[0:00] Well good afternoon and a warm welcome to the service this afternoon and a special welcome to those who are visiting from other congregations. It's good to have you with us today. Just by way of intimation, there's a couple of notices for today. The first is to say that there will be a prayer meeting at six o'clock, bilingual prayer meeting, and that will be led by Duncan McPherson. And then after the prayer meeting, we'll have an open fellowship here in the church, tea and coffee, and we'll hear testimony from Jim Simm and from Peggy McLeod as well. So we look forward to that time of prayer and praise and fellowship together.
[0:46] So all are welcome to that. It will be just after the prayer meeting, quarter past, half past seven. The service is tomorrow on the Lord's Day. We will have at the usual times, 11 o'clock and six o'clock. In the 11 o'clock service, we'll celebrate the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The Reverend Rory Morrison will be preaching at that service and has asked me to do the sacrament, the tables. And then in the evening, the Reverend Anassian will be teaching. And again, there'll be an after church fellowship as usual, and we'll hear something from the ministers. So I haven't actually told them that, but I've just told them that now.
[1:26] So we look forward to hearing that and having a time of informal fellowship. These, I think, are all the intimations just now. So again, you're welcome to Reverend Anassian and move forward to the Lord's ministry through him this afternoon.
[1:49] I'm tempted to declare that I'm on strike, but I see the extra commitments that seem to emerge. Nevertheless, we are glad to be here with you and to have the hospitality of the congregation and especially the hospitality we have enjoyed with your minister and his family.
[2:11] And we trust God's blessing upon you all at this very significant time as a fellowship of God's people here at Harvard. That the beam that shines from the hill of Siloam should shed its light amongst you and through you to the community in which you live and work together.
[2:35] We're going to begin our worship together this day by singing to God's praise from 564, I think, in Mission Praise. Praise to the Lord the Almighty, the King of creation.
[2:48] O my soul, praise him, for he is thy help and salvation. All ye who hear, brothers and sisters draw near, praise him in glad adoration, will sing the whole of this hymn that's full stands as praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation.
[3:12] As we unite our hearts before God in prayer, let us pray. Almighty God, who by the power of your word called all things known to us into being, King of creation, we acknowledge this day that all things are kept in being by the strength of your omnipotence, by the wonder of your great decree that you have ordained for yourself in the midst of a creation that to this day is groaning because of our fallen condition, that you have come to visit us in the power of your saving grace, to set your glory before all creation, the glory that belongs to you, and that you have set in a special and particular way upon the Son of your love, the one in whom your people find consolation, and in whose name they are encouraged through his high priestly status to draw near to you.
[4:46] We bless you, Lord our God, that you have marked us out upon the hands that were stretched out at Calvary in the invitation of your grace to such as we are, that we might gather before you, and that we might know your presence among us, fulfilling the promise that is made in the efficacy of Calvary's finished work, and as we come on this day of preparation to acknowledge your many messages to us, to bless you, Lord our God, for all that we can reflect on here, even as a gathered people with our individual and personal and private ways of thought that can reflect upon all that you have done for us in which we have been aware of your goodness and your mercy, that even when some of us may have gone through difficult trials, and when some of us have fallen away into ways that were awkward for our souls, and effecting more damage upon damaged spirits such as we are, and yet,
[6:17] Lord God, that in the sovereignty of your saving grace that you have spoken to us, and that you assure us this day to come to the mercy seat, to beat upon all breasts as one of all did, who was assured that he was accepted in the beloved, and to cast aside all insinuations of self-righteousness that may dwell among us, and that may hide even within our best motives, Lord, we pray that you would reveal ourselves to us in such a way as would constrain us afresh to come in penitence, to say, have mercy upon me, for I am a sinner.
[7:16] Lord, we pray that you would liberate us even through the ministry of your mercy to us in our own hearts and souls, and draw us together again as we focus upon him whose love divine all loves excels, and who commends that love to us in that while we were yet sinners, while we were yet in the miry clay of our lost condition, spoke life and spoke your own strength into the midst of our beings and drawing us to adore and to acknowledge you.
