Turn with me, if you would, please, to the third chapter of Ruth. I'm gonna read the entire chapter, verses one through 18. Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, my daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young woman you were? See, he's winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Wash therefore and anoint yourself. You put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he's finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do. And she replied, all that you say I will do. So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of a heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. At midnight, the man was startled and turned over and behold, a woman lay at his feet. He said, who are you? And she answered, I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant for you are a redeemer. And he said, may you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You've made this last kindness greater than the first, and that you've not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. And now my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you're a worthy woman. And now it's true that I am a redeemer, yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. Remain tonight and in the morning, if he will redeem you good, let him do it. But if he's not willing to redeem you, then as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning. So she laid his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize her. And he said, let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor. And he said, bring the garment that you're wearing and hold it out. So she held it out, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city. And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, how did you fare, my daughter? Then she told her all that the man had done for her, saying, these six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, you must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law. She replied, wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today. Let me pray for us. We praise you and thank you that you've condescended to become an author, that you've given us your very words. We know that all scripture is God-breathed, it's all profitable. And I pray that we would profit as we turn our attention to this chapter of your holy word. And again, I would pray that you'd feed us from your word for your glory and our spiritual good, if we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Be seated, please. This could have something to do with the fact that we are now in the month of June. But many times I have found myself reflecting upon Genesis chapter 19. That's where two angels take on the appearance of two young men. And the ungodly men of Sodom were attracted to the two young men, and they really, really wanted to know the two young men. They almost broke the door down of Lot's house. They were so determined to satisfy their sinful lust. And they couldn't stand it when Lot said, don't do this wicked thing. They responded by saying, he's judging us. You see, there really is nothing new under the sun, as you read Ecclesiastes. Sinful, ungodly men and women. still longing to satisfy sinful lusts, and sometimes they will stop at nothing in their attempts to seduce young men and young women. Let's not forget the mighty judgment of God you read about in Genesis 19. God rains down the fire and the brimstone from heaven. God wipes the godless city of Sodom right off of the map. And we don't have to guess why God did this. We don't have to guess because God clearly tells us in the New Testament letter of Jude. Jude speaks the judgment of God that is coming with a triumphant return to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jude says Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. And they serve as an example of those who will suffer the punishments of eternal fire. God poured out his judgments upon the godless city of Sodom, but he also provided a way of escape for Lot and his family members, who for some reason were living in the city of Sodom. I do have a guess as to why I think Lot chose to live in the city of Sodom. My best guess is that he chose to live in the city of Sodom because of potential economic prosperity. Or to say it another way, to say it more simply, Lot the believer was plagued by a sinful love of money and prosperity. Good thing for him, the angels of God took him and his wife and their daughters by the hand, led them out of the doomed city of Sodom. The angels said, flee for your lives, don't look back, run for the hills. And you know that Lot's wife did look back. She looked back and she became a pillar of salt. Here's a convicting thought to ponder this morning. If the failure to leave the world behind always resulted in becoming a pillar of salt, how many pillars of salt would you find in the sanctuary this morning? Enough to put Mort and Salt out of business would be one right answer. Lot and his daughters did not run for the hills. Lot begged the angels to stay in the little town of Zoar. And I would imagine or guess that Zoar was something of a miniature version of Sodom. And I say that because the text goes on to say he was afraid to stay in Zoar. Lot and his daughters then settle in the mountains and live in a cave, and what's recorded next is a remarkable demonstration of the inspiration of scripture. Because if Moses was just making up stories, there's no way in the world he'd ever make up a story so bad. Lot's daughters get him to drink way too much wine, he gets out of his mind drunk, Both daughters become pregnant by their father, which is absolutely disgusting. They both had baby boys. One was named Moab, which means from father, and the other Ben-Ami, which means son of my people. Why mention this? Well, we're studying the great little book of Ruth, and time and time again, we've seen that Ruth is referred to as the Moabite, or the Moabites, And I mention the origins of Moab for a reason. It's because of my belief of what Naomi was really trying to do in this chapter. She's essentially trying to recreate the scene from Lot's cave. And she did so with a very specific purpose in mind. She wanted to show