Lord willing, this evening I'll
be speaking from Hebrews chapter 2 on a merciful and faithful
high priest. I want to preach this morning
from the book of Ruth. I've entitled this message, Ruth's
Redeemer. Now before you look at the book
of Ruth, for us to understand this book, It'll be helpful for
us to understand three laws from the Old Testament because these
three laws are all used in the book of Ruth. And these laws
are full of gospel. So I'd like you to turn first
to Deuteronomy chapter 24. Verse 19 of Deuteronomy. Chapter 24, When thou cuttest down thine
harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheath in the field,
thou shalt not go again to fetch it. It shall be for the stranger,
for the fatherless, and for the widow, that the Lord thy God
may bless thee in all the work of thine hands." You're to leave
something there for the poor. That was God's law. And I think
it's interesting. The poor were not simply to sit
around and have somebody give it to them. They were to go out
in the fields and glean. But it was there for the poor. What a merciful law of our God. Look in Deuteronomy chapter 25.
Here's the other law. There's three laws I want us
to look at. Verse 5. If brethren dwell together and
one of them die and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not
marry without unto a stranger her husband's, or my margin says
her nearest of kin, her husband's brother, her nearest of kin,
shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform
the duty of a husband's brother unto her. And it shall be that
the firstborn which she bears shall succeed in the name of
his brother which is dead, that his name be put not out of Israel."
Now this was a law in Israel. Now turn to Leviticus chapter
25. Leviticus chapter 25. Verse 25, and if thy brother be waxen poor,
Leviticus 25, 25, if thy brother be waxen poor, he's unable to
pay his bills, and has sold away some of his possession, and if
any of his kin come to redeem it, Then shall he redeem that
which his brother sold. Now turn to the book of Ruth.
Now we have three laws. One law concerning gleaning.
You were to leave food after harvest. You were to leave the
grain, the corn, whatever it was. You were to leave some in
the ground for the poor and the widows and the fatherless to
come and pick it up. And then there was another law
regarding if a man and woman were alive and had no children
and the man died, then the man's nearest of kin was to come to
that woman and to perform the duty of a husband to her that
they might have life, that they might have children to keep and
possess the land of their inheritance. And then there was the law of
the redeemer. If you had waxed poor and were
unable to pay your bills and you had to sell your possession,
your nearest of kin had the right to come and redeem it and pay
for it and give it back to you. Now, these laws are critical
for us to understand the book of Ruth. Now, who do you think
of when you think of Ruth? Look in Ruth chapter 1, and here's Naomi's words to Ruth,
and they lifted up, verse 14, this is the two sisters, Orpah
and Ruth, and they lifted up their voice and wept again. And
Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clave unto her. And
she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people,
unto her gods. Return thou after thy sister-in-law. And Ruth said,
and this is what every believer says to Christ, Entreat me not
to leave thee, or to return from following after thee. For whether
thou goest, I will go. And where thou lodgest, I will
lodge. Thy people shall be my people. And thy God, my God, where thou
diest, will I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do
so to me, and more also, if aught but death, part thee in me. Now that is seen both in the
believer's loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's also seen
in their oneness with Christ. When he dies, I die. When he's
raised, I'm raised. This is what the believer thinks
of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Ruth, we see her beautiful
loyalty to Naomi. But look over in chapter 3, verse
1. Then Naomi, her mother-in-law,
said unto her, speaking to Ruth, my daughter, Shall not I seek
rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? Don't you want
rest? You know, the word means peace,
quietness, happiness. comfortable, contented. Don't you want that for yourself?
