3:2). In association with Himself the Lord sent forth the Twelve (Matt. 10), and the Seventy (Luke 10). This

ministry, looked at from the external standpoint, was not much more successful than that of John the Baptist.

The characteristics of the `stony ground', the second sowing hearers, are seen everywhere. The stony

ground hearers were shallow. The wayside hearers rejected the testimony of God against them, but the stony

ground hearers received the word with joy - for a while! In Matthew 4:17-25 we have the preaching and its

effect. `His fame went throughout all Syria ... and there followed Him great multitudes'. Mark 12:37 supplies

us with a statement which coincides with the character of the stony ground hearers. `The common people heard

him gladly'. `He that received seed into the stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with

joy receiveth it, yet ... by and by he is offended'.

In John 6 we have a record of defection. After the Lord had uttered that marvellous word concerning

Himself as the living bread, and how He came to give His life for the life of the world, we read, `many therefore

of His disciples, when they heard this, said, This is an hard saying, who can hear it?' `From that time many of

His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him'. In Luke 4:16-29 we have another illustration of this

self-same spirit. After the Lord's discourse in the Synagogue we read, `And all bare Him witness, and

wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?'

By the time He had finished His message to them, however, we read, `And all they in the Synagogue, when they

heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up, and thrust Him out of the city, and led Him unto the

brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast Him down headlong'.

Herod himself exhibited much the same character. `And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for

he was desirous to see Him of a long season, because he had heard many things of Him; and he hoped to have

seen some miracle done by Him ... And Herod with his men of war set Him at nought' (Luke 23:8-11).

Matthew 21:1-19 furnishes us with another example of the shallowness of the hearers of the word during the

ministry of the Lord. `A very great multitude spread their garments in the way ... and the multitudes that went

before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He that cometh in the name of

the Lord; Hosanna in the highest'. Within a few days, in the very same city, the multitude, urged by the chief

priests and elders, cried out, `Let Him be crucified!; His blood be on us, and on our children' (Matt. 27:19-25).

Hence it is that in immediate relation to the ride into Jerusalem, and the shout of Hosanna, we read, `And when

He saw a fig tree in the way, He came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only' (Matt. 21:19). It is

interesting to note that the words `withered away' of Matthew 21:19; 13:6; Mark 4:6; and Luke 8:6 are the

same. Such, to a large extent, was the character of the heart of those who heard the gospel of the kingdom from

the lips of the Son of God. Thus, while John's ministry is represented by the wayside hearers, the Lord's

ministry is likened unto the stony ground hearers.

In immediate succession to the ministry of the Lord Jesus was the ministry of the Twelve in the Acts. This

ministry is likened to the sowing of seed among thorns. Peter uses the key word of the gospel of the kingdom,

`Repent', and the kingdom ordinance, `Be baptized' (Acts 2:38). The preaching of the word at Pentecost and

after produced a deeper effect than had been evidenced during the `Gospels' period. There was not so much of

that spirit which characterized the wayside hearers, for the good seed found a place in many hearts, neither was

the stony ground hearer alone represented. The trouble is seen among those who had `tasted of the heavenly

gift', and who had been `partakers of holy spirit', and had `tasted the good word of God and the powers of the

world to come'. Hebrews 6 is a divine commentary upon the cause of failure during the Acts. The figure of the

`thorny ground' is actually repeated in Hebrews 6:8, `But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected'. Luke

tells us that the thorny ground hearers `brought no fruit unto perfection'. We find the echo of this in Hebrews 6,

`Leaving ... Let us go on unto perfection'.

The epistle to the Hebrews was addressed to Jews who had received in some measure the seed of the

kingdom, and had accepted the Lord Jesus as Messiah, but who were still `zealous of the law' (Acts 21:20). The

Jews failed to see the perfection that was to be found alone in Christ. `Cares, riches and pleasures of this life,

the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things' are referred to in Hebrews in such passages as 11:25,26,

`choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt'. `Ye took joyfully the spoiling of

your goods' (10:34). `Be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor

forsake thee' (13:5).

Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5), and Simon who believed and was baptized (Acts 8:13), are examples of the

growth of the thorns which eventually choked the good seed. Ananias and Sapphira particularly illustrate the

`thorny ground' hearers. They had believed the word, they had evidently been baptized and were recognized by