May I direct your thoughts to the second chapter in the book of Ruth, and we will again read from verse 10 through verse 12. Chapter 2, verse 10. Then she fell on her face, and bowed her son 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? Who has answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shown me all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thy 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 recompensed thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, and at whose wings thou art come to trust. This part of scripture is very familiar to us all. It is a simple country story presented in a way that tugs at the very strings of our feelings, our emotions. as we follow the way in which Naomi and Ruth made their way back to Bethlehem and where they met with the kindness of the Lord. The kindness of God is something that is often mentioned in Scripture. And of course, there is no kindness that is like it. You see it in the disposition of David and Jonathan, how in their circumstances there was a recognition of the goodness and the wisdom and the kindness of God, and how in a time of adversity they were both able to comfort themselves in the Lord. And we see here how in the case of Ruth, that she was from Moab, a stranger in terms of identity. She was not a Jewess, but she had come to identify herself with the Jews who were selected in the wisdom of God for the blessing, not only that would come to themselves, but through them to the nations of the world. Now there are three things that we will attempt to talk about. and hope that it will be helpful towards us to identify the characteristics of a man or a woman, a boy or a girl who is aware of the kindness of the Lord. The kindness of the Lord is always there. We are in an environment that provides for us, and in that environment, in different ways, God is working with our lives with an end result that will justify His goodness and His holiness and His wisdom. And, above all, will demonstrate the truth of the revelation that he has given of himself. God is love. And love, as we know, is self-giving. And the Bible is about the love of God, to a sin-stricken world. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. There are three things particularly that we will work around. First of all, a dependent independence. a dependent independence. And secondly, we will look at the recognition of this dependent independence. And last of all, we will look at the blessing invoked as for us recognized that before his eyes the work of God was in evidence. First of all then, a dependent independence. We are all dependent creatures. We are dependent on being able to breathe. If we couldn't breathe, we would die. We are dependent upon our surroundings that it provides what, when we breathe it in, will not poison our system. And so, when we speak about our dependence upon God, it is evident that it is in God we live, move, and have our being. The Bible tells us that there is no creation, no being in the creation, that is not sustained by the power of God. Now, it's easy to say that, but it is impossible to interpret it. For example, we think of the bad things that we are told about in creation. For example, Satan, that Satan is a horrible being. We read of what he did when Christ was on this earth, how he tortured people by taking a devilish possession of their minds and of their bodies. And we read of young and old, who were devil-possessed and were tortured to the point that no comfort could be ministered to them by their loved ones or by anybody else. And so we ask ourselves, how is the devil sustained He is sustained because he is a creature of God. And without the sustenance of God, he could not continue existing. Now, I mention that because sometimes we get so puffed up with the little knowledge that we have, that we try to give the impression that we are able to interpret our whole environment. Early in this year, we were told about the terrible drought in the southeast of England, As things were, and as things appeared to continue, it was going to become a scene. Then things changed, and we were told by weathermen about a jet stream over which no man has any control. And because of the positioning of this jet stream, the water shortage in the south of England was amply met, and in some cases there was flooding. Now, You have heard of scientists talking about controlling, or at least contributing to the control of the temperature of the world. And for those of us who are not scientists and don't understand the first thing about our surroundings, it seems to us plain nonsense that man should claim the control of a world that spews out sulfur when there are volcanic eruptions. And when we have tsunamis that can drive water at the speed of a jet, and can invade shorelines to wreck and destroy anything in his path. But we can be just as presumptuous when we try to speak of God. People say, There is no God, and people will tell us there is no desire that would lead us to the conclusion that such as the Bible tells us exists. Well, it is strange, isn't it, that we should presume to interpret what lies beyond our immediate environment. Astronomers will tell us that if we had powerful enough telescopes, we could see stars not coming towards us, but going away from us into outer space. wonders that these very gifted men only scratch the surface in order to interpret the energy of this world. And what about the Bible when we come to the Word of God? What is it that brings a savage or a cannibal to become as docile as a little child? What is it that has enabled people like Ruth to show a way of life where her dependence upon God enabled her to live an independent life so that she was able to leave her native land, to come with a stricken widow, her mother-in-law, who have nothing to offer her but hard toil, labor, and sorrow. And it's a beautiful thing when you come to think of it, how the Bible tells us that we are dependent upon God. And the wonderful thing is that we have not to tune our minds to look at these areas of the world that lie beyond the physical. For God is revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ. There is no atheist that will deny. that such a person as Jesus Christ was