I dare say that everybody in this room wants rest, peace,
contentment. She says, I want to seek rest
for you that it might be well with you. Now I pray that God
will cause somebody in this room to find this rest, even this
morning, that it might be well with them. Now back to chapter
1. There was a famine in the land
of Israel. Nothing to eat, and a man named
Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons, Malan and Chileon,
moved into the land of Moab to survive. And if there was a famine
here, you would want to go somewhere where you could get food. I've
heard people say they should have never left Israel. Well,
maybe not, but there wasn't anything there to eat. And they went to
Moab. And I certainly understand that. And the scripture says
they dwelled there for 10 years. Now, during that time, these
two boys married two Moabite women in the land, Oprah and,
or Orpah. It's hard not to say Oprah, isn't
it? Orpah and Ruth. And during that
time, 10 years, Elimelech died and the two sons died and Naomi
and Orpah and Ruth were left destitute. Now let's begin reading
in verse 6. After these men had died, then
she, Naomi, arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the
country of Moab. For she had heard in the country
of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people and given
them bread. Wherefore she went forth out of the place where
she was. She left Moab and her two daughters-in-law with her,
and they went on their way to return into the land of Judah.
And Naomi said unto her two daughters, now remember they were not Israelites.
They had grown up Moabites, and that's all they knew. And she
said, Go return to her mother's house. The Lord deal kindly with
you as you dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant you
that you may find rest, each of you, in the house of her husband.
Then she kissed him, and they lifted up their voice and wept,
and they said unto her, Surely we'll return with thee unto thy
people. And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters, why will
ye go with me? Are there yet any more sons in my womb, that
they may be your husbands? Turn again, my daughters, go
your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say
I have hope, if I should have a husband also tonight, and should
also bear sons, would you tarry for them till they were grown?
Would you stay for them from having For them, from having
husbands, my daughters, for grieveth me much for your sakes, that
the hand of the Lord is gone out against me.' And they lifted
up their voices and wept again, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law,
and Ruth claimed unto her, and she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law
is gone back unto her people, and your God return thou after
thy sister-in-law. And Ruth said, Entreat me not
to leave thee, or to return from following after thee. For whether
thou goest, I will go, and where thou lodgest, I will lodge, and
thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou
diest will I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to
me, and more also, if ought but death. Part B and D. And when she saw that she was
steadfastly minded to go with her, she left speaking unto her. So Ruth and Naomi returned to
Israel. Now let's go on reading, verse
19. So they too went until they came to Bethlehem. Remember,
that's the birthplace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the two
came to Bethlehem, and it came to pass when they were come to
Bethlehem that all the city was moved about them. And they said,
Is this Naomi? And she said unto them, Call
me not Naomi, which means pleasant. Call me Mara, which means bitter. For the Almighty hath dealt very
bitterly. with me. I went out full. When
I left Israel, I went out full. And the Lord hath brought me
home again empty with nothing. Why then call ye me Naomi, or
pleasant, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the
Almighty hath afflicted me? So Naomi returned, and Ruth the
Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, which returned out
of the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem in
the beginning of barley harvest." Now, here I see the fall and
sin. She said, I went out full, Adam
began full, and I came back empty. Now that would describe you and
I. Empty. Empty. The Hebrew word means worthless. Vain and void. undeserving. Does that sound
too harsh? You see, our sin has made us
that. Empty. Worthless. Vain and void. You believe that? It's so whether we believe it
or not. We are sinners. And because of that, we are entitled
to nothing but the judgment of God. And Naomi understood this.
Look what she said in verse 22. She said, I went out full, and
the Lord had brought me home again empty, worthless, vain,
void. Why then call ye me Naomi, or
pleasant? Seeing the Lord hath testified
against me. And the Almighty hath afflicted
me." This is the Word of God. And Naomi understood this. She
understood that was her escape before God because of her sin.
Now, chapter 2. And Naomi had a kinsman of her
husband's. Elimelech, her dead husband,
had a near relative, a mighty man of wealth of the family of
Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. Now, Ruth did not know this at
the time. She didn't know Boaz was the kinsman-redeemer who
had the right to buy back all of Naomi's property which she
lost. Remember, Naomi comes there empty-handed. She has nothing.
