discern in the internal creations of mind? Yes, if the Lord has, in his wisdom, enabled us to penetrate the hidden secrets of earthly things, let us have but a firm faith and confidence in Him, and in the teachings of his Word, "and we shall see greater things than these." (John i. 50.) No astonishment ought to be expressed when it is asserted that within the letter of God's Word are contained spiritual treasures, and a Divine sanctity which leads the mind upward to the contemplation of angelic wisdom, and thence onward to the Life Divine.
The first leading truth we discover in this beautiful parable is the universality of God's providence to all the human race without exception; this stands prominently forth. The Lord, in ver. 19, explains the meaning of the seed, and calls it "the Word of the kingdom;" consequently the pure truths of Revelation are the heavenly seeds. These are given for the universal benefit of all, not for the few only. The Divine Sower did not pass by the way-side, the stony place, and thorny district, to sow the seed only on good ground; but it is said that when he sowed, some fell by the wayside, some upon stony places, some among thorns, and some on good ground. The seed thus fell on all alike, to instruct us that the truths of heaven are given to all, and are the same to and in all; but being variously received, according to the state of each one's mind or ground, the effects are different. Truth is only productive when received in the good honest heart, which is expressed by the good ground that brought forth its hundred, sixty, or thirty-fold. Heavenly Truth meets amongst men with four kinds of reception. Those of the way-side are such as have
