Turn with me this morning to
the Book of Ruth. The Book of Ruth. The Book of Ruth is a book about
the kinsman redeemer. It's a book about redemption,
but it shows redemption in the light of love. Redemption is
a work of love. That's the bottom line, and that's
what he's showing us here in picture in the book of Ruth.
It's an account of one infinitely rich, says that Boaz was a man,
a mighty man of wealth. He was a, and he's picturing
Christ, of course, and it's the account of one infinitely rich
joining himself in marriage to one who has nothing. I want to use as my text this
morning a single verse of Scripture in Ruth chapter 2, verse 17. We've been over these verses
for three weeks now, and I want to settle on verse 17. So let's read this verse together. Ruth chapter 2, verse 17. So she gleaned in the field until
even, and beat out that she had gleaned, that is she, with whatever
process they used, beat out the grain, the flour that was in
the grain in the barley. She beat out that she had gleaned
and it was about an epa or efa of barley. People who study such things
tell me that the measurement is equal to six gallons and three
pints of flour. That's a lot of flour for somebody
gleaning in a field. Now the Holy Spirit inspires
the writer to begin this verse with the word so. He does that
often in the Scriptures. Why is that significant? because
it sums up everything that had transpired up to the gleaning,
or up to the subject that he's talking about. A good example
of this is over in 1 Corinthians 15, the resurrection chapter. He said, for as in Adam all die,
even so, even so in Christ, shall all
be made alive. He goes on to say there's a natural
body and a spiritual body and so it is written the first man
Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a quickening
spirit. That's why it was written, that's
what it was all about. And all that had transpired considered
she gleaned in Boaz Fields. It's dangerous to form religious
beliefs based on just a portion of Holy Scripture. Be careful
that you never do that. Don't let somebody come along,
take a little piece of a verse, and try to build a religion on
it. Don't buy it. Leave it alone. The Gospel is
a message that runs throughout the Scripture. Brother Barnard said one time,
you need to take a drill and drill all the way through your
Bible and take a red thread and push it through the hole to remind
you on every page that this is Christ crucified. That's what
this message is. That's what it's talking about.
And it runs all the way through the Scriptures. I have five things
this morning that I want us to consider that contributed to
Ruth's gleaning in the field of Boaz. First of all, in verses
1 and 2 of Ruth, in Ruth chapter 2, we see the means of God in
place and in motion. But not only has God devised
means and ordained means, but these means are in motion. These
means were in motion when Ruth went out to look for somebody
that would let her glean. The means of God are not only
in place, but they're in motion, and they're waiting hungry sinners
chosen of God. God had already proven to Israel
that He could rain down manna from heaven. It's not a matter
of what God can do. He already proved to them back
in the wilderness, He can rain bread down from heaven. He can
make quail appear in the wilderness. He can bring water out of a smitten
rock. It's not about what God can do,
it's about what God will do and what he's purposed to do. I think about Israel. A conservative figure would be
well over a million who came out of Egypt. That's a lot of
people. And they had cattle, and they
had goats, and they had sheep. Now you think about a million
people. I think Brian, he worked on the Los Angeles water supply. Think about that. How much water
does it take? to feed millions, to give them
to drink. It takes an amazing abundant
amount of water. Add to that all the cattle, all
the farms surrounding Los Angeles. You see what I'm saying? You're
talking about a lot of water. But this water came from a rock
and it was sufficient. Not only that, but everywhere
they went in the wilderness, they didn't stay in one place,
they were moving around. Everywhere they went, the rock
followed them. That's what it says in the Book
of Acts. And that rock was Christ. Full provision given in him. The will of God and the overall
salvation of his people is accomplished by means which God himself has
ordained and put in motion. They're in motion even as I speak
to you this morning. There are men and women being
saved 24-7 and will be until the end of time. He not only
ordained the means, but he set those means in motion. Of his own will, James wrote,
begat he us with the word of truth. And the scripture goes
on to say, how shall you hear without a preacher? How shall
he preach except he be sinned? Ministers by whom you believe,
even as the Lord hath given to every man, it please God through
the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. God
has means. You're here this morning listening
to a preacher. What you're doing is gleaning
in God's field. That's what you're doing. That's
what Ruth was doing. That's what he's showing us here. Poor sinners. We're bankrupt
sinners, every one of us. But God has a field. He has a
purpose. He's drawn you to that field. And that's what he's picturing
here in the book of Ruth. In 2 Samuel 14, 14, it says,
we must needs die. And we are as water poured out
upon the ground which cannot be gathered up again. Neither does God respect any
person. Yet, in spite of all of that,
yet does he devise means that his banished be not expelled
from him. Incorporated in the law of God
was provision for widows, for the poor, and for the stranger. And there was in Israel a field,
seed that was sown and maintained and even now being harvested
for the preservation of God's elect. This wasn't a patch of
wild barley. This was a field that Boaz sent
his servants to work in and caused it to be profitable grain. There
are churches everywhere. There's a church on every corner.
