the Redeemer Church. My name is Zachariah King. If you're familiar with the King family, Greg, he's my cousin. So that is a relationship there. I've been around Christ the Redeemer Church off and on for a couple of years. But it's always nice, really, to be back in Palm Bluff. I have family in Palm Bluff. One of the things that you guys have been doing here is studying through the book of Ruth. And one of the things that I've been doing in Conway is studying through the book of Ruth. So if you would turn with me to the book of Ruth chapter four. In Ruth chapter four, one of the things that we see is repetition. And I know you guys, you are Bible readers, so one of the things that can help us study the Bible well and understand it when we read it is when we see repetition in a text, that's kind of a cue note. It's like if you were having a conversation with a person and they kept repeating this one word over and over and over again, the point is they probably want you to pick up on this one word. And for us, it's beautiful because God speaks to us through his word. And when he speaks to us, he wants us to understand what he says. It shouldn't be a puzzle when we read the scriptures. It shouldn't be so confusing when we read the scriptures, because God is not a God of confusion. God is a God of clarity and understanding. And when we don't understand, God always gives understanding. So one of the cues when we read scripture is when a word or phrase is repeated over and over, God is trying to get our attention and say, hey, this is important. And that's exactly what we see in Ruth chapter four. There's a word that's repeated. We can see it in verse one. We can see it again in verse four and other verses. It's maybe said about 10 different times in this one chapter. And that word is redeemed, redemption or redeemer, kind of a variation of the word of being redeemed. But the focus of this chapter is redemption. And so that is what we're going to focus on today. If I could sum up this entire, I guess, passage, it would be something of this. The way of redemption has been accomplished, and it's God's doing. Just that simple. The way of redemption has been accomplished, and it's God's doing. The way I want to approach this text is not necessarily in a manner of, hey, this is how the steps of how to be redeemed necessarily. But what we see in the text are components of redemption that help us to understand the full idea of this is what it is to be redeemed. And that is the topic, or at least that's the question that we're going to continue to ask ourselves. What is it to be redeemed? This is Christ the Redeemer Church, and Christians ought to be a people who are redeemed, but particularly, what does that mean? What is that getting at? So we're gonna read verses one and two, but then we're gonna back up a little bit for the first point. Verse one in chapter four, Ruth chapter four, verse one, it says, Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the Redeemer whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, turn aside friends, sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down. Verse two, and he took 10 men of the elders of the city and said, sit down here. So they sat down. Now this, is the text. But where I'm going to start in this sermon here is actually a pretext. Everything that you guys have been studying here, and I've been studying afar, gets us to this point. But the first point, if we are to understand redemption, we need to understand that redemption is something done on our behalf. In the text, we can say redemption is something done on Naomi's behalf. It's not necessarily something that we do. And so we can go to the beginning verse of the entire book. But first, let's ask this question. Why? Why is redemption done? Why does redemption need to be done on behalf of Naomi? Why does redemption need to be done on our behalf? Well, the first verse of the chapter, of the entire book, chapter one, verse one, it says, now in the days of the judges, when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. We see Naomi needed redemption because she was in a compromised state where she was in life physically. It was in a shaky kind of ground. It wasn't stable. She was actually in an area that didn't have food. She couldn't eat. That's the whole reason why the family left Bethlehem to go to Moab, because Moab has food. Yes. after years they end up going back to Bethlehem from Moab for the same particular reason but there's not just food where she's in a couple uh a compromised state but She's financially broke. She's not able to provide for herself because her providers, her husband, he's gone. He died. And then those who will provide for her continually, her sons, Tragically, they end up dying as well. And so the state that Naomi is in is not in a state to make things happen, to put down money on the table, but she's trying to get food on the table at least. She's in a compromised state. She needs someone to help her. If she's to be redeemed, if Naomi is to be redeemed, someone has to do this on her behalf. She can't do it financially and she can't do it physically because we know she's getting older and older. And so if she were to have more children, the child wouldn't even, she wouldn't live for the child to provide for her. She wouldn't live long enough. And more so, we see that she can't do it. similar to us, just like us, if we