Amen, thank you. You may be seated now. In the book of Ruth, of course, Ruth is the main character and some preachers have called it God's redemption novel, romance novel. And a beautiful picture of love and so forth and so on. But it's interesting as we begin the book of Ruth, especially the first seven verses, our attention is shifted to one man, man of the household. His name is Elimelech, Elimelech. And what we see here in Ruth chapter one, it begins by giving you and I a picture. I want you to think about this in your mind for a few minutes. It's a picture of someone who steps out of the will of God or who steps out of fellowship with Jesus Christ. And although he has intentions of coming back, he never makes it back. And so, we just read, we see this man, Alemech, he was the leader of his household. He steps out of the will of God, and in doing so, he steps out of fellowship with Jesus Christ. And I'd like to preach about this man for just a little bit this morning. And just maybe, the scriptures will open our eyes clearly to some things, and apply this passage to our hearts. Now if you consider Elimelech, if you just begin to read the first couple chapters, I notice that Elimelech, he had a pretty fantastic family. He really did. He had a wife and he had two boys. It is pretty close to the American dream, except the two boys would be one girl and one boy, or one dog and one cat, or two dogs, or no dogs, and gerbils, and hamsters, and whatever you call it. Whatever your dream is, but nevertheless, it's a fine family. And not only a fine family, but a fine family heritage. If you look in verse one, we'll begin to plot our way through the passage again. It says, now came to pass in the days when the judges ruled. So you know where you're at in the book of Judges. that there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. So we see that this man was from Bethlehem, Judah. Good pedigree of a fellow. He was a Judah fellow from the tribe of Judah. And notice with me a few things this morning. If you would, first of all, in verse one, I see a man who steps out of the will of God, a man who steps out of fellowship with God. Can we just say this morning, number one, this man, he steps out. He steps out. Verse 1 gives us a wealth of information. Why? It gives us a wealth of information about His decision to step out. If you look with me, just back a couple pages, Judges chapter 21, verse 25, the last verse in the book of Judges, just take one page and go backwards with it, it will sum up the book of the Judges. It says in 21-25 that every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Now if you're paying attention and you just happen to be here for Joe's graduation, Brother Reagan gave you that little piece of information at Joe's charge if you're paying attention. That's absolute truth. In the book of the Judges, every man does what is absolutely right in his own eyes. Kind of sounds like America, don't it? If it feels good, do it. And if it's legal, great. And if not, we'll work around the system anyways, because I'm going to do it because I want to do it. I want to grow dope, so I'm going to grow dope. I think there's medicinal value, and get your hands off it, and all that so forth. The government says, no, we want a piece of the pie. We're going to tax it. OK, now you can grow dope. He does everything is right in his own eyes. This tells me that I can guarantee you something about Elimelech's decision to step out, as he didn't see it as stepping out. Why, he's doing what's right in his own eyes. It didn't appear that way to him. Well, the Lord was not convicting me of that thing, so I'm really not stepping out of fellowship. The fact is, you stepped out. You stepped out of God's will. You stepped out of fellowship with Jesus Christ. Not only that, in verse 1 we read that there is a famine in the land. You see that right in verse 1. You see the famine? Alright, can I remind you this morning something you already know. That the devil will always give you a good motive to do wrong. The devil will always give you a good motive to do wrong. The devil will always furnish you with a good reason to do the wrong thing. And you see here, it's just thrown out there was a famine in the land. Now there's 13 famines in the Bible, 13 of them. there's two up in the horizon yet to come. I want to show you the one that you're currently in, Amos chapter 8. This was also given at Joe's charge here. Amos chapter 8, look at verse 11. Amos chapter 8. You are currently in one famine, it's not a famine of bread. Amos chapter 8 verse 11. Now it's interesting, not only interesting, but it's noteworthy. You should note that you're in a famine as a child of God. You're in the famine described in Amos chapter 8 verse 11. Amen? But if you don't read your Bible, you don't study your Bible, this doesn't make any sense to you, and you're kind of like, well, okay, preacher, I'll listen to what you have to say, but I really don't see the bearing. You're going to see the bearing as we begin to put history together. In Amos chapter 8, look at verse 11, the Bible says, Behold, the days come. Sayeth