Let's turn in God's Word to Ruth. The book of Ruth in chapter 3. Ruth chapter 3. And we'll be reading the whole chapter, verses 1-18. Ruth chapter 3 and verse 1, these are God's words. They are living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit and bone and marrow. And so give your attention to them, that God's words would do His good work in you. Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? And now is not Boaz of our kindred with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to-night in the threshing-floor. Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor. But make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking. And it shall be when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie. And thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down, and he will tell thee what thou shalt do. And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me, I will do. And she went down unto the floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law bade her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn, and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down. And it came to pass at midnight that the man was afraid, and turned himself, and behold, a woman lay at his feet. And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth, thine handmaid. Spread therefore thy skirt over thy handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman. And he said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter, for thou hast shown more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followest not young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, fear not, I will do to thee all that thou requirest, for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman. Albeit there is a kinsman nearer than I. Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well, let him do the kinsman's part. But if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, Then will I do that part of a kinsman to thee as the Lord liveth. Lie down until the morning." And she lay at his feet until the morning. And she rose up before one could know another. And he said, Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor. Also he said, Bring the veil that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her, and she went into the city. And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her. And she said, These six measures of barley gave he me, for he said to me, Go not empty unto thy mother-in-law. Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall, for the man will not be in rest until he hath finished the thing this day. Those are God's words. And we have here in this chapter through verse 5 those directions of Naomi that she gave to Ruth to go unto Boaz that their family might be saved. That Ruth would not remain a widow in her youth. And Ruth and Naomi would be cared for. Notice from verse 1, Naomi teaches us about marriage. She teaches us about marriage. That marriage, in verse 1, brings rest. Marriage brings rest for their good. And she's seeking that rest, and we'll find it in marriage. Ruth's response is to obey her mother-in-law. And through verse 15, we see the kind and honorable treatment that Boaz showed to her, and a seeking from Him to do things alright, and thus to seek out her nearest kinsmen before taking her as a wife according to the Lord's commandment. And so he sends her out in the morning, not in the middle of the night when they were talking at the first. so that she would not be seen as a promiscuous woman going out and roaming the streets at night. Also, there was great danger at night at that time. And he, in the morning, grants her more barley to take home as evidence that she was found acceptable in his sight, bringing that to Naomi, that she would know that. Naomi believes Boaz's heart is one, and yet he has a duty, according to God's commandment, to go to the nearer kinsman and figure out if he desires Ruth or not. Even though this was a time of harvest, remember it's during the barley harvest, great time to be working, especially if you're poor, and yet Naomi tells Ruth, sit still. That's important to think about. And sit still concerning what Boaz is doing now, going to the other kinsmen to see who will she marry, if anyone. How much more the Christian are you to cast all your cares upon God because He has promised to care for you? Why should we be anxious? The Lord commands us, sit still, to see how each matter will fall. All those cares that come up in your life, the circumstances, trials, and the Lord teaches us, sit still. It doesn't mean sit still and don't do anything, but sit still in your heart and rest in the Lord while you keep working and serving Him. and He will bring and work out all things for your good. Your strength is to sit still in your heart and trust the Lord." And that's a lesson. There's many lessons in this chapter, but that's a lesson from this passage. Let's pray. Our gracious Father, Here, again, we consider Ruth who was a Gentile, a Gentile widow in Israel, and yet now she's been brought into among the people of God, the covenant of the people of God by marriage, and she has shown her faith, and even we see Boaz recognizes that because she's been all the more faithful now than she was at the beginning. For she is seeking, according to God's command, her nearest kinsman to marry her according to God's appointment. And Father, we're thankful for your word. We're thankful that you grew her in faith and did not reject her. And the same for many of us here, you have not rejected us, but you have continually spoken to us, continually provided for us every need, and all the trials we've gone through, all the cares, all the times we became anxious and worried, and turned aside to man, and turned