1 00:00:03,360 --> 00:00:06,040 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:09,080 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:13,080 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us, 4 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:17,360 or contact us at my libertybaptist.org, or just look 5 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:19,800 us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,080 message from God's Word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:30,840 Ruth and Chapter #2 in a message that I have entitled It just So 8 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:33,240 Hacked. And while that title doesn't 9 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:36,160 make sense, and, well, several of my titles don't make sense 10 00:00:36,160 --> 00:00:40,120 that I found over the time, but this title will, Lord willing, 11 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:42,760 make sense as we go through and read our text here in just a few 12 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:46,200 moments. This idea of something just so 13 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:52,400 happening, you know, You ever wonder how One seemingly small 14 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:56,180 decision. Seemingly unimportant decision 15 00:00:56,580 --> 00:00:59,260 could change the trajectory of the rest of your life. 16 00:00:59,900 --> 00:01:03,020 How something so small, something so trivial, could end 17 00:01:03,060 --> 00:01:06,540 up literally changing your life forever. 18 00:01:07,020 --> 00:01:10,020 Taking a train at 3:00 o'clock instead of four o'clock. 19 00:01:10,580 --> 00:01:13,700 Buying groceries on Monday night instead of on Wednesday 20 00:01:13,700 --> 00:01:17,140 afternoon. Going to work 15 minutes early 21 00:01:17,180 --> 00:01:21,700 or maybe 15 minutes late. All of these things are 22 00:01:21,700 --> 00:01:23,460 insignificant. They're small. 23 00:01:24,030 --> 00:01:27,710 There wouldn't even seem to be any relevance to them, or that 24 00:01:27,710 --> 00:01:30,230 it would make any difference that you would do one thing 25 00:01:30,230 --> 00:01:33,470 instead of the other. We've all been in situations 26 00:01:33,670 --> 00:01:37,630 like this. But that that one single change, 27 00:01:37,950 --> 00:01:41,430 That one small thought. By the time the day was done, we 28 00:01:41,430 --> 00:01:46,150 thought, wow, I would have missed this event entirely if I 29 00:01:46,150 --> 00:01:51,510 hadn't had this delay, or if I hadn't gone early, or if I 30 00:01:51,510 --> 00:01:54,840 hadn't had this change. Thrust upon me, maybe that I 31 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:57,800 didn't even choose, but that someone chose for me. 32 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:01,080 Well, my day changed. I met someone that I wouldn't 33 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:03,760 have met before. I had a situation occur that 34 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:06,680 wouldn't have happened. Or maybe I was saved from being 35 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:10,479 part of a situation that I could have been, but now I'm not 36 00:02:10,479 --> 00:02:14,600 because of the fact that I was making a different decision in 37 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:17,000 the first place. You know, if you think about it, 38 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,720 it could almost cause you to have a paralysis by analysis. 39 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:23,280 You ever heard that before? Or it almost makes you freeze 40 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:26,120 up. Well, what do I do if my life 41 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:28,800 could change at any moment depending on if I go here, go 42 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:31,120 there, do this, do that. Well, how do I even make a 43 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:33,760 decision in the first place? In my intention tonight in this 44 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:39,280 text is not to cause us to analyze down to the microscopic 45 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:42,120 level, every single decision that we make. 46 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:44,680 But. I want to maybe overall, if I 47 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,680 was to look at the big picture tonight from this text, it will 48 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:50,000 be this. I want us to realize this, that 49 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:55,040 God is at work and even the most seemingly trivial parts of our 50 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:58,960 life. That God in his Providence is at 51 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:02,920 work and even the most seemingly trivial parts of our life. 52 00:03:02,920 --> 00:03:06,520 And I think sometimes we forget that the God of the universe is 53 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:10,380 also the God of the microscopic. The God who does these great 54 00:03:10,380 --> 00:03:13,140 things, and boy, he does great things, doesn't he. 55 00:03:13,580 --> 00:03:17,660 This, this God who does these great things is also the one who 56 00:03:17,660 --> 00:03:21,100 works on the molecular and even the atomic level. 57 00:03:21,620 --> 00:03:25,740 That this God, who does all of these amazing and tremendous 58 00:03:25,740 --> 00:03:29,980 things, also cares about the very minute parts of our life. 59 00:03:30,460 --> 00:03:32,780 And I think that comes through very clearly in our text here 60 00:03:32,780 --> 00:03:34,180 tonight. Would you please stand for the 61 00:03:34,180 --> 00:03:35,580 reading of God's word if you can? 62 00:03:35,860 --> 00:03:38,540 Ruth chapter 2 will read the 1st 3 verses tonight. 63 00:03:38,860 --> 00:03:41,700 Ruth chapter 2, beginning in verse #1. 64 00:03:41,700 --> 00:03:44,460 And then once again, I will not be here next Sunday night or 65 00:03:44,460 --> 00:03:46,700 Sunday morning. But then would Ross be preaching 66 00:03:46,700 --> 00:03:48,700 the word of God next week? And I hope that you'll support 67 00:03:48,700 --> 00:03:50,940 him and the services next Sunday night. 68 00:03:51,540 --> 00:03:55,500 Ruth two verse #1 says this. And Naomi had a kinsman of her 69 00:03:55,500 --> 00:03:58,780 husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of a 70 00:03:58,780 --> 00:04:01,850 Limolek. And his name was Boaz. 71 00:04:02,410 --> 00:04:06,010 And Ruth the moabitest said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the 72 00:04:06,010 --> 00:04:10,290 field, and glean ears of corn after him, in whose side I shall 73 00:04:10,290 --> 00:04:14,290 find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my 74 00:04:14,290 --> 00:04:17,209 daughter. And she went, and came, and 75 00:04:17,209 --> 00:04:21,010 gleaned in the field of the reapers, or after the reapers, 76 00:04:21,570 --> 00:04:23,650 and her hap. You see that word there in our 77 00:04:23,650 --> 00:04:27,850 King James Bible, and her hap that may look interesting to us. 78 00:04:27,850 --> 00:04:29,290 We'll look at that again in a moment. 79 00:04:29,900 --> 00:04:33,740 Her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto 80 00:04:33,740 --> 00:04:37,580 Boaz, who was of the kindred of Limolech. 81 00:04:38,340 --> 00:04:44,340 Now these three verses may seem completely unimportant to the 82 00:04:44,340 --> 00:04:48,740 overall scope of the book of Ruth, but yet what we see in 83 00:04:48,740 --> 00:04:52,140 those three verses with something that just so happed 84 00:04:53,020 --> 00:04:57,220 change the course of Naomi and Ruth. 85 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:05,040 And Boaz and Israel's history forever because of something 86 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:07,720 that just seemed to be mere happenstance. 87 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:12,160 It was God proving that he cared about even the most trivial 88 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:15,000 parts of life. And if he cared about their 89 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:16,440 lives. Could I tell you this tonight? 