, Or taught, Or distributed, Then this, Is the case.

[8:29] The heart, Is pardoned. And how solemn it is, That this process, Is often, A gradual one. That even hearing the gospel, One can get so used to it, That it ceases to have, Really, Very much effect.

[8:55] If the gospel, Does not soften your heart, Then it will harden them. It is not, Of course, That there is anything, Of a hardening nature itself, In the blessed gospel, But the continual, Hearing of it, If it has no other effect, It will harden your heart, So that you will become, More and more, Impervious, To its holy teaching.

[9:22] Now, How, Very solemn, And yet, How exactly true, To life, This, Side of it, Really is.

[9:37] If the heart, Is hard, And then the sea, Just lies on the surface. We read in the gospel, By Mark, Satan, Cometh along, Immediately, Catcheth away, You see, The word that was so, Here it is expressed, In a similar way, Then cometh the wicked one, And catcheth away, That which was sown in his heart, This is he which receives seed, By the wayside.

[10:19] Now, Dear friends, This is the teaching, Of Jesus himself, How it shows, The devil, That invisible foe, To be, Constantly alert, And, So prepared, So eager, And so malicious, In his desire, To catch away, That living word, Before it can take root, In the hearts of the hearers.

[10:52] As the birds of the air, Circle above the field, Waiting for their opportunity, To how, The saviour says, The devil, Is constantly, Seeking for his opportunity, To snatch the word away, Lest it brings forth, Any fruit to the praise of God, By Satan, Of course, We may understand, Not only, The devil himself, But all, Those, Agents he has, We read often, In the gospel, As we did today, Of the, Many devils, Or demons, That there are, About, About, We may understand, From the scripture, That the devil, Can only himself, Be in one place, But he has, So many agents,

[11:54] There's such a, Countless multitude, Of them, Busy with him, In this, Operation, And how we should, Beware of this, And pray, That our hearts, May be softened, May be broken up, To receive the word, And that we, May not experience, This very solemn, This very solemn case, In our own, Lives, And in our own hearing, Of the word, So that this, First aspect, This first, Kind of ground, Shows us plainly, That hardened hearts, For no, Fit ones, To receive the, Seed, Of the everlasting, Gospel, Of eternal life, Hard hearts, Give such an opportunity, For the devil,

[12:55] To snatch, The seed away, To crush, To crawl their minds, With all kinds, Of other thoughts, And feelings, And excuses, And imaginations, So that, The seed, Itself, The word of life, The word of God, Is crowded out, And then secondly, We find, The rocky ground, Which is what, It really, It really, Evidently, Means, There was, In the figure, The rock, Under the surface, Of the ground, In Luke, We read, It was, That on the rock, Where there is, But a thin, Covering of soil, And the seed, There, Begins to grow, It may look, For a little while, Quite promising, The seed germinates,

[13:55] It springs up, But, There is no fruit, From that seed, Sown on the rock, But why not?

[14:07] Three connected reasons, Are given, In the different accounts, Of this parable, First, There is no depth, And second, There is no root, And third, There is no moisture, These things, Of course, Are necessary, For any, Lasting growth, If there is no depth, Of earth, There will be no, Real rooting, And therefore, The moisture, Will soon be dried up, When the sunrise, And, As in this case, The plant, Just withers away, So again, There is no real, Effect whatsoever, Of sowing the word, In such, A case, And the saviour, Explains it in that way, That these, Are such, Who receive the word, With joy,

[15:08] And how such, Dear friends, This is, There can be, In the first instance, A joyful receiving, Of the word, There is for a while, A true, Pleasure in it, There seems to be, Some, Of the real, Root of faith, But it will not, Stand the test, As Jesus says, When affliction, Or persecution, Arises, Immediately, They are offended, The heat, Of persecution, Or affliction, Is too much, For that, Feebly, Rooted plant, There is no, Real moisture there, There is no, Real rooting, There is none, Of that precious, And vital, Root of true faith, In the soul,

