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 not an equal chance for salvation.  If a man (say they) has no better show for bringing forth the fruits of righteousness in a good life than the rocky or thorny ground has for bringing forth a crop of wheat or barley, he can have no show for salvation at all.”  This argument appears plausible at a first view.  And in the estimation of those who look only upon the surface of things it is convincing.  The first point of error with those who reason in this way is to be found in their belief that God has made this difference among men.  But the entire history of man, as given in the Bible, shows that men bring upon themselves these varied degrees of opposition to what is pure and good.  “God made men upright, but they have sought out many inventions,” says the prophet.  Of course he means inventions of evil things.  An apostle says:  “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”  The natural tendency of man with everything of earth