Turn back with me to Ruth chapter
1. Ruth 1. The story of Ruth is
one of the most loved stories in the Word of God. It really
is. Every time the name comes up,
somebody says, I love that story. That's my favorite story. Ruth. The reason is because it's a
story of so much hope. That's why. It truly is from
rags to riches. You know that? And our Lord put this story in
His Word to tell every single one of His people This is your
story. This is our story. This story
spans the whole life of a believer. The entire life of a child of
God. Look at the last chapter with
me. Look at chapter four. That last little paragraph, verses
18 to 22, that summarizes what this book is about. All right? Now, in chapter 4, verse 11,
you see the word Israel. Chapter 4, verse 11, Rachel,
and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel. That's
Jacob. That's Jacob, that's who that
is. He's the seed of Isaac, right? He's Isaac's son. Abraham had Isaac and God made
a covenant with him concerning Isaac's seed. You remember that?
Jacob. And then God changed his name
to Israel. Well, Jacob had a son named Judah and you can see his
name in verse 12. And Judah had a son named Phares. That's Jacob's grandson. And
in verse 18 it says, Now these are the generations of Phares.
Phares begat Hezron, and Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amenadab. And Amenadab begat Nashan, and
Nashan begat Salmon, Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, and
Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David, King David. This book
tells the story from the covenant to the king. All the way from
the covenant to the king. A believer's experience, that's
what it is. And as I read this, it really
is a believer's experience all the way from the covenant to
the king. Last Sunday, we looked at chapter one, chapter one,
verses one through five. And in those verses, we saw all
that Christ accomplished from the foundation of the world.
We looked at the meanings of those names, all those names,
they meant something. And if you look at verse one,
it says. Certain man, the middle of it,
of Bethlehem, Judah. Went to sojourn in the country
of Moab, verse two, in the name of the man was a lemon like his
name means God of the king. And his wife, Naomi, her name
means grace. Grace, and that's what we're
going to look at today is grace, God's grace. The name of his
two sons, Mahlon, that means made afflicted. Kylion, it means
to die. That's Christ, God of the king. Came here with his grace. To
be afflicted and die, right? And then it says that his two
sons in verse four, they took them wives of the women of Moab.
That's the land of sin. That's me and you. Orpah and
Ruth. In verse five says my lawn and
Kylie on died. Also, both of them and the woman
that's Naomi was left of her two sons and her husband left
by herself. Grace alone. Grace alone. That's. What we preach grace alone. Grace
alone. That's the resounding anthem
to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace alone. Now, the scripture says known
unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world, doesn't
it? Everything from the beginning of the world. It says that Christ
is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, isn't he? The Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. All of the names of God's elect
were written in the Lamb's book of life from the foundation of
the world, weren't they? Every bit of it, the foundation
of the world. All of God's purpose, it was ordered and it was sure
from the foundation of the world. Every bit of it. And God purposed. Here's the thing I want us to
look at. God purposed in time to send his son to carry out
his purpose. Right. Everything was purposed
before the foundation of the world. And then God sent his
son to carry out his purpose. He was the lamb slain before
the foundation of the world and he was the lamb slain in the
world, wasn't he? Right? Would we deny the fact
that Christ came and physically died on that cross? Let's just
put that away and just focus on the lamb slain before the
foundation of the world. Was he? Yes, God said so. In
the purpose of God, he was a lamb slain before the foundation of
the world, and he was a lamb slain in the world. He was purposed. It was done. And God's elect
were saved before the foundation of the world and God's elect
are saved in the world. Right. It was purposed and it
is done. And the scripture says that God's
elect are saved, they're quickened, they're called through the calling
of God's spirit, right? And that calling comes through
the preaching of the gospel of grace, right? That's what we're
going to look at. That's what we're going to look
at this morning. Everything we looked at last week. was the
purpose and the work of God Almighty before the foundation of the
world. It was finished. It was finished. Christ did the
work from the foundation of the world. It was finished. Now in time, God sends a soul
to a body, a child to two people, A child that He has foreknown,
elected from the foundation of the world. That child comes up
and He causes the gospel to cross that child or adult. That's the first thing that comes
to one of His people. You know that? That's the first
thing that God does is He sends the gospel of grace to that person. The gospel message of grace. Alright, now that's what we're
going to look at this morning. To finish out chapter 1, we're
going to see this gospel message of grace. Let's look at chapter
1 verse 6. It says, Then she arose with
her daughters-in-law, that's Naomi and Orpah and Ruth, that
she might return from the country of Moab, For she had heard in
the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people
in giving them bread. Wherefore she went forth out
of the place where she was and her two daughters-in-law with
her, and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah."
