Ruth chapter 3. We're going to read some verses from
chapter 3 and then some verses in chapter 4. I want to bring one last message
from this book. And our text this morning begins
with Ruth lying at the feet of Boaz per the instructions of
Naomi in chapter three, verse eight. And it came to pass at
midnight that the man was afraid and turned himself and behold,
a woman lay at his feet. And he said, who art thou? And
she answered, I am Ruth, thy handmaid. Spread therefore thy
skirt over thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman. And
he said, blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter, for thou hast
showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning. And
as much as thou followest not young men, whether poor or rich,
and now, my daughter, fear not, I will do to thee all that thou
requirest. For all the city of my people
doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. And now it is true that
I am thy near kinsman, albeit there is a kinsman nearer than
I. Tarry this night, and it shall
be in the morning that if he will perform unto thee the part
of a kinsman, well, let him do the kinsman's part. But if he
will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part
of a kinsman to thee. As the Lord liveth, lie down
until the morning. Now chapter four, verse one. Then went Boaz up to the gate
and set him down there. And behold, the kinsman of whom
Boaz spake came by. unto whom he said, ho, such a
one, turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down. And he took men of the elders
of the city and said, sit ye down here. And they sat down. And he said unto the kinsman,
Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth
a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech. And I thought
to advertise thee, saying, buy it before the inhabitants and
before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem
it. But if thou wilt not redeem it,
then tell me that I may know. For there is none to redeem it
beside thee, and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it. Then said Boaz, what day thou
buy'st the field of the hand of Naomi? Thou must bide also
of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the
name of the dead upon his inheritance. And the kinsman said, I cannot
redeem it for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance. Redeem thou
my right to thyself, for I cannot redeem it. Now this was the manner
in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing,
for to confirm all things, a man plucked off his shoe and gave
it to his neighbor, and this was a testimony in Israel. Therefore
the kinsman said unto Boaz, buy it for thee, so he drew off his
shoe. And Boaz said unto the elders
and unto all the people, your witness is this day that I have
bought all that was a limilex, and all that was chileans and
melons of the hand of Naomi. Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess,
the wife of Melon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the
name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be
not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his people.
You are witnesses this day. And all the people that were
in the gate and the elders said, we are witnesses. The Lord make
the woman that has come into thine house like Rachel, and
like Leah, which too did build the house of Israel. And do thou
worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Bethlehem. Let thy
house be like the house of Ares, whom Tamor bare unto Judah, of
the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman.
So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife. And when he went in
unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare son. And the women
said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord. which hath not left thee
this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel. I have five takeaways for us
this morning from these verses which we have just finished reading. The first is man's inability. And I take that from the words
of the kinsman in chapter four and verse six when he said, I
cannot redeem it. I cannot redeem it. Man's inability. You know, one of the old English
preachers one time made this statement. He said, every message
should contain three R's. Every message should contain
these three R's. in the fall, redeemed by the
blood, regenerated by the spirit, the three R's. And what we see
here, first of all this morning, is ruined in the fall, man's
inability. He said, I cannot, I cannot redeem
it. Now, who does this near kinsman
represent to us? Who does he picture unto us?
