The Christian's Unfaithful Hearing of the Word not Natural
St. Paul's Cathedral Sermons
Matthew 13:3
And he spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;


1. The unlimited method of the sower's work; the indiscriminate manner in which the seed is cast upon the ground. His care not limited to a single spot. The overflowing bounty, the merciful providence of God towards all classes.

2. The impediments to growth are to be found not in natural defects or incapacities, but in self-induced hindrances and wilful indisposition to listen to the truth.In the gospel history these hearers are to be discovered:

1. The Sadducees, who denied the resurrection. Infidelity is a sad hardener of the heart.

2. Those of our Lord's disciples of whom mention is made that they went back, and walked no more with Him. The varieties of soil does not describe varieties of heart as formed by nature, but the condition which the heart and mind assume, as men either neglect or employ the means of grace. They represent, not the physical but the moral condition of the human mind. Human and Christian society is divided into various classes of every variety of feeling and conduct; but the motive of good or ill is in the heart.

(St. Paul's Cathedral Sermons.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

WEB: He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, "Behold, a farmer went out to sow.




Similitude Mentally Stimulating
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