Real Love Brings New Life

[0:00] Well, I'd like to add my word of welcome to those already expressed by Elliot this morning. You know, when I first pulled up this morning, your hospitality committee was outside, and they looked at me and they said, oh, no, we're in trouble.

[0:12] And I just went, dang, what have I done? I haven't done anything yet. And the two in the back are there smiling. They know who they are. So it is a great pleasure to be here because a lot of you I know, and I've known for a long time, and many of you I don't know, but I hope to meet you soon.

[0:30] And it's always a pleasure to open God's word and just pour out what he's laid on my heart. This week we're going to be finishing up the series in the book of Ruth.

[0:40] This is the final sermon in this series. And the series was entitled Real Love. And what we were looking at is how chesed love was expressed not only in the life of Naomi and Ruth, but also Boaz.

[0:54] So we've been looking at how real love is expressed in their lives, but also we try to apply it to ourselves because Scripture is written for a reason, and it's to show us ourselves and to show what we are.

[1:08] And so we always want to take a story in Scripture. We want to try to apply it to ourselves. And so this morning we're going to be looking at this last chapter in the book of Ruth.

[1:19] And before we kind of do that, before we go forward, we need to kind of look back. We want to look back a little bit. And in 2 Peter, you know, Peter in writing his letter says, I always want to stir you up by way of reminder.

[1:36] And so Peter is telling the readers of his book, look, I want to make sure that you remember some things. And I want you to know these things because I'm getting ready to go away from here.

[1:47] And he says, I'm getting ready to die, and God has told me as much, but I want to stir you up by way of reminder. Now, what's important, and why is this important for us? Because we need to understand that there are things we've already heard that we sometimes would just say, okay, well, the series is over.

[2:04] What's coming next? We're done with Ruth, and we try to check our minds out. And it's easy to do that, to just check out because it's the last sermon, and you just say, well, we've heard this before.

[2:16] We've heard about chesed love. We've heard about Ruth. We've heard about Boaz. We've heard about all these things. And so we sometimes will check our minds out. Now, before we look back, we need to define what chesed love is.

[2:27] Chesed love is basically showing complete, undeserved kindness to somebody in need. Now, it is not an emotion. Chesed love is not an emotion. Now, we try to make love an emotion because that's how we are in our day.

[2:42] We try to make love is just simply how we feel about someone else. Chesed love is an action. Now, it's not void of emotion. It's an emotion that has a purpose.

[2:53] It's an emotion that takes action later on. So when you talk about chesed love, you're talking about a love that moves. It moves. When it sees someone in need, it moves very quickly.

[3:04] And so we're going to look at this this morning. But before we do that, we're going to look back and just want some things that I feel like were very important to me as I went through the series, sitting in just like you are this morning and even preparing for the sermons that I preach.

[3:18] First of all, first thing I would remind you of is leaving God's presence has consequences. You see this in the life of Elimelech, the father.

[3:29] He leaves the covenant community around Jerusalem and in Bethlehem. He leaves that area. He basically leaves God and goes to Moab.

[3:40] Now, you know, we look at that and we say, well, what's the big deal? You know, there's a famine going on. He decides to move his family. Why is that such a big deal? Well, because he's moving himself away from God.

[3:53] And that has a consequence in his life. Now, in his life, it meant his death and the death of his two sons. Years ago, I heard a pastor speak and say, and he said something I thought was very poignant to us about leaving God's presence.

[4:10] He said, you know, this old saying, I don't feel as close to God as I used to. You know, I just don't feel as close to him as I used to. And he looked at us.

[4:21] He said, the question is, who moved? Okay, so you understand that. The question is, you don't feel close to God anymore. Why? Because we move. You see, God can't move.

[4:32] He is everywhere present. He couldn't move if he wanted to. We're the ones who decide to move away. We're the ones who will sometimes back away from God and say, okay, God, you've had your chance.

