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By George W. Sinquefield
Rom. 10:12 through Rom. 10:21 (KJV)
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. 19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. 20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. 21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.
Hands are very important to us. They are symbolic of man's worth to himself and to his fellow man. It is interesting what the Scriptures tell us about how Jesus used His hands. His hands stand for His power, knowledge, wisdom, grace, guidance and love.
I. The Hands Of Jesus Were Working Hands.
Jesus spent His boyhood days in Joseph's carpenter shop. After He entered His public ministry, we hear Him say.
John 4:34 (KJV)
John 5:17 (KJV)
In His prayer, just before He went to the cross, we hear Him say:
John 17:4 (KJV)
Our hands, as followers of Jesus, are to be working hands. Many of the parables of Jesus about services which we are to perform. Hear Him say, "Go work in My vineyard today." Philippians 2:12, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Now notice very carefully what this tells us. We are to work out "our own salvation." We are not told to work for our salvation, for it is not of works. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
This speaks to Christians -- people who are already saved. Look at verse 13. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure."
Mary was only 13 -- the oldest of 7 children. Her mother was dying. She called Mary to her bedside and said, "I must leave you now and you must be mother to the children. You're young and it'll be hard but you can do it. Be patient with your father when he is drinking, and is mean to you. You know how good he is when he is not drinking.
Mary bravely entered upon her mission. She gave her best but in two years she, too, was sick and near death. She told a lady who ministered to her, "Now I am dying. I've tried hard to do what mother told me. To the best of my ability I've taken care of the children. I've kept them together and I've been patient with father but I'm afraid to die. I haven't gone to church because I didn't have fit clothes. At night I was so tired I neglected Bible reading and prayer. Now what can I say to Jesus when I see Him?" This wise lady took Mary's hands hardened by toil for others and said to her,"Don't say anything, Mary, just show Him your hand." Will your hands and mine bear witness that we have labored for our Lord and for others?
We have all seen the picture of the Praying Hands." The story behind this picture is one that thrills our souls. When the artist (Albrecht Durer) was in school it appeared that he might have to abandon his preparation for lack of funds. An older fellow student gave up his own studies to work and support both of them with the understanding that as soon as Albrecht was able to paint, he would in turn finance the preparation of his friend. But hard labor had stiffened and calloused the hands of the older man. He could no longer hold the brush with the mastery and skill required of an artist. One day Albrecht returned to his room and heard the voice of his friend in prayer. He entered softly and seeing the work-worn hands folded in prayer he determined to paint those hands as he saw them in prayer. It was his hope that when people looked at the picture they would remember with love and devotion all hands that toil for others.
Alfred Grant Walton in his poem said;
34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
An old legend says that three young ladies disputed about their hands, as to which were the most beautiful. One dipped her hands in a clean stream. Another plucked daisies until her fingers were pink. The third gathered flowers whose fragrance clung to her hands. An old woman passed by and asked for a gift. They all three refused her. But another young woman, very plain and with no claim to beauty of hands, satisfied the old woman's need. The old woman said, "It is not the hand that is washed in the brook, nor the hand tinted with red, nor the hand garlanded and perfumed with flowers that is most beautiful, but the hand that gives to the poor."
II. The Hands Of Jesus Are Helping, Lifting Hands.
Matt. 14:22 through Matt. 14:31 (KJV)
A marine gives us his experience. "Some years ago our company of marines was ordered to go aboard ship to participate in the Atlantic Fleet Exercises. Our transport was at anchor off the North Carolina coast; and the leathernecks were being shuttled from shore to ship in small boats. Upon coming alongside the troop carrier, we found it necessary to board her by climbing up a cargo net which had been draped over her side. Weighted down as we were with heavy packs, ammunition and other equipment, it was an exhausting task to climb the bulwarks from the small craft to the main deck of the ship. As I came near the top of the net, my aching arms seemed unable to hold on any longer. I faltered and was in danger of falling. Either I might drown, being drawn under by the weight of my equipment, or be crushed between the ship and the boat as the ocean waves relentlessly pounded the small craft against the ship's hull. Suddenly from above I felt the strong hands of several sailors grip my shoulders and arms and lift me from the net to the steel deck and safety." Just so, Christ lifts men.
