This man's heart Lord the heart that is
truly after you and as he concludes his
message on Ruth today Lord I ask that
you would impact us that your mind would
be his mind that his mouth would be
your mouth and As I've often prayed Lord
our ears would be your ears to hear
what the Spirit is saying We welcome you
father in Jesus name.
Amen Thank You pastor Brian and I I
Do recommend being a father a few more
times in coming years and I'm grateful to
God.
I did not ever imagine that I would
live long enough to be a father to
start out with and the grandfather thereafter and
It's a powerful thing If you are missing
a staff member this morning in duty That's
because she's at the hospital with little Corbin
who is her two and a half year
old grandson and He has been having stomach
complaint all week.
And so there's some things going on in
his little body and Since we're the family
of God, I wonder if we might not
Do something old-fashioned.
They used to have a thing on the
service outline called Pastoral prayer and so Let's
just join our hearts and pray for this
little boy For his mom and dad and
for Judy and Jerry as well Father thank
you for this morning's time to meet you
to worship you to praise you And thank
you that you do indeed care for each
one of us there is The same love
extended to each person in this room It
is not love that is based upon our
performance.
It is not based upon the things that
we can do It is based upon the
heart of our God who loves us And
father this morning.
We simply would come to you and We
do want to pray for little Corbin.
He is regularly Here with us in the
service ask that you would touch his body
with your healing power and as our hearts
are joined we pray for his mom and
dad and For his grandparents also Judy and
Jerry That you would minister to them as
well And father we recognize that There are
many and ongoing needs in our midst We
need your touch Lord each one of us
to encourage to strengthen to bless to guide
To challenge us to walk with you And
so we surrender these moments to you Lord
and ask that you would take your word
and just bless it To us in Jesus
name we pray Amen Amen Well, it is
Father's Day and we're gonna conclude a series
From a book that is named after a
lady.
How is that for a Father's Day message?
So we're in Ruth chapter 4 and We'll
just read that chapter 22 Verses and we'll
comment on it as we look at it
together Ruth chapter 4 says now Boaz went
up to the gate and sat down there
and behold the close relative of whom Boaz
had spoken Came by so Boaz said come
aside friend sit down here So he came
aside and sat down.
He took ten men of the elders of
the city and said sir Sit down here.
So they sat down Then he said to
the close relative Naomi who has come back
from the country of Moab sold a piece
of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech
and I thought to inform you saying buy
it back in the presence of the Inhabitants
and the elders of my people if you
will redeem it redeem it But if you
will not redeem it then tell me that
I may know for there is no one
but you to redeem it and I am
next after you and he said I will
redeem it Boaz said on the day you
buy the field from the hand of Naomi
You must also buy it from Ruth the
Moabitess the wife of the dead to perpetuate
the name of the dead through his inheritance
and The close relative said I cannot redeem
it for myself Lest I ruin my own
inheritance You redeem my right to of redemption
for yourself for I cannot redeem it Now
this was the custom in former times in
Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging to confirm Anything
one man took off his sandal and gave
it to the other and this was a
confirmation in Israel Therefore the close relative said
to Boaz buy it for yourself So he
took off his sandal and Boaz said to
the elders and all the people You are
witnesses this day that I have bought all
that was a limal axe and all that
was Chileans and Malians from the hand of
Naomi moreover Ruth the Moabitess the widow of
Malhun I Have acquired as my wife to
perpetuate the name of the dead through his
inheritance That the name of the dead may
not be cut off from among his brethren
And from his position at the gate you
are witnesses this day And all the people
who were at the gate and the elders
said we are witnesses The Lord make the
woman who is coming to your house like
Rachel and Leah The two who built the
house of Israel and may you prosper in
Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem May your
house be like the house of Perez whom
Tamar Bore to Judah because of the offspring
which the Lord will give you from this
young woman So Boaz took Ruth and she
became his wife and when he went in
to her the Lord gave her Conception and
she bore a son Then the women said
to Naomi Blessed be the Lord who has
not left you this day without a close
relative and may his name be famous in
Israel and May he be to you a
restorer of life and a nourisher of your
old age For your daughter-in-law who
loves you who is better to you than
seven sons has born him Then Naomi took
the child and laid him on her bosom
and became a nurse to him Also, the
neighbor women gave him a name saying there
is a son born to Naomi and they
called his name Obed he is the father
of Jesse the father of David Now this
is the genealogy of Perez.
Perez begot Hezron and Hezron begot Ram and
Ram begot Aminadab and Aminadab begot Nashon and
Nashon begot Salmon and Salmon begot Boaz And
Boaz begot Obed and Obed begot Jesse and
Jesse begot David And if you go to
Matthew chapter 1 it skips through some things
to say that Jesus is Also of the
line of David Boaz Jesse and all of
those who are mentioned here now I I
don't know about you, but I like a
story with a happy ending and And that's
one of the great joys of this little
book of Ruth It is a story with
a happy very happy ending Let me just
remind you for a moment of the beginning
of this book You remember how it started
out with a family backsliding away?
