Turn with me to the book of Ruth. The lesson this morning will
be taken from Ruth chapter 2. And I'll be using the first 17
verses for my text. The subject is gleaning in the
master's field. Let's read these verses together.
Ruth chapter 2, verse 1. And Naomi had a kinsman of her
husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and
his name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabitess said unto
Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn, after
him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her,
Go, my daughter. And she went and came and gleaned
in the field after the reapers, and her hap was to light on a
part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was the kindred of
Elimelech. And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem
and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. Now answered
him, the Lord bless thee. Then said Boaz unto his servant
that was set over the reapers, whose damsel is this? Who's that gleaming in my feet? And the servant that was set
over the reapers answered and said, it is the Moabitish damsel
that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab. And she
said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers
among the sheaves. So she came and hath continued
even from morning until now. And she, that she tarried a little
in the house. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, hearest
thou not my daughter? Go not to glean in another field,
neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maiden. that thine eyes be on the field
that they do reap, and go thou after them. Have I not charged
the young men that they shall not touch thee? And when thou
art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young
men have drunk.' Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself
to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in
thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing
I am a stranger. And Boaz answered and said unto
her, It hath fully been shown me all that thou hast done unto
thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband. Thou hast left
thy father, and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and
art come unto a people which thou knowest not heretofore. The Lord recompensed thy work,
and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under
whose wings thou art come to trust.' Then she said, Let me find favour
in thy sight, my lord, for that thou hast comforted me, and for
that thou hast spoken friendly unto thy handmaid, though I be
not like unto one of thy handmaidens. Boaz said unto her, At mealtime
come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel
in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers,
and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed,
and left. When she was risen up to glean,
Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among
the sheaves, and reproach her not. and let fall also some of
the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them that she may glean
them, and rebuke her not. So she gleaned in the field until
even, beat out that she had gleaned, and it was about an epith of
barley." Somebody said that's six gallons and three pints of
beaten out flour. That's a lot. Now I want to be careful to remind
us that the lives and events in this book are factual. Everything that's recorded here
was done. This is not just a story that
a prophet made up for a practical lesson. These were real people,
real events, and real blessings of God bestowed on them. preserved and to be understood
as being typical of Christ, our kinsman, redeemer, and how that
redemption is accomplished. That's why God preserved it. And the more I study this book,
the more I see myself in the master's field, just as Ruth
was, picking up handfuls of purpose that his servants were commanded
to leave there for me. All of these prophets are God's
servants. His ascension gifts, even though
these prophets preceded the coming of Christ, he talks about his
ascension gift to the church being prophets. You read that
over in Ephesians chapter 4? Not just evangelists and pastor-teachers,
but also prophets and apostles. Well, the apostles came after
Christ, even though they were anointed before he ascended up
into glory. But these prophets preceded him
by some of them over a thousand years. And yet they're said to be his
ascension gift. And I think about that as I read
the Bible and see these handfuls of purposes. And I think to myself
what gratitude and love must have flooded this young maiden's
heart. When she was going along, and she'd pick up a stem here
that had a little bit of barley on it, and she'd go over here
and pick up a stem, and all of a sudden, there's a handful,
a whole handful. The Reapers didn't leave a handful.
It was a handful left on purpose. And there was no other way to
perceive it. other than it was a handful of
purpose. And what love and gratitude must have just flooded this young
maiden's heart when she'd suddenly come upon a handful of barley.
And surely we experience the same blessing as our kinsman
redeemer gives instructions concerning our own gathering of the barley.
That's the poor man's bread. That's Christ. And there's much more here than
I can go over in the time allotted, so I'll confine our study today
to just four things. Four things concerning these
verses that harmonize with the preaching of the gospel and the
faith of God's elect. The chapter begins with a gracious
and merciful fact. Naomi had a kinsman. There was
a kinsman already in place. Before Naomi ever left that country,
before Limelech ever said, we're going to take our holdings and
go to Moab, before any of this ever happened, there was a kinsman
already in place. And my friend, religion, and
you know by now what I mean by that, false religion, anti-Christ
religion, worldly religion, religion that cries peace, peace, where
there is no peace, states, fundamental facts that are no facts at all. Religion believes that Christ
is the brother to all men. That's what they preach. They operate on the assumption
that God loves everybody and Christ died for everybody and
man's will is what makes his love and mercy and grace effectual.
