And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
Behold marks the opening of the parable of the sower, spoken to a pressing crowd by the Sea of Galilee where fields and sowers lay in sight around the hearers. The sower is Christ, the heavenly Sower who left home and glory with the Father to come as a suffering man and sow the seed of life for a lost world. The seed is the word of God, the gospel truth without error, and the soil is the human heart and mind where character is formed. The parable lays bare the different tendencies of the heart — wayside hardness, shallow stony eagerness that withers under trial, thorny love of riches and pleasure that chokes the word, and good ground that bears fruit in varying measure. He drew immortal truth from familiar nature and daily work so the lesson fitted every mind and would be remembered whenever nature was seen, showing that his kingdom advances not by arms but by planting a new principle in hearts unto a patient harvest.
Setting and Teaching Method
The opening words introduce the parable of the sower, spoken to a pressing crowd gathered by the Sea of Galilee. Jesus taught from a boat pushed out at the water's edge while the people stood on the shore. Around the hearers were sowers and reapers working side by side, with fields, hills, rocks, birds, and water in full view. He called attention to a sower going out to sow, drawing the illustration from the familiar scene directly before them. The scattering of seed could look like waste, yet the sower parts with seed in order to sow it, and the different outcomes show some seed lost while seed in good ground yields a harvest. The visible scene helped fix the lesson in the listeners' minds.
He drew immortal truth from familiar nature and daily work, using cultivated land, waving grain, seed and soil to make divine things plain. The lesson was made simple, fitted to every mind and class, easily understood and vividly memorable. Earthly things were used to represent spiritual truths, so that the created world repeats the lesson and speaks eternal truth as the voice of God. Later sights of nature would bring the sacred truths back to mind, reminding hearers of the instruction and carrying Christ's teaching into holier daily life. There is one law holding in both material and spiritual sowing, giving light on higher education that throws the reflection of heavenly light back not on human beings but on Christ who enlightens every man. Sowing, cultivation, and harvest show God working in nature, with divine power giving life and fruitfulness working together with human skill and labor, making the realities of the kingdom plain.
He spoke truth in parables as the way to rebuke sin without giving personal offense. The seed sown is the good seed of the gospel, the words of life, sown in the hearts of hearers, and when the soil of the heart is not prepared the seed does not spring up to bear fruit. Evil angels in the form of men mingled with the hearers, talking with those who know the truth, making suggestions, criticizing, misapplying, misinterpreting and misconstruing what was spoken. By insinuations they caused the words of life to lose their force, with Satan linked with the religionists. The parable was given amid disappointment over refusal to establish a political kingdom, for many expected a Messiah who would exalt Israel and when that hope failed they rejected him as Redeemer. Even the disciples grew impatient for temporal authority, while relatives rejected him and urged public display of his works.
He sowed widely like a sower scattering seed, teaching in busy, well-traveled and public places where travelers and people from many parts could hear. He presented truth clearly and simply so it could be understood, separated from error. The different soils show the gospel meeting different responses, some losing the message, some receiving it briefly but falling away under hardship, some bearing no fruit, and some producing a harvest, a pattern applying to every gospel laborer. The sower is one of several illustrations bringing the same important truths to different kinds of people, with sowing and harvesting in the surrounding fields making the lesson familiar and broadly accessible to many walks of life. Through this familiar picture he explained the nature of his kingdom and how it would be established. The crowd itself had varied motives and understanding, some dimly grasping the words yet with seeds of life taking root to later bear blessed fruit, while others came from curiosity or desire for excitement.
Sower, Seed, and Soil
The sower is Christ, the heavenly and divine Sower who came to scatter the heavenly grain of truth and bring people back to loyalty to God. He left the security of home, the glory He had with the Father before the world existed, and His place on the throne of the universe to come as a suffering, tempted man, alone, sowing in tears and watering with His blood the seed of life for a lost world. The force of His going forth is seen in the unsettled conditions of the East, where people lived mainly in walled towns and farmers went outside the walls each day to work the fields. His parable teaching itself sowed precious truths of grace, and His work advances the kingdom of heaven not by force of arms or overthrow of earthly kingdoms but by planting a new principle in human hearts, with harvest through patient work despite losses and disappointments.
The seed is the word of God, the gospel, heavenly truth and words of life that He came to spread throughout the world. He sows no error, and every word is living seed able to take root and bear fruit to God's glory. The seed falls on different kinds of ground with different results, and its reception depends on the condition of the heart. The natural seed represents the Gospel seed, leading from the familiar act of sowing to the spiritual work of planting truth in the world.
The soil is the human heart and mind, the garden of the heart where principles are sown and character is developed. Good seed and bad seed can be sown there, including the good seed of the gospel and words of life, and the untrained mind is like an uncultivated field. As a garden must be prepared for natural seed, so the heart must be prepared for the seed of truth, and when the soil is not prepared the seed does not spring up to bear fruit. The teacher works as sower by plain, short, point-by-point instruction, Bible readings and answering questions, fastening points and texts in the mind so they are grasped and retained, with the seed so planted that it will spring up and bear fruit and not be choked.
The same law holds in material and spiritual seed-sowing, and the laws governing natural seed also apply to the sowing of truth. The kingdom of heaven is the theme taught by natural things, for human life in all its bearings is similar to nature and the created world repeats eternal truths. The parable contains the greatest yet most simple lessons, and Christ's parable teaching is the seed with which the most precious doctrines of His grace were sown. Those doctrines are like precious jewels and hidden treasure requiring clear spiritual eyesight and diligent searching of Scripture to discern and gather, holding a beautiful harmony beyond ordinary searching that rewards continued searching. This sowing is higher education, coming from Christ who came from heaven to educate, throwing the reflection of heavenly light back upon Christ and alone able to prepare students for the higher school where Christ and God will be teachers.
The seed cast into the ground teaches Christ's death, and the blade springing up teaches the resurrection, showing how seen things become interpreters of the unseen. As soil must be prepared for natural seed, the heart must be cultivated by repentance to receive truth, with diligent effort in Christ's name and strength to uproot evil tendencies that choke what is good. Christ's servants likewise go out to sow truth among people as seed falls on different kinds of soil. The sower is Christ and His messengers, with the teacher as sower, eternal truths as seed, and the hearer's heart and mind as soil. Faithful sowing may require leaving home and familiar ties, surrendering plans and earthly hopes, and working through toil, tears, solitude, opposition and sacrifice, while humble workers who trust God and labor perseveringly, even in difficult places, may bring souls to Christ as God, the Holy Spirit and angels work with them.
Christ scattered heavenly truth like grain in both His words and His example, to be gathered as a precious gift from heaven by those desiring light and knowledge and later cultivated by His disciples.