Denominations, there's no end to it. Well, let me tell you
something. They're not profitable for your
soul. God has a field that he's made profitable. Why? Because his son planted that
field. His son is over that field. He's
the master of the harvest. There was a field where the ground
had been tilled, seed had been planted and watered, And the
grain now waves in the light of the sun, and being gathered
into the master's barns. And the field is typical of the
local church. This is where hungry sinners
are drawn of God. He draws them to a local church. This church, not this one alone. He has churches all over the
world. And into those churches he draws hungry sinners. It's
so plain in the Word of God. And this is where the poor and
the widow, they find their kinsman redeemer. That's where they find
him. This wasn't a woodstock where
drugged up hippies gathered to listen to music. It wasn't a
Las Vegas to visit and be entertained. This was a barley field. A field
that had grain for the poor man's breed. And this field was active. A
harvest was going on. Everybody there in the field
was involved in the harvest. Everybody. Now, I don't know
if you realize this or not, but if you belong to this church
and you're a believing saint, saved by the grace of God, you're
involved with the harvest. I can't pastor a church and not
be supported. If nobody's interested in the
grain, what good does it do me to go gather it? You see what
I'm saying? We're all involved in it. This
field, when Ruth found this field, it was busy, man. It was alive.
It looked like it was moving everywhere. They didn't have
any machines back then. All this was done by hand. I
picture this field just being covered with people. God's means was in place, and
God's means was in motion. Secondly, I want us to consider
the road to the field. The road to the field is an old
road. It's been around since the beginning. It's a narrow road, the Scripture
says, and the people who walk thereon are very few. This road is the road of grace. It's the road of grace. It ain't
the road of works. The road of works covered with
people, multitudes. It's a road put in place by God
himself. It's a road despised by the world, yet designed for
poor sinners. There's a road to the field.
And this road is the road of providence. God's providence
is no less than his pervenient grace going before and opening
the way for chosen sinners. Shutting that sinner up to God's
field. That's what's going on. She could
have went to anybody's field. She'd probably passed some fields
up. But pervenious grace. Provenient
grace goes before. That's the providence of God
opening the way for chosen sinners to find provision and redemption
and never-ending love. That's what they find who are
on this road. Oh, what a road is this way of
grace and providence. There are no off-ramps on the
road. If you get on the road, you can't get off of it. It goes
all the way. It don't go out so far and end,
and they just kind of leave. You ever done that, been traveling,
going down the road, and all of a sudden it just ends? It
just, you know, take detour. But it don't tell you what the
detour is or what the route is, and there you sit. No, this road
goes all the way. Goes all the way. No off ramps
on the road. Those who travel this road are
shut up to the place where it leads. Our Lord said in John
6, 37, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Why? Because that's where the
road leads. They murmured at him. He said,
don't murmur. No man can come to me except my father draw him. My father's going to direct him.
He's going to teach them. And everybody that he teaches
is going to come to me. Not one sinner lost along the
way, not one widow dying in her poverty, not one soul perishing
by going down the wrong road. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. God said, and a highway shall
be there. That's what he said through his
prophet. A highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called
the way of holiness. The unclean shall not pass over
it, but it shall be for those, the wayfaring men. Though fools,
and believe it or not, that's what we are. Though fools, they
shall not err therein. Oh, what a road, huh? Where does
it lead? It leads to the field. Leads
to the field. Isaiah 35, 8, the redeemed shall
walk there. They shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. What a road, the road
to the field. The road of grace and providence
always leads to Boaz Field. Naomi and Ruth were poor and
hungry. They needed bread. To have bread,
they needed grain, and the grain they needed was in somebody else's
field. They didn't have a field. They had no hope of bread except
by way of mercy and grace. Ruth said, I'll go glean in the
field after him in whose sight I shall find grace. There's a gracious providence
arranged and maintained to bring chosen sinners to glean precious
grain and have the bread of life. I depend on that. I depend on
that. There are some churches and ministers,
they think they have to be something or accomplish something or do
something that captures the interest of people. No, you just go plant
the grain. And God will draw them to you.
