Ruth, the book of Ruth, chapter
2. I'm taking the title from the
words found in verse 16. And here's what drew my attention.
I'm always looking for a verse whereby I can grab a few words
and use it for a title. Verse 16 of Ruth 2, let fall
also some of the handfuls of purpose for her. and leave them
that she may glean them and rebuke her not." Hands full of purpose,
hands full of purpose. Everything in this universe and
in this world works according to the divine sovereign will
and the eternal purpose of God. that eternal purpose which he
purposed in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Nothing happens by accident. Everything happens by purpose,
God's purpose. This is especially true in the
salvation of his covenant children. God saves his own people. His own children, the sons of
God, by His purpose. Purpose. God saved you by His
purpose. God saved me by His purpose. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them that are called
according to His purpose. Everything God does in the way
of salvation is according to his purpose. You remember Isaiah
46, he said, I've spoken it, I'll bring it to pass, I've purposed
it, I will do it. We read a moment ago in Ephesians
3, according to the eternal purpose, which he purposed in Christ Jesus,
our Lord. You remember the purpose of God
to redeem sinners is as old or older than creation. He's a lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. God always purposed
to redeem and save the people for his glory and for their good. We read just a moment ago in
Ephesians one, having made known unto us the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in himself.
in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of him. We have an inheritance. We've
obtained it by his predestinating grace and purpose of him who
worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. He works all things, not some
things, not most things, not the big things, not the small
things, all things, after the counsel of his own will. Doesn't that give you comfort?
That gives me comfort. Nothing is out of control. Nothing
is out of sorts. God works everything by purpose. Now, the primary subject of this
book is the redemption by the Kingsman Redeemer. We know him
as Boaz. Boaz the Kingsman Redeemer, and
really it's a romance of redemption. How Boaz woos Ruth, loves Ruth,
chooses her, marries her, and they become one in that union.
And that is true of the believer in Christ. We're one in him.
He's called our husband. As we've seen, Boaz is a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. He is the mighty man
of wealth and near kin unto us, sent to redeem us from all our
sin. Call his name Jesus. He shall
save his people from their sin. What was the verse we studied
Sunday morning? He didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners
to repentance. Just like Boaz, Boaz had the
right to redeem being near Ken, that's true of our Lord. He's
bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. He had the will to
redeem, that is Boaz was willing to redeem Ruth by her. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
willing to buy us. He bought us with his own blood.
And then Boaz had the ability too, didn't he? He had the ability
to buy back Ruth and Naomi. and all that Lamelech had lost,
and certainly that is true of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has
all ability, able to save to the uttermost, able to keep us
from falling, able to present us thoughtless. He's able. We're
unable. He is able to save us. Ruth is
a picture of the sinner being chosen and given faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ and brought to him in saving faith, redemption
and grace always go hand in hand. Where you find one, you find
the other. Where you find a Redeemer, redeeming His people with His
blood, you also find the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We
believe through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall
be saved, even as others, as Peter said there in Acts chapter
15. Those redeemed by Christ shall be eternally made one with
Him. He is our Lord. He is our Savior. He is our Redeemer. He's also
called our husband. You remember, he's the bridegroom,
we're the bride, the church, the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah
54 says, thy maker is thine husband, the Lord of hosts is his name,
the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole
earth, shall he be called. Think of it. Believers are married
to the Lord Jesus Christ. We're in union with him and what's
true of him is true of us. What's true of him, true of us.
As he is holy, so are we in him. All this is very humbling unto
the redeemed sinner, isn't it? And that's why Ruth says in verse
10, why have I found grace in thine eyes? Well, it's according
to Boaz's good pleasure, isn't it? Ruth was astonished and overwhelmed
by the goodness of Boaz. His generosity humbled her. It
reminds me of the story we read last week about Mephibosheth
when he came before King David. He said, what am I, David? You're
the king. I'm just a dead dog. I'm just
a dead dog. Yet, David had mercy upon Mephibosheth
because of that covenant he made with Jonathan. Another story
we read, and we're going to see this in our study in the book
of Matthew, the Canaanite woman who had the daughter that was
possessed with a demon. And she came to the disciples,
and they turned her away. And they said to the Lord, well,
get rid of her. She's bothering us. And the Lord
said, well, I'm not sent but to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. He said, it's not right to take the children's
bread and give it unto dogs. And the woman said, you're right.
I'm a dog, but I'm your dog. I'm your dog." And the Lord said,
oh, the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from the master's table.
