rease of faith, and patience, and humility, and love, and usefulness
in his heart and life for the Lord, if through prayer and watching--if
by denying ungodliness and worldly lusts--if by sternly crucifying the
flesh and trustfully walking with God, he may rise from thirty to sixty,
and from sixty to an hundredfold in that holy obedience which grows on
living faith.

II.

THE TARES.

"Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven
is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: but while
men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went
his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit,
then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder
came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy
field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy
hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we
go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the
tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together
until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the
reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in
bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.... Then
Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his
disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the
tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth
the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good
seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children
of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the
harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As
therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it
be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his
angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that
offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a
furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then
shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their
Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear."--MATT. xiii. 24-30,
36-43.

As the main design of the first parable is to exhibit the kingdom in its
relation to unbelieving men, who, in various forms and with various
measures of