I told you that I was going to
do four messages. Well, I couldn't hardly get past
the first three verses of chapter 2 to study this, so I don't know
how many messages it's going to be. I thought about this. I preach like Irene cooks for
an army. She cooks enough for the whole
church to eat. We do that because we don't want
anybody to go home hungry, do we, Ira? So if you come hungry,
you'll get filled. Maybe it's too much to take in,
but this is God's Word. You know, God's Word is called
His living Word. The living Word. It's His voice.
It's the living Word, like a river of water that's living, ever
fresh, always flowing, always new. and the sound thereof, and
so many things, full of life. Well, this is God's Word. And
one way we know it's gospel to us, good news, is it's always
new and fresh. How many times have we looked
at Ruth? How many times? There's always something new.
Since I've been studying this recently, after all these years,
it's like it's brand new to me. I would say that began Sunday,
Monday morning. Sunday, I couldn't wait till
Tuesday. I started looking at it Monday,
and I was beside myself. It's our story. It's every redeemed
sinner's story. Naomi and Ruth, two sinners saved
by the sovereign love and mercy and grace of God bringing them
to the Redeemer. That's everything. I'm going
to sum it all up. The whole story is about bringing
two sinners to the Redeemer. And all of our life, everything
in it and everything in this world, is the story of how God
brings His people to Christ. That's what it's all about. This
is the greatest, this and many of you told me this is your favorite
story and that's okay. But you say that every story
we come to. But this is one of the greatest
love stories ever written because it represents the greatest love
story ever told. The love of God for his people,
the love of Christ for his bride and that's who Ruth is. Naomi
is the mother-in-law of Ruth. Naomi is a Jew. Ruth is a Gentile. Galatians 4 says that Jerusalem,
which is above, is the mother of us all, in law. In law. Alright? So, these two
represent the Jew and the Gentile. God's going to bring them both
to Christ, isn't He? And he uses a Jew to bring this Moabite,
this Gentile, to her Redeemer. Christ is that Jew. He's the one. And not to mention,
like Paul, the Apostle. But Naomi left, to rehash it
a little bit, Naomi left Bethlehem. The house of bread. The people
of God. She shouldn't have left. She
shouldn't have left. You say what her husband said,
go. Now hold on now. Now hold on now. If one of these
men told their wife, we're leaving, we're leaving the gospel, and
you're coming with me. You know what I tell you women
to do? Don't do it. Don't do it. Obey Him in all
things, but not when it comes to leaving the gospel. Don't
do it. But they left. She left. A picture of Israel. A picture of Israel. I forgot
God. Naomi left. I told you how that Boaz was
still in Bethlehem. Salmon and Rahab, his mother,
was still in Bethlehem. The Lord was feeding them, wasn't
He? They didn't need to go to Moab. The Lord's going to feed
them just fine. David said, I've been old, I've
been young, I'm now old. I've never seen God's seed forsaken
in His seed-bearing bread. Never. There's a famine in the
world right now, the hearing of the Word, but not with God's
people. Not at Bethel Baptist. Not at
Central Grace. There's no famine. You stay right
here in the House of Bread. That's the next message. Boaz
said, don't you leave. Don't you dare leave. You stay
right here. And that's the next message. But she left. She left. And evidently she forgot
all about Boaz. They came back. And she just up and one day,
oh, that's our Redeemer. But she left, and my, my. What great mercy, what
great grace, what great love that God brought her back. I've
seen many people leave. We've seen many people leave,
haven't we, Brother John? There have been more people come and
go than had people stayed in. We'd have to fill up the Roanoke
Civic Center if all the people stayed. That's a fact. Oh, the great mercy and grace
of God in bringing somebody back. Naomi. And with her, a heathen. A heathen. To meet the Redeemer. Well, this really should begin,
the chapter should begin in verse 22 of chapter 1. So, Naomi returned. And who brought her? David said,
Turn us, O Lord, and we'll be turned. If we leave, only one
person can make us turn. Only one will bring us back.
