Turn to Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40, our text is
just going to be one verse out of Isaiah 40. While you're turning
there I want to read the scripture to you. This is 2 Timothy 4 verse
2, this is Paul speaking to Timothy. And Paul says this, he says, be instant in season and out
of season." And he mentions three things. He says, reprove, rebuke,
and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. I got to think
about those three words. And I am thankful for all three
of those aspects of gospel preaching. I am thankful for preaching that
reproves me. convicts me. That's what that
means. Preaching that reminds me that I am nothing but a sinner
in the hands of a holy and a sovereign God. And this is necessary because
we have high and lofty thoughts of ourselves. We're filled with
self-righteousness. We're filled with pride. And that's a problem.
Listen to what the Proverbs say, Proverbs 16 and 18. It says,
Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a
fall. You leave me without reproof. You leave me without conviction.
I'll have this high and lofty thoughts of myself that leads
me to destruction. It's best I stay down in the dirt where
I belong. I'm thankful for preaching that rebukes me, that corrects
me. You think of that, the word repentance. You know what that
means? It means a change of mind. We have to constantly brought
back to repentance, constantly have our minds changed because
the way we naturally think about who God is and how He saves sinners
and who we are and how we fit in this equation, it's all wrong.
I have to be constantly reminded my natural thoughts are wrong.
And if I want to know who God is, there's only one place I
can go, it's right here, it's this book. And if it comes from
this book and this book says it, I must believe it. It's an
issue of life and death. And if this book does not say
it's error, it's wrong. I want to be revocable. I want to be
correctable. I'm thankful for that preaching. I'm thankful
for preaching that exhorts me, that calls me to action. This
is Barnabas speaking to the church in Antioch in Acts 11.23 he says,
"'Who, when he came and had seen the grace of God, was glad and
exhorted them all, and with purpose of heart that they would cleave
to the Lord?' Now, there is nothing I find more thrilling on this
earth than when a man gets up here and he tells me that not
only as a sinner that I have a right to believe, to cleave
to the Lord Jesus Christ and His work and Him alone, but that
I am commanded to. It is my job. I am commanded
to do that. I'm not just welcome, I am commanded
to, to not do His disobedience. I love that type of preaching.
I'm thankful for that type of preaching. if there is an aspect
of Gospel preaching that I am most thankful for it is found
in Isaiah 40 verse 1. Look at verse 1, the commandment to the prophet
is this, comfort ye, comfort ye my people say it through God. If there is an aspect of Gospel
preaching that I am most thankful for it is preaching that comforts
me. Preaching that reminds me that
there is peace between me and my God through the Lord Jesus
Christ. Preaching that tells me that there is nothing left
for me to do. Christ did it all. Absolutely
nothing left for me to do. It's all been done and I have
one responsibility in all this. That's it. And it's to do nothing.
Absolutely nothing. Just rest. Just sit there and
trust Christ. Took care of it all. That's my
favorite. brings me comfort. Now, when I was looking at this
concept of comfort in the Scriptures I came across three different
characters in the Old Testament. And in three different stories
there is a portion of the story that seems to center around this
thing of comfort. One with Noah, and one with Joseph, and one
with Ruth. I don't want to look at that tonight. We are going
to look at six comforting thoughts. But before we do that, before
we dive into that we have to remain true to the text. And
what it says in Isaiah 40 is this, comfort ye, comfort ye
my people. people. The message of comfort
is not for everyone, it's not for every man. I think it was,
I heard Henry Mahan say this, he goes, we cannot comfort where
the Lord is not our comfort. We cannot speak peace to a man
that has no peace. If a man has no peace with God,
if God is still angry with him, if there is still a war between
him and God we would do damage by speaking peace to that man.
So, we must identify who are these people who the Lord says
you comfort these people, speak comfortably to them. I'm going
to give you a scripture here. want to make this as simple as
I can. Revelation 17, 14 says this, it says, "'These shall
make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them. For
He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and they that are with
Him are three things. They are called, and they are
chosen, and they are faithful.'" They are chosen. Ephesians 1.4
tells us this, that before the world began God the Father elected,
He chose a people and He chose them for one reason unto salvation
for this reason because of their connection with Jesus Christ
His Son. Because they were in Christ, because God is eternal,
Jesus Christ is eternal, He has no beginning and He has no end.
