You know we talked last week
about Elimelech, Naomi's husband, leaving Bethlehem, Judah, the
house of bread. He made the wrong choice and
it cost him his life, cost him his son's life. And Naomi was
left without son or husband. But she
had two daughter-in-laws, two daughter-in-laws. And it's verse
six and seven, look what it says. She arose with her daughters-in-law
that she might return from the country of Moab. For she had
heard 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 daughter-in-laws with
her. And they went on their way to return under the land of Judah.
And why did she arise and head back to Bethlehem? Why is she
heard? Because she heard. She heard that the Lord had visited
her people. She had heard and that's what
we hear. We have to hear without faith cometh by hearing. And
a man cannot trust somebody he does not know and he can't believe
in somebody he has not heard. And so you have to hear. And
she heard. And when she heard, she arose
and headed back to Bethlehem. And she's like all of God's people.
She's like all of God's people. She believed God. She believed
God. She believed the gospel. And
her faith was evidenced. Because when she heard, she left
where she was And went where the Lord had visited his people
and where the bread was. And that's why all the Lord's
people have done that. All the Lord's people do that.
Abraham, when he went out, not knowing where he was going, when
she heard, she arose. And that's what happens when
you hear. You come from where you are to where Christ is. You
come from out of yourself and you go to Christ. And she arose
with her daughter-in-law and headed back. And she hadn't seen
the bread. She hadn't tasted the bread.
But she went believing that the Lord had visited His people and
there was bread there when she got there. She walked by faith. And she walked by faith on what
she heard. And her two daughter-in-laws
went with her. But there was a great difference between these
two daughter-in-laws. Look down here in verse 14 and
15. And they lifted up their voice
and wept again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law,
but Ruth claimed unto her. And she said, behold, thy sister-in-law
is going back unto her people and unto her gods return thou
after thy sister-in-law. One gave a goodbye kiss. Orpah
gave a goodbye kiss and she went back. Went back to her people,
went back to her gods. Ruth didn't give a kiss, but
she claved to her. That means she held on to her.
I mean, she said, I'm going to join myself to you. I'm going
to join myself to you. And the only thing that's going
to separate me and you being joined together, death. That's
the only thing that's going to ever separate us. It's the only
thing that does. And let me go back up here in
verse 8 and 10 and say this, this is my first point. Salvation
is a personal and individual thing. And Naomi said unto her
two daughter-in-laws, Go back to your mother's house, and the
Lord deal kindly with the dead and with me, as ye have dealt
with the dead, dealt with my sons, and how ye have dealt with
me. And the Lord grant you that you
may find rest in each of you in the house of her husband.
Then she kissed them, they lifted up their voice and wept. And
they said unto her, surely, surely, we will return unto thee with
thy people. Now Naomi, Naomi had spoke kindly
to these two ladies, these two daughter-in-laws of her. She
spoke so kindly to her, said they was kind to her, said you
dealt so well with my sons. You was good to my sons. You
was good to the dead. The ones that's dead now, you
was good to. You treated them well. And then you treated me
kindly after they were gone. You treated me very, very good,
very kindly. And you dealt greatly and graciously
with me. And so Naomi spake kindly to
them and favorable of them. And the women were both tender
and moved by Naomi's words. And she kissed them. There in
verse 9 it says she kissed them. She kissed both of them. She
loved these two girls. She loved these two women. She
kissed them. And what did they do? The scripture
says that they lifted up their voice and wept. That means that
they wept loudly. They made a great noise in weeping. You could have heard them weeping.
You could have heard them groaning. You could have heard them crying.
They didn't just cry a tearful down their face. They were moved
greatly in their hearts and in their souls. And I tell you what,
and they wept very loudly. And down in verse 14 it says
that they lifted up their voice and wept again. Wept again. Wept again. And look what they
said in verse 2. 10, excuse me. In verse 10. And they said unto her, Do you
stay here? You go back to your own houses.
You go back. And they said unto her, Surely
we will return with thee unto thy people. You can kiss us. You can talk kindly about us.
You can be favorably to us. And you can break our hearts
and make us weep. But we're going to go with you.
We're going to go. That's just the way it is. We're
going to go with you. We surely will go with thee. But now, Naomi
asked him some questions. She asked him some questions.
Look what she asked in verse 11. Naomi said, turn again my
daughters, why will you go with me? Why will you go with me?
