Faith in Action

Turn, if you would, in your Bibles with me, to the book of Ruth chapter 3. I'll be reading from NIV, so if you'd follow along in your Bibles with me.

One day, Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, my daughter, should I not try to find a home for you where you will be well provided for? Is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been a kinsman of ours, tonight he will be winnowing barley in the threshing floor. Wash and perfume yourself, put on your best clothes, then go down to the threshing floor, but don't let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying, then go and uncover his feet and lie down.

He will tell you what to do. I will do whatever you say, Ruth answered. So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do. When Boaz had finished eating and drinking, it was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.

In the middle of the night, something startled the man and he turned and discovered a woman lying at his feet. Who are you? He asked. I am your servant, Ruth, she said. Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman redeemer. The Lord bless you, my daughter, he replied. This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier.

You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, don't be afraid. I will do for you all that you ask. All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character. And although it is true that I am a near of kin, there is a kinsman redeemer nearer than I. Stay here for the night and in the morning. If he wants to redeem, good, let him redeem.

But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives, I will do it. Lie here until morning. So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before anyone could be recognized. He said, don't let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor. He also said, bring me the shawl you are wearing and hold it out. When she did so, he poured it into its six measures of barley and put it on her.

Then he went back to town. When Naomi came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, how did it go, my daughter? Then she told her everything Boaz had done for her and added, and he gave me these six measures of barley saying, don't go back to your mother-in-law empty handed.

Then Naomi said, wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today. Let us pray. Dear Emily, Father, we're thankful for your Word. Father, you used to speak to your people through the prophets, but now you speak to us through your living Word, your Son and our Lord Jesus. Holy Spirit, we pray that you would speak through me, and I pray, Father, that you would minister to each one of our hearts, encouraging us, Father, to glorify you, to lift up Christ in this age and in this time, in these last days, that he might not only draw them in unto himself, but he would fulfill the kingdom until he comes again. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. I had to rewrite this this afternoon. Because of Doug's sermon, he brought up some things pertaining to God's will, determining God's will. And there at the very end, the text from 2 Samuel 7 as well about, even as Eugene mentions, how God is going to build through David an eternal kingdom, upon which whose throne Christ will reign. And it really does dovetail into the book of Ruth.

For what it's worth, I'll give you the end of the story first. At the end of the story of the book of Ruth, chapter 4, at the very end, you have a genealogy. And what's interesting about the genealogy is it talks about the genealogy in relationship to Boaz and Ruth all the way to David. But David hasn't even been born yet according to the chronology of the Bible. Ruth precedes 1 and 2 Samuel, which is very interesting. So the author of Ruth, apparently, some seem to think it was Samuel, inserted this genealogy here to make the point of the connection between Ruth and King David as well as it applies to us because we are the recipients of that blessing of the gospel news that was proclaimed that God was going to give to Abraham and descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. And we are the recipients of that through his grace, by means of grace, through the preaching of the gospel.

We are included in that. And that makes Ruth very important. Apart from the providence and apart from all the great storylines and the works of God and his handiwork being evident here, guiding and directing her life and Naomi's, we can actually take a step back and we can see how God is going to work in our lives as an encouragement from the book of Ruth. How do you determine God's will in your life?

I've got a list of about 8 things right quick so I'm going to go through them. The first important thing in determining God's will is that you need to have a saving, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Without God, everyone is doing what is right in their own eyes. That's what it says there at the end of the book of Judges which is the timing of Ruth as well. Left to ourselves, we typically make decisions which will benefit us most because we are on the throne of our lives.

Provide us the most comfort, security, success and happiness which is not always the best route for us to take. Second of all, in determining God's will, it might be the best thing to do is look and see what the Bible clearly says about the situation that is of question. What does the Bible clearly say?

Are there any direct commandments pertaining to the situation? 1 John chapter 1 verse 3 says, this is how we know him, we obey his commands and abide and walk as Jesus did. Number 3, have you sought the godly counsel from godly men and women? Proverbs 15, 22 says, plans fail for lack of counsel but with many advisors they succeed. 4, ask which would bear the most fruit of the spirit and give God the most glory?