His people beginning. They have no end. They have always
been in Him, connected to Him. And in looking at His Son, God
the Father said, I choose Him. He's the One who has all my delight.
He's the One I love. He's the One I choose. And when
He chose Christ He chose everybody in Christ. That's what Ephesians
1, 4 tells us, that they are chosen before the world ever
began. They are called in this life. At one point they did not
believe. At one point they do. At one
point in this life they are born, they are dead, point they're
given life. It's when they're called, when God the Holy Spirit
calls them. It's always a call though to come down. Remember
Zacchaeus? Well, it came to him where he
was at. He was high. He was up in a tree. And the Lord said this,
come down. And with absolutely no hesitation whatsoever, this
is the way it always works, that man came down. always to come
down. Come down from those high and
lofty thoughts about trying to save yourself, trying to justify
yourself by your works in front of this Holy God. You come down
from all that and you take your rightful place as a sinner down
the dust in front of the Sovereign. Come down. They are called, and
they are faithful. faithful. The object of their
faith is this one singular person, it is Jesus Christ. And they
are recipients of faith. They didn't come up with this
faith. They didn't muster it on their own. They are recipients.
And that faith, it has one singular object. It's Christ and Him crucified
alone. That's their only hope. That's
God's people. But let me narrow it down even
further. It says this, 1 Timothy 115, this is a faithful saying,
worthy of all acceptation." You can write this down anywhere
you want, say it every single day. This is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into this
world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Now that's God's
people right there, a sinner, a poor and needy man who is solely
looking to Jesus Christ. His eggs are all in this one
basket. He has one place to look and that's Christ and he has
no claims on God. And if you can answer to that name, a sinner,
one of God's people. That means tonight you are to
be comforted. And I pray the Lord would do
that. Let's get into it. Go to Genesis chapter 5. Let's
look at Noah. Remember when we look at these
characters we are looking for comfort. Genesis chapter 5 and look at
verse 28. It says, and Lamech lived 182
years and begat a son, and he called his name Noah, saying,
this same shall comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our
hands. because of the ground which the
Lord had cursed." Now when Adam disobeyed God, when he ate the
fruit and he disobeyed God the ground was cursed, the earth
was cursed because of Adam's disobedience. Let me read this
to you it is from Genesis 3 verse 17, God speaking to Adam, because
thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten
of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not
eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake. sorrow thou shalt
eat of it all the days of thy life." Now I find this interesting
when Adam fell, when Adam disobeyed God and he fell it was not just
Adam and all his posterity and the entire human race that was
defiled, the entire creation was defiled. The whole world
came under God's curse. Here's an interesting story,
Macy was telling me this the other day. So we have a dog named Rosie, right?
The Cyphers they have a dog named Lucy. And Macy said that They
got the dogs together, and they got two bowls, identical bowls,
and they filled both the bowls with dog food, right? Exact same
dog food, exact same amount. And the dogs come up to it, and
you know what they did? They went for each other's bowls.
Because they were afraid the other dog would have something
they didn't. They were jealous of the other dog's food, so they
went to the other bowls. The entire creation is defiled. was
defiled. When Adam was in the garden he
was there to dress and keep the garden. It was easy. The ground
had just the right amount of minerals. It got just enough
sunlight. There was just enough water. But now he was cast out
of the garden. The ground was hard and it was rocky and he
was untillable. And so when somebody says, what though is this talking
about? What do you mean here? Because
it says in the text that He's going to comfort them concerning
the toil of their hands in regards to the ground that the Lord cursed.
Speaking of agriculture what are they talking about here?
I have no idea. I I read a bunch of commentaries
on this, and if you'd like to laugh a little bit, read them,
because this is funny. One guy surmised that because Noah was
a husbandman, and he created a vineyard when he got off the
ark, that he probably developed a new agriculture tool, and maybe
he was the first guy to develop the shovel. Now, there was over
1,500 years between Adam and Noah, so that would have meant
for 1,500 years, people were digging the dirt, and nobody
thought about taking a stick and putting a rock on the end
of it. What I am sure of is that that is not the point. point
is this, when Adam sinned against God the whole creation fell under
the curse, Adam fell under the curse. That upright and righteous
nature he had, he lost it. He took on a sinful and evil
nature and he passed that down to every one of us after that.