But she has a kinsman-redeemer, a mighty man of wealth, who can
buy her property back and restore it to her. But Ruth didn't know
anything about this. Verse 2, And Ruth the Moabitess
said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean the ears
of corn, after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said
unto her, Go, my daughter, go ahead and go after this. And
remember, this has to do with this law of gleaning. She could
go into the fields where they had harvested, and they would
leave sheaves behind, and she could go by law and pick up some
of those sheaves. So she said, I'm going to go
to the place wherever anybody will allow me to do it. So, verse
3, and she went and came and gleaned in the field after the
reapers and her hap just by chance, by, that's obviously ridiculous,
but that's the way, by happenstance, by chance. I love the way the
scripture points this out, like it's some kind of amazing coincidence. By hap, it was her hap was to
lie on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred
of Elimelech. She just happened to be in Boaz's
field, the one who was the mighty man of wealth, who could redeem
Naomi and get all what she lost back. Now look at this description
of Boaz. And behold, verse four, Ruth
chapter two, verse four, And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And remember, he was a mighty
man of wealth. And he said unto the reapers, we see what a nice
man Boaz was here, what a gracious man he was. He said to the workers,
the Lord be with you. And they answered him, the Lord
bless thee. Evidently, they loved this man and had a lot of respect
for him. He was a special man, this man Boaz. Then said Boaz
unto his servant that was sent over the reapers, whose damsel
is this? He saw Ruth gleaming in this
field. And the servant that was sent
over the reapers answered and said, it's the Moabite damsel
that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab. And she
said, I pray you, let them, and she said, I pray you, let me
glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaths. So she came
and it continued even from the morning until now that she tarried
a little in the house. Then said Boaz unto Ruth. Boaz,
she caught his attention. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest
thou not my daughter? Go not to glean in another field,
neither go from hence, but you abide here fast by my maidens.
Let thine eyes be on the on the field after they do reap, and
go thou after them. I charge the young men that they
shall not touch thee, and when thou art to thirst, go into the
vessels and drink of that which the young man hath drawn." Now
he says to this woman, I want you to stay in this field, and
I want you to continue to glean here. Now look at Ruth's response
to this. Verse 10. 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?" Why would you do this for me?
She was amazed by it. She didn't have the response
most people would have, why I got this coming. No, not at all.
She says, Why would you do this for me? Verse 11, And Boaz answered
and said unto her, It hath been fully showed me all that thou
hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband,
and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother in the land of
thy nativity, and art coming to a people which thou knewest
not heretofore. The Lord recompensed thy work,
and giveth thee a full reward, a full reward giveth thee of
the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to
trust. Then she said, Let me find favor. Let me find grace
in thy sight, my Lord, for thou hast comforted me for what thou
hast spoken. Friendly unto thine handmaid,
though I be not like unto one of thine handmaids. I'm not like
one of them. Now I want us to notice the attitude of Ruth here.
When Boaz does this for her, she says, let me find grace in
your sight. Why would you do this for me?
I don't have this coming. I don't deserve it in any way.
Why are you doing this for me? Now, this is every real sinner's
attitude toward the grace of God. That's the way they always
react. Now, what is meant by the word
grace? And that's what she asked for.
She says, let me find favor in your sight. What is meant by
the word grace? What's the Bible mean by this
word? Grace in the Bible is unmerited favor. Probably just about everybody
knows that definition, but what a glorious definition it is.
That means God doesn't have to find a reason in you to give
it to you. He doesn't have to find something
in you that will cause Him to give you this favor, the grace
of God. And that's what she wanted. She said, why are you doing this
for me? Oh, but let me find grace in your sight. That's my desire. I want to find grace in the sight
of God, don't you? Now, what is the grace of God? By grace
ye are saved. That's what the grace of God
is. It's His saving grace. Now, like Naomi, like Ruth, we
see ourselves, because of our sin, as empty, worthless, and
sinful, undeserving of the grace of God. Do you see that yourself
in that light? Now if you don't, God's never
done anything for you. You've never had a work of grace
done in your heart. I pray that everybody in this room will have
some understanding of their own worthlessness. Because when you
see your worthlessness, it's going to, that's the only time
you're actually going to trust Christ as your worthiness before God.
