Alright, if you will, please
open your Bibles to Ruth, Chapter 2. Ruth, Chapter 2. I've heard a
lot lately about people searching the Scriptures because November's
coming. Searching the Scriptures over,
who am I going to vote for? The Scriptures tell us who to
vote for. I've seen a lot of stuff on fasting at the summertime,
people trying to get in shape. They search the Scriptures for
fasting, for dietary advice. I pray tonight we can see our
Redeemer in these Scriptures. Remember, as we study through
Ruth, Boaz is a picture of Christ our Redeemer. That's what this
book is about. That's what this whole book is
about. All the Scriptures. Christ told
us, He said, all the Scriptures, they speak of Me. That's who
our focus is. When we see Ruth, Ruth is a picture
of a child of God being drawn and being taught to rest in Christ
through grace. Through His gracious hand, He
brings her and He teaches her. And we see Naomi, and she's a
picture of the Lord's church. Those already called by Christ
and are used to teach these babes in Christ, to help them and nurture
them, be kind to them. Now, Boaz came to this little
house on the edge of his field. That's where we are tonight.
This is where we find rest from that field. And then he commanded
Ruth, after he had spoke with her, he said, you come in here
and eat with us. She sat down beside the reapers, and he reached
her at Park's Corn. He hand-fed her, gave her nourishment. And he said, from now on, you
glean in my field. And he commanded his men to drop
hands full of purpose to her. He said, she's coming through
to pick through this field and get what she can't eat, so you
leave her little piles of extra just for her. And don't you rebuke
her, don't reproach her, but you serve her. Be kind to her. Let her eat. And now we see what
the sinner does when our kinsmen redeem her. speaks effectually
in our hearts. Boaz told her, he said, you glean
in my field. We see there in Ruth 2, verse
17. Ruth 2, 17. Boaz said, you glean
in my field. And it says there in verse 17,
so she gleaned in the field until evening. What happens when the
Lord speaks to someone? They obey. They do exactly as
His Word tells them. So she gleaned in the field until
even, and beat out that she had gleaned, and it was about an
effa of barley. That's about a bushel of barley. Those of you who ain't familiar,
a bushel's roughly about eight gallons. If you're doing corn,
it's 56 pounds of corn is a bushel. That's a good bit of barley.
Now for those folks going through that field, those homeless people,
we would call them, they're just trying to get just enough to
live on. If they got just two little handfuls, of barley. Ooh, they could make a patch
of bread. They won't starve to death till tomorrow. And here's
this Ruth that Boaz took knowledge of, and she comes with an eight-gallon
bucket, a big bunch of barley. Has Christ commanded you to glean
in God's Word? To glean in these Scriptures.
That term, glean, is good to describe when we search the Scriptures. Why is that a good term? We don't harvest. We don't come
through and pull everything out and it's bare. We get just a
little bit. And we always will find the Lord's
daily grace, His daily bread to be sufficient. There'll always
be enough, that manna for today. But Ruth gleaned, and not just
for a short time, it says, but until evening. As long as this
day of grace lasts, children of God will be gleaning in God's
Word until the evening comes, until the darkness comes. And
Christ will see to it that His child receives His bread in abundance. We're not going to go away with
just a little bit. We'll have abundance. So who does the Lord
cause His child to find when they glean? Who are we to be
looking for and feeding upon? in this field. So many people
look for what to do. What's your gospel? What do you
preach? Our gospel is not a what, our
gospel is a who, a person. The Lord calls this child to
find Christ our Redeemer, our Boaz. We don't look for something
to do, we look for the one who's already done. He's already accomplished. That work's been perfected. Finished,
like we looked at this morning. It says there in verse 18, And
she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law
saw what she had gleaned. And she brought forth and gave
to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed. Ruth
had her field. Off she's gleaned, she got her
belly full. And she brought her mother-in-law this extra. And a lot of extra that was.
And when a new believer... Remember, Ruth's a picture of
a new believer in Christ. When a new believer sees Christ
in the Scriptures, or they hear a message preached that just
blesses their heart, they're overflowing, they have an abundance.
This is new to them. Often they'll share it with their
brothers and sisters in Christ. They'll come tell you about it.
Did you hear that? Oh, I never saw that before.
Isn't that precious? Oh, it's wonderful, isn't it?
