Turn with me tonight to Ruth
chapter 2, if you would please. Continuing our study in the book
of Ruth, we come to Ruth chapter 2. Ruth chapter 2, verse 1. And Naomi had a kinsman of her
husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and
his name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabitess said unto
Naomi, let me now go to the field and glean ears of corn after
him and whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her,
go my daughter. And she went and came and gleaned
in the field after the reapers and her hap was to light on a
part of the field belonging unto Boaz. who was of the kindred
of Elimelech. Now, I've said this before, since
we started this study, that the central figure, the main character
of the book of Ruth is not Ruth. It's Boaz, the kinsman redeemer,
the central figure, the main character of the whole book of
Scriptures. The Bible is the Lord Jesus Christ,
the believer's kinsman redeemer. The book of Ruth is a picture
of how God saves wretched sinners and brings them unto himself. Now the word redeem means to
buy back again. It means to purchase, to take
possession of. In Galatians 4, verse 15, it
means to rescue from loss. That's exactly what the Lord's
done when He redeemed us. He rescued us from loss. It means to redeem them, to rescue
them that were under the law that we, His people, His elect,
might receive the adoption of sons and daughters. In Titus
chapter 2, the word redeem means to ransom, to pay off, to make
payment, release, free, deliver, rescue, restore. I love those
adjectives because that's what the Lord Jesus did for me and
for all that trust in Him. He saved us, He delivered us,
redeemed us from all our iniquity. When Matthew 121 says, Thou shalt
call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. That's important to understand
that that's what He saved us from, our sin. That which condemned
us before Him. Speaking of his chosen people,
God told Hosea, he said, I will ransom them from the power of
the grave, and I will redeem them from death. Now, there's
a time appointed for each of us to die, and after that, the
judgment. This is speaking of that second
death, that eternal deliverance from death, separation from God.
The psalmist wrote, and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. The Lord told Jeremiah, and I
will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will
redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible. What could be more
terrible than eternal condemnation? And that's what the Lord Jesus
our kinsman redeemer has delivered us from, the terrible. God told
Moses, he said, wherefore saying to the children of Israel, I
am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens
of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage,
and I will redeem you. And there the word redeem actually
means to be next to pen. to perform the part of a near
kinsman redeemer. And he says, I'm going to redeem
you with a stretched out arm and with great judgments. And
we know that's what the Lord did. He sent one plague after
the other. And Pharaoh, who at one time
said, I know not the Lord, neither will I obey Him, in the end said,
go. And the people of Egypt walked
up and just started handing them things and said, take this with
you. That's what it is to be redeemed of the Lord. He said,
I will take you to me for a people and I'll be to you a God. That's
an overwhelming thought, isn't it? which bringeth you out from
under the burns of the Egyptians, and I'll bring you into the land
concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac,
and to Jacob, and I'll give it you for inheritance. I am the
Lord." He's able to give it. He's willing to give it. Jesus
Christ is the chosen sinner's near kinsman redeemer. Remember
what Job said. Job said, I know that my redeemer
liveth. and he shall stand at the latter
day upon the earth." That word redeemer there is the same Hebrew
word. It means near, next, kinfolk,
one who can purchase, ransom, redeem, buy back, one who can
marry and redeem his kinsman's widow. And that's what the story
of Ruth is all about. Solomon said, the wisest man
other than Christ that ever lived. He said in Proverbs 23, 11, for
their Redeemer is mighty, full of strength. That's what the
name Boaz mean. In him is strength, full of strength. He shall plead their cause with
thee. Oh, what a comforting thought
to know that I have a kinsman Redeemer at the right hand of
God, Luan, that is pleading my cause for me. How can I plead my cause? I'm
guilty. But Christ, who made me perfect,
who fulfilled the law for me, who satisfied God's holy justice
for me, He pleads my cause, and everything is all right between
God and me because of Him. Thus saith the Lord, the King
of Israel, and His Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. I am the first,
I am the last, and beside me there is no God. We have God
pleading to God, our cause. Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer,
and he that formed thee from the womb. I am the Lord that
maketh all things and stretcheth forth the heavens alone, that
spreadeth abroad the earth by myself. That's our kinsman Redeemer. He can do anything. He can do
everything. On and on, over and over again
in the scriptures, God's word speaks about the Redeemer and
his redemption. Verse 1 again, and Naomi had
a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family
of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. I want you to hold your
place here. Turn back to Leviticus chapter
25 with me. Leviticus chapter 25, verse 25. It's important for us to see
that God's law here provided this kinsman-redeemer. There's
no wonder that the word very often in the New Testament means
just that, next of kin. And we'll see why. Leviticus
chapter 25, verse 25. It says, If thy brother be waxen
poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any
of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which
his brother sold. and that the man have none to
redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it, then let him count
the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto
the man to whom he sold it, that he may return unto his possession."
