And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
As the sower scatters, some seed falls on the hard beaten path beside the ground, where birds quickly eat it so it does not remain to grow. The seed is the word of God and gospel truth sown in the heart, the wayside is the hardened unreceptive heart where the word cannot enter, and the fowls are Satan and his agents who snatch it away before it takes effect. Such hearers become hard by neglect of duty, evil habit, pride, love of the world, business cares and preoccupation, and by inattention, criticism and unbelief in hearing, so truth makes no lasting impression and is drawn away by surrounding temptations. They need not remain inattentive, for the heart can still be broken up by repentance and earnest effort, softened by the Spirit through personal ministry presenting Christ, and good seed long dormant can yet be awakened to spring up and bear fruit. Therefore the message is to be sown everywhere even on poor and unpromising soil, after Christ the pattern Sower who scattered heavenly grain in public places and by busy roads wherever multitudes gathered.
Setting and Picture
The teaching was given to a large eager crowd beside the Sea of Galilee, with Jesus speaking from a boat after the people pressed close around Him. Men, women and children were gathered on the grassy wooded shore while He stood elevated above them, and the seed that fell by the wayside belongs to the seed-sowing parable spoken there. It presents the first scene and first outcome of the sower's work in the plain of Gennesaret: as he scatters, some falls on the path beside the way. Birds quickly come and devour it, and where it is trodden down it is taken away before it can grow. So scattered there it does not remain to take root or bear fruit, and appears wasted, showing that not all who hear receive truth in a way that lets it take root.
The parable uses familiar sowing and harvesting, grain, birds and daily sights to make divine truth plain and memorable. Its lessons were joined to what people saw around them in nature and everyday life, so that nature could afterward bring those truths back to mind and turn minds to God. Sowing of literal seed teaches about spiritual sowing, and what holds as law in material seed-sowing holds in spiritual seed-sowing. The light that makes the spiritual meaning plain is given by Christ, who came from heaven to educate, and to know Him in this parable is higher education that throws back heavenly light upon Christ and gives glory to the One who enlightens every man that comes into the world. The familiar illustration was likened to His own work to explain the nature of God's kingdom and how it would be established, and it applies to all people and different kinds of hearers.
It shows different tendencies of the human heart and different responses to the gospel in the spreading of Christ's teaching. In this way it helps explain why His ministry had limited immediate results. Some hearers are stirred yet grasp His words only dimly, and their impressions soon fade when they return to worldly surroundings, where cares and temptations draw them back into sin and indifference. Others listen from curiosity or love of excitement, and some reject Him with hostile intent, while seeds of life may still lodge in hearts to bear fruit later.
The words are greatly needed precious truth for those who desire light and knowledge, and everyone needs to be positioned to understand them. Christ scattered them as heavenly grain and as seed in word and example for disciples to cultivate and gather as treasure from heaven. He sowed the world with truth as the great Teacher, and after His ascension the harvest showed the power of His teaching.
Meaning of Symbols
The seed scattered beside the path is the gospel truth, the word of God and heavenly principles sown in the heart. It includes Christ's doctrines, His parable teaching, and His living words, intended to take root and bear fruit in bringing people back to loyalty to God. Its growth pictures the development of character. Christ sows no seed of error.
The wayside is a hard beaten path and highway, picturing a hardened, unreceptive, unimpressible heart where the word cannot enter or take root. It is divine truth reaching an inattentive heart, hardened and made insensitive by worldly love, natural impulses, neglect of moral duty, and persistence in evil habits. Such hearers feel the impact of truth without grasping its sacred worth.
The fowls that devour the seed are Satan with evil angels and human opposers who snatch the word away before it can take effect. They overcome hearers who receive without understanding, taking the word from hearts not prepared so it does not spring up to bear fruit. They work by suggestions and insinuations, by criticizing, misapplying, misinterpreting and misconstruing what is spoken, so the words of life lose their force. They also divert attention with worldly concerns, criticism, doubt and unbelief, even leading hearers to dwell on a speaker's language or manner so needed truth makes no lasting impression. Among the young this appears when truth heard without investigation or serious thought of its worth is destroyed by foolish companions' jokes, leaving brief thoughts of eternal life to perish.
The heart is soil and a garden where good or bad seed is sown. As literal ground must be worked, plowed and cultivated, the heart and mind must be prepared, refined and disciplined to bear fruit to God's glory. Repentance breaks up its soil, and evil tendencies must be removed by earnest effort in Christ's name and strength. This preparation includes teaching children and forming their minds and habits, with parents cultivating them so they are ready for the Sower to scatter good seed.
Wayside Hearers Described
Wayside hearers are those who have not cultivated their moral powers but follow inclination rather than duty, and neglect of moral duty with persistence in evil habits hardens the heart until the sacredness and worth of truth is no longer felt. By keeping company with pleasure-seekers and corrupt society they expose themselves to temptation and open themselves to the enemy, until they lose regard for the truth once received. Their hearts become like a hard beaten path and highway where the seed cannot enter or take root, made hard, insensitive and unimpressible by worldly love, natural impulses, pride, independence, selfish love of the world and avarice. Worldly possessions, business cares and a preoccupied mind leave no room for heavenly suggestions, shut out the heavenly messenger, and keep God from impressing the mind, while competing concerns choke the truth so it bears no fruit.
