I invite your attention to the
book of Ruth, chapter one. The book of Ruth, chapter one. That last hymn we just sang is
so precious to me. My father was a patriarch, six
children. All three of his sons were called
by the Lord into the gospel ministry. His daughters are faithfully
serving the Lord as well. We would gather for a family
reunion at least once a year and we would come from Usually
long distances. Shane and I coming up from some
island in the West Indies where I would be ministering, had a
brother who for a while was in Anchorage, Alaska, but we would
all get together once a year and we'd have a reunion. My father always began it with
a hymn. Usually passed me not, oh gentle
Savior. And then at the end of the reunion,
He would lead us in singing, blessed be the tithe that binds,
and particularly that fourth verse, when we asunder part.
The Lord called him to glory, and I being the firstborn, it
fell upon me the honor and the privilege of leading that hymn. When we asunder part, it gives
us inward pain, but we shall still be joined in heart and
hope to meet again. Are we not blessed in knowing
that death is not the end? It's just the beginning. It is
a beginning for the child of God. We face death differently
than other people do. But we shall still be joined
in heart and hope to meet again. Ruth chapter 1. Today's message
is the second in this series. It is an exposition. Last Lord's Day we dealt with the first part of verse 1. Today
we're going to deal with the second part of verse 1. And then
we're going to Quicken our pace, but we're setting some groundwork
here And I'm just going I'm going to read this morning only the
first five verses of Ruth chapter 1 Now it came to pass in the
days when the judges ruled we dealt with that phrase last week
Describing the judges and then showing that they were tops of
Jesus Christ Who is our judge? And he rules. And there was a
famine in the land, and a certain man in Bethlehem, Judah, went
to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his
two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech,
and the name of his wife, Naomi, and the name of his two sons,
Mahlon and Kalion, Ephrathah of Bethlehem, Judah. And they
came into the country of Moab and continued there. And Elimelech,
Naomi's husband, died and she was left and her two sons. And
they took them wives of the women of Moab, the name of the one
was Orpah, the name of the other Ruth, and they dwelled there
about 10 years. Malan and Kalyan died, also both
of them, and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. Now, as I said, we dealt with
that phrase in the days when the judges ruled last week. Today, I want us to look at this
phrase, the second phrase in that verse. There was a famine
in the land. There was a famine in the land. We're not told when this famine
was. But there was a famine in the
days of the judges. You can read about it in Judges
6, verses one through six. The Midianites came in. The scripture
says they came in like locusts, a plague of locusts, devoured
the crops. They would let the Israelites
grow the crops, and when it came time to harvest them, the enemy came in and did the
harvesting, left the children of Israel in famine and dying
of starvation. The Lord raised up a man named
Gideon. In the introduction to him, he
is harvesting crops in secret. Evidently had a place, had not
been discovered, The Lord raised him up, Gideon, the judge. Now we do not know
that the famine here in the book of Ruth was that famine, but
commentators generally agree that it was. I think it may be
the only famine that really is mentioned in the book of Judges.
But Israel was impoverished during that time. But I want us to learn
two truths regarding that famine. First, God sometimes uses times
of great deprivation to usher in times of great blessings.
If there had never been this famine, Elimelech would not have gone
to Moab. If Elimelech had never gone to
Moab, his son would not have married Ruth. If his son had not married Ruth,
Ruth would not have come back to Bethlehem with Naomi after
her husband died. If Ruth had not come back to
Bethlehem when the famine was over, she never would have met
Boaz. If she never would have met Boaz,
She would never have been in the family tree of Jesus Christ,
because she is, when you read Matthew's gospel, chapter one.
She married Boaz. The Lord used a famine, and he used the sin of Limelech
and going there, and continuing there. The Lord used that during
a time of deprivation. to bring salvation to Israel. That great blessing of Messiah
coming from Bethlehem through Boaz and Ruth, it occurred because
of a famine. Let us never forget, my dear
friends, that the scripture says all things work together for
good to those who love God. Your times of success, your times
of deprivation, when the Lord gives a job to
you, when he takes it away, whatever happens, all things, God is using
every circumstance in our life what we call the good and the
bad, and he's weaving a tapestry of our lives, warp and woof. And if you look at it from the
backside, makes no sense at all. You come around to the front
and step back, and when you look at the tapestry of your life,
you're going to see that our Lord has done a marvelous thing,
using even the times of deprivation for our good. All things work
together for good to those who love God, to those who are called
according to his purpose. Now consider also this truth.