You might want to ask the question, what would Jesus do? Then we can ask, have I exhausted all my options? Can it wait? Timing, waiting upon the Lord. Then we can ask, what is my motive? In hindsight, questioning our hearts and are we serving ourselves or are we truly seeking to honor God?

Does it really matter what we are concerned with here? Then Elizabeth Elliott said, what is the most difficult choice? She said, if you have the choice, choose the more difficult of the two. That's not always accurate, you don't want to always choose the hardest road but sometimes the hardest road requires the greatest faith. If it was easy, then where is our faith trusting in the Lord? I'm not going to argue that point but I'm just saying that sometimes choosing the more difficult road is the best path.

And finally, Doug brought it out this morning and here it is. St. Augustine said, love God and do whatever you please. He said, for the soul trained in love to God will do nothing to offend the one who is beloved.

I believe this is a take off of Psalm 37 verse 4 that says, delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Truly if our desires are to honor and to glorify God with everything that we say and do and to honor him, then he's going to guide our footsteps. He's going to guide the outcome ultimately. He's going to open and shut the door.

This transitions into our text. In chapter 1, for a little bit of background, Elimelech during the famine for whatever reason he decided to take his wife and two sons and go to Moab. Was he trying to escape God's punishment? We cannot say.

The text does not say but what we do know is that the end result was that he died and his two sons died. Was this God's will? See we would ask these kinds of questions when things don't necessarily go our way when difficulties and tragedy come. Well yes it was his will because it happened. You need to remember if it doesn't happen then it wasn't God's will. That's the law of God's decree. God's will always comes about and if it's not it doesn't happen. And even in fact from the hymn that we sang, God moves in a mysterious way, number 128 in your hymnal, it speaks of William Cowper spoke of a frowning providence. So that's perspective of human beings because with God all that he decides to do is all good. For us it might be a frowning providence because it's not what we want but God's will be done and it's always good. It's always for his glory and he always turns it for our good. So Elimelech is a question, what happened to him and why it happened to him?

Was it because they went to Moab? Only God knows if that was a punishment or a redirection. We have another example here at the beginning of chapter two. The opposite happens for Ruth. Something positive happens. Ruth decides to go to work the morning she arrives in Bethlehem. It was the beginning of the harvest season providentially right on time. She comes into Bethlehem and goes out to look for a field to work in and chance to chance the scriptures say in chapter two by chance.

It just so happened but we interpret that as God's providence because he governs and guides all events that come to pass. She arrives in the field of Boaz. So once again we're talking about determining God's will but now we're starting to see how God can direct us to where he wants us to be just as he's doing with Ruth here.

And Boaz happens to be a relative. In fact he happens to be which the text wants to make clear to us in chapter two is that he is a kinsman redeemer. This is my introduction. Do you want to see God at work? Do you want to see God's will being done?

Then we need to roll up our sleeves so to speak and get to work. Our text is broken up into three sections and let me go over this right quick as I move into the text. Verses one through five are the plan. That's point number one the plan. Verses six through fifteen is the fulfillment of the plan, the follow through. And then verses sixteen through eighteen you have a conclusion. It's a series of events essentially that begin with Naomi's plan with Ruth and then the conclusion of them waiting and seeing God's handiwork and directing the end result. In chapter three what is the point of the author? Naomi instructs Ruth to propose to Boaz to be her kinsman redeemer.

What are we going to take home for this? Trusting God does not mean you sit around and do nothing. Determining God's will is sometimes best and easily accomplished by doing the next thing. By not sitting on our laurels so to speak and waiting for something to happen, being a fatalist but doing something. We make plans in all sorts of ways. We don't want to wait for the enemy to attack us so what do we do? Well in football you run plays. In football, basketball, lots of sports you run plays so that you're going to win.

That's the plan, that's the goal. In battle you do the same. There's all sorts of flanking movements and surprises and delusions and you're trying to trick the enemy so that you can win the battle. Proverbs twenty verse eighteen says make plans by seeking advice if you wage war obtain guidance. When a minister prepares his sermon he does his homework.

