Our Beliefs : Sermons : Sermon Archive - 2006 : September 17, 2006

Theme: Let God's Word Be Your Supply Line

Church year occasion: Pentecost 15

At the end of World War 2, the nation of Germany was divided into four sectors by the victorious Allied Powers -- the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union. The capital city of Berlin, which was located within the part of the country controlled by the Soviets, was divided as well. But by 1948 the Soviets didn't allow any ground supplies to be delivered to West Berlin. The 2.5 million people in West Berlin had little way of getting the basics of food and clothing as well as many items needed for their industrial base to be rebuilt, so the U.S. and Great Britain responded by flying in 2.3 million tons of supplies by air because the air routes were protected by international treaty. At the height of the operation, planes would be leaving for West Berlin every three minutes to supply the grateful people. The Berlin Airlift remains one of the greatest feats of aviation history, but most importantly, people's lives were saved.

A supply line is crucial during times of war and times of peace -- it sustains life. The same is true spiritually, and the psalmist this morning wants us to see the importance of Letting God's Word Be Your Supply Line to Christ. The 119th psalm has the distinction of being the longest chapter in the Bible. Yet almost every single line has one thought -- the importance of God's Word in the Christian's life. As we look at the verses before us, I want you to think of yourself as a soldier fighting your Christian life. But a soldier is only effective if they have supplies. Every military strategist knows that in order to win a war, you need to keep your supply lines connected to the troops at the front lines. If those supply lines are cut off, then the soldiers are eventually going to run out of what they need to fight and even to live. As we go through this portion of the 119th psalm, we will be comparing God's Word to a supply line to Christ, and we will see three different kinds of supplies coming along that supply line which connects us to Christ.

The first kind of supply is the proper clothing. It is the robe of righteousness that Jesus has earned for us. We read, "Let me understand the teaching of your precepts; then I will meditate on your wonders." What wonders are those? Well certainly we can look at all the wonderful miracles of the Bible, only things that God could do. From the creation of the world to the inspiration of Holy Scripture, from the parting of the Red Sea in the Old Testament to feeding the 5000 in the New Testament. There are thousands of wonderful works of God in the Bible that are part of God's supply line to you and me. But the greatest of God's wonderful works is sending his own Son to this sin-darkened world to save a human race that was infested with sin. It's so remarkable because when I say infested, I mean infested. We haven't just sinned once or twice so that maybe God could overlook a few trifling sins, but we are infested with sin like a body can be infested with cancer. Sin is ugly. Sin is horrible. The result is death -- eternal damnation.

The first verse of our text tells us, "I am laid low in the dust." The literal translation says, "My soul clings to the dust." What does that mean that we cling to dust? It is a picture describing how low we are after sin gets through with us. We are as low as anyone can be. We cling to dust because we are made from dust -- ashes to ashes and dust to dust. When are those words spoken? At funerals. Our sins have brought death upon us all. And that is our just punishment from a holy God who hates sin. Just look at our sin of neglecting God's Word. God's Word is our supply line to Christ. It is vitally important that we keep that supply line open by regularly hearing and studying God's Word. If we don't keep that supply line open, we will starve spiritually. If we don't keep that supply line open and we starve ourselves spiritually, we will die eternally, unless something changes. You'd think that since our supply line to Christ is so important, that we wouldn't dare allow it to be interrupted, and if it is an alarm would sound telling us that we better get it fixed quickly. But that rarely happens. Just think about all the supplies we have at our fingertips -- weekly worship, daily devotions with our family, personal study of God's Word. The supplies are right there. But are there times when we just don't use them? Are there times when we think that skipping a church service is no big deal or that not getting into God's Word at home isn't going to kill us? Absolutely. Ask any soldier on the front lines in a war whether they think supplies are important. Of course they are. If they don't have food and clothing and ammunition and weapons, they don't stand a chance. Do you realize that as Christians we are on the front lines fighting with an enemy that wants nothing less than our immortal soul in hell forever? How are our supplies? We have them; that's for sure. But how foolish for us not to use them! And we've all been guilty of not using the precious and powerful Word of God in our lives. Is it any wonder, then, that God gave us the 3rd Commandment that tells us to make sure we use and listen to God's Word regularly and daily? But that is a command from God that we have failed to live up to all too often. As a result, we deserve God's judgment.