[8:06] we pray, Lord, your blessing upon us through your word this day afresh, and we bless you, Lord, that you encourage us to cast our burdens upon you, to come with all that creates difficulty within our hearts and souls, and the burdens we carry even in the anxieties and the difficulties that we may be encountering in Providence, that we may come to cast them upon you, and to wait upon you, and to believe that even in the rough places which go beyond our own understanding and our interpretations of our circumstances, that we may yet come to believe that all things work together for good to those who love God, and who are called according to his purposes.
[9:11] We pray your blessing therefore upon us here, and we remember before you also other fellowships throughout the islands, throughout our land, that may be meeting as we are this day, and who are preparing to celebrate in obedience to him who said this do in remembrance of me.
[9:37] Grant, O Heavenly Father, that you would open to us the way to see that you are still unctioning by your Holy Spirit, that your word shall not return to you empty, that it fulfills that to which you have sent it.
[9:58] Hear our prayers also, as we remember those who are unable to gather with your people, those who are restricted through the burden of the years, or through afflictions, or through sorrows, or through complex perplexities within their own circumstances that forbid them to come to a place of public worship.
[10:26] Lord, break through these bondages in such a way that for your people who are still bound by circumstances that they may come to appreciate as one of old did at Bethel that God was there and that God was reaching into his life, ordering his ways, gathering even the fibles of his personality into all that you are fashioning for him as Israel of old.
[11:03] Lord, may we also know that we are called of you and that your word is encouraging us in the obedience of faith.
[11:15] Hear our prayers for those, Lord, who are here and who are exercised by your word and yet who may be hesitant to obey your command.
[11:29] Lord, we pray that they might know that their dependence is not upon themselves nor upon their feelings any more than ours are and that we can unite together in our weaknesses without doubts and our fears in the only place where these are resolved as Thomas of old discovered in that resurrection time that so as we celebrate afresh the first day of the week as that Sabbath that you have given to your people in Christ Jesus who rose in the power of an endless life and who in that life imparts by his indwelling spirit his presence to his people as they come to look to him and to remember his day as the first day of the new creation and that we should pray for ourselves even as one of old that that process of recreation might be taking place within our lives until that day you call us home and you take us to be in that place where you have made preparation through the covenant of the new blood for your people and where we shall know as we are known and where those who have gone before us even the cloud of witnesses of whom which we are assured are with you in glory that you would focus our attention and our spiritual perspective on him who alone can lead us there the author and the finisher of our faith bless lord every fellowship that prepares to meet on your day and grant your blessing lord especially with those who live in areas where in this world it is difficult because of oppression and persecution because of false religions that darken the minds and the hearts of people and disturb them and drive them from their homes and from their kinsfolk lord we pray this day that your hand would be abroad throughout our world in restraining grace over the excesses of violence that are seen in the carnage of the middle east lord hear our prayers for those who are suffering enable us lord to have such empathy with them that we might plead before you and that we might also understand that we are greatly responsible for the great privileges that you give to us which we take for granted and which are blasphemed by our every complaint lord create within us a new spirit of sensitivity sensitivity to the lostness of the world in which we live and a new sensitivity to those around us that we might learn to love as you have loved and that we might learn to reflect it in our comings and goings hear our prayers continue with us for good and pardon us of many sins for jesus sake amen and we're
[15:31] going to sing in gaelic but we encourage those without the gaelic to sing in english and the words we're going to sing are from psalm 34 psalm 34 and if you want to follow the lines of the psalm in english you can reflect on the psalm 34 we shall sing verses 1 to 6 of this four stanzas keelroin phoshokin hellen Jerusalem kia kare nikit sam 34 in Jerusalem kia kare nikitales kilo goarkin al le Ooyes glo, Nethonje sêf tra, Chonjes sht, Nek aartig us gomor, Aartig blumse, Keenum fjast, Mollumit enum lekeel, Hier mishe keer,
[16:32] Choleis bun, Nii askach gavig keer, Gavig kiat eb, Is jalri kiat kun nade edin groei, To glo mocht, Is heesht vish keer, Is hoeskel askach troei, Nek ee drohinchen, Four stanzas, From the beginning of the psalm, Ihova biannechen kuhar, Dech emeshe, Is gav pra.
[17:02] Now let us read from the word of God, In the book of Ruth, And we'll read from chapter 2. We shall read from verse 1 through to verse 13.
[17:20] Naomi had a relative on her husband's side, From the clan of Elimelech, A man of standing, Whose name was Boaz.
