Skip to content 4 Steps to Breakthrough | Ruth Part 5 | Rev Paul Jeyachandran May 29 · 49 min ...more
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Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
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0:00 Shall we give the Lord a clap offering church? Hallelujah. We're continuing in our sermon series on the book of Ruth. Today is part 5, and today I'm focusing on Ruth chapter 3.0:12 I'm titling today's sermon, 4 Steps to Breakthrough. Let's review what we have covered so far. In Ruth chapter 1, we saw that Naomi and Ruth0:24 came back to Bethlehem at the beginning of Bali harvest. In Ruth chapter 2, we discovered that Ruth stepped into Boaz's field. She happened to enter into0:36 the field of Boaz, and we saw how God activated his favor in the life of Ruth. And based on how God blessed Ruth, Naomi0:48 is quickened in her heart to really believe that God will show kindness. God has not forgotten us, God has shown us kindness, his loving kindness towards us.1:00 That's how chapter 2 ends. Now we are beginning in chapter 3. Chapter 3 is a beautiful picture. I want you to focus on how Naomi takes an1:11 initiative here. Her heart has been now quickened. There is a faith that is coming within her heart that God is for me, and now she's proactive in finding1:23 a solution for their problem. So I wanna focus on what Naomi shared with Ruth, and what God does in this whole chapter of 3 for us.1:35 Look at this. In verse 1, the Bible says, then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, my daughter, should I not seek rest for you? Pay attention to that. I wanna seek rest for you.1:47 In other words, through marriage. I want you to find the shalom, the rest that God has for you, that it may be well with you. Then verse 2, Naomi1:58 remembers, is not Boaz our relative? See chapter 2 introduces Boaz as a worthy man. That word worthy, it means kail in the Hebrew. It is a word2:10 for wealthy, it is a word for godly, a valiant, a strong man, a man who can be a blessing to them. And here, that Boaz is a kinsman redeemer. In other words, he's a2:22 close relative of Naomi. So now she says, with whose young women you were, see, he's winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. In other words, the barley harvest has been2:34 completed, and now they are separating the barley, the chaff from the barley, so they are doing winnowing at night, and the Bible says they are winnowing bali tonight, and at the end of2:46 that, they would have a feast. Men will be gathering together, and they will feast, and they will celebrate the harvest, And this is a strategic moment. So Naomi takes2:58 initiative to coach, to mentor, to tutor the younger Ruth. And I want you to see what she said to her, and what Ruth did in return.3:10 Look at this. Verse 3 says, wash therefore, and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak, and go down to the threshing floor. Do not make yourself known to the man until3:22 he has finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies, then go uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.3:35 And she replied, all that you say, I will do. So she went down to the threshing floor, and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. May the Lord bless the3:46 reading of his word. I want you to pay attention to verse 5 and verse 6. It says, all that you say, I will do. I want you to look at the spirit of surrender3:59 that Ruth had. This is the secret for breakthrough. Listen to me carefully. You come before God in that humility. You come before God, you have activated his4:10 favor, and now you're waiting on God for a breakthrough in your life. See, many times when people talk about breakthrough, they always talk about something that God does4:22 externally for them. On behalf of them, listen to this. Many times people say, oh, didn't know when we can get into the market, I was so worried, and then God gave us a breakthrough, we4:34 got into the market, we bought a house. Oh, I was single for a long time, I didn't know when would God provide me a spouse, and then God gave me a breakthrough, and now I'm married. Everything is about4:46 what happened to them outside, externally. But can I humbly say this? At IDMC, our focus has always been inward focus, inside of us.4:57 Why? Because we believe God is not so much interested in making you happy, God is interested in making you holy. God is not so much interested in making your5:09 life comfortable, as much as he's interested in making you conformable to the image of his son. In other words, you and I need to understand that God wants to5:21 deepen our life. God wants to take us deeper in intimacy with him. In this passage of scripture, there is 4 things that Naomi says to Ruth, and5:33 Ruth did it. And those 4 things brought her breakthrough in her inner life. Made her to be ready for the breakthrough that God has for her. So