[4:44] I'm a little bit discouraged with you right now. You haven't answered prayers like I want. And so, God, I'm moving away from you. And that has a vast impact in our lives. It really does.

[4:55] Now, God may not kill us. He may not take our lives just like he did Elimelech and his two sons. But, you know, there is something that is more deadly, I think, than death.

[5:06] And that is spiritual dryness. Where you all of a sudden just say, I don't sense it anymore. And that's what happens when we pull away from God. We just say, God, I am pulling away from you.

[5:19] I'm moving away from you. And so, beware of this. Beware of leaving God. And I'm not saying just leaving the church. There's a lot of ways we can leave God. It's not just not coming to church on Sunday.

[5:30] It's in study or maybe just in reading and prayer and all those things. Beware of this. Secondly, showing loyalty is not easy. Now, this whole book is about Ruth's loyalty to her mother-in-law.

[5:43] This is not easy for any of us. I am not a loyal person by nature, and none of you are either. It is contrary to what we are as people. Being loyal is not easy.

[5:53] It takes effort on our parts. And so, you know, sometimes you have to really hunker down and force yourself to be loyal. I mean, it's just crazy the way we are wired as individuals.

[6:05] And I think it's a part of our sin nature. We just don't seem to be able to grasp loyalty from time to time. And so, that is something that is a weakness in all of us.

[6:17] Now, in loyalty, Ruth showed great love toward her mother-in-law by the way that she served. Okay? So, she served her mother-in-law, Naomi. Now, so, chesed love is tied to service.

[6:30] All right? But you need to remember this. That empathy, seeing someone in need and not moving and not helping is basically dead. If you need a proof text, go to the book of James in the New Testament.

[6:43] James says, if you see a brother and sister in need and you say, go. Be warmed and be filled. He said, what good is that? If you see someone hurting and you see someone in need and you say, look, I don't have time for this.

[6:56] I don't want to be bothered with this. I'm too busy right now. James says, that's dead. It's dead love. And so, you know, serving is great.

[7:06] But you need to have, when you see someone and you have empathy for them, you need to act on your empathy. Chesed love is also submission. And I'm not sure.

[7:17] Did Brian Hart preach that sermon here on submission? I think he might have. Brian Hart had a sermon a few weeks ago on that chesed love is submission. And I will just be very honest with you about this.

[7:32] I called Brian while I was working on this sermon. And I asked him a question about a thought that I had. And I wanted to kind of put it in my notes. And so, I just called him on the phone. I said, look, I want you to consider something, please.

[7:43] And what do you think? And so, I gave him, you know, kind of the idea that I had in my mind. And he says, let me get back with you. And so, this went on for a couple of days.

[7:54] I didn't hear anything. Finally, I get an email from him. And he said, Andrew, considering those things that you wanted to say, here's how I would do it. And he kind of laid out his outline.

[8:05] And he said, and I would not bring up that subject. Now, my initial response was, what the? I mean, I was mad.

[8:16] I started to say another word I shouldn't say. I was very disappointed. I was so disappointed. And I just went, no, no, no, no, no. This is coming from, I feel like this has come from the spirit of God.

[8:29] And I'm older than you, son. And I have a good mind on me. And I feel like God has moved me in this way. And look, I mean, I was arguing with my wife. I was fussing at everybody.

[8:40] I mean, I was ill. And so, all of a sudden, I was sitting downstairs. And about two days later, I'm sitting there. And I just looked. I finally just said, Lord, out of my respect for him, because I have great confidence in his abilities as a man, and because I love him as a brother, I will submit to him, and I will not do that.

[9:02] And I told Brian, it freed me up. It freed me up immensely because I just said, I won't have my own way. Submission is hard. It is the hardest thing we'll ever do in our lives, to submit to someone else and to say, out of love for you, I will do as you say.

[9:19] And it's hard. And so, I would just remind you, I said love is submission. It means you submit to one another in love. It's not submission out of anger, even though I was angry at first.

