No more, my God, I post, no more
Of all the duties I have done I quit the hopes I held before
to trust the merits of thy son. Now for the love, I bear his
name. What was my gain, I count my
loss. My former pride, I call my shame,
and nail my glory to his cross. Yes, and I must and will esteem
all things but loss for Jesus' sake. Oh, may my soul be found
in Him and of His righteousness partake. ? The best obedience
of my hands ? ? Dare not appear before thy throne ? ? But faith
can answer thy demands ? ? By pleading what my Lord has done
? Please be seated. Thank you, Tom, Joy, and Tricia. I don't know where you found
that hymn, but that was a good one. Tricia does our bulletin
and gets hymns from other bulletins. We can sing that again. That
was a blessing. Let's open our Bibles to the
book of Ruth. Ruth chapter 2, verse 1. Someone emailed me recently and
said they were enjoying the messages from Ruth, and I said, yeah,
I can't wait to get to Boaz. Well, I think that book, you
know, translators call it the book of Ruth. It'd be just fine
if we called it the book of Boaz, because that's really the main
character in this story. Ruth is a picture of me and you,
and Boaz, the kinsman redeemer, picture of the Lord Jesus Christ,
as an able savior, an able redeemer. You and I need an able redeemer. There are three things in this
first verse of Ruth chapter two that tell us about the Lord Jesus
Christ ability to save. Let's read the verse together.
And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's. That's the first thing
that's required. This redeemer had to be a kinsman
of our husband. Secondly, a mighty man of wealth,
He must be wealthy enough. He must have the means necessary
to redeem. Thirdly, of the family of Alimelech and
his name was Boaz. Boaz translated means strength
and fleetness or quickness. So He must have the strength,
He must have the wealth, He must be from the right family if He's
going to be an able Savior, an able Redeemer. Is the Lord Jesus
Christ able to save? We just sang that He is. I know
whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that He is able. to keep that which I've committed
unto him." And that word commit means to invest or trust. You take your money to the bank,
you're committing it to the trust of that bank. You're putting
it in deposit. And that's what we do. We trust
Christ. We put on deposit all of our
hope for salvation, having no confidence in our flesh. We are
committing everything to Him. Committing everything to Him.
We're not diversifying our investments. That's what the natural man does.
So we got to have Jesus, but we got to have this, got to have
that. And they will add works to the gospel at some point or
the other, either as an entrance requirement or as the evidence
of salvation, they will monitor and measure men by their works. And we're saying that we've committed
everything to him. Everything's invested in him.
If he doesn't save, I won't be saved. If he's not everything
before God on my behalf, then I have nothing else to add. I'm
persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day, in the day of judgment. I fear not
the wrath of God. I've committed everything to
Christ. And all the fire wrath of God's justice has fallen on
Him on Calvary's cross to satisfy the demands of God's holy law
and God's holy character. And I've committed everything
to Him. He's able. Is He able? Is He an able Savior? You know,
if ignorance was our problem, a teacher. We have several teachers
in our congregation and we're very thankful for our teachers. They help us with our ignorance.
But if ignorance before God was our problem, a teacher could
help us. If physical illness was our only
problem, and we're thankful for doctors, But if physical illness
was our only problem, a doctor could come to our aid. If moral transgression was our
problem, a lot of people think, well, that's my problem. I have
transgressed. I've got this problem in my life.
And you know what'll solve that? A real good heavy dose of religion. That'll fix that problem. Religion
changes the way people live. And if moral transgression was
our problem, a good heavy dose of religion could fix that. If anxiety was our problem, perhaps
some drugs or therapy might be of help. But those things aren't
our problem. Our problem, those are the manifestations
of our problem. Our problem goes much deeper
than that. Our problem is called sin. And
the only hope for a sinner is an able Savior. An able Savior. If I go to a Savior that's not
able to save, and that's what most men do, we looked at that
in the first hour, they will trust a little Jesus who's not
God, And they'll get a good dose of religion out of it and think
that they're saved and no man's more blind than the one who thinks
he can see when he can't. But that little Jesus won't help
us. We've got to have the son of God. We've got to have a sovereign
savior who is able to redeem. In order for him to be able,
he must be a near kinsman. He must be wealthy enough to
pay my debt. And he must be strong enough
to carry my guilt and my burden for sin. Listen to Hebrews chapter
seven, verse 25. He is able to save them to the uttermost
that cometh unto God by him. Now I looked up that word uttermost.