I ain't got anything. I ain't got no more sons. I ain't
got no money. I ain't got no house. I ain't
got no means. Why will you go with me? And
she said, do I have any more sons in me? Is there any more
sons inside of me that they may be your husbands? And if I had
a husband tonight, she said in verse 12, if I had a husband
tonight, would you wait until they got grown? Would you wait
for them until they got grown so they could be your husbands
again? Would you do that? So why are you talking about
going? I've got no more sons. And if I had a husband tonight,
they would have to get grown and you'd be twice their age.
And would you wait for them? She's doing everything in her
power to get them to go back. And oh, she goes on to say in
verse 13, Then would you tarry for them till they're grown?
Would you stay for them from having husbands? No. Look what she told them. And
oh, she said it this way, and I tell you, now watch what she
says, know my daughters, in verse 13, for it grieveth me much for
your sakes that the hand of the Lord is going out against me.
Now she didn't say it grieves me for my sakes. She had lost
a husband. She's lost two sons. And she said, but I'm grieved
that the Lord's hand's going out against me for your sakes.
Because you don't have husbands now. You don't have anything
now. And so that's why you need to
go back where you started from. Go back to your own family. Go
back to your own kinfolks. Go back to your own gods. And
it grieves me that God, and she says this, the Lord's gone against
me. And Job, how many times did Job say, when he said, the hand
of God has touched me. The Lord has lifted this crown
off of my hand. Job, what's the matter with you?
The Lord has touched me. The Lord took the crown off of
my hand. Job, you lost your whole family. The Lord touched me. You lost all your goods. The
Lord touched me. You lost all your friends and
family. The Lord touched me. And he got down on his face before
God and said, The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed
be the name of the Lord. And that's why she's not complaining.
She's just stating the facts. She said, This is what God done
to me. And I'm sorry that you're without
husbands. And that's why you don't need
to go with me. Because I ain't gonna have no more children.
And she told them to return three times. She told them to go back
home three times. She told them in verse 8. She
told them in verse 11. And she told them in verse 12.
Turn again, turn again, turn again. Go back, go back, go back.
Now look down here in verse 14 and 15. One goes and one stays. One kisses and one cleaves. And the scripture said that they
lifted up their voice and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law. She kissed her goodbye. She said,
I am, I'm gonna go back home. I'm going home. I'm gonna go
back to my mother, go back to my father, go back to my kinfolk
and my gods. And then when she did that, she
went, she kissed her mother-in-law. Ruth just got real close to her.
Got her by the arm, I believe it. She just got her by the arm
and said, oh, now I'm not going back. Orpah can go, I'm not going. I'm staying right here with you.
I'm staying with you. And oh my, and look what happened.
And she said, Behold, and she said in verse 15, Behold, your
sister-in-law is going back unto her people. She started back. She's turned around now. They're
still watching her. Unto her people and unto her
gods. Return after thy sister-in-law. Go and get with her. Walk with
her. Go on. But I tell you something, she
went forth, she said, we're going to go forth with you back to
your people. That's what Orpah said. That's
what Ruth said. And she went forth with Naomi,
but you cannot go far. You cannot go so far on somebody
else's faith. And that's what she did. She
went so far on Naomi's faith. No matter how much you love them,
how much you respect them, how strong their faith is, you cannot
go by somebody else's faith. You can't do it. And you certainly
can't judge by appearances. It looked like Orpah was sincere.
She said, oh, we surely, surely will go with thee and return
with thee unto thy people. You can't judge it by appearances.
It looked like Orpah was sincere. She was kind. She was loving. She was tender. She wept. And
she said, we're going to go all the way with you. We're going
to go all the way back to your people. But what made the difference
that Ruth stayed there and Orpah went back? What made the difference? What made the difference? Well,
the difference is in the heart. When she was put to the test,
when Naomi finally told her and she understood, what good will it do you to go
with me? What do I have that I can give
you and do for you? What is it that I can do for
you? I have no more sons, I have no money, I have no home. I went out full and came back
empty. I went out rejoicing and came
back weeping. And what Naomi had done and our
Lord Jesus did it. He made it as hard as He possibly
could for people to come to Him. Do you know that? Every time
somebody come to him, he'd say something to them. And the only
ones who ever followed him, when he called them by name and pointed
at them and said, follow me. And when he started preaching
on election and God's sovereignty, they'd get mad at him. And when he started telling them
they had to count the cost, Ain't no man going to build a house
unless he can finish it. Lest he be embarrassed, ain't
no man going to build a tower unless he can't finish it. And
nobody's going to go out to war unless he has got, if he ain't
going to take 10,000 and go out against 50,000. And after our
Lord just, and I mean to you, if anybody had the kingdom of
God, the scripture said they pressed into it. They hadn't
taken it by violence. And I tell you, the only people
that came to Him was the people that He called. And how many
turned around and walked no more with Him? There was people standing
there when He raised Lazarus from the dead, and they stood
at the cross and mocked Him and ridiculed Him after they watched
Him raise Lazarus from the dead. He opened a man's eyes, had been
born blind, never had happened in the history of this world,
and ain't happened again. And you know what? It made the Pharisees mad. And that's what the old man is
doing. He said, girls, you count the
cost. If you're going to go back where
I'm from, you better count the cost. You better count the cost. And Orpah, she did. She went
back, and the scripture says she went back to her people.