Now this was God's law concerning those who fell under hard times. God made a way for that man to
recover what he had lost. Now, we don't have any laws much
like that today. Today, if you borrow against
something that you own or borrow money to purchase something that
you want, like a home or whatever, a car, the lender puts a lien
on it. And if you can't repay that loan,
you know what happens. The bank or lender has a legal
right to possess that or repossess it, and it becomes theirs. But let's say that someone goes
to a pawn shop, and we all know what a pawn shop is, and they
pawn, which that word means deposits or pledges, a possession of theirs. And they receive money for it.
They give the broker an item. He gives them money in return. And they can later go back and
redeem that possession back. Now, they pay a price that has
been lawfully determined, it's been set, and it's been agreed
upon by the two parties when the item was pledged. And if
he can pay that price in full, he can redeem back the item.
The only one who can redeem it is the one who pawned it if they're
able. But if they're not, then whoever
is their lawful representative can redeem it for them. In other
words, if I pawned something and I couldn't pay it and I had
a legal representative or my wife or maybe a child or someone,
they could go redeem it for me. that particular relative or legal
representative can lawfully and legally redeem it. That was the
part of a kinsman redeemer. God declared in His law that
there is one who has the right to redeem and He is the one who
is near of kin. But sometimes a man became so
poor that he had to sell himself. He didn't have anything else
to sell but himself. Look down at verse 47 here in
Leviticus 25. Verse 47, it says, And if a sojourner
or a stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth
by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner
by thee, or to the stock of the stranger's family, after that
he is sold, he may be redeemed again. One of his brethren may
redeem him, either his uncle, or his uncle's son may redeem
him, or any that is not akin unto him of his family may redeem
him, or if he be able, he may redeem himself. And this is what
I want you to see. I want you to see the spiritual
picture here. You and I are the ones who have
become so poor that we've sold ourselves, and we've sold ourselves
under sin. And this applies to every son
and daughter of Adam. The question is, can we redeem
ourselves? Well, if we had something to
offer and something to pay, we could. But we don't. We don't
have anything to offer God. We have nothing that God will
accept. And many today seem to believe
that they can. But none of us have the ability
to do so. Who can redeem them? One of near
kin. When I'm near can God gave the
law the kinsmen Redeemer to teach us that very thing Psalm 49 says
this they that trust in their wealth and boast themselves in
the multitude of their riches None of them can by any means
redeem his brother nor give to God a ransom for him now one
sinner cannot redeem another sinner and Nor can a sinner redeem
themselves. Why? Because all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. How then are sinners redeemed? By, through, and in Jesus Christ,
our near Kinsman Redeemer. And Romans 3.25 tells us just
that. Being justified by His grace,
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, by, through,
and in Him. It's by His grace. It's through
His redemption, through His work, what He did for us, the keeping
of God's law, the satisfying of God's justice. It's in Christ
Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission,
the passing over of sins. Now there are three things required
to be a Redeemer. Kinship, ability, and willingness. Kinship, ability, and willingness. Boaz was near a kin to Ruth. Boaz was qualified to redeem.
