The following is a lightly edited transcript and may contain errors.
Contents
The Foretold Redeemer
Rahab and Hesed
A Costly Redemption
Fulfillment in Christ
The King of Kings
The Gospel Is for the Nations
Closing Prayer
We’ll start in verse 14, Ruth 4.
Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David. (Ruth 4:14–22)
Let’s pray. Lord, thank you for your mercy, which you pour out upon us weekly. We thank you, God, that you are quick to save, Lord. Anyone who comes before you and trusts, you grant the gift of eternal life. Thank you, Lord, that we have fellowship with you and with your Son, that we are cleansed by the blood of your Son, that our sins are wiped out and forgiven. Lord, we intercede now for the persecuted church. We intercede for our brothers and sisters in Syria who are being slaughtered. Lord, we pray that you would intervene and be gracious to protect them. Be gracious to have them stand firm in their faith. We pray that you would use the sword of the civil government to come to their rescue and protect them. We pray the same for our brothers and sisters in the Congo and elsewhere, Lord. We’re privileged to live in a country that does not face persecution like that. So let us not forget our brothers and sisters and what’s going on elsewhere in other lands. We pray that you would draw them fast to you, Lord. We thank you for faithful witnesses who stand firm to the end. May we, Lord, persevere and press on to the end. Lord, bless our time now as we look into your word. We thank you [audio unclear] with you. So bless the teachers now, give the teachers wisdom and knowledge to instruct the kids back in class at an age-appropriate level, Lord, to teach them about who you are and who your Son is. And thank you for this time, Lord, as we gather together to worship you and hear from your word. May it all be for your glory. Amen.
The Foretold Redeemer
As we begin to wrap up the book of Ruth, we’re going to be looking at our fourth Redeemer today. Do you all remember the first three? They all start with F. You remember the name of the one, the first one starts with F, the failed Redeemer, the faithful Redeemer, the future Redeemer, and today we’re going to look at the foretold Redeemer, the Redeemer of redeemers who’s been hinted at throughout the book, and we find out there’s one greater to come than even Boaz. Boaz was a type of Christ. All the redeemers in the Old Testament, they’re little r’s, but then we find out who is the Redeemer of redeemers: Jesus, the Redeemer of redeemers. And as we wrap up the book I want you to notice something, but with chapters 1 and 4 we see what’s called a chiasm, which occurs somewhat frequently in the Old and New Testaments, and it’s really more of like a rhetorical writing device that when an author back then was writing, a lot of times we think of stories of having like an intro and then there’s like a premise one and a premise two and then some type of conclusion. That doesn’t always work its way out with writers of old. That’s more of a maybe a Western way of thinking or writing. A lot of times they would work their way up and the key point would be more towards the middle of the story and then they would back away from it. But you would see parallels going on as they worked towards something and as they walked away from it. It’s all over the place. In fact, some have argued different books of the Bible, the entire book is a chiasm. So you can trace it up and then you can trace it back. But in order for it to be what’s called a true chiasm, you have to have like point A and then the point A walking its way down, and walking its way up. So a lot of times people think they see them where they’re not. But we do have some similarities with the chiasm going on here in chapters 1 and 4. If you think about it, chapter 1 begins with a flurry of names. We get Naomi and Elimelech and Mahlon and Chilion and Orpah and Ruth. And their initial period extends, we think, about ten years. Well, what happens? Well then it continues with the great emptiness. Mahlon, Chilion, Elimelech, they die. And then it culminates in a day of decision in which one woman, Orpah, says no. And another woman, Ruth, says yes. Well what do we see happen in chapter 4? We see that begin to walk away again, because chapter 4 begins with a day of decision in which one man says no, the unnamed redeemer or the failed redeemer, and one man says yes, the faithful redeemer Boaz. And then what happens? Instead of a great emptiness, there’s a great fulfilling. The birth of the baby, which leads to a story that extends over a long period of time. Which brings us to the very end where the book ends with a flurry of names. Now normally if we look at this genealogy just briefly, a typical royal genealogy like this would list ten people. The fifth person listed would be someone worthy of extra honor, in this case, Nahshon. He’s the brother-in-law of Aaron and he emerged as the tribal chief of Judah when selected to assist Moses in the first census of Israel. So you can read about him a couple of times throughout the Old Testament. The seventh spot is reserved for Boaz. It was