Sermon 308. The Parable of the Sower

NO. 308

DELIVERED ON SABBATH MORNING, APRIL 15TH, 1860,

BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON,

BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON, AT EXETER HALL, STRAND.

The Parable Of The Sower - "And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spakeby a parable: a sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and thefowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lackedmoisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, andsprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let himhear." - Luke 8:4-8

In Our country, when a sower goes forth to his work, he generally enters into an enclosed field, and scatters the seed fromhis basket along every ridge and furrow; but in the East, the corn-growing country, hard by a small town, is usually an openarea. It is divided into different properties, but there are no visible divisions, except the ancient landmarks, or perhapsridges of stones. Through these open lands there are footpaths, the most frequented being called the highways. You must notimagine these highways to be like our macadamized roads; they are merely paths, trodden tolerably hard. Here and there younotice bye-ways, along which travelers who wish to avoid the public road may journey with a little more safety when the mainroad is infested with robbers: hasty travelers also strike out short cuts for themselves, and so open fresh tracks for others.When the sower goes forth to sow he finds a plot of round scratched over with the primitive Eastern plough; he aims at scatteringhis seed there most plentifully; but a path runs through the center of his field, and unless he is willing to leave a broadheadland, he must throw a handful upon it. Yonder, a rock crops out in the midst of the ploughed land, and the seed fallson its shallow soil. Here is a corner full of the roots of nettles and thistles, and he flings a little here; the corn andthe nettles come up together, and the thorns being the stronger soon choke the seed, so that it brings forth no fruit untoperfection. The recollection that the Bible was written in the East, and that its metaphors and allusions must be explainedto us by Eastern travelers, will often help us to understand a passage far better than if we think of English customs.

The preacher of the gospel is like the sower. He does not make his seed; it is given him by his divine Master. No man couldcreate the smallest grain that ever grew upon the earth, much less the celestial seed of eternal life. The minister goes tohis Master in secret, and asks him to teach him his gospel, and thus he fills his basket with the good seed of the kingdom.He then goes forth in his Master's name and scatters precious truth. If he knew where the best soil was to be found, perhapshe might limit himself to that which had been prepared by the plough of conviction; but not knowing men's hearts, it is hisbusiness to preach the gospel to every creature - to throw a handful on the hardened heart, and another on the mind whichis overgrown with the cares and pleasures of the world. He has to leave the seed in the care of the Lord who gave it to him,for he is not responsible for the harvest, he is only accountable for the care and industry with which he does his work. Ifno single ear should ever make glad the reaper, the sower will be rewarded by His Master if he had planted the right seedwith careful hand. If it were not for this fact with what despairing agony should we utter the cry of Esaias, "Who hath believedour report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" Our duty is not measured by the character of our hearers, but bythe command of our God. We are bound to preach the gospel, whether men will hear, or whether they will forbear. It is oursto sow beside all waters. Let men's hearts be what they may the minister must preach the gospel to them; he must sow the seedon the rock as well as in the furrow, on the highway as well as in the ploughed field. I shall now address myself to the fourclasses of hearers mentioned in our Lord's parable. We have, first of all, those who are represented by the way-side, thosewho are "hearers only"; then those represented by the stony-ground; these are transiently impressed, but the word producesno lasting fruit; then, those among thorns, on whom a good impression is produced, but the cares of this life, and the deceitfulnessof riches, and the pleasures of the world choke the seed; and lastly, that small class - God be pleased to multiply it exceedingly- that small class of good-ground hearers, in whom the Word brings forth abundant fruit.

