Open your Bibles, if you would,
to the book of Ruth. The book of Ruth. We only have two chapters left
in our study on the Song of Solomon. But I've been praying about which
book to preach after that. And it really had pressed upon
me about looking at Old Testament types and pictures of Christ.
Because it's such a great blessing to we who are the people of God.
So tonight may be the first one in many of that. The name of
the message is the Kinsman Redeemer. The Kinsman Redeemer. Christ,
our Kinsman Redeemer. We'll read three different portions
in Ruth here to start. First of all, we'll be in Ruth
2.20. Then we'll go to Ruth 3.9. And then we'll go to Ruth 4.14
to set the message here. Ruth 2.20, and Naomi said unto
her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of the Lord, who had not left off his kindness
to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, the
man is near of kin unto us, as one of our next kinsmen. Then
Ruth 3.9, And he said, Who art thou? And
she answered, I am Ruth, thine handmaid. Spread therefore thy
skirt over thine handmaid, for thou art near kinsman. And Ruth
4.14, And the woman said unto Naomi,
Blessed be the Lord, which has not left thee this day without
a kinsman. Without a kinsman. God's people can say that, can't
we? Blessed be the Lord. He has not left us. Without a
kinsman. And we see that Lord willing
tonight. Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this
day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.
And oh, whose name is famous in spiritual Israel? Our kinsman,
redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. A young minister was told by
an elder of a Welsh church that he had preached a very poor sermon
because Christ was not in his sermon. To which the young man replied,
well, Christ was not in the text. The wise old man said, Christ
is in every text, he continued. In every text of scripture there
is a road which leads to Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Your business is to find that
road and get on it. Oh, there's so much truth there.
The preacher is to proclaim and preach Christ and Him crucified.
Turn if you would to Ruth chapter 1. Ruth chapter 1. All most people
know about the book of Ruth is what Ruth has said to Naomi.
You ask most folks in religion and they will tell you about
this portion of scripture. They don't really understand
the aspect of Christ being our kinsman-redeemer, and the whole
picture of Christ as the kinsman-redeemer. But this is two very famous verses,
and they are absolutely beautiful. Ruth chapter 1, verses 16 and
17. But they are two of the most
well-known verses in the book of Ruth, amongst religious people. And Ruth said, Entreat me not
to leave thee, to return from following after thee, for whether
thou goest, I will go, and whether thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy
people shall be my people, and thy God my God." This is an incredible
statement by Ruth, just an absolutely incredible statement. And we
know she's saying this by the grace of God. It's God who's
made her to differ from her sister-in-law. Where thou diest will I die,
and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me and more,
if aught but death part thee and me. And folks who speak of these
verses usually come away with some high thoughts of Ruth and
absolutely no thoughts of Christ. But the real key to the book
of Ruth is the term kinsman redeemer. Turn if you would to Ruth chapter
2 verse 20 again, we'll read that again. And Naomi said unto
her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of the Lord, who hath not
left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi
said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next
kinsmen. And then, I won't reread Ruth
3.9, let's read Ruth 3.12. And now it is true that I am
thy near kinsman. Howbeit there is a kinsman nearer
than I. This is Boaz saying that. And in verse 14 in Ruth 4, again
I'll read that. And the woman said unto Naomi,
blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without
a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel. The kinsman
is the one who has the right to redeem. Turn, if you would,
to Leviticus chapter 25. The kinsman is the one who has
a right to redeem. Leviticus chapter 25. And in
the book of Ruth, we will see that Boaz has a right to redeem,
a right to redeem in Christ. And Boaz pictures Christ, and
Christ has a right to redeem, doesn't he? He has a right to
redeem. And it was all planned and purposed
in the covenant of grace and eternity, beloved. Leviticus
25, verses 25 and 26. If thy brother be waxen poor
and hath sold away some of his possessions, and if any of his
kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother
sold. And if a man have none to redeem
it, and himself be able to redeem it. So a kinsman is one who has
the right to redeem. A man called Abimelech of Bethlehem,
Judea, because of a famine in the land, sold all that he had,
and with his wife and two sons left the land of Israel. Left
the land of Israel and moved to Moab, which was a land of
pagan worship. a land of pagan worship. Now
Abimelech died in Moab and his two sons married Moabite women and lived with them ten years
and then both sons died. Naomi was now a very poor widow
and she determined to return to Judea to Israel and told her
two daughters-in-law to remain in Moab with their people and
