The Mystery of Redemption

And so take your Bibles, if you would please, and turn to the book of Ephesians. And I'd love to encourage you to continue to follow along in your personal Bible study as well through this wonderful book of Ephesians. This book is tremendous and it's very challenging as well. I'd like to preach to you a message today entitled "The Mystery of Redemption." The mystery of redemption. And we need to be ones who are clarifying this mystery of redemption to start off before we read verses 6 to 9.

I want to share with you about a friend of mine. His name is Dan. We called him Dan the man. What a strong, thin man Dan was. His arms and his shoulders were as thick as his thighs. He was from the Bronx of New York. He was a street boxer. And as tough on the outside as he was, he was as soft on the inside. What a genuine man Dan was. We worked together for years and we had discussions every single day about Jesus from my perspective and about Buddha from his perspective. And so he was working hard to earn his way to the state of Nirvana. And so for some years we discussed this, and I went on to Bible college, came back for a weekend to preach at New Beginnings Baptist Church in St. Cloud, and I called Dan and I said Dan, won't you come? And so he came, and little did I know that he was inwardly exhausted from trying and trying and trying to achieve redemption. He was confessing and meditating and concentrating and repenting of past errors, and he was inwardly beyond frustration to a broken state.

And so Buddha's Dharma is supposedly to gain understanding and enlightenment until reaching the state of Nirvana. The state of Nirvana would be that heavenly state, and so they believe heaven is attainable now. Nirvana is their heaven. And so by way of illustration in the middle of the story, I would say to you that the punk rock group Nirvana is named after Buddhism, and the lead singer Kurt Cobain felt so empty and exhausted from endlessly seeking to obtain this unattainable state of Nirvana. You may know his unfortunate future and that he killed himself. And so he felt the same exhaustion as my friend Dan did.

Now my friend Dan the man, as strong as he was, he yet was broken and he cried a pile of tears during that church service and then poured out his heart for an hour in my truck. And after hearing God's word again, just simply opening up the scriptures and reading God's word in regards to salvation, in regards to redemption, in regards to how to be saved, he turned from Buddhism and turned to Jesus. And I remember I saw him crying out, looking up in my truck to God, and he said that he had been striving so hard, but he apologized to God for striving on the wrong path, and he said through his rough New York Bronx way, "God, if You'll have me." And so I saw that for myself, and how a strong man — if there is ever anyone who would be one who could endure to the end in regards to anything, it would have been Dan the man. There was a reason why we all called him that.

And so after years of exhausting himself, he turned, and Mark 1:15 is now a reality for him in that he repented and believed the gospel. And I praise God for that, and I say to God be the glory. And the same as in Ephesians 1:6, it says, "to the praise of the glory of His grace." And so now, as it took years for the mystery of Christ to be made real today in the man, I pray that we too today will hear about redemption and be like the apostle Paul, who is belaboring himself to clarify this mystery, to explain Christ and how salvation is and how it works and the need for it.

And so in the opening verses of Ephesians chapter 1, it is not redundant — it merits our full attention to take it slow and to get everything that we can out of the scriptures, and to probe it with good questions, and ask the hard questions, and tackle even the hard doctrines that it brings up. And so read with me if you would in Ephesians chapter 1, verses 6 to 9, and then we will take our time through the text. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 6: "to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He graciously bestowed on us in the Beloved." And here comes redemption, the point of today's message. "In Him we have redemption" — and now I would like for you to carry the thought of redemption with you as I read the next couple of verses. "In Him we have redemption through His blood, through the forgiveness of our transgressions, according to the riches of His grace which He caused to abound to us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Him."

And for today I'd like to zero in on these verses, and now ask God's blessing upon the message if you would pray with me. Father, thank you for these verses, thank you for these concepts, and I pray, God, that You would help us to catch the same zeal and passion and fire that You gave the apostle Paul — not only to preach the mystery of Christ and to make it known to everyone, but that You would also give it to us as well, a desire, Lord, to be evangelistic. In Christ's name, amen.