So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess. Now, notice with me
that she is called Ruth the Moabitess all the way through here. Ruth
the Moabitess. Chapter 2, verse 6, a servant
said, this is the Moabitess of Damson. Verse 21, Ruth the Moabitess
said, in chapter 4, there are several verses, she keeps being
called in God's Word, Ruth the Moabitess. Why is that? To remind
us of where she came from. A heathen, Moab, is the enemy
of God. Moab, that's the descendants
of Lot. They were the enemies of Israel. They hated the God
of the Bible. They hated God's people. They
rose up against them. Well, here's one that the Lord
brought to the house of bread to meet her Redeemer. Ruth the
Moabitess. How about you? Us, we were once
enemies in our mind by wicked works, Scripture said. Children
of wrath, even as others. What's the next word? But God.
Brought you back. Who? Ruth the Moabite. And Hebrews
11 is the account of many of God's saints that he saved. The pastor used to call it the
Hall of Faith. And, you know, no sins of anybody are mentioned,
are they? Abel, Enoch, Abraham, you know,
Abraham denied his wife, Moses got angry, and Jacob, and you
name it, all of Samson. None of their sins are mentioned,
except one person, Rahab the harlot. That's the only one. Why is that? Because she's one
of the greatest trophies of grace in all of glory. Ruth the Moabitess, the heathen. Rahab the harlot. Rahab is her
mother-in-law. Rahab is Boaz's mother. What
a work of God. What great mercy. What power
it took to turn a harlot into a saint. A Moabitess, a heathen,
into a worshipper of God. How about you? Where'd you come
from? Where'd you come from? Well,
so it begins there. Ruth, the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law,
with her. She came with her, which returned
out of the country of Moab. What it took to get Ruth to leave
her parents, her friends, her home, her family, her hometown,
her gods? What did it take? Same thing
get you to leave yours. The grace of God. So she came
out. of the country of Moab, and this
is what the Lord is doing to all of his people. We've been
seeing an exodus. He's bringing us out. He said,
I have come down to bring you out, to bring you up into the
land of Israel. Oh my, what a story this is.
Out of Moab. And they came. Where'd they come
to? They came. Bethlehem. That's a good place
to be. Bethlehem. Remember the story
of the ark riding on the ox cart, two milk cows in a cart? Remember
that story? They came, where'd they stop?
Bethlehem. And they came, Bethlehem, and
it's the beginning of the barley harvest. And we noticed how this
whole story started out in sadness and sorrow and death, but it
ends, the very last word in the book of Ruth ends with a name,
David. It's all about the coming King. It's all about Christ, the Son
of David. This whole book begins and ends.
with the Lord Jesus Christ, our kinsman and redeemer. So, chapter
2 begins. And Naomi had a kinsman of her
husband. Now she knew this man at one
time. She left Bethlehem. This is her
kinsman. What a mighty man of wealth.
What a wonderful man Boaz is. What a gracious man. She knew
him. I'm sure she was a recipient
of some of his grace and kindness. She knew him. Why'd she do that for? Well,
she did. But he never left. He's right
there. He never left. She came back,
and he's waiting to be gracious. That's what the Lord said in
Isaiah. Well, she had a kinsman of her
husband's. A kinsman. We have a kinsman.
The Lord Jesus Christ. Our kinsman. He's made of a woman.
Made under the law to do what? To redeem them. They were under
the law. Of the seed of Abraham. Son of
David. Bone of our bones. Flesh of our
flesh. He kept calling himself. Think
of the mercy here. He kept calling himself the son
of man. Though he's the son of God. Only begotten. Most High, Son
of God, His greatest greatness, His greatest greatness was that
He became a man. His condescension. And He kept
calling Himself, in identification with that, as our near kinsman,
the Son of Man. Isn't that a blessing? Do you
know of a greater blessing, brother, that there's a man in glory?
Touched with a feeling of iron firmness. He knows our frame.
Do you know of a greater blessing than that? And that's His greatest
greatness that He came down. A kinsman. Look at it. He's a
mighty man of wealth. Powerful man. A man of wealth. Our Lord Jesus Christ has all
power in heaven and earth. All power. How much wealth? How
much wealth? He owns everything. The universe
is His. The earth is His. The kingdom
is His. This field and every other field
is His. The field you've lighted on, that's how you say it, lit
on. This is His field. This is His
church, His people. This mighty man came, Boaz, and
our Lord Jesus Christ is that mighty man. The family of Elimelech,
and his name was Boaz. You know, that's one of the names
of the pillars in the temple. Two pillars. One of them is Boaz. It holds everything. Let's cry. It says in verse 2, and Ruth the Moabitess, now they're
down and out, they're poor, they're hungry, they're in great need. And she said unto Naomi, now
let me now go to the field and glean ears of corn after him
in whose sight I shall find grace. Let me go now and glean ears
in the field, that I may find grace in some one's sight." Oh
boy. You know, I hear lots of people,
and Brother John will tell you the same thing. I hear people
all the time say, we're looking for a church. We're looking to
find a church. Well, God caused Ruth to want
to find grace. You can find a church, there's
one on every corner, so-called. And what they mean by that, we
want a place where we can, you know, fit in with family fun
and things for our children and programs and, you know, spaghetti
dinners and you name it and just entertainment and all that. But
if you're looking for grace, you're going to find grace. And
you know where you'll find grace? In Christ the Redeemer. She said,
let me go find grace. Let me go glean in the field
of him whom I might find grace. If you're looking for grace,
what's grace? Undeserved, unmerited favor. Is that what you're looking for?
