Matthew 13:9

He that hath ears to hear.

This usually follows an important statement, intimating that he who has the discernment to understand will find the deeper meaning.-- Schaff. Christ assumes that all without exception have been divinely provided with fitting organs of hearing; and he draws attention to the fact of the provision in. way that is calculated to lead each individual to reflect on his individual responsibility. It is quite. common phenomena among men, to misuse the ears, so as not to hear the still, small voices that speak the most important truth.-- Morison.

EXPLANATION.--In order to understand the parable we must go with the other disciples and listen to the explanation given by Christ in verses 18-23. Christ is the great Sower, and all whom he sends forth to preach are sowers under him. The seed sown is his Word, the Gospel of the Kingdom. The soil where the seed is cast is human hearts. Four kinds of human hearts are described: 1. The wayside hearer; the light, flippant, indifferent hearer upon whom no impression is produced. 2. The stony hearer; the heart that exhibits an evanescent feeling at the appeal of the gospel, but upon whom no permanent impression is made. 3. The thorny soil; the heart that takes in the Word, but is so full of worldly cares that these presently gain the mastery. This describes the world-serving bearer. 4. The good soil: The good and honest heart; the heart that receives and retains the truth. In such. heart the seed will grow and the new life will be manifest. Three things, then, are needful: 1.. Sower. 2. Good Seed; the pure word of God. 3.. good and honest heart.. dishonest man cannot be converted until he casts out his dishonesty. He who cavils at and deceitfully entreats the word of God will not be profited.

PRACTICAL AND SUGGESTIVE.

The soul is the natural soil for the Word of God: one is adapted to the other.

It is our duty to sow the good seed everywhere, even if some fails of. good result.

The seed the Christian should sow is not his own fancies, but the pure Word of God.

It is not the fault of the truth, but of our hard hearts, if we do not bring forth fruit.

BY THE SEA. SIDE.--Observe that we have the highest authority for street and field preaching. Observe, too, how utterly incongruous such an informal service with the idea that any kind of ritualism is an essential accompaniment of religious instruction.-- Abbott. Not that he declined the temple or the synagogue when he had the opportunity, but in the want of them Christ thought. house,. mountain,. ship, no unmeet place to preach in. It is not the place that sanctifies the ordinance, but the ordinance that sanctifies the people.-- Burkitt.

THE SEED.--Dry and dead as it seems, let. seed be planted with. stone--flashing diamond, or burning ruby; and while that in the richest soil remains. stone, this awakes, and, bursting its husky shell, rises from the ground to adorn the earth with beauty, perfume the air with fragrance, or enrich men with its fruit. Such life there is in all, but especially in Gospel, truth. It lives when we die; as the old martyr exclaimed when he stood bound to the fiery stake, "Me you may kill, the truth you cannot!"-- Guthrie.

SCRIPTURE EXAMPLES.--We have several Scripture examples of the four characters. Pharaoh and Festus may be named as " wayside" hearers. King Saul, Herod Antipas, the Galatians (Galatians 5:7), some of the disciples in Galilee (John 6:66), proved to be like the "stony ground;" Balaam, Judas and Ananias, like the "thorny ground." The young ruler, Simon Magus, and Demas, combine some of the features of the two latter classes; Felix combines those of the first and second. Peter was in danger of being one of the second class; Lot and Martha, of belonging to the third. Of the good soil, Nathanael and Lydia are striking instances.-- Eugene Stock.

POINTS FOR TEACHERS.

1. Bring out the scenery. Christ in the boat near the sea-shore; the multitude on the shore; the season, seed-time; possibly. sower in sight on the rich plain. 2. Point out the nature of the grain-fields; hard-beaten paths through it; stony places with little soil; thorny spots; good, rich, deep soil. 3: Note the four kinds of soil on which the seed fell, the results of the sowing on each and the reasons for it. 4. Note the application: (1) the sowers; (2) the seed sown; (3) the wayside soil; (4) the stony soil; (5) the thorny soil; (6) the good ground. Show what kind of hearts each represents. 5. Then look forward to when the harvest shall be gathered; the wheat into the garner; the tares or chaff, or weeds, or all that is barren to be burned.