[16:09] That strikes, Deeply, So although, There is a, Surface effect, Then that is all, The word, Does not really, Enter, It's all, On the surface, There is no, Death, And so this, Plainly teaches us, Again, That, A superficial effect, Is not enough, That it doesn't, Produce any real fruit, Just a short-lived, Joy, Of receiving the gospel, Is not enough, Faith has to stand, The test, It has to be, Such a faith, Which will, Stand up, To affliction, And persecution, And not be, Immediately offended, By it, Oh dear friends, How many, There have been,

[17:11] In the history, Of the church, Of God, Who have shown, Much initial promise, Just like this, You have, Apparently, Received the word, Very joyfully, And for a little while, All promises, Well, But then the sun, Comes out, Some persecution, Or tribulation, Arises, And, Everything, Withers away, Now, My dear friends, This plainly, Teaches us, That we do need, That, Word, To be, Deeply rooted, In our minds, That if it is, Only really, As superficially, On the surface, Of it, Then, It will not, Last, The real test, And it will, Certainly not, Last,

[18:11] The tests, Of death, And of the judgment, Day, We must have that, Which is deep, In our hearts, Which really, Has, A powerful effect, Upon our lives, And then, In the third case, There is the, Thorny ground, Hear us, Here, The seed, Was sown, Among thorns, Or as you may notice, From Luke's account, It says, The thorn sprung up, With the word, With the true corn, And, In this case, Evidently, The competition, Was too strong, The thorny growth, Was stronger, Than the, Rather tender growth, Of the corn, Of the corn, And so, It was really, Smothered,

[19:12] This word, Is used, That, These things, Choke the world, That, That is, Literally, They, They, They, They, They, They, They, They, Crowed it out, The thorns, Grow much faster, Than the corn, And so, Although, There is some, Initial growth, There is no fruit, Whatsoever, It is choked, The same word, Is used, In that account, That we read, Of the, Gadarene swine, Running into the sea, And being choked, In the water, It means death, Death to the plant, And no fruit, From the sowing, Now these, Dear friends, As regards, The whole parable, Are surely, Very solemn, And searching matters, That we do, So need, To take to heart, I suppose,

[20:16] That, Well I know, Very well, That hearers, Are not always, In the same frame, Those where, There is, Good ground, May still not, Bring forth, Much fruit, At times, Because these, Other things, May interfere, The thorns, There may be, Only a superficial, Hearing, And that, Effect, Is soon, Withered away, Even those, Who do, Desire to hear, The word of God, May be, Very much, Affected, By these things, Which so, Show, The word, But how sad, It is, When there is, Nothing else, When there is, No real effect, At all, Of the hearing, Of the word, Of God, Now there are, The three things, Which are mentioned, In these, Passages,

[21:16] Concerning, Choking, Of the word, There is, First, The cares, Of this world, Now surely, You are familiar, With those, The parable, Is still, Today, Exactly true, To life, To life, You may, Come into, The house, Of God, And yet, Your minds, May be, Full of thorns, So to speak, They may be, Full, Of this kind, The cares, Of this life, Now there are, Those things, In life, That we are, Bound, To give, Consideration, To, But when, We hear, The word, We do not, Want them, In our minds, On the, Lord's day, Which we are, Given, Especially, For this purpose, Of hearing, The word, And considering, The things,

[22:17] Of God, How important, It is, That the things, Of this life, The cares, That we may have, From day to day, The burdens, And concerns, May be set aside, And in the other days, Of the week, Oh how easy, It is, To allow, Those things, Which have, Their rightful place, In our lives, To fill them, To take up, Almost all, Their time, And attention, And concern, So that there is, Scarcely anything, Left, For the, True consideration, Of those things, That are, Eternal, All, Again, The devil, Is no doubt, Busy in this respect, In filling, Our lives, With so much, That is really, Only thorny growth, The cares, Of this life, Jesus spoke, About these, In the sermon, On the mount,