Boaz the real character of Ruth. She wanted to show Boaz that she might be from Moab. But in character, Ruth is an upright, believing Israelite. Naomi wants Boaz to see that Ruth is looking for a godly husband. She's looking for a kinsman redeemer to redeem her. By the way, redeemer and redeem are the new key words to look for in the third chapter. In the first chapter, the key word was return or turn back. Second chapter, the key word was favor, which could also be translated as grace. Now the key word are redeemer or redeem. The book of Ruth, in a nutshell, is about a godly redeemer, a man with godly character who eventually redeems his bride. So this book of Ruth is something of a preview. It's a preview of the person and the work of Jesus Christ, who is the great Redeemer, who purchased lost sinners for God with the price of his own shed blood. In fact, you'd do well if you left here this morning thinking something like, oh, perfect redemption, the purchase of blood. To every believer, the promise of God, the vilest offender who truly believes that moment from Jesus, forgiveness receives. And when you get home this afternoon, you can walk around the house singing the church is one foundation. There's Jesus Christ her Lord. She is his new creation by water and the word from heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride. With his own blood he bought her and for her life he died. Let me give you our main point this morning before I just go on quoting him after him. Main point this morning is this. We must marvel at this Old Testament preview of Jesus' redemption of his elect people. We must marvel at this Old Testament preview of Jesus' redemption of his elect people. This chapter begins with Naomi speaking to Ruth, and Naomi says, my daughter, should I not seek rest for you? She's not looking to get Ruth a few days off from work. She's not looking to get Ruth a little bit of vacation time now that they have the equivalent of about 30 pounds of barley. The rest here must be interpreted in light of the rest that was spoken of in the first chapter. Here's Ruth one, and this was verse nine. Naomi says to her daughter-in-laws, the Lord grant that you may find rest each of you in the house of a husband. Naomi is looking for a husband for Ruth, and we don't have to guess as to who Naomi has in mind. In fact, we saw in the previous chapter, the wheels of Naomi's mind were turning, so to speak. And now she just simply says in verse two, is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? I was talking to a man of Cuban descent, and he told me he was greatly concerned with what he saw in our nation. And he was greatly concerned because he said he saw the same things unfold in communist Cuba. And he said to me, it all begins with the dismantling of the family. I wouldn't exactly agree with his starting point. I would say it all begins really with an attack on the truth of God's word. But there can be no doubt. The God-ordained family set forth in his word is under serious attack in our society. God always has the utmost concern for the family. After all, the family is his idea. He's a covenant keeping God who delights in dealing with families. He shows his concern for family in a whole host of ways and he showed, past tense, he showed his concern for families in Israel in Old Testament times in a very specific way. Referred to as the Leverite marriage law. This is set forth in Deuteronomy 25. Don't bother to turn there, I can give you the gist of the law. The law stated if a husband died without having a son, his widow must not marry outside of the family. His widow was to marry the deceased husband's brother. And the first son that was born to them was to carry on the name of the deceased husband. Now, what if the deceased husband's brother was unwilling to fulfill his God-ordained duties? Well, that was regarded as a despicable act on his part. In fact, the widow was to spit in his face. She was to take one of his sandals, which marked him out as one who was not walking in God's ways. And we actually find something of a preview of this law prior to the giving of the law. You find it in the book of Genesis. You find it in that rather strange story of Judah and Tamar. You recall that Tamar was originally married to Judah's son Ur, and Ur was erring, so to speak. He was wicked in the sight of the Lord. The Lord puts him to death. What did Judah do? He said to his son Onan, go and take Tamar as your wife and raise up children for your brother. How do I say this delicately? Odan was not interested in having any children. That was wicked in the sight of the Lord and the Lord put him to death as well. I should also mention the applicability of Leviticus 25 to Ruth's situation. Let's reread of close relatives stepping up in times of need and stepping up to redeem property that otherwise would be sold off. So again, I would say that God has the utmost concern in providing for families in need and especially those family members who could very easily be misused or abused. And again, let me state my belief of what I think Naomi was trying to do. She was looking to recreate the scene from Lot's cave. She wants to show Boaz the real character of Ruth. She wants to make it abundantly clear to Boaz that though Ruth is from Moab, her character is not that of a Moabite. Her character is that of an upright, believing Israelite. Naomi knows that Boaz will be feasting, celebrating, praising the Lord for the harvest, and she also knew that any man who feasts is likely to sleep like a baby afterwards. Verses three through four. Wash therefore and anoint yourself and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor. But do not make yourself known to the man until he's finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down and he will tell you what to do. And I'll add verse five. She replied, all that you say I will do. This is a good place to pause and remember a great biblical principle. Not all that is described in scripture is prescribed in scripture. This is not a prescription for what one should tell a believing single woman or what one should tell a believing widow. We should not tell believing young girls or young women just to sneak