Turn with me again tonight to
Ruth chapter 4 if you would please. Ruth chapter 4. I want to read this whole chapter. Verse one, then went Boaz up
to the gate and set him down there. And behold, the kinsman
of whom Boaz spake came by and to whom he said, oh, such a one
turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down.
And he took 10 men of the elders of the city and said, sit ye
down here. And they sat down. And he said
unto the kinsmen, Naomi that has come again out of the country
of Moab selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's.
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 thou wilt not redeem it,
then tell me that I may know, for there is none to redeem it
beside thee, and I'm after thee. And he said, the near kinsman,
I will redeem it. Then said Boaz, what day thou
bought the field of the hand of Naomi, 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 own inheritance. Redeem thou
my right to thyself, for I cannot redeem it. 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. And Boaz said unto the elders
and to all the people, ye are my witnesses this day that I
have bought all that was a limilex and all that was chileans and
melons of the hand of Naomi. Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess,
the wife of Melon, hath 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." And all the people that were there
in the gate and the elders said, we are witnesses. The Lord make
the woman that is coming to thine house like Rachel and like Leah,
which too did build the house of Israel. And do thou worthily
and effort thou Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem. And let the house be like the
house of Phares, whom Tamar bear unto Judah of the seed, which
the Lord shall give thee of this young woman. So Boaz took Ruth,
and she was his wife. And when he went into her, the
Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son. And the women
said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee
this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel. And he shall be unto thee a restorer
of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age. For thy daughter-in-law,
which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath
borne him. And Naomi took the child, and
laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it. And the women,
her neighbors, gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to
Naomi, and they called his name Obed, and he is the father of
Jesse, the father of David. Now these are the generations
of Phares. Phares beget Hezron, and Hezron
beget Ram, and Ram beget Ammonadab, and Ammonadab beget Nashon, and
Nashon beget Salmon, and Salmon beget Boaz, and Boaz beget Obed,
and Obed beget Jesse, and Jesse beget David. Boaz became Ruth's kinsman redeemer. That's what the book of Ruth's
all about. It's about redemption. and redemption by one, a kinsman,
near a kin, who's able to redeem, who's willing to redeem, and
has the legal right to redeem. Those three things had to be
so. Now redemption, that's such a
wonderful word. Boy, especially as to one who's
been redeemed. And you know what the word redeem
means. We talked about that last time.
Even the English dictionary has the definition right. It basically
has two meanings. Redemption is the act of saving
or being saved from sin, from error or evil. And the second
definition is redemption is the action of regaining possession
of something in exchange for payment. are clearing a debt. Some synonyms for redemption
are to save. One who's redeemed is saved from
sin. It means to free. One who's redeemed is free from
the law. It means to vindicate. One who is redeemed is vindicated
by and from God's holy justice. It means to retrieve. One who
is redeemed is retrieved from the pits of hell. It means to
recover. One redeemed is recovered from
the dunghill of despair. Boy, isn't it redeemed? A wonderful
word. It means to reclaim. The redeemed
are reclaimed from the judgment of God. It means to rescue. We
all know what that means. A redeemed man or woman is rescued
from the wrath and judgment of God. It means to pay back. The redeemed one has had their
sin debt paid, and it's been paid in full. There's no debt
left. Doesn't have a balance. It means
to pay off. The wages of sin against us has
been paid in full. It means to clear. Cleared from
the charges that have been justly brought against us by our sin. It means to fulfill. When with
the redeemed, God's law is fulfilled. It means to discharge. All accusations
against the redeemed are discharged, not guilty. That's the verdict. It means to accomplish a perfect
righteousness that God will accept is accomplished by Christ in
Him alone. We certainly didn't accomplish
it. There's none that are righteous, no, not one. It means to honor. My, my, Christ has honored God's
law and God's justice for the redeemed. And it means to satisfy. The Lord Jesus has satisfied
the holy justice of God for the redeemed of the Lord. And that's
the subject of this small book of Ruth, and that's why God's
people love it. They love this book. I've had
several people ask me about some other preachers. We often talk
to each other about what we're preaching, and they say, what
do you talking about tonight or preaching all night. I said,
I'm still in the Book of Ruth. Oh, don't you just love the Book
of Ruth? Yes, I do. Yes, I do. And this isn't the
subject of the Bible. Redemption. This is the subject
of God's Word. How is the guilty made innocent? How are those in bondage to sin
made free from the law? They're redeemed. It's been paid. The debt's been paid in full.
