Please God to bless us together
this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
book of Ruth, the first chapter, and we'll read verses 16 and
17. The book of Ruth, chapter one,
reading verses 16 and 17. And Ruth said, entreat me not
to leave thee, or to return. from following after thee. Whither
thou goest, I will go, and where thou lodgest, 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 ought but death part thee and me. It is good and profitable to
be able to observe how God's plans work out, often in a very
different format to that which we would think about or anticipate. And clearly sometimes things
take a long time to materialise. We remember those words, the
Lord says, your time is always but my time is not yet. But there
is a time, there is a set time to call people out of darkness
into the glorious light of the everlasting gospel A set time
to deliver, a set time to bless, and a time it is known to Almighty
God. And so we have here in this little
book of Ruth, it's a very wonderful book, and it's so gracious of
our gods to grant an account like this, which is so instructive
and so strengthening to us to be able to realize the powerful
work of God. And we see then in this account,
first of all, there was a famine in Bethlehem, Judah. Nothing
particularly unusual about that, I suppose. But nonetheless, there
was a famine. And because of that famine, there
were two people in that land, Elimelech and his wife Naomi,
with their two sons Marlon and Chilian who decided that they
would leave that country and come to the land of Moab. Now that was not really naturally
a very wise move because they were leaving a godly country
and they were going into an ungodly country. And they were expecting,
no doubt, some favour, some blessing there. Well, there was a blessing,
but it came about in a very different way than they would have expected. In actual fact, a very solemn
way, because we are told the first thing that occurred was
Naomi's husband, Elimelech, died. It must have been a very considerable
blow to her. There she was in this strange
country with her two sons and her husband that she'd gone out
with, now no longer. So that was the first situation
that we see which appeared to be contrary and appeared to be
against the purposes of God. It was clearly God's purpose
and it may have been in that scene a voice to Naomi instructing
her that she should not have left Bethlehem, Judah. The Lord
causes us to live in certain areas, certain places, and for
a purpose, for a reason. And we can think of the case
of Daniel. He didn't live in a country really
which was very conducive to worshipping God, but nonetheless he was told
to stay there, he was told to stand in his lot. He wasn't told
to up sticks and disappear, he was told to stay there. And it's
good therefore sometimes that we recognise that God directs
us, sometimes in the way that we don't want, but here quite
clearly was God going before. Naomi. We know nothing really
about Elimelech. We know nothing whether the Lord
touched his heart or left him unrepentant in a sad state. And then we read that the two
sons took wives, Orpah and Ruth, and they dwelled about ten years. And then they both died. Marlon
and Chilion. And so Naomi was left, the only
one that had come out of Bethlehem Judah. And there she was, by
herself, with her two daughters-in-law. So what was she to do? Well,
we're told, then she arose, and her daughters-in-law, that she
might return 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. 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 unto the land of Judah. And now we might think well that's
very good and very nice and These two daughters-in-law are quite
happy to go along with Naomi, but clearly Naomi didn't want
them to come, as it were, under false pretenses. So she spoke
to them both and advised them to go back to the land of Moab,
to go back to their own people and to reside with them. And
we see that Eventually, Opah decided to go back. And she went
back because they realized that there was not much prospect of
being any more sons born of Nehemiah. And so they both wept, but Opah
then kissed her mother-in-law and went back. But Ruth clayed
unto her. And we see the discouragement
that Naomi gave to Ruth. She didn't try to convince her
to go with her. We might think she ought to have
done, but she rather tried to convince her to go back to her
own people. And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law
is gone back unto her people and unto her gods. Return thou
after thy sister-in-law. Then we come to this wonderful
statement by Ruth. What a glorious word it is. And how we see as we pass through
these words, the blessed work of God upon this Moabitish woman,
Ruth, called out of the darkness that exists in Moab, called into
the glorious light of the gospel, and now wanting to go with Naomi. And she starts off with a very
positive way and she says, entreat me not to leave thee. You see, she didn't want Naomi
to try and convince her to stay. And she wanted Naomi not to be
against her. That's what the margin says,
not to be against her. And so she says, entreat me not
to leave thee.' There must have been something very positive,
very attractive in the life of Naomi, to produce this desire
in the life of Ruth. And quite clearly, as we read
through these two verses, what she saw in Naomi was the life
of God, within her. You may say, well, how do you
know that? Well, we know that because of
the last clause in this 16th verse when she says, and thy
God, my God. So quite clearly, Enomai had
not hidden her religion. Although she was in an alien
land, a godless land, quite clearly she had spoken to her daughters-in-law
and declared unto them the true God. And that must not just have
been in a passing way. That couldn't just have been
by saying, well of course I worship a God or I worship the true God.
