We are delighted this evening to have Reverend Roger Higginson with us, and I would like to thank our brother personally for coming tonight to the Harvest Weekend here in Bethel. He has travelled quite a distance from Coleraine, so I'm sure it's taken him a couple of hours to get down tonight, but we do appreciate the effort that he has made and we want to welcome him in the Saviour's great name. We're going to ask him to come now and he's going to bring us the Word. that the Lord has led upon his heart for this meeting tonight. It's so nice to be with you this evening. And we really appreciate the words of welcome from your pastor, the Reverend Gray, and for the opportunity to be with you this evening to share from the Word of the Lord. We're going to turn tonight in God's Word to the little book of Ruth, which comes just after Judge Eunice. and before 1 Samuel Ruth. And we're turning tonight to the second chapter of this portion of God's precious Word. As always, it's been a blessing to hear our sister Amanda ministering in song. And we thank God for those wonderful pieces that undoubtedly have blessed the hearts of all who know and love the Lord. What a faithful God we have. And what a blessing it is to know that the promises of God are sure and we can stand upon them. So let's read the Word of God, please, this evening. Ruth chapter 2. And we'll take up our reading from verse number 4 of the chapter. Ruth chapter 2 and verse number 4. And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee. Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over his reapers, whose damsel is this. And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab. And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. So she came and hath continued even from the morning until now that she tired a little. in the house. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens. Let thine eyes be in the field that they do reap, and go thou after them. Have thou not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? And when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn. Then she fell on her face, bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been showed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband, and how thou hast left thy father, and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. The Lord recompense thy work, and the full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.' Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord, for that thou hast comforted me, And for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thy handmaidens. Boaz said unto her at mealtime, Come thou hither, and eat the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers, and he reached her parts corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left. When she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not. And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not. So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. And we know that the Lord, as he always does, will bless the reading of his precious, holy and infallible word to all of our hearts, for his own sake and for his own glory. Let us all unite our hearts, please, together and pray that the Spirit of God will come And we know that if we seek the Lord, the Lord will hear us. And the Lord will minister to our hearts and to our lives. We're very conscious of our need for Him and of our own inability, our own insufficiency. But our sufficiency is of the Lord. And we're glad that God is a God of revival and a God of blessing, a God of salvation. And whatever your individual need is tonight, the Lord can meet that need. So let us just seek the Lord for His help and for His blessing. Father, tonight we thank Thee that in the stillness of this service, we can contemplate the wonderful reality that Thou art God. Beside Thee, there is none else. And Lord God, we thank Thee for this weekend of meetings, Lord, in this Meeting House. We thank Thee, Lord, for the blessing that Thy people have received already as the Lord has ministered into hearts and into lives. We thank Thee, O God, tonight for the ministry and song and, Lord, how our hearts have been blessed and stirred. And, O God, we just pray now that Thou wilt take Thy Word and write it, O God, upon every heart. Lord God, we are poor and needy, and yet we have this confidence that the Lord thinketh upon us. We rejoice, O God, tonight that whatever the need of each individual life might be, that God is able to meet that need. We pray, Lord, that Thou wilt meet the needs of Thy people. Remember, O God, those who are cold at heart. And, Lord God, we pray especially for the unconverted, that Thou wilt meet their need. Lord, I confess my need. And I give myself afresh to Thee, body, soul, and spirit. And I pray, O God, that Thou wilt fill this earthen vessel, this jar of clay, with Thy Spirit. Hide me, O God, behind the cross. Let my name, gracious God, Be forgotten, but glorify the name of Thy Son, for He alone is worthy. And we pray all these things with a single eye to Thy glory. Come amongst us now in the