The Pulpit Commentary — Mark — Volume 1 — Section 209

Christ, proceeds to sny, "Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver precious stones, wood, hay, stubble," that is, either doctrines more or less sound o; practice more or less consistlmt with profession, "the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. ... If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." IV. ADAPTA_TION OF THE BEED TO THE B_OIL. In natural husban?rJ men are at pains to get seed smted to the s01l. Every kmd of seed does not suit every kind of soil , seed suitable for one kind may not be suitable for another. There is need, there~ fore, of selection and adaptation. '!'here must be proper di~crimination and judicious distribution. So with the seed of the Word; there is enough for all, and something for each, but it must be duly and discreetly apportioned. This is the direction of Scrip- ture itself, for we are told therein that there are Ii ttle children, young men, and fathers in Christ, and each is to get his portion of meat in due season; and, again, milk i~ intended for babes, and strong meat for them that are of mature age. Accordingly, the careless are to be aroused, the unawakened are to be stirred up, the indifferent to be alarmed ; the ignorant, again, are to be instructed, the timid to be encouraged, and the preswnptuous to be rebuked; the tempted are to be fortifier! against temptation, the weak are to be strengthened, and the sorrowful to be consoled in their time of trouble; such as have backslidden, or have been overtaken in a fault, are to be restored in the spirit of meekness; saints are to be edified, believers built up in their holy faith; the lukewarm are to be brought back to their first love, and the graces of all quickened. For these various purposes there is enough in the treasury of God's Word, and out of that treasury are to be brought forth things both new and old. V. THE PART WHICH BELONGS TO BUJllAN AGENCY. Man's part is to sow the seed. This is his plain duty, this is his palpable concern, and his practical part of the busi- ness. He has not to make the seed, or manufacture the seed, or meddle in any way with the production of the seed; this were a tnsk far above his ability and beyond his power. 'l'he seed is ready to his hand, and provided for his nse. All he has to do, and all that is required of him, is to put the seed into the soil, and deposit it properly in the furrows-suiting, of course, as far as may be, the seed to the soil and to the sort of previous preparation made for it. '\Ve insist on the indispensable necessity of casting the seed into the furrow of the field, e.nd likewise of sowing the seed of truth in the human heart; we affirm, moreover, the need of diligence in accomplishing this part of the operation, which is man's work and man's duty; we assert the absolute requirement of human instrumentality in this part either of natural or spiritual husbandry. The pas- sage we are considering sets this duty clearly before us in the words, "As if a man should cast seed into the ground." VI. 'l'BE NECESSITY FOB DIVINE INFLUENCE. 'l'here must be Divine influence as well as human agency; for in ver. 27 we read that the husbandman, after sowing the seed, may sleep by night and rise by day, while the seed springs up and grows he knows not how. Here, in the first place, we must take note of the vitality of the seed: it buds and lengthens (f3>,.,ur.,.d,vp 1<111 µ111<6.,.,,.,.w). God gave it this vital energy at the first, and so wonderfully powerful is this energy, that the seed which had lain three thou8and years in the hand of the mummy will, when deposited in the earth under the ordinary con- ditions, sprout, spring up, and grow. We have seen that the deposition of the seed in the ground is necessary for any produce, but it must be added that for the develop- ment of the seed itself another distinct and indeed a Divine influence is required. Man can only go a certain length either in the department of nature or the sphere of grace. "Paul me.y plant, and .A.polios water, but it is God that giveth the increase." When the seed has been committed to the earth in the most careful and skilful manner, the husbandman must wait for the fertilizing shower to make the seed grow and fructify. So in the spiritual sphere; not only has the seed of truth to be sown in the heart, and the lessons of God's Word to be deposited in the soul-and all this may be effected by human agency-but the influence of the Holy Spirit of God must be added. If the Word of God be the seed, e.s we are assured it is, then the Spirit of God is the re.in-shower, the descent of which on the hcnrt, or rather on the seed sown therein, i8 indispensably required for germination and frnctification, or whatever else may bu included under spiritual ii;rowth. Thus two distinct agencies must come together, unite, and blend in this great and important as well as mysterious process of spiritual  THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. [cu. xv.1--41.