Some hear and even resolve to live holy lives, yet without repentance and a prepared heart Satan's suggestions overcome them and take the word away before it can take root. Fictitious reading and storybooks obstruct the mind in the same way, choking out truth sown in the heart and preventing it from taking root and bearing fruit. Inattention during preaching allows the seed scattered beside the path to be lost rather than take root, for Satan works against the Spirit's effort to impress the hearer and Christ's effort to draw the soul. He diverts attention with worldly concerns, criticism, doubt and unbelief, and dwelling on a speaker's language or manner can keep needed truth from making a lasting impression, so hearers must take care how they receive God's words rather than pass over truth while harmful talk spreads evil seed.
The Pharisees show this hopeless, unproductive, profitless wayside soil where seeds of heavenly truth cannot take root, for self-exaltation, suspicion and condemnation keep truth out. Their self-deluding feeling of superiority makes them suppose others are at fault, speak strong hard words of reproof and condemnation that crush hope and courage out of the soul, and grow roots of bitterness at the goodness of true Christians whereby many are defiled. They are full of evil thoughts and suspect even the purest, make a man an offender for a word, take offense at words, and give all faith and honor and love to exalted self. Many others are stirred by the teaching but their impressions soon fade when they return to worldly surroundings, for cares and temptations draw them back into sin and indifference. They may grasp words only dimly, while seeds of life can lodge in the heart and later bear fruit, and different hearers listen from curiosity or love of excitement or with hostile intent; whether the seed takes root and bears fruit or is overcome is shown by actions, by its saving sanctifying influence, and by a life of perseverance and practical effort for its advancement.
The truth is of heavenly origin and opposed to the heart's natural disposition, falling with this hearer not on the best of soil, so it will not grow successfully without careful culture and earnest diligent toil to bring all the powers into subjection to the Spirit and keep the body under, lest having preached to others the preacher himself be a castaway. Among the young, hearing without investigating or thinking seriously of its worth leaves brief thoughts of eternal life easily destroyed, for the word is received without understanding and the wicked one takes it from the heart, and foolish companions' jokes can destroy it. Careless pleasure-seeking conduct sows an influence that turns youth away from God and keeps them from receiving mercy and forming Christian character. Rival sowings also destroy the seed, for those who oppose the truth use every opportunity to sow evil insinuations that weaken confidence in ministers and the message, so that when temptation comes those in whom the seeds have been sown are worked upon to turn others away from the truths to be borne to the world. False teachings and old errors confuse hearers and bury the truth again beneath what they have been taught, like seed eaten by birds, and in untrained minds like an uncultivated field the enemy sows tares that spring up to bear evil fruit unless parents keep watchful guard, sow Bible truth with unceasing care, and teach children to reject trashy exciting tales for sensible reading that leads to Bible story, history and argument and quickens desire to study Scripture.
Seeds of doubt sown in young hearts can be nourished by Satan until they grow and produce a harvest of infidelity, and books of science and philosophy hiding thorns of skepticism, vague fanciful fairy stories, and writings on Scripture subjects mixed with fanciful human interpretations plant seed that grows into a plentiful harvest of infidelity seen in human depravity. Some in the church are this kind of wayside hearer who receive the truth but do not become fruitful Christians, yet no premature separation should be made, lest hasty action create division and harm those who might otherwise be strengthened in the truth. Israel illustrates the same soil on a larger scale, for God's chosen people received spiritual advantages but failed to produce intended fruit, using blessings for self-glorification and rejecting counsel and warning until they became like soil that takes in what it receives but yields nothing and instruction bore no righteous fruit.
Hope and Preparation
Wayside hearers need not remain inattentive and neglectful of the word, for the hardness that keeps seed from taking root comes by resisting the Spirit, and those who resist are responsible for it. The Spirit works to break absorption in worldly things and to awaken desire for what is eternal, and the heart can still be prepared through repentance and earnest effort in Christ's strength. Hearts hardened like a beaten highway and seemingly beyond reach can be softened so that truth takes root through personal ministry shaped by Christ's love and by presenting the Saviour. Such softening is part of preparing hearts so the seed does not perish through hardness or shallow soil.
Hardened, unplowed wayside ground where the word cannot take root and produce a harvest needs much added labor from those who watch for souls. The hard ground must be broken up and subdued by plowing and harrowing until it is fit for planting and in favorable condition for the seed to find soil. This tilling of hearts requires skill and discernment, with skillful, painstaking, thorough work and intelligent, harmonious cooperation of the divine and the human, because surface work and haphazard half-effort will show itself in the harvest gathered.
