If you would, go ahead and turn
with me to Ruth chapter 1. After finishing the book of Judges,
we saw over and over again the words that said, in those days,
the days of the Judges, there was no king in Israel. And every
man did that which was right in his own eyes. Well, Brother
David, we just finished our study in Judges. We're in the book
of Ruth now, right? Yes, right. And look at verse
1 here in Ruth chapter 1. Now it came to pass, in the days
when the judges ruled, this story of Ruth occurred during the time
of the judges. And we still have men, one man
in particular, named Elimelech, who is doing who did what was
right in his own eyes. Now it came to pass, that phrase
generally means this is what happened. But the child of God,
the true believer, knows that this speaks in reference to eternal
things. What do I mean? Well, the first
word of verse 1 here, the word now, means at this point, in
a series of events. Now, in the sovereign providence
of God Almighty, these things took place. As we've often said,
history is His story. That is so true. And I'm glad
that it is. What takes place in the story,
the book of Ruth, is what God purposed to take place. And He
purposed it in a time before time. In a time where there was
no time. What came to pass? Well, Acts
15, 18 tells us plainly, known unto God are all His works from
the beginning of the world. This story, your story, my story,
all our story, every story, every detail, minute detail in our
lives are sovereignly decreed by God Almighty. And I know as sovereign grace
believers, those who believe in God's sovereign grace, we
say that often. I sometimes wonder how much we
truly believe. I'm speaking about myself now. But this applies to everyone,
even unbelievers. God governs everyone, everything,
everywhere, all the time. Providence is God working out
in time what he purposed in eternity. As with all things, as with all
people, nothing or no one could change or can change what is
or about to happen. I know sometimes we think we'd
like to, because we do what seems right in our own eyes. But God
does all things well. The book of Ruth starts out as
a sad story. Some would call it tragic. Some
would call it a tragedy. Mundy, I use that word a great
deal. Tragedy means, or is defined,
an event causing great suffering, destruction, or distress, bringing
about an unhappy end. An unhappy ending. But when it
comes to the people of God, and I want you to hear me on this,
let this sink down deep in your heart and take root. When it
comes to the people of God, nothing is really a tragedy. And I'm
not trying to minimize the suffering and pain and grief that great
trials and troubles can bring, but God does that for us. With the child of God, whom God
causes all things, and I emphasize all things, all things, everything, to work together for the eternal
spiritual good of his people, there are no unhappy endings, no tragedies. Everything God does in the end
will be for the good of His chosen people. Now that's what God said. Let's believe God. This is why we must walk by faith
and not by sight. That's why we must walk in the
Spirit and not in the flesh. For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit,
the things of the Spirit. And to be carnally minded, fleshly
minded is death. But to be spiritually minded
is life and peace. Now that's what we want and that's
what we need. This small yet glorious book
of Ruth gives us a beautiful picture and illustration of Jesus
Christ and His wonderful redemption of sinners in the light of what
many would call a tragedy. Did you hear about Elimelech?
I can't hardly believe it. I can't get my mind around it.
He moved to Moab and he died. And his sons, you remember his
two sons? They married Moabite women and
then they died. What a tragedy. It's according
to the will and purpose of God. God used what many in that day
called a tragedy to save one of his elect children. You see,
these things must have to come about. God determined that they
must. So to the child of God, the words,
now it came to pass, simply means it was appointed by God to fulfill. All things are. We say He's the
first cause of all things, and then we act like we're shocked
and surprised when something happens, and we quickly forget
that God is in control of everything. These things took place by the
will, purpose, and hand of the sovereign Lord. All things do. Now it came to pass in the days
when the judges ruled, when there was no king in Israel and every
man did what was right in his own eyes. And I've said this
many times over in the course of our study and judges, it's
the same today. Well, brother David, we have
a president. There is no king of kings. in
the vast majority of people, and they continue to do what
is right in their own eyes. And it's a way that may seem
right to them, but it ends with death. That's what the wise man
Solomon said. There's a way that seems right
to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. And this
book, not just the book of Ruth, but the whole book, the Bible,
God's Word from beginning to end, in its entirety, declares
the glory of God and the salvation of sinners. In, by, and through
the redemption wrought by Christ and Him alone. Man can do nothing
to save himself. All man did was sin, and all
that you and I have that we can truly call our own is sin. To every believer, it's been
revealed that there was a time in time, a time that came to
pass by God when God saved them by His grace. I'll never forget
what that man right there said to me when he asked me to baptize
him. He said, I've said under this gospel, under this word,
under this preaching all my life, and they were just words. He
said, now they're life. You see, that's the difference.
