Introduction.

1. Churches ought to be made up of those who know that they by grace belong to Christ. Those who belong to Christ show the world that they belong to the King of Kings by loving one another as Christ has loved them. It ought to be obvious to the watching world that those who belong to Christ belong to each other. Christians are brothers and sisters as they have been adopted into God's family through the grace of God. As a congregation of Christ's people we ought to have a sense of great joy in belonging to Christ and to one another. When a believer joins the church we should actively and positively seek to make our new brother or sister in Christ feel that they are accepted, embraced and really belong to us.
   
   
2. I came across this cute story that illustrates our belonging to Christ. A ten year old boy, it is said, made a toy sailing boat. He made it with loving care and finally it was ready to sail. With great delight he looked at it, shiny in its fresh red and white paint and placed it in the water. The little boat, lifting its sails proudly to the wind, escaped from his eager fingers and was swept down, down the river away from its grief-stricken owner. He looked long and diligently but he could not find his beloved little boat. One day, several weeks later, he was walking down the street when suddenly his eye was caught by a flash of red and white in a pawnshop window. It was his precious little boat! The one he had made and painted himself! He rushed into the shop and demanded that the man give him his boat. His demand was met with a stern and sharp refusal. The shopkeeper said that he had paid for the little boat and before the boy could have it he would have to pay the stated price. With a sad heart the boy walked out of the store. It would take a long time to save up his pocket money, and he would have to do a lot of chores to have enough money to buy back his own boat! But he went to work with the determination. And in a shorter time than he had thought possible he had earned and saved the amount of money he needed. With great delight he went to the store, laid down the money on the counter, and again demanded his boat. This time he received it. As he went out of the store to the street with his little boat tucked under his arm, he was heard to say tenderly, "You are mine, little boat, twice mine; once because I made you, and twice because I bought you." We belong to Christ - because he made us, and because he bought us through his death on the cross. We are very precious to Christ and have been bought with an incalculable price.
   
   
3. There is a wonderful sense of awe, peace and joy in knowing that you belong to Christ forever. We rightly value every sense of assurance given in the Scriptures concerning our salvation in Christ. You cannot read the Psalms David wrote without being struck by how much he valued the fact that he belonged to the Lord. There is a real sense of security in the words, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.'  By God's amazing grace Ruth belonged to the Lord. Finding refuge under the shadow of the wings of the Almighty must have given her a wonderful sense of belonging. Concerning Adam the Lord in Genesis 2:18 said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him."  You can hear the delight in Adam's new sense of belonging when he receives Eve from the Lord and says, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." The Lord emphasises the sense of belonging when he says in Genesis 2:24, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.'  For Christians to enjoy the fullness of all that God intended his people to enjoy, they need a real sense of belonging to Christ and belonging to his people. Ruth needed to be enriched by a sense of belonging to the Lord's people in Bethlehem. God in his loving grace ensured that Ruth would enjoy a full sense of belonging to those who belonged to the God of all grace. The Lord does this through Boaz, then through the Elders and the people who gathered at the city gate and heard the case of Naomi and Ruth.

1. Boaz according to God's law makes everything that belonged to Elimelech's house his own.

1. Boaz loved the Lord and sought to demonstrate his love by keeping the law of God. Boaz would have had no problem submitting to Jesus when he said, ‘If you love me, keep my commandments.' (John 14:15) I am sure that when Boaz said, "You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, from the hand of Naomi. ^Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day", he said it with thanksgiving and delight in his heart and probably a huge smile on his face. Boaz's testimony would have been; ‘the law of the Lord is so good.'  Boaz was a living illustration of Psalm 119 as he had hidden God's law in his heart and was full of confidence in that Law because it was God given.
   
