How God Restores Us: Lessons from Ruth and Naomi - Wednesday Evening - October 16, 2024
Join Pastor Josh Massaro as he explores the profound themes of redemption and restoration through the lens of the Book of Ruth. Central to this discussion is the concept of the kinsman redeemer, exemplified by Boaz, who symbolizes Jesus Christ's selfless love and grace towards humanity. Pastor Josh delves into the transformation of Naomi from a place of bitterness to one of blessing, highlighting God's unwavering faithfulness even in times of struggle. The episode reinforces the idea that, like Naomi and Ruth, believers can find hope and renewal in their relationship with God, regardless of their past. Through engaging insights and relatable anecdotes, Pastor Josh encourages listeners to embrace the promise that God provides, restores, and nourishes us throughout our lives.
Pastor Josh Massaro's sermon on the book of Ruth offers a compelling exploration of redemption, love, and God's providential care for His people. By examining the relationship between Ruth and Boaz, the sermon paints a vivid picture of the kinsman redeemer—a concept that not only brings to light the cultural practices of ancient Israel but also serves as a profound metaphor for Christ's redemptive work in the lives of believers. Pastor Josh emphasizes that the stories found within scripture are more than mere tales; they encapsulate the very heart of God's grace and mercy toward humanity.
Throughout the sermon, Pastor Josh highlights the transformative journey of Naomi, who, having experienced significant loss, initially returns to Bethlehem embittered by her circumstances. However, as Ruth's faithfulness and Boaz's kindness unfold, Naomi witnesses a remarkable reversal of her fortunes. This narrative shift from despair to hope is a central theme of the sermon, illustrating how God's faithfulness endures even in the darkest of times. Pastor Josh's message reassures the congregation that no matter how distant one may feel from God, His presence and provision are always near.
The idea of being a part of God's family through faith in Christ is echoed throughout the sermon, as Pastor Josh draws parallels between Ruth's inclusion in the lineage of David and the call for all believers to recognize their identity as children of God. He articulates that the journey of faith is not defined by past failures or struggles but by the grace that redeems and restores. The sermon culminates in a powerful reminder of the love that binds believers to their Creator, encouraging individuals to embrace their role in God's story and to live out their faith with gratitude and hope. This rich and multifaceted message resonates deeply with anyone seeking encouragement and understanding of God's unwavering love and redemptive plan.
Takeaways:
- Pastor Josh emphasizes that the story of Ruth illustrates God's love and grace towards believers.
- The podcast draws parallels between Ruth and Boaz's relationship and Christ's relationship with the church.
- Naomi's journey from bitterness to blessing highlights God's faithfulness in difficult times.
- The significance of the kinsman redeemer is explored as a metaphor for Jesus Christ.
- Pastor Josh encourages listeners to find comfort and restoration in God's presence during struggles.
- The importance of gratitude is discussed, emphasizing how it shifts our perspective on blessings.
Links referenced in this episode:
Thank you for joining our podcast. Visit our website at https://middletownbaptistchurch.org/
Subscribe to our YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@middletownbaptistchurchde5091
Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MBCDelaware
This podcast is produced by Ralph Estep, Jr., host of the Ask Ralph Podcast, a daily podcast on Christian Finance you can find it at https://www.askralphpodcast.com/
00:00 - None
00:00 - Introduction to the Podcast
00:23 - Beginning the Bible Study on Ruth
01:10 - Understanding the Kinsman Redeemer
03:38 - Naomi's Transformation from Bitterness to Blessing
04:38 - Birth of Obed and God's Providence
21:47 - The Significance of Genealogy
22:35 - Lessons from Ruth: Kinsman Redeemer and Redemption
32:09 - Transitioning to Future Topics
36:24 - Closing Remarks and Prayer Time
36:48 - Outro and Contact Information
Pastor Josh
Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast, where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.
Pastor Josh
My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to this podcast.
Pastor Josh
I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen you in the word of God.
Pastor Josh
Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today.
Pastor Josh
We're going to go ahead and start our Bible study here this evening.
Pastor Josh
If you have your bibles, please turn with me to the book of Ruthen.
Pastor Josh
And we are going to actually tonight conclude the book of Ruth, the story of the kinsman Redeemer.
Pastor Josh
And I hope that this has been a study that has helped you understand God's love and his grace in your own life.
Pastor Josh
Anytime we see stories in scripture, we know that they're more than just stories.
Pastor Josh
They are descriptions of real people going through real issues and ultimately receiving real forgiveness and real grace from a real goddess.
Pastor Josh
And so I know that so many times in our life we can be separated from these stories because they are thousands of years old.
Pastor Josh
And I know that not everything in scripture can we personalize for ourselves.
Pastor Josh
But I do believe that there is that application of understanding our kinsman redeemer in Jesus Christ through this story.
Pastor Josh
And so we see the story of Ruth, and she's the centerpiece.
Pastor Josh
Ultimately, God's the centerpiece.
Pastor Josh
But in this case, Ruth is the one who receives grace from her kinsman Boazden.
Pastor Josh
And so I believe Ruth is a picture of those believers.
Pastor Josh
Boaz is a picture of Jesus Christ extending his grace and love to us as the groom.
Pastor Josh
And we, the church, are the bride.
Pastor Josh
And that's an important thing to think about when it comes to our christian life.
Pastor Josh
That picture of the Lord being the bridegroom, we being the bride, and how he's coming back for us one day.
Pastor Josh
If you know the picture of, of marriage back in the Bible times, it wasn't the type of marriage that we have today.
Pastor Josh
I mean, it's similar in the concept of they would get married and there would be that covenant union, but there was something called the betrothal period back then that is different than what we do today.