Saviour's name we pray. Amen. This wonderful little book of Ruth, just four chapters, shines as a very bright star in a dark night during the history of the nation of Israel. The very first verse of the book, Ruth chapter 1 verse 1, gives the historical context and setting of this wonderful story of love and redemption. It says there, it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land. So in the midst of the period that was known as the Days of the Judges, a very dark and desperate time in the nation of Israel, there were good things happening nonetheless. Tokens for good. Mercy drops were falling. The whole scheme of the days of judges can be summarized in the last verse of that particular book, the verse that precedes the beginning of the book of Ruth. In those days, there was no king in Israel. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes. And I believe tonight that our nation and these islands which we find ourselves on in a very similar manner, every individual, outside of Christ, is seeking to do those things which are right in their own eyes. But then you have, nestled into that story of the judges, this wonderful story of Ruth. And of course this story surrounds the title character, namely Ruth herself, and the very special relationship that she came into with an individual by the name of Boaz. On its surface, it's a love story. But far beyond being a love story, it's a picture of redemption and the whole unfolding of the Christian life. We might summarize the book of Ruth under three headings. Chapter 1, Ruth a stranger brought in. Ruth was a Gentile. She grew up in the land of Moab, and the Moabites were people who were foreigners, aliens to the commonwealth of Israel. In fact, they were enemies of God, and enemies of God's people. They were fleshly. They were carnal. They were godless. They were given to idolatry. And that was the backdrop, that was the setting that Ruth found herself in. And yet, through a series of strange events, a pathway of bereavement, loss, heartache and tears, Ruth finds herself at last in Israel and she came to know the true and living God and Ruth was powerfully and soundly converted. I wonder tonight have you ever been brought in to the family and fold of God Or tonight in this service, you're amongst God's people. You're in God's house. But you're still a stranger to grace and to God. And you've never been converted. You've never been born again. You've never been brought savingly to Jesus Christ. That's the case. It's our prayer tonight that you, like Ruth, might be brought in. Then chapters 2 and 3 speak of Ruth, a gleaner in the field. Yes, she was brought in from outside, but having been brought in, she became a servant. And she became a worker. And she became a gleaner in the field. She entered into service to and relationship with this individual by the name of Boaz, who I believe is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're told in chapter 2, verse 4, that Boaz came from Bethlehem. And we know tonight that our Lord Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. And the word Bethlehem means the house of bread. And Jesus Christ was the bread of life. That Boaz was also a man of wealth, a man of grace, and a man of kindness. All adjectives that could be given to our Saviour. And he was also a kinsman redeemer. And the Lord Jesus Christ is the great Redeemer of God's people, the only Saviour of sinners. And having been brought in, Ruth became a servant. And I'm asking you again tonight, if you're a Christian and you say that you're saved, and you've been brought into a relationship with God and a relationship with Christ, and you've been brought into the family and fold of God, can I ask you tonight, are you serving the Lord? Are you sowing the seed of the Kingdom Brother? Are you seeking to win precious souls for Christ? Are you labouring in the harvest fields of God's vineyard and of gospel work and service and witness? Nobody was ever saved, but they were saved to serve. And then chapter 4 speaks of Ruth, the wife of Boaz. This love story has a happy ending. And I'm sure like me, you always like to hear a story that has a happy ending. And the story of Ruth has a happy ending, having been engaged to Boaz and entering into this relationship with him. Before all of his family, all of his friends, his kindred, his workers, his countrymen, he publicly took Ruth to be his bride. Till death would do them part. And friends, there's a blessed day coming. whenever the Lord Jesus Christ will appear with great glory. And he shall descend from heaven with a shout and with the trump of God and the voice of the archangel. And the dead in Christ shall rise first, and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. And then the Lord will display publicly to all of the nations and to every kindred and tribe and people under heaven that we are His spotless bride. And I wonder, will you be there at that day. Ruth gave birth to Obed and Obed was the grandfather of David and David was in the lineage of Jesus Christ who was born in the city of David, of the line of David