It means complete or perfectly or utterly. He is able to save
perfectly. He is able to save completely. He is able to save utterly who
by himself put away our sins. He is an able savior. And so the first question that
we have to ask ourselves is what really is my problem? And the
second question is who's gonna solve it? If your problem is sin, there's
a Savior. There's a Savior. The Lord said
it's hard for rich man to enter into
the kingdom of heaven. And the history of the world,
and even in the current condition of the world, I would suggest
that all of us here today are materially wealthy, some more
than others, but we're all doing We're all doing well. People all over the world starving
and scraping to survive. I don't believe that's primarily
what the Lord's talking about there. He said, it's easier for
a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man
to enter in the kingdom of heaven. And the disciples were amazed
and they said, who Lord then can be saved? And what did the
Lord say? With man it is impossible, but
with God all things are possible. He's able. Now what is the wealth
that all men have that keeps them from being saved? It's not
material wealth. It's the riches of their righteousness. It's the treasure that they have
packaged together and holding closely as their gift to God
for their salvation. And it's easier for a camel to
go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter
the kingdom of heaven. But God is able to strip that
man of his wealth. It's what he did to Naomi. It's
what he did to Ruth. made them completely dependent
upon a Redeemer by the name of Boaz to come along and save them. And what a glorious thing it
is to have a Savior who's able, a Savior who's able to save.
When John in the book of Revelation is caught up into heaven and
he's given this vision of heaven, And he sees a scroll in the hand
of God. And the scripture says that the
scroll was sealed within and without. And the angel cried,
said, who is able to open the seal of the scroll? And no man
was found. Now this is the book of life.
This is the book that must be opened in order for anyone to
be saved. And then John says, and John's
weeping, he's crying. He says, there's nobody found
able to open up the book to reveal the salvation of God's people.
And finally the angel said, weep not. Weep not, John. The Lion of the tribe of Judah,
he hath prevailed and he is able. He's able. If you're a sinner, that's your
real problem. There's an able Savior. His name is Jesus Christ. He
is the Son of God. And He is able to save to the
uttermost them that come to God by Him, completely, perfectly. He's able. We're not able. We're not able. You still have your Bibles open
to Ruth chapter 2. Look at verse 1. And Naomi had
a kinsman. A kinsman. The Lord had purposed
in his law, in the Levitical law, that property that was lost
by poverty. In other words, when Joshua brought
the children of Israel across the Jordan into the promised
land, and that promised land flowing with milk and honey is
a picture of heaven, and the tribes divided up the
land. The Jordan means to descend. We must cross that river of descent,
that river of death in order to enter in. We're being led by the pillar
of fire and the pillar of smoke right now in the wilderness.