90 00:05:16,840 --> 00:05:19,600 He cares about yours too. Heavenly Father, be with us 91 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:21,560 tonight as we get into your word bless. 92 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:23,880 We do ask in the way that only you can through your Holy 93 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:25,680 Spirit. And we ask it in the name of 94 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:26,800 Jesus. Amen. 95 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:27,920 Thank you. May be seated. 96 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,880 Chapter 2 tonight begins by introducing a new key character 97 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:36,360 to this love story, a man named Boaz. 98 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:40,160 Now we looked at much length in the first message of this series 99 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:44,440 at what each of the names meant and how each of their names told 100 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:47,240 us a little bit about the person or the character that we were 101 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:49,240 looking at him. Boaz is no exception. 102 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:54,520 Boaz's name means strength is in him, strength is in him, and as 103 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:58,160 we look more at Boaz as the. Kinsman Redeemer will realize 104 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:00,680 that that name is apt in so many ways. 105 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:04,520 In fact, just saying that word, that phrase Kinsman Redeemer. 106 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:08,160 You may have heard me use that phrase in passing before, but 107 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:12,600 yet we see the near kinsman here in our text, right there in 108 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:17,400 verse #1 when it says in Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's a 109 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:20,080 mighty man of wealth. Now we know today that when we 110 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:22,160 use the term kin, we don't use it very often. 111 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:25,280 But when we do use the term kin, it usually means family, doesn't 112 00:06:25,280 --> 00:06:25,960 it? That someone? 113 00:06:26,220 --> 00:06:28,380 Is close kin. That means that they're a close 114 00:06:28,380 --> 00:06:31,380 relative, or even if they're a kindred spirit, it means that we 115 00:06:31,380 --> 00:06:34,020 have something in common, or maybe many things in common that 116 00:06:34,020 --> 00:06:37,700 makes us feel like family, even if we are not family. 117 00:06:37,900 --> 00:06:42,700 Well, Naomi had a kinsman and his name was a Limolek, or 118 00:06:42,700 --> 00:06:46,860 rather a Po has, and he was a kinsman because he was related 119 00:06:46,860 --> 00:06:49,180 to a Limolek. They were near kin. 120 00:06:49,180 --> 00:06:52,540 They were family. Now to us today, to have someone 121 00:06:52,540 --> 00:06:55,320 who's a close relative. Might be something that brings 122 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:57,520 encouragement, It might be something that brings joy, but 123 00:06:57,520 --> 00:06:59,720 it doesn't mean maybe a whole lot else. 124 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:02,200 For instance, on vacation, I'm looking forward to going to see 125 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:06,320 my uncle and my my aunt, my Uncle David and my aunt Shahome. 126 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:11,240 They they are really the only relatives I have left outside of 127 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:14,560 my father other than very far extended family. 128 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:16,760 That's kind of one of the things about being an only child. 129 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:20,800 And so because of that, we're going to get to see my Uncle 130 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:23,960 David and my Aunt Shahone. I'm glad to be able to see them. 131 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:27,840 But you know, legally, although we do have a close relationship 132 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:30,960 in the fact that we love one another, legally there's no kind 133 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:33,480 of requirement that they are supposed to take care of us if 134 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:36,000 something happens to us or or vice versa. 135 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,200 There is none of that. But understand that when we're 136 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:41,960 looking here in Ruth Chapter 2 or we're looking in Israel and 137 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:44,920 we're looking at the Old Testament law, that there were 138 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:48,760 requirements for family to be able to take care of one another 139 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:51,520 in the instance that something happened to. 140 00:07:52,170 --> 00:07:56,850 Your kin, and particularly in a situation where the father had 141 00:07:56,850 --> 00:08:00,890 died, the husband had died. If there was a near kinsman, it 142 00:08:00,890 --> 00:08:04,410 was his responsibility to take care of the family, and in many 143 00:08:04,410 --> 00:08:07,410 times to actually take up the name of the family and to 144 00:08:07,410 --> 00:08:11,330 continue it on in that way. He was a relative of a lemon 145 00:08:11,330 --> 00:08:16,290 lec, and it said in verse number one that he was a mighty man of 146 00:08:16,330 --> 00:08:19,480 great wealth. I think this is important one, 147 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:22,400 because, well, wealth does mean finances. 148 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:25,360 And certainly he was a man who had great means. 149 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,160 He owned a field and he had servants who worked for him, and 150 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:31,520 he was a kind master to his servants. 151 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:34,000 He took care of them. I think that's very obvious as 152 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:35,600 you see how he took care of Ruth. 153 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:39,120 But I also see that if you were to look into the Hebrew and you 154 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:42,960 look at the connotation of that word, wealth, it doesn't just 155 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:45,440 mean he was a mighty man of financial means. 156 00:08:45,770 --> 00:08:50,850 He was also a man of honor and virtue that that term, mighty 157 00:08:50,850 --> 00:08:53,450 man of wealth is not just finances, although certainly 158 00:08:53,570 --> 00:08:55,610 that's clear from the context of what he we mean. 159 00:08:55,770 --> 00:08:59,210 This is an honorable man. This is a virtuous man. 160 00:08:59,210 --> 00:09:02,010 This is a good man. In fact, it's a man whose 161 00:09:02,010 --> 00:09:04,000 strength is in him. Why? 162 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:05,840 His name is Boaz in the 1st place. 163 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:10,360 He is a mighty man of wealth. He was a man of great virtue, 164 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:13,360 great honor, and yes, even financial means. 165 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:16,400 You know, it's one thing for Ruth to make her life changing 166 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:19,880 declaration in chapter #1. I'll go where you go. 167 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:23,200 Your people will be my people and your God will be my God. 168 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:25,840 But guess what happened? Now she's in Bethlehem. 