He didn't have any of that wrote down. That's good. I mean, that was a blessing. You pray for the family and the ministry that God has given to them to say the least. And well, you can be turning once again to Ruth chapter one, Ruth chapter one. When you have found your place there in that chapter, stand with me in reverence to the word of God, if you would. Ruth chapter 1, and we will pick up this evening in verse 6 of chapter 1, where we read, Then she, that is, Naomi, 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 daughters-in-law with her. And they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. And Naomi said unto her daughters-in-law, Go, return each to her mother's house. The Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, each of you, in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice and wept. And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters. Why will you go with me? Are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn again, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I am hope, if I should have a husband also tonight, and should also bear sons, would you tarry for them till they are grown? Would you stay for them from having husbands? Nay, my daughters, for agree with me much for your sakes, that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me. They lifted up their voice and they wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clave unto her. And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people and unto her gods. Return thou after thy sister-in-law. And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee. For whither thou goest, I will go, and whither thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me and more also, if aught but death part thee and me. And when she saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her. Father, we bow before You once again this evening. Thank You, Father, for Your good mercy to us this day. Thank You for opening Your Word before us this morning, for the time of worship, the time of praise. We thank You that we can be back here tonight. I thank You for the good Word from Mother Graham. Lord, please, Bless him, his dear wife, their family. We're grateful for these ones that have surrendered to the work that you've called them to there in North Carolina. Lord, we realize the need of ministering to our military. Pray, Father, your blessing, your help, your strengthening for that work. And of course, even as I think of that, please protect our young men and women across and around the world. Please, Lord, secure them in Thy safe shelter. We ask these things this evening in the name of Jesus, Thy Son. Amen and amen. Of course, may we be seated. We pick up our story this evening with three graves in view. Naomi. has been left of her husband and both her sons. Verse 21 quotes Naomi as she says, I went out full and the Lord hath brought me home again empty. When she left Bethlehem, she would have been considered a woman who had everything. She had a husband who was a respected man in the community. She had two sons with all the hopes that would accompany their maturing and growing into young men. And surely along the way, giving her grandchildren and caring for her as she grew old. But now she is left. And folks, that word from verse 5 in our passage literally means to be left alone. It has the literal meaning of being left behind. Limelech, Malon, Kylion are gone. My, she has nothing, no husband, no sons, no resources, no one to care for her, no one but these two daughter-in-laws, which some may have considered more of a liability than a blessing to her. But if Naomi felt that way, we have no hint of it in the narrative, in the story. She does nothing, folks, but be a blessing and praise them. There are qualities in all three of these ladies that we should take note of and praise them for, even Orpah. Though her love and commitment to Naomi does not rise to the level of Ruth, it is very clear in the passage that she is very deeply and emotionally involved with her mother-in-law. Ruth, oh my. Ruth is a special lady. And as we go through the story, we see that more than anything else, in the following verses, we will see the God of grace stepping into this situation, stepping into the lines, especially of Naomi and, of course, Ruth, and stepping into that situation where human hope is literally gone. Naomi has nothing to look to as far as the wisdom and help of this world. No hope in providing for this widow's deliverance from Moab, and might we even say, her destitute condition. Well, we see the decision is made to leave Moab in verse 6. It says she arose. She arose, and with her daughter-in-law, that she might return from the country or the fields of Moab. For she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited His people in giving them bread." The Lord. had visited His people. We could say, in a sense, that God, Jehovah, had remembered His people. In that sense, as we've tried to bring to light in the past weeks, that indeed it may well be that Judah, Bethlehem Judah, was under the chastening hand of God for whatever reason, whatever the situation was at that particular time. But now God has remembered them. He has visited them in the sense that He has returned to them and granted them His blessing. Once again, Bethlehem is the house of bread, the house where God would feed His people. Well, Naomi