THE BUILDERS by Roderick S. Owen

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 30, 1903

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 29, No. 52.

THE BUILDERS.

By Roderick S. Owen

There was a certain King, [God] who ruled over an extensive domain. He had a son noble and true, whom He had exalted (John 1:1-3) to a place of equality with Himself. In fact they reigned conjointly, sitting upon the same throne. This King had an enemy [Satan] who had once been a loyal subject, holding a high position in the kingdom, but who had rebelled (Isa. 14:12; Eze. 28:14, 15) against the authority of the King and had incited to rebellion a number of the King's subjects (Rev. 12:3, 9).

There was a portion of the territory of this kingdom over which the King had placed a certain one [Adam] to reign as a prince. Gen. 1:26-28. This one sold himself, his territory, and all his subjects to that enemy who immediately took possession, and thus brought this piece of territory into open rebellion. Luke 4:5, 6. John 14:30.

This King was greatly grieved, not at the loss of territory, for by His power He could easily recover that, but, being of a kind and loving disposition, He could not bear the thought of destroying His former subjects, who had been deceived into accepting the authority of the seducer.

A plan [plan of Salvation] was proposed whereby these rebels might be forgiven and reinstated; but to insure against the possibility of a future revolt, certain things were required of those to whom this new citizenship should be given.

A proclamation [the Gospel] was prepared and announced throughout the rebellious land to the effect that the King proposed to recover that territory and to make of it a special kingdom where His Son, noble and true, should reign most gloriously, having for His subjects (Matt. 5:5) all who would accept of pardon at His hands, and who would build a house [character] in the rebellious land.

The subjects generally were greatly pleased at the prospect, for they had already become dissatisfied with the dominion of the usurper, who had proven to be a dreadful tyrant, and had filled the land with wo.

Many, therefore, were glad of this chance, and wished to undertake the work at once. They were then informed that each building must be a perfect one; and to insure this result the King proposed to furnish a book of plans and specifications [the Bible] to be carefully followed by each one. When the book was given, and they began to read, they soon found that the building was to be made entirely of gold, silver, and precious stones [traits of character]. This they could not furnish, as these substances were very rare in the rebellious territory, and could only be purchased at a price which it was not possible for them to pay. The messenger [Holy Spirit] then told them that the King expected to furnish all the

material, His Son, their future King, paying the price for them.

With this information they were greatly pleased, and since they had, as they supposed, a little of the right material on hand [their own righteousness] they began at once to lay the foundations for their houses.

The messenger then cried out, Hold! Hold! The material you are using [Isa. 64:6] is not genuine. None must be used save that furnished by the King; and, besides, you are not laying your foundation aright. The specifications call for the removal of all sand [self] until a certain bedrock is reached, and all foundation walls must rest throughout their length and breadth upon this rock [Jesus, 1 Cor. 3:11], because there is a terrible storm coming which will try every building, and in that storm [Judgment, 1 Cor. 3:13] every building not resting upon this rock, and not perfectly built will fall, and great will be the fall of it. Matt. 7:24-27.

Then began the builders, with some chagrin and disappointment, to tear down the walls already laid, and to cast aside the material [their righteousness], which some, however, laid away in a heap near by, thinking that it might yet be useful to them.

This done, all began to dig for the foundation stone; but this proved to be no light task, for the sand was loose and shifting, so that after digging down a few feet it began to roll in upon them. And in some cases the material of the old walls which they had torn down, but which they had left too near by, also tumbled into the trenches and had to be lifted out again and again. Some soon said, “We never can reach the rock.” Others began to doubt its existence beneath such a mass of sand, while others concluded their trenches were deep enough, since no one could ever see that their foundations were not settled upon the stone; and besides they did not believe that a storm ever could come violent enough to wash away the earth to such a depth.

As the King had supplied abundant material, these began at once to construct their walls. The work went rapidly forward. The walls arose above the surface. The sand and loose material was shoveled in and leveled up, and then all looked neat and indeed quite substantial. Others now began to think it useless to dig deeper for the true foundation, and they followed the example of their neighbors. Thus many were led away from the guide book.

At length some of the faithful ones discovered the rock. But they found it only in places, for the depth of the sand varied. There were deep cuts and holes here and there, and of course these were filled with the sand. Here also was discovered more fully the nature of the sand, for, while in a general way there was a common resemblance, yet each hole and cut contained a kind peculiar to itself. For illustration, in one which was very deep, were the sands of self, to wit, self esteem, self reliance, selfishness, etc. In another was the sand of pride; in another, of worldly ambition; in another, of the love of money, etc.

Just here is where many failed, for, having found the stone in places, they did not persist in removing all the sand from these depressions. In fact there were few, very few indeed, who removed every grain of the sands of self. But some did, and when their walls began to rise they were resting throughout their entire length and breadth upon the true foundation.

Having once departed from the plans, those doing so felt free to introduce various other changes from time to time so that soon there was seen a great variety of architecture. At length those whose ideas most nearly coincided associated themselves together, and in this way a number of bands [churches] were formed. It was not long before each of these associations drew up a book of plans and specifications for themselves [creeds]; and while it was expected that all would follow in a general way the book of the great king; yet each one was required to follow quite closely the book furnished by his association.

RODERICK S. OWEN.

(To be continued.)