I invite your attention to the
book of Ruth, chapter three. The book of Ruth, chapter three. My text is verse nine. This message is titled, Jesus
Christ, My Kinsman Redeemer. My text reads in these words. And he said, who art thou? And
she answered, I am Ruth, thine handmaid. Spread therefore thy
skirt over thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman. Thou art a near kinsman. And what Ruth said to Boaz, I
have said to Jesus Christ, he is a Boaz unto me, a kinsman
redeemer. This book of Ruth is one of only
two books in all God's word bearing the name of a woman. The other book being Esther,
but all what women exceptional women. You read of Ruth and Esther, and you're reminded of the fourth
century Greek rhetorician Labanius, a heathen, writing against Christians,
greatly opposed to them, but he confessed what women these
Christians have. He was right. Can you say amen? He was right. What women these
Christians have. Here are Ruth and Esther, Mary the mother of our Lord,
Mary Magdalene, Sarah, Rachel. What women these Christians have.
We're gonna be looking at one of them this morning in particular.
This woman named Ruth. This story about Ruth begins
in chapter one. It begins with a man named Elimelech,
verse two. Ruth one, verse two. And the
name of the man was Elimelech. His name means my God is king. His wife's name was Naomi. Her
name means pleasant. They had two sons named Milan
and Kilian. Evidently these two lads were
not in the best of health for their names mean sickly and puny. They lived in Bethlehem, Judah. Bethlehem means house of bread. Judah means praised and surely
God should be praised when there is bread in his house. But we
read that they came into the country of Moab and continued
there. This happened according to verse
one, in the days when the judges ruled Israel. The judges were
the rulers of God's people after the death of Joshua and before
the kings rising in Saul. The days of the judges, when
every man did that which was right in his own eyes, it was
a tumultuous time. The people sinned. God put them
under captivity. They prayed for a deliverer.
The Lord raised up a judge, and it happened repeatedly. over
and over. This was during that time. It
so happened that during this time, this tumultuous time, there
was no longer bread in the house of bread. There in Bethlehem,
a famine had stricken the land. And this man, Elimelech, whose
God is King, his pleasant wife, and his two sickly and puny sons,
left the land where God is praised and went to live in a place called
Moab, a place that began out of an incestuous relationship
and a place that God in the book of Psalms calls my washpot. God compared Moab to the basin
that collects the water that one pours over his feet to wash
them. And here are Elimelech and Naomi
and their two sons, they go to sojourn in the land of God's
washed pot, but they stayed there. They stayed. In the course of
time, Milan and Chilion married daughters of Moab, Orpah and
Ruth. We know not the meaning of Orpah's
name. It is unimportant. You're not
going to read about her again. She's mentioned here in this
chapter and never again. But Ruth, yeah, you're going
to hear about her again. Ruth, her name means friend. And what a friend she was. Mahlon
and Kilion, because of their sickly and puny health, they
also died. Now there are three widows, Naomi,
Orpah, and Ruth, a mother-in-law and her two daughters-in-law.
She hears that bread has returned to the house of bread and the
land where God has praised Judah. She says, I'm going back. Her
two daughters-in-law say that they will go with her. They journey
with her to the border of the land. And Naomi tells them, go
back home. Go back to your family, your
country. I'm an old woman. I cannot take
care of you. If you were waiting for me to
produce another husband for you, that's not gonna happen. Go on
back home, go back to your family, to your country and to your gods.
The scripture says, Orpah lifted up her voice and wept and went
back. We never hear of her again. But Ruth, but Ruth, Look in verse 16, chapter
one. 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,
thy God shall be my God. Where thou diest, will I die,
and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me and much
more if ought but death part thee and me. I'm not going back
to Moab. I'm going to the house of bread.
