Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: LECTURE XV. SEED ON STONY PLACES; OB, THE COWAEDLT HEARER. Matt. xni. 6, 6 ; 20, 21. " Some fell upon stony places, where thej had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had Dc deepness of earth; and when the sun was up, they were scorched; ana because they had no root, they withered away." " But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution arisetb. because of the word, by and by ho is offended." "WE have contemplated the case of him who hears the word, from either custom, a vague sentiment of duty, or some other motive equally tending to make it ineffectual. The case to which we now come is different in the process, though arriving at the same fatal issue. . The seed that is to form a strong healthful stalk, requires in the soil not only the proper fertilizing qualities, but also sufficient depth to give it firmness, by both the tenacity of the root, and the quantity of nourishment it may supply. ' But many a piece of ground that has all the other requisites for fertility, is rendered useless to the tiller by its want of depth. The deep, broad, solid rock underlying, unmoistenedby the dews of heaven, impenetrated by the genial rains, unbroken by the plough, meets the tender root shooting downward through a wondrous instinct. And in fact this very proximity of the rock to the surface may tend to facilitate the first sprouting of the seed, by increasing the warmth of the soil. But when the sun begins to return northward from his southern declination, and again approaches the equator, his torrid beams become too strong for the partially nourished plant, and it withers away. This plant is ... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.