The lesson this morning will
be taken from Ruth chapter 4, verses 11 through 17. I titled the lesson, Great Expectations. Let's read these verses together.
Now, here's the setting. Boaz called for a confirmation
of the transaction. They were all witnesses. He was
at the gate. This business of redemption was
being settled. It was a public matter, and now
he calls for the witnesses to confirm. And it says in verse
11, and all the people that were at the gate, and the elders,
you remember he chose ten elders as witnesses. And his brother
or his close relative was there. And he calls for a confirmation,
and here it says, others were gathered. So all the people that
were at the gate and the elders said, we are witnesses. The Lord
make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like
Leah, which too did build the house of Israel, that is the
house of Jacob. And do thou worthily in Ephrathah
and be famous in Bethlehem. Now, Ephrathah and Bethlehem
are the same. They're the same. Ephrathah is
mentioned in connection with Rachel who died there giving
birth to Benjamin. And she was buried there. And
he said, And let thy house be like the house of Phares, whom
Tamar bear unto Judah of the seed which the Lord shall give
thee of this young woman. So Boaz took Ruth, And she was
his wife. And when he went in unto her,
the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son. And the woman
said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord which hath not left thee
this day without a kinsman. That his name may be famous in
Israel. That is a name known by everybody. A good reputation because of
what he done. And he shall be unto thee a restorer
of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age. For thy daughter-in-law,
which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath
borne him. And Naomi took the child, and
laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it. And the women,
her neighbors, gave it a name. saying there is a son born to
Naomi, and they called his name Obed. He's the father of Jesse,
the father of David. Now, I see, as did these witnesses,
the blessings of God in redemption. That's what they were all there
to behold. They wanted to see the outcome
of this redemption. When God's pleased to bless by
way of His redemption and the revelation of it, there's a good
reason to have great expectations. What He redeems is His. Is that not right? And now these
people begin to look at this marriage and to look at this
redemption and to look at what's going on, and everyone there
had great expectations. And where God's pleased to bless
by way of His redemption, there's always good reason to have great
expectations. Now to see what they saw, you
have to look where they looked. They looked back into the past. That's recorded here for us to
see. They went all the way back to
Pharaohs. What they were seeing right here in the present made
them think all the way back to Faber's. And indeed, it ought
to make us think all the way back to the garden. Because God
has repeated this redemption time and again. They looked back
into the past, they looked immediately at the present. What was going
on in the present, and they looked ahead at what God would do as
a result. of what he had done. My expectation
is based on a view that only believers have eyes to see. They
say this, they say that, they set themselves in array
against us and don't fully understand what we're saying because they
don't have eyes to see what we see. In Christ, I can see all
the way back into eternity past. In Christ, I can see what's going
on right now. And in Christ, I can see what's
going to be. Is that not true? Sure it is. We see by way of the heavenly
cornerstone. And from the cornerstone, I can
see both directions. I can see clearly the first days
and the last days. When our Lord revealed Himself
to John on the Isle of Patmos He said, I'm the beginning and
the end. I'm Alpha and Omega. I'm the first and the last. How
else can you see that except to see Him in eternity past and
in eternity future? And it's by way of this vision
that our hearts are filled with expectation. Listen to this. This is back in Isaiah. The Lord's
showing them the difference between this God, which is nothing more
than an idol, and the true and living God. And he just keeps
telling them, I'm the Lord, you know, I'm God. And he tells them
who he is and compares him. Well, he doesn't compare himself,
he just simply says, these are figment of your imagination.
How can they compare to me? Remember, saith the Lord, the
former things of old. Huh? Look back. Ain't that what
he said? Remember the former things of
old, for I'm God and there is none else. I'm God and there's
none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning. Oh my. He's going to tell you
how this thing comes out, ain't he? That's what that old janitor
was singing, and boy times was hard. An old black janitor, he
was singing. And somebody there in the gym,
one of the boys, Quit playing ball. They were all going out
and the janitor was waiting for them to leave so they could clean
up and he was over there singing. And that guy said, boy, with
the economy the way it is, what have you got to sing about? He
said, I read the book and I know how it ends. That's what God's
telling us. I'm God. I declare the end from
the beginning. And from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand and I'll
do all my pleasure. And to understand with any depth
what we're looking at here in the book of Ruth, I must have,
as did these witnesses, some sense of the past. The book of
Ruth is a picture of a sinner being drawn to Christ. And it's
symbolic of God's elect coming to the field of their Redeemer.