The soil is broken up when people are awakened to sin and need of healing rather than lulled into false security. Repentance breaks up the soil of the heart, and evil tendencies must be removed through earnest effort in Christ's name and strength. So prepared, the heart as soil can receive the seed of truth.
Delayed harvests show this hope, for pointed words that cut hearers to the heart in the temple were not lost when no immediate effect was seen, but were to be revived in many attentive listeners after the crucifixion and resurrection, springing up to bear fruit to God's glory, save many souls, and be repeated for future generations to the close of time. Some who heard with reverence and awe before the judges received the seed into their hearts and later grew into perfect faith in Christ as Redeemer, yielding an abundant harvest even though following Him brought them into trial. The conversions at Pentecost were such a harvest from earlier sowing carried forward from the fall of Adam onward, when listeners heard testimony of the resurrection, remembered Christ's words, and believed, showing the power of His teaching as the great Teacher who sowed the world with truth under the former rain. Even where words are grasped only dimly, seeds of life can lodge in the heart and later bear fruit.
Good seed may lie dormant for a time in a cold, worldly, selfish heart, then be stirred, nourished and watered by the Spirit of God until the grace of God convicts the heart, awakens it to life, and causes it to spring up and bear fruit to God's glory. Sowing therefore does not always produce an immediate or fully knowable result, and those who sow cannot know which work will prosper. They must do the work with care, anxiety, self-denial, unselfishness, earnestness and perseverance, with the mind of Christ and a life of continued sacrifice for others without becoming weary in well-doing, as co-workers with Christ and heavenly angels, leaving the seed in trust for God to quicken it to life. The tender plant still needs sunshine, shower, dew, frost and perseverance to reap.
Children's hearts are soil where heavenly seed should be sown early and followed up, for lessons planted when the heart is prepared take lasting root, bear good fruit unto eternal life, and are reflected in others. Parents should preoccupy the earliest years with truth by tender, loving instruction, cultivate minds and form right habits so children are ready to receive the Sower's good seed before neglect leaves the heart unprepared, keeping young children at home rather than sending them away too early and using hands-on Bible lessons suited to small minds. Teachers and young people likewise are to sow after Christ the standard Teacher rather than personal ideas, through lives shaped by saving grace and the principles of God's law, trusting the seed will linger and bear a lasting harvest of precious grain rather than thorns.
Seed is kept from being caught away before it takes root by careful, loving follow-up, for truth sown in the heart faces determined opposition from ministers, friends and acquaintances when convicted persons want to accept new teaching, and they need continued care and support so the seed is not lost. Preaching the Word is sowing the seed, and house-to-house labor and careful personal work after public meetings and camp-meetings is essential to ripen the work and gather the harvest through the Spirit's power. The seed must be presented in love after confidence is won, in a dignified, godlike manner, since truth bears fruit when Christ and His redeeming love are proclaimed and the Spirit softens hearts. Long sermons alone lose the seed, as hearers retain but a few points that lose force while other things choke it, so sermons should be cut short and time taken to teach point by point, holding Bible readings, fastening points and texts in the mind, and answering questions in the plainest, simplest manner so minds grasp the truths and the seed springs up and bears fruit.
Call to Sow Everywhere
The message must be sown everywhere, even where the soil is poor and no fruit unto eternal life appears, for poor reception is no reason to stop proclaiming the truth. Cities, towns, villages, remote settlements, highways and byways, localities never worked, busy thoroughfares, and many unpromising places never planned for are to be entered, reaching classes for whom no plan had been made and working in ways and places never thought of. Some seed will fall on the wayside, be trampled and devoured, and produce no fruit, for this is one of the different outcomes gospel laborers will meet, yet diligent sowing according to the Lord's will will reach good ground and multiply so His word reaches thousands who have never heard.
Christ is the pattern Sower, continually traveling from place to place ministering to the temporal and spiritual needs of the multitudes, grasping every opportunity to present truth and dropping seeds that sprang up and bore fruit. He scattered heavenly grain in public places where people from many parts of the world could hear, by major routes of travel, by busy roads and wherever travelers and multitudes gathered, and His followers are to share the gospel as they meet people, including through personal visits in their homes. He presented truth simply and clearly so hearers could understand, and the seed's being sown broadly did not mean every hearer would receive it, nor did different outcomes stop the work.
Humble workers in the rough places of the earth sow the gospel by earnest self-sacrificing work to win souls in simplicity and trust in God, and those who do it are to be respected, strengthened, encouraged, and never hindered or spoken against. Humble and even uneducated workers moved by the Holy Spirit go out to carry the message to people in darkness, and this sowing must now be done without delay because time is short. The work rests not on ministers alone but on lay church members aroused from lethargy to become true missionaries, organized in companies to search for souls by missionary visits, visiting neighbors to open the Scriptures, wisely distributing literature, and laboring in the hedges so every district is reached. Men not called to the ministry are to labor according to their several ability, giving themselves unreservedly and thereby gaining experience that enables them to work more and more successfully, until though no public speaker's work is laid upon him, such a one is nonetheless a minister for God whose influence draws others to Christ. Persevering labor brings growing skill and fruit in the salvation of souls, and those converted teach others in turn, so seed is sown in many places until truth is proclaimed to all.