I'm going to the land where God is praised. I'm not leaving my
mother-in-law. I'm going with you. And she did. We read in chapter two that they
arrived Naomi and Ruth in the time of barley harvest. Barley
was the first of the grains to be harvested in the land of Israel. And they have arrived at barley
harvest and people say, look, Naomi's back. And she says, no
longer call me Naomi. That name means pleasant. and
Jehovah has dealt bitterly with me because of my sin. Call me
bitter. And thus, she insisted she be
called bitter because of her sin and the way that the Lord
had dealt with her in justice. However, we read in chapter two,
verse one, that Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's. a mighty man
of wealth of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. Grab that
name, if you will. It means fleetness, as though
here is a man who's fast on his feet. He's fleet. When he makes a decision, he
pursues it immediately and completely. Boaz, the fleet man. He's a man of great wealth, related
to Elimelech, who had been Naomi's husband. And Ruth the Moabite
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 Naomi
said unto her, go my daughter. And so Ruth went and came and
gleaned in the field after the reapers. Let me explain the difference
here. We have rapers and we have gleaners,
two different people, two different groups of people that are in
the field. When the harvest time comes,
the men with their sickles and their scythes, they make a line
down through the field and they're cutting the grain. And it falls
behind them, and they make the line, they go all the way down
the field. Behind them come the reapers,
and the reapers make a line across the field, and they start picking
up the grain and putting it in shocks. They make the line, they
go down the field, and then behind them come the gleaners, the poor
of the land. The Lord had a welfare system
that worked out quite well. Let the gleaners go into the
field and the gleaners would make a line and go down the field
and whatever was left, that was theirs. That was theirs. Furthermore,
when the men cut the grain, they were not allowed to cut the grain
in the corners of the field that belonged to the gleaners. And
the glaners would go down through the field and they would pick
up whatever was left. And so by the time the glaners
had swept the field, it's bare of grain. It's all gone. And
Ruth is a glaner. She's one of the poor. It just
so happened that she was in the field of Boaz in verse three. And Boaz came, verse four, from
Bethlehem and said unto the reapers, the Lord be with you. And they
answered him, the Lord bless thee. Those are good greetings,
are they not? Then said Boaz unto his servant
that was sent over the reapers, whose damsel is this? And the
servant that was sent over the reapers answered and said, it
is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the
country of Moab. And she said, I pray you, let
me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. So
she came and hath continued even from the morning until now, except
that she tarried a little in the house, probably resting. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, hearest
thou not my daughter? Go not to glean in another field,
but neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens. Let thine eyes be on the field
that they do reap and go thou after them. Have I not charged
the young men that they shall not touch thee? And when thou
art athirst, go into the vessels and drink of that which the young
men have drawn for my reapers. It's for you as well. Then she
fell on her face and bowed herself to the ground and said unto him,
why have I found grace in thine eyes? that thou shouldest take
knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger. If I am not badly
mistaken and I am certain I am correct, this is the gospel. You agree, Brother Sean? This
is the gospel, is it not? If I have found grace in thy
sight, Boaz answered and said unto her, it hath been fully
showed me all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since
the death of thine husband, and how thou hast left thy father
and thy mother and the land of thy nativity, and art coming
to a people which thou knewest not heretofore. Jehovah recompense
thy work and a full reward be given thee of Jehovah God of
Israel under whose wing thou art come to trust. I believe
I see the gospel there too. I'm telling you can find Christ
on every page in this scripture. Then she said, let me find favor
in thy sight, my Lord, for that thou has comforted me. and for
that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I
be not like unto one of thine handmaidens. And Boaz said unto
her, at mealtime come thou hither, and eat the bread, and dip thy
morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers.
Notice, the gleaner sat with the reapers. The reapers are
the servants of Boaz. and he reached her parched corn
and she did eat and was so fast and left. And when she was risen
up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men say, let her glean
even among the sheaves and reproach her not. The sheaves, folks,
that's Boaz's harvest. The sheaves are standing there
in the field and he says, Let her go to the sheaves and pull
out whatever she wants. And let fall also some of the
handfuls of purpose for her and lead them, that she may glean
them and rebuke her not. Do you see what this man is doing?