Pastor Josh
We have in most cases, not everyone is like this, but there is usually a time in marriages today where there's an engagement period.
Pastor Josh
I know Alicia and I, we had a year long engagement.
Pastor Josh
That was the time for the bride to find her dress and to go through all those things.
Pastor Josh
And, you know, I didn't do much in the planning process.
Pastor Josh
I was like, hey, what are we going to eat at the wedding.
Pastor Josh
That was about the only question I had input I had on all that.
Pastor Josh
But back then, what would happen is the groom would make a commitment to his future wife and there would be this betrothal period.
Pastor Josh
So they were essentially linked already, but they had not consummated the marriage.
Pastor Josh
They didn't have that reunion.
Pastor Josh
And at an appointed time, and the bride wouldn't know this, the bridegroom would come back as he was preparing a place for his bride in his father's house.
Pastor Josh
And he would prepare that place.
Pastor Josh
And when he was ready, he would come back and take his bride and take her back.
Pastor Josh
And there would be that consummation.
Pastor Josh
There would be that completion of marriage.
Pastor Josh
And that's the beautiful picture of what's happening for us right now.
Pastor Josh
We are in the betrothal period.
Pastor Josh
We're waiting for our kinsman redeemer to come back.
Pastor Josh
And that's an exciting time.
Pastor Josh
We're longing for that day.
Pastor Josh
We don't know when that day is, but the Bible says for us to be prepared.
Pastor Josh
And even in John, chapter 14, Jesus says, I go to prepare a place for you, and I will come again.
Pastor Josh
And that's exactly the period that we are in right now.
Pastor Josh
So, Ruth, chapter number four, we're going to go to verse number 13.
Pastor Josh
So we've seen Ruth, we've seen Boaz.
Pastor Josh
But there's another individual in this story that's notable, and that is Naomi.
Pastor Josh
Where did Naomi start?
Pastor Josh
Well, Naomi started at the very beginning with.
Pastor Josh
With her husband moving from the land of Israel, specifically Bethlehem, and traveling to the land of Moab because of this famine.
Pastor Josh
And so instead of trusting in God, she and her husband trusted in the land of Moab for their provisions.
Pastor Josh
And obviously, that was a bad decision, and there were consequences.
Pastor Josh
Her husband dies.
Pastor Josh
Eventually her sons die.
Pastor Josh
And Naomi travels back to Bethlehem.
Pastor Josh
And when she travels back to Bethlehem, she is known, or at least she wants to be known not by her name, Naomi, which means blessed.
Pastor Josh
But she wanted to be known as Mara, which meant bitter.
Pastor Josh
And so we know that in the heart of Naomi, there was a sense of bitterness.
Pastor Josh
But through the story, we've seen Naomi's heart change from a heart of bitterness to a heart of being blessed and understanding the perspective of being blessed in the Lord.
Pastor Josh
And so through this marriage of Ruth and Boaz, Naomi is going to be blessed as well.
Pastor Josh
And we're going to study that here this evening.
Pastor Josh
So let's look at verse number 13.
Pastor Josh
We'll start in verse number 13, and we will go down to the end of the chapter, it says, so Boaz took Ruth and she was his wife.
Pastor Josh
Obviously, in this verse here, we see that picture of the culmination of marriage, the time in which this all becomes one.
Pastor Josh
And we know that the Bible speaks of marriage as a union of one flesh, a covenant before God.
Pastor Josh
And we live in a society today that cheapens the definition of marriage.
Pastor Josh
It cheapens the definition of love.
Pastor Josh
Marriage is just an agreement that we have with somebody until they make us upset or they aren't fulfilling what we want to be fulfilled in our life, and then we have the freedom to break that.
Pastor Josh
That's in our society today.
Pastor Josh
But the Bible says that marriage is between one man, one woman for life, one flesh.
Pastor Josh
And so there is that commitment.
Pastor Josh
There is that covenant between each other and before God.
Pastor Josh
And so it says here, so Boaz took Ruth and she was his wife.
Pastor Josh
And when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception and she bear a son.
Pastor Josh
And so we see here, in this case, there is a gift given to them, and that is the gift of marriage, but also the gift of a child.
Pastor Josh
And that would be a great story in and of itself.
Pastor Josh
But we know that there is significance to this child because this child is going to have a child, and that child is going to have a child.
Pastor Josh
And we're going to ultimately see that the line of the Messiah comes through the line of Boaz and Ruth.
Pastor Josh
What an amazing blessing that is for a woman who was not born in Israel, was not of that heritage, but yet she was used by God to be part of the line of the Messiah.
Pastor Josh
And we know that there are others that could be mentioned about that.
Pastor Josh
And if we had more time, we could go through the whole genealogy.
Pastor Josh
But what I will say here in this case, in verse number 13 is we see God's hand and his blessing upon the life of Boaz and Ruth for their faithfulness.
Pastor Josh
And we see, obviously, God's providential plan working in the lives of individuals who didn't know that they were being used by God.
Pastor Josh
And so we certainly don't believe in determinism when it comes to God forcing everyone to do something.
Pastor Josh
But we do know that God has his providential hand upon our lives.
Pastor Josh
And so if God wants something to happen, he will ordain that to happen.
Pastor Josh
And God ordains this to happen and uses the obedience of Ruth and Boaz in this case.
Pastor Josh
So verse 14.
Pastor Josh
And the women said unto Naomi.
Pastor Josh
So we see the women of Bethlehem referencing Naomi here, and they say, blessed be the Lord.
Pastor Josh
So this is Naomi's testimony.
Pastor Josh
Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.
Pastor Josh
Naomi went from a place of saying, God has turned his back on me.
Pastor Josh
God has forgotten me.
Pastor Josh
God has given me all this pain, and he's given me all this suffering.
