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I want you to go with me in thought and spirit while I try to reproduce the lessons taught me in the rustling language of the standing corn. "Let us go forth into the field."

I. HERE ARE REVELATIONS FROM GOD. I feel myself to be in the presence of my Creator; and all the questionings of doubt, and all the vain philosophies of the sceptic, vanish like the morning mist. My intellect, my conscience, my heart, my instinct if you will, prompts with remembrance of a present God. In this bright field of waving corn I see His power. What mighty forces are here at work! I see His wisdom. What harmony in the whole operations, with never a collision, accident, or blunder! What exact adaptation of means to an end! I am led to say with Cowper, "There lives and works a soul in all things, and that soul is God." I see His goodness. Not only has its wise Contriver had in view its useful service, but He has clothed it with rare, refreshing beauty. I see His faithfulness. After the desolating flood, God declared that hence on for ever "summer and seedtime, autumn and harvest should not cease." Since then thousands of years have passed, stars have fallen, mountains have been engulfed, nations have perished, mighty changes have been wrought, but this rich, ripe field of standing corn in every waving stem declares the steadfast faithfulness of God.

II. LIFE COMES OUT OF DEATH. Out of death and decay come life and beauty! Behold, I show you a mystery! A few months ago this bright field of teeming life was a graveyard, and every individual grain died, and was buried here, in sure and certain hope of a glorious resurrection. In due time the trumpet of the spring winds announced the grand arising day, and here the dead-alive are standing arrayed in bright raiment and clad in a glory that excelleth. Standing here, the mystery of the resurrection, it is true, remains, but the impossibility dies out for ever! The cemetery is the field of God. I hear the winds of heaven making music through the standing corn; and this is the burden of their song, "Sown in dishonour and raised in glory!"

III. LIKE COMES FORTH FROM LIKE. This heavy crop of wheat is all the outcome of scattered wheat, and no other kind of plant could possibly arise. As the tall corn rustles beneath the light autumnal wind I hear it say, "What a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

IV. MUCH COMES FROM LITTLE. In a small compass of bag and basket was the seed-corn contained! What spacious yard, capacious barn, and extensive granary will be required to hold the vast result! Mark you, it would have been much the same had cockle, tares, or darnel been scattered on the soil. Little seeds bring great harvests, in some thirty —, in some sixty —, and in some a hundred-fold. "Despise not the day of small things."

V. FRUIT COMES FROM LABOUR. This field of waving wheat is the farmer's fee for hard and willing work. You will find the truth hold good in your own daily labour, your handicraft, your profession, or your trade. You will find, too, that diligent effort will bring into your bosom rich sheaves of saving grace; that hard labour in the Church or the school, Christ's great field of toil, will bring harvests of spiritual success.

VI. WITH PROGRESS COMES MATURITY. .As you look at this field now, remember what it was. From the day the life-germs broke through their decaying shells, advancement has been the order of the day, flint the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear, then the ripe and mellow grain ready for the garner. Little by little, higher and greener, stronger and riper, ever maturing, ever progressing, until the stage of perfection is reached at last. It is so in the moral world. Constant progression in evil fits the sinner at last for the hopeless destiny of the oven and the fire. Growth in grace brings maturity of Christian character. Faith and hope and love grow stronger, brighter as the years go by. The life grows purer and more like the great Exemplar as the harvest-time draws near, until the shock of corn is garnered, being made meet for the paradise of God.

VII. ADVANTAGE COMES FROM TRIAL. As you look upon this sea of waving glory you remember that once it was as naked as the highway. Think of the bitter winds that swept it, the biting frosts, the drenching rains, the cutting ploughshare, the tearing harrow, the crushing roller, and all the severity of discipline required. Then came the hard fortunes of the tender plant, scorched and tossed, and battered by wind and sun, until it lay limp, flaccid, and yellow on the ungenial ground; and yet all these adverse seemings had a part in producing the golden glory that waves in triumph now. It is just so in the Lord's spiritual and human field; crosses, trials, reverses, and disappointments are all necessary preliminaries and preparatories to the joy of harvest.

VIII. DESTINY COMES FROM CHARACTER. By and by the reapers will put in the sickle. What for? In order that the prostrate crop may be trodden under foot or bundled for the fire? No, no. It is wheat, precious and good, therefore its destiny is the barn, and even the gleanings shall be gathered and housed with care. The weeds, the thistles, these are noxious and must feel the fire. Their character is bad, and that decides their destiny. O men and women! your character shall decide yours.

IX. FRUITION COMES FROM FAITH. Many months ago, the farmer set to work here, but he could exercise but small control; for aught he knew the land might have lost its fertility, or the seed might have lost its germinating power. Perhaps the sun might forbear to shine, or the rain to fall. There might be no return for all his anxious care. But he had faith: faith in the soil, faith in the seed, faith in the sun, faith in the sure processes that he could neither control nor understand. He had faith and patience, too, and all this sterling gold is his reward, Learn the lesson: God's promise cannot fail. No good deed is lost. Incorruptible seed cannot die.

X. THE SEEN COMES FROM THE UNSEEN. The buried corn was hidden. What was going on beneath the surface was hidden from human ear and eye. What is going on? You do not know. What kind of seed is it? You cannot tell. How much will there be from it? You cannot possibly predict. It is all secret, hidden — as secret, my friend, as the thoughts of your heart, as the secret sins of your life, as the germ or bias of evil in your nature. It is as secret, Christian, as the depth of your loyalty and love, the private deeds of godly sacrifice, brave endurance, pious beneficence, closet prayers. But wait a while; the secret of the soil is revealed; the day hath declared it: and this fair field is the answer for all the world to read. "There is nothing hidden that shall not be known."

XI. GAIN COMES FROM OPPORTUNITY. If the farmer had let the ploughing season pass, if he had permitted the sowing season to slip by, no such glorious sight as this golden treasure would have gladdened his eye. No; he caught the season while it lasted, he seized the opportunity while he had it. Last winter was the parent of this success; last spring was the foster-mother of this field of corn. He turned to use the precious present; he put out to usury the golden now; and this is the usury that has come of it, this golden guerdon, this wealth of grain. Don't you hear every bended head, as the bright field shimmers in the wind, saying "What thine hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, etc."?

XII. ALL COMES FROM GOD. That's the crowning lesson. His the soil, the seed, the sower, the sun, the success. All are the absolute gift of His gracious providence and tender love.

(J. J. Wray.).

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KJV: Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.

WEB: Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field. Let us lodge in the villages.