So Lord, may you graciously help
me, I turn your prayerful attention to the fourth book, sorry, the
fourth chapter of Ruth, of the book of Ruth. Ruth chapter four
and reading together verses nine and ten. Ruth chapter four and verses
nine and ten. And Boaz said unto the elders
and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day that I have
bought all that was Elimelech's and all that was Chilion's and
Marlon's of the hand of Naomi. Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess,
the wife of Marlon, 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.
Ye are witnesses this day. Book of Ruth chapter 4 and verses
9 and 10. Many of you who are here this
morning will remember that we were speaking of the Book of
Ruth And the preciousness of this book as being one that gives
us a working example of what redemption meant in the Old Testament. A theme which we've been singing
of, which is so much in the scriptures. The idea of redemption. The idea
of one to restore that which has been lost. either from lost
property, or lost into slavery to buy them back, or lost as
in no family name to carry on, no line as it were of that part
of Israel to be preserved. And the book of Ruth deals with
this lovely theme of redemption. It starts off with Ruth and Naomi
as two widows coming back to Bethlehem as Naomi describes
herself, I came, I went out full and the Lord hath brought me
home again empty. But she does not stay empty. And that is the beautiful theme
that runs through the book. There is this blessing that they
receive and it's all in relation to this kinsman redeemer. This one that at first they hardly
know about. but this one that they become
to know as the one who is the Redeemer. Not just a near kinsman,
but one who is wealthy and one who is willing and one who is
able to redeem Ruth and Naomi from all their troubles. And
so the book ends with a lovely situation where these two widows
are now in a very blessed situation. And indeed, they become in the
line of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now, where we left
the account this morning was really with Ruth having been
into Boaz and making her claim. which was according to the laws
that had been given in Israel. There was these laws written
that if you were a widow and you hadn't any children, there
was this possibility of a near kinsman to come and do the part
and to marry you and to raise up seed in the name of the dead.
There was also this opportunity of a redeemer who would come
and pay all your debts. And so Ruth comes in and pleads
those very laws. the laws that God had given,
the laws that she was honoring by showing that she believed
them and she saw a beauty in them. She came and pleaded with
Boaz that he would do that. Spread therefore thy skirt over
me, as we had, over thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman.
In other words, do for me everything that I stand in need of. And
then Boaz points out that there is a nearer kinsman than he is,
and yet he would then go and do all that was required to sort
out these things that Ruth had brought to his feet. As it were,
she had unburdened herself at the feet of Boaz. And how we
see a picture of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we are
to come unto him in all our need and pour out our concerns to
him and plead. according to the law, according
to that which he has said, come unto me and all ye that labour
in a heavy laden, we're to pour it out. And then she is told
by Naomi, her mother in Israel, sit still, my daughter, until
thou know how the matter will fall. For the man will not be
in rest until he have finished the thing today. Naomi has confidence
in Boaz. And you see, as we put our trust
in the heavenly Boaz, we honour him. You see, if Naomi said,
well, I don't trust him, I don't really trust Boaz very much,
I'm not sure he's going to do it. He might do, but he might
not. That would be very dishonouring to Boaz, wouldn't it? It would
show that she really thought little of Boaz, trusted him little. Sometimes you say, I don't trust
that person more than I can see him. But this was not so with
Boaz. She said, sit still, my daughter,
until thou know how the matter will fall, for the man will not
be in rest until he have finished the thing this day. So Boaz now
is not in rest. Ruth had made a claim, but Boaz
had all the legal transactions to sort out. He needed to legally
sort out all that was against Ruth so that Ruth could be his
bride. Then went Boaz up to the gate
and sat down there. And behold, the kinsman of whom
Boaz spake, this nearer kinsman, came by, unto whom he said, Ho,
such a one, turn aside. And then he gives this statement
to this one. And he took the ten men of the
elders of the city and said, sit ye down here. And they sat
down. So Boaz goes to the city gate. He holds this legal transaction
with the elders that were there, the ten elders. He sets up the
situation and this one who is the near kinsman comes. He was
going to do everything you see according to the law. And you
see, you might have said, well, did this nearer kinsman know
that much about Ruth? Could he have not just quietly
got on and married her and perhaps the nearer kinsman wouldn't have
noticed or perhaps wouldn't have had his claim? But this was not
Boaz. Boaz, you see, was one who was
going to satisfy and keep all the law that God had given for
the way they should walk in Israel. He was an honourable man. And
when we think of our heavenly Boaz, He is one that is honourable. He is not going to purchase his
bride at the expense of justice. He is going to satisfy every
claim against that bride so that she should be legally his. She
should be his without any claim from any closer kinsman. And he said unto the king's men,
Naomi, that he's come out of the country of Moab, selleth
a parcel of land, which was our brother's Elimelech. And I thought
to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants and
before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem
it. But if not, if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me that
I may know, for there is none to redeem it beside thee and
me, thee, and I am after thee.' And he said, I will redeem it.