Wages of sin is death and the debt's been paid in full. And
all God's people love it. Clayton said to me a week or
so ago that the only thing that he didn't like about the book
of Ruth was that it was too short. And I said, I agree, only four
chapters. Wish there was four or forty
more. But there he is. This whole book is about redemption. There'll be some things you hear
tonight that you heard last study, and there'll be some things that
you didn't hear last week. But one thing's for sure, and
for certain, you're going to hear the story of redemption
again. And that's all God's people care
about. Tell me once again about how Christ redeemed me with His
precious blood. And that's the story that every
child of God loves. It's the story of redemption.
Every believer loves to hear of their Redeemer. Because He
redeemed them. Every enlightened sinner rejoices
in being redeemed. They did nothing to be redeemed.
And the glorious thing about that is that they can do nothing
to be lost. Because it's all based upon what
Christ has done for us. It's all based upon His perfect
righteousness that was imputed to us. I can't do anything to
be saved. I can't do anything to be lost.
And if I can be lost after Christ shedding His blood for me, then
the Lord Jesus Christ is a failure. And we know that's not so. So
rejoice in the fact that salvation is of the Lord and salvation
is forever. Yes. I believe once saved, always
saved. When the Lord Jesus Christ saved
me, you better believe it. You better believe it. Your life
depends on it. Christ being come, a high priest
of good things by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained, are you ready for this? Eternal redemption
for us. It's called eternal redemption. It never ceases. Redemption by
the near kinsmen was a legal matter. Now, Christ imputing
His righteousness is more than that, but it first and foremost
was a legal matter. Part of that redemption, as we
read several times in reading the whole of this chapter, is
that the seed of the redeemed must continue. the man that passed,
his seed must continue, his ancestry must continue. The kinsman redeemer
must marry the widow of the deceased and raise up seed in his name. And in order for redemption to
be accomplished, three basic things must occur. First, redemption
required the restoration of the inheritance of the impoverished
relative. Secondly, redemption required
that the brother who had been enslaved through poverty sold
himself into slavery be completely freed and set at liberty. And
thirdly, redemption required that the redeemer marry his dead
relative's widow and raise up lineage in His name. Lineage
means ancestry. You know, we have this thing
today, ancestry.com, and all these different things where
you can, you know, send off and get your, well, that's talking
about ancestry. And that's what Boaz did for
Ruth. Ruth didn't have any children
by Maylon. And that's what Christ did for
those who are His. We were barren and could not
produce life within. Our Lord redeemed the inheritance. We lost an atom. You know what
we lost an atom? Everything. Everything. Everything that God had given
us. Everything that we are, were, liked, first and foremost, were
dead in trespasses and sin. That's what we lost. And our
Lord redeemed our inheritance that we lost. Stand fast, therefore,
in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not
entangled again with the yoke of bondage. And He raised up
seed, He raised up fruit in the name of the dead, the redeemed,
by their union established in our marriage to Him. What a picture
of our redemption this is, Boaz and Ruth. Tim James, in his study
of the Book of Ruth, stated that because redemption is a matter
of law, it must also be a matter of public record. That's what
we see here when Boaz go into the gate. That's where matters
of the law were settled. He said, every facet involved
in redemption must be publicly done before witnesses so that
once accomplished, you can never be questioned or nullified. You
know, if two people make an agreement between themselves and nobody
hears it, there are no witnesses. Well, further down the road,
one would say, I never said that. The other would say, yes, you
did. And there's no one to witness, no one to give proof to. So this
was given before witnesses. And when our Lord Jesus Christ
redeemed us on Calvary's Cross, the whole world at that time
was aware of it. Now the fourth chapter of Ruth
makes this very clear. In verse 1, Boaz goes to the
gate of the city where legal matters were dealt with, and
he called the New York kinsmen to sit down. In verse 10, Boaz
took ten men of the elders of the city, judges they were called,
and had them to sit down also. And then Boaz began to make the
case for Ruth's redemption. I love just thinking about that.
In verse 4, Boaz stated before these witnesses, he said, and
I thought to advertise thee, saying, buy it before the inhabitants
and before the elders of my people. If thou will redeem it, redeem
it. But if thou will not redeem it, then tell me that I may know,
for there is none to redeem it beside thee, and I'm after thee. And he said, I will redeem it.
