8. Other perils to profitable hearing. When we reflect on the dangers to our spiritual life and growth attending both poverty and riches, we may well say with the wise man, "Give me neither poverty nor riches," or give me grace to bear myself discreetly and devoutly in either. But if the poor man is in danger from his poverty, and the rich man in danger because of his wealth, what of the man of pleasure? The word βίος differs from both ζωή in the classics and in the Scriptures; but the difference thus existing is reversed, so that in Scripture the latter denotes the higher kind of life, and is the word of moral meaning involving moral distinction, while the former is more closely connected with natural life, or that life which we have in common with other animals. Accordingly, we read of "the pride of life" ( βιοῦ), "the affairs of life," and here "the pleasures of life," with the same word in each. "The pleasures of life," or of this life—our versions supplying the pronoun—may be the pleasures of sense and sin, such as the apostle enumerates under works of the flesh, when he says, in his Epistle to the Galatians (Galatians 5:19), "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,… drunkenness, revellings, and such like." Or the pleasures here referred to may be the less gross and more fashionable pleasures which minister to pride, to pomp, to luxury, and to ambition. These desires about the remaining or other things may refer to gay clothing, costly furniture, rich equipages, stately mansions, works of art, broad acres, wide domains, popular applause, worldly advancement, and whatever else may be comprehended under "the lust of the eye and the pride of life." Even lawful desires inordinately pursued, proper objects too eagerly sought after, right employments and occupations too keenly followed, even natural affections carried to excess,—all these, when they are allowed to interfere with or draw away the attention from everlasting verities, the lessons of Scripture, and the concerns of the soul, and are not restrained by the grace of God, become spiritual thorns. They choke the seed, distract and distress the mind, and in the end "make a death-bed difficult." We have read somewhere that when the famous French cardinal Mazarin drew near his end, he caused himself to be dressed, shaved, rouged, and enamelled. Then he had himself rolled in an easy-chair through his picture-gallery, exclaiming at times as he went along, "See that Correggio, this Venus of Titian, that incomparable Caracci! Must I quit them all? Farewell, beloved ones! None can know how my heart bleeds to leave you." He was next wheeled into the promenade, where the feeble hands of the old sinner were actually held up while he joined in a game of cards! And so, it is added, he continued till the papal nuncio came to give him plenary indulgence.
IX. PRACTICAL LESSONS.
1. The first lesson here that presents itself to our attention may be expressed in that exhortation of the Apostle John, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
2. We are warned so as to beware of the cruel disappointment of going on successfully for a time, and then coming short at the last; of being, in other words, an almost Christian, and so only coming in view of but not reaching salvation. Here the surface was not hard, as in the case of the wayside, nor was the soil shallow, as in the case of the stony ground; on the contrary, there was a soft surface to admit the seed, there was soil neither shallow nor stony to retain it; and yet the seed, though well and deeply rooted, was stifled at the top and suffocated at the root, so that it never reached maturity.
3. With seeming progress there may be real retrogression. In the case of the wayside it is trodden down at once, never penetrating even the surface before Satan snatches it away; in the stony ground the seed finds lodgment in the soil, springs up speedily, but for want of root or depth of earth to maintain the root, it is scorched and withers away; in the thorny ground it enters the surface, roots itself in the soil, springs up and grows, but after all it remains barren and fruitless. The last state, in one point of view, is worse than the preceding, and that, again, than the first; because more progress has been made by the seed among the thorns than by that on the rocky ground, and more by that, again, than by the seed cast on the wayside; and thus to go so far as to take root and grow, and then fall short at last, is more disappointing than the case of the seed which, though it enters the soil, never takes root, and only endures for a time; and still more than that which never penetrates the surface at all.
4. It has been remarked, that the first corresponds to the carelessness of childhood, the second to the shallowness of youth, and the third to the worldliness of age; the first also implying inattention, the second impulsiveness or ardor, and the third indulgent selfishness.