169 00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:28,800 Now she's here. And now they're hungry. 170 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:31,560 They have no food. They have no means. 171 00:09:31,560 --> 00:09:35,310 Something has to be done. How are they going to make this 172 00:09:35,310 --> 00:09:37,630 work? So the first need was for them 173 00:09:37,630 --> 00:09:41,110 to acquire food. But we find, if we go into the 174 00:09:41,110 --> 00:09:44,030 law of Moses, and I want to turn to a couple verses tonight, that 175 00:09:44,030 --> 00:09:48,990 God made provision for those in his economy of the nation of 176 00:09:48,990 --> 00:09:51,310 Israel. That theocracy being ruled by 177 00:09:51,310 --> 00:09:54,470 God, he made provision for those who could not provide for 178 00:09:54,470 --> 00:09:57,430 themselves to be able to have. Could we call it this way a 179 00:09:57,430 --> 00:10:00,520 welfare system? But the kind of system where God 180 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:03,800 made sure that people took care of one another. 181 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:07,280 One of those verses in Leviticus chapter #23, Would you turn 182 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:13,360 there quickly? Leviticus chapter #23, and then 183 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:18,960 we'll go to verse #22, Leviticus 23, and verse #22. 184 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:27,080 If you had a field and you were to harvest your field, God had. 185 00:10:27,430 --> 00:10:30,910 A requirement laid upon you in his law about how you were to 186 00:10:31,030 --> 00:10:34,990 harvest that field. Leviticus 2322 says. 187 00:10:34,990 --> 00:10:38,390 And when you reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make 188 00:10:38,390 --> 00:10:40,550 clean riddance of the corners of thy field. 189 00:10:40,710 --> 00:10:44,030 When thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaming of thy 190 00:10:44,030 --> 00:10:46,230 harvest. Thou shalt leave them unto the 191 00:10:46,230 --> 00:10:51,470 poor and to the stranger. I am the Lord your God, you see. 192 00:10:52,210 --> 00:10:55,490 God had required the landowner to make sure that at the edges 193 00:10:55,490 --> 00:10:57,810 of their field that not everything was harvested. 194 00:10:58,130 --> 00:11:01,650 And also when they were to glean that they were to be able to 195 00:11:01,650 --> 00:11:03,770 leave a little bit left over. They weren't to get the most 196 00:11:03,770 --> 00:11:06,290 minute part of grain. They were to be able to leave 197 00:11:06,290 --> 00:11:08,290 something there. For those who were not able to 198 00:11:08,290 --> 00:11:10,890 provide for themselves, that they were to go out. 199 00:11:10,890 --> 00:11:14,130 If they were physically able to go out in the field and to 200 00:11:14,130 --> 00:11:17,210 provide for themselves, they were to have to work themselves. 201 00:11:17,210 --> 00:11:18,970 It wasn't just. Handed to him. 202 00:11:18,970 --> 00:11:22,250 Boaz didn't just take a basket and take it over to the people's 203 00:11:22,250 --> 00:11:26,210 homes who needed food, but there was provision made to make sure 204 00:11:26,210 --> 00:11:28,130 that they were caring for one another. 205 00:11:28,130 --> 00:11:30,810 And that's where we see, well, God's just so angry in the Old 206 00:11:30,810 --> 00:11:31,930 Testament. Do you realize? 207 00:11:31,930 --> 00:11:35,010 The same benevolent God of the New Testament, the same loving, 208 00:11:35,010 --> 00:11:38,170 concerning, caring God of the New Testament is in this exact 209 00:11:38,170 --> 00:11:40,610 same characteristic in the Old Testament as well. 210 00:11:40,610 --> 00:11:42,770 And we see that here in Leviticus 23. 211 00:11:42,930 --> 00:11:45,970 What about Deuteronomy Chapter 24 if you turn there quickly? 212 00:11:46,860 --> 00:11:49,860 Just a few books away, Deuteronomy chapter 24, verse 213 00:11:49,860 --> 00:12:02,700 #19, Deuteronomy 2419 says when thou cutest down thine harvest 214 00:12:02,900 --> 00:12:05,620 in thy field, it has forgot a sheaf of grain. 215 00:12:05,620 --> 00:12:09,140 You realize what it says? A sheaf of grain, a stock that 216 00:12:09,140 --> 00:12:11,660 maybe because you're using a sickle, you're using some of 217 00:12:11,660 --> 00:12:14,980 these older fashion tools that we certainly wouldn't use today, 218 00:12:14,980 --> 00:12:17,760 where they use combines and. Machines like that. 219 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:20,760 If there was a sheath, if there was a stalk of grain that was 220 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:23,680 left behind, thou shalt not go again to fetch it. 221 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:27,200 It shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the 222 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:31,160 widow, that the Lord may bless thee in all the work of thine 223 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:33,360 hands. You see, what God is doing is 224 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:36,640 creating in this system a vehicle of grace. 225 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:40,240 He is saying you don't deserve the fatherless, the poor, the 226 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:42,680 widow to get this, but it'll be left for you. 227 00:12:43,110 --> 00:12:44,830 And you'll have a benefit if you receive it. 228 00:12:44,990 --> 00:12:48,070 And he says to the landowner, you have to be able to have 229 00:12:48,070 --> 00:12:49,950 generosity within your heart as well. 230 00:12:50,190 --> 00:12:52,110 By the way it says to leave your corners. 231 00:12:52,110 --> 00:12:53,870 It didn't say how big those corners had to be. 232 00:12:55,550 --> 00:12:58,390 Think about that for a second. Didn't say how big those corners 233 00:12:58,390 --> 00:12:59,950 had to be. It said just leave the corners. 234 00:12:59,950 --> 00:13:03,230 I would imagine it would be up to the landowner to see how 235 00:13:03,230 --> 00:13:05,510 generous they would be. But I see from this year in 236 00:13:05,510 --> 00:13:10,230 Deuteronomy 2419 that God says this if you take care of those 237 00:13:10,230 --> 00:13:14,070 who are less fortunate. Then I will bless you for your 238 00:13:14,070 --> 00:13:17,830 care and your concern for them. So God created the system where 239 00:13:17,830 --> 00:13:20,390 people could go out into the fields and they could be 240 00:13:20,390 --> 00:13:24,430 provided for, and God would bless those who had little. 241 00:13:24,630 --> 00:13:27,990 But God would also bless those who had much as well, as they 242 00:13:28,070 --> 00:13:32,070 all took care of one another. This is what God had intended. 243 00:13:32,270 --> 00:13:37,550 So Ruth goes to exercise her literal God-given right to 244 00:13:37,550 --> 00:13:39,450 glean. And when I say God-given rights, 245 00:13:39,450 --> 00:13:41,810 sometimes we talk about God-given rights and they have 246 00:13:41,810 --> 00:13:43,850 nothing to do with God giving them in the 1st place. 247 00:13:44,050 --> 00:13:46,530 But I just showed you two different verses which shows 248 00:13:46,970 --> 00:13:50,330 that Ruth and Naomi had a literal right given to them by 249 00:13:50,330 --> 00:13:53,610 God to go out in the field and glean so that they would be 250 00:13:53,610 --> 00:13:55,290 provided for. This isn't even really 251 00:13:55,290 --> 00:13:57,770 necessarily taking to the fact that he's the kinsman yet. 252 00:13:58,170 --> 00:14:01,770 I mean, that will come later, but they're just going out and 253 00:14:01,770 --> 00:14:04,330 finding a landowner and finding a field. 