Join Pastor Josh Massaro as he explores the profound themes of redemption and restoration through the lens of the Book of Ruth. Central to this discussion is the concept of the kinsman redeemer, exemplified by Boaz, who symbolizes Jesus Christ's selfless love and grace towards humanity. Pastor Josh delves into the transformation of Naomi from a place of bitterness to one of blessing, highlighting God's unwavering faithfulness even in times of struggle. The episode reinforces the idea that, like Naomi and Ruth, believers can find hope and renewal in their relationship with God, regardless of their past. Through engaging insights and relatable anecdotes, Pastor Josh encourages listeners to embrace the promise that God provides, restores, and nourishes us throughout our lives.

Pastor Josh Massaro's sermon on the book of Ruth offers a compelling exploration of redemption, love, and God's providential care for His people. By examining the relationship between Ruth and Boaz, the sermon paints a vivid picture of the kinsman redeemer—a concept that not only brings to light the cultural practices of ancient Israel but also serves as a profound metaphor for Christ's redemptive work in the lives of believers. Pastor Josh emphasizes that the stories found within scripture are more than mere tales; they encapsulate the very heart of God's grace and mercy toward humanity.

Throughout the sermon, Pastor Josh highlights the transformative journey of Naomi, who, having experienced significant loss, initially returns to Bethlehem embittered by her circumstances. However, as Ruth's faithfulness and Boaz's kindness unfold, Naomi witnesses a remarkable reversal of her fortunes. This narrative shift from despair to hope is a central theme of the sermon, illustrating how God's faithfulness endures even in the darkest of times. Pastor Josh's message reassures the congregation that no matter how distant one may feel from God, His presence and provision are always near.

The idea of being a part of God's family through faith in Christ is echoed throughout the sermon, as Pastor Josh draws parallels between Ruth's inclusion in the lineage of David and the call for all believers to recognize their identity as children of God. He articulates that the journey of faith is not defined by past failures or struggles but by the grace that redeems and restores. The sermon culminates in a powerful reminder of the love that binds believers to their Creator, encouraging individuals to embrace their role in God's story and to live out their faith with gratitude and hope. This rich and multifaceted message resonates deeply with anyone seeking encouragement and understanding of God's unwavering love and redemptive plan.

Takeaways:

• Pastor Josh emphasizes that the story of Ruth illustrates God's love and grace towards believers.
• The podcast draws parallels between Ruth and Boaz's relationship and Christ's relationship with the church.
• Naomi's journey from bitterness to blessing highlights God's faithfulness in difficult times.
• The significance of the kinsman redeemer is explored as a metaphor for Jesus Christ.
• Pastor Josh encourages listeners to find comfort and restoration in God's presence during struggles.
• The importance of gratitude is discussed, emphasizing how it shifts our perspective on blessings.

Links referenced in this episode:

• middletownbaptistchurch.org
• facebook.com
• youtube.com
• joshmassaro@middletownbaptistchurch.com

Thank you for joining our podcast. Visit our website at https://middletownbaptistchurch.org/

Subscribe to our YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@middletownbaptistchurchde5091

Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MBCDelaware

This podcast is produced by Ralph Estep, Jr., host of the Ask Ralph Podcast, a daily podcast on Christian Finance you can find it at https://www.askralphpodcast.com/

Pastor Josh: 00:00:00

Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast, where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.

Pastor Josh: 00:00:06

My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to this podcast.

Pastor Josh: 00:00:10

I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen you in the word of God.

Pastor Josh: 00:00:16

Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today.

Pastor Josh: 00:00:23

We're going to go ahead and start our Bible study here this evening.

Pastor Josh: 00:00:27

If you have your bibles, please turn with me to the book of Ruthen.

Pastor Josh: 00:00:30

And we are going to actually tonight conclude the book of Ruth, the story of the kinsman Redeemer.

Pastor Josh: 00:00:36

And I hope that this has been a study that has helped you understand God's love and his grace in your own life.

Pastor Josh: 00:00:44

Anytime we see stories in scripture, we know that they're more than just stories.

Pastor Josh: 00:00:49

They are descriptions of real people going through real issues and ultimately receiving real forgiveness and real grace from a real goddess.

Pastor Josh: 00:00:57

And so I know that so many times in our life we can be separated from these stories because they are thousands of years old.

Pastor Josh: 00:01:06

And I know that not everything in scripture can we personalize for ourselves.

Pastor Josh: 00:01:10

But I do believe that there is that application of understanding our kinsman redeemer in Jesus Christ through this story.

Pastor Josh: 00:01:16

And so we see the story of Ruth, and she's the centerpiece.

Pastor Josh: 00:01:20

Ultimately, God's the centerpiece.

Pastor Josh: 00:01:21

But in this case, Ruth is the one who receives grace from her kinsman Boazden.

Pastor Josh: 00:01:26

And so I believe Ruth is a picture of those believers.

Pastor Josh: 00:01:29

Boaz is a picture of Jesus Christ extending his grace and love to us as the groom.

Pastor Josh: 00:01:36

And we, the church, are the bride.

Pastor Josh: 00:01:38

And that's an important thing to think about when it comes to our christian life.

Pastor Josh: 00:01:43

That picture of the Lord being the bridegroom, we being the bride, and how he's coming back for us one day.

Pastor Josh: 00:01:50

If you know the picture of, of marriage back in the Bible times, it wasn't the type of marriage that we have today.

Pastor Josh: 00:01:58

I mean, it's similar in the concept of they would get married and there would be that covenant union, but there was something called the betrothal period back then that is different than what we do today.

Pastor Josh: 00:02:07

We have in most cases, not everyone is like this, but there is usually a time in marriages today where there's an engagement period.

Pastor Josh: 00:02:16

I know Alicia and I, we had a year long engagement.

Pastor Josh: 00:02:19

That was the time for the bride to find her dress and to go through all those things.

Pastor Josh: 00:02:22

And, you know, I didn't do much in the planning process.

Pastor Josh: 00:02:25

I was like, hey, what are we going to eat at the wedding.

Pastor Josh: 00:02:27

That was about the only question I had input I had on all that.

Pastor Josh: 00:02:32

But back then, what would happen is the groom would make a commitment to his future wife and there would be this betrothal period.

Pastor Josh: 00:02:41

So they were essentially linked already, but they had not consummated the marriage.

Pastor Josh: 00:02:45

They didn't have that reunion.

Pastor Josh: 00:02:46

And at an appointed time, and the bride wouldn't know this, the bridegroom would come back as he was preparing a place for his bride in his father's house.

Pastor Josh: 00:02:56

And he would prepare that place.

Pastor Josh: 00:02:57

And when he was ready, he would come back and take his bride and take her back.

