The Wisdom Built House
By W.H. Wood
Finished
the preparation of this message on April 3, 1946. To be delivered to the Senior Class of the
Oak Vale High School on April 14, 1946 at 11 a.m. in the Baptist Church at Oak
Vale.
“Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath
hewn out her seven pillars” Proverbs 9:1
Solomon speaks much, and often about wisdom; by which he
means an understanding heart. Many
people have knowledge, but not understanding.
Knowledge without understanding is dangerous. It is a prisoner’s dungeon. It has been said: “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” So is much knowledge if it is without
understanding. Wisdom here is
represented as a builder. “Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn
out her seven pillars.”
Wisdom hath builded
her house. Let us draw a vision of
that house. Its name is character. It is on the banks of a beautiful river
called life, and is surrounded by palm groves and fruitful orchards. Its foundations are rugged, its walls
massive, and its dome and pinnacles are towering and graceful. I have envisioned its 4 successive stories:
In the first
story there are the kitchen, dining room, pantry, bedrooms, and parlor. These are for the care of the
body.
In the second
story are the thought rooms: the library
and the conservatories of art and music, for the care of the mind.
The third story
has the laboratory, where all kinds of testing, and weighing, and measuring are
done, for the care of the soul.
The fourth
story contains the observatory where, through the telescope of faith are beheld
the things eternal, which once seen are ever longed for.
In this vision, I have seen this wonderful building in
course of construction. I have seen the
builders come forth to their work. First
come industry, leading the way. A great
heart superintended the construction.
Self-control gathered the material.
Conscience was an industrious workman, often tearing down what he had
done and doing it over again.
Imagination was busy chiseling statuary, and painting landscapes of exquisite
beauty. Purity cleaned the windows, and polished the walls. I heard the shout of toilers as love and joy
brought refreshments. And I looked upon
that house and said, “It is good.”
And in the vision I have seen on the opposite bank of
that river, called life that which once promised to be a house beautiful. Doubts and fear started it, but had not the
courage to continue. Indolence offered a
helping hand, turned away under the first smiting rays of the sun. Lust consumed more material than industry
could gather. Greed added a few
boards. Lawlessness chained his dogs at
the gates, and despair finished to ruin.
My young friends, I have painted for you your own destiny according as
you elect to have it so. You may make
your life a house beautiful, or you may make it a mass of ruins.
The house wisdom builds is a complete structure. “She
hath hewn out her seven pillars.”
Seven in the scripture is the word of completeness. Many houses fall because they are insufficiently
pillared. Who would say the life of Tom
Paine or Bob Ingersoll was a success? And
who would say the same of any of those who are preaching and teaching skepticism
or infidelity or atheism today? Of such
it maybe said: Theirs is success at
destruction, but not construction. They
have cast off the only foundation stone, without which the structure cannot
stand. That is not only true of the man
who throws faith away, but of him also who throws moral character away. I heard of a football game a few years ago
where a score of students were drunk.
What good will an education do that sort of youth? An educated hog is a hog still, and fit only
for the slaughter pen.
Now I want you to notice with me the firm pillars upon
which wisdom builds her house:
The
first pillar is purpose. A high and noble purpose is to a successful
life what the drive wheel is to the locomotive engine. It is what the rudder is to the ocean
liner. It is what aim is to the
marksman. A high and noble purpose,
where there is willingness to toil and sacrifice for its achievements cannot be
defeated. Shakespeare held horses at a
theater for the tips that he might receive, but purposed to become a great
playwright, and lived to see a volume of his verse kissed by England’s Queen. John Bunyan was a tinker, but his life
purpose reached further than that, and he wrote the book that ranks next to the
Bible. Martin Luther was the son of a
wool comber, but he consecrated himself to the cause of soul freedom, and led
the Great Reformation. Jim Garfield,
working on a canal boat, envisioned the White House at Washington, and one day
became President of the United States.
Abraham Lincoln, the young rail splitter, studied by a pine knot fire at
night, and said, “I’ll get ready, maybe my chance will come”. It came. Call the roll of all of earth’s
great, and I will write after their names the word “purpose”. But it must be remembered that before one
purposes to do, he must propose to be; for it is what a person is that counts
in the end.
The
second pillar is courage. The onward march to success and power must
ring with the great note of courage. It
took courage to course the uncharted seas and discover new continents, and to
set new standards of progress. With “Cato”
courage says, “Carthage must be destroyed”.
With “Caesar” courage says, “I came, I saw, I conquered.” With “Napoleon” courage says, “there shall be
no Alps”. With “Luther” courage says, “the
conscience of men shall be free.”
Courage that counts does not depend on time, nor does it depend upon
place or circumstances. It was courage that
made Stonewall Jackson invincible in the leadership of his army. Life has many stern battles to fight. Even the Lord can do nothing with a
coward. For He says, “Fear not, but let your hands be strong.”
Zechariah 8:13
The
third pillar is genuineness. The world can soon see through a camouflage. My young friends, after all the high schools,
colleges, and universities can do for you, if you have not character. Your life will be a failure. The ring of the coin will tell what kind of
metal it is. If you are counterfeit, the
world will find it out after it has bumped into you a time or two. Paul’s injunction to Timothy was: “keep
thyself pure.” Purity is the dynamic
force of success. It is the success of
the sunbeam shimmering on the rod. It is
the success of the dewdrop kissing the rose.
It is the success of the water lily struggling up from the ooze of the
river and flashing its robe of virgin whiteness in the light of day. Such a life wears the crown of greatness, for
it is made of the stuff that endures. Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not
defile himself, and Daniel became one of the outstanding figures of his time,
ranking next to the ruler of the nation.