Pastor Josh
Now her testimony is no longer bitterness.
Pastor Josh
It's now the testimony of a God who cares for her, a God who has not left her alone.
Pastor Josh
And this reminds me of that passage of scripture in Hebrews, chapter 13.
Pastor Josh
That God will not leave us nor forsake us.
Pastor Josh
Naomi was never forgotten about.
Pastor Josh
Even in her unfaithfulness, God was still faithful to her.
Pastor Josh
And God rewarded her for her humility.
Pastor Josh
God rewarded her for her obedience.
Pastor Josh
And ultimately, we see here that the testimony now of Naomi's life is that she is blessed and that she was not forgotten.
Pastor Josh
And I want you to know here this evening that God is not going to forget about you, regardless of your issues, regardless of your struggles.
Pastor Josh
Now, he doesn't condone our sin.
Pastor Josh
He doesn't want us and celebrate in our sin and say, you know what?
Pastor Josh
I'm glad that you're unfaithful.
Pastor Josh
But yet God still loves us as a loving father loves his child.
Pastor Josh
I was having a conversation with someone recently.
Pastor Josh
I said, you know how much you love your children?
Pastor Josh
You know how much that even when they frustrate you, even when they do things that you don't agree with, you still love them.
Pastor Josh
A good parent still loves their child, even if they don't agree with what they're doing.
Pastor Josh
And I say, that's how God loves us.
Pastor Josh
If we are his child, truly his child, if we've trusted in him, in faith, God loves us.
Pastor Josh
Even in our stumbles now, he doesn't condone us.
Pastor Josh
He wants us to get back up.
Pastor Josh
If I love my child, I don't want them to stay in their sin, but I still love them.
Pastor Josh
And so God's love was there with Naomi through the ups and the downs.
Pastor Josh
But ultimately, he was pulling her back to that fellowship with him.
Pastor Josh
And so God did not leave them without a kinsman.
Pastor Josh
And I can tell you here this evening that God does not leave you without a kinsman.
Pastor Josh
If you've come to Jesus Christ in faith, you have a kinsman redeemer.
Pastor Josh
You have one who was there with you in the midst of your struggles, in the midst of your doubts, in the midst of your pain, in the midst of your loss.
Pastor Josh
And Naomi was one who had a lot of loss, had a lot of pain, even though some of that was brought upon her life, by her own decisions, God still dealt with that pain and suffering and provided for her.
Pastor Josh
And I will let you know that God is a provider.
Pastor Josh
One of my favorite names of God is Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides.
Pastor Josh
And God provides for us what we need in our lives.
Pastor Josh
Sometimes he doesn't provide what we want, but he provides what we need.
Pastor Josh
And so what we can see here is that God provides for Naomi, God provides for Ruth, God provides for boaz.
Pastor Josh
And it says, verse 15, and he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life.
Pastor Josh
We can see here that the testimony of Naomi's life is that God restored her back to where she was before, probably definitely better than she was before.
Pastor Josh
And I can tell you here tonight that God is a restorer.
Pastor Josh
He can restore broken relationships.
Pastor Josh
He can restore broken hearts.
Pastor Josh
He can restore us in the midst of loss.
Pastor Josh
I can tell you a lot of times people will say, you know what?
Pastor Josh
Time heals.
Pastor Josh
And I can tell you there are people in my life that have passed on, and I'll never get over it.
Pastor Josh
Right?
Pastor Josh
We never get over something.
Pastor Josh
But what God does is he restores us.
Pastor Josh
He fills us with other blessings in our life and allows us to see the goodness in his kindness and his love towards us.
Pastor Josh
Says, and he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life.
Pastor Josh
And so God is one who restores us.
Pastor Josh
And so we go back to verse number 14.
Pastor Josh
I want you to see a couple things about the Lord here.
Pastor Josh
He is one who does not forsake us.
Pastor Josh
He always remembers us in the midst of our pain.
Pastor Josh
But then we see verse 15.
Pastor Josh
He is a restorer of life.
Pastor Josh
So he remembers us.
Pastor Josh
He restores us.
Pastor Josh
You know, it's so fitting.
Pastor Josh
I believe that we see the difference in Naomi, because I think the difference in Naomi's life is the difference that we can have in our own life.
Pastor Josh
We can come to Christ, but yet there are going to be times in our life, in our christian walk, that we are going to feel like we're down, we are going to feel like we're defeated.
Pastor Josh
We are going to feel broken.
Pastor Josh
But we see that God is a restorer of life.
Pastor Josh
And then we see here in verse 15 that he's a nourisher, a nourisher of thine old age.
Pastor Josh
God nourishes us.
Pastor Josh
What a beautiful picture that is.
Pastor Josh
What a beautiful picture it is that God restores us and nourishes us.
Pastor Josh
And this is an awesome demonstration of what God can do through one broken person who gets right with him.
Pastor Josh
Folks, if we are taking a breath.
Pastor Josh
It's never too late to get right with him.
Pastor Josh
It's never too late to get restored back to fellowship with him.
Pastor Josh
I know so many people that say, you know, I've been out of church for so long.
Pastor Josh
I've gotten away from him so far.
Pastor Josh
I've gotten away from reading his word.
Pastor Josh
I've gotten away from loving my worship for him and desiring to be with him and to stay with him.
Pastor Josh
But you know what?
Pastor Josh
It's not too late.
Pastor Josh
The Bible says that he can restore us, he can renew us.
Pastor Josh
That's the heart of revival.
Pastor Josh
And God wants us to go back to that place of humility in our life so that we can be revived in our spirit.
Pastor Josh
You know, a lot of times, we, at least me, I can blame Naomi early on, and Ruth, like, come on, why Naomi?