Sowing includes carrying the gospel to people wherever they are met, including in their homes, and speaking timely words, songs and speech that plant precious seed, trusting some will bear fruit. The seed broadcast throughout the world is the circulation of books containing the light God said should be given, placed in as many homes as possible through united effort of many believers under divine guidance, with the Holy Spirit attending the workers and angels preparing the way. Teaching people how to present books containing religious truth is itself sowing, and at large gatherings God's people are to be taught the best methods of presenting volumes of highest value such as Christ's Object Lessons and Ministry of Healing, going beyond only instructing how to sell the Signs of the Times and other periodicals. The message spread through publications impresses minds, and its later growth and fruit appear as light makes truth clear.
True medical missionaries sow seeds of truth in many hearts by carrying remedies for physical suffering in one hand and the gospel for sin-burdened souls in the other for restoration of the image of God. Invalids whose health improves under judicious treatment give truth more ready lodgment through confidence and gratitude toward those who restored them, and in some cases the seed is nourished, springs up and bears fruit to God's glory in one precious soul saved. Some convinced hearers lack moral courage to yield because the world and unbelieving relatives stand in the way, yet with prejudice removed some stand as defenders of the faith and some restored sufferers introduce the faith in new places and raise the standard where access was otherwise impossible. Confidence between patients and helpers, meeting people where they are, dwelling on Bible religion without objectionable points of difference, and brief interesting prayer and social worship through silent influence rather than open controversy prepare the way for seed to take root in some hearts, while peculiar faith belongs in the house of God at the Sabbath meeting spoken in Christ's spirit with love urging obedience so truth convicts. Hygienic restaurants furnish many opportunities to sow in the cities, with a room for lectures on health and temperance, instruction on wholesome food, and prayer and singing and talks not only on health but on appropriate Bible subjects. A physician or nurse can gently plant religious truth when a suffering patient is receptive and softened by care, for God prepares hearts alongside prejudice and false zeal to receive the seed with joy, and though Satan and his agents hinder, perplex and burden those advancing reform, this should not discourage nor hinder the work.
Even while walking along the way or resting by the roadside, seeds of truth may be gently and courteously planted in the heart, and hospitality and food for inquirers, personal visits, conversation with families, and words from those rooted in faith all plant truth that the Spirit makes fruitful with effects reaching to eternity. Christ sought to turn people from earthly to heavenly things, and His teachers are to sow seeds of truth in the world through earnest tireless missionary work, preaching the gospel with practical instruction so new believers are firmly established and learn to labor for others. Each opportunity should be used as if the last to proclaim Christ and Him crucified with tenderness, love, plainness and faithfulness, and Christ's servants must go out to sow amid toil, tears, solitude and sacrifice, imitating His earnest effort by sharing truth and giving the bread of life to perishing souls. Well-trained nurses and Bible workers in households and cities share in this scattering of gospel seed in the world.
History shows scattered seed producing harvests, for God's word carried by Waldensian missionaries through many lands found glad reception in homes and hearts until churches arose, and the full harvest will be revealed at the day of God. Though persecutors scattered Huss's ashes they could not destroy the truth he preached, which spread to distant lands and produced many witnesses, encouraged others to stand firm, and advanced through his execution the very cause his enemies sought to suppress. A pamphlet left during a visit that seemed to happen by mistake was seed sown through which twenty people were later converted, showing how effort bears unexpected fruit through God's work. Seeds of truth sown where souls are deeply convicted spring up and bear fruit in a little company with the standard lifted at Ulceby and in precious souls at Kettering.
In carrying truth into the highways and byways of the Southern field, workers meet many who harden their hearts against the Spirit's conviction and receive nothing, alongside many hungering for the bread of life who receiving the message go forth to sow seeds of truth themselves. Neglected minds need cultivation and sowing of seeds of truth, for without this they bear no fruit of a heavenly kind. Becoming missionaries to sow requires cutting loose from entanglement with worldly investments and spending the Lord's money to gratify pride and selfish indulgence, lest incoming worldliness extinguish love of truth, and includes giving donations to provide appropriate worship places and schools for the colored people who have almost no schoolhouses nor even simplest houses to assemble in. Ministers entrusted with leading part must never by word or influence bind the church from responding to missionary appeals, for every soul is accountable to God and must expect His keeping and blessing while giving freely.
The divine Sower scatters seed as truth given, and precious truths Jesus revealed through prophets and people, though mingled with error, must be gathered, separated from heresy and set into the gospel framework so they shine in original purity. That seed is the knowledge of truth received from God's Word, whose meaning often lies beneath the surface while many rest satisfied with surface truths and pass by precious gems because their value is not discerned. The Bible student must not be satisfied with a thimbleful but must tax the mind in study and dig beneath the surface, and the knowledge so gained is planted as seed.