[9:31] I finally submitted out of love for him because I trust him. And I know that I felt like he was giving me good counsel. And so, just remember that. And finally, real love waits for the right time.

[9:42] And if a couple weeks ago, or maybe, yes, a couple weeks ago, if you remember the passage, you know, Naomi sends Ruth to the threshing floor, which had a very high sexual content to it.

[9:55] The threshing floor is where the prostitutes of the area would come during the harvest because that's what they did. It was a part of their culture. And so, she sends her daughter-in-law and says, you go and you uncover the feet of Boaz, which was very suggestive in a sense.

[10:12] But yet, Boaz waited until he could get her and redeem her before he ever moved. Okay? So, you see all these things. Those are things that we can understand that waiting for real love means sometimes you have to wait diligently for God to bring someone to you.

[10:28] And in our culture, that is nigh impossible because our culture says try them out first. And if you don't like them, you can move on to somebody else. And that is how our culture preaches love.

[10:39] We need to wait and be willing to wait. Now, all these things are things that we can work on, right? I mean, we should be steadfast. We should be serving.

[10:50] We should be loyal. We should be empathetic. We should wait. All those things are things that we can do. And as followers of Jesus, we should be doing these things. It's what should people see in us are these qualities that are alive in us.

[11:06] The problem is, is that we're terrible at it. We are terrible at submission. We are terrible at being sympathetic. We are terrible at times of wanting to be steadfast in our walk with Christ.

[11:20] We are awful in this. And so that brings in our lives a lot of guilt. So I could hammer you for about an hour this morning on guilt, and you'd all leave saying, well, what good was that sermon?

[11:32] Because I can do that. But instead of doing that this morning, I want you to focus on a couple of things that only God can do. There are certain things that we can do as followers of Jesus, but this is something that only God can do.

[11:45] God's, you know, sometimes we think like Naomi that God has forgotten us. We think that he is, he's moving very slowly. He does not answer the things that we want out of him.

[11:56] And God's slowness to answer is not because he can't move. And it's not because he doesn't care. It's tied up in his sovereignty and his desire to respond when he will.

[12:09] And so you need to understand that God sovereignly moves when it's time. It's not our time that's at play. It's his time that's at play. Whoops. Hold on just a second.

[12:19] I lost my notes. Okay. There you go. So, let's work this out. Let's see how it works itself out this morning.

[12:31] How God's response in chapter 4 shows what only he can do. Now, to set the tone, Boaz has redeemed Naomi and Ruth.

[12:41] Remember the sandal being passed at the elders of the gate. And he went to the guy who could be the redeemer, the number one prospect for redeemer. And he says, if you want Ruth, take her.

[12:54] Or if you want the land, take it. I won't take it. And he said, oh, no. I've got some things I can't do. And so he hands him his sandal. And he redeems both Naomi and Ruth.

[13:04] So that's where we are this morning. So beginning in chapter 4, verse 13, we'll read through verse 22. So Boaz took Ruth and became his wife. And he went into her.

[13:16] And the Lord gave her a conception. And she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, Naomi, blessed be the Lord who has not left you this day without a redeemer. And may his name be renowned in Israel.

[13:28] He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age. For your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.

[13:40] Then Naomi took the child, laid him on her lap, and became his nurse. And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, a son has been born to Naomi.

[13:51] They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. Now these are the generations of Perez. Perez fathered Hezron.

[14:02] Hezron fathered Ram. Ram fathered Aminadab. Aminadab fathered Nashon. Nashon fathered Salmon. Salmon fathered Boaz.

[14:13] Boaz fathered Obed. Obed fathered Jesse. And Jesse fathered David. Okay. So the story of Ruth began with a crisis.

[14:25] A tragedy in the family. Okay. Elimelech is dead. His sons are dead. There is no one to carry on the family name.

[14:36] No one left in their family proper to carry on the name of Elimelech. Now this may sound a little bit, I don't know, insignificant to us in our day.

[14:49] You know, remember that Naomi had no one to take care of her. And so that's one of the reasons why this is such a crisis. In our day, we have wealth beyond any time probably in history.

