the Lord may graciously help
me I'll turn your prayerful attention to the book of Ruth and as the
Lord helps I do want to look at this first chapter of the
book of Ruth very instructive but for a take for a text from
verse 11 the question that Naomi puts to her two daughters-in-law
Ruth chapter 11 sorry Ruth 1 and verse 11 The whole verse reads,
And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters, why will ye go with
me? And those particularly those
words, why will you go with me? Ruth 1 verse 11. We have in this
precious book of Ruth, an account given in the time of the judges
and this morning in the Sunday school both older and younger
class have been looking at the time of the judges and one of
those judges was Gideon and but one of the things of those times
of the judges that they were times when we read in the end
of the book of Judges chapter 21 and verse 25 in those days
there was no king in Israel every man did that which was right
in his own eyes. And that was not a good thing.
They were not looking to see what God said was right or wrong.
It was what they were doing, whether they thought it was right
or wrong. And you see, that's what happened really in the book
of Ruth at the beginning. We have Elimelech doing what
was right in his own eyes and the sad consequences of that.
When we began the reading of this book, now it came to pass
in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the
land. And it was set before you this
morning, some of those in the older class, the fact that when
there was a turning away from God of Israel, then there was
judgments from God. But you see here, they went into
the country of Moab. So in the country of Moab, which
was a country of idol worship, there was bread. And in Bethlehem,
which was the house of bread, where the Lord's people were,
in a land flowing with milk and honey, there was a famine. You
say, how is that right? How is it in the land flowing
with milk and honey there's a famine, and in Moab there's plenty? How could that be? Well, we see
so many times in the Word of God that we realize that whom
the Lord loveth, he chasteneth." Moab generally was the enemy
of Israel. I know Ruth was a Moabitess and
came to trust under the God of Israel, a type and a figure of
the Gentiles that would be saved. But you see, really, Moab, you
see, in its plenty, There's this word in Jeremiah, Jeremiah 48
verse 11, it says, Moab hath been at ease from his youth,
and he hath settled on his lees, that's on the sediments like
wine settling on the settlements of it, of the grapes, parts of
the grapes have made it, and hath not been emptied from vessel
to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity, therefore his
taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed. So Moab, you see, they were living
in idolatry and they continued to have good harvests. Israel,
God's people, when they started to embrace idolatry and started
to go in a wrong way, they had famine. You say, is God good? Why is he doing that to his people?
because he loves his people too much to leave them. And you see, this is a really
important message for all of us, particularly the young people. You see, Elimelech thought, well,
there's famine in Israel. I'll solve the problem. I'm not
going to feel the rod and he that has appointed it. I'm going
to go and get out of the famine. I'm going to live in Moab. I'm
not going to feel the chastening hand of God upon me. I'm going
to live in Moab, the place where Chemosh was their God, the one
that did child sacrifice. The God of Israel was not worshipped
generally in Moab. It was a heathen country. Moab
wouldn't even let Israel go across its borders, wouldn't go through
it when they were going to the Promised Land. Moab started of
course as the incestuous relationship between Lot and one of his daughters. But here you see, we see here that God is not mocked.
