while a mighty fortress is our
God. Let's all stand together, number
36. A mighty fortress is our God,
a bold work never failing. Our helper he amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing For still our ancient foe Doth seek
to work us woe His craft and power are great, And armed with
cruel hate, On earth is not his equal. ? Did we in our own strength
confide ? Our striving would be losing ? Were not the right
man on our side ? The man of God's own choosing ? Dost ask
who that may be ? ? Christ Jesus, it is he ? ? Lord sabbeoth his
name ? ? From age to age the same ? ? And he must win the
battle ? And though this world with devils
filled Should threaten to undo us We will not fear, for God
hath willed His truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim,
we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure, for lo,
his doom is sure. one little word shall fell him. That word above all earthly powers,
no thanks to them abideth. the spirit and the gifts are
ours through him who with us sigh death let hoods and kindred
go this mortal life also The body they may kill, God's truth
abideth still. His kingdom is forever. Please be seated. This morning, I woke up with
a sore throat. So please excuse my voice. This morning for the call to
worship, we're gonna turn to John chapter 10. John chapter 10. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
but climbeth up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber. But he that entered by the door
is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name,
and leadeth them out. And when he puteth forth his
own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. And a stranger will they not
follow but will flee from him for they know not the voice of
strangers This parable spake jesus unto them But they understood
not what things They were Which he speak unto them then said
jesus unto them verily verily I say unto you I am the doer
of the sheep All that came before me Are thieves and robbers but
the cheap did not hear them I am the door by me if any man enter
in He shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture
The teeth cometh not but to steal and to kill and to destroy I
I am come that they might have life and that they might have
it more abundantly I'm the good shepherd The good shepherd giveth
his life for the sheep. Let us pray. Father, we thank
you for this first day of the new year. We thank you that we
can come together to worship you. And we pray that you might
help us to worship you in truth. We thank you that you saw fit
to send your son to die on the cross. For the for our sins And
we pray that you would make us worthy and make us acceptable
We ask you to be with greg as he delivers your word today help
us to be attentive And to worship you we pray in jesus name Let's stand together once again.
We'll sing the hymn that's on the back of your bulletin. For his bride is why Christ came,
so his people he could claim. For God's justice to fulfill,
so Christ died upon that hill. For his bride to me made pure,
So her payment Christ endured. To fulfill thy law that reigns,
That is why my Savior came. For his bride defied thy law,
so her payment Christ endured, to save his bride from her sins,
so that she could be with him. For his bride is justified by
the Christ who came to die. Sacrificial lamb was he, so my
Savior died for me. Though his bride a harlot be,
while so blind she could not see, ? Yet the Savior calls her
home ? ? For her sins he did atone ? ? Nevermore to be condemned
? ? Evermore to be with him ? ? For his bride Christ died for sin
? ? So she'll ever be with him ? Please be seated. Good morning. Happy New Year. We're going to be looking at
a passage of scripture in Ruth chapter 2. Ruth chapter 2. In the Lord's good providence,
he has brought us this morning to this particular passage, and
I thought as we stand literally at the dawn of a new year that
it's appropriate and I hope profitable for each of us to consider the
subject of purpose. Purpose. God's purpose. My purpose. What is it? According to the
scriptures. Now, men who don't know God's
word or always trying to discover some purpose for their life and
always misunderstanding what God's purpose is, but we'll let
those who walk after the flesh mind the things of the flesh.
Scripture says those that are walking after the Spirit, they
do mind the things of the Spirit. We're interested in what God
says about purpose. I'm sure a lot of folks make
commitments and resolutions. The older you get, the less confidence
you have in those sort of things. But you want to set goals, that's
fine. That's fine. This is the beginning
of a new year. Just remember that man deviseth
his ways in his heart. In other words, he thinks about
what he wants to do. But God directs his steps. God
directs his steps. James tells us, do not say that
I'm going to do this or that tomorrow, but say rather, if
the Lord wills, we'll do this or that. So anytime we make our
plans, we always make them understanding that our God is absolutely sovereign
over all the events of our lives. And we walk by faith, not by
sight. What a beautiful picture Ruth
is of the believer walking by faith. She has already confessed
to Naomi in chapter one that she believed in Naomi's God. Naomi obviously had been witnessing
to Ruth about the God of Israel. And you remember what Naomi said?
