The Pulpit Commentary — Mark — Volume 1 — Section 198

Divine Word; and, however neglected or jostled aside, however trodden down or trampled on it may be, however hard and impervious that wayside hearer's heart may be,-Satan, fully alive to the vitality of the seed of Divine truth, apprehends danger from its presence to his own sovereignty over his subjects. If he allowed the seed some time to lie on the heart it might, after all, recover from the trampling and root itself downward, and in the end bear fruit upward. He therefore comes immediately. .And though he came immediately, still the seed had been already trodden down; and we therefore infer that the seed had no sooner fallen on the heart than it was instantly trodden down. 6. Satan's object in all this. This object is plainly stated in the words, "lest they should believe and be saved," or, as the Revised Version renders them," that they may not believe and be saved." Here we have the whole plan of salvation in the briefest form ; here we have the system of Divine grace for saving the souls of men. Here, too, we have the subject, the object, the instrument, and the result. The subject is every one on whose heart the seed of Divine truth is sown; the object to be accepted by faith is that truth; that faith, again, is the instrument; while salvation is the grand result. The object offered for our belief is the Word of God; the means by which we em brace that Word is faith ; and the final and blessed end is salvation. Reader, this ,,ord is now presented to you, and even pressed on your acceptance; if you prefer remaining in ignorance of it, or refuse to believe it, or neglect to apply it, and so fail to feel its saving efficacy, and obey, and enjoy it; then do you judge yourself unworthy of everlasting life, reject the offer of mercy, and put away from you the means-the only mea.ns of salvation. If when the truth of God, with its sanctifying and saving influences, is sown on your heart, you allow Sa.tan to snatch it away, or, what amounts to the same thing, to occupy your mind with other topics, or divert your attention from it, or perhaps provoke your hostility against it, then will the end which should be the salvation of your soul remain unattained! V. PRACTICAL LESSONS. 1. We learn from all this the great sin of carelessness, heedlessness, and thoughtlessness, or rather thinking of other things, when the Word of God is being rea.d or preached. 2. We learn the necessity of careful preparation for Divine ordinances. If we would bear the Word of God with profit, we must supplicate the Spirit of God to prepare our hearts to receive the Word, and to enlighten our minds to understand it, and to bring it home to our souls in demonstre.tion and power. 3. We learn the importance of withdrawment from worldly thoughts as well as worldly business, of spending the morning of the sabbath in religious exercises and hallowed engagements, of avoiding idle gossip and all trifling conversation, and also of watchfulness against vain thoughts and wandering thoughts and sinful thoughts when in the house of God, so that Satan may neither hinder the work of God in, nor snatch the Word of God out of, our hearts. 4. Three processes are thus indispensable-- breaking up the fallow ground by previous preparation, covering the seed sown by subsequent meditation and faithful pleading for the dews of Divine grace to water the seed sown, as well as taking earnest heed that we do not let it slip. VI. THE ST0:t-.""Y-GROUND HEARERS. 1. Their shal,lowmss. The first characteristic of such is their shallowness. This is better expressed by rocky ( ...,.,.piillios), than stony ground. The first class of hearers had no receptivity in consequence o{ their heart being so hard, and the traffic along its thoroughfare so continuous, 'l'he seed falling on its surface lay there, was instantly trodden down, and immediately taken away by the evil one himself or some of his numerous emissaries. Now, this second cl.ass of hearers is so far superior to the former that they possess receptivity, but only to a limited extent. The surface of this soil is soft, it is true, but shallow. .A soil may be stony in the proper sense ; the stones may be small and loose ; they may be tolerably close together or considerably apart. In either case the plant makes way in the inter- spaces, and roots itself where there i.e sufficient depth of earth. The present case is cliffereut. The ground is in the strict sense rocky ; the rock-the limestone rock which prevail& so extennively in Palestine-reaches the surface and comes fully into view, or is only covered and concealed from the eye by a sparse and shallow sprinkling of earth. Seed sown on such soil soon springs up, quickened into vegetation and warmed into life by the heat of an Eastern clime; and all the more so a! the plant, when impeded in its development downward, would, by curious plant-instinct, the more rapidly pro11~ 6ate itself upward. But the very heat that helps the ra1>id springing of the oH. xv. 1-41.) 'l'HE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. 195