Responses to the Word
The parable lays open the different tendencies of the human heart and the classes among Christ's hearers, explaining why His ministry yielded only limited and meager immediate results. Men were left free to accept or reject Him, for He did not compel belief and obedience, not even by miracle, and His teaching called them to unite their own effort with divine power to overcome sin and develop Christian character. The picture of seed falling on varied ground made the lesson vivid and memorable: some soon lost their impressions amid worldly surroundings, cares and temptations, while others began a holier life and put His principles into practice. The same pattern meets every gospel laborer, for the gospel sown widely in busy and well-traveled places meets different responses, some losing the message, some receiving it briefly, some bearing no fruit, and some producing a harvest in differing measure, even when results are not immediately visible.
Wayside hearers are like the beaten highway, with hard and neglected hearts, moral powers uncultivated, failing to understand, investigate, value and retain truth. They may be moved and profess belief without rightly valuing its sacred character, yet remaining among corrupting companions, pleasures and evil habits, following inclination instead of duty, they expose themselves to temptation until regard for truth is lost. Then temptation and evil companions soon take the word away, and even foolish remarks can destroy passing thoughts of eternal interests in young as well as old. Hearts hardened by evil habits and closed by worldly possessions and cares become unreceptive to heavenly things and to Christ's invitation. Hearing alone does not bring benefit unless the word is welcomed and received with faith, for a heart hardened by prejudice and unsoftened by grace resists the word and is kept from God's kingdom.
Stony-ground hearers receive truth eagerly and speak zealously, yet lack deep-rooted principle, so they do not endure. When trial, sacrifice, correction, hardship or testing comes, their zeal fades and they fall away and abandon truth rather than submit to its sanctifying work. Some hear without retaining, some receive but do not endure, failing to develop Christian character, while seed on rocky ground not welcomed or allowed to take root shows that hearing alone is insufficient without faith.
Thorny-ground hearers accept truth while love of the world takes priority, with deceitful gain, riches, anxiety, pleasure, possessions, worldly honor and the spirit of the world choking the seed and turning the heart from truth. These concerns overgrow the heart like thorns, preoccupy it like seed on dry ground, and leave no room or opportunity for spiritual things to take root and grow. They may profess belief yet fail to spring up and bear fruit, because competing cares crowd out the word of life sown in them.
Good soil bears fruit in varying amounts, while seed on poor soil yields no fruit unto eternal life, some reaching receptive hearts, springing up and bearing abundantly through diligent labor. Israel is pictured as soil that received God's advantages, instruction, reproof and warnings yet produced no return, rejecting obedience, using blessings for self-glorification and gain instead of blessing others and bringing praise to God. The sower does not stop because some seed fails, but sows everywhere even where soil looks poor, continuing wherever access is gained without discouragement when results are not seen at once.
When the word does not take root and bear fruit the cause lies in the hearer's heart and response, not in the sower or the seed, for the same sower and seed produce different results according to the soil. People become inattentive and neglectful by resisting the Spirit, through distraction, sleep, hardness and hindrances that keep the word from bearing fruit, while Satan sows tares while men sleep. Before seed can take root the soil must be broken up by conviction of sin and awakening to need of healing, and when welcomed in faith Christ's word takes root in life and bears fruit, whereas partial, unwilling reception leaves the heart open to Satan's thorns which choke and destroy it. Yet none need remain hardened, shallow, thorny, hard or distracted, for though none can change themselves, choice, repentance and diligent effort in Jesus' strength, with the Spirit working to free from worldly absorption, can cultivate the soil, uproot evil growths, and shape what they become. Such hard hearts like a beaten highway can be softened so truth takes root through Christlike sympathy and personal ministry.
The Pharisees are hopeless, profitless and barren soil where heavenly truth sown in human hearts cannot take root. Their pride, suspicion, feeling of superiority and self-delusion claim all faith, honor and love for exalted self, supposing others at fault, suspecting even the purest, making a man an offender for a word. They speak strong hard words of reproof and condemnation that crush hope and courage out of the soul, leaving others discouraged and defiled, while the goodness of heart shown in true Christians puts roots of bitterness in them whereby many are defiled. By contrast Nicodemus was soil into which Jesus cast seeds of truth with little apparent fruit for three years, yet by carefully considering Jesus' life and teachings he was convinced of His Messiahship at the raising of Lazarus.
The meaning was clear enough for the disciples to understand, so their failure to grasp it rebuked their dullness and showed their need to be ready to learn and believe. Those who followed Jesus closely and obeyed Him would be taught greater truths of God's kingdom, while those who resisted truth through hardness of heart, unbelief or neglect of opportunity would remain in darkness. Among the crowds of varied motives and understanding, some dimly grasped His words yet seeds of life took root and later bore blessed fruit, while others came only from curiosity or desire for excitement.
Hearing and professing belief are not enough, for truth must take root and bear fruit in a transformed life and in developed Christian character. The different soils describe hearers who receive truth differently, some not retaining, some not enduring, some choked by worldly cares, while others can be strengthened and established. Acting too soon to separate unworthy members can create division and harm people who might otherwise grow in faith, so care and patience in church discipline may strengthen those who might otherwise grow.
Warning and Final Judgment
Matthew 13 opens instruction in parables that is to be read as for life and heeded as a warning with careful self-examination. It calls for vigilance lest minds be blinded by human sophistries. Mocking burlesque of sacred things is to be shunned as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
In giving these parables Christ contemplated the future destiny of the beings for whom He gave His life. Hearers are to ask prayerfully who will stand acquitted before the judgment seat of Christ, without spot or stain of character. At the great day every person will be judged according to deeds done in this life. Those who are saved must form characters without fault in the sight of a pure and holy God. God has given to every person his work, and Christ will cooperate with everyone who will cooperate with Him by wearing His yoke and learning His meekness and lowliness. Angels love and minister to such in every phase of life, and Christ teaches those who follow Him daily an experience in the meaning of the divine beatitudes.
The chapter reveals two working forces at work in the world. The seeds of truth sown throughout the world were to restore God's moral image in those who accept Christ's teaching. That power is lost when interpreters obscure plain Scripture with mystical explanations and disputes over technical details, robbing the word of its power.
Kingdom Growth and Harvest
The kingdom does not advance by force of arms or by overthrowing earthly kingdoms but by planting a new principle in human hearts, and Christ as the great Sower scatters that heavenly seed of truth through His teaching. The familiar sight of sowers scattering seed on the plain and hills around illustrated His work of spreading the message of God's kingdom rather than conquering by force, explaining the nature of that kingdom and how it would be established. The seed falls on different kinds of ground and yields different results, yet its harvest comes through patient work and patient toil despite losses and disappointments.
