Ruth 3. This story of Ruth is the story
of salvation. That's what I want us to realize
as we look at every story in the Scripture, every single story
in the Scripture. There is not one story in the
Word of God that is not pointing us and not telling us and showing
us and explaining to us how Christ saved us. These are not just stories of
morality, and they're not just heartwarming, you know, feel
good, this is how people ought to be. You know, a lot of times people,
everybody loves a happy ending. You know, it always works out
best in the end. That's not what the scripture
is. It's not the purpose of the story. It's the story of salvation. The Spirit of God, and when a
sinner is fed, he or she knows it. The Spirit of God, and it
takes the Spirit of God. We must have the Spirit of God.
The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to teach God's people
the truth of their salvation. It's through this Word that people
learn really who Christ is. Really. And what He did to save His own. And that truth and that revelation
is in every story in this book. Every single story. Once you
see, I think about people who the Lord brings in and they,
the Lord starts to open the word to them. And we go through certain
books and then it, we take a while and we go back through that book
again. And I realized there's somebody here who wasn't here
the first time. And you start to see Christ in
these things. And I, it is, it's wonderful
to me. Once a person sees that Noah's
ark is Christ. I have seen through that story.
So many light bulbs come on to people. That's beautiful. Isn't it? That
ark was Christ that bore the judgment that came down from
God on Noah. You think about the fact that
God poured His judgment on Noah just like everybody else, but
there was a mediator between Him and God, suffering the, taking
the punishment, taking the suffering in every soul that was in that
ark. And once you see that all who were in the ark were saved
unto life, And all who were out of the ark were condemned unto
death. Once you see the truth of God's
salvation concerning Christ, how that all the love of God
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And all the condemnation of God
is outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. Once you see that, you'll
never see that story the same way ever again. That's how it
is for me and Ruth. You just don't see these the
same way ever again. Christ is in all of the scriptures. And that's what God's spirit
reveals to God's people. And they start to see Christ
is in all the scriptures. And that's what I pray the spirit
of God will reveal to us here tonight in this book. This is
the story of how a sinner from the land of sin A sinner who was an empty stranger,
a stranger to the house of bread, a stranger to the place where
the Lord is praised. Like Ephesians 2 talks about
it, it says, remember, you were without Christ, you were strangers,
you were aliens. You had no right to the promises
of God. And this is the story of how
a sinner, that particular sinner, was brought to the only man who
could redeem her from all of her emptiness. Naomi represents God's Holy Spirit
who went down to Moab, the place of enmity against God, and she
got Ruth. While she was down there, she
called Ruth, brought Ruth back, brought Ruth out, who represents
God's people. Ruth represents all those who
were chosen by the father to be given to the son, the bride
of the Lord Jesus Christ. She represents those who come
to Christ in all of their sinful state and they come as beggars. That's what we all are. And they
come in need and they come weary. That's what we all are. We are
weary. We're just weary. We're just
trudging through, you know, just weary, seeking rest in Him. Aren't we seeking rest in Him? Isn't that what we want? We just
want rest in Him. Well, that's how Ruth came to
Boaz, who represents Christ, our Redeemer. Ruth's providential
hap, it just so happened, Her hap was to land in the field
of Boaz, and she begged of him, and he showed abundant grace
to her. And when she came back to Naomi
with everything that Boaz had provided for her and given to
her, Naomi said, Somebody showed great kindness to you. Ruth came
in with all that stuff. We just finished chapter two
last week with this. She comes in with all this stuff
and Naomi said, somebody showed amazing favor to you. Who was
it? She said, let's see, then man's
name is Boaz. And Naomi said, Ruth, that's
the only man who has the right to redeem you. The only man. And she said at the end of chapter
two, you must be with him. You must be with him. And that's what God's people,
that's what God's spirit tells each one of God's people. And
he does. He does. He tells God's people,
you must be with Christ. You must be with Christ. You
must be with the people of Christ. You must be where Christ's name
is proclaimed. Don't get out of every other
field. Don't step foot in any other
field. You get to where Christ is and you stay right there. Now, chapter three is the call
to Christ from the Spirit. Chapter three tells us how sinners
are actually quickened to Christ, quickened together with Christ,
led to Christ, drawn to Christ. This is what the spirit whispers
to the heart of a sinful child of God, right here, verse one.