As the sower scatters, some seed falls on the hard beaten path beside the ground, where birds quickly eat it so it does not remain to grow.
The seed is the word of God and gospel truth sown in the heart, the wayside is the hardened unreceptive heart where the word cannot enter, and the fowls are Satan and his agents who snatch it away before it takes effect.
Such hearers become hard by neglect of duty, evil habit, pride, love of the world, business cares and preoccupation, and by inattention, criticism and unbelief in hearing, so truth makes no lasting impression and is drawn away by surrounding temptations.
They need not remain inattentive, for the heart can still be broken up by repentance and earnest effort, softened by the Spirit through personal ministry presenting Christ, and good seed long dormant can yet be awakened to spring up and bear fruit.
Therefore the message is to be sown everywhere even on poor and unpromising soil, after Christ the pattern Sower who scattered heavenly grain in public places and by busy roads wherever multitudes gathered.
Setting and Picture
The teaching was given to a large eager crowd beside the Sea of Galilee, with Jesus speaking from a boat after the people pressed close around Him. Men, women and children were gathered on the grassy wooded shore while He stood elevated above them, and the seed that fell by the wayside belongs to the seed-sowing parable spoken there. It presents the first scene and first outcome of the sower's work in the plain of Gennesaret: as he scatters, some falls on the path beside the way. Birds quickly come and devour it, and where it is trodden down it is taken away before it can grow. So scattered there it does not remain to take root or bear fruit, and appears wasted, showing that not all who hear receive truth in a way that lets it take root.
The parable uses familiar sowing and harvesting, grain, birds and daily sights to make divine truth plain and memorable. Its lessons were joined to what people saw around them in nature and everyday life, so that nature could afterward bring those truths back to mind and turn minds to God. Sowing of literal seed teaches about spiritual sowing, and what holds as law in material seed-sowing holds in spiritual seed-sowing. The light that makes the spiritual meaning plain is given by Christ, who came from heaven to educate, and to know Him in this parable is higher education that throws back heavenly light upon Christ and gives glory to the One who enlightens every man that comes into the world. The familiar illustration was likened to His own work to explain the nature of God's kingdom and how it would be established, and it applies to all people and different kinds of hearers.
It shows different tendencies of the human heart and different responses to the gospel in the spreading of Christ's teaching. In this way it helps explain why His ministry had limited immediate results. Some hearers are stirred yet grasp His words only dimly, and their impressions soon fade when they return to worldly surroundings, where cares and temptations draw them back into sin and indifference. Others listen from curiosity or love of excitement, and some reject Him with hostile intent, while seeds of life may still lodge in hearts to bear fruit later.
The words are greatly needed precious truth for those who desire light and knowledge, and everyone needs to be positioned to understand them. Christ scattered them as heavenly grain and as seed in word and example for disciples to cultivate and gather as treasure from heaven. He sowed the world with truth as the great Teacher, and after His ascension the harvest showed the power of His teaching.
Meaning of Symbols
The seed scattered beside the path is the gospel truth, the word of God and heavenly principles sown in the heart. It includes Christ's doctrines, His parable teaching, and His living words, intended to take root and bear fruit in bringing people back to loyalty to God. Its growth pictures the development of character. Christ sows no seed of error.
The wayside is a hard beaten path and highway, picturing a hardened, unreceptive, unimpressible heart where the word cannot enter or take root. It is divine truth reaching an inattentive heart, hardened and made insensitive by worldly love, natural impulses, neglect of moral duty, and persistence in evil habits. Such hearers feel the impact of truth without grasping its sacred worth.
The fowls that devour the seed are Satan with evil angels and human opposers who snatch the word away before it can take effect. They overcome hearers who receive without understanding, taking the word from hearts not prepared so it does not spring up to bear fruit. They work by suggestions and insinuations, by criticizing, misapplying, misinterpreting and misconstruing what is spoken, so the words of life lose their force. They also divert attention with worldly concerns, criticism, doubt and unbelief, even leading hearers to dwell on a speaker's language or manner so needed truth makes no lasting impression. Among the young this appears when truth heard without investigation or serious thought of its worth is destroyed by foolish companions' jokes, leaving brief thoughts of eternal life to perish.
The heart is soil and a garden where good or bad seed is sown. As literal ground must be worked, plowed and cultivated, the heart and mind must be prepared, refined and disciplined to bear fruit to God's glory. Repentance breaks up its soil, and evil tendencies must be removed by earnest effort in Christ's name and strength. This preparation includes teaching children and forming their minds and habits, with parents cultivating them so they are ready for the Sower to scatter good seed.
Wayside Hearers Described
Wayside hearers are those who have not cultivated their moral powers but follow inclination rather than duty, and neglect of moral duty with persistence in evil habits hardens the heart until the sacredness and worth of truth is no longer felt. By keeping company with pleasure-seekers and corrupt society they expose themselves to temptation and open themselves to the enemy, until they lose regard for the truth once received. Their hearts become like a hard beaten path and highway where the seed cannot enter or take root, made hard, insensitive and unimpressible by worldly love, natural impulses, pride, independence, selfish love of the world and avarice. Worldly possessions, business cares and a preoccupied mind leave no room for heavenly suggestions, shut out the heavenly messenger, and keep God from impressing the mind, while competing concerns choke the truth so it bears no fruit.