their gods. And Oprah kissed Naomi and departed. She just left. But Ruth again,
let's look at those two verses again. In Ruth 1.16-17, Ruth
clave unto her. She clave unto Naomi. And she
uttered these blessed words. And Ruth said, Entreat me not
to leave thee, or to return from following after thee. For whither
thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge. Thy
people shall be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest will I die,
and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more
also, if ought but death part thee and me. Now I pray that
we're gleaned from this message that Christ Jesus our Lord is
our kinsman redeemer. The first point I'd like to look
at in this book, this wonderful book, is we have a picture of
Rune by the Fall. Look at verses 19 to 21. So the
two went until they came to Bethlehem, and it came to pass when they
were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about
them, and said, Is this Naomi? Is this Naomi? And she said unto
them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty hath
dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord
hath brought me home again empty. Why then call ye me Naomi, seeing
the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted
me? When Naomi, now old and poor and weary, came to Bethlehem,
the people gathered about her and exclaimed, is this Naomi? Is this Naomi? Is this the same
Naomi who left Bethlehem a few years ago, rich and prosperous? With her family all about her?
And she replied, don't call me Naomi, which is sweet and pleasant
in Hebrew. Naomi Mara, which is bitter.
Naomi means sweet and pleasant and Mara means bitter. The Almighty
hath dwelt very bitterly with me. She went out full and came
back empty. She went out rich and came back
poor. She went out sweet and came back
bitter. We look at Adam after the fall
when he had sinned and fell, and he was driven out from the
presence of God for his transgression, and we say, is this Adam? Is this Adam? Is this the one
who walked and talked with God? Are these poor, dying, corrupted
creatures sons of Adam created in the image of God? Wherefore
is by one man sin into the world, and death by sin, and so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." We fell in
Adam. We fell in Adam. Turn if you
would to Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3. And look what the scripture declares.
So just like Naomi, Adam was rich and then became poor, didn't
he? He fell. He had fellowship with God. He was rich. And he became poor. He became poor. He was full.
And he became empty. Romans 3, verses 10 to 19 says
this about man. As it is written, there is none
righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way. They are all together become
unprofitable. There is none that doeth good,
no not one. We are so ruined by the fall. It's so evident in these scriptures.
There's none righteous. There's none that understandeth
God. We're spiritually blinded and in darkness. Again, unrighteous, no one in
the natural state can approach God. Their throat is an open
sepulcher, with their tongues they have used deceit, the poison
of asps on their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and
bitterness. Bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood, destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way
of peace have they not known? They have no peace with God.
This was our natural state. I can read this and say that
was me. There's no fear of God before
their eyes. People don't fear God anymore. Those who have had Christ revealed
to them, we fear Him with reverence, don't we? But I'll tell you what,
one day those who don't fear God now will, as I said this
morning, cry for the mountains to fall upon them, hide them.
They'll cry to hide, be hidden from the Lord. But they're nowhere
to hide from the Lord. Nowhere. Nowhere. Man is so utterly ruined by the
fall. Now we know that what things
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law,
that every mouth may be stopped. And look at this, look at this
statement, beloved. And all the world may become
guilty before God. There's not one person on the
top side of this earth who is not guilty before God. There's
a lot of people who think they're not guilty before God, but they
are. And we who are redeemed know
that we were in the same position, weren't we? Dead in trespasses
and sins, but praise God, we're born again by the Holy Spirit
of God. We were purchased at Calvary's
cross by the precious blood of Christ. We didn't know it, did
we? No. That's why we can see ourselves
in this portion here. We can see that this was our
natural state. Oh, what a change! What a change! God rots! The second point I'd
like us to look at is the unmerited, unsought love of Christ for sinners. Let's turn to Ruth chapter 2,
verses 1 to 5 and verse 16. The unmerited, unsought love
of Christ for sinners. Ruth 2, verses 1-6, and in verse
16, And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a mighty man of
wealth, of the family of Abimelech, and his name was Boaz. And Ruth
the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and
glean ears of corn, after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my
daughter. Now note there. In whose sight
I shall find grace. If you're one of God's blood
bought children and you're born again by the Holy Spirit of God.