He said he would do all that was required. He would redeem
this land. But he didn't seem to understand
that it also involved, you see, and raising up, as it were, raising
up seed in the name of the dead. And then we quickly have a change
of tune of this man who was the closer kinsman. Then Boaz said,
what day thou buy'st the field of the hand of Naomo thou must
buy it also. of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife
of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. And the kinsman said, I cannot
redeem it for myself, lest I mar my inheritance. Redeem thou my
right for thyself, for I cannot redeem it." So here we have this
closer kinsman who could not, he said twice, he could not redeem
it. Many have thought, well, what
is this? What does this mean? How can we take this if Boaz
is a great picture of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the
Redeemer who came to purchase Ruth and to buy her to be his
bride and to satisfy all that was against her? Who is this
Nero kinsman? Well, many have suggested to
think of it as this way. It was the law. You see, the
law had a first claim upon us. And if we kept the law, we would
get to glory, if we were able to keep the law. And you see,
I read that in Romans 8, verse 3. For what the law could not
do. It could not do it. You see,
the closer kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself. For what
the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh.
This was something it could not be done. The hymn writer picks
it up very beautifully in Rock of Ages, that well-known hymn.
In the second verse, not the labor of my hands can fulfill
thy law's demands. Could my zeal, no respite, no. Could my tears forever flow. All for sin could not atone. Thou must save, and Thou alone. And in the hymn after that, Jesus,
my all to heaven is gone, we read those other words, the more
I strove against sin's power, I sinned and stumbled, but the
more, till late I heard my Saviour say, come hither soul, I am the
way. You see, this Nero Kinsman, keeping the
law, It was impossible to redeem. We read that no man can pay the
ransom. It could not be done. There was
no way that she could redeem herself. There was provision
in the law for those who in some way became wealthier, I guess,
if they were a slave, they could redeem themselves if they had
the means. We read that in Leviticus. But you see, Ruth could not redeem
herself. This Nero Kinsman, as it were,
was not able. But you see, Boaz was therefore
able to then take on what this other kinsman could not do. But
you see, Boaz was going to do it all. uprightly and according
to the law. And as we think of this, as it
pictures our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Boaz went to the
city gates. He had the ten elders there.
We could think of those as the ten commandments. Those were
upright, they were righteous. The righteous law was satisfied.
And the law that said the closest kinsmen should redeem, it was
proved that the closest kinsmen could not redeem. And so Boaz
had the legitimate right to do his kinsman part towards Naomi
and towards Ruth, and to purchase the land and to also raise up
seed for the dead. But you see, if we think of it
in a spiritual sense, the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, he
didn't just go to the city gates. He went without the camp. He
went to Calvary. He went to that place where the
law could be satisfied. You see, the law had a claim
against Ruth. The soul that sinneth it shall
die. And it has a claim against you. It has a claim against me. It says the wages of sin is death. And it has a claim. And it's
true. The wages of sin is death. It's
right, it's just, it's honourable. But it's damnation to you and
to me. And therefore, you see, we need
this kinsman redeemer. The one who is flesh of our flesh
and bone of our bone. The one who is mighty to save.