Sometimes we sing the hymn "Love Lifted Me" but we'd change to "Jesus Lifted Me."
22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. 23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. 24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
1 Pet. 5:6 through 1 Pet. 5:7 (KJV)
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
"If you will humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, in His good time He will lift you up. Let Him have all your worries and cares, for He is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you." (The Living Bible)
III. The Hands Of Jesus Are Healing Hands.
Matt. 20:28 (KJV)
We read in Mark 7:32 where they brought a man to Jesus who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech and they desired Jesus to put His hand upon him. Jesus did -- he was healed. In Matthew 8:2-4 a leper said, "Lord if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." Jesus touched him and said, "I will, be thou clean."
Peter's wife's mother lay sick of a fever. Jesus touched her and the fever left (Matt. 8). Two blind men begging for mercy Jesus asked them if they believed He could heal. He touched their eyes and said, "according to you faith be it done unto you." Their eyes were opened. A woman bowed for 18 years, could not lift herself. Jesus said, "Woman thou are loosed from thine infirmity and He laid His hand on her and she was made straight and glorified God. These are just a few examples of the healing ministry of Jesus.
Many times in my ministry I've known the Lord to raise up the sick in answer to the prayers of His people. He is still in the healing business.
James 5:13 through James 5:15 (KJV)
IV. The Hands Of Jesus Are Keeping Hands.
A Gallop poll reported that the greatest desire of most Americans is not money or health but security. At times wealth and health will be involved in that security. The number one comment of those interviewed was, "I want to be secure." The Bible says that when we are saved, God literally has us in the very palm of His hand.
John 10:27 through John 10:29 (KJV)
How much more secure can one who is in the hands of God be? Just imagine the devil and all his demons trying to pry open the hand of God to snatch one of His children out. It will never happen. God, our Heavenly Father is the great, almighty God.
Gen. 17:1 (KJV)
Ex. 6:2 through Ex. 6:3 (KJV)
2 Cor. 6:18 (KJV)
Jesus said, "My Father, which gave them to Me, is "greater than all" and "no man (nothing) is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand." This certainly means that the devil will never be able to get a child of God. How much more secure can one be who is in the hand of God" Think of it -- we who are saved are in the mighty hands of God.
The hands of God scooped up the valleys. The hands of God heaped up the mountains. The hands of God flung the luminaries into space. The hands of God started the comets around the solar system. The hands of God created you and me. God's hands!
I copied the following from Bailey E. Smith's book "Nothing But The Blood": I was reading the other day the statistics of how massive this universe is. If you were to travel at the speed of light, 186,282 miles per second, in two seconds you would pass the moon. In eight minutes you would pass the sun. In five months you would be at the edge of the solar system. In four and one half years you would arrive at our nearest star, Alpha Centauri.
If you were to travel one million five hundred thousand years at 186,282 miles per second, you would arrive at our nearest galactic neighbors, the Magellanic Clouds. Those are just the closest galaxies to the Milky Way. Yet there are untold millions of galaxies in the universe!
If you were to travel for a billion years or a trillion years at 186,282 miles per second, you would never come to the end of God's universe! Yet I read from Isaiah 40:12 that God has all of the oceans right in the hollow of His hand. God's hand is so big that you could put every body of water into the hollow of His hand.
The next phrase in the King James Version does not do it justice. The King James Version says, "meted out heaven with the span." When I was in Atlanta, Charles Stanley gave me a New International Version of the Bible. The New International Version translates Isaiah 40:12 thusly, "Who had measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, or with the breadth of His hand marked off the heavens."
God says that when He measured the heavens, He measured them by the breadth of His hand. All of the heavens I have mentioned are not as big as God's hand is wide. He has measured the heavens by the breadth of His hand, and He has measured out the waters of the world in the hollow of His hand.