She said, where you go, I will go. Where you reside, I will
reside. Your God will be my God. Your
people, my people. Where you die, I'll die. So Ruth
has embraced, by God's grace, she has embraced the testimony
that Naomi had given her and she's now walking by faith. And in chapter 2 at verse 2 she
asked Naomi if she can go glean in the field and she said in
verse 2 of chapter 2 she said that I might find grace in his
eyes. And so she's she goes she goes
gleaning in a field not looking for Boaz's grace but looking
for God's grace. And then when Boaz meets her,
what a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ Boaz is as
our kinsman redeemer. When Boaz meets her, he speaks
kindly to her, and she's amazed. As we saw last Sunday, she said,
why have I found grace in my sight seeing that I am a stranger?
I'm a foreigner. I'm not an Israelite, I'm a Moabitess,
why would you show any interest at all toward me?" And that's
always the appropriate response to grace, isn't it? We find what we're looking for. If we're looking for justice
and we come to God based on the law, then the law is what we'll
experience. When the rich young ruler came
to the Lord, what must I do, good master, to enter into the
kingdom of heaven? The Lord said, you know the law.
You're looking for something to do. Keep the law. Keep it
perfectly. Keep it in heart, in mind, in
soul, in behavior. That's what God requires. Of
course, truth is that you and I have never kept any part of
God's law at any time. Not to the standard that he requires. Only the Lord Jesus Christ did
that. He is the end of the law for righteousness. And so if
you come looking for grace, looking for Christ who kept the law for
you, then grace is what you will find. And when you find grace,
you'll be amazed as Ruth was. You'll be amazed that God, even
though you were seeking grace by his grace, was pleased to
show you grace. And so that's where we are in
the story of Ruth. And in chapter two, beginning
at verse 13, She said, let me find favor in
thy sight, my Lord, for thou hast comforted me. For thou has
spoken friendly. You've spoken to my heart. That's what we hope. We're not interested in God just
speaking to our intellect, giving us some knowledge and information. We need the Spirit of God to
speak friendly to us, to speak kindly to us, to speak to our
hearts. That's what the Lord told the
prophet Isaiah. You remember in Isaiah chapter
6 when the Lord called Isaiah to preach the gospel, he said
to preach to Jerusalem and preach from your heart to their heart. That's what preaching is. And here's a picture of what
we're doing right now. This is a picture of what we're
about right now, where Ruth is amazed that Boaz would speak
so kindly and so friendly unto her. And look at the last phrase
in verse 13. Though I be not like one of thy
handmaids, Why are we so amazed that God
would take notice of us, that he would speak to us? Well, because we're sinners. Paul called himself the chief
of sinners. And as we grow in grace and in
the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, we see more and more
of our need for grace. And we see more and more of our
sinful nature and our need for a Savior. And we're more and
more amazed. that God would show mercy toward
us. So here's Ruth. She's saying,
I'm not like any of your handmaids. You should show kindness toward
anyone other than me. I'm the chief of sinners. I'm
the bottom of the barrel. I'm the lowest of low. And that's
who God speaks to. He makes us that way, and then
he lifts us up. He kills us, and then he makes
us alive. That's the double-edged sword
of the gospel. The gospel slays and the gospel makes alive. We
have to be put to death, dead to ourselves, dead to our righteousness,
dead to any hope of salvation outside of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then, as we're brought by the Spirit of God to say, Lord,
why me? I'm the least of all your maidens.
Why would you show mercy upon a dead dog sinner like me?" Then he lifts us up. Look at
verse 14. And Boaz said unto her, at mealtime,
come thou hither to eat the bread. Here's where we are. We've come
here to eat. We come here to hear. One beggar, tell another
beggar where to find bread. I stand before you as one who
needs to feed on the body of Christ, who needs to drink of
the blood of Christ. And I pray that the spirit of
God will enable us to see him and to feed on him. You remember when those disciples
were met with the Lord on the road to Emmaus in Luke chapter
24 and the scripture says when they got to the house they they
pleaded with him to stay and in the breaking of bread their
eyes were opened and they beheld him. And that's our hope when
we come here. Boaz is saying sit down, eat,
eat. The bread of God's life is being
broken open. My God give us the grace to feast
on the Lord Jesus Christ. And dip thy morsel in the vinegar.