That's what she was saying. I'm your dog, sitting at your
feet, waiting for a crumb of grace from his table. This is
true in the Gospel too. Christ redeems sinners. This
is also true in the Gospel of Christ. Redeemed sinners are
overwhelmed by the mercy of the Lord unto us. We are most humbled
in His sight, aren't we? God chose you from all eternity
and redeemed you by His grace. You see, it's not the wrath of
God that leads sinners to repentance and faith. It's His goodness. The goodness of God leads us
to repentance. His grace alone has made us to
differ. Sovereign, free. Sovereign, free. distinguishing, electing, redeeming
grace. Ruth knew she was a stranger
without any covenant right, without any covenant merit, without any
covenant plea. from the covenant of the law,
and those who have received grace are also and always astonished
by his grace, because we know the wages of sin is death. We
know we don't merit his favor. We know the only thing we have
merited is his disfavor. But yet, when we were without
God, without hope, and without Christ, we're made nigh by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's good news, is it not?
Now look at verse 11, and Boaz, root 2 verse 11, and Boaz answered
and said unto her, It hath been fully shewed me, it hath fully
been shewed me, that all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law
since the death of thy husband, Thou hath left thy father, thy
mother, the land, remember she left Moab, left her God, left
her family, and are common to a people that you didn't really
know much about other than what Naomi had told her about the
true God of Israel. Boaz had knowledge of Ruth, didn't
he? The Lord knows them that are
his. The foundation of God standeth
sure, having this seal, the Lord knows them that are his. Now
I don't know how Boaz knew all about Ruth, but somehow he knew. Maybe some of the family of Villemelech
told him about Naomi's story. how her husband died, and how
her two sons died. And she was a widow with two
daughter-in-laws, and she couldn't take care of them. I don't know
how he knew all the details, but he knew. I know how the Lord
knows about us. He's omniscient. He knows all
things. Our Almighty Savior has all knowledge
of us. He knows our frame. He knows
that we're but dust. He knows all our thoughts afar
off. He has full knowledge of all
of our sin. David said, such knowledge is
too wonderful for me. Yet God knows all about us, our
sin, our guilt, our rebellion by nature, yet in mercy he loves
us still with an everlasting love and with loving kindness
he draws us into himself. The Lord Jesus Christ died for
sinners. He died for the ungodly. When
we were yet without strength and due time, Christ died for
us. Isn't that an amazing story,
isn't it? Is it not? Look at verse 12, Boaz acknowledged
the obedience and faith of Ruth. He said, the Lord recompense
your work. And what he's referring to here
is the faithfulness of Ruth. We know it's not teaching salvation
by works, but rather faith is what? Faith is the gift of God.
Faith works by love. The Lord recompense thy work
and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel. He's a true and living God. And
he does fully reward his people, not based upon their doing, but
based upon the doing and dying of our King and Redeemer. He blesses us with all spiritual
blessings. We read that a moment ago, didn't
we? Ephesians 1. He blessed us with all spiritual
blessings according as He had chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world. He blessed us and called us with
all spiritual blessings. The Lord recompensed our work
a full reward be given thee of the Lord. We know that, what
is that teaching? Salvation of the Lord? The Lord
God of Israel. the true and living God, the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the covenant
God, under whose wings you come to trust, under the shadow of
his wings. You old-timers remember the mother
hen out in the yard? When a storm comes up, all those
little baby chicks, what do they do? They run under the wings
of the mother hen and she hovers around them. This could also
have a reference to the winged creatures there over the mercy
seat. Boaz acknowledged the obedience
and faith of Ruth. The Lord's people are faithful
and obedient unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember what she said,
where you go, I'll go. Your God will be my God. Where
you live, I'll live. Where you die, that's where I'm
going to die. That's commitment, isn't it?
That's what faith is. Faith is totally committed to
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord's people are faithful
and obedient to the Lord, and they've been given faith in Christ,
the faith of God's elect, and that faith is demonstrated by
works of faith and labors of love. Faith is a living principle
within us that is zealous of good work. We are His workmanship
created in Christ Jesus unto what? Good works. I remember
reading this by Martin Luther years and years ago. I've never
forgotten it. Faith alone saves, but faith
that saves is not alone. It's accompanied by obedience
to the Lord. We studied in Galatians chapter
5, remember, faith works by love, doesn't it? Faith is motivated
by love. Love constrains us. Faith that
is not active and obedient and not productive and not obedient
is not true saving faith, is it? James writes this in James
chapter two, faith without works is dead, as the body without
the spirit is dead. The reward of the Lord to his
people is not the reward of debt, but it's the reward of grace.
