Ruth chapter 1, this morning
we'll be looking at verses 1 through 7. Ruth chapter 1, verses 1 through
7. The title of the message this
morning is, The Trial of Our Generation. The trial of our
generation. This book of Ruth, is a book
of the history of one family in the time of the judges. And
it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, there was a
famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, sojourned
in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. This family lived in a time when
God was king over the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel
had no physical king, had no king as a man. But God was king
over Israel and God sent His judges to deliver them from their
troubles. Now in the book of Judges, we
have a continual pattern. A continual pattern. A pattern
of the children of Israel forgetting God, going after another God,
and God sending judgment. Then the nation of Israel would
cry unto the Lord, and He would hear them and send a judge to
deliver them from their enemies. But one thing that God had promised
them is this, that He would not take out any of the Canaanites
after Joshua had died. After Joshua had died, you see,
the nation of Israel, even while Joshua was living, they brought
in these Canaanites and they wouldn't cast them all out because
they took tribute from them. And because of their disobedience,
God said, cast them out. And because of their disobedience,
the Lord came to them and said, I will not take them out now,
but they will be a snare to you and they will be for a trial
of My people. Go to Judges chapter 2. Look
over in Judges chapter 2 and you'll see this. If you take
time to read the entire chapter there, you'll see that it's the
Lord Jesus and how He's come down to rebuke His people. Look at this in verse 21. God speaking said, I also will
not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations
of which Joshua left when he died, that through them I may
prove or try Israel. whether they will keep the way
of the Lord to walk therein as their fathers did keep it or
not. Therefore the Lord left those
nations without driving them out hastily, neither delivered
He them into the hand of Joshua." Now, so we see this family in
this time in the nation of Israel during when the judges ruled. And just as God had determined
to try His people corporately, He also tries His people individually. And He did this to this man Elimelech. Just as God tried this man's
family and him, let us also be aware of this, believer in Christ,
God will try His people. He will try His people. He will
test His people. He will prove their faith. He will. This is why God, when He saved
us, did not deliver us from this present evil body. This is why
God did not deliver us immediately from this present evil world,
so that He might try us, so that He might prove us and prove our
faith, whether it be genuine or not. And this book shows how
God deals personally with His people. In Judges, you see constantly
a corporate dealing with God's Israel. But in Ruth, you see
a personal dealing with God's people in that same time. Friend, God deals with His church
corporately. I know He does. You look at the
book of Revelation and you see that the Lord Jesus Christ came
to His corporate church as a group. But He also comes
individually and tries every one of His people. If we are
His people, if we are His children, if we are believers in Jesus
Christ, as for all our righteousness and atonement for sins, we will
be tried corporately and individually as His children in this world. Go to 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 7. Let's go to verse 6. Peter says this, "...wherein
you greatly rejoice." What do we greatly rejoice in, believers?
What is it that we rejoice in? Our election? We rejoice in that,
don't we? We rejoice in that God chose
us. We rejoice in the Spirit that sanctified us. We rejoice
in the redemption of Christ Jesus our Lord. We rejoice in that
the Spirit of God quickened our souls so that we are born again.
We rejoice in that we have an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled,
that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us. We rejoice
in those things, don't we? Absolutely. Absolutely. He says, wherein we greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through
manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith be much more
precious than gold that perisheth. Though it be tried with fire,
it might be found under the praise and honor and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ. Believer in Christ, we must suffer
in this world. In Acts chapter 14 verse 22,
it says that we should enter into the kingdom through much
affliction, much suffering, much tribulation. Why? To try our
faith. And when I say try and prove
our faith, let me be clear, I'm not saying that God needs to
see our faith. He doesn't need to see. He knows
it. If we're a believer in Christ,
it's because God gave us faith anyway. And the faith that we
have is measured out by the Holy Spirit of God. He knows our faith.
He knows the lack of our faith. He knows our unbelief, doesn't
He? He knows our faith. He gives it. So it's not for
God to know. Well, what is it for? What is
it for? We may know. I'll tell you, the
only person that's not concerned about their faith in Christ is
an unbeliever. Do you have an interest in your
faith in Christ? Do you have an interest to know?