254 00:14:04,820 --> 00:14:07,340 And I imagine, again, not knowing much about Bethlehem, 255 00:14:07,340 --> 00:14:09,900 Judah at that time, but knowing that it was the House of bread 256 00:14:10,100 --> 00:14:12,700 and knowing historically there would have been many fields that 257 00:14:12,700 --> 00:14:15,540 would have been out there that would have been owned assumingly 258 00:14:15,700 --> 00:14:18,820 by several different landowners. And could you imagine maybe just 259 00:14:18,820 --> 00:14:21,580 like driving down the street, you're about to run out of gas? 260 00:14:21,940 --> 00:14:23,980 And you say, what, what gas station should I go to? 261 00:14:23,980 --> 00:14:26,740 And if you're like me, you start to go to that mental checklist 262 00:14:26,740 --> 00:14:29,380 of which gas station has the best prices, which ones have the 263 00:14:29,380 --> 00:14:32,380 best amenities, which has the kind of things that you want or 264 00:14:32,380 --> 00:14:34,460 you don't want. And you're saying, how far can I 265 00:14:34,460 --> 00:14:36,340 go before I go to the gas station? 266 00:14:36,740 --> 00:14:39,020 Some of you are like me, and you wait to see that needle. 267 00:14:39,020 --> 00:14:42,540 How far can it get down before, just because I like to keep life 268 00:14:42,540 --> 00:14:44,540 exciting. That may be what it is, I don't 269 00:14:44,540 --> 00:14:49,500 know, but you just maybe at random choose one. 270 00:14:49,850 --> 00:14:51,930 Maybe you're thinking about it. Maybe you're making a plan, or 271 00:14:51,930 --> 00:14:54,450 maybe it just happens to be this needle is low. 272 00:14:54,450 --> 00:14:57,970 The next one I find that's where I go and it just seems like such 273 00:14:58,050 --> 00:15:01,130 a random decision here. Here's what it means when it 274 00:15:01,170 --> 00:15:05,650 what it was her hap that she looks out on the fields and she 275 00:15:05,650 --> 00:15:08,970 doesn't know who Boaz is. She doesn't know who the kinsman 276 00:15:08,970 --> 00:15:10,410 is. She doesn't know what the 277 00:15:10,410 --> 00:15:14,530 relationship between Boaz and a Limolek and Naomi is. 278 00:15:14,730 --> 00:15:18,010 And I would say this, that Naomi gives no indication. 279 00:15:18,510 --> 00:15:21,270 That she should even go to Boaz's field. 280 00:15:21,350 --> 00:15:24,310 It doesn't seem to me, if you read the rest of the chapter, 281 00:15:24,590 --> 00:15:27,390 that Naomi is really understanding that Boaz's field 282 00:15:27,390 --> 00:15:30,110 would be a good choice for her. Because when Ruth comes back 283 00:15:30,110 --> 00:15:33,830 home and explains what happened, Naomi seems maybe just as 284 00:15:33,830 --> 00:15:37,190 surprised as anybody as what to what's going on in this 285 00:15:37,190 --> 00:15:40,390 situation. And so it is the fact that she 286 00:15:40,390 --> 00:15:43,590 goes out and she looks and she says what field. 287 00:15:43,590 --> 00:15:45,550 There's a field over there. There's a field over there. 288 00:15:45,790 --> 00:15:47,790 And by law I can glean at any of them. 289 00:15:47,790 --> 00:15:49,780 Well. There. 290 00:15:51,460 --> 00:15:54,580 And it was boaz's field, the kinsman Redeemer. 291 00:15:55,100 --> 00:15:59,140 It just so happed, in fact, that word hap, according to the 292 00:15:59,140 --> 00:16:02,580 Webster's 1828 dictionary, means that would come suddenly or 293 00:16:02,580 --> 00:16:06,100 unexpectedly. Chance, fortune, accident, 294 00:16:06,340 --> 00:16:09,100 casual event. By the way, this is the only 295 00:16:09,100 --> 00:16:12,100 time this word is used in the Bible. 296 00:16:12,510 --> 00:16:16,790 So is the Bible saying that Ruth just happened by chance to land 297 00:16:16,790 --> 00:16:18,830 in the field that belongs to Boaz? 298 00:16:19,270 --> 00:16:23,350 And my answer to you is this. You and I both know that with 299 00:16:23,350 --> 00:16:27,510 God there are no accidents. You know that with God, nothing 300 00:16:27,510 --> 00:16:33,270 just happens by happenstance. That, just as the old saying 301 00:16:33,270 --> 00:16:35,950 goes, has never occurred to you That nothing has ever occurred 302 00:16:35,950 --> 00:16:38,620 to God. That there is no mistake and 303 00:16:38,620 --> 00:16:41,020 there is no chance. And there is nothing that takes 304 00:16:41,020 --> 00:16:43,940 God by surprise in the throne of heaven as he looks down at us 305 00:16:43,940 --> 00:16:46,260 and say, wow, I didn't see that one coming. 306 00:16:46,260 --> 00:16:49,020 So no, we wouldn't say that that word that. 307 00:16:49,580 --> 00:16:51,940 She took her hap to be able to go. 308 00:16:52,060 --> 00:16:55,660 It just so hap that she would go to Boaz's field, as that is 309 00:16:55,660 --> 00:16:58,300 saying that God just kind of rolled the dice and said, you 310 00:16:58,300 --> 00:17:00,860 know what'll be fun? Why don't we get Ruth to go over 311 00:17:00,860 --> 00:17:03,180 to Boaz's field? I bet that would turn into a 312 00:17:03,180 --> 00:17:04,900 great story. You know, I mean, this could 313 00:17:04,900 --> 00:17:06,900 happen a lot of different ways, but let's just kind of see what 314 00:17:06,900 --> 00:17:09,380 happens and take it by random. Let's choose a number. 315 00:17:09,380 --> 00:17:11,619 Let's see what happens. No, no, that's not what it is at 316 00:17:11,619 --> 00:17:15,540 all. God, in his Providence directed 317 00:17:15,540 --> 00:17:18,540 Ruth. I believe in a way that only he 318 00:17:18,540 --> 00:17:22,700 could. To the field of Boaz, but yet as 319 00:17:22,700 --> 00:17:26,700 it would occur to the outside world, as it would occur to 320 00:17:26,700 --> 00:17:30,700 someone who was outside of this account in this story, it would 321 00:17:30,700 --> 00:17:35,060 seem as if by chance that she just happened upon this field. 322 00:17:35,060 --> 00:17:40,100 But God in his Providence, and God in his love, and God in his 323 00:17:40,100 --> 00:17:44,300 care, was working together, a marvelous plan in his Providence 324 00:17:44,540 --> 00:17:48,140 that Ruth could only dream of, that Ruth could not supply for 325 00:17:48,140 --> 00:17:51,560 herself. That she couldn't write up if 326 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:55,800 she wrote the script, but yet God says this, I'm going to put 327 00:17:55,800 --> 00:18:00,000 together something absolutely amazing in your life, and it 328 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:03,200 starts here with something that seems so random and so 329 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:06,760 happenstance. I'm going to see that you go to 330 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:10,750 the field of Boaz. Spurgeons morning and evening By 331 00:18:10,750 --> 00:18:12,750 the way, if you've never read Spurgeons Morning and Evening, 332 00:18:12,750 --> 00:18:15,310 it's a wonderful book. If you're fairly new into 333 00:18:15,310 --> 00:18:18,390 reading your devotions, it gives you just a small glimpse of 334 00:18:18,390 --> 00:18:21,350 Spurgeon for the morning, at night, for 365 days. 335 00:18:21,590 --> 00:18:25,710 But Spurgeon actually deals with this verse in that morning and 336 00:18:25,710 --> 00:18:27,670 evening devotional, and he said this. 337 00:18:28,070 --> 00:18:32,030 Her hap was yes, it seemed nothing but an accident. 338 00:18:32,370 --> 00:18:34,410 But how divinely was it overruled? 339 00:18:34,730 --> 00:18:37,410 Ruth had gone forth, with her mother's blessing, under the 340 00:18:37,410 --> 00:18:41,570 care of her mother's God, to humble but honorable toil, and 341 00:18:41,570 --> 00:18:43,930 the Providence of God was guiding her every step. 342 00:18:44,370 --> 00:18:46,690 Little did she know that amid the she she would find a 343 00:18:46,690 --> 00:18:49,890 husband, that she would make her the joint owner of all those 344 00:18:49,890 --> 00:18:53,890 broad acres, and that she, a poor foreigner, would become one 345 00:18:53,890 --> 00:18:55,810 of the progenitors of the great Messiah. 346 00:18:56,290 --> 00:18:59,810 God is very good to those who trust in Him and often surprises 347 00:18:59,810 --> 00:19:01,730 them with unlooked for blessings. 348 00:19:02,250 --> 00:19:06,010 Little do we know that what may happen to us tomorrow, but this 349 00:19:06,010 --> 00:19:09,410 sweet fact may cheer us, that no good thing shall be withheld. 350 00:19:09,730 --> 00:19:12,930 Chance is banished from the faith of Christians, for they 351 00:19:12,930 --> 00:19:14,610 see the hand of God and everything. 352 00:19:14,890 --> 00:19:17,530 The trivial events of today or tomorrow may involve 353 00:19:17,530 --> 00:19:19,370 consequences of the highest importance. 354 00:19:19,610 --> 00:19:24,010 O Lord, deal as graciously with thy servants as thou didst with 355 00:19:24,010 --> 00:19:25,690 Ruth. What is Spurgeon saying? 