the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. Did you see that famine? It's a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. There was a time and point in the history of this church building where this church building used to teach young men and women the pure words of God. And for that reason alone, I believe the Lord, one of those reasons alone, besides the prayers of the saints, I believe once again, the Lord has once again allowed the Bible to reign supreme through this church house. Why? Because you are deeply entrenched in the famine of hearing the words of the Lord. You go out in this community, you will not hear the words of the Lord. Why? There's a famine in the land. You can hear everything under the sun. You can hear the NASV, the ASV, the NIB, the ERV, the NERD, whatever you want to call the thing, but you can't hear the words of the living God. There's a famine. Now, like I said, you're currently in this famine. Amos 8, 11 said, the day has come. Well, can I just say, they're here. They're here. They're here. This famine began to take seed and you should note certain dates in history. One would be when Jesus Christ was born. The other one, Jesus Christ was crucified. I suppose another good date would be when Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70 by Titus. But this famine began to take seed and began to taint the entire food plot of Christianity in 1880 with the publication of the revised version and 1901's publication of the Catholic American Standard Version. Both versions are corrupt Catholic versions espoused to the critical text of Westcott and Hort, which have aborted up to 60,000 words from the authorized version. You say, so what? You're in a famine. Only a famine would take out that much. When you have a famine in the land, certain things don't grow. Now there's results of this famine as we're plotting through the text slowly and I want to show you these results just practically. Let me say this, many in the state of Michigan and states all around this country now have to drive up to one hour to hear the words of the Lord preached. Notice I didn't say to hear someone give a little homily. Notice I didn't say to give a little speech, to get together with a coffee bar and someone in a drum cage. I'm talking about hearing the words of the Lord. You in some cases will have to travel up to one hour to hear the words of the Lord preached. Why? Famine. You're in a famine. Say not only that, But congregational hymn singing, you know the stuff that we just did now? That stuff's gone by the wayside. And I can't pick on Brother Andy, but it's gone by the way of the American Indian. It's gone. Congregational hymn singing has now evolved into a praise and worship team with a rock band that neither praises God or worships God at all. Look at John chapter 4. I don't care what you think about it either. I'm going to preach the Bible, not your opinion, not my platform. John chapter 4. You say you're irritated this morning. I'm irritated at the effects of the famine. Why? Because you know what happens when you have a famine? The crops that do grow up, they're sickly. And you're gonna find later on in the text, you know what malon means? Sickly. You know what chileon means? Pining or wasting away. Why? There's a famine. All right, John chapter four. John chapter four. Bible says God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in what? So when you get some clown up there with a big old plastic banana microphone and a clown suit and jumping up and down, he loves me, he loves me, I know he loves me, he loves you, he loves me, he loves me, he might be worshipping a spirit but he ain't worshipping the truth. Because the place that Jesus Christ loved you was Calvary. And they won't dare open their cotton-picking mouth about Calvary. Not only that, but our divorce rates in the church house are equal now to the outside world because of this famine. Our abortion rates in the church house, you heard me right, are equal to the lost world. Our substance abuse rates are equal to that of the lost world because of the famine of hearing the words of the Lord. And this is just a glimpse of the tainted food supply. We could, I have a book at home with stats, and some of you have just, I'm bored out of your tears, the stats, but they're disheartening. This is just a glimpse of the tainted food supply, the modern versions that produce the current famine of God's Word. You say, you always have to make it a Bible issue. Absolutely do. If you don't keep that pure, perfect Word of God front and center, you can forget moving forward from here. Because everything you try to produce is going to be corrupt and tainted and produce a kind of a bastard seed. Now there's 13 famines listed in the Bible. The famine you're now in is not one of lack of food, but a famine of hearing of the words. And there's two more physical famines yet to come during the tribulation time, one in Revelation chapter 6, one in 18. But I'm not worried. You say, why? I ain't gonna be here. If you are, you tend to the crops, I'll tend to the judgment seat of Christ. Now Limelech, when he stepped out of fellowship with God, he