Sown truth must be planted carefully, earnestly, and with self-denial in the example of Christ, who sowed with care, anxiety, continual sacrifice and labor for others' good without growing weary in well-doing. Those who sow must trust God to give the seed life and quicken it, for it may lie dormant for a time without visible effect until God's grace convicts the heart, awakens it to life, and causes it to spring up and bear fruit to His glory. His clear and pointed words cut hearers to the heart as seed sown in minds, and words heard with reverence and awe can take root and later grow into abundant faith in Him as the world's Redeemer. Lessons dimly understood at the time were revived after His crucifixion and resurrection in many attentive listeners, took root and bore fruit in the judgment hall and afterward, and were repeated for the benefit of future generations to the close of time. Pentecost was the harvest of that sowing watered with His blood, as this great missionary work of unselfish, earnest, persevering labor with Christ and the heavenly angels saves fellow men and many souls.
The harvest gathered after His ascension showed the power of His teaching, for the disciples empowered by the Holy Spirit were equipped to gather it. The ground where He sowed was to be thoroughly cultivated by the apostles until the seeds sprang up and produced an abundant harvest, and opposition was no reason to abandon the work. Laborers sow truth in people's hearts, and those who follow up afterward through the Spirit's power help bring the work to maturity and gather the harvest, so that hearing the truth makes later labor more effective. The former rain at the beginning of the Christian age caused the gospel seed to germinate and take root while the church enjoyed the gifts of the Spirit, and the latter rain at the close will ripen the harvest and accompany the gifts in their fullness.
Missionary sowing spreads God's word as seed that takes root in homes and hearts, so that churches arise along the path of the workers and a rich harvest of souls is yielded to be revealed at the day of God. The quiet distribution of Scripture awakened interest in God's Word, took root in receptive hearts, and brought forth churches and souls even where the full result would be revealed only at the day of God. So Huss's ashes were like seed scattered across the earth, and the truths he preached with his example of faith would produce witnesses in lands yet unknown and encourage many to stand firm despite persecution and death. Where seed has been sown, deeply convicted souls all around spring up into fruit and lift the standard of truth and gather a little company, with more precious souls still to be gathered.
Seed is to be sown according to God's plan, including among people and in places workers had not planned to reach, and this sowing can multiply until the word reaches thousands who have never heard the truth. Proclaiming truth to many listeners sows good seed whose purpose is to spring up and bear fruit to God's glory, with some reaching receptive hearts and bearing abundant fruit, though the full results are not seen at once but will be revealed in the day of final reckoning. Seed already sown through arguments, publications and missionary work has influenced people who have not yet understood or obeyed, and when the Spirit brings truth clearly to them it springs up and bears fruit as honest people take their stand for the Lord. Hard ground may take longer to respond and truth may advance slowly through barriers of error and tradition, yet its growth can be strong and fruitful through faithful labor and God's life-giving rain, even bearing unexpected fruit as when a pamphlet left on a mistaken visit led twenty to convert.
Sowing Truth in Ministry
The sower went forth to sow everywhere, and the seed of truth is to be sown in every place where access is gained, in public places, highways, towns, cities, and neglected fields, even where the soil looks poor and unpromising. Poor results in some places are no reason to stop, for some seed is lost, some springs up but withers, some bears no fruit, and some produces a harvest in varying amounts, and this varied experience belongs to every gospel worker. The sower does not cease because some seed fails to bear fruit unto eternal life, but continues without discouragement when results are not seen at once, beginning in faith and hope before harvest time. Those who have heard must also be followed up and nurtured, lest truth sown in hearts be snatched away by opposition or wither for lack of care.
Every Christian is commissioned as a sower who must go forth in entire consecration, arising to responsibility and privilege, and more workers are still needed. The work is not to be left for ministers to do the greatest part, but men not called to the ministry are to labor according to their several ability, and as a worker gives himself unreservedly he gains experience to work more successfully and draws others to Christ. Humble workers, including people with little education and children moved by the Holy Spirit, carry the message to those in spiritual darkness and sow the gospel seed even in difficult places, and students can drop seeds of truth into minds and hearts that spring up and bear fruit in the saving of souls. Well-trained nurses going among families to awaken interest in the truth, and evangelists and Bible workers laboring in cities such as Boston and New Bedford where many opportunities are found, have their place, for the simple truths taught in parables are as much needed now as when Christ was in the world in person. Fretting and contention disqualify sowers, revealing feeble effort and strong unbelief, while faithful sowing spends less on self-indulgence and needless adorning because that money is the Lord's and is needed for His sacred work, educates children to do missionary work and bring offerings to God, and awakes to the spiritual character of the work amid earth's closing scenes as the Spirit works on hearts.
Sowing is done by presenting Christ and Him crucified and redeeming love as though it were the last opportunity, with the message calling people to decide whether to obey truth and stand with Christ or refuse the cross and reject mercy. It is done by preaching, Bible readings, visits, house-to-house work carrying the word to people in their homes, and witnessing everywhere, first preparing the soil by winning confidence through practical godliness, peace, and love, then presenting truth as it is in Jesus. Seeds can be gently and courteously planted during ordinary moments such as walking or resting, by courteous speech, hospitality and meals, singing, teaching children, and talks with prayer. Teaching people how to preserve physical health gives many opportunities for sowing in city work connected with hygienic restaurants and meetings where instruction is given on health, temperance, and Bible subjects, and when restored patients are grateful and receptive the seed can find place, be nourished, grow, and bear fruit to God's glory.
Sowing is also done by circulating books and other publications widely, sowing broadcast throughout the world and placing light-filled books containing the light to be given to people in the homes of as many as possible through united effort. Workers are to learn how to sow by sharing books that teach valuable lessons and by teaching methods for presenting them at large gatherings. The seed already sown through arguments and publications has influenced people who have not yet understood or obeyed, and when the Spirit brings truth clearly to them it springs up and bears fruit as honest people choose the Lord's side. The sowing is done under divine guidance while looking to the Lord for aid, with the Holy Spirit attending the workers and angels of heaven accompanying them to prepare the way.
Going forth means scattering truth over more territory instead of crowding workers in one place, making centers in many localities and carrying truth into new fields to people who may receive it with saving, sanctifying influence when received understandingly. The seed is to be sown according to God's plan, including among people and in places not planned, until the word reaches thousands who never heard, and church members are to reach people through visits, Scripture, and literature in many places so that those saved in turn teach others. It means earnest labor in neglected fields, men and women offering themselves as messengers of mercy, peace, and hope into highways and byways to rich and poor calling for light, where many harden hearts against the Spirit but many hungering for bread receive and then go forth themselves to sow to others. True medical missionaries go forth as sowers carrying in one hand remedies for physical suffering and in the other the gospel for sin-burdened souls, working for restoration of God's image, reaching unworked towns, new districts, the South, cities, institutions, and people of influence in the nation's capital through agencies such as sanitariums.