Pastor Josh
Why would you doubt God?
Pastor Josh
But we can understand her heart, because sometimes we doubt God.
Pastor Josh
But we should learn from those instances.
Pastor Josh
We should learn that God's plan is perfect and filled with love.
Pastor Josh
And even though sometimes we can't figure out what he's doing and sometimes we might be desperate, we have to go back in faith and say, lord, I trust you because of your goodness.
Pastor Josh
And we can even claim that passage of scripture in romans 828.
Pastor Josh
And we know that all things, all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.
Pastor Josh
You say, explain that to me.
Pastor Josh
How can this pain right now be good?
Pastor Josh
I can't explain that to you.
Pastor Josh
That's above my pay grade.
Pastor Josh
But what I can say is that I know what scripture says, and I know that God will work things out for our good.
Pastor Josh
That's what it says right there.
Pastor Josh
Now you would say, well, you know what?
Pastor Josh
I can't see how this is good.
Pastor Josh
I can't understand this pain right now.
Pastor Josh
And I would tell you I understand that.
Pastor Josh
But what I can say is that God is a healer, God is a restorer.
Pastor Josh
God is a nourisher.
Pastor Josh
It could be on this side of heaven, or it could be when we see him face to face.
Pastor Josh
You know, a lot of times we pray for healing for folks, and many times, God answers that prayer.
Pastor Josh
But sometimes God does not answer that prayer.
Pastor Josh
And we say, how could he not heal?
Pastor Josh
Well, let me tell you, if it's a child of God, if the individual you're praying for is a child of God and God allows them to go home with him, he's healing them better than he could heal them here on this side of heaven, because now they're restored.
Pastor Josh
When Paul understood what heaven was like.
Pastor Josh
Remember his conflict there.
Pastor Josh
Paul says, you know, I'm torn because I want to go be with him.
Pastor Josh
But I know that God has a plan for me now.
Pastor Josh
And I think the more we understand of the goodness of God, the more we understand what it means to be in his presence, the more we.
Pastor Josh
We will see that what he does, no matter if he heals or not heals, he's ultimately a healer.
Pastor Josh
He's ultimately a nourisher.
Pastor Josh
He's a restorer of life.
Pastor Josh
And so he says here, a nourisher of thine old age for thy daughter in law which loveth thee.
Pastor Josh
Hey, there's a blessing right there that she has a daughter in law that loves her.
Pastor Josh
She has a family that cares about her.
Pastor Josh
You know?
Pastor Josh
And I will tell you, one of the marks of an individual when it comes to their life, and the blessings in their life is, do they have a support staff?
Pastor Josh
Do they have a family that loves them?
Pastor Josh
That's a blessing in itself.
Pastor Josh
You know, I've seen individuals go through struggles, and they have no one here that is there to support them.
Pastor Josh
But what we see here is Naomi was not left alone.
Pastor Josh
Through the midst of all of that, through that midst of loss, God still provided for her a companion there in Ruth as her daughter in law, a daughter in law which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons hath borne him.
Pastor Josh
And so it puts it into perspective here, and that is perspective of gratitude, folks.
Pastor Josh
When we understand that God is a God who doesn't forget about us, when we understand that God is a restorer of life, when we understand that God is a nourisher, we have then the perspective of gratitude.
Pastor Josh
And we thank the Lord for what we do have.
Pastor Josh
We thank the Lord for those gifts that we can see in our life.
Pastor Josh
But when our eyes are not fixed on his goodness, what do we do?
Pastor Josh
We focus on the negative.
Pastor Josh
When we focus on the things that we don't have.
Pastor Josh
And that's where Naomi was at the very beginning.
Pastor Josh
I don't have a husband.
Pastor Josh
I don't have sons.
Pastor Josh
That was all taken away from me.
Pastor Josh
Instead, now she's able to see what she does have in a relationship with God.
Pastor Josh
You know, I can sit here all day and tell you things I don't have and skills that I would love to obtain and all these different things.
Pastor Josh
What I could do is tell you all the reasons why I'm upset and why I could be bitter, or I could flip it around the other way and say, you know what?
Pastor Josh
My God has to provide all of my needs.
Pastor Josh
My God has given me everything in my life.
Pastor Josh
Every good gift comes from goddess.
Pastor Josh
I was talking to a brother this morning, and sometimes as pastors, it's good to talk to other pastors.
Pastor Josh
And I was talking to another pastor, and I said, I just had a realization this morning how blessed that I am in grace, that God has given me an opportunity to serve him.
Pastor Josh
And I know that that's a spiritual platitude that we say all the time like God's graced me.
Pastor Josh
But I'm going to tell you, it's overwhelming.
Pastor Josh
Sometimes we think that God has given me so many chances, and I have failed him so many times, but yet he still offers us grace, and he still offers us the opportunity to serve him.
Pastor Josh
That is an exciting thing.
Pastor Josh
And so we see Naomi used by God and blessed by God with her attitude of gratitude.
Pastor Josh
And it says here.
Pastor Josh
And Naomi took the child and laid it in her bosom and became a nurse unto it.
Pastor Josh
So God obviously allowed for her sons to be taken from her.
Pastor Josh
But now we see that this grandson is restored to her, and we see that Naomi now has this blessing.
Pastor Josh
And this is an exciting opportunity to see God still caring for Naomi and providing a way for her to have this peace and rest and comfort.
Pastor Josh
And God is a comforter.
Pastor Josh
Second Corinthians, chapter one, says that God is the God of all comfort.
Pastor Josh
And comfort comes in different ways and at different times.
Pastor Josh
Some of you have heard me give the story before of when I had a kidney stone.
Pastor Josh
And some of you that have had a kidney stone can relate to this.
