If you have your Bibles, turn
with me please to Ruth chapter 2. We want to read verses 4 through
9. The title of my message tonight
is, A Place in the Church. A Place in the Church. Beginning
with verse 4, Behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto
the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The
Lord bless thee. Then said Boaz unto his servant
that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? And the
servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It
is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the
country of Moab. And she said, I pray you, let
me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. So
she came and hath continued even from the morning until now that
she tarried a little in the house. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest
thou not my daughter? Glean not, or 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 at thirst, go into the vessels and drink of that which the young
men have drawn. Let us pray. We bless you and thank you for
the clear declaration of the glorious salvation brought by
our Lord Jesus Christ for the elect. We thank you, Father,
that you counted us among them, that you brought us to the feet
of Jesus Christ. That 2,000 years ago, before
we were even born, our Lord stood in our place and bore the full
brunt of Your wrath and gave up His life to satisfy the law's
demands and fully and forever and freely put away our sins
so that You remember them no more. We thank You, Father, that
we can come into Your presence with full confidence and assurance
knowing that it's your son who you look to for our salvation,
knowing that he is our sanctification and righteousness and wisdom
and redemption, knowing that we are accepted in him and welcome
into your holy court. We praise you, Father, for such
kindness and mercy, generosity, graciousness to poor sinners. Lord, as we look at this portion
of scripture tonight, We pray that you would give us an understanding
of the glory, the wonder, the greatness, the magnitude, the
fullness of your salvation. Bless us to understand. Give
us a heart light and full of praise. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Now in these verses we see Ruth
brought to the house of the man who will redeem her. The man
who will supply all of her needs. The man who will love her all
the days of her life. The man who will marry her and
will give her children. She is brought to glean with
the house owner's maidens. And she is in truth, according
to this passage of scripture, adopted into the family of Boaz. And this is a picture of the
redeemed sinner being placed in the church of the living God.
As I read this and thought of what Ruth had underwent to get
to this place, I was reminded of a passage in 1 Kings chapter
6 where the Lord set the requirements for building the temple. If you
have your Bibles, turn on over there with me to 1 Kings chapter
6. In verse 7, our Lord says these words, And the house, when
it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it
was brought thither, so that there was neither hammer nor
axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was in
building. Our Lord declares in this 7th
verse that every stone Every stone put in the building was
chiseled and carved out and cut to precise specs before it was
placed into the building. This assured a perfect fit of
that stone in its proper place. It also assured that no stone
was missing because every stone was cut for a particular place.
And it also assured that no stones were left out. In that temple,
every stone has its place. There are no holes and gaping
wounds in the temple. The temple is full and complete. And this is a proclamation that
the church, which is typified by the temple in the Old Testament,
the church is the product of precise and particular redemption. Its makeup is formed in the quarry
of eternal election and predestination, ere the first lively stone was
put in its preordained place. If you are a member of the body
of Christ in one of his local churches, you are not there by
accident. You did not arrive because of
the noise made by some laborer in that building. You arrived
by the spiritual work of the Holy Spirit taking the gospel
and putting in your heart. Now the reason for the precise
manner of this building, the church, is that there would be
no hammer or axe or any iron heard in the house while it was
being built. For all practical purposes, this
house was not constructed with on-site workers. I know that
sounds impossible, but what you're dealing with is a picture of
the grace of God. No sound of labor was heard as
this temple went up. One stone was laid upon another
without the noise and reverberation of human effort and human labor. It was a house whose glory for
construction belonged to God alone. And so it was with Ruth
from all eternity Ruth was chosen unto salvation, her time and
place of birth was ordained, and in the quarry of Moab, divine
providence, the quarry master chiseled and cut this precious
gem, stripped away all that she had confidence in, and made her
a hunger and thirst for righteousness, and sent a good news message
to her that the Lord had visited His people in giving them bread. The God of all grace created
her need, and when it was time to place her in the house, no
sound of human work could be heard. Her half was to be placed
in the field owned by the Redeemer. We preach the gospel. We preach
the gospel to every creature, but we save no one, and we place
no one in the church. It is in the invisible, silent