We've been delivered from Egypt. We haven't gotten to the promised
land yet. But when they went into the promised land, they
divided up the land among the 12 tribes. And the 12 tribes,
well, They divided it up to the families in those tribes, and
then now years later, everybody settled in, they own their property,
they got all fenced, houses built, and someone gets in trouble financially,
and they have to sell their property. And the Lord had written into
the law that when that happened, that a kinsman was to buy it. And that way the property stayed
in the family. That was important for that property
to stay connected to that family. And when the person got out of
trouble, they could purchase it back from the kinsman and
everything would go back to its original state. You and I fell into abject poverty
when we sinned in our father Adam. And we lost our estate. We lost it. Blessed are the poor
in spirit. And we're talking about spiritual
poverty now. We're talking about being a sinner. That's what a sinner is. He's
spiritually, he's got nothing. He's got nothing. Nothing to
offer to God. and we fell into abject poverty. Blessed are they that are poor
in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. See, if we can
identify ourselves with Elimelech, who went off to Moab, and now
Naomi has come back, and she's got this piece of property that
her husband, Elimelech, owned, but it's of no value to her,
because she's got to have the means to live. And so she publishes
to the community that her property is for sale. She's got to have
the means from that property to survive. And a kinsman steps
up. That kinsman redeemer is Boaz. He's a near kinsman. Perhaps
he was Elimelech's brother. That would have been the typical
way that it would have happened. Elimelech, you remember now,
has died in Moab. And Naomi's destitute. Perhaps
Boaz is Elimelech's brother. It doesn't say. All it says is
that he's his kinsman. He's a near kinsman. And he had the right and the
responsibility. to redeem the property for Naomi
from his kinsman, we'll say his brother, Elimelech, to keep that
land within the family so that the inheritance is not lost. You see the spiritual connection,
don't you? You see the picture? Our inheritance. Oh, we just
read in Colossians chapter one, the Lord has made us meet. He has made us fit to inherit
the kingdom of God. by delivering us from the kingdom
of darkness and translating us into the kingdom of His Son and
redeeming us by His blood and forgiving us of our sins, this
is what it's all about, the inheritance of the kingdom of God. If we're
going to inherit, if we're going to be partakers of the inheritance,
we must be made fit. We must be made neat. We must
be made adequate for this kingdom. We've got to have a Redeemer. Sin will keep us out. Savior, the savior of sinners. This is a faithful saying. This
is the saying that's worthy of all acceptation. Every bit of
this saying is worthy to be accepted and it is worthy to be accepted
by all. Jesus Christ came into the world
to save sinners. And Paul said, of whom I am chief. The more we grow in grace, the
more we see our need for grace, the more of our sin is revealed,
and the more of our need for a Savior, an able Savior, one
who's qualified, one who's able to save. Had to be a kinsman. Couldn't sell the property outside
of that. And in addition to that, On the year of Jubilee, which
was the 50th year, the beginning of the Jubilee was the end of
the 7th, 7 times 7, 49, and the end of that 49 years started
the year of Jubilee. And that year of Jubilee pointed
to the Lord Jesus Christ when he said that he had come to fulfill. What happened in the year of
Jubilee? All property went back to its original owner, all debt
was canceled, and all slaves were set free. And that's what
the Lord Jesus has done. He has brought what we lost in
our father Adam back to its original owner. As our kinsman, he has
set the prisoner free and he has paid the debt. Why? Because he's an able Savior. He's an able Savior. He's able
to save to the uttermost, completely and perfectly. Adam, our father, was put under
a covenant of works. He lived in paradise. The Lord
walked with him in the cool of the day. He had his inheritance. And yet he was under a covenant
of works in that God said, if you obey me, you'll remain right
here. And if you disobey me, you will
die. In the day in which you eat of
the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall surely
die. And that's what happened. And
death here is not talking about physical, well, ultimately physical
death, but it's the separation from God. That's our problem.
We're spiritually left to ourselves. We come into this world dead
in our trespasses and sins. We're spiritually dead and separated
from God. Why? Because we lost our inheritance
in our father Adam. We disobeyed. So many ways we're like Esau,
aren't we? Selling our birthright for a
bowl of soup. We're like Gomer. We're like Gomer. Wasting our lives in spiritual
harlotry. looking everywhere other than
the Lord Jesus Christ as our husband, as our kinsman, and being, ending up on the slave
block. But there is a Hosea. There is
a Hosea. There is a Boaz, and he's able to save. This kinsman
had to be a family member. Couldn't be a stranger coming
in. Then the property wouldn't be saved. The property would
not be preserved within the family. A kinsman had to buy it. And
it started with the nearest brother to a limeleck. And it went down
the line until it got to uncles or cousins or whoever. But the
lineage of, had to be followed. It had to be a near kinsman.
