The Pulpit Commentary — Mark — Volume 1 — Section 206

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 eo 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 !t the top and suffocated at the root, so that it never reached maturity. 8. 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 Sat.an 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 endure, 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 ulso implying inattention, the second impulsiveness or ardour, 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-ls 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 a.re 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 cha.riot, read carefully and pondered closely "the prophet Esa.ias." It was so with the members of the Berman 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 tl:an others; more earnest and desirous of knowing, as well as more ready to receive, the truth. Such natma.l 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. Tlie receptwn ef the Word by such. 'l'hree terms are employed in this regard. St. Mark says, wapoUxo,,.,,a,, they receive it, with a feeling of inward satisfaction, it may he, or even delight. The stony-ground hearers are represented by the same evangelist and by St. Matthew as receiving it (>..11.µ,/Jd.vo11t1,), and by St. Luke (lllxoV'T11.1), 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 f he reception accor~~ to_ it by those having an hon~st and good heart is accompanied by a deep, steady, ab1dmg mterest. The usage of this word in the LXX. seems to imply a wrdial reception ; thu~, in ,,Isa. xli_i. 1 we re.~~• " l~ra~l is my chosen, my soul has accepted (wpot1dl(11.To) him; and 1n Prov. m. 12 ~t 1s written, " For whom the Lord loves he rebukes, and scourges every son whom he receives (..-11.p1W•X.,,. .. )," But whether this shade of meaning be attributable to the context or CH, IV.1--41.] THE GOSPEJ, ACCORDING TO s·r. MARK. 203