Ruth 4:1-6 Right of Redemption

When heart is faint, thou hast been a refuge for me, a tower of strength against thy enemy. Let me dwell in thy tent forever. Let me take refuge in the shelter of thy wings, Selah. For thou hast heard my vows, O God, thou hast given me the inheritance of those who fear thy name.

Thou wilt prolong the king's life, his years will be as many generations. He will abide before God forever, appoint loving kindness and truth, that they may preserve him. So I will sing praise to thy name forever, that I may pay my vows day by day.

Brothers and sisters, our God does hear our cries. He hears our worship and he is worthy of those things. We are able to dwell with him forever because of his tabernacle that lived the perfect life that we cannot live.

And so let us sing great praise to that mighty God that we are so undeserving of right now.

Welcome everybody this morning.

Just a couple of things. There is a sign up sheet in the foyer if you are interested in helping clean the church or you can talk to Peggy about it. And also we would also, we could also use some volunteers for nursery if you are interested in helping.

You can talk to Cherish, Peggy, or Shauna with that. August birthdays, Jared, he has one on the 1st. He's kind of hard to maybe call if you wanted to make a call. Would you suggest anything Peggy? Yeah, yeah you could text him.

Because he's on a swing shift, so it's kind of tough. You might catch him at lunch, they're an hour, don't forget the an hour difference. Okay, then Daylen, his is the 5th, Harrison the 17th, Shauna the 29th, a few birthdays this month.

So anniversaries, John and Shauna is on the 10th, Bruce and Tina the 25th. Okay, and then Bible study prayer meeting will be Wednesday this week, 6 o 'clock, then prayer meeting, then 6 .30 for Bible study, that will be topical.

And then the verse is out of Proverbs 19 .21, many plans are in a man's heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand. So, as we serve a sovereign God, he's the one in control, we're not, so let's pray.

Heavenly Father, Lord, as we come before you to worship you this morning, I pray that our hearts and our minds would be solely focused on you, that is why we are here today in corporate worship. Lord, you need to be the sole focus today, so help us to honor you, glorify you, and worship you in a right way today, Lord.

And I do pray that you'd be with Pastor Braden as he delivers the message, may it touch our hearts and minds with the truth of your word. And may it help us to just want to dig in and search your word and what it's all about and who you are, Lord, for we do need to know about you.

So Lord, I just praise and honor you for all that you've done for us, and these things are praying in Christ's name, amen.

The First Commandment and the Catechism Moment

Our permanent anomaly for the children, but for the parents, the adults, the loved ones here in this room today. And so the question that we have, which led us as a church to look at these things, it says, the question is, what is the first commandment?

Do you know what the first commandment is, Shiloh? Amen. Yeah? Okay, look, it sounds like that was a maybe, so let's go ahead and read this one, okay? The first commandment is thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Yeah? Okay, so what we'll go ahead and do, like I normally would with a multitude of kids, well, let's go ahead and just pray for this with children here at Valley Baptist. Lord God, I just thank you for the fact that we get to do this catechism moment, Lord, with whether it's one child or the 12 children, Lord.

God, I thank you for the privileges to raise up kids for your glory and to teach them about who you are and the work that you've done on the cross for us, Lord. And so God, I just pray that you would help the parents in this room, the ones that are not here due to this illness or to traveling or due to different things that are going on in their lives, Lord.

I just pray that you would help them raise their children up for your glory. So just be with these little kids as they are raised up for that reason. And we just say these things in your name. Amen. All right.

Ruth, Boaz, and the Kinsman-Redeemer

Well, once again, it is an absolute blessing to be able to be with you all the day, to be able to read God's word, to worship. And I don't know if you guys have noticed that or not, but I think those are two hymns that we've never sung before, or at least I've never sung them before.

The first one that was new to us, the Not In Me song, I'm telling you what, I was listening to it this week. And those lyrics are so, so sweet. I hope that you go back and you listen to those things again.

You look into those words as our worship should be directed out of the doctrine that we see in the scripture. And that one was so, so wonderful to sing with everyone here. So we're going to be in Ruth chapter four, verses one through six.

So I would encourage you to start making your way that way right now with your respected Bibles or devices, however you open up God's word. Let us do that. So Ruth chapter four, verses one through six.