into some man's bedroom, sneak into his office, sneak into his resting place, and then just lie at his feet. That's not exactly avoiding the appearance of evil. That's not guarding the heart to use great practical wisdom from the fourth chapter of Proverbs. That's like playing with matches right next to gasoline or gunpowder. You don't do it. In fact, the commentators hardly even know what to do with Naomi's counsel. But most, if not all, are agreed she had to have had the utmost confidence in Boaz's integrity. And she also had to have the utmost confidence in Ruth's godliness. She had to be confident this rash course of action was not gonna end with a fall into sexual immorality. Wow, sexual immorality. Few temptations to sin are as strong as the temptation towards sexual immorality. And as you know, sexual immorality is not just prevalent in our society, it's promoted by our society, it's celebrated. What the Bible just calls sin, Hollywood likes to call a love story. Do you remember what's his name? Nathaniel would be his name. What Nathaniel said in the first chapter of John's Gospel, he said, can anything good come out of Nazareth? Many times I have wondered or just said out loud, can anything good come out of Hollywood? Because typically what comes out of Hollywood is anti-Bible, anti-truth of God's word. Perhaps I need to mention that sexual morality is a very general term and I need to bring out the specifics. Premarital sexual activity or fornication is sinful. Adultery, which would be sexual activity outside of one's marriage, sinful. Homosexuality, bestiality, sinful. Even a lustful look, according to Jesus, is a violation of the seventh commandment, which prohibits adultery. Now here is something that is needed in church after church. Maybe it's needed in this church this morning. What is needed in church after church is to repent or to turn from sexual sin in whatever form that sexual sin manifests itself. It's very interesting to me. Sexual immorality in scripture is frequently contrasted with holiness. I could give you all kinds of proof texts. Here's one from what was read this morning, 1 Thessalonians chapter four. It is God's will that you should be sanctified, that you should avoid sexual immorality. It's also interesting. When you have a list of the sins of the flesh, first sin that is oftentimes listed is the sin of sexual immorality. I can see you need proof texts. And again, I've got them. Don't worry about proof texts. First Corinthians chapter six. There's one on words, do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. We praise God for the next verse, right? And such were, past tense, such were some of you. You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God. I gotta mention something else. Paul wrote about that warfare between the spirit and the flesh. I'm thinking of the fifth chapter of Galatians. He says the works of the flesh are evident First sin that he mentions, sexual immorality. You can look it up, it's Galatians 5.19. And you can see all around us. Sexual immorality abounds in our society. In fact, let me just say, I cringe when I see what's in our society, and I compare it with what I find in the first chapter of Romans. Because I find, and you find, in the first chapter of Romans, unbelieving, unrepentant sinners give themselves over to idolatry, so God gives them over to sexual impurity. Sexual impurity is followed by shameful lust, and yes, homosexuality is mentioned as a shameful lust. Do you remember how the first chapter of Romans closes? Closes with those words, although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things are deserving of death, they not only continue to do these very things, they also approve of those who practice them. That's where we're living today in our society. We're basically living in Romans chapter one. Let me offer up a word of counsel, free of charge from the pulpit to unmarried Christians, Your unbelieving coworkers or classmates are really likely to be engaged in some sort of sexual immorality prior to marriage. Again, few sins are as common as the sin of sexual immorality. Few sins so glorified by our society, like sexual immorality. What is your calling? Your calling is to flee. Flee from sexual immorality. Your calling is to remember you're not your own. You're bought with a price, redeemed with the precious blood of the Savior. You are a temple of the Holy Spirit. And I'm gonna add, you will never ever regret saving yourself for your future spouse. Always remember, the path of obedience, walking on that path brings glory and honor to God, but the path of obedience is also the path of your greatest joy. I gotta get back to Ruth. I pointed out that Naomi had to have the utmost confidence in Boaz and Ruth. I should also point out, Ruth had to have the utmost confidence in Boaz. She is totally confident she's not gonna be misused or abused by this man. In fact, she says to Naomi, all you say I will do. But you know, as the story unfolds, she actually goes over and above what Naomi suggested. Let me just point something else out. Text says that Boaz ate and drank until his heart was merry. That doesn't mean he fell into drunkenness. I do not believe he fell into the same sort of sin that Lot fell into, even though Naomi's looking to recreate the scene from Lot's cave. I think he had a really big meal accompanied by a little bit of wine that gladdens the heart. And because of that big meal, he slept like a log until about midnight. Then something startled him. I hope it was a dream. And if it wasn't a dream, I hope it was the recognition he could use a trip to the bathroom. Let me put it this way, I hope it was not a rat on the threshing floor. Cockroach on the arm. Have you ever had a cockroach on the arm? Spider in the ear? But he was startled and he realized that something, no, actually someone was lying at his feet. He says, who are you? This is where Ruth goes over and above what Naomi said. This is verse nine. I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant for you are a redeemer. That's reminiscent of what Boaz said to Ruth in chapter two. He spoke of how she had taken refuge under the wings of the Lord, the Almighty. And she