So Boaz steps up. He's going to purchase this land. The Lord Jesus Christ, when they
came to Him and said, your mother and your brother are asking for
you, they thought that He had gone off the deep end and they
were going to take Him home. You know, He's just become too
radical about this. Even they did not believe that
He was the Son of God. They did not believe that. And the Lord looked at the people
that He was preaching to, and He said to them, Who is my mother? Who are my brethren? And who
are my sisters? And He waved His hand to the
crowd. And He said, Whosoever shall do the will of
God, whosoever shall believe on me, they are my mother and
my brother and my sister. We have a friend that sticketh
closer than a brother. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
kinsman. We were placed in him from eternity
past. He's always been our brother.
And He's the only one that can redeem us. In order for the Redeemer
to be an able Redeemer, He had to be a near kinsman. We cannot redeem ourselves. Psalm
49 says, None of them can by any means redeem his brother,
nor give to God a ransom for him, for the redemption of the
soul is priceless. You and I cannot redeem each
other. Men in religion try it all the time. They try to convince
one another that they're saved, and they give assurance to one
another, and they seek assurance from one another of their salvation. No man can redeem his brother,
for the redemption of the soul is precious. It is without values,
without price. And only the precious blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ Only that priceless blood that He put on
the mercy seat will enable our sins to be covered. A kinsman, Boaz knew Naomi. He was a near
kinsman, maybe her brother-in-law, but he knew her. And he loved
her. You know, I'm sure that there
was a lot of people that saw Naomi. You remember when Naomi
came back to Bethlehem, Judah, and they said, is this Naomi?
And she said, don't call me Naomi. Call me Mara, for the Lord has
dealt bitterly with me. But Boaz would have known her. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ said,
I know my sheep. And I call them by name. And
when they hear my voice, they follow me. They follow me, they
bow and they follow. Perhaps there was some affection
between this kinsman, Boaz, would have loved Naomi. Scripture says that our kinsman,
our brother, the Lord Jesus Christ loved us with an everlasting
love. Never a time, never a time that he did not love us and therefore
he's drawn us with cords of kindness. Greater love hath no man than
this. They lay down his life for his friends. Scripture says of the relationship
that our Lord had with the disciples, he loved them till the end. Oh, that's what we need. We need
a kinsman, a near kinsman, one who's of our family, one who's
able to redeem our lost soul and restore to us the kingdom
of God. One who loves us. And notice
that this kinsman in verse one, Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's. This kinsman wasn't on her side
of the family, it was on her husband's side of the family. Oh, here we have the Lord Jesus
Christ as our husband and as our kinsman. Christ. He's on the husband's side of
the family, isn't he? I suspect that perhaps Naomi
didn't have anybody in her family that was able to be a kinsman.
Well, they couldn't have been a kinsman. He had to be connected
to Elimelech. You see, our fall was in our
father, Adam, and our redemption in Adam, we all died. And in
the last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall all be made
alive. And so we have a kinsman who has redeemed for us that
which was lost in our father, Adam. And he is a near kinsman. He's the only one able to save
because he's a near kinsman. So for this redeemer to be able
to restore what was lost, he had to first be a near kinsman.
Secondly, he had to have the means necessary to purchase the
property. Notice what the Bible tells us
about our Boaz, a mighty man of wealth. I'm sure that there was a lot
of people that felt sorry for Naomi when they saw her come
back from Moab. Probably some of her relatives
who said, you know, I would if I could, but I can't. I just
don't have the money. I'm struggling myself. How can
I help you? And Boaz steps up, a mighty man
of wealth. Being able to buy back a limolex
property was no stretch for him. He was a mighty man of wealth.
Oh, what a wealthy redeemer we have. he's able to pay the ransom
price. And that price is non-negotiable.