She must have spelt out, no doubt in detail, what this God meant
to her. and thereby, through the Spirit's
work, Ruth was also moved to come to believe in this great
God. And so we should be thankful
that we have this evidence of Naomi being able to testify of
the true God, And sure, it's a lesson to us today. We may say, well, we live in
a Christian land. Well, so we do. Well, partially. But we live amongst, for the
most part, a very ungodly people, a people that have no concern
to serve the Lord, have only concern to serve themselves. So in the little sphere, in which
you and I walk and move and the people we meet and come into
contact with, is it our concern and desire that they might come
to know themselves as sinners and the Lord Jesus Christ as
their glorious Saviour. You see, we live in a dark world
and yet the people of God are clearly described as lights in
this dark world. And it's very significant. We have such an account like
this couched in such terms. We must realize that Naomi had
a good effect upon Ruth and clearly testified of her belief in the
true God. And we can perhaps imagine what
she spoke to Ruth and how she would have testified of who the
true God was. and how they worshipped, and
no doubt described to her the form of worship which they had,
which of course was very alien to the Moabites, who of course
worshipped idols, but here was the worship of the true God,
and the very clear evidences that it was the true God, a God
who did do things, a God who had done things, She would have
been very familiar, of course, with the way that Israel had
been delivered from Egypt and as they came through the wilderness
and the wonderful appearing of God to them. And then the days
of the judges and how the Lord appeared to Israel so many times
in that age when people like Gideon and Samson were raised
up to deliver the people. And therefore there were these
very clear evidences of God's great work. So no doubt Naomi
would have been familiar with these things and would have spoken
to Ruth about them. And she would have found therefore
the attraction to the truth of God. There's nothing more attractive
than truth. There's nothing more attractive
than the truth of God. And we should never be ashamed
of the glorious truth that we have. We should never therefore
settle for anything less than displaying the great and glorious
truth of God. And so Ruth comes and says, entreat
me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee. She
didn't want to be told to go back to her own people. Just imagine This is a new venture. It's going into the unknown.
She knew nothing of the country. She knew nothing about the people
really. She only knew about her husband and her other sister's
husband, Anomai. She knew nothing about the Hebrew
race apart from that. And yet here you see she's winning. to go and to leave her ungodly
nation behind. And indeed she says it very forcibly
when she says, entreat me not to leave thee or to return from
following after thee. It was a very clear position,
wasn't it? She wanted to go with Naomi. And we might say she wanted to
go with the with a person of God, a godly person. The godliness must have shone
out of Naomi's life to such a degree that here was Ruth not wanting
to go back, willing to leave all her family, all her friends,
all her relations, all those that she'd been brought up with,
and to go into Bethlehem, Judah. It was an amazing venture, wasn't
it? And yet, we conclude quite clearly,
God was in it and God was with her. God had been in it, you
might say, from the very time when the famine occurred. God had ordained this pathway
to bring Ruth into the family of God. And it's wonderful to
see God's work, how God's work is fulfilled. Ruth would not
have been able to forecast such a path, nor would Naomi, but
we see God's grace and God's glorious providence being worked
out Surely this should be very encouraging for us today, to
know that we come to the same great God who's able still to
do great things, to call sinners out of darkness into the glorious
light of the everlasting gospel, to reveal one here and one there,
those whom he has a love to, those who he has chosen in time
past those who will be revealed as his children, those for whom
he laid down his life. So may we be encouraged in the
day and age in which we live to realize that we come to the
same God who can still do and does do great things and wonderful
deliverances. And so she comes and says in
these words, For whither thou goest, I will go. Now again, she didn't know where
she was really being taken. But she had a confidence, clearly
in Naomi, and by clear inference, a confidence in Naomi's God. We could say she went out, not
knowing whither she went. Exactly the same as Abraham.