Now you see, this transaction is very, very important. It's
urgent. Matter of fact, it's a matter
of life and death, and the glory of God is at stake. To God and
His people, God's glory is the only thing that matters. This book is about the glory
of God and the salvation of His people. And God gets all the
glory. And that's why God's not gonna
share His glory with another. Because He gets it all. This
is an important, important matter. 1 Samuel 12, 22. I love this
verse. For the Lord will not forsake
His people. Why? For His great name's sake. Because it had pleased the Lord
to make you His people. For His great name's sake means
for His glory. It pleased the Lord to make you
His people. That means it pleased the Lord
to redeem you. And that's the only way He can
make you His people. is by redeeming you. And this
is one of the true ways, dear friends, to distinguish between
the true gospel and a false one. God's glory is at the forefront
of God's holy law and strict justice being fulfilled and satisfied. If the message you hear that
men call the gospel, and they call about anything the gospel
anymore, but if it doesn't exalt God and put man in his place,
it's not the gospel. If it exalts man and not God,
it's not the gospel. False religion really has become
no more than God making salvation possible. I just hate to hear
that. and with the sinner participating and helping to assist God in
their salvation. That's just flat blasphemy. It
really is. And I ran across some titles
to the top-selling self-help books on the market today. How
to let God solve your problems. If I can let God solve my problems,
then I can solve my own problems. How to strengthen your faith. I can't strengthen my faith.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Faith is
a gift of God, just the same as grace is. If God doesn't give
us faith and grace, we'll never have it. Taking the limits off God, how
are we gonna do that? He don't have any limits on Him.
God will make it up to you. Become a better you. You're stronger
than you think. You see how the world has dealt
with the Word of God and the God of the Word? You can tell
by these titles that men write. These are best-selling books,
too. They're hot off the press, and
people buying them as quick as they come off. It's made God
to be the beggar and the servant, and man to be the master and
the Lord. Salvation is not, I repeat, not
a cooperative effort between us and God. Salvation is of the
Lord. Redemption is an absolute legal
necessity. Now listen, it's intentional,
purposed, particular, and limited. The glory of God shines forth
only in its success. Redemption's a matter of life
and death. Redemption cannot be given unless God's justice
is upheld. A holy God requires full payment
of sin. If not, He ceases to be holy
and He ceases to be just. And thankfully, the redeemed
has no part in it. You can sigh with relief. You don't have to do anything.
It's been done for you. Well, I have to believe, yeah,
and you won't do that unless God enables you to believe. Boaz stands at the city gate
and he's there pleading Ruth's cause. Ruth's not there. She's
not even at the city gate. She's back resting. That's what she's doing. She's
got confidence that Boaz is going to take care of it for her. Do
you have confidence that your Boaz is going to take care of
matters for you? Boy, I do. It ain't always been
that way, but I'm learning, Delaine, I sure am. Her substitute and Redeemer stands
at the city gate. You see, as her substitute and
Redeemer, it's His cause too. He's pleading her cause, but
it's His cause too. If Christ did not redeem those
He intended to redeem, then God's not glorified, the law's not
honored, and redemption's not accomplished. If Christ intended
to redeem all and won His laws, just won, then Christ is a failure,
with the same results, no redemption, no honor, no glory. God's law
and justice must be legally dealt with and it must be dealt with
publicly before witnesses. Redemption is done according
to the law. It's done according to the law for all to see. And when Christ redeemed his
people, it was necessary that the law be fulfilled. No question
could ever arise as to the legality of that transaction. A law must
declare that every requirement has been met. Every single one. Not only kept, but kept perfectly. No charge can be laid against
the redeemed. None. And after the transaction
is made, the law must walk away completely satisfied, completely
kept, completely honored, or there can't be any redemption.
But there is, because it has. That's why Paul could write,
for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes. Jesus Christ fulfilled and finished
the law and satisfied God's justice in our room instead. And when
he hung on that cross for all to see, he said, it's finished.
And God said, yes, it's enough. I'm satisfied. And the law was
fulfilled and the guilty go free. Mercy said, you let that sinner
go free. I don't understand how false
religion can be so caught up in the Ten Commandments and yet
not even say anything about the necessity of the law being kept
in order for there to be redemption. You know, the church in which
I grew up, they had a big old plaque. with the Ten Commandments
right up front for all to see. Yet they never, never said anything
about the Ten Commandments that must be perfectly kept in order
to be saved. The Ten Commandments were never
meant to be kept, and people get mad at you for saying that,
but they were given to show us that we couldn't keep them. They were our schoolmaster. Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and spirit.