What are these handfuls of purpose? Here are the reapers. They're
going down to the field. They're picking up grain, they're
putting it One of the reapers looks back
and sees Ruth is behind her. So she throws some down on purpose. Boaz said, that's what you're
gonna do for her. You're gonna see that this woman
gets all the grain she wants. She can go to the sheaves and
take what she wants. You throw handfuls of purpose
down for her. Yeah. Providence is outstanding. I love divine providence and
how it works. So mysterious. Verse 17, so she gleaned in the
field until evening and beat out that which she'd gathered
and it was about an effa of barley. Probably enough that she took
her apron by the corners, the bottom corners and held it up
and it was completely full of grain. Makes her way back to
the house, all the grain she can carry. Verse 18, then she
took it up and went into the city and her mother-in-law saw
what she had gleaned and she brought forth and gave to her
that which she had reserved after she was sufficed. And her mother-in-law
said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned today? And where wroughtest
thou? Blessed be he that did take knowledge
of thee. And Ruth showed her mother-in-law,
Naomi, with whom she had wrought and said, the man's name with
whom I wrought today is Boaz. Boaz. Let me tell you what's going
to happen now. Naomi is going to become a matchmaker. She is. She knows who Boaz is. He's a kinsman. Let me tell you this also. A Christian matchmaker can be
a very blessed thing. A young Christian woman became
a matchmaker for Sandy and me, introduced us and caused our
paths to cross. Took the Lord a little while
to work on me. But yeah, what was it, 49 years
ago, a matchmaker went to work. Thank the Lord for that matchmaker. I met a young lady named Christy
Morrell when my son was stationed in Afghanistan. I sent him an
email and told him, when you come back from Afghanistan, I'm
taking you down to Franklin, Tennessee to meet your wife.
And I did. And he married her. And they
were just a delightful couple. So you young people, we have
some young people here that one of these days will become marrying
age. Heed the counsel of your Christian
parents and do not think they do not know how to pick a mate
just because we're old. Naomi is a matchmaker. Becky was a matchmaker for Sandy
and me. I was a matchmaker for my son
and his wife. And some of you, perhaps, were
brought together by a Christian matchmaker. Well, Naomi now realizes
Boaz, you say. Relative of Elimelech, you say. Verse 20, and Naomi said unto
her daughter-in-law, blessed be he of Jehovah, who hath not
left thou of his kindness to the living and to the dead. And
Naomi said unto her, the man is near of kin to us, one of
our next kinsmen, very closely related. And Ruth the Moabitess
said, he said unto me also, thou shalt keep fast by my young men
until they have ended all my harvest. And Naomi said unto
Ruth, her daughter-in-law, it is good, my daughter, that thou
go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other
field. So she kept fast by the maidens
of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest. And after
that, we'd harvest and dwelt with her mother-in-law. Now we
come to chapter three. Then Naomi, her mother-in-law,
said unto her, my daughter, notice here the close relationship. Oh, what kind of stories do we
sometimes hear about mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law? What a
sweet relationship is here. "'cause of my daughter, shall
I not seek rest for thee, "'that it may be well with thee? "'And
now is not Boaz of our kindred, "'with whose maidens thou wast?
"'Behold, he went with Burley to-night in the threshing-flower.
"'Wash thyself, therefore, and anoint thee. "'Some sweet-smelling
ointment on you. "'Put thy raiment upon thee. a good-looking garment and get
thee down to the floor, but make not thyself known unto the men
until he hath done eating and drinking. Let him have his supper,
let him drink his wine, let him be merry with the workers. Remember,
they're probably out in the field, they're probably not coming home
for the evening, working until late in the day. The threshing
floor, the threshing floor was perhaps
a huge flat rock. All the grain still in the husk
would be put onto the threshing floor. A threshing machine would
be pulled over it to break the hole from the kernel inside. It's a windy day, you separate
the chaff from the wheat by just throwing it into the air because
the wind carries the chaff away and the grain falls back down.
So they're there at the threshing floor and she's told in verse
four, it shall be when he lieth 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 must,
what thou shalt do. And Ruth said unto Naomi, all
that thou sayest unto me I will do. And she went down unto the
floor, did according to all that her mother-in-law bade her. And
when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went
down. to lie down at the end of the
heap of corn. And Ruth came softly while he
was asleep, uncovered his feet without her knowledge, and laid
down at his feet. And it came to pass at midnight,
that the man was afraid and turned himself and behold, a woman laid
his feet and he said, who art thou? And she answered, here's
my text. I am Ruth, thine handmaid. Spread
therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid, for thou art a near
kinsman. And he said, blessed be thou
of Jehovah, my daughter. For thou hast showed more kindness
in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followest
not young men, whether rich or poor. 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. A virtuous woman in need of a redeemer. The redeemer must be a kinsman.