Pastor Josh: 00:03:03

And there would be that consummation.

Pastor Josh: 00:03:04

There would be that completion of marriage.

Pastor Josh: 00:03:06

And that's the beautiful picture of what's happening for us right now.

Pastor Josh: 00:03:09

We are in the betrothal period.

Pastor Josh: 00:03:10

We're waiting for our kinsman redeemer to come back.

Pastor Josh: 00:03:13

And that's an exciting time.

Pastor Josh: 00:03:15

We're longing for that day.

Pastor Josh: 00:03:16

We don't know when that day is, but the Bible says for us to be prepared.

Pastor Josh: 00:03:19

And even in John, chapter 14, Jesus says, I go to prepare a place for you, and I will come again.

Pastor Josh: 00:03:24

And that's exactly the period that we are in right now.

Pastor Josh: 00:03:26

So, Ruth, chapter number four, we're going to go to verse number 13.

Pastor Josh: 00:03:31

So we've seen Ruth, we've seen Boaz.

Pastor Josh: 00:03:33

But there's another individual in this story that's notable, and that is Naomi.

Pastor Josh: 00:03:37

Where did Naomi start?

Pastor Josh: 00:03:38

Well, Naomi started at the very beginning with.

Pastor Josh: 00:03:41

With her husband moving from the land of Israel, specifically Bethlehem, and traveling to the land of Moab because of this famine.

Pastor Josh: 00:03:49

And so instead of trusting in God, she and her husband trusted in the land of Moab for their provisions.

Pastor Josh: 00:03:56

And obviously, that was a bad decision, and there were consequences.

Pastor Josh: 00:04:00

Her husband dies.

Pastor Josh: 00:04:01

Eventually her sons die.

Pastor Josh: 00:04:03

And Naomi travels back to Bethlehem.

Pastor Josh: 00:04:07

And when she travels back to Bethlehem, she is known, or at least she wants to be known not by her name, Naomi, which means blessed.

Pastor Josh: 00:04:15

But she wanted to be known as Mara, which meant bitter.

Pastor Josh: 00:04:18

And so we know that in the heart of Naomi, there was a sense of bitterness.

Pastor Josh: 00:04:22

But through the story, we've seen Naomi's heart change from a heart of bitterness to a heart of being blessed and understanding the perspective of being blessed in the Lord.

Pastor Josh: 00:04:31

And so through this marriage of Ruth and Boaz, Naomi is going to be blessed as well.

Pastor Josh: 00:04:35

And we're going to study that here this evening.

Pastor Josh: 00:04:36

So let's look at verse number 13.

Pastor Josh: 00:04:38

We'll start in verse number 13, and we will go down to the end of the chapter, it says, so Boaz took Ruth and she was his wife.

Pastor Josh: 00:04:45

Obviously, in this verse here, we see that picture of the culmination of marriage, the time in which this all becomes one.

Pastor Josh: 00:04:55

And we know that the Bible speaks of marriage as a union of one flesh, a covenant before God.

Pastor Josh: 00:05:02

And we live in a society today that cheapens the definition of marriage.

Pastor Josh: 00:05:07

It cheapens the definition of love.

Pastor Josh: 00:05:10

Marriage is just an agreement that we have with somebody until they make us upset or they aren't fulfilling what we want to be fulfilled in our life, and then we have the freedom to break that.

Pastor Josh: 00:05:20

That's in our society today.

Pastor Josh: 00:05:21

But the Bible says that marriage is between one man, one woman for life, one flesh.

Pastor Josh: 00:05:26

And so there is that commitment.

Pastor Josh: 00:05:28

There is that covenant between each other and before God.

Pastor Josh: 00:05:32

And so it says here, so Boaz took Ruth and she was his wife.

Pastor Josh: 00:05:35

And when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception and she bear a son.

Pastor Josh: 00:05:40

And so we see here, in this case, there is a gift given to them, and that is the gift of marriage, but also the gift of a child.

Pastor Josh: 00:05:47

And that would be a great story in and of itself.

Pastor Josh: 00:05:49

But we know that there is significance to this child because this child is going to have a child, and that child is going to have a child.

Pastor Josh: 00:05:55

And we're going to ultimately see that the line of the Messiah comes through the line of Boaz and Ruth.

Pastor Josh: 00:06:01

What an amazing blessing that is for a woman who was not born in Israel, was not of that heritage, but yet she was used by God to be part of the line of the Messiah.

Pastor Josh: 00:06:12

And we know that there are others that could be mentioned about that.

Pastor Josh: 00:06:16

And if we had more time, we could go through the whole genealogy.

Pastor Josh: 00:06:18

But what I will say here in this case, in verse number 13 is we see God's hand and his blessing upon the life of Boaz and Ruth for their faithfulness.

Pastor Josh: 00:06:26

And we see, obviously, God's providential plan working in the lives of individuals who didn't know that they were being used by God.

Pastor Josh: 00:06:34

And so we certainly don't believe in determinism when it comes to God forcing everyone to do something.

Pastor Josh: 00:06:40

But we do know that God has his providential hand upon our lives.

Pastor Josh: 00:06:43

And so if God wants something to happen, he will ordain that to happen.

Pastor Josh: 00:06:46

And God ordains this to happen and uses the obedience of Ruth and Boaz in this case.

Pastor Josh: 00:06:52

So verse 14.

Pastor Josh: 00:06:53

And the women said unto Naomi.

Pastor Josh: 00:06:55

So we see the women of Bethlehem referencing Naomi here, and they say, blessed be the Lord.

Pastor Josh: 00:07:02

So this is Naomi's testimony.

Pastor Josh: 00:07:04

Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.

Pastor Josh: 00:07:13

Naomi went from a place of saying, God has turned his back on me.

Pastor Josh: 00:07:17

God has forgotten me.

Pastor Josh: 00:07:19

God has given me all this pain, and he's given me all this suffering.

Pastor Josh: 00:07:22

Now her testimony is no longer bitterness.

Pastor Josh: 00:07:25

It's now the testimony of a God who cares for her, a God who has not left her alone.

Pastor Josh: 00:07:30

And this reminds me of that passage of scripture in Hebrews, chapter 13.

Pastor Josh: 00:07:34

That God will not leave us nor forsake us.

Pastor Josh: 00:07:37

Naomi was never forgotten about.

Pastor Josh: 00:07:39

Even in her unfaithfulness, God was still faithful to her.

Pastor Josh: 00:07:43

And God rewarded her for her humility.

Pastor Josh: 00:07:45

God rewarded her for her obedience.

Pastor Josh: 00:07:47

And ultimately, we see here that the testimony now of Naomi's life is that she is blessed and that she was not forgotten.

