Mother Stories from the New Testament | Page 5

the vineyard comes again to seek good fruit the unfruitful trees shall be destroyed.
Am I a barren tree, dear Lord? A cumberer of the ground. Oh! give me grace to fruitful be, And in Thy work abound.
[Illustration: THE UNFRUITFUL TREE.]

SOWING THE SEED.
A sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed some fell by the wayside and was trodden down, and birds came and devoured it. And some fell upon a rocky place, where there was not much soil, and as soon as it sprang up it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns and weeds, and they sprang up with it and choked it. But other fell on good ground, and sprang up bearing ears, some with thirty, some sixty, some a hundred seeds.
When Jesus had told this parable, His disciples asked Him to explain it to them. He said that the seed is the Word of God. The wayside signifies the people who hear the Word but do not understand it, and Satan comes and takes all thought of it out of their hearts as quickly as the birds devour the seeds. The rocky places without much earth denote those who, when they hear the Word, receive it with great joy and profession of faith; but it never takes deep root in their hearts, and when they are tempted they fall away and the good seed in their hearts is withered up. The thorns and weeds are the pleasures and riches of this life, which root so deeply and strongly in men's hearts that the good seed has no chance, and is soon killed off.
But the good ground is the hearts of good people, who remember God's Word and try, every day of their lives, to do as He wishes us to do, and to live holy and useful lives. The seed falling upon their hearts becomes strongly rooted and grows up vigorously, bearing good fruit.
What shall be said of your heart, my young friend? Is it like the wayside? the rocky place? the thorny ground? or like a good field that has been well prepared for the seed?
[Illustration: SOWING THE SEED.]

THE ENEMY SOWING TARES.
A certain man sowed good seed in his field, but in the night, whilst men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. When the wheat-blade had sprung up and showed the ear, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came to him and said, "Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? Whence then come these tares?"
He said unto them, "An enemy hath done this." Then the servants asked, "Shall we go, then, and gather them up?" But he said, "Nay, lest whilst you gather up the tares, you root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and in that time I will say to the reapers, 'Gather ye together first the tares and bind them into bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"
Jesus' disciples asked Him to explain this parable to them, and He said: "The field represents the world, and He that sowed the good seed is Christ Himself. The good seed is the Word He preached; the wheat plants are the good people who believe in Christ and do as He teaches. The enemy who sows the bad seed is Satan, and the tares that spring from them are wicked people who follow the promptings of the evil one in their hearts. The harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels of God. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world with wicked people. Christ shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His Kingdom all things that offend and them that do evil, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father."
"For the Lord our God shall come, And shall take His harvest home; From His field shall in that day All offences purge away;
"Give His angels charge at last In the fire the tares to cast, But the fruitful grain to store In His garner evermore."
[Illustration: THE ENEMY SOWING TARES.]

THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN.
Christ said that the kingdom of heaven could be likened unto leaven (or yeast), which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till the whole was leavened.
Now, this leaven, or yeast, is composed of tiny little plants, each one so small that it cannot possibly be seen by the sharpest eye except through a very powerful microscope. So small are they