thought he had a pretty good motive for doing it. There was a famine in the land. He had a noble motive for doing it, I would imagine. You realize that he probably said, well, you know, you just got to do what you got to do. There's a famine. If there was a famine right now in Iosco County, you know, one where you couldn't eat. I mean, even back in the 30s when it was the Dust Bowl, the government stepped in and fed the people. You cannot die of starvation in this country unless you're lazy or a drug addict. Amen. Or you've got some mental thing that prevents you from feeding yourself. This country will not let you starve. You say, I don't like that. Deal with it. This country will not let you starve. But a limb like probably said, you know, you got to do what you got to do. He probably said, probably went to church one day and say, well, we got to head out of town. You know, mama needs a new dress. Baby needs a new pair of shoes, you know. Well, you know, you got to eat. Isn't that what Raleigh said? Got to eat. You just got to pay the bills, preacher. Just got to make the donuts. And on and on the list goes. And those things, you know what they're called? I did that to see if you all were still sleeping on me this morning. You know what those things are called? Those things are called the rudiments of the world. If you take your Bible just for a minute, I want you to go to Colossians chapter 2 verse 8, Paul told you and I to beware of some things. And what these things are is rudiments of the world, and as a Christian you are to beware of those things. Colossians chapter 2 verse 8, the Bible says, Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after tradition of Man, after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ. You see that? Paul warns you about the rudiments of the world. You say, what are the rudiments of the world? Well, you've got to do what you've got to do. Well, why don't you just do what God tells you to do? Why don't you go ahead and think about what you think you've got to do and just go ahead and pitch that and do what God wants you to do. Do you really have to do what you've got to do or is it you just want to do what you want to do? Maybe if you just do what God tells you to do, things might be a little bit different. Not only that, in verse 8, we're warned about the rudiments of the world, but 12 verses later, look at verse 20. Imagine that. The Apostle Paul reminds you and I that when you and I got saved, not only did we become dead with Christ, but we become dead from the rudiments of the world. That means the rudiments of the world should have no power over us whatsoever. They shouldn't. Well, you know, I got to pay my bills. Okay, well, maybe you have too many bills because you made them. Why don't you go on your face and ask God to have a little bit of mercy with you and teach you how to spend your money. Amen. Okay, let's move on from that. So the child of God doesn't have to follow the rudiments. But what causes so many Christians to follow the rudiments of the world, as Elimelech does, is that he simply follows his flesh his entire life, and he ignores the new man. He ignores the spiritual man, the man whom God intended to run the show. God didn't intend your flesh to run the show. When Elimelech stepped out of fellowship with God, let me say this. Number one, it didn't appear that way to himself. After all, he's doing what is right in his own eyes. Didn't appear bad. Number two, Elimelech had a good motive for doing it. After all, there's a famine in the land. Pretty good motive. And number three, can I tell you this? It was only supposed to be a temporary stay. Read the verse. Verse one. Verse one says he went to sojourn. If you look up the definition of sojourn, that is a temporary stay. Guess what, friends? He died there. You see that? He never made it out. He went there as a temporary stay. Limelech didn't plan to stay long. Of course, Limelech ends up dying here a verse later, two verse later. But his family, according to verse 4, ends up staying there for 10 years. Now that number 4, Limelech went from God's house, well, to the outhouse. He went from God's house to the outhouse. Verse 1 says he was from Bethlehem, Judah. You know Bethlehem means, don't you? House of bread. That's the place where you get fed. Amen? Good preaching, even if I'm trying. Judah means praising God. He goes from Bethlehem to the country of Moab. Moab means desire. Two places in Scripture, Psalm 60 verse 8 and Psalm 108 verse 9, the Bible says Moab is my washpot. You got that nice little picture now? Moab is my watchword, that's God speaking, two different times. You realize that Elimelech had to violate the written words of God at that time to go to Moab. To get up, pack up, and go to Moab, he had to absolutely violate the written word of God at that time. Deuteronomy chapter 2 verse 9, the Lord told the Israelite to leave the land of the Moabite alone. Leave it alone. Now that, but in Deuteronomy 23.3 the Lord told Israel not to fellowship with the Moabite. No fellowship allowed. And in Deuteronomy 23.6 the Lord went a little bit farther with that Israelite and said