You have found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And it's not merited. We don't seek it because the
scripture said there's none that seek it after God, right? We
don't deserve it. If we got what we deserve, we'd
be in hell. But we don't deserve this grace, this mercy. We don't. Not at all. My. We found grace. In God's sight. And she said unto her, go, my
daughter. And she went and came and gleaned in the field after
the reapers. And her harp was light on the
part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred
of Abimelech. And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem
and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered
him, The Lord bless thee. Then said Boaz unto his servant,
who was set over the reaper, Whose damsel is this? Oh, his
eyes. His eyes are upon her. The kinsman
redeemer's eyes are upon her. Whose damsel is this? Oh my beloved. And the servant
that was set over the reapers answered and said, it is the
Moabites damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country
of Moab. And then look at verse 16. Look at verse 16. Let's go to verse 15 here first.
And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded... Now
remember, his eyes had fell upon her. His eyes had fell upon her. And when she was risen up to
glean, Boaz commanded this young man, saying, Let her glean even
among the sheaves, and reproach her not. And let fall also some
of the handfuls of purpose for her. Just put some handfuls down. Just just put it down for her.
Now, this is the kinsman saying this. And let also some of the handfuls
of purpose. And let fall also some of the
handfuls of purpose for her and leave them that she may glean
them and rebuke her not. Oh, my. Beloved, this world belongs
to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is His by design, it is His
by decree, and it is His by creation. Colossians says this, for by
Him were all things created. That includes everything. Things
visible and invisible. All things that are in heaven,
that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones
or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created
by Him and for Him. And he is before all things,
and by him all things consist. He owns everything. Now, Boaz
owned this field, didn't he? He owned this field. And Christ Jesus, our Lord, made
all things, and by him all things consist. Every one of us in this
room, we consist and we breathe because God allows us to do so. John 335 says the father loved
the son and had given all things into his hands. Now turn, if
you would, to John 17, John 17. And look at these marvelous words. John 17, verses one to three,
just as Boaz owned that field and he could say, just leave
handfuls of purpose. The Lord owns everything. He
owns everything. And he can give handfuls of purpose
to anyone he pleases. Anyone he pleases. Oh my. Is not the grace of God given
to us a handful on purpose? Is not redemption in Christ for
God's people a handful on purpose? Is not regeneration by the Holy
Spirit of God a handful on purpose? It's so, isn't it? It's all by
God's grace, isn't it? And the only reason that they
were leaving the handfuls on purpose was because Boaz said,
it's to be so. The only reason we're saved is
because God said, it's to be so. Oh my, what a picture of grace
we see here before us. Look at John 17, verses one to
three. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify
thy son that thy son also may glorify thee. As thou has given
him what power. Over all flesh. The Lord Jesus
Christ has all power, beloved, whether people believe it or
not. He has all power. This world is his and he can
do whatever he pleases with it and with all who are in it. And so, think of that in light
of your salvation. He chose me. He saved me. He gave me these handfuls on
purpose. It never gets old, does it? It
never gets old. It's wondrous. It's absolutely
wondrous. He has all power. And now it's
given him power over all flesh. Look at this. Now, if this is
not a death blow to decisionalism, where people say, bow your head
in your God's weight to save you, but he's done all he can,
now the rest is up to you. If this is not a death blow to
that, look at this, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou has given him. Eternal life is a gift from God,
and it's given to us. It's given to us by God. And
Christ has the power to give it to whomever He pleases. And
He gives it to those who the Father gave Him in eternity.
