Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Today I say to you, Receive the kindness of God. Receive the grace of God. And not only to receive and to experience that grace and that kindness, but to display that grace and to display that kindness to others. Welcome to the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe.
Senior pastor of Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. When things don't go our way, it's easy to become fixated on our problems. but we're forgetting something vital. Our good God is still in control. And today on the verdict, we're continuing our study in the Book of Ruth with a lesson about remembering and focusing on the kindness of God.
Here's Pastor John Monroe. Today, we continue this beautiful story of a young Moabite widow who finds herself in a strange land as she begins a new life in Bethlehem. She's an alien. but she's living by radical faith. and is sheltering under the wings of the Lord.
She will learn, as we will learn today, of God's indescribable kindness and grace. God is going to bless her in ways she could never imagine. Like Ruth, you may have experienced great heartache. and we are all living in the midst of much chaos and uncertainty in our world today. You may be anxious or fearful.
of what tomorrow may bring. But I pray that you will humbly place your trust in the Lord. and receive His extraordinary grace. Allow God to surprise you with His grace. Have you found out that some circumstances?
and situations in life just seem impossible. There are There simply are no solutions, no way out. I put bluntly, your life is a mess. You look back to better and happier days. But circumstances beyond your control, or perhaps foolish decisions which you have made, have resulted in the present impossible situation.
Someone recently sent me this Rubik's Cube. Probably they were going cheap, I don't know. But a long time since I saw it, and of course, when I saw it, I immediately wanted to do this with it, but I refrained from doing it when I got it because I knew that once I had started to move this around, at least for me, and I realize some of you are semi-geniuses, I'm just an ordinary guy, but I thought, If I start doing this. It will be impossible for me at least to to get it back to what it was when I received it. And as I thought of that, I thought how easy it is in life to go off track.
attempt to take the wrong turn. One foolish decision. one circumstance without our control. A one detour in life. One bad decision And we end up with our life as a mess.
And although we would like to reverse it, and although we would like to go back to life as it once was, we find that almost Impossible. And what God has planned for our life has become confused, and marred, and scarred. Because So often. of our own selfishness. and pride and self indulgence.
Eliot Spitzer has received a lot of publicity and is an example of an individual whose life has hit a brick wall through foolish and indeed sinful decisions. Has life now is like this, it's a mess. I am sure he would like to have reversed the clock. And to think of life if he had never done what he apparently has done. His life.
is a mess. But in case any of us distance ourselves from such an individual, If we're honest, we realize that while we may not have committed the same sins and made the same foolish decisions as Eliot Spitzer, and fortunately for us that when we do so, it's not put over the press in the world and the media in the world, but our life so often is also a mess. Is there anyone here, by the way, who can rectify that with a few turns? If you can, be my guest. I'm not even going to try.
What do you do when life seems impossible? What do you do when you mess up, when you let yourself down and let others down? Most importantly, what are you to do when you let God down and not only let God down, as it were, but sin against a holy, perfect God? Let me say this very, very clearly right at the beginning. You will never solve your problems in life.
You will never erase your failures. You will never be able to get your life back to what it was or what it could be. By yourself. You need the kindness of God and the grace of God to intervene in your life. And this is where we can learn from this beautiful story of Ruth.
Here is a young Moabite woman who trusts. In the Lord. We read last week That wonderful verse in Ruth two, verse twelve. where Boa says to her, May the Lord reward your work. And your wages be full from the Lord the God of Israel, under whose wings.
You have come to seek refuge. And Ruth and Naomi seek refuge under the wings of the Lord, and there they're going to receive indescribable, amazing grace. and a kindness of God. And when life is a mess, what we need is not self help. It's not self-actualization.
Is not to discover our inner self-consciousness, as it were, but what we need and need so desperately is the kindness of God. and the grace of God. And this kindness of God and this grace of God is only received by us. From one source, from one individual, and that is our Lord Jesus Christ. Today I say to you receive.
The kindness of God. Receive the grace of God. And not only to receive and to experience that grace and that kindness, but to display that grace and to display that kindness. Here are these two destitute widows. Can you picture them?