are to be redeemed, and if you are to be redeemed, if I am going to be redeemed, it has to be done on our behalf. Because we are, maybe not physically, maybe not financially, but brothers and sisters, we are spiritually compromised. We are spiritually destitute. We can't feed ourselves spiritually. One of the things that the Bible teaches us is that if we are to come to God, we can't. But God must come to us. The beautiful thing of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, is that God himself, the creator of the universe, comes into creation and he comes to us. Jesus Christ always comes to us, brothers and sisters. It's never that we do it. But it's Christ who comes into our sin, into our compromised state, spiritually destitute. And he comes to us. There's a verse in Psalm 103, Psalm 103, verses two and four, two through four, it says, bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all of his benefits, who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy. What is your life? before redemption. Verse two of Psalm 103, it says, he redeems your life from the pit. Your life, my life before redemption is in a pit. It is dark. It is a helpless position to be in. We can't climb ourselves out of this pit. We are trapped. And to use biblical language, we are dead in our sins. We can't overcome. It's not as if we were just trying our hardest, but we're sinking. We've sunk at the bottom of the river. To be in a pit is to really be uncertain of what will happen. In fact, we're just doomed. Because we can't climb out of this pit. It's dark. We don't know what's touching us. There's sweat. We're starting to fear. There's all types of anxiety that we have in this pit. Yet, if we are to be redeemed, it will have to be on our behalf. Someone else must redeem us. The point that I'm trying to get across is the opposite of what the world tells you. The world says, hey, you got this. You can do it. Just get after it. What the world says is just believe in yourself. You just need to hang on a little bit longer. That's what the world says. And the world is in complete opposition to what God, the creator of the universe, the redeemer, what he says. The world says, you can do it. You guys, we're not Nike. The church is not a Nike factory. We cannot do it. If you hear anything from this first point, why? Redemption needs to be done on Naomi's behalf. Why? Redemption needs to be done on your behalf, on my behalf. It has to be done by someone else. We have to say, I can't do it. My life is a pit. I need someone else to save me. Brothers and sisters, we cannot do it, but if we are redeemed, we know that we can be redeemed, that is a possibility, how? How is redemption accomplished on our behalf? And now we get to the first verse, and the second verse of Ruth chapter four. So the first point is that we can't do it. And it continues, well, if we can't do it, if we can't be redeemed, how are we redeemed? And how does this come about? simply said, someone else must do the work. Verse one, it says, Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. We see that Boaz is acting on behalf of Naomi, and furthermore, acting on behalf of Ruth. So it's not as if Naomi is saying, hey guys, I'm good, I actually don't need no help, I was just tripping a little bit. No, no, no, no, no. Boaz is working on behalf of Naomi. And how does this look? Well, we see that in the first chapter, Boaz is a work that is planned. Now, from the end of chapter three to the beginning of chapter four, it's kind of like as if a camera just turned to a different area because it's within the same day where Ruth leaves Boaz and Boaz says something that's spectacular. He He promises and he tells her, hey, I will redeem you. If we ought to be redeemed, it must be the work of someone else. It must be someone else's plan. Boaz here in the beginning of chapter four, he's doing the work that has been planned and is based on his promise. We look at chapter three, verse 11. Boaz, he clearly says, I will redeem you. I will do for you all that you have asked, for all your fellow talisman know that you are a worthy woman." Boss promises that he will redeem her. Yet, as he's walking to this gate, he has to think. okay, what should I do? How should I make sense of, how should I go about doing this? And from this verse in verse one, it says, and behold, if we were looking at the original language, we would see Boaz, he's planning, the way that he's planned, he's getting himself in that area, he's going to the gate and, At this point, he doesn't really know everything that will, how things will pan out necessarily. He just knows this is what needs to be done. The thing that he does he goes to the gate and this gate is not necessarily a changing fence. It's more of like a stone wall if you think of medieval times where there's guards that are keeping guard on tops of the gate. They're ready to shoot down anything from that gate and it's kind of a fortress. that Boaz goes to, but in this time, this gate is a place of commerce. This is where people actually congregate and spend time together. So where Boaz is going is a place, not necessarily a secluded place, a place to get alone and think, but he's actually going to a place to, okay, if this is gonna happen, I need to get into, I need to be over here and not over there. Boaz, he doesn't have it all figured out, yet he is going towards the promise. He's going