And the believer says, I'm one of those number. I'm one of them. And this is life eternal. Now
note that. God, who is eternal, gives eternal
life. And this is life eternal, that
they might know Thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom
Thou hast sent. Beloved, we live and glean in
His field. In His field. We live and glean
in His field. His vineyard. This world. Lord Jesus Christ in grace and
love has taken notice of some of some of Adam's race just as
just as Ruth caught Boaz's I Have taken notice and he's done it
from eternity He's done it from attorneys taking notice of some
of Adam's fallen race He knew us though. We knew him not He
loved us though. We did not love him And by His
handfuls on purpose, we have lived and prospered right until
this day. And we will live and prosper
until He takes us home, where we will see Him face to face. And He keeps us going, doesn't
He? While we're on this earth with handfuls on purpose, beloved. My goodness. It's wonderful. God takes care
of His own. Even in the days of unbelief,
He watched over us. Even in the days of our unbelief,
this is wondrous grace. He watches over His sheep even
before we're saved. Like a good shepherd. Like a
good shepherd. The third point I'd like us to
look at is the kinsmen redeemer. Look at Ruth chapter 2 verses
18 to 20. The kinsman redeemer. And she took it up and went into
the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She
took all that she had gleaned, the handful on purpose, she took
that. And her mother-in-law saw what
she had gleaned. And she bought forth and gave
to her that she had reserved after she was suffered. And her
mother-in-law said unto her, where hast thou gleaned today?
And where wellest thou? Blessed be he that did take knowledge
of thee. She knows someone must have noticed
her. And she showed her mother-in-law
with whom she had wrought and said, the man's name with whom
I wrought today is Boaz. And Naomi said unto her daughter-in-law,
blessed be he of the Lord, who hath not left off his kindness
to the living. You and I who are redeemed think
of this. The Lord have not left off his
kindness to us, has he? What mercy and grace he's showing
us in Christ. What mercy and grace he's showing
us in Christ to the living and to the dead. And I only said
unto her, a man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen. Ruth returned home with a generous
supply of grain, and Naomi took note of her abundance and asked
Ruth where she gleaned and who was so generous with her. And
when Naomi heard that Ruth's benefactor was Boaz, she exclaimed,
Be he of the Lord who hath not left off his kindness, his kindness. Boaz is the one who has the right
to redeem. Boaz is the one who has the right
to redeem. He's a near kinsman. He's the
kinsman redeemer. If one has sold his inheritance
again and has a near kinsman who is able and willing to stand
for him and buy back all that he lost, it shall be done. Think
of that in light of what Christ has done for us. We're bankrupt. Bankrupt mercy beggars, aren't
we? Who paid the price for us, beloved? Christ. He paid all that was demanded.
All of it. Christ Jesus, by God's covenant
mercy and divine grace, is our kinsman, beloved, for He became
a man. And He was numbered with the
transgressors, and He was bone of our bone and flesh of our
flesh. Scripture declares, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory. The glory is of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. Our kinsman-redeemer
is a man, but yet God. He's bone of our bone and flesh
of our flesh, beloved. Galatians chapter four says this,
but when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his
son made of a woman made under the law. He was on a mission,
wasn't he? Our kinsman redeemer was on a
mission. He must purchase us. He must
redeem us. He must. To redeem them that
were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
And because ye are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of
His Son into your hearts, crying, I have a Father. The believer
cries, I have a Father. Wherefore thou art no more a
servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. Galatians 4, verses 4-7. Christ willingly became a man.
The word willingly became a man. The man Christ Jesus, and he
took upon himself flesh. To redeem his people. That were
lost in Adam. And he's able to do so. Because
though a man he is strong in my and he is the strong and mighty
God. He's fully God and fully man. Turn, if you would, to 2 Timothy, and then put your finger in Jude.
2 Timothy in Jude, and I'll read you Hebrews 7.25, which says,
Wherefore, he is able also to save them to the uttermost that
come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
for him. The Word became flesh and dwelt
among us. The Word, our kinsman redeemer. 2nd Timothy 1.12, For the witch cause I also suffer
these things, nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom
I have believed. Who do we believe upon? Our Redeemer. Our Redeemer. The one who purchased
this bankrupt sinner. And every believer can say that.
I was bankrupt. I desperately needed Christ. I know whom I have believed.
