Let's turn back to Ruth, chapter
2. As Brother Bob just read this,
I was blessed in the reading of it. Again, I love this. And while he was praying, I was
praying with him, Lord, take me out of the equation. All I
can do is ruin this. So if the Lord will take me out
of it today, boy, this is precious. This is just precious. Last Sunday,
we said that this beautiful story of Ruth tells the whole life
of a believer. That's what the story of Ruth
tells. The whole life of the believer. It's an illustration
of the entire journey of the child of God. Everything that
happens to him. From the covenant to the king,
we saw last week. The last word in this book, the
very last word, chapter 4, verse 22, is David. King David. Verse 11 mentions the word Israel. That's Jacob. That's the seed
of Isaac. And then it starts telling who
Jacob had. And he had Judah. And then it
tells who Judah had. He had Phares. And then it tells
who Phares had. And so on and so forth until
you get to David. It's our story from the covenant
to the king. That's what this is. Chapter 1. We began this in chapter
1, the first five verses. And that was everything that
God finished from the foundation of the world. That was the whole
story in five verses, wasn't it? He was all finished. All His works from the beginning,
ordered and sure. And then, Naomi, whose name means
grace, preached the gospel. Grace told the truth to two sinners
from Moab, beginning in verse 6 and through the rest of chapter
1. Grace told them the truth. You belong here. Why are you
going to follow me to the house of bread? You're from Moab. It was a savor of death to one
of them, Orpah. It says that she returned to
her false gods. But it says, Ruth clave to grace. She clave to Naomi, right? And she said, entreat me not
to leave thee. I pray that God would entreat
me not to leave grace. Lord, don't let me quit preaching
grace. Don't let me quit believing grace. Don't let me quit clinging
to grace. Keep me. Entreat me not to leave
thee. She said, I want to go where
you go. I want to go where grace goes. She said, I want to lodge where
you lodge. I want to live where the God
of grace is. I want your people, the people
of grace, to be my people. I want your God, the God of grace,
to be my God. I must die where you die. I must be buried where you're
buried. Grace confronted her. Grace called her. Grace brought
her. That was the end of chapter 1.
Grace brought her humbly. Grace brought her lowly. But
grace brought her straight to the Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 2. Verse 1 says, And Naomi, Grace, had a kinsman. a kin's man. The God of grace had a kin's
man. Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's,
a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, the God
of the king. And his name was Boaz. We began this by looking up definitions
of names in our concordance. There is no known definition
for the name Boaz in the concordance. But God gave us one. Let me show
you this over in 2 Chronicles 3. Go with me over to 2 Chronicles
3. It's after Kings. 2 Chronicles 3, this is Solomon
building the temple. And on the front of the temple
was Solomon's porch. All right? Verse 17, 2 Chronicles
3, 17 says, And he reared up the pillars before the temple,
one on the right hand and the other on the left. And he called
the name of that on the right hand, Jachin. And if you have
a margin, mine says, that is, he shall establish. And the name of that on the left,
he called it Boaz. That is, in it is strength. Two pillars for the temple. He shall establish, in it is
strength. David said, the Lord is the strength
of my life. This kinsman represents the God-man,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the only one who is able, the only one. In Him is strength. Back over in Ruth 2, verse 1
says, 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 in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, go, my
daughter. After a sinner is brought out,
Ruth has been brought, they're no longer in Moab, okay? They're in Bethlehem. After a
sinner is called out from darkness to light, from the house of sin
to the house of bread, after true spiritual life is given,
that sinner begins to recognize a spiritual need. There's a need
that we have, every one of us. There is a true hunger and there's
a true thirst that's produced in every sinner that's called
out. And that sinner will say, I need to glean. I need to glean. You know, that's
why I'm here today. I'm here to glean. So that sinner is going to start
looking for some food. It happens every time. I'm missing
something. It's like I'm chewing gum. My
mouth is going through the motions, but I'm not swallowing anything. I need some spiritual food. That's what I need. And grace is going to tell that
sinner, go. Go to the field. The field of harvest. It's the
Word of God. That's what the field is. The
Word of God. If we want some spiritual food,
where do we go? The Word of God. When a sinner comes to Christ,
he or she comes to His Word. You know that? When God opens
a sinner's eyes, their eyes are opened to His Word. And they
come to Him through His Word. They begin to truly know Him. They begin to truly love Him. Not morality and good clothes
and seeing people at the restaurant after church on Sunday. They
begin to love Him. They begin to crave Him and His
Word. They really do. They begin for
the first time to hear His voice. They start hearing Him speak
to them through His Word. You know that? Through His Word.