towards what he said he would do. And as he's planning this out, we see that the Redeemer comes. This man that he knows of just shows up. In a sense, we can say it's circumstance, but luck is for pagans, for unbelievers. And providence is what Christians, what we understand, what we believe in, that all things are governed by the hand of God. And if anything happens to us in this life, God is not surprised. God isn't, oh, didn't see that coming. Oh, snap. No, no, no. God knows exactly what happens to each and every one of us. Now, we still have our own choices that sin or there's deeds that we do that produce real consequences, whether good or bad, yet God's hand is governing it all. In this case, God brings this Redeemer in an invisible hand, yet within the storyline, He shows up and this Redeemer shows up. So, the plan of Boaz is developing, yet this plan that is based on a promise to redeem her, it continues, it flows. We see that he's not just planning, and he's not just making, he's not just planning based on a promise, but he's actually petitioning. What Boaz is doing, if we are to be redeemed, really, we need someone to petition on our behalf. And Boaz, he says that in verse two. He says, Turn aside, my friend. Sorry, verse one, end of verse one. Turn aside, friend, sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down, verse two. And he took 10 men and the elders of the city and said, sit down, he's pleading with them. Hey, come, come listen to what I have to say. Hey, let me talk to you for a little bit. He says, sit down here. And what do they do? They sit down there. But, The big thing is, if we are to be redeemed, it must be done on our behalf, and someone else must do it. Boaz is interceding. He's doing this work that has been planned based on a promise, and he's pleading that someone would redeem Naomi. Let's continue, God. The second thing that we ought to understand about redemption is that redemption is a negotiation between two parties apart from us. Hopefully, you kind of hear what I'm saying over and over. You can't do it. You can't. You can't. However, someone else can. Someone else can. And someone else does. Verse three through eight. Let me read half of this. Three and four, eight. Verse three says, then he said to the Redeemer, Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling a parcel of land that belonged to our relative, Elimelech. So I thought I would tell you of it and say, buy it in the presence of those sitting here. And in the presence of the elders of my people, if you redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not tell me that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you." Let's stop there. I know I've been saying redemption, we've been saying redeem multiple times, but what does that mean? What does it mean to be redeemed? What does that word mean? Well, just in simple fashion, the word redemption or the word to be redeemed, it simply means to buy back. Remember, we talked about Naomi's compromised state and in forward looking to us, our spiritually compromised state, if we are to be redeemed, we must be bought back from something. Well, Naomi, is bought back, one, from her physical state being compromised, her financial state being compromised, but if we are to be bought back, we're bought back from sin, because we're slaves to sin. That's one of the reasons why we can't do it. If you're in bondage, you have no bargaining chips. You can't come to the table and say, here's my money, take this. Perhaps some of you know of the country, there's a country in South America, it's called Venezuela. And if you know anything about this country, in recent years, it's been, the economy has just been plummeting, plummeting. And the value of the Venezuelan peso is completely worthless. Like, it's so worthless that you see people in the street that are starting to make purses and starting to make peso suits out of the currency because it's worthless. If they tried to go to the store, if the store had something to buy and they could go buy it, they would take those pesos and they wouldn't be able to pay for it because it's so worthless. The value of the currency doesn't equate. It's not able to get the thing that it needs, it desires. But in translation, that is where we are. If we are to be redeemed, it must be on our behalf because we don't have any currency. Or the currency that we have, the things, the abilities, the mindset, the character, the charisma that we have is worthless. It's completely worthless for the redemption that we need. We need to be bought back from sin, but the payment that we have, the currency that we have is not able to get the thing that we need. And brothers and sisters, if this is not clear, you need redemption. I need redemption. We need to be redeemed from our compromised state. And there is one who does this. When we look back at the text, we see that redemption is somewhat of a negotiation. It's like a business proposition. We can look at verses three and four and see that Boaz, he's speaking, this person who is partaking on behalf of Naomi is speaking to this Redeemer, this character. The scripture calls him the Redeemer. They don't say his name, but they just call him the Redeemer. It's not just a redeemer, but he brings in, Boaz brings in witnesses. So one of the things about the gate that I didn't mention is the gate is also a place, it's somewhat of a