And we can read about that when we go into Galatians chapter
3. Turn over there. Let's read about this curse that
we've come under in Adam. Galatians chapter three, and
I want you to pick up in verse 10. It says, for as many as are of the
works of the law are under the curse. Now stop there for a second.
greatly appreciate when a man stands up here and he preaches
to me and he starts preaching about God's electing grace the
election of God his sovereignty and salvation I greatly appreciate
that when he speaks of that he also gives me the markers that
I might know that I'm one of those people and those markers
are very simple I am a sinner and Christ is my only hope if
you check both those boxes be assured you are elect you are
chosen of God you're one of God's people I am thankful for that
but I What are the markers of a man that is under God's curse? We just read it. For as many
as are of the works of the law. How can a man know if he's under
God's curse? He's under the works, he's of the works of the law. He believes there is something
good about him. He believes there is a shot that he could do something
that could please God. There is a shot that he could
stand before God and he can say, I did this, and the Lord would
turn to him and say, yes, I'll accept that. And he's willing
to take that shot. He's willing to go on that, because if he
does, there's some personal glory in it for him, and that's what
he wants. If you want to know a man who's under the curse of
God, he's of the law. Now, anyone who's interested
in coming on those grounds, standing on the grounds of the law, I've
done this, now have mercy. I want you to understand what
you're getting yourself into. Read verse 10, we're gonna read
the whole thing. For as many as are of the works of the law
are under the curse. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. So if you will come on
the grounds of the law, grounds of your own obedience to the
Law. You'll say, Lord have mercy on me because I've done something
according to the Law. You are a debtor to do the Law.
All things, that's what the Law demands. Every jot, every tittle,
inwardly and outwardly your entire life. Now, what's the success
rate of this? What is the success rate of men
coming to God on the basis of their own works and finding acceptance?
Verse 11, But that no man is justified by the law in the sight
of God, it is evident. What's the success rate here
of men coming to God on the basis of their own works? No man. Zero. Been tried time and time
again in every generation. It hasn't worked yet. Every single
time, they've heard, depart from me. I never knew you. I think
it's interesting here that Paul says it's evident. That no man
is justified by the law, it is evident. Why is that evident?
I'll give you three reasons. Number one, because the scriptures
declare it. You look at this book, one of the major themes
of this book is this, is that God can have absolutely nothing
to do with a sinful man. He cannot accept anything that
comes from a sinful man. Read this book over and over
and over, that's in there. You remember King Uzziah. King
Uzziah lifted up with pride. He comes into the temple. He
bypasses the priest. He says, I no longer need a go-between
between me and God. He offers strange incense. The
Lord kills him right there. Strikes him as a leper and kills
him right there. Why? Because he can have absolutely
nothing to do with a sinful man. He bypassed the priest. He bypassed
the intercessor. Second reason that is evident,
because there is no difference between men. I want you to think
of yourself for a second. Do you have any hope of standing
before a holy and a sovereign God based on how you've conducted
yourself in this world? Is there any hope that you will
hear, well done, thou good and faithful servant, standing on
the grounds of your own obedience? If you're a believer, the answer
is no. And because there is no difference between men, because
it will not work for you, it won't work for any man either.
It is evident. reason is this that it is evident,
because of the character of God. God is holy, absolutely 100%
holy. He can have absolutely nothing
to do with sin. That's it. Now, if a man can't
be justified by the law what is he supposed to do? Look at
verse 11 again. But that no man is justified
by the law in the sight of God it is evident, for the just shall
live by faith. Do you want to live? Do you want
to live? one way, you look to Christ.