And so if you'd like to take notes, write down this phrase: "bought and paid for." This is the concept that we see in verse 7, "in Him we have redemption through His blood." We are blood-bought beings. If you have repented of your sin and placed your faith and trust in Jesus' substitutionary death in your place, you know you have sinned. The Bible says for all have sinned. You know that when you look at the Ten Commandments, you don't measure up. You know that. You know that sin's curse from the beginning plagues you. You know that. And if you have repented and turned from your sin and placed your faith and trust in Christ's substitutionary death on the cross and been saved, then you understand what we're going to say today. This is hard doctrine but it is truth, and we don't shrink back from the truth. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And so we want to know everything that He has to say about redemption.

And it is God's plan that it is by the blood. Not your blood. Your blood doesn't suffice. But Christ's blood is pure and holy and it is efficacious for salvation. It has the merit. It has the worth. It has the purity. It has the amount needed to pay your ransom debt. And so redemption is a result — okay, hear me — it's a result of God's past actions toward us. Redemption is something that has been predetermined, okay? And so God, before the foundation of the world, as we've already studied, has already — and He sees history from outside of time. Our limited perspective would see the sun rising and the sun setting, but the sun does neither. We need to get a grip on redemption from God's perspective, a theological perspective, not a human perspective.

You have human responsibility. Most of the time when people get saved, they repent. They fall under conviction. They confess, and that is the emotional, the intellectual, the human side of your responsibility. You repenting. You must repent. The Bible says in Luke 13:3, "Unless you repent, you shall likewise perish." And so the responsibility is upon you to repent, okay? That is experientially. That is from your perspective. Now think with me in Ephesians chapter 1 theologically. From God's perspective, how this happens — redemption is a result of God's past actions toward us. It signifies that sin's grip on you has been broken.

You can't do it. You try to quit that sinful addiction all you want over and over and over again, but it keeps creeping back in. It takes Christ to break those types of bondages, and Christ can do it. He has the power to do it. And so sin's grip that forces you to go back into the mire like a pig going into the mud, going back to your sin like a dog going back to look up its own vomit — that's who we are before Christ. We go back to our filth. We go back to our sin. But we are no longer slaves when we've been saved because Christ breaks that grip. And so we've been delivered from sin's grip and we've been delivered from the penalty of sin. Hell — you do not have hell to pay when you've been saved. And so the payment and the consequence of sin has been paid for in full by the blood of Jesus.

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our transgressions." There's a two-punch pack here in this verse and I want to belabor it just a little bit longer to perhaps increase our comprehension. And so redemption is deliverance from evil by Christ's sacrifice, and it has this twofold meaning in this verse: bought and paid for. Okay, bought and paid. Bought — number one, you've been rescued by Christ. You've been bought by the blood of the Lamb, that's verse 7a: "In Him we have redemption through His blood." Okay, the second part is you've been paid for, ransomed. Your ransom has been paid for by Christ. And so you have forgiveness, and the forgiveness that has been paid for is according to His rich grace.

Read with me in verse 7. "In Him we have redemption through His blood." Okay, you have been saved. You have been redeemed. Your identity has been changed. But in addition to being rescued and redeemed, you also have been forgiven of your transgressions, and it's all according to the riches of His grace. For example, how many of you have struggled with credit card debt? Well, just imagine having a Visa credit card debt at 28 percent and you spent a hundred million dollars. You would never pay that off in a hundred lifetimes. Well, that's like your sin debt to a small extent. But Christ has paid your debt. It's paid — a hundred million dollars times 28 percent; one of you math guys can figure that out, email me later. It doesn't come close to your sin debt.

But Christ paid for it all. And not only has your sin been paid for, it's just like as if He reached down and grabbed that contract that you signed with Visa, tore it up, and now you have a new contract with Him, a new covenant with Christ. Two-punch pack here in one verse. Your sin has not only been paid for, you're debt free. But now you're owned and operated by someone else. You are not a slave to sin. You're not of your father the devil — John 8:44 says. Turn there if you would. I want you to see John 8:44. What a strong verse to see your pre-Christ identity.

When you get saved, you are now owned and operated by Christ and you're no longer underneath your father the devil. In John chapter 8, verse 44, the Bible says, "You are of your father the devil." Now listen to how this unfolds: "and you want to do the desires of your father."

