godliness; and
to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity'.

Then the ideas associated with a garden or the field are also used as
illustrations. The Bible parables from nature are very significant and
powerful. They embrace the vine and its branches, the sower and the
seed, the lily among thorns, the trees planted by the rivers of water;
and thus the facts of the spiritual realm are made clear to us.

I often speak of _the garden of the soul_. If I widen the figure, and
apply it to our personal character and general make-up, we shall see
the similitude of a garden which is a place where all sorts of things
grow; things related to the body, and to the mind, and to life
generally.

The gardener studies his ground, and the possible products and
available seed. He seeks to get rid of the weeds and briers and
poisonous plants, in order that the desired products may grow to
perfection. So the ground of our hearts and characters must be purged
from the weeds and hindering things which grow with the affections and
disposition generally. Evil things flourish apace in the garden of
human nature; but if they are removed, sanctified seed may be sown, and
holy plants may be cultivated.

The Bible also speaks of God's saints as being in '_the garden of the
Lord_', as trees which His right hand planted, or growing from seed
which He has sown, blossoming as the rose, fragrant as the honeysuckle
and almond, and bringing forth the fruits of righteousness to the glory
of His name. But whether you look at your souls as a garden, from which
evil plants are to be removed, and in which the plants of God's grace
are to flourish instead, or regard yourselves as trees in God's garden,
the ideas are always connected with growth, enlargement, and
productiveness.

Isaiah gives an illustration which is in striking contrast. Speaking of
God's idea concerning His saints, he says, 'Thou shalt be like a
watered garden, and a spring whose waters fail not'; but he supplies
another picture of those 'who forsake the Lord' after having known Him,
God saying to them, 'Ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a
garden that hath no water'. Let us look well at ourselves, and find out
to which class we belong.

The religion of Jesus Christ is pre-eminently good because it marks
things of evil growth as things to be rooted out, and it produces
qualities in the soul and character which are Christ-like, such as
love, forgivene