and so Ruth had a very important role to play in the history of Israel and the history of redemption as well. Now much of the story surrounds harvest time. We're told in verse 22 of the first chapter that Ruth and Naomi came from Moab to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest. And harvest, of course, is a testimony to the faithfulness of God. The Savior promised that there would always be a harvest. God, in the beginning, said, as long as the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest. And there's a little phrase during the harvest that was being gleaned that has captured my heart this evening, and it's Ruth 2, verse 16. where Boaz has said his servants, the young men, the reapers in the field concerning Ruth, let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her. Now according to the Levitical law, Leviticus chapter 19, whenever a stranger came from another country into Israel at harvest time, That those who were working in the fields were to see to it that the stranger would be provided for. That they would be allowed to gather the leftovers, the pieces that were left behind between the field and the storehouse. Whatever ears of corn or pieces of grain they could find, or pieces of corn, they could take those. And not only that, but they were allowed to glean on the periphery of the field. Maybe where the grain just wasn't as ripe or as full as it was in the center of the field, but nevertheless, according to the law of God, provision was made for the stranger. But Boaz, being the man that he was, went well above and beyond the dictates of the law. And he saw to it that Ruth would not only glean in the center of the field amongst the reapers, but he said to the young men, he says, as you're gathering the grain together and you're putting it together in bundles, allow some of those bundles of grain to fall on purpose on Ruth's pathway. And as she lifts them, don't speak a word. Don't reproach her. Don't rebuke her. But let her gather them in. And in our journey in life here below, I believe that God in heaven and our blessed Redeemer allows handfuls of purpose to fall in our pathway. And I believe tonight that in this very meeting, whatever your circumstances are, whether you're a Christian, or whether you're not yet saved, or whether you're on fire for God or cold at heart, there are purposes that God has in you being here this evening. And I just want to take this little phrase, handfuls of purpose, and ask ourselves the question, what do these handfuls of purpose speak to us about tonight? Well, concerning Ruth, first of all, they spoke about her protection. Her protection. As she was gleaning and gathering in the fields, Boaz had said to his young men in verse 15, Let her glean, not just in the outside, but let her glean even among the sheaths, and reproach her not. Speak not a word of rebuke to her, don't challenge her, and don't lay a finger upon one hair of her head. He assured her of physical protection. And as he has spoken to her in verse number 12, he understands that she has come to abide underneath the Lord's protection, even as she is gleaning in the fields. Verse 12, the Lord recompense thy work, and the full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. And if you study the book of Psalms, if you're taking notes this evening, Psalm 17 verse 8, Psalm 36 verse 7, Psalm 57 verse 1 makes mention of the wings of the Lord. And it speaks of protection. Many years ago, Donald Barnhouse, who was an old Presbyterian minister many, many years ago in America, told a story about a member of his family who owned a large farm in the Midwestern states, in Prairieland. One day, as he was out working in the field, he saw smoke on the horizon and he realized that a large fire was sweeping across the meadows in the distance and it was coming towards his farm. So to protect his farm and his family and his outhouses, his barns, his buildings, he set fire to his own crop. So that whenever the greater fire came, it would bypass right round his homestead and his buildings. And he lost his harvest, but he saved his home and he saved his family. But as he was standing in the midst of the charred remains of what had once been his crop, he lighted upon the charred remains of an old hen. And he felt so sorry for it. It had perished in the fire. And he felt somehow responsible. He'd set fire to his own harvest so that his property might be safeguarded by ashes as the big fire came. With a tear in his eye, he just kicked that mother hen over. And he was so surprised that from underneath its charred carcass and underneath its wings, six or seven little chicks, yellow chicks, just ran out unscathed. An old mother hen had endured the fire so that little chicks might be saved. And whenever the Lord Jesus Christ, in Matthew 23, before He went to the cross, He challenged the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem. And He said, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chicks underneath her wings, but ye would not. And He was telling the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea that I would have protected you time and time and time again from all of the enemies that surround you, but you would have none of it. And I would have protected you as well from the fire of God's wrath and indignation against Him, but you would not have any of it. And you're in the meeting tonight, some of you, and you're not seen. You're outside of Christ. And yet times without number, meetings like this, God would have saved you. Christ would have taken you in. And His offer of mercy was extended to you. But you wouldn't come. And that offer again is extended tonight. But I wonder, will you come? Like Ruth said, to trust the Lord God of Israel. and abide under His wings. Here is a handful of purpose that has fallen tonight. God wants to save you. God will bring you in and protect you from the storms of life and from the storms of judgment. But you have to come to trust under His wings. These handfuls of purpose also speak about provision. Ruth was poor and needy. She was coming from Moab. She was weary. She was tired. She was a widow. Her heart was broken. She had no wealth. She had no means at her disposal. And yet she came into the presence, perhaps unwittingly at first, of one who was wealthy and one who was kind. and one who was able and one who was willing to meet her at the point of need. She perhaps did not know, as these men were gleaning and binding the sheaves together, and they were dropping them in her pathway, that this was the means that Boaz, under God, was using to provide for her needs. And the psalmist said, I am poor and needy, and yet the Lord thinketh upon me. God is a great provider. God has provided the Lamb from the very foundation of the world to be the means whereby sinners can be saved. And then whenever we respond to the call of God and we enter into God's family and we come to know the Lord, then God takes responsibility for all of our needs. My God, Paul said, shall supply all your need according to His riches and glory by Christ Jesus. David the psalmist said, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want or I shall not lack. And here's Ruth and these handfuls of purpose are falling on her pathway. And Boaz is providing for her needs. I wonder tonight, do you have needs? You know, sometimes I struggle with doubts and fears and I wonder, is God going to provide for my needs? And the needs of my children? And the needs of my family? And the needs, maybe, of our congregation? And the needs of our denomination? And is God going to meet me individually and meet my needs? You know, I remember hearing years ago of Dr. Harry Arnside, who was a great evangelist, and Bible teacher, and he was called on one occasion to go to a Bible college in America. This college was struggling financially. Bills were coming in, and they weren't able to pay their bills, and they were on the brink of financial ruin. And they were so concerned that they would have to close the doors of their Bible college, and they just couldn't bear that fact. They consulted this old man of God, Dr. Ironside. Harry Ironside. And he said, well, I'll come down and what we'll do is we'll have a prayer meeting. And so they met together for prayer. And during the prayer meeting, Mr. Ironside stood up and he prayed in a very unique manner. And he quoted a verse from the Book of Psalms. Psalm 50, verse 10. And he says, My Lord, Your Word tells me that You own the cattle in a thousand hills. And every beast of the forest is thine. And Lord, you know the state we're in today. And he says, Lord, could you not sell some of your cattle and send us the money? And later on that very same day, he was called by a secretary to come out of the prayer meeting because there was a man who had come to that Bible college who wanted to speak to somebody that was in authority. Mr. Ironside left the prayer meeting and went to the foyer of the college and saw this large, tall gentleman wearing a nice pressed suit, cowboy boots and a Stetson hat. He was a rancher from Texas. He had sold up his farm and hundreds of heads of cattle. He was retiring. And he was just passing through. And he felt compelled by God to tithe some of his money into this Bible college. And as Mr. Ironside kindly received the cheque, and graciously received the cheque, and took it back into the prayer meeting and opened it, it was more than enough to pay for all of their bills. God had sold some of his cattle and sent them the money. God is a great provider. And I wonder tonight what your need is. Do you need to be restored unto the Lord? Do you need to be redeemed unto the Lord? Do you need to be revived by the Lord? Do you need to rejoice in the Lord? Whatever your need is tonight, God can meet that need. Ruth was in the house of bread, Bethlehem, and the Lord said that we're to pray, give us this day our daily bread. I wonder tonight, are you in the house of bread? Have you come to that place where you're trusting the Lord for everything? Protection, provision, but these handfuls of purposes well speak of providence. Providence. Let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them