Do you remember wanting to sin before being saved? Some of you, perhaps like myself, were saved at a young age and you don't quite ascertain the depth of depravity. Praise God. But I'm telling you that without Christ, the evil desires that creep inside of your mind and your heart — once in a while, like this fleeting, sinful thought that even now as a saved person you have to shed off — those things you desire. And you want to do those things because you're being led around by your father the devil as an unsaved person. And this goes on to say he was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there's no truth in him. You wonder why liars lie? Well, because they're of their father the devil, who is a liar. And then the Bible goes on to say in John 8:44, "whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature." Okay, and if your father is the devil, then your nature is the same as his. He's a liar and he wants to lie. Have you ever been around someone who lies just for the sake of lying?

Well, don't wonder why, because they need the gospel. They need grace. They need a new nature. Don't let that frustrate you. Let it be an indication that you need to clarify the mystery of Christ Jesus being the One who could change the nature. And so it says, "he speaks from his own nature for he is a liar and the father of lies."

Now 2 Corinthians 5:17 talks about how you can have that new nature. You can have that new nature. "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things passed away. Behold, the new have come." You're a new creature. A new creation. You have new desires, because not only have your desires changed, but who you are — your father has changed. You've gone from darkness into light. Only Christ could do something this wonderful. And so you have had your contract, your father, your identity changed. May it be like a contract with Visa: it's been broken, cancelled, terminated, eradicated. You no longer have that Visa credit card. It's torn up and it's in the trash can. Don't go in the trash can and dig stuff like that up, right? Don't do it again. That's foolishness. That's like a dog returning to its vomit to lick it up. It's like a pig going to the mire. 2 Peter 2:22. Don't do that. That's just foolishness.

In fact, be a child of light. May I encourage you, be a child of the literal light as well. Don't operate in the shadows. Don't do shady things that are perhaps a little edgy ethically. Be a child of light. Do everything above board. Not only above board, but be a child of the literal light — like, we operate in the daytime as Christians. Nighttime is for sleeping. Daytime is for doing. And so we need to be ones who are living in the light and doing what is right. And when you do that, I promise you, everything will be alright.

And so your relationship has changed. You're now living in a new covenant way. This was understood to the audience of the apostle Paul because they were living within the Roman Empire, and buying and selling slaves in the Roman Empire was a major marketplace business. It was normal. Six million slaves made up a third of the Roman workforce, and redemption is precisely this idea: purchasing a slave for oneself and yet setting them free. Did you hear that Abraham Lincoln did that one time? He bought a slave, set him free. And this is what Christ does. He pays for your redemption and then sets you free. Galatians 5:1 says it is for freedom that Christ sets you free. And so we are free to be a slave in Christ. Isn't that beautiful? The Christian life is oftentimes very paradoxical.

And so you are free to be a slave, and I volunteer to be a slave to God. There were a lot of people who were very poor and could not feed themselves or their families. They would volunteer to be a slave on a plantation because they knew that plantation owner was a good owner — and if they had food, shelter, and clothing, and even an opportunity to have part of the inheritance, it's incredible. And so slavery in the Bible should be viewed from a biblical worldview, and not an American worldview, because America did a terrible job in the beginning when it comes to slavery. Should have never happened. It should have never been. No man should own another man when it comes to evil treatment.

And so now Christ personally paid for your redemption and He sets you free from the bondage of sin. Ephesians 2:1 helps you to understand the gravity of the situation. Read it with me if you would. "Ephesians 2:1, and you are dead in your transgression and sins in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the ruler and the spirit who is now working in the sons of disobedience." And so now sin owns you no longer. Christ has redeemed you and now you're a slave to Him and His purposes.

Jesus is literally our Redeemer. And now if we get to it today, Lord willing, I want to not only show you in the New Testament how these principles are stated, but I want to show you in the Old Testament how these principles are shown to us through Boaz redeeming Ruth. But let's continue on in verse 7 if you would. Ephesians 1:7, "In Him we have redemption through His blood." Just a little bit more on His blood. Now this means this is the means by which you were redeemed — His sacrifice. Believers, now because of Jesus's blood, become benefactors. Believers are benefactors by the blood. The benefits that you have are huge. You have been saved from the penalty of sin. And so now you no longer have to pay for your sin for eternity in hell. Isn't that good? We should just rejoice and praise God every single day for the fact that we've been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. He took it for us. Praise the Lord.

