The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1923-05-16

III ZH&X@H ~ HA4XZ EAAaA 9Ai 49,
N#k him" sings the
Psalmist IN cheer
'1g prophecy.
But to whom is It revealed Who
has the eyes Of faith that he may see
itf That arm that took the little chill
dren up and cuddled them close, that
held forth the Finger" from which
demons fled. that was stretched forth
on tie cross in death for the world,
the arm that alone could gather lost
men to the very heart of God? Is IL
considered by many as a mere human
arm of flesh and nothing more? The
whole chapter under consideration
fayors our Lord Jesus in humiliation.
1t so perfectly describes that arm
reaching down, down. for man the sin
ner, until at length be divides the
spoil with the strong"
Men may forget God, but though
consciousness of His call and of His
presence may be wanting, His strong
arm is nevertheless close by them. Il
reaches forth to draw them into its
embrace but they swerYe from II. They
fail to realize 1t. just as Israel failed
In old Judea, and they are astray. All,
soul, that was a strong arm, a
stretched out arm. a glorious arm, a
delivering arm. Give thought TO 1t.
Let ii be revealed II you. II holds
forth o hand pierced for you and me.
Because of the great humility with
fuhfaH 49, 4-a aa-aa 70 M nth tho
many rejected Him. They looked for
pomp and display of majesty. Blinded
by their self-made pictures they could
not see in the .lowIy of heart" the
worlds Redeemer. Many today. | fear,
do not see this delivering arm of the
Lord for the same reason. Who would
of himself imagine the Lord of Glory
walking this earth as "a mar of sor-
rows and acquainted with grief2" Il
so SURPRISES what we would think pos
sible that unless We believe the Gospel
it can never be revealed. 1t is not so
much the mystery Of the exalted, the
mighty. the authoritative. il is rather
the mystery of the humiliated and the
sacrificed One.
For this reason we must hasten to
consider it. Not for people who could
reach out clean hands to grasp His
did He come but for those whose
hands must be washed. Not for peo-
pie who could pay did he come-that
arm offers us eternal life and all that
II implies as a free gift. It Is, too, the
arm of His strength reached down TO
our palsy, our faintness. and our
death, offering to US the healing, saw
inc, vital power that can never be ex-
hausted.
The arm of a babe in Bethlehem's
manger. the arm of a commander
among the acknowledgements in
the temple. the arm of q Savior on
Calyary's tree, the arm of 4 eonqueror
as. after HIS resurrection He lifts II
In blessing-but ever and always the
arm of the Lord ;" There in Bethle-
hem as if TO reach and fondle US in
~babyhood. there in the temple as II 10
compel us to reverence God and rise
above the perishIng things Of clay and
the mere formalities of religion, there
on the Cross as If TO embrace in mercy
and ~forgiying grace all the world. and
there after the resurrection, lifted in
blessing as If to emphasize the fact
that all power Is indeed in IL and
therefore the blessing is sure 10 who
soeyer will receive il.
The whole story OF the most stu
nendous loss possible TO man is sug-
gested by those two words, TO whom2'
They cause Us to ask, All this, and
may / fail to realize itf' ITO Whom"
is the arm of the Lord revealed?
Ler tie struggling generations Of
men pass by in review and note each
man ms he passes. There Is one OF
Tarsus. he stands within the embrace
of that arm. Arralgned and maligned,
ready 10 be offered. Ia the strength Of
1t could his soul grip the meaning of
the words, neither shall any man
pluck them out of my hand" There
Is might in that arm to 'hold rs fast"
There is the fisherman who could say
kept by the power of God" That
same arm his defense. Thus one after
another they pass, both those to
whom that arm has been revealed and
those to whom ii has not. The long
line dwindles TO an end. Now it IS you
and I who must take our places in its
moving rank. Each moment is filed
with the appeal of the words, etc
Whom. To Whom7" Humbly would
nv redeemed soul answer TT has
found me, It has reached my need. ]
am rescued" But what shall be your
answer? Are you n of the whom
Q. soul. listen, II is not like N arm
that cannot reach US. The child that
fell into the cistern could not be
reached by the frantic mother because
her arm was too short, but the arm Of
the Lord. What a reach our need
may have seemed great yesterday only
10 seem greater today-ever. Y e in
ereasing-but with one look Of real
faith II is proven that His right hand
a