Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the book of Ruth. The book of Ruth. This will be
a continual Sunday morning study until we've worked our way through
the book. The lesson this morning will
be taken from the book of Ruth, verses 5 through 17 of chapter
1. And my subject is faith that
won't go back. Let's read these verses together.
Ruth chapter 1, beginning with verse 5. And Malon and Gileon
died, also both of them. And the woman, talking about
Naomi, was left of her two sons and her husband. Her husband
had died, both of her two sons. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law
that she might return from the country of Moab. For she had
heard, while she was there in the country of Moab, how that
the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread. Wherefore,
she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law
with her. And they went on the way to return
to the land of Judah. And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law,
Go, return each to her mother's house. The Lord deal kindly with
you, as you have dealt with the dead, talking about her two sons
and herself. The Lord grants you that you
may find rest, each of you, in the house of your husband, that
is, your future husband. You'll meet somebody, you'll
marry somebody, and the Lord grants you rest in this new marriage. Then she kissed them, lifted
up And they lifted up their voice and wept. And they said unto
her, surely we will return with thee unto thy people. And Naomi
said, turn again, my daughters. Why will you go with me? Boy, that's the question, ain't
it? Why will you go with me? Are there yet any more sons in
my womb that they may be your husbands? Turn again, my daughters. Go your way, for I am too old
to have a husband. And if I should say I have hope,
if I should have a husband also tonight, and should also bear
sons, would you tarry for them till they were grown? Would you
stay for them from having husbands? Nay, my daughters. For it grieveth
me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out
against me.' And they lifted up their voice and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law,
but Ruth claimed unto her. And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law
is gone back to her people and unto her God. Return thou after
thy sister-in-law. And Ruth said, entreat me not
to leave thee, or to return from following after thee. For whither
thou goest, I will go, and whither thou loggest, I will lodge. Thy
people shall be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest, will I die,
and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more
also, if aught but death part thee and me." And when she saw
that she was steadfastly minded to go with her, then she left
speaking unto her. Now, Naomi asked this question. Why will you go with me? Let that sink in, what she's
asking. What advantage is there for you
to go with me? Why is it that a man or a woman
who's been raised in religion, who's heard from many mouths,
what they should do, what they should decide, and to follow
someone, or to return home to follow someone else, or to go
back to the way things were. Why will you go with me? In Acts 17, the philosophers
heard Paul preach. They invited him to come up to
their place of philosophies, Mars Hill. I've always thought
it so odd. On the way back to Taylor, there's
a little community there called Mars Hill, and there's a church
there called Mars Hill. And I thought, man, of all the
names to name a church, why would you want to call it Mars Hill?
That's where people went to either hear some new thing. They wanted to hear something
different, something new. And they gathered there at Mars
Hill. This is the place of philosophers. And they invited Paul to come
there and preach. And he told them, he said, I've
been wandering around here waiting on the time to start. And he
said, I've beheld all your devotions. And he said, there's only one
here. There are thousands of them, thousands of these little
devotional things to this God and that God, little statues
and birds and creeping things and who knows what out there.
And a little short definition of what they stood for under
those things, and he said, I saw one thing out there that was
correct. I saw one thing out there that
made sense out of all your devotion to the unknown God, the God you
don't know. He said, Him declare I unto you. And he did. He declared to them
the living God, the God that they were so ignorant of. And
then he preached to them. They listened to him, all of
his different points. He finally got down and started
preaching on the resurrection. That's enough, Paul. That's enough. He said some mocked
him. The man's nuts. He's talking
about the dead rising. He's nuts. They mocked him. And
some said they was much kinder. And they said, well, we'll hear
you again some other time. I'd like to know how many times
I've heard that. We'll hear you again. We'll have you back. We'll
invite you down again. Never hear from them again. But
it says, howbeit some clave unto him. Isn't that what's going
on here? One loved her mother more. She
did. She kissed her, she wept, she didn't want to be separated.
