The lesson this morning will
be a continuation of last week's lesson in Ruth chapter 3. We
took our time and read through it last week, so I won't re-read
the chapter. And I titled the lesson this
morning, A Word to Chosen Sinners. If you remember our lesson last
week, Naomi recognized an affection on the part of him of whom it
could be that he could redeem her. He was the only one in Israel
who could do it or would do it. Put it that way. And I have four
things I want us to see in this wonderful text here in Ruth chapter
3. I want us to see first of all
the situation. What's going on? And the second
thing I want us to see is the revelation. Some things become
clear. Some things come into view. And
isn't that what happens to the sinner? He hears and things begin
to come into view. Things he's never thought about. Things he's never heard before.
And they ring true to it. And then we've got a bold instruction
given. Boy, if you look at this, what
Naomi tells her to do, that's bold instruction to give to this
young lady. And then a word of comfort given
to those who have received the promise of their Redeemer. So let's look first of all at
the situation. Naomi's been at home. She's too
old to go out and glean. She's at the house. And Ruth's
out gleaning. She don't know in whose field
she's been. She don't know anything about
it. Ruth is out there and every day brings home a portion of
flour. And Naomi's at home patiently
waiting on Ruth. And she's been following Boaz's
maidens throughout the whole barley and wheat harvest. And
this is a picture of a poor sinner going to a church somewhere,
walks through the doors of a church somewhere in this world. God
has churches. We know a lot of them, but I'm
confident that there's churches out there that we're not aware
of. But He has churches. And He has them throughout the
world. And these people walk in by the providential hand of
God. They're not members of the church
any more than Ruth was a member of Boaz Hatch. But they're there by need, and
they're there by invitation. Nobody locks the door. The door's
wide open. They can come in or go out. They're
there by invitation, and they're there to Glean in the Master's
field. There's a harvest going on. That's
what's going on in the book of Ruth. There's a harvest going
on. That's what's going on in this world. Whether we're aware
of it or not, there's a harvest going on. Chosen sinners being
called by His grace. Called out of darkness. Called
out of ignorance. Being called to Christ. There's
a harvest going on, and it's going on of seed planted, watered,
and carried forth. And in God's arrangement of things,
a poor, poverty-stricken widow comes to this field and asks
permission to glean. Would it be okay? I'm talking about my own experience
of religion. I don't know what churches you
were raised in. if you were raised in the church. I don't know,
but I was. And in that church, we'd have members that were kind
of uppity-ups in society, and when they come in, they were
treated totally different than anybody else. And the Lord talks
about that, don't He? He said, these Pharisees, they
come through the door, they sought the chief seats. And when they
come through the door, it's all about what they have to offer
the church, not about what the church has to offer them. And there's a big difference.
Naomi wasn't there to contribute to Boaz Harvest. She was just
there to pick up the scraps. And this is where God brings
a sinner to where he's satisfied with the crumbs that falls from
his table. They're satisfied. They just
come in. If I could just get a crumb. If I could just get
anything. Because I'm not getting anything
over here. You see what I'm saying? This
is Ruth. This is a picture of what's going
on in this world. And this is always the case with
chosen sinners. makes provision, graciously allows
them to enter into his field, and then he fills their arms
and their aprons with handfuls of purpose. That's what's going
on. That's the situation. All right,
secondly, there is in these verses a revelation. What kind of revelation? Well, first of all, concerning
Ruth, there's a revelation concerning the master of the harvest. She
was perfectly satisfied to find a little stem of barley here,
and maybe six or eight feet over there, there's another little
stem, and she walks around and she's just picking up what's
left. Now remember, this is not a machine running through the
field, this is men picking this stuff, so there's not a whole
lot left behind. But there's some. There's some. And she's satisfied. She wasn't
expecting the master of the field, the lord of the harvest, to come
over and talk to her, but he did. This was a revelation. It was a revelation. He came
to her. He spoke to her. He gave her
of his provision. He said, come sit down and eat
with us. She sat across the table from him, and he reached there
to his part of the corn. And he scooted that little spice
dish of vinegar and oil over there, and he said, here, dip
your corn in there. He commanded the respect of his
house toward this woman. Huh? And he sent her home every day
with the makings of poor man's bread. That was a revelation
to Ruth. Ruth began to see a whole lot
more than she saw when she first came into that field. And then
concerning Naomi, there was a revelation of a kinsman redeemer who has
an interest in her daughter-in-law. Every day during the harvest,
her daughter-in-law would come home with the makings of bread. And the flower she brought home
is symbolic of the gospel of Christ. She's bringing these
things home. A lot of people come to church
and they sit here for 45 minutes or an hour and they go home.
They don't take anything with them. God's elect. Who am I talking
about? I'm talking about believers.
