How I pray that God will be pleased
in my soul and in yours to do what Judy is saying, and I hope
you prayed for, to revive our hearts by the power of his grace. How
I pray that he will be pleased, as Rex prayed, what he read for
us a minute ago, in the midst of heaviness and trouble, that he
will comfort and sustain and strengthen you. And I know that if he will speak
through me to your heart by his word tonight, I have a message
that will move us in that direction. Open your Bible with me to the
book of Ruth. I want us to behold the marvelous
romance of redemption in these four chapters. When Shelby and I were engaged,
I spent a year away from her in school out in Missouri, and
we corresponded every day. I wrote to her, she wrote to
me, and whenever we'd get 75 cents together, we'd call one
another at night. And there was some reason for
it, they missed each other, loved one another. And the best way
we had at that time and in those circumstances of romancing one
another was with correspondence. And this is a correspondence
from heaven for our souls, to charm our souls. and bring us
anew to Christ our Redeemer. Let's begin in chapter 3, verse
9. The message, of course, will
be from the whole book, but we'll start here. Boaz said to Ruth,
Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth,
thine handmaid. Spread therefore thy skirt over
thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman." Now, the book
of Ruth is all about Christ, our kinsman-redeemer. And the
key to the book is in the use of this word, kinsman. It's used
repeatedly in these four chapters. Ruth says here, Thou art a near
kinsman. We're told in chapter 2, in verse
1, Naomi had a kinsman of her a mighty man of wealth. In verse
20 of chapter 2, Naomi told 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 to her, The man
is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen. In chapter
3, we just read it, in verse 9, Ruth says to Boaz, You are
my kinsman. In verse 12, and now it is true,
Boaz says, I am thy near kinsman. Howbeit there is a kinsman nearer
than I. In chapter 4 he speaks concerning
this other kinsman. The kinsman said, I cannot redeem
it. In chapter 4, verse 14, the women
said to Naomi, Blessed be he of the Lord, that is your kinsman,
which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his
name may be famous in Israel. The kinsman is the one who has
the right to redeem and would bind the law given," hold your
hands here in Ruth and turn back to Leviticus 25. The law of the
kinsman-redeemer was prophetic. It was given to be a picture
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it was fulfilled by him. Here
in Leviticus 25, verse 25, verse 25, Leviticus 25, verse 25, Leviticus
25, verse 25, Leviticus 25, verse 25, Leviticus 25, verse 25, Leviticus 25, verse
25, Leviticus 25, verse 25, Leviticus 25, verse 25, Leviticus 25, verse 25, Leviticus
25, verse 25, Leviticus 25, verse 25, Leviticus 25, verse 25, Leviticus
25, verse 25, Leviticus 25, verse 25, Leviticus 25, verse 25, Leviticus
25, verse 25, Leviticus 25, verse 25, Leviticus 25, verse 25, Leviticus
25, verse 25, Levit And if any of his kin come to redeem it,
then he shall redeem that which his brother sold. And our Lord
Jesus fulfills this law as our kinsman-redeemer. We read in
Psalm 69 as he prays as our substitute, Then I restored that which I
took not away. By one man's disobedience many
were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be
made righteous. We lost everything through our
Father Adam. And everything is gained for
us through the Lord Jesus Christ, our kinsman, Redeemer. And the
book of Ruth is a picture of the whole thing. It shows us
our need of such a Redeemer, and shows us the way we may obtain
the blessing of grace and mercy in Christ, our Redeemer. Let's
look at it together. Just hold your Bibles open here
at the book of Ruth, chapter 1, and we'll go through these
four chapters, and I'll just pick out the highlights. You're
familiar with the story, but it's been a long time since we've
been here. There was a certain man in Israel called Elimelech
of Bethlehem, Judah. This was in the days of the judges,
you remember. And the Lord Jesus is that judge,
that deliverer, who is typified by all the other judges. And
this book pictures him as our Redeemer, tells us how he delivers
his people. Elimelech means God is King. But when famine came to Bethlehem,
Elimelech took his wife, Naomi, and their two sons, Malon and