356 00:19:25,690 --> 00:19:28,770 They're so eloquently. He's saying this the moment that 357 00:19:28,770 --> 00:19:32,010 Ruth says I am going to trust in Jehovah God. 358 00:19:32,010 --> 00:19:33,770 That's what she said in chapter #1. 359 00:19:33,930 --> 00:19:35,770 I am going to trust that he will lead. 360 00:19:35,810 --> 00:19:37,370 I am going to trust that he will guide. 361 00:19:37,570 --> 00:19:39,130 I'm going to trust that he will direct. 362 00:19:39,290 --> 00:19:42,570 And as I walk by faith, remember that's what we're told to do in 363 00:19:42,570 --> 00:19:45,050 Ephesians. We're to walk by faith, not by 364 00:19:45,050 --> 00:19:47,330 sight. As we walk by faith, every step 365 00:19:47,330 --> 00:19:49,330 trusting that God is taking us the right place. 366 00:19:49,490 --> 00:19:52,410 It may just seem that these random things occur to us. 367 00:19:52,530 --> 00:19:54,450 It may just seem that things just happen to. 368 00:19:54,690 --> 00:19:56,530 Come together in these unexpected ways. 369 00:19:56,530 --> 00:20:01,170 But as we just take a step after a step after a step by faith, we 370 00:20:01,170 --> 00:20:04,130 realize that God is directing and God is leading. 371 00:20:04,210 --> 00:20:06,930 And even in the things that might seem small or trivial, 372 00:20:07,010 --> 00:20:10,130 like going to Shaw's instead of Big Y, or going to Walmart 373 00:20:10,210 --> 00:20:13,890 instead of buying something on Amazon or or getting the gas 374 00:20:13,890 --> 00:20:17,690 filled up at Cumberland Farms instead of going to a Speedway, 375 00:20:17,730 --> 00:20:22,070 we realize that even in these. Mundane and small things of life 376 00:20:22,230 --> 00:20:26,150 as we just yield ourselves to him and trust in him and walk in 377 00:20:26,150 --> 00:20:31,030 faith that he will direct us and he is interested and even the 378 00:20:31,030 --> 00:20:33,670 smallest parts of our lives. That's what we call the 379 00:20:33,670 --> 00:20:35,990 Providence of God. Now don't get weird on me about 380 00:20:35,990 --> 00:20:38,390 that because sometimes we use that word, and I'll be honest 381 00:20:38,390 --> 00:20:40,470 with you, it can be taken out of context. 382 00:20:40,710 --> 00:20:44,630 But realizing that God's simply in control of everything, that 383 00:20:44,630 --> 00:20:47,610 even understanding that we have a free will, but yet that we 384 00:20:47,610 --> 00:20:52,490 have a God that see saw every decision already decided by our 385 00:20:52,490 --> 00:20:55,970 free will before the world even began and orchestrated 386 00:20:56,050 --> 00:21:00,730 everything together in such a way to make sure that his will 387 00:21:00,730 --> 00:21:03,930 be done. He say, how do you explain that, 388 00:21:03,930 --> 00:21:06,850 pastor? Well, I just tried to. 389 00:21:06,850 --> 00:21:09,090 Maybe I should say, how do you understand that, pastor? 390 00:21:09,370 --> 00:21:13,650 And the answer is, I don't know. Because I'll be honest with you, 391 00:21:14,050 --> 00:21:16,450 It'll boggle the mind if you think about it long enough. 392 00:21:16,910 --> 00:21:21,030 The fact that I could buy something for $50.00 that I 393 00:21:21,030 --> 00:21:24,310 could have bought for $100 and that my life could change 394 00:21:24,310 --> 00:21:27,110 forever because of that decision, you say, How could 395 00:21:27,110 --> 00:21:29,030 something that small don't tell me there have been things in 396 00:21:29,030 --> 00:21:32,110 your life that you look back and realize, wow, that was seemingly 397 00:21:32,110 --> 00:21:34,430 inconsequential. Choosing a doctor and you're 398 00:21:34,430 --> 00:21:38,470 looking at a list of five names and you say, how on earth am I 399 00:21:38,470 --> 00:21:42,270 supposed to know? And it just so hap that God 400 00:21:42,270 --> 00:21:44,990 directed you to the right Doctor Who would give you the right 401 00:21:44,990 --> 00:21:49,500 diagnosis or just so happy that you went to a doctor that you 402 00:21:49,500 --> 00:21:52,340 didn't care for. But that God use that situation 403 00:21:52,540 --> 00:21:56,340 to be able to further your life and to be able to further you. 404 00:21:56,460 --> 00:22:00,060 That it's not just wow, I'm just going to so happy and 405 00:22:00,060 --> 00:22:03,540 everything's happy, go lucky because it doesn't always work 406 00:22:03,540 --> 00:22:06,220 that way either. But that as we go by faith, we 407 00:22:06,220 --> 00:22:09,140 realize it with every step that God will direct us through his 408 00:22:09,140 --> 00:22:13,940 Providence into the situations that we need, when we need them 409 00:22:14,140 --> 00:22:16,950 to be able to grow for God's glory. 410 00:22:17,590 --> 00:22:20,310 May I remind you tonight that we have to remember that God is at 411 00:22:20,310 --> 00:22:24,510 work even in the most trivial moments and decisions in our 412 00:22:24,510 --> 00:22:27,510 lives. I remember I've told the story 413 00:22:27,510 --> 00:22:30,390 before, was several years ago. I believe that when I started 414 00:22:30,390 --> 00:22:32,910 the job at Gordon's Jewelers, I I didn't have a job. 415 00:22:32,910 --> 00:22:34,950 I worked at IHOP. I mentioned that this morning 416 00:22:34,950 --> 00:22:36,630 for like two or three days, and that didn't work out. 417 00:22:36,630 --> 00:22:39,430 I didn't have a job. And David Corley said to me, you 418 00:22:39,430 --> 00:22:42,400 want to go to Chickfila. Now, who would have thought my 419 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:44,200 life would change because someone asked me to go to 420 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:44,960 Chickfila. It's good. 421 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:46,200 It's not that good. All right. 422 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:48,600 But he said, you want to go to Chickfila. 423 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:50,360 The closest Chickfila to us at the time. 424 00:22:50,360 --> 00:22:52,400 There were really not many freestanding stores at that 425 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:54,040 time. You went to the mall, We went to 426 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,200 Penn Square Mall. We were leaving Penn Square 427 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:57,320 Mall. And there was a sign in front of 428 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:00,840 Gordon's Jewelers that says call such and such number about 429 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:03,000 hiring. And I thought, I need a job. 430 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,840 And I said I got a girlfriend, I'm going to get her a ring 431 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:07,920 eventually. By the way, that's her in case 432 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:10,790 you're worried, Okay. But I'm going to have to do 433 00:23:10,790 --> 00:23:11,950 something. So I'm just standing there 434 00:23:11,950 --> 00:23:13,950 looking at the sign. In fact, it was a smaller sign 435 00:23:13,990 --> 00:23:16,910 on top of the jewelry case. And the manager comes up to me. 436 00:23:16,910 --> 00:23:18,430 Her name is less. I know that now. 437 00:23:18,430 --> 00:23:20,470 I didn't know that at the time. And she says, are you looking 438 00:23:20,470 --> 00:23:21,990 for a job? I said, I I am. 439 00:23:21,990 --> 00:23:23,310 I said I was actually going to call that number. 440 00:23:23,310 --> 00:23:24,750 Because don't worry about calling that number. 441 00:23:25,030 --> 00:23:26,830 She says, Tell me a little bit about yourself. 442 00:23:26,830 --> 00:23:28,990 I said, well, I'm a student at Heartland Baptist Bible College. 443 00:23:28,990 --> 00:23:31,990 She said, wait a second, So is that where Valerie Meeks goes? 444 00:23:32,750 --> 00:23:34,750 And I happen to know Valerie was a student at Heartland. 