You abandon that law, you get away from this thing of trying
to justify yourself before the law, before a holy God, and you
believe. You believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. That is the only way. And if there are any questions
about the mingling of law and faith look at verse 12. It says,
and the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall
live in them. Now perhaps you've heard somebody
say this, I've done my best and Christ did the rest. And so what
they're saying is, I'm relying on the merits and the efforts
of Jesus Christ in some way, but I have also made my contribution. It's a mingling there. Well,
the law is not of faith. Can't have it both ways. If you'll
come on the grounds of your own obedience at all, your own contributions,
you are a debtor to do the whole law. The law doesn't care anything
about your faith. Vice versa, if you're truly a believer, if
you truly are looking to Christ alone, you want absolutely nothing
to do with that old law. law does nothing but convict
you and condemn you before a holy God, want nothing to do with
it. The law is not of faith. Now, someone may say, you promised
in the beginning of this there would be comfort, so where is
comfort in all this? Verse 13, Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written,
cursed is everyone who hangeth on a tree." Here's the first
comforting thought that Christ hath redeemed you from the curse
of the Law. Now the Law demanded two things
from you. Number one it demanded that you be punished for breaking
it. The Lord Jesus Christ was made a curse for you. went to
the cross bearing your sin." 2 Corinthians 5, 421, "'For He
hath made Him sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be
made, the very righteousness of God, in Him. Because He became
your curse, and He bore the shame of that curse, and He bled and
died bearing that curse. You bear that curse no more.'"
Now the law says, I'm satisfied. He's been punished. He was punished
in the person of His Redeemer. I am satisfied right there. I've
got nothing to say to Him. The other thing the law demanded
from you was this, that you keep it. You couldn't just be neutral. You couldn't just be without
sin. You have to actually be righteous. The Lord Jesus Christ
took care of that too. When He lived that perfect life, when
He honored God's law and He believed His Father, and He did His Father's
will every single time, He developed and He created the righteousness,
the very righteousness of the saints. It says this in Jeremiah
33, 16, and this is the name wherewith she shall be called
the Lord our righteousness. Now, over to Genesis chapter
50. Genesis chapter 50, pick up at verse 21, this is
Joseph speaking to his brothers. Genesis 50 verse 21, Joseph said to his brothers,
now therefore fear ye not, I will nourish you and your little ones.
And he comforted them and spake kindly unto them. Now what's
going on here? What's the back story? Jacob
is dead. He died in Egypt next to Joseph
and his brothers. And Joseph's brothers start to
get a little anxious. They're afraid that Joseph is now going
to exact revenge on them. You remember what they did? way
back when Joseph was a young man they sold him to slavery.
And they told Jacob, their father, he's dead. No reason to think
about him anymore. He's dead. He's gone. And then
Joseph lived a very rough life. He was in Potiphar's house for
a while. Until Potiphar's wife lied on him. He was thrown into
prison. And he goes through all these series of calamities, and
life of ups and downs like every other believer. Until finally
there is a famine in the land of Egypt. And he is promoted
to where he is the second in command, second to only Pharaoh
in Egypt. And he has developed a way to feed everybody. And
the land. Not just the Egyptians but everybody
else. And he is Pharaoh's second in command. And his brothers
come to the land. And he recognizes his brothers and he forgives
them. Now let's pick up reading. Go to verse 15, let's find out
what happens. And when Joseph's brethren saw
that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will perventure
hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did
unto him. And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father
did command before he died, saying, So shall ye say unto Joseph,
Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren and
their sin, for they did unto the evil. And now we pray thee,
forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And
Joseph wept when they spake unto him. And his brethren also went
and fell down before his face. And they said, Behold, we be
thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not, for am I
in the place of God? But as for you, you thought evil
against me, but God meant it unto good to bring to pass that
it is this day to save much people alive. Now therefore, fear ye
not, I will nourish you and your little ones." And he comforted
them. Two things. Here's a comforting
thought. God is absolutely nothing like
you and me. Why did Joseph's brothers think
that he was going to exact revenge on them? because that's exactly
what they would have done. They got together and said, listen,
we got to do something about this. Our dad's dead and the
only reason he hasn't killed us yet is because of dad, right?