Do you know who you believe? Do you believe in yourself? Or do
you believe upon Christ? Christ is the only Savior. Trusting
in your own works or in yourself will only lead to your eternal
doom. But the one who trusts in Christ
shall never perish because he is able to save them to the uttermost
that come unto God by him. I know whom I have believed and
am persuaded that he is able Keep that which I committed unto
him against that day. What do we commit to him our
eternal souls? Our eternal souls beloved and
the scripture there declares he's able and why is he able
remember John 17? He's got all power He's got all
power We lack the power and the ability to save ourselves But
the one who saves us has all power and all ability beloved. Oh What a Savior What a Redeemer
and then Jude look at verses 24 and 25. It's wonders Again
he has all power. He has all ability to save his
people from their sins. He did it Calvary's Cross and
He reveals himself to us the Holy Spirit reveals Christ to
us look at this now unto him that is able Again, Christ is
able. What's he able to do? To keep
you from falling. Praise God, if you're one of
his people. We're not able to keep ourselves
from falling, are we? We're not. Spurgeon said one
time, if we were left to ourselves, he said, going from my bed to
my kitchen table, I sin enough to damn a thousand souls. We sin and we don't even know
it. And how much sin does it take for someone to be damned
to hell? Just one. Just one. So we fall so much
in one day, it would be incredible. Now unto Him that is able to
keep you from falling. To keep you from falling. Remember
in 1 Peter we saw this morning, we're kept by the power of God.
were kept by His power. And the same power that raised
Christ from the grave is the same power that's exercised when
we're born again. And let me tell you, it's the
same power that keeps us beloved. It's the same power. It's the
power of God. It's the power of God. You see
how opposite it is of what religion says when they say, you can come
to God on your own, you can keep yourself, you can lose it. No,
you can't. Because He is able to keep me from falling. Him. He is able. And if Christ is
your Redeemer, He's able to keep you. He saved us, didn't He?
And if He saved us, He's going to keep us. It's wonderful. And look at this, and it presents
you faultless. All we are is sin. There's not
one thought, not one, nothing. Scripture says from the top of
our head to the bottom of our feet, everything we do is tainted
with sin, isn't it? But yet, look at this marvelous
verse. It says, and to present you faultless. Where's he gonna
present us faultless? Before the presence of his glory. All because of what He's done.
All because He who is our kinsman redeemer has redeemed us, beloved.
Has purchased our eternal souls. Those whom He's redeemed, He
keeps, beloved. And then He presents us faultless.
Think of our dear brothers and sisters who have went to be with
the Lord. They're faultless in His presence.
All because of the righteousness of Christ and what Christ has
done. And look, it says He does it with exceeding joy. Oh my! It brings Him joy to present
we whom He has redeemed. To present us faultless before
the presence of His glory. It brings Him exceeding joy.
To the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion,
and power, both now and forever. Amen. We can see why he closed
that way. The only wise God, oh, our Savior. All glory goes to Him. He has
all majesty and dominion and all power. All power. And look at that, both now and
ever. It's unchanging. You know why? Because God doesn't
change. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forevermore. So if our salvation is in Him,
we are so secure, beloved. We're kept by the One who never
changes. Who never changes. Oh, what wonderous
salvation this is. By His perfect obedience, He
has given us righteousness before the law. By Christ's perfect
obedience in His life, He has given us righteousness before
the law. And by His death, He satisfied
divine justice. All the demands for our sins
have been paid for. enabling God to be both just
and justifier of all who believe. Whom God has set forth to be
a propitiation, Christ is set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness, His righteousness,
all the righteousness of God, for the remission of sins that
are passed through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say at
this time, His righteousness, again, righteousness of Christ. Oh my, that He might be just
and justifier, of him which believeth on Jesus." Oh my. So God's law is satisfied. He's
just, right? His law is satisfied, so He's
a just God. And Christ is our Redeemer. God
is the justifier of His people. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. My, that's Romans 3, 25 and 26.
The fourth and last point I'd like us to look at is humility,
acceptance, and redemption. Let's read Ruth 3, 1-7. Humility, acceptance, and redemption.