Pastor Josh
Orlando, maybe you've had another pain that was just unbearable.
Pastor Josh
Okay.
Pastor Josh
I remember I had that kidney stone.
Pastor Josh
It was hurting really bad.
Pastor Josh
I went into the.
Pastor Josh
My dad.
Pastor Josh
It was ironic, because my dad had just had a kidney stone about a week or two before.
Pastor Josh
So he went to the emergency room.
Pastor Josh
They immediately.
Pastor Josh
They were like, oh, sorry, sir.
Pastor Josh
You know, we're sorry for your pain.
Pastor Josh
We're gonna give you the medicine.
Pastor Josh
He said within, like, ten to 15 minutes, he was already on the medicine.
Pastor Josh
He felt better, and they addressed it.
Pastor Josh
It was overdeveloped.
Pastor Josh
Yeah, that wasn't my story.
Pastor Josh
Okay.
Pastor Josh
I was in the emergency room for, like, two to 3 hours, and they.
Pastor Josh
I still hadn't been called back.
Pastor Josh
And I'm sitting there in the.
Pastor Josh
In the emergency room going, you know, what?
Pastor Josh
What's going on?
Pastor Josh
I was writhing in pain, and I told Alicia, I said, I think I'm gonna pass out.
Pastor Josh
And she's like, well, then just pass out.
Pastor Josh
Because if you pass out, maybe they'll take you back.
Pastor Josh
So I'm, like, trying to pass out.
Pastor Josh
I'm like, okay, what's going on?
Pastor Josh
And I was in a lot of pain.
Pastor Josh
And so then they take me back.
Pastor Josh
They go, you know, mister Masaru, come on back.
Pastor Josh
What seems to be the problem?
Pastor Josh
I said, my side feels like someone just stabbed me.
Pastor Josh
I feel like I'm about to explode.
Pastor Josh
I said, I think it's a kidney stone.
Pastor Josh
They said, okay, okay, well, sit over here and wait.
Pastor Josh
So now I'm in a secondary waiting room, and I'm like, what is this?
Pastor Josh
I was like, I thought I was back, so I thought.
Pastor Josh
And so there was just that waiting and that excruciating pain.
Pastor Josh
And then eventually, eventually.
Pastor Josh
So then Alicia had to leave.
Pastor Josh
Micah was a baby at this point.
Pastor Josh
It was getting late, so Alicia was like, I got to go.
Pastor Josh
I got to take care because my parents were there.
Pastor Josh
I.
Pastor Josh
So my mom's like, I'll wait with you.
Pastor Josh
So my mom waits with me there, and eventually they get me back.
Pastor Josh
This is.
Pastor Josh
I don't know how it felt.
Pastor Josh
Like six or 7 hours.
Pastor Josh
I don't know if it was that long.
Pastor Josh
I'll have to confirm that story tonight with my parents.
Pastor Josh
But I finally got back, and they put an iv in my arm, and they put that medicine in.
Pastor Josh
And, I mean, I'm telling you, it was, like, immediate.
Pastor Josh
I was like, oh, it went away.
Pastor Josh
The pain's gone.
Pastor Josh
And I remember looking at my mom and going, why am I here?
Pastor Josh
I feel like it's fine right now.
Pastor Josh
And she's like, son, you were just writhing in pain over here.
Pastor Josh
And so immediately when that comfort came, I forgot about that problem.
Pastor Josh
I'm like, what am I?
Pastor Josh
What's.
Pastor Josh
Why was I complaining?
Pastor Josh
Now, I know that that comfort was temporary, okay?
Pastor Josh
But that's sometimes how it is with the Lord, right?
Pastor Josh
He brings that comfort into our lives.
Pastor Josh
And then we say, well, why was I stressed about that in the first place?
Pastor Josh
He took care of that for me.
Pastor Josh
And it seems like we have short memories.
Pastor Josh
We forget about how God got us through this struggle and this struggle, and now we're in that pain again, and we're going, oh, come on, God, why is it not happening now?
Pastor Josh
Well, in his time, in his way, he will comfort us.
Pastor Josh
He is the God of all comfort.
Pastor Josh
And sometimes we go through those struggles, or at least he allows us to go through those struggles so that we can learn something, so that we can grow in our faith, so that we can grow in our trust in him.
Pastor Josh
And sometimes that is a painful process.
Pastor Josh
Sometimes growing is painful.
Pastor Josh
Sometimes learning a lesson is painful.
Pastor Josh
The Bible says that that is necessary.
Pastor Josh
Romans chapter five tells us that it's necessary to go through those tribulations so that we can get to a place of hope at the end.
Pastor Josh
It's patience, experience, hope.
Pastor Josh
And that's what we see here in this passage of scripture.
Pastor Josh
Naomi gets the comfort, verse 17.
Pastor Josh
And the women, her neighbors, gave it a name, saying, there is a son born to Naomi, and they called his name Obedient.
Pastor Josh
He is the father of Jesse.
Pastor Josh
That name should sound familiar to you because we see in that next phrase the father of David.
Pastor Josh
And so we get to see the line of the messiah through Ruth and Boaz, through Obed, through Jesse, and through David.
Pastor Josh
And so Ruth and Boaz are the great grandparents of David, the king of Israel.
Pastor Josh
And we know that Jesus comes from the line of David.
Pastor Josh
And so the son of Ruth and Boaz was named Obed.
Pastor Josh
He was the son of Jesse.
Pastor Josh
And what an amazing, or, excuse me, the father of Jesse, and then ultimately the grandfather of David.
Pastor Josh
So Naomi's return to Bethlehem way back at the very beginning, and the roots of David in Bethlehem going back to Ruth and Boaz are why Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem back in Luke, chapter two.
