Good Ground Sermons

Mat 22:1 And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,

Mat 22:2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,

Mat 22:3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.

Mat 22:4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.

Mat 22:5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:

Mat 22:6 And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.

Mat 22:7 But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

Mat 22:8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.

Mat 22:9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.

Mat 22:10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.

In light of spiritual realities and what markers we can perceive around us that give evidence to us living in the last days, we look at the parable of the wedding feast with that lens. If we are the servants, how can we participate to the fullest extent?

Jake presents a word study on compassion. He looks at three distinct applications; and notes that the key trait to compassion is that it inspires action.

Rut 4:11 And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem:

Rut 4:12 And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman.

When Boaz finally declares and makes a way to redeem Naomi and Ruth, we hone in here on what the elders are calling out. What does it mean to build the house of Boaz? And what does it mean that these elders hope his house ends up like Pharez? When we really get into these statements, and look at ourselves as the wife, the Gentile Bride, the Church, we see a lot of things that should be reflected in our own espousal to Christ.

Rut 4:1 Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down.

Rut 4:2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.

Rut 4:3 And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's:

Rut 4:4 And I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it.

Rut 4:5 Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.

Rut 4:6 And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it.

Rut 4:7 Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour: and this was a testimony in Israel.

Rut 4:8 Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe.

Rut 4:9 And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi.

Rut 4:10 Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.

Rut 4:11 And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem:

Rut 4:12 And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman.

Boaz, fulfilling his word, goes to meet Naomi and Ruth's nearer kinsmen. With all of the elders as witnesses, according to Deuteronical law. He does everything correct and right. At first, the nearer kinsmen is willing to purchase, until he hearts the whole of the price, which Boaz happily accepts. Today we look at the comparisons between these kinsmen as the world and Jesus Christ. Christ alone has access to the spiritual funds needed to purchase your soul, because it is only by his blood.

Rut 3:12 And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I.

Rut 3:13 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 the part of a kinsman to thee, as the LORD liveth: lie down until the morning.

Rut 3:14 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.

Rut 3:15 Also he said, Bring the vail 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.

Rut 3:16 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.

Rut 3:17 And she said, These six measures of barley gave he me; for he said to me, Go not empty unto thy mother in law.

Rut 3:18 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 have finished the thing this day.

Ruth gets the answer she was hoping for, in a way. Boaz tells her he will kinsmen redeem her, but must see to her nearer kinsmen first. For us, we look at how sometimes we do get the answers we want, but sometimes the answer is wait. Do we have the faith to engage in the mission even when the answer is wait? We also look at how even though the answer for Ruth was wait, Boaz gifted her for the time being.

As Ruth presents herself at the feet of Boaz, we look at what it means for us to present ourselves in similar fashion at the feet of our kinsman redeemer, Jesus. Boaz answers Ruth with complete blessing and grace, just as Christ answers us. Boaz also Identifies Ruth as the only woman named to receive such an identity; the virtuous woman. We look at what made Ruth Virtuous, what virtue is, and how we, as the bride of Christ have the very same calling, to be virtuous.

Two things jump out from this next passage in Ruth 3. The courageous obedience of Ruth and her faithful submission of her life into the hands of God. We compare these two traits to our own lives and look and how also can have this kind of obedience and submission.

Naomi lays out the gameplan for Ruth to go and meet Boaz and present herself before him. She gives her distinct instructions on how to prepare to do so. What we see is that this is not some sneaky trick they pull, but actually a bold act of faith similar to how Esther presents herself to the king in her story.

Eunuchs! Josh walks us through a study of Eunuchs, culminating in the story of Ebedmelech. This eunuch demonstrates how faith and obedience supersede any physical limitation or fear of consequence.

Ruth fills Naomi in on everything that has happened. Naomi encourages Ruth to continue in Boaz's field and to heed his command. We see several key concepts that benefit our own lives through this passage. That the field can have multiple stages of work, that the work can and will take time, and also that the people who have our ear at home are important.