And let us just go ahead and begin by just opening up in a word of prayer. Lord God, again, I just lift up this time to you, Lord, this opportunity to have this Lord's Day way of worship, Lord, a way of reading who you are.

And so God, let us be refined and reformed to who you are in the text here. Let us understand your supremacy in all things and let us be sanctified by the very word of God. Lord, let this be a time for gospel language, a time for the gospel to be pronounced very clearly.

And let not any one of us, including myself, leave these doors today without knowing what the gospel is. So Lord, I just lift these things up to you for your glory again and let your will be done here.

And we say this in your name. Amen. So Ruth chapter four, verses one through six is where we're going to be at today. And before we just jump right in and just read this text as we normally would, I'm going to back up and we're just going to do a quick general picture to help us with this context here.

OK, so Ruth chapter one, it has started out this whole book for us saying that this was a time where there was no king and the judges ruled in the midst of Israel. And we see that Naomi and her husband and her two sons have departed.

They go to Moab as foreigners, sojourners. They take wives there. And then the children, the husband pass away in a very sad way. And Orpha and Ruth are wanting to comfort Naomi. Orpha goes back to Moab.

Ruth comes with her proclaiming your God will be my God, your people, my people, your land, my land. She's attached herself to who Naomi is and what she has with her. And so they go back to Israel and they are now in a place of ruin.

Most likely this land that they have is in our minds and our thinking has been mortgaged in this time period. And so there's a lot of things at jeopardy right now, especially with the fact that their loved ones had died.

And so we see again that the principle of the kinsman, the redeemer, is that when that branch from that tree of Israel was broken or died or something happened to that branch, the nearest kinsman was to come along and was to essentially fix the branch.

It was to keep the line, the family line going. And so we see that that's where we're at here in Ruth chapter four. I do want to make mention here in Ruth chapter three. We do see that peculiar language that Naomi seeks for Ruth to have security.

She seeks for her to be redeemed. She seeks for her to be married. That's verse one in chapter three says it says that she seeks security for Ruth and she tells her to go about this in this way of coming to the feet of Boaz, showing that she is waiting judgment, awaiting to see if he would be the redeemer and Boaz accepts.

But he says this, something that was probably very surprising. And that's where we're at here in chapter four. Very surprising for Ruth is that there is a relative, a family kinsman that is closer than I.

And so we see that Ruth, the way that Boaz explains her, that all the land of Israel knows that she is a woman of virtue and excellence. This who Ruth is has gone out to all the land. But we also see in that text, the honor of who Boaz is.

He doesn't just marry Ruth. He doesn't just redeem the land because guess what? Though he is a near family kinsman, the right of redemption belong to the nearest. And so he is very honorable and not going behind the back and violating this covenant of God, this law of redemption that we have here.

So Ruth chapter four now starts out with us. Let's just go ahead and read it and then we'll pray over this text. So, so Ruth chapter four, verses one through six, it says, now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there.

And behold, the close relative of whom Boaz spoke was passing by. So he said, turn aside, friend, sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down. And he took 10 men of the elders of the city and said, sit down here.

So they sat down. Then he said to the closest relative, Naomi, who has come back from the land of Moab, has to sell the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. So I thought to inform you saying, buy it before those who are sitting here and before the elders of my people.

If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if not, tell me that I may know for there is no one but you to redeem it. And I after you. And he said, I will redeem it. Then Boaz said, on the day that you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth, the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.

And the closest relative said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself. You may have my right of redemption, for I cannot redeem it. We will then have Brother Rick next week continue on in these next verses with us as we see some more wonderful language that takes place.

But let us go ahead and pray specifically over these six verses here. Lord God, I thank you again for this story. I thank you for this principle of redemption that we have here, Lord. I thank you for the family line of both Boaz and Ruth, as that is who you come incarnate through, is through this family seed here, Lord God.

And so I thank you for your covenantal sovereignty that we have in this text, Lord. I thank you for this way that this family was redeemed, Lord, as it has brought about our very own redemption. So Lord, I just thank you for this.

Lord, let us know this story better today so that we might look to you upon the cross, Lord. And let us just remember the blood that was spilt out for us as we have communion here with us today, Lord.

