So Ruth chapter 1 verse 19 to 22. I'll begin reading right there. So verse 19 states, So they too went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass when they were come to Bethlehem that all the city was moved about them. And they said, Is this Naomi? And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty hath dealt bitterly with me. Now we're at verse 21. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty. Why then call yet me, or ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me? So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab, and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest." Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank You for this day. Father God, we thank You for this lesson. Lord, we're thankful for the heat, Father God, in this building. We're thankful for the shelter. Lord, no one came here unaccosted this morning, Lord. We're so thankful for that, Father God. We pray that you bless this Sunday school hour of teaching, Lord. I pray that you empty me of myself, Father God. Fill me with you, Father God. Hide me behind the cross, Lord, that this message might plant a seed in the mind of somebody that needs it, Lord. Father God, we pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. So what we're going to be talking about today is the concept of victory. More importantly, going from defeat into victory. Now, often when people are defeated, they think their lives are over and that God cannot use them. But God's word often shows that defeat is merely a closing chapter. It often leads to a new opportunity and a new chance to serve Him. We're going to get into that a little bit today. So, to give you some context into the story, Ruth is one of those books that you really, if you don't mean to go to it and you're a newer believer, you'll skip right over it. It's only four chapters. It's one of the main, you wouldn't think so, but it's really one of the main pillars that leads to Christ in the Old Testament. So, to give you some context here, basically what happened thus far into the story was that Naomi had a husband. His name was Elimelech. They lived in Bethlehem, Judah. What ended up happening here was they ended up having two sons. Those two sons had two daughters. Now, Elimelech ended up passing away. And over time, the two sons ended up passing away as well. So what you had left was Naomi, the husband of Elimelech, and the two daughters-in-law. Now the two daughters-in-law, one of them ended up staying to the country that they left for, which was Moab, which is their homeland, and the other one ended up going with Naomi back to the place of Naomi's origin, which was Bethlehem, Judah. So that's kind of the background to this text. So Ruth was the daughter that chose to follow Naomi, the daughter-in-law that chose to follow Naomi. And there were a couple of things that she did here, a couple of things that went wrong in her life here, but the defeat was her husband died. The victory is what we're going to learn about today. But in order to get that victory, a couple of things needed to happen. First thing that needed to happen, the first thing that Ruth ended up doing was that she was faithful in following. Point number one, Ruth was faithful in following. God is looking for one primary qualification in a follower. It's not intelligence or ability, it's faithfulness. It's not education, a record of past achievements, it's faithfulness. It doesn't really matter what you're able to do or what you lack. If you lack faithfulness, God's word says we are useless to the ministry. So I've got four New Testament verses. You don't have to flip to them. You can write them down if you like. But four New Testament verses here that would attest to that is 1 Corinthians 4, verse 2 states, Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. Matthew 16, 24 states, Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. John chapter 10 verse 27 states, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And then John 12, 26 states, If any man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am, there also shall my servants be. If any man serve me, him will be my father. Now Ruth was faithful in following, and a funny kind of an illustration to where we're going to be going to next is, in the Everyday Discipleship of Ordinary People, Stuart Briscoe wrote about a fellow minister, and basically what ended up happening was a military officer died, and his military friends wanted to be part of the service. So they basically asked the guy running the service, the preacher running the service, to lead them down to the casket, stand with them for a solemn moment of remembrance, and then lead them through the side door." Well, the pastor attempted this, but he made a slight miscalculation. What ended up happening was, they did this, they stood, then the pastor led them, but he picked the wrong door and they went right into a broom closet. Full view of the people in the service. It's funny now, probably not so funny then, but whatever. So, there's two things you can draw from that. Number one, If you're going to leave, make sure you know where you're going. Second, if you're going to follow, make sure that you're following someone who knows what they're doing. You know, we look at Ruth and Ruth is from Moab. Her mother-in-law is not from Moab. Ruth left her friends. Ruth left her family. Ruth left her entire life of Moab to go follow Naomi to Bethlehem Judah. She did not make that decision lightly. I love this book because it has something for the older generation and it has something for the younger generation. Ruth is following Naomi, but Ruth used discernment before she made the decision to follow Naomi. She didn't just blindly go without putting a second thought to it. This involves her leaving her entire life. So, to parallel that to our lives, what I would say is, if you're younger, my age, maybe a little bit younger, maybe just even a little