You see he thought, well I can go and sojourn in the country
of Moab. I'm just going to go there for
a time. That's what Elimelech said, we're told, and Naomi and
their two sons, Marlon and Chilion, they were going to go and live
for a time in Moab. But actually, Elimelech, Marlon,
Chilion all died in Moab. Very solemn. And clearly, as
you go on and read in, Naomi recognize this as a judgment
from God. In verse 13 it says that the
hand of the Lord has gone out against me. You see and there's
also a very solemn thing you see. We read first of all that Elimelech died. But that should
have if you were sent the alarm bells going are we in the right
place. Is this really where we should be. But sadly you see
the iniquities of the fathers went on to the children. The
wrongness of what the father was doing was perpetuated by
what the sons did. And you see here the sons then
started taking wives of the Moabites. They were strictly forbidden
to do that. In Deuteronomy 7 we're told this. Deuteronomy 7, verse 3, it says,
neither shalt thou make marriages with them. That's talking about
the Canaanites and Moabites. Neither shalt thou make marriages
with them. Thy daughter shalt thou not give unto his son, nor
his daughter shalt thou take unto thy sons. For they will
turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other
gods. So will the anger of the Lord
be kindled against you and destroy thee suddenly. That's Deuteronomy
7 verse 4 really a prophecy of what ended up happening to Marlon
and Chilean. You see we need to be careful. We might think I'm not going
to feel the famine. I'm not going to feel the chastening
hand of God I'll go somewhere else. We had set before us the
greatness of God this morning with the sun, the moon, and the
earth, and how everything is known by him. You can't escape
God. You can't get to Moab and say,
well, God doesn't know where I am. I'm in Moab. No. He knows
where they were in Moab, and he judged them. It was a judgment. They died. in a land that was
away from the worship of God. And there's a real lesson here
for each of us and particularly for the young people. To think
of this, be careful what you do. You see, you might say, oh,
but I can see the world get away with it. Moab got away with it. Moab was not emptied from vessel
for vessel. They never were chastened by
God because they were going on to a never-ending eternity in
punishment from God. But God's people, you see, he's
going to draw to himself. We were at a wedding yesterday,
and as part of the address, the minister there made a very powerful
statement, I thought, was that God, you see, has the power,
as it were, to bring his people kicking and screaming to glory
if that's what he wanted to do. But he doesn't. He draws them
by love. so that every one of the ones
in the kingdom of God, he made the point that people that come
every Sunday as it were to worship in the house of God, he could
make them come, but he makes it their chief delight to be
there. And that's the love of God. And you see this book of Ruth
is about a book of love, how that Ruth was drawn to such a
God, a God that was angry with sin, that would not tolerate
evil, and yet was merciful. You see that cycle that Russell
was speaking about in the Sunday this morning of sin and then
grace, the grace of God in raising up a deliverer. Picturing, of
course, the great Deliverer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who would
be the Deliverer to save his people from their sins. A cycle
of sin, and then the mercy of saving those that are lost and
ruined in the fall. And so we see it, you see, in
this case of Naomi. She was in a sad state,
she ended up in Moab, losing her husband, her two sons. But you see, you say, well, what
do you do now? How do you change that? Well,
you see, she received the mercy of God. And there's a great blessing,
really, I think, that touched Naomi in verse 6 of Ruth, chapter
1. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law,
and she returned from the country of Moab. For she had heard in
the country of Moab how the Lord had visited his people in giving
them bread. God, you see, is visiting his
people. He's visiting, as it were, you
in the preaching of the gospel this morning. He's visiting his
people. He's coming near them. And you
see, Naomi wanted to be part of those things. You see, in
Luke, chapter 1 when Zechariah was prophesying about the coming
of the Lord Jesus in Luke chapter 1. Let me just read it. Beautiful
portion. The end of Luke chapter 1. In Luke 1 verse 68 it says, Blessed
be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed
his people. And then later on in verse 78
of the same chapter, through the tender mercies of our God,
whereby the dayspring from on high have visited us. You see, he could have left his
people. He could have left Israel just
to go on in the famine all the time and to just perish in the
wilderness. But he visited his people. And
you see, that gave That was the hope that sprang up in Naomi,
that if God was able to visit Israel, because they had rebelled
and gone away from God, and yet they'd repented and come back
in repentance. And you see, it's when we realize
our pitiability that we are pitiful. And Naomi was in a pitiful state,
wasn't she? She was a widow and her two sons
were dead. She was in a low place, but she
was penitent. She was sorry. She was repentant.
And this is the very, very important thing. We need repentance. We need to come back to God.
Well, Naomi then starts this journey of returning. And it's
not just a case of moving from A to B. There was something much
more spiritual involved in this. Ruth talks about it. Go back
to Moab, to your people and to your gods. And Ruth, when she
gives that lovely response, she says, thy people shall be my
people and thy God my God. Their location was linked, you
see, with the spiritual as well. And as we think of that then
this morning, today, it's not a case of whether you live in
Moab or Judah. But are you amongst those who
value the people of God and the presence of God with his people?
Or are you amongst those that say, give me plenty of food,
give me plenty of the things that this world calls good or
great, I'm happy to live in Moab. I'm happy to live away from the
people of God, from the visits of his face. One of our hymn
writers said, let others stretch their arms like seas and grasp
in all the shore. Grant me the visits of thy face
and I desire no more. The visits. You see, God had
visited his people and Naomi recognized that and she wanted
to go back. And it's a wonderful thing, you
see, if you've gone the wrong way. And don't think you're the
odd one out if you've gone the wrong way. Because Isaiah says,
all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way. We're all like that by nature.