[15:04] We have the ability to accumulate wealth. We have the ability to do much. And we also live with a sort of safety net, so to speak, even in this country.

[15:15] A lot of you understand what I'm talking about. There is a safety net set up as you get older when you retire. There are things that you get from the government. And so it's not as bad now as it was back then.

[15:28] In her situation, Naomi needed help. In our situations, maybe not so much because we have worked all of our life and we've built up wealth and we're getting taken care of, so to speak. Now, also, I think this idea of having a family name does not mean as much.

[15:44] It just doesn't have the same context as it did in their day. I am an only son. I have three sisters.

[15:56] I have four daughters. And so I am the last of the midgets in our family. My father has two first cousins and then my father and then myself.

[16:09] And so when God takes all three of them and he takes me, that's it for our side of the family. Now, that was hard for me growing up because I really desired a son.

[16:20] I did. I mean, I prayed about it. I argued with God about it. I mean, there was one time I looked at God and I just said, Look, God, what part of boy don't you understand? I said, Look, I'm dying here.

[16:32] I've been praying for two years for a son and you send me another girl? What part of boy don't you understand? I'm a whole lot better now. I'm just, I'm getting a whole lot better at this now.

[16:45] But see, I mean, in the context, I think that, you know, we don't struggle with it as much. I'm not struggling as much as I used to in this. My wife would always say, I got good news and I got bad news.

[16:57] I said, Honey, don't even say. Just go ahead and admit it. It's a girl. I mean, she would just say, I got good news and I got bad news. And this went on. So I just understand that what is not really that serious to us in our day was very serious to Naomi because she had no one to take care of her.

[17:14] And, you know, she felt like God had really abandoned her, so to speak. You know, that's why when she went into Bethlehem, she says, Don't call me Naomi. Call me Mara because God has been harsh with me.

[17:26] God has been, he's been hard with me. And so what is not hard to us was very hard to her. And even though she feels like God has abandoned her, you know, God has been in the background the whole time.

[17:40] And he has been waiting to move. God is getting ready to show her something about love. And the first thing is that real love leads to new life. Real love leads to new life.

[17:53] Ruth 4.13 says this, What we see in this verse is God's sovereign ability to give life, to grant children, to give children to men.

[18:13] It's God's sovereign ability to do that. God is the one who gives life. In fact, Scripture says he created all things. Scripture says he sustains all things. And so if he created it and sustains it, it stands to reason that he's the only one that can give life.

[18:30] Now, the text implies that Ruth was barren, that she did not have any children, which carried a social stigma that was very great in her day.

[18:41] And it really carries the same pain in our day as well. And some of you this morning may know people who want children and cannot have children. It is a pain that is hard to address.

[18:56] But what this verse tells us is that God clearly has the ability to give life. He's the one who gives it. It says that God opened her womb and gave her a son.

[19:09] And this relationship, this relationship between Boaz and Ruth was what God used to bring life about. You see, you'd have to remember that Ruth is a love story.

[19:19] It was a love story. It's about Boaz loving Ruth and God bringing Ruth in. And through all the death and all the things that were going on, God brought them together.

[19:30] And they were in love. And then it produces a child. In our day, we make romance just strictly about relationship. But the consummation of love is meant to lead to a new life.

[19:44] It's the consummation of that marriage between Boaz and Ruth that God uses to bring life. And God is going to, by the birth of this son, he's going to do something miraculous, really.

[19:56] He's, you know, that Naomi is barren also. She has no children. She has no sons. And so by the birth of this son, Naomi's barrenness is going to be taken care of and Ruth's barrenness is going to be taken care of.

[20:09] They're both being handled by the birth of this child. Now, this child's birth, it really affects Naomi more than it does Ruth. Because Ruth is the one that has the issues.

[20:23] Who's going to take care of me in my old age? Who's going to do this? I mean, that's where she is. Okay. And so this child really has more significance in her life than even in the life of Ruth.