All of these natural affection and kindness and devotion, all
these things. Orpah had all these things. But
she kissed her mother-in-law and went home. Ruth wouldn't
do that. She kissed her mother-in-law
too, but she held on to her. And she said, I ain't leaving.
I got nothing to go back to. I got nothing to go back to. I come here on Sundays to preach,
and I find certain ones who are determined to stay here, been
here for years. I don't know how many years.
I think it was about 1981, the first time I came up, preached
to this little group. And I think the reason I find
certain ones who come back over and over and over, And I think
I could say of them the same thing that the Lord asked of
his disciples, will you go also? Will you go? Opportunity is always
here to live. We've had several come here and
stay for months, almost years or something like that. And then
one day, knock on the door. And the door swings both ways.
You can come or go. And the Lord said, will you go
too? Looked at the twelve. To whom shall we go? Thou hast
the words of eternal life. Is that why you come back? To
hear those words? Words of eternal life? That's
why our Lord said, they said to whom shall we go? He got that
profession or that accusation or whatever you want to call
it, He got that back from them. Naomi was as close as these two
women had ever been to the truth. They didn't hear any truth in
Moab. There wasn't any truth in Moab. But they heard the truth
from Naomi. That truth was demonstrated in
the ceremonies that she kept and honored the Sabbath day.
Christ was our Sabbath idiot. The Sabbath day is not only fulfilled,
but it's exampled and taught in the person of Christ. He's
our rest. We labor to enter into that rest. We labor all week, and then we
rest on the Sabbath. That's what the law says. But
that rest is in Christ. That was demonstrated by Naomi
and many other things that she did by way of ceremony. And these women learned everything
that they knew in the way of truth they had learned from Naomi. Whatever they saw and heard was
all that they knew. And what's going on in these
verses goes on in the lives of men and women every day. Every
day, all around you. Be careful what you say to folks.
Be careful how you act before folks. Because these things from
the believer are being exampled. They're being taught, whether
you know it or not. You're conveying things in the
way you live your life. It's not just the words that
you say. A man can say one thing and do
another. It's not so much what you say
as it is what you do. That's what they see. So what's
going on in these verses is God working all things after the
counsel of His own will. That's the first thing that's
going on. God's having His way in His providence. That goes
on every day, don't it? Been going on from the beginning.
In Ephesians chapter 1, Paul states the principal doctrines
that make up the doctrine of Christ. He talks about God the Father.
Salvation and those chosen of God have a Father. And God is
their Father. He's the Father of all blessings.
He's the Father of lights, James says. And every good and perfect
gift comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variance,
neither shadow of turning. Everything comes from Him. He's
the Father. All provision is made from Him. It comes from Him. He's the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we're blessed. And then he goes on and he talks
about God's eternal election chosen in Christ that we might
be holy and without blame before Him being loved. He states predestination,
having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will.
And then he talks about our acceptance in Christ. We're accepted in
the beloved in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. And then in verses 8 and 9 he
talks about making these great mysteries known and abounding
toward us in all wisdom and prudence. Wisdom, and as the dictionary
defines prudence, the ability to govern oneself by the use
of reason. The ability to make good judgments. And the scripture said, He hath
made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of enlightened
saints. He made us meet to make good
judgments. And showing to us, Ephesians
1.10, what God is purposed to do under the stewardship of Christ,
He's going to gather all things given to Christ together. That's
what He's going to do. Verse 11, Ephesians 1, listen
to this. In this one in whom God is gathering
all things, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will. That's what's going
on in these verses. And it's the story of ever saved
sinner. It's about the work of God in
the hearts of chosen sinners. Paul asked that men pray for
him. I ask of you the same thing.
Pray for me. Why? That the Word of God would
have free course. Not going to do anything if it
don't. That it would have free course. That it would get past
the arguments and past the debates and past all the luggage that
men carry over from religion. That it would have a free course.