And so, God, let us remember what you have done for our salvation. Let us never forget these things. And so, Lord, we just lift these things up to you, our Redeemer. And we say this in the Redeemer's name, Jesus the Christ, amen.

Ruth, chapter 4, verses 1 through 6. We continue to see this wonderful language that is taking place in here. Some very interesting, traditional, contextual things about the land of Israel at this day.

So we see Boaz, whom has told Ruth. Let me just remind us real fast here. Ruth, chapter 2, Boaz has told her, you have come to seek refuge under the wings of, as I've said it before, Yahweh, Elohim, Yah, Israel.

That you have come to seek refuge under the wings of the Lord God of Israel. So Ruth has found refuge under the same wings of Israel that other individuals are finding refuge in. And now she is seeking this physical redemption, this physical buying of the land, this physical marriage.

And so she employs that same language to Boaz in Ruth, chapter 3. Or she says to him, will you cover me with either your cloak or with your wing, the side of your cloak? I want refuge in you, Boaz, as well.

I want to be redeemed by you, this physical way. And so we see now in chapter 4 that after that very night that Boaz says in verse 13 of Ruth, chapter 3, remain this night. And when the morning comes, if he will redeem you, good, let him redeem you.

But if he does not wish to redeem you, then I will redeem you as the Lord lives. Lie down until the morning. He promises Ruth a future redemption. He promises that to her. And he says that it's going to take place when the morning comes.

I'm going to seek about doing this for you, Ruth. So when we come to verse 4, we now see the fruit of Boaz's promise. He says, or it says in here, now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there. It does not say in this text that he tarried for a multitude of days or weeks.

He saw the need of the redemption of Ruth. And so he went and did it. He went and did it. He does not wait to do these things. We talked about last week that Ruth is a woman of excellence. And we're going to make note of this here in just a moment.

But we must recognize that Boaz is a man of God that loves what God has promised and told them to do in the nation and land of Israel. He obeys God. And not only that, but he keeps his very word. He's not a man that is double-tongued and says, I will do X, Y, and Z and does not do these things.

He does that which he promised. He goes immediately. He goes up to the city. He sits down there. He goes up to the gate, assuming that most likely in this season of harvest, that this other family kinsman will be near there.

And so he seeks him and he finds him. And again, this Boaz, as we talked about last week, he could have just married Ruth and went behind. He could have circumnavigated this rite of redemption. But it wouldn't have been right for him to do that.

It would have not been according to this principle of redemption that we have in the Old Testament. And so we, again, we see the great honor of Boaz being talked about in here. As again, he is a type of Christ.

He's a type in this way. He points us to Jesus, the Christ. And so he says that he comes up there and he finds the close relative, this other man to whom the rite of redemption belongs. The rite of redemption belongs to the closest relative.

And he finds him and he tells him, he says, turn aside, friend, sit down here. And so he gets the attention of this other redeemer. He sits him down. And then he does not stop there, brothers and sisters.

He does not just go up to the single individual, but he wants this to be the most public display of an agreement that there could be at that day. He does not stop at just finding the other redeemer. He does not just go to the other redeemer's field in private.

He is in the public square doing this. Brothers and sisters, all of our dealings in Christ ought to be in the public square. We should not think, I have theology that I want to hide. That's not what we ought to do.

Evangelism ought not to be done in secret. We must be public in the profession of Christ is that we must be public in this way. Now, we also need to take note of what is the purpose of why Boaz is going to this other redeemer in this public manner?

Why does he do this? It's to redeem Ruth. It's to redeem Ruth. Now let's think about this for a moment. I hope today that you can proclaim that you have redemption in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I hope that you can say that if you have not turned to have faith in those things, I beg of you to repent and believe in the gospel. Jesus, the God man, the incarnate one that did the thing that you and I cannot do, that is our redemption.

That is the blood that has covered you and I. That's the wings we have sought refuge under is the very arms that were pierced for you and I. If you have redemption there, do you not seek redemption for your neighbors?

Do you not seek redemption for your friends? Do you not seek redemption for your family members? Our spiritual redemption, the redemption that we have in Christ is far greater in value, in knowing, in knowledge than any physical redemption that Ruth could ever experience.