Doesn't John say, that you may know? Yeah, I want to know. I don't want to be any one of
those that are surprised at the end to find themselves unbelievers,
workers of iniquity. You remember those people were
divided? And those people that were workers
of iniquity, they had no idea. Lord, when did we not do those
things for You? Who was surprised? The people
that were saved. They were the ones surprised,
weren't they? Why? They had an interest in their
faith. They have an interest in this. I have an interest in
my faith. I have an interest. Do I know
Christ or not? Am I His or am I not? What proves
this? Troubles. Troubles. If you wish to increase your
faith, you will increase your faith only through troubles.
Only through troubles. Peter says that these trials
of our faith are more precious than gold. Why? They're both
tried with fire. That's why. Gold is purified
by fire. Even so is our faith purified. You want to know how much faith
you have? It's only if it goes through the fire. Only if it goes through the fire.
Same way with your gold. You put your gold in the fire
and it comes out on the other side, you really know how much
gold you have. Why? Because it burns off all the
dross and tin. Burns it off. So that you may
see what's left. Even as gold is tried, so must
we be tried. But the trial of this man Elimelech,
the trial of this man Elimelech did not end well for him. Why? Because he was living in
disobedience to God. He was living in disobedience
to God's revealed will. It resulted in the loss of his
life, the loss of his sons, and the loss of his name and all
of his inheritance. He lost everything. I tell you what, I've experienced
loss, but I've not ever lost everything. Have you? I've not ever lost everything.
This man lost everything. And the trial before us this
morning, the trial that this man endured in this book of Ruth
is the same trial that our generation, that the generation of this church
is going through. It is the same trial of every
individual believer in this place this morning. It is the trial
of famine. Look at this in verse 1. It came
to pass in the days that the judges ruled that there was a
famine in the land." Now, how do you suppose it came to pass?
How do you suppose this famine came into the land? Was it by
chance? Was it by accident? No. It was by the divine hand of
God's judgment. Again, in Judges, what did we
find? We find they sinned, and we find
God's judgments on them. And this was a time of great
judgment. A famine was in the land. The
Lord had done this. Listen to me very carefully.
Everything that is done in this world is according to the divine
sovereign providence of God. Everything. Nothing happens by
chance. Nothing. There is no such thing
as mother nature. There is no such thing as luck
or chance. Everything is moved by the hand
of God according to His own sovereign will. Everything. Everything. In Ephesians chapter 1 verse
11 it says, He worketh all things after the counsel of His own
will. When Nebuchadnezzar lifted up
his eyes, he said that the inhabitants of the world are as nothing before
him, and he controls all things in the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth. Who shall stay his hand or what
say in him, what doest thou? God sent a famine. What are you
going to do about it? What were they going to do about
it? They could do nothing about the famine. God said it. And friends, we think of all
the travesties that are happening in our time, and I'll tell you,
we are in a troubled time. We are in a very troubled time.
There's riots in the streets. You didn't think that would happen
two or three years ago, that there would be riots in our streets.
There are! It could happen in a moment. This nation could collapse
in an instant. We're not as strong as we think
we are. God is sovereign and He does
with men as He pleases. He could put this kingdom down
or He could raise it up. He can do with it what He wills.
Do everything He wills. But I'll tell you what God has
willed in judgment of this generation. We have a famine, not of bread,
but of the Word of God. That's what we have a famine
for. This is our trial. Look at, go to Amos, Amos chapter
8. Amos chapter 8 and verse 11. The Scripture says, Behold, the
days come, saith the Lord, that I will send a famine in the land,
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water. What's the famine? But of hearing of the words of
the Lord. We are in a famine. Don't be deceived. We are in
the midst of a great famine in this nation, and it is a famine
of the Word of God. There are many preachers, there
are many churches, there are many religions, and there are
many people who attend them. But I tell you that there are
very few who preach the gospel of God's sovereign grace in Christ. Very few. Very few. We are in a famine. We're in a famine for the Word
of God. Men are not hearing God's Word. Men are refusing to hear
God's Word. This man, Elimelech, he was given a name that he should
have known about the famine of God. His name was, My God is
King. That's what Elimelech means.
