July 31

1 And he began again to teach by the sea side; 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 of the land.

2 And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine.

3 Hearken: Behold, there went out a sower to sow:

4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.

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:

6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.

8 And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some a hundred.

9 And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

10 And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.

11 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:

12 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.

13 And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?

14 The sower soweth the word.

15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.

16 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;

17 And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time; afterward, when affliction or persecution arseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.

18 And these are they which are sown among thorns, such as hear the word.

19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirty-fold, some sixty, and some a hundred.

The Sower: Our Lord Himself; and then all Christian people. The Seed: God's word. The Ground: The heart.

We have here four kinds of hearers: 1. The careless hearer. 2. The temporary hearer. 3. The worldly-minded hearer. 4. The sincere hearer.

The careless hearer is the wayside hearer. "The proposals made to the wayside hearer suggest nothing at all to him. His mind throws off Christ's offers as a slated roof throws off haul. You might as well expect seed to grow on a tightly-braced drum-head as the Word to profit such a hearer; it dances on the hard surface, and the slightest motion shakes it off."—Marcus Dods.

The temporary hearer is the stony-ground hearer. Stony-ground is cold; what colder than a stone? These persons are without spiritual warmth. Withering is their fate.

The worldly-minded hearer is the thorny-ground hearer. There is nutriment enough in the ground for thorns, and enough for wheat; but not enough, in any ground, for both wheat and thorns. God or the world—not both.

The sincere hearer is the good-ground hearer. 1. Such understand the word. 2. They receive it. 3. They retain it. 4. They practice it.

Closet Promise.—Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember Thee in Thy ways.—Isa. lxiv. 5.

Retire, O my soul, from the busy world, and employ thyself about that for which thou wert created: the contemplation of thy God. I will hasten to my closet or yonder solitary walk, and there sequestered from a vexatious world I will not suffer a single thought of it to approach me unless by way of pity and contempt.

How delightful is it, O my soul, for thee to enjoy this sweet communion with thy God, and thus to dwell upon divine objects. Here am I safe and at rest in this dear place of quiet, and earnestly pity all the men of business and hurry, whose heads are full of perplexing contrivances to procure a little happiness in a world where there is no such thing.

O blessed freedom! O charming solitude! I will grasp you, and I will hold you fast-- the delight of silence and retreat! Here I can unburthen my soul and pour it out before my God. Here I can wrestle with the powers of heaven, and not let them go till I have obtained a blessing. Here I can confess my sins, and with hopes of comfort lay open my troubled breast before the merciful Hearer of my prayers.—Thomas Ken.