also a spot reserved for special honor and importance. This list that we see here is the same list that we find in 1 Chronicles chapter 2. Now there’s no women listed in this genealogy, but there are some women mentioned earlier in chapter 4 and we’ve already talked about them. But here’s the thing, so we get this genealogy, we get the same genealogy in 1 Chronicles chapter 2, but in Matthew’s genealogy, we have a lot of genealogies throughout the Bible, and I know when you’re having your quiet time you probably speed-read through some of that. But they’re very important, very, very, very, very important and very helpful in understanding things. And Matthew gives us some information that’s very key. Keep your place in Ruth, but look at Matthew chapter 1. So it begins Matthew chapter 1. I mean, the whole first part of the first chapter is the genealogy. Verse 1:
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. (Matthew 1:1–5)
Well, Matthew, inspired by the Holy Spirit, tells us something that we don’t see in the two other genealogies in the Old Testament. And what’s that? Rahab is included here. “Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab.” So it looks like, now there, and everyone acknowledges it and it’s no big deal. In fact, there’s a group of 14 here in Matthew three different times, and it actually spells out David in Hebrew, and there’s some cool stuff that Matthew is doing here. But people realize with all these names there are people missing in the genealogy. There’s some gaps. It’s actually intentional, so that shouldn’t ever freak you out. But here’s something interesting. It looks like, verse 5, “Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab.” It looks like here that very possibly, Boaz’s mom was Rahab. Now again, it’s possible there might be a generation or two, and it depends when you want to date the fall of Jericho to when this occurs in the book of Ruth. If you have an earlier dating to the fall of Jericho, then it would probably be more like his grandmother or his great-grandmother. If you have a little bit more narrow time, then it’s very possible it was his mom. I’m going to treat it as if it’s his mom. Regardless, it’s only a couple of generations removed.
Rahab and Hesed
But think about that. After Joshua 6, you know the story of Rahab, right? The spies enter the land the second time, really, to spy it out. And they end up at Jericho with Rahab, as the Bible calls her, Rahab the harlot. So what does she do? She hides them, right? And she sends them out a different way. What’s her only request? Save me and my family, right? But after Joshua 6, she disappears from the storyline. She is not mentioned again in the Old Testament. So if you’re just reading, you’re reading through, you’re like, man, what happened to this lady? Like, what happened? Well we find out what happened. It took a while, but Matthew lets us know, inspired by the Spirit. So think briefly of her life, the little that we know of it. She was caring. I would say she was a woman of hesed, that faithful love, that steadfast love of God. Why? Because she could have made plans for herself. She knows the city is about to be destroyed. She could have made her own plans, but she didn’t. She intercedes and saves her father’s household. “Spare me and my family, spare them.” So being kept from destruction was enough for her. And so what did she do? Well, she had Boaz. She gets adopted into the family of God. A Jewish man, an Israelite man, ends up marrying her. And so what does she do? She instills this hesed into her son. She instills it into him. Now how could an Israelite man marry a foreigner? There’s even some prohibitions against it. Well it’s the idea that you can’t bring all your gods and all your bad theology with you if you want to be a part of the kingdom of God. That’s kind of how it is today, right? You want to enter the kingdom, you can’t be serving other gods. You want to be a part of the kingdom, you have to leave behind your old life. And Rahab left behind her old life. We see the evidence of that in the very fact that she’s like, spare me and my family. She’s ready to move on. Listen, it’s amazing what life among God’s people and with God brings. Think about it. The land of Moab for Ruth, it has death and destruction. The land of Israel has life in abundance. Rahab the harlot becomes Rahab the wife of Salmon. She goes from immorality to immortality. She goes from imminent damnation, days away from being destroyed, along with the rest of Jericho. She goes from imminent damnation to eternal salvation. So Boaz knew well what it was like to be on the outside. He had foreigner blood in him. And he knew it because his mother was an outsider. But she was brought in. And when you identify with God’s people, blessings come. Blessings come. People don’t fully realize that. You live in the camp with the people of God, you get the blessings. She was courageous, Rahab, lying to the spies and being caught was a possibility. Yet she did what she had to do to save her family. Ruth shows hesed by sticking to Naomi and going with her and providing for her. She could have been