Nothing to hinder it. Pray for me that the Word of
God would have free course and be glorified. And that He and
those who assisted Him would be delivered, now listen to this,
from unreasonable and wicked men. Oh God, deliver me from
such. And here's the reason, and this
is what I'm getting to. He said all men Have not faith. You can be religious and not
have faith. You can be a so-called Christian and not have faith. You can be what men call themselves
children of God. That's what the Jews said of
themselves. We'd be children of God. God's our father. And not have faith. Faith is the gift of God, Ephesians
2.8, and it is the work of God in you, John 6.29. What can we
do to work the works of God? This is the work of God, that
you believe on Him whom the Father has sent. This is the work of
God. It's the gift of God, and it's
the work of God, and it's the work of God in you. We are, in Ephesians 2.10, His
workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good work. He's talking about helping the
poor. Well, that'd be included in it, but that's not what he's
talking about here. He's talking about good gifts. Faith is a
good gift. And that's what he's talking
about. We're created in Christ Jesus
unto these good works which God hath before ordained that we
should walk in them. And both Naomi and Ruth are pictures
and examples of faith. Orpha, on the other hand, is
an example of a person who makes a profession of faith but cannot
persevere in it, will not persevere in it. And there's nothing in
the scriptural account of Orpha that would cause me to believe
that she was anything other than a kind and loving daughter-in-law. There's nothing there. Look at
it. She honored her husband. She served her husband. She waited
on him. She was a good daughter-in-law
to Naomi. She loved Naomi. She was kind
to her. She helped her. She didn't sit
on the couch and let her mother-in-law prepare the meal. She helped. Now listen. Herein lies the danger. Kindness, love, Affection and
tenderness have nothing to do with your salvation. We're saved
by grace. Now, these things are the fruit
of that salvation. Kindness and love. You can look
it up. It's the fruit of the Spirit.
Love. Huh? Sure it is. It's the fruit. But it's not the cause. It's
not the cause. Grace alone makes the sinner
a saint. And these two women had suffered
the same circumstances. Their loss was the same. Their
poverty was the same. And both were hungry by an act
of God. They both heard the same words
and saw the same things from their mother, Ma Naomi. But here's
the difference. Or if I found logic in going
back where she came from. She thought about it. Here's
my opportunity. I can go back. I can go back. I think I will. I think I will. I'll go back to my father's house.
They love me. They provided for me. They'll
help me. There's potential husbands back there. I can go back there
and remarry. I can go back. She reasoned these things. She found logic in going back
to where she came from before, and Ruth didn't. Orpah saw hope
in the land of Moab. Ruth didn't. God used the same message Orpah
heard to convince Ruth to go on with her mother-in-law. She got something different out
of the message. Isn't that funny? I told Don one day, I said, you
know, I had two people at church Sunday that came up to me. One
of them obviously hated my gut. They said something mean and
nasty to me and went out the door. The other one came to me
and said, the best message I ever heard. He said, you must have
preached the gospel that day, because that's the only thing
that will cause those two things to come out. These two women
heard two different things, even though they heard the same words.
God used the same message Orpah heard to convince Ruth to go
with her mother-in-law. She believed in Naomi's God and
loved Naomi for it. Why'd she love Naomi? Huh? Why did she love? Now, Orpah
said she loved her, but it's obvious that she didn't, because
love won't be separated. It won't be separated. False
faith is easily compromised. Truth is not. But here's what I want you to
see. Faith without works is dead. It's dead. Faith is a real work. It's an inward work. It's a real
and lasting conviction. It's not a one-time job. I do
this one time, I write this down, I make this provision, I'm good
to go. Oh, no you're not. That faith
that God puts in a man is alive and it goes on. It'll never go
back. Huh? Read over in Hebrews chapter
10 what it says. If any man draw back, my soul
will have no pleasure in him. But, now listen, talking about
true faith. We are not of them that draw
back unto perdition. We are of them who believe to
the saving of the soul. That's the difference between
faith and a false profession. Faith, if you have true saving
faith, it governs the will, the mind, and the reasoning of every
man who possesses it. That's right. Paul said, we have the mind of
Christ. That's what he's talking about.