Chilion, and went down to Moab. Not only did he go down to Moab,
not only did he abandon the house of God during a time of great
need, he took his money and his possessions, and with disregard
to the rest of Israel, with disregard to his brethren, he took off
down to Moab and said, I'll take care of my own. Take care of
me and mine, we come first. And Elimelech went down there
and continued there, in a land where God was neither known nor
worshipped. The Limelech, as I said, means,
My God is King, but he acted like God as a helpless idol. Naomi means sweet, pleasant. Their two sons, Balon, his name
means weakness, Chilion means consumption. One of their wives
was named Orpah, and declining. The other, Ruth,
means companion, and Boaz means in him is strength. Of course,
the two primary characters in the story are Ruth and Boaz. The story presents us with Ruth
representing sinners in need of redemption and grace, Boaz
representing the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, who is full of
strength and virtue, power and grace. And Limelech left Israel
and went down to Moab where he was consumed. He died in Moab
and left Naomi with those two boys alone. His two boys followed
his example. Limelech had taken them down
to Moab, and no matter what he said, though his name means,
My God is King, by his example and by his hand he led them down
to the land of idolatry. And they wound up marrying for
themselves wives in that land, and they both died in that land
of cursedness, because their father brought them to that land. What an awesome responsibility
we have in the leading of those under our influence, especially
of our children. And Limelech sowed and his sons
reaped. Now poor and brokenhearted, Naomi
heard that there was bread again in Bethlehem, when God is about
to visit his people. If he visits you and sends a
little reviving to you, if he visits you and sends his grace
to you, somehow he's going to cause you to hear about bread
in Bethlehem. She heard the Lord had visited his people, that
land that they had left when there was destitution, when there
was barrenness, when there was emptiness, when there was poverty,
when the Lord had stricken the land. Now the Lord has visited
his people, and he sends bread to Bethlehem. And she determined
to go back. So she got her two daughters-in-law,
these two widows, and she said, Y'all go back to your family
and go back to your gods, and I'm going to Bethlehem. I'm going
home. And Oprah, after a little bit of hesitation, did just that. She went back to her people and
went back to her gods. But look at chapter 1, verse
16. Ruth was not of that same mind. Ruth said, And treat me
not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee. For
whither 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 and me. Now, this was not just the pledge
of a faithful daughter-in-law to her mother-in-law. And it
certainly was not as it is commonly used. I recall when Shelby and
I were married, somebody sang a song from these two verses
at our wedding, and said, Well, it doesn't have anything to do
with that. She wasn't fixing to marry her mother-in-law. What
this is, is a portrayal of a woman who had learned from her mother-in-law
who her God is. And she said, I'm going to go
where you go, and I'm going to walk with you, and I'm going
to live with you. and your people, God's people,
and I'm going to die with your people, with God's people. And
if that's not the case, then let the Lord judge me." So Naomi
and Ruth returned to the land of Israel, to the people of God
at the beginning of the harvest season. Now, let me show you
the picture. We'll start in chapter 1. And
what a sad picture this is, verse 19. So they went until they 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? Is this Naomi? When Naomi came back to Bethlehem,
word got around that she was coming down the streets. Somebody
recognized her. She had grown out young and strong
and beautiful and wealthy. And she comes back empty-handed,
and old, and worn, and bent, and broke. But she still had
Naomi's features, and they said, Is this Naomi? And buzz went
through the streets, and everybody came out just astonished. Is
this Naomi? Now watch this. And she said
to them, Call me not Naomi, sweet and pleasant. But call me Mara,
or Mary, bitter, call me bitter, because the Lord hath dealt bitterly
with me.' Now there was nothing about this woman's character
that was bitter, far from it. She was still sweet and pleasant.