Pastor Josh: 00:07:54

And I want you to know here this evening that God is not going to forget about you, regardless of your issues, regardless of your struggles.

Pastor Josh: 00:08:00

Now, he doesn't condone our sin.

Pastor Josh: 00:08:02

He doesn't want us and celebrate in our sin and say, you know what?

Pastor Josh: 00:08:07

I'm glad that you're unfaithful.

Pastor Josh: 00:08:08

But yet God still loves us as a loving father loves his child.

Pastor Josh: 00:08:12

I was having a conversation with someone recently.

Pastor Josh: 00:08:15

I said, you know how much you love your children?

Pastor Josh: 00:08:16

You know how much that even when they frustrate you, even when they do things that you don't agree with, you still love them.

Pastor Josh: 00:08:26

A good parent still loves their child, even if they don't agree with what they're doing.

Pastor Josh: 00:08:30

And I say, that's how God loves us.

Pastor Josh: 00:08:33

If we are his child, truly his child, if we've trusted in him, in faith, God loves us.

Pastor Josh: 00:08:37

Even in our stumbles now, he doesn't condone us.

Pastor Josh: 00:08:40

He wants us to get back up.

Pastor Josh: 00:08:41

If I love my child, I don't want them to stay in their sin, but I still love them.

Pastor Josh: 00:08:45

And so God's love was there with Naomi through the ups and the downs.

Pastor Josh: 00:08:48

But ultimately, he was pulling her back to that fellowship with him.

Pastor Josh: 00:08:52

And so God did not leave them without a kinsman.

Pastor Josh: 00:08:55

And I can tell you here this evening that God does not leave you without a kinsman.

Pastor Josh: 00:08:57

If you've come to Jesus Christ in faith, you have a kinsman redeemer.

Pastor Josh: 00:09:01

You have one who was there with you in the midst of your struggles, in the midst of your doubts, in the midst of your pain, in the midst of your loss.

Pastor Josh: 00:09:09

And Naomi was one who had a lot of loss, had a lot of pain, even though some of that was brought upon her life, by her own decisions, God still dealt with that pain and suffering and provided for her.

Pastor Josh: 00:09:20

And I will let you know that God is a provider.

Pastor Josh: 00:09:23

One of my favorite names of God is Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides.

Pastor Josh: 00:09:28

And God provides for us what we need in our lives.

Pastor Josh: 00:09:31

Sometimes he doesn't provide what we want, but he provides what we need.

Pastor Josh: 00:09:36

And so what we can see here is that God provides for Naomi, God provides for Ruth, God provides for boaz.

Pastor Josh: 00:09:42

And it says, verse 15, and he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life.

Pastor Josh: 00:09:48

We can see here that the testimony of Naomi's life is that God restored her back to where she was before, probably definitely better than she was before.

Pastor Josh: 00:09:58

And I can tell you here tonight that God is a restorer.

Pastor Josh: 00:10:01

He can restore broken relationships.

Pastor Josh: 00:10:03

He can restore broken hearts.

Pastor Josh: 00:10:06

He can restore us in the midst of loss.

Pastor Josh: 00:10:08

I can tell you a lot of times people will say, you know what?

Pastor Josh: 00:10:11

Time heals.

Pastor Josh: 00:10:12

And I can tell you there are people in my life that have passed on, and I'll never get over it.

Pastor Josh: 00:10:17

Right?

Pastor Josh: 00:10:18

We never get over something.

Pastor Josh: 00:10:19

But what God does is he restores us.

Pastor Josh: 00:10:21

He fills us with other blessings in our life and allows us to see the goodness in his kindness and his love towards us.

Pastor Josh: 00:10:28

Says, and he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life.

Pastor Josh: 00:10:31

And so God is one who restores us.

Pastor Josh: 00:10:34

And so we go back to verse number 14.

Pastor Josh: 00:10:36

I want you to see a couple things about the Lord here.

Pastor Josh: 00:10:38

He is one who does not forsake us.

Pastor Josh: 00:10:41

He always remembers us in the midst of our pain.

Pastor Josh: 00:10:44

But then we see verse 15.

Pastor Josh: 00:10:45

He is a restorer of life.

Pastor Josh: 00:10:48

So he remembers us.

Pastor Josh: 00:10:50

He restores us.

Pastor Josh: 00:10:53

You know, it's so fitting.

Pastor Josh: 00:10:55

I believe that we see the difference in Naomi, because I think the difference in Naomi's life is the difference that we can have in our own life.

Pastor Josh: 00:11:03

We can come to Christ, but yet there are going to be times in our life, in our christian walk, that we are going to feel like we're down, we are going to feel like we're defeated.

Pastor Josh: 00:11:11

We are going to feel broken.

Pastor Josh: 00:11:12

But we see that God is a restorer of life.

Pastor Josh: 00:11:16

And then we see here in verse 15 that he's a nourisher, a nourisher of thine old age.

Pastor Josh: 00:11:23

God nourishes us.

Pastor Josh: 00:11:25

What a beautiful picture that is.

Pastor Josh: 00:11:27

What a beautiful picture it is that God restores us and nourishes us.

Pastor Josh: 00:11:31

And this is an awesome demonstration of what God can do through one broken person who gets right with him.

Pastor Josh: 00:11:40

Folks, if we are taking a breath.

Pastor Josh: 00:11:44

It's never too late to get right with him.

Pastor Josh: 00:11:46

It's never too late to get restored back to fellowship with him.

Pastor Josh: 00:11:49

I know so many people that say, you know, I've been out of church for so long.

Pastor Josh: 00:11:53

I've gotten away from him so far.

Pastor Josh: 00:11:55

I've gotten away from reading his word.

Pastor Josh: 00:11:57

I've gotten away from loving my worship for him and desiring to be with him and to stay with him.

Pastor Josh: 00:12:02

But you know what?

Pastor Josh: 00:12:02

It's not too late.

Pastor Josh: 00:12:03

The Bible says that he can restore us, he can renew us.

Pastor Josh: 00:12:06

That's the heart of revival.

Pastor Josh: 00:12:08

And God wants us to go back to that place of humility in our life so that we can be revived in our spirit.

Pastor Josh: 00:12:15

You know, a lot of times, we, at least me, I can blame Naomi early on, and Ruth, like, come on, why Naomi?

Pastor Josh: 00:12:22

Why would you doubt God?

Pastor Josh: 00:12:23

But we can understand her heart, because sometimes we doubt God.

Pastor Josh: 00:12:27

But we should learn from those instances.

Pastor Josh: 00:12:30

We should learn that God's plan is perfect and filled with love.