Faithful sowing follows the example of the heavenly Sower who went forth from security and glory with the Father to live as a suffering, tempted man and sow the seed of life for a lost world, as farmers left walled towns to work in fields amid the unsettled conditions of the East. It means sowing the seed of truth with care, anxiety, self-denial, and continual sacrifice for others' good, having the mind of Christ so as not to become weary in well-doing, laboring unselfishly, earnestly, and perseveringly as co-workers with Christ and angels. It may require leaving home and familiar ties, giving up plans and earthly hopes, and working through toil, tears, solitude, and opposition, cutting loose from worldly investment and self-indulgence. Those who sow must trust God to quicken the seed into life, for it may lie dormant until grace convicts the heart and awakens it to spring up and bear fruit to God's glory, calling for unceasing effort and wholehearted devotion to bring the bread of life to perishing souls in darkness.
There is also evil sowing, which plants ideas in minds as soil, and seeds of doubt sown in young hearts can grow and bear a harvest of infidelity and unbelief. It happens when men plant seeds of evil insinuations that weaken confidence in God's ministers and message, seeds that stay in the mind until temptation comes and then work to turn others away from truths to be carried to the world, and when harmful talk scatters evil seed that produces its harvest. The untrained mind is like an uncultivated field and Bible truth is the precious seed, requiring unceasing care in cultivating children's minds with watchful guard lest the enemy sow tares to spring up and bear evil fruit, teaching them to reject trashy, exciting tales and turn to sensible reading that leads to Bible story, history, and argument and quickens desire to study Scripture. When the mind feeds on fictitious storybooks and common reading its powers are captivated, directed in a wrong channel, and perverted, the field is preoccupied and the channel obstructed so the Lord cannot leave His impress, and the greater the mental capabilities the greater the evil, while fanciful mixing of Scripture with imagination yields the same harmful harvest.
Preparing Hearts to Receive
As a garden must be prepared for natural seed, so the heart must be prepared for the seed of truth, for the heart is a garden where principles are sown and character is developed after the similitude of Christ's lovely character. Good seed is truth and bad seed can also be sown there, and in early life the mind is especially impressionable so that good influences planted then can bear fruit unto eternal life. The ground must be broken up by repentance and conviction of sin, with no expectation of an at-once harvest from raw ground but diligent, persevering labor in preparing the soil, sowing the seed, and culturing the crop. Hardened ground is subdued only by thorough, skillful, painstaking cooperation of divine and human effort, since surface work and neglect explain failure, and as soil overgrown with thorns is reclaimed only by diligent labor, evil tendencies and thorn-like growths that choke the good grain are overcome only by earnest effort in the name and strength of Christ. The planting of seed on such prepared soil produces good fruit, yet hearers must place themselves where they can understand the precious words of Christ, with some falling on receptive hearts that bring forth fruit.
Parents must do this preparing work for young children and not trust it to others, cultivating their minds and forming correct habits in the first years of life. The time now wasted on following worldly fashions is to be given instead to making hearts ready, keeping tastes and habits simple and teaching loving, cheerful obedience. The open air among flowers and birds is to be the schoolroom and nature the textbook, with the Word made the standard, and little children may be Christians having an experience in accordance with their years, which is all God requires of them. This home education is the image of the Sower scattering good seed upon the soil of the heart, for parents prepare their children's minds and character to receive spiritual lessons and should plant the seeds of truth from their earliest years. The lesson is to be made practical by having children prepare soil and sow seed while explaining the correspondence between natural and spiritual sowing, continuing the comparison as the plant grows, including through Bible meetings and practical soil work.
Hearts may be hard like a beaten highway so the seed of truth cannot take root, yet Christlike sympathy and personal, compassionate ministry can soften such hearts so the seed takes root. The sowers' work therefore includes preparing people to receive the word, first winning confidence through practical godliness, peace, and love, then presenting truth as it is in Jesus with love. Prayer meetings and the confidence and openness they foster can prepare hearts to receive truth and weaken prejudice. Truth sown in hearts can be snatched away by opposition or wither for lack of care, so those who have heard must be followed up and nurtured, and at the beginning of Christian life believers are to learn foundations of faith by making Christ's life and character their own, bearing burdens, denying natural inclinations, serving through self-denial, enduring hardship, trusting His love, and bringing cares to Him. Even difficult or resistant students, including children and youth as soil for heavenly truth, should be met with patience, prayer, and care rather than discouraging words, and working for Christ and caring for the lost helps loosen worldly pleasures and clear harmful growth from the heart.
Truth is hidden from those who do not take pains to seek and dig for it as hidden treasure, for its meaning often lies beneath the surface and every branch of knowledge is found by searching the Scriptures. Precious gems of truth are passed by when their value is not discerned, so Bible students must not be satisfied with surface truths or a thimbleful of truth but must tax the mind in study. These precious seeds scattered by the divine Sower may not be seen as a whole until a laborer guided by the Holy Spirit gathers and presents them as a complete system revealing the depths of divine love. Sowing means teaching point by point in plain, simple instruction, short discourses, Bible readings, and answering questions, fastening points and texts in the mind so they are grasped and retained, rather than long sermons where only a few points are kept. Grace must first be received before it can be spread, for grace is active, penetrative and aggressive, and when living seed is cast into living soil, a heart not barricaded against light, it regenerates the heart and produces ever-increasing fruit, with truth sown in listeners' hearts in hope it will spring up and bear fruit to God's glory.
Life and influence are seed-sowing, for the choices a person makes and the example given plant ideas in others and those seeds determine the harvest. In school life young people sow through the choices and influence of their lives, and living by Christ's saving grace and the principles of God's law can produce a harvest of precious grain for the heavenly garner rather than thorns, while farming teaches that seeds of truth must be sown in the human heart so life bears the beautiful fruit of the Spirit. The mind is rich soil needing cultivation, and without it ignorance and other evils grow, with neglect of mind and heart bringing harm and unused intellectual faculties becoming powerful aids to ruin, especially as greater natural ability brings greater responsibility to develop and use powers for God's glory. The Lord as sower puts heavenly seeds of truth into the mind as soil, namely the Word, suggestions of heavenly thoughts, and impressions upon the intellect for meditation on eternal realities, but when the mind feeds on fictitious storybooks and common reading its thoughts are captivated into a wrong channel, its capabilities perverted, the field preoccupied and the channel obstructed so no impress can be left. The mind must therefore be kept free from every kind of selfishness, covetousness which is idolatry, and worldly spirit, lest good seed be choked and fail to spring up and bear fruit, so that the grace of God may rule in the soul temple. At a critical opportunity to respond to God's mercy, indifference, spiritual laziness, and love of pleasure sow harmful impressions that lead others away and leave shallow ideas of Christian character, so influence should instead draw others to God, with crude physical and mental energies trained for the Master's service and God's impress molding the mind into graceful symmetry.