If you have redemption in Christ, you ought to go to the street. You ought to go to the public square. You ought to go to your neighbor because why? You love them enough for them to have redemption. You don't go to your house and tarry long.

You don't wait a week, a month. You go and you seek their redemption. Just as Boaz is doing this in a physical way, he goes to seek the physical redemption of Ruth. I hope you see the importance in this text.

If we think that that redemption was a great thing, you have a greater redemption in the work of Christ so you better tell people about it. So when we see here now in verse one of Ruth chapter four, he does this in a public way.

He gets his friend, this near relative and in verse two it says that he does not stop in the public way just there because people are walking in and out of this gate. Other people would have seen this so it's already very public but he also gathers 10 of the city elders.

Now there's some thinking on this that most likely Boaz being this recognizable, honorable man that most likely he was sitting on the council of elders in a way and so he goes and he gathers these other 10 men, these other 10 elders of the city and he has them too.

What does it have him do? Does he say, I want you to give me the right of redemption to Ruth? No, he has them come to the very feet, sitting down next to the right of redemption kinsmen. He does this in a very honest and truthful way.

He does this wonderfully for us. I think there's a lot of application that we can take in our own dealings with these things. There should not be anything that we do in secret, nothing. It should be a very open thing and so he sits the men down.

We're out again at the gate. This is a public area. People are passing through in and out and he has them sit there and now the question might need to be this. I hope that during our time here in Ruth, I hope that we've paid very close attention to the words here.

Why the question of this physical redemption? Why the hastiness? Why does Boaz seek to do these things in such an immediate manner? Well, it's very true as we've said that Boaz is a man of honor. He does do these things because he is a man of his word.

He's truthful, honest in this way. He's a great example for us to look up to but no doubt, we must need to take mention that Ruth is described as a woman that is poor. She's a woman that needs redemption.

She doesn't have anything to her name in this way. Did you know that the book of Ruth never describes the attractiveness of Ruth? Never says that she's a beautiful woman. Now, if you ever look up on Google and you typed in there, you did a good old Google search and you looked up paintings of Ruth, you know how they're gonna paint her as attractive as that person in their mind can think of as an artist.

It never says in this book that she's an attractive woman. It never says that. It never says that she's a woman of beauty who Boaz is seeking in marriage. It never says that. How does it describe Ruth?

As a woman of excellence, a woman of virtue, a woman that seeks the refuge under the wings of the God of Israel. It's a woman who says to Naomi, your God will be my God, your people, my people, your land, my land.

Now, the question has to be asked, why do you think painters paint Ruth in an attractive manner? It's because of the qualities she has is attractive to us. Women in this church, beauty fades. It's not something that will stay forever.

You ought to seek the excellence of being a woman over the makeup from the store. You ought to seek virtue in your life rather than expensive jewelry to attract a man. And why then does Boaz do this in hastiness?

Because Ruth is a woman of excellence. She's a woman of excellence. We're gonna just turn Ruth really quickly here to Proverbs chapter 31, verse 10. As I think that's something that's often skipped over in the book of Ruth.

It never says she's attractive. It never says she's beautiful. It never says that. Proverbs chapter 31, excuse me, Proverbs chapter 31, verse 10. And I hope you know this text. This is the description of a worthy woman, a description of a worthy woman.

Verse 10 of Proverbs 31 says this, an excellent wife who can find. For her worth is far above jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.

She looks for wool and flax and works with her hands in delight. She is like merchant ships. She brings her food from afar. She rises also while it is still night and gives food to her household and portions to her maidens.

She considers a field and buys it and from her earnings, she plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong. She senses that her gain is good. Her lamp does not go out at night.

She stretches her hands to the staff and her hands grasp the spindle. She extends her hand to the poor and she stretches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of the snow for her household. All her household are clothed with scarlet.

She makes coverings for herself. Her clothing is fine linen and purple and we can keep on going through this text. But I hope you see the point of this. How does Ruth get described in the book of Ruth?

Not as a woman of beauty, but a woman that goes and gleans among the field. A woman that seeks redemption. A woman that loves her mother-in-law. A woman that loves God. A woman that seeks to make this people her people.