Naomi arose with Orpah and Ruth, these two natives of the land
of sin. They're from Moab. That's us. And Naomi, whose name means grace. Grace heard. And grace told them
the Lord has visited his people in giving them bread. That is
the gospel message of grace. The Lord has done something.
That's the message of grace. That's our message. The Lord
has done something. What is grace? What do you all
preach over there? We preach grace. What is grace? The Lord
has done something. Grace is what leads a sinner
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 8 says, And Naomi said
unto her two daughters-in-law, Go, Return each to her mother's
house. The Lord deal kindly with you
as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant you
that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband."
What does grace say to vile sinners who've been chosen to a union
with Christ? What does grace tell them? It's
an amazing message. The Lord brings sinners who are
vile and wicked, who have no good in them, who have done no
good. And what does grace tell them?
Go. You're free. You're free. The Lord has dealt kindly with
you. The Lord has granted you rest.
That's the message of grace. Isn't that what our Lord Himself
said? He said, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I'll give you rest. Just come to me, and I'll give
you rest. I'll set you free from all that.
Turn over to Luke chapter 4 with me. Now this is our Lord preaching,
Luke 4 verse 18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord. That's the gospel message of
grace. There is no work to be done.
Christ has made you free. The affliction is over. Death
has been conquered. It's good news, isn't it? Back
over in Ruth chapter 1 verse 9 says, The Lord grant you that you may
find rest. Here's what that word means.
It means peaceful consolation in matrimony. The Lord grant
you that you may find peaceful consolation in matrimony. Each
of you in the house of her husband. That's Christ. That's the gospel
message of grace. It's good news. It's all good
news. But look at what it says at the
end of verse 9. It says, Then she kissed them, and they lifted
up their voice and wept. They wept. Why did they weep? Why were they
sad? Verse 10 says, And they said
unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. And
Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters, Why will you go with me? Are
there yet any more sons in my womb that they may be your husbands?
Turn again, my daughters, go your way, for I'm too old to
have a husband. If I should say I have hope,
if I should have a husband also tonight, and should also bear
sons, would you tarry for them till they were grown? Would you
stay for them from having husbands? Nay, my daughters, for it grieveth
me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out
against me." This gospel message of grace, while it does declare
glorious news, it does, it also declares a very horrible truth. Grace told these two natives
of sin You belong here. You belong right here in Moab.
You need to stay here. This house of bread, this is
not your native land. Because of you, the end of verse
13 says, for your sakes, the hand of the Lord has gone out
against me. Grace said that. That's the exact message that
our God gave Isaiah. Turn over to Isaiah chapter 40.
Isaiah 40 verse 1 says, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. That's good news, isn't
it? That's the gospel. That's good news. Now here comes
the truth. Look at verse 6. The voice said,
Cry, and he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and
all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The
grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord
bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass. The
grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but That's the gospel. But the Word of our God shall
stand forever. That is the gospel. The Word
of our God is going to stand forever. Go back over with me
to Ruth. Verse 10 says, And they said unto her, Surely
we will return with thee unto thy people. People hear some
good news about this house of bread and they say, I want that.
They want to go to heaven. Everybody wants to go to heaven.
There's a house of bread. Well, I want that. Surely we'll
go there. A house of bread, it sounds better
than the land of death. Okay, here's what heaven is like,
and here's what hell is like. Which one would you want to go
to? I think I'll take heaven. It sounds better. Who doesn't
want heaven? Well, grace tells people the
truth. You know that? It tells people
the truth. It tells people there's a problem. There's one problem. Look at verse 11. Naomi said,
Turn again, my daughters. Why will you go with me? Are
there yet any more sons in my womb that they may be your husbands?
Grace tells the truth, and here it is. You have lost your connection
to the family. God made Adam, and it was good.
He was very good, right? Well, here's the horrible truth.
You have lost your connection to the family of God. You were
ruined by that fall. That's the truth. That's the truth. Verse 12 says,
Turn again, my daughters, go your way, for I'm too old to
have a husband. If I should say I have hope,
if I should have a husband also tonight and should also bear
sons, would you tarry for them till they were grown? Would you
stay for them from having husbands? Grace tells the truth. No work
can be done. You are no longer connected to
the family of God and no work can be done to fix it. That's
what it's saying. No scheme on your part could
redeem you. Your natural condition is a hopeless
one. It's a hopeless state, but. But. If a person wants to get a hold
of the core of the gospel, here it is. But. That's the gospel message of
grace. Paul told the Ephesians, you're dead. He said, you're
a child of the devil, you're evil, you're lustful. Every single
one of us. But. But God, right? Isaiah, we just read it, he said,
but the word of our God shall stand. Here's the truth concerning
you, but, here's what God said, and the word of our God shall
stand. The message of grace says at
the end of verse 13, here it is, it grieveth me. I've got a margin in my Bible
that says, I have much bitterness. I have much bitterness for your
sakes. For your sakes. That the hand of the Lord is
gone out against me. Grace said that. This sweet message
of grace. tells a sinner, I am the one
who has suffered. Is that not what grace says? The grace of Christ says, I was
made bitter for your sakes. You're in a hopeless condition.