[17:36] And Ruth the Moabites said to Naomi, Let me go to the fields, And pick up the leftover grain, Behind anyone in whose eyes I find favour.
[17:54] Naomi said to her, Go ahead, my daughter. So she went out and began to glean, In the fields behind the harvester.
[18:07] As it turned out, She found herself, Working in a field, Belonging to Boaz, Who was from the clan of Elimelech.
[18:18] Just then, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, And greeted the harvester, The Lord be with you.
[18:29] The Lord bless you, They called back. Boaz asked the foreman of his harvester, Whose young woman is that?
[18:41] The foreman replied, She is the Moabites, Who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, Please let me glean, And gather among the sheaves, Behind the harvester.
[18:58] She went into the field, And has worked steadily, From morning till now, Except for a short rest, In the shelter. So Boaz said to Ruth, My daughter, Listen to me, Don't go and glean, In another field, And don't go away, From here.
[19:21] Stay here, With my servant girls. Watch the field, Where the men are harvesting, And follow along, After the girls.
[19:32] Boaz replied, I have told the men, And whenever you are thirsty, Go and get a drink, From the water jar, The men have filled.
[19:46] At this she bowed down, With her face to the ground. She exclaimed, Why have I found, Such favour in your eyes, That you notice me, A foreigner.
[19:59] Boaz replied, I have been told, All about what you have done, For your mother-in-law, Since the death of your husband, How you left your father, And mother, And your homeland, And came to live, With a people, Who you did not know, Before.
[20:21] May the Lord repay you, For what you have done, May you be richly rewarded, By the Lord, The God of Israel, Under whose wings, You have come, To take refuge.
[20:38] May I continue, To find favour in your eyes, My Lord, She said, You have given me comfort, And have spoken kindly, To your servant, Though I do not have, The standing, Of one, Of your servant girls, May God bless to us, The reading of his holy word, And to his name, We praise and glory, Now we were going to sing together, A hymn, That speaks to us, Of the Boaz, Of the New Testament, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Number 372, Jesus, Lover of my soul, Let me, To thy bosom fly, While the nearer waters roll, While the tempest still is high, Hide me, O my Saviour, Hide, Till the storm of life is past, Safe into the haven guide,
[21:40] O receive my soul at last, We shall sing the four stanzas, Of this item of praise, Jesus, Jesus, Lover of my soul, Now let us turn to the passage we read, In the book of Ruth, And in chapter 2, And we shall read the verse 2, And then at verse 10, Ruth chapter 2, At verse 2, And Ruth, Ruth, The Moabartess, Said to Naomi, Let me go to the fields, And pick up the leftover grain, Behind anyone, In whose eyes, I find favour, Or, A more accurate translation, Which we have in the authorised version, Would put it, In whose sight, I find grace, And then at verse 10, And this, We read, She bowed down, With her face to the ground, And exclaimed,
[22:42] This is to Boaz, Why have I found such favour, In your eyes, That you notice me, A foreigner, Let's ask God's blessing, On our meditation, Together, Lord, Our God, Open our eyes, That we may behold, The wonders, That are in your law, Your word, Open our eyes also, As the servants, Of Elisha, New to do, When commanded, And when, Stimulated, Through the prayer, And the answer, Of the prophet of old, You opened his eyes, And he saw, The glory,
[23:43] Of your protection, Surrounding him, Open our eyes, To yourself, Lord, For we would see, Jesus, Hear us, And help us, For his sake, Amen, Amen, As we, Tried to see, Last night, We saw, Ruth and Omi, Had arrived, At Bethlehem, Their destination, And there, And there, Would have been, Two necessities, Ahead of them, As they, Looked, To begin, Life, In this new, Sphere, First of all, They would have to, Find a place, To live, And on that issue, The scriptures, Are silent, We don't know, Whether they were, Receiving hospitality, From friends, Or kinsfolk, Or whether they just, Went to the old, Property, That had been, Deserted by,
[24:44] Elimelech, And Naomi, Some ten years, Previously, But what we can, Understand, Or what is implied, Is, That the two, Ladies, Womed together, Whatever, The situation, Was, In which they, Found themselves, The other problem, Was not only, To find a place, To live, But also, To find a living, To find a way, Of, Relieving, Their own, Personal needs, And seeking, Employment, To provide, For these, Naomi, Was too old, To do so, But, Ruth, The Moabites, Under the laws, Of the land, Was allowed, To go into, The fields, Of Israel, And to glean, Whatever, Had been, Left behind, Either, By the edges, Of the field, Or had been, Dropped, Carelessly,