Now it was vinegar, this word's not being used very often in
the scripture, but one time that it's very prominent is in the
Psalms in prophecy. David speaks of drinking the
bitterness of vinegar and then what they did for the Lord Jesus
when they put vinegar on a sponge and gave it to him to assuage
his thirst. And it is a picture of the bitterness
of the sin that the Lord Jesus Christ bore in his body on Calvary's
tree. And so he says, eat of the bread
and dip it in the vinegar. There's a sorrowing that goes
with comfort. There's a breaking that takes
place in the heart with the hope of salvation. And so these two
things come together. They're two sides of the same
coin, drinking of the vinegar and eating of the bread. And she sat down beside the reapers
and she reached her parts corn and she did eat and was sufficed
and left. We will be leaving here in just
a little bit. And I hope by God's grace that
would be sufficed. David said, when I awaken my
likeness, then I shall be satisfied. Then I shall be satisfied. Oh
Lord, just to see you, a glimpse of your glory, will satisfy my
soul. And when she was risen up to
glean, Boaz commanded the young men saying, let her glean even
among the sheaves and reproach, or the word there is shame, shame
her not. You know, We're not interested
in browbeating sheep and trying to shame them into the gospel. The work of the Spirit is to
convict us of our sin and show us that we have no righteousness
outside of Christ and everything about us is sinful. I trust the
Spirit of God to do that for each of us. We don't have to
bloody the sheep. You know, I've heard in the past,
I've heard people say, well, preacher, you stepped on my toes.
You know, I'm, I'm, I, that's not my intention. Uh, the Lord
said, speak, he told the reapers, speak kindly to her and don't
shame her and don't reproach her. And don't, you know, God
will do that. God will do that. Leave that
up, leave that part up to the Lord. Just tell him about Christ.
Tell him what God has done and what he has said. And, um, and,
and he'll, yet she'll leave here sufficed. Verse 16, and here's where the
title of my message comes from. And let fall also some of the
handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them that she may glean
them, and rebuke her not. So she gleaned in the field,
until even, and beat out that which she had gleaned, and it
was about an ephah of barley." Now an ephah, from what I understand,
is about 50 pounds. So she would have needed some
help to get that back to wherever Naomi was. This was not the take
of a normal gleaner picking up one grain at a time. Boaz said
to her, he said to his reapers, he said, when you're making the
sheaves, you know how they do, they gather up the wheat or the
barley and they make sheaves out in the field, the stalks
bound together. He said, leave some, purposefully
leave them behind so she can pick them up. Handfuls of purpose. Handfuls of purpose. We're here
this morning to consider this handful of purpose. And before we look at God's word
concerning our purpose, we need to be reminded that our God is
a God of purpose. Our God is a God of purpose. He is not the God that you hear
about who is waiting for men to let him have his way and dependent
upon circumstances in order to be able to accomplish his will. Our God is a God of purpose.
Everything that happens has happened according to the purpose of our
God. And that relates to creation,
it relates to providence, and it relates most especially to
salvation. He is the first cause of all
things. The scripture says, he hath done
whatsoever he wills with the armies of heaven and all the
inhabitants of the earth. And no man can stay his hand
or say unto him, what doest thou? Our God is absolutely sovereign
and everything is right on schedule according to His divine, sovereign
purpose. Purpose. In creation, He has a purpose. And he tells us in Revelation
chapter 4 verse 11, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory
and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things and for
Thy good pleasure and purpose they are and were created. The earth doesn't have a mother.
It has a creator. And he has purposed everything
in creation to his glory. The scripture says that he holds
all things together by the word of his power. Let so-called scientists
try to figure out dark matter. No, it's not dark matter, it's
light matter. It's God Almighty that holds
all things together. Scripture says that he rides
on the wings of the wind. Don't you love it when in Job
chapter 38, after Job had been complaining and justifying himself
before God for the circumstances that he found himself in, and
we know that God was the first cause of those circumstances,
wasn't he? Satan had to go to God to get permission to do what
he did. And so in that regard, these
were the afflictions of Satan, but they would not have been
able to come on Job except God had approved of them. They went
according to his purpose. And so Elihu comes, and Elihu's
angry at Job. Elihu's a picture of a gospel
preacher, and he says, you've justified yourself before God.
And when Elihu finishes preaching in chapter 38, 39, 40, and 41,
God Almighty interrogates Job. And the bulk of that interrogation
is, who is this that darkens my counsel without knowledge?
Job? gird yourself like a man i'm
going to ask you a few questions where were you when i laid the
foundations of the earth where were you when i said to the sea
here and no farther where were you when i cast the stars into
the sky throw your hook into it into the ocean and see if
you can hold on to a leviathan you know what what is god doing
he's using creation He's using creation to communicate to Job
that God alone is sovereign over all things and that he created
all things for his glory and that he controls all things.