The sin of Israel in the days of the judges resulted in physical
famine So did the sin of Israel in rejecting Jesus result in? spiritual famine They rejected Jesus That was a far greater sin than
a limeleck going to Moab They rejected Jesus Therefore God
rejected them They castigated God's words and
Persecuted his preachers and so God said okay. I'll just take
them away from you Israel has had the great famine ever since
then a spiritual famine Began 2,000 years ago and continues
to this day With but few exceptions have there been men called of
that nation under the salvation of our Lord. Beware of your sins. Beware of your sins. Oh, what
consequences they can bring. What loss of fellowship here
resulted in Israel having the gospel taken away from them.
They had the ordinances, they had the covenants, they had the
temple, they had the worship of God, they had the law. God
took every bit of it away from them and put them into a terrible
spiritual famine because they rejected the only remedy for
their sins, Jesus Christ. The worst sin you will ever commit
is unbelieving in Jesus Christ. I say it is the worst sin because
it is the sin against the remedy. It is the remedy for your reflection. And to reject him is to say,
I will not be healed. I will not be healed. But I want
us to consider something else today. We're going to spend some
time on this subject. that a far worse famine has come
upon that place. And it is a famine that is mentioned
in the prophecy of Amos, chapter eight, verse 11. Now listen to
these words, and it's in your synopsis if you wish to follow.
Behold, this is Jehovah speaking through Amos, one of the latter
day prophets. Behold, the days come. saith
the Lord God, Adonai Jehovah, that I will send a famine in
the land, not a famine of bread nor of thirst for water, but
of hearing the words of Jehovah. My friend, this is a famine of
hearing Jehovah's words. There can be no worse famine.
a famine of hearing, Jehovah's words. Now, Jehovah's words are
his scriptures. His words are herein. Jehovah's
words, his precepts, his ordinances, his gospel. Jehovah's words foremost
are Jesus Christ, the incarnate and living word. He is the divine
Word who, before the beginning, was the Word that was God and
the Word that was with God and the Word that was made flesh.
In the revelation of Jesus Christ, His very name is written across
His vesture, the Word of God, the Word of God. What is He as
the Word of God? A word is a vehicle of communication. By words, I communicate from
my mind to your mind so that you can see what I would have
you to know that I'm speaking. Jesus Christ expresses the mind
of God. He is God's word. And in this
famine of which we here speak, it is a famine of God withholding
his word. The hearing of the words of Jehovah
that would imply that there's a preacher close by. God sends
preachers to preach his word. If there is a hearing of his
words, there is a preacher. But here's a famine what happened. God pulled the preachers back. There is a sin in the land. And
so Jehovah withholds the words. He withholds the spiritual nourishment
because Jesus Christ is the true bread from God in heaven, the
bread of life that gives life and sustains life. And when God
withholds the preaching of his words, when God prevents the
hearing of his words, There is spiritual famine and starvation
unto death. And it has happened often. It happened in Israel as distinct
from Judah. You recall that the land was
divided, Israel to the north, Judah to the south. And the Lord sent prophets, a
good number of prophets, Telling it telling the people of Israel
repent of your sins they would not do it and Since they would
not listen to the words of Jehovah He said I'll just take my preachers
away from you So Jehovah sent the Assyrians in to the northern
kingdom Israel and They took the Israelites from
the northern kingdom into Assyria, where there was a famine of the
word of God because the gospel surely was not preached in Assyria.
And there they spiritually starved to death. I'll stress the point. Refusing to hear and heed a man
sent from God, is a terrible thing to do. It happened not only in Israel,
it happened in Judah. Judah was the southern kingdom. Jerusalem is there. You would think that since the
city of God is in Judah that The people would listen to the
prophets Jehovah sent, but no. When you read the prophets of
Jeremiah, who prophesied at the time of the fall of Jerusalem,
six times, six times, Jehovah speaks through Jeremiah to the
people in Jerusalem and in Judah and he says these words Since
the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt
on to this day now consider Since they came out of Egypt since
Moses brought them out delivered them from Pharaoh brought them
through the Red Sea then through the wilderness Joshua brought
them into the land and from that day they came out of Egypt and All they did was complain. They
complained in the wilderness. They complained in the promised
land. And the Lord sent prophets and they said, we don't like
what he's got to say. And they would not listen. He
says, I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily
rising up early and sending them, as though to say, it was the
first thing I did every morning. Soon as I rose in morning, I
sent the prophet to you, daily rising up early and sending them,
yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened
their neck. Six times in the prophecy of
Jeremiah, that is stated unto us. Stiff-necked and hard-necked
people, hard-hearted, would not listen to the prophets. Can you
imagine, Jeremiah goes to Jerusalem Preaches to them any weeks. He's
called the weeping prophet and they mocked him and would not
listen to what he had to say So Jehovah says all right, you
will not listen to my problem. You won't even listen to Jeremiah
So I'm gonna send you a famine a famine of hearing the words
of Jehovah So he sent the Babylonians and the greatest empire of that day.