that she may glean them, and rebuke her not. Now, I can just picture Ruth coming into this field, timid and shy. And yet Boaz says, now Ruth, just you go into the very center of the field and you see where my young men are working, just you work alongside them. I know the law says that you're just to gather the leftovers and you're just to work on the outside, but Ruth, I'm giving you a special privilege to go into the center of the field. And before she got there, Boaz had spoke to some of his young men and said, now, as you're gleaning and you're binding the sheaves together, let some of the handfuls fall on purpose for her. And I'm sure as Ruth went into the field, and she was working alongside these men, and they were lifting and binding the sheaves together, and they have a big basket on their back, or under their arm, and they get the handfuls of grain, and they mean to throw them into the basket. It seems that they're so clumsy, and they lack so much skill, and they keep missing their baskets and dropping them in the ground, and then they just move on. And there's Ruth, and she can't understand what's happening, and she lifts the handful, And she runs after the reapers and the gleaners and says, now you drop this. And they just seem to ignore her and move on. And she gathers them, probably with the intention of bringing them to Boaz and saying, now Boaz, some of your men were very clumsy, but I've got it all here. But she just can't understand that this is the means that Boaz is using to provide for her need. You see, behind it all, there was an unseen hand. And behind it all there was an unknown commandment given by Boaz and ultimately by the Lord. Now isn't it true that in life there are many, many, many, many things that we don't understand? And as the Lord washed the feet of His disciples, the Lord of eternity kneels in humility and washes our feet. And He washed the feet of Peter. And Peter says, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? And Peter began to wonder about this. Is the Lord doing the right thing? And the Lord says, Now Peter, what I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. And what these gleaners were doing in the field, Ruth could not understand. But at last, whenever she came to Boaz, with all of these handfuls gathered together, and she'd got the biggest bundle of grain of anyone, she would understand that this was something that Boaz had planned all along. And sometimes there are things that God does in our lives that we just don't understand. But friend, whenever you can't trace God, you can still trust Him. And whenever you can't understand God, you can still cast your burdens upon Him. I, for one, am very glad that I can't answer many questions that people have. Some people love to think that they have all the answers and try to portray that whenever they're speaking to the sceptic or the well-informed or those who have deep questions about God. They say, why this and why that? And there's many things, well maybe not many things, but there are some things that I do understand. But there are many, many things that I don't understand about God and about the ways of God. And I'm very glad about that. Because if I could understand everything about God and fit God into this tiny little head of mine, He wouldn't be a very big God. And I'm glad that there are things that I just don't know. The secret things belong unto the Lord. But those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children. Joseph, as a 17-year-old, was despised and rejected by his brothers, thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, cast into a prison cell for a vile sin that he was supposed to have committed but didn't. He was left to languish there for many, many years. And then at last, whenever he was remembered, he came out again and then a famine hit the land. And I'm sure he just didn't understand what God was doing. But at last, whenever the day came when his brethren bowed down before him. And Joseph excused himself and went out into a back room and wept and cried sore. And came back in and revealed himself to his brethren. They repented and they confessed their sin. And do you remember what Joseph said to them? As for you, you thought evil against me. But God meant it unto good to bring to pass as it is this day to save much people alive. You see God was working out his redemptive purposes to save many many people and he allowed Joseph to go through all that and to experience all that evil all those bad things but God meant it unto good. Now sometimes we flippantly quote that verse of scripture All things work together for good. I remember reading the biography of Leonard Ravenhill who is a man that I've gleaned so much from over the years and he says that whenever he was a young preacher in America he was in a hotel room and there was a fire And the man that was sharing the room with him in the other bed was sleeping, and so Leonard Ravenhill opened the bedroom windows, got his friend, who was still half asleep, and to save his life, threw him out of the bedroom window a couple