Only when you see that. But what's the Bible mean by
grace? Well, men are sinful. But God, in His mercy, elected,
chose a great, vast number of sinful men and women to be saved.
He chose the people to be saved. You don't believe in election,
you don't believe in grace. Now, understand that. It's impossible
to believe in grace and not believe in election if God freely chose
who would be saved before the time began. He gave these elect
ones to His Son His Son came and represented them. He kept
the law for them. He died for them, taking their
place. He said in John 6, 38 and 39, This is the will of Him
that sent me, that of all which He hath given me I should lose
nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. He saved every
single one of these people. And God the Holy Spirit comes
in time and gives them life by His grace. I believe right now
that's the gift of His grace. I repent right now. That's the
gift of His grace. I'm continuing in the faith.
That's the gift of His grace. Salvation's all of grace. That's
every believer's... what they stand for. That's the
only hope I've got, that salvation is by the free, unmerited favor
of God. Thank God for electing grace,
for redeeming grace, for justifying grace, for regenerating grace.
The natural man says, it's not fair for God to elect some and
pass by others. It's not fair for Christ to only
die for the elect and not die for everybody. The believer says,
why me? Why me? Why would you ever look
in favor on me? Oh, let me find grace in your
sight. Verse 14 of chapter 2, And 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
parts corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left. And
when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men,
saying, Let her glean among the sheaths, and reproach her not,
and let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her."
You make sure you leave some stuff just for her. And you know,
the Lord says that regarding every single one of His people.
stuff reserved just for me, just for you. And leave them that she may glean
them, and rebuke her not. So she gleaned in the field until
evening, beat out that which she gleaned, and it was about
an ephah of barley. Boaz takes care of her. And look down in verse 20. Now
she comes back to Naomi after this day with all this food,
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.
And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin to us. She
told him about being in Boaz's field, and she said, Boaz, that's
my near of kin. The man is near of kin to us.
One of our next kinsmen, and Ruth the Moabitess said, He said
unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they
have ended all my harvest. 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.
So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz, to glean unto the end
of the barley harvest, and of wheat harvest, and dwelt with
her mother-in-law. Now, Naomi loved Ruth. So she says to Ruth, in chapter
3, verse 1, Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said unto her, My daughter, shall
I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? That's
what I want. I want rest. I want contentment,
satisfaction. I want it to be well with me.
What God says is well. That's what I want. Now that's
what she wanted for Ruth. Now if you want to know how this
is obtained, listen real carefully. Let's go on reading. She says
to Ruth, Naomi, And now is not Boaz of our kindred, he's a near
kinsman, with whose maidens thou wast. Behold, he winnoweth barley
tonight in the threshing floor. Now here's what I want you to
do. Wash yourself, 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, and
it shall be when he lie 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. Now here is what I'm called upon
to do. If I want to have this rest,
if I want to have this peace, I'm to mark the spot where he
is. I'm to go to him. I'm not to make myself known.
I'm to lay down at his feet, and I'm to wait to see what he
has to say to me. He doesn't, Naomi doesn't say,
Ruth, tell him this, tell him that. No, you lay down at his
feet, and you wait to hear what he has to say to you. And look at the obedience of
faith, and she said unto her, verse 5, all that thou sayest
unto me, I'll do. I'll go find the place where
he is. I'll lay down at his feet. I won't say a word. I'll just
wait to hear from him. Verse 6, And she went down into
the floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law
bade her. And when Boaz, verse 7, 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. He's laying
there asleep and she comes where he's sleeping and she lifts up
the cover and she lays down at his feet. Now, this looks kind
of bad, doesn't it? It does. It looks kind of bad.