X. THE GOOD GROUND.
1. Its character. The chief characteristic of the good ground. is its productiveness; while our Lord, in his explanation, indicates several other interesting particulars. The good ground represents an honest and good heart. Absolute goodness is out of the question, for "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked;" and so the question comes to be—Is it the comparative goodness of the natural heart, or is it the heart of the believer, in reference to whom we read, that "the preparations of the heart in man are from the Lord"? That there are differences in unregenerate men and in the condition of their hearts is, we think, unquestionable. It is so with individuals: as Nathanael, of whom, when coming to Jesus according to Philip's direction, the Saviour himself said, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile;" or as Cornelius, "a devout man, and one that feared God, with all his house;" or as the Ethiopian eunuch, who, while he was returning in his chariot, read carefully and pondered closely "the prophet Esaias." It was so with the members of the Beraean community, who were" more noble than they of Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind." Thus even by nature some are more candid, honest, and upright than others; more earnest and desirous of knowing, as well as more ready to receive, the truth. Such natural differences, as well as those made by grace, are due to God, who alone makes men to differ. If the reference is to believers, the meaning is perfectly plain. The heart of such becomes "honest and good" in the highest human sense, when God, by his Holy Spirit, renews the heart and sanctifies the life, having united the soul by faith to the Saviour. Hearts thus quickened and purified are in a condition to receive, and do receive, the Word in simplicity and godly sincerity. Thus receiving it they grow thereby, being nourished and strengthened, and built up in their most holy faith.
2. The reception of the Word by such. Three terms are employed in this regard. St. Mark says, παραδέχονται, they receive it, with a feeling of inward satisfaction, it may be, or even delight. The stony-ground hearers are represented by the same evangelist and by St. Matthew as receiving it ( λαμβάνουσι), and by St. Luke ( δέχονται), with joy. The joy with which such hearers received it was a sudden impulse, which soon ceased—a quick, joyous emotion, which played on the surface without stirring to any great extent the depths of the heart. But the reception accorded to it by those having an honest and good heart is accompanied by a deep, steady, abiding interest. The usage of this word in the LXX. seems to imply a cordial reception; thus, in Isaiah 42:1 we read, "Israel is my chosen, my soul has accepted ( προσεδέξατο) him;" and in Proverbs 3:12 it is written, "For whom the Lord loves he rebukes, and scourges every son whom he receives ( παραδέχεται)." But whether this shade of meaning be attributable to the context or inherent in the word, certain it is that such hearers receive the Word not wearily nor listlessly, nor as a formal duty, but as a matter of privilege, and in order to be instructed and edified thereby, and that their souls may be satisfied as with marrow and fatness. But, secondly, such hearers understand ( συνιών) the Word. The interest we feel in any truth or fact helps us greatly in its right comprehension; once our interest is fully awakened our attention will be excited; we shall examine its bearings more thoughtfully. It is thus especially with the Word of God: we shall study it more carefully, as well as more prayerfully; while the Holy Spirit, promised to them that ask him, will guide us into all truth, even "the truth as it is in Jesus." A third element in this reception of the Word is the retention of it ( κατέχουσι, used by St. Luke): they keep it. Having received the truth in the love of it, and having mingled it with faith, it becomes the ingrafted Word—ingrafted as a fruitful shoot in the wild unfruitful stock, or implanted in them, at all events, incorporated with their very being. As a natural and necessary consequence, they hold it fast, so that Satan cannot snatch it away, nor vain thoughts crush it down, nor worldly concerns stifle it, nor any evil influence destroy it. It becomes the subject of regular, constant, daily meditation; and so it gets linked with the thoughts and feelings and affections, while it is reduced to practice in the life. The individual so receiving it is "not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the Word," and so blessed in the deed. This corresponds exactly with the apostle's statement (1 Corinthians 15:2), "By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory [ κατέχετε, literally, hold fast, as here] what I preached unto you."
3. Fruititfulness. Fruit is borne in varying proportion, according to the talents bestowed and the surrounding circumstances. This fruit is borne in patience, that is, enduringly and perseveringly, and to the end; and not only the seed itself, but the fruit—each grain in every ear in turn becoming seed multiplies itself.
XI. PRACTICAL LESSONS.
1. Right way of receiving the Word. There must be the exercise of attention, understanding, and memory; as far as possible the attention must be lively and earnest, the understanding active and practical, and the memory retentive.
2. The fruitfulness. The fruit, though it varies in quantity, is a uniform product, evidencing the root of the matter, and ministering at once glory to God and grace to man.—J.J.G.