All right, we are in Ruth chapter four this morning. Ruth chapter four, as you're turning there, while I have an opportunity to say this, I think I'll say it this morning. Been here, it'll be five years back, since 2019. We came back right about this time, five years ago. We went to Syracuse to plant the church. This church sent us there. We're very grateful for that. I'm very grateful for the time our family's been affiliated with this church. It's been since 2009, I think, so 15 years. Certainly not pastoring like Pastor Randall has done, but it's been a blessing. to be a part of the church all the way along. And I just wanna say that I'm very thankful these last five years for the support of this church and all the crazy things especially that I do. And you guys knew when I was coming back that I was coming back to do crazy stuff. So it's partly your fault. But I'll blame you, right? But I'm very thankful for that. I don't take it lightly. Because there aren't many churches that would do that that would say, yeah, we want you to come back and deal with this issue of abortion as part of what you do. That's insane. I mean, it just doesn't happen in most places. And there's a certain risk to that. And so I'm very thankful this church is willing to take that risk and supports what we do. I mean, we wouldn't be able to do all this stuff if it wasn't for you all praying and supporting it. And I am thankful. And so I want to say thank you for that. I'm very, very grateful. Ruth 4 is where we are today and I'm calling this Christmas in the book of Ruth. You'll see why as we get into this but let's start by going back to verse 13 of chapter 4 as we wrap this section up. I would say that if I had you know, if I had more time to do Ruth, I would probably take somewhere between three and six months to do it. Because there is so much that's here that I'm just really skimming over the top of. But, and I'll say this too, my dad loves the book of Ruth like Pastor Randall loves the book of Jonah. And my dad has taught the book of Ruth in Sunday school for years. And I never really got it, to tell you the truth. Like, I would sit in some of his classes along the way, and I would be like, yeah, this is cool, but I never taught all the way through it. Never really got why it was such a big deal to him well He was very gracious to me, and he sent me all of his notes on the book of Ruth it's like a stack of paper this thick in a folder and Studying through this stuff has been really incredible. I'm so thankful for my father and his influence there I don't know that I've ever would have thought to do Ruth if it wasn't for him But I'll tell you this When you get to this section, right here, this is, when you read it, you just sort of read it fast to get to the end of the book. But this section right here, I think, is why the book of Ruth has impacted my dad the way that it has. And I'll tell you, this week, studying this text, I think he won a convert. You know, like, I'm there, I get it. The book of Ruth is super important. in the Old Testament, and it's super important for all of us as Christians to understand the gospel and how amazing the gospel is. I hope you got some of that in the last few weeks. The idea of a Moabitess converting in the Old Testament, becoming a sound believer, right? We've seen that. We see her as embracing her kinsman, Redeemer, who's very clearly foreshadowing Jesus Christ. But this right here, this is the mic drop. This is the mic drop. And when you first read it, you might not catch the mic drop. This is a mic drop. In verses 18 through 22 in particular. Let's go back to verse 13. 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. Kind of unusual, the women are naming the kid. A son has been born to Naomi. They named him Obed, which means servant. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. And so here's the mic drop at 18 through 22. Now these are the generations of Perez. Perez fathered Hezron. Hezron fathered Ram. Ram fathered Aminadab. Aminadab fathered Nashan. Nashan fathered Salmon. Salmon fathered Boaz. Boaz fathered Obed. Obed fathered Jesse. And Jesse fathered David. So what's the big deal? We'll get into this as we go. When you do this section, you read this genealogy, there's no mention of any women in the genealogy. And that's generally how it is in the genealogies. They mention the men specifically. However, women are mentioned in the genealogy in Matthew and in Luke. And in Matthew chapter one, a section of that genealogy runs parallel to Ruth chapter 4, 18 through 22. So have you ever pondered the presence of the four women that are listed in the line of Christ? Have you ever thought about those four women? Why are they there? Nothing in the book of Ruth as a whole is dumb luck. There's not a thing in this book that's dumb luck. The words of Ruth in chapter 2, well, the words of Ruth, chapter 2, verse 3, I believe, are meant to be sarcasm. Because in Ruth 2, verse 3, it says, she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz. Happened, in Hebrew, as I said when we were there, could be translated literally, chanced her chance. She just chanced her chance and happened to show up there at the property of Boaz. I think it's a joke. It's a tongue-in-cheek sort of thing, because nothing happens in the book of Ruth by chance. Every bit of this is the direct plan of God, and it is nowhere clearer than in verses 18 through 22 that God is doing something much bigger than a love story. This is huge and redemptive history. You are here sitting in this room because of it. You have come to Christ, you have Christ, because of what's happening here in the book of Ruth. Not a