and given the privilege to glean at the time of his harvest. And
so with eyes of faith, let's look first into the past. Let's look back. And this is
true of every believer. Mysterious, almost unexplainable
events. You know, in reading these things
about favorism, and so on and so forth. And Yvonne asked me
and somebody else, it might have been Walter, asked me this week,
how do you explain those things? You can't. Except to say that
God used them. You can't. Mysterious, almost unexplainable
events come to pass that result in bringing a heathen woman to
be the great-grandmother of a man after God's own heart. A cursed
nation, Moabite. Did you know the Moabites, after
a battle with the Babylonians, completely disappeared from history? God annihilated that nation and
nobody survived. Nobody. But Ruth did. Why'd she survive? Because of
her union with Boaz. That's why. Immediately after I text, the
short genealogy is given an explanation of our expectations. And it begins
with Phares. In Matthew's Gospel, he begins
with the genealogy of Christ, and in no less than six verses,
he mentions Tamar, the mother of Phares, and you know how that
came to pass. He mentions Rahab the harlot. He mentions Ruth the Moabite
and Bathsheba the adulteress in no less than six verses, talking
about the genealogy of Christ. And the only explanation for
these things lie in the glory of God and the wisdom of God
who can take such things and make something good out of it.
But ain't that our hope? He's going to take something
that's absolutely nothing and he's going to make something
out of it. That's what God does. That's how he reveals that work
in us. And I stopped in my study and
examined myself and I would say that to you, look just a little
at your own past. Isn't that what Paul says over
in 1 Corinthians 1? Not many wise men, not many mighty
men, not many noble men are called. God's chosen the foolish things
of this world. Look back into your past. Can
you not see the hand of God leading you to Bethlehem's redeemer? Sure he did. I've heard folks
talk about, oh, I wish I could go back and change things. Let
me tell you something. As awful as my past is, and I've
done things I don't want anybody to know, I wouldn't share them
with anybody. But I wouldn't change a thing. Everything God
did, his hand overshadowed me from the time I was born. God, Paul said, who separated
me from my mother's womb called me by his grace to reveal his
son in me. He didn't explain all this, and
he just barely mentions because he was ashamed of how he treated
Israel and how he treated true believers. God's Israel. But he said, I did it in ignorance
and unbelief. But God's hand overshadowed him
throughout that whole thing. My past was overshadowed with
the hand of God and my sins, my ignorance, my bad decisions,
all being overruled by the power of God and used to force me to
go where my Redeemer was working. Isn't that what God does? That's exactly what he did with
Ruth. As a young Moabite woman, I can only imagine what this
young woman was subject to. And then she marries Malon. Whatever else she did in her
young life, she marries Malon. And in process of time, her mother-in-law's
husband dies, her father-in-law. And then her husband dies, and
his brother dies, and leaves Naomi, Ruth, and Orpah all impoverished
widows. And then came some good news.
God had busy his people with bread. And nothing that happened in
this young woman's life brought her any happiness. She was miserable. She might have had a little joy
on her day of marriage and so on, but most of her life was
miserable. It just filled with misery. And the only thing in her life
that brought her any happiness or hope was her mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law. And I don't
know the mystery behind affection or how it comes to pass except
to say that God uses it. He ordained it and He uses it. And it's unmistakable when it
comes. Men have been trying to explain love for as long as time
is and nobody can explain it except to say love is of God.
My friend, it was not the hope of redemption. I read several
writers and they all talked about her hope of redemption is what
moved her to go back. No, it's not. I doubt she even
knew what that redemption was. It wasn't a hope of redemption
that brought Ruth to Bethlehem or drove her to Glean all day
in a field for a little bit of flour. It was her affection for
Naomi. It says that over and over. She
loved Naomi. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law.