Some have thought and taught that he's a picture of the law,
a picture of the law of God. But that cannot be so. That cannot
be so because the law was never given to redeem man. It was never
given for that purpose, to redeem man, not the law. In Romans chapter
three and verse 20, the apostle Paul wrote, therefore, By the
deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for
by the law is the knowledge of sin. If I look into a mirror, suppose
this to be a mirror, if I look into it and I have dirt on my
face, the mirror will point that out to me. But once the mirror
has pointed out the dirt on my face, it served its purpose. It can't do anymore. It can't
wash my face. It cannot take that spot away. The law of God is like a mirror. And when we look into it, we
see our deficiency. We see our need. We see that
God's law requires absolute perfection, that God's law is like himself. It is holy, it's just, and it's
good. But we see ourselves coming short
of the glory of God. We're not able to keep the law. This near kinsman, this man who
was near of kin to Ruth, then Boaz, cannot picture the law. You say, well, preacher, then
what does this man picture? I believe it pictures unto us
the flesh. The flesh. Remember the Lord
Jesus Christ said, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. And by flesh, I mean the natural
man. All men, as we come into this
world by nature, the flesh. We cannot redeem ourselves. The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians
2 said, The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God. He can't. The natural man. He cannot receive the things
of God, the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned. And listen, until and unless
a man is born again. He cannot see the kingdom of
God. He cannot perceive the things
of God. But he's spiritually blind, spiritually
dead. And that's the way all of us
are when we come into this world. And the very idea, the very thought
that we can redeem ourselves, that we can do something to save
ourselves is foolishness. Why? Man is under his will, rather
he's under the control of his understanding, which is darkened. Our Lord said, no man can come
to me. He didn't say no man may come
to me. No man can come to me, except,
except, except, Father which hath sent me, draw him. A man must be born again to come
to Christ, to believe in Christ, to trust in Christ. We're never
told anywhere in the Bible how to be born again. Sometimes you'll read some of
these pamphlets that these false preachers put out and they'll
tell you how to be born again. The Bible never tells us how
to be born again. Our Lord said you must be born
again. But He didn't tell Nicodemus
how you can be born again. In fact, He told him that the
new birth is a sovereign, mysterious work of God. It's like the wind. It blows where it's listed. You
can hear the sound. You can see the effects of the
wind, but you cannot see the wind. So is everyone that is
born of the Spirit of God. Man's inability. That's what
I see, first of all. And it's sad, but it's true,
my friends. Very, very few people today have
anything to say about the ruin of man. preachers, and it's sad. Most religious organizations
act as if man doesn't have a problem, that he doesn't have a need,
that you just join up. Maybe you go through the water,
maybe not. Just sign your name, and you're
one of us. No. To be a child of God, a person
must be born again. And that's the work of God. Our
Lord said this is the condemnation, that light has come into the
world, and men love darkness rather than light. Why? Because
their deeds were evil. A man cannot will himself to
love that which he hates. He can't. He cannot will himself
to love something that by nature His very nature he hates. Man, as I said, his will is under
the control of his darkened understanding. And he puts evil for good and
good for evil. Man's inability. But the second
takeaway from these verses this morning is God's gracious provider. God's gracious provider. And
I take this truth from the words of Boaz there in chapter three
and verse 13 when he said to Ruth, I will do the part of a
kinsman to thee. Now this word which is translated
kinsman, a Hebrew word, it's spelled in English G-A-A-L. And it looks to me like it should
be pronounced Gaul, Gaul. Kind of like we in the South
say y'all, only it's Gaul, G-A-W-A-L, Gaul. And it's a word that Job
used in his confession. He said, for I know that my Redeemer,
my kinsman, my Gaul, I know that my Redeemer liveth. Now, Job
lived before Ruth lived. And Job certainly lived before
the Lord Jesus Christ was born into this world. But he's speaking
of Christ, isn't he? I know that my Redeemer liveth. Though he had not as yet become
incarnate, we know that he liveth. He lived as God because he's
eternal. And in the purpose of God, he
was set up, Christ was set up from before the foundation of
the world. You know, he is spoken of as
a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. What does that mean? A lamb,
Christ is the lamb of God. John said, behold, the lamb of
God was taken away the sins of the world. What does it mean
a lamb slain from the foundation of the world? It means that in
the purpose of God, he was already set up to come into this world
to be incarnate. Yes. And to give his life a ransom. Yes. But in the purpose of God,
he was already as of a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. What does that mean? It means
to me that before there ever was a sinner, there was a savior.
Before there ever was a need for a kinsman redeemer, there
was a kinsman redeemer. And that's why it is so foolish
and so blasphemous for people to say, well, God switched from
plan A to plan B. Oh, no. God's only had one plan,
one purpose. And that purpose is going to
be fulfilled. Why? Because he is God. He doesn't make any mistakes.