   
2. The Scripture lays down the principle which Sinclair Ferguson states as, ‘God's covenant blessing comes to the man or woman who employs the law of God as his or her guide, and the wisdom of God to direct his or her lifestyle.' Speaking about the New Covenant the prophet Jeremiah says, "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah- not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people (Jeremiah 31:31-33). This passage makes it very clear that the New Covenant experience includes a great awareness and desire to give obedience to the Law of God. To say that the Law of God no longer plays a very significant role in the Christian life is to deny what Jeremiah proclaimed. When Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:5-6 says, ‘Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as being of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God who also made us sufficient ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.' By the letter Paul means the lawSpirit he means the Holy Spirit who gives life. Paul is not anti-law, but anti-salvation-by-law-keeping. Law keeping does not and cannot contribute anything towards your salvation as Christ's work alone saves. As Christians we should love the law of God as it enables us to express our love for Christ Jesus. We have the Spirit dwelling in us to promote holiness which is defined in living according to the law of God. Boaz lived according to God's revealed will. Like Boaz we must delight in the law of God. that condemns us for being law-breakers. By the
   
   
3. Through the law of God Ruth, Naomi and everything that had belonged to Elimelech's family now belonged to Boaz. He was responsible and obligated in everyway for Elimelech's family and estate. If anyone was owed money by Elimelech's estate Boaz was now responsible. Before many witnesses at the city gate he proclaims the marriage contract between himself and Ruth the Moabitess the widow of Malhon. God in his grace had established a bond and now Ruth belonged to Boaz. The public nature of the announcement made sure that everyone in Bethlehem would know that Ruth belonged to the godly Boaz.
   
   Boaz's love for the Law of God leads him on to declare the threefold purpose of the marriage.
   
   
1. ‘To perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.'
   
2. ‘That the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren.'
   
3. ‘That the name of the dead may not be cut off from his position at the gate.'
   
   

Boaz expresses the hope that through his marriage to Ruth a son would be born and that the name of Mahlon the son of Elimelech would continue. In declaring these three purposes Boaz also ensured that Ruth would be counted as one of the Lord's people. A son born to Ruth would be included as one of God's covenant people. According to Matthew Henry, Ruth's name would be placed in the public register as Boaz's wife. Legally Ruth was no longer a Moabitess she was now a member of God's covenant people. When I speak many will identify me as a South African, even though I am legally an Australian. Ruth belonged to God's people. The exact meaning of the third purpose ‘that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his position at the gate' is very difficult to determine. It could simply be taken as having Mahlon's family line kept in the public registry, which is much the same as the second purpose. Could it suggest that the name of Elimelech's family was restored with all the rights and privileges of the covenant which in all probability were removed when he departed from Bethlehem to live in Moab? If Elimelech and his family were excommunicated (cut off from the Lord's people) when they departed could this be the lifting of the excommunication and a full restoration to the Lord's people? If this is the case then Naomi and Ruth fully belong to the Lord's people. From a technical point of view Ruth and Naomi would be treated in the same way as Boaz.

4. Was this simply a marriage to meet the requirements of God's Law or did Boaz love Ruth? Concerning this matter there are two things that need to be considered.
   
   
1. According to the levirate law Boaz was not compelled to marry Ruth. Listen to the comments of David Atkinson on this matter; ‘The levirate duty did not always imply full marriage. In the case of Judah and Tamar, there was no marriage. We do not know whether the near kinsman-redeemer who has just expressed his inability to act as the goel (levir) would have entered into a full marriage with Ruth, or only acted as her levir until the child was born. He may already have been married himself, with an inheritance to safeguard for the sake of his own children.'  If full marriage was not the legal requirement then Boaz's love for Ruth shows in his willingness to marry her. Love made Boaz willing to share his life and all he had with Ruth.
   
   
2. Our age is besotted with the romantic idea of love. Romantic love normally has the simple plot of boy meets girl, both are physically attracted to each other and the rest is lost in the haze of passionate hugs and kisses. Given that Boaz was a much older man and not knowing much about Ruth's personal appearance, unless we accept that a woman's ability to work all day in the scorching sun and then carry home fifteen kilograms of barley has an impact on appearance. It would seem that physical appearance was not the thing that drew Boaz and Ruth together. The attraction between Ruth and Boaz was their godly characters and covenant loyalty to the Lord. Boaz and Ruth were more of a character match than the modern day love match. Their relationship was built on the solid rock of their love and delight in the Lord.