Believers. They take home what they've gleaned. They don't leave it here. They
take it home. They take it home. And they prepare
it. They work with it. And then they make bread and
they eat it. And it becomes a part of them. There was a revelation of a kinsman
redeemer who has an interest in her daughter-in-law, and every
day she'd bring home this makings of the poor man's bread, this
flour, and it was symbolic of the gospel. We go where the seed's
planted, don't we? You're not going to glean out
in a weed field. You're going to glean where the seed's planted.
And where it's watered and cared for, and we go where the makings
of the bread are there for the gathering, and we pick up whatever
the master of the field is pleased to give us. And we also, when he blesses
us, have a hard time carrying home what he's given us. I can just see her with six gallons
of flour trying to walk. God's provision for chosen sinners
is an act of grace and mercy, and it's a revelation to all
concerned in it. It's a revelation to me when
somebody comes in here and hears, and takes home what they're given,
and comes back for more. That's a revelation, isn't it? He's not just another person,
or she's not just another person. Now she's showing evidence of
the affection of the master of the field. It's a revelation to find it,
to be given permission to enter the field and to find handfuls
of purpose and to bring home the bounty of His grace. When
Ruth left Naomi's house, she didn't have much expectation.
When she came home with arms full of blessings, Naomi saw
more than just the gleanings of a hungry sinner. She saw the
hand of God in this thing. She was thankful for the flour
and thankful for the bread that it made. But she saw more than
just the gleanings of a hungry sinner. She saw God's hand in
this thing. Not only in this young woman's
life, but in her life. It's God's hand working. I wonder
sometimes if we actually see when God's working. How much
we're aware of it. We need to be aware of it, don't
we? But when we're not, He'll do something, call our attention
to it, and we'll see it, and we'll give Him the praise for
it. She saw the blessings of God. Listen to this, Ruth chapter
2, verse 20. Blessed be he of the Lord, who
hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead.
She saw not only the blessings of God in the barley flower,
but the blessings of God in the kinsman-redeemer himself. This
was the blessing. She didn't just see a full plate
on the table, but the security, restoration, and preservation
of all things by the hand of Boaz, her kinsman. Boy, there's
a big difference in it. There's no telling what God will
use to bring a sinner to here. No telling. No telling His providence
what the cause is to bring them there. But boy, the revelation
when they get there. When He opens that heart and
mind to see. All these other things just fade
away, don't they? While the mercy and kindness
of Christ may put food on your table, a union with Him makes
you heirs of God. That's what I'm trying to say.
Think about it. This is what Naomi saw. Alright, thirdly, seeing the
bigger picture, seeing the depth of the situation and the reality
of the revelation, Naomi gives some bold instruction to Ruth.
You can't just give this to everybody who walks through the door. You
give this to those who evidence that affection of God. When they
come back and come back and come back, now I can give them specific
instruction. Up until then, I used to have
to give you general instruction. You don't tell everybody that
you meet to do what Naomi told Ruth to do. You tell only those
who fit the provision and who evidence the affection of the
Lord of the harvest. Naomi gives Ruth six things.
to do based on who she was and who he was and the evidence of
his love. When you see those things, she
gives her six things. First thing he tells her is to
wash yourself. Wash yourself. How do you do that? In the water
of his words. Now, wash yourself. Quit hanging
on to all that religious jargon and those things that's been
pounded into your head. Wash yourself in the Word of
God. Isn't that what he tells us in
the Scripture? We wash ourselves through the
water of the Word. Get familiar with the Word of
God. God's Word shed a lot of light
on those commentaries. That's what old Ralph used to
say. And it does. Wash you, she said, make you
clean. Put away the evil of your doings
for before mine eyes. That's what God said over in
the book of Isaiah chapter 1. Oh Jerusalem, God says, wash
thine heart from wickedness that thou mayest be saved. But I believe the washing here
is the washing of an attitude and spirit more than anything
else. That's what he's talking about. She can't make herself
pure, but she can make herself presentable. Is that right? She cannot change her nationality,
but she can cleanse her ways. Wash yourself. And then secondly,
she says, Go where he can be found. You don't just go, you
go where he can be found. You're not going to find Boaz
at a house of ill repute. That's not where you're going
to find him and that's what these churches are called in the scripture
who don't preach the gospel. They're houses of ill repute.
That's what he calls them. And they're on every corner.
That's what he tells us in Proverbs. She stands and waits on every
corner. In Revelation 17, she's called the mother of all harlots
and abominations of the earth. He's talking about false religion. Some folks heard John the Baptist
speak. Now you think about John. He was the greatest man born
of woman. A preacher is a preacher. He
was the forerunner of Christ. He was a prophet. The last of
the Old Testament prophets. And the prophet who's beginning
was the testimony of God in the New Testament. Here's John the
Baptist. And he preached. And those who
heard him mused in their hearts whether or not John was the Christ.