court system. So there's rooms within the gate as well. That's kind of how thick those gates were. People would be able to do business and negotiate and have judges within there and say, hey, this is how we're gonna do things, or this is what we would like to do. the business deals would take place. It would say, if you do this, then you get this. Let me read the rest of the chapter. So, the theme that is gotten, the business that is happening is within verse four. Boaz is telling the, really the court, the elders, hey, this is what needs to be done. This is the issue. This is the problem. And he's presenting this to the Redeemer. So Boaz is standing as like a lawyer saying, hey, this is what we have on our hands. Can you help? Verse four, Boaz, so I thought I would tell you of it and say, by it in the presence of those sitting here, and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you." And the redeemer, he says, I will redeem it. If you were reading this, we already know the end, we know how Ruth ends, yet for the mind who is reading this for the first time, there's a narrative that's taking place. And Boaz, this is somewhat of a plot twist. Like we think, oh, Ruth and Boaz, okay, they're gonna get married, they're gonna have kids, but in the narrative is kind of a plot twist because, oh, oh, well, we thought Boaz would redeem it. Okay, he said he would, he said, but wait, there's someone closer, there's a closer redeemer. And we're kind of in a waiting position within the narrative, yet right here, as we're getting into the text, more and more, wait, so there's no Boaz in the group? Is that not really happening? Because that's what it appears to happen, appears to be at this point right here. The redeemer, he says, I will redeem it. Then Boaz continues. He says, the day, verse five, the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth, the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance. Then the Redeemer said, hold up. I cannot do it. I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right. He's saying, take my right of redemption yourself, or I cannot redeem it. So what turned out to be a plot twist, like, oh, this man, he's gonna redeem Ruth and Naomi. But then, Flip again. No, no, no, not him. He says no. He backs off. The significance of what's happening here is he's making sense of if he were to redeem Naomi, her land, and ultimately Ruth, he would have to marry Ruth. This man, this redeemer, would have had children of his own already. And so everything that he's had, his name, would kind of be lost in place of Elimelech's name. So his children would have no name. They would be tied into Elimelech. Because to redeem is to actually not be selfish. It's not thinking of yourself. To be redeemed, Really, I guess that's the question at hand. What is it to be a Redeemer? What does it mean to be a Redeemer? One of the things that we see throughout this book, the Redeemer must be related. So this Redeemer, his name is Redeemer, ultimately because they don't want to shame the author of this book, this text, this narrative, doesn't want to shame the person who actually says, I'll redeem. Sike. No. They're keeping his identity closed off, secluded, because it's shameful. You say you will do something, and you don't do it. Yet this redeemer and also Boaz, they're related to a limolet. And in chapter 2, verse 20, the man, a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers, this is what Naomi says about Boaz. In verse 3, 12, Boaz, he attests, hey, I'm a redeemer that's true, yet there's one redeemer that's closer than I am. So we see that if someone is to be redeemer, they need to be related. They need to be related to those who they were actually redeeming. But not just that, the second thing is they must be able to redeem. While we talked about the currency, we don't have anything to put on the table, yet the redeemer actually does. The redeemer must be able to have the means, the financial means, and be able to say, OK, yeah, I can do this. They look at the checkbook. OK, look at the wallet. Yeah, look at the bank account. OK, yeah, yeah, I can do this. So first, they must be related. The theme that we see in Ruth is a kinsman redeemer. But this redeemer must also be able to, they must be capable to redeem. They must have the resources to actually do it. But the third thing is they must want to. Many things happen because we just don't want to do it. We can do a lot of stuff. We can get a lot of stuff done. We just don't want to do it. But this Redeemer, if someone is to be Redeemer, they must desire to do it. And to desire to be redeemed, to have that desire, is to take on full responsibility of this person's burden, financial burden, their destitution, their inner pit. But I am going out of my way to plan based on a promise and to plead on this person's behalf. And I'm sticking my hand out to say, hey, let me help you. Come up, come out of that. But. Brothers and sisters, that's what we see in the text. Yet, when we read scripture, we must read it and then apply it. We apply scripture to our own part. We don't always read ourselves into the text. Yet, how does this text apply to me? Because all of the Bible is for all of who we are. It's for all of us. It's for every part of us. That's to say, Just as Naomi needs a Redeemer, you and I need a Redeemer. Just as we're wondering, well, who will redeem Naomi? We ought to ask