445 00:23:34,750 --> 00:23:36,630 I didn't know her very well, but I certainly knew of her. 446 00:23:36,630 --> 00:23:38,780 The school was small enough to be able to know pretty much 447 00:23:38,780 --> 00:23:39,420 everybody. I said. 448 00:23:39,420 --> 00:23:41,660 Valerie does go there she goes, you know, Valerie's leaving in a 449 00:23:41,660 --> 00:23:43,820 few weeks, she's about to get married and so they're going to 450 00:23:43,820 --> 00:23:46,380 be moving on. And so she asked me a few more 451 00:23:46,380 --> 00:23:47,700 questions. She says, Would you like the 452 00:23:47,700 --> 00:23:50,420 job? And I started talking her out of 453 00:23:50,420 --> 00:23:53,730 it. I said no, this is happening way 454 00:23:53,730 --> 00:23:54,850 too quick. I said, I don't even know the 455 00:23:54,850 --> 00:23:56,650 difference between a sapphire and emerald and a Ruby. 456 00:23:56,850 --> 00:23:58,170 She goes, we'll teach you what the colors are. 457 00:23:58,170 --> 00:23:59,050 We'll teach you what all that is. 458 00:23:59,050 --> 00:24:01,090 She goes, But if you're interested, Heartland has a 459 00:24:01,090 --> 00:24:02,450 great testimony and reputation here. 460 00:24:02,450 --> 00:24:04,770 I would like you to work here before I knew it, a couple days 461 00:24:04,770 --> 00:24:08,530 later, I was wearing a suit from school and just walking over to 462 00:24:08,530 --> 00:24:10,250 Penn Square Mall. We're driving over Penn Square 463 00:24:10,250 --> 00:24:13,290 Mall and walking in. And I had a new job just because 464 00:24:13,290 --> 00:24:18,810 I have to go to Chickfila now, the world would say, isn't that 465 00:24:18,810 --> 00:24:24,210 a coincidence? What Tim Hackett, tongue in 466 00:24:24,210 --> 00:24:27,090 cheek, calls the coincidence list, the prayer list. 467 00:24:27,530 --> 00:24:29,410 Because it is a coincidence. These things get answered. 468 00:24:30,290 --> 00:24:34,490 But we realized the Providence of God when we found this 469 00:24:34,490 --> 00:24:36,490 church. I've told you before the reason 470 00:24:36,690 --> 00:24:39,010 we found We not even found this church, but found Easton. 471 00:24:39,010 --> 00:24:40,890 We were praying about this whole area. 472 00:24:41,130 --> 00:24:43,130 Where would God take us? And I went on this trip with 473 00:24:43,130 --> 00:24:46,290 Mike Carney, the worst New England driver I've ever met. 474 00:24:46,290 --> 00:24:46,970 Stop. Go. 475 00:24:46,970 --> 00:24:47,890 Stop. Go, stop. 476 00:24:47,890 --> 00:24:50,550 Go You ever been so sick that you wish you would throw up? 477 00:24:50,670 --> 00:24:52,910 And I just, I was like, I would just wish I would. 478 00:24:52,950 --> 00:24:55,950 I would get this over with because because he's driving me 479 00:24:55,950 --> 00:24:59,350 crazy, he's going 60 miles an hour for three feet and then 480 00:24:59,350 --> 00:25:01,570 hitting the brakes. And I'm from Florida. 481 00:25:01,570 --> 00:25:03,410 I've never seen this, but apparently this is what Boston 482 00:25:03,410 --> 00:25:04,850 traffic was like. I didn't know. 483 00:25:05,090 --> 00:25:06,490 And so he's taking me everywhere. 484 00:25:06,610 --> 00:25:08,810 He took me all the way to Gloucester and took me to 485 00:25:08,810 --> 00:25:11,610 Waltham is Lord, where should we plan a church? 486 00:25:11,730 --> 00:25:13,970 None of these places did I feel the spirit of the Lord moving. 487 00:25:14,170 --> 00:25:16,930 And finally I have to go home. And he says, you know what, I I 488 00:25:16,930 --> 00:25:20,530 have to go to the chiropractor. It's in Middleboro. 489 00:25:21,090 --> 00:25:24,010 I'm in Randolph. But the closest train station 490 00:25:24,010 --> 00:25:26,690 you need to be able to get to TF Green is in a place called 491 00:25:26,690 --> 00:25:28,970 Mansfield. Now I've never been down to 492 00:25:28,970 --> 00:25:32,660 Mansfield before, but I can remember driving down the area 493 00:25:32,660 --> 00:25:38,020 which is now where I live, and I can show you almost the cluster 494 00:25:38,020 --> 00:25:41,940 of houses on 106 going into Mansfield where it was as if the 495 00:25:41,940 --> 00:25:43,580 Lord. He didn't use an audible voice, 496 00:25:43,580 --> 00:25:45,820 but he might as well have because it was so clear where 497 00:25:45,820 --> 00:25:49,540 the Lord says here because a man had to go to the chiropractor 498 00:25:49,740 --> 00:25:52,700 and took me to a train station, which was different than the one 499 00:25:52,700 --> 00:25:56,700 he picked me up from. And Sharon, now the world says, 500 00:25:56,700 --> 00:25:59,260 well, what a coincidence. I say just so happened. 501 00:26:00,660 --> 00:26:03,620 It just so happened. Do you realize what an amazing 502 00:26:03,620 --> 00:26:06,740 thing that is to know there's a God that so intimately cares 503 00:26:06,740 --> 00:26:08,860 about you? That even in the very smallest 504 00:26:08,860 --> 00:26:12,180 and mundane things of life that he is working in the background 505 00:26:12,420 --> 00:26:16,260 through through nature and through the decisions of man, 506 00:26:16,260 --> 00:26:18,220 that he is able to do these things? 507 00:26:18,220 --> 00:26:22,300 And and and that that delicate balance between the sovereignty 508 00:26:22,300 --> 00:26:25,700 of Providence of God and the free will of man, that he's able 509 00:26:25,700 --> 00:26:27,780 to be able to put all of that together. 510 00:26:28,260 --> 00:26:32,300 And he works in ways that only he can and he does so to be able 511 00:26:32,300 --> 00:26:36,100 to direct our life. And he does so because he loves 512 00:26:36,100 --> 00:26:40,500 us and he cares about us. So I don't, I don't know that I 513 00:26:40,500 --> 00:26:42,700 like the sound of it sounds like God's in control. 514 00:26:42,700 --> 00:26:44,260 Well, no. We have a free will. 515 00:26:44,260 --> 00:26:48,940 But don't be don't be surprised by the fact that God's in 516 00:26:48,940 --> 00:26:51,460 control. If God's not in control of all 517 00:26:51,460 --> 00:26:55,220 things, then he's not sovereign. If God's not sovereign, then 518 00:26:55,220 --> 00:26:58,100 he's not God. So the price of maintaining 519 00:26:58,100 --> 00:27:02,700 contingencies outside of God's control results in a belief that 520 00:27:02,700 --> 00:27:07,180 God is not really God. And if our free will can trump 521 00:27:07,180 --> 00:27:10,300 God's Providence, then who ultimately is God? 522 00:27:11,420 --> 00:27:14,660 Here's what I mean by that. If our free will can thwart 523 00:27:14,660 --> 00:27:18,580 God's plans, then that means we're more powerful than God. 524 00:27:19,340 --> 00:27:22,020 I imagine there's going to be a lot of people exercising their 525 00:27:22,020 --> 00:27:25,620 free will in the end times, doing what they decide they want 526 00:27:25,620 --> 00:27:28,900 to do, and it's still going to play out word for word and verse 527 00:27:28,900 --> 00:27:30,140 for verse. What we see here in the Book of 528 00:27:30,140 --> 00:27:33,060 Revelation, how is that the balance between the free will of 529 00:27:33,060 --> 00:27:35,900 man and the Providence of God? It's going to happen exactly 530 00:27:35,900 --> 00:27:37,740 like we see here. There's not going to be a time 531 00:27:37,740 --> 00:27:40,220 where God says, Oh no, they made a decision I didn't expect. 532 00:27:40,220 --> 00:27:46,220 Now Revelation is wrong. Before the foundation of the 533 00:27:46,220 --> 00:27:48,580 earth he knew the free will, decisions that would be made. 534 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:52,040 He understood and was able to put them all together. 535 00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:55,160 It reminds me of Proverbs 21, one that gives people like heart 536 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:56,920 palpitation sometimes when they think of it. 537 00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:00,000 The King's heart is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of 538 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:02,000 water. He turneth it withersoever He 539 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:03,200 will. And people sometimes get very 540 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:06,480 nervous about that verse. But listen, the bottom line of 541 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:09,800 this is that man does have free will, but man will not thwart 542 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:15,520 God's plan. X the 713 and 14 people get 543 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:20,090 nervous about that as well. And God harden Pharaoh's heart 544 00:28:20,690 --> 00:28:23,530 that he harkened not unto them, as the Lord had said. 545 00:28:24,330 --> 00:28:26,770 And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened. 546 00:28:26,890 --> 00:28:30,570 He refused to let the people go. Do you know what I see from 547 00:28:30,570 --> 00:28:32,010 that? Is that Pharaoh made the 548 00:28:32,010 --> 00:28:34,570 decision, I will harden my heart. 