we see is hearkening to the voice of God. She had heard. She had heard. We must not miss this subtle point. It's far more than the fact that she just heard about what was going on back there in Bethlehem. Our whole story, everything in the events and the situation is shifting and turning back towards God and the things of God. Now, Naomi is once again listening to the voice of God. He has her attention. She realizes where she belongs and her interests are turned towards home. Oh my! when we travel so often and we're away from home and the memories, the thoughts of home are very dear to our hearts. And I remember at different times, even on mission trips, there was something special about walking down that gangway and getting on the plane and heading back home. Naomi's mind, her thoughts have returned towards Canaan, towards the Promised Land. Towards Bethlehem. Towards the Lord's house. The place where He had promised them bread. When Naomi's returned, it says that she might return. Even that little word return in our passage has the idea within it, the obvious idea of turning back. My mind, as I read that and was studying out that word, couldn't help but consider the thought of repentance. of repentance where she is now returning. She's now turning back. If we could use that word, there is a spirit of repentance here over all that has transpired in the past ten years. Repentance, be mindful, is that attitude of turning away from one thing and turning towards another. And here we see that, indeed, Naomi is turning away from the decisions that had made in the past, the moves that had taken place to take her from Bethlehem, Judah, the house of bread, and land her in the land of Moab. And it's interesting. It's interesting that as this first chapter progresses, that when we see Naomi getting back where she belongs, she's getting back to that place, might we say, that she should have never left. But it's important to note here, in this process, she never places blame on anyone else. even though she was in submission. She was under the leadership and direction of her husband. She never blames him. She never blames her son. She does not take the opportunity that maybe we would have had to pass the buck or to blame someone else. In fact, she takes the responsibility for her actions for what has taken place unusually upon herself. Note what she says here in verse 13. She says in the last half of that verse, "'Nay, my daughters, for grieveth me much for your sakes, that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me.'" Then in verse 21, we won't get to this verse tonight, she says, "'I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty.'" It seems she sees this action as the Lord dealing with her. Now, we find her concerned about one thing. She's concerned about getting out of Moab and returning to the place of God's blessing. Beloved, we need to consider application here for our own hearts. The application, the understanding that when I come to my senses in sin, I need to get out of it and get back to the place where God can bless me. But be mindful of this. Be mindful of this, that the road back, the road to getting back where we ought to be, The road returning is seldom an easy path, and there are no shortcuts along the way. Those issues of the past must be dealt with. And along the way, we will see them being dealt with by Naomi as well. It requires dealing with the consequences of what went on and where we got out of God's will. We need to go back to that place, folks. We need to go back to that place where we got out of the way and be with those situations that we might once again see God's blessing in our lives. Well, we praise the Lord here that the famine is over. The famine is over. It says the Lord had visited His people in giving them bread. Now, I like that. I like the sense of those words. Here they are back in Bethlehem and understanding that that very name means the house of bread. But that the house of bread had been experiencing famine. But now, God has been pleased in His mercy to visit His people once again. The eternal, the immutable God has moved towards His people in His unchanging, eternal purposes. Hey, I believe I serve. God is all and in all and over all. And we need to rejoice when He's pleased to reach out to us in His good mercy and His blessing. Oh my, as we dealt with last week, as we would read and study what Moses penned for us in Deuteronomy chapter 28, where we saw there that as we live in obedience to God, or let me back up and say it this way, God's promise to Israel was, if they lived in the obedience to His Word, He would bless them greatly in every area of their life. Whether it be in their families or in their crops, their land, their flocks, their herds, they would be blessed as they had yielded and surrendered to walk and live in obedience to the Word of God. But we also see in that chapter that when they would disobey the Word of God, when they would turn their back on His Word, that He would indeed, might we say very simply, remove His blessing. And in fact, the strong words of that chapter are, He would bring the curses upon them. Beloved, just think of it this way. The curses sound bad enough, but my heart quivers. It trembles at the thought of losing God's blessing in my life. I don't want to be outside of God's blessing. I want to be where He would bless and protect and provide