He'll bring them in. How? By gracious providence. That's how. By gracious providence. And it's a wonderful thing to
know this, but knowing God's providence, now listen to me,
or even believing in God's providence has no bearing on it whatsoever.
It's God's providence. And whether you believe it or
not, it works. Whether you understand it or
not, it still accomplishes its purpose. Isn't that something? Aren't you glad you don't have
anything to do with it? Aren't you glad it's in his hands?
Oh, my soul. Our God says to us, I'm he that
sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof
are grasshoppers. He bringeth princes to nothing,
he maketh the judges of the earth as nothing, he giveth power to
the faint, and to them who have no might he increases strength.
And for thirsty souls, he said, I'll open rivers in high places,
and fountains in the valleys, and I'll make the wilderness
a pool of water for you. Ain't you glad that providence
is in his hands, that he's working this, he's arranging this? Our Lord said to the Jews, My
Father worketh hitherto, and I work. They didn't understand
a thing about what He was saying. And I don't understand all the
details involved, but I do know this, if you're on this road,
it's God that worketh in you both to will and to do of His
good pleasure. So intricate is the work of God
that you can't tell the difference between His work and yours except
by its end. Does God give faith? He does.
That's what the scripture says. Not of works lest any man should
boast. But I'm going to tell you something. It's your faith.
And if you have it, you'll believe. You can't find a place where
where his working in you and your working is separated. You can't find it. It's like that union that he
has with us is one, and that work in us is as one. And then thirdly, I see in these
things leading up to Ruth's gleaning, a work being done of God and
men. In Paul's first letter to the
Corinthians, he said that He and Apollos were ministers by
whom they believed, even as God hath gave to every man. 1 Corinthians
3, 5. He says again in that chapter,
I have planted. God gave him the seed and he
planted what God gave him. He planted the seed. Apollos
came behind him and watered. He confirmed what Paul preached.
He preached the same message. He watered that seed. And the scripture said, but God
gave the increase. And summing this up, he says
in verse 9, for we are laborers together with God. Boaz had reapers in the field
and servants over the reapers. And the apostles and prophets
are servants of God over evangelists and pastor-teachers. There are
no more apostles. They were the top office in the
church. The servants keep the reapers
in line. Who keeps the pastor in line?
God does. How does He do it? Through His
Word. Keeps them in line. He keeps them motivated, keeps
them fed, keeps them equipped to do their work. And they were
all there for one purpose, the harvest. And this harvest is
a picture of the ingathering of the fruit of Christ, the fruit
of His work. Everything harvested was evidence
of His work, His purpose, and His means. And God Himself was
in the work, and everyone involved in the work knew it. They all
knew it. One thing you're going to hear.
We've had 17 conferences. And let me tell you something.
Every conference you hear the same thing. God's in this. God's
doing the work. Salvation's of the Lord. There's no private agenda in
the ministry. And we're called into His ministry.
We're to walk worthy of Ephesians chapter 4. of the vocation wherewith
we're called, wherewith we're called to the harvest. We're
to walk worthy of that. And to do so with all lowliness
and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another, that
is, putting up with one another, in love. Boy, somebody barks at you, it's
hard to love a man. You want to bark back. Forbearing one another in love. And everybody involved was of
the same mind. And then fourthly, in verse 4,
we see what happens when God's people begin to glean in his
field. They came down the road. There was a harvest going on.
God's means were in place. They were active. And that road
that led to the field, God's providence brought Ruth along,
and now she's in the field. She has permission. And she goes
out in the field. So what happens when God's people
begin to glean in His field? Boaz himself comes to the harvest. That's what happens. Oh, they
discover. Here's something new I've never
heard before. You hear it for the first time.
And you're captivated by it. And you come back and you hear
it again. And boy, there's good news in this. When I first heard
it, I didn't think it was good news. I thought it was an atrocity.
But I kept listening. Now, wait a minute. This is good
news. God's going to save somebody. He's not depending on my work.
It's His work. It's His salvation, His glory,
His Son. It's good news. We hear that, don't we? And all
of a sudden, one day, we realize, Boaz is talking to us. Ain't that old man up behind
the pulpit? It's Boaz. He's there. He's standing there.