ourselves, who will redeem us? And brothers and sisters, praise God. We do have a Redeemer. This Redeemer is Jesus Christ, the man, the God-man who came to earth on our behalf. He is our redeeming one because he was related. He's related to us. How is Jesus Christ related to us? Brothers and sisters, there's one fact that we should understand. There is one race, one race, and it's the human race. There's many ethnicities which are beautiful and they even reflect God in his triune state where God is one but he's three persons in one Godhead. We are one race but many people. Jesus Christ is our brother. He's related to us. He identifies himself with us. Hebrews 2, 14 through 18, I'll read all four verses, but this is what it says. Since, therefore, the children share in the flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil. and deliver all those who through fear and death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in a service to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people, for because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted. Jesus Christ identifies with his people. He knows and understands what it is to be human because Jesus Christ is human. He's fully God, and yet he's fully man. There's two natures in one being, in one person. He understands what it feels like to be destitute, to be broke. He understands what it means to be broke. He understands what it means to feel the strain and the stress of various situations that come his way. He, Jesus Christ, understands. He understands loss. that there's things that we just can't, we have no ability to do. Ultimately, we can't save ourselves, but Jesus Christ, he hung on a cross for the sins of people who hated him. And that's on your behalf, on my behalf. Jesus Christ, he identifies with his people in our helpless and destitute and compromised state. Yet the kinsman redeemer, Redeemer, Jesus Christ, He must not only be able to identify with us, be related to us, but He also must be capable. Where you and I don't have any currency, we can't put any money on the table, Jesus Christ, He comes. And it's as if He holds out His arm and blood gushes out because that is the currency that is needed for our sins. Without the Without the shedding of blood, there is no taking away or there is no remission of sins. Jesus Christ, it says that he must be capable. 1 Peter 1, verses 18 and 19 say this, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver and gold, but What were we redeemed by, brothers and sisters? It was by the precious. Jesus Christ's blood is precious. Later today, we'll take communion, and that is what we're remembering, the precious blood of Jesus Christ that covers our sins. That is the blood that we constantly go to because we have guilty consciences, and the blood of Jesus Christ covers our guilty consciences. It covers our sins, not just in the past, not just in the present, but in the future as well. This is a lamb without blemish or spot. But there's a last thing that Boaz is to Naomi. This is what Boaz is to Naomi. He's a redeemer. Jesus Christ to us is a redeemer. The last thing that we all should know about Jesus Christ being a redeemer is that Jesus Christ wants to save you. He desires, He longs, He wants to do it. He wants to die on behalf of sinners. It's not if Jesus Christ was begrudging, I don't want to do it. Please don't let me do it. No, He goes to the cross on your behalf. On my behalf, He goes there and says, I will save my people. I will be saved. That's beautiful. That is so beautiful. Beautiful, Jesus Christ desires to save a wicked people like us. While we were yet sinners, while we were still in sin, Jesus Christ died on our behalf. How glorious is that? Yet, let's pause. Let's pause. There's many things that I, I grew up a little bit in Palm Bluff, and perhaps you guys live in Palm Bluff, but one thing that we understand about Palm Bluff is basically, it seems like everybody's a Christian. There's many churches in Palm Bluff, and there's many times that we heard that Jesus Christ died. Jesus Christ died on the cross. Jesus Christ died on the cross for you. Brothers and sisters, let me give you a hard truth. If you are continuing in your sin, if you have not bowed your knee to Jesus Christ, if you are not living consistently with the true gospel, Jesus Christ didn't die for you. Jesus Christ dies for sinners, that is true. All the day long, he says, come. Yet, have you come? If you're a non-believer, if you're not trusting in Jesus Christ, you should question your salvation. You should. If Jesus Christ is not your all in all, if he's not the one you desire, You should evaluate your heart. Jesus Christ, he has died for sinners, yet for those who reject him, there can be no other salvation. Brothers and sisters, there is only one Redeemer. Just like in our text, we thought there were two, we thought there were multiple. No, only one can redeem. Only Boaz has redeemed Naomi. Only him. And it is only Jesus Christ that redeems wicked man. And if your hope is not in the finished work of Jesus Christ, there is no hope for you at all. There is no hope you can find elsewhere. Brothers and sisters, those who are not trusting, who have not trusted in Jesus Christ, let me plea with you and tell you, put your trust in Jesus Christ. He is the only Redeemer. He is the only one who has the ability. He is the only one that identifies exactly