Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1916-06-21

fully and Reap BOuntifully-SOw
Sparingly and Reap Sparingly-
Sow Choicest Seed and Reap Rich
est Grain-What Shall Our Har-
vest Be?
Indianapolis, June 11.-Pastor
Russell gave a very profitable adj
dress here today from the text, "..e
that soweth beautifully shall reap
beautifully; and he that soweth spar
ingly shall reap sparingly. - Corin-
thians 9:6
After illustrating his text from
nature, and showing that reaping
corresponds to sowing, not only in
kind, but in both quality and guam
tity, the speaker demonstrated that
the same principle applies on the
spiritual plane. Those are consecrat-
ed to God who have received His
Holy Spirit. His mind. His dispo-
sition, in proportion as they have
lived close to Him, following in their
Masters footsteps. According to the
measure in which these SOW to the
Spirit" will they reap the character
of Christ, the fruitage of the Holy
Spirit.
The text suggests that the Lord
wishes His people to sow bountifully,
but to make sure that they are SOW
Ii ing the right kind of seed. There is
principle of justice running
Throughout the entire matter. God
does not say, "Never mind what you
do; / will make it all right; for l
know that you are imperfect" The
principle constantly operates that
whoever sows good seed will reap
corresponding blessings, but whoev-
er sows evil seed may expect to reap
corresponding injury. While Christ's
merit covers the Christians unwit-
ting mistakes, it does not make up
TOR negligence, carelessness, indif"
ference as to the kind Of seed sown.
Whatsoever a man soweth, that
shall he also reap"
Before those now children of God
had left the world they found that
when they lived in accordance with
the will of the fallen human nature,
the things from which they expected
good results gave only disappoint-
ment; that anticipations were much
better than the realization. They al
so found that the following of their
own will generally yielded bad
lfruitage. They had sown wrong
thoughts; and those, in turn, brought
forth more of the same kind. Then
wrong thoughts brought forth wrong
deeds; and in time the wrong deeds
developed a wrong character. After
they became Gods children, the un-
holy character had to be demolished
and righteous character erected.
Proper Training of Children.
The Pastor then emphasized the
Importance of parental training OF
children. If mothers could only
know how much power they have IN
moulding their children's mines, how
carefully would they guard their
own mental conditions in order to
bring into the world noble, upright
children If vicious passions control,
if wrong thoughts are harbored, the
child will be born with these evil
tendencies. and no matter how hard
he may try in after years to develop
noble character, he must battle
against these evil tendencies through
out life. The father also has special
responsibility along this line. If he
would have noble offspring, not only
should he be noble himself, but he
should see that the mother has prop
er associations, environment, care and
attention
Peculiar responsibility in this di-
rection rests upon Christian parents.
AS they come to see the principles
of Gods government. their minds
should be filled with thoughts OF JUS
tice, righteousness, love. These
thoughts should be reflected upon
their children, who would thus be
taught of God. Weakness, gentleness,
patience, long-suffering, kindness,
love are traits that parents should
lcdTeIully culliSdtc. ihOcC diO quuN
ties of the Holy Spirit which God
expects all His children to develop
richly in heart and life.
Whatever wrong habits we may
have had before we became Chris
tians, God expects us to eradicate
these as rapidly as possible by His
grace. AS beauty of character is
manifested by parents. it will be no.
Iticed by the children; for children
iare very quick of discernment and
generally have keen sense of JUS
tice. Seemingly much Of the disre.
lspect of parents prevalent today and
1.-The neglect of parents in their Old
lage result from parental neglect In
learlier days. Many parents are reap
ling the harvest of their own failure
to train their children properly early
in life.
Gods Children Carefully Trained.
What is thus true of children II
true Of Christians as Gods children
AS soon as we enter His family. he
puts us to school, daily to learn les
sons of meekness, patience, gentle
ness, Observation-Disclosures, love. Thus
we become like our Lord Jesus, WHIT
always delighted to do the Father!
will. 1t is well for us as Christians
III