like, see ya. So we see this comparison between the two ladies. Boaz shows hesed by giving abundant provision for a foreigner and a widow. Naomi shows hesed, the faithful love, that steadfast love, by providing a husband for Ruth. And notice that they show hesed, and what did they receive? They received God’s hesed showered on them. So Boaz shows it because he knew and heard and saw his mom show hesed. She received hesed. The spies didn’t have to be faithful to their word, but they were. And Boaz knew God’s hesed love extended even to the foreigner who comes to Yahweh and seeks him. So Boaz saw on Ruth a reminder of what his mother had done. Think about it, Rahab forsakes her gods, Ruth forsakes her gods. Boaz saw on Ruth a reminder of what his mother had done, left her nation and left her gods to join a different nation and trust the one true God, Yahweh. He’s also putting into practice what Jesus said is the second greatest commandment, which is love your neighbor as yourself. Which is in Leviticus chapter 19: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” Boaz knew who his neighbor was. It’s the person the Lord puts in right in front of you. It’s not about ethnicity, it’s about who the Lord puts in front of you. The parable of the good Samaritan, right? The Lord put the beat-up man right in front of the Levite and right in front of the priest. What was their response? Not my problem. They probably had some great excuses. No, it was their problem because the Lord put him right in front of them. Love your neighbor. That was their neighbor. Did they love him? No. So we see Boaz as a type of Christ. He’s the faithful Redeemer who points to the ultimate Redeemer to come. Think about it here. We have the royal line of David born here in Bethlehem. And what happens? A thousand, fifteen hundred years later, another baby is born in Bethlehem. And what’s his role? Well, if you’re still in Matthew, look a few verses over. Matthew chapter 1, verse 20:
As he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20–21)
He is a Redeemer. But he’s not just any Redeemer. He’s the Redeemer, the one foretold from the beginning, all the way back in Genesis, the one to crush the serpent’s head, the Redeemer of redeemers. What does it say in Mark 10? “For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many,” to redeem many people for his kingdom. Look at 1 Peter 1. Let’s start in verse 17, 1 Peter 1:
And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (1 Peter 1:17–21)
So we’re ransomed. From what? From death, from sin. How are we ransomed? Through the resurrection, through the death of Jesus. He dies. He resurrects. He rises from the dead. And we have life.
A Costly Redemption
Redemption is costly, brothers and sisters. It was costly for Boaz. We talked about it a few weeks ago. He has to, if he agrees to the task, he has to take on two widows. So this should impress upon us the costliness of what Boaz did. It’s the reason that the failed Redeemer didn’t want to do it: it put his estate at risk. Redemption is costly. What about Jesus’ redemption of you? It was costly. More than any land involved, and not just two widows, but a people for his own pleasure. And what did it cost Christ? It cost him his very life. What did he do to deserve death? Did he do anything to deserve it? No. But what happened? He was put to death by the people who were jealous of him, that envied him. The very people that he came, the Messiah was before them and they couldn’t even see it. Right before their very eyes. And what does he do? He lays down his life for them. “Father, forgive them,” he says, “for they know not what they do.” So day after day, he’s among them. He’s teaching them. He’s loving them. He’s pouring into the disciples and a broader group of people. He’s living righteously. He’s pointing to the Father over and over again. And what happens? After his public ministry, most people think around three years. But they nail him to a cross. But that was done for you. For all of us, it was done. Don’t take lightly how costly your salvation is. It cost your Savior his life. And in order to earn your salvation, guess what? In order for him to merit it, your sins, we just, we kind of downplay it sometimes, brothers and sisters. We downplay it. Think for a second right now of some of the worst sins that you’ve committed. And those were placed upon Christ. But they weren’t just placed upon him. We think, oh, they’re placed upon him and, you know, he had the nails, you know, in his hands and his feet. Awful. No, it says God poured out his wrath on his Son because the sin has to be punished. This sin has to be dealt with. So those awful things that you’ve done and I’ve done too, they were placed on Christ and God has to deal with sin. If he doesn’t deal with sin, then he’s not a just God. So he has to deal with the sin. So all that sin is upon Christ. And what does God have to do in order to be righteous? He has to punish his own Son. He has to punish him. Because someone has to take the wrath. Someone has to receive, there has to be the punishment doled out on someone. You can’t just sin and sin and sin and