The mind of Christ. The will of God reigned over
everything Christ did. Everything. Everything He said,
everything He did. I came not to do my own will,
but the will of Him that sent me. That's what He said. And
this is the Father's will which He sent me, that of all which
He hath given me I should lose nothing, but raise it up again
the last day. Psalm 110 verse 3 says, Thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. They going to be willing? You better be willing. Oh preacher,
you saying man don't have a will. No, I never said that. I said
he didn't have a free will. And he don't. His will is biased
by sin. It's biased by his father nature.
But when God enters into him, takes up his abode in him, and
that man's born of God, he's willing. He's willing. God's not going to save any man
who's not willing. Huh? And I love what Barnard... See these things, they look so
absolutely contrary. I had a conversation with a man
yesterday on just that, how contrary these things are. But Barnard
said this, God's going to save every man against his will with his full
consent. And that's exactly what God does.
That's exactly what he does. They're willing in the day of
his power. Now James is an official written to all the churches concerning
the justification of their faith. Not justification by faith. That's the theme of the book
of Romans. But the justification of faith. Show me thy faith. That's what James keeps saying.
Show me thy faith. What kind of faith do you have?
Let's examine it and see if it's the faith of God's elect. That's
what the book of James is all about. And the faith of God's
elect always produces the works of faith. Abraham's faith, he
said, was justified when he took his son Isaac up on that mountain
and laid him out on the wood. and took the fire in his hand
and a knife in the other one and was getting ready to dissect
that boy and lay him out on the altar just like he would a lamb
or a goat or anything else because God commanded him to. And God
stayed his hand. But in his heart and in his mind
he slayed that boy. He obeyed God. Rahab the harlot, her faith was
justified when she received God's messengers and helped to send
them away without harm. As the body without the spirit
is dead, so faith without works is dead. It's just words. Just
words. And Orpah's faith was not the
faith of God's elect. Her faith was subject to natural
reasoning, not the word of God. Everything that I believe in
and hope for is based on this book. If it's not, it's just
an opinion, isn't it? It's worthless, like noses. Everybody
has one. Her faith was subject to natural
reasoning, not the Word of God, and her faith relied on what
she could see, not on what she couldn't see. Now, things which
we see, He tells us over in 2 Corinthians 3, the things that we see, or
2 Corinthians 4, I'm sorry, they're temporary. Everything you see
out here is not going to be. But the things that you don't
see, they're eternal. They're eternal. And like Lot's wife, she looked
back. And in so doing, she lost everything. Where faith abides, the Spirit
abides. Actually, faith is the fruit
of the Spirit. That's what he tells us. The Spirit produces love, joy,
peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, and meekness. That's the fruit of the Spirit. What is this thing of faith?
Faith is as though another person is born within. That's what faith
is. A whole new man appears. The experience of it is not like
anything you've ever known. There's nothing to compare it
to. Because it's not of this world. It's of God. It's contrary
to the flesh. It's contrary to the world. And
it's foreign to even those who have known us all our lives.
Ruth couldn't abide in Moab without her mother-in-law. She couldn't
go back to the way of the heathen and the hope of the heathen and
the life of the heathen. She couldn't do it. Can you? Can you go back to the way it
was? No. Why? Because you have the wisdom
of God. You see the fallacy of it now.