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I. First of all, I address myself to those hearts which are like the Way-Side - "Some fell by the wayside; and it was troddendown, and the fowls of the air devoured it." Many of you do not go to the place of worship desiring a blessing. You do notintend to worship God, or to be affected by anything that you hear. You are like the highway, which was never intended tobe a cornfield. If a single grain of truth should fall into your heart and grow it would be as great a wonder as for cornto grow up in the street. If the seed shall be dexterously scattered, some of it will fall upon you, and rest for a whileupon your thoughts. 'Tis true you will not understand it; but, nevertheless, if it be placed before you in an interestingstyle, you will talk about it till some more congenial entertainment shall attract you. Even this slender benefit is brief,for in a little season you will forget all that you have heard. Would to God we could hope that our words would tarry withyou, but we cannot hope it, for the soil of your heart is so hard beaten by continual traffic, that there is no hope of theseed finding a living root-hold. Satan is constantly passing over your heart with his company of blasphemies, lusts, lies,and vanities. The chariots of pride roll along it, and the feet of greedy mammon tread it till it is hard as adamant. Alas!For the good seed, it finds not a moment's respite; crowds pass and repass; in fact, your soul is an exchange, across whichcontinually hurry the busy feet of those who make merchandise of the souls of men. You are buying and selling, but you littlethink that you are selling the truth, and that you are buying your soul's destruction. You have no time, you say, to thinkof religion. No, the road of your heart is such a crowded thoroughfare, that there is no room for the wheat to spring up.If it did begin to germinate, some rough foot would crush the green blade ere it could come to perfection. The seed has occasionallylain long enough to begin to sprout, but just then a new place of amusement has been opened, and you have entered there, andas with an iron heel, the germ of life that was in the seed was crushed out. Corn could not grow in Cornhill or Cheapside,however excellent the seed might be: your heart is just like those crowded thoroughfares; for so many cares and sins throngit, and so many proud, vain, evil, rebellious thoughts against God pass through it, that the seed of truth cannot grow. Wehave looked at this hard road-side, let us now describe what becomes of the good word, when it falls upon such a heart. Itwould have grown if it had fallen on right soil, but it has dropped into the wrong place, and it remains as dry as when itfell from the sower's hand. The word of the gospel lies upon the surface of such a heart, but never enters it. Like the snow,which sometimes falls upon our streets, drops upon the wet pavement, melts, and is gone at once, so is it with this man. Theword has not time to quicken in his soul: it lies there an instant, but it never strikes root, or takes the slightest effect.Why do men come to hear if the word never enters their hearts? That has often puzzled us. Some hearers would not be absenton the Sunday on any account; they are delighted to come up with us to worship, but yet the tear never trickles down theircheek, their soul never mounts up to heaven on the wings of praise, nor do they truly join in our confessions of sin. Theydo not think of the wrath to come, nor of the future state of their souls. Their heart is as iron; the minister might as wellspeak to a heap of stones as preach to them. What brings these senseless sinners here? Surely we are as hopeful of convertinglions and leopards as these untamed, insensible hearts. Oh feeling! Thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost theirreason! Do these people come to our assemblies because it is respectable to attend a place of worship? Or is it that theircoming helps to make them comfortable in their sins? If they stopped away conscience would prick them; but they come hitherthat they may flatter themselves with the notion that they are religious. Oh! My hearers, your case is one that might makean angel weep! How sad to have the sun of the gospel shining on your faces, and yet to have blind eyes that never see thelight. The music of heaven is lost upon you, for you have no ears to hear. You can catch the turn of a phrase, you can appreciatethe poetry of an illustration, but the hidden meaning, the divine life you do not perceive. You sit at the marriage-feast,but you eat not of the dainties; the bells of heaven ring with joy over ransomed spirits, but you live unransomed, withoutGod, and without Christ. Though we plead with you, and pray for you, and weep over you, you still remain as hardened, as careless,and as thoughtless as ever you were. May God have mercy on you, and break up your hard hearts, that his word may abide inyou. We have not, however, completed the picture. The passage tells us that the fowls of the air devoured the seed. Is therehere a way-side hearer? Perhaps he did not mean to hear this sermon, and when he has heard it he will be asked by one of thewicked to come into company. He will go with the tempter, and the good seed will be devoured by the fowls of the air. Plentyof evil ones are ready to take away the gospel from the heart. The devil himself, that prince of the air, is eager at anytime to snatch away a good thought. And then the devil is not alone - he has legions of helpers. He can set a man's wife,children, friends, enemies, customers, or creditors, to eat up the good seed, and they will do it effectually. Oh, sorrowupon sorrow, that heavenly seed should become devil's meat; that God's corn should feed foul birds! O my hearers, if you haveheard the gospel from your youth, what wagon-loads of sermons have been wasted on you! In your younger days, you heard oldDr. So-and-so, and the dear old man was wont to pray for his hearers till his eyes were red with tears! Do you recollect thosemany Sundays when you said to yourself, "Let me go to my chamber and fall on my knees and pray"? But you did not: the fowlsof the air ate up the seed, and you went on to sin as you had sinned before. Since then, by some strange impulse, you arevery rarely absent from God's house; but now the seed of the gospel falls into your soul as if it dropped upon an iron floor,and nothing comes of it. The law may be thundered at you; you do not sneer at it, but it never affects you. Jesus Christ maybe lifted up; his dear wounds may be exhibited; his streaming blood may flow before your very eyes, and you may be biddenwith all earnestness to look to him and live; but it is as if one should sow the sea-shore. What shall I do for you? ShallI stand here and rain tears upon this hard highway? Alas! My tears will not break it up; it is trodden too hard for that.Shall I bring the gospel plough? Alas! The ploughshare will not enter ground so solid. What shall we do? O God, thou knowesthow to melt the hardest heart with the precious blood of Jesus. Do it now, we beseech thee, and thus magnify thy grace, bycausing the good seed to live, and to produce a heavenly harvest.

