The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1903-09-25

occupants.
A the days came and went the man in
~ the house on the sand seemed to be
as safe and comfortable and happy as the
man in the house on the rock. And the
man with his feet resting upon the rock
would talk with the man whose feet were
sinking in the sand, and he would con-
tinue to warn him of the peril when the
storm should come, and would try to
persuade him to move his house to the
rock, but the foolish man would not be-
lieve the time would come when the sun
would be hid behind the angry clouds,
and the gentle breeZes would be reused
to the fury of the gale driving the mad
waters mountain high upon the beach.
And so the man continued to enjoy life
in the house upon the sand and to consid-
er his friend upon the rock very poor
weather prophet, indeed. But one night
the storm swept down upon those two
houses and upon that wise man and his
foolish friend All through the long,
black hours the wind blew, the rain de-
scended, the flood came and beat furious
" The wise man heard the storm, he felt
its violence as it rushed and beat and
tore about his house, but never fear
troubled his heart for he knew the old
rock would stand, and with it the house
he had founded thereon. But he was
filled with dread for the fate of his friend
down upon the sand. The rolling waters
sucked the sand from underneath the
silIs of the house. the wind wrenched and
tore at the creaking, falling timbers, and
great was the fall of that house which
10 Wis ma n
heard the crash of the walls, he heard
the groans and shrieks of the dying, but
he was powerless to help. The next morn
ing as he looked forth from his stanch
abode nestled safely upon the mistaken
rock he could see nothing but the glisten-
ing sand where his friends house had
stood, and along the shore lay strewn
the shattered and spIintered timbers that
once had proudly sheltered the foolish |
man who had built upon the sand. The |
sand as a foundation was insecure, I'M
stable The rock was the only safe, en-
during foundation.
r HE foolish man is the man without q |
| foundation; he is the man whose |
life rests upon nothing outside of himself |
or apart from the things Of time. And |
we cannot show him how to build foun-
dation, for as our text declares: "Other |
foundation can no man lay than that is |
laid, which is Jesus Christ" Men do try
to lay other foundations with such ma
terials as the world can provide, and they
exhaust human skill and learning and in
genuity in the task. but when they have
done their best and finished their task
they have nothing that will stand the
test of eternity, and foundation which
is worthy the name foundation must be
enduring, it must sustain the super
structure as long as the superstructure
will last. The soul of man lives on be-
yond the grave, and if the life of that
soul is not resting on an enduring foun-
dation 1t is doomed to destruction be-
yond the grave, even as the house which
was built upon the shifting, uncertain
sand. "Other foundation can no man lay
than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ
Does man heap up the glittering, shining
gold and establish his soul thereon, and
delight himself in the fairness of this
world? 1t is a foundation which, even
though 1t should endure through this
life, is unavailing in the life beyond the
grave. Riches have wings, and like the
shifting sands they vanish away.
OR is il worldly power or honor, social
. distinction or political prestige, hu-
man learning or wisdom or human good
ness or achievements? Are these the
which man would lay for
himself? They are no foundations at
all. for they will not stand the test of
eternity. They will not endure as long
rs the undying soul. For other founda-