Their eyes are opened to His glorious goodness through His
Word. The promise of His Word. This
Word is His field. Alright? Verse 3 says, And she went and came and gleaned
in the field after the reapers. The reapers are the ones who
work in the field. Right? his servants, his preachers. She went and came and gleaned
in the field after the reapers, and her happening was to light
on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred
of Elimelech. Her happening, it just so happened.
It was amazing. You know, I heard the truth through
my father, but my father heard it through somebody else, and
it was just amazing. It just so happened one day the
gospel crossed its path. I went out to California last
year, maybe a little more than a year ago. And the church in
San Diego was telling me how they ran it, just so happened
they found a man named Henry Mahan on Sermon Audio. I was
just clicking, those little things came up, it just so happened.
The Lord caused my path to cross the truth. It just so happened. Her happening is the same happening
of every child of God, every elected bride of Christ. Grace
is going to bring every one of them to glean from His reapers,
every one of them. Verse 4 says, And behold, Boaz
came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be
with you, And they answered him, The Lord bless thee. How good
and kind is this master? That's not what you normally
hear from masters of fields who have servants working in the
fields. They're hard on them. How come you haven't produced
more than this? That's what the masters of Egypt
said, isn't it? This man walks out and says, The Lord bless
thee. And the Lord be with you. And they said, The Lord bless
thee. How sweet and tender are the words of this Master. Spiritually speaking, we just
saw the source and the subject of the message. That's what we
just saw. The source. The Lord be with
you. The Lord be with you. No man
can reap except the Lord be with him. He can try, but he just won't. There is no true message except
the Lord be with him. It is not of God except the Lord
be with him. He's the source of the message,
and he's the subject of the message. They answered, the Lord bless
thee. All blessings, all honor, all
glory, all praise be unto this great kinsman-redeemer. Verse
5 says, Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the
reapers. Whose damsel is this? Then said
Christ to God the Spirit. Then said Christ to the counsel
of God. Then said judgment to mercy. Whose damsel is this? Who does
she belong to? Verse 6 says, And the servant
that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the
sinner that came back with grace out of the country of Moab. That's
who it is. out of the land of sin. Verse
7, And she said, I pray you let me glean and gather after the
reapers among the sheaves. So she came and hath continued
even from the morning until now that she tarried a little in
the house. She came as a beggar. She came
diligently. Clearly she needed some rest.
She tarried a little while in the house. She needs some rest. Now Ruth knows who she is. She
knows that she's from Moab. She knows that. She knows what
condition she is in. She's a needy beggar. She has
nothing to offer. She's just a beggar. She has
clung to grace alone. The grace of God in Christ alone.
She has been brought to the field of the only one who can redeem
her. If you come to this field, it will clearly say there's only
one who can redeem you. Just one. And she's following his reapers
just to see if there's anything that she can glean. She reminds
me of another very dear and precious lady in this scripture. Turn
with me over to Matthew 15. Matthew 15 verse 21. Then Jesus
went thence, and departed into the coast of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coast, and
cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son
of David! My daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil. But he answered her not a word.