Saying we're out of here things are not
going so good for the people of God
we're going to go over there where things
look better and are better and Off they
go and then there's death and there's grief
and there's struggle and Out of it comes
bitterness Naomi in chapter 1 says call me
Mara bitter Because so many bad things have
happened along life's way There's poverty and there's
gleaning It's not that Ruth was a panhandler,
but she had to go out there and
find what she could on the fields Now
look what has happened When you come to
chapter 4 and all what a glorious thing
it is when you can see the end
from a beginning like that an Ending that
shows to us so clearly the working of
God and the things of God in it
So I'll do my whoo-hoo in the
beginning of the message today Because that's exactly
how I feel when I read this passage
But let me make a couple of observations
before we look at the sermon this morning
the first is did you notice that when
Boaz went to the gate and he talked
to this kinsman who was closer a closer
relative than him and When he thinks he's
just gonna acquire the land the man says,
oh, yeah, I'm for it I'll gladly take
the land But when Boaz says but know
that when you acquire the land you also
acquire this lady as your wife.
Oh That changed everything didn't it and You
know, what are we meant to think about
here?
Could I just Share with you one of
the things that I thought about it This
kinsman, you know is just a typical example
of those who are offered Christ as Redeemer
gladly to take the benefit But never to
take the responsibility There are so many who
would say I believe in Jesus I want
to have eternal life I like that old
fire insurance policy but when the Responsibility that
comes with it.
Is there then there's fear of ruining the
inheritance He said I can't take her as
my wife in case it ruins my own
Inheritance and how many people I've talked to
over the years who have said I'd love
to become a Christian But you know if
I did that I'd have to give up
this and I'd have to do that different
and you know What would ruin my inheritance
if I did that?
Isn't that often the thing that gets in
the way and here it is in the
beginning of Ruth chapter 4 he's not going
to redeem the land and the lady and
so we see that so clearly here and
then Let me just share with you three
things from this glorious chapter and then we'll
be able to Close and rejoice in Father's
Day those who didn't get breakfast in bed
this morning good things are coming in the
afternoon and Those who are long awaiting that
long Sought-after prize who knows today might
be the day I think
I heard my brother whose birthday it is
on Tuesday and Al you shall remain nameless
never fear Here's
the first thing.
I think we want to see there's something
good When God is involved There's something good
the conclusion will always be good Because God
is good.
There is something good here What is it?
Well, let's just break it down a little
bit Ruth is married and by the end
of the chapter we see her as married
and she's a mother Now that's something good,
isn't it?
For a little girl who grew up far
away from the family of God and In
her first marriage situation had no children Here
is Ruth she's married and she has this
little boy No longer an outsider accepted and
secure and fulfilled That's good Now if you
only had Ruth chapter 1 How many of
us would come to the same kind of
conclusion as what we see here?
Because you know sometimes we think oh Things
are just so bad, but Where is there
any hope there is always hope in God
and Even when she's out there picking up
the grain in the field He has a
plan and now we're seeing the absolute fulfillment
of it.
You know what it says to me It
says to me don't worry about what the
world is saying to you Lay hold of
God and let him do his work in
your heart and in your life and in
your home And it is going to lead
to something good.
I remember walking down a street in Belfast
many years ago and I remember three people
running across the street so they wouldn't have
to be near me on the sidewalk.
I Remember going to church that night and
for some reason I've never forgotten the little
chorus.
It was new to me that night But
it just simply said something good is going
to happen to you Jesus of Nazareth is
passing this way and I thought I had
a bummer of a day And I felt
lower than a snake's belly coming into this
service But something good is gonna happen You
see as we obey the Lord and press
on with him.
There is something good There's something good in
the life of Boaz He is much older
than Ruth but Although there has never been
a wife and a child Look at he
has a partner for the rest of his
life and this little son to rejoice in
and You know, God is just so amazing
He has redeemed Ruth just as Jesus redeems
his bride you and I and all of
this comes about in the goodness of God
Sometimes I think about Abraham Just a hundred
years old No child of his own and
God says to him you're gonna have a
child and Sarah Who's just 90?
says That's a McGregor paraphrase of the passage
Do you see it Look at the hope
that is in our God Naomi Call me
bitter Sucking on a lemon nothing good ever
happened to me Sorry, that was an Irish
moment and here she is a grandmother at
last How do you think she must have
felt when they took that little boy and
put him just into her arms?