Pastor Josh: 00:12:33

And even though sometimes we can't figure out what he's doing and sometimes we might be desperate, we have to go back in faith and say, lord, I trust you because of your goodness.

Pastor Josh: 00:12:44

And we can even claim that passage of scripture in romans 828.

Pastor Josh: 00:12:50

And we know that all things, all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.

Pastor Josh: 00:13:01

You say, explain that to me.

Pastor Josh: 00:13:02

How can this pain right now be good?

Pastor Josh: 00:13:05

I can't explain that to you.

Pastor Josh: 00:13:07

That's above my pay grade.

Pastor Josh: 00:13:09

But what I can say is that I know what scripture says, and I know that God will work things out for our good.

Pastor Josh: 00:13:14

That's what it says right there.

Pastor Josh: 00:13:16

Now you would say, well, you know what?

Pastor Josh: 00:13:17

I can't see how this is good.

Pastor Josh: 00:13:19

I can't understand this pain right now.

Pastor Josh: 00:13:22

And I would tell you I understand that.

Pastor Josh: 00:13:24

But what I can say is that God is a healer, God is a restorer.

Pastor Josh: 00:13:28

God is a nourisher.

Pastor Josh: 00:13:29

It could be on this side of heaven, or it could be when we see him face to face.

Pastor Josh: 00:13:33

You know, a lot of times we pray for healing for folks, and many times, God answers that prayer.

Pastor Josh: 00:13:39

But sometimes God does not answer that prayer.

Pastor Josh: 00:13:41

And we say, how could he not heal?

Pastor Josh: 00:13:43

Well, let me tell you, if it's a child of God, if the individual you're praying for is a child of God and God allows them to go home with him, he's healing them better than he could heal them here on this side of heaven, because now they're restored.

Pastor Josh: 00:13:54

When Paul understood what heaven was like.

Pastor Josh: 00:13:56

Remember his conflict there.

Pastor Josh: 00:13:58

Paul says, you know, I'm torn because I want to go be with him.

Pastor Josh: 00:14:00

But I know that God has a plan for me now.

Pastor Josh: 00:14:03

And I think the more we understand of the goodness of God, the more we understand what it means to be in his presence, the more we.

Pastor Josh: 00:14:08

We will see that what he does, no matter if he heals or not heals, he's ultimately a healer.

Pastor Josh: 00:14:13

He's ultimately a nourisher.

Pastor Josh: 00:14:14

He's a restorer of life.

Pastor Josh: 00:14:16

And so he says here, a nourisher of thine old age for thy daughter in law which loveth thee.

Pastor Josh: 00:14:22

Hey, there's a blessing right there that she has a daughter in law that loves her.

Pastor Josh: 00:14:26

She has a family that cares about her.

Pastor Josh: 00:14:28

You know?

Pastor Josh: 00:14:29

And I will tell you, one of the marks of an individual when it comes to their life, and the blessings in their life is, do they have a support staff?

Pastor Josh: 00:14:37

Do they have a family that loves them?

Pastor Josh: 00:14:39

That's a blessing in itself.

Pastor Josh: 00:14:40

You know, I've seen individuals go through struggles, and they have no one here that is there to support them.

Pastor Josh: 00:14:46

But what we see here is Naomi was not left alone.

Pastor Josh: 00:14:48

Through the midst of all of that, through that midst of loss, God still provided for her a companion there in Ruth as her daughter in law, a daughter in law which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons hath borne him.

Pastor Josh: 00:15:00

And so it puts it into perspective here, and that is perspective of gratitude, folks.

Pastor Josh: 00:15:06

When we understand that God is a God who doesn't forget about us, when we understand that God is a restorer of life, when we understand that God is a nourisher, we have then the perspective of gratitude.

Pastor Josh: 00:15:17

And we thank the Lord for what we do have.

Pastor Josh: 00:15:19

We thank the Lord for those gifts that we can see in our life.

Pastor Josh: 00:15:21

But when our eyes are not fixed on his goodness, what do we do?

Pastor Josh: 00:15:24

We focus on the negative.

Pastor Josh: 00:15:25

When we focus on the things that we don't have.

Pastor Josh: 00:15:27

And that's where Naomi was at the very beginning.

Pastor Josh: 00:15:29

I don't have a husband.

Pastor Josh: 00:15:30

I don't have sons.

Pastor Josh: 00:15:31

That was all taken away from me.

Pastor Josh: 00:15:33

Instead, now she's able to see what she does have in a relationship with God.

Pastor Josh: 00:15:38

You know, I can sit here all day and tell you things I don't have and skills that I would love to obtain and all these different things.

Pastor Josh: 00:15:46

What I could do is tell you all the reasons why I'm upset and why I could be bitter, or I could flip it around the other way and say, you know what?

Pastor Josh: 00:15:53

My God has to provide all of my needs.

Pastor Josh: 00:15:55

My God has given me everything in my life.

Pastor Josh: 00:15:58

Every good gift comes from goddess.

Pastor Josh: 00:15:59

I was talking to a brother this morning, and sometimes as pastors, it's good to talk to other pastors.

Pastor Josh: 00:16:05

And I was talking to another pastor, and I said, I just had a realization this morning how blessed that I am in grace, that God has given me an opportunity to serve him.

Pastor Josh: 00:16:14

And I know that that's a spiritual platitude that we say all the time like God's graced me.

Pastor Josh: 00:16:18

But I'm going to tell you, it's overwhelming.

Pastor Josh: 00:16:21

Sometimes we think that God has given me so many chances, and I have failed him so many times, but yet he still offers us grace, and he still offers us the opportunity to serve him.

Pastor Josh: 00:16:29

That is an exciting thing.

Pastor Josh: 00:16:31

And so we see Naomi used by God and blessed by God with her attitude of gratitude.

Pastor Josh: 00:16:36

And it says here.

Pastor Josh: 00:16:37

And Naomi took the child and laid it in her bosom and became a nurse unto it.

Pastor Josh: 00:16:43

So God obviously allowed for her sons to be taken from her.

Pastor Josh: 00:16:47

But now we see that this grandson is restored to her, and we see that Naomi now has this blessing.