[23:18] He says, Take no thought, Which means, Not no thought, At all, But no anxious, Thought, No, Thought, That is full, Of care, And worry, Take no thought, He says, For your life, What ye shall eat, Or what ye shall drink, Or what ye shall put on, We have to be concerned, With what we eat, And drink, And what we wear, And again, He says, Take no thought, For the morrow, The morrow, Shall take thought, Of the things, Of itself, It is not, For us today, To, Be concerned, About the things, Of tomorrow, We do need, That faith, To commit, Our lives, Into the hands, Of the Lord, And to trust, That he, Will, Take care, Of those things, And undertake, For us, In those things, Which lie in the future,

[24:20] And which may, Make us very fearful, At times, Yet teaching, In the sixth chapter, Of Matthew, Is so much, In line with this, The cares, Of this life, Are like thorns, Which can, Rapidly, And strongly, Grow up, So that the precious, Seed, Of life, Is choked, The deceitfulness, Of riches, What a phrase, That is, Deceitfulness, How subtly, The, Treasures, Of this world, Can take, Our minds, And our hearts, Away, What a tragic, List, Of characters, There is, In the word of God, Who fell like this, Achan, Balaam, Gehazi, Demas, Judas, How these,

[25:25] Fell because, Of the deceitfulness, Of riches, Of riches, Of riches, One of those, Judas, No doubt, Heard these, Very words, As the saviour, Spoke, Heard him, Caution, And warn, About the deceitfulness, Of riches, Yet, And yet, How terribly, He fell, In the snare, And how, Very piercing, Really, Are those words, Which Paul wrote, To Timothy, They that will be rich, Those who have, This great desire, For more money, They that will be rich, Fall into temptation, And a snare, And into many, Harmful, And deceitful, Loss, Which drown men, In destruction, And perdition, Now again, Of course, This is all, Very subtle, We need,

[26:26] To have, A certain, Amount, Of money, For the ordinary, Matters of our lives, But the word says, If riches increase, Set not your heart, Upon them, It is natural enough, For us to desire, To have certain things, But we, Are not to lay out, Treasures upon earth, Where moth and rust, Doth corrupt, Where thieves, Break through and steal, But to lay out, Treasures in heaven, Where that cannot, Possibly be so, Was, About this time, That Jesus said, Take heed, Beware, Of covetousness, For a man's life, Consisted not, In the abundance, Of the things, Which he possesses, In the world, They are constantly, Being told, That it does, Consist of that,

[27:27] The quality of life, Is said to be, Increasing all the time, But is it really, To possess more things, In this life, Does that really increase, The quality of life, Could we really say, That the life, Around us, In this city, Has been increased, In quality, Over the, Last years, Is not that way, At all, The deceitfulness, Of riches, Their thorns, To beware of, They can so easily, Choke, The word that you hear, Paul says, In writing to the, Corinthians, Brethren, The time is short, The time of our lifetime, Is just a little one, It remaineth, That those who have wives,

[28:28] Be as though they have none, And so on, And other similar expressions, Of that kind, And they, That use this word, As not abusing it, Those that, Buy as though they bought not, And those that sell, As though they sought not, Without their hearts, Really on this, For he says, The fashion of this world, Passeth away, All the glitter of it, All the outward appearance, Of it, It's about the fashion of it, And it's all passing away, The substance, Of a better world, Will never pass away, How vitally important, It is, That this word, Should be received, And not showed, With such thorns, As these, And there we have, Also, Not in this passage, But in the other, Further case,

[29:30] The pleasures, Of this life, Pleasures of life, Or, The lusts, Of other things, The pleasures, Of this world, How attractive, They can be, And, Of course, There is, A right enjoyment, Of wholesome pleasures, The great trouble, Often, With these things, That are here, Is not, That there's anything, Wrong with them, In themselves, Not in every case, But there is, Such a danger, Of them becoming, Too strong, And then, They will be, As such, As shall crowd out, And choke away, The precious word, Of truth, And life, We live in a day, When that word, Is surely fulfilled, That those around us, Are lovers of pleasure, More than, Lovers of God, Various,

