The Pulpit Commentary — Mark — Volume 1 — Section 210

vegetation. There must be the Word of God-that is tb.e seed; there mllBt be the Spirit of God-that is the shower. Without the seed and the shower, without the Word and the Spirit, there can be no spiritual vegetation. The soil may be good, the seed both good and suitable ; but the dews of heavenly grace-the influences of the Divine Spirit~nnot be dispensed with. .Again, the influences of the Spirit may be vouchsafed at the proper season, and in sufficient abundance; but if the seed of truth, if the lessons of the Divine ,v ord, have not been sown in the heart, there is no germina- tion, no quickening. However favourable the conditions of growth may otherwise be, there can be no growth, for the material is wanting. 'l'here is no seed, and so no germ of life, and consequently no life. The presence of both is absolutely and indispensably necessary. There are two elements of growth in the natural world-the seed and the shower ; the deposition of the former in the soil belongs to man's department of work. the descent of the latter is God's good gift. The one acts upon the other, while the united operation results in healthy vegetation. The seed supplies the material, the shower is the fructifying agency ; the shower gives efficacy to the seed, the seed expands by the combined action of the sun and shower. In spiritual husbandry the seed is the Word, the shower represents the Spirit; the Word has life, but the Spirit is required to develop it. Witl:out the Spirit the Word would remain inert, by the Spirit it is made productive; the Word is the germ of spiritual life, the Spirit unfolds and quickens it; their mutual action issues in the happiest results. VII. THE 11o~'D OF maoN BETWEEN THE TWO AGENCIES, DIVINE AND B01dAN. The absence of either agency would end in disaster. Nothing can supply the place of the seed, neither the soil itself nor the stones imhedded in it. Where there a.re no seeds the showers of heaven may fall in abundance, the sunshine of heaven may be bright and beautiful, but neither, in the absence of the seed, would be of any avail. Contemplate in the season of harvest a field of golden grain; the stalks are strong and vigorous; the ear is filled with kindly fruit, and bending under the weight; the whole is white unto the harvest. Let this be the case not in one field, but in all; not in one district, but in many; not in one part of the country, but in every part where the land is arable and under cultivation; and yet not one particle of the plenty thus supposed sprang up without seed having been previously put into the earth. .Among all the multitudinous stems th.at constitute that rich, luxuriant crop that waves in the autumn wind, and covers with such abundance the face of the earth in the time of harvest, not one is found that grew without a root, and not a root that grew without a. seed. .And just so it is with the seed of truth rooted in the heart, and producing the harvest of grace in the life of man. But, as we have already intimated, the fructifying energy of the Di~ioe Spirit, whether it acts by the dew, or shower, or sunshine, or all combined, is equally important, a.nd indeed absolutely necessary in producing the manifold blessings of the spiritual harvest. What, then, is the link that brings these two ageucies together -the seed which man sows in the soil, and the shower or other influence which God sends down from the sky? Wbat means must be used to procure for the seed, when sown iu the human heart, the quickening and refreshing power of the Divine Spirit? The only means available to man is the power of prayer, and prayer is a. power as well in the domain of the temporal as of the spiritual. No doubt man has done his a.II when he has properly deposited suitable seed iii fertile soil; but, though lie cannot actually and of h.i.mBelf go further or do more, there remains a duty, the proper performance of v,hich may carry the work much further, and set other and mightie1· energies in opera- tion; for "prayer moves the band that moves the world." Once npon a. time, long ago, in the land of Israel, drought and dearth prevailed ; "the prophet prayed, .•. and the iieaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit." So when, in answer to believing prayer, God bestows his Spirit, the seed of truth germinates in the heart, and yields the fruits of the Spirit in the life. VIIL THE FRUITFUL EARTH AND THE FAITHFUL HUSBANDMAN, "The earth bringeth forth fruit of herself." God, in his wise and powerful organization of our earth, gave it this power. In obedience to his original command, and in virtue of power originally imparted, tbe earth brings forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit after his kind-the three great divisions of the vegetable kingdom. The productive earth still retains the power which God at Jlrst impressed on it, and to Gud it is still indebted for its productiveness, as we read, "He wa.tereth the hills from oII. 1v. 1-41.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. M.ARK. 207