Parable of the Sower 02 08 2011

8/6/2019 Parable of the Sower 02 08 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/parable-of-the-sower-02-08-2011 1/8

Parable of the sower 1

Theme: Parable of the sowerSource: the gospel according to Spiritism, XVII: items, 5 e 6

THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER 5. The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were

gathered unto Him, so that He went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And Hespake many things unto them in parables, saying,

Behold, a sower went forth to sow. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and thefowls came and devoured them up: some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwiththey sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth. And when the sun came up, they were scorched; andbecause they had no root, they withered away And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up, andchoked them: but others fell upon good ground,, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold,some thirtyfold.

Who hath ears to hear, let him hear (Matthew, 13:1-9). Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.When any one heareth the Word of the Kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, andcatcheth away that which was sown in his heart This is he which received seed by the wayside. But he that

received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the Word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yethath he not root in himself but dearth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution Aristech because of theWord, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the Word; andthe care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the Word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he thatreceived seed into the good ground is he that heareth the Word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit,and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty (Matthew, 13: 18-23).

6. The parable of the sower truly represents the various ways in which we may make use of theteachings from the New Testament. There are so many people for whom these teachings are nothing more thandead words which can be compared to seeds which fall on stony ground and produce no fruits at all. Thisparable brings us a no less justifiable application of the different categories of Spiritists. Do we not findsymbolized in it those who are only attracted to material phenomena, from which they are unable to learnanything, because they only see it as an object of curiosity?

Does it not show us those who seek the brilliance of spirit communication merely to interestthemselves as long as it satisfies their imagination and who, after listening to the messages, continue to be justas cold and indifferent as they were before? Then there are those who consider the advice very good andadmire it, but only apply it to others and never to themselves. Finally there are those for whom the teachings areas seeds which fall on good soil and produce fruits.”

* * *

Points to stand out:1) - a lot of people met in turn of Jesus for hearing. him2) - some seeds fell in the road, other in stony places, others among bramble bushes, and finally in good soil.3) - Not all understood the parables for that reason Jesus said: ‘who hath ears to hear let him hear'.

* * *

CONSIDERATIONS:We noticed in this study that in Jesus' times not all were prepared for spiritual teachings, because the

field of the man's hearts almost most of them were propitiated to receive the seed of the Gospel; therefore mannot having developed to he point of understanding and acceptance, because Jesus also proposes that histeachings are for the ones who has ears o hear; thence we cannot deny the evolution of the spirit and hisprogress, because if there were those ‘who had ears to hear', 2 it was because they developed and progressedin their spiritual past life,. Jesus doesn't condemn the ones that were not fertile ground, but he shows theconditions in which the human progress were.

1 Estudo ‘Parábola do semeador’ dado por Martinho no Centro Espírita Joana d’Arc, S, JoãoMeriti, RJ. a 02/ 08/ 2011.

2 Matthew, XIII: 13.

1



Jesus' own disciples were not at the level of understanding everything that Jesus wanted to teach,wherefore Jesus said:' I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them' now, 3 and Jesus leftfor the future in that he had promised to send ‘the Spirit of Truth’, 4 it was therefore after the man to havedeveloped in knowledge of many sciences and laws that the Spirit of Truth could be pronounced, to that weunderstand it to be recently in the XCIII century that the Spirits of the Lord revealed to Allan Kardec according tohis evolution and knowledge, and his intellectual capacity to question out useful and intelligent questions and of the codification of many given studies from other mediums: the existence of the spiritual world, theremembrance of Jesus' doctrine, the evangelical morals, the consequences in the future of the soul of a life wellor badly lived, testifying the existence of God, the truth of the eternal life and the truth of the immortality of thesoul, as well as the multiplicity of worlds and their graduations.