[25:45] Maybe, By those, Who were reaping, Now, She went, And what was, Her intention, Well, She went, To look, For favour, And that word, Favor, As I've indicated, Already, Is the word, Grace, Grace, And the word, Grace, Is first mentioned, In the Bible, In the life, Of Noah, And in, Noah's, Story, And that grace, Was seen, Against the background, Of God's wrath, That was going, To explode, In the floods, That was to carry, Away, The ancient world, In, In its totality, In terms, Of its people, And we find here, That there is, In the darkness, That Moab, Was, The distorted outlook, Of that land, Was now forsaken, And they were coming,
[26:46] And they were looking, For God's grace, God's favour, In Israel, And what we find here, Is, That the two women, Are together, One old, And one young, And what occurred to me, As I was meditating, Upon this, A while ago, Is, How the two generations, Linked together, And it stimulated me, To think of how much, In the church of our day, We have sort of, Two extremes, We have the event, Tide home church, In which I belong, And there is the orphanage, Where there's only kids, Where there's only kids, Where there's only kids, But God, It means his church, To be a family, To have the old in it, The grandpas, And the daddies, And the mommies, And the children as well, That is the covenant famine, And I was so heartened, To hear,
[27:46] That last night, Though I wasn't here, That there was, That kind of, Family focus, In the context, Of your congregation here, That the children, Are there, And that the oldies, Are there, Just the same, As Moses, And Joshua, Were there, Relating to one another, And Elijah, And Elisha, Also in God's preparation, And in the New Testament, Paul, And Timothy, And that the two, And all the, Across the generations, Are meant, To relate together, Do you remember Eli, He was an old priest, At Shiloh, And a little boy, Samuel, Came to him, In the middle of the night, And he spoke, That he had heard a voice, Go back, You're dreaming, And sometimes, We take that,
[28:47] Attitude to the young ones, But you know, God was speaking, To Samuel, The little boy, And God was shaping him, From his younger years, And Jesus said, Suffer the little ones, Didn't he?
[29:10] Suffer them to come to me, Don't forbid the oldies, And I'm glad, For that, That he doesn't, But that there is, A cross section, And that's one of the first, Lessons we learn here, As one writer put it, A lamb can hear, The shepherd's voice, If it follows closely, At his feet, A lamb can hear, The shepherd's voice, And here, We see Naomi, Saying go, To Ruth, Now this wasn't, The first time, She said go, She's going to Gleam, And if it's, Go she says, But where had, She been saying go, Before, She said go to Moab, But Moab, Is gone,
[30:10] And Ruth has shown, That there is a new spirit, Within her, A spirit, That identifies, With the people of Israel, Because she was saying, Your people, Are to be my people, That's where, That's where this new creation, That is happening, Within my spirit, That is where, My identity lies, It's no longer, In Moab, It's with you, The older you get, The more you reflect, On your younger days, As a little boy, In Scarf Bay, And myself, And the presenter, Were in Sunday school together, Believe it or not, And here we are today, But, In my, In our younger days, I remember us, Catching a little seagull, And we had a seagull, And it was among the hens, And we were, It was in the hens room,
[31:12] And we were, Lugged to see the little seagull, Pecking away, Amongst the hens, But then, Along, Across the skid glass, As they called it, There came, A flock of seagulls, And this seagull, This little chick, Had developed, And it flew off, And we were so disappointed, Why?
[31:34] Because there was, A new king, Kinship, Developing, Within that seagull, Because, It didn't have, The nature of a hen, It had the nature, Of a seagull, And that's what's happening, In Ruth's life, The nature of the Moabites, May be there, In a certain way, But the real nature, Is the nature, That identifies, With God's people, And she's going, Into the fields, As Leviticus 23, 22, Puts it, When you reap, The harvest, Of your land, Do not reap, To the very edges, Of your field, Or gather, The gleanings, Of your harvest, Leave them, For the poor, And leave them, For the alien, Isn't that significant?