we're gonna focus on5:44 that. But let me give you a principle. The principle is this, when God breaks in and we break with our sins, we have breakthrough so we can break forth. You know, when you feel like5:57 life is holding you back, there are things that are that that the weight that are pulling you down. Listen to me carefully. God breaks in at a strategic time, at a kairois moment, God6:09 breaks into your life. How? Through the sermon, through the word of God, through worship, somehow God reaches out to you. And when he breaks in, you have to do something. You have to break with6:21 your sins. There are sometimes sins that is holding us back from giving ourselves fully, completely, wholeheartedly back to God. We gotta break with those sins,6:33 and the moment we break with our sins, we experience breakthrough in our lives. And when we have received that breakthrough from God, inside of us,6:45 we will surely break forth into all that he has for us. You know, this passage in Ruth chapter 3, Boaz is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our6:56 kinsman redeemer, and we we need to seek him. We want to go deeper in relationship with him, so that we can receive that breakthrough. So whatever Naomi7:08 advised Ruth to do, and whatever steps Ruth took to receive her breakthrough, those are the same steps that you and I are called to make, so that we can deepen our7:20 relationship with our Boaz, our Lord Jesus Christ, At the same time, we too can experience breakthrough in our lives. So let me ask this question. What steps did Ruth7:32 take to walk into her breakthrough? There are 4 steps that we can see from this passage. Number 1, Ruth prepared herself. Number 2, Ruth placed herself under7:43 submission. And number 3, Ruth positioned herself at the feet. And number 4, Ruth prayerfully waited. Let's look at it 1 by 1. What are the7:55 4 steps for breakthrough? Number 1, Ruth prepared herself. Look at verse 3. Naomi says to Ruth, wash therefore, anoint yourself, and put on8:07 your cloak. I want to break this down 1 by 1. See, practically speaking, a woman ought to wash herself, anoint herself, and put on her nicer8:19 clothes in order to be attractive to a man, isn't it? See, Naomi is not teaching Ruth how to seduce a man. There's a big difference being how a woman is8:31 seductive, and how a woman becomes attractive. Here, Naomi is coaching Ruth, practically speaking, wash yourself. Why? Because you've been a widow all this time, but God is bringing8:43 you into a new season, and if you wanna enter into the new season, wash yourself, anoint yourself, and then put on your your fine clothes,8:54 and get ready for what God is going to do in your life. You know, this is how a marriage preparation happens in the Old Testament. You know, in Ezekiel chapter 16 and verse9:06 9 to verse 12, the Bible says, the Lord says to Israel, then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. I clothed you9:18 also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen, and covered you with silk. I adorned you with ornaments, and put bracelets9:30 on your wrists, and a chain on your neck. Now, and put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. What was this? This is a picture of9:41 a bride being ready for her bridegroom. God says, this is how I prepare you for covenant relationship. This is how I prepare you for marriage relationship. What? I bathed9:53 you, I washed you off, I anointed you, I clothed you, I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk, I adorned you, and then I put on a ring on your nose. In other words, this10:05 is how a bride is getting ready. In the same manner, Ruth was advised that she too needs to prepare herself. Wash therefore,10:17 anoint yourself, and put on your cloak. Now I wanna take these 3 things that Naomi said, and that Ruth did, and I wanna give you 3 principles. Preparation10:29 involves 3 things. Number 1, preparation involves being freshly cleansed. She says in verse 3, wash therefore.10:41 In other words, the first thing happens is you gotta get ready for your breakthrough. How do you get ready for your breakthrough? You gotta learn to wash yourself. How do you wash? You10:52 know, in the New Testament, we have 2 kinds of cleansing. 2 kinds of washing. 1, we are washed by the blood of Jesus. Secondly, we are washed by the11:04 water of the word. Why do we have 2 cleansing? 