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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadMatthew Poole Commentary - Matthew 13:23 - 13:23
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Mark saith much the same, Mar_4:20. Luke saith, Luk_8:15, But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. To make a good Christian all these things must concur:
1. A hearing of the word.
2. An understanding or believing it.
3. A keeping of it.
4. A bringing forth of fruit.
5. A bringing forth fruit with patience.
He that receiveth the seed into good ground, is he (saith Luke) who in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it.
The good ground, (in this parable), is the good and honest heart, that is, a heart renewed and sanctified by the Spirit of God.
He heareth the word: he (saith the apostle) who is born of God, heareth us: faith cometh by hearing. And understandeth it. Mark saith, receiveth it, that is, not in the mere notion, but by faith, and a mind willing to learn and be instructed. Luke adds, and keepeth it, retains the savour and impression of it upon his soul.
Which also beareth fruit, the fruit of holiness in his life, in an obedience to the will of God; for all seed bringeth forth fruit according to his kind. Luke adds, with patience, by which is to be understood certainty, constancy, and perseverance, and that notwithstanding all trials and oppositions he meets with from the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty; not all alike. A soul may be an honest and good soul, and that (as we see here) in Christ’s opinion and judgment, though it doth not bring forth fruit in the same proportion with others.