And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for
she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am
not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then
came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. Lord, help me. But he answered
and said, It is not meat to take the children's bread and to cast
it to dogs. And she said, truth. Truth, Lord. Yet the dogs eat
of the crumbs which fall from the master's table. Then Jesus
answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto
thee, even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour. Help me, Lord. That's how a sinner
comes. Help me, Lord. She's just a beggar. It just so happens she's come
to the right field. She's come to the right master. Spiritually speaking, this poor
sinner has come to the Word of God. Following the master's servants
to see if maybe there is just a crumb that might be left for
her. Back over in Ruth 2 verse 8 says, Then said Boaz unto Ruth, God
spoke, Hearest thou not my daughter? Do you hear me? Do you hear me? I pray that every sinner who's
trying to glean in the field. The word of God. I pray that
every sinner starting with me. Might wake up to this question. Wake up to this question. Might acknowledge this question.
Might in the depths of their soul desire for this question
to be answered. Do you hear me? Do you hear me? You're gleaning
in the field. You're following a reaper. Is
he my reaper? Do you hear me? Yes, Lord, I do. I believe I do. Samuel said,
Speak, Lord, thy servant heareth. He said in verse 8, Go not to
glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here
fast by my maidens. Don't go into any other field. Our Lord caused Solomon to write,
Of making many books there is no end. And much study is a weariness
of the flesh. No other book has life in it.
You know that? No other book. No other book can feed the soul. Other books can feed this mind,
but they cannot feed this soul. They just can't. If I am absolutely
starving, I don't need a cookbook. I need a meal. Everybody wants to write about
it, right? I've written a new book. I've
written something on the subject. God said faith comes by hearing.
If I want to learn something about God's Word, what I need
to do is listen to a message. That's what I need to do. I don't need a cookbook. I need
a meal. A cookbook is about the meal.
That won't feed my soul. It will not feed my soul. A person
can learn all the doctrine that he wants to learn, he can get
his mind around all of it, but it won't feed his soul. It just
will not. Does he hear Christ in the Word?
Does he hear Christ in the Word? Verse 8, Then said Boaz unto
Ruth, Hearest thou not my daughter? Go not to glean in another field,
neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens. Let
thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after
them. Have I not charged the young
men that they shall not touch thee? Touch means hurt. Spiritually speaking, if they're
my servants, if they're reaping in my field, my word, you're
safe. You are safe. Paul said to write
the same things is not grievous for you. It is safe. It's safe. Moses said, come with us. We'll
do you good. It's safe. As long as you stay
in this field, your soul is going to be safe. Don't leave this
field, and you'll never go hungry or thirsty ever again. Never
again. Verse 9 says, Let thine eyes
be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them.
Have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch
thee? And when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drank
of that which the young men have drawn." God's messengers are
just poor earthen vessels, pitiful, poor clay vessels. But the water that they draw, man, it's worth something. It's worth coming for. It'll
satisfy a soul. It'll revive a spirit, it'll
put life in a center. Water of the Word, that's what
it is. Verse 10 says, Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself
to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in
thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing
I am a stranger? After seeing the precious promises
of God's Word, have you ever said that? Have you ever said
that? Why have you taken knowledge
of me? I'm a stranger. I'm a sinner. I'm worthless. I'm nobody. Why me? Verse 11, and Boaz answered and
said unto her, This is the answer that Christ will give to a broken
sinner through his word. Verse 11, Boaz answered and said
unto her, It hath fully been showed me all that thou hast
done unto thy mother-in-law. Since the death of thine husband,
and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land
of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest
not heretofore, the Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be
given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou
art come to trust. What? I've heard everything you've
done. I know all of your works. The
great reward is coming to you. What? Go over to Romans 4. Romans 4. Verse 1 says, What shall we say
then that Abraham, our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath
found? For if Abraham were justified
by works, he hath whereof the glory, but not before God. For
what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it
was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the
reward not reckoned of grace, but of death. But to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works. Blessed are they whose iniquities
are forgiven and whose sin is covered. That says, Abraham believed
God, and God counted everything that Abraham believed in to Abraham
as though he did it. And he said, I've seen everything
you've done. Well done, thou good and faithful servant. How? By believing on the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's how. Back over to Ruth
2, verse 12 says, The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be
given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou
art come to trust. Then she said, let me find favor
in thy sight, my Lord, for that thou hast comforted me, and for
that thou hast spoken friendly unto thy handmaid, though I be
not like unto one of thine handmaidens. The word friendly in the margin
right there means to the heart. Thou hast spoken to my heart."
