Next in order comes the thorny-ground hearer.  He may be a man of talent, perhaps a genius.  Naturally thoughtful and ambitious, he covets both wealth and honors.  He is not entirely forgetful of the claims of religion upon him.  He goes to church with his family; behaves genteelly; invites the ministers to his house, and entertains them very hospitably.  He thinks religion a very good thing in society, and one that ought to be encouraged.  You often hear people say of him:  “What a pity he is not a member of the church:  how much good he could do!” In all matters of public interest he takes an active part.  During an electoral canvass he is all astir, and wonders how any one can be indifferent at such a time, or even show a moderate degree of coolness.  He is a useful man in society, and his loss would be keenly felt by the community.  The real trouble with this man is akin to that of all the rest.  It has its seat right in the WILL.  He loves the world, and the world loves him; and to hold his place in society he must comply with its demands.  He must not be scrupulous about small matters.  He must take a drink with a friend.  If invited to take part in some pastime or popular amusement, even if it be of doubtful moral character, he dare not decline the invitation.  If memory should even blow the ashes from some live coals of truth, and conscience remonstrate, he must ignore all weakness of that kind.  Such and such-like are the thorns that choke the Word, and it brings no fruit to perfection.

Last, but not least, comes the good-ground hearer.  I have reason to believe that most of you know him from your own experience; therefore I will not describe him here.  But before I conclude I desire to direct your attention to a few points more in the line of my thought.

Who is to blame or to incur the responsibility for the failures of fruit in the three classes of hearers given in the parable?  Some say the devil is to blame, because he throws every obstacle and impediment that lies in his power in the way of the growth of the seed.  Others say the Lord is to blame for not having made the ground better by nature.  Others again say—­and these say what is true—­that the hearers are to blame.  The Word came with just as much power to these unfruitful classes as it did to the good-ground hearer.  “But it was not mixed with faith in them that heard.”  Whose fault was it that they did not believe?  Manifestly their own.

I fully believe that man’s will is free.  And I do also believe in my very soul that it would be the pleasure of the Lord to save every human being born into existence.  “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live.  Make you a new heart and a new spirit:  for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” Ezekiel 33:11 and 18:31.