SERMON XII.

THE SEED UPON GOOD GROUND.

LUKE, CHAP. VIII. ver. 8.

"And other fell on good ground, and sprang up and bare fruit an hundred fold."

THIS Concluding portion of the parable of the sower is one of agreeable contemplation to those and they are unquestionably many-to whom it will more immediately apply. It was no doubt intended to be a subject of agreeable contemplation to them, for our blessed Saviour, upon earth, was always more ready to comfort the righteous than to depress the wicked; as he is now, in heaven, far "more ready to hear than we to pray, and is wont to give more than either we desire or deserve." We discover the strong features of his unstinted and unmeasured mercy in the words of our text. We shall observe that he does not restrict the operation of the Gospel blessings, but diffuses them widely. He does

not limit the number of those who, having performed, nearly up to the capability of their infirm nature-and He seeks no more-the stipulations of His covenant, will be received into their Saviour's glory. Every act of His most gracious providence, demonstrates the excess of His love, which is ever in full operation over the vast tract of the universe. Millions of souls will enjoy eternal communion with Him in heaven, for it is impossible to imagine that a few only should enjoy this eternal privilege, when he died in the flesh to extend it to all. As it was beheld in the vision at Patmos, "a great multitude which no man can number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, shall stand before the throne and before the Lamb, saying, "Blessing and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever."

Though all shall not inherit the joys of an eternal futurity, multitudes will. This inference is, I think, fairly deducible from the textthough faintly, still distinctly. The same term, you will observe, is applied to the seed which fell upon good ground, as to that which fell by the way-side, upon a rock, and among thorns. Some fell on each of these places. Some likewise fell upon good ground. All grew save the first portion. The subsequent failure was owing to neglect, not to any defect either in the seed or in the sowing. All might have been made to produce, more or less abundantly.

We may reasonably conclude, from the exposition here given by our Saviour of a very important doctrine, that the portion of human kind who may receive, or have received, "the sealing of the Spirit," as the Apostle terms it, by which they are marked as God's people, is not confined to a small number, specially chosen for this high privilege, but extends to a very large multitude: let us hope, for it is at least allowable to hope this-to the great mass of mankind. We have strong ground for such hope, because it is evident from the parable, that all the seed might have been rendered productive, by an efficient application of means, and that it did not become so, only because those means were not employed. Christ did not intend His hearers to understand that the class of sinners, mentioned even in the first section of the parable, are irretrievably lost. He only means to point out their extreme peril, and the necessary consequence which it involves, namely, active endeavours, under God, to escape from it. For, although these, when they hear, are immediately assailed by the devil, who "cometh and taketh the Word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved," it does not therefore of necessity follow that none of them are saved. they permit him to take the Word out of their hearts, and do not recover it, they are no doubt lost; but if they resist him, he will flee from them. Though he

Such is the divine assurance.

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assails and even overcomes them, they may still finally conquer through Christ, and the best among us can only conquer through Him. It is true that, when thus assailed, their danger is imminent, nevertheless, though frequently seduced and betrayed, they may not be destroyed. They may be beguiled by Satan, but not be abandoned by God. They may consequently turn from the one to the other. They may relinquish their chain and still accept that liberty with which Christ has made all His true adherents free. They may still "turn from their wickedness and live," in spite of all the wiles, of all the malignity, of all the power of their inveterate foe. However beleaguered, they may employ the weapons of Christ's warfare, and escape" through the power of the Holy Ghost." If they relinquish the service into which they have been enthralled, and return to their true Lord, who is "righteous in all His ways and holy in all His works," verily they shall have their reward, and that reward will be eternal glory.

Neither are they, included in the second part of the parable, eternally lost, who, "when they hear, receive the word with joy, and these, having no root, for a while believe, but in time of temptation fall away." Though these do fall away, it is not necessarily and absolutely consequential that they should perish everlastingly. The Word is still with them. The seed is still upon their hearts. The stony places, there