Do you remember what our Lord said about that? John turned
to him and here's what he said. I'm not the Christ. But he said,
when you find him, the fan is in his hands. What kind of fan? The winnowing
fan. Blows the chaff, separates the
chaff from the wheat. The fan is in his hand. He'll
thoroughly purge his floor. What floor? The purging floor. The threshing floor. And he'll gather the wheat into
his garner, but the chaff he'll burn with fire unquenchable.
Now here's what Naomi tells Ruth to do. Get thee down to the floor. That's where the work's going
on. That's where the separating's going on. And that's where Boaz
will be. Get thee down to the floor. Go
where he is. Go where he's engaged in his
work. Get thee down to the floor. And then thirdly, Naomi told
Ruth to go where Boaz was winnowing barley. But now listen, don't make yourself
known. This whole generation should
stand up and be counted. Not Naomi. Naomi said go down
there where he's at. where he's engaged in his work,
but don't make yourself known. Until after he's done eating
and drinking. She was not to go down to the
threshing floor with some kind of preconceived attitude that
Boaz was in love with her. She was not to go up to him and
hug his neck and sit next to him. or in any way show that
Boaz had a special affection for her. An act of presumption concerning
the affection of Christ is what false religion calls making Jesus
your personal savior. And that's the best modern picture
I could draw to you of what he's saying here. The only way Jesus will ever
be your personal Savior is if He speaks to you personally as
He did to Ruth. Ruth couldn't make Boaz do anything
contrary to His will. Go down to where He is and take
your place with all the rest of His servants. And then fourthly, mark the place
where He shall lie. What's that mean? That means
go to where he rests. Why would I want to do that?
Because that's where I can rest. That's the only place you can
rest, is where he rests. Where does he rest? In his finished
work. Isn't that what he says? He's
laid down next to that heap of concrete. He that entered into his rest,
he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. And Boaz, having finished his
work, enjoyed a meal, and laid down to rest, marked the place
where he rest." Why? Because that's where I can rest. Well, where did he lay? At the
end of a heap of corn. Corn already separated. Grain
already winnowed. And when Christ finished his
work, there was a heap of corn already gathered into the garden.
Mark where the master rests. And fifthly, go where he rests
and uncover his feet and lay thee down and he'll tell you
what to do. You don't tell him what to do.
He's going to tell you. You don't go crawl under the
covers. You just uncover his feet and
lay down. And he'll tell you what to do.
He'll give you instructions. The feet of Christ in prophecy. The picture is always depicted
as being of brass. You can read it in the Old Testament,
you can read it in the book of Revelations right off the bat
in chapter 1. When John saw him, he saw he
had feet of brass. And brass is associated with
his manhood, his being man as well as God. One mediator, the
man, Christ Jesus. And as the God-man, he manifested
the glory of God. The Word was made flesh, dwelt
among us, and we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten,
full of grace and truth. As a man he suffered and died
for chosen sinners, and as a man he satisfied God's demands for
men, sinful men. And then he says, for as much
as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself
likewise took part of the same, that he through death might destroy
him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. And again
he said, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the
gospel of peace. So how much more beautiful is
the feet of him who is the gospel? Uncover his feet. It was his feet that were anointed
for his burial, wasn't it? She didn't anoint his head, she
anointed his feet. She washed his feet with her
tears and dried them with her hair. It was his feet at which the
leper cast himself and said, if you will, you can make me
clean. You see, you can't understand,
you can't even comprehend his Godhead. Just what He makes known to us
of God. That's so far above us. Our Lord
told Nicodemus, He said, what are you talking about born again?
I have to climb back in my mother's womb and be born again? He'd
just been a smart, elegant intellectual. And the Lord said, now wait a
minute, Nicodemus. I'm telling you things in terms
that you can understand. What would you do if I spoke
to you in heavenly language? You think you could understand
that? No. No, we can't. But I'll tell you
where you can understand. At His feet. At His feet. You go, Naomi said. You uncover
His feet. You look at His feet. Huh? These are the feet of God. This is the feet of the Master
of the Harvest. This is the feet of our Savior. You uncover His feet, because
that's where He saves sinners. Here, this is where God saves sinners.