They share with them. They glean an abundance of blessings
and they're just, they're busting at the seams to share it with
somebody, with those that they love. Now here is what those
already drawn to Christ. The Naomi's. Someone's had some
growth and grace already. Here's how they respond. Verse
19. And her mother-in-law said unto
her, Where hast thou gleaned today? Now worldly, Naomi knew
where Ruth had been. That's her hometown. And that's
her family. And she knows a lot of people.
A lot of people know her. And so she's got word that Ruth was
down there in Boaz's field. She says, Where did you glean
today? Now spiritually, someone will come to a brother or sister
and say, Oh, isn't that precious? Well, where did you see that
at? We know where you saw it at. And where broughtest thou? And she says, Blessed be he that
did take knowledge of thee. She didn't let her answer. Naomi
gives praise to the gracious one, not to the one receiving
the grace. Now, if this was in our day,
and I could imagine our day much different than the days of Naomi,
Ruth, and Boaz, If someone came, if we were homeless, scrapping
away for food, about to starve to death, and someone showed
up with eight gallons of barley, we would say, what did you do
to get that? How did you come across that? Oh, you must have
stole it. You must have worked hard. You must have impressed
somebody. You must have lied. You must have done something.
Something had to happen. But a believer that hears a baby
in Christ show them their gleanings does not tell them what a great
job they've done. Oh, you found that? Oh, good
on you." That ain't what we say. They give praise to God for shedding
light in their brethren, for Him revealing Himself to them.
We praise Him. Now, Ruth didn't take knowledge
of Boaz. That's what Naomi was asking
her. She didn't even know who Boaz was. She knew it was a man
named Boaz, but she didn't know the relationship to him. But
he took knowledge of her He was gracious to her. That's why Naomi's
asking, who took knowledge of you? Who was gracious to you?
That's the order of grace, the true order of grace. We do not
take knowledge of Christ first. He took knowledge of us first
in eternity. Before this world was, He knew
us. He loved us then, before we knew Him, before we really
knew who He was. He had loved us. Now Naomi here, she's leading
Ruth a little bit. She knows whose field Ruth was
in and who this gracious man was and she's kind of gently
coaxing it out of her. She's helping her along a little
bit. She's being supportive, gentle, kind to her. Verse 19
says, 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.
He hadn't forgot his obligation to Elimelech, and he hadn't forgot
us. the living ones of Elimelech.
And Naomi said unto her, because she couldn't hold it any longer,
the man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen. We looked at this last time there
in the Lord's Law, that the requirements of a kinsman, someone sold themselves
into slavery or someone lost a piece of land, that near kinsman
that could redeem them or their property or whatever, they had
to be kin. That was the first requirement. It had to be relations.
They had to be able. They had to have the wealth,
the ability to pay for it, and they had to be willing. They
had to be kin, they had to be able, and they had to be willing.
And Naomi's telling her, because Ruth knows these things, she's
been taught by Naomi, Naomi tells Ruth, says, that one you were
talking to, that one you were gleaning in his field, he has
the right to redeem you. He has the ability to redeem
you. But you need to find out if He's
willing. He has those two things. Is He willing? Look at verse
21. And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said also unto me, Thou shalt
keep fast by my young men until they have ended all my harvest.
Now, we will see Naomi as a type of Christ's church. Now in the
type I mean, we're speaking of Christ's church who's already
been regenerated to faith in Christ. Those that's already
been given new life, a new heart. Verse 22, And Naomi said unto
Ruth her daughter-in-law, It is good, my daughter, that thou
go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other
field. He commanded you, stay in my
field, don't you go to another field. Verse 23, so she kept
fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of the barley
harvest and of the wheat harvest and dwelt with her mother-in-law. Now, as witnesses of Christ,
we hear a lot about in days of old and in our day, witnessing
and giving. Oh, have you witnessed today? We're going to learn something
about witnessing this evening. But as witnesses of Christ, we
are to tell needy sinners to obey Christ. by keeping near
to His people and gleaning in His field alone." To obey His
Word. Now, Ruth gleaning in the field
of Boaz is a picture of God's child gleaning in His Word. We
come through and read these scriptures looking for a word of our Redeemer. Who can redeem us? That's what
we're looking for. A.W. Pink had several books that
began with gleanings. gleanings in Genesis, gleanings
from Paul, and so on. That's what we do. We look to
glean. Now we're going to see Naomi wants to be a good witness
of Christ. Naomi told Ruth who Boaz was. That was being a good witness.
