The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1892-03-26
SOWING WILD OATS.
Whatsoever a Man Soweth, That
Shall He Also Reap"
Entertaining and Forcible Lecture De-
livered by Rev. j. b. Silcox at
Congregational Church.

at the Congregational Church, which has
Been commented upon SO much during
the week that we herewith present it in
full:
Be not deceived; God is not Knocked, for
whatsoever q man soweth, that shall he also
Jeap.-Gdl. Vi, 2.
/ want to carry your reason and your
conscience with me as / discuss this
statement OF divine truth. The truths OF
revelation are truths of reason. They
are addressed to our reason, and our
reason admits the reasonableness of them.
When the light shines from the sun, the
eye welcomes and responds to it. The
light was made for the eye and the eye
for the light. They are mated. So Gods
truth and mans mind are mated. The
mind needs truth, the soul needs re-
ligion, as the body needs food.
The primary truths OF religion are self
evident truths. They are what aXioms
are in mathematics. They only need to
be stated in order to carry conviction
with them. No elaborate argument is
needed. The clear, full statement of a
divine truth is its own argument 1t will
make its way TO the heart and con-
science. BY its native inherent power it
viii compel the assent OF the reason and
the Endorsement of the conscience.
The text have read is OF such char
acter. Whatsoever a man soweth. that
Slld1l lt slSO ISd IDC ItdSOli anu COll-
science cannot do otherwise than assent
TO this revealed truth of religion. The
principle is true in the natural world.
We conclude at once that it is true in the
moral and spiritual world.
There are close correspondence be-
tween the natural world and the spirit
ual world. Both are governed accord
ing to law. There are laws operating
In the spiritual world just as truly as
there are in the world of nature.
In the minds of many religion rests
largely on authority, partly on the au-
thority of God and partly on the authority
of man, or what is about the same thing
the church. This is not wholly wrong
nor is it wholly right. 1t is more wrong
than right. Men have been told to do
this and believe that, and when they
asked the reason have been told, God has
40 commanded it or the church has so de-
cided it. The impression has gone out
that religion rests on arbitrary rules.
Man is a reasoning creature. He wants
to know the why and how of things. 1
believe that every command and prohibit
ton of God is based on the granite
foundations OF reason. The words "be-
cause and therefore, are found all
through the Bible. 1t it is not sin for a
man to ask for the reason of things. God
says let lis reason together. There is no
antagonism between faith and reason.
1t would be an immense gain to religion
to show men that there are great uni
versal laws silently operating i'll the spirit
Ilal world as there are in the physical. And
religion in the highest sense means har-
mony with and conformity to these laws
and principles. The universe is one, and
law prevails everywhere, The moral and
spiritual world is not governed by chance
or caprice any more than is the physical
world. We all understand that there are
laws operating in the world of nature.
The law of gravitation pervades this en-
tire universe. No wise man will ignore
its existence. If we regard that law and
live in harmony with it, it is our friend
and helps us. If we disregard it or yio-
late il, 1t is our enemy, and harms u.s.
And we all admit that it is well it is so.
There are laws of health if we observe
them we are rewarded; if we violate
them we are punished. If man over
eats or eats what is not digestible and be-
comes a dolorouS dySpeptic, we do not
say that God has afflicted him with this
dismal disease. We say his misery was
produced IN a natural way; it was
brought on by the disregard or violation
of hyeienic laws. So in the spiritual
world. There are and must be great uni
versal and unchanging laws operating in
the higher Kingdom. as there are in this
lower. We cannot do such Injustice to
our reason as 10 imagine that law and
order prevail in the lower sphere and
that caprice and chaos rule in the higher.
When man diSregardS or violates the
great laws that prevail in the moral and
spiritual world and suffers the legitimate
penalty that follows, we should not saw
that God has inflicted punishment on the
man. The man has brought harm on
himself. The law or moral principle that
he has transgressed has simply asserted
itself. In going contrary to law and
reason, the man went contrary TO the
constitution or plan of the universe This
world, in It's entirety, is made on plan
Ii man is fool enough to put himself in
opposition TO the plan of the universe, he
Will find that the stars in their course
will fight against him as they did against
Sisera, and he Will suffer harm. His sut-
fering is not God-inflicted, but self
imposed. IL a man transgresses the laws
OF the nation, and finds himself in the
penitentiary, he must not blame the State
Tor his cramped, uncomfortable quarters.
lie must blame himself. A man has no
light to expect that the law of grayitation
viii suspend its operation for his con-
Yenience. And he has no right to expect
that the great moral laws viii suspend
their operation for his convenience to SIM
In the light of what has been said, con-
slder the statement of the text. "Whatso-
ever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap" law which we all admit is
operative in the natural world is, we are
told, operative in the moral and spiritual
world. We are spiritually subject to the
same law that we are subject TO physic-
ally. In the natural world it is Il fixed.
lnvariable law that like produces ike.
That law was stamped on the world
at Its creation. The world was made
So The seed reproduces itself, each
after It's own kind. Sow wheat,
and you viii reap wheat, and
not elephants. Plant onions, and you
will raise onions, and not angels In
every case the harvest Will be according
10 the sowing. Peach trees never Sprang
from acorns. Aou never gathered hgs
from thistle stalks. This same law Is
absolute and universal III the moral and
spiritual world. 1t binds all and exemots
lone. There is nothing truer or more GER
tain IN GODS universe than what man
SONS he shall also reap. He that soweth
TO the flesh shall of the flesh reap corrup-
ton, but he that soweth unto the spirit
shall of the spirit reap life eternal. Every
seed viii produce its own appropriate
harvest. 1t is not God that | fear. What
! fear is the natural and inevitable work
ing out OF his laws that rule in the great
universe of God. What the sower seat
ters to-day the reaper will gather and
garner tomorrow. What the sower
SONS III time the reaper viii harvest in
eternity. And the reaper and the sower
are the same person. Listen-Y on and
and all OF us, are pouring into the
granary OF the future that which Will feed
our misery oraugment cur Joy, SO long as
we have an existence. We are day by
day making our future, determining our
destiny. What we are tomorrow de-
ponds on what we are to-day. Our future
grows ou1 OF our present. Our present
conduct and actions are the seed. The
natural consequences of our actions is the
harvest.
II would be well for each of us to think
oftener than we do of the reproductive
power of human actions. Each Thought
or act OF our life is not only the child of
soma NJ har thnuont or act hint l,aan,,,,s,