Matthew 13

Parable of the sower: -- Where is the fault of failure?

1. It does not lie in God, the sower. God does not predestinate men to fail. He willeth not the death of a sinner.

2. The cause of failure is not in any impotency of truth. The old thinkers accounted for it by the depravity of matter. Once acknowledged freewill in man, and the origin of evil does not lie in God.

3. The fault might be solely in the soil of the heart.

I. THE CAUSES OF FAILURE.

1. The first of these is want of spiritual perception. There are persons whose religion is all outside, never penetrates beyond the intellect. Conceptions of religious life, which are only conceptions outward, having no lodgment in the heart, disappear. Fowls of the air devoured the seed. This is a picture of thought dissipated, and no man can tell when or how it went.

2. A second cause of failure is want of depth of character. This stony ground is the thin layer of earth upon a bed of rock. Shallow soft is like superficial character. There is easily-moved susceptibility. A pleasant, sunny religion would be the life to suit them. The superficial character is connected with the hard heart; beneath the thin surface lies the bed of rock. It is among those of light enjoyment we must look for stony heartlessness.

3. Once more impressions come to nothing when the mind is subjected to dissipating influences, and yields to them -- "Some fell among thorns." Two classes of dissipating influences distract such minds. The cares of this world. Martha was "cumbered with much serving." The deceitfulness of riches dissipate. Weeding work painful.

II. FOR THE PERMANENCE OF RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS THIS PARABLE SUGGESTS THREE REQUIREMENTS.

1. A holy and good heart. Earnest sincerity.

2. Meditation is a second requisite for perseverance. They keep the Word which they have heard. We must not confuse reverie with meditation. Truth is dwelt on till it receives innumerable applications; it is done in silence.

3. The third requisite is endurance -- "They bring forth fruit with patience." There is an active and passive endurance, bearing pain without complaining; and under persecution. It is also the opposite of that impatience which cannot wait. We are disappointed if the harvest does not come at once.

Rev. Luis Morga