And he's gone and we've got to do something here. And the reason
they thought that way is because if he would have done that to
them, that is exactly what they would have done. They would have
waited until Jacob was dead and they would have killed him. How
many times have we sinned? I'm talking about walking into
it, eyes wide open, Knew what we were doing was wrong. We did
it anyway, and we stood back and said, that's it. He's going
to destroy me. He's going to utterly wipe me out. There's
no more mercy for me. He's going to get rid of me. That's the
end of it. How many times have you and I thought that? Why do
we think that way? Because that's exactly how we
would be if we were God. us a little while. We might be
merciful for a little while. We might let a man offend against
us a few times. We might even let a guy we like
offend against us a lot. But eventually we would get fed
up. A man would shake his fist in our face enough and we would
wipe everyone else and no one would be saved. God is absolutely
nothing like you and me. He says this in Psalm 50.21,
"...Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such one as thyself,
but He is not." Now, especially not like us in this respect.
His mercy and His grace are inexhaustible. Now I want you to turn over to
Psalm 86, I want to show you something. Psalm 86 and look at verse 5.
It says, and ready to forgive, and plenteous
in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Now, if you look in
this psalm, the concept of mercy is mentioned four times in this
psalm. If you look down in verse 16,
it says this, David speaking, oh, turn unto me and have mercy
upon me. You know what he's talking about
there? He's talking about sovereign mercy. will have mercy it's for
one reason and one reason alone because God sovereignly will
turn unto that man. Long before that man is ever
even conscious that he knows he needs mercy God must turn
to him with an eye of love and an eye of mercy and say, I will
have mercy on this man. I will have mercy to whom I will
have mercy, to whom I will He will not. It's sovereign mercy. Look at verse 13, David says,
for great is thy mercy toward me. What makes the mercy of God
so great? this, because it demands absolutely
nothing of the recipient. It doesn't look to the recipient
for the reason to show that mercy. Also this, for this reason, because
it is conditional. It is conditioned on God's justice
being met. And when the Lord is merciful
to a man it is for this reason, because the Lord Jesus Christ
has put away that man's sin. And so when that mercy is shown
it honors God's justice. He is being merciful to him essentially
because there is nothing to be mad at him about. It's great
mercy. But twice in the scripture, it says it is plenteous in mercy. Verse 5 and verse 15. As if to say, if there's one
thing you want to stress, you want to drive home, give it double emphasis,
this thing of plenteous mercy. So let me emphasize it as I should.
This is almost a cliche statement, but I'll say it. The Lord is
more willing to show you mercy than you are to receive it. It
is plenteous mercy. It's like a river that keeps
on flowing and flowing and flowing to his people. You could never
drink it dry. You can never send it away. It keeps on flowing
and flowing. It's like storehouses full of grain. Just eat, just
eat. You'll never run out. It's plenteous
mercy to all to call upon. Here's a second comforting thought
here. The favor that you have with the father is completely
based on your connection with someone else. story we have in
Genesis 50 what his brothers do this, what Joseph's brothers
are doing is this, they are sending Joseph a message and they are
saying this is from Jacob. And what Jacob said is you are
supposed to forgive us. What's interesting about that
is this is the only time in Scripture that that is recorded. It's never
recorded that Jacob actually told his brothers to say this.
It could be that these boys are just making this up because they
think this, if we ask him to forgive us, he probably won't
do it because we sinned against him. But if he thinks Jacob said,
forgive us, he'll do it for Jacob's sake. Why does the Lord forgive
us? It is completely and utterly
for Christ's sake, because of our connection with someone else,
with the Lord Jesus Christ. But there's a difference between
Joseph's brothers and us, and it's this. Joseph's brother's
hope was on the words of a man who is a dead. Our hope of forgiveness
rests on the words of a man who is alive. Hebrews 7.25, "'Wherefore
He is able also to save them to the uttermost, that come unto
God by Him, seeing He ever liveth,' to make intercession for them."
When the Lord Jesus Christ died, when He gave up the ghost, His
body was placed in a sepulcher and it remained there three days,
He was dead. And on the third day, you know what happened?
