The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1910-02-24
THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY
OR. A. H. c. MORSE.


Brooklyn. y. H-The Rev. A. H.
G. Morse. pastor OF the Strong Place
Baptist Church, Sunday preached a
sermon on the subject OF The Little
Foxes" The text was from the Song
of Songs, 2:1j. 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 fiou
rishing vineyard which is thick with
blossoms, and the prospect is that in
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 filed 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 | shall speak
this evening of the little foxes that
deyour the vines, and the little sins
that ruin the life. For little sins will
bUrrow into the soul and make II
dpu Of evil things; and like the foxes,
they will multiply till the whole life
IS ONtFTun WIN rum.
! am not so much afraid OF great
sins hut | would have all men filed
with q 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 1t to irreparable ruin,
Good men have always been afraid
of little sins. and the army of mar.
h.Na hpnn uyiilipg - bpr tn or
dure torment than to turn aside SO
much as 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 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. II was an easy thing to do,
but these three lads had rather be
east 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.
! am afraid OF the little foxes. be-
cause they grow to full grown foxes.
And | am afraid of little sins because
they grow so great. No one can tell
whereunto sin will lead. The begin
pings of sin are like the leakings OF
water from mighty reservoir; first
an innocent ooZe, then a drip, then
tiny stream. then a larger vein, then
food. 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
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 wher
once inserted IT can he driven home
till it splits and ruins the life.
I am afraid of the little foxes be.
cause they multiply so fast; and ] 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 1t as
much ruin as the one great sin in the
life OF the man just sent to the Fed
tral prison. ] remember, when a lad
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
tfelds 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 transgression
when Australia first was discov-
cred there was no thistle in all its
wide domain. But when II began to
be coloniZed some foolish Scotchman
took a package OF the seed of his ma.
tion's emblem, and now the thistle is
the farmers plague. II was only a
little thing. but II grew. Aud / would
have all beware of little sins, for they
grow and when they creep into the
soul hey spread and multiply till
they ruin the very garden of God.
am afraid of little sins because
they involve a great principle Let
me illustrate what | mean: Nou 90
into a bgnE with a check for $1,000.
and IN his hurry the clerk passes ont
$500 and YOU walk out OF the bank
with that sum. You agree with me.
! suppose. that you do dishonest
thing-that YOU have stolen 800.
Would II not be the came II your
rheck called for IS, and he gave vou
Sc by mistake? You ride on 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 ~ a trolley car and elude the
conduc or. or slip past the gateman
and er the train? IN either case
the n is a thief. and the little thief
Is we ., for he has been willing to
sell .nself for nickel That man
has cheated the devil.
But you say "CorDorations do not
have any souls" Listen. The man
who does wrong In that small wav
won't have any soul worth while II
he continues a habit like that What
shall we think OF man who counts
his honesty at less than a nickel?
The man who makes counterfeit
money is great wrong-doer. But
how about the man who discovers al
the close OF the day that he mas a bad
coin and determines 10 pass IL along?
He saws, Some one passed II on me
and I'll pass II along" He does pre-.
ttsely 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 a point OF de-
eision. end II is d choice between los.