GRACE IS A STORY OF LOST AND FOUND
RUTH 2:4-18
What
does it mean to fall under the blanket of God’s grace? There is only one place to find
that answer! How
does the Bible explain God’s grace?
God is
the source of grace ...........1 Peter 5:10 “But
may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ
Jesus....”
Grace is God’s throne............. Heb 4:16 “Let
us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace..”
Grace
is God’s work in the believer........2 Thess 1:11-12 “Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you
worthy of this calling, and
fulfill all the good pleasure of His
goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our
God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Grace
is God’s Gospel........ Acts 20:24 “But
none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I
may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord
Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”
GRACE IS THE SOURCE OF:
Election (Rom 11:5)
The call of God (Gal 1:15)
Justification (Rom 3:24)
Faith (Acts 18:27)
Forgiveness of sin (Eph 1:7)
Salvation (Acts 15:11)
Hope (2 Thess 2:16)
To sum
it all up! God’s grace is always sufficient for you and me in every situation and
circumstance….without exception of anything. See grace is favour bestowed on
someone who doesn’t deserve it and can’t earn it..... Let me explain and let’s turn
to the scriptures! Ruth chapter 2. Ruth
fits that bill perfectly and so do you before and after Jesus Christ drew you
to Himself as your Lord and Saviour.....
She is a poor woman who cannot
offer or pay for anything
She is a foreigner in a strange
land.
She is the lowest or the bottom
of the barrel according to worldly standards.
She as no one and nowhere to go
except her mother in-law Naomi.
Ruth is a poster child of all lost
humanity.
Ruth is a poster child of a
sinner who is outside the covenant family of God.
Ruth is a poster child of a
world that is bankrupt with no acknowledgment or claim on God’s mercy.
That’s the grace of God to lost
sinners like Ruth.........like you!
We know that this is a time of
dark days according to what we find in the book of Judges and the beginning
verse of this letter. (Ruth 1-v1).
But God’s providence we see a
small remnant of those who desire to follow God and His truth. The
same goes today! We are living in dark times but there still is a small remnant of people
who love the Lord and desire to follow Him to the very end. Meaning……..You and me. The Gospel is still going forth
despite the oppression from religious groups; to people who obviously hate the
Gospel and those who follow Him. We come to the part of God’s plan where a man who is
considered a Christ type comes on the scene for the first time. Boaz was a man whose name means
great strength.........a great warrior....a Christ type! What we are about to witness is grace at work
in a person like
Ruth who clearly doesn’t deserve it according to worldly standards.
WHAT DO I MEAN?
1ST
BOAZ TOOK THE INITIATIVE (V5-V7)
He took the initiative to seek
out Ruth “Whose young woman is this? Grace means that God makes the
first move to come to our aid, not because we deserve it but because He loves
us and wants us for Himself. “We love because He first loved us...” (1 John 4:19)
God
took/takes the initiative when we were spiritually dead!
When we were without strength
When we were sinners
When we were His enemies
“And you, who were dead in your
trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with
him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,” Col 2:13. I like
what Warren Werisbe said “salvation was not an afterthought of God but which
He planned for eternity.” Boaz sought out Ruth because He
showed a great concern for her. “But the free gift is not like
the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the
grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ
abounded for many.” Rom 5:15
2ND
BOAZ SPOKE TO RUTH (V8)
It was Boaz who first spoke to
her.......for she would not dared to speak to a man especially one who was a
stranger. What
right did a widow and an alien have to address a great man like Boaz? Nothing! But Boaz instructed Ruth in
what to do by his grace and kindness. What
right do we have to be a part of the grace that God bestows on us? Nothing! That’s why its grace........God
instructs and speaks to us through His Word.
3RD
BOAZ PROMISED TO PROTECT RUTH AND PROVIDE FOR HER NEEDS (V9, V15-16)
Boaz called Ruth “my daughter” this is a term of
endearment.......he was treating her as a member of the family. A great example of this is David love for
Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth in chapter 9 of 2 Samuel. David showed such love and
kindness towards Jonathan’s son.... David showed such grace to the
last remaining family member of Saul’s clan. A crippled son like
Mephibosheth, by today’s standards if you were living in the province of Quebec
or certain countries in Europe is a prime candidate for euthanasia.