Forgiveness. Unmerited forgiveness. Pardon. Mercy. Is that what you're
looking for? You'll find it. You'll find it.
If that's what you're looking for. You'll find it in Christ.
You'll find it. Now Naomi, in the beginning,
she left where the gospel was. She left where God's people was,
and she was in Moab for a long time. And she was not in her
right mind. Now remember, the Lord is bringing
her back. And Naomi's two daughter-in-laws
were going to go with her. And remember what Naomi said?
Go back to your people. Go find a husband. She's concerned. Go find a husband. You need a
husband. No, they don't. No, they don't. They need Christ. They need a Redeemer. She's not
thinking straight, is she? One thing is needful. So she
says to them, go back, go back. Well, the Lord wouldn't let Ruth
go back. Well, here they came, both of them, Naomi and Ruth. And now the Lord has brought
Naomi back, back in her right mind, back to the house of bread. And Ruth says, I'm going to find
grace. He said, Go! That's what you need. Go find
grace and bring me some back too. Go find bread. Isn't that
what we need? What do you want for your children?
What do you want for your daughters-in-law and your son-in-law? What do
you want? What are you telling them? What do you wish for them?
Education, a good job in the house and the family? That's
okay. But there's one thing you need to be telling them all the
time. Go find grace. You need grace. You need Christ. Whether you ever get married
again, you need Jesus Christ. He'll never leave you or forsake
you. Boaz is right there where he
was all along. Go, my daughter, find grace. She went. Verse 3, she went. And she came. All that the Father giveth me,
Christ said, shall come to me. Where'd she come? Well, she gleaned. She found a field. She said,
let me go find a field to glean in. Now, glean means to pick
up off the ground. Have you ever scrounged for food
on the ground? Anybody in here? Well, probably
everybody, if you're from Franklin County. But you've got to be
low, don't you? You've got to get down. You've
got to be a nobody. You've got to be hungry, don't
you? Get down on your knees and scoop stuff off the ground. Here's
a cord. Old rotten apples? I remember
my brothers and I used to, used to, my dad was poor when he first
started preaching, he was poor. And four kids to raise and we'd
go out and get apples off, steal apples off the tree, get them
on the ground, didn't matter, we'd eat those apples. One time,
there was a deacon in the church, a deacon in the church, who owned
a meat shop. He was a butcher. He owned a
meat shop. And he never did give our family any meat, ever. We lived right next door to it.
And one day, he gave some scraps to my mother to give to our dog. And she looked out the window,
and me and my brothers were out there eating, gnawing on those
bones, and he gave us scraps. Now, if you're hungry, you'll
get down, won't you? You'll get down. And if you're
hungry, you're going to glean. And if you're like the woman
who wanted a few crumbs from the master's table, the Lord doesn't give crumbs.
He gives basket loads. Like the sons of Jacob, they
went looking. They bought baskets. They went
home with wagons. You reckon Ruth's going to find
something to eat? You wait until the next message.
She's going to get handfuls of purses. Handfuls. Gleam. So she went out, and you know
how many fields there were in Bethlehem? You know how many
farms there are in Franklin County? There are lots of them. Okay? So she just chose one.
She went out there, where should I go? She didn't know anybody. That looks like a good field
there. There's some people out there. I'll go run in that field. And her hap was, it just so happened
that she landed, she lit in, lit on the field. Verse 3, the light on the part
of the field that belonged under Boaz. She was a kindred. The only one that could help
her. The only one that could redeem her. The only one that
could save her. The only one that could do anything
for her. Only one. And she just so happened
to land that. Was this luck? No, it's the Lord.