Grace, sovereign grace. You remember Colossians 3. Paul
writes, Whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, not
unto men, knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward
of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord's Christ. Now, I've
told you this over the years. Maybe you remember it. I hope
you do. But never one time in Scripture
do you ever find the word reward in the plural form in regard
to believers. It's always the reward of grace. As the Lord said to Abraham,
the Lord is exceeding reward of the inheritance. So it's always singular. A lot
of people talking about rewards. Rewards, plural. It is reward of Christ. That's
our reward. For you receive the reward of
the inheritance, for you serve the Lord's Christ. We serve the
true and living God, don't we? Ruth was brought to the Lord
with true saving faith. and found the refuge and comfort
in the Lord God of Israel, the true and living God under whose
wings of his grace she came to find peace, rest, and hope. Psalm 57 says, be merciful unto
me, O God, be merciful unto me, for my soul trusteth in thee,
yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until
all these calamities be overpassed. I will cry unto God most high,
unto God that performeth all things for me. This is where
every sinner finds his refuge, under the wings of his love.
He's loved us with everlasting love. Under the wings of his
grace, sovereign grace, I will have grace upon whom I will.
We find refuge under the wings of his love, under the wings
of his grace, under the wings of his mercy. In Christ our mercy
seek. That's where sinners meet with
God and that's where God meets with sinners around that mercy
seek. And that mercy seat is Christ.
He's the propitiation. He's the propitiation for our
sin. Blood on the mercy seat speaks
of Christ and him crucified, our atonement. When John, the
beloved John, writes about love, remember he said, here it is,
love. Oh, it's not that we loved him.
He loved us and sent his son to be the sacrifice for our sin. Look at verse 13. Let me find grace. Or notice
the marginal references. Then she said, I find grace in
thy sight. You see that? I find grace in
thy sight. She's already found grace. I
find grace in thy sight, my Lord, for thou hast comforted me, for
thou hast spoken to my heart. unto thy handmaid, though I be
not like one of these other handmaids." I wasn't born in Israel. I was
born in Moab, in the house of idolatry. I was a pagan. I'm
not like those other handmaids, but I'm your handmaid. You see
that? I'm your handmaid. You've spoken
to the heart of the handmaid. Ruth expresses her confidence
and faith in Boaz to care for her. Since I have found the Lord
to be gracious, and that's what every believer knows, he finds
that the Lord is gracious, that he delights in mercy, that the
Lord is good. She makes mention of three things. She said, you're my comfort.
You've comforted me. Isn't that where we find our
comfort is in Christ? Comfort you, comfort you, my
people. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. Tell her that her
warfare is accomplished, that she has received of the Lord's
hand double for all her sin. What is that double? Righteousness
and redemption we have in Christ. That's our comfort. Christ is
our comfort. And then she said, you've spoken
friendly to me or you've spoken to my heart. Salvation is a heart
work. It's a revelation of Christ to
the heart, to my heart, which is cheering, refreshing, reviving
to her. Boaz spoke to her heart. Her
heart was moved within her. So does the word of God spoken
by our Boaz, our Redeemer, refreshes and revives our heart when he
speaks with his mighty, powerful word. And that's how we speak
to the heart of the people. We're not going out looking for
dreams and visions. We read his word. It tells us about Christ. The
word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword.
The third thing she said, though I'm not like one of thy handmaids,
Ruth again acknowledges that she's not worthy of the least
of his mercies, not of any deserving of mercy, and every believer
has a constant awareness of the Lord's graciousness unto us that
is totally undeserving unto us. As Jacob said, and I love this
prayer of Jacob, Jacob said in Genesis 32, I'm not worthy of
the least of thy mercies and of thy truth." Don't you feel
that way? I'm not worthy of the least of His mercy, and yet God
delights to show mercy to such as we are. Now, watch this. Verse 14, Boaz said to her, Boaz
said to her, now, not only when you're thirsty, go drink the
vessels that my servants will give you, but at mealtime, you
come here, come hither. and eat of the bread and dip
the morsel in the vinegar and the sauce and she sat beside
the reapers and he reached her parched corn and she did eat
and she was satisfied. Now isn't that a beautiful picture? Boaz graciously invited Ruth
to join all the reapers, the servants, and the other handmaids
at mealtime out in the middle of the field. They probably carried
the servants, probably carried from the house out into the field,
and there they sat out in the field, and they had their mealtime.
