The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1910-02-25
THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY
DR.. A. n. C. MORSE.
Theme: The Little Foxes.


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 flou-
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 aud spoil the whole worth OF
the field.
The heart is a vineyard; and the
enemies are many. And | shall speak
this evening Of the little foxes that
devour the vines, and the little sins
that ruin the life. For little sins will
burrow into the soul and make it
den of evil things; and like the foxes,
they will multiply till the whole life
is overrun with ruin.
I am not so much afraid of great
sins; but I would have all men filled
with a wholesome dread of the little
wrongs 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 dc
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 king had
set up. 1t was an easy thing to do.
but these three lads had rather be
cast into furnace heated seven times
over than do what they knew was
wrong; they had rather burn for
right than to do little sin.
I 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
du 1uuOCGuJ OULS, IuSl d y, IlSi u
tiny stream, then 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 man to enter,
and the child must open the door for
the burglar gang to pass. So with
lift1n cir fhov in and omen
the door for larger sins to enter.
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
so easily repeated, and they become
mighty for their multitude. All the
little foxes in this mans vineyard
would do as much harm as one great,
laundering elephant; and thousand
little sins in my life would do it as
much ruin as the one great sin in the
life of the man just sent to the Fed
eral prison. | remember, when 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 fire So a thousand little
wrongs in the life can rob it of beau
ty as really as one great, blazing, pub
lie transgression.
When Australia first was discoV-
cred there was no thistle i'll 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 is
the farmers plague. 1t was only a
little thing, but it grew. And l would
have all beware of little sins. for they
grow; and when they creep into the
soul they spread and multiply till
they ruin the very garden of God
am afraid of little sins because
they involve great principle. Let
me illustrate what 1 mean: You &C
into a bank with a check for $1,000,
and in his hurry the clerk passes out
S1100, and you walk out of the bank
with that sum. You agree with me,
I suppose, that you do a dishonest
thing-that you have stolen 500.
Would it not be the same If your
check called for IS, and he gave you
Sc by mistake? You ride OH a train
to Boston, and by some oversight
your ticket is not collected, and you
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 trolley car and elude the
conductor, or slip past the gateman
and enter the train? In either case
the man is thief, and the little thief
is worse, for he has been willing to
sell himself for a nickel. That man
has cheated the devil.
But you say Corporations do not
have any SOULS Listen. The man
who does wrong in that small way
won't have any soul worth while if
he continues habit like that What
shall we think of a man who counts
his honesty at less than nickel?
The man who mares counterfeit
money is a great Wrong-doer. But
how about the man who discovers at
the close of the day that he has a bad
coin and determines to pass it along?
He says, "Some one passed it 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, do
| you expect me to lose that coin?''
Listen. You are now at point Of de-
clSlOn, anu II is d CHOICE between los
ing that coin or losing your con-
science; and the good man will keep
his conscience at any cost. Do you
think the coin Ias ever made that
was worth the price of ar upright
| heart?
l saw some men playing banker
and broker" They had some filthy
looking cards, and some paltry pen
mics. They were a good natured lot
OF fellows, and the game looked very
simple. But I tell you 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 man takes from
/ me q large sum of money and gives
me nothing in return, | can make
some excuse for him, because the
| temptation was great. But if a man
| takes from me paltry dime, that is
! wantOn. And the man who stole a
| million and the clerk who stole a
| quarter and the shoe sinner who stole
| a nickel and the man who stole a