In fact, let me give you a little strategy when Satan tries to get you down. When he reminds you of past sins, you just turn from him and start praising God that you don't have to pay for that. It is under the blood. When Satan tries to get you depressed and thinking more about the past, you should just turn and praise God. Use that as a means to turn to God and turn away from him. And that is what Satan loves to do. He loves to get you down and depressed. And if he can, he'll have you thinking about suicide. He'll drag you down as far as he can. But does God want you focused on the sins of the past? No. He wants you evangelizing, discipling, worshiping, having fellowship, moving forward. He wants you to be a part of the solution, be a part of the kingdom-building process. He wants you happy in Christ.

These things make you able to rejoice evermore, like Paul said. And again I say rejoice. These are beautiful concepts. And when you see that God's sovereign grace in salvation is your bedrock foundation, then it prompts you to really, truly want to evangelize, because you know that there are people out there that will respond to the gospel. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, right? Romans 10:17. And so now that you know that God has elected His people unto salvation and they respond to the gospel, all you then need to do is proclaim the gospel. Give out a tract. Have a conversation. Street preach. Get the mystery clarified in their mind, because we need to help bring them from darkness into light. Their mind will be opened. "My sheep hear My voice," the Bible says in John chapter 10, verses 27 and 28. My voice being the word of God — when you speak the word of God, the true sheep who will respond to the gospel call hear God's voice and they come. They will come to Christ. They will repent. And so as you evangelize and make this mystery clear, have faith in God. Depend upon Him and His sovereign election. Depend upon His control. Depend upon the fact that He's the One who set it all up.

There is a narrow road. Do you believe that the Bible is truth? There's a narrow road and there's a broad road. Few be there that find it. Well, big deal. I can't explain it, but God did it. And so now you just preach it and you do it and you live it out. And since the road is narrow, it only makes sense that these verses here are logically true, not just theologically true. It's not a lofty concept that we cannot understand, but this is true from the foundation of the world. He has made all of this to be. And so not only are believers benefactors in the penalty — and you can preach and teach that — but we're forgiven and set free. That's a huge benefit as well. And we know that Hebrews 13:12 said it's through His own blood, who is obviously Christ — rich enough to pay for these sins. And now that we know that He and His blood pay for those who would repent and believe, it's easy to understand that His benevolent sacrifice was particular, okay? His blood is sufficient for the sins of the whole world, but efficacious for repentant believers.

Hebrews 9:28 says that He bore the sins of many. This is particular redemption. And so this is all according to the riches of His grace. God's riches at Christ's expense, okay? His riches — He chose from what He owns, His riches, the riches of His grace, to pay for what He purchased, okay? He paid for it. And so don't argue about who He paid for, how many He paid for — that's in God's court. He paid for it. And when it comes to the subject of His atonement and how far it spreads, don't argue about that, because His atonement is limited to the extent which you believe — how limited it is depends on your theological framework. But if you believe that people are in hell today, which Luke 16 proves that people are in hell today, then you know that the atonement of Christ is limited to a certain extent. And so He has by His grace paid for those who would repent and believe. And this is according to His decree.

And so God's grace to us in saving us, it starts with what He decrees. Romans 11:36 says, "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things." He decrees things, and His decrees are according to His nature. They are, number one, eternal. Number two, they are unconditional. Number three, they are unchanging. And number four, they are good. God's decrees are eternal, according to His eternal nature. Ephesians 3:11 attests to this: "This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord." So His decrees are eternal. Not only that, they're unconditional. God's decrees have not been because of any conditions. Some think that the condition for which you're in — some think that according to the element of goodness that they have, that they were worthy to be saved. And so if you witness at any extent at all, I guarantee you you will run across this rebuttal: "I'm good." And that is like the number one excuse or aloofness in the southeast. "I'm good. I've grown up Christian. I've gone to church before. I know Jesus. I know that He died on the cross and rose again for my sins. I believe in Jesus." At that point you should really quote them what James quotes: "Even the demons believe and tremble." So nevertheless, we need to know that salvation is unconditional. It's according to His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13 — turn there if you would and see it with me. Philippians chapter 2 and verse 13: "For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." And so He works all things according to the counsel of His will.