He's the creator and sustainer of all of life. God says to Job, he says, declare
an answer unto me if you think you understand. Oh, men trying
to understand creation by the theory of evolution. That's just
a denial of the power and the existence of God. That's all
that is. God says to man, think you can explain these things?
You think you have understanding? Express them to me. Oh, I love
what David said in Psalm 139, when David was thinking on these
things, he says, these things are too great for me. I can't,
I can't behold them. I can't even begin to comprehend
how glorious they are. If creation could be understood,
not much of a God that made it. No, in creation, we are brought
through faith to bow to the creator. and to confess that he is the
creator and sustainer of all of life and that he had a purpose
in everything that he made. The heavens declare the glory
of God. And I love it in Isaiah chapter
one, you know, man is in rebellion against God, but creation's not.
Because in Isaiah chapter 1, God says, hear ye, O heavens,
and listen, O earth. He calls the heavens and the
earth to come into his counsel and to agree with him in judgment
against man. And they are willing participants
in that judgment. So all of creation, brethren,
It serves the purpose of our God. The same God, the same God
who said, let there be light, and there was, also darkened
the light of that sun. when the Lord Jesus Christ suspended
between heaven and earth, hung on Calvary's cross, bearing the
sins of God's people and suffering the full wrath of God's justice.
And having been forsaken of his father, it had to be black. It
had to be darkness, a darkness that could be felt. The very earth from which Adam
was created quaked. when the Lord Jesus Christ bowed
his head on Calvary's cross and said, it is finished, Father,
into thy hands, I commend my spirit. The one who created the laws
of physics as we know them has the power to suspend them at
his will anytime, anytime. Only God can be conceived of
a virgin Only God can make water come out of a rock. Only God
can make water into wine. Only God can suspend the laws
of gravity by causing the axe head to float and causing the
Son of God bodily to ascend back up into glory. You see, this
is His purpose. Creation exists for the purpose
of God. Our God is a God of purpose.
How glorious it is to bow to him in faith. He's a God of purpose
in Providence. In Providence. You know, we look
at this often, we won't turn to it, but you remember Jacob's
response. when his sons came back from
Egypt and wanted to send Benjamin back and Jacob said, Jacob said,
oh, he said, all these things are against me. All these things. He was looking at his circumstances
and thinking that everything was against him. To the contrary,
the best years of Jacob's life were ahead of him as he would
live in Egypt in the lap of luxury as the father, the patriarch
of the of the prime minister of the greatest nation in the
world. But he thought all these things are against me. No, we
know that all things work together for good for them that love God
and those that are the called according to his purpose. Oh, brethren, in creation, God
has a purpose. It is to glorify himself, In
providence, he has a purpose, that is the salvation of his
people and the glorification of himself. Rulers are enthroned
and dethroned by our God. Nothing's happening on the grand
scale of politics that God's not controlling. Everything is
happening according to his divine purpose. We grieve over some
of the stuff that takes place, and we wish it could be different,
but at the same time, we know that it's exactly as God designed
it to be. It's exactly how he purposed
it to be. We bow to him, and we know that
everything's right on God's schedule. And that not only applies to
the providence of God in the grand scheme of things, but it
applies to the providence of God in your life and in my life.
Every minute detail, a butterfly doesn't flap its wings without
God purposing it. Sickness and sorrow, trials and
tribulation. When the providence of God is
easy and when the providence of God is hard, and I want you
to take notice how I said that. I didn't say when the providence
of God is good or when the providence of God is bad, because for the
child of God, there is no bad. Sometimes it's easy, and we're
glad for those times. Sometimes it's very hard, but
it's always good. Always good. We know that all
things work together for good. for them that love God and those
that are called according to his purpose. Not for everybody,
but for God's people. We're the only ones that can
say with truth, it's all good. You know, the world loves to
say that. It's like whistling through the
graveyard, you know, they're wishing and hoping, you know,
that somehow, you know, it's gonna be okay. But the child
of God can say it in truth and in confidence and in faith, knowing. Our God is a God of purpose and
everything he does is according to his divine purpose. Now this
glorious truth about our God is most especially true in salvation. Here's where the false gospel
denies the God of purpose. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
one. Ephesians chapter one. You listen to the false gospel
and you'll hear men speak of God loving everybody and Christ
dying for everybody and God wanting everybody to be saved. And that's
his purpose. That's his purpose. But, you
know, bless his heart. He just can't get it done because
men won't cooperate with him. That's a lie. That is an absolute
lie. That's from Satan himself. Look what God's Word says about
this thing. You have your Bibles open to
Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. My word will not return
unto me void. When the Lord Jesus Christ ascended
into glory, he accomplished the purpose for which God sent him.