of stories down, and then he himself jumped out after him and landed on top of him, and broke many, many bones in his body. And he says that was the thing that changed his ministry completely. You see, for months he lay in a hospital, almost like a mummy from his feet to the top of his head. He was just in plaster of Paris. Had to be spoon-fed and get people to scratch his nose and all the rest of it. And he says the most frustrating thing was that between the hospital, there was a golf club. And some of my ministerial colleagues and people that I knew would travel from their churches on their way to the golf club, and they would stop at the hotel on the way through, and they would offer a quick prayer, and they always quoted Romans 8, 28. Brother, all things work together for good to them that love God, and to them you are called according to His purpose. Twenty-second prayer. Oh, I have to go to the golf course. It's soon time to tee off. And he would say, that's well for them saying it. All things work together for good. to them that love God and to those who are called according to His purpose." Now it wasn't a good thing that he was lying in the bed like that. But he discovered that in that situation he learned how to worship. And it's the word together that's the important word. All things that happen to us aren't good. Sickness, depression, bereavement, loneliness. and so on and so forth. Those aren't good things, but they do, in the plan of God, work together for good. Who was it that gave the illustration about a tapestry? And you look at it from underneath and it's just loose ends, knots, tangled threads, a mass of different colours, no order, no design, really as far as we can see. Oh, but whenever you turn it over, you see that there's a designer there that has been just doing a whole beautiful picture. And there are things that I look at in life and I just don't understand them, but someday I will. It's like Hebrew. I still don't understand Hebrew. I tried to learn it in college and just scraped through and no more. But Hebrew, unlike English, you start from the back, from the bottom. I can't even remember if it's from the bottom or the top, but you read it backwards anyway. And sometimes God's providence is like that. It's not until we look back that we see the hand of God in our lives. God is a purpose in your trial and in the things that you don't understand. Time's moving on quickly. These handfuls of purpose speak of our priority. There were many people gleaning in the field that day. There were the servants of Boaz. Naomi was there. Other strangers were there. And many people were gleaning in the field. But you know, Boaz had a special interest above all in one of them, Ruth. He just loved Ruth above all others. Now Boaz was kind undoubtedly to all, but Boaz had a special place in his heart for Ruth because he had chosen her unknown to her that she was one day going to be his wife. And therefore she was his priority. Now I say it reverently, and I say it respectfully, and I say it in love. If you're in the meeting tonight and you're not saved, God in heaven has no duty, no promise, no responsibility, and absolutely no obligation to keep your soul out of hell for one more second. He has no responsibility to provide for any of your needs. or to answer any of your prayers. Because the Bible says, because of sin, you're in absolute rebellion against God and against heaven. And you are, in fact, God's mortal enemy. And God has no duty or responsibility to show you any kindness or benevolence, mercy, love or grace whatsoever. But all things change whenever you're born again and you're adopted into God's family. God has given us three children and they're certainly not perfect, but we love them with all of our hearts. And I have a great responsibility to them. I have a responsibility as a father to provide for them to the best of my ability. To protect them, to teach them, to lead them, to guide them, to love them, to help them, to nourish them, to cherish them. Because they're my priority. Now, there's other little children running about in the community that we live in. And while I wouldn't lay a finger upon the hair of the heads of any of them, and I would try to be kind to them if the opportunity arises, I don't have the same responsibility to them that I do have to my own children. And whenever you're born again, spiritually, and you become a child of God, you become God's priority. And you become God's responsibility. You see, the Bible says that if you're a Christian, you're a chosen nation, you're a royal priesthood, you're a peculiar people, you're the bride of Christ, the body of Christ, the temple of the living God, the house of God, and you're God's peculiar treasure, and you're the very apple of God's eye. And God has committed Himself to the good of His people in this world. And therefore, while I do not know what tomorrow holds, I know who holds tomorrow. And I know that God in His grace, His love and His unmerited favor has chosen me to be His priority along with every other sinner that is saved by