Behold marks the opening of the parable of the sower, spoken to a pressing crowd by the Sea of Galilee where fields and sowers lay in sight around the hearers. The sower is Christ, the heavenly Sower who left home and glory with the Father to come as a suffering man and sow the seed of life for a lost world. The seed is the word of God, the gospel truth without error, and the soil is the human heart and mind where character is formed. The parable lays bare the different tendencies of the heart — wayside hardness, shallow stony eagerness that withers under trial, thorny love of riches and pleasure that chokes the word, and good ground that bears fruit in varying measure. He drew immortal truth from familiar nature and daily work so the lesson fitted every mind and would be remembered whenever nature was seen, showing that his kingdom advances not by arms but by planting a new principle in hearts unto a patient harvest.
Setting and Teaching Method
The opening words introduce the parable of the sower, spoken to a pressing crowd gathered by the Sea of Galilee. Jesus taught from a boat pushed out at the water's edge while the people stood on the shore. Around the hearers were sowers and reapers working side by side, with fields, hills, rocks, birds, and water in full view. He called attention to a sower going out to sow, drawing the illustration from the familiar scene directly before them. The scattering of seed could look like waste, yet the sower parts with seed in order to sow it, and the different outcomes show some seed lost while seed in good ground yields a harvest. The visible scene helped fix the lesson in the listeners' minds.
He drew immortal truth from familiar nature and daily work, using cultivated land, waving grain, seed and soil to make divine things plain. The lesson was made simple, fitted to every mind and class, easily understood and vividly memorable. Earthly things were used to represent spiritual truths, so that the created world repeats the lesson and speaks eternal truth as the voice of God. Later sights of nature would bring the sacred truths back to mind, reminding hearers of the instruction and carrying Christ's teaching into holier daily life. There is one law holding in both material and spiritual sowing, giving light on higher education that throws the reflection of heavenly light back not on human beings but on Christ who enlightens every man. Sowing, cultivation, and harvest show God working in nature, with divine power giving life and fruitfulness working together with human skill and labor, making the realities of the kingdom plain.
He spoke truth in parables as the way to rebuke sin without giving personal offense. The seed sown is the good seed of the gospel, the words of life, sown in the hearts of hearers, and when the soil of the heart is not prepared the seed does not spring up to bear fruit. Evil angels in the form of men mingled with the hearers, talking with those who know the truth, making suggestions, criticizing, misapplying, misinterpreting and misconstruing what was spoken. By insinuations they caused the words of life to lose their force, with Satan linked with the religionists. The parable was given amid disappointment over refusal to establish a political kingdom, for many expected a Messiah who would exalt Israel and when that hope failed they rejected him as Redeemer. Even the disciples grew impatient for temporal authority, while relatives rejected him and urged public display of his works.
He sowed widely like a sower scattering seed, teaching in busy, well-traveled and public places where travelers and people from many parts could hear. He presented truth clearly and simply so it could be understood, separated from error. The different soils show the gospel meeting different responses, some losing the message, some receiving it briefly but falling away under hardship, some bearing no fruit, and some producing a harvest, a pattern applying to every gospel laborer. The sower is one of several illustrations bringing the same important truths to different kinds of people, with sowing and harvesting in the surrounding fields making the lesson familiar and broadly accessible to many walks of life. Through this familiar picture he explained the nature of his kingdom and how it would be established. The crowd itself had varied motives and understanding, some dimly grasping the words yet with seeds of life taking root to later bear blessed fruit, while others came from curiosity or desire for excitement.
Sower, Seed, and Soil
The sower is Christ, the heavenly and divine Sower who came to scatter the heavenly grain of truth and bring people back to loyalty to God. He left the security of home, the glory He had with the Father before the world existed, and His place on the throne of the universe to come as a suffering, tempted man, alone, sowing in tears and watering with His blood the seed of life for a lost world. The force of His going forth is seen in the unsettled conditions of the East, where people lived mainly in walled towns and farmers went outside the walls each day to work the fields. His parable teaching itself sowed precious truths of grace, and His work advances the kingdom of heaven not by force of arms or overthrow of earthly kingdoms but by planting a new principle in human hearts, with harvest through patient work despite losses and disappointments.
The seed is the word of God, the gospel, heavenly truth and words of life that He came to spread throughout the world. He sows no error, and every word is living seed able to take root and bear fruit to God's glory. The seed falls on different kinds of ground with different results, and its reception depends on the condition of the heart. The natural seed represents the Gospel seed, leading from the familiar act of sowing to the spiritual work of planting truth in the world.
The soil is the human heart and mind, the garden of the heart where principles are sown and character is developed. Good seed and bad seed can be sown there, including the good seed of the gospel and words of life, and the untrained mind is like an uncultivated field. As a garden must be prepared for natural seed, so the heart must be prepared for the seed of truth, and when the soil is not prepared the seed does not spring up to bear fruit. The teacher works as sower by plain, short, point-by-point instruction, Bible readings and answering questions, fastening points and texts in the mind so they are grasped and retained, with the seed so planted that it will spring up and bear fruit and not be choked.
The same law holds in material and spiritual seed-sowing, and the laws governing natural seed also apply to the sowing of truth. The kingdom of heaven is the theme taught by natural things, for human life in all its bearings is similar to nature and the created world repeats eternal truths. The parable contains the greatest yet most simple lessons, and Christ's parable teaching is the seed with which the most precious doctrines of His grace were sown. Those doctrines are like precious jewels and hidden treasure requiring clear spiritual eyesight and diligent searching of Scripture to discern and gather, holding a beautiful harmony beyond ordinary searching that rewards continued searching. This sowing is higher education, coming from Christ who came from heaven to educate, throwing the reflection of heavenly light back upon Christ and alone able to prepare students for the higher school where Christ and God will be teachers.
The seed cast into the ground teaches Christ's death, and the blade springing up teaches the resurrection, showing how seen things become interpreters of the unseen. As soil must be prepared for natural seed, the heart must be cultivated by repentance to receive truth, with diligent effort in Christ's name and strength to uproot evil tendencies that choke what is good. Christ's servants likewise go out to sow truth among people as seed falls on different kinds of soil. The sower is Christ and His messengers, with the teacher as sower, eternal truths as seed, and the hearer's heart and mind as soil. Faithful sowing may require leaving home and familiar ties, surrendering plans and earthly hopes, and working through toil, tears, solitude, opposition and sacrifice, while humble workers who trust God and labor perseveringly, even in difficult places, may bring souls to Christ as God, the Holy Spirit and angels work with them.
Christ scattered heavenly truth like grain in both His words and His example, to be gathered as a precious gift from heaven by those desiring light and knowledge and later cultivated by His disciples.