Can you imagine, not only the ultimate relationship with the Father, but also the ultimate security of being in hands like the hands of Almighty God!
Pastor Thomas Collins called at a home and found the mother very despondent and feeling that God had forsaken her. She had no sense of security. She feared that she was no longer a child of God.
She held her baby in her arms and he said to her, "Drop that baby on the floor." She couldn't believe that he said that. She was startled. "Well for what price would you do it?" She replied, "Not for as many dollars as there are stars." He kindly said, "Tell me, do you really think that you love your child more than the Lord loves His?" She understood that God had not and never would forsake her.
A mountain climber in the Alps had come to a treacherous place in his ascent. The only way to advance was to put his foot in the outstretched hands of the guide who had anchored himself a little way ahead of him. The man hesitated a moment as he looked below to where he would certainly fall to his death if anything went wrong. Noticing his hesitation, the guide said, "Have no fear, sir. In all my years of service my hands have never yet lost a man!"
The person who puts the destiny of his soul in Christ's hands can be sure that he will be held securely. By the Holy Spirit he is "sealed for the day of redemption" (Eph. 4:30).
1 Pet. 1:3 through 1 Pet. 1:5 (KJV)
A bumper sticker says, "Hold on to Jesus." I don't know any verse in the Bible that teaches that we are to hold on to Jesus, but there are many verses that tell us that He is holding on to us.
This little story reveals that truth very plainly. A little girl and her father were walking down the street. She held his finger with her little weak hand. She would slip and lose her grip and fall. Her father said to her, "Honey, let me hold your hand." She placed her little hand in his strong hand and they walked on. Her feet slipped but she never fell. She had placed her hand in the hand of one who was able ot keep her from falling. That is exactly what Christian people have done.
Jude 1:24 (KJV)
V. The Hands Of Jesus Are Crucified Hands.
The Scriptures very plainly and painfully reveal the treatment Jesus received from the hands of cruel men. Luke 20:19 -- "The chief priests and scribes sought to lay hands on Him." It was the hand of a sinful man that slapped His holy face and plucked out His beard. It was the hand of a ruthless man that threw the spear into His side. It was the hand of a cruel man that "Put on Him a scarlet robe" and "platted a crown of thorns" and put it upon His head." It was the hand of an enraged man that scouraged Him until blood flowed freely from His back. At the last supper Jesus said to the little group, "Behold, the hand that betrayeth me is on the table with me." A short time later in the shadows of Gethsemane He announced to them. "The hour is come, behold the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners." John told later, "One of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand." Peter in his sermon at Pentecost declared, "Him ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." (Acts 2:23)
Luke 23:33 (KJV)
An old lady had lived a dedicated Christian life. She was on her death bed and a priest came and said to her, "I have come to offer you absolution." She asked what that was and he said, "I have come to forgive your sins." Then she said, "May I see your hands?" She gazed at his hands and then said to him, "Sir, you are an imposter, you are a false prophet. The One who forgives my sin has a nail print in His hands."
Some years ago I read a story. This story was a true story printed in periodicals in Christian magazines throughout the country.
It was the story of a man who lived in England by the name of Dixon. There was a fire in the home of a little country house in England where everyone was burned to death except one little boy.
It is said that there was a man by the name of Dixon who climbed the down spout which was so hot that the paint was peeling off o it. Burning his hands as he climbed to a window and took a little boy and climbed back down again to safety. Then some months later, it is said that the custody of that little boy was a matter of court. In the court, they were trying to decide who deserved the custody of this boy.
The little boy had no living relatives. Well-to-do people said, "We will take him." Educated people said, "We will take him." There were many people who wanted the little boy, but there was one man who wanted him, and one man who got him, for one man gave more evidence that he deserved the boy, than anyone else. That was the man who stood in that court and with twisted burnt hands by the name of Dixon who said, "These hands brought him to safety and he is alive because of these hands."