born on Bethlehem and lived in Palestine and was crucified. No atheist can deny that. And this Christ tells us in the Bible the continuity of what God has revealed from Genesis to Revelation. back to Abraham, who was getting old, and wished for an heir, seeing that God had promised that he would have an heir. And you will remember how in his old age, and when his wife was also old, Sarah conceived an older child, Isaac. And Abraham was told that in the seed of Isaac, that is in Christ, the nations of the world will be blessed. But if you go further back to the Paul, there you will find God saying to the woman that had taken a forbidden fruit and had given it to her husband, who also willingly received it, that the seed of the womb should bruise the serpent's head. You will follow through the twelve tribes, right through scripture, in the occasions of this Messiah. And when we come to the New Testament, we read of how He revealed God in such a way that men and women and children recognized his Lordship. It's a powerful factor how the Bible stories fit together are connected over thousands of years, and how, at the center of it all, we have the confirmation of Jesus Christ, that not one jot or tittle of that word will fail in its fulfillment. So we come back to Ruth, and we see her dependence upon God. Now, we are not told when she came into our conscious awareness of this relationship. We don't know to use language that we often use, when she was converted or what brought about her conversion. And that is not important. It is not important to know when or how we come to believe in a same way in the Lord Jesus Christ. But it is important that when we come to die, we are looking to Jesus to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. So we come to this war by death and life, death had very severe blows, there is no question about that. She experienced death among her in-laws and her own husband died. And then you find this extraordinary situation where she turns to the person who took away her husband and who had brought such sadness into the life of Naomi. And she loves him. and seeks more than anything else that she would be enabled to have Him as her God. Now it's a beautiful thing when you see this extraordinary trust developing in adversity. The unbeliever will save when a person is at the receiving end and life is very difficult. Why do you believe in a God that allows such things to happen in your life? That was what Job's wife said. when her husband and her son lost everything. Curse God and die. But that was not the spirit of Job. What he said was, though he slay me, I will put my trust in him. Now the love to God very often is accompanied with a self-emptying process. And that's a logical thing to happen. If you have in your affections and in your thoughts what fills your mind to the exclusion of all other things, then clearly something has to happen. before you can get an open mind to consider other alternatives. And we see this self-emptying process that came the way of Ruth. And we see her at last, a person who had probably enjoyed a good quality of life, come to poverty, and instead of the joy and laughter of children around her, and continuing to enjoy this quality of life, we see a stark presentation of a situation where her mother-in-law very unselfishly tells her, don't identify yourself with my situation. I am old, I have nothing to offer you, you are young, and I don't want you to be involved in my difficulties and in my problems. You are young." But Ruth said, No. What matters more to me than all the materials surrounding our lives is that I should be identified with the God whom you worship, with the people whom God has identified with himself. And so you come to this beautiful situation where a person clearly shows that her reason for loving God is not the material gains that she may receive. God is more precious than any materials. You know how the Bible puts it, Godliness with contentment is great gain. Great gain. And you come across that situation in the Bible again and again and again. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. As we came, possessing nothing, all the materials that we were accustomed to look upon as ours, we must, of necessity, leave behind. But then this dependence upon God enabled her to have an independence. And that takes us to the second part, the recognition that Boaz made with respect to the reputation of Ruth. Now, it is to the credit of Naomi that she knew that Boaz was a kinsman, the closest, and that he was a wealthy man. But she didn't go, pleading her poverty. I think Naomi is such a beautiful character. No doubt she was a sinner, as you and I are. But there are some beautiful traits that come out in her life. and this is one of them. She needs help, she needs food, she needs money, but she keeps those needs to herself and to God, God who has promised all who trust in him, that he will never leave them, nor forsake them. And so we see Ruth going out to glean among the fields. Now this was a right that the poor had, a right that God had given to the poor, to go into any field to glean after the harvesters. But Ruth acted in accordance with the nobility of nature that God had given to her. She didn't go to demand what was her right, but she courteously asked permission to gleam after the harvest. And you can see again, under these blazing skies, the sun so strong, the heat so intense, and the work so demanding, and picking up ears of barney here and there, and continuing to do so, she was not ashamed to be seen among the very poor, because that was the place where God had put her. Now, for some reason or another, the distribution of God in this life is from an outside viewpoint, extremely unfair. You find one child and he has all the gifts, and you find the other child who hasn't. You come across the man that has never known one day of sickness, A healthy body, a healthy mind, able to work and to enjoy work. You come across another man, his health has gone, he has no strength, he is in sickness, and he is very much dependent upon what others will do for him. You see one nation, and they have all the gospel privileges. Isaiah, Ezekiel, and other prophets were told to go and speak not to people of