Naomi and Ruth. But they find their shelter, they find their protection and their salvation under the wings of the Lord. And God and His kindness and God and His grace is ritually rewarding them. Because God is going to bless them in unimaginable ways as the story unfolds. Unlike Neil May, And Ruth.
Today, your present circumstances may be very difficult. You may have experienced great suffering, heartache, uncertainty and confusion. You may be very, very anxious this morning about your future. But listen to this. Listen to the way that the Apostle Paul puts it so well in Titus three.
He says the kindness of God our Saviour. and his love for mankind has appeared And he has saved Uh Not wonderful. That God's kindness and God's grace has appeared. How has God's kindness and grace appeared to us? Through his wonderful Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
This is our subject this morning, the kindness of God and the grace of God. Our great God is a God who loves to bless us. He's a God of indescribable grace. But to receive that grace and to receive that kindness requires humility on our part. We must acknowledge our need.
We must acknowledge that we by ourselves cannot solve our problems and find our refuge, as it were, under his wings. That is, to trust. in the Lord.
Now let's continue our study of Ruth. We're going to read from verse fourteen to the end of the chapter of chapter two.
So if you have your Bible there, as I hope you have, take it out and read with me.
So that you and I will be transformed By the grace of God, And the kindness of of God. Ruth two then verse fourteen. Ruth two fourteen. At mealtime Boaz said to her, Ruth, come here, that you may eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread In the vinegar.
So she sat beside the reapers, and he served her roasted grain. And she ate and was satisfied. and had some left. When she rose to glean, Boas commanded his servants, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not insult her. And also you shall purposely pull out some grain from the bundles and leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.
So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about Anifa. of barley. Verse 18, she took it up. And went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned.
She also took it out and gave Naomi what she had left after she was satisfied. Her mother in law then said to her Where did you glean today and where did you work? May he who took notice of you be blessed.
So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, The name of the man with whom I work today is Boas. And the only said to her daughter-in-law, May he be blessed of the Lord. Who has not withdrawn his kindness to the living and the dead? Again, Naomi said to her, This man is our relative, he's one of her closest relatives. Then Ruth the Moabite said, Furthermore, he said to me, You should stay close to my servants until they have finished all my harvest.
And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, It is good, my daughter, that you go out with these maids, lest others fall upon you in another field.
So she stayed close by the maids of Boas and in order to glean until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest, And she lived. with her mother in law. Amen. Here we learn of the kindness and the grace of Boas. But of course A picture to us, an illustration to us, of the kindness of God and the grace of God.
You see, the kindness of God and the grace of God to us is extraordinarily lavish. Just as the kindness of Boas to Ruth is lavish. Last Sunday we learned of the Gracious provision. under the Mosaic law to the poor and to the alien. And Ruth is taking advantage of that Old Testament provision.
She works not as a reaper to be paid, but she works as a gleaner, trying to pick up a little bit of grain here and there in order to survive, to get a bit of food. But when Boas discovers that she is a mobitess, He makes sure she is cared for. BOAS ensures that Ruth receives provision and protection And to Ruth's utter astonishment, she is invited by Bo as the owner. She's invited. to his table.
She certainly doesn't deserve to be there. She's an alien gleaner. She's a mobile test, she's not even a referral. and Boas even makes sure Did you notice that in verse fourteen, that she knows how to eat? If you've traveled in other cultures, you know it's always potentially embarrassing.
when you're in another culture and you're served food. I remember the The first time I was in Goodney's home in the Faroe Islands trying to impress her her parents, they they served this beautiful meal in the evening that they called natra.
Now in Scotland and in the United States, when you have a lot of food on the table, it's perfectly acceptable to take a little bit from every bowl and put it on your plate. But not so in the Faroe Islands. And there, of course, they're very polite. They say, John, you go first. I wanted to watch what they did.
So I thought, Okay.
So I took something from every plate and put it on my plate. only to discover that was a gross breach. uh of culture. No wonder her parents had problems with me from the beginning. But, boys, you see his kindness and his grace.
in helping Ruth this mobile test, someone from a different culture knowing how to eat. And in that culture, foreigners served Israelites, women served men.