Otherwise, he's dead in vain, and that's what they'll tell
you. I've heard them say it from the pulpit. Well, the law made
no such provision. It required a near kinsman. The Bible says in Hebrews 2.16
that Christ took not on him the nature of angels, now listen
close, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. The promised seed, Galatians
3.16. Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He saith not into seeds as of
many, but as of one, and thy seed, which is Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is one
with his people. He's the head of the body, the
church, not the physical head, and not in this particular passage
even the authoritative head. But he's the federal head. He's
the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. And God's people
are blessed of God according as He had chosen them in Christ
before the foundation of the world. And no one else has the
right to redeem. He has the right to redeem the
near kinsmen. No one else has the right. And
He has the right being chosen and ordained of God to that end.
Listen to how Peter puts it. He said, we're not redeemed with
corruptible things like silver and gold, things like that that
you receive from your vain conversation from your fathers, but with the
precious blood of Christ as of a lamb foreordained. Huh? Foreordained. the precious blood of Christ
as of a lamb without blemish or spot who barely was foreordained
before the foundation of the world. And before ever a limeleck
Naomi left Israel, become poverty-stricken down in Moab, or came home seeking
mercy, there was by the grace of God a kinsman already in place. The Bible declares to us that
there was a Savior before there was a sinner. Can you see what
this is a picture of? There was a Savior long before
there was a sinner. God made provision. What man
didn't make that provision, man hadn't even fallen yet, he hadn't
even been created yet. There was a Savior before there
was a sinner, a mighty man of wealth, a man able and willing
to redeem. Naomi had a kinsman. Now keep
this in mind, and this is important when we're talking about these
eternal matters. Naomi's mind was not yet turned
to her kinsman. She wasn't thinking about her
kinsman. Nor had the kinsman manifested
any interest in Ruth. You see what I'm saying? There's
a time when all of this is going to come home to you if you're
one of God's elect. But the time wasn't yet. Time
wasn't yet. This has got property. She went
out to glean barley. She didn't go out there looking
for a husband. She went out there because she's hungry. And I tell
you this, when you first heard the gospel, you wasn't out there
looking for a husband. Huh? Your life was a mess. You're trying to figure out how
to get out of the mess. You're trying to figure out this,
that, and the next, whatever your need was. You wasn't expecting
to come in and find out that you're one of God's elect, chosen
before the foundation of the world, blessed with all spiritual
blessings and heavenly places in Christ. You wasn't expecting
that. You wasn't thinking about that. You're just leaning barley. You've taken care of whatever
need it was or trying to take care of it. So I see first that God had already,
before any of this ever took place, had a kinsman in place. He was there. All right. The
second thing I see is a willing gleaner. By the grace of God,
finding a willing husband man. Ruth said, let me go and glean
after him. Now listen to this. In whose
sight I shall find grace. Boy, I tell you, those words
are so important. They're so important. In Ephesians
2, 8, 9, it said, by grace are you saved through faith. And
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast." Ruth didn't know when she went
out to glean, but she knew before she could glean, grace must be
shown. She didn't have anything on her
part to bargain about getting grained. She said, I'm going
to go out. If I find grace in somebody's
eyes, that's where I'm going to glean. Salvation is altogether grace,
isn't it? Prevenient grace is grace going
before. In John 1.16 it said, and of
His fullness, of His fullness, let that sink in. Fullness of offices that He was
appointed to, fullness of His person and His glory. Of His
fullness have we all received and grace for grace. Provenient grace is grace for
the sake of grace. It's electing, justifying, pardoning,
adopting, regenerating, sanctifying grace. Grace to make provision
and grace to set the heart to receive it. It's grace for grace. Believers use grace a lot in
their speech, don't they? Why? Because it's permeated their
lives. Poverty-stricken sinners have
no bargaining chips. They're shut up to the mercy
and grace of God. All right, here's the third thing.