There's a lot of time and effort put into it, he just doesn't wing it and call it faith. Likewise our text begins with Naomi making a plan. In verses one through five Naomi's making a plan but she doesn't sit around and just do nothing. She sees God's hand at work in Ruth's life and providing through Boaz through all these circumstances providentially guided she sees God at work so she's not going to sit back and just wait for the next thing to happen. She speaks with Ruth.

Proverbs twenty verse four says a slugger does not plow in season so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing. We can take a step back and think that what if Naomi had done nothing? What if they had stayed in Moab? We can think back retrospectively because it affects us however many thousands of late years into the future. Her plan, this speaking with Ruth trying to get Ruth to propose to Boaz, was integral in us being here today as believers. So the plan is faith in action.

It's not just sitting around as so many people seem to do. Naomi after working, after watching Ruth work for weeks or months in the barley season, after being the recipient of Ruth bringing home on the first day an ephos, sixty plus pounds of barley, of grain, now she's been coming home continually with seed and with barley and so she sees God's hand in blessing Ruth and she's starting to put together that God might be in some way directing Boaz into her life. She might be asking the question, are Boaz and Ruth to be together? So Naomi comes up with a plan to find a husband for Ruth. Says in verse one, should I not seek a home for you that it may be well with you?

Boaz if you remember was one of the kinsmen redeemer. If you go back to chapter two verse one it started out with the word now and I told you about the parenthesis sentence here. It could be in the text but the author placed it there to magnify God's providence and how he's working everything out together there.

Now Naomi had a relative on her husband's side from the clan of Elimelech, a man of standing whose name was Boaz. It's kind of like an insight from the outside to see what's occurring, how God is orchestrating everything. But then if you turn to the end of chapter two, look what it says there in verse 20 and 21. The Lord blessed Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, he has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.

She added, that man is our close relative, he is one of our kinsmen redeemers. So at the very beginning of chapter two and at the very end, kind of like an inclusio, kind of like a sandwich, two pieces of bread on the meat of it all, what you have here is this emphasis upon God's providing and directing Boaz into their lives. So that's the positive aspect of what's happening for Ruth in comparison to what happened to Elimelech.

He died but now Ruth here is being blessed. And Naomi sees it. She sees the orchestration of all the events and she's seeing Boaz because it says there that he was a relative of Elimelech. So that puts into your mind about Naomi, she knows that Boaz, she's only heard it, the text doesn't say in chapter two that she's met Boaz.

They've had a great reunion and exchanged hugs and kisses or anything like that. No, Ruth has encountered her. But when she hears that Ruth went to go work for Boaz, her eyes light up and she starts to see how God is working here. He's a relative. He's a man of wealth and standing, power and influence. Obviously he's a godly man, he's greeting everyone with shalom and peace and blessings to you and he's claiming God's blessing to her in chapter two verses 11 and 12 and he's pronouncing this to her and boy, Boaz could be the one who's going to take care of her and protect her. Naomi's wondering. He's a close relative.

He's one of our kinsmen's redeemer. You can almost hear her going over this in her mind, just as I'm doing with you, helping you to see that there's a connection here that's about to open up and we're going to see what God is doing here. So she gave her special instructions in this plan. She should prepare herself, get cleaned up and make herself presentable, put on some perfume and go down to the threshing floor and after he lies down and goes to sleep, uncover his feet and he will tell you what to do. Boy, I don't know if it sounds awkward to you as it does for me, but to uncover his feet and lay down and wait for him to tell you what to do sounds like an inappropriate response to this physical act. Why on earth would he say or she say to her, this is to Ruth, he will tell you what to do.

What will he tell you to do? Some people take this as an opportunity to be a springboard to say there was something intimate that Naomi was trying to encourage here. There was some sort of physical relationship that she was trying to encourage here. But what I want you to see is from the outside looking in, Naomi knows once again that Boaz is a limilex family relative. He is family and he has shown favor to Ruth. He is a kinsman redeemer. But as it says there in verse 21 chapter 2, he is one of our kinsman redeemers and that's a key here that you wouldn't probably take notice of. Naomi doesn't know if he is willing to be the kinsman redeemer. He is one of kinsman redeemers, many or more than one.