The one who has gone to the end of the law. We want him to come. The one who is willing. He had
such a love to Ruth. He delighted to do this for Ruth. It was his delight. She had honoured
the law in this sense. She'd honoured this law of redemption. She'd shown that she had listened
to the law and she'd pleaded that law. And we saw this morning
how much delight that caused to Boaz and how the Lord, as
it were, delights to hear sinners pleading for mercy because this
is the way he is marked out. There is a way that he is He
has given whereby sinners should be made free from all the wrath
of sin which is against them because of their transgressions. But you see, Baaz then was going
to do Ruth good. He was doing this, you see. We read that Ruth was to sit
still, my daughter, until they'll know how the matter will fall.
She left the matter in the hands of Boris. It was for him to deal
with this situation. And if you think that of you
and me, we were not there 2,000 years ago as it were, when that
great transaction took place at Calvary. When our Boaz went
and pleaded on our behalf and went and satisfied all that justice
had against his church, he was made sin for us, you see we read
it in Romans, for what the law could not do. in that it was
weak through the flesh. God sending his own son in the
likeness of sinful flesh. He made his son sin for us. He put his son, as it were, he
made him to be sin for us who knew no sin. And because of that,
you see, we read also in Romans 6, verse 10, for in that he died,
that's the Lord Jesus, he died unto sin once. In other words,
the effect of sin spent itself on our Saviour. And therefore,
once it had spent its venom on the Saviour, the venom was gone.
The payment was made. And therefore, justice had no
further claim upon us. And as we see it in this figure
in Ruth, this Nero Kinsman didn't have any claim anymore. He'd given it over. He said,
I cannot redeem it. And therefore, Boaz went ahead,
according to the law, and said, I will redeem it. He would do
this. And he did it all on behalf of
Ruth. Ruth wasn't there. Ruth didn't know. She just trusted
that Boaz would do this on her behalf and sort out all the legal
transactions. But she was not there. And we
were not there at Calvary when this great transaction took place.
And when the Lord Jesus cried, it is finished. You see, it was
a great transaction. It was completed. But did you
and I rejoice when that was sung? Did you and I rejoice when that
great thing, that great statement was made, it is finished? We
weren't even born. We were unaware of it. You see,
it's redemption accomplished. But redemption accomplished needs
to become redemption applied. And we see that in the book of
Ruth. Ruth wasn't there. Ruth was going to come to realise
the blessings and the benefits of that which Boaz had done on
her behalf. Oh, what a blessing to have a
Boaz. Oh, what a blessing to have a
Redeemer who could confront this law of handwriting that was written
against it, take it out of the way, nailing it to his cross
so that they could go free, that they could be just, and so that
he could be just and the justifier of the ungodly. This is the beauty
of the plan of salvation, that there was a way that was made
whereby sinners could be brought into union with himself. And
we read then in verse 7, after this man had said, I cannot redeem
it, and the law could not redeem it, no man can save himself.
Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming
and concerning changing, for to confirm all things 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. So he drew off his shoe. So he
gave the shoe to Boaz. The shoe being a symbol of what
we walk on, isn't it? We walk on places with our shoes.