sin and sin and sin and then God’s just like, hey, let’s just act like that never happened. That’s not how it works. You sin against the holy God? There’s a penalty. It’s your own life. You’ve forfeited your own life. But Christ comes in and says what? I’ll forfeit my life instead. How can just one man do that for more than one man? Because he’s the God-man. He can take the punishment of the many, because he’s the God-man. The Son of God can receive the wrath in a finite time that was meant for you in an infinite time. He can do that because he’s the eternal God. But he suffered that. You think being nailed to the cross was horrible, and it was? When he’s crying out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Like God was pouring out his wrath. He’s forsaking his own Son. Why? For his other children. To redeem you, to be able to have his Son be the Redeemer of redeemers. I mean, Jesus goes willingly to the cross. Yes. Does he go willingly? Do we see kind of a battle in his heart of hearts, so to speak, in the Garden of Gethsemane? Like, if there’s another way, Lord, let this cup pass. Why? Because he knows what it’s going to take. But what does he say? “Not my will, but yours be done.” “Not my will, but yours be done.” And so what does he do? In obedience to the Father he lays down his life, but he lays it down willfully. In John he talks about, I lay it down, I’ve got the power to take it back up. But he lays it down. And who did he lay it down for? Each one of you. Each one of you. The wrath of God poured out on his own Son, so the wrath reserved for you could be abated and taken away. And that’s what he did. That is a costly redemption. So when you treat your sin just kind of all willy-nilly, you’re saying, you know, that redemption of Christ, really, that wasn’t really a big deal, brothers and sisters. And that’s not true. We should shudder when we think about the sin that we might possibly commit. And that should encourage us not to. There’s many reasons not to. But Christ shed his own blood for you, for your sin, to deal with it and to have it taken away so that you didn’t have to receive the wrath of God. It was a costly redemption.
Fulfillment in Christ
And what do we see here? We see back in the book of Ruth, Naomi, to make some connections here, because every single person will only and can only find true fulfillment in Christ. She leaves the land, she leaves the Promised Land, and she ends up empty. Guess what, you leave the Promised Land, you walk away, you backslide, you’re the prodigal, you’re going to be pretty empty. Yeah, you might enjoy it for a bit, but you’re in the pig pen. You’re with the pigs, just like the prodigal son. That’s where you’re at. So Naomi, she’s empty as well, but what happens? She comes back, she comes back empty, but she ends up filled. She ends up filled. She comes to the Promised Land, and Ruth comes back empty as well. But what happens? Ruth ends up fulfilled. But this is really to point us that true fulfillment. We have this example of Boaz as the redeemer being faithful. But he’s really pointing forward to the ultimate Redeemer. And what do we find? That true fulfillment only comes in Christ. We’re just going to look at a couple verses. Look at Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 11:
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. (Ephesians 4:11–14)
All right, the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Look at Colossians, it’s all over Colossians. Colossians chapter 1. The whole book of Colossians, it’s saying Christ is more than enough for you. You’re tempted to think otherwise, read Colossians. Christ is more than enough for you. So what does he say? Verse 15, we’ll start there:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. (Colossians 1:15–16)
Did we get the idea here that he’s kind of at the top? Yeah? Thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities, all things were created through him and they’re created for him. He’s an integral part of creation occurring. He’s not a part of creation, but he was part of the creation process. That’s what we see here. We see it in John 1 as well. “All things were created through him and for him, and he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” You get scientists saying different things. Look, if Christ were to remove his hand from this physical world for one split second, it would all fall apart. That is the truth. All things hold together. “And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” Right, so all the fullness dwells in God, in the Son, the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. Then we go on, we see the same thing, Colossians 2, verse 9: “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” But then notice what it says after that. “And you have been filled in him.” You’ve been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. You’ve been filled in him. Yes, Jesus, the one who’s at the top. Find your fulfillment, brothers and sisters, in Christ. Everything else falls way short. You will be disappointed every single time. Disappointed. Very disappointed. Find your fulfillment in Christ.
