The Sand, or the Rock?

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 30, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 30.

The Sand, or the Rock?

Which, reader, will you choose for your foundation? You must choose one or the other, and you may choose either; which shall it be?

What You Would Do.

We know that if you were building for yourself, one of the costly palaces of earth, you would seek for a good foundation. You would, if it were at all practicable, dig deep, that you might base it upon the best of all foundations—the solid rock. And if the rock were too far away, you would build a wall which would harden into rock. You would not proceed in your work unless you were sure that the foundation of your building were good. You would, if in doubt, seek the opinions of men who would be likely to know, of experts whose judgment was valuable. You would not care to risk thousands of dollars upon an imperfect foundation. Practical common sense would not permit it.

The Value of a Good Foundation.

The worth of a good foundation is known to every one; and the greater the building to be erected, the more permanent it is desired to be, the more important it is that the foundation be good. It matters little how good the superstructure may be if the foundation be defective or insecure; for the whole building will suffer from an unsubstantial foundation. In order that the building be what it ought to be, a prime requisite is a solid, good foundation. And this you would demand. Good judgment would not allow anything else, even for a worthy structure of earth.

Character Building.

Well, character is eternal for weal or woe. Eternal consequences hinge upon it. Eternal life, eternal death—events of eternal import—are involved in it. In the grandest marble palaces of earth but a few millions of dollars, at the most, are involved; and if the palace be wrecked, the loss is but temporary; it may be possible to save much and retrieve all. But character is eternal; of how much more importance, then, is its foundation! How much more worthy of anxious care and thought, of earnestness of purpose, of long-suffering, and of unwearied patience and devotion! It is as much more worthy of all these as any temporal structure can be, as eternity is of more value than time.

The Foundation.

In the building of character God gives us the choice of foundations—the Sand or the Rock. It is for us to choose. This is what our Lord says of the good foundation , as he concludes that wonderful epitome of Christian teaching—the Sermon on the Mount: “Every one therefore which heareth these words of mine, and doeth them, shall be likened unto a wise man, which built his house upon the rock; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not; for it was founded upon the rock.” Matt. 7:24, 25, R. V. The words of Christ are not, however, confined to this sermon. He is himself the Word through whom all the word of God came, the One by whom the works of creation were wrought, the One whose Spirit inspired the prophets of old, the only One who primarily has declared God and God’s will to men. (See John 1:1-3, 18; 1 Cor. 8:6; 1 Peter 1:11, et al.) The words, or sayings, of Christ are, therefore, the “Scriptures of truth.” He who hears one and does it will hear all and do it. He who rejects one command, however small it may be, rejects Him who gave it. Jesus Christ is the Foundation Rock for all true character building; “for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor. 3:11. “He is the Rock; his way is perfect.”

Building on Him.

Building on Christ means to give up all of self, and take him, and him alone, for our foundation. In Luke the additional thought is expressed, “He is like a man building a house, who digged and went deep, and laid a foundation upon the rock.” Deep digging is sometimes necessary. Early teaching, the rubbish of error and hoary tradition, church creeds, sectarian prejudices,—all of which seem precious to us, as hard as the very rock,—may hide from us the Rock itself—the pure, solid teachings of Jesus Christ, the Truth. Dig, and dig deep, till the Rock is reached. Do not be turned from the object of your search. Do not cease to dig till you know that every particle of foreign matter is removed and the Rock is laid bare. Then build; and if you build aright, your structure will grow onto

the Rock; or, rather, the Rock will grow into your structure, and make it a part of itself. The rains, the storms, the winds can not affect it any more than they can the very Rock.

On the Sand.

He who does not build on Christ is thus spoken of by the Master: “And every one that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and smote upon that house; and it fell; and great was the fall thereof.” Luke has it, “built a house upon the earth.” It need not be sand alone; it need not be loose earth alone. The foundation may seem to be almost as hard as the rock itself; but if it is not the rock, the house will be ruined. The falling rain will loosen the soil; the sweeping flood will wash it away and undermine the house; and the wind will topple it over into the raging torrent, which will sweep it on to destruction. So it is with the character of him who builds on anything but Jesus Christ. The foundation may be a creed of a thousand years; it may be a superficial, self-righteous character, as all self-righteous characters are; it may be all the hoary traditions of the fathers; it may be a foundation that has stood for centuries, tho not the very Rock of Truth; it may be very near the Rock; but, O soul, if it be not the Rock, the very Living Rock itself, the subtle rain of error will loosen it, and the storms of the last days “will sweep away the refuge of lies,” and “the covenant with death be disannulled.” “Be not deceived; God is not mocked.” Build on the Sure Foundation, which God has laid in Zion for every one; for none who seek him, will seek him in vain. Let self be crushed on the Rock Christ Jesus, and a character eternal and pure built up in him.