It's the Lord. There is no such thing as luck. People,
I hate that. I hate the word. How brazen,
how rebellious it is of men and women to attribute every good
thing that happens to them to good luck. It's the good Lord
is who it is, not luck. That's a slap in God's face in
it. That's Romans 1. No, they're
not thankful. They attribute it to luck, attribute anything
to luck, not God. Oh, it's not luck, it's the Lord.
Her hat was to light on a part of the field that belonged to
the Boaz. And if Christ has found you and brought you into His
field, His church, you're so blessed. It wasn't
luck. It was the Lord. It's providence. You know what all happened to
bring Naomi and Ruth back to Bethlehem and to bring Ruth to
this place, to this field where this man would come and speak
to her this day. You know what all happened. You
know what it took, what God had to do to bring... You know, we went through all
the trouble they went through, all the pain and the suffering
and the sorrow and the death of their loved ones. And God
wiped out everybody but these two poor widows and brought them
back. And Naomi is complaining. And
Naomi is bitter, isn't she? What does Jeremiah say? Why would
a living man complain for the punishment of his sin? She brought
this on herself. She left, all right? But God
brought her back. How is He going to bring her
back? How did He bring her back? Troubles and trials and afflictions
and sorrows to bring her down. Bring her down. Make her poor
and needy because only the poor and needy need Jesus Christ,
need a Savior. Only those that can't redeem
themselves need a Redeemer. Every single thing that happens
to you, everything that you think is bad or evil is the goodness
of God in bringing you to Jesus Christ. Everything. No matter
how hard the trial, it's God's mercy. God's mercy. So they came. And she landed
on this field. Look at verse 4. And behold,
Boaz came. Here it comes. Here it comes. That sent chill
up my spine. Behold, Boaz came. Our Lord told the story of the
virgins and the cry came. Behold, the bridegroom cometh. That's who this is. She doesn't
know it. She doesn't know him. He's her
bridegroom and she's his bride. She doesn't know it yet, but
He's coming. Oh my, the Lord sent, God the
Father sent Christ the Son down here to redeem His forlorn, fallen
bride, like Hosea and Gomorrah, and like Ruth, Boaz and Ruth. Behold, He came. Now, I used
to think of Boaz as coming, riding in on a big white horse. You
picture him like that? Our Lord didn't come that way.
Did He? No, sir. If He came riding something,
He was a colt full of an ass. He's meek and lowly. No, I think
He's on foot. He's a hands-on Lord. Though
He's a mighty man, He's merciful. Though He's high, He condescends
to the low. Though He's great, He's gracious. No, He's Lord over all. He's
loving. He's kind. Oh, as I said, Christ's
greatest greatness was His condescension. The first two sinners, the first
two sinners on earth, what did our Lord do? He came walking. He came walking to speak with
two sinners. What does He need with them?
Nothing. But they sure need Him. I need him, till he came. Lord
over all, our Lord Jesus Christ. Behold, the bridegroom cometh,
the Lord Jesus Christ came. Where'd he come from? Verse 4,
Bethlehem. Oh, isn't God's Word perfect?
Who wrote this book? Is there any doubt in your mind
who wrote this book? This great bridegroom, this great man, this
mighty man of wealth, this kindred redeemer, he came, he was born
and raised in Bethlehem. Who's his mother? A harlot! Four women in our Lord's lineage. Three of them are harlots. He came from Bethlehem. That's fitting, isn't it? That
the bread of life would come from the house of bread. And
he said unto the reaper... Don't you love this picture here?
Verse 4. He said unto the reaper... He
spoke to his servants. He spoke to his... His reapers,
the Lord be with you. Blessed, bless you. Isn't that
the first word out of our Lord Jesus Christ's mouth on the Sermon
on the Mount? Blessed. He opened his mouth
and said, blessed are they that mourn. Blessed is the poor in
spirit. Blessed. He said unto the reapers, the
Lord be with you. Oh, the Lord be with you. The
Lord bless you. And they said, The Lord bless
thee. They loved him. They loved their master, didn't
they? Don't you love the Lord Jesus
Christ? Oh, my. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless
his holy name. Blessed be the name of the Lord. That's what
all of God's people say. Blessed is he that cometh in
the name of the Lord. So he spoke to them, they spoke
to him. Now, this big field, there's
lots of people in that field, okay? There's lots of reapers.