[20:38] Because in a way, this son is not so much Boaz and Ruth's son as it is now Naomi's son. And she's the one who's going to nurse him. And she's going to be the one who's going to raise him.

[20:49] Now, he's not going to take care of her, so to speak. But it means a lot more to her. And this is what makes the gift of God so life-changing in the life of Naomi.

[21:01] Because new life means redemption and restoration for her. It means redemption and restoration for Naomi. Now, the idea of redemption runs all throughout the scriptures.

[21:15] Okay. The big picture of scripture is this. Creation, then the fall, then redemption, and then restoration. God created all things.

[21:27] Man fell into sin. God redeems man. And God restores man. Now, your restoration begins when you follow Christ.

[21:37] But its ultimate end is an eternity coming. In eternity, God will show His goodness to you. That restoration is ongoing. But it starts when you follow Him.

[21:49] And so that's what scripture is all about. It's about God's creation, man's sin, His redemption, and then His restoration. And that's why when I said this morning that there's only two things that God can do in this passage, the redemption and restoration are those things.

[22:07] Only God can do those things. That's why in Joel 2.25 it says this. I, now God is speaking to the children of Israel. He says this. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locusts have eaten.

[22:20] The hopper, the destroyer, the cutter, my great army which I sent among you. God says, I have the ability to restore the years that the locusts have eaten.

[22:31] You see, only God has the power to restore the lost harvest of our lives. But He can also restore the lost years.

[22:45] You know, those years that you think are wasted. Those years that you think, I wasted that time. I have some of those regrets in my own life even to this day about time that I wasted as a young man.

[22:58] And so, but God has the ability to restore those years. Now, it doesn't mean that God's going to make us all Benjamin Buttons where we get younger as we get older.

[23:13] I mean, He's not going to do that. Even though I have been accused of being Benjamin Button by my sister Lynn. She looks at me and she goes, you make me sick. And I said, what, Lynn?

[23:26] And then she goes, you're five years older than me. You have no gray hair. Your skin is perfect. What are you, a modern day Benjamin Button? And I just look at her and say, Lynn, don't hate, just celebrate.

[23:38] I mean, don't hate me, girl. I can't help it. I mean, just celebrate your brother. God's not going to do that. He is not going to do that. What it does point to is His ability to redeem.

[23:50] And I think that is very key for you this morning. Because in His redemption, it gives the women in Bethlehem the chance to celebrate.

[24:01] Look at what it says in Ruth 4, 14 and 15. It says, I want you to understand that these women are rejoicing.

[24:24] When Naomi came into the city after being in Moab, she was in mourning and the people mourned with her. And now the mourners of Bethlehem have now become the celebrants.

[24:40] And so God's redemption, God's work has made this situation that was almost untenable. It's made it something that the people really celebrated.

[24:50] The women said, look, this is great. Okay, so the women who've mourned with her are now celebrating with her. Now, restoration comes in two ways. Very quickly. Her physical needs from now on are covered.

[25:04] Because Boaz took her in, she would never want for anything because he's going to provide for her. Remember, Boaz was a very wealthy man. He had fields.

[25:15] He had vineyards. He had it all. He had wealth. And so by being redeemed by Boaz and brought in, her needs are never going to be any kind of issue again.

[25:26] She's going to be taken care of. But also, much more important than this, the name of her husband is going to continue. The name of Elimelech will not disappear from the rolls.

[25:40] What we need to understand about the Jews is they know their lineage. It was important to them. And so when someone's lineage ceased, they took notice of that.

[25:53] They can trace their lineage back. And that's something that we probably don't pay as much attention to. But they are very much aware of their lineage. And so now Elimelech's name will never disappear from the rolls.

[26:06] And just think about this. The name that was almost wiped out because of death, God has resurrected. You see, the name that was about to die, God says, no, I'm going to resurrect this name.