He brought Himself back to life. He did that for this reason because
the justice of God would not allow Him to be dead anymore
because the sin was paid. sin, all the curse that was put
upon Him that He was made. He put all that away and the
justice of God could no longer allow Him to be dead. He had
to be raised from the dead. And how does He spend His time
now being raised from the dead? He sits at the right hand of
the Father and He makes intercession for all His people. And here's
the difference between the Lord Jesus Christ and Jacob. Jacob
said, overlook them. They sinned against you but you
overlooked them. Christ says, look them over. Look them over
you will find absolutely nothing amiss in them. As long as I'm
alive, as long as I'm righteous, as long as I'm holy, they're
the exact same way. Don't overlook them, look them
over, accept them because I've made them acceptable. Forgiveness
is because of your connection with somebody else. All right,
turn over to Ruth chapter two. Y'all are familiar with this
book. It focuses on three people. You have Boaz, who is the kinsman
redeemer. You have Naomi, and you have
her daughter-in-law, Ruth. That's who in this book. what
happens. Naomi is heading back with Ruth,
they are heading back to Judah, that's where they are from originally.
Naomi has lost her husband, he's dead. She's lost her children,
her sons, they're dead. And she's lost all her wealth.
And here's the only hope for Naomi and Ruth, that's it. There
is a law in the books in Judah, it's the law of the kinsman redeemer.
It's basically this, if you have a near kinsman you bone of your
bone, and flesh of your flesh. And He is able, and He is willing,
and you've lost everything, He can bring back, He can restore
everything you had, and bring you back to where you were before.
And their only hope is Boaz. Now, pick up in verse 13, let's
see what happened. This is Ruth gleaning in Boaz's
field. Then she said, let me find favor
in thy sight, my Lord. For that thou hast comforted
me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid,
though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens. What did
Boaz say to her that was so comforting? Look at verse eight. 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 maidens. Let 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 in the vessels and drink of that which the young
men have drawn." Now, I have three comforting observations
from what we just read. And the first thing is this,
not only was Ruth welcome in Boaz's field, she was commanded
never to leave. Now, I told you at the beginning
of this message, if there's anything I love hearing that gives my
heart more joy, it is this, that not only am I welcome, Lord Jesus
Christ that I am to believe on Him. I am commanded to believe
on Him, to come and to never leave. Don't go to another field.
Now in Luke 18 there is a situation that happens between the Lord
and His disciples. These people are bringing these infants to
the Lord Jesus Christ. They bring these infants to Him.
And somebody asked, well what did He want them to do? Why would
someone bring their infant to the Lord Jesus Christ? You know
I have no idea but if He was here right now and I had an infant
I would Him too because the best place anybody could possibly
be is near Him. It only makes sense. But the disciples rebuked
them. They said, don't bring these
people, don't bring these children to our Lord. And here's what
He said, He said, but Jesus called them unto Him and said, suffer
little children to come to Me and forbid them not for of such
is the kingdom of God. That's the kingdom of God. If
you have the dependency level of a child, of a small infant,
you can't do anything for yourself. Everything has to be done for
you, and He suffers you. Come to Me. Believe on Me. Come
unto Me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. That's not good advice, and that
is not a suggestion. That is a command. Not only was
she welcome in Boaz's field, Don't leave. Don't go to another
field. Galatians 5.1 says this, stand
fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us
free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. You've
tasted of the grain. Boaz took her out. He said, Ruth,
look here, everything you need, it's right here for you. All
right, you've tasted of the grain. You've tasted the water. You've
found shade underneath the trees. Don't go anywhere else. Don't
go back to the law. You've tasted of Christ. You've tasted of the
sweetness of his grace. Don't go back to the yoke of
bondage. Don't go back to the law. Don't try to justify yourself
based on something you did. Don't leave his field. Not only
was she welcomed there, and she was commanded not to leave, in
this field, Ruth found everything she needed. Boys, sit here. Here's what we got, all right?
My workers here, as they pick up the corn, the grain, and they're
carrying it off, they're going to leave some handfuls of purpose.
That's how he describes it in another place. Handfuls of purpose.
They're going to drop some on the ground right there for you.
So when you're hungry, you don't have to till the ground. You
don't have to plant the crops. I've already done it all. Go
pick it up. It's right there for you. When you get thirsty, you go over
here. There's water. You don't even have to draw the water.
The young men have already done it. You get tired, go up to the house,
go under a shade tree, take a nap. Everything here is provided for
you. You don't have to do a thing, Ruth. Everything you need, it's
right here in my field. Everything you need's in Christ. Colossians 2 verse 9 says, For
in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you,
the Lord's people, you're complete. Him. In what ways? 1 Corinthians
1.30, But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto
us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.