All we like sheep have gone astray, you see. But Naomi had the humility
and the repentance to seek to return. And that, you see, is
so vital. Repentance, returning to God. When we go wrong is to return. You see, by jumping into Moab
for a limeleck, he got out of the need of feeling for the rod
and who had appointed it. He did feel the rod solemnly.
He was killed. Instead of those fields in In
Moab, giving him great plenty, they proved to be his grave. You see, God is to be feared. And we are to seek the Lord with
all our heart. Well, as we come on then in this
narrative, Naomi seeks to return from Moab. And that's a wonderful
thing if we've gone wrong. is to seek to return. As we've
gone wrong in something to seek to turn back and go back to seek
God and to know his presence with them. And so we read in
verse 7, wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was
with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to
return unto the land of Judah, the land of Israel, the land
that God had promised, the place where worship was, the place
that was set up to be for the worship of the true and living
God. She was returning. She'd gone away from Moab. She
had realized that she'd gone wrong. And as I say, we need
to learn from others, don't we? You see, the God that we're talking
about here hasn't changed. He's the same God today. He's
in the same ability to deal with his people today as he was back
then. He still deals with grace, with
judgment and with mercy. The web, my web of time he wove,
and in the joys of sorrow were lusted with his love. Well, Naomi said unto her two
daughters-in-law, Go, return each to her mother's house. The
Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead and
with me. We might see here that why would Naomi encourage these
two daughters-in-law to go back? If she realized that Moab was
a place of idol worship? But you see, she tests them. She asks this question that we've
named in the text. Why will you go with me? Why? And in a sense, in each
of our lives, we come to those turning points. This was a turning
point in the book of Ruth. Sorry, it was a turning point
in the lives of Ruth and Orpah. These two Moabitess widows that
have both been widowed by the loss of their husbands And they
were clearly kind girls. There was clearly a good relationship
between Naomi and her two daughters-in-law. They, in a natural sense, they
love one another. And that's to be greatly commended. And yet we see here that there
needs to be something more than that. And so Naomi tests them. She realizes that these two girls
are Moabites. How are they going to be received
in Israel? The Moabites were a cursed nation. But you see, how would it be? She wanted to know why they were
coming. And so she tests them. But you see, you might think,
well, surely is Ruth, sorry, is Naomi writing doing that?
Well, we look at what the Lord Jesus did. One of them came to
Jesus and said, I will follow thee everywhere you will go.
And Jesus replied, foxes have holes and the birds of the air
have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head.
Is he Tess? In Matthew's Gospel, we have
that Canaanitish woman that came and asking God's help and he
answered her not a word. He tested her. But you see, it
wasn't to destroy her faith. It was to strengthen her faith. Abraham, when he was told to
offer up Isaac, it strengthened his faith. You might say, well,
God wouldn't do it. He did do it. He did ask that
of Abraham. He tested his faith. And so he
was able to say, now I know that you really serve me because you've
put me first in front of everything. And Naomi tests her daughter's-in-law,
why are you going with me? Why are you going with me? What? Why will you go with me? She's
testing them. Are there yet any more sons in
my womb that they may be your husbands? She couldn't promise
them, you see, great prosperity in Israel. She didn't know what
lay before her. And it seems to me that she'd
lost sight, you see, of the sense of this idea of redemption that
could take place with the raising up seed in the name of the dead
by the Redeemer. It seems in her low place she'd
lost sight of some of those things, which later on she grasps hold
of and puts into motion. Why will you go with me? Well,
you see, we have these two daughters-in-law then, Orpah and Ruth. To start with, they talk together
and say, in verse 10 and they said unto her surely we will
return with thee unto thy people. And then she challenges them
about the fact that there wouldn't be necessarily a husband to marry
in Israel. And then in verse 14 you see
and they lifted up their voice and wept again and Orpah kissed
her mother-in-law but Ruth clave unto her. Here we start to see
then this separation between Orpah and Ruth. They were both,
they had the same mother-in-law, but one you see it was only a natural attachment
as it were to Naomi and really her heart was back in Moab with
Moab's gods and all that Moab had to offer. But Ruth, you see, you might
have thought, well, perhaps they're both the same. If you look at
verse 10, you might conclude that Ruth and Orpah were two
peas in a pod. They were the same. They said,
surely we will return unto thee and thy people. But you see,
the test comes. It was like that, wasn't it?