Told her who Boaz was. She told her to obey Boaz, to
stay close to him. And there in chapter 3, verse
1, Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said unto her, My daughter, shall
not I seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? Good witnessing is to tell needy
sinners who Christ is. Naomi said there, My daughter,
shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?
Christ is the true Sabbath. He is our rest for the weary
and the heavy laden sinner. And Naomi's concerned for her.
Somebody new comes in here and they're in bad shape. They're
a sinner. They can't do nothing for themselves.
They see the law of God and say, I can't keep it. I want to tell
you where rest is. Let me show you where rest is.
I care that you have rest. But believing on Christ is to
rest from all of our works, because Christ has fulfilled the law
on behalf of His people. We truly rest. A person who has
not ceased trying to earn their own righteousness, that have
not ceased trying to attempt to making themselves holy by
their own works, they have not yet rested in Christ. If they're
still trying to do something, you ain't resting. That's why
when I sit down in my easy chair, I put my feet up. I rest. I'm
not still shoveling. I'm not still sweeping or painting
or anything else. I rest. I stop working. That's
when we rest. Our Master told us in Matthew
11, Come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden. I'll
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest
unto your souls. We ain't just talking about physical
rest. Our souls are going to have rest in Him. When we rest
in Christ, we can truly say, as Kim was playing it earlier,
it is well, it is well with my soul. When we're resting in Him
alone, we see that law. Oh, what am I going to do? I
rest in Christ. And I see the world, what's going
on around us. Mayhem. Ah! What am I going to do? Rest in Christ. We rest in Him
only, don't we? It's well, it's well with my
soul. And Naomi here is a good witness. A good witness is to
tell sinners that Christ is the kinsman redeemer. She said there
in Ruth chapter 3, verse 2. And now, is not Boaz of our kindred,
with whose maidens thou wast? We tell of our kinsmen, don't
we? Christ has redeemed all God's elect people from the curse of
the law being made a curse for us. He alone is able to deliver
us from the dominion of our sin nature, from that rain of sin
in us. Christ alone is able to redeem
our bodies into that glorious liberty to be sons of God. We tell what all those things
He's able to do. He's our kinsman and He's able.
And we tell needy sinners where Christ is to be found. That's
all good news. I love to hear that. Where can
I find Him? Where can I get to Him? Where's my kinsman?" Naomi
told Ruth where Boaz could be found there in chapter 3, verse
2. Behold, he winnoweth barley tonight
in the threshing floor. Here's our kinsman. He's able. Here's where he's going to be.
Christ is seated at the right hand of God. He's finished redeeming
all of His people. on the cross. He arose from that
grave and He sat down at the right hand of the Father. And
we tell guilty sinners to come now to His throne of grace that
you might find grace. Here's where He is. Here's His
throne. Come to Him. Find grace in Him. And He's now working in this
world right now. During all these trials and physical
storms and everything else, historic weather, whatever it may be,
this is His threshing floor. winnowing His people through
His gospel and separating that wheat from the chaff by calling
out His people. Turn over to Matthew chapter
3. I'm bad sometimes at giving illustrations and I don't tell
you what the illustration is. Let's look at this winnowing. Matthew chapter 3, verse 11. I indeed baptize you with water
under repentance, that he that cometh after me is mightier than
I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you
with the Holy Ghost and with fire, whose fan is in his hand,
and he will thoroughly purge his floor and gather his wheat
into garner, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable
fire. Now what's this winnowing fan?
What's this threshing floor? Best thing I could think of nowadays,
they had like a soft floor or they'd use a big old blanket
and they'd kind of gently bounce it. Now if we had a trampoline
nowadays, if we took a bunch of barley and laid it out there
and kind of tap on that trampoline, that barley will bounce a little
bit, you know, and then that kernel will start separating
from the chaff. So you have those little light chaff and a heavy
kernel, that seed, and then they take a big old fan And it starts
swinging that fan. Make a little wind blow. Well,
as that bounces, that kernel is going to fall back down. It
has meat. It has substance. Some worth
to it. But that chaff, ain't no substance
in it. Little breath of wind. It just
blows right away. Comes off, don't it? And that's
through His Word. That's what he says, through
his word, he'll do that winnowing. Preaching his gospel, who he
is, what he accomplished. There'll be some that land safely,
and they're gathered together, resting in him. But others, they
hear that word, just a breath, blows them right away. They take
off with the wind, never come back. Now back to our text there. Good witnessing is to tell sinners
that they must repent and come down to Christ's feet in submission,
to believe in Him alone to save them. And Naomi told Ruth there,
chapter 3, verse 3. Ruth chapter 3, verse 3. 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."
