119

SERMON V.

ON THE INSEPARABLE CONNECTION BE

TWEEN THE HABITS OF THE PRESENT

AND THE HAPPINESS OF THE FUTURE
LIFE.

Gal. vi. 7, 8. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the spirit, shall of the spirit reap life everlasting.

Ir is evident even to a superficial observer, that the natural world is governed by stated laws. Day and night, seed-time and harvest, succeed each other in their appointed

seasons.

The fruits of the earth grow, decay and are reproduced, with a regularity that never fails. Both animal and vegetable life is continued, in all its varieties, by the simple, yet wonderful ordination of each seed

and

and each living creature's generating its own kind; so that amidst endless variety, there shall be neither confusion, nor redundance, nor uncertainty. The regularity of the moral world, though not so apparent to common observation, is established upon a similar plan. Certain laws are fixed by infinite wisdom, for the government of the one, as well as of the other; and the more closely we examine them, the more decided will be our conviction, that their operation is constant and universal. It is not more true in the economy of nature, that every seed produces its like, than it is in the economy of mind, that the implanting of certain principles, and the growth and improvement of certain dispositions, will be followed by a consequent train of moral effects. The mind, indeed, is a complex machine; and owing to its greatly diversified and seemingly inconsistent movements, the result of individual dispositions is not so easily ascertained. But each has its result, both singly and in combination; and in proportion as the whole is well or ill ordered, the general result will be happiness or misery.

This law is not restricted to a present state; for the apostle in our text expressly affirms, that it will determine our future condition; that this condition will be the natural consequence of our conduct and temper, as much as the harvest is the natural consequence of the sowing. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. He that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the spirit, shall of the spirit reap life everlasting."

Those who are at all acquainted with the style of our apostle need not be told, that "tó be carnally minded; to live to the flesh; to sow to the flesh," are phrases used by him to denote a worldly, sensual life, independent of religion, and inconsistent with that faith in the doctrines of the gospel, which he was preaching and inculcating. On the contrary, "to be spiritually-minded, to live to the spirit, to sow to the spirit," is to cherish the growth of the intellectual and moral man; to delight in the knowledge of those truths, and in the practice of those virtues, which constitute the support, the health, and the safety of the spiritual nature.

Now,

Now, according to the text, he who lives this worldly, sensual life, “shall of the flesh reap corruption." He shall find that instead of salutary nourishment, he has been accumulating rottenness, disease, and death, both bodily and mental; whilst he who lives the life of religion, cherishing the devout and social affections, and keeping in subjection all the disorderly passions of his nature, "shall of the spirit reap life everlasting;" and that by a result as natural and as sure, as the husbandman reaps grain of the same kind with that which he committed to the earth.

What I propose in addressing you from the text at this time is,

I. To show, that the apostle's view of a future state, and particularly of future happiness, as being the natural produce of our present temper and habits, is the only view which reason sanctions or revelation teaches.

II. To point out some conclusions regarding both doctrine and practice, which the subject readily suggests.

FIRST, Let us inquire, whether the apostle's assertion in the text be consonant to reason.

And here we take it for granted, that there will be a state of retribution, according to the testimony of Scripture, and the expectation of all mankind. Without this supposition, the moral world would be a chaos of darkness and incongruity, of which no rational account could be given, no satisfactory vindication offered. Even when this supposition is admitted, it will go but a little way, to reconcile the plan of Providence to our ideas of consistency and beauty, unless we connect it with the doctrine of the text. Grant with some, that the selection for happiness or misery, instead of being determined by a known law, were to be made by a decree, which can be known only to God; would this appear an appropriate retribution? Or would it be an appropriate encouragement to undergo the labours and mortifications of a probationary state? In this case, indeed, it would be an abuse of language to call it probationary; for that only can be deemed a state of probation, in which there is a necessary connection between

the