and the soil, which parable will occupy our attention for several weeks to come. Today I shall attempt to give you an overall view of the parable with a meaning of the particular figures that our Lord uses. Beginning with verse 4, we read, And when much people were gathered together and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable. A sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside. And it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock, and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bear fruit, and hunted foe. And when he had said these things, he said, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others in parables, that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. Now the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are they that hear. Then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their heart. lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they which, when they hear, receive the word with joy, and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they which in an honest and good heart have heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. This is one of the two parables for which our Lord gives the interpretation. Therefore, there can be no misunderstanding as to its meaning. The other parable, of course, is the wheat and the tag. In giving an interpretation to these two basic parables of the mysteries of the kingdom of God, our Lord lays down the principles of interpretation so that we might not go astray in our understanding of their teachings. Of course, he does not establish a hermeneutical system, that is, a system of biblical interpretation, but simply gives us definitions and guidelines for the understanding of his teachings in parables. It is clear, I believe, that in this particular parable, that of the sower and the soil, The main fault is the reaction to the preaching of the Word of God by those who hear. We know there are only two possible reactions. Those who hear either bear fruit in their lives and persevere in those truths, or else they do not. So simply it is positive and negative. those who hear and receive the word, and those who hear and do not receive the word. Furthermore, it is pointed out that this reaction to the word of God depends on the condition of the hearer's heart, not on the method of the preacher's preaching. Our Lord says there are two kinds of thoughts. There is a bad soil and there is a good soil. The one characteristic of the bad soil in all its aspects is the word having been heard is not persevered into. Whereas the good soil is distinguished from the bad by not only the hearing, but persevering, the keeping of that word to the extent of bearing fruit to some degree or other. These soils are then divided into three sub-kinds. The bad soils are divided into the hard soil, the rocky soil, and the seedy or the weedy soil. The good soil is divided into soil which bears fruit a hundredfold, sixtyfold, and thirtyfold, showing that the fruitfulness of the saints of God are not always equal to that of others, and that there will be variations in the experience of the believer himself. In other words, a believer will have various seasons wherein he's a hundredfold believer and at other times a thirtyfold. The bad sorrow in this parable, according to our Lord, represents those persons who hear the word. Now it's important to remember that our Lord is speaking here of the kingdom of heaven. He is speaking of Christendom. He is speaking of organized religion in which the Word of God is preached. These of whom he speaks hear the Word of God. Therefore he's not addressing himself to those who are outside of the pale of preaching, although it is our responsibility to carry that Word to them. So here the bad soil represents those who hear but are not regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God. The good soil, on the other hand, represents those hearers whose hearts have been prepared by the sovereign operations of the Holy Spirit in conviction, breaking up the ground, and in applying the Word of God in life. In John's Gospel, chapter 3 and verse 8, Our Lord, in speaking to Nicodemus on the new birth, there sets forth something of the nature of the work of the Holy Spirit in this effectual operation. We read, The wind bloweth where it listeth, or where it pleaseth. Thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit. First of all, there is a play of words in that verse. The same word translated spirit in the Greek is the same word translated wind. The word for wind and spirit is the Greek word pneuma. We get the word pneumatic pump from it. or pneumatic tires, tires that run on wind, wind inside that's been pumped into them. We call it air. So our Lord says the pneuma, or the wind, blows wherever it wants to. You can hear it, but you don't know where it's coming from and you don't know where it's going. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit. I am sure that everyone in this congregation at some time or another has had some preacher, either over radio or television or from the pulpit, make the statement that they're going to preach on how to be born again. But let me inform you that any person who can tell you how to be born again is wiser than our Lord himself. Nowhere in the word of God are we told how to be born again. We are told, first of all, by our Lord, that the new birth is an absolute necessity. He said to Nicodemus, you must be born again. But he did not say how. He said, if you're not born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. You will remain spiritually a non-entity. You will remain, as far as the kingdom of God is concerned, a non-person. You will remain one who has never been conceived and born, therefore under the wrath of God, whose habitation under that wrath will be hell. In the next place, he not only spoke of the necessity of the new birth, but he told Nicodemus it was a great mystery. Nicodemus said, how can these things be? How can these things be? Our Lord didn't say, well, I want you to follow the Roman road to redemption. I want you to confess that you're lost, and then I want you to believe, and then I want you to be baptized, and you'll be born again. Those things do not born one into the kingdom of God, but rather those things are the consequence of the new birth. just as an unborn person, and that's a contradiction of words, cannot do anything until it is first of all conceived and then brought into the world. And as that person born is totally passive and in no wise active in its own conception, so is everyone that is born of the Spirit. Now, when I was conceived, I was not consulted. No one asked me if I wanted to be born. And they didn't ask me when I wanted to be born, nor where. It was something that was given me. Therefore, the new birth has nothing to do with decision. It has nothing to do with cooperation with God's plan of redemption. Rather, the new birth is that quickening work of God the Holy Spirit wherein a passive sinner, dead in trespasses and in sin, is brooded upon by the Spirit of God and given life. As a result of that, there is an effectual conviction of the heart by the Spirit of God that one's state of nature is that of being under the wrath of God, that one is lost in corruption. And secondly, there is the gift of faith wherein one receives the Lord Jesus Christ. A dead sinner can no more believe in the Lord Jesus Christ than a physically dead man can get up and walk. Faith is action. So faith is declared to be the gift of God. So our Lord didn't say to Nicodemus, you do these things, and if you do these things, then you will be born again. Now, I've heard preachers say to sinners, if you'll just believe, then you'll be born again. So they've got that thing turned completely around. It is because one is born again that he believes. And faith is the evidence of things not seen. Now, I've never seen conception, I've never seen the new birth, but I see the evidence of faith. Then our Lord not only declares that the new birth is necessary, And that it's a great mystery, but he declares that it is the sovereign operation of the Spirit of God. The sovereign operation of the Spirit of God. The wind blows where it pleases, you can't tell. That's the mystery. And then it says, it blows where it pleases, there is the effectual operation. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit of God. So we see then that the new birth is necessary, it is a great mystery, and it results from the sovereign operation of the Spirit of God. However, as the wind, when it blows, gives evidence by cool breeze upon the brow, or by uprooting of trees in its anger, So those who are born of the Spirit of God give evidence of the work of the Spirit in their lives. You can see the evidences of the blowings of the wind. There will be faith in Jesus Christ. There will be repentance on the account of sin. There will be a pattern of good work in one's life wherein one will be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. So those who receive the word are those whose hearts, as the farmer prepares the ground of the field, have been prepared by the Spirit of God for the reception of that word. Let us note, then, something of the sower, the seed, and the field. In order to understand our Lord's parable, We need to realize that he was drawing his imagery from Hebrew fields, that which the people were familiar with, that which was at hand to use as an illustration. The fields of the Hebrews were plotted out in relatively small fields. They were not gigantic acreages of hundreds of acres, but relatively small fields. Each field was surrounded by a hard path that marked that particular field off from other fields. This path was used by the farmer to carry his cultivating tools into the field in order to cultivate the land, and also to walk from his field to another man's field. So these paths, these hardened paths that were constantly walked upon, bordered all the fields, marked them off, and were used for travel. In the planting time, the farmer came into his field, and he cultivated the soil, and then tied an open pouch to his girdle. And he filled this with seed, and then walked through his field broadcasting the seed wherever it fell. As a result of the broadcasted seed, some would fall upon the path, some upon the cultivated ground, and some even outside of the path. We are told by the Lord himself that the seed is the word of God. In verse 11 of the Gospel of Luke, now the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. Now there can be no doubt as to