I was telling the folks Wednesday night, Trish and I went to one
of these warehouses, these discount warehouses where they just have
everything. We were going to buy an oven. And so I asked the
guy, this was a week or so ago, I asked the guy, I said, I said,
are these prices negotiable? He said, well, yeah. So we got
him to come down on the price. And, you know, we don't do that
much in our normal life, do we? But, you know, I knew that those
were negotiable prices. Most of the places in the world,
if you don't negotiate with people and barter with people, they
consider it to be offensive, you know. In America, we just
pay the price. I'm making this illustration
way too long, but this price is non-negotiable. The price
that God has put on the redemption of our soul is a non-negotiable
price. It's set, and it's priceless. It's the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's the only one that can pay the price without the
shedding of blood, there can be no redemption. And not just anyone's blood has
to be perfect blood, has to be sinless blood. It can't be blood
that was inherited from Adam. The Lord Jesus Christ was conceived
of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary. He did not inherit Adam's
nature. He came into this world perfect,
sinless. Oh, and he shed that precious
blood as the price that God required for the redemption of our souls. He's a wealthy, a mighty man
of wealth. Oh, he's got money that we know
nothing of. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
10, Hebrews chapter 10. Boaz was an able savior for Naomi, who was forced to
sell her inheritance due to her poverty. We lost our inheritance in heaven
as a result of our father Adam's sin. The Lord Jesus Christ came
in order to purchase that for us by His precious blood. Hebrews
chapter 10 verse 1, for the law having a shadow of the 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 there unto perfect. All of these blood sacrifices
that the Jews made in the Old Testament never made a sinner
perfect. They were types, they were shadows,
they were typical of what would be fulfilled in Christ. For then
would they not have ceased to be offered because that the worshiper
once purged should have no more conscience of sins? If the blood
of those animals could take away the sin, or if your blood, what
if you What if you live such a sacrificial life that you become
a willing martyr for the cause of your religion? Will that martyrdom,
will the shedding of your own blood be sufficient to purchase
your redemption? No, no. But, verse three, 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, born of a woman, born under
the law, to redeem them who are cursed by the law. a body thou
hast prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
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 burnt offerings, and offerings for sin thou wouldest
not, neither hast thou pleasure therein, which are offered by
the law. Then said he, Lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."
Once and for all. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He came, conceived of the Spirit
of God, miraculously conceived, given a body that He might bear
the sins of His people in that body upon the tree and suffer
the full wrath of God's justice once and for all to put away
sin. He is an able savior. Don't you love the story of the
queen of Sheba when she came to see Solomon? She had heard
all the way down there in Sheba. She had heard about this man
of great wealth and of great opulence and great glory and
a great religion. And she came to see if what she
had heard was true. And Solomon showed her around.
and it revealed to her all of his riches. And she says in astonishment,
half the story was not told me. Oh, you are so much more glorious
than I ever could have anticipated. So glad I came. Our Boaz is a mighty man of wealth. And the truth is that half the
story has not been told us. Oh, a very small portion of the
story has been told to us, but enough for us to know that He's
our kinsman, able to save. He's a mighty man of wealth,
able to pay the redemption price. He is the Son of God in whom
we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins by His blood. Colossians chapter 1 verse 27
says, the riches of the mystery of the gospel in Christ. The mystery of the riches of
the gospel in Christ is Christ in you, your hope of glory. You see, he is the riches of
the gospel. Turn with me to Colossians chapter
2. We have to look at this. this verse, Colossians 2. Verse
two. that their hearts might be comforted
being knit together in love and unto all riches of the full assurance
of understanding to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God and of
the Father and of Christ in whom are hid all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge." All these riches, this mighty man of wealth,
the riches of God, understanding, peace with God, Hope of salvation,
righteousness, sanctification, they're all hid in Him. You see,
men want to have these things. They want the benefits of salvation
without having Christ. They won't come to Christ. But there's the mystery. And
the word mystery means hidden. These glorious riches that men
so desire are hid in Christ. And the only way we can have
him is to have him. Naomi and Ruth get Boaz. And with Boaz, they get all he's
had. All he has. All he has. A mighty man of wealth. Thirdly
and finally, the name Boaz means strength and fleetness. Fleetness. In, I think it's in 1 Kings chapter
7, when Solomon is building the temple, and he builds by the
one door that goes into the temple, he builds these two brass pillars. They're 27 feet tall and 18 feet
in circumference, solid brass. They stand on each side of the
door. And he names them. He names one of them, Jacob, and he names the other one, Boaz.