Responses to the Word
The parable lays open the different tendencies of the human heart and the classes among Christ's hearers, explaining why His ministry yielded only limited and meager immediate results. Men were left free to accept or reject Him, for He did not compel belief and obedience, not even by miracle, and His teaching called them to unite their own effort with divine power to overcome sin and develop Christian character. The picture of seed falling on varied ground made the lesson vivid and memorable: some soon lost their impressions amid worldly surroundings, cares and temptations, while others began a holier life and put His principles into practice. The same pattern meets every gospel laborer, for the gospel sown widely in busy and well-traveled places meets different responses, some losing the message, some receiving it briefly, some bearing no fruit, and some producing a harvest in differing measure, even when results are not immediately visible.
Wayside hearers are like the beaten highway, with hard and neglected hearts, moral powers uncultivated, failing to understand, investigate, value and retain truth. They may be moved and profess belief without rightly valuing its sacred character, yet remaining among corrupting companions, pleasures and evil habits, following inclination instead of duty, they expose themselves to temptation until regard for truth is lost. Then temptation and evil companions soon take the word away, and even foolish remarks can destroy passing thoughts of eternal interests in young as well as old. Hearts hardened by evil habits and closed by worldly possessions and cares become unreceptive to heavenly things and to Christ's invitation. Hearing alone does not bring benefit unless the word is welcomed and received with faith, for a heart hardened by prejudice and unsoftened by grace resists the word and is kept from God's kingdom.
Stony-ground hearers receive truth eagerly and speak zealously, yet lack deep-rooted principle, so they do not endure. When trial, sacrifice, correction, hardship or testing comes, their zeal fades and they fall away and abandon truth rather than submit to its sanctifying work. Some hear without retaining, some receive but do not endure, failing to develop Christian character, while seed on rocky ground not welcomed or allowed to take root shows that hearing alone is insufficient without faith.
Thorny-ground hearers accept truth while love of the world takes priority, with deceitful gain, riches, anxiety, pleasure, possessions, worldly honor and the spirit of the world choking the seed and turning the heart from truth. These concerns overgrow the heart like thorns, preoccupy it like seed on dry ground, and leave no room or opportunity for spiritual things to take root and grow. They may profess belief yet fail to spring up and bear fruit, because competing cares crowd out the word of life sown in them.
Good soil bears fruit in varying amounts, while seed on poor soil yields no fruit unto eternal life, some reaching receptive hearts, springing up and bearing abundantly through diligent labor. Israel is pictured as soil that received God's advantages, instruction, reproof and warnings yet produced no return, rejecting obedience, using blessings for self-glorification and gain instead of blessing others and bringing praise to God. The sower does not stop because some seed fails, but sows everywhere even where soil looks poor, continuing wherever access is gained without discouragement when results are not seen at once.
When the word does not take root and bear fruit the cause lies in the hearer's heart and response, not in the sower or the seed, for the same sower and seed produce different results according to the soil. People become inattentive and neglectful by resisting the Spirit, through distraction, sleep, hardness and hindrances that keep the word from bearing fruit, while Satan sows tares while men sleep. Before seed can take root the soil must be broken up by conviction of sin and awakening to need of healing, and when welcomed in faith Christ's word takes root in life and bears fruit, whereas partial, unwilling reception leaves the heart open to Satan's thorns which choke and destroy it. Yet none need remain hardened, shallow, thorny, hard or distracted, for though none can change themselves, choice, repentance and diligent effort in Jesus' strength, with the Spirit working to free from worldly absorption, can cultivate the soil, uproot evil growths, and shape what they become. Such hard hearts like a beaten highway can be softened so truth takes root through Christlike sympathy and personal ministry.
The Pharisees are hopeless, profitless and barren soil where heavenly truth sown in human hearts cannot take root. Their pride, suspicion, feeling of superiority and self-delusion claim all faith, honor and love for exalted self, supposing others at fault, suspecting even the purest, making a man an offender for a word. They speak strong hard words of reproof and condemnation that crush hope and courage out of the soul, leaving others discouraged and defiled, while the goodness of heart shown in true Christians puts roots of bitterness in them whereby many are defiled. By contrast Nicodemus was soil into which Jesus cast seeds of truth with little apparent fruit for three years, yet by carefully considering Jesus' life and teachings he was convinced of His Messiahship at the raising of Lazarus.
The meaning was clear enough for the disciples to understand, so their failure to grasp it rebuked their dullness and showed their need to be ready to learn and believe. Those who followed Jesus closely and obeyed Him would be taught greater truths of God's kingdom, while those who resisted truth through hardness of heart, unbelief or neglect of opportunity would remain in darkness. Among the crowds of varied motives and understanding, some dimly grasped His words yet seeds of life took root and later bore blessed fruit, while others came only from curiosity or desire for excitement.
Hearing and professing belief are not enough, for truth must take root and bear fruit in a transformed life and in developed Christian character. The different soils describe hearers who receive truth differently, some not retaining, some not enduring, some choked by worldly cares, while others can be strengthened and established. Acting too soon to separate unworthy members can create division and harm people who might otherwise grow in faith, so care and patience in church discipline may strengthen those who might otherwise grow.
Warning and Final Judgment
Matthew 13 opens instruction in parables that is to be read as for life and heeded as a warning with careful self-examination. It calls for vigilance lest minds be blinded by human sophistries. Mocking burlesque of sacred things is to be shunned as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
In giving these parables Christ contemplated the future destiny of the beings for whom He gave His life. Hearers are to ask prayerfully who will stand acquitted before the judgment seat of Christ, without spot or stain of character. At the great day every person will be judged according to deeds done in this life. Those who are saved must form characters without fault in the sight of a pure and holy God. God has given to every person his work, and Christ will cooperate with everyone who will cooperate with Him by wearing His yoke and learning His meekness and lowliness. Angels love and minister to such in every phase of life, and Christ teaches those who follow Him daily an experience in the meaning of the divine beatitudes.
The chapter reveals two working forces at work in the world. The seeds of truth sown throughout the world were to restore God's moral image in those who accept Christ's teaching. That power is lost when interpreters obscure plain Scripture with mystical explanations and disputes over technical details, robbing the word of its power.
Kingdom Growth and Harvest
The kingdom does not advance by force of arms or by overthrowing earthly kingdoms but by planting a new principle in human hearts, and Christ as the great Sower scatters that heavenly seed of truth through His teaching. The familiar sight of sowers scattering seed on the plain and hills around illustrated His work of spreading the message of God's kingdom rather than conquering by force, explaining the nature of that kingdom and how it would be established. The seed falls on different kinds of ground and yields different results, yet its harvest comes through patient work and patient toil despite losses and disappointments.