We're going to put aside all of our filthy rags, all of our
self-righteousness, all of our nastiness, and we're going to
be humbled before the Lord. It says, get thee down. We won't come in haughty in what
we're used to wearing, what we wear every day. Our pride, we're
going to be brought down. or have on a different garment.
And this is not a public show. It's not to be seen of men. We
come in there reverently and we come humbly, dressed appropriately,
because we see the importance of his work. That's why I said,
don't be known under the man until he's done. What He's doing
is important. We understand that importance.
And so we come reverently, humbly, waiting on Him. Now there in
verse 4, And it shall be, when He lieth 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. When He goes down there to lay
down, you're going to go in, and you're going to uncover His
feet, and you're going to wait on Him. And He's going to tell
you what you shout, do. He's not going to give a gentle
recommendation. He's not going to give a little
nudge. He's going to tell you what you shall do. We see the
urgency in this, don't we? Get thee down. Go now. Go get
cleaned up. You get down there and you wait
on him. Mark out where he's going to lay down. Be diligent. Be
ready. We see the seriousness in this
to obtain the favor of Boaz. Do everything you can. to obtain
the favor of Boeth, and God grants repentance in His child of mercy,
commanding us." Here's what you're going to do. Isaiah 1.16 says,
"...wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings
from before mine eyes. Cease to do evil." I don't feel
like that most days, does I? I don't feel washed. I feel like
everything I do is evil. He said, be thou clean. With
my word, I'll make you clean. But God's grace brings this child
down to Christ's feet to trust Him to tell us what we shalt
do. Remember that harlot with the
box of ointment that was found? Turn over to Luke chapter 7.
We'll look at it. Luke chapter 7, verse 37. And
behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, and she knew
that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisees' house. She knew where
He was. Somebody told her, didn't they? Brought an alabaster box
of ointment and stood at His feet behind Him weeping. And
she began to wash His feet with tears and had wiped them with
the hairs of her head and kissed His feet and anointed them with
the ointment. There was this lady, remember
the Pharisees said, why are you letting her touch you? Don't
you know what she is? She had her hair down. Women
in those days had their hair up. That meant she was a lady
of the night. and unclean in everybody's eyes,
outwardly. She didn't look like somebody
that ought to be touching anybody. And here she was at His feet.
She heard where the Master was. Come to Him. Come to His feet.
Probably spent a whole year's salary on that alabaster box
and put everything she had. This is all I have. It's yours. Wash your feet with tears. Dry
it with your hair. Look over in Luke 10, just a
few pages. Remember Mary was found. Martha was out there working
hard. Luke 10, 38. Now it came to pass, as they
went, that he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman
named Martha received him unto her, and she had a sister called
Mary. which also sat at Jesus' feet
and heard His word. She heard Him. But Martha was
cumbered about with much serving and came to Him and said, Lord,
dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?
Bid her therefore that she help me. Here's Mary sitting at the
Lord's feet and Martha said, I'm working my fingers to the
bone here. There's things that need to be done. Can't you tell
her to get up and help me? She's just sitting there by your
feet. Verse 41, and Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha,
thou art careful and troubled about many things, but one thing
is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not
be taken away from her. Every sinner that's saved by
the grace of God is brought to the feet of Christ, our Redeemer,
brought to our boas, and when we are made to know who Christ
is, made to be brought down, all the way down to His feet,
and we realize that that will never be taken away. That good
part by His feet will not be taken away from us. Then what
happens? What happens after we're made
to know that? Back to our text there in Ruth chapter 3. Next
we see the new hard cross gives to a true sinner. Now back in
chapter 2, there in verse 23, Ruth obeyed Naomi. She said she
kept fast, by the maidens of Boaz. So she gleaned unto the
end of the barley harvest and of the wheat harvest, and she
dwelt with her mother-in-law. Then Naomi told her Boaz was
the kinsman-redeemer, that she must come down to his feet and
wait on him." Go to his feet and wait. Wait on him to tell
her what to do. And we see in verse 5, Ruth 3,
5. And she said unto her, All that
thou sayest unto me, I will do. And she went down to 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." Now Ruth is a picture
of a child whose heart's been broken by that irresistible grace
of God. And remember now, she's not a
child. Sitting a little girl. She's probably 20, 30 years old.
She's a widow. She'd been married for a while.
Had a long journey to get home. She's of age. She's a grown-up.