And those two pillars are pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ. If
we are going to enter into that one door, which he is that door,
Jacob, translated, means he will establish. And Boaz means quickly
and with strength. So here's the door being framed,
if you will, with these two massive brass pillars. It is established. God has established the salvation
of His people in the covenant of grace before time ever began.
And He, that door is going to come, and He's going to do it
in strength, and He's going to do it quickly. Quickly. The Lord Jesus Christ restored,
if we think about the three hours of darkness where He was upon
the cross, the Father had forsaken Him, and the land became dark. Even the soldiers were forced
to say, this must be the Son of God. And the Lord Jesus cries
out because that darkness, a picture of the separation between the
Father and the Son, what is He doing? He's bearing the guilt,
the shame, the penalty of sin. And from the sixth hour, noon,
until the ninth hour, three o'clock in the afternoon, The sky was
darkened until at the evening sacrifice, which would have been
the ninth hour, three o'clock in the afternoon, was the evening
sacrifice as the priest was slaying that sacrificial lamb in the
temple, shedding its blood. They did it every day at three
o'clock in the afternoon. The Lord Jesus Christ bows his
mighty head and he cries, it is finished. Father into thy
hands, I commend my spirit. And he accomplished in those
three hours what we have lost. in all the history of mankind,
fleeting us quickly. I will come into my temple quickly. The book of Isaiah tells us he
will come in suddenly. I'm sorry, Malachi chapter three,
verse one. He shall suddenly come in to
his temple. Naomi says to Ruth later on in
chapter 3, she says to Ruth, she says, after Boaz makes it
clear that he's going to step up and become the redeemer, the
kinsman redeemer, Naomi, the older woman, says to Ruth, she
says, sit down. Don't move a muscle. For the
man will not rest until he has finished the work this day." She knew what love looked like. She was saying to Naomi, sit
down, don't move. The man's not going to rest until
he finishes the work this day. The Lord Jesus Christ with strength
and with fleetness restored to the children of Adam, that which was lost in the fall. Gave to us. Romans 9, verse 28 says, for
he will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness. Cut it short in righteousness.
What a quick work. The Lord Jesus Christ as the
Son of God was able to do in the span of a young man, 33 years
old, a young man. And in the span of three years
of his public ministry and three hours of his separation from
the Father, he was able to restore quickly in righteousness. what we lost in the fall. If God makes us to be sinners,
we will see our need for an able Savior, an able Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only kinsman with the wealth required and the strength and
the quickness able to save. But He saves to the uttermost
all that come unto Him. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
draw us and we shall come. Turn us, Lord, and we shall be
turned. Save us, Lord, and we shall be saved. Thank you for
thy dear son. Thank you for our kinsman redeemer,
our Abel Boaz. Lord, bless your word to our
hearts. Through faith, we ask it in Christ's name. Amen. 125. Let's stand together. Number
125. I hear the Savior say, thy strength
indeed is small. Child of weakness, watch and
pray. Find in me thine all in all. Jesus paid it all, all to Him
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow. Lord, now indeed I find thy power
and thine alone can change the leper's spots and melt the heart
of stone. Jesus paid it all, all to Him
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow. For nothing good have I where
by thy grace to claim I'll wash my garments white in the blood
of Calvary's Lamb. Jesus paid it all, all to Him
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain,
? He washed it white as snow ? And when before the throne
? I stand in Him complete ? Jesus died my soul to save ? My lips
shall still repeat ? Jesus paid it all All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.