But is he willing to be the kinsman redeemer? So Naomi knows because she knows the family. Ruth wouldn't know the family. She's not from Judah or from Bethlehem.

She's from Moab. She doesn't know the ins and outs of the family business so to speak. But Naomi knows all the relatives in town. And she knows that there's one actually in line before Boaz.

So this creates a problem. Who's going to be the one? And Naomi wants to find out. That's why she's creating this plan is to find out is Boaz willing to be the kinsman redeemer or not? What we're talking about here is called levirate marriage.

Jesus spoke about it in chapter 22 of Matthew when the disciples asked him. There was a man who was married to a woman and he died and then the brothers married her. Whose wife shall she be? Who will be the husband? Levirate marriage is essentially the obligation of the surviving brother or relative to marry the widow of the brother who died and had no children. And the first child was to be given the name so that the family line would continue.

Is Boaz going to be this levirate marriage, be the man? Is he going to be the kinsman redeemer? The word for kinsman redeemer I mentioned last time is goel.

The goel is also understood to be the person who can redeem someone like in Leviticus 25-25 you have the year of Jubilee and if someone has sold themselves into slavery or has a debt then another family member can come and redeem that person's debt. Pay the debt and get them out of slavery so to speak. So he can redeem the relative, he can repurchase the property, he can pay off their debt so that they aren't in poverty and they can ultimately marry the brother's widow in order to have a son for his brother in case the brother had no children. So that's kind of the background Naomi is wondering about. She realizes that there's someone else in line but she wants to know essentially is Boaz up to it.

Point number two. Ruth follows the plan. She did, the scriptures say in verse six, she did exactly, she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do. Now the rest of the section here from verses seven through fifteen is a more specific breaking down of everything that occurred in this section of the fulfillment of the plan.

She did everything that Naomi told her to do. So when Boaz had finished eating and drinking and his heart was married he went to a distant corner of the grain pile and lay down to sleep. Ruth had prepared herself and put on perfume, did not make herself known. She went over to where he was laying down and she uncovered his feet, setting the stage for the question, the proposal that's about to happen. He wakes up, suddenly notices a woman in his feet and he asks who is she? Says in verse fourteen a little bit further down that women were not allowed on the threshing floor. So to him, you know, who is this maidservant who's working in the field?

There's been a big party, a big celebration of the harvest. Who is this who's laying at my feet? He says, who are you? And she says, spread your garment over me. You are my kinsman redeemer.

The text here is very interesting and I want you to see this because this is like a little golden nugget. The word for garment in Hebrew is actually wing. Spread your wing, not spread your garment over me, spread your wing over me. Which takes us back to chapter two.

Follow along if you're losing me here. Chapter two verse twelve, may the Lord, he blesses her and he says, may the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord the God of Israel under whose wings you have come to take refuge. Remember she swore an oath to take care of Naomi and swore her allegiance to God and may nothing separate her from this oath but death. She has come under the wings of the Almighty so to speak. What's interesting here is that she's essentially asking him, Boaz, are you God's providential provision? Are you the man for me? Remember you blessed me back in chapter two, she wouldn't say that but we see it there, and you blessed me because I had come under the wings of the Almighty. Are you God's provision for me? She's asking him a clear question, will you marry me? Now the words are not there but the insinuation, the intention is.

Is Boaz her destiny? We know it's a proposal because she makes this connection with under his wings and God's provision here. We also know it because, remember Naomi said, do what he tells you to do. He will tell you what to do.

That's the response. The responsibility is going to be on him to make the next move. Then Boaz says yes, I will do for you all that you ask and that's really what wraps it all together in this package of a proposal.