You ever uncover the feet of your Savior? You ever look at
all His feet? When you do, If you don't, lie
down right there. Don't say any more. Don't do
any more. Just lie there. And he'll tell
you what to do. He'll tell you what to do. Lay at his feet until he speaks
to you. And I said at the beginning,
this is bold instruction. And to some, the instructions
Naomi gave and the actions that Ruth carried out might seem inappropriate. Everybody has a thought of that. Here's a woman bathed and perfumed
and she's coming under the cover of darkness and she watches where
he lies down to sleep and she goes over there and pulls up
his robe and lays down at his feet. And there's two things
that I'd point out concerning that. First of all, she did not
lie next to him, hoping to force some inappropriate response.
She laid at his feet. She lay at his feet. And he comments
on it. He comments on her actions and
approves of it. Secondly, every seeking sinner
who comes to Christ disregards their reputation anyway. Huh? They disregard their reputation
and they accept the fact that misinterpretation and misapplication
and ridicule will surely follow. It has ever believing sinners. A young man asked me one time,
how do you justify your past? Huh? That's a young man. I said to him, I don't. It's
God that justifies, isn't it? And I said, how do you justify
yours? I didn't have anything to say. You proud of your past? You found
some hope or merit in your past? My friend, if you'll take your
place at the feet of Christ, Someone's going to challenge
it, misapply it, and disregard your person because of it. He's an antinomian. Ruth didn't care what folks might
say. She was sure that what she was
doing was right. She was sure in her heart that
she was right. So then we've looked at the situation. We've looked at the revelation.
We've discussed a little bit about these bold instructions
given to her. Now hear what the Savior says
to his respective bride. It's dark. He's asleep. And suddenly he realizes that
somebody's laying down at his feet. What's he say to her? Same thing
he says to every sinner who argues. You reckon he asked that question
for information? No, he knows all things. Who are you? He knew who Ruth
was. And here's what she said. I'm
Ruth. She didn't go into this big,
long genealogy trying to prove her relationship to him. She
just said, I'm Ruth. And as soon as she said that,
He already knew who Ruth was. He told her that when he came
to her in the field. And she knew that he knew. I'm
Ruth. But she says this, thine handmaid,
I'm your servant. I'm Ruth, your servant. You tell
me what you want me to do and I'll do it. I'm your handmaid. When the Savior asks you your
name, He's not asking for information. He's asking to see if you know
who you are. Secondly, she said, I'm your
handmaid, your servant. And in this, Ruth tells Boaz
three things. She tells him who she is. She
tells him what she wants. Cover me. Cover me. Boy, we need covered,
don't we? I need covered with his righteousness.
Cover me. Cover me with thy skirt. And
she tells him what she knows. Thou art a near kinsman. She
didn't say you're my kinsman. She said thou art a near kinsman. So what does he say to her? Whatever sinner wants to hear.
Blessed be thou of the Lord. You're blessed. Everybody don't
know who Boaz is. Everybody's not been given any
evidence of his affection. The whole world has no connection
to his person and works. The only way you have a connection,
or the only way you can know you have a connection, is if
He comes to you and speaks to you. And if somebody gives you
instruction concerning Him. Blessed be thou. You're blessed
because all those given to Him by the Father are going to come
to Him. Secondly, verse 11. He says,
Now, my daughter, fear not. I'll do to thee all that thou
requirest. You know, real godly fear, I'm
talking about fear born of the Word of God, is that something
required of the sinner might not be able to be done. Isn't that your fear? That's
your fear, ain't it? Their sin did be paid, but it
is in Him. A righteousness be wrought, obedience
be demonstrated, love be manifested. These are all things that we
worry about. Fear not, says Boaz, I'll do all that thou requirest. Everything required of you, I'm
going to do. I'm going to do. Thirdly, he tells her this. The
whole city of my people know that thou art a virtuous woman.
There's only one way for any sinner to be virtuous, and that's
by way of our union with Christ. In Christ, we're without sin. That's what it says. He's going
to present you to the Father by His death, by His righteousness.
He's going to present you to the Father faultless. Faultless, but for the presence
of His glory. Unreprovable. Nobody can find
any fault in you in Christ. They can find plenty in me, but
you can't find any with me in Christ. Only one way for any sinner to
be virtuous, and that's by way of their union with Christ, who's
just and justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. righteous in his remission of
their sins. And then lastly, let's look at
this. Ruth goes home. She returns home to Naomi and
tells her all that Boaz had said, and Naomi gives her some comforting
instruction. Sit still. Sit still until thou know how
the matter will follow. There's nothing left to do but
wait upon the Lord. An election's made known by the
Holy Ghost. It's known when He declares to
you how the matter's falling. That's when you'll know. It'll
be known as a transaction settled at the gate. And then here's the problem. Here's the problem, and we'll
get into that next week. The problem is there's another
prospective kinsman whose interest must be resolved. There's one
nearer than he. And you're going to have to confront
him first. I have to confront him first.
All right. May the Lord give us this lesson and teach it to
us in our hearts. Thank you.