bit older than me, who are you following? Who are you following? I would challenge you to question yourself on that. There are a lot of people you could follow in this world that will, their intentions might seem good, but they will end up leading you astray. It's happened to me. Dare say it might have happened to every person in this room, they have some kind of a testimony to that. So just, if I could give you anything, if you take anything else from this, take this. Be careful of who you follow. So, this is kind of hard for you guys on your end to note. The outline makes sense to me on my end. It might be a little bit more confusing to you. But now we're at point A. First thing she did, she was faithful in following. What did she follow? Well, first off, she followed Naomi's path. So we're going to go to Ruth 1, verse 22. So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law with her, which returned out of the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest. In Genesis 24, 27, the servant of Abraham, who was sent to find a bride for Isaac, rejoiced to say, I being in the way the Lord led me. As we're faithful to follow, God leads us further. And one of the ways that God leads us is through his people and not just through professional Christian leaders or experienced Christian people or counselors. I got to tell you, you may not consider yourself somebody who is really that intelligent or somebody who's really that capable, but I need you to understand this, and God wants you to understand this, that somebody is looking to you for an example. Somebody. There's always somebody. If it's not somebody in this room, it's one of your children. If it's not one of your children, it might be one of your children's friends who has a family member or their parents who just don't go to church, who have a very unstable life. That kid might be looking to you for your testimony. God wants to use you to show someone else the right way to go. Now in Ruth 1.22, we see that Naomi decided to return to the city of Bethlehem. and decided to follow her. This is a big step of faith. Going back to her leaving her whole house, I can't help but think about when you go to the New Testament when Jesus is basically in the process of gathering His disciples, I can't help but think about Matthew. Matthew sitting in his toll booth. basically is what he was doing. He was sitting on the highway in his booth collecting taxes. Matthew was the worst kind of tax collector. There were different brackets of tax collectors in that day and age. Matthew was the worst kind. I don't want to get into the specific itemization of that, but he was the You look at Matthew and he was basically the worst tax collector. He was the guy that if he came to your door, oh no. IRS. But all Jesus did, he came up to him and there's some accounts that just say two words, follow me. He forsook all and he followed him. You know, Matthew had a great job in those days. Not a lot of people liked him, but at the same time, he was making great money. He had job security. He had his little group of other tax collectors. He had an entire life that he had to leave. There are places in the Bible all over the place where you can find people having to leave in order to follow something. And something's usually Christ. So, point A, follow Naomi's path. Point B, Ruth, follow Naomi's counsel. So a wise person, contrary to what many people may think, It's someone that knows it all. Wise people are willing to listen and they're willing to learn. Wise people understand the need for more wisdom. We can never have too much wisdom. The Bible says, if you ask for wisdom, He will give it to you abundantly. I asked for it by the truckload. That's just the biggest measurement that I could think of. I asked for wisdom by the truckload. Now, a little illustration I like about wisdom is there's a difference between knowledge and wisdom. Do we all know that? Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put that fruit in your fruit salad. That's basically the difference. If I could put it in one sentence that summarizes it, that would be it. But you go to Proverbs 1, verse 5. A wise man will hear and will increase learning, and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsel. Now Ruth had told Naomi when they left Moab, whether thou goest, I will go, and whether thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. Now that's Ruth 1.16. When they reached Bethlehem, Naomi told Ruth about where to go and what to do. Ruth trusted Naomi and did what she was told. Naomi knew that there was a place there where Ruth could go to access the blessings of her family heritage and guided Ruth to it. A little sidestep here. Follow somebody who has your best interest in mind. Follow somebody who has your best interest in mind. What are two things that Naomi told Ruth to do? Well, number one, the first thing that Naomi told Ruth to do was to go to Boaz's field. Go to Boaz's field. So Ruth 2, verse 1, states, and Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. And then verse two states, and Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, let me now go to the field and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, go, my daughter. So that was the first thing. She went to Boaz's field, as Naomi instructed. The second thing that she did was that she went to Boaz's feet. So now we're in Ruth chapter 3, verse 6 and 7. And she went down into the floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law obeyed her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn, and she came softly and uncovered his feet and laid her down. Now Naomi not only told Ruth where to go, but she told her whom to go to. She knew that the answer for Ruth was to get to the right person, that being Boaz, for he was the one that could meet her needs. If we don't know what a kinsman is, basically what a kinsman is, is in that day you're a female and your husband died, the