If you turn again to 2 Timothy
and chapter 2, I'd like to draw your attention this morning to
verses 8 and 9. 2 Timothy chapter 2, 8 and 9
which read, Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was
raised from the dead according to my gospel, wherein I suffered
trouble as an evildoer even unto bonds, but the word of God is
not bound. Remember that Jesus Christ of
the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my
gospel, wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer even unto bonds,
but the word of God is not bound. The world and its religion has
no place for Christ, it has no place for his gospel, and there's
no place for those that God sends to preach that gospel. Any faithful
servant of Jesus Christ, any faithful preacher of the gospel,
will inevitably find opposition, rejection, persecution and trouble. They will be despised, ignored,
cast out and opposed. The world did not want Christ
The world does not want to hear the truth of Jesus Christ, and
it does not want to hear those who come preaching the truth
of Jesus Christ. Paul, in the second epistle to
Timothy, that we have read, we've read through chapters one and
two, makes several references to the afflictions and the trials
which he suffers for preaching Christ. He makes known unto Timothy
that he is a prisoner, that he is in bonds, that the gospel
which he preaches has brought many afflictions upon him, but
at the same time he reminds his son Timothy that nevertheless
the gospel is the power of God. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, he writes,
but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who hath saved us, and called us with an holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of
our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and have
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher
of the Gentiles, for the which cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed,
for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. Hold
fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in
faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which
was committed unto thee, keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth
in us. Yes, Paul knew that the way in which he had been called,
he knew that the gospel which he had been given to preach would
bring him into trouble. He knew that the persecutions
and the trials and the bondage which he suffered, he suffered
for Christ's sake. For the witch cause, I also suffer
these things. Nevertheless, Paul was not ashamed. For he knew whom he had believed. He knew Christ. And he was persuaded
that Christ is able to keep that which I have committed under
him against that day. He knew that he was in Christ's
hands. And he knew that Christ was powerful
over all. He knew that his Saviour was
over all. He knew he had a mighty Saviour. He knew that Christ and his Gospel
is the power of God. And that though he might be brought
into persecution for preaching Christ, and though men may set
everything that they might set against that Gospel and the preaching
of the Gospel, that though men may come upon Christ's servants,
that though men may put Paul into chains, that they may put
him into prison, that they might persecute him, that they might
put him even unto death. He knew that nevertheless that
gospel and that saviour whom he preached was the power of
God and no man can hold back God and his power. Now he knew
that though he suffered trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds,
nevertheless the word of God is not bound. Wherein I suffer
trouble as an evildoer, even unto bounds, but the word of
God is not bound. It is not bound. Yes, Christ's
servants will be opposed, But man cannot fight against God
and his gospel. Turn briefly to Luke and chapter
20, where we read a parable in relation to this. Luke chapter
20, we read the parable of the husbandmen, the wicked husbandmen. Luke 20 and verse 9, then Jesus
began to speak to the people. This parable, a certain man planted
a vineyard and led it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far
country for a long time. And at the season he sent a servant
to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit
of the vineyard. But the husbandmen beat him and
sent him away empty. And again he sent another servant,
and they beat him also, and then treated him shamefully, and sent
him away empty. And again he sent a third, and
they wounded him also, and cast him out. And then the lord of
the vineyard said, What shall I do? I will send my beloved
son. It may be that they will reverence
him when they see him. But when the husbandmen saw him,
they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him. that the
inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard
and killed him. What therefore shall the Lord
of the vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy these
husbandmen and shall give the vineyard to others. And when
they heard it, they said, God forbid. And he beheld them and
said, what is this then that is written? The stone which the
builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner.
Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken, but on
whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. What was the response of those
to whom Christ made this parable? Read that in verse 19. And the
chief priests and the scribes the same hour, sought to lay
hands on Christ and they feared the people for they perceived
that he had spoken this parable against them and they watched
him and sent forth spies which should feign themselves as just
men that they might take hold of his words that so they might
deliver him under the power and authority of the governor. Yes those And God sends his servants
into his vineyard to preach his gospel. For those who are opposed
and despised, like these servants who were sent to this vineyard
in the parable, whom the husbandmen slew. And they slew the servants,
for the servant is not above his master. And though at the
end the Lord sent his beloved son into the vineyard, Did the
husbandmen spare the son? No, they did not. They said,
this is the heir. Let us slay him and his inheritance
will be ours. And they slew the son. And the
wrath of the lord of the vineyard was against the husbandmen. He'd
entrusted his vineyard to these husbandmen. And when he sent
his servants and his son to them, who should have received the
servants and the son, They despised them and cast them out and slew
them. So it is with God's gospel. God sends his servants to preach
the gospel. He sends them to his vineyard.
