The record-union., 1891-04-19
SOWING AND REAPING.
An Exemplihcation of the Great Laws
of Life and Destiny.
An Interesting Sermon on the Subject
by Rev. j. f. Won Herrlich, of
st. Paul's Church.


sermon on the following text: BE not
deceived; God is not Knocked; for what
soever man soweth that shall he also
reap. He that soweth to the flesh, shall
of the flesh reap corruption, but he that
soweth to the spirit shall of spirit reap
life everlasting" g."-(Gal. vi, and 81 e.
In the course of his remarks the rev.
erend gentleman said: Just as the rivers
How to the sea, so everything in society
and life constantly tends in a certain di-
rection-toward certain accomplishments.
And this is not SO simply because Christ
said it. but because he based his state
ment, as he always did, on the eternal
nature of things and processes. He did
not originate truth but interpreted and
made truth clear and plain for US. Like
arithmetic, when it says twice two are
four, it does not make the fact but formu-
lates it for us. It would be the same if
there was not an arithmetic in existence.
Now, IN our text for this evening, we
have great general law that is always
working in lie, defined and formulated.
And the first point in this analogy is that
we must reap what we SOW. From the
East comes a story that one Lukman, a
slave, was sent into the field by his mas
ter TO sow barley, but instead of that he
planted oats; and when the time of
harvest come, his master called him and
said: did not tell you to SOW barley?"
'Oh, yes" But, then, why did you SOW
oats?" Because" replied he, there are
so many months between the sowing and
the reaping, that I thought when the
harvest came, 1 should have barley"
But, fool Am l a greater fool" re-
piled he, with the eye of reproof fixed
upon his master, than the man who has
not learned that when he sows the seeds
OF sin and evil, he must also reap har-
vest of eyil?"
Now, this is just what our text says: {:
| Whatsoever a man soweth that same
shall he also reap" We can see it more
clearly in our dealings with those about
us, because then the harvest is near at
hand and we can see its workings. The
man who SoWS anger, reapS anger; the
man who sows hatred, reaps hatred: the
man who sows love and kindness, reaps
love and Kindness from others. We re-
ceiVe very much what we give. Society is
rehexive-like the echo, it gives back
pretty much what we send it, the soft
tone or the harsh one. All the moods and
humors of our lives rebound, and we are
smitten when we smite, and we are
caressed when we caress. And here we
plainly see the sequence because the har-
vest follows close in the wake of the
sowing. Whatsoever a man sows he
reapS. Just that-love for love, kind
lmpatience for impatience. And, although
there may be longer period between the
sowing and the harvest, this law is Just
as true when we are dealing with our
own natures.
And we make a great mistake if we
imagine that when the apostle speaks of
sowing to the flesh he means only the
grOSSer immOralitieS which we DESIGNATE
as the sins of the flesh. Yes, he means
those. but more than that. We all can
form an idea of hereditary taint and the
physical loss and suffering that fastens
itself upon the material body-the result
of broken laws and past sins and dissipa-
tionS.
But to others, also, who would not stoop
to these unclean sins, this text conveys
its message. The word ''hesh'' here
means everything that is opposed to the
spiritual nature. You who are neglecting
to make the development of your higher
and spiritual natures the chief aim of
your Hves-yOu who think chiefly of
frivolity or worldly success and ambi-
tiOns-you are sowing to the flesh, and
you will reap just what you are sowing;
just that, and there will be your final retri-
button. Ambition, drinking as of sea
water, more and more, yet never satisfied,
and at last dying still thirsty. The love
Of money-more and more love for it. un-
til the once God-hke man becomes a
pinch-faced, unhappy slave to the Moloch
even worse, a proud and heartless tyrant,
with the sweetness and tenderness of
earlier days all eaten out or burnt to
ashes. The punishment of friyolity is in
more and more friVOlity, until all concep-
tions of the grandeur and nobility of life
and destiny, with its powers and posi-
| bilities, fade away, and the man or the
| woman becomes simply a spiritual imbe-
Gle, whose highest thought Is to be pleased
for the passing moment.
The reward-the penalty-is inherent
Do you not see their processes and re-
suits Ill human nature about yOu-Some
growing sweeter, tenderer, nobler; others
more sinful, hard, restless, or ennuied
| For the reward or penalty must be with
III, and have its play inside the circle of
our own natures, because we have no per-
manent relations with things on the out
side. There are but two abiding realities
God and self. All else is phenomenal
and transient. And so all through life
the punishment of sinfulness will be
greater sinfulness; of drink, more drink;
of bitterness, more bitterness; Of Hcen-
tiousness, more Righteousness; and in all
this there is nothing arbitrary; it is but
| the natural workings of the laws that
govern Gods great moral universe.
When the Bishop of Paris was arrested
in 1871 by the Commune, with his head
white with age and his kindly face BEAM
ing with tenderness, he asked of them !:
And what will you have. my children ?"
But they answered: wv e are your superb
ors; speak not so to us. Who are you I"
And he said: II am the servant of the
Living God" ''And where is God ?"
Everywhere ~ So they issued a war
rant, in scoffing mockery for the arrest of
one God, who is everywhere. But that
order was never executed; and, my
friends, before we can set at naught the
eternal laws of our moral and spiritual
natures and thus mock Him who or
dained them, we must first prove our
selves superior to that God who is every
where! Until then the law of God will
be THAT we must eat of the fruit of our
own way" We cannot change Gods
plans and methods. Great moral laws
have universal sweep. Just as gravita-
ton is the same here as in the far off star
series; and as righteousness is the same
in this life as in the life beyond this; so
the great leading operations of our moral
natures must be the same in all times and
all conditions Of existence.
Take faith. The assimilating power of
faith is, that it makes those who believe
like that which they believe in. A mold
ing process goes on. Faith is the work
man, and the object of our faith is the
pattern. Starting down in the feelings
and affections, it works outward until
the external man becomes in form, feature
and expression like his absorbing
thought or passion. We see it every day!
We meet men in whose very faces we see
aVarice, lust or cOnceit as plainly as
though it were printed upon the fore
heads! They have felt and thought so
long under the power of such motives,
that they are made over into their image
and likeness. The man who is cunning
and crafty, or hard and avaricious, bears
it upon his features. The medieval saints
| who Spant Ionc dayS and niphtS in con-