I can't do that. You need a Redeemer. You need
a Redeemer. Thou shalt not kill. I've murdered
in my heart. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
But you've lost it everyone. I can't keep it. You need a Redeemer. You've got one if you want one.
That's right. You do. Our Lord accomplished
His redemption in full view of all upon Calvary's cross. You
men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which
God did by Him in the midst of you. As you yourselves also know,
Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, you've taken and with wicked hands have crucified and slain.
Paul stood before King Agrippa one day, and he said, King, you
know of these things before whom I speak freely, for I'm persuaded
that none of these things were hidden from him, for this thing
wasn't done in a corner. You know about it, and everybody
knows about it. God darkened the sun. Three hours
of darkness. God caused the earth to quake.
God made the graves to open. Dead people were walking around.
God ripped rocks in two. The veil in the temple was ripped
from top to the bottom. These things give witness to
the hour of our redemption. We also see from our text that
the law pictured by the near kinsmen reveals its inability
to save. That's so clear when you read
these verses. By taking off his shoe, the closer
kinsman admits that he's not only unwilling, but that he's
unable to redeem. Yeah, the law of God is holy.
The law of God is just and good. But before it can embrace a sinner
in redemption, he said it'd admire my justice. It'd admire my inheritance. It would admire my justice. Now listen closely. I'm gonna
tell you something you already know. The law can only identify
define and expose sin. That's all it can do. It can
only see to it that the sentence and the judgment be executed
according to the unbending, inflexible justice of a thrice holy God. All the law can do is point to
you and say, guilty, guilty, guilty. It can't save because
it's not equipped with mercy and grace. The law of God requires
a price, but the law of God doesn't have the price. The law of God
can't pay. Now, we know that whatever things
the law sayeth, it sayeth to them who are under the law, that
every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty
before God. But you know why? Because all
the world is guilty. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his God's sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin." There you go. It was given to show us our sin.
Paul said, I wouldn't know what it was to lust if the law hadn't
said, don't covet. Paul said, I was alive without
the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.
What does that mean? I, you know, I didn't know I
was guilty of the law until there was a law that showed me I was
guilty. for what the law could not do,
and that it was weak through the flesh. God, sending His own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh. Now listen, if you and I think
that we can come to the law for justification, for redemption,
for sanctification, we're going to find the law plucking his
shoe off. Can't do it. Not willing to do
it. Not able to do it. But when this near kinsman plucked
off his shoe, Boaz was there to redeem. You think about that. You think about that. Christ
came to do what the law could never do. And he gladly redeems. He delights in showing mercy.
The law is holy. We're unholy. There can't be
any fellowship with darkness and light. But the Redeemer must
have a relationship with the redeemed. There must be a marriage
because the purpose of redemption is to raise up seed to the dead
and must be legally and justly done according to God's holy
law. Look at verse 13. So Boaz took Ruth and she was
his wife. Oh, you think about that as a
picture. The Lord Jesus took you, and
you became his wife. And when he went into her, the
Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son. So here we see
Boaz as the husband. He's a picture of our heavenly
husband. We see Ruth as the bride, and we see Naomi as the mother. For as Christ is our husband,
Every believer makes up his bride and the church is described in
scripture as a mother who cares for God's children. And Boaz
dealt lawfully with the near kinsman before the judges. And in a manner of speaking,
the near kinsman was the lawful husband. The law was our lawful
husband. You see, by our fall in Adam,
the law had first claim on us to condemn us and to curse us,
the near kinsmen. But because Boaz dealt with the
law for Ruth and settled the matter lawfully, he was legally
allowed to take Ruth to be his wife. That's exactly what Christ
did for us. He fulfilled the law so that
He could take us to be His bride. God couldn't just sweep our sin
under the rug and say, well, okay, you know, I know He meant
well. You know, I know He's sinned.
I know He fell just a little short. We'll let it go this time. God can't do that and be God.