They surrounded Jerusalem. Jerusalem fell. And after Jerusalem
fell, the people of Israel, or of Judah, were taken into captivity
in Babylon for 70 years, where there was no gospel preacher,
for 70 years. That's a lifetime, folks. No gospel preacher for 70 years,
meaning they all spiritually died and went to death, died
in their sins, not having the gospel preached to them. This famine occurred also in
the so-called 400 silent years. Now the Lord brought the children
of Israel and Judah back into the land. And he sent some prophets. And he sent some worthy men,
Ezra and Nehemiah. They rebuilt the city and the
wall and the temple, restored the priesthood. And the people
were so glad they had their temple back. But they resorted again to their
sinning, despising the word of the Lord. And he sent prophets
unto them and they would have nothing to hear about from the
prophets. Some of the latter day prophets
that are toward the end of the book of the Old Testament, And he sent those prophets unto
them, and they would not listen to the prophets. God again, rising
up early and sending prophets. About the year 400 B.C., there's
a prophet by the name of Malachi. And the Lord is speaking to him,
says, write these words. Malachi writes that prophecy. Justice Jehovah told him to write He got down to the end of the
fourth chapter Where Jehovah said I will send Elijah before
the terrible day of the Lord God said I'm through talking
put your quill down Malachi put his quill down in about the year
400 BC And God shut his mouth and said
nothing else for 400 years. Sent no prophet. We call it the
400 silent years from the day that Malachi put his quill down
until John the Baptist came. 400 years, no prophet. God did
not speak, sent no preacher. Do you realize how long 400 years
is? What happened 400 years ago in
North America? The pilgrims landed. The pilgrims
landed. Now imagine the pilgrims landed
and God said, I'm not gonna say another word. I'll send no more
preachers. From 1620. I'm done speaking. 400 years. I tell you, that was 400 of the worst years
this world has ever known. God did not speak. And there was a famine in the
land. And he can do it again. He can
do it again. In fact, there are places on
this earth that have been in a spiritual famine for 400 years. But that was to Israel and Judah
that the Lord said that. It is no wonder that when the
400 silent years were over and God said, I'm gonna speak again,
and God sent a preacher, his name was John the Baptist. John
the Baptist came preaching, they said, who are you? He meant what
he said when he said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Because this is a desolate place.
There's a famine in this place. It is no wonder that he was such
a figure of attraction. They had not seen a preacher
for 400 years. God sent a famine, a famine of
hearing the words of Jehovah. This famine happened in Bethlehem. Now Bethlehem was five miles
south of Jerusalem. So what happens in Jerusalem
happens in Bethlehem. What happened in Jerusalem? John the Baptist began preaching. Oh, the Lord did a marvelous
work in saving so many souls and many of them from Jerusalem.
Then God sent the Messiah of whom John had spoken, Jesus of
Nazareth. Ministered on this earth for
the three and a half years of his incarnation He was put to death by his own
countrymen they rejected him But 40 days after his burial
The day of Pentecost cubs And what does God do Raises up a
preacher by the name of Peter who preached a message on the
day of Pentecost Acts chapter 2 about 30 AD And the Lord just
decides I'm gonna save a few thousand souls and he did He
did and a little later in the book of Acts you read a few more
thousand were saved The Lord did a marvelous thing there is
in Jerusalem a shortly after the death of Jesus Christ a church
of a few thousand members and Undoubtedly a good number of
them from Bethlehem Well that did not sit well with
the authorities They're going to be outnumbering us So what
did they do? persecuted Saul of Tarsus made
havoc of the church, not only in Jerusalem, but even going
to other places. And there was another great persecution
after the death of Stephen. We read that many who were persecuted
fled, went to other places. There was still a good-sized
church there. There was one when Paul finished
up his ministry and came to Jerusalem and James was pastor of the church.