It reminded me when I was just a young, young 16-year-old boy
working on a cattle ranch out in the middle of nowhere Wyoming. Boulder, Wyoming. In the middle
of nowhere, Wyoming. And we'd be working away from
the ranch house, 5, 10, 15 miles away, and they'd bring lunch
to us out in the field. And we'd sit out in the field,
in the hay field there, and enjoy lunch. And that's what's going
on here. They brought the meal to the workers out in the field. Again, this is the true picture
of the Lord providing for His sheep. He feeds us with the bread,
with the bread of life. The Lord said, I am the bread
of life. He that comes to me shall never
hunger, shall never thirst. We can learn at least three things
from this picture of grace in the gospel. God has established
a means to feed his people through the ministry of the preached
word. That's how he feeds us. Remember, he said to Peter, Peter,
do you love me? Yes, Lord. And he asked him three
times. Well, feed my sheep, feed my
sheep. That is, preach the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. God's servants are called to
preach Christ. We preach not ourselves, but
Christ Jesus the Lord. They feed the Lord's sheep with
the knowledge of God, His Word, His way, His will, His works.
We talk all about what He's done for us with His Word. that tells of his way. He said, I am the way, the truth,
the life. He tells us about his will, of
his own will. We are begotten with the word
of truth. And then the word of God tells us about his work of
redemption, doesn't it? Jeremiah writes, I will give
you pastors according to my heart, which shall feed you with knowledge
and understanding." That's what we try to do. We feed you with
the word of truth. All who are hungry will come
to the table at mealtime. All these servants out in the
field, you know, they'd worked all morning, and here it's mealtime,
and they were anticipating that meal, and looking forward to
coming and sitting with Boaz and eating together. All who
are hungry will be found at the table of God's grace when the
meal is presented. If people are hungry, they'll
come and eat. No one has to beg sinners. No
one has to come and beg believers, sinners saved by the grace of
God, to come to the table of grace. The sheep of Christ are
eager to come and to hear the gospel. And they cannot stay
away. Hungry souls are ready to eat
no matter who the cook is. Who serves the meal or what the
plate looks like, they must have sheep food. It doesn't matter
if it's me delivering the meal or if it's someone else delivering
the meal, we're all serving the same food. Christ and Him crucified. Christ and Him crucified. You
see, the sheep must have sheep food. Sheep love sheep food. One of the first times I ever
went to 13th Street Baptist Church in Ashland, Kentucky to hear
Pastor Mahan, I sat down behind an old gentleman then, his name
was Carter Brown, and he turned around and looked at me and said,
what are you doing here? And I said, I came to hear the gospel
of Christ. He said, oh, you came for some
sheep food, didn't you? That's right. I came to hear
about the Good Shepherd, and that was sheep food to my soul. And I stayed there every time
a door was open, I was there. I was there, I was there, I was
there, and sometimes we would come an hour before the service
started, just to make sure. You know, in those days, it was
hard to find a seat. You had to come early to get
a seat. God has ordained the mealtime for his people. God
has ordained public and private worship to come and hear the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And believers can't stay away
from the king's table. Ruth came to the meal and Boaz,
watch this, verse 14, Ruth came to the meal, and Boaz reached
her food to eat, and she was satisfied. The Lord Jesus Christ,
when He reaches out in the power of God the Holy Spirit and gives
us a nugget of the gospel of God's grace, it satisfies our
soul. And then after eating, when Boaz
gave her this food, it was an act of love toward Ruth. and she ate the food and went
back to work. What a blessing to be able to
hear the gospel message as an empty sinner and come away from
a table of grace filled with the Word of Life. Christ, Christ,
Christ. I've never heard a believer complain
about the preacher who preached Christ too often, gave him too
much honor, too much glory. I've never heard a believer complain,
well, all he talks about is Christ, Christ, Christ, what he's done
for us. That's the gospel. I've never
heard a believer complain. I've heard other people complain.