His name is Boaz. He is fleet of foot and will
quickly do what must be done. He's her kinsman. He's going
to do the duty of a kinsman. What would be the duty of a kinsman?
Fourfold. Not all of them here apply. The
kinsman had a duty with regard to avenging his relative's blood. If a man murders someone else
or kills him, the slain man's brother had an
obligation to hunt down the man who had killed his brother if
he could catch him before he got to the city of refuge and
avenge his brother's blood. There was the redemption of a
relative's property. If I have fallen into hardship
and had to sell my property, my kinsmen, my brethren, were
obligated to purchase my property and return it to me. There was
the redemption of a relative's liberty. If I have had to sell
myself to be someone's slave, my brethren had an obligation
to purchase my liberty and to set me at liberty. And then there
is the redemption of a deceased childless relative's name and
inheritance. Meaning this, if I have died
and left my wife to be a widow, Before our marriage has been
blessed with a male son to receive the inheritance, my brother was
obligated to marry my wife. And if a male son is born, that
male son is to receive my inheritance so that it stays in my family.
Ruth needs a kinsman to redeem her Two different ways. First, Lemilek's property that
should now belong to Ruth belongs to someone else. The kinsman
must restore it. Second, she's a widow, childless. The kinsman must marry her. And
if the Lord blesses it with a male, he's to receive the inheritance
of a limeleck so that it stays in the family. Boaz knows that. He says, you wait here, I'll
take care of that. And he proved his fleetness and
going to do what he was called upon to do. This is the gospel,
my friends. Here in this story, we find Boaz
atop of Christ Ruth, a type of all gods elect. And I'd like to take this opportunity to give you an allegory about
how I found Jesus Christ to be my kinsman redeemer. I was raised by Godly, God-fearing
parents. My father was a faithful gospel
preacher. I was raised under the gospel,
did not pay much heed to it. Joined the military, proved my nature when I was away
from home and my parents would not know what I was doing. But
on the 2nd of February, 1972, 2 a.m., I had a very emotional
religious experience. I decided I would become a holy
and righteous Christian. So I did. Joined the Pentecostals,
spent some time with Jesus' people, became a preacher. On the 31st of January 1973, got baptized in the Holy Ghost,
spoke with tongues, participated in faith healing meetings. If it was religious, old Moose
Parks is going to be there. And then, On the 17th of June,
1975, very shortly after I was married
to Sandy, I had a most unusual experience. For the first time in my life,
I was under arrest. And the arresting officer was
none other than the Holy Spirit. And he arraigned me before the
court of God at a place called Sinai. And there I stood before
the judge of heaven and earth. What be the charge against this
man, said the judge. Holy Spirit said, he's a sinner
for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Well,
then take him to his doom because my verdict is the soul that sins
shall die. Your Honor, wait a minute. I
do not think you know who I am. I am a Calvinistic Baptist preacher. I preach the doctrines of grace.
Lord, Lord, have I not done many wonderful works in your name?
And he says, I never knew you. You're a sinner. Take him away. Your honor, I desire to approach
the bench. You approach this bench, you'll
be consumed. Know ye not that your God is
a consuming fire? Take him to his doom. There is no appeal in my court. The judge of heaven and earth
makes no mistake. My mouth was shut. I have no
recourse. The Holy Spirit takes me to a
prison called despair in a far off state called conviction. And there I am delivered into
the care of an austere jailer whose name is Justice, strict
and demanding. He puts me into my prison cell,
confines me with the chains, and I said to Justice, you know,
this dark and dismal place, I desire to be released. Yeah, I cannot
blame you for that. How may I be released? One way
and one way only. What is this one way that I may
be released? You'll have to satisfy me. You'll
have to satisfy justice. What will it take to satisfy
justice? Your death. When you die, justice
is satisfied. You mean I'm not coming out of
here alive? No, you're not. Justice must
be satisfied. All have sinned, the soul that
sins shall die, you shall die. I heard a noise above me. What
is that? Justice. Justice said, oh, that's
the wrath of God, it abides over you. What's the wrath of God
doing up there? Preparing for your execution,
preparing that you shall be executed to satisfy justice and be sent
to a place of God's wrath. What is this place of God's wrath? And justice said, listen, listen. And from the deepest and darkest
recess of that God-forsaken prison, I heard a voice said, Father
Abraham, have mercy upon me. And said, Lazarus said, he may
dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for
I am tormented in this flame. And justice said, that's gonna
be you, tormented in this flame. There is no hope for you. No hope in yourself. One day, the door to the prison opened.