The King of Kings
And what do we see? Yes, he is the King of kings. Isaiah talks about it. Look at Isaiah chapter 9:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9:6–7)
Amen. So he’s the King of kings. He’s the Lord of lords. He is at the top. We see that all the way at the beginning through the Scriptures. We could look at Scripture after Scripture. We’re going to look at a couple. Look at Daniel chapter 7. Daniel 7, verse 13:
I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13–14)
I mean, here Daniel is using that term Ancient of Days. He’s talking about the Father. He’s distinguishing the Father from this one who came like a son of man. This is the Redeemer of redeemers, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Look at 1 Timothy 6, verse 13:
I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. (1 Timothy 6:13–16)
And then Revelation, chapter 17. It says, verse 14:
They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful. (Revelation 17:14)
This is our Jesus, brothers and sisters, the Lamb of God, shed before the foundation of the earth. And what has he promised? To come again, to claim a people for his own. Are you ready for his returning? We need to be. He will come and he will rule in righteousness.
Think about Ruth for a moment and think about what she would have been brought up in. She would have been brought up in the worship of Chemosh. That was the god of the Moabites. Now, a lot of people back then, and sadly at times, even the Israelites, were henotheists. So they believed in many gods, but they would have one particular god that they would see as above the others, or the one that was their particular regional deity that they would worship. So they were henotheists. They believed in many gods, but one of theirs was the one that they focused on. The Moabites focused and worshiped Chemosh. And we see this a couple of times, Numbers 21, you don’t have to turn there. “Woe to you, O Moab! You are undone, O people of Chemosh.” And then later in 1 Kings 11, it talks about, God is saying, they have forsaken me and worshiped Chemosh, the god of Moab. So what happened to Ruth? Well, God happened. That’s what happened to Ruth. One of the key verses in Ruth: “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” She had Moabite blood coursing through her veins, but she had the Spirit of Yahweh coursing through her soul.
And so when we talk about nations and we talk about what does that look like today for our nations, there’s only so many options you can have when it comes to a nation. Because a nation will have a God at the top. It will have a God. And there’s really only three options. The first option is, I mean, if there’s no God at the top, then the state is God. That’s option one. One theologian said, if the state is the highest authority in the lives of those governed, meaning that there is no authority above the state, beyond the reach of that state, then the state is the God of that system. Option one’s not good. I hope we all see that. Last five years, we’ve seen many politicians and government agencies act this option out. They have acted as if they have all power and control and are subject to none. Then you have option two and three. If there is a God above the state, then that God will either be the true God or a false god. If there is a God above the state, then he either should be there or he shouldn’t be there. If he is the true and living God, he should be there. If he isn’t the true and living God, but rather a false god, then we should recognize that and not want him there. We could say option two is the one true God over the state, and option three is a false god over the state. Muslim nations choose option three, the false god, Allah. Hindu nations choose option three. But which one do you want? I mean, I like option two. The true God over the state. I’m not arguing for a theonomy or a theocracy. It’s just a statement of facts that lets you know there will be a God at the top. There’s going to be a God at the top. It’s just a matter of which one. And if you believe option two, that doesn’t mean you think the church should be in control of the nation. It does not mean you believe we should be governed as Israel was originally, without a king, a theocracy if you will. Believing option two is saying you believe God is sovereign and he is over the affairs of men, and he should be over the affairs of men. You don’t have a petty view of him. He is the King, right? Not just any king, but the King, the one and only King, the King of heaven, but also the King of earth. Does he rule in majesty? Yes. He is Lord over all.
