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 the growth of vegetation, and to trees putting forth leaves, blossoms, and fruits.

The promise, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy," is replete with consolation; for where is the Christian, now reaping with joy the blessings and advantages of spiritual religion, who cannot look back to the time when he began to sow in tears? Weeping and shedding of tears, signify grief of mind on account of the prevalence of false principles of religion; for these keep the mind unenlightened, and draw the man aside from the light of truth and from his best interests. False doctrines of religion give a false colouring to the character of the Almighty, and lead men to look for salvation by some vicarious sacrifice, rather than in the purification of the heart from interior defilement. To the man who is in earnest in seeking truth, that he may be led to holiness of life, and thence to God, the false principles of vain philosophy, or of a ceremonial religion, can give no real ground of hope—no inward consolation or joy: he sighs for the truth that is rational and convincing, that will open his mind to a perception of heavenly realities, and that will give to him a peace which the world cannot take away. When the truths of Revelation, as the precious seed of the kingdom, are first received, they are as the good seed sown by the Lord; but the false principles of the carnal mind, which have long occupied but too much of the spiritual ground of his heart, are the tares sown by the wicked one. Man, when he first receives the truths of heaven, perceives what a barren waste falsehood has made upon his mind; he is led into grief on account of the long absence of truth, and this first reception of the true