26 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the grouud ;
27 And should sleep, and rise night
and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knowetk not how. 28 For the earth hringeth forth
fruit of herself; first the Made, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
29 But when the fruit is "brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
The parable contained in these verses is short, and only recorded in St. Mark's Gospel. But it is one that ought to be deeply interesting to all who have reason to hope that they are true Christians. It sets before us the history of the work of grace in an individual soul. It summons us to an examination of our own experience in divine things.
There are some expressions in the parable which we must not press too far. Such are the " sleeping and rising" of the husband-man, and the " night and day " In this, as in many of our Lord's parables, we must carefully keep in view the main scope and object of the whole story, and