As well as also the ‘graduations of the spirits’, 5 accentuating the reincarnation as a need of the spirit todevelop and to have his progress, reminding and teaching that it is inside of the laws instituted by God such asthe action and reaction laws or be the laws of' ‘Causes and effects', 6 and the moral laws which we are impelledto progress determed by our reaction to the laws which are faithful to us which are undoubtedly our servantsthat try out to straighten us out in the paths of the narrow way to God, because they aid us to understandourselves and to rectify ourselves and to rescue out from mistakes committed by us before our conception of the laws of God and the acceptance of Jesus' Gospel which brings to us in synthesis the love to God and to our neighbor as to ourselves and the pardoning as an inseparable law to the need of our evolution and spiritualprogress, pardoning which Jesus included in the dominical prayer 'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgivethem who trespass against us'.7 The pardoning is therefore one of our greatest needs.

With the help of the reincarnation law we are going always in a moving forward in the direction of our happy future which will be our proximity to God who is an inexhaustible source of love and priceless affection.

One and only life is not enough for our calling by Jesus in his words 'be… perfect', 8 a lot of times we fallin the spiritual intellectual and moral way, but Jesus always encourages us and he asks us 'do get up', 9

therefore we fall and we get up many times until we learn how to live equilibrated with God, as well as Jesuslived and then we could say 'I and the Father are one', 10 because in the case of us all living together with God,it will be said like Jesus revealed to us,' there will be only one flock and one Shepherd.' 11

In this case the revelation indicates that we will be all subordinated to God voluntarily without rebelionityat the feet of His willingness towards us, because 'it did not occur our heart the things which God has kept for them that love Him', 12 being so we should put our hand in the hand of God and we should have faith and hopein Him, because ‘without faith it is not possible to please God', 13 and to assure our peace and happiness in thefuture of our soul, since for revelation or for our own intuition we know that we have an immortal soul and afevering desire to be happy in the immortality of our soul.

In spite of being that the desire of God for us, we were long in that venturing because of our own lacks,rebellion and bad faith, ignorance or doubt of the spiritual truths as truths to us presented through the times, beit from our conclusions and experiences, be it from revelations granted by God in relation to His Love for us Hisvery own children.

With the knowledge to us given one should avoid to leave for the future in the beyond repentanceregretfully of eroding mistakes, judging ourselves in meditation and prayer, regularly for our readjusting in thegoodness, in the harmony and in the peace with God and our neighbour, hence the true peace with ourselves.

* * * * *

3 John, XVI: 12.4

John, XV: 17.5 The Spirits’ Book, Q. 100-113.6 The Gospel according to Spiritism, V: 4-10.7 Matthew, VI: 9.8 Matthew, V: 48.9 Mark, II: 9.10 John, X: 30.11 John, X: 16.12 I Corinthians, II: 9.13 Hebrews, XI: 6.

2



Let us seek a support to this study some subjects from'The Spirit’s Book', which comes to aid us and to develop ourspiritual knowledge; let us verify the subjects’ nºs: 171, 119,803 and 990 to 994:

Justice of Reincarnation.171. What foundation is there for the doctrine of reincarnation?

"The justice of God, and revelation; for, as we have already remarked, an affectionate father alwaysleaves a door of repentance open for his erring children. Does not reason itself tell you that it would be unjust toinflict an eternal privation of happiness on those who have not had the opportunity of improving themselves?Are not all men God's children? It is only among selfish human beings that injustice, implacable hatred, andirremissible punishments are to be found."

All spirits tend towards perfection, and are furnished by God with the means of advancement through thetrials of corporeal life; but the divine justice compels them to accomplish. in new existences, that which theyhave not been able to do, or to complete, in a previous trial. It would not be consistent with the justice or withthe goodness of God to sentence to eternal suffering those who may have encountered obstacles to their

improvement independent of their will, and resulting from the very nature of the conditions in which they foundthemselves placed. If the fate of mankind were Irrevocably fixed after death. God would not have weighed theactions of all in the same scales, and would not have treated them with impartiality.

The doctrine of reincarnation-that Is to say, the doctrine which proclaims that men have many successiveexistence-is the only one which answers to the idea we form to ourselves of the justice of God in regard tothose who are placed, by circumstances over which they have no control, in conditions unfavourable to their moral advancement; the only one which can explain the future, and furnish us with a sound basis for our hopes.because it offers us the means of redeeming our errors through new trials. This doctrine is Indicated by theteachings of reason, as well as by those of our spirit-instructors.