Ephesians chapter 1 says, and now you see again that all of what He does, all of what He decrees, is good and unchanging. Not only is it unconditional, but it is unchanging. According to Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore." And so God's decrees are eternal, unconditional, they're good — they're very good, because God is good. We often say, growing up, if you said it too, that God is good all the time and all the time God is good. There's a ton of verses that we could go and look at this: Isaiah 46:10, Romans 8:28, Ephesians 1:11, Psalm 115:3, Psalm 135:6 — that talk about the goodness of God in these areas.

Now the flip side to redemption is reprobation. And this difficult doctrine helps us to understand that God chooses to pass over some, and He actively chooses others. And so God actively chooses some for salvation, but He passively does not intervene in the state of others. And so thus the elect of God receive grace through Romans chapter 9, and then the non-elect receive justice. Now God cannot be charged with any unrighteousness, because all are guilty. We know that Romans 3:23 is true: "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." So what is the just sentence for your depravity? What is the just sentence for your sin? You should be sentenced to hell. "The soul that sins shall die." And so knowing this, it is the just thing for you to pay for your sin — not for an innocent one to pay for your sin. Why should an innocent, holy, sinless One pay for what we've done wrong? It's logical. So God is good, and in and of Himself He owes nobody nothing. And He has decided to apply His grace to some, but He's not obligated to show His grace to any. And so the fact that we see sovereign election and God chooses some does not make God bad in any way. In fact, in Romans chapter 9, this little caveat is mentioned in verse 20: "On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God?" And then in verse 19: "Why does anyone still find fault?" And so these things that are a bit ambiguous in our mind should not cause you to accuse God of any type of fault. Beware of that. Instead, focus on the fact that there is a narrow road, and faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God, and that we are to make clear the mystery of the gospel.

And so back in Ephesians chapter 1 — now that we have looked at the flip side of redemption, which is the doctrine of reprobation — now we look back at the doctrine of redemption. Verse 8 is beautiful, and it echoes verse 6. In verse 8 it says, "which He caused to abound to us." This is the subject of redemption still being carried through, and it echoes verse 6, which says "that He graciously bestowed on us." So here again, the subject of salvation — He caused it to abound to us. The NASB says that He caused it to be lavished upon us. And then again, He caused it to be graciously bestowed upon us. He did that.

It's very simple to understand. The concept starts in verse 2 when it says, "grace to you" — God's grace to you. That's the direction of salvation. And so in verse 8, when it comes to wisdom and insight, this is God's wisdom in regards to redemption. Verse 8 — read it with me: "with which He caused to abound to us in all wisdom and insight." Now the subject of redemption caused to be abounding toward us with wisdom and insight. Is it your wisdom? Not at all. We would never think of such a plan. But in God's wisdom and in His insight — in the Greek the idea is thoughtful planning, thoughtful planning. So we will see that not only has God been very thoughtful in His planning in regards to conversion, but also with creation. Jeremiah chapter 10 and verse 12 says, "The Lord founded the earth by His wisdom and established the heavens in His understanding." And so this concept here in verse 8 — wisdom and insight, or wisdom and understanding — this is God's wisdom. It's His understanding. And the Bible says that this means, in the Greek sense, careful, methodical planning. It's thoughtful planning.

And so you see both in Ephesians chapter 1 careful, thoughtful planning according to His wisdom and insight in regards to salvation, and then in Genesis chapter 1 you see that God created the heavens and the world. In Jeremiah chapter 10, verse 12, a text that attests that this was according to His wisdom and insight. So these two concepts with the same root meaning are attributed to both creation and conversion. This is a mystery — how God can do this and create history and how He is actually seeing it in the present tense as an omnipresent deity. He sees everything in the now. We see everything as it is unraveling, right, in chronological order. The day is unfolding, history is unfolding. We don't know what tomorrow holds, but God does. And so He has already carefully planned out all of not only creation and world history, but also the whole plan of redemption. God is simply in control.

If you're weighed down with anything in the world, study God's sovereignty. If you're weighed down and worried and anxious about anything — the war with Israel and Ukraine — God has already got it under control from since the foundation of the world, since before creation. Are you worried about the salvation of your children? Take it to the Lord in prayer and leave it there. Okay, keep praying. Don't stop praying. But this plan of redemption, this plan of creation — are you worried about running out of natural resources? Not a whole lot of you in here in that camp, but if you are, believe me, God already said that this world is going to wear out like a garment and He knows the end very clearly down to the very minute details. He's already got it planned out. It's already finished. It's already done. And so the natural resources that we have will last for the extent of time for which He has predetermined. You don't have to worry about oil. You don't have to worry about natural gas. Daniel will always have a job, brother. Natural gas.

