Let's stand together again. We'll
sing the hymn that's on the back of your bulletin. ? Remember, Lord, the blood and
sweat ? ? Of him who mourned and paid my debt ? ? Remember
Christ upon the tree ? ? And now be merciful to me ? Remember
how that Jesus bled in this poor guilty sinner's stead. He bore your wrath and curse
for me in his own body on the tree. A perfect righteousness He brought,
And by His blood my pardon bought, So that His righteousness might
be By grace imputed now to me. ? I plead the merits of the blood
? ? Of Jesus Christ, the Son of God ? ? The sinner's substitute
is he ? ? A mighty substitute for me ? Please be seated. That is such a great hymn. I
mean, it's so clear and Christ-honoring and simple and love the tune. I'm going to have to sing that more
often. Let's open our Bibles together
to Ruth chapter four. Ruth chapter four. I've titled this message Christ
and the Law. Those of you that have been with
us through the preaching of this wonderful book know that Boaz,
Our kinsman redeemer, Ruth's and Naomi's kinsman redeemer
is a picture of Christ. And that we are seen in this
Moabitist woman, whose name was Ruth, whose name translated means
friendship. And scripture speaks of Abraham
being a friend of God. And, What hope we have that the
Lord Jesus Christ as our kinsman redeemer would restore us who
are by nature at enmity with God and make us friends of God,
make us friends of God. In order for that to happen,
he had to satisfy the demands of the law. The law was a kinsman nearer
to us than Christ. That law stood in judgment against
us. And in order for the Lord Jesus
Christ to redeem us, he had to deal with the law. He had to
satisfy the demands of the law on our behalf. And that's what
our text this morning is about. I stand before you keenly aware
of the fact that there are but two kinds of people in the world.
There are but two kinds of people here this morning. Whether we are here this morning
as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, those who have been brought
by God's grace to the knowledge of Christ. Or whether we remain
lost and spiritually dead, separated from God by our sin, regardless
of which group we might fit in, there is a message that both
groups need to hear. There is one message that both
groups need to hear. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believe. If the Lord has already called
you out of darkness into his marvelous light and revealed
Christ in you, if by his free and sovereign grace, he has saved
you, there is an enemy to your soul that is always trying to
rob you of your hope and of your joy and always trying to put
you under the law. You have a self-righteous Pharisee
in you and your flesh, just like those
children of Israel who were in the wilderness who said, we want
to go back to Egypt. We want to go back to Egypt where
there was leeks and garlics and onions. We're tired of this light
bread. There's a part of you that would
go back to Egypt and would look for some comfort and for some
hope of your salvation in your law keeping. If you've never tasted of the
heavenly gift and you've never known freedom from the law. If
you are still looking for something that you have done or are doing
in order to win favor with God, in order to work your way to
heaven, I have good news for you. Christ is the end of the law. for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. He has delivered us from the
curse of the law. And so you see, believers and
unbelievers alike need to hear what Christ has done. Because
we all face the same problem. Ruth chapter four, and we'll
begin reading in verse six. Boaz has gathered at the city
gate 10 elders. He is conducting an open court. He is reckoning with this kinsman
who is nearer to Ruth than He is. And it's a picture, as we saw
last Sunday, of how the Lord Jesus Christ went to Calvary's
cross and in an open court before all men to see. No historical
event is more credible, as more testified to, as more witnesses
than the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, who
was himself reckoning with the law on behalf of his people.
And so that's what this is a picture of. And now the kinsman said,
Boaz has said to this kinsman, Naomi has returned, her husband
Elimelech, sold the family plot, and she has nothing. And according
to the law, it is the responsibility of the near kinsman to purchase
this land back so that the name of Elimelech and of his descendants
will not be gone out of the annals of Israel. And it says to this near kinsman,
redeem it. And oh, by the way, and the kinsman
said, I will redeem it. And Boaz says to him, by the
way, in the day in which you redeem Naomi's land, you also
have to redeem her daughter-in-law. For Naomi of Ruth, her daughter-in-law
was married to Naomi's son who is now dead. And so Ruth is part
of the family now. And by the way, she's a Moabite.