single chance. The sovereign God's directing everything, including the fact in 18 through 22 that there are 10 listed. That's gonna be very significant, remember that. As we go forward, there's 10, okay? If there aren't 10, David's not eligible to be king. And we'll see that as we go. This little book, thought to be like a literary model of the short story and the model of what's called the idol, this little book should absolutely wreck you and bring you to your redeemer. If we look at Matthew 1, Matthew 1, verses 3 through 6, here's the parallel. And here's what it says. Judah, the father of Perez and Zerah, and here's the first woman mentioned by Tamar. and Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Minadab, and Minadab the father of Nashan, Nashan the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab. So you got Tamar, you have Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, we're familiar with her, Obed the father of Jesse, Jesse the father of David the king, David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, that's Bathsheba. four women listed that are presupposed, more or less, in this genealogy. They're not mentioned, but, you know, it takes two to have children, right? And so Matthew 1 tells us who they are. The first generation begins in this text in verse 18 with Perez. It's mentioned back there in Matthew chapter 1 verse 3. He is the first credited son of Judah. His wife, as Matthew 1 verse 3 points out, is Tamar. And so we're going to focus on these four women who are presupposed in Ruth 4 but are stated in Matthew chapter 1. So we're going to jump around a bit to take a look at their histories. Because I think that's why they're there in Matthew chapter 1. They're sort of presupposed here in Ruth chapter 4, but when you tie this thing all together, it is the mic drop. So let's take a look at Tamar. You go back to Ruth chapter 4 verse 18. Generations of Paris. Tamar is Paris's mother. So let's take a look at the characteristics of this relationship with Tamar. Go back to Genesis 38 for a second. Genesis chapter 38, we're going to look at verses 12 to 30. What do we know about Tamar? Well, I'm not going to read all the sordid history that's going on here, but her husband dies, and she's given other men to be her husband along the way, and both of the first two fail, right? They fail miserably. And then in verse 12, in the course of time, the wife of Judah, Shua's daughter, died. When Judah was comforted, he went up to Timnath to his sheep shearers, he and his friend Hira the Adulamite. And when Tamar was told, your father-in-law is going up to Timnath to shear his sheep, she took off her widow's garments and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up and sat at the entrance to Enam, which is on the road to Timnath. For she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage." Shelah is another one of Judah's sons. You have lover-at-marriage here, even before the law is talking about it. And so she wants to have this lover-at-marriage, but Shelah has not been given to her, and so she has no husband. So in verse 15, when Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. He turned to her at the roadside and said, come, let me come into you, for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. This is a sordid thing, sounds more like the book of Judges than Genesis here. She said, what will you give me that you may come into me? He answered, I will send you a young goat from the flock. And she said, if you give me a pledge until you send it. He said, what pledge shall I give you? She replied, your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand. So he gave them to her and went into her and she conceived by him. Then she arose and went away and taking off her veil, she put on the garments of her widowhood. When Judah sent the young goat by his friend, the Adulamite, to take back the pledge from the woman's hand, he did not find her. And he asked the men of the place, where is the cult prostitute, his eneum, at the roadside? They said, no cult prostitute has been here. So he returned to Judah and said, I've not found her. Also, the men of the place said, no cult prostitute has been here. And Judah replied, let her keep the things as her own, or we shall be laughed at. You see, I sent this young goat, and you did not find her. About three months later, Judah was told, Tamar, your daughter-in-law has been immoral. Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality. Judah said, bring her out, let her be burned. As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, by the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant. And she said, please identify whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff. Then Judah identified them and said, she is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah, and he did not know her again. When the time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb. When she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, this one came out first. But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out, and she said, what a breach you have made for yourself. Therefore, his name was called Perez. Afterward, his brother came out with a scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerah. This is the first listed in Ruth chapter 4, and this genealogy is Perez. And he was conceived in this immoral way. Father-in-law with his daughter-in-law. And yet here she is, or here is her son, anyway, in this chapter, Ruth chapter four, but she's listed over there in Matthew chapter one. So what do we know about Tamar? Well, she's behaving in Genesis 38 as a cult prostitute. Well, she wasn't. It was a lie in that sense. And it was a sin for both of them because, you know, he was committing adultery even though his wife had died. Really, he is being unfaithful. It's fornication at the very least. In Deuteronomy chapter 22, verses 20 through 24 prescribe death by stoning for adultery. He deserved to die for his sin. So she's behaving as a cult prostitute. But, nevertheless, in Genesis chapter 49, we learn that this is the line of Judah. The line of Judah. That should ring a bell for you if you've been in church for any length of time. Who comes from the line of Judah, but Jesus Christ. So through this line, this is happening. This is a forefather of King David and a forefather of Jesus Christ. So in Genesis 49 verse 8 it says, Now listen to verse 10. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. Binding his foal to the vine, and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk. All these praises for Judah, but the key thing to take is this is the line of the Messiah. The Messiah is going to come through the line of Judah in spite of this sinful origin right here with Judah's son. The line has been tainted Deuteronomy 23, verse 2 says, Seems like you have a problem. Well, we're going to get to it, but just put that in the back of your mind. Because we do know, if you read to the end of the Bible, that this tainted line definitely has been overcome somewhere along the line. Because in Revelation chapter 5, here's what it says in verse 5. One of the elders said to me, weep no more. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. You go down to verse 9 of Revelation 5, they sang a new song saying, Remember that from last week? Redemption? That's a ransom payment. Jesus was foreshadowed by Boaz, the kinsman redeemer. Now Jesus is breaking the seal. He is worthy to open the seals. For you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. Revelation 5 verses 12 and 13 saying with a loud voice, is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them saying, to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever, amen. How will that line, how will the tainted line be overcome? Stay tuned to that. Put that aside for a second, let's consider for Matthew chapter one, the next woman that's mentioned in Matthew chapter one verse five. And you've got Rahab being mentioned there. Going to Ruth chapter four, it says, Nashem fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz. So if you look at Matthew one verse five, who's the wife in that situation? That's someone named Rahab. Rahab. What are the characteristics of Rahab? We'll go back to Joshua for a minute. Joshua chapter 2, verses 1 through 5. Joshua chapter 2, verses 1 through 5. I'm taking some time to set all this up, but there's a mic drop here at the end of all this. Joshua chapter 2, verses 1 through 5. Joshua, the son of Nun, sent two men secretly from Shittim and spies, saying, go view the land, especially Jericho. They went and came into the house of a prostitute, whose name was Rahab, and lodged there. And it was told to the king of Jericho, Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land. The king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land. But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, true. The men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. When the gate was about to be closed to the dark, the men went out. I did not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them. So you've got Rahab. What characteristics do we know about Rahab? Well, clearly, she is a prostitute. It just says it, point blank, flat out. She is a prostitute. Ever ask yourself this question? I never had until this week. What did the spies really accomplish militarily? I mean, they go in there, they take a look around, they go in there and they talk to Rahab, they work this deal out where they're gonna save Rahab and her family, and then they leave. Really, what did they accomplish? Nothing. Nothing militarily. But they sure did something here in the line of Christ. for a Gentile, a Gentile. This Rahab, this Jericho, she's a Gentile, she's a pagan. And God is even there showing mercy to Gentiles and to a prostitute. Please get this. I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Please get this. You could come here today and say, I don't think God can save me. My sin is too great. I have done too much. God could never use me. He can't save me. He can't use me. I'm a mess. Welcome to the club. Every one of us sitting in this room is a mess. Deny it. Look at yourself in the mirror. Think about yourself and your sin. You're a mess. If you sit here and think for a minute either about Tamar or about Rahab, I'm, man, I'm glad I'm not like them. You don't get it. You're them. Male, female, what, you are them. You're a mess. Jesus said if you look with lust, you commit adultery in your heart, you're a mess. She's a prostitute, but what does the New Testament say about it? Hebrews chapter 11, 30 and 31. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith, Rahab, the prostitute, did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies." She ends up in Joshua chapter 6, verse 25, being delivered, right? They come back, they're about to destroy, the city's about to be destroyed, and they get her out of there with her family. She ends up marrying the guy, Thelma. becomes Boaz's father. She's a woman of faith, but her faith worked. Because we know from James chapter 2 that that's the case. James chapter 2 verses 23 through 26. The scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. He was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. Is that a contradiction of the book of Romans? No, the book of James is not a straw-y epistle like Luther was saying. It's truth. What's the truth of it? The truth is if you place your faith in Christ and you are justified by faith, that faith works. And you have a wonderful example of that in the faith of Rahab, that Gentile prostitute. God is willing to save her, and not just save her, but place her in the line of Christ. If you think that's a one-off deal, well, we have Ruth, right? We have Ruth. And so, you've got Ruth marrying Boaz, the son of Salmon by Rahab, the prostitute, who is Ruth. We'll go back to chapter 1, verse 4 of the book of Ruth, and just be reminded, and maybe you weren't here for it, but in Ruth chapter 1, verse 4, these took Moabite wives, the name of the one was Orpah, the name of the other, Ruth. So Ruth is a Moabitess. She is a Moabitess. So what we know about her, she is a Moabite, therefore another Gentile, just like Rahab. Again, God is using a Gentile in the line of Christ. This should send a clear message to the people of Israel that I'm not just interested in Israel alone as the chosen people, but I choose others. I choose people that aren't worthy of anything. I choose people that are prostitutes. I choose people that pretended to be a prostitute. I choose people that are Moabites, even though Deuteronomy chapter 23 verse three says, no Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the 10th generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever. God is willing to save. Listen, there's a lot of garbage being said out there, even, especially maybe, in the Reformed world right now, about people that are of other races and stuff. Like, you know, we need to keep our race together and keep it pure. We're starting to sound pretty weird around the Reformed world. Do they read the Bible? I'm beginning to wonder, because are you not seeing this? You know, God saves Rahab, now he saves Ruth, pagans, and he not only just saves them and says, okay, will you stay over there now that you're saved? No. They marry into the covenant and they're in the line of Christ. If you're a racist, get over it. If you're a racist, you need to repent. That's the thing. You need to stop having Partiality in your heart towards another human being made in the image of God. If you are there, repent in dust and ashes. It's a terrible sin. I don't care if you've got Reformed theology and you're holding on to it. God have mercy on you. She is a Moabite. She is converted, Ruth 1 verse 16. Ruth 1.16, but Ruth said, 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. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything, but death parts me from you. She is converted. We established that in the first couple of sermons on Ruth. She is converted. She would have been excluded from the covenant, but she is brought into the covenant. And more than that, she is the grandmother of King David. The grandmother of King David, a Moabite. You can't make this stuff up, right? It's amazing. Her husband, Boaz, is a direct descendant of Rahab, the son. A prostitute. Boaz, the kinsman redeemer. The foreshadowing of Christ. Solomon's gonna build a temple later. And when he builds a temple, there's two bronze pillars and he names them. Do you know what he names the one bronze pillar? Boaz. Boaz. 1 Kings 7 verse 21. He set up the pillars at the vestibule of the temple. He set up the pillar on the south and called its name Jacob. He set up the pillar on the north and it called its name Boaz. What does the temple foreshadow? Christ, the gospel, all of it's foreshadowed in the temple. You got the name of the kinsman redeemer in the temple. This is Boaz, the son of a prostitute. Don't tell me that God can't use you. Listen, I know. You say, my background, I'm not anything. I have no money. My family was a mess. I was a mess before I came to Christ. I still struggle. I'm still a mess. God uses sinful people. And he is pleased. He seems to enjoy saving really sinful people. I hope that if you're here as an unbeliever, and you've been lying to yourself, or your emotions have been lying to you, oh, God can't save me, identify the lie, and be done with it, and run to Christ, run to your kinsman redeemer, run to Christ. Matthew 1, verse 6, not mentioned here in Ruth 4. We do get to David, but we're gonna get to one of David's wives here. In Matthew chapter 1 verse 6, the wife of Uriah... David, the wife of Uriah is mentioned. Uriah the Hittite is mentioned in Matthew 1 verse 6. That's talking about Bathsheba. Are you getting it yet? Who is she? Well, she's not a prostitute, but she is definitely an adulteress. 2 Samuel chapter 11, just a few verses there. 2 Samuel chapter 11, 1 through 3. In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. It happened late one afternoon when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house. And he saw from the roof a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman, and one said, It's not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. So David sent messengers and took her and she came to him and he lay with her. It's a shameful thing that happened there. And he's called out for it in 2 Samuel chapter 12 in the first part of verse seven when Nathan the prophet goes to David and says, thou art the man. You're the one who's guilty of adultery. He was ready to prescribe the death penalty for someone who stole a lamb. And here he is committing adultery. Takes two to tango, as they say, and so she is also an adulteress. But yet, she's in the line of Christ. She's the mother of Solomon. And she's in the line of Christ as the wife of King David. I want you to remember, I told you a couple times to follow this in the back of your mind. Remember that the entire line was tainted by the conception of Perez, right at the beginning, by Tamar. Deuteronomy 23 verse two, I said this, no one born of a forbidden union may enter the assembly of the Lord, even to the 10th generation. None of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord. So I want you to take a look at Ruth 4, 18 through 22. Count the names. How many are there? 