He doesn't learn anything. He knows all things and always
has. He's a lamb as of a lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. In the purpose and decree of
God, there was a lamb who would come to be the propitiation for
sin. God's gracious provider, the
Lord Jesus Christ. He told Ruth that night, I, I
will do the part of a kinsman for thee. And think with me just
a moment this morning. Think of how he has done the
part, that is how Christ our Lord has done the part of a kinsman,
redeemer for all who trust in him. First of all, his incarnation. He came into this world as a
man, made under the law that he might redeem us from the curse
of the law. Then his perfect obedience. to the law of God to be our righteousness. And then his sanctification.
You say, was the Lord sanctified? He sanctified himself. That's
what he says in his prayer in John chapter 17, verse 19. He said, and for their sakes,
whose sakes? Six times in that prayer, John
17, he mentions the fact those which thou hast given him, those
which the father gave unto his son, the surety of that covenant
for their sakes, the Lord Jesus Christ said, I sanctify myself. Well, that certainly doesn't
mean that he made himself more holy. Sanctification means setting
apart. He set himself apart to be the
one sacrifice that does forever put away all the sins of his
people, that does in effect redeem his children. His burial, I would
include that also in what he's already done. I said his incarnation,
his obedience to the law, his suffering as a substitute to
pay the penalty for our sins. But remember, the Apostle Paul
in 1 Corinthians 15 says, the gospel which we preach is how
that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and
was buried, was buried. Well, our kinsman, Redeemer,
he's been in the grave. He's been there. You are going
there, I'm going there, if the Lord doesn't come in our lifetime.
Our bodies are going to be buried in the grave, but the Lord, our
kinsman, redeemer, has an effect. He's perfumed that grave. We
have nothing to fear. We have nothing to be afraid
of for this body to be buried. Why? Because we ourselves will
not be in that body. We will be with the Lord. But
even in that cemetery, in that casket, when the body turns back
to the dust, the Lord is with His people. He'll never leave
us. He'll never forsake us. We know
one day when He comes again, He's going to raise his people,
their bodies from the grave. His ascension to the father's
right hand as a forerunner, as the intercessor for all his covenant
people. As he told Ruth, I will do the
part of a kinsman for thee. He says the same thing to you
today, says the same thing to me. I will do the part of a kinsman
for thee. Trust me. Come to me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, weary with sin, recognizing your
need. I will give you rest. I will do the part of a kinsman
for thee. Trust me, look to me, believe
in me. One of the messages I preached
a few weeks ago from Ruth, I pointed out that the rest Naomi told
Ruth, you'll never find rest if you go with me. And what she
was saying was, you won't have a husband. And without a husband,
you will not have rest. And what that rest referred to
was two things. Number one, protection. And number
two, provision. When you come to Christ, he said,
I will be A kinsman, I will do the part of a kinsman for thee.
And in coming to Christ, we find protection. He keeps his people. You know, there's a verse in
Deuteronomy, I believe it is, that tells us that he keeps his
people as the apple of his eye. You keep your eye, don't you?
It's almost automatic. When something flies toward your
eye, You've got your hand up to protect yourself. Listen,
when something would harm one of God's children, God keeps
us. He protects us. We are in his
hand, whose hand is in the Father's hand, and no one is able to pluck
us out of his hand. Not only does He protect us,
but He provides for us. Every need that we have as we
go through this world, we may look to Him, and He is sufficient. The third takeaway is God is
honored. Now I take this truth from chapter
four and verse two. When Boaz called this man who
was a near kinsman, and he also called 10 men there in the gate
of the city, and he said, let's sit down here. Let's do business. That would be just like calling
the court to session. Let's put this court in session
here today. And the point I want to make
is the way that God saves sinners, is a way that honors God in every
way. It honors His justice. His justice
is fully satisfied. It honors His holiness. His holiness
is met in Christ. It honors His grace, for He redeems
those who are undeserving. And it honors his love that God
would give his son. But this is all done legally
here. And after this day, after this
day, when Boaz met with the judges there and the business was transacted,
Ruth was his wife and no one could ever bring an accusation
against Ruth or Boaz forever. This was all legal, it was all
just, it was all God honoring. And that's the way God saves
sinners, in a way that honors Him, that glorifies Him in all
things. The Apostle Paul put it like
this in Romans chapter eight. He said, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. No
one could ever charge Ruth with being an adulteress, living with
Boaz or vice versa. Why? Because this was all done
legally. It was all done as the law of
God required. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? No one could ever condemn Ruth
or Boaz after this for being married and living together.