1 is the cleansing of the committed sins. You and I are people who are vulnerable to fall into sin, so we need to be washed by11:16 the blood of Jesus. All the sins that we have committed in our soul, in our body, in our in our heart, in our mind, we need to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus. So the cleansing11:28 happens where the blood of Jesus washes us and sanctifies us. But then, there is also a cleansing that is necessary, the cleansing of the contamination of the soul. Why? Because11:40 we are bombarded with sexual images, we are bombarded with nasty things all the time through our eye gate, through our ear gate, and through the things we speak. The bible11:52 says we are being defiled continuously. So how do we cleanse ourselves from the contamination of the world? We cleanse ourselves by the washing of the water of the word of12:04 God. Listen to me carefully. Apostle Paul writes this in Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 25 to 27. He speaks of the ministry that Christ does for us. Husbands, love12:16 your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her. Listen carefully, how does Christ sanctify the bride,12:27 sanctify the church? Having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word of God. So that he might present the church to himself in splendor12:39 without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, and that she might be holy and without blemish. So how do you prepare yourself for the breakthrough that God has for you? First, you have12:51 to wash yourself. How? Washed by the blood of Jesus. Secondly, washed by the word of God continually. You know, this is why I ask you this question. At13:02 IDMC, we place emphasis on personal time where we have time alone with the word of God. You know, many people say, I have quiet time, and many people's quiet time are really13:14 quiet. In other words, there's no activity. It is not just about reading the Bible, but letting the Bible read you. It is not just about mastering the word, but letting the word of God master you. It is the13:26 mirror, it shows you who you are, and where you need to be washed and cleansed. Hallelujah. So can I humbly ask you, how often do you go back to the scriptures? Do13:38 you have a daily discipleship? Do you have a daily time alone with the word of God where you're reading chunks and chunks of scripture to wash you and cleanse you? Can I give you a metaphor13:50 to capture? You know, sometimes people have a quick shower in the morning, and these are people who are reading a quick verse here and there. See, some people they don't even do that. Some people they just do14:02 dry clean. In other words, every now and then, they pick up a verse from here and there, and they do a dry clean, a quick clean. But some people, they go for a shower, meaning they do read a portion of scripture. But14:14 every now and then, you should actually prepare a bath and soak yourself. Put some Epsom salts and soak yourself in the bath for 20 30 minutes. What what does that mean? You are now lingering in the word. You just spend14:26 time reading passages and passages of scripture, maybe a whole book together. Why? Because you are allowing the word of God to tutor your heart, and to bring cleansing in every aspect of your14:37 life. Listen to me, but many people sadly don't do any of this. They only come once a week to church, and they do a communal bath. They have a public shower where they are fed the14:49 word of God. Listen to me carefully, you and I need the cleansing of God's word every single day in our life, so that we can deal with the contamination in our soul.15:01 John chapter 15 and verse 3, the Bible says, already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. While you're listening to the word of God being preached, do you know that the word is15:13 coming in to bring cleansing, to bring correction, to bring that alignment back to God's will and God's ways in your life. Therefore, word of God is, word of word of God plays15:25 an important role in preparing us for the breakthrough. Secondly, preparation involves being fragrantly consecrated. Now what does it mean to15:36 be consecrated? The Bible says in verse 3, wash therefore and anoint yourself. See, without washing, you cannot be15:47 anointed. Listen to me carefully. Without the washing, without the cleansing, you cannot anoint because God will not anoint something that is dirty. Listen to me carefully. Why would you pour15:59 a clean water in a dirty cup? You won't. The same thing. You need to wash the cup. You need to wash the vessel so that it can be of use. It can be a vessel of honor, and that's the16:11 anointing. Anointing comes when the garments are pure. Ecclesiastes chapter 9 and verse 8 says, let your garments be always white. White speaking of16:23 purity. Once we are cleansed, once we are purified, let not oil be lacking on your head. In other words, once you wear garments that are white, oil will be present, oil will16:34 be poured upon your head. But why is consecration so important for breakthrough? You know in the old testament, we have the story of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for 4016:46 years. At the end of that fortieth year, the Lord appears to them, and he speaks to them very clearly, in 3 days time, you're gonna cross into16:58 the promised land. 3 days. Imagine this, for 38 years, they've been wandering in the wilderness because of judgment. And now God says finally, in 