And so knowing that we believe in God's plan of redemption and seeing it theologically from a biblical worldview, from a theological perspective, not trapped in our human experience, then now we just simply proceed in obedience to clarify this mystery. Look with me in verse 9: "Making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His" — again He says it — "good pleasure, which He purposed in Him." And so this mystery is God's plan. It has been hidden. Turn to Colossians 1:26. Colossians 1 — let's read verses 13 and 14 and then go to 26. "Colossians 1:13, who rescued us from the authority of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His Son in His love, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." And now in verse 26: "this mystery, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages" — okay, you see, it was mysterious in Old Testament times, okay — "hidden from the past ages and generations, but now has been manifested to His saints." "To whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." And so Christ is the mystery. Christ in you is the fulfillment of redemption. And so this concept may have been secretive or mysterious and intended to be understood, and now has been revealed or made more known through Christ. And so this mystery of Christ is revealed, not concealed.

Look with me in chapter 3 of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 3, verses 1 to 9, and you'll hear the word mystery come up three different times. Ephesians 3:1 says this: "For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles — if indeed you heard of the stewardship of God's grace" — which, by the way, God's grace in saving sinners, it's a stewardship issue for us. How are you stewarding this grace that God has given you? It's a stewardship issue. Sharing the gospel is a stewardship issue, all right. "So if indeed you heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you, that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief, about which, when you read, you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it was now revealed to those holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit — that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power" — verse 8 — "to me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given to proclaim to the Gentiles the good news of the unfathomable riches of Christ, to bring to light for all, that is, the administration of the mystery which for all ages has been hidden in God who created all things." Verse 10: "so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church."

Do you see it again, that this is a stewardship issue? You're the church, and now the gospel is being made known through the church, through the people of God, through those who are saved. This is a matter of clarifying this mystery. And so turn to Ephesians chapter 6 and I want you to see a case for street preaching, a case for sharing the gospel publicly. You need to be making this mystery of Christ very clear for those whom you come into contact with. It's a stewardship issue. Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 19: "as well as on my behalf, that words may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known with boldness." Now, do you need boldness to share the gospel with someone who was already saved? No — they're like, "I agree with you." But do you need boldness for someone who would be hostile toward you telling them that they are a sinner in need of a Savior? Yes. All right. So Paul is praying according to verse 18, "at all times with all prayer and petition in the Spirit, and to this end being on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints" — he's petitioning the saints — "that as well on my behalf they would pray, right, that the words may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, so that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak."

When the apostle Paul went into towns with Peter, they were turned upside down because of the gospel. The gospel changed people's lives. It changed the economy. It changed the way people lived. It changed their nature. Their heart changed when they responded to the gospel. And so they should be making it clear to those who do not understand it. And where are these people? They're in the streets. They're in the workplaces. They're right before you as you're serving them, as you're interacting with them, as you are in conversation. They are right in front of you. Don't ignore people. Jesus died on the cross and rose again so that men would be saved. And sharing the gospel is part of God's redemptive plan.

And now you might ask yourself — okay, since it was a mystery in the Old Testament and has been revealed to us now in New Testament times — you might say, well, was it concealed to the point to where anyone outside of Israel couldn't be saved? Could the Gentiles be saved in the Old Testament times? Turn with me to the book of Ruth as we close. And I want you to see that even a Moabite — the equivalent of or even worse than a Canaanite — is saved by the grace of God.

The entire book of Ruth is a case for redemption. And as we see it shown to us, I encourage you to go home and read the entire book of Ruth and enjoy the story of redemption. And let me preface this story with the three qualifications that a kinsman-Redeemer must have. Number one, the Redeemer had to be related to the one being redeemed. Number two, the Redeemer had to be able to pay the debt. And number three, the Redeemer had to be willing to pay. Jesus meets all three.