And notice this, her gods. Went back to her gods. Now Naomi
and Elimelech, they had the true God. That's what his name meant.
God is King. And all mine. That's what the
scripture said. Keep this and look in Hebrews
11 with me. Look what it says over here in
Hebrews 11. You know, that's why Paul, you know, you find
one time where Paul's talking to Demas and say, you know, when
Demas comes, tell him to bring this, tell him to bring this,
my books and my coat. And then you find him later,
in Hebrews 11, you find him later saying, Demas has forsaken us,
having loved this present evil world. And that's what Orpah
did, she went back. Now look what it said here in
Hebrews 11, 13. These all died in faith, not
having received the promises, but having seen them afar off,
and persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they
were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say
such things, that we're pilgrims and we receive the promises and
we die in faith, declare plainly that they're looking for another
country. And truly, if they had been mindful, if their hearts,
their mind, their heart and souls were back in that country where
they come from, they might have had an opportunity to go back.
But now, watch what he says now. But now, what is it that they
want? They desire a better country,
a heavenly country. Wherefore God is not ashamed
to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city.
Oh my, that's what we got to look forward to. And that's what
every person has to do. When God gives a person faith,
they live by faith on unseen things. And that's what Naomi
did. She hadn't seen any of the things
that she was going back there for. But she went down there
not having seen these things. Moses endured as seeing Him who
is invisible. I've never seen the Lord Jesus
Christ but by faith. I've never seen God. I've never
seen the Holy Spirit. I've never seen the Trinity,
no the Bible says it. I've never seen heaven. I've never seen inside of a man's
heart to see what's going on with him. I never have. I can't
do that. But we look at the things that are unseen. Moses, he said,
he endeared us seeing Him who is who? Invisible. And God's invisible to us. Only
thing that makes Him visible to us is faith. The only thing
that makes us see God is faith. The only thing that makes us
look to glory is faith. The only thing that makes us
look to justification and righteousness in Christ is faith. And she believed. But Orpah didn't. She went back
to her gods. And oh my. Now listen to me. Ruth was confronted with exactly
the same thing that Orpah was. She had kinsfolks. She had friends. She had loved ones back there
in the country. And as far as life is concerned,
there was no difference in these women. You can't turn your head
for the difference in people. There's no difference in these
women. One wasn't superior to the other. Both were amiable. Both were affectionate. Both
were tender. Both were loving. Both were kind.
But Orpah kissed Naomi and went back. And no matter, no matter
what your personal character or disposition is, sweet, lovable,
faithful to your obligations, all good in themselves, but not
one of them things will save you. Not one of them. Make you
have your faith in things unseen. But now look what it says in
verse 14. And again, they lifted up the voice, Orpha kissed her
and Ruth clave unto her. Ruth clave unto her. Will she
be able to stand the pressure of Orpha going back? Naomi tried
harder to get her to return and said, Oh, listen, your sister-in-law's
done Your sister-in-law is going back under her people and under
her gods. Return thou after thy sister-in-law. But here, right here, is one of the most powerful statements
and declarations you'll ever read anywhere. In its simplicity
and in its power, it's just astonishing. It almost brings tears to my
eyes. Now listen, this is what she said. Can you find a more
powerful statement, some simplicity? The one that declares complete
abandonment of your former life? Such a commitment to a life of
complete surrender? And Ruth said, entreat me not. Look in the margin, it says,
be not against me. Don't be against me. Entreat
me not. Don't be against me and try to
cause me to leave you or to return from following after thee. Now
listen to this. Whither thou goest, I'll go. And where you lodgest, I swear
I'm going to lodge. If you live in the street, I'm
going to live in the street. Wherever you live, that's where
I'm going to live. And thy people, they're going
to be my people. I ain't got no people over yonder. The Lord's people's my people.