had, she'd taken refuge under the wings of the Lord, the Almighty. Now she's essentially asking to take refuge under Boaz's wings as well. She's essentially asking him to exercise his right as a redeemer in marrying her. And again, I would point out, we're looking at something described by the Bible, but not prescribed by the Bible. This is not a prescription for how courting or how marriage proposals should look. In fact, in many scenarios similar to this, things would end very badly. I'm gonna drop in a little more counsel. Never ever believe that you're above falling into certain sins you can't imagine yourself committing. Never believe that you're above falling into adultery. or sexual immorality or pornography. In fact, remind yourself of what you read of David. David is described by God as a man after God's own heart. What do you remember about David? Falls into adultery with Bathsheba? Charged with murder in the attempted cover-up? Remind yourself of David. You should also remind yourself of what you read of Joseph the patriarch. I marvel at his integrity. I mean, he basically was a congregation of one in Egypt. I don't know that he had anybody to encourage him in his faith, in his walk with God. And yet he held on to his integrity in a hostile environment. He did what he could to avoid the advances of Potiphar's wife, and yet he was still falsely accused and wrongfully imprisoned. But Boaz had a Joseph-like integrity. He was committed to waiting until marriage before he had any relations with Ruth. In fact, he refers also to Ruth as his daughter. Isn't that interesting? I take that to mean that she was quite a bit younger than he was. And no doubt he was thrilled at the idea of marrying Ruth. And yet this godly man with a godly integrity was respectful of the rights of others. He says, I am a redeemer. And yet there's a redeemer nearer than I. At this point, he probably started praying. Praying something like, Lord, you're sovereign over all. You orchestrated my meeting, Ruth. You're the one who brought her into my field. You're the one who moved in her heart to ask me if I'd redeem her and marry her. I'd really like to redeem her and marry her, but not my will, your will be done. Notice also his concern for her reputation. By this point, she had the reputation of being a godly woman and probably wouldn't look the best if everybody knew that she spent the night in the threshing floor. That's how rumors get started, that's how gossip takes off and spreads like wildfire. There's one of those respectable sins that's found throughout our church age. We would do well to remember that the Bible repeatedly speaks against the sin of gossip, and we should pray for grace to be on guard against that sin in our own lives. And we would do well to be really generous, like Boaz was. He already gave her an ephah of barley, which we saw was about the equivalent of 30 pounds. Now he's generous once again, he gives her more barley, sends her on her way back to Naomi, and Naomi says, how did it fare, my daughter? Translation, did the plan work? Is he ready to marry you? You see in the next chapter, the plan worked. The other redeemer takes a pass on buying the field that belonged to Naomi, because acquiring the field would also mean acquiring Ruth as a wife. Boaz redeems the field, takes Ruth as a wife, and so the plan worked, but not because it was an ingenious plan. Not because it was a great blueprint on how marriage proposals ought to look. The plan worked because our sovereign God is sovereign over all things, including every single detail of Ruth's life. He was sovereign over the really trying times. He was sovereign over the really good times. God was sovereign over the death of her first husband. God was sovereign over her meeting her second husband, a godly man named Boaz. God was sovereign in preparing the way for one of her descendants, a guy by the name of King David. And let's go a step further. Throughout the Old Testament, God himself was preparing the way for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I want to remind you that Ruth appears in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, first chapter of Matthew. And I see in that genealogy a marvelous testimony to the sovereignty of God. Let me explain what I'm talking about. I mentioned in a previous sermon what the law said in Deuteronomy 23. No Moabite or Ammonite may enter the assembly of the Lord even to the 10th generation. If you look closely at Matthew's genealogy in Matthew chapter one, and if you start your counting with Abraham as the first generation, Isaac as the second, you will find that Boaz is the 11th generation, which means Ruth can enter the assembly of the Lord. I think we should marvel again at the sovereignty of God and his infinite wisdom, and let's marvel knowing all of this is a preview, Ruth is a preview. It's a preview of the redemption that was accomplished by the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He purchased his bride with his own shed blood, and I'll remind you all, the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin, even the foulest of sins. The forgiveness of sins is received simply by receiving Jesus in faith as your Lord and Savior. Have you ever done that? If you have never received Jesus in faith as your Lord and Savior, I'm praying today's the day. I have to pray for you because I can preach Christ to you, but I could never preach you to Christ. In fact, the only one who could bring you to saving faith in Jesus Christ is God himself. May the Lord give us all great faith in Jesus, great praise to Jesus for being our Redeemer. May we all have a Boaz-like integrity, a Ruth-like integrity. And may the Lord work in all of our families powerfully for His glory, and that His name would be hallowed as it ought to be hallowed. Let's close in prayer. Let me give you our praise and our thanks for the many previews we have in Old Testament scriptures of the person and work of our great Savior. We thank you for the rich spirits of food we find in page after page of your holy word. And again, I pray that as we get into your word, your word would get into us. I pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.