549 00:28:35,210 --> 00:28:36,650 And God says I see that decision. 550 00:28:37,090 --> 00:28:40,250 And I'm going to use that decision to be able to make my 551 00:28:40,250 --> 00:28:44,930 power known to Egypt and to make my power known to every 552 00:28:44,930 --> 00:28:47,250 generation that's followed as we see it here in the book of 553 00:28:47,250 --> 00:28:50,070 Exodus. And I know this is not a full 554 00:28:50,070 --> 00:28:53,070 discussion on the topic of God's Providence, but I want us to 555 00:28:53,070 --> 00:28:56,390 consider the fact that every day, even in the mundane things 556 00:28:56,390 --> 00:29:00,870 of life, God is working and God is leading, even if we don't see 557 00:29:00,870 --> 00:29:03,710 it. I imagine Ruth did not realize 558 00:29:03,710 --> 00:29:06,110 she made a life changing decision when she wandered into 559 00:29:06,110 --> 00:29:08,510 the field of Boaz. There wasn't something that just 560 00:29:08,510 --> 00:29:10,710 swelled within her and said, you know, I've done something really 561 00:29:10,710 --> 00:29:13,150 well today. I imagine later she looked back 562 00:29:13,150 --> 00:29:16,150 and said, wow, what if I'd gone to a different field? 563 00:29:17,660 --> 00:29:19,500 What if I had made a different decision? 564 00:29:20,700 --> 00:29:22,380 What if I had made a different choice? 565 00:29:22,380 --> 00:29:25,620 But the fact is, you didn't. She didn't. 566 00:29:26,220 --> 00:29:29,260 That God in his Providence directed her to that place 567 00:29:29,260 --> 00:29:32,940 didn't overwhelm her, didn't turn her into a robot, but that 568 00:29:32,940 --> 00:29:35,700 she made the decision because she was walking by faith. 569 00:29:36,420 --> 00:29:40,340 And as she walked in faith, she was where she needed to be when 570 00:29:40,340 --> 00:29:42,820 she needed to be there. Isn't that what it comes down 571 00:29:42,820 --> 00:29:46,120 to? This isn't about the paralysis 572 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:47,720 of where do I go? What do I do? 573 00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:50,280 What train should I take? What should I do with my car? 574 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:53,760 What should I do with my life? I don't understand every 575 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:55,160 decision. It could be monumental. 576 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:57,800 What do I do? Take the next step of life by 577 00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:00,680 faith. Just take the next step of life 578 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:03,360 by faith. And as you do so, you realize 579 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:07,760 every day is a gift and every moment is an opportunity that 580 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:10,840 God can work in your life. And this isn't just about 581 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:13,550 church. This is even when we're doing 582 00:30:13,550 --> 00:30:15,470 the things that aren't considered, quote UN quote 583 00:30:15,470 --> 00:30:19,990 spiritual, that God can use those things that we do to be 584 00:30:19,990 --> 00:30:22,990 able to put together such a thing, to weave into that 585 00:30:22,990 --> 00:30:26,910 tapestry of life, to be able to accomplish his purpose and be 586 00:30:26,910 --> 00:30:29,150 able to do what he would want us to do. 587 00:30:29,590 --> 00:30:31,190 This is true when you're going shopping. 588 00:30:32,030 --> 00:30:33,550 It's true about where you go for dinner. 589 00:30:34,470 --> 00:30:36,830 It's true about who shows up at the office one day. 590 00:30:37,710 --> 00:30:41,350 It's true about the restaurant that is closed that you thought 591 00:30:41,350 --> 00:30:43,990 would be open, so now you have to go to a different restaurant. 592 00:30:44,590 --> 00:30:47,910 It's true about the drive, where every light seems to turn red. 593 00:30:48,590 --> 00:30:52,310 It's true about maybe even you getting sick that through all of 594 00:30:52,310 --> 00:30:55,950 these situations, God can use these things in such a way that 595 00:30:55,950 --> 00:31:00,270 we look at as typically being so inconvenient, or that we look at 596 00:31:00,270 --> 00:31:04,270 it so inconsequential and that God could use all of those 597 00:31:04,270 --> 00:31:05,350 things. How many of you ever been in a 598 00:31:05,350 --> 00:31:09,390 situation where you got held up and then as you were driving, 599 00:31:09,390 --> 00:31:13,380 you saw a great and large accident and you realize if I 600 00:31:13,380 --> 00:31:17,740 had left when I wanted to leave, you realize I could be, I could 601 00:31:17,740 --> 00:31:19,820 be dead right now. But what is that? 602 00:31:20,100 --> 00:31:23,620 That's God's protection. That's God's Providence in your 603 00:31:23,620 --> 00:31:27,620 life, in the decisions that seem inconsequential. 604 00:31:27,620 --> 00:31:30,540 Well, I was running late. I mean, this is a big deal. 605 00:31:30,540 --> 00:31:34,060 Well, God maybe had different plans for you on that day. 606 00:31:36,940 --> 00:31:41,100 The interesting thing about this is, though, is that work had to 607 00:31:41,100 --> 00:31:44,190 be done. Ruth had to get up. 608 00:31:45,150 --> 00:31:48,150 Ruth had to go. Ruth couldn't just sit around 609 00:31:48,150 --> 00:31:51,030 all day. In fact, I would submit to you 610 00:31:51,030 --> 00:31:53,870 that Naomi and I'm not. Listen, we've said a lot about 611 00:31:53,870 --> 00:31:56,590 Naomi here, and I love some of the dialogue I've had with folks 612 00:31:56,590 --> 00:31:58,390 about Naomi. I've talked to several different 613 00:31:58,390 --> 00:32:00,910 people about Naomi and about her in this book. 614 00:32:00,910 --> 00:32:03,870 And boy, what a multifaceted person like we all are. 615 00:32:03,870 --> 00:32:07,390 But so even in this book. But Naomi did not go. 616 00:32:08,310 --> 00:32:11,690 Perhaps she missed some of the blessings at first because Ruth 617 00:32:11,690 --> 00:32:13,930 went and she did not. Now, I don't want to be too hard 618 00:32:13,930 --> 00:32:15,170 to Naomi. We don't know her physical 619 00:32:15,170 --> 00:32:17,250 situation. We don't know all those details. 620 00:32:17,250 --> 00:32:20,210 But this is what I know. Ruth made the decision to go, 621 00:32:20,770 --> 00:32:25,650 and Ruth received incredible blessings and it just seemed to 622 00:32:25,650 --> 00:32:27,690 be at random. And it wasn't. 623 00:32:29,450 --> 00:32:31,570 This isn't just work harder and good things will happen. 624 00:32:31,570 --> 00:32:34,130 This is not health and wealth. This is not any of those things. 625 00:32:34,410 --> 00:32:37,850 In fact, as I mentioned before, it could just so happen that 626 00:32:37,850 --> 00:32:41,440 something in your life comes along that's not so great after 627 00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:44,000 all. It could just so have that 628 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:47,680 something comes along that you feel like is not a blessing. 629 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:51,120 It's like someone threw you an anchor and said hold on to this 630 00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:54,120 for a while. But even in those types of 631 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:58,040 things, God works and God will use them. 632 00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:02,480 I look at a tumor in my jaw and I think that two years ago I 633 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:04,720 would have said this isn't a blessing. 634 00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:07,800 And I'm very careful about calling it a blessing now 635 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:09,240 because I don't want the second blessing. 636 00:33:10,580 --> 00:33:12,940 But I do know this. Did God use it in my life? 637 00:33:12,980 --> 00:33:16,220 And can I point to very definite things that God did in my life 638 00:33:16,580 --> 00:33:19,780 and in the life of my family and even in the life of this church, 639 00:33:20,060 --> 00:33:23,500 because of what I personally went through, I would be a fool 640 00:33:23,500 --> 00:33:24,980 to say I wish I'd had something else. 641 00:33:25,820 --> 00:33:28,700 I wish it had gone another way. It just so happened that before 642 00:33:28,700 --> 00:33:32,860 I got a tooth extracted that my life changed forever. 