You didn't see it when you was in it. Paul didn't either. He
held the coat of those men who stoned God's preacher Stephen
and consented unto his death. But he said, I did it ignorantly. He didn't know. But once a man
knows, he ain't going back to that. You reckon Lazarus wanted to
go back in the tomb? No. He'd come out of the tomb. He didn't want to go back. And
when God raises you from the dead, you don't want to go back
to the cemetery. Oh, my soul. Christ said, think
not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send
peace, but a sword. Matthew chapter 10. And listen,
he continues on, verse 35. For I am come to set a man at
variance. What's he talking about? A disagreement. I've come to set a man in disagreement,
in conflict, against his father, and the daughter against her
mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and
a man's foes shall be they of his own household. Why? Because they're dead just
like everybody else. That's why. It's not an easy
thing to leave what you've always known. And here's the heart of it. Matthew
10 verse 37. He that loveth father, mother
more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh
not his cross, and followeth not after me, is not worthy of
me. And he that findeth his life. Orpah found her life in Moab. She saw the possibility of it,
the likelihood of it, the good sense of it, and she said, I'm
going back. Ruth didn't. She had no life apart from Naomi's
God. And this is always the way of
faith. Orpah loved Naomi. It was obvious by her tears and
kisses, but she could not and did not depart. She kissed her
mother-in-law, but Ruth clave unto her. What's that mean? They would become one. She wrapped
her arms around him and her, and she wasn't about to turn
loose. She clave unto her. Now watch this. John said there were some that
went out from us. Where'd they go? I don't know.
Went here, went there, went somewhere else. Doesn't tell you anything
about Orpah after that time. What happened? She probably married
and had a good life. Died in her sins. Died in unbelief. Many do. But John said they went
out from us. But they were not of us. For
if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued
with us. You see, the whole basis of our
salvation is union with Christ, being one with Him. Now, if we're
one with Him, we're one with one another, ain't we? All saved
for the same reason, for the same purpose, for the same glory,
by the same means, by the same man. We're all one in Him. And Christ said He's going to
show to the world that God hath loved us as much
as He loved His own Son. I'll read it in John 17. In our salvation. If all you see wrong with the
world is a few discrepancies, you might not mind going back
to it. They're a little off in their doctrine. They're a little
off in this, a little off in that. No, they're way off. Believers see the world cursed
of God, a world living in darkness, living in deceit, living in a
vain dream. Believers see a world that hates
the God they love. And their differences are intolerable. It's like night and day. Death
and life, bondage and freedom, truth and a lie. There's that
much difference. Now exactly where could we compromise? Where are we willing to compromise?
In the character of God? In the work of His Son? In the
power of His Spirit? Where are we going to compromise? Unbelievers who are close to
you always try to find a medium, a place a common ground, and
they can never find it, because there is none. Here's the heart of faith. Ruth
said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following
after thee. Where you go, I'm going. I'm
going. Your people will be my people,
and your God my God. And all God's people are one.
Their whole hope is based on that. How precious then is their
relationship with one another. He said, if a man say, I love
God and hate his brother, he's a liar. It's a total impossibility. You can't love God and hate your
brother. For he that loveth not his brother
whom he hath seen, How can he love God whom he has not seen?
And the very same circumstances had befallen both Ruth and Orpah. Both were hungry by an act of
God. Both were given the opportunity to return to their people and
their gods. But here's the distinction. God
made Ruth hungry for Bethlehem's bread. She was just as excited
as Naomi about the bread. And he left Orpah to be satisfied
with the husk of Moab. And the gospel is designed for
those that God makes hungry for the bread of life. It declares
a visitation of the Lord and the giving of this bread. And
with it, he gives his people faith to come and dine. The ability. The old hymn writer wrote these
words. I looked it up again this morning and copied all the words
down. I may have included in our hymn notes. It's not in there. But the name of the old hymn
is coming down. And it says this, Jesus has a
table spread. He always has. Had it in the
tabernacle. Had it at the last supper. Has
it when we have the Lord's table. a bread set on the table. It's
here every Sunday for you to eat in the preaching of the gospel.
Jesus has a table spread where the saints of God are fed. Now
listen, he invites his chosen people come and dine. Come and
dine. With his manna he doth feed and
supplies our every need. Oh, to sweep to sup with Jesus. All the time. All the time. I hope the Lord will use this
to teach us something about the faith of God's elect. I tell
you, I fear more than anything else, having preached to others,
I find myself a castaway. Oh, I don't want to go through
life with a sorry faith, a faith that's no faith at all. Do you?
I want to know the truth. I want to know the truth. and
I believe God will reveal it.