And here's the response of this near kinsman in verse 6. And
the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar my
own inheritance. Redeem thou my right thyself,
for I cannot Redeem, and notice the little word it is in italics. What God is saying to you and
me is that the law cannot redeem us. I cannot redeem. In order for
me to redeem you, I would have to lower the standard of God's
holy law to the level of your obedience. Otherwise, I would
sacrifice God's holiness and God's justice in order for me
to be able to redeem. The law is not saying I can't
redeem you. The law is saying I can't redeem.
It's not in my power to redeem. I cannot purchase back that which
has been lost. You lost your possession in the
fall of your father Adam. And believers and unbelievers
alike are tempted. Some are still completely under
the law, those who have not come to Christ, but the believer who
is not under the law has to be reminded. You're not under the
law, you're under grace. Why? Because there's a part of
us, there's a part of us that looks to our law keeping as the
means of our redemption. And the law is saying, it's not
in my power to redeem. It's impossible for me to redeem. I'll mar my inheritance. This
word mar means to destroy or to corrupt. So the holy standard
of God's law would have to be destroyed or corrupted in order
for the law to be able to redeem us. I can't redeem. I cannot lower the standard of
God's holiness to the level of your obedience. I can't do it. It would destroy the very nature
of God. There's nothing wrong with the
law. The law is holy. The law is just, and the law
is good. But here's what God's saying to me and you. The law
can't make you holy, and the law can't justify you, and the
law can't make you good. Turn with me to Romans chapter
8. Romans chapter 8. Brethren, and my friend, who may yet be a stranger to
God's grace. The law cannot redeem. Cannot redeem. Child of God,
all those voices and temptations of the accuser that wants you
to go back to the law. The law can't redeem. Paul concludes verse chapter
7 by saying, O wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from
the body of this death? When I would do good, evil is
ever present with me. I can't escape this body of death
that I'm carrying about. This sinful nature that I have
within me. This unbelief that would take
me back to the law. Thanks be to God through Christ
Jesus. I thank God through Christ Jesus.
Verse 25, so then with the mind, I serve the law of God, but with
the flesh, the law of sin, my flesh is sinful. Nothing right about it. Chapter eight, verse one, there
is now therefore. No condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit. What does that mean? Well, he goes on to tell us in
this same passage, they that are after the flesh do mind the
things of the flesh, and they that are after the Spirit do
mind the things of the Spirit. In other words, what are you
looking to, what are you minding, For the hope of your salvation,
are you looking to your law-keeping? Are you looking to fleshly means
and fleshly methods? Are you looking to a decision
you made, a work that you performed, a life that you're living, an
experience that you... Or are you minding the things
of the Spirit? And the Spirit of God is like
the wind, and He listeth with us whoever He wills. He told
Nicodemus, Nicodemus, you've got to be born of the Spirit
of God. That's what the Lord's saying here. He's not saying,
oh, you're walking this spiritual life so that your feet never
really touch the ground and you're living above sin and so therefore
there's now no condemnation for you because you're walking after
the Spirit. That's not what the Lord's saying. For the law of the spirit of
life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and
death. For what the law could not do
and that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in
the flesh. That the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. For they that are after the flesh,
they set their minds on the things of the flesh. They're looking
to fleshly means and methods for their salvation. They're
looking to the law. But they that are after the Spirit,
the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is
death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because
the carnal mind is at enmity against God, for it is not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So that they that are
in the flesh cannot please God. They that are looking to fleshly
things. Oh, just pray this prayer. Oh,
just live this life. Oh, just show this evidence. And you take comfort and hope
and peace in looking to those fleshly things. That's after
the flesh. Child of God, You have an enemy. He's called Satan. And he's identified
as the accuser of the brethren. Let me ask you a question, believer. What does the accuser do to accuse
you? Does he not point out your sin? and suggests that if you were
really a child of God, you wouldn't think that way, you wouldn't
act that way, you wouldn't talk that way, you wouldn't do those
things. Like Job's miserable comforters,
he points out your transgressions to the law. Now here's the problem with the
accuser of the brethren. He doesn't go far enough. He doesn't go far enough. Our
transgressions of the law are much worse than he leads us to
believe. The accuser of the brethren leaves
us thinking that we can satisfy the demands of the law if we
would just do better. The lie is not that we've transgressed
the law. The depth of our transgression
is much worse than he suggests. The lie is that you can fix it. That's the lie. You can fix it. You see, the
accuser of the brethren always takes us back to the law and
says, you know, if you'll just quit this and start that, you
can make this right with God. When the Holy Spirit convicts
of sin, It's not like that. He leads us to its cause. And he leaves us with no option
other than the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the accuser of the brethren
leaves you with the option of obedience for fixing the problem.