You lack absolutely nothing. Everything you need in this field
is field of Christ. I was thinking about that thing
of no lack. And I started thinking about the children of Israel
in the wilderness. You remember when the manna Heaven
it would rain down. Remember what they were supposed
to do? You go gather it in the morning, right? Every man according
to his eating. But you know what? Everybody
gathered according to their eating, but everybody ate the same thing.
They all ate an omer, a single unit of measure. Let me read
this to you, Exodus 16 and 18. It says, He that gathered much had nothing
over, and he that gathered little had no lack. They gathered every
man according to his eating." So, if you were a young, strong
man, right, you'd go out there and you'd gather all this manna
up. And when you came out to have it meted out to you, to
have it measured, you know how much you got? You got an omer. That's it. And you know what
you were with an omer? You were satisfied. You were
100% satisfied. You had absolutely no lack whatsoever.
And you know what, if you were an old crippled widow, and you
had health problems, she could go out, maybe she could just
pick up a few pieces, right? And she'd come back, and she'd have
it meted out to her, it would be measured, and she'd be lacking,
right? No, her cup was filled up, you wanna know why? That
young guy who brought in all the bounty, they filled her cup
up with his. And you know what she got? She got an omer, right? And she ate and she was satisfied.
Everybody ate the same thing and everybody was satisfied.
Now in this field, in Christ, some are recipients of great
faith. And if you have that, I'm thankful that you have that.
Never moved, great faith. Some are recipients of weak faith.
Constantly worried, constantly scared. But you know what? In
this field, in Christ, everybody gets the exact same thing. everybody
is satisfied because it ain't the strength of the faith. It's
the object. Last comforting thought, in Christ
nothing can touch you. In verse 9, Boaz says this, he
says, have I not charged the men that they shall not touch
you? I want to close by reading Romans
8 in verse 35. Nothing shall touch us in Christ. Romans 8, look at verse 35. Paul says, Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or pail, or sword?
As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long.
We are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through Him us. Now I find it
interesting these things that Paul mentions here, tribulation,
distress, persecution. The world would say a man who's
experienced these things God's hand is against him. God must
hate this man if he's going through persecution, distress, and sword,
and all these different things. He must hate him, right? Couldn't
be further from the truth for the believer. Lord says this
Hebrews 12.6 He says, "'For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth,
and he scourgeth every son he receiveth.'" The trials and tribulation
we experience, and we do, we are killed all the day long.
In this life it is just a series of trial and tribulation coming
in and out of it the entire time. Killed all day long. But you
know what? It is not the sign the Lord's hand is against us,
that He does not love us, it is a sign of sonship. It is a
sign that the Lord actually does love us because He scourges,
He chastens every son He receives. Look at verse 38, Paul says,
For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall
be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Jesus
Christ our Lord. Nothing can separate us from
the love of Christ and the love of the Father, not our sin. Lord,
save us from our sin. Keep us from doing that which
we would do, as terrible as it was yesterday, and as terrible
as it was today. And Lord, help us what we're
going to do tomorrow. Your sin will never separate you from
the love of God, because those sins are paid for sins. Your
unbelief. We believe, we've caveated with
this, help thou my unbelief. Right? You are saved by a faith. You are justified by a faith,
but it ain't yours. saved and you are justified by
the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Him honoring His Father. Him
doing exactly what His Father told Him to do. That's why you're
saved. Your faith believes that. Your unbelief won't keep you
from the love of God. Not apathy, not cold-heartedness,
not lack of zeal. These things are terrible, absolutely
horrible, and they're inexcusable, and none of them will separate
you from the love of God and Jesus Christ. None of them will
separate you from the love of the Father. You want to know
why? Because the Father's love is all in Jesus Christ. As long
as Jesus Christ is acceptable and lovable to the Father, so
are you, because you share that union with Him. And you will
never be separated from the love of Jesus Christ for this reason.
In loving you, He is loving Himself, and He cannot deny Himself. That's six comforting thoughts.
And we'll leave you all there.