What was that purpose? The salvation of his people.
He actually saved his people. He didn't make an offer to us
to save us. He was offering himself as a
sacrifice acceptable to his father. And he actually accomplished
the salvation of his people and all the blessings of God for
God's people are in heavenly places right now in Christ. Who
accomplished the purpose for which he was sent. What was that purpose? To save
his people from their sins. Look at the next verse. according
as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. And
that's what we stand. Unblameable, unreprovable, holy,
without sin. If we're in Christ, we stand
perfect before God almighty. Perfect. having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will." Man said, well, that's not fair.
There it is. There's our God of purpose. He not only has a
purpose in creation, he has a purpose in providence, he has a purpose
in salvation. And here it is, verse six, to
the praise of the glory of his grace. To the praise of the glory
of his grace, wherein he has made us accepted in the beloved.
Look at verse 11, in whom also we have obtained, have obtained
an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
that we should be to the praise of his glory. We first trust
it in Christ. Our God's a God of purpose. Somebody
tells you he's trying to do something or wants to do something or would
like to do something that he can't get done without the cooperation
of man, that's not the God who is. That is a figment of some
man's imagination. That's an idol. It's a false
god. It's man putting himself on the throne of God. That's
what it is, isn't it? Oh, what did Boaz say to the
reapers? Leave a handful of purpose. Give
her something to pick up. Oh, I pray that in our hearts
right now, we're picking this up. And we're feasting on the
fact that our God is a God of purpose, and He's not dependent
upon us for anything that He's doing. You say, well, what does
that say about the reprobate? Well, turn with me quickly to
Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9. The reprobate, and we don't know
who the elect are and we don't know who the reprobate are. We
preach to all men everywhere and command all men to repent
and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. God the Holy Spirit will
make it, will make it effectual to the hearts of God's elect.
The reprobate won't hear. They'll just go about their ways
and and never know God and end up separated from Him for all
eternity. And here's what the Lord says
about about those. Romans chapter 9 verse 21, hath
not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to make
one vessel of honor and another of dishonor? Now God's likening
himself to a potter, and he's likening all humanity to one
big lump of clay. And the potter has the right
to break off a piece of that clay and to fashion from that
clay whatever vessel he wants. Whether it be a vessel of dishonor,
I think of a bedpan. Or whether it be a vessel of
honor, I think of a beautiful vase. It's the potter's right
to decide what he's going to make out of that piece of clay
that he pulls from the lump of humanity. What if God willing
to show his wrath and to make his power known endured with
much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted or made for destruction
and that and that he might make known the riches of the glory
of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he hath prepared
before unto glory even us whom he hath called not of Jews only
but also of the Gentiles." Oh, you know, Religious people oftentimes in
their self-righteousness will look at someone in the depths
of sin and say, oh, but the grace of God, there go I. If God's
made you to be the chief of sinners like he made Ruth, You're gonna
see that your sin is worse than theirs. To whom much is given,
much is required. Who's been given more light and
more truth and more opportunities than you and remain as unbelieving
as you are? I say it about myself. We can't
look down our self-righteous nose at anyone and think, well,
but for the grace of God, there go I. No, Lord, I'm the chief
of sinners. I'm the one in need of grace
and mercy. But there is a time when we can say, but for the
grace of God, there go I. When you consider all the people
of this world who are not saved, who don't believe the gospel,
those who come and they hear and they leave, They have no
interest in the things of God. We can say of them, but for the
grace of God, there go I. I'd be just like Him. God have
mercy upon me. So there's our God and there's
His purpose. What is His purpose in the reprobate?