He's got lots of servants. He's a mighty man of wealth.
It's a huge field. There's lots of sheaves to break
in. There's lots of people working at this. Lots of reapers. Lots
of servants. Lots of poor people gleaning
and gathering. I bet you Boaz let anybody gather
that wanted to gather. And you know who he looks on? One person. Look at that on the whole field.
Look at verse 5. Then Boaz said to the servant,
and his servant was over the reapers, whose damsel is this? There's a stranger in my sight. Whose damsel is this? And all
those people, Tommy, he looks around, he looks on that one
poor Moabitess. Whose damsel is this? Let me
ask you something. Whose damsel are you? Who do you belong to? Huh? Who do you belong to? Whose damsel
are you? Huh? Who are you married to?
Who do you belong to? Who owns you? Now listen. She's not a damsel. She's thirty-some years old and
been married. She's a widow. A damsel is a young virgin. But
he calls her a damsel. Do you hear me? He's in his fifties
or sixties. He's older, much older than she
is. But he calls her a damsel, a
young maiden. You know what the Lord calls
all of his people, including Rahab? A virgin. A virgin. He's going to present
all of His people, no matter how forlorn, no matter how sinful,
no matter how black, no matter how fallen, no matter what they've
done, it doesn't matter. All they're seeing, He blotted
out all their sin, and He's going to present them all as chaste
virgins. Whose damsel are you? Whose damsel? She's poor. He's rich. She's
lowly. He's mighty. She has nothing.
He has everything. Oh, she's come to the right place.
Whose damsel do you want to be? Well, they said in verse 6, well,
it's the Moabitish damsel. They came back with Naomi. That's
the Moabites. That's that heathen girl. Woman. That said, he, the woman, came
with Naomi out of Moab. She's a nobody. She's from nowhere.
She's nothing. She doesn't have anything. She's
a nobody from nowhere. That's who that is. And you see the look on Moab's
face. Hmm. Do you see your calling, brethren?
Do you see your calling? How not many mighty, not many
wise men have been, not many noble have called. God has chosen
the weak thing, the base thing. Nothing's a nobody. Where are
you from? Where are you from? Kernersville, North Carolina.
Where? Reedsville. Where are you from?
I know all y'all. Y'all ain't from nowhere. John's from West Virginia. Man,
oh man. That's the Moabites. That's at
West Virginia. That's on North Tar Heel. They
ain't a bunch of nobody. No, that's God's damsels. That's
who that is. He brought them all here together,
to his field, to glean. They're going to meet their Redeemer.
And they're going to sing his praises. That's the only people
who are going to sing Christ's praises from now on. Yeah, that's that Moabitish woman.
And here's what she said to them, verse 7. Verse 7, she said, I
pray you, she asked this servant over the reapers. John, you've
dealt with this many times. I thought, that's the Holy Spirit
in there. The servant over the reapers.
That's who we get our command from Him. Serve it with the reapers
and serve it over the reapers. And she asked the servant over
the reapers, let me glean and gather after the reapers among
the sheaves. Let me glean in this field here
and gather just whatever I can. I won't be in anybody's way.
Just let me glean a little bit. I'm just glad to be here. I'm
hungry. Would you let me glean a little bit in this field? What
do you think he said? And verse 7, so she came, she
came, she came. You know, as said, how gracious
and merciful the Lord has been to all of us in bringing us to
hear the gospel. Her half was to lay out in the
field that belonged to Boaz, which is a picture of us landing
where the gospel is. Do you not pass by these other
places, so-called churches, all the time and say, I could be
right there? Don't you? Benny and I have to drive by
that Catholic place every time to come here. And there's not
a single time that I don't think, I don't think to myself, I could
be right there. Couldn't we? We could be right
there. Devout Catholics. Without God, without Christ,
and without hope in this world. Eating husks. That could be us. And I can't preach without saying
it. But God. But God brought me to His field
where my kinsman redeemer is, where the gospel is preached.
And I heard His voice and He spoke peace to me. And He told
me that He would not rest until He speaks His word. I'm getting
ahead of myself. Oh, how blessed we are, people.
Don't ever take this for granted. Don't ever take that pew for
granted. It could be somewhere else. And don't get mad at people
that are there. Be sad for them and pray for
them, that the Lord will bring them out like He brought you
in. Well, she comes and she asks
that she may glean, and I remember a brother come in here years
ago, and he asked me if he could come worship with us. Anybody ask you that, John? Can
I come hear the gospel? Can I? Well, sure you can. Please, come, come. Oh, my. Can I glean? Can I stay there?