proper thing for you to do is to marry the next of kin. Now there are multiple reasons for that. One was to maintain the sustenance of the family and two was to maintain the sustenance of the children. You also want to keep yourself out of adultery at that point as well. So there are multiple reasons for that, but it ended up her kinsman was Boaz, and it ended up Boaz was in Bethlehem. So because she followed Naomi, it ended up there was a kinsman in line. Now she didn't know that when she started this journey. Important to note there. Now we too need to get to the one who can meet our needs. Who is that? Well, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. God's Word commands us to come boldly unto the throne of grace. That's in the book of Hebrews. It's not really enough for us to believe that He's available. We must actively pursue Him. We must actively go to Him. Not only that, but we need to direct others to the same One who can meet their needs. Which I want to ask a question here, and this is applicable to everybody in here. Are you being a good Naomi? Are you being like Naomi? If somebody comes to you for counsel, are you directing them straight to Jesus? Is that the first place you're sending them? Are you sending them to a psychologist? Are you sending them to this person? Are you sending them to that person recommending this medication? Are you sending them straight to Jesus? Jesus Christ is the one who can heal all of our afflictions if we would just go to Him. At least the spiritual ones. I've got three more verses in the New Testament to speak about this. These are all the book of John. John chapter 141. He first findeth his own brother Simeon, or Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah, which is being interpreted through Christ. John 1.45 states, Philip findeth Nathanael and saith unto him, We have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. John 4.29 states, Come see a man which told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? So we need to keep Christ in mind when we are acting in the part of Naomi. In all things. The end game to helping somebody should be to send them where they need to be. Where do they need to be? They need to be with Jesus above all things. So point number one, she was faithful and following. Point number two, this is the second thing that she did that Ruth did that ended up really helping. Number two, she was fervent in laboring. Now, Pastor Paul Chappell has often said, laziness is the scrooge of the ministry. While it's true that people have different levels of gifts and responsibilities, no one has more or less than 24 hours in the day. Each of us are held accountable for what we do in the time. We're supposed to redeem the time. Godwards challenges us, whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. Now, Ruth believed this. Ruth lived this. This is what Ruth did. Now, how did she do this? How is she fervent and laboring? Well, number one, point A, she went to the harvest. She worked in the harvest. We go to Ruth chapter 2, verse 3, and it says, And she went and came and gleaned in the field after the reaper. And her hat was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who is of the kindred of Elimelech. Now, Ruth went to where the harvest was taking place. She knew that there was reaping going on, and she wanted to be a part of it. It's very common for people who are serious about reaping to want to be around people who are also serious about reaping. It's very common for people who are serious about reaping to also want to spend time with people who are serious about reaping. I'll let that sink in. If you're serious about your Christian life, you shouldn't be hanging out in bars. If you're serious about your Christian life, the Super Bowl today, I'm going down that road, the Super Bowl today shouldn't usurp your willingness to go to church tonight. Now, our service doesn't conflict with the Super Bowl, so that's awfully convenient for me to preach, but I will say this, if they did, attendance should stay right the same. God knows who's going to win that game. I would wonder if God even cared. I'll get off my soapbox now. The house of God should prevail over all things. You should have a hunger to be here. If you don't, check yourself. God gives grace in all things, so all you've got to do is change your heart on that. He'll forgive you for it. I'm not trying to beat anybody up. So she went to the harvest. Point P, she stayed at the harvest. Ruth 2.23 states, So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz, gleaned unto the end of the barley harvest, and of wheat harvest, and devout with her mother-in-law, which was Naomi. It's been well said that people remember how you start and they will remember how you finish. We find here that Ruth stayed in the field until the end of the harvest. She did not gather a little bit and say, that's enough. But she stuck with the job until the harvesting was done. For believers today, the harvest time will not end until the Lord Jesus chooses to either call us home via death or via the sound of the trumpet. God's word clearly states that this and we are to occupy until he comes. Luke 19.13 states, And he called his ten servants and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. It says in the Bible that the fields are white for harvest, but the laborers are few. We need to be working. We need to be going. You know, pastor preached this or taught this a couple of weeks ago that every generation is made to look like the last generation. And I see a lot of people out there who take that and run with it a little bit too far and they don't do the work because they're just waiting for Jesus to come back. There's no hope because this world is going down the tubes anyway. So why should I try? That's false. That's not accurate. That's not what the Bible tells us to do. We are to occupy until Jesus Christ comes or until we die. There is nothing