Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-10-09

Mr.. Sundays theme this after
noon was The Withered Hand.
from which he drew lessons sayins
that sin in the hearts OF men arr
like those with withered hands, un.
able to do those things they would
He said:
Luke. sixth chapter, sixth verse:
And It came to pass also on an
rother Sabbath. that he entered into
the synagogue and taught: and
there was a man whose right hand
was withered.''
He was not a dead man, waiting
to be carried out to the graveyard
he was not a paralyzed man, un-
able to move: neither was he deaf
neither was he blind; he was a man
with whom 1t was impossible to do
certain things, because he had q
withered hand. A withered hand Is
worse than no hand: II is in the
way. for It can't be used.
There are thousands Of things
he would have liked to do, but he
could not take hold of anything, he
/ could not shape anything, he was
| just half Of a man.
You may have a great mind, you
may have great wealth, and you
! may have a fine physique but If
| your heart is not in sympathy with
God, you are just half Of a man or
half of woman. Salvation isn't a
matter OF intellect or physique or
wealth, but without God you are
Just half of man or half OF a
woman, because you can have mind
and know all that there is to be
taught in all the books, you can
have II the wealth of all the world
and all the honor, but all those
things combined won't save you:
while If l do what God Almighty
tells me to do, it will save me.
So the world can be saved If 1t
will do what God Almighty tells Il
to do. If the world could do with
out God, then 1t was useless for
Jesus to come into the world; but
you can't DO it. So, the poorest. as
well as the richest, need Jesus, the
ignorant as we'll as the intelligent,
need Jesus.
The hand is the most useful
member Of the human body. With
out the hand you cannot execute
your will. You might have all the
genius Of a Phidias or a Raphael,
an Angelo or of q CHRISTOPHER
Wrenn, but none of your immortal
conceptions would ever find ex-
preston either in marble or in
bronze or on canvass or in great
buildings like the st. Paul which
Christopher Wrenn built. d
Your soul might be as full of
music as the soul of Ole Bull, Han
del, or Paganini or Paderewski or
Josef Holman, but It would re-
main forever still because you
could not play a piano.
Hand Servant Of Mind.
The hand is the most useful ser
want of your body. No matter what |
you bid 1t to do it will do it. |
you tell 1t to do right or
wrong. Your hand will double the !
fist, or II will hold the pistol, OF |
shoot your friend, or stab your |
loved one, If you tell 1t to do It. The |
hand will rock the cradle. The |
hand built the ship with which Col
umbus crossed the seas and discoy-
cred a new world; the hand built i
the battle ships. the hand built the !
laid the forest low,
erected the skyscrapers, 1lilt rail-
ways, constructed your home, built
this tabernacle, built your church,
planted homes in the wilderness
The hand wrote the bible. The hand
wrote the Declaration of Independ-
once. the grandest document ever
written by the skill of man and it
was not without the inspiration of
the Lord. l think the Lord was
Thomas Jefferson when
ne did the job.
The hand made the telescope that
goes leaping from star to star and
rom planet to planet and can tell
you the minute when the eclipse of
he sun will take place 10000 years
rom now; and the sun moves with
precision and she is
never late q minute. The hand can
lend your thoughts under the sea
lpon the cable, or over the land on
title steel wires, until they can
cad a human thought in every
lex, tick, tick.
The hand built the pyramids Of
Egypt. The hand built the arr
hat saved the human race from
when God said, II am
soing to drown this world because
II mans cussedness." and for 120
ears Noah pounded boards and
'uilt according to the directions Of
he Lord.
Hand Commits Murder.
The hand committed the first
murder, when Cain took the club
nd slew his brother, Abel, in the
Ieid. The hand held the surgeons
-nife that has kept you out of the I
rave. because of the skill of man.
NE hand broke the vase of prec-
Ous ointment and poured it on the }
eet Of Jesus Christ. The hand Of
he black hearted traitor, Judas, /
cached out and took the price of |
etrayal, 80 pieces Of silver, $15.92
4 our standard OF money.
The hand stripped and scourged |
esus. The hand made the cross.
he hand drove the nails through
is hands and feet. and the hand ~
aised Him between heaven and O
arth; and the hands took Him s
own from the cross and laid Him n
i the sepulchre, and the hand of =
ian has taken up the torch Of SAL :
alton and passed 1t on down to 9
ne goth century.
He had a withered fand'-but :
ait! The man that Jesus saw in =
ne synagogue on the Sabbath day =
ad withered hand.
o, how many people you find of
he same kind everywhere, poor
eople that cannot do the things a