I don't think they were believers. Look at verse 15 and 16. And when she was risen up to
glean, Boaz commanded He commanded his servants. These young men
are pictures of gospel minister. Boaz commanded his young men
saying, let her glean even among the sheaves. And don't shame
her. Don't embarrass her. Just let
her glean wherever she wants to glean, and you just leave
all that she wants to take home. You let fall also some handfuls
of purpose for her. And leave them that she may glean
them. And don't rebuke her. Don't stop
her. Don't hinder her. Just let her
eat all she wants to eat in this field of the Lord. Now, several
things here. Let her freely glean among the
sheaves, that is the barley sheave. This was not the ordinary way
for a person to glean out in the field, but this was a special
privilege that Boaz gave to Ruth. God in the Gospel has given unto
us a special privilege to freely glean among the sheaves in His
Word and to enjoy and feed upon the Word of Life in Christ Jesus. Desire the sincere milk of the
Word that you might grow thereby? David writes, O taste and see
that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in the Lord. Oh, taste and see that the Lord
is good. I remember one time several years
ago when we were traveling from here out west to the mountain
country of Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and there was a big old semi-truck
that went around me and kind of blew me off the road. On the
back of his truck it said, oh, taste and see that the Lord is
good. I fed on that for days and days and days. Oh, taste
and see that the Lord is good. There's a big old truck come
by, especially when you're pulling a camper. That just knocks you
all over. That was a message from the Lord
to me. And I enjoyed it so much. Boaz
commanded protection for Ruth. He told the young men, the young
reapers in the field, not to shame her for being poor. Don't
criticize her for gleaning her sheaves. The Lord has a special
eye upon his poor and needy people. As David often said, I am poor
and needy, yet the Lord thinks upon me. The Lord provided for
her in a special way, didn't he? No wonder he's called Jehovah
Jireh. The Lord will provide. David
said in another psalm, Psalm 138, Though the Lord be high,
yet he hath respect unto the lowly. The proud he knows are
far off, but he hath respect to the lowly, those who are humble. Boaz commanded that some of the
handful of purpose be given to her. The reapers working the
barley harvest were told and commanded by Boaz to cast some
of the harvested grain toward her and do it on purpose. It's
okay, that's my purpose, my command, to give her all she wants to
take home with her. And she took home a six-gallon
bucket full of a ephah of barley. If we use the reapers as a type
of the Lord's servant preaching the Word, we are to preach the
Word of God with purpose, to honor the command of our kinsmen
Redeemer, to give out the message of Christ crucified to the poor
and needy sinners. And we do it on purpose, because
God commanded us to preach the Gospel, go into all the world
and preach the Gospel. And it's our privilege to do
so. God has commanded us to do so. But this word here, let me
give you just a note here and I'll quit on verse 16. What a glorious word is this
word purpose. Purpose. Purpose. Everything
God does, He does on purpose. He elects a people unto salvation
on purpose. He calls them to Christ in saving
mercy, saving faith. He does it on purpose. He regenerates. dead sinners and raise them from
the dead on purpose, and he saves every sinner whom he wisely saved
on purpose. God never saved a sinner by accident. We read in Ecclesiastes 3, everything
there is a season, a time to every purpose under heaven. Purpose. Everything God does,
He does on purpose. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to His purpose. It's God who saved us and called
us with a holy calling, 2 Timothy 1.9. Not according to our work,
but according to His own purpose and grace given us in Christ
before the foundation of the world. I'm going to close by telling
you a true story. A true story. In April of 1950, when Ralph Barnard came to Ashland,
Kentucky, in April of 1950, to hold a gospel meeting. In April
of that year of 1950, all the Southern Baptist churches were
calling special meetings and meeting together, inviting preachers
to come and preach. And they invited this Southern
Baptist Free Will Church, invited Roth Barnard in April of 1950
to come and preach and hold a gospel meeting and preach the gospel.
That very same week, you know who else came to town? A young
preacher named Henry Mayhem in April of 1950, 24 years old. He was very religious and lost.
He came there to be an assistant pastor and a youth leader. In
April 1950. And Brother Barnard was preaching
the gospel and Brother Mahan was sitting over here in one
of these front row seats. And Brother Barnard was preaching
along the line of God's sovereignty and salvation and the lordship
of Christ. And he got to that verse in Romans
8.28 and he looked down at Brother Mahan and said, the young man
said, can you stand and quote Romans 8.28? Can you quote it? Well, I think I can. He stood
up and he said, all things work together for good to them who
love God. And he sat back down. And Barnard said, do you know
the rest of it? Well, I think I do. All things
work together for good to them who love God, to them who are
the called according to his purpose. And Brother Henry told me that
old man yelled to the top of his lungs, purpose! Everything
God does, He does on purpose. And that one word turned that
young man's life completely around. And he learned the gospel by
looking at that word in the scripture, purpose. Purpose. Everything
God does, He does on purpose. Well, we know the rest of the
story, don't we? The Lord taught Brother Henry
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and blessed his ministry
there. They remained there for a few
years in that church from 1950 to 1954. Eventually the pastor resigned
and Brother Henry became the pastor there at Pollard Baptist
Church in Asheville, Kentucky. And they stayed there until 1954,
and then the church split. And they split over the gospel,
how God saves sinners. In 1954, they split. And that's
how 13th Street Baptist Church started from that split.