Some hear and even resolve to live holy lives, yet without repentance and a prepared heart Satan's suggestions overcome them and take the word away before it can take root. Fictitious reading and storybooks obstruct the mind in the same way, choking out truth sown in the heart and preventing it from taking root and bearing fruit. Inattention during preaching allows the seed scattered beside the path to be lost rather than take root, for Satan works against the Spirit's effort to impress the hearer and Christ's effort to draw the soul. He diverts attention with worldly concerns, criticism, doubt and unbelief, and dwelling on a speaker's language or manner can keep needed truth from making a lasting impression, so hearers must take care how they receive God's words rather than pass over truth while harmful talk spreads evil seed.
The Pharisees show this hopeless, unproductive, profitless wayside soil where seeds of heavenly truth cannot take root, for self-exaltation, suspicion and condemnation keep truth out. Their self-deluding feeling of superiority makes them suppose others are at fault, speak strong hard words of reproof and condemnation that crush hope and courage out of the soul, and grow roots of bitterness at the goodness of true Christians whereby many are defiled. They are full of evil thoughts and suspect even the purest, make a man an offender for a word, take offense at words, and give all faith and honor and love to exalted self. Many others are stirred by the teaching but their impressions soon fade when they return to worldly surroundings, for cares and temptations draw them back into sin and indifference. They may grasp words only dimly, while seeds of life can lodge in the heart and later bear fruit, and different hearers listen from curiosity or love of excitement or with hostile intent; whether the seed takes root and bears fruit or is overcome is shown by actions, by its saving sanctifying influence, and by a life of perseverance and practical effort for its advancement.
The truth is of heavenly origin and opposed to the heart's natural disposition, falling with this hearer not on the best of soil, so it will not grow successfully without careful culture and earnest diligent toil to bring all the powers into subjection to the Spirit and keep the body under, lest having preached to others the preacher himself be a castaway. Among the young, hearing without investigating or thinking seriously of its worth leaves brief thoughts of eternal life easily destroyed, for the word is received without understanding and the wicked one takes it from the heart, and foolish companions' jokes can destroy it. Careless pleasure-seeking conduct sows an influence that turns youth away from God and keeps them from receiving mercy and forming Christian character. Rival sowings also destroy the seed, for those who oppose the truth use every opportunity to sow evil insinuations that weaken confidence in ministers and the message, so that when temptation comes those in whom the seeds have been sown are worked upon to turn others away from the truths to be borne to the world. False teachings and old errors confuse hearers and bury the truth again beneath what they have been taught, like seed eaten by birds, and in untrained minds like an uncultivated field the enemy sows tares that spring up to bear evil fruit unless parents keep watchful guard, sow Bible truth with unceasing care, and teach children to reject trashy exciting tales for sensible reading that leads to Bible story, history and argument and quickens desire to study Scripture.
Seeds of doubt sown in young hearts can be nourished by Satan until they grow and produce a harvest of infidelity, and books of science and philosophy hiding thorns of skepticism, vague fanciful fairy stories, and writings on Scripture subjects mixed with fanciful human interpretations plant seed that grows into a plentiful harvest of infidelity seen in human depravity. Some in the church are this kind of wayside hearer who receive the truth but do not become fruitful Christians, yet no premature separation should be made, lest hasty action create division and harm those who might otherwise be strengthened in the truth. Israel illustrates the same soil on a larger scale, for God's chosen people received spiritual advantages but failed to produce intended fruit, using blessings for self-glorification and rejecting counsel and warning until they became like soil that takes in what it receives but yields nothing and instruction bore no righteous fruit.
Hope and Preparation
Wayside hearers need not remain inattentive and neglectful of the word, for the hardness that keeps seed from taking root comes by resisting the Spirit, and those who resist are responsible for it. The Spirit works to break absorption in worldly things and to awaken desire for what is eternal, and the heart can still be prepared through repentance and earnest effort in Christ's strength. Hearts hardened like a beaten highway and seemingly beyond reach can be softened so that truth takes root through personal ministry shaped by Christ's love and by presenting the Saviour. Such softening is part of preparing hearts so the seed does not perish through hardness or shallow soil.
Hardened, unplowed wayside ground where the word cannot take root and produce a harvest needs much added labor from those who watch for souls. The hard ground must be broken up and subdued by plowing and harrowing until it is fit for planting and in favorable condition for the seed to find soil. This tilling of hearts requires skill and discernment, with skillful, painstaking, thorough work and intelligent, harmonious cooperation of the divine and the human, because surface work and haphazard half-effort will show itself in the harvest gathered.