She cried and wept, but she went back and gave her a kiss and
went back to where she come from. Now I'm going to ask you something. You're believers, or so you profess. You want to go back? Is there
anything back there to go back to? But yet calamity comes, and
what do we do? Pack up our bags. That's exactly
what we do. Oh. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law,
went back to where she came from, but it said Ruth Clays under
her. And it's often the way of the
Lord to draw somebody to Christ by an affection for one of his
own. Larry, would you be here if it
wasn't for Gene? Huh? Ain't that how it happens? It
happens a lot. A lot more than you think. His people are gracious. God's people are gracious. They're
kind, they're loving, and they're generous to their own heart.
His people are active in these things, and I have no doubt that
Naomi was more a mother to these two girls than their own mothers.
I have no doubt of that. And her love for Naomi drove
her into the field to gleam. So we look back into the past
and now we can see. Hindsight's way better than foresight,
ain't it? I look back and I can see the
hand of God moving me here, moving me there, causing this business
to fail, causing this opportunity to come. I see God's hand. What's
He doing? He's bringing me to where my
Redeemer works. He's not working everywhere.
But He has a field and He's working in the field. And it's white
for harvest. And then our view looks at the
present. Providence and provident grace brought us here. What happens
next? She gleams long and hard in the
field. I'm going to tell you something.
I don't recall reading a whole lot in the Word of God when I
was little. My dad would try to read to me.
And I did read some, but what I read left me more confused
than I was before I read it. It was confusing to me. But there
come a time when I got hungry. Ruth was hungry. That's why she's
in the field, she's hungry. That's what makes a man glean
when he gets hungry, when there's a need. God creates a need. I'll talk about me and not her.
God made me hungry to know and hungry to have and hungry to
eat that bread that I'd heard so much about. I wanted to know
about it. First hand. And it was in this
gleaning and gathering and processing that I began to be acquainted
with Christ. You see, gleanings for the impoverished,
the poor, those shut up to the mercy of God. And our Lord addressed
one time a Gentile woman, and she was begging Him for her need, to satisfy her
need. And He just kept putting her
off. Finally, He said, listen to me, it's not meat to give
the children's bread to dogs. And that woman looked up at Him,
Most, I tell you, I'd have stomped off, wouldn't you? Insulted me
in front of everybody, but she didn't. She looked him in the
eyes and she said, yeah, but the master's dogs, whose dog
are you? The master's dogs get the crumbs
from the master's table. I'll be satisfied with, I'm not
here to get the whole loaf, I just want crumbs. Just give me a crumb. Huh? Oh my. You ever been brought in your
poverty to glean and bow ass feel? That's who's gleaning,
impoverished. You ever thought about what a
privilege has been granted for you to be in his field? all my
soul, the scarcity of the gospel when I think about it. It's overwhelming. It's overwhelming. But then Boaz himself comes to
the field. This is his field. He visits
the field quite often. Boaz comes to the field. He sees
Ruth and immediately he's drawn to her. He comes to where she
is. And when I thought about that,
I thought, oh, the condescension of God to address a sinner. Huh? Think about it. To address
a poor sinner. He says to his servant, whose
damsel is this? Who is this? Well, this is Ruth. Oh, my. He knows who Ruth is. Ruth's
written on his breastplate. Huh? Ruth's written in the Lamb's
Book of Life. Ruth's on his shoulders, written
on the high priest's shoulders to bear her up before God. He
knew who Ruth was. Oh, Ruth, I know who Ruth is. And he quits talking to the servant,
and he goes straight to Ruth. And he said, I'm Boaz. Jesus is the Christ. He's gonna reveal that to you
if you want to hear it. He's the Christ. And wonder of wonders, Boaz comes
and speaks to Ruth, and this is the turning point in a sinner's
life, when the Lord Himself begins to speak. It ain't just a man
up there telling stories. It ain't just a man up there
declaring facts and quoting scripture. This man is bringing to you the
message of God, and all of a sudden you quit hearing the man and
start hearing the Lord. And I tell you, that's a turning
point in a man's life. Everything changed in Ruth's
life when Boaz came and spoke to her. Everything. He not only spoke to her, but
he said, you hungry? It's time for lunch. Let's go
have lunch. And he brings her up to where all the servants
are eating, all the provisions been made,
It's sitting on the table. It's ready to eat. And she sits
down and Boaz sits down across from her. And you can see Ruth