He who is conscious of his own inferiority derives a consoling hope from the doctrine of reincarnation. If he believes in the justice of God, he cannot hope to be placed, at once and for all eternity, on a level with thosewho have made a better use of life than he has done but the knowledge that this inferiority will not exclude himfor ever from the supreme felicity, and that he will be able to conquer this felicity through new efforts, revives his

courage and sustains his energy. who does not regret, at the end of his career. That the experience he hasacquired should have come too late to allow of his turning it to useful account? This tardily acquired experiencewill not be lost for him ; he will profit by it in a new' corporeal life.

119. Could God exonerate spirits from the trials which they have to undergo in order to reach the

highest rank? "If they had been created perfect, they would not have merited the enjoyment of the benefits of that

perfection. Where would be the merit without the struggle ? Besides, the inequality which exists between spiritsis necessary to the development 6f their personality; and, moreover, the mission which each spirit accomplishesat each step of his progress is an element of the providential plan for ensuring the harmony of the universe.”

Since, in social life. all men may reach the highest posts. we might as well ask why the sovereign of acountry does not make a general of each of his soldiers, why all subaltern functionaries are not made heads of departments, why all scholars are not schoolmasters. But there is this difference between the life of the social

and the spirit worlds, viz., that the first is limited, and does not afford to every one the possibility of raisinghimself to the highest rank whereas the second is unlimited, and ensures to every one the possibility of attainingto supreme degree.

Natural Equality803. Are all men equal in the sight of God?

3



"Yes, all tend towards the same goal; and God has made His laws for the equal good of all.You often say,'The sun shines for all;' and, in saying this, you enunciate a truth much broader, and of more generalapplication, than you think."

All men are subjected to the action of the same natural laws. All are born in the same state of weakness,an are subject to the same sufferings; and the body of the rich is destroyed like that of the poor. God has notgiven to any man any natural superiority in regard either to birth or to death all are equal in His sight.

Expiation and Repentance990. Does repentance take place in the corporeal state, or in the spiritual state?

"In the spiritual state; but it may also take place in the corporeal state, when you clearly comprehend thedifference between good and evil."

991. What is the consequence of repentance in the spiritual state?

"The desire for a new incarnation, in order to become purified. The spirit perceives the imperfectionswhich deprive him of happiness; and he therefore aspires after a new existence in which he will be able toexpiate his faults." (332; 975).

992. What is the consequence of repentance in the corporeal state? "The spirit will advance even in his present life, if he have the time to repair his faults. Whenever your

conscience reproaches you, or shows you an imperfection, you may always become better."

993. Are there not men who have only the instinct of evil, and are inaccessible to repentance?

"I have told you that progress must be incessant. He who, in his present life, has only the instinct of evil,will have the instinct of goodness in another one, and it is to effect this end that he is re-born many times. For allmust advance, all must reach the goal; but some do this more quickly, others more slowly, according to theenergy of their desire. He who has only the instinct of good is already purified, for he may have had that of evilin an anterior existence." (804.)

994. Does the perverted spirit who has not recognized his faults during his life always recognize them

after his death?

"Yes; he always does so, and lie then suffers all the more, for he feels all the evil he has done, or of whichhe has been the voluntary cause. Nevertheless, repentance is not always immediate. There are spirits whoobstinately persist in doing wrong, notwithstanding their sufferings; but, sooner or later, they will see that havetaken the wrong road, and repentance will follow this discovery. It is to their enlightenment that the efforts of thehigher spirits are directed, and that you may usefully direct your own."

* * * * *

The spiritual life is the true life, thence the will of God to have ‘allowed Jesus to come to manifest himself to the world’ 14 and to bring the Father's Doctrine who had sent him, 15 Jesus is a Pure Spirit 16 and the mostsuperior than ever has descended to the earth, serious and responsible and his mission to the world was insubjection to God and union in His Will, his mission was entirely to our favour, he never demanded anything for himself and he could say: 'the son of man doesn't even have where to lay his own head for resting', 17 exampledid Jesus give us how to live in this world be poor be rich.