How wonderful, then, that Jesus would willingly take sins' punishment on himself when he gave up his life in exchange for God's wrath. 2 Corinthians says that Jesus actually became sin for us in God's eyes to take all our sins away, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. We have been given the robe of Christ's righteousness. That is the clothing we need as we fight as soldiers on the front lines. That is truly the most wonderful news that we could hear. The most wonderful work of God. The more we meditate on the wonders of God, the more wonderful they become because we see each and every day the grace that God has poured out on us even though we are sinners.

God's Word is the supply line for us to see the wonders of his works for us. And when we see and understand that God has supplied us with Jesus' robe of righteousness, we can see the next supply that is provided by God's Word. God's Word supplies us with food. The psalmist says, "My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word." We need to fill up every day on God's Word because it is food for our souls. It is significant that this verse follows the one that talks about the wonderful works of God because sin is still a very real part of our lives, even though we know that we are forgiven of every sin through Christ. The consequences of sin still remain: pain, sorrow and especially death. And we know that even though we know we are forgiven and children of God, yet we still continue to sin and fall down in the dust. The Apostle Paul said it this way, "For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:22-25)

The supply line of God's Word is always ready to tell us that, yes, we are sinners, but that every time we fall down in sin, Jesus is there to pick us up again and tell us personally, "I forgave your sins. Eat the Bread of Life and live!" The Word of God is our only source of strength against sin because it points to Jesus and keeps us close to him.

Finally, after seeing the first two kinds of supplies in God's supply line, Christ's robe of righteousness given to us which is the most wonderful of his works, and the Bread of Life which strengthens us in time of joy and in time of sorrow, then we are ready to receive the final kind of supply from God's Word: our ammunition, which the psalmist says is the freedom to follow his will. Notice how the psalmist puts it, saying the same thing in different words, "I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws. I hold fast to your statutes, O LORD...I run in the path of your commands." Every Christian says these words and lives these words. We choose the way of truth instead of the path of deceit and sin; we gladly set our hearts on God's holy law and strive to keep it every day; we hold fast to all God's statutes and all his commands, not just some of them or only the ones we like, but all of them; and we willingly run in the path of God's commands. Why? "For you have set my heart free." That is the reason why we do everything we do as Christians. Because God has freed us from our sins so we can serve him with our entire lives. He has given us the gospel message, his double-edged sword, which gives us the motivation to fight against sin and Satan as we serve our Lord and Savior.

Is there any hesitation here? Is there any reluctance? Is there even a hint of the attitude like, "O great, I have to go to church today!" Is there any hint of, "I'm too busy to tell my friends about Jesus; why doesn't someone else do it?" Can you hear the psalmist saying, "It's simply too difficult to be nice to my neighbors and help them when they need it"? No. There is no hint of any kind of lagging feet or reluctance of any kind. Then why do we feel that way many times? Check your supply line. Chances are pretty good that you're not making use of it.

The final phrase, "I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free," uses a beautiful picture. It compares the Word of God to a wide and spacious land. In sin we would only look to doing what we want and think its fun, but that fun and enjoyment of earthly pleasures is only short-lived and has tunnel vision, and eventually ends in hell because it has shackled us to a small area with fences all around. But Christ has set our hearts free. God has forgiven our sins completely. We are no longer shackled to our former lives of sin and complaining and dragging our feet because sin no longer controls us. Now we want to do what God wants, and then we see that it is much more enjoyable than the pleasure of a sinful life -- we are no longer in a small, fenced in plot of ground, but we are now free to run to the horizons in serving God. Following God's will and serving God and his people and his church becomes a joy, not a burden. After all, how can it be a burden to follow God's law after he has given us eternal life as a gift?

As you continue to fight the good fight of faith, remember good military strategy: always stay connected to your line of supply. Let God's Word be your Supply Line to Christ. Amen.