He met the qualifications to redeem Ruth. Jesus Christ is
kin to all God's elect people. He took on kinship with His people
when He took our nature to die in our room instead. He didn't
take on the nature of Adam's fleshly seed. He took on the
nature of Abraham's spiritual seed. And Boaz, secondly, was
able to redeem. He was a wealthy, mighty man,
it says. Boaz means, as I've already told
you, in hymnistry. The Lord Jesus Christ, dear friends,
is able. My, is He able. Christ has the
ability to redeem. Well, He's full of wealth and
power. The whole world and the fullness
thereof belongs to Him. It's all His. He's full of wealth
and power. Being both God and man makes
Him able. We're unable. We don't have the
ability. The Lord Jesus said, You cannot
come to Me that you might have life. You don't have the ability
to come. He's able to save. He's able
to redeem. To the uttermost, the Scripture
says. Completely. Fully. Those who come to God
by Him. And thirdly, as we will see,
Boaz was willing to redeem. Christ willingly came to earth
to redeem His people from their sin. Everything that Christ does
for His people, His elect, He does willingly and voluntarily. That's what makes Him God. He's
never done anything for us that He did not willingly and voluntarily
do. That's what makes Him sovereign
and makes Him a sovereign God. Christ willingly took on flesh
and bone. He willingly took on the likeness
of sinful flesh. But He knew no sin. He simply
took on the likeness of it. Christ willingly was made under
the law. The very law that He gave, the
very law that He wrote, He willingly was made under the law. The very
law He kept, He kept willingly. He willingly satisfied God's
holy justice. Somebody had to keep the law,
and somebody, according to the law, which says the wages of
sin is death, had to die. Our sin is just not... God doesn't
just sweep it under a rug. Sin's got to be dealt with. The
law requires it. And God being a holy and just
God requires it. So, somebody's got to pay for
sin. Our near kinsman Redeemer did. And He did so for the joy that
was set before Him. He endured the cross, despising
the shame, He did so. Jesus Christ is His people's
Kinsman Redeemer. So we see again the things that
God solemnly does to draw His elect to Christ. That's why this
is such a beautiful story. God caused Ruth to desire His
grace. God caused you to desire His
grace. He sure didn't desire it before
He did. Only God can do that. He does
that with all His people. Verse 2, look. And Ruth the Moabitess
said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field and glean ears of
corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said
unto her, Go my daughter. Now, when Ruth here says, let
me now go to the field and glean after him, in whose sight I shall
find grace, she wasn't speaking specifically of Boaz. She hadn't
been made aware of Boaz yet. The word him in verse 2 is italicized. It means it was added from the
original translation. Here, this is speaking of whatever
hymn, or she's speaking of whatever hymn according to the law that
might show her grace. Verse 1, which tells of the mighty
Boaz, was written by Samuel, the writer of the book of Ruth.
Samuel is telling the readers of this book about Boaz. This is not Naomi telling Ruth
who he is. Naomi doesn't tell Ruth about
Boaz until later. As a matter of fact, look down
at, back in Ruth chapter 2, look down at verse 19 and 20. Ruth 2, 19 and 20, And her mother-in-law
Naomi said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to-day, and where
wroughtest thou? Blessed be he that did take knowledge
of thee. Naomi didn't know where she was
gleaning. And she showed her mother-in-law
with whom she had wrought and said, The man's name with whom
I wrought today is Boaz. And Naomi said unto her daughter-in-law,
Blessed be he of the Lord who hath not left off his kindness
to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The
man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen. Ruth did
not choose to go into Boaz's field. Why do men and women today
think they can choose God? We don't choose to accept Jesus. I had a man that I've known for
some time, got saved, got religion. It's obvious when you talk to
him. And over and over again, saw him recently, and over and
over again, he said unto me, you know, since I accepted Jesus,
since I've accepted Jesus as my personal Savior. We don't
choose Him. He chooses us. He accepted us. He chose us and accepted us. Ruth just simply went into a
field in Bethlehem, just a field that belonged to one of the men
of the city. She didn't know who. In which the law of God
purposed to help the poor and needy, and that's what she was.