grace. The very last thing that this handfuls of purpose speaks to us about is our privileges. Our protection, our provision, God's providence, God's priority and also our privileges. You know this was all of grace. Yes, the law says Naomi is a stranger. She can glean around the periphery of the field. She can gather the leftovers and the fragments that remain. But it did not say in the law that she was to glean among the reapers, among the sheaves, in the center of the field. Boaz was showing grace. going well above and beyond what the law dictated and demanded. And far above and beyond that, much more exceeding, abundantly above all that you could have asked or even thought, handfuls of purpose, bundles of grain, entire sheaves bound together. And you know, friends, there are many of God's people, professing Christians, people that are seeing, And they're content just to live their Christian life on the periphery of God's blessing. And just get enough to keep them and to do them and to get them to heaven. And whenever a trial comes, oh they'll pray. And they'll come to church on Sundays and they'll pay lip service. But they never really enter into the very centre of God's will for their lives. They never really enter into the fullness of the blessing. They never go into the very center of the field. Yes, they get spiritual life. But they never really become partakers of an abundant life. Kiel had entered into the promised land and he was there in the place of God's appointment and he was glad that God had led him through the wilderness and provided for all of his needs and driven out the enemies before him, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hittites, the Jebusites, and so on and so forth, and the Amorites. But whenever he got to the promised land, he didn't rest on his laurels and say, I've arrived, I'm here, I've got it all. He says, Lord, give me this mountain. He wanted all of his possession. I wonder tonight, are you possessing all of your possessions in Christ? Are you pressing deeper, day and daylight, deeper into the presence of God in prayer? Discovering more and more of the heart of God for you and the plan of God for your life? Growing in grace and in knowledge and in sanctification and in holiness? Seeking to live a life filled by the Spirit of God. You know, W. P. Nicholson was, as most of you know, an unusual character. He was a drunkard. He was a blasphemer. He was just a rascal before the Lord saved him. Yet one day, sitting at his breakfast table as his mother was making him a big Ulster fry, he was smoking a pipe. And suddenly he was converted. without an evangelist, without a preacher, without a gospel service or witness, just his mother working away. He says, Mother, I've been saved. And she says, When? He says, Just now. God's convicted me. And God's converted me. And I'm saved. And you know, from that moment, the bad language went. The boos went. The fags went. He started going to church. He wasn't running with the ungodly anymore. Oh, he was well saved. He knew that his sins were forgiven. He knew that he was going to heaven. He knew that he was a new creature in Christ. But he says, for six months, miserable. Miserable as a born-again Christian. Didn't enjoy prayer. Didn't really enjoy going to God's house. So scared of what people would think. I couldn't witness. I couldn't speak for Christ. And then he says, I went along to a meeting in Bangor, his home town. Stuart J Holden was the preacher. And he preached on the deepening of the Christian life. He says, I left and I was cross. I was cantankerous. I just thought my brothers told them all about me, because he was speaking about Christians just like me. They're saved, but they don't pray. They don't enjoy witnessing. They don't enjoy service. They don't enjoy working for God. They're so afraid of what people will think. It all came to head on one Saturday afternoon, Main Street, Bangor, just down at the seafront. It was a cattle auction on that day. And some pilgrims and Salvation Army cadets were having an open air. And he saw them. And they were singing. And they didn't care what people thought. And he says there was a fellow there. They called him Daft Jimmy. He says he didn't have enough brains to give himself a headache, but he had something that I wanted. He said he was wearing this vest and it said, and it saved from public opinion. And he says, that's what I needed. And he says, I tried to go past them. And he says, they called me over and they asked me to stand with them. And I was embarrassed. And people that I knew, that I worked with, that I grew up with, I went to school with, I went to church with, family members, they were all down doing their shopping. And there's me standing, sticking out like a sore thumb. And then they asked me to pray. And he says, I get down embarrassed. And I was so scared if he would see me, I put my knee in a big wet piece of horse manure. And I tried to pray and I stumbled and I muttered and he says it was awful. And he says I didn't want to get off my knees, I just wanted to lie curled up in a wee ball