3 days time, you're17:10 going to enter into the promised land. But before you enter into the promised land, you have to do something that is worthwhile, that is significant. You know what he says to them? In Joshua chapter 3 in verse 517:22 he says, consecrate yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. Listen to me carefully, consecration precedes conquest. In17:34 other words, without that consecration, you cannot enter into what God has for you. Why? Because when you enter into what God has for you without that consecration, you will mess it17:46 up. Listen carefully, that's why preparation involves being fragrantly consecrated. Thirdly, preparation involves being fitly17:57 clothed. I want you to pay attention to what Naomi says to Ruth. In verse 3 she says, wash therefore, anoint yourself, now put on your cloak. In other words, she's saying,18:09 put on the right garments. See all this time, Ruth may have been mourning, Maybe Ruth was wearing the clothes of a widow to identify herself that she is in mourning, that she's a widow, she's18:21 a destitute, but now there is a breakthrough that is coming near her. She needs to prepare herself for the season ahead. Listen carefully. Even if you haven't entered into the18:33 season yet, you need to be dressed for the season that you're walking into. Listen to me carefully. Let me give you a principle. Put off that grave clothes. The clothes that remind you that18:45 you are a destitute. The clothes that keep reminding you that you're no good. That nothing good will happen to you. It's time for you to put off the grave clothes and put on the grace clothes. In other18:57 words, God is about to do something. Now is the time for you to walk into what he has prepared. How do you do it? You change your clothing. In the New Testament, the clothing always19:09 speaks about the righteousness that God gives to us. There are 2 ways you can have righteousness. 1, is your own righteousness. You wear that as a garment. You19:21 know, it comes from your self effort. It comes from your works. But the Bible says nothing that you do will ever be good enough before a holy God. In other words, all your righteousness will be like filthy rags.19:33 It's a garment. It's a filthy rag. But can I humbly say this? You and I have been given the righteousness that comes from God himself. It is the righteousness of his son, Jesus Christ. That righteousness that19:45 Jesus has before the father, he gives it to us as a gift. That's why the bible calls the righteousness that comes by faith through grace. Hallelujah. Philippians chapter19:57 3 and verse 9 says, be found in him not having a righteousness of my own, of my own that comes from the law. That means my law keeping, my self effort, but that20:09 which comes through faith in Christ. The righteousness from God that depends on faith. Faith means, I believe that Jesus lived the life that I could never live, but died the dead20:21 that I deserved. He took my place so that I can take his place. He took my filth and he gave me his righteousness. He took my sin and he gave me his righteousness. His righteousness is now20:32 my righteousness. I receive his righteousness as a gift, hallelujah, and I operate from that righteousness. That is the clothes that make you look good before20:44 God. Hallelujah. Come before God, deny yourself, and take what he has provided for you. Hallelujah. In first Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 9 to 11,20:56 Paul reminds the Corinthian church. He actually says, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Listen to me carefully. Know this, no breakthrough can happen to you21:08 unless you truly come out of that unrighteousness. So what are the unrighteousness? The unrighteousness is this, the sexually immoral, idolaters,21:20 adulterers, men who practice homosexuality, thieves, greedy, drunkards, revilers, swindlers, they will never inherit the kingdom of God. The bible21:32 is very clear, but then the bible says, such were some of you. In other words, this is what this this was your past. These are the peep, these are the things you were involved in before you21:44 came to Christ, but now that you have come to Christ, you have been washed, you have been sanctified, you have been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the spirit of our God. In other21:56 words, God has now given you Christ and his spirit, and the spirit of God cleanses you. He has washed you. He has sanctified you. You have been been justified before God in the name of the22:08 Lord Jesus Christ, and by the spirit of our God. In other words, don't go back to those things. Remove those those grave clothes, and put on the grace clothes. Walk22:19 in the newness of that garment. Hallelujah. Praise God. So firstly, for the breakthrough, we need to prepare ourselves. How? Through the word of God.22:31 And letting the word of God not only cleanse us, and let the spirit