Obrázky na stránke
PDF
ePub

newed in the spirit of your mind, and your body will be a glorified body, and soul and body will be alike, completely holy and happy.

142

SERMON XII.

MATT. xiii. 9.

"Who hath ears to hear let him hear."

THESE words were addressed by our Lord to those who had been present while he delivered the parable of the Sower. They imply that he desired to impress them with a sense of the importance of what he had been saying; and also, that it is possible for men to hear the most momentous truths and yet remain totally unaffected by them. To the same purport are those words of the prophet Ezekiel which he quotes in the 14th verse of the same chapter: "By hearing ye shall

hear and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see and shall not perceive; for this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their hearts, and I should heal them." May God forbid that these words should ever apply to any one among ourselves. May he grant that it may be said with reference to us, "Blessed are your eyes, for they see and your ears for they hear;" and may it be our constant prayer that he would give us the hearing ear and the understanding heart. With such a prayer I would direct your attention to the parable to the close of which the words of our text are attached.

The parable is one which our Lord has himself explained, and which for this reason is the more easy of comprehension to He tells us that a "sower went forth to sow." This relates to himself prima

us.

rily; and in a subordinate sense, to all his faithful ministers, or indeed, to every one who by any means spreads the knowledge of the gospel. Wherever there is a copy of the holy scriptures there is some of the seed of true religion, and so also wherever the name of Christ is named, or any of his doctrines truly and faithfully proclaimed. The ground in which the seed is sown is the hearts of men. The hearts of different persons receive the seed in a different manner; or rather we may say, the seed sown on different hearts springs up differently, for indeed upon some hearts it does but fall, it does not sink into them, so that they can hardly be said to receive it.

The parable speaks of four descriptions of ground upon which the seed that was scattered fell; in other words, of four classes of persons, to whom the gospel of truth is preached. In three of these cases the seed fails to produce fruit, and the causes of the failure are declared. The

fourth brings forth a good and abundant harvest. Let us consider each of them in connexion with our Lord's explanation, which he has graciously left recorded for the instruction of every humble seeker of divine truth.

We have first an account of the seed that fell by the wayside. A sower sometimes accidentally lets seed fall upon ground that has not been ploughed up, and that does not consequently come under the harrow, such as a path through the field, or a road adjacent to it. This seed is seen by the birds and by them devoured. Our Lord explains this in the 19th verse,

[ocr errors]

When any one heareth the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart." We have here a class of hearers who hear the word of God; and we may even go so far as to suppose they are not backward in attending the means of grace. Yet they understand not.

How are we to ac

H

« PredošláPokračovať »