I see in this a wonderful picture of God's elect coming home. Coming home. They don't know
where home is. They don't know what home is,
but they're coming home. Naomi and Ruth are a picture
of God's elect. Paul writes in Ephesians 2.11,
wherefore remember that thou being in time past Gentiles,
Gentiles, you called uncircumcision by
that which is called the circumcision. And that at that time, you were
without Christ. That is, you had no promise or
provision or anything else concerning Christ. No connection between
you and the Christ. Christ died for a people, but
how do I know if I'm one of those people? You were without Christ. No promise,
no provision of a Savior, being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel. No physical connection. to the elect of God. And you're
strangers from the covenants of promise. I didn't know so
much that there was a covenant. Religion don't talk about stuff
like that. I didn't know so much that there
was a covenant. And because of these things,
it says you were without hope and without God in the world. That's Ruth. Naomi thought she
was one of God's elect because she was a Jew. All Jews believe
themselves to be elect of God. But here's what the scripture
said, now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometime were afar off are
made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he's our peace who hath made
both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition
between us. Ruth become a Jew by marriage. Did she not? And we're all one in Christ.
He's our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down
the middle wall of partition between us. Here's redemption
being accomplished and by one man, both Jew and Gentile, being
redeemed. When it come time to redeem,
there was a nearer kinsman than Boaz. And they come up before
the gate. And that's what Boaz said. There's one here nearer kinsman
to me. And he turned to him and he said,
if you can redeem, go ahead. And he said, OK, I will. But he said, here's the stipulation.
If you redeem Naomi, you have to redeem Ruth. Oh, he said,
I can't do that. That'll mar my inheritance. Can't do it. Can't do it. They're
both one, ain't they? They're both one. In Christ, there's neither Jew
nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female. You're all one in
Christ Jesus. And I'll tell you this, I'll
give you these three passages if you want to look them up,
Leviticus 19.9, and Leviticus 23.22, and Deuteronomy
24.19. I'm giving you these for this
next statement. Gleaning, according to the law,
was a privilege reserved for the poor. The wealthy didn't go glean.
It was reserved for the poor. It was reserved for widows and for strangers. So I see, first of all, a kinsman
set in place by the gracious providence of God, and I see
a willing gleaner finding a willing husband man. Sin makes the sinner
a beggar, don't it? Thirdly, I see Ruth and Naomi
as a clear picture of God's elect, Jew and Gentile, redeemed in
Christ. And then fourthly, we see that
God uses means to recover His banished. People are always arguing
about what God could do, what God did do, or what God might
do. Our Lord said on one occasion,
God could raise up of these stones children unto Abraham. It's not
a matter of what God could do, it's a matter of what God will
do. Of His own will begat He us with
the Word of Truth. It's not because He couldn't
have done it another way, but this is the way He will do it.
And it looks like if I'm looking for something from God, I would
want to know what His will is, wouldn't you? Why? because he worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will. That's why. Now the means here are just too
many to itemize. When we talk about means of salvation,
what all is involved? Weather, people, insects, government, society, business, marketplace. And that's not to mention things
that are not seen. That's just what goes on in everyday
life. You know, I had a successful
business up in northern Ohio. I was a framing carpenter, and
I had all the work Four county areas showed up. They'd come
to me first and want me to go do their homes, build their homes,
so on and so forth. To make a long story short, I
took in some partners, and we had disagreements. And I just
had to leave. I had to leave. We couldn't get
along. We couldn't reach an agreement. joined together, had a corporation,
there wasn't anything I could do about it, so I left. I just
bowed out and left. Had I not left, I never would
have heard the gospel. You see what I'm saying? Now
they had a famine, and there was a lot of things involved. There's all kinds of things involved.
But the bottom line is this. He's maneuvering, doing this,
doing that. He's drawing his people to Christ. That's what he's doing. And believers,
once they find out what brought them there, they don't want to
change a thing. Am I ashamed of things that I did back? Oh,
you bet. You bet. Would I change them? Not one. Not one. Everything that took
place, took place to bring me to him. Now, I don't want to
change anything. All of these things. But one
thing caught my eye in particular, and that's Boaz's service. Ruth didn't directly approach
Boaz. Think about it for a minute.
