Open your Bibles, if you would,
to the book of Ruth. The book of Ruth. We only have two chapters left
in our study in 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 hindmaid. Spread therefore thy
skirt over thine hindmaid, 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'll 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 Walsh 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 1, verses 16 and 17, but
they're two of the most well-known verses in the book of Ruth amongst
religious people. 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. 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. 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 10 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 chapter 1, verse
16 and 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. 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 they,
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, Omi Mara, which is bitter. It's 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 they 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 understand
it. There is none that seek it after God. They are all gone
out of the way. They are all together become
unprofitable. There is none that do it 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 understand
that God was 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 thing 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. But 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 two,
verses one to five and verse 16. The unsought, 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 hop 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 sent 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 of
purpose for her. 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 loveth
the Son and hath 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. It's not what's
giving 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. The Lord Jesus Christ in grace
and love has taken notice of some of Adam's race, just as
Ruth caught Boaz's eye. The Lord had taken notice, and
he's done it from eternity. He's done it from eternity. He's
taken 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 kinsman 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 wiltest 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 hath not left off His kindness to us, has He?
What mercy and grace He's shown us in Christ. What mercy and
grace He's shown 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, beloved. 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 chapter 4, verses 4
to 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 that he ever liveth to make intercession
for him. The Word became flesh and dwelt
among us. The Word. Our kinsman redeemer. 2 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, beloved.
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 wondrous. 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.
We're 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. Why? 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.
And then look, 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 forever. 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's 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 the 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, 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 to 7. And then Naomi, her mother, 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 threshing 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 shalt 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 unto the floor
and did according to all that her mother-in-law bade her. And
when Boaz had eaten 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, beloved.
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. evidence of humility and faith
because Christ has loved us with an everlasting love and he gives
he grants faith in repentance to those whom he's loved from
eternity those whom he purchased those whom he redeemed my and he's loved us with an
everlasting love his eyes have been upon us from eternity Look
at Ruth 3, verse 10 and 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, in so much as thou followest not
young men, whether poor or rich. She wasn't going out and seeking
someone who was more wealthy. No. No. 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 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.