The law of God allowed poor and needy people to go behind the
reapers and to pick up that which fell to the ground. That's what
she did. Verse 3 says, as she gleaned
in the field after the reaper, she saw the workers reefing in
this particular field. And according to the law of God,
she gleaned where they bound up the corn. That which fell
was left. It was left. She picked up. She
didn't know until later that it was Boaz's field. But God
did. And we call that sovereign grace. This religious world talks a
lot about grace, but they reveal in their speech that they really
don't have a clue as to what true grace is. The religious
men and women of this world, and even those who aren't religious,
naturally think that God's grace finds some value and finds some
virtue in them, and then shows them grace. You listen to folks talk and
explain what they believe grace to be, and you'll agree with
that. That's what they think it is.
But the very definition of grace itself says otherwise. Grace
means unmerited favor. It's undeserved favor and kindness. Grace is a divinely given gift. Paul said, for by grace are you
saved through faith. That's not of yourself, it's
not of works, lest any man should boast. It's the gift, the gift,
the gift of God. It's not based on anything in
or done by the recipient. It'd cease to be grace if it
was. And that's what election is. I don't know why folks have
problems with election. It's a gift determined by God,
not based upon any good or evil that we've done. for the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth. And it was said unto her, the
elder shall serve the younger. And it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. You know, that's
what folks will say every time you talk about election. Well,
that's not fair. Is there unrighteousness with
God? No. For He saith to mercy, I
will have mercy on whom I'll have mercy, and I'll have compassion
on whom I'll have compassion. That's God's prerogative. So
then, so then, it's not of him that willeth, nor of him that
runneth, but of God that shall with mercy. God is going to bring
you to his free gift of grace. That's what he did to Ruth. There
wasn't no sign out there in front that said Boaz's Field. She went
to glean and then she finds out it was Boaz's Field. Ruth left
Moab. God did that. He bringing her
to His grace. God gave her a love for Naomi. God gave her a love for Naomi's
God. This is a picture of God drawing
His people to Himself. It was then that Ruth learned
some valuable lessons. First she learned that she was
poor. You remember when God showed
you you was poor? I'm not talking about how much
money you have in a bank account. I'm talking about poor in spirit.
Spiritually bankrupt. Nothing to offer God that He'd
accept. The poor in spirit are not looking
for an enhancement in their life. I've heard people say, well,
everything's been going good for me, and I just thought being
a Christian would be an additive thing. It'd be an enhancement
to my life, make my life better. Well, it's not looking for an
enhancement in life. It's looking for life itself.
Ruth didn't go to Bethlehem because she was hungry. Now, she may
have been hungry, but she went to Bethlehem because she loved
Naomi. We've already looked at that.
She went to Bethlehem because she disowned her former life,
her former gods. Her testimony makes no mention
of physical bread. You can look back in Ruth 1,
she doesn't say anything about that bread. She didn't say what
she said because her belly was empty. She said what she said
because her heart was full. The Lord told some who followed
Him, He said, barely, barely, I say unto you, seek me, not
because you saw the miracles that I've done, but because you
did eat of the loaves and were filled. That's not what Ruth
did. Ruth didn't come to Bethlehem
for the love of bread, but because of her love for the source of
bread. She heard how the Lord had brought
bread to Bethlehem. It was not for the bread that
she came, it was for the one who brought it. She didn't profess
to Naomi, your bread shall be my bread. No, she said, your
God shall be my God. Your people shall be my people.