10. 10. To the 10th generation, you have a problem. But the 10th generation comes with David. No problem. God, even here, has fulfilled his law in that respect. So there is no problem. M.R. Dehaan, the founder of Back to the Bible Radio, wrote in his book, Ruth, the Romance of Redemption. He said, if I had no other evidence of the supernatural authorship of the Bible than this closing genealogy in Ruth, it would be entirely enough for me. It's enough. Because look at what, this is amazing, God orchestrating. None of this is by chance. All of it is very clearly ordered and ordained by a sovereign God to preserve the line, to preserve the line. There's even further you can go with this if you look more in detail with Matthew chapter one. But he preserves the line of Christ. Jesus is gonna come through that line. Oh, and by the way, he's gonna be born in Bethlehem. Remember, this is Bethlehem. Everything's happening right here in Bethlehem. Luke chapter 2 says that Jesus is born in the city of David. Why is it the city of David? Because that's where he was born. So from the time of the events of the book of Ruth right down to the time of David, that's where they've been living. This is the city of David. Write down to that detail, and it'll be prophesied, Micah chapter five, verse two, that the Messiah is gonna be born in Bethlehem. None of this is by mistake. None of this was, oh, that was just a lucky, somebody's lucky day, right? This is a sovereign God orchestrating all these details. And the same sovereign God who orchestrates all these details has brought you here today to hear this. And it's not a mistake. He has moved heaven and earth to make sure that you're here today to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. And maybe the part that you need to hear today is that God saves sinners. God saves sinners. He's not looking for nice religious people to take to heaven with him. Nobody's a nice religious person. They all need to be saved. Somehow God's gotta intervene and bring the gospel to that person and bring them into the covenant. And you're here today, maybe, because God's trying to do that with you. He's doing that with you, not trying. He's gonna do it if he intends to do it. It won't be a mistake. Coming back to the original questions, have you ever pondered the presence of the four women in the line of Christ? Why are they there? I'm gonna suggest to you three reasons, and every one of them is important. But the last one's the big one. Number one, and ladies, please hear me. Please, please hear me. Women are valuable in the kingdom of God. I know about patriarchy. I know about all the talk that's going on out there in the Reformed world about patriarchy. I get it. You're not gonna get more patriarchal than the Bible. Right? You're not. But in Matthew, chapter 1, Matthew Levi, the tax collector, writes in there about a genealogy and he lists four women and their paths are colorful, to say the least about it. Right? And God is pleased. He doesn't have to. It's not done here in Ruth 4, but in Matthew 1 it is. Why? Ladies, you're important in the kingdom. We need you. And the kingdom, know this. Is anyone going to say Ruth's not important, not a big deal? I mean, the line of Christ. And no matter what your background is. Whatever your background is, know that Christ can save you and use you for his purposes in ways that are huge. Now, none of these four women are like, I don't know, like what the feminists talk about. None of the four are like that. But they faithfully raise their families, they faithfully do what God has called them to do, and God is pleased to use them to bring Jesus into the world. Sometimes what you're doing that seems like kind of a small thing, maybe God's doing something a lot bigger than you even know. So women are valuable in the kingdom of God. Remember, Ruth 3, verse 11. Ruth 3, verse 11, I mentioned it last week. Nobody fired me for saying it this past week, so I'll say it again. Ruth 3, verse 11. Now my daughter, do not fear. I'll do for you all that you ask. For all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. That word worthy can be translated mighty, and it's often used in the Old Testament to describe men of war. Mighty men of valor. Yes, she was a virtuous woman, yes she's worthy, but she was mighty in her own way. And God used her that way, and ladies, God can use you that way. Also, number two, Gentile, the reason the four of them are there. Gentiles, two of them, Rahab and Ruth, Gentiles are part of the kingdom of God. Remember the book of Jonah, remember the Abrahamic covenant, Genesis chapter 12, that God would use his line to bless the nations. God is not just interested in white people. He's not just interested in one particular, the Jewish people. He wants representatives from every nation, tribe, and tongue to come to Christ. We should not be racist because God is not racist. His intention is to save the representatives from all nations, even more than nations, tribes, languages, small families and people groups. He's looking for all of them. So in our mission, we need to look to reach out to everybody. Do not be partial. Do not be partial. God is an impartial judge. Gentiles are part of the kingdom, but this is