world of the Holy Spirit that the elect, having been prepared
by providence in the quarry of grace, are placed in the house
of the Redeemer. And all that can be said of such
a wonder is, to God be the glory, great things He hath done. Turn
to Acts chapter 2, just for a moment. In Acts chapter 2, we have recorded
for us the doings of the early church. In verse 46, it says this of
the church, And they continually, continuing daily with one accord
in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat
their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising
God and having favor of all the people." And then the divine
disclaimer, and the Lord added to the church daily, them that
should be saved. They were praying people, they
were steadfast in the apostles' doctrine, they were praising
people, they met daily, they prayed daily, they were of one
mind and one accord, and all that glorious activity, which
was all good, added no one to the church. It was the Lord who
had daily them that should be saved. And in the verses of this
passage in Ruth, and between verses 4 and 9, we see many things
about Christ and His church. The first thing that is evident
is that Ruth made use of the means available to her to get
the bread to feed her stomach. She did this because she obeyed
the Word of God. She obeyed the Word of God. She
believed the promise of God. God had promised by command in
Leviticus that the gleaners of the field were to leave what
falls to the ground for the poor so they could freely eat. That's
very important. They were not employees in the
master's field. Ruth was not an employee in the
master's field. She was a recipient of the grace
of Almighty God. She was a recipient of the grace
from the Lord of the master of the field. And what Downey awaited
the poor was theirs. It was theirs. It was not sold
to them. It was there for them. It was
on the ground, ready to be picked up. It was theirs for the taking,
and that by sovereign edict of God. God said, when you're gleaning
the fields, and kernels of barley and wheat and corn fall upon
the ground. Do not reach down and pick those
up. I've got some poor people, and that's free to them. You'll
have to work to get your harvest for sure," he said to the reapers.
This is free for the poor, for the poor in spirit. So she believed
God. And so she came and lit upon
this field and she asked the head reaper, can I go and glean
there? I'm a poor woman, can I go and glean? He says, sure.
You've got a sovereign right to go and glean in that field. She walked in the light that
God had given her. Her faith in God caused her to
act upon the promise when she read the promise of God. And
she gathered more than she could imagine in her bag. Six and a
half gallons in one day of the scraps, supposedly, that were
left behind. And we know also she even got
handfuls on purpose. And let me tell you this about
the Word of God, child of God. If you employ the Word of God
as a lamp to your feet and a light unto your path, that path will
lead you to the field of the Redeemer. That path will lead
you to Christ and you will find an abundant harvest for your
poor soul. And you know what? You'll be
free. It'll be there already for the
taking. The next thing we see is what
we don't see. Sometimes a thing omitted presents
a powerful truth in Scripture. The head of the reapers spoke
Naomi's name in this context. Boaz spoke Ruth's name, but only
one name was prominent in this house, and that was the name
of Boaz. It was Boaz's house. Even the
head servant is not named. He's just said to be a servant.
And that's all he is. He's just a servant. This is
the house and the field of Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer, and his
is the preeminent name in this place. It is the same in the
church. There is but one name that is
the subject and substance and conversation in the house of
God. We may mention the name of some of His people. We may
speak of them and speak well of them, but the only name that
matters in this assembly is the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
that name that is above every name, the only name under heaven
given among men whereby we might be saved. That name is the melody
and the lyric and the rhyme and the reason and the song for all
utterance in the church of the living God. We preach Christ
and Him crucified. We do not recognize His servants.
We don't have days where we recognize the servants of God. They don't
deserve recognition. Their master deserves recognition.
So we don't have Mother's Days and Father's Days and Pastor
Appreciation Days and such things as that, because we're servants.
Our name's not to be mentioned. The name that is above every
name is the name of Jesus Christ. Apollos and Paul, by their own
admission, said, we aren't anything. We aren't anything, but Christ
is all. And in this house, only one bears
the title of holy and reverend. I know men like to call preachers
reverend. Don't call me reverend. I'm not
reverend. There is one, however, who is. Holy and reverend is
the Lord's name. That's His name, and that's the
reverend we speak about in this church. In this house, only one
is worthy to be called master, and that's our master, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Thirdly, when one of the elect
is saved, he is brought home to the flock. Go ye glean among
my maidens. He said, go glean ye among my
maidens. When a child of God is brought
to a knowledge of Christ, God brings him home. Home to the
flock. Look at a few verses of Scripture.