He sends them to the professing church. The gospel is sent first
to the Jews and then to the Greeks. And the religious are the ones
that should receive those that come preaching Christ. They have
the scriptures, they have the oracles of God, they have the
traditions. These are those you would think
would know and would receive those that come preaching the
gospel. But these are the husband men, like the Jews, like the
chief priests and the scribes at the time of Christ, who when
the servants and when the son himself come preaching the gospel,
They reject it, despite their knowledge of the Scriptures.
They hate this message and they seek to have the inheritance.
They seek to keep the religion and the church to themselves.
They seek to keep the glory to themselves. And they despise
those who would come preaching a message which brings all glory
unto God and his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. so they slew the
son and when the chief priests and the scribes heard this parable
that christ spake a parable spoken against them regarding the stone
which the builders rejected christ whom the jews rejected that stone
which would yet become the head of the corner When the chief
priests and scribes heard this message, they sought the very
same hour to lay hands upon Christ, that they may slay him, that
they may slay the beloved son whom the Lord sent to his vineyard,
saying, surely they will reverence my son. They no more reverence
the son than they reverence those whom the son sends to preach
his gospel. No, Paul was in bond for preaching
Christ. He was not above his master.
His message brought him into persecution and into trouble.
And man will always seek to bind the word of God. They'll always
seek to bind those that come preaching the word of God. The
world will seek to shut the mouths of those who would preach Christ.
They'll seek to cast them out and shred them underfoot. They
have no room for those that come preaching the gospel. They don't
want to know. They don't like the message.
It's an offence to them. The preaching of the cross is
an offence. They don't want it. They hate
it. They despise it. They have no
room for it. There's no room in this world
for Christ and those whom he sent with his gospel. There's
no room in his world for his people. And the world and its
religion seeks to bind all those who would come preaching the
gospel. They seek to bind their mouths, they seek to shut their
mouths. They give no room for them to
utter that truth which they are sent with. The world's churches
will not welcome a faithful preacher. There is no open door in world's
religions for this Gospel. There's no door opened for this
Word to go forth. Man will do everything he can
to shut the door and to shut the mouths of those whom Christ
sends with His Word. They did everything they could
to shut Paul's mouth. They did everything they could
to shut the mouths of the apostles. They took the apostles into bondage. They put them in prison and they
said, we will release you if you promise not to preach the
name of Jesus of Nazareth. You're causing too much trouble
with the message you're preaching. You're causing a tumult amongst
the people. You're setting the people up
against the priests and their religion. You're causing trouble
with this gospel and this Jesus Christ that you preach. We'll
not have it. We'll release you, you can go
free if you promise not to preach this message. But the apostles
could not promise not to preach this message. For they were sent
with this message and they were true to their master. Christ
had sent them to preach the gospel and they could do none other
thing. And as soon as the authorities released them from the jail and
the bondage in which they were kept, they went forth preaching
Christ. the Word of God would not be bound. It cannot be bound. And so too in our day, the world
and its religion does not want the Gospel to be preached. They
do not want to come and hear and they do not want those who
would come and preach Christ to cause trouble in their midst.