until everybody had gone home. And then he says we stood up and they were going to have a march up the street and one of the girls handed me a tambourine. And he'd never held a tambourine in his life. And he says I looked at her and I looked at the tambourine and I took the tambourine and I stepped on the road and I hit the tambourine a crack and something happened. He says, I lost something and I never want it back again. I lost the fear of man. And he says, I got something that I never want to lose because I believe, he says, God filled me with the Spirit. And he entered into a life of blessedness and usefulness for God. He possessed his possessions in Christ. He began living according to his privileges. Don't settle for less. than God's best. What is God's purpose in you being here tonight? Protection? Provision? Privilege? Providence? Priority? I trust that you'll receive a blessing at God's hand tonight. I apologize for going over my time with God. Amen. God bless you and may the Lord bless that message to all of our hearts, that message of encouragement to each and every one of our souls. We're going to sing a verse of a hymn just before we have our supper. It's 308. We're just singing the first verse and we stand to sing it to change our positions. And as we sing it, the ladies, we'll ask the ladies who are going to help with the tea tonight, if they could just go out and make ready for that. O happy day, O happy day that fixed my choice, on thee my saviour and my God, well may this glowing heart rejoice and tell its raptures all abroad. My friend, it's great to be saved. There's no greater joy than to know that your sins are forgiven. Do you have that joy tonight? Do you know that you're going to heaven? Do you know that someday you're going to see the King in all His glory, in all His beauty? Oh, I pray if you don't, come to the Savior now. You can be saved tonight. And if you're backslidden, you can be restored tonight. Thank God the Lord's mighty the backslider. And He can restore unto you the joy of His salvation. And I pray that each and every one of us We'll look to the Lord this evening, and even those of us who are saved and seeking to walk with God, how we all need that fresh touch from heaven, that fresh reviving in our hearts and in our souls. Let's sing this lovely hymn. If you're saved, you can look back to that day when you were saved. If you're not, I pray that even this night will be the night of your conversion. We'll sing the first verse in the chorus, standing to sing. Oh, how sweet is her pitch-black voice On me, my saviour, at my door! Her faith is strong, her heart rejoiced, And heaven's laughter all around. Happy day, happy day, when Peter's wife passes away. He comes behind to watch and pray, and every joy he left with him. How did it, how did it, when Jesus Christ, Christ is Lord, appear in the first place? And from the grave that Christ did come, I am my Lord, and He is mine. Into the earth I follow, When Jesus was my sister of faith, She took me out to watch Him play. Father in heaven we thank Thee for Your presence with us tonight for the encouragement of Thy precious Word and we thank Thee Lord for those handfuls of purpose. O God in our lives, that day when you sent your only Son to die upon a cross, my, what a handful of purpose that was! When the Lord Jesus laid down His life a ransom for the many, and He died the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God and save us. We thank Thee for the resurrection. What a handful of purpose that was! O God, we praise Thee for all the provision that Thou has made spiritually for us this evening. Thank God we can get to heaven. We can have our sins forgiven because of the mercy of God and Christ, because of the handful of purpose, because of Thy grace. We thank Thee for Thy grace. Lord, save sinners tonight in this house. We pray that they'll come to Christ and receive eternal life. And, O God, those perhaps who are cold and backslidden, losing out with God, we pray, Lord, that they'll get a fresh glimpse of Calvary and come again to the foot of the cross. And, O God, renew that love to Thee. Bless us, Lord, each and every one. Send us revival. Our Lord, we need a breath from heaven. For it shall come by Your gracious Holy Spirit. And, O God, defeat the devil. The devil, Lord, would tell us that God's work is finished. that progress cannot be made, that the only way to go is back. And yet, Lord, he's a liar, and he was always a liar, and he'll always be a liar. We thank thee, Lord, that when you come back to this earth, my, you'll come for a church and revival and a church and blessing. Lord, help us to be part of that church. O God, in these days in which we live, Bless us, we pray, to encourage your people. We thank Thee, Lord, for the good things that You have provided for our bodily use. Bless the food to our bodies. We thank Thee for the ladies that have prepared it. O God, help us to eat and drink to Your glory. In our Savior's name we ask. And then, Lord, bring us to our homes in safety. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.