of God come and anoint us, and not only that, that we would wear the garments of righteousness. Secondly, Ruth22:43 placed herself under submission. The Bible says in verse 3, wash therefore and anoint yourself and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the22:55 man until he has finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies, then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do, and Ruth replied, all that23:07 you say, I will do. So she went down to the threshing floor, and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. What a beautiful picture of a woman who is under someone23:18 else's authority. Listen to me carefully, Ruth placed herself in submission. She could have easily rebelled and say, hey, you know, I'm a younger woman.23:31 You know, if I start to just really walk around, and I can seduce any man. She didn't go like that. She didn't say, you do know who I am, you know, I'm stuck in this23:42 condition because of you. I married into your family, that's why I'm stuck like this. No, she didn't. She says, mother-in-law, whatever you say, I will do. You know, the past23:54 2 sermons, I've already covered how Ruth had the spirit of submission, and this spirit of submission activates the favor of God upon our lives. Listen to me carefully, let me give you a24:06 principle. The more we demand, the more defensive they will become. The more we submit, the more they will permit. You know, my life I have seen,24:18 the more I have allowed the Lord to tutor my heart and to come to the place of submission. Submission to people, even though people may not, I may not agree with what they are saying. I have learned24:30 to submit. The reason why I haven't submitted is because I submit to the authorities that God has placed in our lives. And the bible says, government authorities, governmental authorities,24:42 there are authorities in the home, there are authorities in the in the institutions that we that we do business with. These are authorities, and some of these authorities are placed by God. So sometimes we have to24:54 exercise the spirit of submission, and the more we operate in the spirit of submission, something happens. God intervenes. God steps in, and when he steps25:05 in, he brings his protection, he brings his provision into our lives. Listen to me carefully. I've always followed this principle in the New Testament. In John chapter 2, when Jesus was, at the25:17 wedding at Cana, the Bible says they ran out of wine, and, Jesus' mother came to Jesus and said, they have run out of good wine, can you provide? And Jesus says, my hour has25:29 not come, but that didn't put off Mary, she actually went to the servants and she gave them a principle, and I want you to catch this principle because this principle will be the key to your success, key to25:41 your breakthrough in every season of your life. This is the principle. John chapter 2 and verse 5, his mother said to the servants, do whatever he tells you. In other words, do all that25:53 he commands you to do. When you can come and submit yourself like that, even if the Lord sends you back to a place where the culture is26:05 toxic, or the environment is not conducive, people do not appreciate you, or you're not celebrated in that place, Doesn't matter. You learn to submit and do the will of God in every season26:16 of your life. Let God lift you up, and no man can stop that. Hallelujah. Listen to me carefully. The third step that Ruth took is Ruth26:28 positioned herself at the feet. In verse 6, the Bible says, she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. But when Boaz had eat,26:40 eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went out to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. At midnight, the man was startled and turned26:52 over, and behold a woman lay at his feet. He said, who are you? And she answered, I'm Ruth your servant, spread your wings over your servant for you are a redeemer. I love this.27:04 She did exactly what her mother-in-law commanded her to do, but the place where she sat is what I want you to pay attention to. The mother-in-law said to her, go find the man's feet,27:17 uncover it, and stay there, and when he wakes up, he will tell you what you need to do. And so the Bible says in verse 8, at midnight, the man27:29 was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet. Pay attention to 2 things here. Number 1, at midnight. This whole thing happened at midnight. In Matthew chapter27:40 25 and verse 6, the Bible says, but at midnight there was a cry, here is the bridegroom, come out to meet him. What does midnight signify in the New27:52 Testament? Midnight always speaks of the last leg of the last days. It's the last hour, and you and I, prophetically speaking, we are living in the last leg of the last days. Do you28:04 know where the church of Jesus Christ should be in this season? It should be at the feet of Jesus. Now