I Think that all the hurt and the
stuff of the ages melted away in the
love of God that day See, there's something
good It didn't start out so well But
in the will and way of God, there
is great blessing God touches a family and
he renews hope and life and love and
Oh what an ending there is to this
little booklet And you know there is secondly
Something great not just something good There is
an enduring legacy that's mentioned here in chapter
4 I so appreciate what Brad said about
the legacy that he wants a little and
er to have and Here we see an
enduring legacy Now, you know Just Let me
take the pastoral hat off for a minute
and give you a comment just as an
ordinary fat old Joe Thanks, Brad.
I don't know about you, but I get
so tired watching on television advertisements and stuff
that show Man as either missing or some
kind of an idiot and I don't find
that in Scripture at all.
I Find that when man walk under the
influence and fullness of the Spirit of God
There is something that generates such a legacy
and Here you see it Boaz has a
family he's named Obed and Obed becomes the
father of Jesse You remember Jesse?
He's a man that God says to Samuel
that great prophet go to Jesse's house There
is somebody there who has a heart like
mine Where did he get that heart?
It came in the legacy Down through those
days through those ages It wasn't the first
one that Samuel looked at Samuel figured boy.
Look at him.
He's the guy I know it Because we
always look on the outside but when God
said to Samuel it's little David Because I
see on the inside You see there's something
great about this Because when you look at
Abraham, he is strong in the faith.
And when you come to Isaac He's a
little bit weaker in the faith.
And when you come to Jacob He's a
liar and the usurper and not very strong
in the faith until He has a personal
encounter with the Living God and that's what
turns things around and you'll find that many
times in Scripture But what I love about
this is there's something so great about it
There is a continuum where there is a
growing in faith until we get to the
place where?
Israel's greatest King David sits on the throne
There is something of a legacy here that
I would say it would be a good
thing to pray for Oh God You see
friends.
Our problem is that oftentimes we see Fathers
as providing and Protecting and if that's done,
that's enough But that's not what the Bible
teaches The Bible teaches that there needs to
be a connectedness there There needs to be
something deeper and stronger there Many of you
have read I'm sure from time to time
Irma Bombeck the columnist and let me just
Read you something that she wrote about her
own personal life.
It's tiny print So if I move from
time to time, I'm just sorting it out
One morning my father didn't get up to
go to work.
He went to the hospital and died the
next day.
I Hadn't thought much about him before He
was just someone Who left and came home
seemed glad to see everyone at night He
opened the jar of pickles when nobody else
could He's the only one in the house
that wasn't afraid to go in the basement
by himself He cut himself shaving but no
one kissed it or Got excited about it.
It was understood that when it rained he
got the car and brought it around to
the door when anyone was sick, he went
out to get the prescription and He took
lots of pictures, but he was never in
them whenever I played house my father doll
My mother doll.
Sorry had a lot to do I never
knew what to do with the daddy doll
So I had him say I'm going off
to work now and threw him under the
bed The funeral was in our living
room and a lot of people came They
brought all kinds of food and cakes and
things We never had so much company before.
I Went to my room and felt under
the bed for the daddy doll when I
found him and Dusted him off put him
on my band He never did anything.
I didn't know his leaving Would cause so
much pain You see dad provided But there
is a need for a sense of connectedness
that was missing That kind of connectedness is
what produces what we see at the end
of the book of Ruth That kind of
connectedness is what brings about a deep sense
of understanding It's what brings Families to that
place that we all seek for where things
are right, you know Brad already mentioned this
But as we prayed this morning, we prayed
about it to father's day is not a
positive day for everyone because Sometimes father is
missing but our father is never missing He
is always there so there's something good in
this chapter and there's something great in this
chapter and lastly, let me just Cause us
to think for a few moments That there's
something more now.
I always warn people when I'm gonna stop
preaching and start interfering.
And so That's your 60-second warning Keep
your finger there in Luke in Ruth chapter
4 and turn with me to Luke chapter
1 for a moment I asked myself earlier
this week If this kind of godly heritage
can happen and it can because Ruth 4
proves it What do we need to do
to see this today?
What are the things we need to consider?
Because we live in a world that has
so many things tossed at us I in
the world.
Do you keep things in balance?
So many issues so many heartaches so many
disappointments so many broken things and relationships In
Luke chapter 1 in verses 13 to 17
Let me just read them and comment on
them briefly But the angel said to him
that's to Zacharias Do not be afraid Zacharias
for your prayer is heard and your wife
Elizabeth will bear you a son and you
shall call his name John And you will
have joy and gladness and many will rejoice
at his birth For he will be great
in the sight of the Lord and shall
drink neither wine nor strong drink He will
also be filled with the Holy Spirit Even
from his mother's womb and he will turn
many of the children of Israel to the
Lord their God Look at verse 17 He
will also go before him that is before
God in the spirit and power of Elijah
To turn the hearts of the fathers to
the children and the disobedient to the wisdom
of the just to make ready a people
prepared for the Lord Dear ones, how will
we see?
something of this heritage building in our time
and homes and families When John was sent
to create revival before Jesus arrived on the
scene There are some things.