Remember Abraham all those years ago, directed by the Spirit of
God to leave his homeland of Ur of the Chaldees and to go
out many, many miles away to that place that God had ordained
for him. He went out by faith. Ruth went out by faith. We today go out by faith. And when I say that, I mean this.
We are willing to leave the comfort, as we may say, of the world. Willing to leave all those things
which may be attracted to the flesh and to be found seeking
for that better country. That is unheavenly. That's what
all those worthiest did in the 11th of Hebrews. They sought
a better country that was And that is a heavenly. And so today,
are we seeking a better country? A heavenly country? Do we see
in God's people something very special? Something different? Something which is above the
things of time, the things of nature? We observe the work of
God. We observe the sovereign grace
of God, the unmerited favour to undeserving sinners of the
earth, and to rejoice, therefore, in what God has done. And is
that attractive to us? Do we see something special? Well, there is, because God's
people are a royal priesthood, a peculiar people. A chosen generation. And oh, what a blessing it is
then to have the evidence in our hearts that is so, just like
Ruth had here when she said, all return from following after
thee. For whither thou goest, I will
go. A gracious determination to go
with Naomi. What a mercy it is for us today
if we have a gracious movement of the Holy Spirit to go with
the people of God and not to go with and remain in the world. We're born in the world. We live
in the world. What a blessing it is when the
Holy Spirit comes and moves our heart and changes our life. so that we are blessed to desire
to go with the people of God. All to return from following
after thee. With thou goest, I will go. And where thou lodgest,
I will lodge. Content to stay with thou, my
where she went to, where she stopped, where she lodged, to
be content with that situation. We might say, well, how does
that apply to us today? Well, it applies to us, I believe,
in this way. Where thou lodgest, I will lodge.
We might say, what does that mean? Well, I believe it means
really the Church of God. It means the household of faith. We may say that there are various
churches, resting places, lodges, as it were, where God's people
are found. And here we see Naomi going back
to her own country and finding a place to lodge in. And Ruth,
very content to go and to lodge in that place that Naomi was
going to. I will go, and where thou lodgest,
I will lodge.' It meant really that she was determined to be
found living with the people of God. What a good concern that
is. What a good desire that is. And
may that be our concern, to be found united with the true Church
of God. and found indeed living close
to them, and speaking one to another. And those that feared
the Lord spake often one to another, and a book of remembrance was
written. You see, if we are lodging somewhere else, where we're not
able to have communion with the Church of God, then there won't
be that speaking one to another. But here, Naomi was going back
to our own country where the things of God were clearly set
before them in a very wonderful and marked way because of course
in those days there were all the ceremonial laws which were
carried out continually year by year to set times and in set
ways. There will be a very clear understanding
of what these directed the people to. And so here was Ruth desiring
to do that where thou lodgest I will launch. Didn't want to
go anywhere else. Wanted to be with the people of God. That's a good desire, isn't it?