In Luke chapter 15 as our Lord gives that great parable of the
lost sheep and the lost coin and the prodigal son. He begins
with the lost sheep in Luke chapter 15 in verse 4 and he says, ìWhat
man of you having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth
not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness and go after
that which is lost until he find it? And when he hath found it,
he layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing, and when he cometh
home, He cometh home. He calleth together his friends
and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have found
my sheep, which was lost. I have found my sheep, which
was lost. In John chapter 10, our Lord,
speaking of what He did for the sheep, said this in John chapter
10, in verse 15 and 16, As the Father knoweth me, even so I
know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. other
sheep have I which are not of this fold, them also I must bring,
and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and
one shepherd." When one of the elect is brought to a knowledge
of his salvation, he is placed among the sheep where he belongs. You see, sheep are social creatures. They're social creatures. They
need the flock. If a sheep is found alone, it
is because he's sick or because he's wounded. If he's well, he's
going to be among the flock. You can always be sure of that.
Ruth wanted the flock. She wanted the flock. How do
I know that? She said to Naomi, thy people shall be my people. I want to be with your people,
with your people. Believers need the church. They need the church. I am suspicious
of folks who talk about joining a church because they feel like
they can help it out. I've had a lot of people say
that leaving, you know, after hearing me preach on a Sunday
morning and seeing that we didn't have a lot of folks, visitors
come, you know, and we don't have a lot of folks here in this
church. And I've heard them say, you know, I believe, I believe,
you know, I might, I might start coming. I believe I can help
you all out. I say, don't bother. Just keep, keep walking. Don't
let the door hit you in the rear end on your way out. Believers
need the church. They need the church. Believers don't attend church
to help. They come to get help. If providence has made you hungry,
providence will guide you to the place where the bread is.
What of those who believe grace but cannot seem to be a part
of assembly? I'll be honest with you, I have
no answer. I have no answer. But I've never
known one who has the joy of true and lasting fellowship who
is not in the house of God, with the people of God, worshiping
the true and living God. That's where it's at. That's
where the joy is. That's where the peace is. There
is where the sheep gather in one fold with one shepherd. The
church is not an organization. It's an organism. It's a living,
vital thing. It's not a business. It's a family. It's not a building. It's a body. Nothing is more detrimental to
the heart and spirit of a believer than neglect of the house of
God. Nothing is more detrimental. I know just our human nature. We get in a fix and we stop going
to church. I don't know why that is, but that's human nature.
It really tells us what we are. The longer we stay away, the
easier it is to stay away. How sad that is. How sad that
is. Two things are found to be true
concerning the members of the body of Christ, the churches
of God, as we look at the Acts and the New Testament. Every
member is a believer. The members of Christ's body
are believers, and every member has confessed Christ in baptism,
every one of them. Also in this passage, we see
the church's responsibility as a stranger to the newcomer, to
the one whom God has saved, the newly placed one in the body
of Christ. The church ought to be like the
house of Boaz. That's what it ought to be like. It ought to be attractive in
spiritual things. When Ruth found herself in the
house of Boaz, she found it to be a friendly place, a gracious
place and a generous place. We preach the grace of God. We
need to live the grace of God. We need to be gracious people.
Gracious people. We preach the grace of God and
that's a constant reminder of God's best bestowed on the worst
of humanity. It is the sweet benefaction of
our benevolent despot that gives joy and comfort and peace in
the world of woe. And the same graciousness ought
to be exhibited to all who enter the doors of this place. There's
a sinner out there. The minute he walks through that
door, he ought to know he's welcome. Welcome in this place. The poor
in spirit who enter this place ought to feel that they can freely
glean in this field. Nothing will be required of them.
Nothing will be asked of them. Just take what we got. Silver and gold have we none,
but what we have we give unto thee in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Arise up and walk. Arise up and walk. They ought to feel that they
can freely glean in the field of the Lord, that they can buy
without money and without price, and that when they are thirsty
they can freely slake their thirst at the spring of living waters
without any requirements to them. They ought to know that here
they're safe. They're safe in this place. They're
safe from reprisal. Safe from prejudice. Boaz told
Ruth, I won't let none of the men touch you. And I won't let
them ever rebuke you. Just take and take and take and
take. It's all yours. It's all yours. Hear gracious words of benediction
from the Redeemer. The Lord be with you, he said
to his reapers. And the words of praise are returned.