[32:22] Not just the poor, Leave them, For the alien, Because, Many would look, At Ruth, And say, She's an alien, But they can turn, And say, Well, The word of God, Cuddle shall too, Isn't that the miracle, Of God's word?
[32:39] That wherever, We are today, That God, Through his word, Can reach us, And when we try, To distance ourselves, That he, Is there, And that he is able, To reach us, Through his word, And so here, We have it, This woman, Going into the fields, The harvest, That was there, Was really more, Than corn, And barley, There was plenty, God's unmerited favor, God's grace, And we're going to think, About God's grace together, Under three headings, How God's grace, Was revealed, How God's grace, Was received, And how, The results, Of God's grace, How these, Are realized, Within her life,
[33:40] God's grace, Revealed to her, Where is God's grace, Revealed to her, Well, It is revealed to her, In her passion, That's why, The first verse, Reads the way it is, And you think, Why talk about Boaz, When you're really, Telling us the story, Of Ruth, Because really, The story is, Boaz's story, Because Boaz really, Is the session, Is the central character, And he is a powerful, Kinsman, He is a kinsman, Of LMLS, And there are two aspects, Of his presence, That we may note, First of all, The status, That he portrayed, His name, As I indicated, Last night, Meant strength, In him, Was strength, Someone who had grown up, And he's such a comparison,
[34:42] With the two, Boys, Who were born, To Ruth, And to, Sorry, To Naomi, And LMLS, Sickly, As we saw last night, And pining, But here is one, In whom, There is strength, And there are, Four different words, In the Hebrew language, Used, In this passage, First of all, In verse one, He is referred to as, A relative, Mudah, And then in verse three, A kindred, Mispacha, Which means, One of the family, And then there's another word, Karob, And that one means, Someone who is close, Who comes very near, And then there is another word, The word, Gaal, Which really means, One who has the right, To redeem, From which we get, The word, Redeemer, So these are descriptive words, That indicates, Not only the strength,
[35:43] Of this passion, And the adequacy, Of this passion, But also indicates, The way this passion, Is revealed, For us, That in the midst, Of it all, Here is the right one, In the right place, At the right time, Here is one, Who has the strength, Here is the one, Who has come, Into our connection, And that is part, Of what we learn, About what God, Has done, For us, And, For us, As sinners, This morning, As we were having, Family worship, And as we were reading, A passage in Genesis, That speaks of, Us being made, In the image of God, Made spiritually, Who must remember, In the image of God, Because God is a spirit, Infinite, Eternal, As some of us learned, In the short of, Catechism, But there is another, Miracle about the God,
[36:44] Who has created us, In his image, And from which we have fallen, And that is, That God has taken, Our image to himself, In the passion of his son, That's what it means, To say, The word was made flesh, And dwelt among us, And yet, Without sin, And that's how near, Jesus has come to us, One of the words, Is being near, Being one of the family, His intimacy, And his redeeming love, Is a love of intimacy, And of personal, Identification, With us, That's why, Hebrews 2, Verse 11, Reads in this way, Both the one, Who makes men holy, And those who are made holy, Are of the same family, So Jesus, Is not ashamed, To call them brothers, Jesus is not ashamed, To call them brothers,
[37:45] Later on, In this story, And I won't be around, To follow it through, But we read of two kinsmen, One, An inadequate kinsman, Who in the test, Of his adequacies, And his willingness, Fell, And here is a kinsman, Who was able, To take his place, What does that remind you of?