That's the difference that God makes. That's the life that God
gives a sinner. And He does it at the appointed
time, in the fullness of time, at a time of love. That's what
it was, wasn't it, Chris? It was a time of love to you. And there's a time of love for
all God's people. It's appointed time. A time and
time that came and passed by God when He saved His people
by His grace. And whenever it was at that time
called now, when it came to pass in time, it was purposed by God
before time. Well, I don't understand that.
Well, you're not the Lone Ranger. I don't understand it either,
but I believe it because that's what God says in His Word. That's
what election is. It's God choosing, electing a
people before they were ever born, before they'd ever done
any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election,
God's choosing, might stand. Not of works done by them, but
of God who called them, redeemed them, paid their sin debt by
His own blood, and in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that's the only hope any
of us have, and that's the only salvation there is. Salvation
is of the Lord, period. Election, by the acronym TULIP,
was taught by the Holy Spirit long before John Calvin ever
taught it. Yes, sir. A defined total depravity
long before Mr. Calvin did when he wrote, and
God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Moses taught that. The apostle
Paul made us aware of unconditional election long before John Calvin
ever did. Paul did so when he wrote, knowing,
brethren, beloved, your election of God. Christ is God's elect and we're
elected, we're chosen in Him and it was before the foundation
of the world. And that gives me such comfort
and rest and peace because I didn't have anything to do with it and
I can't mess it up. The Lord Jesus Himself revealed
God's limited atonement long before Calvinism was ever published
or printed. Our Lord said, I pray for them,
I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given
me, for they are thine, and all mine are thine, and thine are
mine, and I am glorified in them. That's limited atonement. He
said, I pray not for the world, I pray for them, the ones you
gave me. They're limited in number, and
when God saves the last one, he's gonna wrap this whole shootin'
match up. Again, it was our Lord Jesus
who preached God's irresistible grace long before any Calvinistic
preacher did. Our Lord declared, all that the
Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out. You can't resist a God who does
as he wills in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. The God whom no man can stay his hand or question
him and ask him what he does. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life, and no man, no woman, no sinner, nobody cometh
to the Father but by me. No man come to me except the
Father would send me draw him, and I'll raise him up at the
last day. Peter knew much more about perseverance
and preservation of the saints than any of us do. We persevere
because God preserves us. We keep going because God keeps
us. Peter knew that Satan desired
to sift him as wheat, but Peter knew first hand that he was spared
only because Christ prayed that his faith fail him not. And that's
the only comfort and assurance that I have that I'll be saved
is that Christ has prayed for me. that my faith fail me not. And if Christ has prayed for
me that my faith fail me not, you know what? My faith's not
gonna fail. Peter knew that Christ had preserved
him and he wrote to us so that we might know that we are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. And friends, this is the last
time. We're in the last days. I don't know when the Lord's
coming back. It may be tonight. It may be another 1,000 years.
But these are the last days. And none of us are going to be
around that long. Life is just blasting on past,
isn't it? Sure enough, it is. I talked
with David Pledger today, faithful pastor in Houston. He told me
to tell you hello, Gene. I forgot. But David is now 84. And just, you know, such a, but
we were talking about that, how fleeting this life is, how quickly
it passes by. He's 84. Some of you are 84 or
older. And you'd be the first to say,
oh, it goes by so quick. And we all know it does. But
here's my point, dear friends. If we don't see Christ in Calvinism,
which is often called the doctrines of grace, then we haven't seen
grace at all. It's through the Lord Jesus Christ
who is God's elect, and apart from divine revelation, the revelation
of Him, John Calvin simply had five good points that we'll not
save. You can know and believe the
doctrines of election and not know Christ. And I've said this
many times, there's a bunch of Calvinists in hell. But there's
a bunch of them in glory too. Because they understand that
they are elected in Christ, who is God's elect. We must trust in Christ who saves. That's what the book of Ruth's
about. Redemption presupposes a need to be redeemed. You see,
if there is no need and no price owed, there's no need for redemption.