A shaft of light pierced the darkness. Someone stepped in,
walked down the hallway, approaching Justice. Justice said, Who comes? I heard a voice that was sweet
and melodious, a voice that said, my name is Mercy. Well, Mercy,
what brings you to this dismal place? Mercy said, I've come
looking for the one by the name of Daniel Ernest Parks. Is he here? Oh, he's here. Yes,
I rattled my chain. Yes, I'm here, I'm here. What do you want with me? Well,
I have come to seek his release. His release, said Justice. Upon what ground do you think
he should be released? And mercy says, I have found
the ransom. I have found the ransom. or Daniel
Parks, a ransom, one who has paid for his sins, he must be
released. I rattled my chains and I said,
yes, I'm ready to go. But Justice said, no, not yet. What do you mean, not yet? And
Justice said, do you not remember that I told you that You do not
leave my prison until I am satisfied. Yes, but you just heard what
mercy said. No, even mercy must satisfy me. What does it take
to satisfy you? And justice said, I must know
this. I must know that this Jesus Christ is your kinsman. I mean,
after all, he is very God of very God. How can very God of
very God be the kinsman? of Daniel Parks. Hey, mercy tell
me, is Jesus Christ my kinsman? Mercy said he is. He was born
of a woman, just like I was. Born under the law, the law that
had condemned me. He made himself of no reputation,
took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness
of men. He became like me. Furthermore,
it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren. Mercy, what
are you saying? Ha, mercy says, it's simple. Very God of very God has become
your brother. There can be no closer relationship. He's your kinsman. Say, Justice,
are you satisfied? Jesus Christ is my kinsman. Are
you satisfied? And Justice said, I am. And I
raised my hands and I rattled my chains and I thought, now
I'm free. But Justice said, not yet. You
just said you're satisfied. Well, yeah, I'm satisfied on
that point, There's a second qualification. What would that
be? Well, Jesus Christ is your kinsman,
but is he a free man? I mean, he was born under the
law. If he ever violated that law, he is not a free man. I
must know that Jesus Christ is free from God's law. No condemnation,
mercy till me. Is he? Mercy said, he's free. Paul, the apostle, writing under
divine inspiration, said he had no sin. Peter spent three and
a half years with him in the intimate relationship of being
his disciple, observing everything that he did, and Peter said of
him, He did no sin. We watched him. There was never
any deceit or guile in his mouth. Jesus told his enemies, which
one of you convicts me of sin? None of them could. But they
arraigned him before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor. And
Jesus is on trial before the governor. The governor weighs all the evidence
and says, I find no fault in this man. Mercy, are you saying that Jesus
Christ never sinned? Oh, never even thought about
it. Are you satisfied, Justice? He's a free man. I'm satisfied. I raised my hands and I rattled
my chains and I said, I'm free, I'm free. But justice said, not
yet. What do you mean not? You just
said you're satisfied. Well, he's your kinsman and he's
a free man, but he must be able to redeem you. He must have the
power to do so. Tell me, mercy, is Jesus Christ
able to redeem me? And mercy said he is. Wherefore,
he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God
by him. He is able to do exceedingly,
abundantly, above all that we ask or even think. He's got more
than enough power. Yes, he's able. Justice, you
satisfied with the ability of Jesus Christ, my kin, to redeem
me? I am. I raised my hands and I
rattled my chains and I said, now I'm free! But Justice said,
not yet. What do you mean? You just heard
he's able to redeem. Oh, he's able, he's able, but
is he willing to redeem you? I mean, having the ability is
of no avail unless he's willing. Is he willing? Mercy, tell me,
is Jesus Christ willing to redeem me? He is, said mercy. He himself said, the life which
I now live, I freely give for the redemption of sinners. I
love him because he loved me and gave himself for me, Paul
says. Jesus says, I lay down my life,
no man takes it from me. And for the sake of Daniel Parks,
though wretched and undeserving he is, I'm willing to redeem
him. Are you satisfied, Justice? Justice
said, I am. And I rattled my chains, and
I said, I'm free, I'm free. But Justice said, not yet. What do you mean, not yet? He
said he had to be a kinsman. Okay, he's my brother. He had
to be a free man. Well, he's a free man. He has
to be able to redeem. Well, he's able. He has to be
willing. He's willing. Just as it appears
you got a whole bag of these qualifications and you're just
going to pulling them out until you can find something that disqualifies
Jesus. What else could you ask for?