[26:22] And so this is God's love that cannot be stopped. This is God's ability to do things that cannot, you can't change it. And it's God's willingness to move in his sovereignty and love and do this.

[26:36] Now, as beautiful as this sounds, and it's a great story, it's not the end of the story. Because this new life will impact generations to come.

[26:48] This is what real love can accomplish because it not only impacts their generation, but it has a ripple effect for seven generations to come.

[26:59] Now, in our day and time, we don't think about generations to come very much. We just don't think about it. What we experience in our daily lives is what we tend to focus on.

[27:13] You know, the tyranny of the urgent kind of takes precedent. You know what I'm saying? And so we don't really look as generations down the road. We're more concerned about today, what is happening today, what's happening in our families, what's happening in our work, how are our kids doing.

[27:29] All those things kind of take precedent. But God thinks in terms of generations. God takes a view that is so much longer than ours.

[27:40] He is looking way down the road. Deuteronomy 7.9 says this, Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keeps His commandments to a thousand generations.

[27:59] So God says, To those who keep my covenants and obey my commandments, my love for them is going to go for thousands of generations. So God's view is way down the road.

[28:09] We're kind of parked here. Now, what God has done in the life of Boaz and Ruth points to one person, and it points to David.

[28:27] That's why in Ruth 4.17 it says this, And the women of the neighborhood gave Him a name. Now think about this. A son is born to Boaz and Ruth. The women in the neighborhood gave Him His name.

[28:39] That is kind of wild. Think about that. The women named Him. A son has been born to Naomi. They named Him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

[28:51] Now many people believe that Ruth was written during the time of David's reign as king. And the reason they believe this is because it was used to prove David's lineage.

[29:02] Again, remember what I said. The Jews understood their lineage. And so, you know, a lot of people think this book was written then because they needed to prove David's lineage.

[29:13] Now, why was that? Because while David was waiting for the kingdom to be given to him, he went into Moab and he asked the king of Moab to protect his family.

[29:23] And so he goes into Moab. He says, look, please take care of my family until I see what God does. You see, God had waited for a while.

[29:34] David was anointed king when he was about 14 or 15 years old. David did not become king until he was 30. For 15 years, David was chased by Saul.

[29:45] And Saul tried to kill him over and over and over. And David was unsure of God's intentions toward him. And he just says, look, please take care of my family until I see what happens.

[30:00] So there is a crisis of faith in his life. He says, I don't know what God's going to do. But ultimately, God in His providence makes David king. Saul is killed in battle. His son is killed in battle.

[30:11] Saul's family is removed. David becomes king. So ultimately, he is king. And David becomes the treadmill. He becomes the one that all the kings of Israel were compared to.

[30:24] Solomon was great, but he was not as great as his father David. All the kings that came after David, some of them were great examples of being kings, but they never exceeded what David was.

[30:36] In fact, the judgment of the other kings went like this. Did they follow in the footsteps of their father David? Did they follow God like David did?

[30:48] And so you see, this is the importance. Boaz and Ruth have a son. This son is Obed. Obed fathers Jesse. Jesse fathers David. The king has been born.

[31:01] You see that? And so this is God moving. He is moving in space and time. And he's looking seven generations down the road. And he says, I'm going to bring a king into Israel. And he's going to be my king.

[31:13] He's a man after my own heart. That's David. Now, this blessing is indeed great. Because it blessed. You know, Israel had a great king. He was a great warrior king.

[31:26] Scripture says that David defeated all the enemies of Israel. Israel. He won every battle. He was a warrior king. And God used him to set up the kingdom of Israel in a powerful way.

[31:39] But this king is still pointing even further down the road to a promised son who would be even greater than himself. Because new life, this new life brings redemption for the world.

[31:56] And as we close this morning, I just want to finish with this. You know, it's kind of interesting that a lot of people have often wondered who the Christ figure in Ruth is.

[32:07] Some people have pointed to Boaz and said, Boaz is the Christ figure because he was the one who redeemed. And the whole book was about redemption.