the kicker. God is a God of grace. Let me ask you, are there any former fornicators here? Are there any former drug addicts? Are there any former alcoholics? Are there any former porn addicts? Are there any former homosexuals? Any former prostitutes? Anyone here ever murdered their baby? Anyone here ever sinned against God? Right? You're here because God is a God of grace. That's an attribute of God. It's who He takes pleasure in saving. Salvation is of the Lord. And so if you think, man, I've got this weight of guilt and sin in my life. I can't possibly come to faith in Christ. God saved this preacher. He can save you. God saved everybody in this room that's a Christian. He can save you. Every one of us is carrying a weight of sin that could be described the same way. But we're not carrying the weight of sin anymore. Because we have a redeemer. He paid the price, he paid the ransom. You could be free of that guilt of sin. You could be free. You get in the church long enough, and you start getting self-righteous. Tell me I'm lying. Right? You start looking around. At least I'm not like that person. At least I'm not like this person. Did you forget where you came from? Did you forget what you did? Don't ever forget. I mean, we shouldn't carry the weight of guilt. Don't do that. But don't forget that you could be just like any of them that are listed there, like any sinner that's listed in the scriptures. Philip Morrow in his book, Ruth the Satisfied Stranger, says this, the idea of redeeming yourself, or of contributing at least something to the price of your redemption, appeals strongly to our pride and our self-confidence. Here is the secret of the powerful hold that the great religions of the world have on masses of people who don't know any better. The essence of every one of these religions is that they leave the poor sinner with his own efforts, bidding him by means of some religious work or some sacrament or charitable deed To get some merit with God is a partial payment for the price of your redemption. Go do a little church, go to church once in a while. Do some religious thing once in a while, and you can help Jesus out, and help him pay for your sin. No, you don't help. It's all him. In the light of God's word, not only are these efforts utterly worthless, but they're an insult to Jesus Christ, the true Redeemer. You're not the Redeemer. He's the Redeemer. He gets to pay the price. You're the beneficiary of all of that. These efforts robbed him of the glory he has when he paid the full price and accomplished eternal redemption at his own cost. Listen to Psalm 49, 7-9. Truly, No man can ransom another or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit. But then Psalm 49, verse 15 says, but God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Say it loud. Jesus Christ paid that price for your sin. The gospel is so simple. God in the flesh bore our sins to the cross. He died. He paid the payment. You don't have to. It's grace. All grace. For by grace are you saved through faith. Not of yourselves. It's a gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. It's all grace. You don't earn grace, you're a recipient of grace. You don't earn redemption, you're a recipient of redemption. And so what God does is he says this, Jesus died for sinners, he rose again from the dead, repent and believe the gospel. Means turn from all that you know to be sin and place your faith in Christ alone because you are guilty. You're guilty. but you can be declared not guilty if you'll humble yourself before God and repent and trust Christ. That's the gospel. That's it. I mean, what are you gonna do with that? You can hear it and go, yeah, I've heard that a bazillion times. Well, here's a bazillion and one, I guess, right? And you come back next week, I'm sure you're gonna hear a bazillion and two, a bazillion and three, a bazillion and four, maybe a bunch more. Come back next week. You're gonna hear it here. And we're gonna remind you, and remind you, and urge you, and urge you, and plead with you, and plead with you, and beg you to come to Christ until you do. Until we can't, until either we're dead or you are. Come to Christ. Let's pray. Lord, your hand upon the affairs of history, it's amazing. And every little detail, none of it was an accident. None of it was just because it just happened that way. You placed these women in the genealogy to tell us many things. But the main thing is that you delight to save sinners. Well, that's good. That's good because we're sinners. And we are so thankful. Those who've repented and trusted you, Lord, we are just thankful for what you've done. But Lord, we pray for anyone here that does not know you. Lord, we are concerned for them. Because those who are outside of Christ when they die and stand before you on that day of judgment, that terrible day, will be thrown into the lake of fire if their names are not written in the book of life. And so we beg you, Lord, please save them. And Lord, we pray that they would just see the beauty that they just don't have to try harder to be better, to be more religious. but they just have to come to an end of trying for themselves and cast all their cares upon Christ and trust in Him completely. Lord, would you move by the power of your Holy Spirit to save somebody for your glory? We ask that you would, not for our sake, not so we can pat ourselves on the back, but so that we could rejoice that someone has been found by you. Lord, that you have reached out and you've saved them. Lord, we just long to see that. We love to see that. Every time it happens, we are thrilled when you do it. We pray that you might, in Jesus' name, amen.