Do you not figure he should have known by his own name who was
bringing this famine? He should have. Every time somebody
said, hey, hello, my God is King, you think he wouldn't recognize
that? How many times do we hear the
Word of God and our ears become glossed over Waxed over, our
eyes become glazed. We've heard this before, pastor. We've heard it before. Be careful. Be very careful. You're on dangerous
ground. There are few in our day who
have any desire to hear the gospel. There are many who preach a God
that loves everyone and saves no one. There are many who are
preaching a Jesus who actually redeemed no one, and a Spirit
who cannot do anything unless man gives Him permission. This
is not, my God is King. This is not my God. That's not
my gospel. Friends, that is husks. That's
all that is. And men today are feeding on
the husks of false works religion. of man-based religion. And Paul
says, I fear, in Corinthians, he tells those people, he said,
I fear, I fear, lest you be moved from the simplicity of the gospel. What's the gospel? Christ is
the gospel. It's a person. It's not a creed. It's a person. God is one God manifest in three
distinct persons. God the Father chose a people. God the Son redeemed a people. And God the Spirit quickens a
people. He is a successful Savior. We have a successful Savior.
My God is King. And I'm in the midst of a famine
because my God sent the famine. My God sent it. as a judgment
on this nation, on this people. Believer, you are in the midst
of a famine right now. This is your trial. Number two, let's notice the
disobedience in the trial. Look at this back in Ruth. And a certain man of Bethlehem
Judah, Elimelech, went to sojourn in the country of Moab. My God as King went to sojourn
in a land of Moab. The Scripture says in Proverbs
chapter 3, trust in the Lord and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge
Him and He shall direct thy path. Be not wise in thine own eyes,
fear the Lord, and depart from evil." This is exactly opposite of what
Elimelech did. You see, Elimelech was wise in
his own estimation. He did not trust God who is King,
but rather trusted himself to get him and his family out of
this trouble. Now, what he did is no doubt
commendable, wasn't it? Doesn't that seem on the surface
commendable? There was a famine, so he said, hey, let's go where
there's bread. Let's go to Moab. They said Moab is prospering.
It's a booming community there in Moab. And we could get a nice
house for real cheap over there, and we could live there, and
we could be comfortable until the famine is gone. That sounds
reasonable, doesn't it? To our earthly reasoning, it
does. But remember, God had only chosen to reveal Himself in one
place, in Israel. Not in Moab. He left Moab and leaned on His
own understanding. And no doubt it was commendable.
I tell you, there are many people who excuse their laziness by
the Scriptures. God says that we are to work.
God says that we are to provide for our families. That's true,
absolutely. If a man doesn't provide for
his own, he is worse than an infidel. That's what the Scripture
says. We're to work. We're to work.
The Bible doesn't excuse our laziness, but I'll tell you this,
if we take our family and we put it above God, we are leaning
to our own understanding and we are in trouble. We are in
trouble. A man should never forsake the
gospel and the worship of God for the sake of pleasures, riches,
family or friends. Bethlehem was under a famine
and Moab prospered. Isn't that the way it is in the
world? The righteous suffer and the wicked prosper. When I'm down about my sins,
people don't understand why I'm so down. Everything may be seemingly well
with the outward circumstances, but I feel cast down, and people
don't understand that. Why are you suffering? Well,
you could be rejoicing with us. We have all these wicked pleasures.
You can have them with us. Oh no, I don't want any of that.
I'd much rather be in the famine. I'd much rather be in the suffering
than to be in the world. But who's truly richer? Those
in the suffering or those in the pleasures of sin? You see,
I may be poor and I may suffer, but I am richer in the suffering
than I would be out of it if I were to go into the world.
What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose
his own soul? What profit is that? Friends, Elimelech, instead of
trusting God, went into the land by his own sight. He left Bethlehem. You know what Bethlehem means?
House of bread. And Moab was God's washpot. It was a washpot that people
used to put their feet in, their dirty, stinky feet, and you see
the black water? That's what Moab was to God.