you are not to seek the peace or prosperity of that Moabite at all. The bottom line was complete separation from the Moabites and integration was absolutely forbidden. So Elimelech left the house of bread, he left off praising God, and he traded it for the outhouse, God's washpot. Let me give you one more thing I see. This is just some observations in verse 1. When Elimelech stepped out of the will of God, it didn't appear that way to him. He had a good reason for leaving. It was only supposed to be a temporary stay. He traded God's house for the outhouse, and notice he didn't go by himself. He took his whole family with him. when he stepped out. Verse 1 said, he and his wife and his two sons. We've said this before, but it couldn't be said enough. Christian, you never backslide alone. Now we say that word backslide because you know you can't lose your salvation. Thank God for that. But when you step out of fellowship with Jesus Christ, you never just affect yourself. Paul says you're a written epistle known or read of all men. You never do it by yourself. You always take somebody with you. You always affect somebody else when you go. And in this case, Elimelech took his whole family. Christian, don't you see now why your fellowship with Jesus Christ is the most important thing? Your fellowship with Jesus Christ cannot be overstated in the church house. We could get up here and we could preach headlines and Dateline, Tawas City, and Fox News, Fair and Balanced, but the bottom line is if you're not in fellowship with Jesus Christ, it's not only gonna affect your family, but it's gonna affect your friends and everyone around you, and you're gonna pull them down. You're going to hurt them. How many here really want to hurt somebody else in here? Oh, not me, preacher. Well, then why aren't you in fellowship with God the way you should be? If you love your fellow man like some of you say, I love, I wouldn't hurt anybody, I wouldn't do anything hurtfully, why aren't you in fellowship? You don't love your fellow man, you love yourself. So here we see Elimelech, number one, he steps out. He steps out, not only does he step out, look at number two, verse two, he stays out. He stays out, Ruth 1.2, and the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi, and the name of his two sons, Malon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah, and they came into the country of Moab, there it is, and continued there. As we look, this temporary stay becomes much more permanent. Isn't that the way it is with sin? this temporary stay becomes much more permanent. If you look at the names involved in our text today, Alemlek means God, his king. Then you look at Naomi, means beautiful, gentle. But then you get looking at the two boys, you know, the perfect American dream, American home, you know, two kids and, you know, two cars and whatever, 10-bedroom house for four people, you know. but the name Malon means sickly, and the name Chilion means pining or wasting away. I guess my question this morning to Mr. Alemlek is if God is his king, then why would you run to Moab, God's washpot, when you could stay at the house of bread? If the beautiful, the gentle Naomi has Jehovah God on her side, what is with those kids? What is with the children? What is with Malon? And what is with Chilion? Can I say this? That while not always a hundred percent, but here in the scriptures, the boys give us an inside look to the parents. The boys give us a look at a deeper spiritual seeded problem this morning. They're sickly, they're pining, they're wasting away. You say, why is that preacher? Well, probably because mom and dad have been complaining about the house of bread for so long now. And you know, if we didn't tithe, we would be much better off. And if we didn't give the missions, we'd be able to go out every stinking week. And if we didn't have to be tied down to all this religion stuff, which you're not tied down to anything here, I'm the antithesis of where I came from. You know that if you know me at all. We just might have a life, preacher, and any minute Elimelech and Naomi are going to pack it all up and head to Moab, because you know, preacher, you just got to do what you got to do. Ladies and gentlemen, can I get you to think for a minute that many of our children in this generation have gotten out. I said many, I'm not saying all, okay. Now before you take this personal, let me finish it. Many of our children, broad statement, in this generation, broad statement, have gotten out. Why? Because we've gotten out. They are sick. They are pining away. Why? Because it's been revealed in us first. The problem is much deeper, much more seeded than that. When you get out of fellowship, it is most natural for your children to follow suit. Your children trust you. Why wouldn't they follow? No pressure, mom and dad. But beyond that, let me remind you something about human nature that many, I believe, are unwilling to embrace, and that is this, Christians often step out of fellowship with Jesus Christ. Can I say this? It's because it's what they wanted to do. Christians often step out of fellowship, they step out of the