Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1906-08-11

built upon rock was not built upon an
inaccessible mountain height. The
houSe which was built upon the sands
was not situated in the center Of an
impossible desert. In all probability
the wise man and the foolish man Of
this parable of the text built their
houses very close together. In all prob
ability these two men were neighb0rs,
and as nelghbors their families assO-
cated with each other" My friend,
believe you are right I believe these
two men of the parable were not only
nelghbOrs, but that they had adjOin-
ing farms. and when they built their
houses they built them at the same
time. That is just such dramatic
contrast as Christ nearly always draws
in his PARALLELS.
| go still further than that be-
lieve the two farms of these men lay
about in the same parallel position at
the foot OF the mountain range, one
half in the valley and the other half
upon the hillsides Methinks | can see
these two men going out to select their
sites to build. The wise man, like the
ant, selects site for his house upon
a mound or hill which forms natural
watershed Then he digs down and
down until he strikes the rock. Then
he starts off to cut his lumber and
drag it up with the OK teams While
on his way he passes his neighbOr and
finds his house nearly finished. How
is it," he asks, that you are ready to
put on your roof while l have only
iust dug the foundation of my house"
The other answers: Il spared myself
that trouble. | have simply leyeed the
soil without digging a foundation. 1t
is easier and quicker that way" The
wise man says: "NeighbOr. nelghbor,
you must not build your house there.
Why, you are at the foot of that can
yon. Then this soil IS all porous. 1t
is full Of water now. it is nothing but
a mess Of Quicksand When the rainy
season comes and the freshets leap
and tear and rush ont of those noun
tains you will be swamped in n night"
"BoSh," says the foolish man. you
are pesSimist. You are a miserable
hunter of trouble You are always an
tornadoes The simple fact
IS we have had sunshine and dry sea-
son so long that l 90 not believe we
are ever going to have another rainy
season. Here I have selected my site,
here | am building my house, and here
I intend to stay DO you wonder that
when the deluge came that foolish
mans house was destroyed because he
would not take the advice of the wise
man, but built his house upon the
sands?
Left Out the Foundation.
The parable of my text divides the
whole human race into two groups
tle.-sviee iee-snan's-group and the foolish
mans group. TO which group do you
belong? Are you the foolish man
building your house upon the sand
and refusing to take the adExce Of the
wise men who have come 10 us for
years begging us to stop building In
folly? Did | say for years! Yes,
for in all this great audience there is
not one of us who is building his house
upon the sands through ignorance. No
sooner did we in youth select our
building sites upon the sand than our
loved ones gathered about US and
warned us Of our errors. Our fathers
did thus. Our mothers did thus. Our
Sunday school teachers and pastors
did thus. Our wives did thus. Our
Christian friends did thus. And still
we have gone on building our houses
on the sands. Shall we not take the
gospel advice of our dear ones, who are
pleading with us to do right nowf On,
how pleading and loving our would be
advisers have beenl Today they seem
to come to us as we pictured the wise
man coming to the foolish man. Ihey
seem to say: DO not do that. DO not
commit that sin. Be true, be noble
be upright. be a Christian, be like
Christ" Would that we all might be
willing TO heed the pleadlngs OF our
dear ones and put on the armor Of
God and don the helmet Of salvation
and lift the shield of faith.
But there is still another fact to
which would call your attention.
This foolish man Of the parable was
not building barn. He was not lift
ng a sheepfOld. He was not erecting
I memorial temple or beautiful tomb.
He was building a house. He was
building q home. He was erecting Il
Iomicile where his wife and children
md his loved ones might gather. lie
was saying to himself as he was build
ng 1t: "NOw, here is the dining room
where can eat with my dear ones,
and here is the nursery, where my Da-
Dies can play. Now, here is a room for
nv sister. Here is my wife's room.
There is TO be the guest chamber"
Yes. he built his house as home
md when that deluge broke loose 1t
not only destroyed the foolish man.
Dnt also the members Of his own
louse. No man spiritually can be
saved alone or destroyed alone. He
either takes others with him to glory
,r else he drags others down with him
nto eternal despair.
Man in the spiritual sense is de-
,troyed as many families were de-
,troyed IN the famous JOhnStown
food. When the last sun of May
1889. set behind the western hills OF
JOhnstown was filed
with hundreds of peaceful homes and
lappy nresldes. Suddenly during that
lwful night the Conemlugh dam broke,
md the water of whole lake came
down upon that doomed city.
Within a few moments said DIR. Da-
yid Beale. an eyewitness. nearly 5000
uman beings had been launched into
ternity and $500 homes had been ut
erly demolished" In the twinkling
e an pva whole families were ClaSDed