But when the Spirit of God convicts us of our sin, what does the
Lord say? When the comforter comes, he
will convict you of sin because of your unbelief. Now there's
the root cause. The law doesn't say that. The
law and the accuser of the brethren says, problem with your sin is
that you've just done this or that or failed to do the other.
And you can change that. You can clean up the outside
of the cup and the inside will still be full of corruption.
You can whitewash the tomb and the inside is still full of dead
man's bones. But when the Holy Spirit convicts
us of our sin, He takes us to the heart of the problem. He
says the reason for your sin is your unbelief. And He leaves
you with no place to go other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Where
are you going to go for faith other than Him? What are you
going to say? Lord, increase our faith. Where are you going
to find faithfulness before God other than His law keeping and
His obedience? There's the difference between
the accuser of the brethren taking you back to the law and the Spirit
of God who takes you to Christ. Are we suggesting that Transgressing
the law is okay, but you know that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that when the spirit
of God convicts us of our sin, he leads us to Christ. And Christ
leads to grace. The law is saying to you and
me, I cannot redeem. Satan is also called the father
of lies. And when he takes you back to
the law to try to fix the problem, he's lying to you. He's lying
to you. The Spirit of God takes you to
Christ. And where the Spirit of God is,
there's liberty. You see, you go back to the law,
you just, you work harder, you try harder, you do more, you
think, well, you know, if I can just, if I can just do the, and
you, and the, oh, oh, you get labor and a heavy burden coming
to me, I will give you rest. My yoke is easy, my burden is
light. Learn of me, learn of me. Why is his burden easy? Because
he has bore the full weight of the law. He's born it, the full weight
of God's law. He carried it when he bore our
sins and suffered the full wrath of God's justice, which was what
the law demanded and what the law requires. Turn to me to Titus
chapter three, Titus chapter three, first and second Timothy,
Titus. Verse five, not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which
he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, that
being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life. And this is a faith. You say,
well, what about good works, preacher? Where do they fit in? Well, look at verse eight. This
is a faithful saying. These things I will that thou
affirm constantly. that they which have believed
in God might be careful to maintain good works. Don't miss the last
phrase. These things are good and they
are profitable to men. It will be good and profitable
to you and to those around you for you to do right. And there
will be consequences to you and to those around you for you to
do wrong. But doing right or doing wrong
has no effect on your salvation. You can't do anything to earn
it and you can't do anything to lose it. Now, I know there's some thinking,
you know, preacher, you can't say that, it'll lead men to licentious
living. It'll result in all sorts of
sinful behavior. Let me tell you what the greatest
offense to God is, self-righteousness. That is the greatest offense
to God, robbing Christ of His glory in salvation and taking
it to yourself by promoting your righteousness before men, before
God. Oh, it's more evil than all the
shameful things that men do. No, grace doesn't lead. The shameful
living grace leads to Christ. Leads to Christ. But here's the
point. The law, that kinsman that's
nearer to you and to me than Christ, says, I can't redeem. Don't look to me to redeem you.
It's not in my power to do it. You can't satisfy my demands.
You can't measure up in any way to the requirements of God. My second point, my first point
is the law can't redeem. The second point is the law has
yielded its claim to Christ. The law has yielded its claim
to Christ. Now, in order for us to have
some understanding of this next verse, we need to do two things. We need to consider for a moment
the importance of genealogy and legacy in the Old Testament. The Old Testament is a physical
picture. Old Testament Israel is a physical
picture of the spiritual realities completed in Christ. And so we know that there's a
lot of emphasis in the Old Testament on genealogy and legacy and carrying
on the family name. What is the significance of this?