will of God, it's because it's what they wanted to do. Elimelech and Naomi just didn't wake up one morning, and when she went there, the cupboard was bare, and so they packed up the Moab and had hearties. No, that's not how it goes. You know that thing had been festering time after time. Matter of fact, when you stepped out on the Lord, when you stepped out of fellowship, when you stepped out of His will, it just didn't happen one day. You've been thinking about it for a while, and you've been planning it, And then you're like, no, not the right time. And finally, the perfect storm happens. And finally, it's that accident. And finally, it's that divorce. And finally, it's that death. And finally, it's that stinking virus. And now there's a reason to get out. And verse 2, to stay out. Christians often backslide. I use that one. word loosely, you know what I'm saying, they step out of fellowship with Jesus Christ, is because it's what they've been wanting to do all along. In the Christian life, you may have observed individuals that constantly cling to a victim-like mentality. And while I am not a professional counselor, I am only a preacher. That means I have limited experience, limited ability to diagnose anything but the book. A tree or two, amen. But your marriage problems, your personal problems, I'm not a shrink. Some of y'all might need one, amen? Okay, you don't believe it? I don't care, see one anyways. Don't send me the bill. But what I've noticed about human nature is many Christians enjoy playing the victim card. Why? Because it justifies them doing the sinful things that they really wanna do. After all, I was hurt, and since I was hurt, I really wanna be a pervert, so now I can be a pervert. I was hurt and now I really, being bitter is what makes and defines me. So now since I've been hurt, I have a reason to be bitter. So, see y'all later. It's a justification thing. It's a victim card. What I see here with Limlek and Naomi is a little bit of victim mentality. And it shows up in their children, Malon and Chilion. And the reason they cling to the victim mentality can very well be that they actually want to sin. And I'm saying the boys Malon and Chileon here are indicators of deeper spiritual problems of Mr. and Mrs. Limit. Can I just remind you as a child of God that the devil is the slickest, most subtle beast of the field still. And what he wants to do in your life right now, for example, take the virus, he wants to get you to the lowest state possible. And he wants you to think there's no hope for anything. And there's no hope, and there's no reason to keep going and going to church, and there's no reason to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. And when he gets you at your lowest point, then he wants you to use all that stuff to justify your sin and your hurting the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he wants to do. And while verse one makes you think that the famine was the reason they sojourned, if you look at the children in verse two, which we just did, and then you look at the length of time they all stayed gone in verse four, which was 10 years, we're led to believe that this was a spiritual problem, not just one of food. Christian, I'm not sure if you're picking up what I'm trying to unveil here this morning, but the reasons for our stepping out of fellowship are not physical, mostly they're often spiritual. It's not a physical problem, it is a sin problem. If you look at verse 7, the scriptures indicate that it was most likely Naomi who desired to go to Moab. For when her husband dies in verse 3, she doesn't return to Bethlehem, Judah. Matter of fact, the only thing that makes her return in verse 6 is when she learned that business was good once again in the hometown. You see that? Can I say this just by a little detour this morning? Sister, you've got to watch your step. You've got to be careful. If you go planting seeds of doubt in your husband's head, and you're continually vocal about your dissatisfaction all the time, can I just say you may get more than you bargained for? Sister, you've got to be careful. I'm not picking, you've got to watch your yap. I'm telling you, you've got to be careful. You better just leave the rest in God's hands. If you've got a man that loves God and is doing all that he can to take care of, you better leave it in God's hand and quit your complaining. Quit your complaining about what you don't have. Quit complaining about what you wish you had. And quit complaining about how God only lets you do this, that, or the other. You've got to be careful. Now that was free. Now look at this thing. Watch this. Number one, he steps out in verse one. Number two, he stays out in verse two. Look what happens in verse three. You know what he does? He checks out. You see that? He steps out, he stays out, and the Lord checks him out. Look at verse 3. And Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left in her two sons. Now you see that thing? You see that picture the Holy Spirit has given you and me as a child of God? A man who steps out of fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ and stays out should not be surprised when the Lord checks him out sooner than later. Now that's reality. You are put on this earth for one reason, take your Bible and go to Revelation chapter four. Revelation chapter four, I want you to see this Christian. You and I are put on this earth to please the Lord Jesus Christ. You and I weren't put on this earth to build a kingdom. You and I weren't put on this earth to create a legacy, to create some kind of a long-lasting impact upon the planet, to erase our carbon footprint, and all this other junk. You were put on this earth for one reason, Revelation chapter 4, verse 11. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure. They are and were created. You were put on this earth not for you, you were put on this earth for Him. So when you do the things you do and you step out of fellowship and you stay out of fellowship, don't you be stinking surprised if the Lord says, check please, out you go. Now the Lord can and will take a man home before his time, that's a scriptural fact. Can I just give you a couple things here before we move on? It's interesting to me in 1 Corinthians 11 verse 30 we find the Lord killing Christians because they wouldn't judge their own sins in 1 Corinthians 11 verse 30. Man, that's rough stuff. Paul said many are sick, many are weak, many are sickly, and many go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep, little churchy. He's not talking about like snooze. He's talking like, yeah, he's talking dead, like sleep dead. Not only that, in 1 Corinthians 5, 5 we find a man turned over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh because he was a sex pervert. That's what happened. In Acts chapter 5, how about this, and the Lord takes out a man and his wife for a line to the Holy Ghost and church. My soul. You say, why'd you laugh? It's either that or cry, man. Don't tell me God won't take you home early. He sure can. Where's this preaching? I'm not saying I'm doing anything. Where's this preaching in America? Live long and prosper, or nanu nanu, whatever that stuff is. What is that stuff? Your life isn't about you, it's about Jesus Christ. I'm afraid we've been brainwashed by this world. I'm afraid we've been thinking that it's all about what we can put up, and what we can get, and what we can do. Why don't you be what God wants you to be? Do you even know what God wants you to be? Well, preacher, I know what I want to be. Well, maybe you want to be the wrong thing. And if we're here to please the Lord Jesus Christ and to live like he steps out of fellowship, he steps out of the will of God, he steps out, he stays out, and the Lord says, you're checked out. See you later. I'm done with you. Well, it's going to get better. Stay with me now. What a terrible thing. He steps out, he stays out, the Lord checks him out. Elimelech had left his fellowship with God. He left the house of bread. He left off praising God to go to a place his wife had been harping on him to go. You say, why? I guess because he wouldn't man up and lead her. I said because he wouldn't man up and lead her. That doesn't mean you stand there with a club and beat her because you're an idiot. Lead her. If you're going to lead her, that means you've got to love her. Love her enough just to let her go off on you every once in a while. You're like, yeah, it'll be all right. You get this idea that manhood now is just always stomping on the women and putting them down. That's not being a man. That's being a moron. Because he won't man up and lead her and now she's relentless. Naomi's relentless, she's ruthless, she's restless, and now he's restless. And guess what, men? Now he's bitter at her. It's all her fault. You ever run into those cats? I've run into them. If you run into me and all you want to do is talk about your wife, I think you're an idiot anyways, amen? I've run into guys, all they want to do is blame their wife for everything. I'm like, man, you married her. Is that her fault too? You asked her and it was her fault, right? Come here. And now he's bitter at her. Of course, your Bible says you're not supposed to be bitter against her. You knew that, right? Husband, love your wives and be not bitter against her. I found out that verse was there. I was actually mad at the Lord. I really was. Just for a minute in the first John 1, 9, I was okay. And now he's bitter at her and now there's a famine. You see how that thing goes? And now there's a virus, so now's a good time as any to get out. And look, nobody will suspect it, nobody will question it, ain't nobody going to say a cotton-picking word, we can get out of here and save face at the same time. Why? We're doing what we got to do, preacher. Okay, you stand before the Lord, you don't stand before me, I ain't your pope. That's what they was thinking. He steps out, he stays out, he's been checked out, not quite done yet. But I want to give you number four. After he checks out, sure enough, the family begins to blow out. Verse four. He said, not a very intelligent outline. I thought it was pretty good, amen? If you can keep them to two or three words, you're doing good in my book. Verse four of the Bible