The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1868-05-13
FOR THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN.
Sowing to the Flesh and Reaping Cor
ruption.

here and our destiny hereafter, a connec-
ton like that which exists between SOW
ing and reaping. The opinions we ex-
press, the habits we form, and the inhu-
ence we exert cannot be restricted 10 the
present life. Was the influence of Mar
tin Luther circumscribed by the duration
of his natural life, or restricted to the
sixteenth century? Has Voltaire ceased
to live, or will he ever die! Both these
men sowed while they lived, they sowed
for eternity. and are now reaping and
will forever reap, both in quantity and
quality, that which they sowed. The
Saviour taught this truth with great per-
tinence and force, when he asked, "Do
men gather grapes of thorns or figs of
thistles p
The connection existing between cause
and effect is no less real and uniform in
the moral than in the natural world (;
and he who should expect to find thorn
bush bearing clusters of luscious grapes
is no less wise, than he who expects
life of sin to yield harvest of joy and
peace God has impressed upon mans
moral constitution law by which it is
rendered certain that "he who soweth
to the flesh, shall of the flesh, reap cor
rupton." Illustrations of this law may
be seen every day and every where.
Does not the spendthrift reap what
and as he sows When young
man is seen wasting with FOOLS pro-
digality the products of fathers econ
omy and toll, is 1t not safe to say that
unless he alter his course, want of char
acter and want of funds must be the re-
suit? On the other hand, when one is
seen holding his money with the grasp of
avarice-grinding the faces of the poor
that he may add field to field and house
to house, contributing little or nothing
to the cause of benevolence or piety, he
sows money and he ordinarily reaps
money. He increases his worldly store,
becomes rich in this worlds goods, but he
reapS nothing else.
The ambitious man esteems the praise
of men more highly than the favor of
God. He shapes his course accordingly.
Places of trust and authority pass before
his excited imagination with dazzling
brightness. Ordinarily he succeeds
He sows and he reaps. But he reaps
"nly what he had previously sown.
The head of a family, when old, gen.
orally finds striking correspondence be-
tween the character and the condition of
those he has reared to maturity, and the
Instructions he gave them, the example
he set before them and: the influence he
exerted over them in early life.
This being apparent now, it is safe to
infer the same connection exists in the
eternal world. AS long as the eye can
follow the dying sinner it sees him reap
ing as he sowed, and so it will be forever.
Neither Scripture nor reason warrants
the belief that there will be either sus-
pension or alteration of this law in the
coming world. On this view there seems
to be more of dread solemnity in living
than in dying. The latter is but the ma
turing of the fruit which had been grow
ing and ripening through life. In death
we only consummate the plans, purposes
and principles which we had been form
ing and cultivating while we lived.
By sowing to the flesh is meant living
with supreme reference to the present
world-using our worldly goods, employ
ing our time and talents mainly to graft
fly our feshly appetites and passions.
Such for instance as forming associations,
entering into relations with views and
from motives which are selfish and sensu-
al. Even the piOus young man who
studies law or medicine, or becomes a
farmer or merchant, in preference to pre-
paration for the Gospel ministry because
the former professions are more highly
esteemed by the world, or more lucrative
than the latter-every such young man
sows to the flesh, and may we'll doubt the
reality and be assured of the deficiency
of his piety.
The parent who exposes his son or
daughter to the influence of grossly ire
ligious society, merely because that socie.
ty is deemed fashionable, sows to the
flesh, and would not act so foolishly nor
so wickedly in sending that son or daugh-
ter into region where the plague OF
cholera ragged, in search of supposed en-.
joyment.
The father who commits his children tc
the instruction of teachers whose charac
ter is unsound, or whose religious princi
plies are corrupt, mainly because these
teachers work cheap, or have some repu
tation for secular learning, plainly de
clares by so doing that he esteems the in
tellect and even the purses of his chill
dren of more consequence than theil