Well, It's comparable to our understanding of the Lamb's book
of life. Your ancestry and your continuation
of your name in the registry of the children of Israel is
paramount to salvation. Outside of Israel, there's no
salvation. People, We're talking about legacy. Men worry about their legacy
in this world, don't they? You know, what kind of, what
kind of name am I going to leave behind? And so they write books
and put their name on them and they build buildings and roads
and cities and they put their name on them and they, uh, build
buildings and you know, all these things, they're worried about
their legacy. Child of God. I promise you, when you open your eyes in glory,
you're not going to have a single thought for the rest of eternity
of what anybody here on the face of this earth thinks or says
about you. You won't care. If your name
gets never breathed among men again, It won't matter, will it? What
do you care? You're with the Lord. You have
no thought of this life. You have no thought of this corrupt
world. You're experiencing the fullness
of your salvation. Oh, the vanity and the foolishness
of men and their thoughts of worldly legacies. The Old Testament point of this
is that only those who are found in the lineage and genealogy,
spiritually speaking, of the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved.
So all these Old Testament pictures point to that. They point to
that. Now, with that being said, turn
with me to Deuteronomy chapter 25. Deuteronomy chapter 25. God gave in His law a means by which a woman whose
husband died A childless widow might continue the legacy, the
genealogy of her husband's name, lest it be erased from the history
of Israel. It's a picture of salvation. And so that's what's happening
in Ruth chapter 4. But here's the law. Here's the
law in Deuteronomy chapter 25. We'll begin reading in verse
5. If brethren dwell together and
one of them die and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not
marry without unto a stranger. Her husband's brother shall go
in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the
duty of a husband's brother unto her, that it shall be that the
firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother
which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel." You
see that? What's happening? This is the,
this is the The Lamb's Book of Life. This is where we want our
name to be. We have to have our name there. And if the man, verse 7, like
not to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go
to the gate unto the elders and say, my husband's brother refuses
to raise up unto my brother a name in Israel. He will not perform
the duty of my husband's brother. Then the elders of the city shall
call him and speak unto him. And if he stand to it and say,
I like not to take her, then shall his brother's wife come
unto him in the presence of the elders and loose his shoe from
off his foot and spit in his face and shall answer and say,
so shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his
brother's house. and his name shall be called
in Israel, the house of him that hath his shoe loosed." Now go
back with me to our text. By the time that the book of
Ruth is happening, this law had become a custom. not just relating
to what we just read, but relating to all transactions of business.
One man would take off his shoe and give it to the other as a
sign of his submission to that man. Verse seven, now this was the
manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning
exchanging. All business transactions were
done publicly at the city gate and this tradition was followed
as a sign of what was happening. A man plucked off his shoe and
gave it to his neighbor And this was a testimony in Israel. Therefore,
the kinsman said unto Boaz, buy it for thee. And he, the kinsman,
drew off his shoe and gave it to Boaz. Now, exposing one's feet in the
Bible is to show submission to another It's a 40. So here this
near kinsman is saying to Boaz, I submit to you and I relinquish
my right as a near kinsman to you. You see that? Where do we see this in the Bible?
Well, what about when Moses was at the burning bush in the wilderness?
And the Lord speaks to Moses and says to him, take off thy
shoes from off thy feet, for the ground on which you stand
is holy ground. So Moses was now exposing his
feet of clay, his creatureness to God. And God was requiring
it. Moses, you. And the same thing
happened to Joshua after Moses died and Joshua was in the promised
land and the Lord appears to Joshua, the Lord says to Joshua,
Joshua, remember he saw the, the, the, the angel with a flaming
sword, Joshua, take off thy shoes from off thy feet for the ground
in which you stand is holy ground. What about when John the Baptist
saw the Lord Jesus Christ coming? And he said, I baptize you with
water. But there is one who cometh after me, whose sandals I am
not worthy to unlatch. I could never expose his feet. He's gonna baptize you with the
Holy Ghost and with fire. You see the type here. The feet
of the Lord Jesus Christ are not, our feet are being exposed. The law's inability to redeem
is being exposed. And the law is yielding its claim
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, for those of us who have
feet of clay, brethren, here's the good news. The Bible speaks
of our feet being shod with the preparation of the gospel. We
have our creatureness, our sinfulness. You remember the seraphim that
hovered over the throne of God in Isaiah chapter six, and they
had six wings? And with two, they covered their
eyes. They could not look upon the Lord Jesus. And with two,
they covered their feet. They were covering their nakedness. And with two, they did fly. And
they cried, holy, holy, holy. So you see the covering of the
feet. is the result of the gospel when
the law takes off its shoe and gives it to Christ. It's yielding
its claim to the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember when the prodigal
came home and the father lavishes him with
kisses and he says, kill the fatted calf, my son which was
lost is now found. And bring the robe. the robe
of righteousness and put a ring upon his finger and put shoes
upon his feet, put shoes upon his feet. The Lord said through Joshua,
reminding them of what God had done for them. when he spoke
to the children of Israel right after Moses died and right after
they're back in the, they're entering into the promised land.