says, and they took them wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth, and they dwelled there about ten years. So here we see the family blowing out, it's falling apart. You say, how so? Okay, look, Elimelech, the great patriarch, he's checked out. And how about this? He checked out out of the will of God. Out of the will of God. Can you imagine what that funeral is like? It's one thing when a saint of God goes and he's right with the Lord. But when you have to attend a funeral and you know that saint of God should not have gone, boy, that's a tough thing. He left the house of bread, that means there's no word of God. He left the praise of God, there's no praising of God. And now his family can't get any spiritual bread, they can't find the praise of God. And as Elimelech fades out of the picture forever, his family begins to blow apart one by one. First it's Malon, he follows in the footsteps of daddy. And when he marries, listen now, when he marries, he marries outside the will of God! Then it's Chilion, he follows in the footsteps, he's pining, he's wasting away, he follows in the footsteps of good old daddy, and when he marries, he marries outside the will of God. These boys marry two unsaved women. And I'm sure Mama Naomi, she's just a little bit nervous. But you know, They seem to be good girls, and they only drink a little on the weekends, you know. Nothing too serious. They only smoke when they drink, you know. I mean, just a little bit. They only come home wasted when it's girls' night, you know. And they only party once a week. Just once a week, you know. But now, Naomi, she's overlooking all that. She's looking forward to the grandkids and the birthday parties. And my soul, gotta have the parties. Gotta have the cookouts, and the vacations, and the shopping outings. And now what am I gonna do with all that life insurance money? Now that old buzzard's gone. And with all that business, that being out of the will of God can afford, she refuses to see that her family is beginning to blow apart. Well, the family's fixing to blow apart. You know, the boys now go to the non-denominational church on the far side of town. You know, none of that white horse preaching garbage. None of that judgmental stuff that makes me feel bad about how I live. And of course, Naomi can't seem to find a church that she can join. So she catches a little church down the road once a week or maybe twice a month. But thank God ain't nothing radical like down there in Bethlehem, Judah, man. Bunch of nuts. And before the family blows apart, the family's falling apart. That's how it goes. Before it blows apart, it falls apart. Religious problems turn into financial problems. Amen. Financial problems turn into fidelity problems. Fidelity problems turn into health problems. High blood pressure, stroke, depression, you name it. And sure enough, the whole thing just blows apart. Here's number five, after the family begins to blow apart. Guess what number five is? Now the boys check out. Both boys check out. You see that? You've got to be kidding me. Ruth chapter 1 verse 5, the Bible says, Malon and Chilion died, also both of them, and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. Well, first of all was her husband. Here lies a limeleck down at the old county cemetery. Now here lies Malon, another stone to put flowers at. Finally, now here lies Chilion. Three men, three graves. Every man in her life that ever loved her or cared for her or sent her a Mother's Day or anything, they're all dead. In the stroke of a pen, in verse 5, these men that loved her were gone. And at this point, I can now recall the words of that sermon the old preacher would preach. He would say this, sin will take you farther than you want to go. Sin will keep you longer than you want to stay. And sin will cost you more than you want to pay. For brother Elimelech, it had taken him to a place God had never intended him to be. Her brother Elimelech and sister Nainomah had kept the family 10 years out of the will of God. Have you ever just stopped to consider that the way you're living your life right now, how it will affect your family 10 years from now? Can I tell you one of the things that got my attention early on in the pastorate? I was 387 stinking pounds. And that old bony preacher looked at me, he said, hey Hoss, he says, I love you. He says, have you ever thought where your ministry will be at in ten years? I said, no, I sure haven't. He says, I know you got that, I won't tell you what he said, kind of guy talk there, he says, and you can carry that around, he said, but in ten years, he says, you're going to be in trouble. Now that's a physical level. How about a spiritual level? Have you ever thought about where your spiritual life, how it's going to affect you in 10 years? And how it's going to affect your family? How it's going to affect your kids, your grandkids? Oh, Limlock never stopped and thought about that. All things are lawful, but all things are not expedient. For Brother Lemelick, he paid with his life for Sister Naomi. She paid the price of losing every man that ever cared for her. And so we say one more time this