aside to the world, You have always been faithful and merciful to us, and you've always worked everything together for our good. There is not one exception to this. You are always faithful. And we can look back on life and see that very clearly. And so we give you the praise, even now, for those trials we go through now, and those trials we will come into contact with in the future, because we know that then you will be faithful too. and You will show us Your grace, and You will work all things together for our good to those who love You and are called according to Your purpose. And so, Father, we pray that we would trust You with all of our heart, and that You would cause us in our hearts and our souls, our minds, even our desires and our affections, that we would sit still and wait upon You. to show how you will be faithful. And yet, keep working, keep serving you while we wait. Our Father, we're thankful as well for mending our souls together by reconciling us in Christ together in union with Him. We're thankful for the unity that we have in the body that comes through Your truth alone. If it were not for Your truth, we would not be united together. There would be no unity here. And yet it is because of the Gospel and Your truth, the doctrines that we find in this Holy Scripture is Your Word, that we are one. And so we pray that we would maintain that unity in the bond of peace, and You would grant us a love for one another. Now, reaching out to one another, which even those who we're not as close to, we pray that we'd reach out to those who we are not, and that we would love them, and serve them, and help them where help is needed. We pray that we would have that kind of spirit they had in the early church in Acts that we've already read about, where they were giving all, Anyone who had need was provided for, especially in the midst of persecution and suffering and the scattering of the Jews because of murder and persecution. And so we pray that You would prepare us now for that time when that will come, a greater persecution if it does come. That You would prepare us now by giving us a heart to serve and meet needs Be hospitable and bring people in when needed. We will be prepared for the future. That is what you command us today to do. Even in the parable of the Good Samaritan, you remind us of this. Father, we do ask that you would make us more faithful, not only in our word, in our minds, but in our actions. And Father, we're thankful for the Sabbath school that we had today. and that learning about justification, that it is by faith alone, and yet that faith is never alone. It produces good works. And Father, we ask that you work through us by your Spirit to produce good works, as you have predestined us to walk in them according to your Word. Father, we pray for the people of this congregation that You would sanctify our souls and sanctify our bodies and cleanse us of all sin and remaining sin. And above all things, we pray that You would turn the hearts of the wicked who are here today to You, those who are still in their sins and hardened in heart Even those who might have professed faith and even came up here and professed their faith and yet are not your children because they don't have a true saving faith. They've just gone through the motions in their body, but they have no different life. Father, turn their hearts unto You and turn their hard hearts to You alone. And You alone can soften their hearts. For You are the one who pours out the Holy Spirit and changes the heart from stone to flesh. And so, Father, do Your great work. And then sanctify and cleanse us of all of our remaining sin. And clothe us with the righteousness of Christ. And Father, we do pray for our bodies as well. We know that there are many sick today again. We pray for many of the Nichols family as well as Patty and Phil and Sue and Any others who might not be feeling well, Father, You know who they are, even though we might forget. Father, You know, we pray that You would heal them, strengthen their bodies. We pray for Patricia, that You would heal her of her cancer and take that away, even now, if it be Your will, and that the chemo treatment she's going through would not cause her immunity to deteriorate, but You would strengthen her body. if it be Your will, at the right time, bring that about, that healing. And Father, we ask that You would heal Dina as well, of her struggles and ailments of her body that are continual, and heal her feet as well as her adrenal gland and all these other things, Father. And Father, we ask that You would Strengthen us as a church. Today, even as we worship you and observe the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, strengthen your people and strengthen this church that we'd be faithful to the vows we've made, that we would be faithful to you, the living and true God, and that we would follow Christ as you have called us to do. Father, we do pray that You would turn our hearts to You. You would even be with our children and turn their hearts to You. That they would sing Your praises as we sing together, knowing that the Lord Jesus loves to hear the children sing. We pray that they would. And that they would come to a knowledge of what they sing and not sing in ignorance. that we too would not sing in ignorance, but with the truth of all the Scriptures, that we would know them, and thereby know your Son. For the Psalms, as we sing them as you command us, declare your Son. And we praise you for Him and the Gospel and the good news that you have granted to us, and which you have worked by your Spirit and caused us to receive the gift of faith and work that faith in us. May your name be praised for all these things we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.