the meaning of the seed, can there? Our Lord himself tells us what he means by his own word. He has given to us a definition of the term. The seed represents the word of God. But how does the seed, broadcasted across the field, represent the Word of God? Well, it does not represent the Word of God inscripturated in the Holy Scriptures, but it represents the Word of God as that Word, inscripturated, is preached in the gospel by the Church through her ordained ministry. As that Word is preached, it is broadcast, it is sown. And in the sowing of it, we have the consequences which our Lord gives to us with reference to the various soils. Look with me, if you will, to 1 Peter, where we further see how the Word of God preached is the gospel, is the seed of God in the work of salvation. Beginning with verse 23 of 1 Peter chapter 1. Being born again. So again, you see, the new birth is mentioned here with reference to the word of God, the seed of God. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible. The first time we were born, we were born of corruptible seed, the seed of man, the seed corrupted by the pearl of Adam, the seed that brought us into this world in an estate of sin. But the new birth, the second birth, that birth from heaven, is not of the corruptible seed. Now let me take you back to the case of Nicodemus. Nicodemus asked our Lord, how can these things be, seeing that I am an old man? Now, of course, on the interpretation of our Lord's answer, we do not have an area for determining fellowship if one disagrees. However, about twenty-three or four years ago, I wrote a small book At which time I gave an interpretation of our Lord's answer, which I've had no occasion to change since that time. Our Lord said, Nicodemus, you've asked me the question. How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born the second time? My answer is this. Unless a man is born of water and of the Spirit, He cannot see the kingdom of God. I don't believe the word there can easily carry the connotation, even the spirit. Now, it was very common language, it is even used sometimes in our generation, but it was common language in ancient times to speak of the natural birth as the water birth, because of the water pouch in which the child was carried through the mother's pregnancy. And I believe that our Lord did not ignore Nicodemus's question. He didn't tell him how to be born again, but he told him how an old man could be born again. He says, Nicodemus, unless you've had that earlier birth, that water birth, and then are born a second time, born of the Spirit of God, you cannot see the kingdom of God. I'm talking about two entirely different births here. I'm talking about a new birth, a second birth, that which has reference to your spiritual life. So Peter says here, being born again, not of corruptible seed, as we were in that first birth, but of incorruptible. And then he says, this incorruptible seed is the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth forever." Now watch it. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. This is the word which is preached unto you in the good news. So it is the preached word, the proclaimed word of God that is the scattering of the seed, as the incorruptible word that the Spirit of God mysteriously uses in the burning of a person from above and the second time. Now, the Word of God is likened unto seed because seed carries within it the principle of life. I was mentioning to some that if I could find some seed that's not hybridized, you know hybrid feeds like a mule, it won't reproduce. You plant it, and then you save your seed corn, and it won't grow up next time. It may give you a beautiful stalk, but it won't do anything for you. And of course, this is the way you can have planned famines. This is the way you can be reduced to poverty in one season. is for suddenly the non-hybridized seed to go off the market. So I've been wanting to get some of various kinds and put them in fruit jars and just set them up in the event that we might need something in the near future because of our present economical situation to grow in order to eat. Because the farmers are going to be in bad shape. I've been trying to warn farmers to get themselves unhybridized seed and lay it up so that they can have something to pull from. They won't have as big an ear of corn or as big a grain, but they'll have something that'll produce and grow. They won't be growing a bunch of mules every year. They can't produce the next year. And so if famine comes, they can at least feed their creature. and take care of some of their people, all right? So much, then, for your lesson in economics this morning. But you can take seed, which is true seed, and it'll grow. It has the principle of life in it. For example, when they broke into the pyramids, they found seed in those pyramids, planted the seed, and it grew. And it grew. So seed has the principle of life within it. So does the Word of God. So does the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the living seed. It is described, the word of God is described, by Paul in Hebrews 4, as living and powerful, even to the dividing of the parts of man. And he also said in Romans chapter 1 and verse 16, that he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, For