The soil is broken up when people are awakened to sin and need of healing rather than lulled into false security. Repentance breaks up the soil of the heart, and evil tendencies must be removed through earnest effort in Christ's name and strength. So prepared, the heart as soil can receive the seed of truth.
Delayed harvests show this hope, for pointed words that cut hearers to the heart in the temple were not lost when no immediate effect was seen, but were to be revived in many attentive listeners after the crucifixion and resurrection, springing up to bear fruit to God's glory, save many souls, and be repeated for future generations to the close of time. Some who heard with reverence and awe before the judges received the seed into their hearts and later grew into perfect faith in Christ as Redeemer, yielding an abundant harvest even though following Him brought them into trial. The conversions at Pentecost were such a harvest from earlier sowing carried forward from the fall of Adam onward, when listeners heard testimony of the resurrection, remembered Christ's words, and believed, showing the power of His teaching as the great Teacher who sowed the world with truth under the former rain. Even where words are grasped only dimly, seeds of life can lodge in the heart and later bear fruit.
Good seed may lie dormant for a time in a cold, worldly, selfish heart, then be stirred, nourished and watered by the Spirit of God until the grace of God convicts the heart, awakens it to life, and causes it to spring up and bear fruit to God's glory. Sowing therefore does not always produce an immediate or fully knowable result, and those who sow cannot know which work will prosper. They must do the work with care, anxiety, self-denial, unselfishness, earnestness and perseverance, with the mind of Christ and a life of continued sacrifice for others without becoming weary in well-doing, as co-workers with Christ and heavenly angels, leaving the seed in trust for God to quicken it to life. The tender plant still needs sunshine, shower, dew, frost and perseverance to reap.
Children's hearts are soil where heavenly seed should be sown early and followed up, for lessons planted when the heart is prepared take lasting root, bear good fruit unto eternal life, and are reflected in others. Parents should preoccupy the earliest years with truth by tender, loving instruction, cultivate minds and form right habits so children are ready to receive the Sower's good seed before neglect leaves the heart unprepared, keeping young children at home rather than sending them away too early and using hands-on Bible lessons suited to small minds. Teachers and young people likewise are to sow after Christ the standard Teacher rather than personal ideas, through lives shaped by saving grace and the principles of God's law, trusting the seed will linger and bear a lasting harvest of precious grain rather than thorns.
Seed is kept from being caught away before it takes root by careful, loving follow-up, for truth sown in the heart faces determined opposition from ministers, friends and acquaintances when convicted persons want to accept new teaching, and they need continued care and support so the seed is not lost. Preaching the Word is sowing the seed, and house-to-house labor and careful personal work after public meetings and camp-meetings is essential to ripen the work and gather the harvest through the Spirit's power. The seed must be presented in love after confidence is won, in a dignified, godlike manner, since truth bears fruit when Christ and His redeeming love are proclaimed and the Spirit softens hearts. Long sermons alone lose the seed, as hearers retain but a few points that lose force while other things choke it, so sermons should be cut short and time taken to teach point by point, holding Bible readings, fastening points and texts in the mind, and answering questions in the plainest, simplest manner so minds grasp the truths and the seed springs up and bears fruit.
Call to Sow Everywhere
The message must be sown everywhere, even where the soil is poor and no fruit unto eternal life appears, for poor reception is no reason to stop proclaiming the truth. Cities, towns, villages, remote settlements, highways and byways, localities never worked, busy thoroughfares, and many unpromising places never planned for are to be entered, reaching classes for whom no plan had been made and working in ways and places never thought of. Some seed will fall on the wayside, be trampled and devoured, and produce no fruit, for this is one of the different outcomes gospel laborers will meet, yet diligent sowing according to the Lord's will will reach good ground and multiply so His word reaches thousands who have never heard.
Christ is the pattern Sower, continually traveling from place to place ministering to the temporal and spiritual needs of the multitudes, grasping every opportunity to present truth and dropping seeds that sprang up and bore fruit. He scattered heavenly grain in public places where people from many parts of the world could hear, by major routes of travel, by busy roads and wherever travelers and multitudes gathered, and His followers are to share the gospel as they meet people, including through personal visits in their homes. He presented truth simply and clearly so hearers could understand, and the seed's being sown broadly did not mean every hearer would receive it, nor did different outcomes stop the work.
Humble workers in the rough places of the earth sow the gospel by earnest self-sacrificing work to win souls in simplicity and trust in God, and those who do it are to be respected, strengthened, encouraged, and never hindered or spoken against. Humble and even uneducated workers moved by the Holy Spirit go out to carry the message to people in darkness, and this sowing must now be done without delay because time is short. The work rests not on ministers alone but on lay church members aroused from lethargy to become true missionaries, organized in companies to search for souls by missionary visits, visiting neighbors to open the Scriptures, wisely distributing literature, and laboring in the hedges so every district is reached. Men not called to the ministry are to labor according to their several ability, giving themselves unreservedly and thereby gaining experience that enables them to work more and more successfully, until though no public speaker's work is laid upon him, such a one is nonetheless a minister for God whose influence draws others to Christ. Persevering labor brings growing skill and fruit in the salvation of souls, and those converted teach others in turn, so seed is sown in many places until truth is proclaimed to all.