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II. I shall now turn to the second class of hearers: - "And some fell upon a Rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it witheredaway, because it lacked moisture." You can easily picture to yourselves that piece of rock in the midst of the field thinlyveiled with soil; and of course the seed falls there as it does everywhere else. It springs up, it hastens to grow, it withers,it dies. None but those who love the souls of men can tell what hopes, what joys, and what bitter disappointments these stonyplaces have caused us. We have a class of hearers whose hearts are hard, and yet they are apparently the softest and mostimpressible of men. While other men see nothing in the sermon, these men weep. Whether you preach the terrors of the law orthe love of Calvary, they are alike stirred in their souls, and the liveliest impressions are apparently produced. Such maybe listening now. They have resolved, but they have procrastinated. They are not the sturdy enemies of God who clothe themselvesin steel, but they seem to bare their breasts, and lay them open to the minister. Rejoiced in heart, we shoot our arrows there,and they appear to penetrate; but, alas, a secret armor blunts every dart, and no wound is felt. The parable speaks of thischaracter thus - "Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they hadno deepness of earth." Or as another passage explains it: "And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who,when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and have no root in themselves, and so endure but fora time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended." Have we notthousands of hearers who receive the word with joy? They have no deep convictions, but they leap into Christ on a sudden,and profess an instantaneous faith in him, and that faith has all the appearance of being genuine. When we look at it, theseed has really sprouted. There is a kind of life in it, there is apparently a green blade. We thank God that a sinner isbrought back, a soul is born to God. But our joy is premature: they sprang up on a sudden, and received the word with joy,because they had no depth of earth, and the self-same cause which hastened their reception of the seed also causes them, whenthe sun is risen with his fervent heat, to wither away. These men we see every day in the week. They come to join the church;they tell us a story of how they heard us preach on such-and-such an occasion, and, oh, the word was so blessed to them, theynever felt so happy in their lives! "Oh sir, I thought I must leap from my seat when I heard about a precious Christ, andI believed on him there and then; I am sure I did." We question them as to whether they were ever convinced of sin. They thinkthey were; but one thing they know, they feel a great pleasure in religion. We put it to them, "Do you think you will holdon?" They are confident that they shall. They hate the things they once loved, they are sure they do. Everything has becomenew to them. And all this is on a sudden. We enquire when the good work began. We find it began when it ended, that is tosay, there was no previous work, no ploughing of the soil, but on a sudden they sprang from death to life, as if a field shouldbe covered with wheat by magic. Perhaps we receive them into the church; but in a week or two they are not so regular as theyused to be. We gently reprove them, and they explain that they meet with such opposition in religion, that they are obligedto yield a little. Another month and we lose them altogether. The reason is that they have been laughed at or exposed to alittle opposition, and they have gone back. And what, think you, are the feelings of the minister? He is like the husbandman,who sees his field all green and flourishing, but at night a frost nips every shoot, and his hoped-for gains are gone. Theminister goes to his chamber, and casts himself on his face before God, and cries, "I have been deceived; my converts arefickle, their religion has withered as the green herb." In the ancient story Orpheus is said to have had such skill upon thelyre, that he made the oaks and stones to dance around him. It is a poetical fiction, and yet hath it sometimes happened tothe minister, that not only have the godly rejoiced, but men, like oaks and stones, have danced from their places. Alas! Theyhave been oaks and stones still. Hushed is the lyre. The oak returns to its rooting-place, and the stone casts itself heavilyto the earth. The sinner, who, like Saul, was among the prophets, goes back to plan mischief against the Most High. If itis bad to be a wayside hearer, I cannot think it is much better to be like the rock. This second class of hearers certainlygives us more joy than the first. A certain company always comes round a new minister; and I have often thought it is an actof God's kindness that he allows these people to gather at the first, while the minister is young, and has but few to standby him: these persons are easily moved, and if the minister preaches earnestly they feel it, and they love him, and rallyround him, much to his comfort. But time, that proves all things, proves them. They seemed to be made of true metal; but whenthey are put into the fire to be tested, they are consumed in the furnace. Some of the shallow kind are here now. I have lookedat you when I have been preaching, and I have often thought, "That man one of these days will come out from the world, I amsure he will." I have thanked God for him. Alas, he is the same as ever. Years and years have we sowed him in vain, and itis to be feared it will be so to the end, for he is without depth, and without the moisture of the Spirit. Shall it be so?Must I stand over the mouth of your open sepulcher, and thin, "Here lies a shoot which never became an ear, a man in whomgrace struggled but never reigned, who gave some hopeful spasms of life and then subsided into eternal death"? God save you!Oh! May the Spirit deal with you effectually, and may you, even you, yet bring forth fruit unto God, that Jesus may have areward for his sufferings.

