Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1913-03-26
~
Parable of the with Hand
Has a Clear Meaning for All
Thinking Christians.


posed to be analogous works which
can De wrought in the soul But
lnat We may know that the Son OF Man
nath power to heal and emancipats
the spirit he restored a paralyzed boy
10 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 II is with all the miracles of
our Lord; they are types OF the
greater things than these" which he
can work among the secret needs OF
the spirit There was a man with the
withered hand. A legend comes along
the centuries that he was a bricklayer.
an ordinary workingman who had
oeen reduced TO impotency by the loss
Oh me member he needed most But
uis calamity had not embittered him
Or made him spiritually insensitive.
he was found in the synagogue seek
ing communion with God. And there
me 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 men,
oers 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
check our spiritual progress. and i'm
pair the vigor OF moral aspiration and
service.
The faculty OF love can be a with
cred hand. 1t can shrivel away until
II has no strength, no reach, no hold.
IL 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
pest, that money can never touch.
Love Is the great open sesame" A
man with fine love burns his way
like fervent iron through ice He
pierces through every difficulty. and
nothing is allowed to obstruct his way
Love never faileth." But when the
love itself begins to wither. like n
limb that shrivels through lack OF vi
tally. life is comparatively impotent
And how frequently we see this splr-
itual tragedy! II have something
against thee, thou hast lost thy FIRST
love-" II is the disease of the with
cred hand. Something has happened
at the very fountain OF vitality, and
love sickens and dies.
Live" or Dead" Conscience.
The conscience can be a withered
hand. A live conscience gives man
fine. nervous. sensitive. feeling"
touch OF the mind OF God II gives a
man discerning apprehension of
right and wrong. When the feeling is
really sensitive, what confidence Il
imparts to life's movements, what
firmness, what motion. what decisionI
But the conscience can be benumbed.
II can become as unresponsive as
paralyzed hand. Common experience
| affords abundant illustration. There
are many people who we're once en-
dowed with a scrupulous moral sense.
and In some way or other It has lost
It's 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 strong. pushful. re-
sourceful hand II is when Il is en-.
dowed with healthy vitality! But when
1t withers everything is touched with
irresolution and hesitancy. Nothing
is initiated with power. Nothing is
addressed with persistence. Nothing
is accomplished with decision. A
feeble will makes all LIES doings ane-
mic. Everything is languid. from the
sickly promise TO the imperfect
achievement
Bring All to God
VUho3 c.n nc IL ,.,ftA III