The Penn's Grove record., 1910-03-04
THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY
DR.. A. H. C. MORSE.
Theme: The Little Foxes.

u. MOISc, DdSIOI VI IuS 0IlOAS AoNS
Baptist Church, Sunday preached a
sermon on the subject of "The Little
Foxes" The text was from the Song
of Songs, 2:15: Take the foxes, the
little foxes that spoil the vineyards"
DR.. Morse said:
No one knows just what the Song
of Songs teaches, but the picture in
these words is plain. Here is a fou-
rishing vineyard which is thick with
blossoms, and the prospect is that in
a few weeks the heavy clusters Will
ripen and rejoice the heart OF the
owner. But there is a peril which
threatens this vineyard, for the
neighboring wood is filled with foxes;
and they steal into the vineyard and
nibble the vines and devour the bios
SONS and spoil the whole worth OF
the field.
The heart is a vineyard; and the
enemies are many. And I shall speak
this evening of the little foxes that
devour the vines, and the little i NJ
that ruin the life. For little sins will
burrow into the soul and make 1t a
den of evil things; and like the foxes,
they will multiply till the whole life
Is overrun with ruin.
l am not so much afraid of great
sins; but 1 would have all men filled
with a wholesome dread of the little
rongs that deaden the conscience
and entangle the soul and multiply so
fast that they overrun the life and
bring it to irreparable ruin.
Good men have always been afraid
of little sins, and the army of mar
tyrs have been willing rather to en-
dure torment than to turn aside so
much as a trife from the shining
road of holiness. Joseph? He would
rather languish in a dungeon than do
an easy wrong. Daniel? He would
rather die in a lions den than cease
his habit of prayer. And the three
holy children-they were simply
asked to bend the knee and join in
worship of the image the Efng had
set up. 1t was an easy thing to do,
but these three lads had rather be
cast into a furnace heated seven times
over than do what they knew was
wrong; they had rather burn for
| right than to do a little sin.
1 am afraid of the little foxes, be-
cause they grow to full grown foxes.
And 1 am afraid of little sins because
they grow so great. No one can tell
whereunto sin will lead. The begin
nings of sin are like the leakings OF
water from a mighty reservoir; first
an innocent ooze, then a drip, then a
tiny stream, then a larger vein, then
a flood, and the rampant gives
way and the town is swept to ruin.
The habits of sin are like the habits
of burglars, who sometimes take a
little fellow and put him through a
window too small for a man to enter,
and the child must open the door for
the burglar gang to pass. So with
little sins; they creep in and open
the door for larger sins to enter. A
little sin is the thin wedge and when
/ once inserted it can be driven home
till it splits and ruins the life.
I am afraid of the little foxes be-
cause they multiply so fast; and I am
afraid of little sins because they are
80 easily repeated, and they become
mighty for their multitude. All the
little foxes in this mans vineyard
would do as much harm as n great.
laundering elephant; and a thousand
little sins in my life would do it as
much ruin as the n great sin in the
life of the man just sent to the Fed
eral prison. I remember, when a LAD
the so-called army worms first swept
across the fields. They went straight
ahead, and moved like a mighty host
with captains. They were little
things, but when they were gone the
fields looked as though they had been
swept by a fire. So a thousand little
wrongs in the life can rob it of beau
~ as really as one great, blazing, pub
lie tra~nsgression.
When Australia first was discov-
cred there was no thistle in all its
wide domain. But when it began tc
be colonized some foolish Scotchmar
took a package of the seed of his ma
TONS emblem, and now the thistle Il
the farmers plague. 1t was only {
little thing, but it grew. And I would
have all beware of little sins, for they
grow; and when they creep into the
soul they spread and multiply til
they ruin the very garden of God.
| am afraid of little sins because
they involve a great principle. Lei
me illustrate what I mean: You &c
into a bank with a check for $1,000
and in his hurry the clerk passes ou1
S1100, and you walk out of the bank
with that sum. You agree with me
I that you do a dishonesl
thing-that you have stolen 500
Would it not be the same II youl
check called for $5, and he gave you
Sc by mistake? You ride on a traiI
to Boston, and by some oversight
your ticket is not. collected. and yor
ride back on that very same ticket
You agree with me that the thing Is
wrong. Is it not the same when you
ride on a trolley car and elude the
conductor, or slip past the gatemar
and enter the train? In either case
the man is a thief, and the little thiei
is worse, for he has been willing tc
sell himself for a nickel. That mar
has cheated the devil.
But you say Corporations do not
have any souls" Listen. The mar
who does wrong in that small way
won't have any soul worth Wnlle Il
he continues a habit like that. What
J shall we think of a man who counts
his honesty at less than a nickel?
The man who makes counterfeit
money is a great w~rong-doer. But
how about the man who discovers al
the close of the day that he has a bad
coin ana sQ0I0TIuluSS " pass IL dioAS'
He says, "Some passed 1t on me
and I'll pass it along" He does pre-.
cisely what the man did who started
it out at the first. But you say, Dc
you expect me to lose that coin?'
Listen. You are now at a point of de-
cision, and it is a choice between los
ing that coin or losing your con
science; and the good mar will keer
his conscience at any cost. Do you
think the coin las ever made thai
was worth the price of an upright
heart?
1 saw some men playing "banker
and broker" They had some filthy
| looking cards, and some paltry pen
| MES. They were a good natured lot
OF fellows, and the game looked very
| simple. But 1 tell o that the great
| gamblers. against whom the laws are
| made began their wrong-doing in Just
that way. And the playing for little
| stakes is worse. If a man takes from
| me a large sum of money and gives
me nothing in return, I can make