Who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Amen. The fourth takeaway, fruit. Fruit is brought forth. And I
take this truth in chapter four and verse 13 where the scripture
here tells us the Lord gave her conception. The Lord gave her
conception. The fruit that is produced in
a child of God in our life is of the Lord. In Hosea chapter
14 in verse 8, the scripture says, from me is thy fruit found. Those who are born again of the
Spirit of God become partakers of the divine nature. That is,
we have a new nature created within us. And this new nature,
and plus we have God the Holy Spirit living in us, This new
nature, we walk in the spirit and not in the flesh, and we
are fruitful, and we bring forth fruit, and our fruit is of the
Lord. In other words, all the glory
for the fruit in a believer's life, all the glory belongs to
God. It's not because we're anything
better than someone else. No, it's all because Christ lives
in you, the hope of glory. And the fruit of the Spirit is,
among other things, this is not all the fruit of the Spirit that's
listed here in Galatians, but love. A person loves himself. The natural
man loves himself. He can't do anything else. He
doesn't love anybody else. Oh, he may love that which is
his. He loves his wife. He loves his
children. But does he love his neighbor?
No, he loves what is his, what he considers to be his. But the
fruit of the Spirit is, first of all, love. And we begin to
love others. We love him who begat. John tells us that's God. We
love God. And we love those who are begotten
of him. We love. We have joy and we have
peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. The new birth is going to produce
this in a life of a believer. Remember in the parable of the
sower, the seed that fell in good ground, it always brought
forth fruit, some more than others. but it always brought forth fruit.
And here's the last takeaway, the fifth takeaway from these
verses in chapter four and verse 14. The Lord be blessed. Blessed be the Lord. We too this morning must bless
the Lord for our kinsman redeemer. And I wanted to include this,
saying that this is the first day of a new year. And I wanted
to leave all of us this morning with this challenge, that with
God's help, with God's help in this new year, our mouths will
do less complaining and more praising. These women bless the
Lord, and we bless the Lord for our Savior. And we bless the
Lord, we thank the Lord for every benefit and blessing. He's blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. The psalmist said, let my mouth
be filled with thy praise and with thy honor all the day. All the day, all the year. Let my mouth be filled with thy
praise and with thy honor. And let's turn to one passage
in the Psalms, and I'll close with this, but in Psalm 31, in verses seven and eight. I will be glad and rejoice in
thy mercy. For thou hast considered my trouble. And oh, did we have trouble. Oh, did we have trouble. We were sinners. And God cannot
look upon sin. We had trouble. I will be glad
and rejoice in thy mercy for thou has considered my trouble.
He didn't just consider our trouble either, did he? He did something
about it. He sent us a kinsman redeemer. Thou has known my soul in adversities
and has not shut me up into the hand of the enemy. Thou has set
my feet in a Lord's room. God did not cut us off and send
us into eternity lost and damned. But by the grace of God, we've
been saved and we've been set in a Lord's room. We have all
these blessings and benefits that are given unto us. Why? Because of his mercy. Let my
mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honor all the day. And I encourage all of us, let's
begin today thanking the Lord, praising the Lord, blessing the
Lord. And let's, by his grace, do a
whole lot less complaining. Let's not complain about the
weather. Who controls the weather? Let's not complain about God's
providence. Who controls providence? Don't we know, don't we believe,
don't we confess, don't we tell other believers when we see them
going through problems, well, all things work together for
good to those who love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. Let's believe that. Let's believe
that. Let our mouths be filled with
praise and thanksgiving. We're going to sing a hymn and
be dismissed. The hymn is number 453.