In the parable of the sower, when there was those seeds sown
on stony ground, it sprung up and seemed to be very promising,
but when the sun shone on it, when difficulties came, when
afflictions came, it withered away and died. So surely this
is a very important point for each one here, particularly those
who have are coming close to that time of coming of age and
going as it were moving away from their parents as life moves on. What is precious to you? You see is it just well we do
love our parents and we do enjoy many things of how we were brought
up but really our heart is in what Moab can offer. what the
pleasures of sin can offer, what all the things of this world,
cause good or great, can give us. Or have we come to see a
beauty in the people of God? You see, clearly, Ruth loved
Naomi, not just in a natural way, but also in a spiritual
way. She started to see that Naomi's
God was the true God. A God that loved his people enough
to discipline them. Loved his people enough to draw
them unto himself. And you see, this was the true
God. And Ruth wanted that God to be
her God. And they lifted up their voice
and wept, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth Now in
verse 14 you see we have a separation between Ruth and Orpah. And then the temptation gets
stronger you see in verse 15. Then Naomi speaks to Ruth and says,
your fellow sister-in-law, she's gone back to Moab. She's gone
back to her gods. Are you going to do the same?
Jesus said that to his disciples. When many returned and walked
no more with him, he said to the disciples, will ye also go
away? But you see that brought out
that wonderful confession of Peter. To whom else can we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. You see, it brought out what
was really important. And this test that Naomi put
to her two daughters-in-law brought out a testimony in Naomi as to
why Naomi was so precious to her. And that the fact that it
wasn't just, well, it's 50-50, we could go or we might not go,
but it was There was a definite certainty and it's a wonderful
testimony that we read of really in verse 16 and 17. That Ruth
gives a very, very clear determination of what she wanted
to do. Ruth was a meek girl. We see
that in the way she acts. She's very obedient to Naomi. She's not a pushing herself forward
sort of person and yet here she's absolutely certain that she will
not go back to Moab. She will not go back to Moab's
God. She'd seen what that had done.
You see, and if you've seen something of the mercy of God in Christ,
something that God is merciful. Yes, he's angry with sin, but
yes, he's merciful. If you've seen something of that
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though we have fallen and
come short and that yet he visits his people. And of course, this
was a foreshadowing of the Lord Jesus Christ visiting his people
and coming to his people to save them from their sin and giving
them a hope in his mercy. And we see then that to the Lord's
people, these things become really sweet. You see, as they feel
their sin and the smart of it, then they come to realize that
this one visits his people. He could cut them off. He could
have cut Naomi off as well, couldn't he? He could have left her to
die in Moab too. But you see there is forgiveness
with God. There's mercy. Judgment and mercy. You see we
don't trifle with God's judgments as if we're playing with fire.
No. There was only one of the dying
thieves was saved. We need to be careful. We can't
presume. and yet there is the door of
God's mercy stands open all day to the poor and the needy that
knock by the way. Well in verse 14 then we have
a separation between Orpah and Ruth. There was a similarity
and a difference and surely this is a very sifting thing for all
of us. All of you people here are we
going to be Ruth's Or are we going to be orpahs? Going along with the things of
God so far, until it starts to be a bit too expensive. It starts
to cost us something. You see, the Lord Jesus made
it very, very clear. If you look in Matthew 16, Matthew 16 verse 24 when he just
told them about what was going to happen to him with his sufferings. Matthew 16 verse 24 then said
Jesus unto his disciples if any man will come after me let him
deny himself. You see, Ruth had to deny a lot
to leave Moab. She had to deny her family in
the sense of she wasn't going to be with her family anymore.
She had to turn away from the gods of Moab, the gods there. She had to turn her back on all
of those, take up his cross, and follow me. She was not going
to come into Israel as being in a highly privileged position.
going to have to glean for her food. She was one of the poor
in Israel. And yet the psalmist said, I'd
rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in
the tents of wickedness. Ruth could have had her plenty
back in Moab, but she preferred to be with God's people and to
enjoy the lot of God's people. Moses was the same, refusing
to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter with all the pomp and
the fame that went with that title, choosing rather to suffer
affliction with the people of God. Orpah looked at the situation
and and went back to Moab. Oh, she'd
come a certain way. It looked promising. She did
have a certain level of love to Naomi, but it was not a love,
it was not a deep sense of this is my God, and this is the one
I want to serve. These are my people. No, her
people, you see, we had that with, if you think of Lot and
his wife when they were taken out of the land of Sodom. Lot's wife's heart was still
in Sodom and she looked back when she was taken out of it
and she was made into a pillow of salt. You see her heart was
still in Sodom and Orpah's heart clearly was still really back
in Moab. But Ruth, you see, was different. Why will you go with me? Why will you go with the people
of God? What do you see in the people of God? Do you see a beauty
in humility? Do you see a beauty in the fact
that these people recognise that they're sinners? They recognize
that their walk, their conversation comes short of the glory of God.