It was his dirty, filthy washpot. Moab, if you remember, he was
Lot's incestuous son. And his people that came from
him were evil people, wicked people who had no interest in
the things of God. And this man who is, my God is
king, he left the land of bread for the house of the washpot. He traded the bread of God's
house for the filthy water of Moab. Friends, I know many professing
believers, many professing believers who are following a limeleck
today. There are many. They are forsaking the gospel
of God's grace in a time of great famine. One who forsakes the worship
of God leaves the only place where there's bread." Friends,
I am delivering to you the bread of life, Jesus Christ. And not only is it bread, it's
a feast for God's people. This is the feast! It's not a
physical food, it is a spiritual food. There's a spiritual famine
in this land and you have been given the bread of life. You've
been given the gospel here in this place. Why would any leave
when there's such a famine outside these doors? Why? Disobedience. That's why. disobedience
to God's revealed will. Forsake not the assembling of
yourselves together as the manner of some is. Believers, let us not leave the
place where God has his word. Don't suppose that God will give
you His Word in some other place. I know people that are moving
without ever learning if there's a place where God's people worship. They just say, well, my job's
over there, so I guess I'm just going to move over there and
hope that God gives me a church. You're in dangerous, dangerous
ground. That's very troublesome to me
to hear people say things like that. You should first see if there's
a place of worship before you move anywhere. Why? There's a famine. There's a famine. Don't forget there's a famine
for the Word of God in our land. If there is no gospel being preached
where people are, why are people not moving to where the gospel
is preached? One word, disobedient. Disobedient to the revealed will
of God. Proud! Arrogant! To assume that
they can feed themselves in the midst of a famine. It's arrogancy. Pride. And all who move away from the
gospel, friend, I tell you, it ended badly for a limeleck and
it will end badly for you. Number three, the result of the
trial. The trial is famine. Elimelech disobeyed and he left
God's house of bread. What's the result of this? He
died. Very simply. Verse three, and
Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died. This is the result of his disobedience. Now friend, let me ask you, do
you suppose that Elimelech meant to stay in Moab? Was that his purpose? Look at
the Scripture in verse 1. He went to sojourn. He was only
going to stay there until the famine was over. He was only
going to stay there a little while, and then he'd come back.
Friend, when in the world do we ever disobey God for just
a little bit? I know it is never our intention
to stay in disobedience. We stay there just so long as
we can weather the storm or solve our problem. Whatever our problem
is, we think, well, if we just get away from this just for a
little bit, then we can solve our problems and then we'll come
back. You will? Will you? Elimelech didn't. Look at end of verse 2. And they
came into the country of Moab, and what's that word? Continued. He went to sojourn, but instead
of just sojourning, he continued. He continued in his disobedience
to God. Truly, his physical problem may
have been solved. And I'll tell you, maybe getting
away from the church, your physical problem may be solved, but you've
got a bigger problem if you're a believer in Christ. You have
a bigger problem. You're in disobedience to God. Doesn't this sound a lot like
the person Lot? Doesn't it sound a lot like him?
Did he not pitch his tent towards Sodom? And then not after long
he pitched his tent toward it. He was in it. It doesn't take
much. Oh, just come just a little bit
away. Just a little bit. And then not soon, we're too
far. Too far. Believer in Christ, don't think
because you're saved from the penalty of sin that you are ever
saved from the consequences of sin. Don't ever let that creep into
your mind. Well, I'm God's child. If he wants me back, he'll just,
he'll get me back. I know people who've said that
and they've gone away forever. We are never free from the consequences
of our sin. David was not free from the consequences
of his sin. Lot was not free from the consequences
of his sin. Abraham was not free from the
consequences of his sin. Elimelech was not free from the
consequences of his sin. And neither are we. We are not
free from the consequences of going away from God's Word and
God's worship. We are not immune to them. This man went out full. He had everything. You know what
his wife's name, Naomi, means? Pleasant. I'll tell you, I've
got a pleasant wife. You can name her Naomi if you
want to. She is pleasant and there is nothing like having
a pleasant wife. This man had two sons. He was
rich in the land of Bethlehem, Judah. He had a name. And he lost every bit of it because
of his disobedience. Now, what would he have lost
if he stayed? His pride. That's it. Do you know the law
commanded his people, his family, to take care of him in the time
of famine? If he had to sell everything,
he still would have been taken care of. But this man didn't
want to just be taken care of. He wanted more. He wanted more. And God killed him. God killed
him. Not only that, his sons sinned. Look at that in verse 4. And
they took, talking about his two sons, and they took them
wives of the women of Moab. This is better translated, they
transgressed the decree of the word of the Lord in taking strange
wives. This was against the commandment
of God to mix marriage between Gentile and Jews. It was against
the commandment of God, and yet they willfully disobeyed the
commandment of God. Even so, God forbids His children
to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. This sin of Elimelech resulted
in the sin of his son. Had Elimelech not left, his sons
would not have committed this sin. What I mentioned in the
Bible study this morning, we all have influence on people.