[32:18] And Naomi needs to be redeemed. Ruth needs to be redeemed. Who's going to do it? And so Boaz does it. And that was where I fell. If you'd asked me six months ago who I thought the Christ figure in Ruth was, I'd have looked right at you.

[32:32] Boaz. But other people believe that it is Ruth. And I think they're probably closer to the truth. And I've changed my mind on this. And here's, very quickly, here's the reasons.

[32:43] First of all, Ruth personified has said love. Everything she did was showing her said love. Ruth lived with total, complete, full loyalty to her mother-in-law.

[32:58] She was loyal to her mother-in-law. Where you go, I will go. Where you lodge, I will lodge. Where you, where you, the God you serve, I will serve.

[33:09] Where you die, I will die. That is loyalty. That is laying it out before her and saying, you, I'm with you. I am with you. She did this very well.

[33:20] She served her mother-in-law. She went out to the fields and gleaned food, which was not easy work. She served her greatly. And she also submitted to her. Whenever her mother-in-law said do this, she said I will do what you say.

[33:33] That's hard. I mean, that is hard. You know, she did all these things very well. In fact, Ruth is a great picture of what it means to show completely undeserved kindness to someone in need.

[33:47] She pictures that greatly. However, even with her success, she's still just pointing to Jesus. You see, Jesus went lovingly to the cross.

[34:00] In love, He went to the cross. Jesus bore the penalty for our sin. He bore it completely. He took it on Himself. His loyalty to you knows no bounds.

[34:15] Jesus said, I will never leave you or what? Forsake you. That's loyalty. I will never leave you and I will never forsake you.

[34:27] He was a suffering servant. Isaiah 52 talks about the passion and how marred He was. He suffered for us. He was a servant. While His disciples were saying, I am the greatest.

[34:40] No, I'm the greatest. No, I'm the greatest. No, I'm the greatest. Jesus says, gentlemen, who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or one who serves?

[34:51] And they looked at Him and they said, the one who reclines at the table. He said, that's right, but I came to you as one who serves. You see, Jesus points to His services.

[35:02] I didn't come here to recline at the table so you would serve me. I came to serve you. And so Jesus served completely. And He did all of this because He was obedient to the Father.

[35:13] He submitted to the Father's will. And that's why in John chapter 10, He says this. And listen to this verse, a great verse. My sheep hear My voice and I know them.

[35:25] So you are this morning, if you're a follower of Jesus, you are known. They follow Me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish.

[35:35] That's security. And no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me. Now think about this. As a follower of Jesus this morning, you are a gift from the Father to the Son.

[35:50] You are the Father's gift to His Son. He says, the Father who has given you to Me is greater than all. And no one is able to snatch them out of His hand.

[36:03] I and the Father are one. And so Jesus can say, look, My sheep hear My voice. I will give them life. I will do these things. They have security in Me because no one can snatch them out of My hand.

[36:15] My Father has a hand that is mighty. No one can snatch them out of His hand. So Jesus is the greater Ruth. He's the greater Boaz. So what do we do with this?

[36:27] Well, if you're here this morning and you're not yet a follower of Jesus, I would simply say that you need redemption. And only Jesus can provide the redemption that you need. Because Jesus is the true kinsman Redeemer.

[36:42] He is the true kinsman Redeemer. In Him, in Jesus, you are free from sin and shame. In Jesus, you are promised redemption.

[36:53] In Jesus, you are promised restoration. And so if you're not yet a follower of Jesus, you need to come to Him. I beg you on behalf of who He is, come to Jesus. He says, come to Me.

[37:04] If you come to Me, I will not cast you out. And so come to Him in faith this morning. And just remember this. It's not about you being good. It's not about you being better. It's about Jesus' righteousness applied to you.

[37:17] And so you can rest from struggling and just say, Jesus, I trust in you. So you come to Him. If you are a follower of Jesus this morning and you're here, remember that loyalty, service, empathy, steadfastness, submission, it's all unnatural to us.