it is the life power," the Greek word there, dunamis, it is the dynamite of God, to everyone that believes it, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. But therein is revealed the righteousness of God. The gospel is a living thing. In the second place, the sore The one who scatters the seed is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. In Matthew's Gospel, for example, chapter 13, where we have the parallel account of the parable, Matthew chapter 13, we read in verse 37, He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man." So the Lord Jesus Christ himself is the sower, and in the parable of the pears and wheat, identifies himself as the sower of the seed. The word of God in the gospel is preached by men, but it is Christ to determine where that seed shall fall and what shall be its result. Therefore, when the gospel is preached, it is as though Christ himself preached through that minister. Evidence of this can be seen in 2 Corinthians 5, where the apostle Paul speaks of himself as the ambassador of Christ. And he says, it was as though God himself did beseech them to be reconciled unto God. When they spoke, it was as though God himself did speak. Now, the gospel has no power within itself. The evidence of that is that I preached the gospel over and over, and there are many people who sat under that gospel year after year, upon whom it had no effect whatsoever, except eventually to harden. There's no power just in the gospel itself. It is only when that gospel is sown by the sower who is the Lord Jesus Christ. Its power comes from Christ, proclaiming it through his servant and bringing it into the heart of the hearers by the effectual operation of the Spirit of God in his cause." Look at John's Gospel, chapter 10. John chapter 10. Beginning with verse 2, "...but he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep." To him the porter openeth," now watch it, "...the sheep hear his voice." How do the sheep hear the voice of Christ today? They hear his voice through his servants who preach. And he calleth his own sheep by name and leadeth them out. How does he call them by name and lead them out? Through his effectual ministry by his separated servants through the operation of the Spirit of God. And when he put forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger. Then in verse 16, he said, Other sheep I have, which are not of this folk. Now, I don't believe that the editor of the Alabama Baptist a number of years ago, and I mention this because he's no longer the editor, but he was a friend of mine. I don't believe the editor of the Alabama Baptist a number of years ago is absolutely right in his interpretation of that scripture. He said that meant that God had other sheep on other planets. And this is the way he backed the space program. I hope he's living so that he can see that so far there's no evidence of that. This merely means that there were other sheep after our Lord's departure, outside of the immediate group that he himself had called out. And he says, Them also I must bring, and they, and your part of they, shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. So that Gentile people, that Gentilized people, outside of that immediate group, hear the voice of Christ, and they also come. Not only does the Lord Jesus Christ himself effectuate the preaching of the gospel as though he himself spoke, but he determines where the word shall be preached and what shall be its effects. It is the farmer who determines where his seed shall be planted, not the field that governs the farmer in the planting. So the Lord determines where his word shall be planted. Furthermore, the farmer doesn't go out and stand before a conglomerate of seals and invite them to make a decision as to which will be planted the seeds. He doesn't ask for their cooperation. He determines what crop will be put where and when. He's the sword. The theol is a passive receiver of the seed. Therefore, if there are places where the word has been excluded and the gospel is not being preached, it is Christ who opens doors and shuts doors. It's not for me to get an offer because certain people won't hear the gospel of Christ. I'm to preach, he'll open the door. Let's look at a few scriptures. Turn to the book of Acts. Acts chapter 8. In the book of Acts chapter 8, we read in verse 26, And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south, unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. He arose and went. That's where God wanted him to preach. He determined the place. Now look at Acts chapter 10, verses 19 and 20. While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee, arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them." So he went down and preached at Cornelius' house. Then in the book of Acts, chapter 16. And the beginning with verse 6, Now when they, that is Paul and his companions, had gone throughout Phrygia, and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach in Asia. It was a closed door. God said, I do not want the gospel preached in Asia. I am the sower, I determine where that seed shall be sown. I am the owner of the fields. I am the one who cultivates the field for the seed. I'll tell you, Paul really wanted to go to Asia. He'd rather go to Asia than anywhere in the