That's why the Lord Jesus said, those that are well have no need
of a physician. We go to the doctor when we're
sick, when we have a need. If I'm not sick, I don't go to
the doctor. That's what Naomi and Ruth teach
us in the story. They had a great need. And that's
what we're going to see in this story, that that need was ordained
of God. That's what all the Old Testament
teaches us. Paul wrote in Romans 15, 4, For
whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our
learning, that we might through patience and comfort of the Scriptures
might have hope. The book of Ruth represents redemption
to us in a glorious manner. It's a love story. The loved one, the one redeemed
is Ruth and she is a Moabite woman. She's an idol worshiper
who has lost her husband and has a great need. Her physical, natural redemption
was accomplished by a kinsman redeemer, and his name is Boaz. And Ruth was physically and naturally
redeemed by Boeth, but every believer is spiritually and eternally
redeemed by Christ, our Kinsman Redeemer. You see, when God gave
us life in Christ, we were adopted and born into His family. That's
what the Scripture's talking about when it talks about being
born again and adopted into the family of God. Ruth is a Moabite, without God
and without hope in this world. She had nothing to offer God,
not a thing. She had a great need. And David
Edmondson was a Gentile, without God and without Christ, no different
than Ruth. And I had nothing to offer God,
and I had and still have a great, great need. And you know what?
So do you. And all of us need Christ. That's our message. You need. He gives. And yet the fact that
Ruth is all these things and the Lord being Her direct descendant. You know,
that's amazing, isn't it? We've already mentioned that,
I think, in the introductory message, but Rahab the harlot
and Ruth the Moabite is in the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And this proves and teaches us that Christ's work of redemption
includes needy and lost Gentiles and Moabites just like us. Another interesting tidbit, the
place where this redemption took place is in the very town where
our Lord and Savior was born. We're given the events by which
the need of Ruth's redemption is established, and they reveal
to us how Ruth comes to need this redemption. Oh, how I pray
that there might be a sinner here tonight that sees their
need of Christ and His redemption. Verse two, and the name of the
man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi, and the name
of his two sons, Malon and Chilion. I looked, there's a fella on
the internet that's from that part of the world, and he says
that should be pronounced Helion. Doesn't much matter. Chilion,
Helion. says Ephraithites, or Ephraites,
Ephraithites, possibly of the house of Ephraim, of Bethlehem,
Judah. And they came into the country
of Moab, and then these sad words, and continued there. And Elimelech, Naomi's husband,
died, and she was left and her two sons. And they took them
wives of the women of Moab, the one The name of the one was Orpa,
and the name of the other was Ruth. And they dwelled there
about 10 years. And Melon and Chileon died as
also both of them. And the woman was left of her
two sons and her husband. Now we have three women with
no husbands. and no support. Now, in those
days, it was difficult, very difficult for a woman to support
herself. James wrote, Pure Religion and
Undefiled Before God and the Father's This to visit and help
the fatherless and widows and their affliction. And you know
that the Lord Jesus warned the scribes and Pharisees about their
devouring of widows' houses. Oftentimes, widows and orphans
were mistreated and taken advantage of. And the point that I'm making
is this. These ladies had a great need. The kind of need defined as something
required that is essential or very important. That's what the
word means. Now, need can be something that
you want. That's not necessarily bad, depending
on what you want. Do you need, do you want forgiveness? Do you need and want grace? Do
you need and want mercy? Do you need and want righteousness?
Do you need and want sanctification? All these things are good things
to desire. However, the need that Naomi
and Ruth had was something that they required, just as those
things are. But they required these things
to live. It was essential. Life and death
consequence. Those that are well have no need
of a physician, but I'll tell you this, those in need sure
do. The disobedient act of the Limelech
was what brought Ruth to the place of ruin and need of redemption. Did you hear me? This disobedient
act of the Limelech was what brought Ruth to the place of
ruin and need of redemption. What a picture of our estate
in Adam. Though we didn't know Adam, though
we were not there when he made his terrible choice. It was his
act that brought his wife and his children to their estate
of ruin, and that's you and I included. You see, Adam was our federal
head, our representative before God. Wherefore is by one man
sin entered into the world, and death by sin. And so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned. When Adam sinned, we
sinned, he was our representative. And because Adam sinned, sin's
what we are. And because sin is what we are,
all we do is sin. We cannot not sin. Death has
passed upon us, for we all have sinned. And the only way a sinner