Well, I hope it's our desire. You and I want to be found with
the people of God. We don't want to be with the
world. We don't want to be hearing their conversation, because their
conversation will fade away. There won't be any true blessing
with it. But you see, to the Church of
God, what will their conversation be? I'll tell you what it will
be. If they are true believers, it will be a heavenly conversation. They will love to speak about
the Lord Jesus Christ. They'll love to hear Him being
spoken about. It won't be anything irksome. They won't want to change the
conversation. That's a very clear position
of an unbeliever. An unbeliever doesn't want to
hear, doesn't want to speak about the things of God, doesn't want
to speak about Jesus Christ and Him crucified. But to the true
believer, it's music in their ears. Oh, it's what we love to
speak about and love to hear about. And so we can understand
why Ruth had this desire to come and say, and where thou lodgest,
I will lodge. Nowhere else. Nowhere else. And again let's realise she didn't
really understand what she was going to, but what she did know
was that Nomah worshipped the true God, and what she did know
was that the work of grace in Nomah had a wonderful effect. And it had a wonderful effect
upon Ruth also. There was that drawing together,
that bond of love, one to another, in Christ. You see, the Word
of God tells us, we know we have passed from death unto life because
we love the brethren. What a clear sign that is in
our life. Who do we love? Do we love to
be with the world? Or do we love to be with the
Church of God? We love to hear the talk of God's people. And
it's not always, of course, what it should be. But it's good when
it is so. And may we always desire it should
be so. And my friends, let us not think
when it's not very godly tonight or not very good conversation,
then may we each be concerned to change the conversation to
godly conversation, to spiritual conversation. and not to be content
to mumble on about the poor old things of this world which is
passing. And so here we have this desire
of Ruth and what a good desire it is. I will go and where thou
lodgest, I will lodge. And then she comes and makes
this very positive statement. Thy people shall be my people. Well, can we say that? Do we want to say that? As we
see God's people and we hear of them and we speak to them,
do we come and join with Ruth and say, thy people shall be
my people. I want to live with them. I want
to be with them. I want to speak to them. I want
to enjoy spiritual fellowship with them. And I want to hear
more and more about the gospel. I want to hear more and more
about Jesus Christ and him crucified. I want to have it confirmed that
I am one of the household of faith. I am a true believer and
to have the evidence of it that I'm not a stranger to what the
people are talking about. Know that I understand by the
Spirit of God and it's touched my heart and it's warmed my spirit. I often think I'm sure we do,
of that glorious occasion when those two walked on that road
to Emmaus. And the Lord came and drew near
and went with them. And what did they tell the disciples,
the effect it had upon them? They said, did not our heart
burn within us while he taught with us by the way? Now it's
a blessing. And it is still to be known today
when the blessed Lord comes and unites us together with Christ
and our hearts burn within us because of the heavenly conversation,
because it lifts us up above the things of time to the glorious
things of God and to bring us to the Saviour. Remember, of
course, on that wonderful walk that those two had, the Lord
declared unto them all the things concerning himself. And that
surely is what you and I should desire and by the Spirit of God
want to desire and to pray for and to seek for. And so she says,
thy people shall be my people. It was a very positive statement,
wasn't it? She didn't say, well, I'll come and see what they're
like and if I like them, well perhaps I'll join with them.
Not at all, she said, thy people shall be my people. It was a
very clear confidence in her God. Confidence that she'd been
blessed with because of the testimony and the evidence in the life
of Naomi and the things that Naomi had brought before her.
She had this wonderful desire, this wonderful concern, to be
able to come and state this, thy people shall be my people. And then of course, more importantly,
and thy God, my God. The wonder is, in the life of
God's people, there is a glorious attraction in the observance
of the work of God in another's life, because that has a drawing
power. The life of a true Christian
is wonderful, and we don't need to be in the company of a true
Christian, if we're a true Christian, for very long before we observe
the life of God in their souls. And that is something which attracts
us. It's very blessed, it's very
wonderful. And we find that we're joined
together in spiritual things. We're no longer strangers, but
we're fellow pilgrims and citizens of the household of faith. We
have a common bond. And that bond is in Christ Jesus. What a wonderful evidence that
is of life in the soul. That which the world knows nothing
of. That which the world turns away
from. Because they are strangers. We don't want to be a stranger.