Here's what Joshua said. For 40 years, thy shoes have
not waxen old. The Israelites that entered into
the promised land wore the same pair of shoes that they left
Egypt with. Their shoes did not waxen old. God preserved them through all
that time in the wilderness. I mean, how long did a pair of
shoes last? They were on their feet all day
long. Oh, it was a miracle. That's the miracle of grace,
that God has covered our feet. Listen to this, Song of Solomon,
chapter 7, verse 1. Here's the Lord Jesus Christ
speaking to His church. And he says, how beautiful are
thy feet with shoes. Oh, Prince's daughter. He's speaking
to his bride. He says, how beautiful are thy
feet when they have shoes on them. So there's the picture. There's
the picture. Exposing one's feet was showing
submission to another. And in doing this transaction,
it was the law yielding its claim to the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that brings us to the next question. What is the claim of the law?
What is the claim of the law? The wages of sin is death. The claim of the law is death. And what the scripture is telling
us is that the law's claim on the grave and on death and on
hell has been yielded to the Lord Jesus Christ who conquered
death, grave, and hell. You see, here's the extreme example of
how of how no amount of law keeping will satisfy the demands of the
law. Hell is eternal because it can
never satisfy God's holy justice. That's why it's eternal. No end
to it, ever, because God's never satisfied. The plucking off of the shoe
on this near kinsman and giving it to Boaz is God saying to me
and you, the feet of the law have been exposed. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. He has satisfied all its demands. And in his death, in his death,
He has conquered its claim on you. The death of the Lord Jesus
Christ was the only death. Hell will not satisfy the law,
and the death of no man, and no man suffer." You know, sometimes
people get this idea that, well, salvation's by suffering. You
hear people say that. You know, people suffer for long
periods of time, and our hearts go out to them. And they say,
you know, he's in a better place now and he suffered so much that
surely now the Lord's rewarded him for his suffering. No, no. The suffering of hell for eternity
will not be rewarded with salvation. Only the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ can satisfy the claims of the grave. He's the only one
that can open the grave. He's the only one that has the
power to say, Lazarus, come forth. He's the firstborn among many
brethren. Oh, grave, where is thy victory? Turn with me to
1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Here's
what the Lord's saying. I yield my claim. I submit my
authority. to the only one who was able
to conquer the grave. I take off my shoe and I submit to Christ. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Look with me at verse
55. Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, and that word grave
is the word hell. Where is thy victory? The sting
of death is sin. You see, the wages of sin is
death. And the strength of sin is the law. You see, the law only makes us
We try to earn favor with God by our law keeping and all that
law is going to do is make us more guilty before God. That's
all it's going to do. It's going to make us more guilty. The strength of sin is the law. You want to raise a rebellious child,
just put them under the law. They'll either grow up to be
a Pharisee just like you, or they'll grow up to be the biggest
lawbreaker you've ever seen. No. The strength of sin is the
law. Either way, they're going to
be lawbreakers. But, verse 57, Thanks be to God,
which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what's being pictured here in our story. The law has plucked
off its shoe in light of what God had given in the law in Deuteronomy
25. And he's saying to Boaz, I can't
redeem. And I submit to your authority
and you redeem it. What is the witness to this testimony? It is the resurrection. The Lord
Jesus said a wicked and perverse generation is always looking
for a sign, always looking for something. They that are after
the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. They're always
looking for some evidence. But the only sign that will be
given unto it is the sign of Jonah, who spent three days and
three nights in the belly of the whale. Now we know what that's
a picture of. The only sign that God has given
us that the law has yielded its authority over you, and over
death, and over hell, and over the grave, is the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. God raised Him from the dead
in order to say, the law's been satisfied. The law has been satisfied. It holds no claim. There is now
therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
That's the picture. I give up my claim on death.