morning, Christian, that sin will cost you more than you are ever willing to pay. All because he just stepped out of the will of God for a few days. He said, I don't see it preacher, it's there. Remember when Mary and Joseph over there in the book of Luke, they went to the temple. Jesus was what, 12 years old? I think 12 years old. They go down to the temple and they have the revival meeting down at the temple, amen, on feast days. And so all of a sudden, guess what? They lose Jesus Christ for one day. One day is all they lost him. Guess how many days it took to find him? You see that? You've gone from the Lord for one day out of fellowship with him. You'll struggle to get it back. He just went for a temporary stay, and it cost him his life. Well, he stepped out. He stayed out. He checks out. The family blows out. The boys check out. Now Naomi is left in Moab. She's bitter. She's bitter. She's bitter. You see that later on. She's bitter. She's bewildered and she's broken. She hears the news of good business back home. So she gathers what is left of her fragmented life. And can I give you number six? This is the only solution to the problem we've looked at. I'm saying the only solution to being out of fellowship, the only solution to being out of the will of God is here in verses six and seven. Bible says in Ruth 1, 6 and 7, Then 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 the Lord had visited his people and given them bread. Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her. They went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. The solution for Naomi, number 6, was to get out and go back. Naomi arose in verse 6 and in verse 7 she went out. She got out and she went back to the house of bread. She went back to where she had the presence of God and the praise of God. She went back home. As we study the book of Ruth together, I want you to remember that God's blessing comes upon those who keep God's appointment at God's appointed place. You want the blessing of God? You've got to be where He wants you to be. He said, I want God to bless me. I pray for God to bless me. I pray for you everyday preacher. Thank God you do. I can tell because if it was just left up to me, I'd be a mess. But I just want God to bless me. Are you where God wants you to be? Well, I don't know, where God wants you to be. Are you at the house of bread? Are you at the place where you're getting fed? Are you at the place where you can praise God on a regular basis? If you're not in a place where you can praise God, can I tell you, you're in the wrong place. If you're not at a place where you can get the bread of God, man doesn't live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, you're in the wrong place. And the only solution is get out. Get out of Moab. Get out of Dodge, man. Get out of wherever you're at if you can't be in the house of bread or praising God. So she went back home. If you're here today and you stepped out of God's will, the only way to get back to the house of bread is to get out of the place where you are currently at. I don't know, maybe you stepped out of the fellowship just for a few days. The only way back is to get out of Moab. You got to get up. You got to rise. You got to get out of where you're at. And the first step today back to Bethlehem Judah is to get out of the place you are spiritually at today. And as the piano player organist comes, maybe the first step you need to take is to get up and get out of your seat and get down to this altar. You say, preacher, that's ridiculous. Well, don't expect God to take you serious if you aren't going to be serious with him. Now here's the sad thing. I don't know if you're taking this into consideration. I know, she's coming to the organ, it's all right. Some Christians take quite a beating from the Lord. I think of Sister Naomi. She lost her husband. She lost two boys. Man, some Christians just seem to take a beating, don't they? Some Christians just seem to keep taking a beating in this Christian life. Why? They won't come back home. And all the Lord wants you to do is get you back to the house of bread and teach you to trust Him. How about it, Christian? Are you ready to trust Him? Are you satisfied in Moab? Are you satisfied with stimulus checks and what the government has to offer? Are you gonna trust the Lord Jesus Christ? Boy, preacher, things are kinda tough, don't you think? A little hard on us? No. Don't go to Moab. Don't stay in Moab. Moab is a place of desire, and desire fades all the time. I don't know, if the Lord's spoken to you, why don't you come speak to Him this morning? Maybe it's time for you to get up and get out. Do you have the house of bread? Do you have the praise of God in your life? Don't stay in Moab, don't settle for God's washpot when you can be in His house today. Now it could take some guts if you can hit this altar this morning. I understand. But he got out. He stayed out. He checked out. The family blew out. The boys checked out. And finally, after all that heartache, Naomi got out. Christian, I wonder what it's gonna take to get some of y'all's attention. Let's tarry just a while in prayer.