And it’s interesting. Maybe you’ve heard the term Christian nationalist. I’ve mentioned it before. Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, actually was just writing in World magazine this week, his article. It’s very interesting what he says. He’s writing about Christian nationalism. He says, “Are you a Christian nationalist? If you are a conservative evangelical Christian in America today, the self-appointed guardians of secular America are going to call you a Christian nationalist. Do you believe in the defense of the unborn and that abortion should be prohibited by power of law? Then you will be labeled a Christian nationalist. Do you believe that there are two and only two genders, male and female? Then get ready to be put in the stocks as a Christian nationalist. Do you believe that your Christian convictions on these issues are to be translated into your positions on questions of government policy? You guessed it: you are Christian nationalists.” The subtitle of his article is, if you are afraid of the label, just go ahead and wave your white flag. One, some people like the term, some people don’t. I’m not here to address that today. But if someone were to label that, don’t let labels bother you. I’ve been called all sorts of stuff. Only half of it’s true. I’m just kidding. You can’t let labels bother you. You really can’t. I mean, you realize that what Christians were called originally, Christians, was supposed to be a derisive term. And we’re like, hey, okay, the label fits. Don’t let labels bother you. People who have no love for God will not think accurately about the things of God. They just won’t. Nor will they think accurately about the people of God. So they’re more than happy to use all sorts of labels, maybe some accurate, maybe some not, to label us. But we need to take to heart Dr. Mohler’s exhortation. Two, if someone were to label it to you, I mean, you can simply start having a dialogue with them. There’s the two questions that you can always ask. What do you mean by that? What do you mean by Christian nationalist? And very likely, it would be the very things that Mohler said. It is being used against every person who just calls themselves a Bible-believing Christian. But two, you can say, how did you come to that conclusion? [audio unclear] A lot of the time, if a pastor preaches politics from the pulpit and I agree, then man, he’s preaching the word of God. But if he preaches politics and I don’t agree, he’s like, man, you’re bringing politics into the pulpit. Right? Well, here’s the thing. Christ is King. Christ is King. And he rules. And we should want to honor him in our society. The question that I always think is, if God were to walk up to you and hand you the keys to the United States and say, you can set up the rules and laws of this land however you see fit, but please do it since you’re one of my children, and according to my word and in ways that glorify and honor me, how would you set it up? How would you set it up? Because I think for a long time we’ve been sold a false bill of goods about, and there is a correct way to set it up and there’s a way to do it that would honor Christ. But if he handed you the keys, that’s the question to ask yourself when you think about some of these things. He hands you the keys and says, my child, set up the laws of the United States in a way that glorifies and honors me. How would you do it? [audio unclear] I mean, you have to think pretty highly of yourself if you think it’s okay to celebrate your birthday every year, but not Jesus’ birthday. You ever think about that? I mean, you stop celebrating your own birthday, I might take you a little more seriously when you talk about not celebrating Jesus’ birthday. So we have to think. We have to think. We have to do the hard work. We have to dig in if we’re going to talk about these things. We want a worldview that honors Christ. We want a worldview that properly puts him at the top.
The Gospel Is for the Nations
So back to Ruth and by extension Rahab, we have two non-Jews here in the lineage of Christ. What was God saying even thousands of years ago, that the plan of salvation was much bigger than ethnic Israel? You know I’ve had people actually try to argue against me on that. I mean, how can you argue against it? I mean, Rahab. She’s a Canaanite. Ruth. Rahab is commended in Hebrews. They’re in heaven, brothers and sisters. We will fellowship with them one day. So what is God showing? The plan of salvation was much bigger than ethnic Israel. Israel didn’t really get that message in the Old Testament. “Every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, stand there before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” Everyone’s invited. The offer goes to all. It goes to all. No one is excluded. No one is excluded from the invitation, and any who repent and trust, they receive salvation.