Her profession was about God. She was not aware that God had
chosen her into salvation. She was not aware that she would
one day be the great grandmother of David, King David, from whom
the Lord Jesus would come. She didn't know that. She was
simply doing what sinners who are sought out do. She was seeking the Lord. She's
a beautiful picture of one who needs Christ. Ruth's hope was
a singular hope. Her hope was a kinsman redeemer,
even though at the time she didn't even know it. When was you saved,
Brother David? I can't give you a date, but
I do know in the eyes of God and in the purpose of God, I
was saved from the foundation of the world before I've ever
done any good or evil as we read a moment ago. That the purpose
of God according to election, His choosing might stand. Not
of works, but of God. And then I was saved in time
when I heard the Gospel and God called me by His grace. And I
said, that's what I need. Somebody's told me the truth
about who God is and what He does for sinners. And I'm still
being saved and I'm still coming to Christ. To whom? Coming, as
the Scripture says. Ruth had a singular hope. Has God shown you these things?
If you're one of His, He has. And if He hasn't, and you're
one of His, He will. He will. Again, verse two. And Ruth the Moabitess said unto
Naomi, let me now go to the field and glean. Let me go glean where
I might find grace. God brought her to this point.
Beloved, You're in that field tonight. You're in that field
tonight. This is where God's people glean,
right here where you're at. It's where his gospel is preached.
It's where handfuls of purpose are found. Did Ruth just hap, as it says,
to light on this part of this particular field that belonged
to Boaz, verse three? You know, divine providence is
not done with Ruth yet. It's not finished with her. And
it's not finished with us yet either. Everything that happens
in the course of time is divine providence. Her hap was the light
on the field of her Redeemer. All things happen according to
divine providence. Was this a chance encounter?
Absolutely not. Was this what they call serendipity? No. No, it wasn't by chance. Was it good luck? Was it good
karma, as they say? No, no, no. No accidents. No accidents. I told you the
story about Brother Montgomery getting into a car. Somebody ran into him Or maybe
it was his fault, I don't know, when the guy got out of the vehicle
with Brother Montgomery and he's angry, he's upset, and he's walking
around the car, what have we got here? What have we got here? You know, all upset, just mad. And Reese said, an unfortunate
occurrence. And that's what it was. It was
an unfortunate occurrence. But it wasn't bad luck. God ordained
that accident. Whoopsie! I even said it. We're so used to calling it accidents.
No such thing, friends. No such thing as accidents. Everything
happens according to the divine purpose of God Almighty. There's no accidents with a God
of purpose. All things work together. on
purpose and for good, and for those who love the Lord, to them
who are, be called according to His purpose." That's exactly
what he said. I wrote down some things that
Tim James wrote here, worth writing down. He said, when Ruth was
in Moab, she didn't know that her husband was on his way to
meet her, but he was. And Ruth didn't know that she
would gain a mother-in-law that would win her heart over, but
she did. And Ruth didn't know that she
would be stripped of all she had and made to love the God
of Naomi, but she would. And Ruth didn't know that there
was a Redeemer awaiting her arrival in another land, but there was. Blessed is the child of gracious
providence. Ruth is a chosen vessel who must
meet her Redeemer. And friends, if you're His child,
your hap is the same. And you're in Christ's field
tonight. That's who Boaz pictures, the Lord Jesus Christ. And I
have no doubt in my mind that God will leave you handfuls of
purpose if you desire to be fed the bread of life. First, you
must see that you have a need to be redeemed. We talk about
this all the time. Those who are well have no need
of a physician. We go to the doctor because we're
sick and in need. And that's when we need the great
physician, when we see our state before God, our desperate condition. So you've got to see that you
have a need. And then you have to see who
it is that can redeem you. being sold under sin and sin's
wages being death, a just and holy God can by no means clear
you who are guilty. The soul that sins, Scripture
says, it shall die. No ifs, ands, and buts. God's
justice must be fulfilled and satisfied. God says, all souls
are mine. And is it not lawful for God
to do what He will with His own? Is it unfair if He damned you?
You've offended His law. You've insulted His justice.