I mean, she comes, gets into where he's in bed, uncovers it,
lays there down at his feet. Listen to me. If you and I ever
come to Christ We're going to have to lose our good reputation
and our name that we think so highly of. And we're going to
come into his presence as nothing but sinners, uncovered, laying
at his feet. That's the only way to come to
Christ. You don't come to Christ and
dictate. You come and lay down at his feet. And you come softly. Verse 8. And it came to pass at midnight
that the man was afraid. He turned himself, and behold,
a woman laid his feet. And he said, Who art thou? And
she answered, I'm Ruth. I'm Ruth, thy handmaid. Spread
therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid. Have mercy on me, for
thou art a near kinsman. Now here's where we begin. What
does the Redeemer say to her? Who are you? And we tell Him
who we are. I'm Todd, that's me, a sinner,
needing your mercy. You come into God's presence,
that's how you'll come, just like she did. Losing your good
reputation, losing your name, coming into His presence, as
what you really are. There's some honesty going on.
You come into his presence as you are. Now look how he answers. Verse 10. And he said, Blessed
be thou of the Lord, my daughter, for thou hast showed more kindness
in the latter end than at the beginning. And as much as thou
followest not young men, whether poor or rich, and now, my daughter,
fear not. I will do to thee all that thou
requirest. For all the city of my people
that know that thou art a virtuous woman. And now it's true that
I'm thy near kinsman. I am the one who has a right
to redeem. How be it, there is a kinsman nearer than I. And that's going to have to be
taken care of first. There is a kinsman that's closer
than I. Now who is this kinsman he's
talking about? As you go on reading in this passage of scripture,
we're going to see this is a reference to the law. the law of God. That law is going to have to
be satisfied before I can redeem you. And as a matter of fact,
if you go and read in chapter 14, he had 10 witnesses of this,
the 10 commandments. This is talking about the law
of God. That's that nearer kinsman who first, that kinsman is going
to have to be satisfied before I can redeem you. Now let's go
on reading. He says in verse 13, tarry this night and it shall
be in the morning that if he will perform unto thee the part
of a kinsman, he was going to go to this one who had the right
to redeem if he wanted to, the law, the one who had first call. Let him do the kinsman's part.
But if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will
I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the Lord liveth, lie
down until morning. And she laid his feet into the
morning. And she rose up before one could know another, and said,
Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor. And he said,
Bring the veil that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And when
she held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid
it on her, and she went into the city. And when she came to
her mother-in-law, she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And
she told all that the man had done. She told about everything
that Boaz said to her. And she said, These six measures
of barley gave he me. For he said to me, Go not empty
unto thy mother-in-law. Then said she, Naomi, Sit still,
my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall. For
the man will not be in rest until he hath finished the thing this
day. Do you not see the words of the
Lord Jesus Christ right here? He won't rest. He won't give
himself any rest until he has finished the thing this day. That's what my kinsman redeemer
said. Now remember those two laws?
I'm not talking about the gleaming. We've already seen that. But
the law, first of all, of buying back and redeeming what had been
lost. And then there was the law that had to do with life,
raising up seed. Now on the cross, Christ Jesus
redeemed me. And he wouldn't rest until the
thing was finished. He bought me back. He paid my debt and
everything I lost is restored and more. He wouldn't rest until
he finished that. But not only did he do that,
as far as buying back what I lost. He gave me life. This other law
was regarding life. The near kinsman was to go into
the woman who now had no husband and was to create life and make
life. And that's what the Lord did.
He gave me life. He bought back everything I lost
and He gives me life. Now there are two things necessary
for my kinsman redeemer to have before he can have anything to
do with me. In this law of the kinsman redeemer. First, He had to be willing to pay you
out of debt. And secondly, He had to have
the resources. He had to be able. Now, my Lord
Jesus Christ is my kinsman redeemer in this sense. First, He has
the ability to redeem me. He has the ability to pay all
my debts He has the ability to make me perfectly righteous in
the very sight of God. He is able. That's the very foundation
of our faith. He is able. Paul said, I know whom I believe,
and I'm persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've
committed to Him against that day. Do you believe that Jesus
Christ is able to redeem you? But not only does He have to
be able, He has to be willing. You take somebody out on the
streets that's lost their property and it's worth $500,000, and
you might have the $500,000 to buy it back for them, but would
you be willing to do it? Probably not. Probably not. I want the $500,000 for myself,
but our Lord not only is able to redeem, he's
willing to redeem. There's never been a sinner who's
ever come into his presence that he was not willing to save. I love the way that leper comes
up to him, says, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. It's up to you. I can't make
myself clean and I know that you don't have to, but if you're
willing, you can. The Lord said to that leper,
I will be thou clean. The Lord Jesus Christ is an able
redeemer and he's a willing redeemer of any sinner who comes into
his presence. Ruth chapter four. Then went Boaz up to the gate.