in the Bible that speaks about retirement. Now, the Bible speaks about a less demanding part of life at an older age, of course, I am all for that, but there's nothing in the Bible that speaks about retirement. And there's nothing in the Bible that says, oh, you don't know a whole lot, you're really young, you shouldn't talk to anyone about Jesus. If you have an inch of zeal, or if you have an inch of knowledge and a mile of zeal, show that to somebody. Talk to somebody about that. Be excited about Christ. Be excited about the labor He has for you to do. Be excited for it. You shouldn't come home from doing the Lord's work and act like you came home from your job. You shouldn't want to sit down in your recliner and just watch football. You shouldn't want to do that. It should excite you. It should fill your soul. It should make you, it should fill you with joy. If it's not, I wonder what your motive is. So she worked, and she worked, and she worked, and Ruth worked until the end of the harvest. Now, this, and maybe I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself, but people like to see people work. I've seen this example before where, usually I don't like to quote secular people in the pulpit, but this was actually a pretty good quote from an otherwise pretty filthy individual. Chris Rock, I actually spoke about when he was younger. He actually, his tire flattened and he was trying to wave people down and no one was helping him even though his tire was flattened. So what he decided to do is he decided to push his car down the highway. Then everyone started to come out and help him. People like to see you work. People want to see that you're trying as hard as they're being asked to try. So, with that in mind, we see here that Ruth went to the harvest, she showed up. How much of Christianity is just showing up? If you just sit down, if you just take what is being offered in the house of God, it's amazing what God can use that for. If you just go to a service, you go to a Sunday morning, you go to a Sunday night, you go to a Wednesday night service, you go soul winning on Saturdays, it's amazing what God can do with that. Because you'll sit and you'll hear something and you might not use it for three or four years. But when you need it, God will bring it to the forefront of your memory. I've lived that. I've heard sermons in 2011 I haven't used until 2015, 16. I got saved in 2011. Some of the first sermons I heard had no application in my life until I was at a point of knowledge where I can go back to them, because they're all notated, they're all recorded and written down, and go, wow, I need that right now. It's amazing what God can do if you just show up. But she not only showed up, she stayed. She stayed at the harvest. She worked. She worked hard. That got Boaz's attention. If she just sat there like, my fingers are dirty. I don't want to do this. I've got calluses. I don't like this. I'm going home. You think Boaz would have noticed that? No. He would not have noticed that whatsoever. But because she chose to be faithful and following, because she chose to be fervent and laboring, We find here, and this is point number three, because of those two things, she was favored with blessing. A lot of us are parents. We delight to meet the needs of our children and we'll do whatever is necessary to take care of them. And God is much more faithful and capable father than any of us could be. And we rest assured that he'll take care of his children as well. But going beyond just the basic needs, we see the desire of God's blessing in our life. Now, we spoke earlier of faithfulness. It's the key of following God, but it's the key of the blessings of God too. Proverbs 28.20 states, a faithful man shall abound with blessing. There are all kinds of illustrations in the Old Testament about people who stayed faithful. All kinds. I've got a laundry list right here. God met needs. I'm going to go off of some of these laundry list items. God met so many needs in the Bible that for the people that were in the situation, they had no idea how it was going to happen. They had no idea how it was going to happen. The famine in Israel, God used Joseph to preserve his family. That's in Genesis. He escaped from Egypt. God's people crossed the Red Sea on dry ground. They didn't even get their feet muddy. That's in Exodus 14. The wilderness wanderings. God provided manna every day. That's in Exodus 16. The crossing of the Jordan. Again, Israelites crossed on dry ground in Joshua. David. We look at David. God gave him strength and courage to overcome the lion and the bear and the Philistine giant. Elijah. God used ravens to feed him. That's in the book of Kings. So all over the Old Testament you see where God provided need. God provided need in circumstances where the person didn't know how they were going to get it. So maybe David. David seemed pretty confident against Goliath, but I wouldn't have been, but I guess that's why he was king. So Matthew chapter 6 verse 24 through 33 speaks to this. And it states, no man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and man. Verse 25, therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat and the body than raiment? Behold, the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?" God's Word teaches us that every good and perfect gift comes from Him. He is the source of blessing. God, a holy God, a holy and righteous God is the source of our blessing. That ought to fill us, absolutely fill us with joy, with blessing, with peace. Inner peace, which is what the world needs to see in us. It was funny, I work in sales. I was on a sales call to a company in Grafton. And I opened the door, and I'm like, hey, I'm calling with such and such company, and I'm yadda yadda yadda stuff I need to sell you that I really don't want to sell, and yadda yadda yadda. And I'm like, how are you today? He looked at me, and he goes, better than I deserve. Your speech