643 00:33:33,820 --> 00:33:36,060 There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about that 644 00:33:36,060 --> 00:33:40,440 surgery or what it's done to my body is I have even still some 645 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:42,080 issues with my leg. Not much. 646 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:43,840 Some of you would. I mean, I imagine many of you 647 00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:45,760 would rather trade with me. It's so minor. 648 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:48,680 It's so minor. But I sometimes wonder if God 649 00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:50,560 just leaves it there just to remind me. 650 00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:57,920 Hey, remember, like Jacob with a limp God needed to be remind 651 00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:00,760 him. Remember who's in control. 652 00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:04,120 You fought me and you lost. That limp will remind you every 653 00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:06,800 day the rest of your life. You have to wonder sometimes if 654 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:10,040 God's done something like that in my life and who am I to fight 655 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:12,560 that? Who are we to fight that? 656 00:34:13,159 --> 00:34:16,320 We get so bitter at God when he does certain things in our 657 00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:20,120 lives, but we don't realize that those things that maybe seem so 658 00:34:20,159 --> 00:34:25,679 random, that maybe see so inconsequential, is God's hap in 659 00:34:25,679 --> 00:34:27,920 our life getting us to where we need to go. 660 00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:31,679 The rest of this chapter, the rest of this book does not 661 00:34:31,679 --> 00:34:33,840 happen. If she doesn't happen upon 662 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:36,570 Boaz's field. But God is not just the God of 663 00:34:36,570 --> 00:34:39,010 the universe. He's the God of the microscopic. 664 00:34:39,010 --> 00:34:40,050 I'm going to give you this example. 665 00:34:40,050 --> 00:34:44,250 I'll be done. I've always had trouble with the 666 00:34:44,290 --> 00:34:47,449 end of the book of John, and I mentioned this verse a few weeks 667 00:34:47,449 --> 00:34:52,730 ago where it says that if all the books were written of the 668 00:34:52,730 --> 00:34:54,770 works of Christ, that the world could not contain them. 669 00:34:55,610 --> 00:34:57,810 I've had trouble with that. And the reason why is because, I 670 00:34:57,810 --> 00:35:01,890 mean the world's big, you know, how could that be the case? 671 00:35:02,450 --> 00:35:06,850 But at the same time, I also understand that God's word is 672 00:35:06,850 --> 00:35:09,530 true. And so when I have something 673 00:35:09,530 --> 00:35:13,290 that doesn't seem to line up, let me give you some help with 674 00:35:13,290 --> 00:35:14,650 Bible study. When there's something that 675 00:35:14,650 --> 00:35:17,450 doesn't line up with the way you think, the Bible says one thing, 676 00:35:17,450 --> 00:35:20,650 you think something else. Just start from the place of I'm 677 00:35:20,650 --> 00:35:26,690 wrong and the Bible's right. Because it's not that for 2000 678 00:35:26,690 --> 00:35:29,610 years or so since the can has been completed that you are the 679 00:35:29,610 --> 00:35:31,970 one that was right and everyone else was wrong. 680 00:35:31,970 --> 00:35:33,770 But isn't that what our flesh does? 681 00:35:34,220 --> 00:35:35,460 And so I have trouble with this. It's so. 682 00:35:35,460 --> 00:35:38,300 But it's like, okay, Lord, I realize I'm wrong here and 683 00:35:38,300 --> 00:35:40,300 you're right. But how is this the case? 684 00:35:40,380 --> 00:35:42,620 And I heard this illustration just a few weeks ago, but it's 685 00:35:42,660 --> 00:35:44,460 but it's truth. And I it's not just a sermon 686 00:35:44,460 --> 00:35:46,060 illustration. I had to look it up to make sure 687 00:35:46,060 --> 00:35:48,300 it wasn't just preaching that it was true. 688 00:35:48,940 --> 00:35:50,420 So you've been around church long enough to know what I'm 689 00:35:50,420 --> 00:35:56,820 talking about. If you were to take the DNA that 690 00:35:56,820 --> 00:36:01,340 is in your body, our body's just DNA that that code. 691 00:36:01,700 --> 00:36:07,070 If you were to stretch out of the DNA in one body, there's a 692 00:36:07,070 --> 00:36:11,910 lot of different numbers that people come up with. 693 00:36:13,270 --> 00:36:19,190 But I have seen that that very, very thin microscopic thread 694 00:36:20,310 --> 00:36:24,110 would go back and forth between the moon hundreds if not 695 00:36:24,110 --> 00:36:30,590 thousands of times in your body, in your body, say, Pastor, what 696 00:36:30,590 --> 00:36:32,230 does this do with HAP? Well, hold on a second. 697 00:36:34,030 --> 00:36:37,910 One body. Now why don't we take the about 698 00:36:37,910 --> 00:36:40,590 the 8 billion people that are on this earth right now? 699 00:36:41,270 --> 00:36:43,750 And I've seen estimates somewhere between 15 to 17 700 00:36:43,750 --> 00:36:47,390 billion people that might be alive since the creation. 701 00:36:48,030 --> 00:36:51,830 Let's just take somewhere around there and take all of their DNA 702 00:36:53,230 --> 00:36:58,350 and write it down in a book. I imagine the world wouldn't be 703 00:36:58,350 --> 00:37:03,870 able to contain it. I imagine that you say. 704 00:37:03,870 --> 00:37:06,790 Well, but it says the acts that Christ performed, did he not 705 00:37:06,870 --> 00:37:13,150 create all of them? Do you realize that the world 706 00:37:13,150 --> 00:37:16,990 couldn't contain it? That's the God of the universe. 707 00:37:17,030 --> 00:37:19,590 You're telling me the God of the universe doesn't care about the 708 00:37:19,590 --> 00:37:24,590 microscopic, That he doesn't care about where you go and when 709 00:37:24,590 --> 00:37:27,350 you go and how you get there, or what you spend or what you don't 710 00:37:27,350 --> 00:37:30,990 spend, or or who you meet or who you don't meet, or or what place 711 00:37:30,990 --> 00:37:33,990 was closed and what place was open or or the car ran or the 712 00:37:33,990 --> 00:37:36,870 car didn't run. We met the foresman's because 713 00:37:36,870 --> 00:37:40,270 our car broke down. If our car didn't break down, we 714 00:37:40,270 --> 00:37:42,790 don't meet Dan and Priscilla Foresman because we were on a 715 00:37:42,790 --> 00:37:44,590 road. I shouldn't have been on in the 716 00:37:44,590 --> 00:37:46,910 church van because I should have been in our van, but our car was 717 00:37:46,910 --> 00:37:49,470 broken and I was mad at God that our car is broken. 718 00:37:53,470 --> 00:37:56,590 This is such a bad thing. It just so happened that the car 719 00:37:56,670 --> 00:38:00,710 transmission went kabloui kabloui. 720 00:38:00,710 --> 00:38:02,070 That's theological. You look it up. 721 00:38:02,070 --> 00:38:08,190 It's in the original Hebrew, but God provides over and over 722 00:38:08,190 --> 00:38:10,390 again. Here's the application. 723 00:38:10,390 --> 00:38:12,590 Are you ready? Why don't we trust him? 724 00:38:13,430 --> 00:38:16,230 And why don't we walk by faith? Because as we take each step by 725 00:38:16,230 --> 00:38:19,970 faith, what happens? It'll just so happen he gets us 726 00:38:19,970 --> 00:38:22,530 where we need to go. Thank you for listening to the 727 00:38:22,530 --> 00:38:25,170 sermon from the pulpit of Liberty Baptist Church. 728 00:38:25,490 --> 00:38:28,770 If this message was a blessing to you, or if there's any way we 729 00:38:28,770 --> 00:38:31,890 can serve you, please let us know by contacting us at 730 00:38:32,050 --> 00:38:36,770 info@mylibertybaptist.org. Or you can visit us this Sunday 731 00:38:36,970 --> 00:38:40,690 at 800 Washington St. in Easton, MA. 732 00:38:40,970 --> 00:38:43,730 May the Lord bless you as you grow in His Word.