Pastor Josh: 00:16:53

And this is an exciting opportunity to see God still caring for Naomi and providing a way for her to have this peace and rest and comfort.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:03

And God is a comforter.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:04

Second Corinthians, chapter one, says that God is the God of all comfort.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:08

And comfort comes in different ways and at different times.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:12

Some of you have heard me give the story before of when I had a kidney stone.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:18

And some of you that have had a kidney stone can relate to this.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:20

Orlando, maybe you've had another pain that was just unbearable.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:24

Okay.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:25

I remember I had that kidney stone.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:28

It was hurting really bad.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:29

I went into the.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:30

My dad.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:30

It was ironic, because my dad had just had a kidney stone about a week or two before.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:35

So he went to the emergency room.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:37

They immediately.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:38

They were like, oh, sorry, sir.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:39

You know, we're sorry for your pain.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:41

We're gonna give you the medicine.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:42

He said within, like, ten to 15 minutes, he was already on the medicine.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:46

He felt better, and they addressed it.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:48

It was overdeveloped.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:49

Yeah, that wasn't my story.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:50

Okay.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:51

I was in the emergency room for, like, two to 3 hours, and they.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:53

I still hadn't been called back.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:55

And I'm sitting there in the.

Pastor Josh: 00:17:56

In the emergency room going, you know, what?

Pastor Josh: 00:17:58

What's going on?

Pastor Josh: 00:17:59

I was writhing in pain, and I told Alicia, I said, I think I'm gonna pass out.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:03

And she's like, well, then just pass out.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:04

Because if you pass out, maybe they'll take you back.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:06

So I'm, like, trying to pass out.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:07

I'm like, okay, what's going on?

Pastor Josh: 00:18:08

And I was in a lot of pain.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:10

And so then they take me back.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:12

They go, you know, mister Masaru, come on back.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:14

What seems to be the problem?

Pastor Josh: 00:18:16

I said, my side feels like someone just stabbed me.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:20

I feel like I'm about to explode.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:21

I said, I think it's a kidney stone.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:22

They said, okay, okay, well, sit over here and wait.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:25

So now I'm in a secondary waiting room, and I'm like, what is this?

Pastor Josh: 00:18:28

I was like, I thought I was back, so I thought.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:30

And so there was just that waiting and that excruciating pain.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:33

And then eventually, eventually.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:36

So then Alicia had to leave.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:37

Micah was a baby at this point.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:39

It was getting late, so Alicia was like, I got to go.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:41

I got to take care because my parents were there.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:42

I.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:42

So my mom's like, I'll wait with you.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:44

So my mom waits with me there, and eventually they get me back.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:48

This is.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:49

I don't know how it felt.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:50

Like six or 7 hours.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:51

I don't know if it was that long.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:52

I'll have to confirm that story tonight with my parents.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:54

But I finally got back, and they put an iv in my arm, and they put that medicine in.

Pastor Josh: 00:18:57

And, I mean, I'm telling you, it was, like, immediate.

Pastor Josh: 00:19:00

I was like, oh, it went away.

Pastor Josh: 00:19:02

The pain's gone.

Pastor Josh: 00:19:03

And I remember looking at my mom and going, why am I here?

Pastor Josh: 00:19:06

I feel like it's fine right now.

Pastor Josh: 00:19:08

And she's like, son, you were just writhing in pain over here.

Pastor Josh: 00:19:11

And so immediately when that comfort came, I forgot about that problem.

Pastor Josh: 00:19:15

I'm like, what am I?

Pastor Josh: 00:19:15

What's.

Pastor Josh: 00:19:16

Why was I complaining?

Pastor Josh: 00:19:17

Now, I know that that comfort was temporary, okay?

Pastor Josh: 00:19:20

But that's sometimes how it is with the Lord, right?

Pastor Josh: 00:19:22

He brings that comfort into our lives.

Pastor Josh: 00:19:24

And then we say, well, why was I stressed about that in the first place?

Pastor Josh: 00:19:27

He took care of that for me.

Pastor Josh: 00:19:29

And it seems like we have short memories.

Pastor Josh: 00:19:31

We forget about how God got us through this struggle and this struggle, and now we're in that pain again, and we're going, oh, come on, God, why is it not happening now?

Pastor Josh: 00:19:38

Well, in his time, in his way, he will comfort us.

Pastor Josh: 00:19:41

He is the God of all comfort.

Pastor Josh: 00:19:43

And sometimes we go through those struggles, or at least he allows us to go through those struggles so that we can learn something, so that we can grow in our faith, so that we can grow in our trust in him.

Pastor Josh: 00:19:54

And sometimes that is a painful process.

Pastor Josh: 00:19:56

Sometimes growing is painful.

Pastor Josh: 00:19:58

Sometimes learning a lesson is painful.

Pastor Josh: 00:20:02

The Bible says that that is necessary.

Pastor Josh: 00:20:04

Romans chapter five tells us that it's necessary to go through those tribulations so that we can get to a place of hope at the end.

Pastor Josh: 00:20:10

It's patience, experience, hope.

Pastor Josh: 00:20:14

And that's what we see here in this passage of scripture.

Pastor Josh: 00:20:16

Naomi gets the comfort, verse 17.

Pastor Josh: 00:20:21

And the women, her neighbors, gave it a name, saying, there is a son born to Naomi, and they called his name Obedient.

Pastor Josh: 00:20:29

He is the father of Jesse.

Pastor Josh: 00:20:32

That name should sound familiar to you because we see in that next phrase the father of David.

Pastor Josh: 00:20:37

And so we get to see the line of the messiah through Ruth and Boaz, through Obed, through Jesse, and through David.

Pastor Josh: 00:20:48

And so Ruth and Boaz are the great grandparents of David, the king of Israel.

Pastor Josh: 00:20:54

And we know that Jesus comes from the line of David.

Pastor Josh: 00:20:57

And so the son of Ruth and Boaz was named Obed.

Pastor Josh: 00:21:00

He was the son of Jesse.

Pastor Josh: 00:21:01

And what an amazing, or, excuse me, the father of Jesse, and then ultimately the grandfather of David.

Pastor Josh: 00:21:08

So Naomi's return to Bethlehem way back at the very beginning, and the roots of David in Bethlehem going back to Ruth and Boaz are why Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem back in Luke, chapter two.

Pastor Josh: 00:21:22

If you know, that story went back to be taxed, and it was actually like a census.

Pastor Josh: 00:21:27

And so Ruth and Boaz are the reasons why Jesus was born in Bethlehem, right?

Pastor Josh: 00:21:31

Or just one of the many reasons.

Pastor Josh: 00:21:33

Ultimately, it was God's plan.

Pastor Josh: 00:21:34

And we know that that's a fulfillment of prophecy, and we know that all of this comes together.

Pastor Josh: 00:21:39

And that's one of the ways that we can see in scripture how God's plan is woven throughout all of scripture.

Pastor Josh: 00:21:45

And that's an amazing thing to see.

Pastor Josh: 00:21:47

Verse 18.

Pastor Josh: 00:21:47

Now, these are the generations of Phares.

Pastor Josh: 00:21:49

Phares begat Hezron, and Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Abinadab, and Abinadab begat Nashon, and Nashon begat Salmon, and Salman begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obad, and obad begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.