He was a Spirit of divine hierarchy, but he never accepted any monarchic power worldly or temporary, he

lived amongst us as a servant and he said that: 'He came to serve and not to be served’,18

of all his exampleswe ought to follow him in our most effort, because only so we will be in the way, truth of the life.

14 John, XIV: 16.15 John, VII: 16-29.16 The Spirits’ Book, Q. 625.17 Matthew, VIII: 20.18 Matthew, XX: 28.

4



Well then, let us go straight ahead with our faith and hope in God Who created us and has never abandoned us, what best could we want in this journey throughout the earth for us, for our neighbour and for our relatives and dearer friends, than a faith and hope healthy, reliable and fair.

May God be with us as formerly, today and forever?

Let us appreciate for our meditation about Spiritism the

items 41 and 42 of the capter I, of the book 'Genesis' of Allan Kardec:

41. - Spiritism, very far from denying or destroying the Gospel, on the contrary to comes toconfirm, explain and prove it. By the new laws of Nature, that it reveals, it shows light uponthe obscure points of the teachings of Jesus, upon all that he has done and said, in such waythat those to whom certain parts of the Gospel were formerly unintelligible, or seemedinadmissible comprehend them without trouble by the aid of Spiritism, accept them, andbetter understand their importance as they are able to separate he reality from the allegory.Christ appears to them in a greater light. He is no longer simply a philosopher: he is a divine

Messiah..

42. - Besides the moral power that Spiritism wields is the importance that it gives to allactions of life. It points with its finger at the consequences of goodness and wickedness;gives moral force and courage; gives consolation in afflictions by inducing unalterableconfidence in the future, by the thought of having near one the beings that one has loved, theassurance of seeing them again, the possibility of speaking to them, the certainty that all onehas accomplished, all one has acquired, of intelligence, science, or morality till the last hour of life, nothing is lost, that all wields advancement. One finds that spiritism realizes all thepromises of Christ in regard to the consoler hat he promised to send. Now, as it is the Spiritof Truth who presides over the great work of regeneration, he promise of his coming is thus

accomplished as he is, in fact, the true Consoler , 4

__________ (4) Many fathers of families deplore the premature death of children on account of the education for which theyhave made great sacrifices, and say that it is totally lost. With a belief in Spiritism, they do not regret their sacrifices, and would be ready to make them, even with the certainty of seeing their children die; for they know

that, if the latter do not receive the benefits of each education in the present life, it will serve, first, to advancethem as spirits, then as so much of intellectual property for a new existence, so that when they shall return theywill have intellectual capital which will render them more apt in gaining new knowledge. Examples of this arethose children who are born with innate ideas, who know, as one might say without he trouble of learning. If asfathers, they have not the immediate satisfaction of seeing heir children put this education to profit, they willenjoy it certainly later, be it as a spirit or earthly beings. Perhaps they can be again their parents of the samechildren that they call happily endowed by nature, and who owe their aptitude in a former education; as also, if some children do wrong on account of the negligence of their parents, the latter may have to suffer later bytroubles and grieves which will be caused by them in a new existence.(The Gospel according to Spiritism, Chapter 5, n° 21; Premature Deaths).

5



* * * * *

(The Gospel according to Spiritism, Chapter 5, n° 21;Premature Deaths).

LOSING LOVED ONES. PREMATURE DEATHS

21. When death cuts down someone in your family, carrying off the youngest before the oldest withoutdiscrimination, you are accustomed to say that God is not just: because He sacrifices he who is strong and hasall his future before him, leaving those who have lived many years and are full of deceptions: because He takesthose who are useful and leaves behind those who are no longer able to work: because He breaks the heart of a mother by depriving her of the innocent creature who was her only joy. Humans, it is on this point that youmust lift yourselves above commonplace thoughts about life in order to be able to understand that goodness isfrequently where you judge there to be evil, and the wisdom of providence where you think you perceive theblind fatality of destiny. Why do you evaluate divine justice by you own ideas? Do you suppose that the Lord of the Worlds applies justice through mere caprice, in order to inflict cruel punishment? Nothing happens that hasnot an intelligent meaning and no matter what happens there is always a reason for it. If you scrutinize better allthe pain that redounds to you then you would surely find divine reason, regenerating reason, wherein you wouldsee the worthlessness of your interests which, as a consequence, would become so secondary as to be castinto last place.