You're in a bad way. You are separated from God. No
work can redeem you. But I was made better for your
sakes. Our precious Lord cried, My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why have you forsaken me? I've done everything perfectly. No sin. No wrong. I'm daily your delight. Why have
you forsaken me? Well, that's the gospel. That's
the good news. He said, If it be possible, let
this cup pass from me. Look at verse 14. It says, And
they lifted up their voice and wept again. You know, if a sinner
ever gets a hold of the fact I am the reason. I truly am the
reason. I am the cause. Thou art the
man. That sinner will weep. You know
that? He will weep. We just mentioned Peter and those
apostles preaching the gospel of grace to all those men who
took the Lord Himself to Pilate. They said, crucify him. And when God opened the hearts
of those men, when they got a hold of the truth, when they saw what
they had done, when they saw their sin, they said, men and
brethren, what shall we do? They started weeping. To some
people, this message of grace is a message of life unto life. To others, it's a message of
death unto death. Look at verse 14. It says, And they lifted up their voice
and wept again, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law. Orpah left. She left. It says, But Ruth clave
unto grace. You know that that's what I'm
holding to. The grace of God. the grace of Christ, the message
of Christ and Him crucified. That's what I'm holding to. Ruth
clave unto grace. Verse 15 says, And she said,
Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people and
unto her gods. Return thou after thy sister-in-law. After many disciples, temporary
earthly disciples, followers, of the Lord, after they quit
following Him, He asked His true disciples, Are you going to leave
also? Will you go away too? The Spirit of grace is going
to confront every child of God with that question. Every single
one. Will I go away too? Is this life to me? Is this life
to me? Every child of God is going to
have the same answer. To whom shall we go? Thou hast
the words of life. Verse 16 says, And Ruth said,
Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after
thee. For whither thou goest, I will
go, and where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my
people, and thy God my God. She said, entreat me not to leave
thee, please, please. I'm a beggar. Entreat me not
to leave thee. If the Lord doesn't keep me,
you know what I'll do? I'll follow Orpah. I'll leave. I'm just an
unworthy beggar. Please be merciful to me. God
be merciful to me, sinner. She said, I must die where you
died. I see that. I must be buried
where you're buried. If I'm not buried where the grace
of Jesus Christ was buried, I have no hope without God in this world. Verse 17, where thou diest will
I die and there will I be buried. She's saying, I acknowledge my
transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Verse 17, The
Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee
and me. Don't leave me. Don't leave me. I'm going to be candid with you.
As I stand up here preaching, here we sit, I'm thinking about the fact that
this is the message of grace, right? This is the life-giving,
saving message of grace. And I think, you know, if the
Lord does not do everything that Ruth is begging,
we are going to be in a hopeless state. And the reason is because
I cannot make this life unto my own soul. As I say the words,
I'm the one preaching it, not even hearing it. I'm wondering,
Lord, is this life to me? I really am. Or am I just ready
to go to the picnic? I'm looking forward to that. Is this life to me? Isn't that something? We hear
it. We believe it. I love it. I think I love it. Lord, do I
love it? Am I His or am I not? Is it? Is it life to me? I'm not talking
about you, I'm talking about me. Is this life to me? Does my soul say, yeah, yeah,
I know. I've heard all that. Oh, Lord, help me. I am a sinner. I'm the chief. This is not Sinners
Anonymous. This is Sinners Tell Everybody.