[38:10] Doesn't it remind you, Of the teaching, That Paul gives us, About the first Adam, And the second Adam, And the last Adam, The one who was inadequate, And the one who fell, And here is the one, Who is able to stand, And who is able to stand for us, Though, O Christ, We sang together, Though, Christ, Art all I want, More than all in thee, I find, The status, But there is something else, About him too, There is the spirituality, That he brings, What spirituality, Did Boaz bring, To the fields of Bethlehem, Well, What was his greeting, Read it there, Before you, The Lord, Be with you, Is what he is saying, To his harvesters, In the field, As he went out there, And as he said, We have it in verse 4, The Lord,
[39:11] Be with you, He is saying, Do you know, What he is saying, Emmanuel, That's what the word is, Emmanuel, And that's the teaching, That Isaiah brings us, About the Messiah, The one who was to be, Emmanuel, The one who, The word made flesh, The kinship, That he has come to us with, Is a kinship of spirit, And the spirituality, That we see, Through Boaz here, Is a reflection for us, That we are to look above, And that in Jesus, We are to see, Something, That is very special, Remember, There was a, Bereavement, In a place called Nain, A long time ago, A widow's son, Had passed away, And they were on their way, To lay his,
[40:12] Remains to rest, Outside, The village of Nain, Which if some of you, Have been to the Holy Land, You will see, Where the caves were, Beside the village of Nain, And there as they were going, Jesus and his disciples, Were passing, And they came face to face, And they stopped, And the dead boy, Was brought back to life, And do you know, What the people of Nain said, They said, God is visiting his people, God is visiting his people, And when they were in the fields of Bethlehem, And when there was bread coming to them, They would say, God is visiting us, God is here, And God has come to us, And God is seeing us, Is not the testimony, Of the woman, From Samaria, Who went running to the village,
[41:15] And who said, Come and see, Come and see, This one who has told me, About myself, And who has, Penetrated, All the barriers, That I have put, Between myself, And God, And has brought them down, And has been speaking to me, And has been convicting me, And bringing me to the place, That I must say, This must be the Messiah, This must be Emmanuel, This must be God, Coming to visit us in Samaria, And read about it in John chapter 4, When you went home, Because these guys came running out, To meet this person, This special person, This Boaz of the New Testament, They came to look at him, And to see him, And to say, No, we believe, Not because of what you said, But we have heard him, We have heard him, Do you hear him?
[42:18] Are his words, Carrying you upwards, And making you say, God is here, God is here, Through his word, There is a spirituality, That is intense, That is intense, And there is the status, That this one has, That no other, Can fulfill, How grace is revealed, In the passion of our Lord, And saviour, Jesus Christ, The favour of God, The second thing, We may consider is, The grace, Received by her, How is this, Grace received, Well there are, Two things, We may see, Within our life, There is, The first thing, Is, That the role, Of the destitute, Is fulfilled in her,
[43:18] Who were the destitute, The poor, And the alien, They were the ones, Who were permitted, They were the ones, Who were invited, Onto these fields, In Israel, That is, They are the ones, And here, This woman, Is saying, Really, I am in poverty, I am really destitute, Destitute spiritually, My life is really, Has fallen apart, And we are here, In Bethlehem, But we are here, As beggars, We are beggars, Because, We can't bring anything, There is nothing, With which we can please God, And therefore, We are found, In such a situation, That we need, To come, In our emptiness,
[44:20] We read in, Proverbs chapter 3, Verse 34, God opposes, The proud, But gives, What to the humble, Gives grace, To the humble, Do we see ourselves, In the light, Of our spiritual, Spiritual poverty, There was a church, In the new testament, Era, It was at a place, Called Laodicea, And they thought, They were doing great, And you see, The red light, Flashing above you, As a congregation, In the midst, In the midst of God, Prospering you, We have to remember, That we are beggars, Before God, And that it is, By the, By the favour of God, That we are debtors, To mercy, And our presence, Here today, Is not by any,
[45:21] Personal achievement, We are debtors, To mercy alone, And I don't care, Who helped you build, Or who was here, To do things, Around here, And they never darken the place, Well they were privileged, Because God, Put it into their hearts, Whether they accepted, Or not, Because that's the amazing, Grace, Of the God, That we worship, And that we look to, The role of the destitute, The role of the emptiness, Some of you may have heard, Of the Reverend, Lachlan Mackenzie, Of Loch Caron, On one occasion, He was in his man's, And a man came along, With his little boy, And he wanted the minister, To sign some forms for him, And as Lachlan saw, The little boy, And he looked a bit emaciated, They had walked quite a bit,
[46:22] And people didn't have much, Of this world's goods, At that time, And he went into the kitchen, And he got a slice of, I don't know, Was it, Arancourt, Or oat cakes, Or whatever, And he put some butter on it, And came out, And he was handing it, To the boy, But the boy couldn't take it, His hands were full of shells, He had been collecting, On the way along the shore, As they came to the man's, And he looked at the pretty shells, And he threw them to the ground, And he took the bread, And Mr. Lachlan said to, The little boy, Wise boy, He said, How much wiser, Than the people of Loch Caron, Who cling to the empty shells, And refuse the bread, Do we cling to the empty shells today?