So the kindness of Boas is extraordinary. He's not only a man, but he's the boss, he's the owner, and he's serving Ruth. Verse 14. The CEO, as it were, is serving the migrant worker. Can you picture it?
The highest is serving the lowest. And Ruth is invited to his table. And Boas this gracious man goes far beyond the legalistic requirements of the law. He says in verse fifteen Let her glean even among the sheaves and do not insult her. Not only can she pick up what is left over, he allows her to glean among the sheaves.
He makes sure also that she's not harassed by the reapers. One commentator, Bloch, says that this was the first anti sexual harassment policy.
Furthermore, Boas instructs his servants to pull out some barley, verse 16, from the bundles. The old King James refers to it very well as the handfuls of purpose. In other words, Make it easy for this woman. Man Make it easy for her. to get some food.
It is one thing to follow the letter of the law legalistically and rigidly, but Boas is seen and is portrayed throughout the Book of Ruth as a kind Gracious individual lavishing kindness upon kindness on Ruth. No longer is Ruth then just a gleaner trying to get a little bit of barley here and there. She sits at his table She is a member of the group. And at the end of the evening, verse 17, she leaves with an ephah of barley. That's about 30 pounds.
You wonder if she was able to carry it. That's a lot of food. Andrews. then returns to Naomi with an abundance of food. The first doggy bag we have in the Bible, as it were.
The leftovers from the meal is given to Naomi, and Naomi, verse 20, rejoices. In this kindness. Verse twenty, Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, May he be blessed of the Lord who has not withdrawn his kindness to the living and the dead. You see, Naomi and Ruth are sheltering under the wings of the Lord. And what is the Lord doing?
He is lavishing. His grace. And this kindness on them. This word kindness in verse 20 is a translation of this wonderful Hebrew word chesid. Translated in the Old King James as loving kindness sometimes.
This word means loyal love, mercy, grace, kindness, God's covenantal faithfulness. Don't miss this principle. of Scripture. When you shelter under his wings. When you trust Is in the Lord.
You will receive his grace. and his kindness. And the Ome here also recognises that Boas Verse twenty is one of our closest relatives. And this kindness then is a reflection and display of the Lord's kindness. She realizes that Boaz, this man who has protected and provided for Ruth, is a potential kinsman redeemer.
That is a goal. And here we see this wonderful example, this beautiful illustration of how God acts towards us. that the kindness of God and the grace of God are lavished on us.
Now, just as Ruth had no claim on the kindness and generosity of Boas, so we have no claim on the grace of God and the kindness of God. Grace by definition is undeserved, it is unmerited, it is the very opposite of what we deserve. If we received what we would deserve, we would be rejected by God. Our life is so messed up. We have made so many wrong turns.
that God, a holy God, would certainly be just in saying you are forever. forever excluded from my presence. And you will see. suffer my eternal punishment, but The message of Scripture is this. Psalm 103, that God has not dealt with us According to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his loving kindness. towards those who fear him. That is, to those who shelter under his wings. Praise God that He does not deal with us based on what we deserve, but He deals with us. On the basis of grace, on the basis of loving kindness.
And Ruth Two is a superlative illustration of the lavish, superabounding. grace of God. To us. Who are what? undeserving.
centers. Like Gruth, we are outside of the Commonwealth of Israel. Like Ruth, we are strangers to the grace of God. But God in His grace not only saves us, but welcomes us into His family. He welcomes us.
to his table. Isn't that amazing? It's one thing to give kindness to someone outside of your home. It's another thing to invite them into your home and to sit at your very table. But that's what God, our great God, does.
In fact, says Paul in Romans eight, that he makes us Heirs of Christ. Jointeers. were heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ. That is, God's grace knows no boundaries. God's grace is limitless.
It is Infinite.
So says Paul in Ephesians 1: in him that is in Christ. We have redemption through his blood, and the forgiveness of our trespasses according Listen to this. According to the riches of his grace which he has what? Lavished, lavished upon us. We're sometimes kind to someone.