will come to Christ is when they see their desperate need and
must have Christ to fill it. Only the great physician can
fill it. He's the only one that can heal it, heal the disease
of sin, leprosy that we have. And Naomi must needs go to Moab. It was a bad decision. But according
to the sovereign purpose of God, Ruth was one of God's elect that
must be brought. I think all of us here tonight
can look back on our lives and see a glimpse of God's providence
in bringing us to a certain place and in a certain way, us hearing
the message of Christ in Him crucified and the Lord saving
us by His mercy and grace. At the time, we had no idea what
was going on. But now we look back and say,
you know, I see how the Lord did this and how the Lord did
that. Lord moved me from Henderson all the way to Franklin, Tennessee
to save me. And then he moved me back here
and then made me a preacher of the gospel. You don't think I
don't shake my head and scratch my head over that sometime? But
it was the Lord that did it. David Edmondson must need to
go to Franklin, Tennessee. Oh my. For Christ also hath once
suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring
us to God. God said, for I'll set mine eyes
upon them for good. Isn't that something? God set his eyes upon me for
good. Jeremiah 24-6. I told you about
Teresa's mother, young girl, didn't go to school one day,
went to the doctor instead. They dropped the bomb on Hiroshima
and she was the only one of her classmates that weren't killed. Brother Henry Mahan was on a
ship Iwo Jima, 300 ships in the fleet and over 160 of them were
lost. And the ships in front and behind
and on each side of Brother Mahan was destroyed, but not his. Not his. Who do you suppose was
behind that? The famine, the family of the
Limelech experience was directly caused by Israel's disobedience. Most of our trouble in this life,
we caused it. That's not a popular message
with most folks, but the believer knows it's true. Sin, sin's the
cause, isn't it? And against the direct command
of God, Israel had slipped both feet into idolatry. That's what
the whole book of Judges is about. God, they worshiped idols, cried
into the, got their enemies. Came against them, they cried
unto the Lord, the Lord sent a judge, the judge delivered
them, the judge died and they went right back into it. Time
and time and time again. So much so that even you and
I who are unfaithful at best shake our heads and go, what's
wrong with them? Same thing's wrong with us. Was this not the land that flowed
with milk and honey? that Elimelech and Naomi were
in? Yes, it was the land that God caused to flow with milk
and honey. And it was God's land that brought
famine to it. It was God's land, and it was
God that brought famine to it. It belonged to God. And you know
what? God can do what He will with
His own. Whether it's people or things,
He can do what He wills. Israel was without a king, and
they did what was right in their own eyes. They worshiped false
gods, and God sent them an enemy that robbed them, stole their
harvest, stole their livestock, and that's what brought about
this famine. Sounds a great deal like our adversary, the devil,
who comes to kill, steal, and destroy. God sent the famine. And what Elimelech did was right
in his own eyes. I suppose he thought he was doing
what was best. I know folks that have moved
to where the gospel is not preached. And I'm sure that they thought
it was the right thing to do when they did it. Possibly a
job promotion with better pay, maybe a better way to provide
for their family, but it's never good to leave the house of bread. As a Limelech and Naomi did.
Christ is the one who provides all our need according to His
riches and glory. Elimelech, whose name means my
God is King, moves to Moab, a place that means of my Father, and
that's speaking of Moab, who is a product of sin and incest. The Moabites were some of Israel's
greatest enemies. And yet this is where a man whose
name is my God is King moved. And Naomi's name means my God
is sweet. I'm sweet in my God. Yet on her
return back to Bethlehem, Judah, you remember what she said? She
said, don't call me Naomi. Call me Myra, for the Lord Almighty
has dealt very bitterly with me. You know, I was thinking today,
my name, David, means beloved. I sure hope and pray that I'm
one of Christ's beloved. We're told of no one else leaving
Bethlehem, Judah. Those who stayed were graciously
delivered. Those who stayed were at peace
for many years after the judge delivered them. A Lemonex family,
they weren't starving in this famine. You say, well, how do
you know that? We're not told. Well, I'll tell
you how I know it. Because King David, who's Ruth's
great-grandson, said, I've been young and now I'm old, and yet
I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging
for bread. Now don't you just know that
the story of David's great-grandmother's mother-in-law, Naomi, was told
him many times? Well, you know it was growing
up. I tell you about your great-grandmother and her mother-in-law, Naomi,
and how God sent a famine in the land. David says, yeah, I've
heard that story, and I haven't seen the righteous forsaken or
at his seat begging for bread. Lemuelek left for reasons known
only to him. I can only assume that he was
doing what was right in his own eyes. We're given no reason why
Adam ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, good and evil.