[47:15] Do we see that the hands, Have to be empty? That it's us, The destitute, That we come to him? But there is not only, The rule of the destitute, That she took, There is the resolve, Of the diligent, She's a hard worker, She is earnestly, Applying herself, She is seeking the Lord, While he is to be found, Like Cornelius, Of whom we read in, Acts chapter 10, Who really was stumbling along, He had become, Come from a Gentile background, And he was discovering, That there was truth, In the religion of the Israelites, And he was struggling, His way through, And God, Sent a message, To a guy, Who was up the road from, And called Simon Peter, And said, Simon Peter, You're on a special mission today, You're going off, To a place called Joppa,
[48:16] And you're going to deal, With this man, God was seeking him, In his seeking, Are we genuine, Are we genuine seekers, Are we genuine seekers, Are we looking with our empty hands, In the diligence, Of those who are waiting upon God, Grace revealed, Grace received, And thirdly, How is this grace, Affected her, What are the results, Of this grace, In her life, Well the first, Issue that we see here, There is the provision, That she experienced, What is she really, Experiencing,
[49:16] As she lifts the grave, And gathers so much of it, That she goes home, With a real burden, And a huge, Sack on her back, Because she gathered, Such a lot, I think somewhere in the, Yes, In the footnotes, Of your Bible, You will see, There were 22 liters of it, That she gathered, What was she gathering, Well I'll tell you, What she was gathering, She was gathering, The fruit of Boaz's soul, It was so, It was Boaz, Who planted the field, And it was all, Of him, That they were gathering now, And the provision, That we look for, And the provision, That we see, And the provision, That we profess, As we gather, Around the feast, That God has set, Before us, As we take,
[50:17] Bread and wine, We are not looking, To these, Temporal symbols, That we are looking, To the cross, Of Calvary, We are looking, To the power, Of the resurrection, And we are looking, To the opening, Of life, And immortality, In the glory, In the glory, Of the provision, That Christ, Had made, He gave us, Examples of it himself, Throughout the, Throughout his, Paragons, He spoke to the, To us, Of the prodigal son, And he spoke, To us, Of the lavishness, Of the father's, Preparation, As the fatted calf, Is prepared, For those who have come, There is the provision, That is, In Christ, But there is, Something else, There is a precept, She has to be, Observing, Verse 9, Tells us, Do not wander off, Into another field,
[51:19] What's that saying? Well, It's saying, That she is to be, Under, Boaz's, Precept, Under his, Direction, Listen to Jesus, To the Jews, Who believed him, Jesus said, If you hold, To my teaching, You are really, My disciples, Then you will know, The truth, And the truth, Will set you free, In other words, God in Christ, Has made provision, But the provision, Of Christ, Is in the continuing, In the word of Christ, And again, We are made to reflect, Upon, The supreme place, That the word of God, In the scriptures, Must have, In our, In our lives, And in our profession,
[52:21] Calvin, Wrote this, In the Institutes, Of Christian religion, I'm sure you use it, As bedtime reading, There's some excellent, Stuff in it, I tell you, In the Institutes, He says this, Let us, Therefore remember, That whenever, Christian unity, Is commended to us, Christian unity, The thing required, Is that, While our minds, Consent in Christ, Our wills also, Be united together, By mutual, Good will in Christ, Accordingly, Paul, When he exhorts us, To it, That's to unity, Takes his fundamental, Principles, That there is one God, One faith, One baptism, And when he tells us, To be in one accord, And one mind, He immediately says, Let this mind, Be in you, Which was also, In Christ Jesus, And what's he doing, Calvin continues, Jesus intimating, That where the word, Of the Lord, Is not, It is not,
[53:22] A union of believers, But a faction, Of the ungodly, In other words, If we leave, God's word, Behind, And if we don't, Do as God, Tells us to do, In his word, We have joined, A faction, Of the ungodly, That's a solemn thought, The precept of God, Within our lives, The precept of, The provision, She expressed, But also, There is the protection, She was promised, Because Boaz, Instructs, The reapers, And all who are around, Not to touch him, God's protection, Is to be able, And God's protection, Is about his people, We see it in the old testament, With Daniel, Among the lions,
[54:24] We see it also, In the fiery furnace, As those who were cast, Bound into it, And all that burnt, Was what tied them, And they are walking, In the furnace, With the freedom, And the fellowship of Christ, With them, And there are people, Today, Who are walking, In the fiery furnaces, Of persecution, In areas, Of our world, And with them, Christ is walking, And some of them, And they walk, Through, The very, Shadow of death itself, And through the gates, Of time, Into eternity, And Christ is with them, Because, As Psalm 23, Puts it, Yea, Though I walk, In death, Stuck veil, I will fear no will, Why?