We see that in Ruth. And that's why we see then the description of Proverbs 31 is absolutely, Ruth is a worthy woman. So why the hastiness to Boaz to do this? Because Ruth, this Moabitess woman is a woman worthy of such.

She's a woman worthy of such. Ruth chapter four, verse three. So we now know why Boaz would go about doing this in this way. Verse three says, then he said to the closest relative Naomi, who has come back from the land of Moab, has to sell the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech.

Because of what Naomi and her husband have done when they departed, when there's a famine in the land, which is most likely again, according to God's judgment to the nation of Israel, as they do not have a king in those days, as they're violating what they were supposed to be doing.

There's judges there. They left and they departed to the land of Moab. They were not faithful in this sense. And they have come back. Naomi has come back to this land that she most likely can no longer afford to keep.

And so in verse four, it says, so I thought to inform you saying, so this is Boaz speaking in front of the 10 elders, in front of the other family redeemer. So I thought to inform you saying, buy it before those who are sitting here and before the elders of my people.

And if you redeem it, redeem it. If you do this, family kinsmen, do it. You ought to do it. You have the right of redemption. It's your obligation. You can say no, as we see here in just a moment, but you should do this.

This is first belonging to you. Redeem it. But if not, so Boaz continues, but if not, tell me that I may know. Now, the question of why does Boaz need to know this if he's not willing to redeem it that day is because he is the next in line to redemption.

He's the next kinsman in line. We'll see him say this here in a moment. He says, for there is no one but you to redeem it, saying that, look, the right of redemption is not to both of us. It's to you first, and then it's to me if you decline it.

But it is to you first. You alone have the right to redeem it right now, whatever his name is. It doesn't record his name, but this other family kinsman. And after you, and he said, I will redeem it. So Boaz is saying, being open in what he's already promised Ruth, saying, look, if he will redeem you, good, but if he does not, I will keep my word.

I will redeem it. He's saying this in a public square in front of the 10 elders, in front of the other family redeemer. I will redeem it. I'm not going to go back on this word. Then Boaz said, on the day you buy the field from the hand, the land, or excuse me.

So in verse four, when it says, I will redeem it at the end there, that's the other kinsman. Now pay attention to this. The other family kinsman, the first, the closest relative says, I will do it. Yes.

The land that Naomi must sell, the land that she can no longer keep, the land that needs to be redeemed. I will redeem it. That's, that's what the other redeemer says. Now, if we just stop there, that's kind of an alarming text as we know that through the line of Boaz and Ruth comes King David.

And through that line comes Jesus, the Messiah. So that's not where the story ends though. It says that Boaz continues on in this language of telling him what he's, what he is going to be redeeming. That it's not just the land, this other family kinsman.

It's also some other stuff that comes along with it. He then says, then Boaz said, on the day you buy the field from my, from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth. And now we've talked much about this in the past, but how is Ruth often titled in this text?

Ruth, it doesn't just say Ruth. It says Ruth, the Moabitess. He says, you must also acquire Ruth, the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.

So, so Boaz makes it clear to this other family kinsman, you, when you take this land or not just taking the land, but you're also taking the hand of Ruth, the pagan woman, the one that's from a foreigner, the sojourner, the one that has come from Moab to Israel.

That's whose hand you also have to take. And that is to redeem this family to, to raise up the name of the deceased and the closest relative. Now, listen to this. This is very interesting. So this other family kinsman has said, I will redeem it, which is most likely the reason that he says I will redeem it is because it is to his gain.

Land is a good thing to gain. Is it not? If somebody came up here and said, hey, will you buy this land for this reduced price? Most likely we're going to jump with the opportunity to pick up that land.

Are we not? Absolutely. And so most likely in this way, since this is a, is a fan, this is a redemption moment that this other king kinsman probably sees an advantage to his belongings, to what he owns.

He sees that, okay, I can acquire another piece of land. I will do that. Yes, yes, I will. But now Boaz adds that conditional part to it as well, that you also have to take the hand of Ruth in front of these 10 other elders.

And listen now to what he says. And the closest relative said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself. You may have my right of redemption for I cannot redeem it.

Now the question has to be asked and it's one of very much importance. Why is it that this other family kinsman who first says yes, that when the Ruth, the Moabitess, the Moabite woman, when she is attached to this conditional offer, then says no.