These people recognize that they're sinful. Not pointing at others
primarily, but pointing at themselves. They realize they are sinners
that cannot meet God's standard of righteousness. And they're
people then that have come to love to hear the preaching of
the gospel that speaks of one who perfectly kept that law,
without one flaw, out of love to their souls, sent a visitation
of himself to suffer, to bleed, to die on this earth, to take
them to glory. You see, these people are the
Lord's people. They've come to love the things
of God. and the world with all its pomp
and glory, the lust, the pomp, the pride of life, being big
ourselves, being great, glowing in all the things here below.
There's something very sickening about those things to a true
child of God. They're emptiness. They don't
satisfy. They don't really do us good.
Oh, there's something in our heart that loves them. But in
our right mind, we see that they don't do us good. We're in our
right place when we're seeking God, seeking his glory, and seeking
his blessing. Well, Ruth, you see, she saw
this in Naomi. Naomi, well, you'd say, Naomi,
how would Naomi be any advert to be a Christian? That things
had happened in her life, she'd lost her husband, then she'd
lost her two sons. But you see the grace that Naomi
was given to humble herself before the mighty hand of God, and to
recognize that this was God's hand, and not hate God for it,
but recognize that he is just and righteous, and he visits
his people with mercy. And you see these great themes
of the gospel that run through the whole Word of God. These
are precious to God's people. And when you come and meet with
others, these are the things that we love to talk about. The
mercy of God in Christ, that we're unworthy of the least of
his mercies. Sin is mixed with all that we
do. And yet in the Gospel, there's a visitation of the Saviour. He visits his people. He visits
them with mercy and truth and grace. They do not deserve those
visits, but he visits them. Well, then we come to that precious
word that Ruth then says in verse 16. And Ruth said, entreat me
not to leave thee. You see, Naomi looked at her
and said, your sister's gone back. Your sister-in-law's gone
back. Peer pressure. We see others. going back and
walking no more with the people of God, saying the world and
its pleasures and its vanities, that will satisfy. Ah, but will
it? Will it? When you come to your
dying day, will it satisfy? Will you be able to say these
things have satisfied me and given me an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled and that fadeth not away? They can't do that. They can't do that. But here
you see, Ruth recognized what was truly
rich. And she saw in Naomi a child
of God that was under the rod of God. But God was dealing with
her in love. He loved Naomi. He was going
to bless Naomi. He was going to bring her into
a wealthy place. But you see, Ruth also, you see, was going
to be greatly blessed. And Ruth said, entreat me not
to leave thee, or to return from following thee. For whither thou
goest, I will go. Do you see that? Where you go,
I'm going to go. She doesn't say, I've got a plan
of all the things I want to do. They're on my list of things
I want to do. She says, where thou goest, I
will go. Very much the words of Saul of
Tarsus on that Damascus road. Lord, what wilt thou have me
to do? You see, it's not driven by ourselves
anymore. We're not after our own ends. We're not seeking our own glory.
You see, Boaz was the lord of the harvest. Boaz is in control. Entreat me not to leave thee
or to return from following after. For whither thou goest, I will
go. Whether it's living in a hovel, living in not a great circumstances
naturally, I want to be with God's people. Is that the most important thing
to you? To want to be with God's people? Why? Because they know
the true God. Because they accurately understand
the exceeding sinfulness of sin. and realise their only hope of
true happiness is to be right with God. These are the people
I love. These are the people that lead
me to the saviour out of myself, out of my pride, out of my selfishness,
out of my own ego, to look to the righteousness of another.
And Ruth said, entreat me not to leave thee or to return from
following after thee. Whether thou goest, I will go.