And set him down there, and behold, the kinsmen of whom Boaz Spake
came by, and to whom he said, Ho, such a one, turn aside, sit
down here. And he turned aside and sat down,
and he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, Sit ye
down here. And they sat down, and he said unto the kinsmen,
Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth
a parcel of land. She lost it through her debt,
which was our brother Elimelech's. And I thought to advertise these,
saying, Buy it therefore before the inhabitants and before the
elders of the people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it, but
if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me that I may know, for
there's none to redeem it beside thee, and I'm after thee. And
he said, the law said, I'll redeem it. Then said Boaz, what day
thou buy'st the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy
also Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up
the name of the dead upon his inheritance. And the kinsman
said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance.
Redeem thou my right to thyself, for I cannot redeem it. You see,
the one thing the law can't do, I'll save you if you can keep
me. I'll do that. I'll do that. But one thing the
law can't do is it can't produce life. It can't give life. No, I can't give life like this. That would bar my own inheritance.
Verse 7, Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning
redeeming and concerning changing. For to confirm all things, a
man plucked off his shoe and gave it to his neighbor, and
that was a testimony in Israel. Therefore the kinsman said unto
Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe. And
Boaz said unto the elders and unto all the people, Your witness
is this day, that I have bought all those Elimelechs and all
those Chilons and Melons of the hand of Naomi. Moreover, Ruth
the Moabitess, the wife of Malon, have I purchased to be my wife,
to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the
name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, from
the gate of his place. Ye are witnesses this day." And
all the people that were in the gate, the elders said, we're
witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thy house
like Rachel, and like Leah, which too did build the house of Israel.
And do thou worthily an epiphra, and be famous in Bethlehem. And
let thy house be like the house of Pharaoh, as whom Tamar barren
to Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this
young woman. So Boaz, the kinsman redeemer, took Ruth, and she
was his wife. And he went into her, the LORD
gave her conception, and she bare a son, And the woman said
unto Naomi, or the women said unto Naomi, who had been calling
herself bitter, or Marah, Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left
thee this day without a kinsman, a near kin, that he may be famous
in Israel. 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 in, And Naomi took the child and laid it in her bosom
and became a nurse unto it. And the women, her neighbors,
gave a name, saying, There's a son born to Naomi, and they
call his name Obed. He's the father of Jesse, the
father of David. You see, Ruth was the great-grandmother,
through this union, of King David. Who, through him, came the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now I'm so thankful for my kinsman redeemer. He's able to make me perfect
because of who he is. You see, he's my near kinsman.
He's bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh. He's a real man.
But not only is he a real man, he is God. God manifest in the
flesh, therefore able to redeem me. You see, His precious blood
is such, because of whose blood it is, that He is able to wash
away all my sins and make me perfect before God. But not only
is He able, He's willing. He's willing to save any sinner
who comes into His presence seeking mercy. He's more willing, now
listen to me, He's more willing to bestow you mercy than you
are to receive it. That's how willing He is. He
delights in mercy. Sinner, does that mean you? Sinner, There is a near kinsman,
a redeemer. You go and lay yourself at his
feet and wait to hear what he says to you. And I can guarantee
you this, he's able and he is willing. Now to him that is able
to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think. That is the Redeemer. May every one of us leave this
place saying, I know that my Redeemer liveth. Let's pray.