To cause His children to glory in their salvation and in His
grace. Knowing that if it wasn't for
him, they would be just like everybody else. It'd be just
like everybody else. Who make it thee to differ? What do you have that you've
not received? And if you received it, then
why do you boast as if you didn't? You see, what we have is by God's
grace, isn't it? It's by God's purpose to save
his elect and to pass over his reprobate, the reprobate, vessels
fitted for destruction. Handfuls of purpose. Our God
is a God of sovereign purpose. Nothing has happened by chance. Believers don't speak of luck
and chance and, well, it might be this way, might... No, it's
gonna happen exactly as God designed it. In creation, in providence,
and in salvation. Handful of purpose. Oh, that's barley that'll feed
your soul, isn't it? To know that you're not in control,
you're not in charge. Gaudious. God is. And he's doing everything perfectly. Oh, I can pick those sheaves
up. I can feast on that bread. That's, that's good hope. That's
good hope. My salvation doesn't have anything
to do with me. Is that what you're saying, preacher? Yeah, that's
what I'm saying. Salvation is of the Lord. In election, in
redemption, in the new birth, regeneration, sanctification,
in glorification. It's all of God. It's God that
works in us, causing us to will and to do of His good pleasure,
isn't it? And that's why Peter, you know, Peter wrote two letters
in the New Testament, and the last verse of the second letter
says this, grow in grace and in the knowledge of your Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ. Grow in grace. Now that's a command,
but we know that what God commands, God must provide. And so we hear
what the Lord says, grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Say, oh Lord, show me the Lord
Jesus Christ that I might grow in grace. What is it to grow
in grace? Well, as I said earlier, it's
to see more of your need for grace. The more you grow in grace,
the more humble you become before God and the more dependent you
become on His grace. And so as you grow in grace and
in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, the more you see
of the difference there is between Him and you. And the more you
need His mercy, you need His salvation. That's what it is
to grow in grace. To grow in grace is not only
our need for grace, but our love of grace. Oh, we grow in grace. We love it. Lord, don't give
me the law. Accomplish your purpose of salvation
in me by your grace. We grow in grace when we grow
in our hope in grace, our understanding of grace. And when we become,
by God's grace, more faithful to live by grace, more gracious,
more forgiving, more loving. This is what God does in us,
in his people. As he makes them to see more
and more through the preaching of the gospel primarily, by his
word, through prayer and public worship, he shows us more and
more of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we see his
glory, we're brought to bow like Thomas and say, oh Lord, my Lord,
my God. In our text, I mentioned that
an ephah was 50 pounds of barley. And you can imagine, she'd already
separated the grain from the, so she's got a 50 pound sack
of grain. I suspect that one of these other
maidens or one of the reapers had to help her carry it home.
But that's a picture of the ultimate of our salvation, the fullness
of our salvation. In the meantime, God gives it
one handful at a time. One handful at a time. Growing in grace is a very slow
thing, isn't it? It's very slow. Oh, child of
God, I know you become impatient with your hatred for your sin
and your desire to be more like Christ. And, and you look at
your life and you think, you know, I'm going, you know, one
step forward and three backwards all the time. And I'm not getting
anywhere. And I, I want to grow. The truth
is that weeds grow fast and trees grow slow. Fruit trees grow slow. And that's by God's design. It's by God's design. There's
not gonna be an immediate accomplishment of our sanctification. It's gonna be, we're walking
by faith, step by step by step, feeding on the Lord Jesus Christ
as the children of Israel did every day, every day. give us this day our daily bread. And what happened to the children
of Israel when they in unbelief gathered up enough manna to sustain
them for an extra day just in case the manna didn't come tomorrow.
They went to get that manna the next morning and it was full
of worms and rotted. And whatever, whatever grace
that God might give us this day is only good for now. It's only
good for now. Don't live on past manna. It's rotted. It's no good. You
can't trust past manna. You have to be looking to Christ
right now. To whom? Coming. When the children
of Israel crossed the Red Sea, it wasn't like Charleston-Heston
and the water just all separated so they had a clear sight all
the way across. And it wasn't that way when they
had to cross the River Jordan. No, with each step the water
moved. With each step the water moved
and parted. You have to walk. That's the
walk of faith. You remember in 1 Kings chapter
7 when Elijah pronounced a famine or a drought because of Ahab's
sin. The Lord told Elijah there'll
be no rain for three and a half years. And Elijah had to flee
from Ahab. Ahab wanted to kill him. And
in his fleeing from Ahab, he came across a widow woman who
was suffering as a result of the drought. And he greeted her
and asked her for a drink of water and she went to get it.
And he said to her while she was going to get the water, while
you're gone, make for me a cake and bring it with the water.
And she said, Oh my Lord. She said, I have but a handful
of meal and a small crucible oil left in the barrel, just
enough to make a cake for me and my son. And we're planning
on eating it. And then we're going to die.