[55:18] Because you are with me, And if you want, A demonstration of it, Look at Stephen, Being stoned, Outside Jerusalem, And who is walking, With him?
[55:30] Well he tells us, I see, Heaven open, Before me, He's not saying, Ouch, That one got me, On the ear, No, He's saying, I am heading, For glory, And there is one, Waiting for me, And he's here with me, Drawing me, To himself, There is the provision, There's the precept, There's the, Protection, And lastly, There is the praise, In the praise, That she exposed, I have found, Favor, And in finding, The favor, Isn't it in verse 12 here, Where she is saying, In finding the favor, It's verse 10, Such she exclaimed, Why have I found, Such favor in your eyes, And you notice me, A foreigner, This he is saying, Really, This is amazing, That I am seeing,
[56:31] And that I am experiencing, What I am experiencing, Here, Many, Many years ago, I was minister, Up the road, In a place called, Barra, I won't care, To tell you, But I know, That I left it, In 1981, But while I was, A minister there, There was a man, Who had come home, From sailing, They hadn't heard, From him, For about 15 years, And he came home, And he had nothing, But a polythene bag, With a few rugs, And sixpence, In his pocket, He went to his home, And they received him, And he got his life, Together, And he married, And he had a family, And one, Communion like this, This man, Was in Barra's church, And I asked him to speak,
[57:32] As we used to say, On the question, He gave his testimony, And that afternoon, After the service, He was out walking, And he met an old, Crony of his, A fellow boozer, Who used to, Share his interest, And he was talking to him, And he said, Angus, Would you believe, That I would be standing, In Barra's church, Praising Christ, And telling him, Telling him, Of all he did for me, And Angus looked at him, And said, Never in a million years, And Colin said, Neither will I, But I'm so thankful, That it's true, That's amazing grace, We sing these words, But we don't test the words, Do we?
[58:21] But you see, Colin was testing the words, Colin was testing the words, Praise my soul with hand, The King of heaven, To his feet, Thy tribute bring, Ransomed, Healed, Restored, Forgiven, Who, Like me, His praise, Should sing?
[58:53] Amazing love, Said Wesley, How can it be, That thou, My God, Should die for me, Tis mystery, Tis mystery all, The immortal dies, Who can explore, His strange design, In vain, The firstborn seraph cries, To sound the depths, Of love divine, Let us pray, Lord, Lord, Our heavenly father, We bless you, For the miracle, Of your grace, We bless you, For its revelation, We bless you, That you call us, To receive it, Destitute, As we are, And coming, In the diligence, Of ever seeking, That you impart, By grace, To your people, And seeing, The wonder, Of all that,
[59:54] You have done, For us, Be with us, Now in Jesus name, Amen, My apology, For overrunning, The time, It probably, Wacked my fingers, And I got left the roof, We're going to close, Our worship, By singing in, Psalm 16, Psalm 16, And we shall sing, Verses 6 to 9, Verses 6 to 9, Of Psalm 16, God is mine, Inheritance, And cup the potion, The Lord that fallen, Is to me, Thou dost maintain alone, Down to the verse 9, Because of this, My heart is glad, And joy shall be expressed, Even by my glory, And my flesh in confidence, Shall rest, And we rest in that confidence, And if you are here today, I've been reminded, By the minister, That the session is open, And that the invitation, Is extended, That anyone who is,
[60:55] Desirous to join them, Under the promptings, Of Christ, And the directions, Of his word, That you, Integrate that, In the context, Of the session, Psalm 16, From verse 5 to 9, God is of mine, Inheritance, And cup the potion, Now may grace, Mercy, And peace from God, Father, Son, And Holy Spirit, One God, Rest and remain, With us all, Now and evermore, Amen.