They don't want the trouble it brings in their churches. They
don't want the trouble it brings in society. It's like a cancer
in their midst that they'll do everything to stamp out, everything
to destroy. Oh yes, in the day in which we
live, the day in which we live, we see increasing pressures brought
in in society, increasing pressures brought in by the laws which
are brought onto our statute books. Our nation in particular,
the Western world increasingly is shutting the door to Christianity
and shutting the door to the preaching of the cross and the
preaching of Jesus Christ. They do not want to know and
they will do everything that they can to keep the mouths of
God's servants shut. They will bind the word of God
if they can and they bind the servants of God and they bind
their mouths, they shut their mouths. But what does Paul say
in his letter to Timothy here? He says that they may bind us,
but the word of God is not bound. They may do what they can, but
they cannot bind the word of God. Remember that Jesus Christ
of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my
gospel, wherein I suffer trouble. as an evildoer, unto bonds, but
the Word of God is not bound. Yes, whatever they do to us,
whatever they did to Christ, they cannot bind the Word of
God. They cannot bind it. Oh, child
of God, will you hear the great comfort that is in this message? This is a great encouragement
to us, particularly in the days in which we live. A great encouragement. There may be this pressure put
upon us. There may be these hard hearts
in the world. We may see a society which increasingly
does not want to know, which has not only closed their ears
to the truth, but closed their ears to any form and sound of
the truth. We may live in a society which
does not want to know the least thing about Christianity, which
increasingly will not go to church, any church, which increasingly
despises all truth. We may have these laws which
sanction evil and prevent good, which may have these laws which
may mitigate against the free preaching of the truth of the
gospel. And these things may cause us to despair and to be
cast down. and we see the wickedness arise
around us, and we see the brazenness and the openness with which sinners
parade their sins on every side, and we see the increasing pressure
of government and society against the truth. And these things may
cause us to be cast down and to despair even. But hear the
word of encouragement which Paul has for his son Timothy, which
Paul has for this servant of Christ, whom he seeks to encourage. He says, though Timothy I be
brought into afflictions, and though you may too be brought
into afflictions, and though the preaching of the cross will
bring you trouble, and though you will find that the world
does not want to know, and that they will persecute you and despise
you and cast you out, and though you will suffer as an evildoer,
even unto bonds, you may even be put in prison, that He may
even at the very last put you to death. Nevertheless, Timothy,
nevertheless take heart. For nevertheless, the Word of
God is not bound. It's not bound. It never was
bound and it never will be bound. It never can be bound. This Word
of God is the Gospel, the power of God unto salvation. the power
of God. Christ, the power of God and
the wisdom of God. He cannot be bound. The Word
of God cannot be bound, for Christ, the Word of God, cannot and will
not ever be bound. This is the Gospel, the power
of God. No matter what they do to us,
no matter what they did to the prophets of old, no matter what
they did to the apostles, no matter what they did to Paul,
no matter what they will do to you, Timothy, no matter what
they will do to our descendants and those that come after us,
no matter what they do to the faithful servants of Christ in
the 21st century today, no matter what they may do to us or any
who profess the name of Jesus Christ in our day, no matter
how few and scattered we may be, no matter how despised and
cast out we may be, no matter what trouble our testimony of
Jesus Christ may bring us into, no matter what afflictions and
persecutions may come our way, no matter how cast out and how
close to despair we may be brought. Nevertheless, nevertheless, child
of God, servant of God, Timothy, child of God this day, be encouraged
Know this, the Word of God is not bound, and it cannot be bound. It will never be bound. It will
go forth and accomplish that which God purposed for it. It will go forth and it will
bring in all those for whom God had purposed He would save them
by the death of His own Son. That powerful gospel will achieve
its own ends, no matter what might and power of this world
is set against it. As he said, be not therefore
ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner,
but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who hath saved us, and called us with an holy
calling. not according to our works but
according to his own purpose and grace which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began that which God purposed
from all eternity according to his good purpose and pleasure
according to his grace those whom he called with an holy calling
not according to their works but according to his grace and
mercy which he set upon them from all eternity He will call
them in, He will save them, He will gather them and He will
gather them by His Gospel. Why? Because that Word of God
which is preached in that Gospel is not, cannot and will not be
bound. Like the two witnesses in Revelation
11 which we read of that there were two witnesses sent forth
in the world to testimonies, to witnesses to the truth of
Christ and his gospel, whom God said that if anyone should rise
up against them that God would rise up against those that rose
up against these witnesses. And yet eventually the witnesses
were slain, the beast rose up and he slew the witnesses and
their bodies lay in the street. And the great enemy, the adversary,
the accuser of God's people would have rejoiced that he thought
he'd put the testimony and the witnesses of God to death. He
thought he'd finally quenched the sound of the word of God.