That reaper that gave her permission, or the servant who was over the
reapers, whoever it was that gave Ruth permission to glean
in that field, he was standing there. when Boaz spoke to Ruth.
But it doesn't mention him. And you don't see him anymore. Ruth was thankful for that man.
She really was. He's the one who granted her
permission to get in there. But boy, here's the owner of
the field. Now, I ain't looking to him no more. I'm looking to
this one. This is the owner of the field. Oh, all of God's people come
first to the reapers. And this is and always has been
a highly contested fact. I've had men often show me what
they say are exceptions to the rule. And what I've learned about
this is that proud rebels will go to any length to defend their
professions and resist the power and authority of Christ. That's
what it is. Nobody gleaned in Boaz Field
without first coming to the Reapers. He gave them that authority.
Ruth didn't debate her right to glean in the field, nor come
up with some experience justifying her reason
for being there. She came to the servant of the
Reapers, and he gave her permission to
glean. The elect are drawn to the place
of grace. They're drawn and shut up to
the reapers. And His sheep follow the reapers, and as they do,
the Lord comes to them. And it's in the field of the
Lord, under the sound of His ministers, that chosen sinners
meet their Redeemer. If I'm reading these verses correctly,
they seem to indicate that Boaz What Boaz had to say to his reapers
about Ruth was spoken in earshot of Ruth. Because there's no... If you read the verses, there's
no space there. He was talking to the servant
over the reapers, and now he's talking to Ruth. He meant for Ruth to hear what
he had to say to the reapers. You reckon God meant for you
to hear what I had to say to you this morning? Same thing. Same thing. His conversation was intended
for her to know His intentions. And let me ask you something.
Is this not the purpose of God's ministers? To tell the prospective
bride of the intentions of Christ her Savior? The gospel is not
about the bride. It's all about the groom. We
have it backwards in our wedding ceremony. It's designed to cause
the bride to know of the benefits of her relationship with him. False religion's all about the
bride. True religion's all about the
groom. Christ in you, the hope of glory. And hearing of the
benefits of the relationship to him is brought to a climax
when Boaz himself comes to the gleaner. And then fifthly, we get a glimpse
of the ministers of God talking to the Lord of the harvest about
a certain sinner gleaning in his field. A great man of God
once said to me, you can't talk to men about God until you learn
to talk to God about men. Ain't that the truth? That's
the truth. All for an interest in the souls
of those who come to glean in the Master's field. Are they His elect? I don't know.
They're in His field. And that's where His elect wind
up. I've got every reason to believe they are. They appear to be gleaning. I once told you what I look for
when somebody comes is an appetite. That's what I'm looking for,
an appetite. There was something in the character
and disposition of Ruth that captured the heart of the reaper.
Something caused him to focus on her. They didn't talk about
any of the other gleaners. Talked about Ruth. She was a bankrupt beggar. She
was a heathen from a country named after the ancestral son
of Lot, Moab. But she, knowing these things,
was willing to take her place and work all day for whatever
scrap she could pick up. Oh, Lord, help this poor ignorant
reaper. having seen such as Ruth in the
master's field to speak favorably to the Lord on their account. Isn't that what the reaper did?
In closing, I want us to take note of the directions Boaz gives
his servant concerning Ruth. And this is what preachers are
called to do. They set the table. We set the
table. Ruth was willing to glean the
leftovers, but Boaz will have her to find much more than what
she expected. The gospel, my friend, is handfuls
of purpose. Preaching the gospel is not telling
bankrupt sinners to do something. They're telling them that God
wants them to do something. or telling them that they need
to let him do something. Huh? Preaching the gospels, pointing
the sinner to the field full of grain, grain that's left for
them that they may gather all they can carry without fear of
being molested. That's what he told her. You
go blank. I know you're looking at these
young men over here and they're looking at you, but you don't
worry about them. I've already given them the word. They ain't
to touch you. You can go glean without any
fear. And false religions are always
described in such terms as molestation. Is it not? Whoredoms. That's the word the
Lord uses for false religion. Her head's full of abominations
and the filthiness of her fornication, having eyes full of adultery
that cannot cease from sin, beguiling unstable souls. But Boaz said
to her, I've charged the young men that they shall not touch
thee, no fear of molestation of them who gleans in Boaz's
field." So, what a big word that is when you know the truth. So,
she gleaned in the master's field until evening. How long do we
glean? To the end. To the end of the
day. Oh, may God give us an understanding
of this precious picture.