Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-08-09

logs until that debris was halted at
the bridge below the city, where 1t
was ignited, and the men and women
and b children upon 1t were slowly
roasted to death and their bodies ere.
mated.
Families Swept Away.
1t was my privilege some days after
this flood had done its fatal work to be
In Jamestown and with Dr. Beale to
60 over the awful ruins. While l was
there I saw some bodies being carried
to the mOrgue. saw where huge tele-
graph poles had been wrenched from
their anchorages and, head frst, had
been shot through walls as a cannon
ball could crash Its way through a
brick wall. I saw where whole streets
had been swept away. The cutters,
the cobblestones, the f1aggings, all were
gone. You might think that you were
walking over sand dunes where once
had been a city street. l saw where a
huge iron locomotive had been rolled
over and over in the food as though il
were a feather tossed by the winds and
then left stranded in a place far from
the original %roundhouse. When the
flood came down upon these $500
homes Of Johnstown. It swept away
whole families. Fathers persisted with
their wives and children. When a
foolish man builds his house upon the
sands and is spiritually destroyed, It
not only means his own spiritual death.
but also the deaths Of some of those
who are living near him or with him.
In 1874 the Vile de Havre in mid
ocean foundered. Mrs. Spafford. the
wife of the author of that beautiful
hymn
When peace. like a river, attendcth my
way,
When sorrows like sea pillows roll,
was on board with her four little
children. All those children were
drowned. The mother was rescued.
Ten days later Mrs. Spafford was
landed at Cardiff, Wales, and she
cabled this message to her husband In
Chicago: Saved alone" Pathetic"
you say. "Heartrending! Appalllng."
Yes. But no mother, no father, DO
sister, no brother, can ever telegraph
" htdNCh " anu hu'u u ultSSISc
as Mrs. Spafford sent. We are never
spiritually saved alone. We are saved
with others or we are spiritually de-
stroyed with others. The wise man
built a house upon the solid rock. The
foolish man built a house UPON the
sand. Why? A home holds the fam
lily, the friends and Dur domestic as
sociates.
Others Destroyed Too.
But the most awful part about his
parable is the agonizing look of CON
sternatiOn which is pictured upon the
face of the foolish man Just before
his house topples over This flood, in
all probability. did not subInerge this
house in one instant. No. Even the
house built upon the sand will with
stand a food for a little while. Though
the foolish man could not move him
self and his family over to the hill
sides, on account of the o%nrushing tor
rents, he could see the mute. helpless,
appealing faces Of his dear ones be-
fore him. On their accoun this father
and husband would wiring his hands
and moan: 20 God! have destroyed
them! o God, my sins have not only
destroyed myself. but destroyed those
who were dependent upon me and
whom l have influenced to live in this
house, built upon foundations of sand"
What will be the self repronch Of
that man as he enters eternity. con
scious that by his negligence, his heed
less example, he has led his children
into such misery! To the loving heart
Of such a father that self reproach
will be like the worm that never dies,
the flame that is never quenched.
But l cannot close this discours ,
without drawing your attention to one
other fact. This parable was spoken
as a climax, a summing up, a perora-
ton, to the greatest sermon that was
ever preached. After Christ in the
fifth, sixth and seventh chapters has
swept over the whole scope of life he
sums up all his teachings in this one
story. 1t is not sufficient for us to
love the Lord. our Lord. with all our
hearts and strength and mind unless
We are willing to love our neighbors
40 hiC sOu a. 4 " oAiy
willing to pray to God that he will for
give us u sins, but are we also will
ing to pray that he will help us to be
kind and gentle and forgiving in our
judgments Of others? VIII you and
pray that God will inspire us to be eyes
for the blind, and food for the hungry,
and medicine for the sick, and clothing
for the naked, and crutches for the
lame? We must not only worship
Christ, but we must love the sinner
and %outcast, who are made in the image
of God. Are we ready to make Christs
life the example Of our lives in all
things7
May God help us to listen to the
whole OF Christ's sermon on the
mount and to repeat all Of its lessons
in the actions and thoughts Of our own
lives. Then shall we be like the wise
man who built his house upon a rock,
Then when the rain descends and the
floods come and the winds blow and
beat upon our house they will assail ii
In vain, and it shall fall not. for its
foundations are founded upon the i'm
movable rocks Of Calvary's hill.
Copyright. 1905. by Louis Klopsch.l
DcsecratinE the Bible.
At Y~unpDunpfu In Chilli the Chinese