And we live in a day when man seems almost to be at that point
where man thinks he's almost silenced the sound of the gospel
and silenced those who would preach the gospel. And the people
will rise up in rejoicing when they think they've finally put
Christ to death and put his servants to death. Nevertheless, in Revelation
11, those two witnesses whose bodies were laid in the street,
life was breathed into them again. And the end was ushered in. And
God's purpose was not defeated. And God brought in that everlasting
salvation for his own, which he had ever purposed. No, the
Word of God is not bound and never will be bound, not even
at the end. Not even when the apostasy is
at its peak. The Word of God is not bound.
For the Gospel, the Word of God, the truth of God, is powerful. It's powerful. The Gospel stands
sure, the truth stands sure, God's Word and God's purpose
stands sure. Paul would say of that gospel,
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power
of God under salvation. It is the power of God under
salvation. And nothing can quench it, nothing
can hold it back. The word of God is quick and
powerful. As we read in Hebrews 4.12, for
the word of God is quick and powerful. and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul
and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Nothing can stand
in the way of the word of God. You may destroy the messenger.
Man may take the messengers whom God sends forth with his word.
and they may find fault in the messenger. They may find fault
in man. They may say, who is this to
speak the word of God? Who does he think he is? Who
does he think he is standing up speaking as though he is an
authority? By what authority sayest thou
these things? Don't you know who that man is?
Oh, we know his parents. We know who, where he comes from.
Don't listen to that man. They may find fault with the
messenger, they may oppose the messenger, they may finally put
the messenger in bonds and slay him, but they cannot destroy
the message. The messengers are nothing. The
messengers are but clay pots, are but clay pipes that God has
chosen from the weak things and the nothings of this world. He
takes one from here and one from there. He takes a man whom He
has broken, a man whom He has taught by His gospel, a man whom
the Spirit has broken and brought in as nothing before Him, a man
whom He has revealed His Son in, a man whom He has revealed
His grace unto, a man whom God has shown mercy unto. And He
takes such men and He prepares them He teaches them Christ,
He reveals His Son in their own hearts. He shows them that they
are nothing. He shows them like John the Baptist,
that they must decrease and Christ must increase. He shows them
and He teaches them through the hard trials and experiences of
life, that they are nothing, but Christ is all. And He sends
them forth to preach nothing but Christ. And yes, the messenger
is nothing. And men may crucify the messengers
as they crucified the Lord of glory. But that matters not,
for the power isn't in the messengers. They slay one and God will send
another. They slay him and he will send
another. They may slay God's only beloved
son even, and he will raise him up from the dead. and send him
forth again in power to preach his gospel, and send forth messengers,
not a few, preachers, not a few, to preach his gospel. But the
power is in the preacher or the messenger. You may put the preacher
in bonds, you may kill the messenger, but the word of God is not bound,
for the power is in the words. And no matter how hard your heart
may be to this word, no matter how hard you may resist it, no
matter how much you may despise those who come and preach it
to you, no matter how much fault you may find in the messenger,
no matter how much you may harden your hard heart to this message,
the word of God is not bound. And when God in power comes with
His Word, and when He declares it in power by His Spirit to
your soul, to your hard heart, there is nothing that you can
do to bind it. You may close your ears to the
sound of it. You may close your ears to the
sound of the preacher. You may seek to go elsewhere
and despise that preacher and go and hear another. You may
choose not to hear all you will, but if God purposes to save you,
He will find you out. And He will send a preacher to
you with that gospel. And you will hear that word of
God. And there is nothing that you
can do, say, or act in. There's nothing that you can
do to resist. For in the day of God's power,
My people will be made willing, he says. My people shall be willing
in the day of my power. When the word of God which is
not bound comes in power, there is nothing that any, there is
nothing that the greatest, the strongest, there is nothing that
you can do to bind it. Yes, preachers may be bound,
but the word of God is not bound. And finally, I want to tell you
that the Word of God is not bound. The Word of God, the preached
Word, the written Word, the Gospel cannot be bound. For the living
Word, the Word of God, even Jesus Christ, is not bound. Christ, Him, the Word of God,
the Word that was made flesh, the Word that was sent into this
world, who took upon Himself human flesh, who was made of
the seed of David, according to my Gospel, Him, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, who took upon Himself human nature, the
Word of God made flesh, is not bound. And if he is not bound,
then his preached word when he sent forth his gospel can never
be bound. For he is alive, and he liveth
forevermore. They cannot keep Christ bound. Remember, remember says Paul
to Timothy, that Jesus Christ of the seed of David, was raised
from the dead according to my gospel. Do you hear that? Jesus Christ,
the Word of God, of the seed of David, him who was made man
of the seed of David, him who men saw, him who men saw as a
man who lived in their midst. They knew him to be the son of
Mary and Joseph. They saw him after the flesh,
and they fought to put him to death. This man, this man unlike
any other, Jesus Christ of the seed of David, was raised from
the dead, according to my gospel. Wherein I suffer trouble as an
evildoer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound. Why not? Because Jesus Christ,
the Word of God, was raised from the dead. And if death could
not hold him, if the binds of death, if the bonds of death
could not hold the Word of God in the grave, what else could
hold him? Nothing. Nothing can hold him. Man thought he'd bound the word
of God. Man thought he'd slain him. This
is the heir, they said. The Lord sent the son into his
vineyard. He said, surely they will reverence
my son. And the husbandmen took the son
and they said, let us kill him and we will have his inheritance.