Gleaning in the Master's field, it speaks to the heart. Places
of just religion, sermons of religion, the field of religion,
it speaks to the head. She gleaned in the Master's field
and she said, You've spoken to my heart. In spite of the fact that I'm
not worthy. Though I be not like one of thine
handmaidens." Verse 14 says, And Boaz said unto her at mealtime,
Come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel
in the vinegar. There are two very important
references to the word vinegar. I've never been so happy to preach
in all my life. I can't wait to tell you this.
There are two vital, vital references to the word vinegar. If you have
a margin, it could be in your Bible. It's Numbers 6 and Psalm
69. Turn with me over to Numbers
6. This has fed my soul this week. I hope it feeds ours. Number six, verse three. He shall separate himself from
wine and strong drink and shall drink no vinegar of wine or vinegar
of strong drink. Neither shall he drink any liquor
of grapes, nor eat moist grapes or dried. This is talking about
the law of a Nazarite. That's one who has been separated
unto the work of God. It was a great work. Number 6
tells about it. A vow, a promise had to be fulfilled. Alright? After the work was completed, After the promise was fulfilled,
the end of verse 20 says, and after that the Nazarite may
drink wine. All right, now let's turn to
the other reference, Psalm 69. These are the words of Christ
himself. Psalm 69 verse 21. They gave me also gall for my
meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Our Lord
was a Nazarite. He was a Nazarite. He was separated
for a work from God. That's what he was. He had a
promise that he had to fulfill. And they offered him the vinegar
of wine and he would not drink it. You remember that? Would
not drink it. Until all of the sin from all of his
people was fully pressed into him. And until he was judged
by God his father. And as soon as justice was satisfied. As soon as righteousness kissed
peace. As soon as all of his sheep were
set free, he said, I thirst. Telling the world, it is finished. And they filled a sponge with
the vinegar of wine, and they put it to his lips, and he drank. The vow has been fulfilled. Tell everybody. Isn't that amazing? Back over to Ruth, verse 14 says, And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime
come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel
in the vinegar. You eat of the bread of Christ,
the bread of His word, and you take your morsel and you dip
it in that vinegar right there. You dip it in the finished work
of Christ. The word of the Lord, the promises
of God, they're not just nourishing. You know they're delicious. They truly are. It says, At mealtime
come thou hither and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in
the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers,
and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed
and left." Boaz himself is the one who fed her. He reached her
parched corn. Verse 15 says, And when she was
risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her
glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not. As soon
as she tasted that precious promise, she got up and went to glean
some more. I'll take some more, please.
Verse 15, When she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his
young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach
her not. And let fall also some of the
handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them that she may glean
them, and rebuke her not. That's what this field is. This
field is handfuls of purpose. That's what the field is. Purpose. It's all on purpose. Every single
bit of it. Everything we've been given has
been given to us on purpose. God saved us on purpose. Every single thing that happens
to us in this life is on purpose. Every bit of it. That's what
a sinner's going to learn when they glean in the master's field.
The master's in control and everything's on purpose. He's a God of purpose. We're right here gleaning on
purpose. Verse 17 says, So she gleaned in the field until even,
and beat out that she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of
barley. All she needed was enough for
today. The Lord said, Give us this day
our daily bread, right? All she needed was enough for
today. What God gave her to take home was eight and a quarter
gallons. An ephah. Eight and a quarter
gallons. Can you imagine this young girl
trying to carry all that home? I thought she might have had
to get one of the other maidens. Can you help me? My cup runneth
over. I just can't hardly contain it.
I can't either. I can't either. Man, the promises of God and
His Word, if God opens our eyes to the promises in His Word,
it can't be contained. It just keeps running. It just
keeps running. Lord bring us to the field, cause us to glean,
we pray. Alright, let's stand together.