And Elijah said, make one for me first. And I promise you by the word
of God, that he will sustain you through the rest of this
drought. And she did. She believed the word of the
prophet and she made a cake for Elijah first. And that cruce of oil and barrel
of meal never ran out for the rest of the famine. Now, sometimes we might be tempted
to think that God filled it up to the brim. No, he didn't. Every time she went to it, there
was but a handful left. That's all there was. And there
was a handful and a little bit of oil every time, just enough
to make a cake for her and her son to sustain them one more
day, one more day. You say, we want God to fill
it up, don't we? No, Lord, just give me some wonderful
experience that's going to give me power over my sin and going
to make me live this victorious life where I can just walk in
the clouds and be above the earth. No. Brethren, it's one handful
at a time. It's one day of manna at a time. It's daily bread. It's a little
here and a little there. That's how God grows His sheep. That's how we grow in grace and
in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, if we
had the experience that we so often want, we wouldn't have
to walk by faith. We'd be walking by sight. Well,
I can look back at some experience I had or some event, yesterday's
manna, and I'll just live off of that. No. They that do mind the things
of the flesh walk after the flesh. They that mind the things of
the spirit walk after the spirit. Lord, I can't live off of that. I need to know right now, right
now. In second Kings chapter 18, I
love what Hezekiah brings a spiritual reform to Israel. Hezekiah is
a good king. And at the time, this was years,
decades later, I don't know, maybe hundreds of years later,
the children of Israel still had that staff with the brazen
serpent on it. and they were worshipping it.
The one that Moses had built in the wilderness. When God said,
he that's been bit with a snake, that's the snake of sin, looks
to that serpent on the pole, that's Christ, if I be lifted
up. And as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. And if we look to Him, we live. We live. And years and years
later, children of Israel are worshipping brazen serpent and
Hezekiah takes it and crushes it into powder and he calls it
Nahushton according to the King Jareth scriptures. Nahushton
translated means a worthless piece of brass. I mean, this is a glorious piece
of our history. This is a past experience where
God intervened and saved the children of Israel through this.
I mean, the world would take something like that and make
a whole monument out of it. God told Hezekiah, crush it up. It is a worthless piece of brass. And that's what your experience
is in the past. And my experiences in the past
are worthless pieces of brass. We can't have any confidence
in those things. We come, come right now, right
this very minute. And tomorrow you'll have to come
again. And the next day again, handfuls, only just handfuls
of purpose. One handful at a time until finally,
At the day of our glorification, God sends the angels and takes
us home. I have a 50 pound sack of barley. Somebody's gonna have to help
us carry it. Oh, Boaz said, leave for her
handfuls of purpose. This is my purpose. My purpose
is to grow them in my grace. My purpose is to accomplish my
glory in their salvation. Leave her a handful at a time. Boaz could have said, go ahead
and take that whole bundle there. No, leave her a handful at a
time. That's how God feeds his sheep.
A little bit at a time. Say, well, Preacher, you said
you were going to preach on purpose, and I was hoping you'd say something
about my purpose. Well, turn with me to Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes. Psalms, Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, chapter one. Men seek to find their purpose
in worldly things. Men seek to leave a legacy. I
had somebody tell me recently, you know, I'm trying to figure
out God's purpose for my life. And this particular person, it
goes, every time they do something good, they tell me about it.
And I'm trying to Trying to discover something, you know, some way
to salve my conscience from my sin, and somehow to give me some
sense of purpose in this world. And so I'm going to go about,
I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that, do the other, trying
to establish some purpose. Ecclesiastes chapter 1, verse
1, the words of the preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Now if I could just interject
this quickly, David said, I have a purpose to build for God a
house. And God said to David, no David,
you're a man of war. I'm not going to allow you to
fulfill that purpose. But your son Solomon, and that's
who's right in Ecclesiastes, your son Solomon is going to
build the house. Now David's a picture of our
man of war. The one who went to battle against
Satan, and against sin, and against death, and against hell. And
he got the victory by the shedding of his blood. He's the bloody
man. And his son Solomon's name means
peace. That's the Spirit of God, who
is fulfilling the purpose of God right now. What is His purpose? I will build my church upon this
rock. upon that which David supplied."
So David supplies all the materials necessary, and Solomon takes
the materials and builds the temple. What's that a picture
of? It's the Lord Jesus Christ who
provided everything necessary for the building up of his church,
and Solomon now, the Spirit of God, takes the Word of God, applies
it to the hearts of God's people, and calls out his sheep, and
builds his church according to his purpose. Now, the preacher
here historically is Solomon, but it's obviously, it's a picture
of Christ. This is the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Prince of Preachers, who in all wisdom is telling us something
about purpose. Solomon, richest, wisest man
that ever lived, had possessions beyond imagination. He tells
us in the book of Ecclesiastes, he tried wine to discover his
purpose. He was not satisfied with all
the earthly possessions that he had. They didn't satisfy his
soul. Here's what men use to try to find purpose. Well, if
I could just gather more material things, I'll have a purpose.