with how we're feeling, how we know the things that we experience. He knows sin, he understands it, though he is sinless. He knows what it means to be human. yet he's capable. Unlike you and I, we're incapable. He desires to. There's some people that we may look at and say, I don't really like that person. Nah, don't bring him around here. We don't, there's people that we wanna like, we wanna avoid, yet Jesus Christ dies for his enemy. And that, That is true love. That is the love that the Bible teaches. If you're not putting your trust in this love, if you're not understanding love in this respect, You must turn from your wrong thinking and turn to Christ. And in fact, you can't do it. You can't turn. That's why we need Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. You must plead and ask him, Lord, help me. I can't do it. That is how one has to be redeemed, to see your destitute state and to look, know the Redeemer. Jesus Christ is the Redeemer and say, Jesus, will you save me? Will you help me? Would you help me overcome sin? The beautiful thing is this is for the believer as well. We can look at chapter one and see, man, Naomi is a sister. She's our sister in Christ. Ruth is our sister in Christ. Boaz is our brother in Christ. Yet they experience the same things we experience. They understand I can't do it. I can't do it. And so they go to one who can. They look for a redeemer. In your day-to-day life, Christian, do you look for Jesus Christ and his word? Do you preach the gospel to yourself and say, oh, Lord, I am such a wicked sinner. However, Jesus Christ died for me. I know I keep doing this sin. I know I keep doing that. I keep thinking like this. I know I need to change, Lord, but I can't do it. If we are to change, if we are to grow and go and continue with Christ, to continue being redeemed, Jesus Christ must sanctify us. He must continue to redeem us. Now, let's continue with the text. Let's continue with the text, brothers and sisters. The ending of this narrative is such a momentous and glorious narrative because Boaz, he's making a proclamation. He's making a proclamation of what has occurred, what has been done. And we will look at verses nine and 10. So actually, let's pause and go back, verse seven. Now, this was a custom in the former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchange. exchanging to confirm a transaction. The one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other. And this was the manner of attesting in Israel. So when the redeemer says, Boaz, buy it for yourself, he drew off his sandal. He drew off his sandal. These verses here, it may seem nonsensical, but just in broad scope, something we can understand is God wants us to understand the Bible. If you don't understand the Bible, either you're unconverted and God must renew your heart. He must change your heart and thus change your mind. He must do that work or for the Christian, you must ask God. Ask God to open your heart, open your mind to understand, to see the beauties and the glories of his word. Why? Because his word is glorious. It's beautiful. That's what we long for. That's what the Christian ought to desire. Not the themes of this world, the tic-tacs and the trifling themes of this world. No, of the glories, of the riches that are found only, only in Jesus Christ. That is what, in general terms, this text is saying. It is giving explanation of the customs of this different time. Yet, why is he explaining it? It's so that the reader can understand. It's so that we can understand, oh, that's how they did that. That's how things go. We, God, wants us to understand what he says, how he said it, how he's commanded us to live. And it's not only that he says, hey, do it like this, but he gives his son to give us the ability. He gives the Christian the Holy Spirit to strengthen us in our faith to actually fulfill what he commands. If you see that you can't do something, you can't stop sinning, or you can't give something up, you should evaluate your heart. You should evaluate your salvation. Not as a woe is me all the time, yet that's good. Verses 9 and 10. Verse nine, then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, you are witnesses that belong, I'm sorry, you are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belong to Elimelech, all that belong to Chilion and to Malon. Also Ruth, the Moabite, the widow of Malon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are my witnesses this day. What is Boaz doing? They saw what he did. They knew he brought them there to talk about redemption, and Naomi stayed. He understood. What is Boaz doing? Well, Boaz is actually proclaiming what has taken place. He's saying, hey, Naomi has been redeemed. everyone's eyes. Before everyone, this has taken place. This is true. That is what Boaz is doing. He's telling everyone of the great thing that has just occurred. He says, you are my witnesses. Still, why? It's not because he just loves Ruth so much. He's so enamored with her beauty and her character and how gracious. He's not saying what he's saying because of how enamored he is with Ruth. The reason why he's saying what he's saying is not even because he's pointing to himself and saying, hey, look what I did. Y'all saw that? Y'all saw that? I did that. No, no, no, no. Yeah. The verse tells us, in verse 10, to perpetuate the name of the dead and his inheritance. That the name of the