The Word Of God Is Not Bound

3. Friends -- Education may INFORM us, Sin will DEFORM us; Prisons try to REFORM US; but ONLY THE WORDS OF JESUS CAN TRANSFORM US!

4. YOU MAY FEEL LIKE: “I’m home with kids...I have no opportunity” or “My job limits my witness” or “My culture limits my witness.” REMEMBER: No Word you say will return void. Your smallest word can have eternal consequences. (A scrap of a few verses of scripture, in India, saved 22 villages; Daily Bread, Feb. 23, 2000)

5. NO ONE CAN LIMIT HOW GOD’S WORD SPREADS. Like tiny seeds blown by the wind that travel 1,000s of miles, or viruses which can’t be detected but are transmitted despite all efforts to stop them – so the Word travels the world in unseen ways, penetrating to the limits of creation.

B. THE BIBLE HAS THE POWER OF MAKING THINGS HAPPEN!

1. The Bible said, “Water will flow in this desert” (2 Kgs. 3:17). People said, “It can’t happen!” but it did!

2. The prophet said, “Though it’s a famine, flour will sell cheaply in this city tomorrow” (2 Kgs. 7:1-2). Doubters said, “That’s impossible!” but it happened!

3. God said, “This sterile old woman (75 years old) shall bear a son next year” (Gen.18:10; Lk. 1:13). People laughed at the absurdity, but it happened just as God said.

4. God said a little army of 300 men would defeat an army of 135,000 men (450 to 1)! Crazy? But it happened!

5. The prophet said, “Israel, though defeated, and scattered among the nations, will be gathered and become a nation again and rebuild their Temple in Jerusalem” (Deut. 29; Isa. 11:11-13; Jer. 25:11; Hos. 3:4-5 and Lk. 21:23-24). People doubted it. But 2,000 years later it came true!

C. WHY YOU CAN’T BIND GOD’S WORD

1. Men & angels have thought they could MAKE WAR against God. But can a person fight against God? Of course not! God’s words are as divine as He is. Just as it’s impossible to bind God, so it’s impossible to bind His Word. His words have latent power in them which only needs to be awakened, by faith; then the power is released.

2. People have been able to hinder God’s Word getting out, but as Paul said, “The Word of God is not bound.” Like the wind it can’t be stopped.

CONCLUSION

A. ILLUSTRATION: POWER OF THE BIBLE

1. Jonathan Goforth was preaching a series of meetings in the Chinese village of Woo-Ann. He gave the mayor of the village, a Mr. Yen, a Bible in Chinese. A few weeks later Mr. Yen returned to talk to Goforth.

2. He said, “Tell me, how does this Bible you gave me have so much power? Before you gave it to me, I often took money in exchange for rendering unjust decisions in court. But now it’s very different. After reading this book I find, if I make an unjust decision, I cannot sleep.”

3. Goforth told him of the power of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit, that convicts us in our hearts. Thank God for His abiding presence! [Jonathan Goforth: An Open Door in China, Janet & Geoff Benge, chap. 11]

B. THE CALL

1. You can be in prison and be free, but there’s many “free people” – outside of prison – who are really bound.

2. The Govt may outlaw Christianity & padlock the church; they may pull us off FB & confiscate our musical instruments; they may arrest the Pastor & put him in chains; but they can never bind the Word of God!