Yes, I will do what you are asking. Ruth is taking the initiative here because she is a young widow and he is a man of wealth, of prominence, a godly man. He's single and he is a kinsman redeemer as revealed by Naomi to Ruth. So Ruth wants to know as well as Naomi wants to know. In fact, Naomi is behind this whole series of events. We think this faith in action could be limited to Ruth. Is she the one who's putting her faith into action here? Well actually no, Naomi is putting her faith into action as well.

She's not sitting back. They're both putting into action their faith to see what God would have for them. In response, Boaz blesses her a second time.

The first time was in chapter 2. Now this time he blesses her and describes it as a second act of kindness that she didn't go after the young men but she pursued Boaz who was an old man to be her husband. This willingness to stick with the kinsman redeemer than a younger man was an act of chesed kindness that he had shown to her. Now she in turn, who's a noble woman of character, is showing the respect to this older gentleman who's old enough to possibly to be her dad that he could be her husband which she wants to know.

She was a woman of character so she's not out there flirting with all the younger guys trying to find a man. She's working hard from dawn till dusk and she's looking to provide for Naomi. That's her first obligation and to glorify God.

And it's evident in her actions here and that's why he blesses her this time. But it says in verse 12 there's a glitch. There's a problem. There's something unexpected in this process he says. Now see he doesn't know that they already know.

He's communicating to Ruth what she already knows through Naomi. There's another redeemer. There's someone else in line before me.

Like ah I could have had a V8. It's like the lights are turning on. Don't you see it? That's what he's like saying to Ruth.

Can't you see it? There's another kinsman redeemer in line closer than Boaz. It says in Leviticus 25, 25 if one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells some of his property the nearest relative is to come and redeem what the countryman has sold.

That's what we're going to see is going to occur in chapter 4. So this older gentleman, the one who precedes Boaz has this obligation to redeem. To do what a relative should do.

To take care of the family. But if he does not Boaz confidently says yes. Yes I will. I will marry you. I will take that responsibility of Naomi and I will be delighted to take you as my wife. And he shows this by giving her six measures of barley and sends her on home.

I've already spoken of signs of chesed kindness, God's loving kindness, his mercy shown in his loving, his grace and faithfulness to his people. Boaz has been showing this to Ruth but he's also been showing it to Naomi. He's been communicating to Naomi because every time she finishes work he sends her home to Naomi the text says, each time, taking with her this huge amount of grain. So it's not just for Ruth, he's sending a message to Naomi that he knows that she's there, he knows she is his relative and he's looking to take care of his beloved family members as well. So he's communicating, she's communicating and we're trying to clear up are they passing in the night somehow.

That's the plan. We need to know what's going on here. Naomi's trying to understand what is his intent. Point number three, Ruth and Naomi, they wait for an answer. I don't know if you've noticed it or not but in the bulletins the past couple of days and on our emails there's been the text from Isaiah 40-31, yet those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. Isaiah 40 speaks of God's greatness and his goodness to his beloved people, speaking of how he's going to deliver them. They're at the transitional chapter 40 of Isaiah but at this point the encouragement was to wait and see God's redemptive power at hand. How he is going to deliver and provide ultimately in a Savior which we talk about in Isaiah 53. The coming of the Savior who's going to build an everlasting kingdom upon David's throne and he's going to reign forever and ever. Wait upon the Lord, see that the Lord is good.

Don't get anxious, wait. Show your trust in God and his greatness and his goodness and in his governance. Wait and see the deliverance of God. Psalm 37 verse 7 says, Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath. Do not fret, it only leads to evil. For evil men will be cut off but those who wait upon the Lord will inherit the land.

Wait and see. But I've got to say, waiting upon the Lord does not mean sitting around on your laurels and doing nothing. We as Presbyterians, particularly reformed Presbyterians can be blamed for being fatalists, believing so much in the sovereignty of God that we're just going to sit back and watch and see what he does rather than realizing that what Paul said to the Romans is how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. The people are not going to get saved unless someone brings them, preaches them the good news.

That's how the kingdom is going to be filled. It's through the proclamation, the preaching of the good news, which is the great commission of the church today. We show our trust in the Lord by putting our faith in action, rolling up our sleeves and seeing that the harvest is ripe and God has called us to be the ones to work and to labor in the harvest. We have a calling.