I'm going to read in chapter 2, verse 8, and I want you to listen to overtones of salvation. And then we will get to verse 20, where this starts the law of redemption. In chapter 2, verse 8, as I start to close here: "Then Boaz said to Ruth" — Boaz being the Redeemer, the kinsman-Redeemer, a type of Christ — "Then Boaz said to Ruth, 'Have you not heard, my daughter?'" Okay, or "Listen carefully." Okay, these overtones of salvation are going to be made clear as you hear. "My daughter, do not go and glean in another field." Okay, "Turn from the others." Turn from the world. "And furthermore, do not go on from this one, but stay here with my young women." Okay, turn and remain. And verse 9: "Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Indeed, I have commanded the young men not to touch you." Here the overtones of protection underneath a kinsman-Redeemer are being made clear. "And if you are thirsty, go to the water jars and drink from what the young men draw." You see here provisions. And then in verse 10: "Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, 'Why have I found favor in your sight?'" This is unmerited favor, unmerited grace upon her. "Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, though I am a foreigner?" We are alienated from Christ — we're foreigners — but you're being brought in, being found. This is a picture of redemption.

In verse 11: "Boaz replied to her, 'All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you forsook your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people you did not previously know.'" Verse 12: "May Yahweh fully repay your work, and may your wages be full from Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge." Verse 13: "And then she said, 'May I find favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me, and indeed have spoken to the heart of your servant-woman, though I am not like one of your servant-women.'"

And so this is very akin to adoption. And then you'll see not only that, but also some fellowship and a higher identity and undeserved blessings and the sharing of blessings. But skip down with me if you would to verse 20, when redemption starts. "Naomi" — who is Ruth's mother-in-law — "said to her, 'May he be blessed of Yahweh, who has not forsaken his lovingkindnesses to the living and to the dead.' And then Naomi said to her, 'This man is our relative. He is one of our kinsmen-Redeemers.'" And then in verse 21: "Then Ruth the Moabitess said, 'Furthermore, he said to me, "You should stay close to my young men until they have finished all of my harvest."'" And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law: "It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women so that the others do not oppress you in another field." And so she stayed close to the young women of Boaz in order to glean until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

And as you read the rest of this beautiful story, you will see redemption unfold, and it ends with a beautiful genealogy. And this is the fulfillment of God's predetermined plan. He's grafted in Gentiles — in this case Moabites. And in the last chapter, in verse 17, you see that the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, "A son has been born to Naomi." And so they named him Obed. And he is the father of Jesse, the father of David. This helps us to see God's sovereign plan and how He has kept this going. So from Boaz to Obed, to Jesse, to David, and according to Matthew chapter 1, verse 6, twenty-six generations later, Jesus. It's all about Jesus. It's beautiful.

I hope that you see God's plan of redemption clearly in the New Testament and then the Old Testament. Pray with me. Father, thank You so much for the picture that You have given us through the book of Ruth. And I pray, Father, that not only can we enjoy this event, this factual story, this example of redemption as Boaz is a type of Christ who redeemed Ruth — that we would see it spelled out to us in the New Testament as how You offer to us redemption. And I pray, God, for those who have never been saved, that they would respond to Your grace, the grace that You have planted inside of their heart and soul. Lord, You command everyone, everywhere to repent and believe. And so if anyone here has never responded, Lord, I pray that they would confess You as Lord. I pray that they would believe that You died on the cross and rose again for their sins. I pray, God, that they would respond by repentance and saying, "God, forgive me. My sins are many and I know that I'm filthy and I need You to clean me up. Lord, I can't do it myself. I can't work my way up like a Buddhist in Buddhism. I'd be exhausted. I could never do it. My works are not sufficient. You've said it's not by works, lest a man boast. It's by grace." And so I believe, dear Jesus, in Your saving grace.

God, I pray that You would continue to grant repentance and faith to those here who are underneath the preaching of Your word and the teaching of Your word — in Bible study groups and the explanation of the mystery of Christ through fellowship and conversations and witnessing and evangelism and discipleship. God, I pray that You would continue to draw the lost into being saved in You. God, I pray that You would continue to see many saved and baptized here at Beulah Baptist Church. Thank You for bestowing Your blessings upon us and through us. God, it's amazing to see baptisms here and I thank You for all the ones, the beautiful ones, whom You're bringing to worship here at Beulah Baptist Church. May You be glorified in all. We praise Your holy name. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.