Pastor Josh: 00:22:01

Now, you say, why is there.

Pastor Josh: 00:22:03

I don't like genealogies.

Pastor Josh: 00:22:04

Well, you should like genealogies.

Pastor Josh: 00:22:05

Genealogies are really cool, because the reason why it's there for a reason.

Pastor Josh: 00:22:09

Anytime the Bible puts something.

Pastor Josh: 00:22:12

Anytime you see something in scripture, the reason it's there is it's for something for us to know, and genealogies are there to show us that path and to show us that line.

Pastor Josh: 00:22:21

And specifically in this case, the line of Jesus.

Pastor Josh: 00:22:24

And so what can we take with us with the story of Ruth?

Pastor Josh: 00:22:27

Well, there's a lot of things that we can take with us, but the biggest picture that I think we can take with us in our life is that picture of the kinsman Redeemer.

Pastor Josh: 00:22:35

You, as a Christian today, have a kinsman redeemer.

Pastor Josh: 00:22:39

If you trust in Jesus Christ as your savior, he is your kinsman redeemer.

Pastor Josh: 00:22:42

He bought you with a price.

Pastor Josh: 00:22:45

The Bible says that we are bought with a price.

Pastor Josh: 00:22:47

We are redeemed by his blood.

Pastor Josh: 00:22:49

We are redeemed by his love.

Pastor Josh: 00:22:51

And it wasn't free for us.

Pastor Josh: 00:22:53

Or excuse me, it was free for us.

Pastor Josh: 00:22:54

It wasn't free for him.

Pastor Josh: 00:22:56

He paid a price for us.

Pastor Josh: 00:22:58

And so the kinsman Redeemer had the duty of buying the family members out of slavery.

Pastor Josh: 00:23:02

And Jesus redeemed us from slavery and from death and from sin.

Pastor Josh: 00:23:07

And he brings us to salvation.

Pastor Josh: 00:23:09

He brings us to everlasting life.

Pastor Josh: 00:23:11

So Boaz, as the kinsman Redeemer to Ruth, wasn't motivated by self interest, but he was motivated by selfless love, agape love.

Pastor Josh: 00:23:20

And so God, through his love for us, the Bible says, sent his only begotten son.

Pastor Josh: 00:23:26

And Jesus proved his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, he died for us.

Pastor Josh: 00:23:31

So the kinsman Redeemer is motivated by love, true love.

Pastor Josh: 00:23:35

And so Boaz, as the kinsman Redeemer to Ruth, had a plan to redeem Ruth unto himself.

Pastor Josh: 00:23:41

And there were challenges along the way.

Pastor Josh: 00:23:43

And Jesus had a plan, and some might think even some challenges along the way.

Pastor Josh: 00:23:47

But ultimately, we know that God's plan was played out through Jesus Christ and through his redeeming work on the cross for us.

Pastor Josh: 00:23:55

And so we are just like Ruth.

Pastor Josh: 00:23:58

We are the bride of Christ.

Pastor Josh: 00:23:59

The Bible says that in Ephesians, chapter five.

Pastor Josh: 00:24:02

The Bible says in ephesians 531 and 32, for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh.

Pastor Josh: 00:24:12

This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Pastor Josh: 00:24:17

And so what we really see is that marriage is a picture of Christ in the church.

Pastor Josh: 00:24:24

And so the way that we live our lives as married couples actually demonstrates to the world the relationship that Christ has with the church.

Pastor Josh: 00:24:32

It's a really interesting study, if you think about marriage in that perspective.

Pastor Josh: 00:24:36

It changes the way that we see marriage, and it will change the way that people will see what it means to love a spouse.

Pastor Josh: 00:24:44

And so what we see is that husbands, the responsibility for us, is to love our wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it.

Pastor Josh: 00:24:54

Sacrificial.

Pastor Josh: 00:24:55

Right.

Pastor Josh: 00:24:55

We know that, and we know what the wife's role is.

Pastor Josh: 00:24:58

The wife, it says there in Ephesians, to submit to her husband and to understand what that is.

Pastor Josh: 00:25:03

And so that's the understanding of the church submitting to Jesus Christ.

Pastor Josh: 00:25:07

Now, I know that that can be somewhat offensive to certain people in our society today, but the Bible clearly says that there are roles within the marriage equal in value, if you want to study that out.

Pastor Josh: 00:25:17

In one Peter, one Peter talks about how we're joint heirs together in the grace of God.

Pastor Josh: 00:25:22

Isn't that the husband's better than the wife?

Pastor Josh: 00:25:24

It's not that he has more wisdom or more power.

Pastor Josh: 00:25:27

It just talks about how we're different in our roles.

Pastor Josh: 00:25:30

Distinct in our roles, but equal in value in the eyes of goddesse.

Pastor Josh: 00:25:34

And so there is a beautiful picture of Ruth and Boaz's love, and that's a beautiful picture of the love that God has for us as his church.

Pastor Josh: 00:25:43

And it also can be applied to the way that we are to live our lives in our marriages within the church as well.

Pastor Josh: 00:25:49

But it all comes back to that kinsman Redeemer.

Pastor Josh: 00:25:52

It all comes back to that understanding of forgiveness and love and sacrifice.

Pastor Josh: 00:25:57

And so Boaz was willing to do anything for his bride, and God is willing to do anything for us and even give his life for us.

Pastor Josh: 00:26:06

You know, I love the picture in Isaiah 54.

Pastor Josh: 00:26:12

Isaiah 54, verses four through eight, kind of speak of this kinsman redeemer and what this is all about.

Pastor Josh: 00:26:18

And I think it would do us well to look at that passage.

Pastor Josh: 00:26:24

So if you would like to turn there with me, Isaiah 54.

Pastor Josh: 00:26:30

And we'll start in verses four through eight.

Pastor Josh: 00:26:35

And I think that through this we can see who Christ is, what he has done, what he continues to do as our kinsman Redeemer.

Pastor Josh: 00:26:47

And so it starts in Isaiah 54 four.

Pastor Josh: 00:26:50

It says, fear not.

Pastor Josh: 00:26:52

And I love how that is mentioned so often in scripture.

Pastor Josh: 00:26:55

Specifically dealing with our relationship with Goddesse prefaces things that he talks to us about when it comes to our struggles with fear not, we see that over and over again.

Pastor Josh: 00:27:05

So fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed, neither be thou confounded, for thou shalt not be put to shame, for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth.

Pastor Josh: 00:27:18

Isn't that exciting, that in our forgiveness, the way.

Pastor Josh: 00:27:23

I don't know about you, but I have a lot of things that I did in my youth that I'm ashamed of.