[30:31] Kinds of pleasures, Are constantly, Around us, In this world, There is something, To please, Every taste, But oh, How dangerous, If that is going, To choke the word, The word of God, There are those, Who far prefer, To, Spend their, Sundays, In such a way, With the, Pleasures of this world, Which can never satisfy, And scarcely please, Instead of hearing, The word of God, And how soon, Those pleasures, Will inevitably, Pass from them, And even those, Who enter into the sanctuary, And hear the word, May have that word, Choked, It's all its growth, Brought to nothing, By these thorns, Thorns,

[31:32] In their hearts, Have you these thorns, Within, The cares of this life, Of this world, The deceitfulness, Of riches, The lusts, Of other things, Or the pleasures, Of this life, These, Any of them, Can, Round out the word, And choke it, So this, Warns us, So plainly, About the, Danger of having, Preoccupied minds, Minds that are so full, Of the things, Of this life, And of this world, That, There is scarce, Anyone at all, Left, To receive, And to, To, Have that, Word of the truth, Of the gospel, To spring up, And to grow, Within, And in the fourth case, There is, This one,

[32:34] Case of the good ground, Good ground, Where the seed, Did have, An effect, And multiplied, And brought forth fruit, And this of course, Is the only, Suitable one, In two of the other cases, There was a certain amount, Of growth, May have been quite a bit, In the thorny ground, But if there's no fruit, Then it doesn't matter, In the least, One is really, As bad as the other, The whole purpose, Of sowing, Is that there should be, Multiplication of the seed, That there should be fruit, And if there is no fruit, It is all, Completely wasted, And lost, And this is, Such a, Straight lesson, From this parable, Now the good ground, Was not good, By nature, We do not have, Good hearts, Our hearts naturally, Do not receive the word,

[33:36] But, There is that preparation, By the spirit of God, Which is so important, Here, A good and honest heart, Has been prepared, It has been so to speak, Harrowed, So that the, The fallow ground, Is broken up, And the seed, Can enter deeply, How important, Is that work, Of the spirit of God, We see here, And in the other passages, The way, That this is, Brought about, First of all, There is consideration, Where the word lies, So to speak, Only on the surface, It is soon gone, Completely, Where that word, Really enters, Into the heart, And mind, Then, It will be considered, Which is what, This word understandeth, Really means, There is the contrast, When anyone,

[34:38] Heareth the word, Of the kingdom, And understandeth it not, And then cometh, The wicked one, And catcheth away, That which was sown, In his heart, But he that received, The seed, Into the good ground, Is he that heareth, The word, And understandeth it, That is, He considers it, It is not like, It is not like, That seed lying, On the surface, And soon gone, It is, Pondered over, There is that meditation, Which is so, Impressed upon us, In the word, As being, So important, That, That godly man, In the first psalm, In his law, Doth he meditate, Day and night, The seed, Which is heard, And received, Is not soon lost, It is kept there, It is considered, The thought is given, To these things, It is,

[35:39] Therefore, Well, Pondered over, And then secondly, It is received, As the other passage, Expresses it, It is received, Into the heart, Which means, That it is welcomed, It is, Received, In that spirit of faith, Which is so important, It is not brushed aside, It is not being, Worth consideration, Or not even true, But it is received, In faith, And in that way, The saviour himself, Is received, For the, Written word, The preached word, Always contains, The incarnate word, And if we truly, Receive the word of god, We receive him, Who is the, Incarnate word, As the apostle, Writes to those, Colossian believers,

[36:40] Who had received, The word of the truth, Of the gospel, He says, As ye have therefore, Received, Christ Jesus the Lord, So, Walk ye in him, It is to receive, The truth, Concerning, His blessed person, And his atoning death, His blood, And righteousness, His agony, On the cross, His exhortation, To glory, We read, That as many, As received him, To them gave he power, To become the sons of God, Even to them, That believe, On his name, These are, The good ground hearers, And then we also read, That they keep it, The word is not, Lost, As it was, In the other cases, Sooner or later, It all came to nothing, It was either caught away, Or withered away,

