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''"And some  fell  upon  good  ground  and  sprung  up  and yielded  fruit  a  hundred-fold.  Now  the  good  ground  are they  who,  in  a  good  and  perfect  heart,  hearing  the  word  keep it,  and  bring  forth  fruit  in  patience" — Luke viii. 8, 15.

Ex. : I.  Farm. II. Will it  pay? III. Number of  elect.

I. Mystery:  1. Theologians and  Index. 2. Christ's  reply. 3. Many  called,  few  chosen.

II. Study of  men :  1. Unbelievers and  believers. 2. Heretics and  Catholics. 3. Good,  bad.

III. Study of  Saviour:  1. Why He  came. 2. Attitude  towards sinners. 3. Crescendo  of  love.

Per. : 1.  Courage. 2. Love  for  God. 3. Charity  for  men.

Brethren, the  old-fashioned  New  England  farm is a  fairly  good  picture  in  miniature  of  God's  spiritual estate in  the  hearts  of  men. There are  long  stretches of highway,  hills  rocky  and  barren,  patches  of  unreclaimed brushwood,  and,  finally,  some  acres  of  arable land. And, as  with  the  farm,  the  all-important  question is:  "  will  it  pay?  "  so  with  God's  earthly  estate the question  of  greatest  moment  is:  "which  is greater  in  area,  the  productive  soil  or  the  barren? " In the  autumn,  the  harvest  of  time,  what  will  be the  relative  proportion  of  the  wheat  and  the  chaff? In other  words,  on  the  great  judgment-day,  which will be  numerically  greater — the  blessed  company  of the  elect  or  the  woeful  throng  of  the  reprobate?