And you and I deserve to die. Anything, anything other than
hell itself. We don't deserve His mercy, His
grace, and His redemption. But to some, He gives a desire
for grace, and He brings them into the field of the kinsman-redeemer. And He's the only one who can
redeem. Do you, like Naomi and Ruth, have a kinsman, a mighty
man of wealth, whose name in Him is strength? Oh, if you have
Christ, you do. The Gospel addresses true need. Always does. Always does. The Gospel addresses spiritual
need. This need can only be found in
THE kinsman redeemer. THE Lord Jesus Christ. There's only one. Only one. He's
THE. Turn with me to Colossians 1
and I'll finish up. Colossians chapter 1. You can
let your place go en route. Let's look here with me, Colossians
chapter 1 verse 13. Speaking of Christ, the kinsman
redeemer to His people, in verse 13 Paul writes these words, who
hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated
us in the kingdom of His dear Son. That's speaking of Christ.
That's who the who is. In whom, that's speaking of Christ,
the giftsman redeemer. In whom we have redemption through
His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Verse 15, who? The Lord Jesus, the kinsman redeemer,
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For by Him, who? The Lord Jesus
Christ, where all things created that are in heaven and that are
in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him
and for Him. And He is before all things,
and by Him all things consist. Where in there does it say anything
about us? And He is the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things He might have the preeminence. For it pleased
the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. And have
He made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him, to reconcile
all things, where? Unto Himself. By Him, I say,
whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. And you,
okay, now we're gonna get around to you, that were sometimes alienated,
and enemies in your mind by wicked works. Yet now hath He reconciled."
Who reconciled Him? Who redeemed Him? Him! In the body of His flesh through
death. To present you who were wicked,
with wicked works. He, in the body of His flesh
through death, presents you who were wicked, holy, and unblameable
and unreprovable in His sight. And if ye continue in the faith,
grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope
of the gospel which you have heard. How do we save? By hearing the Gospel. God uses
the foolishness, what the world calls foolishness, the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. How does faith come,
Adel? By hearing, and hearing by the
Word of God. Jesus Christ, our Kinsman Redeemer,
is our only hope. Be not removed from the hope
of the Gospel. You know, what is hope? Well,
it's a feeling of expectation. Christ is the hope of the Gospel.
How could He not be? How could He not be? He created
all things. They were created for Him. He
was before all things. By Him, all things consist. He's
the head of the church, His people. He must have the preeminence. It pleases the Father that in
Him, not us, in Him should all fullness dwell. He made peace
through His blood. He reconciles all His elect to
Himself. That's what a kinsman redeemer
does. Through His death He presents
us holy, unblameable, unreprovable. And the wonderful thing about
all that is it's in God's sight. It's in the sight of the only
One that it matters. So do you know what that means?
It means that we're made perfect. It doesn't sound like it, does
it? It is. We're made perfect and
we're acceptable, perfectly acceptable to God in Christ. He's the near
kinsman redeemer. It means that with Him as our
kinsman redeemer, we're forever redeemed. It's not something
we're going to lose. You didn't do anything to earn
it. You can't do anything to lose it. It's all based on what
He's done. Christ in you, Christ in me,
Christ in every believer is what? The hope of glory. The only hope
of being glorified and one day face to face with Christ is in
our near Kinsman Redeemer. This is a glory which the saints
are hoping for. It's a glory that we as God's
elect expect. God told us to expect it. It's unseen at present, but it's
certain. You know, I used to question
everything. Well, now I'm still pretty bad
about questioning things. And I never knew what this meant
until later, but my mother used to say, you must come from Missouri,
the show me state, I guess. You won't believe something until
you see it. Well, it's something that I don't
see, but I've learned to believe it. God taught me. God revealed
it to me. And that's why I believe it,
not that I've learned or that I've done something to learn
it. It's unseen, but it's certain.
Certain to all who have Christ as their near kinsman redeemer. And it's grace that makes us
meet. The word means fit. Christ is the only one who can
make us fit, meet, for this great, great privilege and gift. And
He does so by doing for us what we can't do for ourselves. What
must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
How do I believe? God will give you the grace and
the faith to believe. It's all of Him. That's why He
gives all the glory. We don't get any. And we don't
want any, do we? He redeems us. Period.