SOWING AND REAPING ｜ 撒种与收割

ENSOWING AND REAPING. Conscious, responsible living, before God and among men, implies manifold obligations and imposes definite duties—toward God, toward men, and toward the moral agent himself. Of necessity, therefore, the whole life-period is a moral sowing and reaping, and all are sowers and reapers. Hence the wide command: Eccl. 11:6. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand. The reaping is invariably like in kind to the sowing: Gal. 6:7. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 2 Cor. 9:6. He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Hos. 10:12. Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy. Job 4:8. Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same. Two diverse kinds of sowing, with differing but appropriate fruit: (1) to God and good—Gal. 6:8. He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. (2) To self and evil—Gal. 6:8. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. Prov. 1:31. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way. Prov. 22:8. He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity. Hos. 8:7. For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.

BSBGalatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.

中撒种与收割。人在神面前、在人中间自觉而负责地生活，这本身就含有多方面的责任，也加给人明确的本分——对神的、对人的、以及对这道德行动者自己的。因此必然地，人的整个一生就是一场道德上的撒种与收割；人人都是撒种的，也都是收割的。所以才有那道范围极广的命令：传道书 11:6 —— 早晨要撒你的种，晚上也不要歇你的手。所收的，必定与所撒的同类：加拉太书 6:7 —— 不要自欺，神是轻慢不得的；人种的是什么，收的也是什么。哥林多后书 9:6 —— 少种的少收，多种的多收。何西阿书 10:12 —— 你们要为自己栽种公义，就能收割慈爱。约伯记 4:8 —— 按我所见，耕罪孽、种毒害的人，都照样收割。两种相反的撒种，结出不同却各得其所的果子：（1）向神、向善撒种——加拉太书 6:8 —— 顺着圣灵撒种的，必从圣灵收永生。（2）向自己、向恶撒种——加拉太书 6:8 —— 顺着情欲撒种的，必从情欲收败坏。箴言 1:31 —— 所以必吃自结的果子。22:8 —— 撒罪孽的，必收灾祸。何西阿书 8:7 —— 他们所种的是风，所收的是暴风。

EN[We cannot sin against others, hurting them only and receiving no hurt to ourselves. We are not merely sowers of seed in other lives; while we are scattering the seed in the field of our neighbor, we are sowing also in our own field. There are two harvests. He that corrupts another life makes his own life more corrupt than before. The tempter may cause the fall and ruin of another soul, but the evil in himself has become more evil in his doing so. Every good thing we do strengthens the good that is in us, and every wrong thing makes the wrong in us worse and more dominant. J. R. Miller.] ["Shall of the flesh reap corruption." There is a bold stroke of irony here: corruption is a strange word to apply to a harvest. You will observe, too, that the writer passes by all the more immediate and agreeable results of sowing to the flesh, and by a bold leap fastens at once on the ultimate and abiding. No word of the jollity, the abandon, the jests and the songs, the whole whirlwind of pleasant excitement which accompanied the opening of the revel; all that is brushed aside as if unworthy of mention, and the whole attention is fastened on the final stage—and that stage is corruption. W. G. Blaikie.]

BSBGalatians 6:8 The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

中〔我们不可能得罪别人却只伤到他们、自己毫发无损。我们不只是在别人的生命里撒种；当我们把种子撒在邻舍田里的时候，我们同时也在自己的田里撒种。收成有两处。败坏别人生命的人，使自己的生命比先前更败坏。试探人的固然可能使另一个灵魂跌倒、毁灭，但他自己里面的恶，也因这一举而变得更恶。我们所行的每一件善事，都加强我们里面的善；所行的每一件恶事，都使我们里面的恶更坏、更占上风。米勒（J. R. Miller）〕〔『必从情欲收败坏。』这里有一记大胆的反讽：把『败坏』（腐烂）用在『收成』上，是个奇怪的词。你还会注意到：作者把顺着情欲撒种那些更直接、更惬意的结果统统略过，纵身一跃，径直抓住那最终而长存的结局。关于纵乐开场时的喧闹、放浪、戏谑、歌唱，那一整阵愉快的兴奋旋风，他一个字也没提；这一切都被拂到一边，仿佛不值一提；全副注意力被钉在最后一幕上——而那一幕就是：腐烂。布莱基（W. G. Blaikie）〕

ENCourage and persistent fidelity in right sowing are surely rewarded: Gal. 6:9. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Ps. 126:5, 6. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Prov. 11:18. But to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward. Isa. 32:20. Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters. James 3:18. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. Every man is a reaper of others' sowing, and a sower for others' reaping: John 4:37, 38. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor: other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors. Illustrative text: John 12:24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. [One principle of life set forth in this text is to expend an unselfish energy that is productive of great fruit; the other is a selfish conservation that produces nothing. Now let us ask ourselves whether we will wrap ourselves up in the mummy-folds of our selfishness and abide alone, or whether we will make our life the expenditure of an unselfish energy, capable of bearing rich fruit for our God, our country and our fellow-men—and then, when the time comes that God appoints, drop into the ground and die. Such death of self brings rich spiritual results. F. L. Patton.]

BSBPsalm 126:5 Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.

中在正直的撒种上持定勇气与恒久的忠心，必然得着报偿：加拉太书 6:9 —— 我们行善，不可丧志；若不灰心，到了时候就要收成。诗篇 126:5-6 —— 流泪撒种的，必欢呼收割。那带种流泪出去的，必要欢欢乐乐地带禾捆回来。箴言 11:18 —— 撒义种的，得实在的果效。以赛亚书 32:20 —— 你们在各水边撒种、牧放牛驴的有福了。雅各书 3:18 —— 并且使人和平的，是用和平所栽种的义果。每一个人既收别人所撒之种，也为别人的收割而撒种：约翰福音 4:37-38 —— 俗语说：那人撒种，这人收割，这话可见是真的。我差你们去收你们所没有劳苦的；别人劳苦，你们享受他们所劳苦的。可作例证的经文：约翰福音 12:24 —— 我实实在在地告诉你们：一粒麦子不落在地里死了，仍旧是一粒；若是死了，就结出许多子粒来。〔这节经文提出的一条人生原则，是耗出一种无私的能力，而这能力能结出大量果子；另一条则是自私的保存，什么也结不出来。那么让我们自问：我们是要把自己裹进自私那层层木乃伊的裹布里、独自存留呢，还是要让我们的一生成为一种无私能力的耗出——一种能为我们的神、我们的国家、我们的同胞结出丰硕果子的能力——然后，等神所定的时候一到，就落在地里死了？这样的自我之死，会带来丰盛的属灵果效。巴顿（F. L. Patton）〕