All the scriptures say is that, and he did eat. And that was
the end of the innocence for all mankind. And our text tells
us only that Elimelech went to sojourn in Moab, he and his wife
and his two sons. But we know that on both accounts,
with Adam and with Elimelech, it was the sovereign purpose
of God. It was according to His divine
providence. God working out in time what
He purposed in eternity. You know why some folks hate
that glorious truth? I'll never know. God does all
things well. Everything God does is right.
Everything God does is for the good of His people. Why would
anyone have a problem with what God does? I think the answer to that is
because they themselves didn't do it. What must I do to be saved? That Rich Young Rule, what good
thing must I do to be saved? It's all about doing good. Now,
I wanna do good. Well, you'll never do good for
God until God does good for you. He does all things well. He does
everything right. It's right because He does it.
He doesn't do it because it's right. It's right because He
does it. We simply ask for the grace to
bow to His will. We can't run from trials and
tribulations. They're within us in most cases
and because of us and they follow us wherever we go. Can't run
from that. Like all things, God promised
that our trials and trouble will end at a point in time. We just
have to wait and be patient on Him. He's gonna deliver in His
own time, in His own way. And we need the grace to bow
to His will. God is faithful who will not
suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able. But will with the temptation
also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it. God
doesn't give us more than we can handle. How often we make
decisions based upon our perception of surrounding events. Oh, we better do this because
this is going on, or we need to think about doing this because
that's going on. Listen, God's still on the throne.
God hasn't gone anywhere. He's still ruling and reigning
and governing all things according to His own will, purpose, and
counsel. All things work together by the
counsel of His own will and for the good of His people. Let's
don't worry about it. Let's rest and trust in Him. Sadly, often our eyes, we often
believe our own eyes instead of our all-wise God. What a shame. Shame on us. In verse 3, we see
that at the end of unbelief, that way that seems right to
man, and the end are the ways of death. And Limelech and Naomi's
husband, verse 3, died. And she was left with her two
sons. And our sin often has long-lasting effects on us and our children. Limelech and Naomi's sons continued
in disobedience. and in sin, and they went further
into rebellion, and they married Moabite women, which God had
specifically instructed them not to do. Deuteronomy 7, verse
2, Neither shalt thou make marriages with them, thy daughter thou
shalt not give unto his son, or his daughter shalt thou take
unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son
from following me, that they may serve other gods. So will
the anger of the Lord be kindled against you and destroy thee
suddenly? Don't you do it? And that's exactly
what they did. You know, there's always consequences
to sin and disobedience. God may forgive our trespasses,
and He always does when the sinner's found in Christ. There's not
any sin but the sin of unbelief that'll send you to hell. Yet
there are always consequences to our sin. Our reaping always
comes from that which we ourselves have sown. Even if you don't
always see it. Sometimes it comes on our children
or generations that follow. Most of you know that I have
a son in prison who did no worse than me for being there. Simply, if I'm being honest,
he got caught and I didn't. God was behind that. I can't
tell you how many times I've wondered in my own mind if his
imprisonment is partly the consequence of my sin. The record here is
plain. These two men married Moabite
women, disobeyed God, and they died. You see, the wages of sin
is death. The soul that sins, it shall
die. You can write it down. And I'm certain Elimelech meant
no harm to come to his wife and his children, and he wanted only
what was best for them. But mankind's sinful actions
and gross disobedience often bring death and ruin even to
those that they love. When Elimelech died, there's
no doubt that Naomi found comfort in her two sons. But sin soon
removed her son's comfort from her also. And in the world that Elimelech
had brought Naomi into, she was without hope. This is what I
want you to see tonight. It's the same for us in the world
in which Adam brought us into. The world in which Adam delivered
us, you and I, in our natural state, are in trouble. in great need. And because of
sin, we all have an appointment with death. It's appointed unto
men once to die, and after this, the judgment. But it's far better
to die in faith than in disobedience. There's never any profit in disobedience. The comfort this world gives
always leads to despair and emptiness. There's no comfort in this world.
The only true asset that we have in this world is Christ, who's
not of this world, John 8, 23. There's no comfort in this world
but Christ. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son hath not life. Only Christ in you is the hope
of seeing the glory of God. This world does not love us.
It tries to convince us that it does. But it doesn't. The Lord told us that. To the
child of God, the Lord Jesus said, if you were of the world,
the world would love His own. But because you're not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hates you. I know some of you that have
family members that literally hate the Gospel you preach or
that you believe. But they don't hate you, they
hate Christ. They hate the gospel and they
hate you because of it. This world is not out to do you
good. That includes this religious
world. The time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he
doeth God's servant. This religious world cries peace,
peace, where there is no peace. But there is a peace of God which
passes all understanding, and it's the only thing that'll keep
our hearts and our minds, how? Through Christ Jesus. He's the
answer for all our problems. All of them. We gotta look to Him. We gotta
trust Him. We gotta keep coming to Him.
