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If anything is important, religion is all-important. It may be undervalued in health and prosperity; but in sickness and trouble we feel its necessity. When the ship is overtaken by the storm it must have not only a good anchor, but a strong cable. Here are some of the fallacies with which men deceive themselves.

I. AMPLE TIME IN THE FUTURE FOR ATTENDING TO THE CONCERNS OF THE SOUL. What a mistake! You cannot tell what a moment may bring forth. By delay the heart gets harder. The unwillingness of to-day becomes still deeper to-morrow (2 Corinthians 6:2; Hebrews 3:7, 8, 15; Hebrews 4:7; Ecclesiastes 9:10).

II. IF ELECTED, WE SHALL BE SAVED; IF NOT ELECTED, WE MUST BE LOST. But, observe, election is the result of foreknowledge on God's part (Romans 8:29). It is our own fault, and only ours, if we are not elected. The gospel has been preached to us, and the offer of salvation extended.

III. IT WILL BE ALL THE SAME A HUNDRED YEARS HENCE. No: it will not, it cannot be. The present is seed-time; the harvest is to come (Galatians 6:7). Our destiny hereafter depends upon our conduct now.

IV. GREAT MEN HAVE HELD THAT THERE IS NO FUTURE PUNISHMENT; So we need not fear. A bold assertion, but no proof. Butler's argument is unanswerable: that, inasmuch as the visitation of our acts by rewards and punishments takes place in this life, rewards and punishments must be consistent with the attributes of God, and therefore may go on as long as the mind endures. The soul that dies in love with sin and sinful pleasures, may only have that love intensified in the future state. Change of residence brings about no change of moral character.

V. WE ARE TO BE SAVED BY DOING THE BEST WE CAN. Nay; but by taking hold on Christ by the hand of faith, and walking with Him in newness of life.

(Alex. Brunton.)

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KJV: Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

WEB: Don't be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.