[37:39] They are contrary to our nature. We are not wired this way. The only way for us to do true chesed love well is by the power of the Spirit.

[37:49] A couple weeks ago, three weeks ago or so, Brian Hart preached a sermon and he was talking about the Spirit of God and how necessary it was for the Spirit of God to be enlivening us to serve.

[38:04] You know, it's the Spirit working within us. And he asked us after the service, do you want more of the Spirit? And so this morning I would simply ask you, do you want more of the Spirit?

[38:15] Because if you don't do these things in the power of the Spirit, you're going to struggle between failure on one hand and a lack of consistency on the other.

[38:25] And you'll wobble between the two. And it is numbing to the soul because you look at yourself and you have guilt and you say, I can't do this well. It's the Spirit of God who does these things in us.

[38:36] And I would simply ask you, do you want more of the Spirit this morning? Do you desire more of Him? 2 Corinthians 3.18 says it this way, and this is the New Living Translation, but I think it just speaks so well to how this ends.

[38:51] So all of us, all of us who are followers of Jesus, who have had the veil removed from our eyes, so our eyes have been opened so that we can see who Jesus is and we can reflect the glory of the Lord.

[39:03] And the Lord who is Spirit makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image. May God continue to work in us, in me, in you, in those of us who follow Him to make us more into His glorious image.

[39:23] And may we love well. I think that one of the main strengths of One Harbor Church has been the love of the people. You know, my wife and I came to One Harbor almost eight years, maybe nine now.

[39:38] Time's going by. And when I came into One Harbor, I was a broken mess. I mean, I was broken emotionally, spiritually. I was just a broken man. And there was a certain young man who's sitting right there who just loved me well.

[39:56] He loved me well. And God used him to heal the brokenness of my soul. And all He ever has to do to me is say, I need you and I'm coming.

[40:08] Why? Because He showed me such a sad love. I know this for a fact because I've seen it. The one thing that will kill a church faster than anything else is to become inward looking and to stop loving each other.

[40:23] May God help you to love each other. And as you move on from Ruth, keep thinking about it. Think about it. Remember, remind yourself of these things, all right? Let me pray for us. Lord God, You are great.

[40:35] We love You, Lord God, because You loved us and You gave Yourself for us. We love You, Jesus, because You gave Your life for us. You have redeemed us by the blood of the cross.

[40:46] You bore the penalty of our sin, Lord God. You've done all these things well. You served us. You were obedient to the Father. Father, we love You. We love Your Son.

[40:56] We desire more of Your Spirit. Come to us, Lord God, in a mighty way this morning. Thank You, Father, for Your Word. Thank You for the truth of Your Word. Bless us, O Lord. Amen and amen.

[41:07] Amen. If you will get your cups out, it's time for communion. You know, thinking about the passion of Christ, you know, Scripture says in Isaiah 52 that He was marred more than the sons of men.

[41:28] In fact, it says that you could not tell that He was a man. We do not understand what that means. We do not understand the depth of the torture that Christ went through for us.

[41:39] On the night when He was betrayed, He took a piece of bread and He broke it and He gave it to His disciples. He says, look, this is my body which is broken for you. They did not understand it then. I guarantee you in a couple of days they did understand what it meant.

[41:52] The brokenness of His body. But He says to us, this is my body broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. So let's remember the blood and the body of Christ. Let's take it.

[42:09] He also took the cup that night and He looks at His disciples and He says something very interesting. He says, look, take this cup, pass it around and understand that I'm not ever going to drink this with you again until I drink it to anew with you in my Father's kingdom.

[42:23] So this was the last time that He had wine with His disciples. But He looks at me and He says, look, you take and drink. This is my blood which is poured out for you. The blood of Christ has been poured out for us.

[42:36] And so let's remember it. Let's worship Him well and thank Him for His blood, okay? And then it says, after they had done this, they sang a song.

[42:49] And you don't want me singing a solo. So everybody please stand and we will conclude with a song. Thank you.