Ruth 3, 1-7. Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said unto
her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it be
well with thee? And now is not Boaz of our kindred,
and whose maidens thou wast. Behold, he winneth barley tonight
in the thrashing floor. Wash thyself therefore, and anoint
thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the
floor. But make not thyself known unto
the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking. And
it shall be, when he lie it down, that thou shalt mark the place
where he shall lie and thou shall go in and uncover his feet and
lay thee down and he will tell thee what thou shalt do and she
said unto her all that thou sayest to me I will do and she went
down onto the floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law
bade her and when Boaz had eaten and and drunk his heart was merry
he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn, and she
came softly and uncovered his feet and laid her down." Look
at how Ruth humbled herself at the feet of Boaz. She humbled
herself at the feet of Boaz. She sought his mercy, beloved.
She sought his mercy. And this is how we are, as we
lie at the feet of Christ. He owes us nothing, He owes us
nothing. But yet he has mercy upon his
people. Again, we are mercy beggars,
aren't we? Are you a mercy beggar? Has God shown you that you're
a mercy beggar? My. We are mercy beggars. We read in verses 10 and 11 how
Boaz accepted her. He already loved her, beloved.
He already loved her. Even as we are accepted in the
Beloved, upon evidence of humility and
faith, because Christ has loved us with an everlasting love.
And He grants faith and repentance to those whom He's loved for
eternity. Those whom He purchased. Those
whom He redeemed. And He's loved us with an everlasting
love. His eyes have been upon us from
eternity. Look at Ruth 3.10-11, and He said, Blessed be thou
of the Lord, My daughter, for thou hast showed more kindness
in the latter end than at the beginning, insomuch as thou followest
not young men, whether poor or rich. She wasn't going out and
seeking someone who was more wealthy. And now, my daughter, fear not,
I will do to thee all that thou requirest. For all the city of
my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. Has not
the Lord done for us, for us, all that is required? Has he
not done for us all that is required? Our sin debt had to be paid.
It must be paid. And the scripture says the soul
that sinneth, it must die. Well, Christ is the great substitute.
Having our sins imputed to him, dies upon the cross, pays and
satisfies again God's law and justice. Doing for us that which
is required. Doing for us that which we could
never do. All that thou requires. He's
done for us. He's done for us. Let's turn
here to Ruth chapter 4 verses 13 and 17 and we read how Boaz
married Ruth and all of his wealth in his name became hers. And
what have we seen in the Song of Solomon? Oh my, my. We've seen such a picture of
the bride and the bridegroom. Boaz married Ruth, and all of
his wealth and name became hers, even as we are married to Christ
and join heirs with Him, because we are His and we wear His name. Look at verses 13 to 17 in Ruth
chapter 4. So Boaz took Ruth, and she was
his wife. And when he went in unto her,
the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son. And the woman
said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord which hath not left thee
this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.
Now, whose name, again, is famous in spiritual Israel? Our kinsman,
our kinsman redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. His name is famous
amongst his bride, isn't it? Oh, my. and he shall be unto
thee a restorer of thy life. Who's restored us? We were dead
in trespasses and sins, weren't we? Spiritually dead, but physically
alive. Who's given us life, beloved?
Who's given us life? Our great kinsman redeemer. And
he's given us eternal life too, hasn't he? It's wondrous. It's
wondrous. She was bankrupt and a mercy
beggar. He's restored her. Look at this,
"...and a nourisher of thine old age." Who keeps us and watches
over us? The Lord Jesus Christ, our kinsman,
Redeemer. "...for thy daughter-in-law,
which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons hath
borne him. And Naomi took the child and
laid it in her bosom and became nurse unto it." Now remember,
Ruth is a Moabitess lady, isn't she? She's a Moabitess woman. And look at what it says here.
And the woman, her neighbors gave her the name, saying, there
is a son born to Naomi, and they called his name Obed. He is the
father of Jesse, the father of David. Oh my. Oh my. The pagan girl became the wife
of Boaz, the great grandmother of King David, and stood in the
lineage of Christ. And beloved, it's all by grace. It's all by grace. What a picture
of our kinsman redeemer and how salvation is all of grace, beloved. In Christ Jesus our Lord. May
God be glorified by the preaching of His Word.