Chapter three, verse one. Then Naomi, her mother-in-law,
said unto her, my daughter, Shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? Shall I not seek peace for you
and quietness for you? The Spirit says to each one of
God's people, the Spirit says, let me whisper a word of comfort
to your heart. Let me speak a word of comfort
to your heart. Turn with me over to Romans 8. Romans 8, verse
14. It says, for as many as are led
by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have
not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received
the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit. That means the Spirit of God
speaks to the heart of God's people. The Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And
if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified
together. The Spirit bears witness with
our heart. The Spirit leads us and guides
us and speaks peace to us by revealing to us where our rest
is. The Spirit says right there,
let me tell you who you belong to. Let me tell you whose you
are, where you can find rest. The Spirit is the one who points
us to the gospel of our salvation and tells us to rest in it. Just
rest in it. The Spirit is the one that convinces
us. You know, our Lord said, I must,
it's expedient that I go so that the comforter will come to you.
And when he comes to you, he will reprove you. That means
he will prove to you. He will convince you of these
things. And that's what the Spirit does.
He convinces us to rest in Christ, and He puts faith in us to rest
in Christ. And Ephesians chapter one tells
us that the Holy Spirit is the one who seals us with the gospel
promise of our salvation. The Spirit says, this salvation
is your salvation. Mine, yes, yours. And He causes us to trust in
it. And it says, that is the earnest of our inheritance until
the day that the Lord comes back to pick us up. So go with me
back to Ruth chapter 3. Verse 1, then Naomi, her mother-in-law,
said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that
it may be well with thee? And now is not Boaz of our kindred
with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley tonight
in the threshing floor. You know, our Lord gave a parable
describing the judgment as a harvest. He said, a man had a field of
wheat and the enemy came in and planted tares among the wheat. And he said, the servants of
the man came to the master and they said, do you want us to
root out the tares? And he said, no, because you
may root out some of my wheat. He said, I'll divide the wheat
from the tares. I'll do it myself. I'll be the
judge. And Christ is that judge. The
scripture says all judgment has been given into his hand. It
says we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
And as a picture of Christ, Boaz was winnowing barley himself. at this threshing floor. So verse
three, Naomi said, wash thyself therefore and anoint thee and
put thy raiment upon thee and get thee down to the floor, but
make not thyself known unto the man until he shall have done
eating and drinking. That washing is Christ. washed in the water of His purity,
washed in the blood of the Lamb. That anointing, that's oil, anointing
my head with oil, the oil that ran down Aaron's beard, that
anointing, that oil of joy and that oil of gladness, that's
Christ. and that raiment, that beautiful
robe of acceptance, that is the perfect righteous covering of
Christ. If a sinner is going to come
before the judge, God the judge, the only way that sinner can
come is in Christ. That sinner comes to Christ,
by Christ, in Christ. Christ is all of it. He's all
of it. So she said in verse three, wash
thyself therefore and anoint thee and put thy raiment upon
thee and get thee down to the floor but make not thyself known
unto the man until he shall have done eating and drinking. And
it shall be when he lies down that thou shalt mark the place
where he shall lie and thou shalt go in and uncover his feet and
lay thee down and he will tell thee what thou shalt do. She
said, you go to him. And this is so important, and
this is what the Spirit of God says, she said, you go to him.