I hope we don't. I hope all of us here tonight
want to be united to the Church of God. to the people of God
and therefore united with the true God. And be able to come
and humbly say, we do need to be able to say, we don't want
to just have it as a theory, just something which we just
read off, but to be able to say it from our heart. Bless God
if we can. Join with Ruth and say, and thy
God, my God. The true God, the ever-living
God. You and I will have to claim
this before we die, if we are amongst the children of God,
that this God is indeed our God and my God, personally. This God who we come before,
this God who we bow down to, this God who we worship, this
God who we love to worship. It won't be any hardship. It'll
be a joy, it'll be a privilege, and it'll be a wonderful evidence
to know that we possess the life of God in our souls, so that
our eternal life is secure. It's secure in what Christ has
done, and therefore we can move on to what Ruth was able to declare,
where thou diest will I die. Now she was a relatively young
woman, but she was looking to the end of her life. Again that's
a necessary and good thing, however young we may be, we find ourselves
looking to the end of our life. Because all of us must die, that's
the one thing certain. In all of our lives we all must
die. The Word of God tells us the
old must die and the young may. Well may we all be found ready
should that time come upon us and therefore be looking forward,
not with any morbid anticipation. But a glorious anticipation to
the Church of God, this life is a pilgrimage. This world is
not our rest. It's not our home. And I hope
none of us are trying to settle down in this vain world, because
it won't produce any true peace. But the things of God do. If
our hearts are set upon things above, where Christ is, Oh, what
a blessing that is. And to realise then, as she desires,
where thou diest, will I die. Amongst the Church of God, amongst
the people of God, not cast out, not alone, but therewith, the
Church of God, where thou diest, will I die. And there will I
be buried amongst the People of God, you see, she clearly
forsaken the world. She forsaken her own homeland,
but we can read it, forsaken the world. What a blessing that
is in our lives today. If God gives us His grace to
forsake the world, and we find the things of God are far more
attractive the things of time. Now this will only occur when
the Holy Spirit works within our heart. And that will be a
very clear and a very positive evidence that we are part of
the family of God. To therefore be able to understand
what Ruth said here, When thou diest will I die, and there will
I be buried.' And then she concludes this statement by saying, The
Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee
and me. She therefore believed that nothing
would separate her from the love of Christ which was in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Because, quite clearly, Anamai
was a godly person, and she did not want to be separated right
down until the time when death took her out of this earth. The Lord do so to me, and more
also, if aught but death, part thee and me. Word, it's a great
blessing for us today if we are united to the Lord Jesus Christ. And because of that uniting,
because of that union with the Lord Jesus Christ, we see in
the true Church of God a blessed attraction. Because the unifying
point is that the whole Church of God are those who are true
worshippers of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy
Spirit. And the whole Church of God,
by His grace, bow down to Him and acknowledge Him as their
Lord and their Master. Acknowledge Him as their great
and glorious Saviour. Acknowledge Him as their wonderful
friend. Oh, my friends, what a friend
we have in Jesus. The Church of God have this,
the world do not. And that friend, of course, is
known to all the Church of God. And to realise what that friend
has done in order that you and I may, by his grace, be with
him eternally. Now heaven has no attraction
to an unbeliever. You will not want to be in heaven,
don't think you will. Heaven is a holy place, undefiled,
no sin, and Christ is in the midst. To the true believer that
is a wonderful prospect. and to think that by his grace
we shall be able to bow down and worship him, that one who
died upon that cross at Calvary, shed his most precious blood
in order to free us from the condemnation of the law which
says, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. And there we were,
dead in trespasses and in sins, but made alive through the glorious
death of the Lord Jesus Christ who stood in our place to pay
the punishment instead. You see, eternity will never
be a boring place. It would be to unbelievers, but
the Church of God who have been redeemed, the Church of God who
have been saved by grace, it'll be a wonderful time. Well, it
won't be a time, there's no time. It would be a wonderful situation
to be found with the Church of God, with those who have gone
before, the Naomis and Ruth, who by God's grace have got safely
home to glory. Then by His grace, to find ourselves
in glory around that throne of God in heaven, to thank and praise
our Savior, for all that he has done. Now I believe this. That is the song of the redeemed. But that does not start when
you and I pass out of time into eternity. The true Church of
God desire and do praise the Saviour for what he's done for
their souls while they're upon the earth. They desire to acknowledge
his great goodness, his amazing love, his wonderful mercy to
such undeserving sinners and therefore they desire to praise
him and to acknowledge that he is their God in just the same
way as Ruth does here. And it would be good if we ponder
these words and see if they do apply to us If we can indeed
mouth them in the same way, of course it won't be to Naomi,
she's dead, but may it be indeed to the Church of God, perhaps
those who have been made a blessing to us, to be able to come and
say, treat me not to leave thee. I don't want to wander off. I
want to live close to the Church of God, close to His people,
or to return from following after thee. Whither thou goest, I will
go. Where thou lodgest, 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.