There's a lot of conjecture and a lot of thinking on why this would have been said by this other family kinsman. There would be some that would say that maybe this other family kinsman was married at the time and that would just, that would cause too much family stress here.

Or maybe he had enough money to redeem the land, but he saw too much of a financial burden in taking care of Ruth and Naomi as well. There's a lot of thinking and speculation on this, but it doesn't say that in the text.

And so we need to be careful in our speculations. My understanding of this text would be because of the reason that Boaz says in verse five, Ruth, the Moabitess, that's why he then says, I cannot do this because I jeopardize my inheritance.

I'm going to read from Deuteronomy chapter seven, verses two through four here. Deuteronomy chapter seven, verses two through four is very important as this is the context of what's in this day for Ruth and Boaz.

This is the mind of the Israelite, the ethnic Jew. Deuteronomy chapter seven, verses two through four. I think that this understanding of this text is according to the text. It's fitting with the text.

It's fitting for the response of this other kinsman. Deuteronomy chapter seven, verses two through four says this, and when the Lord your God shall deliver them before you and you shall defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them.

You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them and you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons.

Now, a lot of people look at this and they stop reading their verse four continues to say, for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and he will quickly destroy you.

The inheritance of this other family kinsman is of the utmost importance to him. And it would be my opinion that the reason that we see again that he says Ruth the Moabitess, that's the other person you have to take with this land.

He's afraid that by marrying this other non-ethnic Jew, that he will have the wrath of God kindled up against him and his inheritance will be a jeopardy. Why is it that Boaz is okay with marrying Ruth?

Why this other kinsman is not? The verse four there in Deuteronomy chapter seven is so important that we understand this principle because they will cause your sons to not follow me, God. They will cause them to go after other pagan, foreign, false gods as we know that there's only one true and everlasting God from all eternity to eternity whom there is none before nor after.

It's most likely that this other kinsman is worried about this thinking. Ruth though, who has she found refuge in? Yahweh, Elohim of Israel under the wings of God. Is she a pagan woman any longer? She's Ruth the Moabitess but she's Ruth the redeemed.

Her background of being a pagan false god worshiper is her background, yes. But does she still worship them? No. Will she cause Boaz to go after other gods? No. Whose God will she honor and worship? The one and only God.

The God of Boaz, the God of you and I, the one and only one that we will either not worship or the one that we will worship. The one we reject or the one we will accept unto salvation. Ruth, though she is a Moabitess, she is redeemed underneath the same wings that you and I are redeemed under.

There is no issue for Boaz to marry her. Now we would see the same principle applied to us today in the second Corinthians chapter six verses four through six. In there it talks about how we are not to marry a non-believer, be unequally yoked.

We are not to do this. Amen to that. We are not to do that. Boaz in this text is not doing that. He's seeking the hand of Ruth, the Moabitess, who has found refuge underneath the same wings that he has found refuge under.

So this other kinsman in Ruth chapter four says, I cannot redeem it. Now I want to read just in finality, Titus chapter two, and we will make reference to some other areas in scripture, but Titus chapter two is so, so important for us to read right now.

So Titus chapter two verses 13 through 14 says this. I'll give us a moment. Ruth chapter two verses 13 through 14. Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus.

Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds. When we think about Ruth and this other kinsman, and we see that Ruth does not have anything to her name.

She doesn't have money. This other kinsman says, no, I won't redeem her. Brothers and sisters, let's make reference of Ephesians chapter two. Let's think about this in the spiritual side of things for you and I.

The debt we have collected against our holy God. Do we bring anything to the table for God to want to redeem us? Do we have anything to our name that would make God want to or be obligated to save us?

Absolutely not. Ephesians chapter two says, for you were dead in your sins and trespasses that you are even a child of wrath. You have nothing. No reason for God to save you. No reason for redemption.

There is no reason for why God would want to do what he has done for you on your behalf. Nothing whatsoever. Ephesians chapter two. We just quickly made mention of verses one through seven here. Eight and nine says, again, this is an amazing phrase for by grace, you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves.

It is the gift of God, not a result of works that no one should boast. There is nothing that you have done. There is nothing that you do that reserves this right of redemption, this unmerited favor of God.