No, sir. God cannot. Not and be a just
and holy God. Before the judgment seat of God,
our Lord and Savior lawfully fulfilled the law. And in doing
so, He finished and He settled the matter of righteousness for
us. How righteous am I? As righteous
as my Lord Jesus. Well, that's blasphemy. No, it's
not. It's the truth. So now Christ lawfully takes
those he redeemed to be his lawful bride through regeneration and
faith. You know, there are some who
teach that if you're God's elect, that you can be saved apart from
hearing the gospel or believing in Christ. If you're one of God's
elect, you don't ever have to hear the gospel. God will save
you out on your fishing boat. That's a lie from hell. It pleased
the Lord by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
And I don't believe anybody's hearing any preaching out on
the fishing boat. Do you? No? I don't think so. All who Christ saves will be
born again of the Spirit of God. made holy by the sanctification
of the Spirit. And they'll be given faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ as their only redemption and their only
Redeemer. Our Lord told Nicodemus, he said,
marvel not that I said unto you, you must be born again. And I put emphasis on that word
must, you must be, you must be. How are men and women born again
of his own will? Beget he us with the word of
truth. Right here, that's it. That's
the only way you're gonna be saved. Is by hearing this word
preached. That's why we give preaching
the preeminence. That's the most important thing
that we do. Most important thing in our life. We ought to give
it more attention than we do. We so should. How are men and women born again?
In Jesus Christ, who of God has made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. He's made unto us all that we
need. He's all that we need. Without
faith, it's impossible to please God. You cannot please God. It's
impossible to please Him without believing and trusting in the
Lord Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
shall not perish. Not the whole world, no. Whoever
believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. And
Prince Boaz, in love, he went before the judgment seat on Ruth's
behalf so that he could lawfully marry her and bring forth children.
I'll say it one more time. This is a matter of the law.
It's part of being redeemed. That's why Christ went to the
cross and dealt with the law for His people so that He could
lawfully send us the Spirit and give us life, and make us to
bear fruit in, by, and through Him. Listen, the branches that
we are, if we're not connected to the vine, the Lord Jesus Christ,
we're not gonna bring forth any fruit. You go out to your apple
tree or pear tree or whatever, and you cut a branch off, and
you see how long that fruit lives. I want you to listen closely
to a couple of scriptures that I've written down here, and I
want you to notice the word that and because as I read them to
you. I'll emphasize them. First one is Galatians 3.13.
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth
on a tree, that, this is why, that's what the word means, that,
this is why, the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles
through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of
the Spirit through faith. Galatians 4, 4 and 6. But when
the fullness of time has come, God sent forth His Son, made
of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under
the law, that, this is why, we might receive the adoption of
sons. And because, this is why, ye are sons, God hath sent forth
the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
2 Thessalonians 2, 13, and 14. We are bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because this is
why God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto
he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Just as Boaz took Ruth to be
his wife, now all who are born of Christ's Spirit are lawfully
Christ's bride. And they bear fruit by His working
in us. I don't think I'll ever read
Romans chapter 7, the first four verses there ever again without
thinking of Boaz. and Ruth and the near kinsmen. I want you to turn there with
me and I'll hurry. Romans chapter seven, hold your
place in the Ruth. We'll come back to it. But in
light of the things that we've said, I want you to see these
four verses and tell me that it's not the same with you. Romans
chapter seven, verse one. No, you not, brethren, for I
speak to them that know the law, how that the law hath dominion
over a man as long as he liveth. For the woman which hath a husband
is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth. But if
the husband be dead, she's loose from the law of her husband.
So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another
man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she's
free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she
be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also
are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that you
should be married to another, even to him who is raised from
the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. In Christ, the law is dead to
us, making us freely legal to marry
another and bring forth fruit. Now remain here in chapter 7
and let me read verse 13 back in Ruth to you. Stay right where
you're at. Verse 13 again. So Boaz took Ruth, and she was
his wife, and he went in unto her. And the Lord gave her conception,
and she bare a son. So secondly, we see Ruth as the
wife. Now, let's don't forget about
where Ruth came from. Ruth was a stranger in Israel.
She was a Moabite. She was a mercy beggar. She didn't
have anything that would commend her to Boaz, did she? She didn't
have anything. She gleaned in his field, totally
upon his mercy and grace to her. But he took notice of her. Now by His grace, she's his wife. And all that he possessed now
belongs to her. She didn't have nothing. Now
she's got it all. Boy, that's our story. That is
the story of every true child of God saved by God's grace. We're strangers, but God chose
us. We were bound to the law, but
Christ redeemed us. He did so by His precious blood.