Pastor Josh
If you know, that story went back to be taxed, and it was actually like a census.
Pastor Josh
And so Ruth and Boaz are the reasons why Jesus was born in Bethlehem, right?
Pastor Josh
Or just one of the many reasons.
Pastor Josh
Ultimately, it was God's plan.
Pastor Josh
And we know that that's a fulfillment of prophecy, and we know that all of this comes together.
Pastor Josh
And that's one of the ways that we can see in scripture how God's plan is woven throughout all of scripture.
Pastor Josh
And that's an amazing thing to see.
Pastor Josh
Verse 18.
Pastor Josh
Now, these are the generations of Phares.
Pastor Josh
Phares begat Hezron, and Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Abinadab, and Abinadab begat Nashon, and Nashon begat Salmon, and Salman begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obad, and obad begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.
Pastor Josh
Now, you say, why is there.
Pastor Josh
I don't like genealogies.
Pastor Josh
Well, you should like genealogies.
Pastor Josh
Genealogies are really cool, because the reason why it's there for a reason.
Pastor Josh
Anytime the Bible puts something.
Pastor Josh
Anytime you see something in scripture, the reason it's there is it's for something for us to know, and genealogies are there to show us that path and to show us that line.
Pastor Josh
And specifically in this case, the line of Jesus.
Pastor Josh
And so what can we take with us with the story of Ruth?
Pastor Josh
Well, there's a lot of things that we can take with us, but the biggest picture that I think we can take with us in our life is that picture of the kinsman Redeemer.
Pastor Josh
You, as a Christian today, have a kinsman redeemer.
Pastor Josh
If you trust in Jesus Christ as your savior, he is your kinsman redeemer.
Pastor Josh
He bought you with a price.
Pastor Josh
The Bible says that we are bought with a price.
Pastor Josh
We are redeemed by his blood.
Pastor Josh
We are redeemed by his love.
Pastor Josh
And it wasn't free for us.
Pastor Josh
Or excuse me, it was free for us.
Pastor Josh
It wasn't free for him.
Pastor Josh
He paid a price for us.
Pastor Josh
And so the kinsman Redeemer had the duty of buying the family members out of slavery.
Pastor Josh
And Jesus redeemed us from slavery and from death and from sin.
Pastor Josh
And he brings us to salvation.
Pastor Josh
He brings us to everlasting life.
Pastor Josh
So Boaz, as the kinsman Redeemer to Ruth, wasn't motivated by self interest, but he was motivated by selfless love, agape love.
Pastor Josh
And so God, through his love for us, the Bible says, sent his only begotten son.
Pastor Josh
And Jesus proved his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, he died for us.
Pastor Josh
So the kinsman Redeemer is motivated by love, true love.
Pastor Josh
And so Boaz, as the kinsman Redeemer to Ruth, had a plan to redeem Ruth unto himself.
Pastor Josh
And there were challenges along the way.
Pastor Josh
And Jesus had a plan, and some might think even some challenges along the way.
Pastor Josh
But ultimately, we know that God's plan was played out through Jesus Christ and through his redeeming work on the cross for us.
Pastor Josh
And so we are just like Ruth.
Pastor Josh
We are the bride of Christ.
Pastor Josh
The Bible says that in Ephesians, chapter five.
Pastor Josh
The Bible says in ephesians 531 and 32, for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh.
Pastor Josh
This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Pastor Josh
And so what we really see is that marriage is a picture of Christ in the church.
Pastor Josh
And so the way that we live our lives as married couples actually demonstrates to the world the relationship that Christ has with the church.
Pastor Josh
It's a really interesting study, if you think about marriage in that perspective.
Pastor Josh
It changes the way that we see marriage, and it will change the way that people will see what it means to love a spouse.
Pastor Josh
And so what we see is that husbands, the responsibility for us, is to love our wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it.
Pastor Josh
Sacrificial.
Pastor Josh
Right.
Pastor Josh
We know that, and we know what the wife's role is.
Pastor Josh
The wife, it says there in Ephesians, to submit to her husband and to understand what that is.
Pastor Josh
And so that's the understanding of the church submitting to Jesus Christ.
Pastor Josh
Now, I know that that can be somewhat offensive to certain people in our society today, but the Bible clearly says that there are roles within the marriage equal in value, if you want to study that out.
Pastor Josh
In one Peter, one Peter talks about how we're joint heirs together in the grace of God.
Pastor Josh
Isn't that the husband's better than the wife?
Pastor Josh
It's not that he has more wisdom or more power.
Pastor Josh
It just talks about how we're different in our roles.
Pastor Josh
Distinct in our roles, but equal in value in the eyes of goddesse.
Pastor Josh
And so there is a beautiful picture of Ruth and Boaz's love, and that's a beautiful picture of the love that God has for us as his church.
Pastor Josh
And it also can be applied to the way that we are to live our lives in our marriages within the church as well.
Pastor Josh
But it all comes back to that kinsman Redeemer.
Pastor Josh
It all comes back to that understanding of forgiveness and love and sacrifice.
Pastor Josh
And so Boaz was willing to do anything for his bride, and God is willing to do anything for us and even give his life for us.
Pastor Josh
You know, I love the picture in Isaiah 54.
Pastor Josh
Isaiah 54, verses four through eight, kind of speak of this kinsman redeemer and what this is all about.
Pastor Josh
And I think it would do us well to look at that passage.
Pastor Josh
So if you would like to turn there with me, Isaiah 54.
Pastor Josh
And we'll start in verses four through eight.
Pastor Josh
And I think that through this we can see who Christ is, what he has done, what he continues to do as our kinsman Redeemer.
Pastor Josh
And so it starts in Isaiah 54 four.