Sown truth must be planted carefully, earnestly, and with self-denial in the example of Christ, who sowed with care, anxiety, continual sacrifice and labor for others' good without growing weary in well-doing. Those who sow must trust God to give the seed life and quicken it, for it may lie dormant for a time without visible effect until God's grace convicts the heart, awakens it to life, and causes it to spring up and bear fruit to His glory. His clear and pointed words cut hearers to the heart as seed sown in minds, and words heard with reverence and awe can take root and later grow into abundant faith in Him as the world's Redeemer. Lessons dimly understood at the time were revived after His crucifixion and resurrection in many attentive listeners, took root and bore fruit in the judgment hall and afterward, and were repeated for the benefit of future generations to the close of time. Pentecost was the harvest of that sowing watered with His blood, as this great missionary work of unselfish, earnest, persevering labor with Christ and the heavenly angels saves fellow men and many souls.
The harvest gathered after His ascension showed the power of His teaching, for the disciples empowered by the Holy Spirit were equipped to gather it. The ground where He sowed was to be thoroughly cultivated by the apostles until the seeds sprang up and produced an abundant harvest, and opposition was no reason to abandon the work. Laborers sow truth in people's hearts, and those who follow up afterward through the Spirit's power help bring the work to maturity and gather the harvest, so that hearing the truth makes later labor more effective. The former rain at the beginning of the Christian age caused the gospel seed to germinate and take root while the church enjoyed the gifts of the Spirit, and the latter rain at the close will ripen the harvest and accompany the gifts in their fullness.
Missionary sowing spreads God's word as seed that takes root in homes and hearts, so that churches arise along the path of the workers and a rich harvest of souls is yielded to be revealed at the day of God. The quiet distribution of Scripture awakened interest in God's Word, took root in receptive hearts, and brought forth churches and souls even where the full result would be revealed only at the day of God. So Huss's ashes were like seed scattered across the earth, and the truths he preached with his example of faith would produce witnesses in lands yet unknown and encourage many to stand firm despite persecution and death. Where seed has been sown, deeply convicted souls all around spring up into fruit and lift the standard of truth and gather a little company, with more precious souls still to be gathered.
Seed is to be sown according to God's plan, including among people and in places workers had not planned to reach, and this sowing can multiply until the word reaches thousands who have never heard the truth. Proclaiming truth to many listeners sows good seed whose purpose is to spring up and bear fruit to God's glory, with some reaching receptive hearts and bearing abundant fruit, though the full results are not seen at once but will be revealed in the day of final reckoning. Seed already sown through arguments, publications and missionary work has influenced people who have not yet understood or obeyed, and when the Spirit brings truth clearly to them it springs up and bears fruit as honest people take their stand for the Lord. Hard ground may take longer to respond and truth may advance slowly through barriers of error and tradition, yet its growth can be strong and fruitful through faithful labor and God's life-giving rain, even bearing unexpected fruit as when a pamphlet left on a mistaken visit led twenty to convert.
Sowing Truth in Ministry
The sower went forth to sow everywhere, and the seed of truth is to be sown in every place where access is gained, in public places, highways, towns, cities, and neglected fields, even where the soil looks poor and unpromising. Poor results in some places are no reason to stop, for some seed is lost, some springs up but withers, some bears no fruit, and some produces a harvest in varying amounts, and this varied experience belongs to every gospel worker. The sower does not cease because some seed fails to bear fruit unto eternal life, but continues without discouragement when results are not seen at once, beginning in faith and hope before harvest time. Those who have heard must also be followed up and nurtured, lest truth sown in hearts be snatched away by opposition or wither for lack of care.
Every Christian is commissioned as a sower who must go forth in entire consecration, arising to responsibility and privilege, and more workers are still needed. The work is not to be left for ministers to do the greatest part, but men not called to the ministry are to labor according to their several ability, and as a worker gives himself unreservedly he gains experience to work more successfully and draws others to Christ. Humble workers, including people with little education and children moved by the Holy Spirit, carry the message to those in spiritual darkness and sow the gospel seed even in difficult places, and students can drop seeds of truth into minds and hearts that spring up and bear fruit in the saving of souls. Well-trained nurses going among families to awaken interest in the truth, and evangelists and Bible workers laboring in cities such as Boston and New Bedford where many opportunities are found, have their place, for the simple truths taught in parables are as much needed now as when Christ was in the world in person. Fretting and contention disqualify sowers, revealing feeble effort and strong unbelief, while faithful sowing spends less on self-indulgence and needless adorning because that money is the Lord's and is needed for His sacred work, educates children to do missionary work and bring offerings to God, and awakes to the spiritual character of the work amid earth's closing scenes as the Spirit works on hearts.
Sowing is done by presenting Christ and Him crucified and redeeming love as though it were the last opportunity, with the message calling people to decide whether to obey truth and stand with Christ or refuse the cross and reject mercy. It is done by preaching, Bible readings, visits, house-to-house work carrying the word to people in their homes, and witnessing everywhere, first preparing the soil by winning confidence through practical godliness, peace, and love, then presenting truth as it is in Jesus. Seeds can be gently and courteously planted during ordinary moments such as walking or resting, by courteous speech, hospitality and meals, singing, teaching children, and talks with prayer. Teaching people how to preserve physical health gives many opportunities for sowing in city work connected with hygienic restaurants and meetings where instruction is given on health, temperance, and Bible subjects, and when restored patients are grateful and receptive the seed can find place, be nourished, grow, and bear fruit to God's glory.
Sowing is also done by circulating books and other publications widely, sowing broadcast throughout the world and placing light-filled books containing the light to be given to people in the homes of as many as possible through united effort. Workers are to learn how to sow by sharing books that teach valuable lessons and by teaching methods for presenting them at large gatherings. The seed already sown through arguments and publications has influenced people who have not yet understood or obeyed, and when the Spirit brings truth clearly to them it springs up and bears fruit as honest people choose the Lord's side. The sowing is done under divine guidance while looking to the Lord for aid, with the Holy Spirit attending the workers and angels of heaven accompanying them to prepare the way.
Going forth means scattering truth over more territory instead of crowding workers in one place, making centers in many localities and carrying truth into new fields to people who may receive it with saving, sanctifying influence when received understandingly. The seed is to be sown according to God's plan, including among people and in places not planned, until the word reaches thousands who never heard, and church members are to reach people through visits, Scripture, and literature in many places so that those saved in turn teach others. It means earnest labor in neglected fields, men and women offering themselves as messengers of mercy, peace, and hope into highways and byways to rich and poor calling for light, where many harden hearts against the Spirit but many hungering for bread receive and then go forth themselves to sow to others. True medical missionaries go forth as sowers carrying in one hand remedies for physical suffering and in the other the gospel for sin-burdened souls, working for restoration of God's image, reaching unworked towns, new districts, the South, cities, institutions, and people of influence in the nation's capital through agencies such as sanitariums.