There were quite a few members. It was a good-sized church, but
under great persecution. But they remembered these words
from Jesus shortly before he died. when he said, when you
see the abomination of desolation approaching Jerusalem, flee to
the mountains. The abomination of desolation
came 70 AD because of the rebellion of the Jews against Rome. And
Rome would not put up with it. And the abomination of desolation,
the standard that came at the head of the Roman army is approaching
Jerusalem. Thousands of people died in Jerusalem
from starvation and through the besiegement. It is said that
not one Christian died in Jerusalem in 70 AD when the city fell. Not one. Why? They remembered
the words of Jesus. When you see the abomination
of desolation coming, flee to the mountains. And to Petra they
went. But now there are no more Christians
in Jerusalem. What does that mean? Famine. No more hearing of the words
of Jehovah, no preacher, no prophet, no one sounding the good news
of salvation. It's a famine that continues
to this day. This has happened in other countries. I've been reading recently Philip
Schaff's, it's a voluminous work, eight volumes on the history
of the Christian church. And recently been reading of
the Reformation in Germany under Martin Luther and in Geneva under
Calvin and Strasbourg and other places under Zwingli and others. Remarkable thing. Do you realize
what the Lord did when he raised up that monk by the name of Martin
Luther who nailed his 95 theses to the door of Wittenberg Church
and a reformation broke and spread into Switzerland particularly in Geneva John Knox
The Scottish reformer who had to flee to Geneva said that in
Geneva he found the most perfect school of Christ since the days
of the apostles In France Huguenots Folks the
gospel was spreading there were preachers in Germany and Switzerland
in the Netherlands Go up into the British Isles
and There were the Covenanters of Scotland and the Puritans
of England, and the gospel was being sounded forth so very clearly. What happened? It's not that way now. What happened? People wanted to hear something
else. Folks, we're seeing this in our
lifetime. Some of us are old enough to
remember when England was full of gospel preachers and sound
churches. Where are they now? Scotland,
full of sound churches and preachers, where are they now? It's been
in our lifetime, our generation. When people despised the word
of God, He takes it from them. They would not hear the word
of God. Therefore the Lord said, I'll
just take my preachers. Old faithful preachers die and
the Lord does not raise up younger ones to take their place. No
need to. Nobody wants to hear them anyway.
It's just famine. It's happening in our country. It is, if I did not believe in
the sovereignty of God, I would say it's a scary thing. I'm 76 years of age. I can remember in the days of
my youth when the Lord called me into the ministry. And there were so many of us
young men that were being called into the ministry. I was raised
in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. I can name for you from the 60s
and the 70s at least about 10 men that I knew that were called
of God to preach this gospel of free and sovereign grace.
And I'm talking, I mean, some of you, some of whom you know,
Don Fortner and Tim James, we lived within five miles of each
other and we knew each other. The Lord raised up a good number
of men. They're in Winston-Salem in the
60s and 70s. I do not see him doing that now.
And we who were called back then, we're getting old. Some of us
have already died. Let me tell you something, folks.
It is way past time to pray for this country. It is way past
time to pray for countries like Germany and Switzerland, the
Netherlands, France, Scotland and England. Something is happening. And it appears that God is sending
a famine in so many places. This famine happens in churches.
In churches. There are, and I can find, I
can tell you of some, if I wished, but some sound churches who in these latter days have
brought in some bad doctrines and some unholy practices and
worldly entertainment, and they're losing their gospel
witness. Churches. I know of some churches that
I would have thought would have been here for ages and now they're
gone. Folks, if you have a church in
your town where this gospel is preached, it means that God has
not sent the famine to your place yet. God still has sent a preacher. He did so in this place. But in other places, he's doing
just like he did with the seven churches in Asia Minor. You read
that revelation of Jesus Christ, seven churches in Asia Minor. Faithful churches, oh yeah, we
got one that's lukewarm, but I mean they're faithful churches,
but what does the Lord say to them? If there's a problem in your
midst, you better get rid of it because if not, I will remove
your lampstand or your candlestick. And he's walking in the midst
of those lampstands. And they're giving light into
the world. He's walking in the midst of
Philadelphia, Smyrna, Thyatira. He's walking in the midst of
those churches in Asia Minor And then one day he's walking
in and he notices, well, the flame of that church went out.
