The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1886-10-08
Written tor the MONITOR.
LITTLE SERMONS,


abortions in nature are because of man'ss sin.
A world fitted to receive a creature who
had morally degraded himself must of ne
cessity partake OF the touches of that de-
| graduation. must be fitted to it. All these
uglinesses in nature nave their counterpart
and cause in mans moral nature. There
is the pole cat, a sickening ugliness and
near which one cannot 20 without defile-
ment, but here in mans heart is its coun-
terpart and neither can yon come near it
without being touched with awful moral
defilement. There is the swine, greedy,
filthy; and here in man is its moral coun-
terpart, greedy. sordid, swinish selfishness,
the greed of men, the getting and keeping
money. There is the ~vulture, foul, carbon
feeding, with breath of sickening stencil.
And here in man is its moral counterpart,
~delighting in scandal, feasiing on the weak
ness and wiekedness Of man, delighting
with sickening greed to feed upon moral
~rottenness. There is the bull dog. pugna-
cious, unreasonable, never surrenderine.
And here in man is his moral counterpart,
knowing nothing of high principle, of no
bic change of mind, of sacrifice for sweet
and loving peace, thick iawed, sharp-tootli-
ed selfishness, hanging N in its own way
to bitter death and for the blind and dullard
and wicked reason that it is sells a
There is the frog loving the mud and stag
nant water, no music in his voice, only
croak! croak. never looking up at the stars.
And here in man is his moral counterpart,
loving the earth and all things earthly, the
stagnant things of time with a blind mud
love, never looking up at the beautiful
heavens of spiritual and eternal life, and so
never learning a song, but croak, croak,
continually. | have seen men so sordid
and earthly that | would almost as Don
think of singing wings onto a frog for its
flight Of thrush-like song as TO get them
moved spiritually, as to get them to think
of high and eternal things and taking upon
their tongues an ennobling speech. There
is the snake hiding away in dark places,
with poison under its tongue, striking at
You Suddenly and unpreparnd with IFS iaags
of death. And here in man is its moral
counterpart, secret, treacherous, with poi
son Of asp under the tongue unexpectedly
striking your business, your reputation,
even your character to death. And there
are in nature mans better counterparts.
There is a lark singing up in the cernlean
deeps. And here in man is its moral coun-
fnra.rt hone llnpu.I t1a. Iaaa N. f., al ,O.l
lowing touch Of moral refinement singing
high up in the skyey decps Of mans aspi-
ration after God, s~wcet-yoiccd, heart-en-
%rapturing. There is the dove, gentle, low
i'll man is its moral counterpart, harmless
~innocency and contented purity. There is
the patient horse, meekly, accomplishing
~ bowing to burdens unreasonable. And
noble and patient submission to all the
duties OF life and to its sad wrongs as well.
There is the lioness with sharp claw and
crimsoned ivory fighting unto the death
moral counterpart, in noble rage, in midst
of wounds thick-falling, doing battle for
wife and child. for home and fatherland,
for all the oppressed whose tears
nave become his tears. And so up
and down and vices and across and
over the virtues the thought may run, and
always out there in nature is some coan-
terpart, an actualized symbolic reality of
mans moral nature. And while there are
prevailing traits in all men, it may Re true
that each man is the cpitomc morally of
all nature, and the subdning Of the exter-
nal world should be accompanied by the
subduing of the internal moral impcrisl-
able nature of man. A mans loves and
hates of nature should ave Ike eyes look
ing in upon his soul. If after the manner
of men Paul fought the wild beasts at
Ephcsus, each man of MS has to fight all
beasts as they are within our souls in
moral essence. Jesus was strong in holt
ness ont there in the wilderness among the
wild beasts: and forever now as he takes
mp the sad work Of his incarnation the
hope of glory in each mans heart he must
be strong in holiness among all beasts,
strong in compassion of healing in the
midst Of all tieformities like these that walk
and ~languish and waste upon the earth.
Mans great dominion over creation must
be moral self-dominion. Self conquered
aud subdued is the world conquered and
subdued. The greatest work whether
done or TO do lies within mans moral ma
ture. In doing that work each man can
act out all the su~fierings and heroisms and
touches of mastery genius which ave
made history glorious. Let us TO tho work
of our conquest and in successful battle
win the eternal crown of the conquercr
which the Lord the righteous judge
will give TO all them that love his appear
ing.
In the mercy of Jesus Christ, the impure
become the pure, the wicked become the
good, and worthy to look upon the face Of
noblcness with nnahashed eye. And this
is wonderful and Will take gl%oriiied tongues
and eternity 10 tell Of the wonder and ex-
press the thanksgiving Of the redeemed.
-
Repentance makes of the wicked soal a
John whom Jesus loved in holy confidence.