And you see, this man had a right, as it were, to walk over Ruth
and Naomi's land. He had the first right. He was
the closest kinsman. But now he was going to take
off that shoe and he was going to give it to Boaz. He no longer. had any right to walk over that
land. He had no longer any right to
demand the payment of sin. He had no longer any right, as
it were, to say to Ruth and Naomi that they were guilty. There
had been a payment. There had been one who had come
and paid everything that was against them and was going to
rectify everything for them. Therefore the kinsman said unto
Boaz, buy it for thee, so he drew off his shoe. And then we
read, come to our verses of our text, and Boaz said unto the
elders and unto all the people, ye are witnesses this day that
I have bought all that was Elimelech's and all that was Chilion's and
Marlon's of the hand of Naomi. Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess,
the wife of Marlon, have I purchased to be my wife. You see Christ
purchased, he gave himself for his church. Let me just pick
that up in Titus, those words. Who gave himself for us that
he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself A peculiar
people, zealous of good works. This was what our kinsman-redeemer
did. One who was near of kin to us. He came, and you see,
to start with, Ruth and Naomi didn't really take much notice
of this Boaz. They didn't talk much about this
Boaz. He was just some relation that they had. And as we think
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, you may have heard of
his birth that we think of, particularly at Christmastime as he came,
born in Bethlehem, that time in the manger and laid in the
manger. But you see, Boaz to Ruth and
Naomi took on a very different meaning as this account in Ruth
went on. He was no longer just a relative
that happened to be wealthy. He was their redeemer. He was
one that was going to take all their troubles and reverse all
the terrible effects that sin had. You see, it all had come
from Naomi walking wrongly, backsliding really, walking against the way
that God had said, going into Moab, going into an enemy country,
disobeying God's law. But she was brought back. She
was brought back. She said, I have gone out full,
but the Lord has brought me again empty. Call me not Naomi, which
means pleasantness, but call me Mara, which means bitterness.
And yet you see it by the end of the book of Ruth, we have
a very different Naomi. We have a Naomi that's blessed
with a grandchild and blessed with again the blessing of one
to restore her and one to nourish her and one to do her good. And
it's all because of this kinsman-redeemer, this one who satisfied the law
and made it honourable. He didn't bypass the law. He
didn't put the law away. The Lord Jesus, on the Sermon
on the Mount, he said, I came not to destroy the law, but I
came to fulfil it. I didn't come to rip up all the
laws that were written in the Old Testament. I came to perfectly
fulfil them and to make a way whereby sinners should be just.
and justly saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation.
But I want you to notice also the love that Boaz had for Ruth. You see, in today's society we
have this idea that love is all about self, all about what I
want. You'll notice Boaz was very different
than this. Boaz said he would do all that
he could for Ruth, but if there was a nearer kinsman, then that
nearer kinsman would do it. You see, it wasn't selfish. It
wasn't, as it were, for himself. He was going to do, Ruth, real
and lasting good. And you see, a lot of what goes
for the term of love in our society today is nothing more than lust. It actually debaunches the person
that that love is towards. I mean, if you take, not just
in our society, I mean, if you take the case of of what happened
in David's family. We've just been reading there's
a family through that sad account of Amnon and Tamar. Amnon's behavior
to Tamar was disgusting. He had a lust towards her, he
called it love, and yet it was totally to ruin her, totally
to wreck her. But you see the love that Boaz
had to Ruth was a love to do her good. to see her in all her
need, in all her far-offness, in all her foreignness, in all
her widowhood, in all her negative equity. and to do her good. And whether that was done by
himself or by this nearer kinsman, he was willing to let it, as
it were, be. If she could, as it were, keep
the law and make that honourable herself, well then that was fine.
But you see, she could not, and we cannot. We cannot make ends
meet. And we need to come to this Redeemer
and seek that He would do for us all that we stand in need
of. And you look at that in this text. It's not a selfish statement. And Boaz said unto the elders
and unto all the people, ye are witnesses this day, that I have
brought all that was Elimelech's and all that was Chilean's and
Marlon's out of the hand of Naomite. Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess,
the wife of Marlon, have I purchased to be my wife. For what reason? So that I can enjoy her and not
take any notice of anybody else? To raise up the name of the dead
upon his inheritance. There was a view here to marriage
bringing forth a seed and to be a blessing to Israel. And
that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren
and from the gate of his place. Ye are witnesses this day. You see, it was not selfish.