So this is my conclusion. We need to put our faith into action. James 2, I'm sure you'll preach on it here pretty soon, says show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by what I do. We've been so condemned by sitting around doing nothing. Churches are empty today.

I preach in a lot of little ARP churches filled with old people. People have just been sitting around and they have right theology but I hate to say it, a majority of the churches are empty because there hasn't been a vision for outreach. There hasn't been a vision or a desire to share the good news that people who are walking in darkness would see a great light. It's not welling up within their soul and overflowing out of their hearts. They want to share the good news with the people who are in darkness in a broad way that leads to destruction.

They just don't give a flip. Woe unto the church. The man said it last week. Woe unto the church. I feel like, as Keith Green said, we've been asleep in the light. We need to put our faith into action. I'd say that God has brought about this seeming frowning providence as we view it, what's happening in America today, in our lives and potentially in the near future, God is allowing this to come about not necessarily as a punishment but for his glory.

I'm not looking at the glass half empty but half full. God is allowing these events because we who are confident in our salvation that to die is gain, we're going to heaven, but we've been purchased with the precious blood of Christ. Our lives are not our own. We have that confidence that overcomes fear, that peace that transcends all understanding, that we know what the future holds for us, so what is our purpose here? God has allowed this so that we would recognize with confidence he's opening the doors for the church to get off of our pews, so to speak, and get to work.

There are a lot of people out there whose hopes in our country and President Trump and many things, their IRAs, their final securities, their health, everything could be crumbling in a drastic fashion real soon. What a door to open up and to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Do you want to tell people about the love that you have in your heart that has been revealed to you by his grace?

Do you want to tell people about the wonderful love of Jesus that filled up your darkness once, that now just wells up within your soul, that you just want to praise him, praise him? This morning in 2 Samuel chapter 7 verse 12, Doug referred to it, I will raise up for your offspring to succeed you who will come from your own body and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my name and I will establish his throne and kingdom forever.

I will be his father and he will be my son. Then after Samuel came David in the exile and David told everybody, he said that there's going to come one when he was interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream, he said that there's one who's going to come and establish a kingdom that will last forever. That was Jesus. And this kingdom that lasts forever is being established because he's the second Adam. The first Adam failed, he sinned and entered into the world and we were all born outside of the garden. But now God has made a way for us to be brought back into the garden, to be brought back into fellowship with him through Jesus Christ. And the proclamation of the gospel is what is going to usher people in and fill up the kingdom, fulfilling what the first Adam failed to do. Remember the cultural mandate in chapter 1 verse 27 and 28 was to fill the earth.

And if that was the kingdom of God then and Jesus has come to establish a spiritual kingdom, the manner in which you establish or fulfill the spiritual kingdom is through the proclamation of the gospel so that people are saved and enter into a kingdom that will never end. And that is our job. What a more perfect opportunity we have. Let's not be selfish people and be so concerned about losing everything that we have.

Bring it on! If that's what's going to glorify God then bring it on. Let's wait and see God's handiwork in orchestrating events not just to take care of us because we're not really concerned with that. We want to see God orchestrate the events so that people are going to come to Jesus. The kingdom is filled through the great commission and that's the mission here at Grace Presbyterian Church. That is our mission.

The harvest is ripe. Let us put our faith into action. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, open our eyes to see this great need in America that you are designing and bringing about so that Jesus might be lifted up and draw all men to himself. Father you are possibly going to bring us to our knees here in the future but we trust you and we know that you love us.

And that just as you worked through Naomi's tragedy so that Ruth could meet Boaz that ultimately they could be the great grandparents of King David who ultimately his throne Jesus would reign forever and ever of which we are the children of the King. You've done all this for us. Hallelujah. Thank you. Help us not to sit and do nothing but show us Father that harvest as we walk out our doors, as we walk out of this building. Inspire us, empower us and guide us. O thou great Jehovah in Jesus precious name. Amen.