The Gospel Seed-bed

"But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop." Luke 8:15

The words of our text, I need scarcely observe, are taken from the Parable of the Sower--perhaps the most striking parable that fell from the Lord's lips. In this parable, the Lord represents the preaching of the gospel, and the effect it has upon the hearers--and he brings forward four points of resemblance. The sower is the minister of truth; the seed is the word of God which he preaches; the soils are the different hearers; and the crop represents the fruit and effects that are produced in them.

Now in order to show the difference between those in whom the word of truth takes a deep, permanent, and saving effect, and those who endure for a time and then fall away, the Lord sets before us four distinct kinds of hearers. In attempting this morning, therefore, as the Lord may enable me, to unfold the meaning of my text, I shall endeavor to describe these four distinct hearers; and in so doing, shall consider what is meant by–
I. First, the way-side hearer.
II. Secondly, the stony-ground hearer.
III. Thirdly, the thorny-ground hearer.
IV. Fourthly, the fruitful hearer.

But we must bear in mind that the parable of the sower is not applicable to every minister, nor to every congregation. No man is really a sower except one whom God has taught, qualified, commissioned, and sent forth to preach the word of life; for it is only such that are made spiritually manifest in the gospel ministry. And the next thing that we must bear in mind, is that what he sows is truth, the pure word of God. He does not go forth with a seed-basket of mingled wheat and tares; but he sows the pure word of God, "the truth as it is in Jesus." So that the parable is not descriptive of every minister, nor of every congregation; but is only applicable to a minister of truth, and to a congregation that professes the truth; and therefore applicable, we trust, to us this morning.

I. First, then, let us, as the Lord may enable, consider the WAY-SIDE hearer. These hearers form the great bulk of a congregation--and the Lord compares them to soil, of which the emblem is the way-side. Now, observe that in this case there is no penetration whatever of the word of truth--the word falls upon them just as seed might fall upon the hard turnpike road, or on the slabs of a London pavement. It is at once trodden under foot; the first passer-by sets his shoe upon it and crushes it into powder. There is no entrance, no burying--but Satan, compared here to the fowls of the air, comes at once and devours it up. This is the case with the great bulk of hearers; they hear, but hear to no purpose. There is no entrance of the word of life into their judgment, their heart, their conscience, or their affections; it falls upon their ears as literal grains fall upon the hard road, whence it is soon picked up by Satan, producing no solid, real, abiding effect. I shall not dwell any longer upon this unhappy case.

II. But pass on to consider our second hearer, who is represented in our parable under the figure of him who receives the seed upon STONY ground; or, as it is in Luke, "upon a rock." Now there are certain circumstances which, at first sight, seem to distinguish this hearer in a favorable way; yet, if we look to the fruits and effects, we shall find that these favorable marks are only such in appearance.

1. First, then, when compared with the hearer whom we first considered, there is some penetration of the word, some entrance. On the first hearer it falls like seed upon the hard ground; there is no entrance of the word of truth; but, in the second hearer, there is some penetration, there is an entrance. But where does it enter? Merely into the judgment, the natural judgment. How many there are, who have heard sound Calvinistic ministers almost from childhood, and been continually accustomed to have the truth set before them! Of these some receive the doctrines of grace from constantly listening to them. The word of truth has entered into their natural understanding; they contend for it earnestly, believe it strictly true, and are well satisfied that it agrees with God's revealed word.

2. But there are others who can go a step further than this; they not only receive the word into their judgment, so as to be sound, orthodox, doctrinal Calvinists, but also receive the truth into their natural affections; they read or listen to it with "joy." They have a degree of delight in it--their carnal affections receive it gladly, and, like John's hearers, they rejoice in the light.

Now, at first, this seems to be a very favorable circumstance, that people should receive with joy the word of God; that they should find a pleasure in hearing the truth preached; that they should understand it in a measure; and, not only so, but feel a gladness of mind in hearing of election, predestination, redemption, and salvation by grace; of the perseverance of the saints, and of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done, according to covenant engagements, for his elect people. That they should receive these truths in their judgment, and feel gladness, pleasure, and delight in hearing them, seems at first sight a very favorable mark indeed. But when we come to look at the other side, then we see that there are unfavorable things set against it. What are these things?

A. They have "no root." The heart has never been ploughed up with convictions; because, had the ploughshare of conviction broken up the heart, there would have been a seed-bed for the word of life to take root in. But they have "no deepness of earth," the plough of guilt and wrath has never passed into and through the soil, so as to afford a suitable soil for the word of truth to fall into, there to take root downward, and bring forth a lasting, fruitful crop upward. They "received the word with gladness;" but without previous sorrow, conviction, or temptation; without their heart being ploughed up by the law, or its hard crust torn asunder by the plow; therefore there was no broken earth, no loosened soil, no deep furrows, into which a root could penetrate, so as to push downward and grow.

B. There was another fatal mark– they "lacked moisture." The Holy Spirit was not in all this; it was not a work of grace; the blessed leadings, secret teachings, divine waterings, and heavenly bedewings of the Holy Spirit did not attend the word of life. The word merely lodged in the judgment, and was received into the natural affections; therefore it sprung up quickly and rapidly; it had no depth of earth, therefore no deep root; it lacked moisture, therefore no growth.

C. The third fatal mark is, that for the lack of root and moisture, in time of temptation, they "withered away." How many do we see just in this state! There was a time when they heard the word with gladness, when they would walk almost any distance to hear the truth, would sit and listen with delight, and seem to spring up as grass by the river banks. There was every mark, every appearance of their being children of God.