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III. I shall briefly treat of the third class, and may the Spirit of God assist me to deal faithfully with you. "And somefell among Thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it." Now, this was good soil. The two first characters werebad: the wayside was not the proper place, the rock was not a congenial situation for the growth of any plant; but this isgood soil, for it grows thorns. Wherever a thistle will spring up and flourish, there would wheat flourish too. This was fat,fertile soil; it was no marvel therefore that the husbandman dealt largely there, and threw handful after handful upon thatcorner of the field. See how happy he is when in a month or two he visits the spot. The seed has sprung up. True, there'sa suspicious little plant down there of about the same size as the wheat. "Oh!" he thinks, "that's not much, the corn willout-grow that. When it is stronger it will choke these few thistles that have unfortunately mixed with it." Ay, Mr. Husbandman,you do not understand the force of evil, or you would not thus dream! He comes again, and the seed has grown, there is eventhe corn in the ear; but the thistles, the thorns, and the briars have become intertwisted with one another, and the poorwheat can hardly get a ray of sunshine. It is so choked with thorns every way, that it looks quite yellow: the plant is starved.Still it perseveres in growing, and it does seem as if it would bring forth a little fruit. Alas, it never comes to anything.With it the reaper never fills his arm. We have this class very largely among us. These hear the word and understand whatthey hear. They take the truth home; they think it over; they even go the length of making a profession of religion. The wheatseems to spring and ear; it will soon come to perfection. Be in no hurry, these men and women have a great deal to see after;they have the cares of a large concern; their establishment employs so many hundred hands; do not be deceived as to theirgodliness - they have no time for it. They will tell you that they must live; that they cannot neglect this world; that theymust anyhow look out for the present, and as for the future, they will render it all due attention by-and-by. They continueto attend gospel-preaching, and the poor little stunted blade of religion keeps on growing after a fashion. Meanwhile theyhave grown rich, they come to the place of worship in a carriage, they have all that heart can wish. Ah! Now the seed willgrow, will it not? No, no. They have no cares now; the shop is given up, they live in the country; they have not to ask, "Whereshall the money come from to meet the next bill?" or "how shall they be able to provide for an increasing family." Now theyhave too much instead of too little, for they have riches, and they are too wealthy to be gracious. "But," says one, "theymight spend their riches for God." Certainly they might, but they do not, for riches are deceitful. They have to entertainmuch company, and chime in with the world, and so Christ and his church are left in the lurch. Yes, but they begin to spendtheir riches, and they have surely got over that difficulty, for they give largely to the cause of Christ, and they are munificentin charity; the little blade will grow, will it not? No, for now behold the thorns of pleasure. Their liberality to othersinvolves liberality to themselves; their pleasures, amusements, and vanities choke the wheat of true religion: the good grainsof gospel truth cannot grow because they have to attend that musical party, that ball, and that soiree, and so they cannotthink of the things of God. I know several specimens of this class. I knew one, high in court circles, who has confessed tome that he wished he were poor, for then he might enter the kingdom of heaven. He has said to me, "Ah! Sir, these politics,these politics, I wish I were rid of them, they are eating the life out of my heart; I cannot serve God as I would." I knowof another, overloaded with riches, who has said to me, "Ah! Sir, it is an awful thing to be rich; one cannot keep close tothe Savior with all this earth about him." Ah! My dear readers, I will not ask for you that God may lay you on a bed of sickness,that he may strip you of all your wealth, and bring you to beggary; but, oh, if he were to do it, and you were to save yoursouls, it would be the best bargain you could ever make. If those mighty ones who now complain that the thorns choke the seedcould give up all their riches and pleasures, if they that fare sumptuously every day could take the place of Lazarus at thegate, it were a happy change for them if their souls might be saved. A man may be honorable and rich, and yet go to heaven;but it will be hard work, for "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter intothe kingdom of heaven." God does make some rich men enter the kingdom of heaven, but hard is their struggle. Steady, youngman, steady! Hurry not to climb to wealth! It is a place where many heads are turned. Do not ask God to make you popular;they that have popularity are wearied by it. Cry with Agur - "Give me neither poverty nor riches." God give me to tread thegolden mean, and may I ever have in my heart that good seed, which shall bring forth fruit a hundredfold to his own glory.