betrays you, sir." What do you mean? I'm like, you're a Christian. He goes, how did you know? I mean, how did I know? Your speech betrays you. You have inner peace because you know the truth. That should be us. And I knew within the first words that this man said that he was a Christian. Hi, how are you? Know this, a big old smile. I'm better than I deserve. We can all say that in any avenue of life that we find ourselves in. We can always find ourselves able to say that. So we go to James 1 chapter 17. It is a beautiful thing to see how God met the needs of both Ruth and Naomi. Two needs were met here. Number one, or point A, see I told you the notes were confusing. Point A, immediate needs were met. Their immediate needs were met. We go to Ruth chapter two, verse 15 and 16. And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men saying, let her glean even among the sheaves and reproach her not. and let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them that she may glean them, and rebuke her not." I think we all kind of see what's happening there. He's helping her out. He found favor with her and he says, hey, you're reaping. Leave a little bit more for her. She needs it. Each day, each and every day that Ruth went back into the field, she was able to glean, which means basically the reapers would reap, like I said, the reapers would reap. Whatever was left, she would glean. She would take what the reapers couldn't get. Each and every day Ruth went into the field, she's able to glean. She's able to glean enough food for her and Naomi's daily needs. The Bible uses a beautiful phrase when it states that there are handfuls of purpose that were left for her. Although the field was not hers, she was being watched over and cared for. God's Word says that he will not see the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread. So Psalm 37 verse 25 states, I have been young and now am old. Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread. That ought to give us some kind of peace, right? That ought to give us something. So, point A, her immediate needs were met. She showed the faith to follow Ruth, or follow Naomi. Ruth followed Naomi into Naomi's homeland. She showed up to work on time every day, on time. Every day, on time, every day. Which, by the way, if you're a Christian and you're not consistent in your work, you're ruining your testimony. You ought to be the hardest working person there. You ought to be the person that stays late. You ought to be the one that when, at least for the way my structure works, you ought to be the one that when the district manager talks to your store manager, He ought to be able to point you out as the hardest worker. Maybe not the best person, but the hardest worker. Are you doing that? I'm going to throw that question out there. I'm not used to that. All right. But number one, A, her immediate needs were met. Point B, her permanent needs were met. We go to Ruth, last chapter, chapter four, verse 13. So Boaz took Ruth and she was his wife. And when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception and she bare a son. Now, ultimately, Ruth became the bride of Boaz and a part of his family. God gave them a son who was to be part of the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ. Reference that to Matthew 1, the first 16 verses. It's an amazing thing to look at some of the women whom God used to maintain the royal line of David that would someday result in the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Whether it was Rahab, Bathsheba, Tamar, or Ruth, we're reminded that God is looking for people that he can use to further his cause. God's looking for somebody to further His cause. And He wants to use you. He wants to use you. He has a purpose for everyone in this room for the cause of Christ. And if you open yourself to that use, He'll use you. But if you close Him, He's a perfect gentleman. He won't push you. He'll just use somebody else. So open yourself up to that need. Open yourself up to that need that you know God is calling you to do. So in conclusion, Justice Exeter was a wonderful example of love and grace. Ruth is an equally fantastic example of faithfulness and fervency, which leads to blessing. No matter what trials God brought into her life, no matter how many immense and sudden changes she had to endure, Ruth remained faithful to her authority and fervent in her labor. And for this, she was favored with blessing from her God. The God Ruth served is the same God that we serve today. We should remain faithful no matter what He allows to enter into our lives, and we should be fervent in our labor. We need to be fervent in our labor. We need to be fervent in our faithfulness, faithfully follow, fervently labor, favored with blessing. That's what the Bible says. That's what we need to do. You see it spoken about in the New Testament. You see it illustrated in the Old Testament. One last point is that if you are And I like this because it does. It does speak to young people and it does speak to old people. If you're a young person, are you being a good Ruth? Are you being a good Ruth as a young person? If you're a little bit older, are you being a good Naomi? Are you doing what you need to do? Are you reading your Bible? Are you praying regularly? Are you attending church? Are you setting aside quiet time to quiet your soul so that you can be prepared for the questions that may come? If you're a young person, are you listening to your guidance? Are you listening to the people in your life that are trying to help you? Are you following the right people? These are important questions we need to ask. So I would just caution you this week, as you look into your sphere of influence, who these people are, be thankful for ones that are helpful, but also be cautious of the ones that show signs of concern. But again, if we are faithful and following, if we're fervent and laboring, we will get favored and blessed.