And yet, if a discerning eye had looked into the work that seemed to be the work of grace, it would have perceived these two things lacking; first, that the Holy Spirit had not ploughed up the heart, nor broken up the soil, so as to receive the seed of truth in any real depth; and secondly, that there was no moisture, no savor, dew, power, or divine feeling, none of the watering and bedewings of the Holy Spirit. Seeing these two things lacking, a man of discernment would have predicted the consequences--that as this joy was merely earthly joy, as this consolation was but carnal consolation, as this delight was only a sensual delight, the lighting up of natural affections, without the real teaching and work of the Holy Spirit, when temptation came, it would all wither away.

How many do we see withering away in the time of temptation! How many professors of the doctrines of grace do we see withering away under the temptation of strong drink! I do believe, that if many great professors of the doctrines of grace were to put down on one piece of paper what they spend upon gin, and upon another what they give to the Lord's poor, we should find an dreadful balance in favor of the gin-bottle. This is a temptation to many carnal professors. They fall into the love of drink, which gradually increases upon them until at last they wither away. Some give up even the very profession they have long made, and sit under Arminian teachers, while others go into the world, or perhaps attend no place of worship at all, and at last die the death of the drunkard. Such has been the end of many who once seemed to run with gladness in the way of the Lord, and receive with joy the doctrines of grace as they came forth from the lips of gospel ministers.

Others fall a prey to sensual lusts. Satan lays snares for them in various ways. In these snares they are entangled, make dreadful shipwreck, and often wither away as to the very form of religion, become hardened Antinomians, live inconsistent lives, indulge in ungodly practices and vile lusts, and become an open reproach and stumbling-block.

Others who do not wither away in an open manner, by strong drink, sensual lusts, covetousness, or other gross sins, yet wither away as to anything like fruitfulness, usefulness, zeal, activity, and liberality. They become poor dead hearers, buried in the world, prayerless and careless, blighted and mildewed, a dead weight in churches and congregations, making a minister who has any life and feeling in his soul groan at the very sight of them. I do truly believe that if we were to examine the condition of many large churches, we should find them filled with these stony-ground hearers, a plague and a burden to the living members.

III. The third hearer is the THORNY-ground hearer. These seem to be a step nearer salvation, and to have something more like the work of grace than the preceding; because there appears not only in this case a reception of the word, but also a bringing forth of some fruit; though we read, that "they bring forth no fruit to perfection."

Now these receive the word in their natural conscience. The first class of hearers did not receive the "word" at all; they did not receive it even in their judgment. They came and went, came and went, understanding nothing, if they listened at all. The second went a step further; they received the word into their judgment--and not only so, but, beyond this, into theirnatural affections; there was in them a springing up of something that looked very much like a real work of grace.

But now we come to the third hearer; and he seems to go a step further still. He not only receives the word into his judgment; but beyond this into his conscience, his natural conscience. But still a work of grace is lacking. Nothing of the blessed Spirit's work is here; but still such a work as looks very much like it; there is some feeling, a conscience moved and wrought upon; and almost everything that looks, at first sight, as though it were a solid work of grace.

This hearer, then, receives the word into his conscience--he has convictions of his lost and undone state by nature; sees the plan of salvation; and at times feel what he hopes, expects, and others fancy is the real work and teaching of the Spirit; yet, with it all, fruit is not brought forth to perfection; it is choked by the cares, pleasures, and lusts of the world. These grow up, as it were, with the world in his heart, and choke and suffocate it, so that no fruit is really brought forth.

God does not put forth his hand; does not pluck out the weeds; does not burn them up; does not exercise his soul as he exercises the souls of his people; but leaves cares, anxieties, and lusts to spring up, together with the truth; and these grow so thick, that they overspread the truth, and suffocate everything like life and feeling in the soul. Thus all the crop is stifled, and no fruit brought forth to perfection; nothing in the end is found to manifest it as a real work of grace.

Now you will find, wherever the truth is preached, that the great bulk of hearers are made up of these three–
1. of way-side hearers, who come and go, and no impression whatever is made on their hearts;
2. of stony-ground hearers, who hear with joy and gladness, but in time of temptation fall away;
3. of thorny-ground hearers, who seem to have something like a conscience, like feeling, like life, like a conviction, like the work of grace upon their souls, but no reality.

Follow these to their houses; go with them to their respective occupations--you will see them suffocated and buried in worldly cares, anxieties, lusts, pleasures, and earthly pursuits. Nothing is brought forth of real gospel fruit, nothing that God himself approves of, nothing which springs from a work of grace upon the heart.

Now if this be so, what reason have all who desire to fear God, to look into their hearts, and see whether they can find anything there really different from what I have this morning been endeavoring to unfold! I believe the child of God will be very jealous on this point, knowing how soon and easily he may be deceived, and feeling in himself the temptations, the besetments, and the evils that he sees described in the word of God, and manifest in others, he will sit at times in solemn judgment upon his own case, trembling to the very center, doubting and fearing whether it is the case with him.

IV. The GOOD ground hearer. I shall, therefore, as the Lord may enable me, pass on to my last and most important point, to which all I have been saying is but preliminary, and describe him whom the Lord pronounces a fruitful hearer--a child of God--one in whom the work of grace is begun, carried on, and brought to perfection.

Now if we look at this hearer, and compare his case with the preceding, we shall find certain very striking and prominent marks. It is these marks which I shall attempt now to unfold, and thus show the distinction between him and the three hearers whose cases we have been hitherto considering.

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