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IV. I now close with the last character, namely, the Good Ground. Of the good soil, as you will mark, we have but one in four.Will one in four of our hearers, with well-prepared heart, receive the Word? The ground is described as "good": not that itwas good by nature, but it had been made good by grace. God had ploughed it; he had stirred it up with the plough of conviction,and there it lay in ridge and furrow as it should lie. When the gospel was preached, the heart received it, for the man said,"That is just the blessing I want. Mercy is what a needy sinner requires." So that the preaching of the gospel was THE thingto give comfort to this disturbed and ploughed soil. Down fell the seed to take good root. In some cases it produced fervencyof love, largeness of heart, devotedness of purpose of a noble kind, like seed which produces a hundredfold. The man becamea mighty servant for God, he spent himself and was spent. He took his place in the vanguard of Christ's army, stood in thehottest of the battle, and did deeds of daring which few could accomplish - the seed produced a hundredfold. It fell intoanother heart of like character; - the man could not do the most, but still he did much. He gave himself to God, and in hisbusiness he had a word to say for his Lord; in his daily walk he quietly adorned the doctrine of God his Savior, - he broughtforth sixty-fold. Then it fell on another, whose abilities and talents were but small; he could not be a star, but he wouldbe a glow-worm; he could not do as the greatest, but he was content to do something, however humble. The seed had broughtforth in him tenfold, perhaps twentyfold. How many are there of this sort here? Is there one who prays within himself, "Godbe merciful to me a sinner"? The seed has fallen in the right spot. Soul, thy prayer shall be heard. God never sets a manlonging for mercy without intending to give it. Does another whisper, "Oh that I might be saved"? Believe on the Lord JesusChrist, and thou, even thou, shalt be saved. Hast thou been the chief of sinners? Trust Christ, and thy enormous sins shallvanish as the millstone sinks beneath the flood. Is there no one here that will trust the Savior? Can it be possible thatthe Spirit is entirely absent? That he is not moving in one soul? Not begetting life in one spirit? We will pray that he maynow descend, that the word may not be in vain.