She was still gracious, but she had been under the bitter hand
of divine providence for a long time, and the Lord had dealt
bitterly with her. And she acknowledged it. She
acknowledged that the things that had come to pass, though
they came to pass by the error of a man, though they came to
pass by something that her husband had done, by something that her
husband had brought upon the family, she says God's hand was
in this. The Lord hath dealt bitterly
with me, and she comes back weary and poor and empty." Now, that's
a pretty good picture of what happened to us in the garden. I look in the mirror, and I try
to do it consciously, real regularly, and I say, Is this Adam? I sit at my desk and muse, when
I dare, about myself. Can this be Adam, this poor,
dying, corrupt creature? Is it possible that I have any
relationship to that man who was created and made in the image
and likeness of God? I look at the human race, and
I realize that man is made in God's image, and he's to be treated
as one made in God's image. but dared not much to reflect
that in humanity. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned." You watch the news, and even
when you watch those politicians and social leaders, civic that
you hope, you just kind of hope, maybe, maybe we can trust this
fellow, you've had so much experience in life that you don't dare really
do so. Because we recognize there's
no such thing as a righteous man on the earth. There's no
man that understands, there's no man that seeks after God,
there's no man that does good, they're all gone out of the way,
they're all unprofitable, they're It's like an open grave. The
tongues are full of deceit. The poison of ash is under the
lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their
feet are swift to shed innocent blood. They don't care who they
trample on. Destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way
of peace have they not known. And here's the reason, because
there's no fear of God before their eyes. That's the state of natural man. That's the state of man without
Christ. That's the state men and women
are in, have been in, and will continue to be in so long as
time shall stand until God Almighty intervenes by his grace. Man
by nature is a fallen creature. He has no real similarity to
what he used to be. Adam was a prince. Now he's a
pauper. Adam was made king over all God's
creation. Now he's a beggar. Adam was made
to live before God in the garden and walk with him in pleasantness
continually. Now he walks in bitterness. Adam
was full. I can't even imagine that. Full. That means, David, there
wasn't anything he ever wanted. There wasn't anything he ever
wanted, nothing. He was full. And here we are,
the sons of Adam, who seem never to be able to get over want. Adam was blessed, and now his
race is cursed. Look again at chapter 1. That's our condition. But here
is a picture of our Savior's matchless, free love for his
own. As I said before, Naomi and Ruth
came into Bethlehem at the beginning of the harvest season, and they
were poor and their inheritance was gone. They had no one to
support them, no one to take care of them. But God had made
another law, a law for the nation of Israel, that poor people should
be allowed to go through the fields, and men were forbidden
to glean all the grapes from their vines, or all the fruit
from their trees, or all the wheat from their fields. They
were required to leave so much so that the poor would have plenty
to eat. They would go out and gather
behind the reapers, and they would follow them along as they
went. And the Lord God required that in Leviticus 19, Deuteronomy
24. And Ruth knew that there was
a kinsman who could redeem her, who could provide for her. Look
in chapter 2, verse 1 again. Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's. Her husband had ruined everything. But he had a kinsman. Now watch
this. A mighty man of wealth. of the
family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. He was near kin,
he was mighty, and he had plenty of money. Boaz, Ruth's kinsman,
beautifully typifies our Lord Jesus Christ. In order for one
to be a kinsman, if you read those passages in Deuteronomy
24 and in Leviticus 19, and again in Deuteronomy 25, read them
at your leisure, you'll find that there were four things required
for a kinsman-redeemer. had to have these four qualifications.
First, of course, he had to be a kinsman. He had to be related
by blood. Turn over to Hebrews 2. The Old Testament just comes
alive when you see the Old Testament is all about the work of redemption
and grace in Christ. This law with regard to the gleaning
in the fields, this law with regard to the kinsman-redeemer,
all these things were portrayals showing us the necessity and
the way of redemption by Christ. Look in Hebrews 2, verse 14.