Pastor Josh
It says, fear not.
Pastor Josh
And I love how that is mentioned so often in scripture.
Pastor Josh
Specifically dealing with our relationship with Goddesse prefaces things that he talks to us about when it comes to our struggles with fear not, we see that over and over again.
Pastor Josh
So fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed, neither be thou confounded, for thou shalt not be put to shame, for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth.
Pastor Josh
Isn't that exciting, that in our forgiveness, the way.
Pastor Josh
I don't know about you, but I have a lot of things that I did in my youth that I'm ashamed of.
Pastor Josh
I would not if they followed me around with the camera when I was a child and a teenager.
Pastor Josh
And they played it for you.
Pastor Josh
Now I would just be so ashamed.
Pastor Josh
Okay.
Pastor Josh
All my mistakes and all my problems.
Pastor Josh
But the Bible says that in our forgiveness that we are not defined by the shame of our youth and shall not remember the reproach of thy widow would anymore.
Pastor Josh
For the maker.
Pastor Josh
For thy maker is thine husband.
Pastor Josh
The Lord of hosts is his name, and thy redeemer, the holy one of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall he be called.
Pastor Josh
For.
Pastor Josh
The Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth when thou wast refused, saith thy goddess.
Pastor Josh
For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee in a little wrath.
Pastor Josh
I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.
Pastor Josh
And so I think that's just one of the many beautiful pictures in scripture that speak to how God takes us out of that life of brokenness.
Pastor Josh
And though we might feel forgotten about for a time, we will be restored and renewed.
Pastor Josh
And so I want you to think about the end of ruthen.
Pastor Josh
What does it say there that God doesn't forget about us.
Pastor Josh
He restores us, he nourishes us, and he provides that blessing of forgiveness in our life.
Pastor Josh
And so that is the story of Ruth.
Pastor Josh
I always used to think that Ruth was just a story of Boaz and Ruth and getting married, and that's love.
Pastor Josh
And it is a great love story.
Pastor Josh
It's a beautiful love story.
Pastor Josh
But any love story in scripture points to a relationship that God has for us.
Pastor Josh
And so you have the story of Boaz and Ruth.
Pastor Josh
You have the story of.
Pastor Josh
And there's other stories of love, and not always as pretty.
Pastor Josh
You have the story of Hosea.
Pastor Josh
You ever heard the story of Hosea?
Pastor Josh
That's a whole other story of how God's love is, and that's a different aspect of God's love.
Pastor Josh
And that speaks of more of God's love in the midst of our unfaithfulness and the struggle with that.
Pastor Josh
So we conclude the book of Ruth.
Pastor Josh
And I hope it's been a good study for you.
Pastor Josh
I hope it's been challenging.
Pastor Josh
I hope it's been at least somewhat convicting, hopefully encouraging to know that you have a kinsman Redeemer.
Pastor Josh
And if that's something that you have questions about, if that's something that you might say.
Pastor Josh
I never really understood it that way.
Pastor Josh
I've always just understood it to be that I'm trying really hard in my life, and I hope God shines his light upon me one day.
Pastor Josh
Folks, that's a misunderstanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Pastor Josh
I gotta tell you this, and this is something that I think is one of my life's messages, is we cannot work our way to heaven.
Pastor Josh
We cannot be good enough.
Pastor Josh
It's just not realistic.
Pastor Josh
We cannot be good enough to meet the standard of God.
Pastor Josh
Now, it doesn't mean that we stop striving.
Pastor Josh
It doesn't mean that we stop trying to serve him, stop trying to love him.
Pastor Josh
But that's not the reason why we love him.
Pastor Josh
We don't love him so that he'll bring us to heaven one day.
Pastor Josh
He brings us to heaven one day when we trust in what he has done for us.
Pastor Josh
And the good works are just stemming out of that.
Pastor Josh
True faith works don't save us, but true faith does produce that work in our lives.
Pastor Josh
Not perfect, but the Bible does say that that true faith has a change in our life.
Pastor Josh
And just as Naomi changed, just as Ruth was changed from a lady in idolatry, in paganism, to a life of being part of the line of the Messiah, so we can be part of that.
Pastor Josh
I don't know what your past is.
Pastor Josh
I mean, you hear stories about people that were saved at five years old, and that's great.
Pastor Josh
That's a wonderful story, because I think that when we see testimonies of people getting saved at a young age, that's a picture of God's protection from that person seeing the effects of sin in their life.
Pastor Josh
And that's exciting.
Pastor Josh
And we celebrate those just as much as we celebrate those people that were saved out of a life of violence and a life of addiction.
Pastor Josh
That's a miracle in and of itself.
Pastor Josh
Salvation is a miracle no matter what that person was doing prior to salvation.
Pastor Josh
Because the Bible says that all of us, whether we were five years old in a kindergarten classroom or we were in the middle of prison, we are all enemies of God before we come to him.
Pastor Josh
And as we come to him in faith, and as he extends that grace to us, we are all blessings.
Pastor Josh
We are all blessed by the miracle of God's grace.
Pastor Josh
And so I want you to think about salvation that way.
Pastor Josh
Salvation is not just, hey, it's my ticket.
Pastor Josh
Like, I go to the golf club or the YMCA.
Pastor Josh
I signed up on a line, and now I'm part of the club.
Pastor Josh
That's not what salvation is.
Pastor Josh
Salvation is a miracle given to us out of grace and mercy, something that we did not deserve, but yet we still get the blessings of it.
Pastor Josh
And that is an awesome, awesome thing.
Pastor Josh
Well, so many people have been asking me, where are we going after Ruth?
Pastor Josh
We were in Genesis for a long time, and we went to Ruth.
Pastor Josh
Where are we going now?