I want you just to think with me
about First of all, he was sent to
turn the hearts of who the fathers To
the Children now if the hearts of the
fathers need to be turned Where are the
hearts of the fathers?
They're focused on things That are away from
God His message was to turn the hearts
of the fathers to the children Because we
see when you see what God did in
Ruth chapter 4 That's what he longs to
do in your life my life your family
my family and He is a supernatural God.
So what was John given to accomplish this
task of turning the hearts?
the way they needed to go Notice with
me first of all, it says something about
this man it says even in the womb
he was full of the Holy Spirit a
Spirit filled life if we're going to see
These kind of things in our day and
see victory in homes and hearts and families.
It'll be because We are so full of
the Holy Spirit.
I Love what my friend Gerard de toy
says When Christians get in an argument, he
asks this question.
How can the Holy Spirit in me criticize
the Holy Spirit in you?
Isn't that a great question?
So then if it's going on Who's in
charge and who's not more importantly?
We need spirit filled life Needs to be
a God-centered life and home John is
not from his birth interested in the things
the Enhancements if you want or the the
things that give us a kick in the
world Here alcohol is mentioned he is all
his life focused on God and following him
Once in a while in my travels.
I've had the privilege of preaching in Holland
There's a move amongst the young people in
Holland now more than 7,000 strong in
one denomination You know, I'm in four different
homes where I stayed It was so exciting
to see that when the evening meal was
finished one of the teenagers took the book
and brought it to dad and Said read
to us It's not rocket science stuff.
Is it and yet we are so wounded
and beaten and defeated could it be that
in the midst of all our gadgets and
gimmicks and Nonsense that there must come a
time when we have to reassert the priorities
of the living God I didn't know it
at the time But when I was a
little boy and I'd go to my grandfather's
farm, I'd go because they'd let me play
soccer in the yard Even when I broke
a window But there never was a Sunday
night that I was at his place where
he didn't take the book and say to
everybody Come here You see it I don't
want to labor the point Because the presence
of God is very strong here You look
at this man John who came with this
message.
There's a thoughtful purposeful life thoughtful purposeful My
dad was shorter than me, in fact, I'm
the tallest person in my family But My
dad Smarter than me You see he had
this giftedness It was almost as if he
knew what I was going through and Sometimes
when he was taking me to school or
sometimes when we were working with his pigeons,
he loved pigeons.
I remember the discipline of cleaning up after
them, but he had this thought process that
allowed him just to come alongside of me
and say Maybe this is what you're facing
and you need to know It was amazing
those nuggets that he would slip in there
And I've never forgotten And I pray Lord,
would you make me a man like that
thoughtful purposeful Building a heritage investing in my
children and grandchildren The Word of God and
prayer very much a part of John's life
Did you notice in Ruth chapter 4?
That there is prayer at the announcement when
Boaz says I will redeem her all the
elders prayed May the Lord make your house
like that of Rachel and Leah who built
the house of Israel Talk about vision Did
you notice that the same is true in
the marriage and the blessing over that little
child?
one of the things that I think parents
place or don't place into children is a
sense of justice what is right and what
is wrong and I smile so often because
we have all these things About what should
be done But I never hear those words
what is right and what is wrong But
I remember hearing those words from my dad
Do what is?
right But dad no buts I think that's
where I first heard those three amazing words
just do it Do what is right?
What was it all about it was to
prepare a people for Jesus and parents?
That's what we're doing in these days as
we parent We're preparing a home for Jesus.
It's time for John to Cease for this
week.
And so let me just wrap it up
Where do we place the priority?
What's the point in having all the things
that the world has to offer if at
the end of the day?
our hearts are broken and Relationships are broken
Could it be that?
God would say to us walk with me
and I'll bring it out.
All right and for good but Re-establish
the priorities that the Lord has and that's
what brings healing may we pray together And
I'm just gonna ask our Worship team to
lead us in one of those songs over
again And then we'll close God, we're so
grateful that you are the one Who leads
to happy ending?
Thank you that as we look at the
life of Ruth and Boaz we see your
blessing.
We see your work God as we look
at our world We see such pain and
tremendous hurt Wounded father you've laid it out
for us and yet often our priorities turn
our hearts away from the things of God
Father we're praying that just as we come
to the conclusion of this worship service That
you would enable each one of us to
make a decision today a Decision to say
I'm gonna set my priority on the living
God I'm going to put my trust in
my kinsmen Redeemer even Jesus Christ I'm going
to believe him to bring something good and
Something great and something more into my life
and heart and home Lord we ask these
mercies in Jesus name