For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through
death, that is, for this purpose, He might destroy him that had
power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who through
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. It was needful for him, it behooved
him to be made like unto his brethren. He came here, the word
was made flesh and dwelt among us, because the only way he could
be our Redeemer is if he becomes one of us. I can't begin to explain
the mystery of the incarnation. I don't understand it. But God
Almighty invaded humanity and took on
himself human flesh and became one of us. He never ceased to
be God, and man never got to be God. He is God-man in one
glorious person, but now he's Not only was the kinsman one
who had to be related by blood, he had to be able to pay the
price required for ransom. This kinsman of Elimelech was
a man of wealth. And our Lord Jesus Christ has
redeemed us, not with corruptible things as silver and gold. That
can't be. but with his own precious blood,
as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Now, this is
what it takes to pay the price we owe. Someone called me one
day just recently, just a day or two ago, I can't remember
for sure when, and was asking me about this matter of satisfaction. could never be satisfied in his
holy justice for our sins with anything short of the sacrifice
of his own darling son. The sacrifice of an innocent
man would not suffice. The sacrifice of all the peoples
of the world forever would not suffice. When the scripture says,
I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, that's what
it's talking about. God Almighty can never be satisfied
with your blood. Can't be done. That's the reason
hell is eternal. But he looked on his son. And
the scripture says, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Now God's satisfied. God incarnate. is a man who has
come to take the place of sinful men, to die in the womb instead
of sinful men, but he is a man of infinite merit, of infinite
worth, of infinite capability, and he is thereby able with one
tremendous draft of love to drink damnation dry, satisfying the
justice of God. But there was more. The kinsmen
had to be willing to pay the price of Look in Ruth 3. Boaz says to Ruth, Now my daughter,
fear not, I will do for thee all that thou requirest. When we get to chapter 4 in a
minute, you'll see this nearer kinsman. He said, No, I can't
do that. I can't redeem her. No, I can't
do that. Boaz says, I will. The kinsman
was not forced to redeem. The kinsman was not forced to
buy back his brother's heritage. He was put to shame if he didn't,
but there was no law requiring that he do it. The kinsman had
to be willing to pay. He had to be willing to purchase.
And the Lord Jesus Christ, with more willingness than I
have ever sinned or even breathed. With willingness no human mind
can imagine or tongue describe, the Lord Jesus Christ said, Lo,
I come to do thy will, O God, by the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. when you see the Son of God in
Gethsemane and you hear him cry, If it be possible, let this cup
pass from me. Don't ever, sometimes I think
such passages are better just read without a word of explanation. But whatever you think concerning
that, Don't ever imagine that the Son of God stumbled or halted
or paused. I was looking for a way out of
his covenant engagements. Oh, no, he set his face like
a flint to go up to Jerusalem. And more willingly than a thirsty
man drinks cold water, he took on himself our iniquities and
took on himself the wrath of God Almighty and took on himself
the hell we deserve! Because he is infinitely willing
to redeem and save his own. He said, Therefore doth my Father
love me. Because I laid down my life for
the sheep. No man takes it from me, but I lay it down in myself.
I had the power to lay it down, and I had the power to take it
again. And there was one more thing. The kinsman had to be
one of blood kin. He had to be able to redeem,
and he had to be willing to redeem. But he also had to be one who
was totally free himself. He could not redeem another if
he had any debt against his own self. He could not redeem another's
poverty if there was a lien against his poverty. He could not buy
back his brother's inheritance if his own inheritance was in
hock. And the Lord Jesus Christ, our great kinsman-redeemer, was
entirely free from any debt of his own. He came here and lived
as a man who never owed anything to God. He didn't know any righteousness.
He's perfectly righteous, infinitely righteous. He's the righteous
Son of God. He didn't know any righteousness,
even as a man, for as long as he walked on this earth, he lived
in perfect righteousness, inwardly and outwardly. He owed no debt
for sin, for he had no sin, none inward, none outward. He knew
no sin. This kinsman-redeemer who came down from heaven, the
Lord of glory, he has no obligation whatsoever for himself. But Rex
Bartlett, he assumed total obligation for you, before the world was,
and said, I will do all that thou requirest. Then in verse
2, chapter 2, Ruth went out into the fields to glean with the
poor. And she went out into the fields
to glean with the poor, hoping for what she needed, that she
might find grace in the eyes of her kinsmen. Ruth the Moabite
said to Naomi, Let me now go to the field and green ears of
corn, after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said
unto her, Go, my daughter. If it were possible for this
woman to have her inheritance with God's people redeemed, Ruth
was not willing to perish in poverty. Oh, why will you die when there's
life for a look at the crucified one? Why will you choose death
instead of life? Ruth said, not me. I may die. I may die in the shape I'm in,
but I am not willing to do so when I know there's a man out
there somewhere who can, if he will, buy back my inheritance
and do everything for me my soul requires. And so what you did
is she went to the place where she was most likely to meet her
kinsman with the hope that he might be gracious to her. She
went to the harvest fields. She went to the place where the
kinsman comes to gather his harvest. She went to the place where you
are right now, the house of God, where Christ comes and gleans
in his vineyard. Look at verse 5 now. Then said
Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? There were lots of poor widows
gleaning in the fields. But Boaz had his eyes on Ruth.
