arers?" I say such need not be lost. There is salvation for such as
truly as for any, if they avail themselves of the proffered gifts. It
is wrong teaching, together with the influence of bad examples and bad
habits, that has made them to be the kind of ground they are. Here is
a lesson for all. Parents, if you desire your children to become good
ground, train them up in the way they should go: and when they are old
they will not depart from it.

There is another all-important truth bearing upon this connection of
my subject; and that truth is that "our Father, God, is the
husbandman." He is the great Farmer of souls, and "with God all things
are possible." It is a thing of very common occurrence, inside the
different denominations, for their members to backslide, as they call
it. This is not because they could not continue faithful, but it is
from a lack of the true knowledge of God, and a want of reliance upon
him, and looking in prayer to him. The divine teachings are very clear
on this point in the Christian's life. If an individual will repent,
believe the Gospel, and be baptized for the remission of sins, leave
off, that is, shun and forsake all evil ways and deeds as sins against
God, he has the blessed assurance that he will be led into all
necessary truth. Notice this: "If any man will do his will, he shall
KNOW of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of
myself." Again: David says: "Light is sown for the righteous, and
gladness for the upright in heart." And Solomon says: "The path of the
just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the
perfect day." And our Lord applies the prophecy of Isaiah: "The people
which sat in darkness saw a great light." He was the great Light which
they saw, but they saw him and heard him by going to him.

There can, I think, be no doubt that some have stronger temptations to
evil than others. Bad habits, encouraged by long indulgence and
fostered by strong natural appetences, are hard to get rid of. But the
faith that worketh by love, and purifieth the heart, gets strong
enough to remove these mountains of sin; yea, strong enough to enable
a man even to _hate_ his own sinful life.

I have known men to reason and conclude from this parable that God is
partial. They speak on this wise: "If the different kinds of ground
symbolize or represent the different natures and dispositions of men
with respect to believing and obeying the Word, then all have