God's speaking now. This is the richest man that
ever lived. And wisest man that ever lived.
He said, those things didn't give me purpose, so I tried wine
and they didn't give me purpose. And he had 700 wives and 300
concubines and that didn't give him purpose. I tried wealth, I tried women,
I tried wine and nothing gave me purpose. And here's my conclusion
of the matter. Here's my conclusion of the matter.
Vanity of vanity, saith the preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What prophet hath a man of all
of his labor which he taketh unto the sun? Now vanity means
empty. And the soul of God's people
cannot find satisfaction in anything that this world has to offer
to them, to their soul. It is empty. It's vanity. So what is my purpose, preacher?
Well, let's look at the way this letter ends. Turn with me to
Ecclesiastes chapter 12. You can read the whole book,
it's not very long. Look at chapter 12, verse 13.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and
keep His commandments. For this is, and notice that
the word duty is in italics. The word duty is in italics. This is the whole of man. This is the whole of man. To fear God. Wisdom begins with a fear of
God. To come before God as the God of purpose. Who has a purpose
in creation. A purpose in providence. A purpose
in salvation. And gives to his children handfuls
of purpose day by day. So that they have a whole sack
of barley to take home with them. One day. One day. God's children bow before Him
in worship. They fear Him. You say, well, preacher, doesn't
it say something there about keeping His commandments? Yeah,
and the Lord Jesus Christ interpreted that. This is the commandment
of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent. Faith is the
commandment of God. And here again, what God requires,
God must provide. Saving faith is a gift of God.
Are you saying that it doesn't matter how we live, that we can
just violate God's commandments? No, that's not what I'm saying
at all. I'm saying that we're not under the law, we're under
grace. And there's nothing that will restrain the flesh more than
grace. Law doesn't restrain the flesh. Law only aggravates the flesh. You put a man under the law and
that's what he wants to do, is break that law. You put him under
the law of grace, the law of love, the law of the spirit,
the law of Christ, the law of faith. Oh, there's nothing that
will cause us to walk after Christ more than believing on Christ. Believing on Christ. So this
is the whole of man. This is the whole of your life. This is the whole of my life.
Fear God and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on Him for all your righteousness
before God. Believe on Him for all of your
justification before God. Believe on Him for all your hope.
Believe on Him for all your faith. Cast your soul upon the Lord
Jesus Christ. Rest in Him. Trust Him. Believe on Him for your glorification,
your justification, your sanctification, everything. Christ is all and
He's in all. This is the whole of man to fear
God. and keep his commandment. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Brethren, we don't know what
God has in store for 2023. Boy, that's a, sounds strange,
doesn't it? I was thinking about that and
I remember the very first time in school I wrote the date on
a piece of paper was in the first grade of 1960. That's the first
date I can remember and now here it is 2023. How fast. And this next year is going to
go faster than last year. And we don't know what's going
to happen. But we know that he will give
to us handfuls of purpose one day at a time, and that whatever
he brings our way will be according to his good purpose. Amen. Our heavenly Father, bless this
table and our observance of of the Lord's Supper as we feast
on the body and the blood of thy dear son. For it's in his
name we pray. Amen. Number 12. Let's stand together. Number
12. Upon my great and sovereign God,
I cast my soul and rest. My Father's hand controls the
world, and what He does is best. So be still, my heart, and doubt
no more. Believe and find sweet rest. God's wisdom, love, and truth
and power combine to make thee blessed. In raging storms and fiery trials,
He keeps me from all harms. He walks with me and holds me
in His everlasting arms. So be still, my heart, and doubt
no more. Believe and find sweet rest. God's wisdom, love, and truth
and power combine to make thee blessed. My God with skill infallible
and great designs of grace. With power and love that never
fail, shall order all my ways. So be still, my heart, and doubt
no more. Believe and find sweet rest. God's wisdom, love, and truth,
and power combine to make thee blessed. My life's most minute
circumstance is ordered by my God, who promised that in all
things He will ever do me good. So be still, my heart, and doubt
no more. Believe and find sweet rest. God's wisdom, love, and truth,
and power combine to make thee blessed.