Believe me, in the case of an incarnation of twenty years, death is preferable to any of the shamefuldissipations which bring untold distress to respectable families, break the hearts of mothers and cause parents'hair to whiten before their time. Premature death is frequently a great blessing which God concedes to thosewho depart, so preserving them from the miseries of life or the seductions which possibly occasioned the loss of life. The person who dies in the flower of youth is not a victim of fate. God judges that it is not suitable for thatperson to remain longer on Earth.

What a terrible tragedy, you say, to see the thread of life that was so full of hope, cut! To what hope areyou referring? That of the Earth? Where he who had gone could have perhaps shone or made his way andbecome rich? Always there is this restricted vision which prevents one from rising above that which is material.

Who can tell what might have been the actual fate of that life which you thought so full of hope? How do youknow that it would not have been saturated with bitterness? Do you then disdain the hopes offered by the futurelife, to the point of preferring this fleeting existence here on Earth? Do you suppose that a high position amongstmen is worth more than an elevated place amongst the blessed Spirits? Instead of complaining, rejoice when itpleases God to withdraw one of your children from this vale of miseries. Would it not be selfish to wish that theycontinue suffering at your side? Ah!

This is the pain conceived by those lacking in faith, who see death as an eternal separation! But thoseof you who are Spiritists know that the soul lives better when it is separated from its material form. Mothers,know that your beloved children are near you, yes, very near. Their fluidic bodies embrace you, their thoughtsprotect you and the remembrances that you keep delight them with happiness; but your unreasonable painafflicts them, because it reveals a lack of faith, so constituting a revolt against the Will of God.

Those of you who understand the meaning of spiritual life, listen to the beatings of your heart whencalling to these loved ones. If you ask God to bless them, you will feel great consolation, the kind which will dry

your tears; you will feel magnificent aspirations which will show you the future which our Supreme Lord haspromised. - SAMSON, ex-member of the Spiritist Society of Paris, (1863).

* * * * *

6



With the help of the reincarnation law,We are going always in a moving forward in the direction of our

happy futureWhich will be our proximity to God who is an inexhaustible source

of love and priceless affection.One and only life is not enough for our calling by Jesus in his

words 'be… perfect', 19

A lot of times we fall in the spiritual intellectual and moral way,But Jesus always encourages us and he asks us 'to get up', 20

Therefore we fall and we get up many times until we learn how tolive equilibrated with God,

As well as Jesus lived and then we could say 'I and the Father areone', 21

Because in the case of us all living together with God,It will be said like Jesus revealed to us,' there will be only oneflock and one Shepherd.' 22

In this case the revelation indicates that we will be allsubordinated to God

Voluntarily without rebelionity at the feet of His willingnesstowards us,

Because 'it did not occur our heart the things which God has keptfor them that love Him', 23

Being so we should put our hand in the hand of God and weshould have

faith and hope in Him,

19 Matthew, V: 48.20 Mark, II: 9.21 John, X: 30.22 John, X: 16.23 I Corinthians, II: 9.

7



Because without faith it is not possible to please God', 24

And to assure our peace and happiness in the future of our soul,Since for revelation or for our own intuition we know that we have

an immortal soulAnd a fevering desire to be happy in the immortality of our soul.

Extract from the study ‘parábola do semeador’ given by Martinho at CentroEspírita Joana d’Arc, São João de Meriti, RJ. a 02/ 08/ 2011.

24 Hebrews, XI: 6.

8

Documents

Parable of the Sower 02 08 2011