Pastor Josh: 00:27:28

I would not if they followed me around with the camera when I was a child and a teenager.

Pastor Josh: 00:27:33

And they played it for you.

Pastor Josh: 00:27:35

Now I would just be so ashamed.

Pastor Josh: 00:27:37

Okay.

Pastor Josh: 00:27:37

All my mistakes and all my problems.

Pastor Josh: 00:27:39

But the Bible says that in our forgiveness that we are not defined by the shame of our youth and shall not remember the reproach of thy widow would anymore.

Pastor Josh: 00:27:52

For the maker.

Pastor Josh: 00:27:53

For thy maker is thine husband.

Pastor Josh: 00:27:55

The Lord of hosts is his name, and thy redeemer, the holy one of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall he be called.

Pastor Josh: 00:28:06

For.

Pastor Josh: 00:28:06

The Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth when thou wast refused, saith thy goddess.

Pastor Josh: 00:28:17

For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee in a little wrath.

Pastor Josh: 00:28:22

I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.

Pastor Josh: 00:28:30

And so I think that's just one of the many beautiful pictures in scripture that speak to how God takes us out of that life of brokenness.

Pastor Josh: 00:28:37

And though we might feel forgotten about for a time, we will be restored and renewed.

Pastor Josh: 00:28:42

And so I want you to think about the end of ruthen.

Pastor Josh: 00:28:44

What does it say there that God doesn't forget about us.

Pastor Josh: 00:28:46

He restores us, he nourishes us, and he provides that blessing of forgiveness in our life.

Pastor Josh: 00:28:51

And so that is the story of Ruth.

Pastor Josh: 00:28:54

I always used to think that Ruth was just a story of Boaz and Ruth and getting married, and that's love.

Pastor Josh: 00:28:59

And it is a great love story.

Pastor Josh: 00:29:00

It's a beautiful love story.

Pastor Josh: 00:29:01

But any love story in scripture points to a relationship that God has for us.

Pastor Josh: 00:29:06

And so you have the story of Boaz and Ruth.

Pastor Josh: 00:29:08

You have the story of.

Pastor Josh: 00:29:10

And there's other stories of love, and not always as pretty.

Pastor Josh: 00:29:13

You have the story of Hosea.

Pastor Josh: 00:29:15

You ever heard the story of Hosea?

Pastor Josh: 00:29:16

That's a whole other story of how God's love is, and that's a different aspect of God's love.

Pastor Josh: 00:29:21

And that speaks of more of God's love in the midst of our unfaithfulness and the struggle with that.

Pastor Josh: 00:29:27

So we conclude the book of Ruth.

Pastor Josh: 00:29:29

And I hope it's been a good study for you.

Pastor Josh: 00:29:30

I hope it's been challenging.

Pastor Josh: 00:29:32

I hope it's been at least somewhat convicting, hopefully encouraging to know that you have a kinsman Redeemer.

Pastor Josh: 00:29:40

And if that's something that you have questions about, if that's something that you might say.

Pastor Josh: 00:29:44

I never really understood it that way.

Pastor Josh: 00:29:46

I've always just understood it to be that I'm trying really hard in my life, and I hope God shines his light upon me one day.

Pastor Josh: 00:29:51

Folks, that's a misunderstanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Josh: 00:29:54

I gotta tell you this, and this is something that I think is one of my life's messages, is we cannot work our way to heaven.

Pastor Josh: 00:30:02

We cannot be good enough.

Pastor Josh: 00:30:05

It's just not realistic.

Pastor Josh: 00:30:07

We cannot be good enough to meet the standard of God.

Pastor Josh: 00:30:11

Now, it doesn't mean that we stop striving.

Pastor Josh: 00:30:13

It doesn't mean that we stop trying to serve him, stop trying to love him.

Pastor Josh: 00:30:16

But that's not the reason why we love him.

Pastor Josh: 00:30:17

We don't love him so that he'll bring us to heaven one day.

Pastor Josh: 00:30:21

He brings us to heaven one day when we trust in what he has done for us.

Pastor Josh: 00:30:24

And the good works are just stemming out of that.

Pastor Josh: 00:30:26

True faith works don't save us, but true faith does produce that work in our lives.

Pastor Josh: 00:30:32

Not perfect, but the Bible does say that that true faith has a change in our life.

Pastor Josh: 00:30:37

And just as Naomi changed, just as Ruth was changed from a lady in idolatry, in paganism, to a life of being part of the line of the Messiah, so we can be part of that.

Pastor Josh: 00:30:47

I don't know what your past is.

Pastor Josh: 00:30:49

I mean, you hear stories about people that were saved at five years old, and that's great.

Pastor Josh: 00:30:55

That's a wonderful story, because I think that when we see testimonies of people getting saved at a young age, that's a picture of God's protection from that person seeing the effects of sin in their life.

Pastor Josh: 00:31:04

And that's exciting.

Pastor Josh: 00:31:05

And we celebrate those just as much as we celebrate those people that were saved out of a life of violence and a life of addiction.

Pastor Josh: 00:31:13

That's a miracle in and of itself.

Pastor Josh: 00:31:14

Salvation is a miracle no matter what that person was doing prior to salvation.

Pastor Josh: 00:31:18

Because the Bible says that all of us, whether we were five years old in a kindergarten classroom or we were in the middle of prison, we are all enemies of God before we come to him.

Pastor Josh: 00:31:28

And as we come to him in faith, and as he extends that grace to us, we are all blessings.

Pastor Josh: 00:31:33

We are all blessed by the miracle of God's grace.

Pastor Josh: 00:31:36

And so I want you to think about salvation that way.

Pastor Josh: 00:31:38

Salvation is not just, hey, it's my ticket.

Pastor Josh: 00:31:41

Like, I go to the golf club or the YMCA.

Pastor Josh: 00:31:44

I signed up on a line, and now I'm part of the club.

Pastor Josh: 00:31:47

That's not what salvation is.

Pastor Josh: 00:31:48

Salvation is a miracle given to us out of grace and mercy, something that we did not deserve, but yet we still get the blessings of it.

Pastor Josh: 00:31:56

And that is an awesome, awesome thing.

Pastor Josh: 00:31:58

Well, so many people have been asking me, where are we going after Ruth?

Pastor Josh: 00:32:03

We were in Genesis for a long time, and we went to Ruth.

Pastor Josh: 00:32:05

Where are we going now?

Pastor Josh: 00:32:06

Well, I want to kind of whet your appetite for where we're going in the future.

Pastor Josh: 00:32:09

Okay.

Pastor Josh: 00:32:10

And I don't know if you guys have seen a theme, but on Wednesday nights, we have been really spending a lot of time in the old Testament, and we will continue that theme in the old Testament here for a while.