is not the time for us to be busy. Busy doing this and that and the other,28:16 and the 1 thing that is necessary we neglect. Listen to me, just like Mary chose the good portion, the Bible says she was at the feet of Jesus, listening to him and obeying him. The same thing,28:28 you and I are to be found at the feet of our boas. Why? Because at the feet of boas, you will be told what you should do. That's why stop running around.28:40 The most important thing for your breakthrough is you prepare yourself. You place yourself under submission to the authorities that God has placed you, to the to the to the leadership that God has placed28:52 you over your life, and to the word of God. Place yourself under authority to the word of God. I tell you what, the third thing is, you get yourself29:04 positioned at his feet. This is the place to be. Lot of people try to make things happen. Can I humbly say this? Yes, there are 2 groups of people in the world that will29:16 say, 1 are the people who let things happen, and the other group is make things happen, but can I humbly say this? 1 of the ways you make things happen is you prefer to be at his feet. You choose to be29:28 at his feet, so you're not trying to engineer things or manipulate your way, but you are here, rested, confident, quiet at his feet. Why? Because the more you stay in that posture, God will act on your29:40 behalf. Look at this in Ruth chapter 3 and verse 9. He said, who are you? And she answered, I'm Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.29:52 You know, in in part 3 of Ruth, in this sermon series, I actually shared with you in chapter 2, that 1 of the things that attracted the favor of God upon Ruth is that she knows30:04 her place, and she took her place. She stayed in her place. Even here, the Bible says, she says, I'm Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant,30:16 for you are a redeemer. She sees she's destitute, she needs redemption, she needs the kinsman redeemer to redeem her, but she didn't place just a demand, she30:28 humbled herself and she says, I'm your servant, I need you to act on my behalf. She asks for something specific here. She says, spread your wings over30:40 your servant. The Bible says in chapter 2 that Ruth came to take refuge under the wings of God. Listen to me carefully.30:52 Boaz said to Ruth, you have come to take refuge under the wings of God. Now, she's saying to him, spread your wings over your31:03 servant. Now what does this wings represent? It's actually part of a garment that all Jewish men wear. Have you ever seen a picture of a prayer shawl?31:16 Every Jewish man, including Jesus, would have worn this. A prayer shawl. A shawl that they use to cover themselves when they pray. You know, this shawl has a word in31:27 Hebrew. It's the word talit, t a l l I t. Tallit is made up of 2 words. Tall means tent, and lit means little. In other words, it's a little31:39 tent. In other words, when when the children of Israel were encouraged to meet with God in the tent of meeting, The Bible says Moses met God in the tent of meeting. In other words,31:51 Moses went to the tabernacle, which is a tent, and he met with God, but not 2000000 people cannot go into the tent. So everyone was given their own little tent where they can meet32:02 with God. So what was the little tent? The shawl, the tallit. And this tallit was actually made with a blue dye that comes from a snail. Now for many years, they32:14 have lost this blue dye, so whenever whenever you go to Israel and you wanna buy a prayer shawl, it's usually white in color. But now, in these last days, God is restoring everything back. They've actually found the the32:26 dye, that snail that actually makes the shellfish that actually makes the dye, and now all the prayer shawls that are being made, they are being made in blue. Listen, blue because blue represents heaven. Blue32:38 represents that you, when you wear that, you're you're communicating with God, you're wearing it to remind yourself of who God is. So when a man, prayer shawl, when he wears the prayer shawl, he covers it,32:50 he creates for himself a private little tent where he meets with God. Now that prayer tent, that little tent, that tallit33:01 is what she's referring to. Spread your garments over me. Why? Because this tallit actually has some tassels right at the end. Go with me to Numbers chapter33:13 15 and look at verse 37 to 39. It says, speak to the people of Israel and tell them to make tassels. Tassels means the con on the corners of their garments.33:25 Tassels on the on the on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. In other words, they had tassels33:36 in the corners of their garments, and each of the tassels will have a blue cord. Now why is this so important? That word corner there is the word for33:48 wings. It's the word for kanef. Knef means corner, or it can also mean wings, and that that's exactly what Ruth is referring