Pastor Josh
Well, I want to kind of whet your appetite for where we're going in the future.
Pastor Josh
Okay.
Pastor Josh
And I don't know if you guys have seen a theme, but on Wednesday nights, we have been really spending a lot of time in the old Testament, and we will continue that theme in the old Testament here for a while.
Pastor Josh
And I think it's so important to see the full scope of scripture.
Pastor Josh
And so one of the things that I was really doing was I was reading through the Old Testament, and I was really praying hard about where we would go next.
Pastor Josh
I hope that you know that I don't just go like this.
Pastor Josh
Okay.
Pastor Josh
I think some people think that maybe I just do this.
Pastor Josh
I just skimmed through the old.
Pastor Josh
All right, we're going to preach on this.
Pastor Josh
No, this.
Pastor Josh
I spend a lot of time praying about where God would have us to go next.
Pastor Josh
And I really felt pulled to the Old Testament and specifically the book of Zephaniah.
Pastor Josh
And I don't know if any of you have studied the book of Zephaniah.
Pastor Josh
It's a very short book of the Bible, three chapters, but there is a lot there.
Pastor Josh
So I just want to give you kind of a.
Pastor Josh
Because some of you might have just heard Zephaniah and said, okay, I won't be coming back till after that.
Pastor Josh
That sounds like a no.
Pastor Josh
Zephaniah is an exciting book of the Bible.
Pastor Josh
It speaks of God's judgment upon those who rebel against him, and it also speaks of God's forgiveness and grace to those who come back to him in humility and forgiveness.
Pastor Josh
And I really, as I was reading through the book of Zephaniah, I saw this.
Pastor Josh
I said, you know what?
Pastor Josh
You could transplant Zephaniah's message to a pulpit today in America, and it would be perfectly applicable because he talks about idolatry.
Pastor Josh
You say, well, we don't have any idolatry in America, folks.
Pastor Josh
We're plagued by idolatry.
Pastor Josh
Plagued by it.
Pastor Josh
And God hates idolatry.
Pastor Josh
Idolatry is putting anything before the Lord.
Pastor Josh
We have a lot of people that are putting things before the Lord these days.
Pastor Josh
So idolatry, another aspect that he deals with is complacency.
Pastor Josh
There is a phrase in the book of Zephaniah where basically the people are like, we don't really care what God does.
Pastor Josh
We're going to do our own thing, and God's just going to do his thing, and we'll just do our, you know, he does his thing, we do our thing, and we're all just going to be happy.
Pastor Josh
Very, very complacent about what God's work is going to be done.
Pastor Josh
That's what we see in America today.
Pastor Josh
We see a lot of people that they might believe that there's a God up there.
Pastor Josh
They might even believe that he's a good God.
Pastor Josh
But, you know, don't get involved in my life.
Pastor Josh
My life is the way that it is.
Pastor Josh
And so we're going to talk about how we deal with spiritual complacency within the church and without.
Pastor Josh
And really, we're going to see the goodness of God's judgment and the importance of knowing that God is a righteous judge, but also he's a gracious, forgiving Lord that's willing to have us come back to him.
Pastor Josh
And that's what the book of Zephaniah is all about.
Pastor Josh
So we're going to go through it very, very slowly.
Pastor Josh
It's three chapters.
Pastor Josh
Might take us, I don't know, a couple months, I don't know, maybe a couple weeks.
Pastor Josh
We'll see, see how it goes, see how good of a listeners you are.
Pastor Josh
But I appreciate you being here through this study.
Pastor Josh
And I mean this, by the way.
Pastor Josh
If there is a study that you are, you're like, I've been always dying to hear a study on this passage, or even a topic for that matter.
Pastor Josh
I'm always open to suggestions.
Pastor Josh
I'm not gonna say that I will take your suggestion, but I will say I'm always open to hear people's thoughts and say, you know what?
Pastor Josh
Can you please preach on this?
Pastor Josh
Now, as you well know, I'm not always inclined just to preach about just whims and opinions and things like that.
Pastor Josh
But if there's a passage of scripture or topic that you'd like to talk about, we might not be able to bring it up within, like, a corporate setting, but it might be something that we're able to do on a smaller setting in a different way.
Pastor Josh
Some of you know that we have a podcast at the church, and I'm really looking for ideas and topics to deal with, with individuals because I can tell you what I'm excited about, and I can share with you what I'm thinking about, but it might not be something that you've been thinking about.
Pastor Josh
So if there's a topic.
Pastor Josh
And I know for many of you it might be current events, and I can speak to certain elements of current events today.
Pastor Josh
But, you know, we know that the Bible is written to us.
Pastor Josh
And the Bible says that all scripture is given by inspiration of God as profitable for doctrine, for approved for correction, for instruction and righteousness.
Pastor Josh
And so everything that we need today is found right here.
Pastor Josh
And I would encourage you to rest in that truth here tonight.
Pastor Josh
Well, we're going to go ahead and transition to our prayer time.
Pastor Josh
Appreciate your attention this evening.
Pastor Josh
I never take it for granted that you all are faithfully coming and growing in the Lord.
Pastor Josh
And you know, it's a blessing.
Pastor Josh
It's a blessing to be part of a church that's hungering and thirsting after righteousness.
Pastor Josh
Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast.
Pastor Josh
I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you.
Pastor Josh
If you would like to find out more information about our church or this sermon, you can find us@middletownbaptistchurch.org or find us on Facebook or YouTube.
Pastor Josh
You can also email me directly@joshmissaroiddletownbaptistchurch.com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow along for future podcasts and updates.
Pastor Josh
Thank you so much.
Pastor Josh
God bless.
Pastor Josh
Have a wonderful day.
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