And they slew, they crucified the Lord of glory. They nailed
him to a tree. Those scribes and those Pharisees
who were struck in their heart when Christ prophesied against
him in that parable, who sought to lay hands upon him, who sought
to deliver him up to the authorities that he might be slain. They
could not at that hour, for their hour had not yet come. But when
Christ's hour was come, when Christ knew that he of his own
will would lay down his own life for his own. Then these wicked
men took him and gave him up into the hands of the authorities.
They gave him up to the Romans. They fabricated a bed of lies
against him. They concocted a false trial
and they found charges to charge him with. And they claimed that
he falsely claimed to be the Son of God. They said, blasphemy,
put him to death. Our law condemns him. But the
law condemned him not. For despite the claim, this was
the Son of God. And he rightly said, I am the
Son of God. Yet they crucified the Lord of
glory. They crucified him and he died
upon a tree. And he was taken into bondage,
even the son. They bound the son and they slew
the son. They slew God's only beloved
son upon the tree. But could death hold him? Could
the bonds hold him? No, they could not. For on the
third day Christ was raised from the dead, according to my gospel,
Paul says. Those bonds which were wrapped
fast around his hands and his feet, those nails which nailed
him to the tree, were like feathers when he rose. He ripped them
apart. The grave could not hold him,
that great stone which was put upon the tomb. was rolled away,
and the sun rose again in mighty power. For death could not hold
him, the bonds could not hold him, the might of man could not
hold him. Why not? Because Christ, having died,
the substitute for his people, Christ having laid down his life
for sinners. Christ having willingly taken
upon himself their sins and their sin. Christ having stood in the
place of his own. Sinners such as you and me. Christ having drunk the cup of
God's wrath against the sins of his own and drunk it to the
very dregs Christ having waded through the rivers of Jordan
in death, having waded through three hours of the torments and
the fires of God in his own soul for the sins of his people. Christ
having drunk the cup of God's wrath, having suffered in anguish
freely for those whom he loved. Christ having put himself under
the law that he might redeem those that were under the law.
at the end had taken away every transgression, at the end he
had taken away every sin, at the end he had taken away every
condemnation which condemned that people to death, and their
every condemnation being taken away there was nothing more that
could be rained out upon them in their substitute. There was
no more judgment that rung from heaven's courts of justice against
God's people. There was no more anger in God
the Father against the sins of his people. There was no more
anger that he could rain down upon his own son. There was no
more that justice could say. Justice was satisfied. The law
was satisfied. Death was satisfied for the Son
died. The sentence of the law was satisfied. The penalty of the law was satisfied. There was nothing more that justice
could say. There was nothing more that the
righteousness of God could say. He was satisfied. Righteousness was satisfied.