[37:41] Or choked away, But in this case, It remains, How much, Dear friends, Of the substance, Of the word, That you hear so often, Remains, How much do you keep, And how much do you lose, Of course, So well know, That you can't possibly, Remember, Everything which is said, But is there that truth, Which is kept, And retained, I've mentioned to you before, How beautifully, It is brought before us, In the case of Mary, The Saviour's mother, That where, Others just heard, The truth concerning, Her, Wonderful son, Yet she, Pondered these things, She kept them, And pondered them, In her heart, Twice we read, That she kept, The sayings, Concerning him, Those things,

[38:41] That were said about him, Those things, He said himself, She kept all these things, And pondered them, In her heart, And then also, There is the, Endurance, In contrast, To that, Short lived growth, Of the, Thorny ground heroes, And the rocky ground heroes, This, Was lasting, As we read, That these, Bring forth fruit, With patience, Which means, A patient, Endurance, It means a continuing, In these things, And many of you, I know, Do this, But it is not, Enough to continue, To come, To the house of God, It is well, That you should, Continue to hear, The word, But is it retained, So that, With patience, With endurance,

[39:43] The fruit, Will be brought forth, That fruit, Fruit of the spirit, Or the fruit, Of holiness, Is the whole purpose, Of this, The, So the apostle, The apostle, Writing to the Romans, Says, Concerning their, Former ways, What fruit, Had ye then, In those things, Of which ye are now ashamed, For the end, Of those things, Is death, But he says, Now, Ye have your fruit, Unto holiness, In the end, Everlasting life, Now, Dear friends, Does the fruit, Of holiness, Result, From your hearing, Of the word, Do you have your fruit, Unto holiness, As the result, Of what you hear, Does the truth, So penetrate, And enter your heart,

[40:44] That there is truly, A holy effect, Of it, Is your life, Affected, Oh dear friends, Do consider, The plain, And solemn teaching, Of this wonderful parable, Of what kind, Of hearer, Are you, We all hear the word, And we must be found, In one, Or other, Of these classes, Three fruit, Brought forth, No fruit, And the sowing, In that respect, Was really, Entirely wasted, You hear the word, As you have heard it, Once more today, The word, The precious word, Of God, Which says, The wages of sin, Is death, But the gift, Of God, Is eternal life, Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord, The blessed Savior, In his teaching, In his life,

[41:45] In his death, And resurrection, These things, Are constantly, Are constantly, Before you, Now, Do you really, Receive them, Into your hearts, Or is it, One of these, Other sad cases, The Savior said, Hear ye therefore, The parable, Of the sour, It is so full, Of instruction, So full, Of warning, May there be, Ground, Truly prepared, By the Spirit, Of God, May our hearts, Be prepared, To receive that word, Which is so good, And holy, And full of life, In itself, That it may have, A gracious effect, To us, Upon us, And we may bring forth, Much fruit, To the praise of God, For it is only, Where there is real fruit, From the sowing of the word, That it can be regarded, As at all successful,

[42:46] Or effectual, He that hath ears to hear, Let him hear, Amen. Hymn 865, Tune Taunton 607, 865, Guardian of thy helpless sheep, Jesus, Almighty Lord, Help our heedful hearts, To keep the treasure, Of thy word, Let not Satan steal, What's sown, Bid it bring forth, Precious fruit, Thou canst soften, Hearts of stone, And make thy word, Take root, Hymn 865,

[43:47] God, Guardian of thy helpless sheep, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Almighty Lord, Help our heedful hearts, To keep the treasure, Of thy word, Let not Satan steal, To keep the soul, metaphor, Of thy treble, Flute to control, For the preciousuned adventures, Now canst soften, Thank you for Radio across the **** one.