dead may not be cut off from among the brothers and from the gate of his native place. Everything that Boaz is doing is for the betterment of Naomi. It's ultimately for, on behalf of the one who died, he's saying, hey, my name means nothing, but that brother, that sister, they need redemption, and I'm able to do it. That's what Jesus Christ does. Why did Jesus Christ die for you? Why did he die for me? Not because we had a nice smile. Not because we have rich, we have good charisma and we got a little drip. No, no. Jesus Christ dies because he wanted to. Nothing in us was desirous for him to look upon us. Yet he said, I will. Wow. Wow. It's as if God, the father presents to the son, these people, these wicked people in Jesus Christ, he says, I will redeem them. I will do it. And there was nothing of us for all of what he's done, all of what he's done. And what Jesus Christ does on the cross, how ought we to respond to that? Do we just kinda keep quiet and like, oh, that was cool? No, just like Moaz was doing. He's proclaiming what has taken place. Christians, us, proclaim what Jesus Christ has done in the world on our behalf, on behalf of wicked people, on behalf of people who are selfish, who are blind, who are ignorant, who don't really understand. They don't get it. They just don't get it. But Jesus Christ, he died on their behalf. Praise God. Praise God that Jesus Christ would die for me, that he would die for you. So what do we do? We proclaim the gospel. That's what we ought to do. Psalm 102, sorry, 107, verse two, it says, let the redeem of the Lord say so. This is something that we couldn't do on our behalf. We needed someone else on our behalf to redeem us, just like Naomi needed someone else to redeem her on her behalf. She needed a redeemer, someone who would identify one who would be related to her, a redeemer who had the means to do it, but also one who desired to do it. If one is to be redeemed, it's to save. they give glory to God. So to be redeemed is to praise and to give proclamation of what the Lord has done. That is what it means to be redeemed. Let me finish up quickly. I actually don't know how much time I have yet. I think it's good and helpful for me to just close things on this end. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. What exactly are we to say, are Christians to say? Well, just to speak of his goodness, speak of what he's done. Go as he's saying before your eyes, this has taken place. And if you're a true Christian, your heart should spring up and attest, yes, Jesus Christ has died for my sins. because that's the only hope that we have. The testimony of the spirit within us is being resounding to the testimony of his word being proclaimed. And so when we proclaim the gospel, one, this power of God that renews our heart. When we proclaim the gospel and there's other believers, our heart is strengthened. It is giving more resilience. We desire, yes, hey, that's my Jesus too. I love you. I know I just met you, but I love you because you love my Lord. I love him too. That's what Boaz is doing. But to be redeemed is to have a blessed name. Finish with verses 11 and 12. Verse 11, then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, we are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worldly in Ephraim. and be renowned in Bethlehem. And may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman. At the end of the narrative, we see that Elimelech's name has been perpetuated. It is continuing. In verse 11, we see Leah and Rachel, their name has continued throughout all of Christianity, throughout all the world, even till today. We know who these sisters are. And it's just like Judah and Tamar and Perez, we know their names because of the work that the Lord has done in their life, how God has held and kept his people. But brothers and sisters, you and I, for those who are believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who have a heart that has truly been changed, you and I have a better name. We have a better name. And it's not our last name, but our identity is found in Christ. Our righteousness is found in Christ. We are no longer said, you're a slave. No, you're a slave to sin. You're a sinner. But we have a better name. And it is the righteous one. We have a better name. It is beloved. It is beloved. But why? Because of Jesus Christ. It's because we're hidden in Christ. Christ is our identity. We've died to sin and are raised again to newness of life. And he, he is who we proclaim. He is who we love. He is who we desire to be like. And one day, brothers and sisters, we will be like Christ where we're not slaves to sin anymore. We're not corrupted by the wicked world. The wicked world doesn't influence it and push in on us anymore, but we will be like Christ. We will be like Christ. But let me tell you, we are hidden Him now. Continue, brothers and sisters. For those who aren't trusting in Jesus Christ, repent and believe in Him and Him alone, because there is no other Redeemer. There's no other Redeemer. You need to be redeemed, brother, sister. We need to continue being redeemed. And if we are redeemed, if we have been redeemed, It's because Jesus Christ did it. Praise God. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you so much that we can read scripture and see your example. We can see how you've dealt with your people in the past, Lord, and it's not different from how you did