Where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Not will I have to have a better
place than that. I'm not going to live there. Thy people shall be my people. Now, Ruth didn't know all the
people back in Israel, did she? But she knew Naomi and she knew
that this was one of an Israelite indeed. And she wanted to be
one of those people, one of those who look forward to the visits
of his face, those that wait for his appearing. That's what
she wanted to be, amongst those people. Then they that feared
the Lord spake often one to another, thy people shall be my people. That's what the Lord's people
want, to be with his people. Because they speak of one that
they love. One that has done so much for
them. One that they can never begin to express the debts that
they owe to him. Thy people shall be my people,
and thy God my God. Why will you go with me? Why? What's your reasoning? Is it, well, on balance it seems
a bit more prosperous to go to this place than that? is your first concern, what will
the Lord have me to do? Is there a place where I can
meet with God's people in this decision that I'm hoping to take
to go and live at this place? Is it a place where thine honour
dwelleth? Is it a place where thy people
meet? Is it a place where I can know God's favour and blessing?
See Moses, you see, he was told, an angel will go before you into
the promised land. And Moses says, if thy presence
go not with me, carry us not up hence. I'm staying right here
on Mount Sinai unless the Lord goes with me. The Lord's got
to be with me. And that's what Ruth wanted.
She wanted God to be with her. She'd seen what the wicked idolatry
of Moab had done and she wanted to be rid of it. She wanted to
be rid of that, the lust, the pomp, the pride of life. 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 and more
also. If aught but death, part thee
and me. The allegiance often has been
seen in this verse 16 as the allegiance that a true Christian
has to the Savior. That the Savior becomes everything
to him. God's people become important,
but they're important as they lead them to the Savior. Ruth
said, entreat me not to leave thee. But it comes personally
to us. What think ye of Christ? What
do you think? How important is the worship
of God on the Lord's Day, is it? Well, a little bit important,
but well, we know we can do without. Or is it, I must be with these
people. This is my life. This is, they
seem to breathe a different air. You see, the spirit of the world
and our spirit by nature is a spirit of pride, of self-seeking. But you see here, the gospel
is one that looks out of self. They all declare, I nothing am. That's those that are in glory. This crowd of people dressed
in white, how did they get here? They all declare that they are
nothing and that all is bound up in the Lamb. You see, they
give glory to God. They're not pointing to themselves
and seeking their own glory. Why will you go with me? What is thy beloved more than another
beloved? We read in that thou dost so
charge us in the Song of Solomon. Why is he so great? Why is he
better than everybody else? And so the bride gives a wonderful
description. He is altogether lovely. This
is my beloved and this is my friend. Well, as we come then
with many crossroads, Ruth and Orpah came to a crossroads in
their lives. And you young people will come
to crossroads in your lives. Will you go this way? Will you
start dating this person who fears not God, who doesn't love
the people of God, who just loves the things of this world? Will
you date them? Will you seek their company?
Who are your friends? Who are the people you really
look up to? Are they the people of God? Or are they those who
have their hearts set on Moab? And the glories of Moab? And
the prosperity of Moab? But you see, it wasn't real.
It was, as the Psalmist saw it in Psalm 73, it was the prosperity
of the wicked. which was only for a short time,
then was coming to an end. Well may we be amongst those
who see in the Lord Jesus Christ and he has paid the price, he
is that one that is worthy of our praise, he has laid down
his life, a ransom for many, he has taken our sins and borne
them away and therefore our allegiance should be to him. And Ruth said,
entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after
thee. Whether thou goest, I will go. Where thou lodgest, I will
lodge. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. A
distinct resolution. And Ruth was blessed. Orpah walks
out of the story, and we don't read of her anymore. She went
back to Moab, to Moab's gods. And she goes out of the pages
of history, as it were. But you see Ruth came to know
the true God, came to know in this beautiful account she came
to know Boaz who was the kinsman redeemer. And you see on this
journey of faith of love. It is a journey of love. It's
not a journey of, you must go. See, Ruth wanted to go. She was attracted. She was drawn.
She wasn't kicking and screaming. She was drawn to Naomi. Naomi, in this account, seems
to do everything to put her off. But you see, she was being drawn
and attracted by God to these things. And we pray for you,
young people, that you be drawn and attracted. to the things
of God, the things which are eternal, the things that cannot
pass away and turn your back on Moab and on the things that
this world calls good or great because they will not, they cannot
satisfy your deepest needs. The Lord has blessing, Amen.