Boy, I tell you, trials, troubles, and suffering, Well, do one of
two things, it'll drive you to Christ, or it'll drive you away
from Him. Though the book of Ruth, or through
the book of Ruth, we're given a beautiful picture and type
of Christ, our Redeemer, His Church, His Bride, whom He redeems,
it also gives us strong warnings. Elimelech did what was right
in his own eyes, and his entire family suffered because of it. And though Elimelech did what
was wrong, he nonetheless did what God ordained him to do.
But God's not charged with Elimelech's sin. And what God ordains always comes
to pass. And what men mean for evil, but
what men mean for evil, God means for good. God overrules man's
evil, his horrible choices, and causes it to work for the good
of his people. And it all happened for a reason.
It was God's purpose that brought about a hopeful ending for every
chosen sinner who believes in Christ. I'll comfort him to know
that if God will save an idol-worshipping Moabite and a harlot by the name
of Rahab, who's always made known in the Scriptures as Rahab the
harlot, then he can and will stoop low
enough to save a wretch like me. That's good news to a depraved
sinner. And it's our only hope of redemption.
It's absolutely amazing what God had ordained to come to pass. You see, down the line, in the
course of just a short time, the union of this Moabite woman
with the son of Rahab the harlot, Boaz, would not only produce
King David, but through their genealogy there would come the
King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ, the Messiah,
the Great Redeemer. Isn't that amazing? In order
to save this Moabite handmaid, named Ruth, consider all that
God did. God sent a famine in the land
of bread. God moved a man and his family
to another nation. That man died. His sons married
Moabite idolaters. Then the two sons died, and God
passed by one of their wives, and He brought the other one
to a kinsman redeemer. God did all that to save one
sinner. God has a right to pass by one
and save another. None of us have to look far or
hard to see that. We all have members in our family
that don't know the Lord. Matter of fact, most of the time,
it's just one, maybe two. Some families are an exception. Our God declares the end from
the beginning. He determines from ancient times
all the things that are not yet done. He declares, I have spoken
it and I will also bring it to pass. He said, I purposed it,
I'll also do it. And that's what He does, whatever
He wills. God does what He wills in the
army of heaven among the inhabitants of the earth. In glory to His
precious name, He's gonna have mercy on some. He said so. He said, I'll have mercy on whom?
I'll have mercy, I'll have compassion on whom I'll compassion, and
whom I will, I will harden. And all I hear in that is He's gonna
have mercy on some. I wanna be one of them. Who are these that God has mercy
on? Those whom He wills. He has mercy on whom He will
have mercy. It's all about His will, not
mine. He will have compassion on whom
He will. It's not about my love for Him.
It's about His love and compassion for me. We love Him because He
first loved us. Whom He will, He hardens. God
has a right to do what He will with His own. All belong to Him,
but some belong to Him in a special way. I just can't believe some people,
you know, get mad at God and say He's not fair. Well, that's
not fair. He's God. He's God. He does what He wills. What you
think is not fair, I think is mercy and grace. Because He should
have sent me and all of us to hell. We belong to Him in a special
way by the incarnation, life, death, substitution, resurrection,
and ascension of Christ, the only one who can redeem. He's the near-kinsman redeemer.
That's what this book's about. And He's the descendant of Ruth
and Boaz. And that's how my redemption
came to pass. All this time of the judges,
way back before Christ ever came, God brought this Moabite woman
into a union with this near kinsman redeemer and paved the way for
our salvation. He knows what he's doing. God
knows what he's doing, David. God made Him to be sin, though
He knew no sin, that we might be made, made, the righteousness
of God in Him, in Christ, in the Beloved, to the praise of
the glory of His grace wherein He hath made us accepted. Oh,
what a word that is. When you're unacceptable, Accepted in the beloved, Ephesians
1.6. And with Naomi we say, blessed
be he of the Lord who hath not left off his kindness to the
living and to the dead. And knowing Naomi said unto her
Ruth, this man is near kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen. Glory
to God, we have a kinsman redeemer. If any man sin, we've got an
advocate. We have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. I've got a near kinsman redeemer.
And so do you, if you trust in Him.