It was for her good. And we think of our great heavenly
Boaz. He loved the church and gave
himself for it. Her bride, the bride of Christ. He saw her rolling in her filth,
in all her ghastliness. We mentioned in Ezekiel this
morning, Ezekiel 16, it talks about Israel as being as a baby
left when they're just born in their blood, in a hopeless, helpless
situation. But this one who was to care
for them, who was to do them good, despite all the things
that were against them. And we have this in this account. Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess,
the wife of Marlon, have I purchased, he's purchased his wife, to raise
up the name of the dead, upon his inheritance, to give her
an inheritance. In fact, she became in the line
of Christ. Ruth's name appears in Matthew,
in the genealogy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This
Moabitess girl, the Moabites which are cursed, we read earlier,
there was a curse placed on the Moabites. But you see, there
is this blessing, there is this reversal. She had come to see
a beauty in the things of God. She'd come to see a beauty in
Israel's God. And Boaz, as it were, saw that
and had that great love towards her and sought her real welfare. But you see still in our text,
I don't think Ruth knew about it. Verses 9 and 10 of Ruth 4,
I don't think Ruth knew what was going on. This was between
those at the city gate. This was done. This was a time
of blessing and a time of great joy for Boaz, but it had yet
to be communicated to Ruth. And all the people in the gate
and the elder says, we are witnesses, the Lord make thee, and there's
blessings pronounced upon them that she may be fruitful, as
Leah and Rachel and so on. But it's not until verse 13 that
really we have Ruth coming into the secret, and no doubt Naomi. So Boaz took Ruth. and she was
his wife. And I think this is a very important
point with Christianity. Christianity does involve a real,
literal, legal transaction. There needs to be a satisfaction
of the law that was against us. There needs to be all the paperwork,
as it were, sorted out. There needs to be the legal transactions
taking place, which by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ took
place at Calvary. Justice was satisfied. The Lamb
of God bore away the sin of His entire Church. But it's not just
a legal transaction. It involves it most certainly.
But take verse 13 and you see that it's not just legal. It
then becomes personal. So Boaz took Ruth. And she was
his wife. You see, there's a relationship.
There's love, and we see that, of course, earlier in the book
of Ruth. There's clear love between Boaz and Ruth and Ruth to Boaz.
They loved one another and they saw that there was an affection
and a drawing one to the other. And so it is with Christ, with
his church. They come to love one another. They come to fellowship
with one another. But it's lovely when they come.
as it were, into that banqueting house and the banner over them
is love. They're no more just gleaners in the field. They're
no longer just widows. They're no longer in negative
equity. They're no longer without a seed. No, they're brought into
relationship with this boas. that Boaz could then, Ruth could
say, Boaz is my husband. If you ask Ruth, what relationship
have you to Boaz? If you'd have asked her in chapter
two, what relationship have you got with Boaz? You say, well,
he's just a man that's been very kind to me. He's allowed me to
glean in his field. He's given me some handfuls of
purpose. He said I can come at mealtime and eat with him, but
I don't really know. I haven't really got a real solid
relationship with him. He seems to be showing kindness
towards me. But by Ruth 4, chapter 13, if
you ask Ruth what her relationship with Boaz, she'd say, this is
my beloved and this is my friend. are ye daughters of Jerusalem."
She's not saying I don't know really what he thinks towards
me. He has shown kindness. No. There's a moving on you see.
There's a progression. And Ruth is a book of progression.
It starts off in the land of Moab and it ends up with this
union between Ruth and Boaz. This union which produced such
a blessing of Obed being born, who was the father of Jesse,
who was the father of David, who was great David, and from
David's loins came even our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, many
generations later. So we have this progression in
the book of Ruth. And I ask you tonight, Are you progressing
in your relationship to Boaz? Are you in the field? Have you
left Moab, as it were, seeing that the world cannot satisfy
the idols that this world think are good and great? You've seen
through them. You've said, that's not what satisfies. That cannot
satisfy. You've come to glean, perhaps,
in the gospel field. You've gathered some handfuls
of purpose. You've seen, as it were, you've
had kindness. You've had sweet touches under
the preaching of the gospel and the reading of God's word. And
perhaps when you're alone with God in prayer, you've had these
blessings. But Naomi says to you, my daughter,
Shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?
