Unshackled!
II Timothy 2:1-10
Main Text: II Timothy 2:8,9:
8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel,
9 for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained.
There are some things in life that cannot be bound¨Cforces that just will not allow themselves to be restricted in any fashion. We see it in nature:
Wind cannot be kept from blowing
Lightning cannot be kept from striking
Earth cannot be kept from spinning
So it is with God¡¯s Word. All the forces of heaven and earth cannot imprison the Gospel.
The words of our Scripture were written by the apostle Paul from a prison cell. What did he do to merit incarceration? He preached the Gospel. He announced the Good News of God¡¯s amazing love and salvation. And for that he was placed under arrest. This isn¡¯t the first time hr found himself in jail for sake of the Gospel. But this time id different. This time he is under the sentence of death. And even though he realizes that there is no way out for him, he glories in the unchained Word of God!
His body may be locked up, but the Gospel free¨Cfree to invade human hearts¨Cto change lives. And there is nothing in all the world that can be done to stop it. Even Imperial Rome, with all her might, could not chain God¡¯s truth.
Paul¡¯s arms were chained to the wall of that prison cell, but the Word was unfettered. He gave testimony to this in his letter to the Philippians:
12 Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.
13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.
14 Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. (1:12-14)
And it is still true today. The powerful Word of God is not bound by...
SUFFERING. Paul still had a voice and his companion had a pen. There are men and women all across our world who are bound to beds, wheelchairs, blindness, and prison cells¨Cyet they freely share the Good News. The Gospel even transcends the death of it¡¯s proclaimers. It lives on. It survived the apostles and prophets and it will even survive the great preachers of our day. John Wesley: ¡°God buries His workmen but continues His work.¡±
TIME. The Word of God is always relevant and up-to-date, because it speaks to the basic needs of the human heart. When time ceases, the Scriptures will remain. Isaiah wrote, ¡°The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever¡± (40:8).
SCIENCE cannot shackle the Bible. In fact, just the opposite is true. Archeology continues to substantiate its claims. Scientists are constantly changing, revising, or modifying their theories about origins but God¡¯s truths are changeless. They explode to capture the seeking mind.
Even the ENEMIES of the Word cannot keep it from penetrating the human spirit. They may attack it, scoff at it, ridicule it edit it, even deny it, and yet it stands.
The empire of Caesar is gone; the legions of Rome are smouldering in the dust; the avalanches that Napoleon hurled upon Europe have melted away; the prince of the Pharaohs is fallen; the pyramids they raised to be their tombs are sinking every day in the desert sands; Tyre is a rock for bleaching fisherman’s nets; Sidon has scarcely left a wreck behind; but the Word of God still survives. All things that threatened to extinguish it have only aided it; and it proves every day how transient is the noblest monument that men can build, how enduring is the least word that God has spoken.
--Albert Baird Cummins
This Word, channeled through godly men of old, did not originate with them; they were merely conduits of God¡¯s truth. Long ago, before the world began, God decreed that it would forever be free.
Isa 55:10-11
10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Aren¡¯t you glad that God¡¯s Word is not bound? Its loose in the world¨Cchanging the hearts of those who will let it.
When you are in a crisis situation, upon whom or what do you lean? When you are on the stormy sea of emotions, which lighthouse shows you where to find the shore?
Most people respond to crisis in one of four ways¨Cthey reach for common crutches, such as:
1. Escapism (form of denial)
¡ö Alcohol
¡ö Drugs
¡ö Work
¡ö Pleasure
2. Cynicism¨Cbecoming preoccupied with trouble, resulting in bitterness and unbelief. Trust is not in their vocabulary.
3. Humanism¨Clooking to man alone for answers; leaning wholly on one¡¯s inner resources, leaving God out of the picture.
4. Supernaturalism¨Cconsulting astrology, mediums; superstition.
The problem with these four is that they leave the victim in spiritual and emotional quicksand! But not so with the Gospel. It sets the prisoner free¨Cfree from guilt, despair and an uncertain future.
Illus.: ¡°Russian Actor Discovers the Power of the Word¡±
Many years ago, something unusual happened in a Moscow theatre that illustrates the convicting and transforming power of the Gospel. Matinee idol, Alexander Rostovzev was converted while playing the role of Jesus in a sacrilegious play entitled, ¡°Christ In A Tuxedo.¡± He was supposed to read two verses from the Sermon of the Mount, remove his gown, and cry out, ¡°Give me my tuxedo and top hat!¡± But as he read the words, ¡°Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted...¡±
He began to tremble. Instead of following the script, he kept reading from Matthew 5, ignoring the coughs, calls, and foot-stomping of his fellow actors. Finally, recalling a verse he had learned in his childhood in church, he cried, ¡°Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.¡± Before the curtain could be lowered, Rostovzev had prayed to receive Christ as his personal Savior.
Since the Word of God cannot be chained up, what should my response to it be? This is the VOICE OF GOD. It¡¯s His message to us.
RECEIVE it as the very Word of God¡ªthe word of authority for our lives. It answers all the basic questions of life: Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going?
BELIEVE its message. You can trust it; there¡¯s no deceit in it.
LIVE IT. Don¡¯t just listen to it or read it. Be a doer of the Word. Let its principles guide your life and motivate you to serve its Author.
SHARE IT¡ªso that it will continue to remain unchained. We dare not lock it up inside of ourselves.
A man selling individual books of the Bible was stopped and robbed one night as he passed through a forest in Sicily. The robber ordered him to burn his wares. After lighting a fire he asked if he might read aloud a brief portion from each before surrendering them to the flames. Given permission, he read from one of them, the 23rd Psalm. Then from another he read the parable of the Good Samaritan, and from another, Paul¡¯s hymn of love in I Corinthians 13. After each excerpt, the robber exclaimed, ¡°That¡¯s a good book! We won¡¯t burn that. Give it to me.¡± Consequently, none were destroyed but all were taken by the thief. Some years later the robber appeared again, but now as an ordained minister. Reading the Bible had accomplished the miracle.
Thank God His Gospel is not chained. Unshackled, unfettered, it remains within His people. Oh, let us rejoice and be glad. Let us be His heralds as we boldly declare its truths.