And she obeyed like a little child. She obeyed her mother-in-law. And she went down to the floor
and did according to all that her mother-in-law obeyed her.
And she laid down at Boaz's feet. She obeyed the Lord. She obeyed
the word of the Lord. Now remember, Naaman, the leper. He thought he was a king who
happened to be a leper, and it turns out he was a leper who
happened to be a king. That's us, isn't it? I'm a child of God who happens
to be a sinner. Not in this body. But he came in all his pride,
all his arrogance to Elisha. But Elisha didn't even come out
to meet him. All these other false preachers, they come out
to him. I gotta be kind to him. Try to get some favor with him.
Elisha sent a servant out to him. I ain't even walking out
there. I said, you go tell him to get down that river. Go to
Jordan and wash. And Naaman got mad. Boy, there's
a lot nicer rivers I could be dipping in. Some good old Gentile
rivers and you got this little nasty stream down here. Why are
I getting that? But he thought Elisha would heal him the way
that Naaman wanted him to be healed. The way he wanted it
done. But finally, what did Naaman
do? He went down and he washed in the Jordan. And only then
did he come away clean of his leprosy when he obeyed. If you're lost, if you're in
real danger of eternal death, eternal damnation, and someone
gives you instructions, you listen. That's the same way on this earth.
I've seen some people badly injured physically. And if you've got
a big old hunk of metal sticking out of you, if you're impaled
and you say, sit down and raise this arm up, people will sit
down and they'll raise that arm up. They'll do whatever you tell
them because they're in need, true need. Equally so, when God's
shown us our sin so that we see a desire, I mean a drastic need,
then and only then will we be given a heart to pay attention.
We'll be given a heart to obey His Word and given a heart to
come down to cross feet. will come to Him. Only when God
gives us a new heart by His grace will we obey God like a little
child. Little children obey better than
big people do, but sometimes it's tough in our illustrations. Sometimes little children don't
obey. His children obey. He said, Verily I say unto you,
whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child
shall a no-wise enter therein." He gives us a heart to obey like
a little child. Who do we thank for that hymn?
We thank the one that gave it. Now we see in our text here a
picture of that plea for mercy that God puts in our mouths.
It comes from our hearts there in verse 8, Ruth 3.8. And it
came to pass at midnight that the man was afraid and turned
himself, and behold, a woman laid at his feet. And he said,
Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth,
thine handmaid. Spread therefore thy skirt over
thy handmaid for thou art near kinsman. Have you heard God speak
into your heart asking you to confess? Who art thou? Who are you? Ruth's answer here
teaches us so much. She said, I am Ruth. And her answer, she confesses,
she's a Moabitess. I'm not of this land. I don't
deserve to be in this land. I'm a poor foreigner. That's
what I am, homeless. A stranger, a mercy beggar. She
was the one with no worth in herself. I'm Ruth. I ain't worth nothing. She was
bankrupt and she was in need of redemption. And then she says
there, I am not handmade. Her answer, she confesses that
she was willing to be Boaz's servant. I'm your handmaid. She's the one who came to his
house on the edge of that field, the one that came to Boaz's table. Boaz has commanded her to glean
in his field. She's confessing that she was
Boaz's handmaid to show mercy and grace to her. Done everything
else she told me. If you are willing, if you're
willing to show grace to me." And then she made her plea. Spread therefore thy skirt over
thy handmaid. She's asking Boaz to cover his
handmaid with his garment. That's a symbol of a covenant
relationship. In our day, that's like giving
somebody a diamond ring on their left hand. That's an engagement.
I'll cover you. She's saying it's a symbol of
marriage. He comes to her and He takes
His garment and robes her. That's what our Master, our Kinsman
Redeemer does to us. We're robed in His garments.
And that's not something that lasts for a little bit. That
lasts forever. And we serve Him. I remember
the first time I spent the night in the desert. Everybody said,
you need to bring a lot of cold weather gear and bring a big
old thick sleeping bag. And I said, boys, it's hot. I
can't sleep when it's hot. I ain't going to do that. It's
going to be 87 degrees. I ain't going to sleep a wink. Well,
it was 125, and it dropped down to 80. That 45 degree difference,
you get cold at 80. And I was sleeping on metal.
And in the back of them vehicles, there's a bench seat up here
all cushioned, and down here is a metal floor. And I was on
the metal floor. I was the lowest guy on a totem pole. And that
guy above me, it got cold, and I was shivering. He didn't say
a word, and he had a big old cover over him. He just kind
of eased it down over me, poor little new guy, and covered me.