He took notion of Ruth. He had compassion on And he did
so before she ever knew who he was. She just knew there was
a candidate. She didn't know who he was, didn't
know where he was. She didn't know whose field she was in.
She was just out gleaning, hoping maybe she'd come to the right
field. So it is with our Savior. He took notice of us among all
the fallen ruins of humanity, before ever we knew him, set
his eyes upon us. loved us with everlasting love,
and loved us freely from eternity. Oh, what bounteous grace! He says, I will love them freely.
Now here's a picture of God's wondrous providence. As the fields
of Bethlehem belong to Boaz, so all the world belongs to our
Savior. God has given him power over
all flesh, and he should give eternal life to as many as the
Father has given him. Look at this 2nd chapter, I'll
just show you the highlights. We're told here that Ruth's hap
was to lie on a part of the field belonging to Boaz. Isn't that
wonderful? She's going out to glade, and
she didn't know what she was doing, she just knew she was
hungry, and she had to have some food, or she was going to die.
She knew she had to have somebody take care of her or she was going
to perish. And so she goes out to glean, hoping maybe she'd
find this kinsman who she's heard about, who might be gracious
to her. And as she went out into the field, first field she came
by, there was lots of folks out there gleaning, and she just
started gleaning. And lucky for her, she was in
the right field. And that's just how it appears.
That's just how it appears. Oh, luck had nothing to do with
it, but it sure looks that way. Let me see if I can illustrate it. When I was 16 years old,
I started dating this girl. I was a rebel, her daddy knew
it, and he had enough sense to know that it wouldn't be good
for her to be out with me much. And the only way I could see
her was either at her house or at church. And I didn't much
like sitting in her house with her daddy in the next room. I
wasn't real fond of it. And so we'd meet at church. And I didn't have one bit of
interest in the world and what was going on in that church.
I didn't want to sit there and hold hands with that girl. I wasn't much bit
interested. I just happened to be there. When Boaz came along and spoke
by his grace to my heart. Oh, God graciously brings his
elect to the place where he will be gracious to them, even if
he has to send a reprobate religious hypocrite down to Moab to get
them. I see the events going on in
our world today, the immediate prospect of war. And I don't
pretend to understand God's ways, but I know Lindsey Campbell,
he raises up kingdoms and puts them down to get Ruth. And it may be he still has some
Moabites over there he's going to call by his grace. And he
will sacrifice anything for them. He sacrificed his son for them.
As Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Touch not this woman. Don't you touch her. So the Lord
Jesus has given commandment to all creation before the world
began, touch not mine anointed, don't you touch them. And Boaz
commended his young men and said, why are you going along with this dark-skinned Moabite gal?
She's out here in the fields. You better be sure you shove
off some extra grain for her. leave some handfuls on purpose
for her. And our great God and Savior,
while we live with our fists shoved square in his face, all
the days of our left handfuls on purpose for us, and cared
for and provided for our souls, even when we despised him, and
took everything he gave and sacrificed it to our lusts and to our idols."
Look in chapter 2, verse 18. And she took it up, and she went
home, and the mother-in-law saw her cupboard and said, Where you been gleanin' today?"
She said, there's this fella out here, came ridin' up on a
beautiful white horse, and his gleaners, his reapers, they said,
uh, they said, God bless you, fellas! And he said, God bless
you, too. He spotted me, and he called
me over to himself, he said, now if you get thirsty, come
right here and drink. If you get hungry, you sit down here
with my servants, they'll feed you. And I commanded them not to touch
you. And I've commanded him not to rebuke you." And look what
I got. And Naomi said, oh, bless God,
that's the one I've been telling you about. That's the kinsman. Ruth, that's the kinsman. He's
the one I've been telling you about all these years, even when
we were down in Moab. That's the kinsman we've come
back here for. And then we get to chapter 3.