Faithful sowing follows the example of the heavenly Sower who went forth from security and glory with the Father to live as a suffering, tempted man and sow the seed of life for a lost world, as farmers left walled towns to work in fields amid the unsettled conditions of the East. It means sowing the seed of truth with care, anxiety, self-denial, and continual sacrifice for others' good, having the mind of Christ so as not to become weary in well-doing, laboring unselfishly, earnestly, and perseveringly as co-workers with Christ and angels. It may require leaving home and familiar ties, giving up plans and earthly hopes, and working through toil, tears, solitude, and opposition, cutting loose from worldly investment and self-indulgence. Those who sow must trust God to quicken the seed into life, for it may lie dormant until grace convicts the heart and awakens it to spring up and bear fruit to God's glory, calling for unceasing effort and wholehearted devotion to bring the bread of life to perishing souls in darkness.
There is also evil sowing, which plants ideas in minds as soil, and seeds of doubt sown in young hearts can grow and bear a harvest of infidelity and unbelief. It happens when men plant seeds of evil insinuations that weaken confidence in God's ministers and message, seeds that stay in the mind until temptation comes and then work to turn others away from truths to be carried to the world, and when harmful talk scatters evil seed that produces its harvest. The untrained mind is like an uncultivated field and Bible truth is the precious seed, requiring unceasing care in cultivating children's minds with watchful guard lest the enemy sow tares to spring up and bear evil fruit, teaching them to reject trashy, exciting tales and turn to sensible reading that leads to Bible story, history, and argument and quickens desire to study Scripture. When the mind feeds on fictitious storybooks and common reading its powers are captivated, directed in a wrong channel, and perverted, the field is preoccupied and the channel obstructed so the Lord cannot leave His impress, and the greater the mental capabilities the greater the evil, while fanciful mixing of Scripture with imagination yields the same harmful harvest.
Preparing Hearts to Receive
As a garden must be prepared for natural seed, so the heart must be prepared for the seed of truth, for the heart is a garden where principles are sown and character is developed after the similitude of Christ's lovely character. Good seed is truth and bad seed can also be sown there, and in early life the mind is especially impressionable so that good influences planted then can bear fruit unto eternal life. The ground must be broken up by repentance and conviction of sin, with no expectation of an at-once harvest from raw ground but diligent, persevering labor in preparing the soil, sowing the seed, and culturing the crop. Hardened ground is subdued only by thorough, skillful, painstaking cooperation of divine and human effort, since surface work and neglect explain failure, and as soil overgrown with thorns is reclaimed only by diligent labor, evil tendencies and thorn-like growths that choke the good grain are overcome only by earnest effort in the name and strength of Christ. The planting of seed on such prepared soil produces good fruit, yet hearers must place themselves where they can understand the precious words of Christ, with some falling on receptive hearts that bring forth fruit.
Parents must do this preparing work for young children and not trust it to others, cultivating their minds and forming correct habits in the first years of life. The time now wasted on following worldly fashions is to be given instead to making hearts ready, keeping tastes and habits simple and teaching loving, cheerful obedience. The open air among flowers and birds is to be the schoolroom and nature the textbook, with the Word made the standard, and little children may be Christians having an experience in accordance with their years, which is all God requires of them. This home education is the image of the Sower scattering good seed upon the soil of the heart, for parents prepare their children's minds and character to receive spiritual lessons and should plant the seeds of truth from their earliest years. The lesson is to be made practical by having children prepare soil and sow seed while explaining the correspondence between natural and spiritual sowing, continuing the comparison as the plant grows, including through Bible meetings and practical soil work.
Hearts may be hard like a beaten highway so the seed of truth cannot take root, yet Christlike sympathy and personal, compassionate ministry can soften such hearts so the seed takes root. The sowers' work therefore includes preparing people to receive the word, first winning confidence through practical godliness, peace, and love, then presenting truth as it is in Jesus with love. Prayer meetings and the confidence and openness they foster can prepare hearts to receive truth and weaken prejudice. Truth sown in hearts can be snatched away by opposition or wither for lack of care, so those who have heard must be followed up and nurtured, and at the beginning of Christian life believers are to learn foundations of faith by making Christ's life and character their own, bearing burdens, denying natural inclinations, serving through self-denial, enduring hardship, trusting His love, and bringing cares to Him. Even difficult or resistant students, including children and youth as soil for heavenly truth, should be met with patience, prayer, and care rather than discouraging words, and working for Christ and caring for the lost helps loosen worldly pleasures and clear harmful growth from the heart.
Truth is hidden from those who do not take pains to seek and dig for it as hidden treasure, for its meaning often lies beneath the surface and every branch of knowledge is found by searching the Scriptures. Precious gems of truth are passed by when their value is not discerned, so Bible students must not be satisfied with surface truths or a thimbleful of truth but must tax the mind in study. These precious seeds scattered by the divine Sower may not be seen as a whole until a laborer guided by the Holy Spirit gathers and presents them as a complete system revealing the depths of divine love. Sowing means teaching point by point in plain, simple instruction, short discourses, Bible readings, and answering questions, fastening points and texts in the mind so they are grasped and retained, rather than long sermons where only a few points are kept. Grace must first be received before it can be spread, for grace is active, penetrative and aggressive, and when living seed is cast into living soil, a heart not barricaded against light, it regenerates the heart and produces ever-increasing fruit, with truth sown in listeners' hearts in hope it will spring up and bear fruit to God's glory.
Life and influence are seed-sowing, for the choices a person makes and the example given plant ideas in others and those seeds determine the harvest. In school life young people sow through the choices and influence of their lives, and living by Christ's saving grace and the principles of God's law can produce a harvest of precious grain for the heavenly garner rather than thorns, while farming teaches that seeds of truth must be sown in the human heart so life bears the beautiful fruit of the Spirit. The mind is rich soil needing cultivation, and without it ignorance and other evils grow, with neglect of mind and heart bringing harm and unused intellectual faculties becoming powerful aids to ruin, especially as greater natural ability brings greater responsibility to develop and use powers for God's glory. The Lord as sower puts heavenly seeds of truth into the mind as soil, namely the Word, suggestions of heavenly thoughts, and impressions upon the intellect for meditation on eternal realities, but when the mind feeds on fictitious storybooks and common reading its thoughts are captivated into a wrong channel, its capabilities perverted, the field preoccupied and the channel obstructed so no impress can be left. The mind must therefore be kept free from every kind of selfishness, covetousness which is idolatry, and worldly spirit, lest good seed be choked and fail to spring up and bear fruit, so that the grace of God may rule in the soul temple. At a critical opportunity to respond to God's mercy, indifference, spiritual laziness, and love of pleasure sow harmful impressions that lead others away and leave shallow ideas of Christian character, so influence should instead draw others to God, with crude physical and mental energies trained for the Master's service and God's impress molding the mind into graceful symmetry.