I'll just take the lamp stand and get rid of it. No need for
it anymore. Where are those seven churches
in Asia Minor? Gone. Why? They would not have God's gospel,
so he just took it away from them. We're seeing that happen
so many places even in our midst here today Pray for gospel preachers pray
for gospel churches I Am so thankful for what the Lord has done here
in this place Many years ago The Lord came
to a man and Central Indiana and said Get your Bible and go
to Great Falls, Montana Some hungry people out there I'm gonna send you to feed them.
So he did he did John Mitchell came to Great Falls,
Montana and He had a whole lot of bread with
him because he fed folks for many many years And the testimony and that's
what he was doing he was feeding people I've heard this man right
here. I've heard his testimony of coming
to a midweek worship service Very hungry having been from
church to church and place to place, trying to find something
to satisfy the gnawing hunger in his soul, could not find it,
attended a midweek worship service and heard John Mitchell, or witnessed
him distributing bread from God's word. His hunger was fed and
they permitted him to speak after the service. And I believe his
question was, do you folks realize what you have here? Was that
your question? Do you realize what you have here? Somebody's
feeding you Your testimony much the same Mitch tells of Having
this gnawing hunger in his soul and going from place to place
and could not find the hunger satisfied came and heard John
Mitchell and the Lord has Given some bread to that man and he's
freely distributing it God is speaking through him John did so until failing health prevented him
from doing so. So the Lord went to England and
came to a man by the name of Peter Mennie and said, get your
Bible, go to Great Falls, you're gonna go feed some people, they're
hungry. And he did, he did. Until Providence, Took him back
to England, where he's still feeding folks there, but that
meant that there was no one here to feed. So the Lord went down to Middle
Tennessee, said to a man, get your Bible, go to Great Falls,
some hungry people up there, you're gonna go feed them. So
I picked up my Bible and came to Great Falls. Been trying my
best to feed some hungry people. If God is doing that in your
midst, you are blessed. But he's doing it only because
there are hungry people. If there are people truly hungry,
God will see that they're fed. Blessed are they who hunger and
thirst for righteousness. They shall be filled. Let there never come the day
when we Decide we would rather hear something other than what
Jehovah has said We let our worship degenerate This has happened
to churches. They've gone. They've gone the
way of the churches of Asia Minor So that if you have a faithful
church in your town and a faithful preacher pray for him But I close
with this This famine has also happened to individuals. Now
consider it is a spiritual famine of not hearing the words of Jehovah,
not hearing the scriptures explained, the precepts set forth, the gospel
declared, not hearing of Jesus Christ. That is the greatest
famine, and it happens to individuals. So many young people, sat under
the sound of the gospel. Their parents kind of enforced
it on them, probably. They came and sat with their
parents and listened to the gospel. Many of them decided they did
not want it. So when they were liberated from
the oversight of their father and their mother. They left the
Lord's house and went off into the world where they will starve to death
unless God does something. Now he can. He did it with both
my children. My children were raised under
the gospel set under the gospel every worship service. They were catechized, they learned
the scriptures, they could sing the songs. They could quote the
texts. But in their teenage years, did
not care for it. And when they left their parents' home, They forsook
the Lord's house and went off into the world. I thank the Lord that they never
went into religion. But they went off into the world. There were parents who prayed
for them every day. And the Lord answered their prayers
and saved them both. Now some of you have children
and you raised them under the word and they lived under it,
heard it here in the worship services. Then they went off
into the world. God can let them starve to death. They deserve nothing better from
him. But I say this, He does hear and answer prayers of parents
and friends and loved ones. And I say this, if you are hearing the gospel
today and you have never believed it, believe it now. Believe it now. Trust in Jesus
Christ right this very moment. Don't walk out in unbelief because God just may send a famine
upon you and you are not permitted to hear this word again. Now
is the day of salvation. Today, do not harden your heart.
God has sent famines. I hope he never sends one to
Great Falls. I hope we always have some hungry
souls here, and I hope there is always a man who can stand
up and say, thus saith the Lord. And I hope we believe him. Oh
God, our Father, be pleased, we pray, to bless this word.
Feed us, we're hungry, feed us. We pray for our sister churches
that are struggling. We pray for places that are in
need of a pastor. We pray that you would raise
up some young men. Oh, some older men too, Lord.
Raise up whomever you will. May there be a sound gospel witness
throughout our land. To your glory in Jesus' name
we pray. Amen.