Out of gratitude for our deliverance through the crucified hands of Jesus we dedicate our hands to Him. On a sabbath day Jesus entered the synagogue and found a man with a withered hand. He said to him, "Stretch forth thy hand." The man did and "it was restored whole, like the other."
We don't know why his hand was withered but obedience, we know, made it whole. We don't know what became of him after this experience but we feel sure that he became a more useful person. There are many withered and useless hands in the churches today. Hands that are folded in the face of so many opportunities. Hands that are inactive in the midst of unharvested fields. Jesus is saying to those with such hands, "Stretch them forth and I'll make them whole and useful."
VI. The Hands Of Jesus Are Beckoning Hands
Rom. 10:21 (KJV)
The man who was head of the China Inland mission led many Chinese to the Lord. One day he was walking in his garden, meditating and praying. A little girl went into the garden. At first he didn't notice her but in a little while he reached out his hand to her. She put her hand in his and together they walked among the flowers. The mother of the little girl saw her and called to her. "You're disturbing him, you're bothering him. You shouldn't have." The little girl said, "But mama, he reached out his hand to me." The mother went back about her work saying, "If he reached out his hand to her, then he wanted her." The Lord wants us all to put our hand in his and let Him lead us.
For 30 years Mother Teresa has worked in the slums of Calcutta, India. She has worked among the most forsaken people on earth. You and I would recoil from most of the people that she touches every day. The dispossessed, the downtrodden, the diseased, the desperate. And yet, everybody who meets Mother Teresa remarks on her warm smile. How, after 30 years of working in conditions like that does she keep a warm smile on her face? Well, it's interesting. She says that at age 18 she left Yugoslavia to become a Christian servant. She said, "When I was leaving home, my mother told me something beautiful and very strange. She said, 'You go put your hand in Jesus' hand and walk along with him.'"
To whom are they stretched out? To the gainsayers and the disobedient. A gainsayer is one who will argue with you about the Word of God. I have no time for such and God is calling them to cease their arguing and accept His Word.
One pastor said, "I do like to argue the Bible. You can win the argument and lose a soul. You can win the argument and lose a blessing. You can win the argument and lose the victory.
The disobedient -- those who know what God wants them to do but they're not willing to do so. So many in our churches are in this class.
Our Lord is so patient and longsuffering. "All Day Long" He as continued to beckon those who need to come to Him.
2 Pet. 3:9 (KJV)
A Christian man was being escourted through a large factory in one of the industrial towns of England. At the end of the tour, he took the manager's hand and expressed appreciation. He found the hand soft, limp and unresponsive to his grip. The manager said, "Young man, you must excuse my hand. I met with an accident some years ago. A nail was driven through my hand and I've never been able to close it since." The Christian man was sympathetic and realized this gave him a chance to witness. He told the manager about Jesus, His coming into the world, His sinless life, His good works, and His dying for man's sin. -- Crucified He said, "Like you sir, He too has never been able to close His hands again. In grace and love, they are stretched out to a needy world."
Rev. 3:20 (KJV)
Jesus may be knocking at your heart's door. He wants to come in and fellowship with you. Will you let Him come in?
The story is told of a young man in one of our Southern states convicted of a serious crime and condemned to the electric chair. The time came for his execution and all appeals had failed. The incorrigible prisoners in his cell block were placed into a large room. The condemned man occupied a cell in the same cell block near these men. For months he had talked to the chaplain who led him to Christ. Now he faced his last hour on earth. He ate his last meal. A prison attendant shaved his head. As the final hour approached, he sang gospel hymns learned as a child.
28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
2 And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: 3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
33 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.
21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
He began singing "Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound." Soon he was joined by another voice in a duet, then a trio then a quartet, until the last stanza "When we've been there then ten thousand years" -- then in a veritable chorus the other prisoners sang with him.
The time came to go away. He walked with the warden and the chaplain. The chaplain said to him, "D you have anything to say?" The young man replied, "Just tell all my friends to put their hands in the nail scarred hand. I'll meet them over there."
In the words of one of our favorite hymns:
John 3:16 (KJV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
