The Penn's Grove record., 1913-03-28
KEEPING LOVE ALIVE
Parable of the "Withered Hand"
Has a Clear Meaning for All
Thinking Christians.

All miracles of our Lord are pur.
posed to be analogous works which
can be wrought in the soul. But
that ye may know that the Son of Man
hath power" to heal and emancipate
the spirit he restored a paralyzed boy
to freedom. He drove the palsy out
of the soul. He could impart the same
strength and buoyancy and agility to
the one as he had given to the other.
And SO it is with all the miracles of
our Lord; they r types Of the
greater things than these" which he
can work among the secret needs of
the spirit. There was. a man with the
w1thered hand. A legend comes along
the centuries that he was a bricklayer,
ar ordinary workingman who had
been reduced to impotency by the loss
of the member he needed most. But
his calamity had not embittered him
or made him spiritually insensitive,
He was found in the synagogue seek.
ing communion with God. And there
the Master met him and restored to
life his withered limb, and he was
whole again.
Now there are withered faculties OF
the soul. There are spiritual mem.
bers that can become dry and impo.
tent. There are mysterious hands
which can lose their grip and even
their power to apprehend the heights.
And a diseased faculty can impair the
strength of the entire life. 1t can
nhonk nT1r cnjritro1 nrorraor ord IN
pair the vigor of moral aspiration and
service.
The faculty of love can be a with
eSed hand. 1t can shrivel away until
it has no strength, nc reach, no hold.
1t is sometimes said that money can
unlock any door. The statement is
the merest nonsense. There are treas.
ure houses, the most real and the
best, that money can never touch.
Love is the great open sesame" A
man with a fine love burns his way
like fervent iron through ice. He
pierces through every difficulty, and
nothing is allowed to obstruct his way.
Love w faileth." But when the
love itself begins to wither, like a
limb that shrivels through lack of vi.
tally, life is comparatively impotent.
And how frequently we see this spir.
itual tragedy! 81 have something
against thee, thou hast lost thy first
love" 1t is the disease of the with
cred hand. Something has happened
at the very fountain of vitality, and
love sickens and dies.
olive" or "Dead" Conscience.
The conscience can be a withered
hand. A live conscience gives a man
a fine, nervous. sensitive, feeling
touch of the mind of God. 1t gives a
MAI a discerning apprehension OF
right and wrong. When the feeling is
really sensitive, what confidence 1t
imparts to life's movements, what
1rmness, what motion, what decision!
But the conscience can be benumbed.
1t can become as unresponsive as a
paralyzed hand. Common experience
affords abundant illustration. There
are many people who were once en-
dowed with a scrupulous moral sense,
and in some way or other it has lost
its exquisiteness, and they no longer
finely realize the will of God. The
whitening is made manifest in ap
parently small ~disloyalties. We dc
not sustain the sense of honor in the
full round of common life.
The will may be like a withered
hand. What a strong, pushful, re,
sourceful hand it is when it is en-.
dowed with healthy vitality! But when
it withers everything is touched with
ir%resolution and hesitancy. Nothing
is initiated with power. Nothing is
addressed with persistence. Nothing
is accomplished with decision. A
feeble will makes all life's doings ane.
mic. Everything is larguid, from the
sickly promise to the imperfect
achievement.
Bring All to Tod.
What can we do with all or any OF
these faculties of the soul? We have
only one resource. We can bring
them to him who made them, and who
can remake them by the power of his
grace. But we must bring them DELHI.
erately, naming the withered member
in the presence of our Lord. We must
bring them submissively, laying aside
all presumption and pride. We must
bring them obediently, ready and will.
ling to carry out the Kings DEGREES.
If he orders US to attempt the impos-
sible we must attempt it. Stretch
forth thy hand!" The man might have
replied, Master, that is Just what l
cannot dol" Stretch forth thy hand u
and the attempt being made the need
full power was found, and the man was
made whole. So must I bring my
withered love to him, and if need be
l must stretch it forth" in effort and
service. If he bid me I must act as
though l have a healthy love and / IN
the very effort I shall find | have re-
ceived it. l must bring my withered
hope to him. At his command
must stretch it forth. l must act as
a hopeful man, and I shall find that
the gracious light is restored. The
Savior's power goes with the Savior's
demand. The Savior's power is re-
lieved in human obedience.-Rev. ]. H.
Jowett, D. D.