And we didn't get married. But you know what? If that man
needed a cup of coffee, from that day on, I'd get him whatever
he needed. He showed kindness to me. He
showed graciousness to me. And it was merciful. I was a
young person that didn't deserve it. Deserved a whole lot worse.
And I followed Him. Served Him. But on what grounds
does Ruth ask this? She says there in her verse,
For thou art a near kinsman. She asks mercy from Boaz according,
because that was step one, according to God's Word. She declares,
you're the kinsman. And it declares that Boaz was
the one who had the right to redeem her. And she's asking
Boaz for mercy. She's asking Boaz for grace.
And like that leper that came to Christ and bowed at his feet,
he said, Lord, if thou wilt, if you will, you can make me
clean. Like that publican smote on his
breasts. Ruth's saying, have mercy on
me, a sinner. The plea God puts in the heart
of His child is a plea for mercy and a plea for grace. And that
redemption is found only in the one who has the right to redeem
us, our Master. Now lastly, we see what happens
to every true sinner who comes to Christ empty. empty-handed,
with no merit in themselves, nothing, just a mole by us, seeking
mercy alone. Look in verse 10. And he said,
Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter, for thou hast showed
more kindness in the latter end than in the beginning, inasmuch
as thou followest not young men, whether rich or poor, and 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." Boaz gave glory to the Lord for blessing Ruth with virtue
so that she could look to no other. She didn't look to somebody
rich. She didn't look to somebody poor.
It didn't matter who it was. She only looked to her kinsman
redeemer. not to another. Christ does the
same thing to all who God the Father draws to Christ's feet.
We look to Him alone. They don't make somebody come
with riches. I don't care. I look to my kinsmen.
Oh, I got a sob story. I'm poor. I look to my kinsmen. That's the only one we look to.
And He said, all the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that
cometh to me I will no wise cast out and no man can come to me
except the Father in heaven draw him. will be brought to His feet,
and we won't leave Him. Every sinner drawn of God to
the Father, who comes to Christ begging for mercy, will hear
Christ declare through His Word to their heart, fear not, I will
do to thee all that thou require." That's what He answers. Every
time angels appear, didn't they? First thing they said, fear not,
fear not. Fear not, and he says, fear not,
I will do to thee all that thou requires. What's required of
me? Christ did it. Well, what about
this? He did it. Well, I'm scared. Fear not. Christ the Son entered
into a covenant before the foundation of the world to redeem God's
elect people on a cross at Calvary. And he finished the work of paying
all the debt of all his people. Everything we owe, he swallowed
it up. He satisfied it. And the grace
of the Holy Spirit has made every sinner that comes to him a new
creature. They've made us virtuous. Even cleaned up. Ruth probably
didn't look like a virtuous lady that day, did she? I don't feel
virtuous. I'm sure you don't feel virtuous.
You're virtuous. All the city's gonna know you're
virtuous. How about that? Are you guilty? Is the mercy of God your only
hope? Will you flee to Christ for mercy?
Go to his feet. Get ye down. He has never turned
away one sinner that come to His feet begging for mercy. He's
told them, said, fear not. I'll do everything you require.
Everything's required of you. In Mark 7, chapter 7, it says,
Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth
by the transgressions of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth
not His anger forever, because He delighteth in mercy, because
His Son What He accomplishes for His people, God the Father
delights in mercy. He said, you're virtuous. Every
sinner that comes to His feet broken and begging mercy hears
the same reply, fear not, I will do all that thou require. He
doesn't say I'll do some. I'll get you halfway there and
you've got to finish it. He said, I'll do all that's required
of you. He's the Alpha and the Omega. He's the author and the finisher
of our faith. And salvation begins and it ends
solely in our Redeemer, in our kinsman Redeemer. Now what I
was going to have you turn to, but we read it, so I'll just
read it to you. Isaiah 55 verse 7, it says, Let
the wicked forsake his way. What's that mean? Stop doing
your own works for salvation. They're wicked. Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts." What's that mean? We think we're
righteous. We think we got some merit. We think we have virtue
of our own. He's saying, stop doing what you're doing. Stop
thinking what you're thinking. And let him return unto the Lord,
and He will have mercy upon him. You come empty, broken with a
contrite heart at His feet. And to our God, for He will abundantly
pardon That's what I require. I need a pardon. Fear not. I'll do all of it. Amen.