Justice was satisfied. All was at peace. All had been
done. All had been accomplished. There
was nothing to bind Christ to the cross. There was nothing
to bind him to the grave. There was nothing to keep his
soul in the grave. All iniquity of all his people,
all his elect, everyone whom he died to save, everyone who
have lived from the days of Adam to the last days on this earth,
all that countless multitude, all their countless sins, were
washed away. The blood washed every last blemish
away, and there was no more condemnation, no more, nothing to hold him
in the grave. When Christ died for his own,
he delivered them from all that bound them, all that was against
them, from all sin, from death, from Satan, from the law, from
condemnation, everything. They were freed. There was nothing
that bound them. And if there was nothing that
bound them in their substitute, then there was nothing that bound
him. There was nothing that bound the Son. There was nothing that
bound the Word of God, the living Word, Jesus Christ. He was free. And being freed, he rose again
from the dead according to my gospel. For the word of God is
not bound. And when he rose, they rose in
him. And when he rose unto everlasting
life, they rose unto everlasting life in him. And when he was
freed from all that bound him, they were freed from all that
bound them. As it says in Romans 8 and 15,
for ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. but ye have received the spirit
of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. For
if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified
together. Yes, they slew the heir, but
when the heir rose, Those who were children were also heirs.
When the heir rose, the heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ,
rose with him. And they were freed. Freed. As Galatians 2.19 says, I through
the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto Christ. I through
the law am dead to the law once the law bound me once I was bound
by its condemnation but the law condemned me and in Christ it
slew me and through the law's condemnation I'm now dead to
it and being dead to it I may live unto God I'm freed what
does it say I through the law am dead to the law that I might
What does it say? That I might be free to sin again? I've been delivered from the
law, that I might be free to sin again? Does it say that?
Does it say, I through the law am dead to the Lord, that I might
indulge the flesh? That I might live a life of license? Does it say that? Having been
delivered from the law and all its condemnations, does Paul
say, now I'm free, free to sin? Does being delivered from the
law bring us free to sin? No, it doesn't say that. Oh,
blessed gospel, this deliverance, this freedom, this freedom we
have in Christ, this freedom from sin, from death, from hell,
and from the law, brings freedom to live unto God. For it says
that I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live
unto God. And when Christ freed us through
his own death upon the tree, And when he freed us from all
that was against us, from all our sin and all our condemnation,
even from the condemnation of the law of God, he freed us that
we might live unto God. Yes, live unto God, unto God. You can't live if you're still
bound. You can't live if you're still
bound by law. But Christ delivered us from
all that bound us. and he delivered us from the
law, that we might live unto God. And when he rose again victorious
over all, we rose again in him, that we might live unto God. Child of God, do you hear this? Do you hear this glorious gospel? Remember that Jesus Christ of
the seed of David was raised from the dead, according to my
gospel, wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds. But the word of God is not bound. You hear this gospel. When Christ
died, he redeemed you. He loosed you. He set you free. He set the captives free. He loosed you. No, the word of
God is not bound, for Christ is not bound. Christ is not bound
and in Him, His people are not bound. No, they're free. They're free. Like Lazarus, they
come from the dead and they're freed. Turn to John chapter 11,
where we read of Lazarus. John chapter 11. Christ came
to the grave of Lazarus. He's been told that he laid in
the grave. And they said unto him in verse
34, they said, Lord, come and see. And Jesus came to the grave
and Jesus wept. And the Jews said, behold, how
he loved him. And some of them said, could
not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused
that even this man should not have died? Jesus therefore again
groaning in himself, coming for the grave. It was a cave and
a stone lay upon it. And Jesus said, take ye away
the stone, take away all the bondage, roll the stone away. But Martha, the sister of him
that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh,
for he hath been dead four days. And Jesus saith unto her, said
I not unto thee, that if thou wouldst believe, thou should
see the glory of God. Then they took away the stone
from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up
his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
And I knew that thou hearest me always. But because of the
people which stand by, I said it that they may believe that
thou hast sent me. And when he had thus spoken,
he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead
came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face
was bound about with a napkin. And Jesus saith unto them, Loose
him, and let him go. Loose him, and let him go. Yes, when Christ delivers his
people, when the Spirit comes in his gospel unto them, if they
should come unto you this day and reveal Christ to you. When Christ is revealed to his
people by that gospel, by the Spirit, and when Christ sets
them at liberty, he says unto them and he says unto their hearts,
loose him and let him go. They're free. Do you hear that? Child of God,
do you hear that? You're free. In Christ, you are
free. You're no longer bound. The Word of God is not bound,
and all in Him are no longer bound. You're free. You're free.
Free. You're free.