I yield my power over the grave. And my final question, very quickly,
we're going to read a passage of scripture to support this
point. What exactly did Christ redeem?
What exactly did He redeem? You back with me to our text
in Ruth chapter 4? And Boaz, verse 9, said unto
the elders and to all the people, you are witnesses this day. I
have bought all that was limilex and all that was chileans and
melons of the hand of Naomi, more of Ruth the Moabitess, the
wife of Malon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the
name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be
not cut off from among his brethren and from the gate of his place.
And you are witnesses this day." And all the people that were
in the gate and the elders said, we are witnesses. And the Lord
make the woman to prosper. And she did. And Ruth, Naomi,
have a child. I meant Ruth and Boaz have a
child. And his name is Obed. And Obed
has a child. And his name is Jesse. And Jesse
has a son. And his name is David. And Ruth,
this Moabitess, And Malon, her husband, who the child was raised
in the name of, in order to show the security and the surety of
our salvation, are found in the very lineage
and genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is exactly where
we need to be found. I said I wanted to read a passage
in closing. Would you turn with me to Hebrews
chapter 10, Hebrews chapter 10. And we will let, I let, we will
trust the Spirit of God to speak these verses to our hearts. I
purpose to make no comments on them. What did Boaz redeem exactly. He said, I've redeemed it all,
all. Nothing left to be redeemed. It's all been redeemed. All God's
elect and all there needs to be redeemed has been bought by
our kinsman redeemer. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 1, For
the law, having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very
image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they
offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
For then would they have not ceased to be offered, because
that the worshiper once purged should have no more conscience
of sins? But in those sacrifices there
is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not
possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.
Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice
and offerings thou wouldest not, but a body thou hast prepared
me. In burnt offerings and sacrifice for sin thou hast no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come, in the
volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God.
Above, when he said, Sacrifice and offerings, and burn offerings,
and offerings for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein,
which are offered by the law. Then said he, Lo, I come to do
thy will, O God, I come to do thy will. He taketh away the
first, that he may establish the second. By the witch will,
we are sanctified through the body, through the offering of
the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Once for all. The law said I cannot redeem. The law yields. It's right. It's claim to Christ. The evidence of that is the resurrection. And what was redeemed? All. Everything. Nothing left to be
redeemed. He did it all. He did it all
by himself. He finished the work. Our Heavenly Father, thank you
for your gospel. Thank you for Christ. Thank you
that you did not compromise your holy law. You maintained your
justice and your righteousness and your holiness by providing
a perfect sacrifice, one who came in the volume of the book
to do thy will. Lord, we've never been able to
perform your will once. We thank you that we have an
advocate, Jesus Christ, the righteous one. We thank you for this table
and the simplicity of it, of his body and of his blood. Lord, we ask that your Holy Spirit
would increase our faith as we receive these common elements,
Lord, give us the spiritual light and truth to our hearts that
we need. For we ask it in Christ's name,
amen. Number three in the spiral hymnal.
Let's stand together, number three. A debtor to mercy alone, of covenant
mercy I sing, nor fear with thy righteousness on my person and
offering to bring. The terrors of law and of God
with me can have nothing to do, ? My Savior's obedience and blood
? ? Hide all my transgressions from view ? ? The work which
His goodness began ? ? The arm of His strength will complete
? ? His promise is yea and amen ? ? And never was forfeited yet
? Things future nor things that are now, Not all things below
nor above, Can make him his purpose forego, Or sever my soul from
his love. My name from the palm of his
hands Eternity will not erase Impressed on his heart it remains
In marks of indelible grace Yes, I to the end shall endure As
sure as the earnest is given More happy, but not more secure,
the glorified Spirit's in heaven. Please be seated.