Last month, Richard Lee Tabler was put to death by, I believe, the state of Oklahoma, but he was put to death. He planned out and carried out the murder of four people. He had asked several times for courts to stop his appeals and let him be executed. His lawyers even questioned whether he was mentally competent. In 2008 he prompted a massive lockdown throughout the state’s 150,000-inmate prison system when he was able to get a cell phone smuggled into the state penitentiary and begin making death-threat phone calls to one of the then state senators. And yet something happened while he was on death row. He gets saved. He gets saved. Here’s his words, literally moments before he breathes his last. This is his last testimony, if you will. He says, and there is not a day that goes by that I don’t regret my actions. I had no right to take your loved ones from you, and I ask and pray, hope and pray, that one day you find it in your heart to forgive me for those actions. No amount of my apologies will ever return them to you. And if you feel that this is what you need to get you closure, I pray it helps you have that closure. I just hope that one day that you find forgiveness to forgive me for taking your loved ones from you. I am deeply sorry. To my mom, my sister, my niece, my lawyers, my supporters, my friends, my family, and everybody, I love you. This isn’t the end. This is only the beginning. [audio unclear] field ministers, [audio unclear] and everybody here, everybody there, thank you for your love and support and your compassion and allowing me the opportunity to show you that I can change and become a better man and rehabilitate. I thank God for allowing me to seek and show that this isn’t about me. We are all here today because of my actions, but in the end it comes down to God. [audio unclear] It’s going to be the end of this life, but it will be the beginning of my ultimate life in heaven. I’m sorry. And as Philippians 1:21 says, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.” With that said, Warden Strong, thank you, I am finished. And they put him to death. And a split second later, he woke up in the Savior’s arms. The gospel is powerful to save. He’s not the first murderer to be saved. Moses, Paul, he’s not the last murderer to be saved. And truth be told, if we look in our heart of hearts, Jesus makes it kind of clear that if you hate your brother, what? You’re a murderer. You’re a murderer at heart. But what does Christ do? No sin is too big for our Savior. No sin. He can take care of any sin. Brothers and sisters, any sin, maybe you’re not a believer, you’re hearing it. God can take care of your sin. What do you have to do? You have to repent of it. You have to turn away from it. And you have to trust in Christ. And what does he do? He is so quick to forgive. Brothers and sisters, if you’ve been walking with Jesus, right? You come to him, he’s quick to forgive. You mess up in sin. You come to him and ask for forgiveness. He’s quick to forgive time and time and time and time and time again. He is a quick-to-forgive Savior. Why? Because he loves you. He wants that fellowship with you. He wants you to walk in wholeness of life. He wants you to have the fullness that he has already given you, to receive the fullness and enjoy the fullness thereof. And it’s only found in Christ. So continue, if you are with Christ, to walk in him. Enjoy the fullness. The psalms talk about there’s fullness of joy in his presence. Have you enjoyed his presence lately? That’s where the fullness of joy is. In his presence there’s fullness of joy. We are blessed to be able to have that fullness. Blessed and blessed and blessed and blessed. It far outweighs any physical thing he could have ever given us or might give us. We have the riches of Christ in superabundance. So let’s walk in those riches. Let’s enjoy it. Let’s enjoy the fullness and be his. Let’s pray.
Closing Prayer
Lord, we do pray that we would walk in that fullness. We thank you, Jesus, that you are the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We thank you that you are sovereign over the affairs of men. That just like your hand was upon Ruth’s story, your hand is upon our story. So help us to trust. Even when it doesn’t, even when it feels empty, Lord, help us to trust. Even when it feels dark, help us to trust. Even when it feels hopeless, help us to trust. Because with you, there is fullness, not emptiness. With you, there’s not darkness, not hopelessness, there’s hope. So wipe the former away, Lord, and give the latter, give the fullness and true abundance to each believer here. And may we walk in it, Lord. You are a good, good God. And we love you. Amen.