We were spiritually dead, but God quickened us and gave us
life. He quickened us together with
Christ by the Holy Spirit. Now we possess all that God and
His Christ possess. Wasn't that good news? So through Boaz, the Lord purchased
fruit produce fruit in Ruth, and through Christ the Lord produces
fruit in us. Listen, I'm not saved because
I got any fruit. But the fruit that I have now,
if I have any, and I hope I do, is because I'm in Christ and
He saved me. It's not the cause, it's the
result of my salvation. We could produce no fruit of
ourselves, no spiritual life, only death. No faith, only unbelief. No love, only enmity. No good
works, only sinful, wicked, filthy rags. But in Christ. Look at verse 5, Romans 7. That's
why I kept you here. For when we were in the flesh,
Motions of sins which were by the law did work in our members
to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from
the law, that being dead wherein we were held, that we should
serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. You see, all our spiritual fruit
is produced in us as Christ brought it. Let me read a couple more
verses. Psalm 113, 9. He maketh the barren
woman to keep house and to be a joyful mother of children.
Praise ye the Lord. Psalm 127, 3. Lo, children are
an inheritance of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his
reward. This morning as I was thinking
about this story once again, I found myself thinking about
Orpah. You remember her? Ruth chapter
one, the other daughter-in-law. You know, her name is never mentioned
again in the scripture. Just in Ruth chapter one, never
mentioned again. Orpah went back to that cursed
land of Moab, and she sought a husband there, and she sought
rest there. She didn't find it. She may have
found a husband, but she didn't find any rest. But in Ruth, we see that the
sinner who forsakes all for Christ shall find more than all with
Him. What a lesson this teaches us. Now back in Ruth chapter
four, look at verse 14. And the women said unto Naomi,
bless me the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without
a kinsman. Boy, you're a blessed woman,
Naomi. That his name may be famous in Israel. Who's that talking
about? They're talking about Boaz. Naomi
pitches the church of God. God has not left his church without
a kinsman redeemer. God sent his only begotten son
to be just that. We are the church of God purchased
with his own blood, the blood of our kinsman redeemer. God
did it so that his name might be famous in Israel. Verse 15,
and he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life. Boy, isn't that
what Christ is to us? And a nourisher of thine own
age. For thy daughter-in-law, which
loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath
borne him, and Naomi. took the child, and laid it in
her bosom, and became nurse unto it. Isn't that what the church
does? We take Christ, and we hold Him
close to our heart, and we say, don't ever leave us. Don't ever
leave us. Don't ever leave us. Christ,
our kinsman redeemer, is a restorer of life, and He is a nourisher
of our old age. Our God says in Isaiah 46 verse
3, hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of
the house of Israel, which are born by me from the belly, which
are carried from the womb. And even to your old age, I am
he. And even to your oar hairs, your
gray, your white hair, picture an old age as we talked about
this past Sunday, will I carry you. I have made and I will bear,
even I will carry and will deliver you. Friends, like Naomi, we
at first, we sought to nourish our life by our own hand in this
world. I don't know what Elimelech and
Naomi were thinking when the Lord sent a famine there to Israel
and they went to Moab. But like Naomi, God stripped
us of all that we had. that we ever thought we had.
And He brought us to see that He shall be the nourisher of
our life. He's the one who nourishes us.
That's what God does for every believer. And by God's grace
and sovereign provision, Christ uses the church of God as a mother
to take care of every child that God produces. Just like Naomi
took care of that child. Naomi took the child. I can just
see her. And she laid it in her bosom,
and she became a nurse to it. That's what we do. We nurse the
Word of God. We see that it's preached correctly. We seek the Lord for a message
from Him. And we tell sinners the truth
about who God is, and the truth about who the sinner is. And
we say, be reconciled to God. It's a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God. And it's all for Christ's
sake. That's what I leave you with.
The ultimate reason for all that Naomi did for Ruth was for Christ. It was because God determined
that Christ would come and be born through Boaz and Ruth. Isn't
that amazing? Verse 18, now these are the generations
of Phares. Phares begot Hesron, and Hesron
begat Ram, and Ram begat Amenadab, and Amenadab begat Nashon, and
Nashon begat Salmon, and Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed,
and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David. And we know that
Christ is the son of David. Each of these names were called
and they were kept by God for Christ's sake. So it is with
every believer. Kept by the power of God for
Christ's sake. We're chosen, we're redeemed,
we're regenerated, preserved, and we're blessed. Why? For Christ's
sake. No other reason. Christ says,
God has forgiven you. Why? For Christ's sake. That's
why we take comfort in knowing that all the promises of God
are in Him. And are there yea and in Him
to the glory of God. Only in Him, only in Him, only
in Him. What a redemption we have in
Christ our Redeemer. It cannot and will not ever be
taken from you. Now you, you hold that near your
bosom, near your heart, and you think of Christ and you rejoice
in the fact that this gracious redemption can never be taken
from you.