Connecticut western news., 1902-06-19

l once saw a woman reaping her har vest of the flesh which she had planted a fifth of century before. It was in our old Brooklyn home. The doorbell rang. I went to the door and ushered into the parlor a lady dressed in deep mourning. Her face revealed the marks of intense suffering. When my father came down in answer to my summons, the lady began to plead with him to intercede with the governor for the life of her boy. He was a young man under sentence of death. He was to be and was electrocuted within six weeks, "Dr. Talmage," she said, ''l want you to plead with the governor because my boys life is all the result of my past sins. When he was a little child, he was very sick. The doctors gave him up and said he had to die. Then knelt by my sons bed and de- fled God. I said: Q God, I will not let him die! He shall not die! You can de stroy his soul, you can destroy mine, but will not and shall not give him up Then, strange to say, Dr. Tal- mage, the boy had a sudden change to- ward physical recovery. In spite of all the doctors said, he got well. But, sir, from that minute my life was changed toward God, and now I must reap the results of my past sins in my boys execution. Oh, sir, will you not plead with the governor to pardon my boy on account of his mothers sins" That woman reaped the harvest of her cor ruption twenty-two years after the seed of sin was sown. So when we sow to the flesh sooner or later we shall all reap our earthly and eternal har- vest of agony.
 The seeds of the flesh always pro duce such great harvests that many pairs of hands instead of one pair must be employed in the reaping. One man can plant In a day what it will take a score of men the same time to reap. The sower would be helpless If he himself had to gather in all the re suits of his sowing. So every farmer has to look ahead to prepare for the harvest time. And If he is the owner of large farm he rides around the country engaging extra laborers for the reaping. When the wheat Is ripe
 
 barns right away, else the grain will fall of and the farmer will have no results from his planting but straw, which he uses for stall bedding. Six, seven, eight months of the year you may find unemployed men in the coun- try. But during harvest time every healthy man can find work and big wages, if he Is only willing to work and knows how to wield a scythe or how to tie up the sheaves of grain.
 Who are the reapers engaged be- forehand to help the sower to the flesh gather in his greatest harvest, which is to be garnered at the brink of the open grave? They are the demoniac 5 reapers. They are Satan and all his evil spirits. They are the demons that live in the impenetrable darkness of a lower world. They are the demons who will gather only the most corrupt of harvests 1t is said that the week before Mazarin, the sinful French car dinal, died he hobbled through his art galleries crying and moaning: Must leave you, oh, my beautiful pie lures? Must give you upT' And the day before he died he had himself reused and painted, and his servants passed before him and bowed an6 kissed his hand and mockingly told him how well he looked. And when the French statesman died he was bol- stered up in bed, playing . game of cardsi But when the Satanic reapers came to gather that mans hArvest of corruption they did not take along Mazarin's pictures or his cAFdinars hat, which he had disgraced. They only took away his sinful and depraved heart Maxarin sowed to the fesh. The Satanic reapers garnered the cor ruptiOn.
 The Way of Escape.
 Well" says some discouraged soul, convicted of his past sins, what am I to do? I fully realize my. evil past. Must I die an eternal death? Is there no hope for meT' Yes, my brother, there is hope for you if you repent of your sins and throw yourself upon Christ's mercy, as wide as the forgive ness of God. I only quoted one-half of the verse from which my text was talk en. The last half of the verse reads thus. But he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlast- ing" The first half Is red light of warming flashed far out over the trou- bled sea of sin. The second half is beacon inviting you up the Narrows to the harbor of Peace.
 First, my brother, you must get your heart right for the spiritual seed plant ing. In the far east the ancient blow was made out of wood and not from iron. You must let the beam of the cross blow up your sinful heart. Then, having prepared. the ground for the spiritual seed planting, you must go to work for God with ten times, one hun dred times-aye, with a thousand times the zeal you have ever felt as disci- pie of sin. You must enlist yourself, body, mind and soul. for the gospel planting. As I said before, you can not change the past The past is dead. But. oh, by the power of the Holy Spir- 1t you can splritualize the future! You can make your last earthly days hon ored days in heaven and Op earth, be- cause they have been lived for God and to help your sinful fellow man. "Whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely" That means you; that means me. We can all come.
 "No," you answer, q will not, can not. dare not come to Christ now. I have had too black past. I have sown too many evil seeds to the flesh. I feel a great deal like that young col lege boy who was dying from an acci- dent in Edinburgh. When the chap lain knelt by his bedside and said, My l lad, will you repent of your sins and look to ChristT he answered: No, sir. I have served the devil all my life, and served him well, and now at this last moment would not be so mean as to | ask Christ to take my broken down body and my wreck of life. No, sir. I would not be so mean"