So she came. And it said in verse 7, they
said, she's continued here from the morning until now. She won't
go away. She's continued. She's steadfast
in this field from the time she got here, and she's not leaving.
Boy, isn't that a sign of God's grace. She's found grace. You know, she's looking for grace,
and the fact she's looking for grace, she's already found grace.
That's grace before grace, isn't it? She wouldn't be looking for
grace if she hadn't found grace. And she wouldn't have come to
His field if she hadn't found grace. And she wouldn't still
be there if it wasn't for His grace. And you wouldn't either. And all that she went through
was God's grace, His goodness. She wouldn't need to come to
Bethlehem if God hadn't have taken her husband. Everything works together for
good. God's too good to do evil. He's too loving to do wrong.
Let's get that through our heads, in our hearts. And they say, well, she's come
and she's continued from morning until now, and she's tearing
around the house. She's hanging around the house. She just won't leave the house.
People, I've seen people come and go. Brother John has too.
We both grew up on 13th Street. We've seen so many people come
and go. And now as pastors, we've seen them come and go. People
come with their relatives. Don't they come to visit? And
they go. And they're gone. And they're left like the cat.
Empty. Or full. Full of pride, full of the world,
all that. Empty people find great. But
we've seen people come out of curiosity. and looking for a
church, and they go away uninterested. This is just not what curiosity
seekers are looking for. This is not what people in the
world are looking for. Is that all y'all do here? Yes,
it is. Like Brother David said to someone
the other day, an old friend of his asked him what he was
preaching on. He said, same thing I preached
last Sunday. Same thing? Yeah, exact same
thing. Well, I've seen people come,
I've seen people go. I've seen some people come hungry. I've seen some people start to
glean. It's a blessed thing, isn't it? We've seen it. Brother
John and I got a wonderful... This is the hardest and worst
place to be. But it can't be the blessing, most blessing.
When you watch the light come on in somebody's eyes, when you
watch the joy come on in somebody's face, when you watch somebody
turn from death to life, from darkness to light, it's wonderful.
It's wonderful. When you watch the ears start
to open, new birth has begun. I've seen people come and sit
and sit and out that door just as fast as they could. I've said
it for years, and I don't know where they go. And then one day,
they're hanging around. They're hanging around. Trying
to glean just a little bit more. They did more. They found grace. They found grace. Brother Clay Curtis told me this. We were
talking and he and I both are hard of hearing. He's profoundly
deaf or hard of hearing. He said, you know, Brother Paul,
what the first in the womb, the first bone in our body that is
formed in the womb, do you know what it is? In the ear. Did you hear that? Did you hear
that? That's the first thing that happens
when you start to glean, you find grace. He opens your ear.
This is the mouth of the soul. This is where the food goes in.
Isn't that something? Isn't that something? The first
bone of this skeleton, the foundation, starts with the ear. Amazing. She's gleaning. She's hanging around. She won't
go away. She's holding fast here. From
the beginning, she's holding fast. She won't go away. She
won't leave the house. I've said this so many times. If you
can go, you will. But if He belongs to your kinsman
or redeemer, you won't. You can't. He won't let you.
You're shut up to fail. The Lord puts you in Christ,
He pits the door, and you can't get out. Aren't you glad? Aren't
you glad? But I'm going to end this thing.
I want to leave you a little bit hungry. I want you to come
back for more. But I want to end with Ephesians
1. See if this doesn't mean even
more to you right now after hearing this story. Ephesians chapter
1. She went to find grace, and she
found grace in the person of her Redeemer, and so have we. And Ephesians 1 is all about
grace, isn't it? Isn't it your favorite passage?
Verse 2, Grace be to you, great peace from God our Father, from
the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, blessed, blessed, blessed,
blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who
hath blessed us. with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places or things, where are they? In Christ. According,
here it is, number one, he chose it. Chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love, his damsel, his virgin. Having predestinated
us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself. according to the, and he did
it because it was just a good pleasure of his will, and it's
all to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath
made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have, say the word,
redemption. Through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins, and it's all according to the riches of his grace. I'm looking for grace. Are you? Or you'll find it. In Christ
you're redeemed. All right, stand with me.