Sowing includes carrying the gospel to people wherever they are met, including in their homes, and speaking timely words, songs and speech that plant precious seed, trusting some will bear fruit. The seed broadcast throughout the world is the circulation of books containing the light God said should be given, placed in as many homes as possible through united effort of many believers under divine guidance, with the Holy Spirit attending the workers and angels preparing the way. Teaching people how to present books containing religious truth is itself sowing, and at large gatherings God's people are to be taught the best methods of presenting volumes of highest value such as Christ's Object Lessons and Ministry of Healing, going beyond only instructing how to sell the Signs of the Times and other periodicals. The message spread through publications impresses minds, and its later growth and fruit appear as light makes truth clear.
True medical missionaries sow seeds of truth in many hearts by carrying remedies for physical suffering in one hand and the gospel for sin-burdened souls in the other for restoration of the image of God. Invalids whose health improves under judicious treatment give truth more ready lodgment through confidence and gratitude toward those who restored them, and in some cases the seed is nourished, springs up and bears fruit to God's glory in one precious soul saved. Some convinced hearers lack moral courage to yield because the world and unbelieving relatives stand in the way, yet with prejudice removed some stand as defenders of the faith and some restored sufferers introduce the faith in new places and raise the standard where access was otherwise impossible. Confidence between patients and helpers, meeting people where they are, dwelling on Bible religion without objectionable points of difference, and brief interesting prayer and social worship through silent influence rather than open controversy prepare the way for seed to take root in some hearts, while peculiar faith belongs in the house of God at the Sabbath meeting spoken in Christ's spirit with love urging obedience so truth convicts. Hygienic restaurants furnish many opportunities to sow in the cities, with a room for lectures on health and temperance, instruction on wholesome food, and prayer and singing and talks not only on health but on appropriate Bible subjects. A physician or nurse can gently plant religious truth when a suffering patient is receptive and softened by care, for God prepares hearts alongside prejudice and false zeal to receive the seed with joy, and though Satan and his agents hinder, perplex and burden those advancing reform, this should not discourage nor hinder the work.
Even while walking along the way or resting by the roadside, seeds of truth may be gently and courteously planted in the heart, and hospitality and food for inquirers, personal visits, conversation with families, and words from those rooted in faith all plant truth that the Spirit makes fruitful with effects reaching to eternity. Christ sought to turn people from earthly to heavenly things, and His teachers are to sow seeds of truth in the world through earnest tireless missionary work, preaching the gospel with practical instruction so new believers are firmly established and learn to labor for others. Each opportunity should be used as if the last to proclaim Christ and Him crucified with tenderness, love, plainness and faithfulness, and Christ's servants must go out to sow amid toil, tears, solitude and sacrifice, imitating His earnest effort by sharing truth and giving the bread of life to perishing souls. Well-trained nurses and Bible workers in households and cities share in this scattering of gospel seed in the world.
History shows scattered seed producing harvests, for God's word carried by Waldensian missionaries through many lands found glad reception in homes and hearts until churches arose, and the full harvest will be revealed at the day of God. Though persecutors scattered Huss's ashes they could not destroy the truth he preached, which spread to distant lands and produced many witnesses, encouraged others to stand firm, and advanced through his execution the very cause his enemies sought to suppress. A pamphlet left during a visit that seemed to happen by mistake was seed sown through which twenty people were later converted, showing how effort bears unexpected fruit through God's work. Seeds of truth sown where souls are deeply convicted spring up and bear fruit in a little company with the standard lifted at Ulceby and in precious souls at Kettering.
In carrying truth into the highways and byways of the Southern field, workers meet many who harden their hearts against the Spirit's conviction and receive nothing, alongside many hungering for the bread of life who receiving the message go forth to sow seeds of truth themselves. Neglected minds need cultivation and sowing of seeds of truth, for without this they bear no fruit of a heavenly kind. Becoming missionaries to sow requires cutting loose from entanglement with worldly investments and spending the Lord's money to gratify pride and selfish indulgence, lest incoming worldliness extinguish love of truth, and includes giving donations to provide appropriate worship places and schools for the colored people who have almost no schoolhouses nor even simplest houses to assemble in. Ministers entrusted with leading part must never by word or influence bind the church from responding to missionary appeals, for every soul is accountable to God and must expect His keeping and blessing while giving freely.
The divine Sower scatters seed as truth given, and precious truths Jesus revealed through prophets and people, though mingled with error, must be gathered, separated from heresy and set into the gospel framework so they shine in original purity. That seed is the knowledge of truth received from God's Word, whose meaning often lies beneath the surface while many rest satisfied with surface truths and pass by precious gems because their value is not discerned. The Bible student must not be satisfied with a thimbleful but must tax the mind in study and dig beneath the surface, and the knowledge so gained is planted as seed.