Pastor Josh: 00:32:20

And I think it's so important to see the full scope of scripture.

Pastor Josh: 00:32:24

And so one of the things that I was really doing was I was reading through the Old Testament, and I was really praying hard about where we would go next.

Pastor Josh: 00:32:33

I hope that you know that I don't just go like this.

Pastor Josh: 00:32:35

Okay.

Pastor Josh: 00:32:35

I think some people think that maybe I just do this.

Pastor Josh: 00:32:37

I just skimmed through the old.

Pastor Josh: 00:32:38

All right, we're going to preach on this.

Pastor Josh: 00:32:39

No, this.

Pastor Josh: 00:32:40

I spend a lot of time praying about where God would have us to go next.

Pastor Josh: 00:32:44

And I really felt pulled to the Old Testament and specifically the book of Zephaniah.

Pastor Josh: 00:32:50

And I don't know if any of you have studied the book of Zephaniah.

Pastor Josh: 00:32:53

It's a very short book of the Bible, three chapters, but there is a lot there.

Pastor Josh: 00:32:59

So I just want to give you kind of a.

Pastor Josh: 00:33:01

Because some of you might have just heard Zephaniah and said, okay, I won't be coming back till after that.

Pastor Josh: 00:33:05

That sounds like a no.

Pastor Josh: 00:33:06

Zephaniah is an exciting book of the Bible.

Pastor Josh: 00:33:08

It speaks of God's judgment upon those who rebel against him, and it also speaks of God's forgiveness and grace to those who come back to him in humility and forgiveness.

Pastor Josh: 00:33:18

And I really, as I was reading through the book of Zephaniah, I saw this.

Pastor Josh: 00:33:23

I said, you know what?

Pastor Josh: 00:33:24

You could transplant Zephaniah's message to a pulpit today in America, and it would be perfectly applicable because he talks about idolatry.

Pastor Josh: 00:33:34

You say, well, we don't have any idolatry in America, folks.

Pastor Josh: 00:33:37

We're plagued by idolatry.

Pastor Josh: 00:33:39

Plagued by it.

Pastor Josh: 00:33:41

And God hates idolatry.

Pastor Josh: 00:33:43

Idolatry is putting anything before the Lord.

Pastor Josh: 00:33:46

We have a lot of people that are putting things before the Lord these days.

Pastor Josh: 00:33:50

So idolatry, another aspect that he deals with is complacency.

Pastor Josh: 00:33:56

There is a phrase in the book of Zephaniah where basically the people are like, we don't really care what God does.

Pastor Josh: 00:34:02

We're going to do our own thing, and God's just going to do his thing, and we'll just do our, you know, he does his thing, we do our thing, and we're all just going to be happy.

Pastor Josh: 00:34:09

Very, very complacent about what God's work is going to be done.

Pastor Josh: 00:34:12

That's what we see in America today.

Pastor Josh: 00:34:13

We see a lot of people that they might believe that there's a God up there.

Pastor Josh: 00:34:17

They might even believe that he's a good God.

Pastor Josh: 00:34:19

But, you know, don't get involved in my life.

Pastor Josh: 00:34:21

My life is the way that it is.

Pastor Josh: 00:34:23

And so we're going to talk about how we deal with spiritual complacency within the church and without.

Pastor Josh: 00:34:28

And really, we're going to see the goodness of God's judgment and the importance of knowing that God is a righteous judge, but also he's a gracious, forgiving Lord that's willing to have us come back to him.

Pastor Josh: 00:34:44

And that's what the book of Zephaniah is all about.

Pastor Josh: 00:34:46

So we're going to go through it very, very slowly.

Pastor Josh: 00:34:47

It's three chapters.

Pastor Josh: 00:34:49

Might take us, I don't know, a couple months, I don't know, maybe a couple weeks.

Pastor Josh: 00:34:54

We'll see, see how it goes, see how good of a listeners you are.

Pastor Josh: 00:34:58

But I appreciate you being here through this study.

Pastor Josh: 00:35:02

And I mean this, by the way.

Pastor Josh: 00:35:04

If there is a study that you are, you're like, I've been always dying to hear a study on this passage, or even a topic for that matter.

Pastor Josh: 00:35:13

I'm always open to suggestions.

Pastor Josh: 00:35:15

I'm not gonna say that I will take your suggestion, but I will say I'm always open to hear people's thoughts and say, you know what?

Pastor Josh: 00:35:21

Can you please preach on this?

Pastor Josh: 00:35:22

Now, as you well know, I'm not always inclined just to preach about just whims and opinions and things like that.

Pastor Josh: 00:35:31

But if there's a passage of scripture or topic that you'd like to talk about, we might not be able to bring it up within, like, a corporate setting, but it might be something that we're able to do on a smaller setting in a different way.

Pastor Josh: 00:35:42

Some of you know that we have a podcast at the church, and I'm really looking for ideas and topics to deal with, with individuals because I can tell you what I'm excited about, and I can share with you what I'm thinking about, but it might not be something that you've been thinking about.

Pastor Josh: 00:35:55

So if there's a topic.

Pastor Josh: 00:35:57

And I know for many of you it might be current events, and I can speak to certain elements of current events today.

Pastor Josh: 00:36:05

But, you know, we know that the Bible is written to us.

Pastor Josh: 00:36:09

And the Bible says that all scripture is given by inspiration of God as profitable for doctrine, for approved for correction, for instruction and righteousness.

Pastor Josh: 00:36:15

And so everything that we need today is found right here.

Pastor Josh: 00:36:20

And I would encourage you to rest in that truth here tonight.

Pastor Josh: 00:36:24

Well, we're going to go ahead and transition to our prayer time.

Pastor Josh: 00:36:26

Appreciate your attention this evening.

Pastor Josh: 00:36:30

I never take it for granted that you all are faithfully coming and growing in the Lord.

Pastor Josh: 00:36:37

And you know, it's a blessing.

Pastor Josh: 00:36:40

It's a blessing to be part of a church that's hungering and thirsting after righteousness.

Pastor Josh: 00:36:45

Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast.

Pastor Josh: 00:36:48

I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you.

Pastor Josh: 00:36:51

If you would like to find out more information about our church or this sermon, you can find us@middletownbaptistchurch.org or find us on Facebook or YouTube.

Pastor Josh: 00:37:01

You can also email me directly@joshmissaroiddletownbaptistchurch.com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow along for future podcasts and updates.

Pastor Josh: 00:37:13

Thank you so much.

Pastor Josh: 00:37:14

God bless.

Pastor Josh: 00:37:15

Have a wonderful day.