a strange language, of people whose language that they didn't understand or know, but to their fellow countrymen. to Hebrew men and women who spoke their own language, who were taught the same things. And God says to these prophets, Ezekiel for example, you tell them what I tell you to tell them, but I tell you now, they won't listen to you. But if you were sent to the Gentiles, they would listen. Now, how can you make sense of all that? Well, God tells us in a very gentle way, that his ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts. And my dear friends, how we should seek grace to be clothed with humility as we stand in the presence of one whose greatness none can comprehend. You think of the Apostle Paul, probably in his own day, there were few, if any, who had the sharpness of intellect that he had. And he was brought up in circumstances where he could avail himself of every opportunity to educate himself. And we are told that he sat at the feet of one of the eminent teachers of the day, as if he were to go to Oxford University or Cambridge. But there would be no use going to Oxford or Cambridge if we could not benefit, if we did not have the ability to receive the teaching that would be given us there. And yet, the apostle says, aware of divine inspiration, we know in part, we see in part. He says in another place, we see through a glass, darkly. We shouldn't be ashamed to recognize our limitations. and how little we really do understand of the God of the Bible and of the doctrines of Scripture. But the child of God understands sufficient to give him that sense of the kindness of God which he feels is highly trustworthy, and that he can commit himself, whatever his circumstances, to the care of one who cares for him. And so we see in this situation the self-ending process that led to a recognition by Boaz. Ruth did not demand her rights. She had no rights but as the providence of God would allow her. And she becomes known to Boaz who inquires when he came to the field. The reputation of a virtuous person goes before that person, and so does a bad reputation. Reputation takes time to build up, but it can go and go forever by foolish behavior. It's a very precious thing and remembered that Ruth was trusting in the God of Naomi, who had become her own God, to do inner and outer, above and beyond what she was able to ask or even to think. Now it takes a good person to recognize a good person. Boaz herself was a beautiful character. You can see that the way that he greeted his men, and how the men greeted him back. He didn't speak of his acres, or his possessions, or his wealth, or his place of privilege. He speaks about God as the possessor of heaven and earth, who administered and given to him in a way that he felt always so grateful and thankful. And it came to his attention, this morbid young lady, young widow, how she was there among the poor. And for us, it wasn't a song. He immediately identified with the qualities of this woman. We don't know how she was dressed. I'm sure she was dressed very well, as much as her means would allow her. But she was clearly identified as a man, the very, very poor. But although he was rich, he identified with her poverty. Does that ring a bell? Think of Jesus Christ, how rich He is. Riches that go beyond any assessment. But He didn't despise the poor. those who were the drop-outs of that day. He didn't despise people who were devil-possessed. He didn't despise the thief that was on the cross beside him. Ah, what a wonderful person our Lord and Saviour is. And in a sense, Boaz is a type of Christ. And we see how, in this this year, what Ruth was, is brought to the attention of Boaz And Boaz immediately recognizes the kindness of God in what this young Moabite, a widow, was enabled to do. Then he invokes a blessing, and it is a wonderful blessing. Boaz didn't say that he would reward her. that he would make her rich, that he would take her out of her poverty. You cannot reward goodness with material things. It cannot be done. That would be to demean goodness. But you see how Boaz puts it, the Lord recompense thy work and a full reward be given of the Lord God of Israel under whose wings thou art bound to trust. Now, my dear friends, what have you got that you haven't received? What have I got that I haven't received? And we are here together in the place where Christ has promised to be present. But he says it very clearly, whosoever, it doesn't matter who you are, it doesn't matter how you have messed up your life, It doesn't matter how your reputation is mud. It doesn't matter what your problems may be. That is not a problem to Christ. Whosoever will, he says, let him drink of the water of life freely. And my dear young people, it's really so lovely to see you. I was watching a young boy singing the Psalms together and it was such a beautiful thing. You will never have a friend that you can compare with Jesus, not even your mum or your dad, your brother or your sister. He is the greatest friend of all, a loving person who doesn't give something that didn't cost him, but gives himself after coming through a sea of suffering. People might say to you, If God is the Almighty and if he is good, why is there so much suffering in the world? Well, we can't answer that question. Nobody can. But what we can say, you are talking of suffering. No suffering compares with the suffering that the Lord Jesus Christ entered into. He plumbed the very depth of suffering. ask him, what is the meaning of it all? The apostle Paul had an answer, and he had a bit of a rough life as well. He was so hated by his fellow Jew. What does he say? Fool me. Look at the scars on my body. Look at how I am wronged and defamed. and how the Jews are ganging up to kill me, to slay me. No, he doesn't say that at all. The Spirit enables him to say, I would like a fiction which, but for a moment, works out for us an exceeding weight of glory. Oh, my dear friend, The word does make sense to God. Not to us, but it does make sense to God. And it would be the loveliest thing in your experience, and in my experience, if we could join hands with Uth and say, well, by the grace of our Lord, Your God is my God, and as He provided for you, He will provide for me. Let us pray.