But when you go to him, you go to his feet. Go to His feet. Men, mankind, so arrogantly,
just so arrogantly, sees himself on an equal plane with God. And
he hears, you know, Psalm 2 says, kiss the Son. And he envisions
himself walking right up to the Lord Jesus Christ and giving
Him a kiss on the cheek, you know. God the Son. When the Spirit directs a sinner
to Christ, when the Spirit leads and calls and brings a sinner
to Christ, that sinner is brought to the feet of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That sinner is brought humbly,
that sinner is brought lowly, and that sinner is brought willingly,
very willingly. Verse 5, Ruth said, All that
thou sayest unto me, I will do. I will gladly come begging to
the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. Can we say that? Really? You
think about that. Can we say, I will gladly come
begging? Do you want to be a beggar? You
want to be a beggar to anybody? Go out and beg? Can we say, I
will gladly come begging to the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ? Yes, I will do that. I'll most
definitely do that. Verse six. And she went down
under the floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law
bade her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk
and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the
heap of corn and she came softly and uncovered his feet and laid
her down. And it came to pass at midnight
that the man was afraid, and turned himself, and behold, a
woman lay at his feet." That word afraid means startled, shaken
with terror. Terror struck him. Verse 8 says,
"...it came to pass at midnight that the man was afraid, and
turned himself, and behold, a woman lay at his feet, and he said,
Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth,
thine handmaid, spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid,
for thou art a near kinsman. And if you have a margin in your
Bible, you see that means one that hath right to redeem. Spread
your skirt over me because you're the one who has the, I was told. I was pointed to you, I was brought
to you because I was told in my soul that you are the one
that has the right to redeem me. What Ruth is saying right
here is, if you get right down to it, she's saying, would you
have me? Would you have me? Could I be
yours? Could I belong to you? Would
you unite yourself to me? Would you pay my redemption price
so that I might be joined to you forever?" She wanted to be
joined to Him. And that's exactly what Christ
did on the cross. He uncovered His skirt of righteousness. He pulled that veil back and
He touched us. Boaz was startled because he
was touched by somebody. And in the garden of Gethsemane, and I don't know what the right
word is to use to describe this, I honestly don't, but in that
garden, the moment that our Lord was touched with the feeling
of our infirmities, touched by the very sin of his people, his
bride, In that moment, when that transaction was made, that our
sinful covering was laid on Him, and His righteous covering was
laid on us, in that moment, He endured all the terror of hell
for us. Terror got hold of Him. That
was the cost of our redemption, the fear and dread of the tomb,
the judgment of God, the separation from God. Verse eight says, it came to
pass at midnight that the man was afraid and turned himself
and behold, a woman lay at his feet and he said, who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth,
thine handmaid. Spread therefore thy skirt over
thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman. And he said,
blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter, blessed be thou. Grace be to you. Blessing be
to you. Verse 10, he said, for thou has
showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning. And
as much as thou follow, it's not young men, whether poor or
rich. He said, you're a blessed woman
because you wanted no one but me. And that's what we are. If we want no one but Christ. There's a song that says, take
the world, but give me the Lord Jesus Christ. If we want Christ
alone, you talk about a blessed people. Every soul who comes
to Christ begging for mercy is gonna hear from him, that's what
you're gonna get. Every soul who comes to Christ
saying, I need you, they're gonna hear, that's what you're gonna
get. Every single soul, every sinner who comes to Christ with
a need, that sinner is going to have that need met. If the Lord causes us to seek
him, the Lord will cause us to find him. Verse 11, he said,
and now my daughter, fear not. I will do to thee all that thou
requirest. Just like when that leper came
to the Lord, crying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.
He said, I most certainly will. I will. Every sinner who comes
to Christ with a true heart, begging for mercy is going to
hear, fear not. I will do to thee all that thou
requirest. For all the city of my people
doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. He said, the whole city
knows you're a virtuous woman. Wait a minute, are you talking
about that empty center from Moab? He said, I've given you a new
reputation. I have given you a brand new
reputation." She came to him crying, you know, I'm nothing
but a sinner. I'm just a beggar. I need mercy. I'm empty. I'm begging you to
have mercy on me. I'm worthless. I'm nothing. And
his answer to her was, no, you're not. No, you're not. Not in me. Not as long as you
bear my name, I've let it be known." He said,
I've let the whole city know that I want to take you for myself. I've let everybody know. There
is nothing better on this earth than when you tell somebody,
I want you to hear them say back to you,
I want you too. You remember that? You remember
that moment when, fellas, when you finally got the nerve to
get down on one knee and say, I want you. You're probably as nervous as
I was. How beautiful was it to hear back, I want you too. Yeah, I want you too. It's so amazing
to hear that a sinner would want Christ, but to hear that Christ
would want a sinner. The sinner says, oh, really? You'll have me? Wait a minute, you love me? You've loved me longer than I've
even loved you? You had your eye on me from the
beginning? The sinner cries, from the moment
you were revealed to me, I have fallen in love with you. From
the moment God's Spirit pointed me to you, I have wanted you
and you alone. Is that not so? From the moment
the Spirit of God revealed Christ the man, Boaz the man, we have said, I need him and
him alone. And now the sinner cries, everything
that my heart is desiring, you'll do it, That's the greatest news I've
ever heard in my life. Verse 11, Boaz said, Now my daughter,
fear not. I will do to thee all that thou
requirest. For all the city of my people
doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. And now it is true that
I am thy near kinsman. How be it there is a kinsman
nearer than I? That is the law of God. Every
soul on this earth was made of a woman made under the law. And the law has said that if
we will obey it, we will live. Some people say, you know, some
people say, well, everybody ought to have a chance. Everybody does. Everybody does. If you obey the
law, if the law can say justified, you'll live. You'll be justified. But if the law says condemned,
there is no redemption from the law. And Boaz said, before anything
is done, the law is going to have to make a judgment on you.