to. She's holding on to that prayer shawl of34:00 Boaz, and she says, spread this over me. Spread these wings over me. Spread this garment. Spread these corners over me. In other words, let me come under34:12 your wings. Let me take refuge under your wings. In Ezekiel chapter 16 and verse 8, the Lord gave us an image here. He says, when I passed by you again and34:23 saw you, behold you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I made my vow to you, and entered34:35 into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine. It was a marriage proposal. God says to the children of Israel, I came and I saw you, and34:47 you were ready for love, ready for marriage, therefore I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. And then he says, I entered into a covenant with you. In other words,34:59 you became mine. Same thing. Ruth was saying, can you spread the garment over me? Can you spread those wings, that tassels, that corner, that the ones that has the blue cord, the tassels, the35:11 corners? Can you spread that over me? Why? Because she's not only asking him to marry her, she's also asking him to do couple of things for her. When you take refuge under35:23 the wings, that tassels, that wings actually has some healing properties. Listen to this. Malachi chapter 4 and verse 2 says, but for you who fear my name, the sun35:35 of righteousness shall rise with healing in his wings. The Lord Jesus Christ will rise up. The Messiah will rise up with healing in his wings. In other words, in the35:47 tassels, there will be healing. When you come under and you say, spread your garment over me, you're saying, Lord, I need your healing. I tell you, long before you enter into your35:58 breakthrough, when you are positioning yourself at the feet of Jesus, you know what he does? He brings healing into your life. Hallelujah. In the New Testament, we have examples. Matthew chapter 9 and verse36:10 21, the bible talks about a woman who had hemorrhage for 12 years. She had spent all her money, no physician could heal her, but then she said to herself, if I36:21 only touch his garment, In the KJV version it says, if I only touch the hem hem of his garment, I will be made well. In other words, what was she touching? She came to36:33 touch Jesus' prayer shawl, the tassels, and she touched the corner of his garment. She was made well. Not only she, the Bible says in Matthew chapter36:45 14 and verse 35 and 36, when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent around to all the region and brought to him all who were sick, and implored him that36:57 they might only touch the fringe of his garment, and as many as touched it, they were made well. In other words, that garment that Jesus was wearing, that pressure, as37:08 long as people just touched the corner, touched the wings, they were all healed. In other words, there was healing that was taking place. So what was Ruth saying?37:20 Ruth was asking Boaz, would you please spread the garment over me? In other words, would you please give me that refuge? I need you to redeem37:32 me. Not only that, she's also saying, I want to be healed. I want to be delivered. I want to be set free. Listen to me. A young widow who had gone through so much pain,37:44 humiliation, rejection, she comes into, and she takes her place, and she says, show me favor. Spread your garments over me. Praise God. What a37:56 what a mighty breakthrough she's going to receive. The fourth thing that she did is this, she prayerfully waited. Ruth not only prepared herself, Ruth38:08 not only placed herself under submission, Ruth not only positioned herself at the feet, she also prayerfully waited. As we focus on the last segment of Ruth chapter38:20 3, I wanna ask ourselves this question, what helped Ruth in her waiting? Because you and I are waiting for the breakthrough that God has for us, but there are While we are waiting, there are some things that should help38:32 us in our waiting. There are 3 things. Number 1, she was assured or reassured by his promises. Look at this in verse 10. He said to her, may you be blessed by the Lord my daughter, for you38:44 have made this last kindness greater than the first, that in that you have not gone after young men whether rich or poor. And now my daughter, do not fear, I will do for you all that you38:55 ask. Underline, circle that. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. Verse 12, and now it is true that I am a redeemer,39:08 Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. Remain tonight, but in the morning if he will redeem you, good, let him do it. But if he's not willing to redeem you, then as the Lord lives, I will39:19 redeem you. Circle that. Lie down until the morning. In other words, he says, Ruth, up to now, you did what you should be doing, which isShow more
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Paul Jeyachandran
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