Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1906-08-11


IN aud month out. until VIC locate II
amid mn endless sea OF sand? Where
shall we build the other house? Shall
we place II upon the highest pinnacle
Of II Matterhorn or upon Mount Chin
bOraZO; Shall we build II upon some
dizzy crag where the eagle builds her
cyrie TO rear her young? NAY. nay"
you answer: mot In either one Of those
places must you build one OF the two
houses of the text. When Christ Illus
trated truth he never used absurd
comparisons. The house which was
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 aud the foolish man Of
this parable OF the text built their
houses very close together. In all prob
ability these two men were neighbOrs,
aud MS ncighbors their families asso-
ciated with each other" My friend,
believe you are right. 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 mt the same
time That Is just such dramatic
contrast as Christ nearly always draws
In his parallels.
go still further than that. I be-
lieve the two farms of these men lay
uhnut In thu gamma ,a rullal tAnaitln.. az
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 a site for his house upon
mound or hill which forms u natural
watershed. Then he digs down and
down until he strikes the rock. Then
lie starts of TO cut his lumber and
drag il 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 | have only
Just dug the foundation OF my houseY
The other answers: II spared myself
that trouble. have simply leveled the
soil without digging foundation. IL
is easier and quicker that way" The
wise man says: "Neighb0r. neighbor.
YOU must mot build your house there.
Why. you are at the foot OF that can
yon Then this soil Is all porous. 1t
10 full of water now. II Is nothing but
mess of quicksand. when the rainy
season comes and the freshets leap
and tear aud rush out of those noun
tains you will he swamped in night"
"Bosh." says the foolish man. You
are pcssimist. You are u miserable
hunter Of trouble. You are always an-
ticipatlng tornadoes. The simple fact
Is we have had sunshine and dry sea
son so long that | do not believe we
are ever going to have another rainy
season Here ! have selected my site
here am building my house. and here
| 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
the wise mans 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 10 take the advice or the
wise men who have come to US for
years begging us To stop building In
folly! Did say for years: Yes,
for Ia 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 oh.
how pleading and loving our would be
advisers have been. Today they seem
TO come To us as we pictured the wise
man coming TO the foolish man. They
seem to say: DO not do that. DO not
commit that sin. BE true. he noble,
he upright. be Christian. be like
Christ" Would that we all might be
willing TO heed the pleadings Of our
dear ones and put Oh 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
ing sheepfold. He was not erecting
a memorial temple or beautiful tomb.
He was building house. He was
building a home. He was erecting Il
domicile where his wife aud children
and his loved ones might gather. He
was saying TO himself as he was build
ing II: Now. here Is the dining room,
where | can eat with my dear ones.
aud here Is the nursery. where my ba-
blcs can play Now, here IN room for
law Ia fax xgffAf0