They
would see him as a……
A waste of time
A waste of air
An outcast to society
A person who doesn’t contribute
to society
But David never thought for a second He said "Do not fear, for I will surely show you
kindness for Jonathan your father's sake, and will restore to you all the land
of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually." (2 Sam 9:7). That’s a great picture of God’s
grace towards sinners like us.......and Mephibosheth is the proper response to
grace. He said (v8) “Then he bowed himself, and said, "What is your servant, that you should look
upon such a dead dog as I?" Lord why would you want to save
this wretched man or this wretched woman.......Grace! It could only be by His
sovereign grace to show such favour and kindness. It could only be by grace that
Boaz welcomed a foreigner into the fold of his family and provide for her
needs.
4TH
BOAZ ENCOURAGED RUTH (V10-V13)
Boaz gave her a promise which
ultimately encourages Ruth’s heart to give this humbling response. (v10) Ruth acknowledges her own
unworthiness and accepted his grace. Ruth believed his promises and
the future he promised and left everything to follow her mother in law. Look how Boaz responds to such
a dedicated woman who left everything to follow her mother in Law. (v11-12) Sounds familiar to what Jesus asks of us! “Then Jesus told his disciples,
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and
follow me. For whoever would save his life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses
his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains
the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for
his soul?” Matt 16:24-26. Ruth had no need to worry
because she found rest and security in Boaz. Ruth kept her eyes focused upon
the God of the Israelites (v12) She found refuge in the Lord God of the bible........that same
refugee we find or under today!
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ
himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good
hope through grace,” 2 Thess 2:16. It’s like that hymn song “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His
wonderful face” She
forgot her sorrowful past and problems and looked
towards God’s protection and His grace.... fixing her eyes upon Jesus as the Hebrew writer wrote. “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our
faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Heb 12:2
This is grace and it’s the same grace God bestows upon us
every day.
Boaz
looked past this poor
Moabite widow and displayed to us the grace that God gives to each and anyone
us so freely today otherwise you would be here! “Thanks
be to God for his inexpressible gift!” 2 Cor 9:15 “Inexpressible” is the idea that no words can properly
express the greatness of the gift therefore given on man. It is higher than the mind can conceive; higher than
language can express.
Ruth and you...myself! Are undeserving of this kind of
love...but that’s why He is God.
5TH BOAZ SAW TO IT THAT SHE WAS
SATISFIED (V14, V18)
He knew Ruth’s whole story.........word doesn’t take long
to get around a small town...does it? He saw her heart and commitment to her mother in-law. He knew she abandoned everything to follow the God of the
Hebrews. Ruth knew Boaz was
speaking from the heart “spoken
freely” in (v13) means “spoken from
the heart” Ruth was satisfied because he spoke with genuine concern
and care for a lost and hopeless state. That’s what the word of God does to our hearts today! It
satisfies because it is spoken directly from the heart of God. The word of God and the Son of God can fully satisfy the
heart of the believer. Psalm 36:7-9 says “How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their
trust under the shadow of Your
wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give
them drink from the river of Your
pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.” The believer will always find complete satisfaction in
the Son and the abundance of His grace that He bestows on each and every one of
us all the daylong..... We just need to be like Ruth and humbly come into that
refugee that He has prepared before the foundations of the earth. That He has prepared and completed through Jesus Christ
our Lord! As
the late great reformer Richard Baxter said “As we paid nothing for God’s eternal love and nothing
for the Son of His love, and nothing for His Spirit and our grace and faith,
and nothing for our eternal rest...What an astonishing thought it will be to
think of the unmeasurable difference between our deservings and our receivings.
O, how free was all this love, and how free is this enjoyed glory...So then let
“Deserved” be written on the floor of hell but on the door of heaven and life,
“The Free Gift”.
So what does it mean to fall under the blanket
of His grace?
His mercy is grace overflowing despite your
offence and rebellion.
His provisions are filled with grace despite
your offence and rebellion.
His refuge and rest is seated in grace
despite your offence and rebellion.
His sovereign providence in our lives is
grace abounding continually every day despite your offence and rebellion.
What
does that mean for you and me as we start a New Year? That grace will continue for another year,
and another year after that and forever. So praise Him for His grace in your life this
past year and the year to come for we live by faith through grace that only God
supplies for His glory.
“Grace is but glory begun, and glory is but grace perfected.” Jonathan
Edwards
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