No one who stands convicted of impurity in the secret councils of his
own soul can claim success until he has rid himself of the serpent coiled there. With purity of thought, and motive, and
purpose, and desire – whether his name is heralded afar, or whether he walks
the more obscure paths, over his name at the end of life, cannot be written the
word “Failure”.
Wisdom’s
fourth pillar is unselfishness. No worthwhile life can stand upon a
foundation of selfishness. It is God’s
order that only that which gives lives.
Palestine has its Sea of Galilee, and its Dead Sea: its sea of life and its sea of death. The difference in the Dead Sea and the Sea of
Galilee is that one receives and selfishly keeps, while the other receives and
generously gives. The man who can say of
the battles of struggling humanity, “of which I am a part” is more than a
goodly hero; he is a patriot of the highest order, and a blessing to the
world. Who would care anything about
Grace Darling if she had rescued no drowning man? Who cares anything about Florence Nightingale
if she had nursed no sick and wounded soldiers?
Who would care anything about David Livingstone if he had enlightened no
dark continent? Who would care anything
about Lord Shaftesbury if he had fed no hungry mouths, and clothed none who
were naked? Who would care anything
about General Booth if he had not sent the drumbeat and the Gospel banner of
the Salvation Army into the slums of cities around the world? Who would care anything about Paul the apostle
if he had carried no Gospel to the Gentiles?
Who would care anything about Jesus Christ if he had died on no cross
for a world’s sins?
The
fifth pillar in our temple of life is work. We Americans are worshipers of genius,
forgetting that genius is only another name for work. Mr.
Edison, perhaps the greatest genius ever produced by America, when asked to define
genius, he said, “It is ninety-nine percent sweat.” He illustrated his own definition in working
eighteen months to make his graphophone say “receive” when it insisted on
saying “retrieve”. Carlyle said, “There
2 things necessary to a life of success:
One is to find one’s work, and the other is to do it.” When Dean Stanley asked Carlyle: “What shall I do?” Carlyle replied, “Do your
best.” Pitiful is the man, rising in the
morning for the day’s toil, with no love in his heart for his work. He who hails the daybreak with delight for
the new opportunities it affords finds every hour of the day full of
pleasure. He who succeeds in life must
count the hours. A squanderer indeed is
he who wastes his time. Idleness is the
devil’s workshop. Idleness is the
destroyer of character.
The sixth
pillar in this house is right thinking. There is no crown of enduring success that is
not purchased by high and noble thinking.
“For as he thinketh in his heart,
so is he.” Proverbs 23:7. The life
will gravitate towards its ideals. We
become like the things we keep company with in our thoughts. It is said that when Michelangelo had
completed his statue of David – a statue that looks more to have been chiseled
by the hand of the skies than by the hand of man – the hard lines in his own
face had softened. Hawthorne has given
us the outstanding classic illustrating this great truth in his story of “The
Great Stone Face.” Nature, in a majestic
mood, had carved this face out in the rock, high upon the side of a mountain,
and this lad who grew up under its inspiration, looking upon it daily, and
idealizing in it all those fine graces that make for character in middle life
became like unto it in his own features; and putting into action all those high
ideals and sublime graces, he became the poet, the prophet, the teacher, the
adviser, the comforter, and the leader of all the folks of the valley. High ideals make lofty characters. We do not rise above our thinking.
The last
and crowning one of these seven pillars is faith. In the window of an art store in Paris there
was exhibited the statue of a Knight of the olden time. He stood clothed from head to foot in chain
armor. A broad sword hung by his right
side, and his shield at the left. On his
face was a look of high resolve. In his
outstretched hands was a scroll on which was written the one word “Credo” “I
believe”. The man who believes is the
man who accomplishes. No man is fit for
lasting good until he can look up to God and out upon the world and say “I
believe”. It is quite the thing these
days to scoff at the old faith, and try to set up in its stead the platitudes
of puny man. Those who deny God denies
all authority, both God’s and man’s and paves the way for anarchy. The red dragon book of revelation lashes the
earth with its slimy tail today and calls for the destruction of all authority
in earth and sky. Realism, wherever it
shows its hand, seeks the overthrow of governments and the destruction of
religion. A faithful alibi with these
destroyers is the teachers, whether in high school, college or university, who
belittles religion and kills the minds of youth with doubt concerning God and
the Bible. It has never been possible
for man to get along in the world very well without glimpses of the world to
come. “Credo” “I believe”. My young friends, as imperfect as the church
may be, it is the whitest thing in all the world. Faith in God is the tuning fork that brings
singing into our hearts, the music of heavenly assurance that Jesus Christ,
through His atoning death, is ours, and we, through His redeeming grace, are
His; and that we are saved through His precious blood, and evermore kept by His
power.
(Illustration of a young man who used faulty material in
building.) Young friends, you are
building a house that you must live in.
You must live in it for time, and for eternity. Then, as the great apostle Paul
admonishes: “Let every man take heed how he buildeth.” 1 Corinthians 3:10. When the testing time comes, will the house
called life and character be of wood,
hay, stubble, or will it be of Gold, silver, precious stones, that shall
stand when every man’s work shall be made manifest, and shall be revealed by
fire. 1 Corinthians 3:12. Our chief business is to build a house that
shall receive the approval of the great inspector and that shall be only, if
Jesus Christ is the Architect and Godly wisdom is the builder.
These familiar passages of scripture contain what I
believe to be the three great verbs of the gospel. The study of the parts of speech is of itself
fascinating. Verbs are the very life
blood of language, since they describe action, being, or state of being. 