The law is going to have to assess whether or not you've obeyed
it. Verse 13, he said, Tarry this night, and it shall be in
the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of
a kinsman, well, let him do the kinsman's part. But if he will
not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part
of a kinsman to thee. He said, I am not going to let
you die in your sin. I'm not gonna let you die. He
said, as the Lord liveth, lie down until the morning, just
rest in me. And that's the promise and the
comfort of this word. He that hath begun a good work
in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Faithful
is he that calleth you who also will do it. You just rest in
the promise of His Word. Verse 14, And she laid his feet
until the morning, and she rose up before one could know another.
And he said, Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor.
Also he said, Bring the veil that thou hast upon thee, and
hold it. And when she held it, he measured
six measures of barley and laid it on her, and she went into
the city. And when she came to her mother-in-law,
she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the
man had done to her. And she said, these six measures
of barley gave he me, for he said to me, go not empty unto
thy mother-in-law. A soul who comes to Christ never
goes away empty. Remember that every time you
pray. Remember that every time you
pray, every time you have a moment where you really need him. and
it's not a moment of lip service, and it's not a moment of habit,
you're going to Him. Every time you truly go to Him,
you remember, a soul that goes to Christ never leaves empty. Never. That soul always leaves
bearing the fruit of grace, the favor and kindness of God every
time. And she went back to Naomi, who
represents the Spirit, who is always with God's people. The
Spirit is always with God's people. And Naomi comforted Ruth by saying
in verse 18, Then she said, Naomi said to Ruth, Sit still, my daughter,
until thou know how the matter will fall. You just sit still. You just wait on the Lord. Just
wait on the Lord. That's what the Spirit tells
us time and time again. Wait on the Lord. You just wait
on that man. You wait on him. Moses told Israel
when they were pinned up at the Red Sea, he said, you just stand
still and see the salvation of our God. The Lord will fight
for you and you shall hold your peace. He'll do it. He'll take care of it. Verse
18, Naomi 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. You rest because he's
not going to. He is not going to until he finishes
this thing. Have you ever been in a situation
where somebody said to you, you go ahead and sleep, I'll stay
up. Somebody you trust that can truly, you can put your trust
in them and you can go on to sleep. You go ahead and take
a rest, I'll take care of it. Well, that's what the Spirit
said to this bride of Christ. You rest because that man is
not going to. He will not slumber. He will
not sleep. He's gonna finish this thing.
When our Lord set His face like a flint and went to the cross
of Calvary, He said, He was saying, you know, our Lord went triumphantly,
and He was saying, today is the day of salvation. Here it is
right here. And that's what God's Holy Spirit
tells every sinful child of God, that He brings to the truth and
the rest of the salvation of Christ. He says your salvation
was on that day. that day, and it's finished.
There's not a step-by-step process involved. There's not a condition
put on you. It's finished, and you can rest
today. 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. Today is
your salvation. Today. Well, Ruth's day and all
of our day, the way that it happened on the cross, that is declared
in chapter 4. A great transaction is going
to take place between the Redeemer and the law. And that's what
happened on the cross. A great transaction took place between
the Redeemer and the law. And if the Lord is willing, we'll
look at it next week. All right, let's all stand together. Turn with me to 290.