world. And God wouldn't let him. God wouldn't let him. You know, the trouble today with our mission program is that we're not seeking where God wants that program to be carried on. And we feel that the gospel is preached on the home front, that's not missionary work. Let me tell you something, the people in Birmingham are just as pagan as any people that I've ever seen on the mission field, and I've preached on a lot of mission fields. I have spent weeks in Mexico and the jungles, I don't find them a bit more pagan down there than here in Birmingham. I have spent weeks in Spain and France and England and Ireland, and I don't find those people any more pagan than here. He said, don't go to Asia, for we'd drop our false teeth, wouldn't we? And God said, no, you can't preach to that group over there. Because the world is the field, he said, but some parts I don't cultivate right now. Eventually he took the gospel to Asia, but not men. So after they had come to Mycenae, they stayed to go into Bithynia. Well, if we can't go to Asia, we'll go and teach that bunch of Pagans in Bithynia. But the Spirit allowed them not! And they're passing by Mycenae. See, they passed it by. They didn't even go into little Mycenae. They came down to Troas, and there, a vision from Macedonia said, come over and help us. This is where God wants you. You talk about poverty. You talk about God running the show, but He's the sower. And we can say the same thing for those who are reprobated. That God ordains that they hear the Word, but that they don't hear the Word. Look at 1 Peter. 1 Peter, chapter 2. And in 1 Peter, chapter 2, we read, beginning with verse 6, Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe is precious, but unto them which be disobedient The stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner." Now watch verse 8 very carefully. Hold on to your Bible, don't let it fall out of your lap, and just see what God said. That same stone that was set up as a precious stone, a saving stone, is set up a stumbling stone and a rock of offense. Well that's because they won't hear the gospel, they won't believe. something else involved in this. Even to them that stumble at the word, being disobedient, underline the next statement, whereunto also they were appointed. God says, I'm the sower And as we're going to see in some of these grounds, I want you to plant that word where I have appointed it shall not grow. They heard, but they wouldn't believe. They understood, but they wouldn't receive. Because it was not appointed, they should believe. Look at another one. Jude, the book of Jude, that little lost gem in the back of the New Testament, the book of Jude and verse 4. If you want an epistle that deals with modern days, you read Jude. He says, "...for there are certain men crept in unaware." They're creepers, one man said. They crept in unaware, as they put on a false front. Who were before, of old, ordained to this condemnation? Ungodly means. Turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Now that doesn't relieve their responsibility. Because they are responsible to hear the Word of God and receive it. Because they're rational, moral creatures. But now look at the Gospel of Luke, and let's see what Luke says was the reason why the Lord spoke this parable. Or excuse me, the Gospel of Mark. The Gospel of Mark, chapter 4. When the disciples ask him, why do you speak in this parable? Our Lord answered in verse 12, that seeing, they may see, for they understand all too well what the preacher is saying, and not perceive, but they don't perceive its spiritual significance. Hearing, they may hear, it's not doctrine too deep for them, but they don't understand, there's no spiritual insight. Why, Lord, would you want them to hear and not perceive and understand less at any time? Christ says they should be converted, and their sin should be forgiven them. That's why I speak in parables. I speak in parables because I'm going to plant some seeds. It's going to be a stony ground, thorny ground. And it's going to be where they don't hear along the sideways. I'm the source, so this means that our Lord is solvent. The field is the world, we're told in Matthew 13, 38. And it has reference to this present world in which the gospel is preached. In particular, the field represents the hearts of those in the world who hear the preaching. We see, then, from our Lord's parable, that preaching is not only for those who shall be saved, but God wills that the reprobate also hear the preaching of the Word of God. This means, then, the Word must be scattered so mischievously, But this does not mean that he who is the source is frustrated, for God always sovereignly accomplishes his purpose through preaching. Whatever God has ordained the Word to do, it shall accomplish. He says, My Word shall not return unto me void. We must remember the Word of God has a twofold effect. Whereas it is a favor of life unto those who are living, it is a favor of death, a stink of death to those who are dying. So whereas it brings life to one, it brings death to another. Man who is a rational, moral preacher, then, is responsible to God for what he hears and what he does with preaching. And he'll be judged by what he does with preaching, because he willfully and deliberately, of