Don't be satisfied with what you have. In the sense that these
handfuls of purpose, these things are meant to draw you closer
to your boas. that you may grow in grace and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, that
you may have that intimacy with him, that you may be able to
say, my beloved is mine and I am his. Is that a desire to you?
Or are you content, as it were, just to be a gleaner forevermore,
and not really know that Boaz is your God, and not truly be
able to say, sit at the judgment seat of Christ, you see. There's a debt that we each have.
We're each sinners. We each come short of the glory
of God. As it were, that first kinsman is going to condemn us
because we've broken God's law. The question is, is Boaz going
to be that redeemer that says, I've purchased this one with
my own blood. I went outside the city. I was
put in that crucifixion. I was hung, as it were, in the
naked flame of God's wrath for this one. She's mine. I've purchased
her. Well, you say that's high assurance.
It is. But is it not a desire that we
should be amongst those who desire to have this? This is what we
read in the Word of God, that there is this growing in grace,
there is this coming to know Him. Now that doesn't mean that
we despise any of the earlier marks of grace that were seen
in Ruth. None of those should be despised.
And there's solemn warnings in the Bible, if I was to upset
any that have had those early marks of grace, and that I should
discourage any. No, they're lovely marks. They're
signposts that you're travelling in the right direction, but don't
cling on to the signpost, but get to the Boaz. You need a Redeemer
that will be able to stand at the last great day and say, I
purchased this one, she's my bride, I love her, I've given
my life for her, I've redeemed everything that sin has ruined
in this one's life. Have we come to the Lord and
said, we've ruined our lives? Sin has ruined us. We're lost
and ruined in the fall, but come in all our ruined state to lay
at Boaz's feet, to claim, this is my life, this is my hope,
to leave it all in Boaz's lap, to leave him to deal with it,
and to trust him that he will deal with it, and then to realise
that that other kinsman, the nearer kinsman, the one that
said, I cannot redeem it, has no longer right to accuse you
because you've been purchased, because the sum has been paid.
But Satan does not want you to know that. Satan does not want
you to know that this is what's happened. And he will constantly
try and tell you that because of this sin and because of that
sin and another sin, that then you can have no more access.
No, I'm not promoting that we should go around sinning as it
were, but what I'm saying is that there is an advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And we read in the
Bible that Satan is the accuser of the brethren. He would love
constantly to accuse us of our sin and cause us to doubt our
interest in this Boaz who has cancelled all the debt. But you
see, if you love your Boaz, Ruth would not think of how she could
possibly be a wife that could live as close in Moab as possible
and still be associated with Boaz as her husband, would she? She wouldn't be thinking, well,
how can I be as close as possible to Moab still and still be classed
as his wife? If you read the book of Ruth,
that's completely opposite to her thinking. And if we are trying
to, as it were, be a Christian, and yet be as much in Moab as
possible, as we can, and still claim to be a Christian, it's
completely ruining the type that we have here. No, we are to be
those who delight to be with Boaz, delight to do those things
which please him, delight to walk in his ways, delight to
live to God's honour and to God's glory. And then, of course, there
is this great blessing then. And then she produces this son
of Obed, who becomes such a blessing to Naomi in her old age. And
there is such a complete reversal of all the sad effects that we
have at the beginning. But this is the work of God.