2. God in his grace moved the hearts of the people of Bethlehem to make Ruth one of them.

1. Look at the words of the blessing given in Ruth 4:12, ‘May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the Lord will give you from this young woman.' Notice that reference is made to this woman, which according to most commentators indicates the Ruth had been sent for and was present at the city gate for the blessing. It is possible that the moment the closer relative refused to act as kinsman-redeemer and levir, Boaz sent for Naomi and Ruth so that they could be present to hear the conclusion of the case. It also seems as if Boaz and Ruth were married on that very day. Ruth had gone to the threshing floor the night before dressed as a bride, now maybe twelve hours later she was the wife of Boaz.
   
   
2. We need to look at the blessing that was given by the elders and the people of Bethlehem to Boaz and Ruth. The first part of the blessing which we find in Ruth 4:11 asks for particular blessings on Ruth, Boaz and the community.
   
   
   1. If Ruth is to be blessed like Leah and Rachel, then the prayer is that God would make her a good wife and fruitful mother. Ruth's reputation was that she was a virtuous woman; the blessing asks that the same high virtues be found in her roles as faithful wife and mother.
      
      
   2. For Boaz the blessing asks that he would continue to prosper and be famous in Bethlehem.  The elders and the people pray that Boaz may continue to play an important role in the life of Bethlehem by continuing his faithfulness to the Lord.
      
      
   3. The blessings ask that the children from this marriage be like the house of Perez. Most of the resident of Bethlehem could trace their family tree back to Perez. In Ruth 4:18 the genealogy starts with Perez and in Matthew 1:3 Perez is listed in the genealogy of Jesus. The prayer asks that the family of Boaz and Ruth be a great blessing on the people of Bethlehem. God answered this prayer not only through the birth of David the son of Jesse, but also through the birth of the Jesus Christ the Son of God. No family on earth has been the source of greater blessing than that of Boaz and Ruth. While the blessing in verse 11 may well have been a traditional blessing used in Bethlehem, verse 12 seems more suited to the situation of Boaz and Ruth. Perez was the son of Tamar through her father in-law Judah, who refused to give his youngest son Shelah to Tamar according to the levirate law. Perez like the children to be born into the home of Boaz and Ruth would be according to the application of the levirate law. When Ruth heard this blessing her heart would have been filled with a sense of gladness for the people of Bethlehem proclaimed that she belonged to them. Ruth was no longer the Moabitess, the non-kosher women she now belonged to God's people and they embraced her.
      
      
3. When these blessings are given there is a mood of celebration and joy among the elders and the people at the city gate. The witnesses had become guests to a very public wedding. The Lord in his grace had moved the hearts of the people in Bethlehem to embrace, accept and value Ruth and no longer see her as an outsider. When the women in Ruth 4:15 say to Naomi, ‘...your daughter in-law, who loves you, who is better than seven sons...' they reveal that Ruth was not simply counted as one of them, but as a woman greatly admired, loved and respected. Ruth belonged to the Lord's people and the Lord's people belonged to Ruth. God's love for Ruth was amazing and wonderfully revealed. The Lord in his mercy and grace had greatly filled the empty life of a Moabite woman. Ruth would have rejoiced that night knowing that she belonged to the Lord, to the Lord's people and to Boaz. The Lord's people do not always readily embrace, accept and love those whom he redeems by the blood of Christ. We readily accept others in principle but are often slow to do so in practice.

Conclusion.

As Christians redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus our lives should be secure and strong in the sense that we belong to the Lord and each other for all eternity. This sense of belonging comes only through commitment to the Lord's people and as the Lord's people commit themselves to their brothers and sisters in Christ. The English word "commit" derives from the Latin words that mean, "to entrust." To commit to a relationship is to give up part of my individuality, to surrender myself, trusting that the relationship will be mutually beneficial to all parties. I belong when I do not try to hold myself apart from the relationship, when I invest time and energy into the relationship, when I give up my own claim to being an individual for the sake of being in a relationship that pleases the Lord. I belong when I commit myself to my brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Jesus says, ‘If you love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15) He also said, ‘A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.' If we love the Lord we will love his law and love each other giving one another the sense of belonging to the Lord and to one another. By not keeping this law we fail to express our love for the Lord in the most powerful way possible and we rob ourselves and others of the joy of knowing that they belong to each other and the Lord. May God give us grace and move our stubborn and fearful hearts to love each other as we ought.