And Naomi tells Ruth exactly what she used to do. And here's
a picture of repentance. In verse 4, she said, Ruth, I'll
tell you what, honey, tonight Boaz is going to be down there
on the threshing floor, threshing out his grave. All the men will
be down there. He said, you go find out where
he's going to lay down tonight. Mark the spot. And this is what
you do. First she marked the place where
Boaz would be. And she went there. The Lord Jesus has promised he'd
be in the assembly of his saints. You want to meet him, this is
the best place to be. And then she came in softly and laid herself
at his feet. Look at verse 7, chapter 3, verse
7. And when Boaz 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, picked up the covers, and laid down at his feet. Sinners in need of mercy will always find themselves right
there. The leper came and fell at his feet and said, Lord, if
you will, you can make me whole. Mary sat at Jesus' feet and heard
his word, and the Lord said, She has chosen that good part
which shall not be taken from her. There was a woman who had
been a woman of ill repute in Luke chapter 7 who came in and
knelt at his feet and broke an alabaster box of ointments and
anointed him for his burial. And she washed his feet with
her tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. She picked
him up and kissed him. There's Ruth. She wasn't too
proud. to humble herself as a beggar
at the feet of Boaz, the only one could help her. Well, I don't know what he's
going to do. Boy, they wanted neighbors to see me in here.
I've always had a good reputation. Folks have always known I've
been faithful to my mother-in-law. The only thing I've got left
is my good name. And one of those women sees me
in here, One of those drunks sees me over here. But I've got to have him. And for him, I'll risk everything,
right down to my life." And she goes and lays herself at his
feet. And then she told Boaz plainly
what she wanted. Look at verse 9. She said, he
woke up and was startled. He said, Who are you? And she
says this. He said, Who art thou? She answered,
I am Ruth, thine handmaid. Whether you take me to be your
wife or not, I acknowledge that I belong to you. I'm yours, your
handmaid. Spread therefore thy skirt over
thine handmaid. Pledge yourself to marry me right
now. Take me to be your wife right
now. Take me as yours, for thou art
a near kinsman. Now watch this. And Boaz said,
I will do all that thou requirest. But there's a nearer kinsman
than me. And he's got to be dealt with
first. I'll be merciful to you, but I can't violate God's law.
I'll do everything you need, but I can't violate God's law.
I'll save you, but I can't violate God's law. So it is with our Lord Jesus
Christ. Now look in chapter 4. Boaz goes up to the gates of
the city where men do business. This nearer kinsman came by.
And Boaz said, Hey, Beth, come over here, I'll talk to you about
something. And they sat down there. He said, Have you heard
about Naomi? Yeah, here she's back in town.
And you know, her husband, a limolack, lost everything. And he said,
You're the nearest kinsman. He said, If you want his property,
it's yours. All you got to do is buy it.
And if you don't want it, I'm next in line, I'll buy it. And
the fellow said, Well, I'll take that. And Boaz said, When you take that property,
you've got to take that black boa by this gal named Ruth, too.
He said, what? He said, that's the law. He said,
I don't need that acreage after all. I can get along fine with
just what I've got. If I marry her, it's going to
mar my inheritance. It's going to ruin my family.
It's going to dirty my blood. And Boaz said, fellas, did you
hear him? We heard him. He should be witnesses
today. I'm buying a limolex inheritance. And I'm buying Ruth to be my
wife. And he did. You see, the Lord
Jesus, our kinsman redeemer, loving us with every fiber of
his being, will not have us except he have us in a way that honors
God and his law. And the law got to be dealt with
first. And so he comes and takes on himself our iniquity, and
God's wrath, and God's judgment, and biases, and wedges. And he does for us what the law
could never do, makes us to be heirs of God and join heirs with
Christ in God. And you know why he did all this?
Look in chapter 4 verse 14. He did all of this that his name might be famous
in Israel. He bought us, he redeemed us
for the glory of his name and his everlasting praise, because
he loved us. And Ruth, that know about us,
by the work of God's overruling providence, not only became heir
of the grace of God, but she became the great-great-great
grandmother of the incarnate God, our Savior. Through her,
the Son of God came into this world. Oh, wondrous grace. I'm going to tell you something.
When my heart gets close to being in the position and frame of trusting
my Savior, that's all I want. I can make it without anything
else. O love surpassing knowledge,
O grace so full and free, I know that Jesus loves me, and that's
enough for me. O wonderful salvation from sin,
Christ set me free. I feel