That's what she said. Oh, listen now. Thy people shall
be my people. And listen to this. Thy God shall
be my God. Wouldn't you love to hear your
children say that to you? Daddy, your God's going to be my God. I want to go where you're going
to go. And look what else she said. And this is astounding
now. Where thou diest, That's where
I'm going to die. And there will I be buried. Wherever you're buried at, that's
where I'm going to be buried. That's what she says. The Lord
do so to me and more also, listen to this, if aught but death part
me and you. You ever heard such a powerful
statement in your life? Two women, one returns, one absolutely surrenders
all and makes a commitment that includes nothing but her future
and she has no idea what it holds. What makes the difference? What
makes the difference? I was talking to Wayne Boyd today. His mother died last week, a
little over a week ago, and he had to go up. She was Catholic,
and he went to the service. He said it was absolutely horrendous. He said, I never, I don't care
who, I never go to another like that. But he said the thing that
astonished me and I was so thankful for and so grateful for when
I got there I saw a lot of people I was raised with. A lot of friends. A lot of people that I knew. And I seen clearly then that
the only difference between me and them is the grace that made
me to differ from them. I'd be in the same place they
was doing the same thing they're doing Living the same way they
was living, if it wasn't for the grace of God. He so rejoiced
in that. He said, I was astonished. I was just so
thankful all the time I was there. That the Lord made the difference. That's what you call a brand
plucked out of the burning. Brand plucked out of the burning.
But what makes the difference between these two? One leaves,
one stays. One absolutely surrenders. What
makes the difference? One is a chosen vessel. A chosen
vessel. A vessel of mercy. God says what
he said in Romans 9. Make you a vessel of mercy. The
other was just left to herself. Left to herself. And I tell you,
she was a vessel that the potter made for himself for his own
glory. That's who Ruth was. And Philippians
2.13 says this, it is God which worketh in you both to will. Just to have the will, something.
Paul said, I have, the will is with me, but how to perform,
I don't know. But God said, they both will. He said, he worketh
in us both to will, and not only that, but to do. You know why
she done that? Because he willed for her to
do that. He worked in her, the will, and then he gave her the
power to do. He works in us, gives us the
will, and then gives us the power to do. Ruth was a Gentile. She had no
standing under the law. She was an alien. But Isaiah
said, I was found of them who didn't even seek, I didn't seek
after. And I tell you why, she was found of the Lord. Oh, God
found her. Found of them who sought Me not.
And the Scriptures tells us that she was called according to His
purpose. And grace it was given her in
Christ before the world began. And this humility that she had
here, this humility, this surrender, this ability to just give herself
completely away. Just turn her whole future over
to her God and her people and whatever, where you live, that's
where I'm going to live. What you do, that's what I'm
going to do. And I don't care what happens. When you die, I'm
going to die where you do. I'm going to bury where you are.
I want your God to be my God. Where did this humility come
from, this ability come from? Is it natural? No. Her confession,
is it natural? No. Only God can put a heart
like this in a person's soul. Only God can do that to her.
Only God can do that. And the completeness of her commitment,
the completeness of it, I mean she did not hold back nothing.
Where you go, I'm going to go. Where you lodge, that's where
I'm going to lodge. Your people are going to be my
people. Your God is going to be my God. Where you die, that's
where I'm going to die. And that's where I'm going to
be buried. And the Lord do so to me, if nothing but death separate
me and you. That's what it's going to take.
Just keep me and you apart. And I tell you next week, I'm
going to look at these six statements of Bruce that covers and reaches
so far into the future as far as your outlook could reach.
And I tell you what, I was looking at it today And I was telling
him, and I done told Shirley, I may preach that, I may preach
his Sunday morning. I'll tell you, it's one of them
Sunday messages, you know. It's one of them messages. He
just tore me up today just looking at it. Oh my. That's, you know,
and you put yourself there with Christ. Put yourself there with
Christ. Our Lord Jesus, oh precious,
precious Father, thank you for your abundant mercy and grace
given us in Christ. Thank you for allowing us to
meet here this evening. Thank you for allowing us to
open your word to be blessed by it. Lord, I was blessed by
it. I hope others were. Lord, it
touches me to see such commitment. Lord, oh God, if we could find
it in our hearts to be that way with you, with you. Father, bless
these dear saints as they go home. Strengthen them in their
bodies. Direct their steps. Bless them
going in their homes and out of their homes, in their jobs
and out of their jobs. direct our steps, and bring glory
to Yourself through us. We ask these things in Christ's
name. Amen.