The Lord bless thee. And here the Redeemer condescends
to notice the newly placed one. Boaz asked the reapers, Who is
this young woman? The reapers had the answer. You
know why? Because they represent the pastors of the church whose
business is to know about those who are added to the church.
We see also that this is the Redeemer that makes the stranger
feel welcome. It's Boaz who speaks to her.
We want to make folks feel welcome. We want to be a hospital for
the sick and the wounded and the poor in spirit. But it's
Christ who speaks peace to their soul. It's Christ who really
makes them feel welcome. And he does so with sure promises. Boaz personally took upon himself
the welfare of Ruth as Christ has personally taken upon himself
the welfare of all his people. He spoke directly to her and
assured her as the master that all would be well in his house. We also see that his words are
spoken as a near kinsman, a close relative. He addresses her as
his daughter. He said, my daughter, my daughter. With this title he put her on
a sure and high footing in this house. She was instantly a member
of the family. With those words, she knew she
was instantly a member of the family. And she did nothing to
bring this gladest state about. It was the Redeemer who saw her.
It was the Redeemer who spoke to her. It was the Redeemer who
gave her the title. He did it all. He did it all. And all who come to God by Christ
in faith, are instantly received as members of the family. And
it must be that way in the local churches also. I've been places
where it wasn't. I've been places where you had
to go through all kinds of rigmarole to become a member of a local
body. It ought not be. This woman,
immediately when the Savior saw her, He says, You're my family.
You're my daughter. You're my daughter. No trial
period here, is there? There's no watch care program
where we've got to watch her for six weeks. No probation period
whereby the newcomer is spied out to see if she meets the legal
requirements of church membership. Those are inventions of men designed
to produce what they deem to be a worthy membership. I'm so
glad that all the membership of Sequoia Baptist Church is
unworthy. including the one who stands
before you, foremost the one who stands before you. Because
in my unworthiness I realize the worthiness of my Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He hath made me suitable to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in life. When the
elect find that they have half upon the field of the Redeemer,
the first words they hear are those of a full familial nature. My daughter. What does that mean? Accepted in the Beloved. Accepted and embraced by the
church as part of the family. A member in good standing because
of their standing is the standing before God in His perfect righteousness. And finally, the newly placed
convert is shown that all she will ever need is found in the
house of the Master. She didn't ever need to depart
to find some needed spiritual blessing. Boaz tells Ruth, go
not to glean in another field. She don't have to go nowhere. Neither go from hence, but abide
here fast by my maidens. Why? Because there's plenty of
bread here. Plenty of bread. Bread from heaven.
Here is a well that never runs dry. Here the water of life will
slake your thirst. Here no weapon formed against
you shall ever prosper. You'll be hedged about and nothing
can touch you save that which will do you good. Here in this
place we bear one another's burdens. We weep with those who weep and
laugh with those who laugh. And here as a family we meet
and rejoice in our Lord. Let us all remain conscious of
the truth that this place is the field of the Lord. And the
poor in spirit, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness,
these lively stones hewn in the quarry of grace and placed in
the temple, are welcome, loved, forgiven, encouraged, cherished,
and protected. Here the new convert will hear
the adventures and skill and purposes and deeds and accomplishments
of the kinsman Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. And here in
this field, in this place, in this church, the family of God
freely gleans what God has commanded to be theirs by law. And they
get handfuls on purpose by the grace of the Master. This church, this body of believers,
every one of us, were cut in a quarry somewhere. We can look
back at our life, and we may not be able to see God's hand
moving, but I'll tell you this, His hand was upon every one of
His elect throughout all their life, no matter how full of life
full of debauchery their life might have been, and he was cutting
that stone, and he's going to put it right where it belongs
in the church, and nobody's going to get the blame for it but him.
Nobody. He did it all. This church is
a house where sinners in need are welcomed. But welcome, because
here the corn's laying on the ground. And the old sheep might
have to bend over to get it, but it's close enough to where
the ground, the lambs don't have to bend over very far. Feed on
the gospel of Jesus Christ. Father, bless us through our
understanding, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. Good night and God bless
you. Don't forget, Sunday, service at 11.