My name is Gabe Stoniker and I am a sinner. I'm the chief. God, be merciful to me. Lord,
if I didn't die where Jesus Christ was buried in the tomb that Joseph
of Arimathea bought, if I didn't lay right inside that tomb, I'm
a dead man. Let me cleave to grace. Let me
cleave to this sweet message of grace. Open my soul to it, quicken my
soul to it. It's nothing but good news. Let
me rejoice in it. Where thou diest, will I die,
and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more
also, if aught but death part thee and me. David said, Everything
you do to me, you'd be justified in it. Acknowledge my transgression
and my sin as ever before me. Please be merciful to me. The
only thing I have to cling to is grace. That's it, grace. I have done nothing right. Nothing right. My only hope is
grace. That's it. My only hope is but
God. But the Word of God shall stand. That's it. Verse 18 says, When
she saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her, when Naomi
saw that Ruth was steadfastly minded to go with her, then she
left speaking unto her. We're not going to turn, but
there's a reference right there in my Bible to Acts chapter 21. Over there in Acts chapter 21,
The brethren were trying to persuade Paul not to go to Jerusalem. Paul, please don't go to Jerusalem. They're going to put you in prison.
They're going to kill you. Do not go. And he finally told him, why
are you making me sad here? I would die for the cause of
my Lord. They're going to kill me. So
what? The gospel must be preached. And when they saw that they couldn't
change his mind, this is what they said over in Acts 21. They
said, The Lord's will be done. That's what this is saying right
here. Verse 18. When she saw that she was steadfastly
minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her. With
every child of God, with every bride of Christ, every single
time, the Lord's will is going to be done. That is my comfort
in all this. That's my comfort in all this. I don't know how to preach sometimes.
I sit down and think, I don't even know how to preach. And
I've got to stand up again. And then again, and then again,
and then again. But you know what? The Word of the Lord is
going to stand. Grace is going to find His sheep. Grace is going to bless that
heart. The will of the Lord is going to be done. The will of
the Lord is going to be done every time. They're all going
to come. It's not up to me. They're all
going to beg. They're all going to claim. They're
all going to bow. After the Holy Spirit of grace
comes to a sinner and tells that sinner the truth, the truth,
tells that sinner the gospel of Christ and Him crucified,
after the irresistible call is made, grace brings that sinner
to Christ. That's what happens. And grace
teaches that sinner how to come. Grace brings the center to Christ. And grace teaches the center
how to come. Look at verse 19. So they too
went until they came to Bethlehem, this center and grace. Isn't that beautiful? God sent
grace. Walk all the way back with that
center. So they too went until they came to the house of bread.
Here they come. There's the gate. Oh man. Ruth knows she's not
of this land. Verse 19. And it came to pass
when they were come to Bethlehem that all the city was moved about
them. And they said, is this Naomi?
Is this grace? Is this the grace of God? Verse
20. And she said unto them, call
me not Naomi. That means pleasant. Grace means
kind, doesn't it? Giving. Call me not Naomi, call
me Mara. That means bitter. It means grieved. It means sorry. Call me sorry. For the Almighty hath dealt very
bitterly, very heavily with me. When grace brings a sinner to
Christ, grace is the one saying that in a sinner. You know that? The grace of Christ in a sinner
is what is causing that sinner to say that. The more meek, the more humble,
the more broken, The more poor in spirit a person is, the more
grace he possesses. Isn't that something? We all want to grow in grace,
don't we? I want to grow in grace. What's that going to do to us
if we grow in grace? It's going to make us lower and
lower and lower in self. John said, He must increase,
I must decrease. I must. Verse 21 says, I went
out full. Full of self, full of pride,
full of arrogance, full of rebellion. I went out full, and the Lord
hath brought me home again empty. That means undeservedly. I don't
deserve to come back. That's what every single sinner
says. I don't deserve to come back.
Why then call ye me, Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against
me? That means announced that he's
seen my sin. And the Almighty hath afflicted
me. That means broken me to pieces.
That is the only way God will accept a sinner. That's the only
way. We must approach God as sinners. Every sinner that grace brings,
just as they are. You know that song, Just As I
Am? It's not good, but that's the only way I can come. Every
center that God brings grace, brings begging for mercy. He's going to be accepted in
the beloved verse 22 says. So Naomi grace returned and Ruth,
but God and Ruth. Ruth, the Moabitess that center. Her daughter-in-law with her,
which returned out of the country of Moab, brought her off the
dung heap to set her among princes. And they came to Bethlehem, the
house of bread, in the beginning of the harvest." It was already
the house of bread and the harvest is just starting. There's a lot
more bread where that came from. Abundance. Their cup is going
to be running over. And chapter 2 verse 1 says, And
Naomi, Grace had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of
wealth of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. Grace had a kinsman. Grace led
her all the way to Jesus Christ. Grace will bring it every time,
bring a sinner every time to Jesus Christ. Listen to this,
we're about to sing this song. Listen to these words, two verses.
One of them says, "'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved." And then the next verse says,
"'Tis grace that's brought me safe thus far. And grace will
lead me home. The amazing grace of God. Thank
God for grace. Love grace. All right, let's
stand together.