This is, as I understand the Bible, restoration is what it's
about. It's about restoring that which
has been ruined by sin. He saw me ruined in the fall,
yet loved me notwithstanding all. He saved me from my lost
estate. His loving kindness, oh, how
great. But you see, Ruth needed to glean in his fields. If she'd have just taken no notice
and said, well, I'm just going to go off and go to lots of parties
and just enjoy myself and I don't care about this gleaning business,
well, it wouldn't have, as it were, worked well with Boaz,
would he? He wouldn't have thought, well, this was the sort of girl
that I would love to redeem. No, we are to run in the ways
of his commandment. We are to seek to be found amongst
his people, found gathering in that field, so that we may be
partakers. And then there was this time
when she had to go forward with her plea. Her mother-in-law encouraged
her to go to his feet, to plead, and that he would do for her
everything that she stood in need of. And we read then that
he said he would, he would do it all. And now, my daughter,
fear not. I will do to thee all that thou
requirest. And he did. He satisfied everything. And our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ has satisfied all the handwriting that was against
his church. He's purchased that church with
his own blood so that that church should be a glorious church,
having neither spot nor wrinkle, not any such thing. So let us, as we read the Bible,
as we think of the things of God, that we may be wise. I do
think we need to be wise. What I mean by that is, if we
listen to everything that our heart says and everything that
Satan says, it will stop us from walking godly. And if we listen
to what Satan says and say, well, you're a foreigner. You're a
sinner. You've got all this debt around
you. You haven't got a husband. He's gone. Where's he gone? If
God was good, where is your husband? And all those thoughts could
come into your mind. But all those thoughts and all
those facts about Ruth was the very reason why she could claim
Boaz to be her redeemer. It was the very reason. And you
see, Satan would say, well, if you're a great sinner, then,
well, you know, there's no hope. As if you're a little sinner,
you can come to the Savior. But if you're a great sinner
like you are, there's no room. But that's so contrary to the
Word of God. And we need to take Satan and say it's false. You see, Luther had to be blunt
with Satan at times. Luther had this one time, Satan
came to Luther and said, you've got so much sin, you've sinned
in this and that and the other. And he went on and on and on
and on. And it was true. It was true. Satan says a lot
of truths. He doesn't tell all the truth. It was true. Luther
had sinned in these matters, he felt. And Luther said to Satan,
have you got everything on that list? And then he said right
at the bottom, but the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanses
us. from all sin. You see, the devil
had lost his argument, hadn't he? And we need to take the devil,
we need to take, as it were, the Bible and plead what the
Bible has said. Come unto me, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden. Our sin is no obstacle. In that
sense, we are to bring our sin with repentance, of course. We're
to repent of our sin. I don't mean that we continue
in sin and just carry on like that. No, there was repentance.
They come and lay at Boaz's feet, repenting of what they'd done. and they pleaded a law that gave
them a complete right to do what they were going to do. And Boaz,
this mighty man of wealth, who was the near kinsman, and the
Lord Jesus come to this earth, and may his coming, as it were,
in Bethlehem, become to us everything. Not just that he came, that he's
just a saviour, but that he may become our saviour. and that
he may become our Redeemer, that we may put in our claim, that
we may not just stand outside, not be content to be just amongst
his maidens, although that's a good place to be, amongst his
people, gleaning the gospel field. You'd say, what could be better?
She needed to go to him, one to one, and make her claim. And
you see the Lord's people come one to one. They're to come to
him alone. They can't have another come
on their behalf. They need to come and lay at his feet, lay
their claim, and say, God be merciful to me a sinner. God
be merciful. And you see, he said that this
is the way. I will in no wise cast out. Those that come unto
me, I will in no wise cast out. You see, in John's epistles it
says, if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins. And you see, if we believe that
word and we walk it out in our lives, that honours God. You
see, if Naomi had said, I'm very humble and I don't think Boaz
would really be happy for me to do that. You see, it would
have dishonoured the laws that were given there. The law was
that redemption could be had in these circumstances. It was
for Ruth to go in and lay her claim and for Boaz to do unto
her everything she needed. And he did. And there was a great
blessed end. And so it is to those who Obey
God's commandments and come in that way, the gospel way, in
true repentance and true hatred to sin, true love to the Saviour,
and find that He is willing and He is able to save unto the uttermost
all that come unto God by Him. May the Lord add His blessing.