She was already gleaning when Boaz showed up. He came from Bethlehem later
on to visit the Reapers sometime around lunchtime. But Boaz had a servant over the
reapers. And Ruth was given permission
by him. She gained access by his word. Did she not? And he didn't act under his own
authority, but under the authority of Boaz and according to the
rules that Boaz set down. If somebody comes to you, all
the You've read contracts before. All the little stipulations involved. And this man wasn't out there
to give permission or deny permission on his own. He had rules. And he didn't act under his own
authority, but under the authority of Boaz and according to Boaz's
rules. And Ruth had already began to
glean before she ever become acquainted with Boaz, Paul, writing to the Corinthians,
said this. He said, I'm jealous over the
Corinthians. He said, I have espoused you
to one husband that I might present you a chaste virgin to Christ. Where did he get the authority
to work on their part or on the part of Christ? Christ gave it
to him. That's where he got it. God gave
it to him. In Ephesians 3.8, he said, unto me who am less
than the least of all saints is this grace given, that I should
bridge among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. And I'll be honest with you,
somebody comes in here and they start to act like they own the
place. And people do that. They do it
all the time. They do it in all the churches.
They'll come in and they just start acting like they own the
place and start giving orders and here's what we're going to
do and here's what we ain't going to do and start giving directions
and start demanding their rights. What are you going to say to
them? I tell you what I'm going to
say to them, hit the road. If Ruth had come into that field
saying, I'm Naomi's daughter-in-law, And I demand the right to glean
in this field. That man would have told her
to hit the road. I guarantee you. But that's not
how she came. Not how she came. And she fell
under the right kind of rule that was given to that man. And
that man said, come on in. Come on in and glean. And if a man's willing to come
and sit and listen, I don't ask anything of him. If they had anything, they wouldn't
be gleaning. He didn't demand anything of Ruth. He just said,
come on. Come on. Well, what's it all right for
Ruth to do? Glean. She didn't know anything at all
about having the right to take her morsel. She didn't have a
morsel. To take her morsel and dip it in the vinegar. Oh, my
soul. All that was a provision of Boaz.
And what did Boaz tell her? You thirsty? You come drink in
the vessel that the young men have drawn. God has young men,
and they They draw from his well. Are you thirsty? Come and drink. Come and drink. The rules laid
down by the Lord of the Harvest, gracious and merciful rules,
and the Lord of the Harvest has servants over the reapers. And
concerning the scribes and Pharisees, the Lord instructed his servants
to leave them alone. Leave them alone. Quit trying
to please them. Quit trying to promote them and honor them.
Leave them alone. They can come and stand at the
gate, but they can't glean in the master's field. Leave them
alone. These young men were instructed
concerning Ruth to let her glean freely. Let her glean even among the
sheaves, and reproach her not, and let also some handfuls of
purpose fall where she's gleaning. And as for her gleaning, rebuke
her not. God's servants were commanded
to treat her special. That's what I'm saying. And I'm
going to tell you something. I'm here this morning, I can't
hardly talk. I'm amazed that I'm able to get through this. I'm not up here to rebuke anybody. I'm up here, I'm treating, if
you knew how special you'd be in treating. Not just by, I'm
talking about by the Lord of the hearts. He's telling them, you treat
her special. Why? Because she is special.
She belongs to me. I'll tell you something else.
The Lord said to offend one of these little ones, you'd be better
off to tie a millstone around your neck and have it tossed
in the deepest part of the ocean than to offend one of these little
ones. We treat them special. They may not look special. Ruth
didn't look special out in that field. She was a moabitish woman,
poor, probably dressed in rags, out there gleaning in the field.
She wasn't anything special, but she was to him He was to him, and she was to
those servants after Boaz cut them eyes down at them. You treat her special. Let me say this in closing. I
don't find Boaz's service criticizing Ruth. Rather, they made intercession
for her. Bo has said to Ruth, it's been
fully showed me. Fully showed me all that thou
hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thy husband,
and how thou had left father and mother and the land of thy
nativity to come here. Oh, Heavenly Father, teach this
poor servant how to intercede for those drawn to glean. in
the master's field. They're special. They're special. And unless they manifest their
self in some other way, treat them kindly. Huh? You can overlook some faults,
can't you? Now you will if Boaz looks at you. Huh? Sure you will. You'll treat him
kindly. Now somebody out there says something like that, I don't
know how kind I'm going to be. But for Christ's sake, I'm going
to be kind. I want to be kind. I want to treat them special.