The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-10-08

tnan TO become heavenly minded. Yt
costs less to indulge an appetite than tt
does to gain the peace Of lulled passion.
ana hence, when mep feel that for the
spiritual blessing, the bread must be
cast upon the waters which shall not be
tound until many days (skeptical whis.
pers ever), it is quite intelligibIe whv
they choose the visible and palpabl,.
instead of the invisible advantage and
plan for an immediate harvest rather
than distant one.
Ihe other life is that OF the flesh. The
"nesh" includes all desires Of our unre-
newed nature-the harmless as we'll as
sinful. Any labor, therefore, which is
bounded by present well-being is sow
Ing to the fesh-whether it be the graf
ihcation of an imms diate impulse or the
long contrived plan reaching forward
over many years. Sowing to the flesh
includes, therefore,
FIRST. Those who live in open riot. He
sows 70 the flesh who pampers its IN
ruly appetites. Do not think that 7
speak contemptuously OF our animal ma.
sure, as II it were not human and sacred.
mo lowest feelings of our nature be-
come sublime by being made the instru.
ments of our nobler emotions. Love.
seli-command, will elevate them all.
ana to enoble and purify, not to crush
them, Is the long, slow work OF Chris
tan life. Christ says Paul, is the
saviour of the body. But il, in.
stead OF subduing these to the
ire or the Spirit, man gives
10 1nem the rein and even
the spur, The result Is not Diff
ncuit to foresee. There are men who
40 thls' They make provision for the
flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof" They
whet the apetites by indulgence. They
whip the ja6ed senses to their work.
Whatever the constitutional bias NAV
De, anger, intemperance, epicurism,
Incidence, desires, there are societies,
conversations, scenes, which supply
fuei Tor the flame, as we'll as opposite
ones which cut off the nutriment. To
indulge in these, knowing the result, is
TO foster the desire which brings forth
the sin which ends in death. This is
sowing to the flesh" II there be one
TO whom those words which 1 have used,
Ve1led in the proprieties due to delicate
reserve, arc not without meaning, from
this sentence of Gods word let him
learn his doom. He is looking for ward
70 q harvest wherein he may reap the
fruit of his present anticipations. And
he shall reap it. He shall have his in.
diligence, he shall enjoy his guilty rap.
ture, he shall have his unhallowed
triumph; and the boon companions of
his pleasures shall award him the need
OF his applause. He has sown the seed
and in fair requital he shall have his
harvest. 1tis all fair. He shall enjoy But
tarry awhile: the law hath yet another
hold upon him. This deep law of the
whole universe goes farther. He has
sown to the flesh, and of the flesh he
has reaped pleasure; he has sown to the
flesh, and of the flesh he has reaped
corruption. That is, in his case. the ruin
of the soul 1t is an awful thing to see
soul in ruins, like a temple which
once was fair and noble, but now lies
overthrown, matted with ivy, weeds
and tangled briers, among which things
noisome crawl and live. He shall reap
the harvest of disappointment the
harvest of bitter, useless remorse.
The crime OF sense Is avenged !, by
sense which wears by time. He shall
have the worm that gn9ws and the fire
that is not quenched, He shall reap
the fruit Of long INDUCED desires, which
have become tyrannous at last and con-
stitute him his own tormentor. His
harvest Is soul in flames and the
tongue that no drop can cool. Passions
that burns and appetites that crave
when the power of enjoyment is gone.
He has sowed to the flesh. "God is not
Knocked" The man reaps.
Second. There is less gross way of
sowing to the flesh. There are men of
sagacity and Judgment in the affairs Of
this life whose penetration is almost
intuitive in all things where the step in
question involves success or failure here.
They are those who are called in the
parable the children of this world, wise
in their generation. They moralize and
speculate about eternity, but do not
plan for it. There is no seed sown for
an invisible harvest. II they think they
have sown for such q harvest, they
might test themselves by the question,
What would they lose IL there were to
be no eternity?" For the children Of
God, so far as earth is concerned, "If
in this life only they have hope in Christ,
then are they Of all mon most miser-
able" But they-these sagacious, pru-
dent men of this world-they nave their
reward. What have they ventured,
given up, sacrificed, which is all lost
forever, If this world be all? What have
they buried like seed in the ground, lost
forever, If there be no eternity?
Now we do not say these men are
absolutely wicked. We distinguish be-
tween their sowing to the flesh, and tho
sowing OF those prohigates last spoken
of. All we say is, there is corruption
written on their harvest. 1t was for
Garth, and with earth it persisted. 1t
may be the labor of the statesman,
planning, like the Roman OF old, the
government and the order OF the king.
doms of the earth; or that OF the
astronomer, weighing suns, prescribing
rules OF return to comets, and dealing
with things above earth in space, but
unspiritual still; or that of the son OF
humber righteousness. whose work is
merely TO provide for family, or lastly,
the narrower range of the man of