his own decision, rejects that word and cannot blame it on the Lord. So in Matthew chapter 11, when our Lord upbraided the cities, because he had not ordained the preaching of the gospel and the performance of miracles in their city, nevertheless held them accountable for what they had done. So we see, beginning with verse 20, then began Jesus to upbraid the cities where most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not. Now watch the language carefully, and just open your mind, forget about what Grandmother taught you, and let the Lord Jesus Christ speak for Himself. I think He knows a lot better what He means than what Grandmother knew, don't you? And I think that the writers who were His apostles knew a whole lot more about what He meant than modern interpreters. We just let our Lord speak for Himself. Then we don't get tied up and go around arguing. Now watch what our Lord says, "'Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For,' watch it now, "'for if the mighty works which were done in you, if this preaching had been done in your cities, that has been done in your cities, these miracles that have been performed in your cities, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in Cyclops and Ares. Our Lord was a poor crusade organizer, wasn't he? Now here he is, the omniscient, the all-knowing Son of God. And he knew that if his mighty works had been done over in Tyre and Sidon, they'd repent. And he knew that Corazion was not going to receive the Word, nor Bethsaida, and he goes there and pleads! Then he upbraids them because of their unbelief, which they're responsible for and tells them. Tyrant Sidon would have repented in your situation. He's the Lord. He must have determined where the Word would be preached. He's the sword, you see. As the sower, he knew where he'd plant his crop, and he knew it wouldn't bring forth any fruit. Look at what he says again. But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. I'd rather be a pagan in Tyre and Sidon than stand in the judgment than a person in Chorazin and Bethsaida that heard the gospel and saw Christ. And thou, Capernaum, which are exalted unto heaven." Why was Capernaum exalted unto heaven? That's where Christ made his headquarters. That's where he lived. That was his base of operation. That's where the Son of God stayed. "...shall be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works which have been done in thee," my, how extreme the situation, "...had been done in Sodom," had been done in Sodom, Those angels would have found more than fifty righteous men, yea, more than ten righteous men. That city would have remained until this day. That means that bunch of perverts and homosexuals and sodomites would repent. But those works weren't done there. Why? Because the sower determines the field where the grains will be sowed. wasn't to be sown in Sodom. It would be sown in Capernaum. And this was going to aggravate the judgment of Capernaum. So he says, it would be better, it would be more tolerable in the day of judgment for those Ptolemaic who never saw my work, who never heard my gospel, than for you where I pitched my headquarters and made my base of operations. That's rough, isn't it? But that's the story. He owns the field, see. He went out and bought it. He bought the whole field to get a pearl of great price out of it. And I believe the farmer can do what he wants to with his land, plant it in bitterweeds if he wants to. I knew a farmer one time that had one of the finest crops of bitterweeds you ever saw. If you had any doubt, all you had to do was drink milk from his cows. Because they grazed in that fine crop of bitter wheat. Farmer can plant what he wants to in his own field. Now the government tries to tell him he can't plant as much as he wants to. It means then the seed of the Word of God preached will bear fruit only if the heart has been prepared by the Holy Spirit of God. Man is dead in trespasses and in sin. As a result, it takes the life-giving miracle of regeneration to bring him into life, into which part the word being planted will be effectual. The Lord willing, we shall take up there and look generally at the other parts of the parable, and then come back and take up particulars as we make application to the work of the soul in the matter of salvation. Our Father, we bless thy name, that thou art the sovereign Lord, who owns the fields and plants as thou dost see fit to bring forth glory unto thy name. We thank thee, however, not knowing what thy purpose is, by decree as thou hast ordained, that thou hast commanded us to broadcast this seed, at least to every nation. to every creature, warning all men everywhere to flee from the wrath to come, and commanding all men everywhere to repent of their sins, knowing that thou hast ordained the outcome, and that we cannot be unsuccessful. We thank thee that nowhere in thy word dost thou call upon thy servants to be successful, but rather thou dost call upon them to be faithful. For the success lies in that which thou wilt accomplish, for thou art the source. We pray that, if it please thee, that thou wilt cultivate a field in our midst today and plant the seed of thy word, that we might be sinners brought into thy kingdom. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.