over there. She's scared to really reach
out and get anything. He says, here. You have my corn. Hand it to
her. And with trembling hands, she
picks it up, Caleb, and looks at him. And he said, here. Don't
just eat it plain. Let me spice it up. And pushes
that bowl of vinegar up there. Oh my, so. I don't see how y'all
get excited over these things. Well, you haven't dipped the
morsel in the vinegar. That's why you ain't getting
excited about it. You'll get excited about it. Oh. He gives instruction for your
blessing. Handfuls of purpose. Permission
to glean even among the sheaves. And then one evening she comes
and lies down at his feet and waits for special instruction. And his word to her and the token
of his love. And she comes home with these
things and the advice of her mother-in-law is this. Sit still,
my daughter. Oh, I thought this was the time
to go. No, this is the time to sit still. Sit still until thou
know how the matter shall follow. Having the gospel is hearing
how redemption is accomplished. It's finding out how the matter
fails. Understanding how God can be
just and justify the ungodly. How God can be righteous in the
remission of sin. I can only imagine her longing
to hear based on my own. Oh, how I long to know. I wanted
to know. Boy, I tell you, you talk about
searching scriptures. When God creates the need, you'll
search them. You'll search them. You'll have
an interest in them now. My dad used to tell me when I
was just a little guy squirming around in a pew, he said, son,
sit still. Sit still and listen. That's
what Naomi was telling Rose. Sit, just sit still. Sit still. And I couldn't then, but there
come a time when I could. And it must have helped her when
Naomi said, for the man will not rest. He won't rest until
he had finished the thing this day. He's not going to rest. Christ could not rest, would
not rest until his redemption was accomplished. What did he
cry on the cross? You know, there's so many sayings
that he said while he hung there on the cross, but I like this
one. It's finished. It's finished. It's accomplished. Boaz must go to the gate and
show publicly that the law could not redeem without marring its
name. That's what was being shown there
in time. And then quickly, let's look
at the future. In consideration of the past and present, there's
great expectations for the future. Oh, they said, the Lord make
this woman that's come into your house like Rachel and Leah. God
made this union. God called this woman to you.
And now with great expectation, they're looking at Ruth the way
they look back at Rachel and Leah, which did build the house
of Israel, and do thou worthily. Oh, the expectation. The past and present give to
the hearts of those who witness God's hand in the matter. It's
not just a lonely man finding a bride. This was a marriage
union by which the Redeemer of all is would be made. And concerning the future, let
me show you one more thing in verse 13. So Boaz took Ruth, and she was
his wife, and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception,
and she bare a son. Now I want you to hear what I'm
saying. There can be no redemption. I've
worked on this my whole study through Ruth. There can be no
redemption without a conjugal relationship that produces the
children of God. Is that right? Why was the kinsman redeemer
who refused to go into the bride, why was he put to public shame
for that very reason? Well, what are you saying, preacher?
I'm saying that when redemption is accomplished for the bride
of Christ, she wholly gives herself to Him. That's what I'm saying.
She holds nothing back. She gives herself wholly to him,
body, soul, and spirit. I'm his. Do with me what you
will. I'm yours. She embraces him. She becomes one with him. And
by this union, sons and daughters are born. May that woman which
has come into thy house be like Rachel and Leah. And when Zion
prevails, sons and daughters shall be born. Great expectations
are born when Christ manifests Himself to chosen sinners. May the Lord fill our hearts
with such expectations for Christ's sake. I tell you, when He calls
somebody to Himself and reveals that redemption to them and takes
them to Himself in union with Him, You can expect sons and
daughters to be more. And we're not. And so long as
God has a church in this world, we ought to have great expectation.
Oh, we're so tiny. God always uses tiny things.
Huh? He told his general going into
battle, said, you got too many men. Well, he was already outnumbered. He said, you got too many men.
So he cuts them in half. He says, you still got too many.
And cuts him in half. He finally gets down to the little
company of men. Now he said things just right.
Now we're going into battle. Now I'll get the glory of the
battle and not you. God uses little groups just like
this. And sons and daughters are born.
Oh, may the Lord fill our hearts with expectation for Christ's
sake. Amen.