We give them a little bit out of our resources and feel we're pretty good. God never deals with us like that. His grace is lavish. He heaps grace upon grace, kindness upon kindness on us. Do you understand then Why the only way To get right with God is on the basis, not of your works.
Enough trying to rectify your life. Not a little bit of religion. little bit of self-help. Cooperating with God is a word. God helps those who help themselves.
No. It is all of God's grace revealed perfectly in our Lord Jesus Christ. The law is given by Moses, but grace and truth come through our Lord Jesus Christ. If Ruth had received what she deserved, she would never ever have enjoyed the fellowship of that family in Bethlehem. But salvation.
For you and for me. is not a price to be earned. But it is a gift. A gift. to be received.
And one of the songs we were singing, they were talking about empty hands. That's what Saint Augustine says, that God. Always pours his grace. Into what kind of hands? Empty.
empty hands. You think you can do something to please God? You think you can try and clean up your life a little bit? and say, Well, I know I took some bad turns there, but Let me see what I can do, God, and then you can do your part. No.
God pours lavishly his grace into empty Hans, how wonderful. Have you ever come to our Lord Jesus Christ with empty hands? The only thing you bring is your own sin, is your own failure. The only thing you bring is an acknowledgement that you've messed up your life and you desperately need the grace of God. And the kindness of God, and you receive that through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for our sins, who paid the price, who rose from the dead, who is triumphantly alive, and will come into your life, your life which is messed up.
Yeah. whether it's an Elliot Spitzer Whether it's a John Monroe, put your own name, whatever it is, whatever your situation. And he not only will forgive your sins, he will transform your life because God's grace is saving, it's cleansing. And it's transforming. Shelter under his wings.
Hold up empty hands. to receive his extraordinary lavish Grace.
Now as I was studying this passage, there's another principle here. Which follows from the first is this. The kindness of God, that is His grace. Transcends racial barriers. Did you notice that?
The kindness of God, the grace of God, transcends racial barriers. The kindness of Boas transcended racial barriers. Boas was an Israelite. Throughout the book of Ruth, The writer repeatedly reminds us that That Ruth is a Moabiteess. He wants us to remember You see, the Moabites were not allowed into the sanctuary of the Lord.
They were Israel's enemy. They were idol worshippers. You see, if Ruth is going to be welcomed to the family in Bethlehem To the people of God. It is going to be on the principle of sheer Great. This is the verdict with Pastor John Monroe.
We'll continue our lesson titled The Kindness of God next time. But before then, we encourage you to visit our website at theverdict.org. There, you can listen to previous lessons and get your copy of John's Listening Guide for our study in the Book of Ruth. With content specially designed for each of these daily lessons, this printable workbook will equip you with keynotes, questions, and specific prompts to help you apply the Biblical teaching from the story of Ruth to your own life to day. There's so much to unpack from this little book in the Bible, and we want to help you to discover it all with this valuable free resource.
Download your free copy of the Ruth Listening Guide today by going online to theverdict.org. And right now, you can also help us continue sharing the truth of God's Word with fellow listeners by supporting the verdict with a donation of any size. Through your generous giving, you can help share the gospel of Jesus Christ in your community and beyond. To give whatever amount you feel led to, simply visit theverdict.org. You can also give over the phone.
by calling us at 833-551-2231. The verdict is a ministry of Calvary Church in South Charlotte. were located at the corner of Highway 51 and Rayroad. If you're looking for authentic Bible-based teaching and a community of Christ-centered fellowship, then we encourage you to visit us this coming Sunday. For more details about our church and our current Sunday service times, visit theverdict.org.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? Isn't this an incredible story of grace and of kindness? God is pouring His grace into the completely empty hands of Ruth. In your life, You may have experienced that God often surprises us with His grace. as we live a life of faith.
Isn't that a great comfort to you? The Bible says that by grace we're saved through faith. And this is not our own doing, it's a gift of God.
Next time we're going to learn more of this extraordinary grace. which God lavishes upon us. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