You better recognize that you have influence on those around
you. If you are a parent, you influence your children by what
you do. Not so much good as evil. If you do evil, they'll see that
more than they see the good. We have influences. He had influence
on His children. And look, His children, we have
no hope for them in Scripture. Their names, Chilion and Malion,
that means sickness and consumption. And you know what? They died
in sickness and consumption. They died in sin. And their father was to be blamed. Their father sinned. Took them
to Moab. Took them away from the gospel. If we take our children away
from the gospel, I tell you, if we raise them in the lap of
the world, don't be surprised if they're married to it. If we raise our children in the
lap of the world, don't be surprised if they're married to it. Number three, the result of his
disobedience was that his wife was left destitute. Verse 5,
"...and Malion and Chilion died, both of them. And the woman was
left of her two sons and her husband." This is always the result of
disobedience is bitterness. When she came back to the land
of Israel, they were saying, hey, it's Naomi. And she said,
don't call me Naomi. Call me Mara. That means bitterness. Bitterness. Sin always leads
to bitterness of soul. It always results in the despair
of the soul. Let us therefore endure the famine,
being faithful to the gospel. Is that not what the Lord is
teaching us here, to be faithful? Is He not teaching us to hold
fast to Christ? and let the rest of the world
go. That's exactly what He's teaching us here. My last point is this. God does
not leave His people comfortless. God never leaves His people comfortless. There is yet hope for sinners.
There is yet hope for sinners. Look at this in verse 6. Then,
when? When she had nothing. When she
had nothing. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law
that she might return to the country of Moab. Why? For she
had heard in the country of Moab how the Lord hath visited His
people giving them bread. There's hope. Here's hope. What's the hope? The Lord hath
visited His people. This is the hope. This is the hope. This is the
hope she heard. And even though Elimelech sinned,
even though he lost all he had, Even though His sons died in
disobedience, yet we have a ray of hope. The Lord visited His
people with bread in the midst of this famine. He visited them
with bread. Our father Adam sinned and brought
his posterity to a low estate, didn't he? Well, Jesus Christ has come and
visited His people with salvation. with bread of His Word to feast
on. His blood and righteousness justified
God's elect, God's spiritual Israel. And there's a feast,
where? In the house of bread. In the
house of bread, there's a feast. God's visited His people. You
in Moab, listen, God has visited His people. There's salvation
in Christ. There's hope in Christ. You who
are believers, if you have left, come back. There's hope in Christ. He's visited His people. He's
visited His people. Jesus has come and brought salvation. If you've forsaken His house
of bread, come where there's bread in the house of God. There's forgiveness. Don't you
suppose Naomi needed that forgiveness? Yeah. And I'll tell you, when
we go away from the Word of God, we need forgiveness. And you
know what? There is plenty forgiveness with
God. Do you know the Scripture says
this? For the Lord will not forsake His people for His great namesake,
because it had pleased the Lord to make them His people. You
know, you are His people because He made you His people? Why then
would He forsake us? He won't. Be faithful. Be faithful. It is the goodness
of God that leadeth man to repentance. See the goodness of God. See
what God hath done for you. And lastly, God used this to
save His elect people. God uses even the sin of men
to save His people. Friend, there was a woman in
Moab that was one of God's elect. You know, she was the grandma
of David. She was the grandmother of David,
who was of the lineage that had Christ. Christ was David's Son
and David's Lord. Now how do you suppose that a
woman of Moab would come to the house of Israel to find a kinsman-redeemer? How is that? God even used the
sin of Elimelech to find His people. Now what does this mean?
Should we sin that grace may abound? God forbid. God forbid. Well, I guess since God's going
to work it all out for His election, He can use my sin. I'm just going
to sin. God forbid you should think such
a thing. We should reckon ourselves dead
to sin and alive unto God. Believer, we live in a time of
famine. Be careful not to go away from
the only place where there's bread. Don't sojourn anywhere where
there's no gospel. Lest God bring on you judgments
and consequences of your sins. You know, I wouldn't want that
to happen to me and I wouldn't want that to happen to you. This
man's a real man. God uses real people in His Word.
They're just like you and they're just like me. Friends, this is where God has
placed His Word in this city. I hope that there's more. I don't
know of any. So, I'm sorry. Don't go away. The Lord asked Peter, He said, will
you go away too? And what did He say? To Lord,
whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. I pray that God would keep this
in our hearts, that we may be warned and that we may have hope
in Christ our Savior. I pray that God blesses to your
hearts. A stand will be dismissed in prayer.