Justice said, one more, only one more. If Jesus Christ can
satisfy this qualification, justice is satisfied, and you're free
to go. What is it? Well, he's able to
redeem. He's willing to redeem. But does
he have the price to redeem? Can he pay the cost? What does it cost to redeem me?
And Justice said, well, God's word says this. They that trust
in their wealth and boast themselves and the multitude of their riches,
none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give
to God a ransom to them for the redemption of their souls, precious.
What do you say? Justice said, I'm telling you
this. The price to redeem you is worth more than all the gold
and wealth, minerals in this whole universe. I have no idea of anyone who
could pay that, but this is the last qualification. Mercy tell
me. The price of my redemption is
beyond all worthy wealth. but it's the last qualification.
Can Jesus pay that price? Mercy said, he can. Yes, he can. How do you know?
And mercy said, because it is written, you were not redeemed
with corruptible things like silver and gold. but with the
precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot. I'm dashed. There's no hope. Justice demands that which is
more valuable than all the wealth of the world and all that mercy
can do is bring blood? How can blood redeem me when
silver and gold will not? And this time I raised my hands
in frustration. I'm doomed! I'm doomed! And then
I realized my chains are gone. The stocks have been removed. The door to my cell is opening.
Justice is stepping back and smiling and mercy beckons. Come, come. I understand it not. But I look back and there on
the wall is a placard that reads Daniel Ernest Parks, redeemed
by the blood of a kinsman. And I understand it not. How
can this be?" And justice said, I'll tell you how it is. He died as your substitute. When
he died, you died. When he shed his blood, the price
for your redemption was paid. You're free. Go with mercy. Mercy took me down that dark
hallway. Opened the door, I stepped out
into the glorious light of a new day. And there, over yonder,
I saw it. My kinsman, Jesus, hanging on
a tree. Mercy says, come. He takes me
to the foot of the cross and mercy says, Come ye sinner, poor
and wretched, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus ready stands
to save you, full of pity joined with power. For the first time in my life,
I was thirsting for a righteousness other than my own. I was thirsting
for this and mercy said, come ye thirsty, come and welcome. God's free bounty glorify. true
belief and true repentance, every grace that brings an eye. Oh,
but I was so weary. Sin had burdened me down. Can
I take even those last few steps? And should I not be doing something?
And mercy said, come you weary, heavy laden, lost and mangled
by the fall, for if you tarry till you're better, You will
never come at all. This is too good to be true.
My conscience says this cannot be true. And mercy said, let
not conscience make you linger, nor the fitness fondly dream. All the fitness Christ requireth
is to feel your need of him. And I felt it. And I said, I
will arise and go to Jesus. He will embrace me in his arms. And in the arms of my redeemer,
oh, there are 10,000 charms. And I did. I did, I went to his
cross. I laid my head at his feet. And
he said, who art thou? I am Daniel Parks, thy servant,
cover me. Thou art my near kinsman, and
cover me. He did his robe of righteousness,
his garments of salvation, and now he's mine. He who satisfied justice, he's
mine. He who fulfills all the promises
of mercy, he's mine. Is there a sinner here today? I mean, an unrepentant sinner,
an unbelieving sinner? If there is. I pray that the Holy Spirit comes
right now and arrests you. Brings you before God and shows
you what a sinner you are. The death you deserve. I pray that you be put into that
prison called despair, in that state of conviction. I pray you find justice whom
you cannot satisfy. And I pray mercy comes to your
benighted soul. I pray mercy shows you Jesus
Christ, your kinsman, who redeemed you. If he does, flee to Christ,
fall down at his feet, and say, cover me. Thou art my dear kinsman. And he will. Come to Jesus. Right now. Come to Jesus. Oh God, our Father, bless we
pray this word to your glory, to the honor of your son, to
the salvation of your people, to the edification of your Zion. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.