for me and my own. Well, we find them. We find them in our passage as Naomi rises, and she's on the road to return to Bethlehem. She's on the road with her two daughter-in-laws. And it says in verse 7, it says, Wherefore, she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughter-in-laws with her. And they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. These three ladies are at a crossroads. I don't know. I have one of those minds. Don't you laugh at me, Ryan. I have one of those minds that sees things, you know, when I read. And in my mind, I see her outside the city and there's the crossroads. And, you know, the one way might say, you know, to Philistia, and the other way says, Bethlehem, Judah. And Naomi, as they travel along, they come up to that crossroads and she stops. There's a tremendous decision time again that must be made. And now it is the decision of Naomi and her two daughter-in-laws that is brought before us. Now, as we find them here, it seems that the two younger women had fully intended to return with their mother-in-law to Judah. But Naomi discerns that this indeed is not the wisest thing for them to do. In verses 8 all the way down through 18 are the dialogue that takes place between Naomi and these two young Moabite ladies. And in verses 8 and 9, we see what Naomi's instructions are for Orpah and Ruth. We pick up there in verse 8, it says, And Naomi said unto her two daughter-in-laws, Go, return each to her mother's house. The Lord deal kindly with you as ye have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband.' Then she kissed them. And they, Orpah and Ruth, lifted up their voice and wept." What's Naomi's instruction? Go home. Go back to your mother's house. Go back to the care and the provision of your family. Go back to where your futures can be assured. Don't stay with me. I have nothing to give you. I have nothing to offer you. Return. Go back to the houses of your youth. And it's interesting here that she is quick to pronounce God's blessings on these two young ladies. Her prayer for them was, The Lord deal kindly with you. I like that. The Lord deal kindly with you. Well, what kind of home do we perceive that these two women experienced since they'd been married into the family. It would have been a far cry from the home of their youth, a home that they would have grown up in. A Hebrew home would have been much different from the home of their fathers. They would have received a respect and an honor there that would not have been present in a Moabite home. Women would have been treated much better in a Hebrew home than in a Moabite, a pagan Moabite home. And though, as we put into context, the home of Elimelech was not altogether what it should have been with God and in God's will, still there would have been There would have been that honor and respect given to the things of God. It also seems that Naomi had lived up to her name. Pleasant, lovely, fair. It seems indeed there's an obvious spirit of love between these three ladies. She's grateful. Indeed, as well, Naomi was grateful for these two young ladies. Be mindful, in verse 9, it says, The Lord grant you that you may find rest, each of you, in the house of her husband. Her desire is that they might return and that they might again find some man, a husband, to meet their needs. And in verse 8, as she pronounces the blessing of the Lord upon them. And she goes on to say, "...as ye have dealt with the dead and with me, just as you have dealt kindly with me, with my husband, and with my deceased sons, might God be pleased to deal kindly with you." Well, the daughter's grief is very great since they began to weep." They lifted up their voice and wept. Now, beloved, the description of these words is not that they were just sobbing. It wasn't just that the tears were coming forth. The idea of these words were that they were extremely broken. Their voices were cracking. They were bewailing the situation. They did not want to leave Naomi. They wanted to stay with this lady. Again, beloved, it communicates to us that there's a very real and a very genuine bond between these three ladies. An emotional scene to say the least. The separation from Naomi tore at these two young souls. And they refused. In verse 10, they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. We admire them for this. We admire them for this. Their full intention. was the return to Judah, to Bethlehem with Naomi. In their minds, it was simple. We'll just go back with you. But the reality of the situation was not so simple. There would be little hope for Orpah and Ruth in Bethlehem. Little hope of finding another husband. There was little hope that they, Moabites, would be accepted at all in Bethlehem, Judah. And so Naomi reasons with them. Her logical reasoning is here in verses 11 to 13. And as we read these verses, Naomi is trying to illustrate to them how hopeless it was for them to return with her. She says in verse 11, Turn again, my daughters. Why will you go with me? Are there yet any more sons in my womb? that they may be your husbands? Turn again, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have a husband also tonight and should also bear sons, would ye, Terri?" She's saying, would you really wait for them until they are grown? Would you stay from them from having husbands? No. Nay, my daughters, for it grieveth me much for your sakes, that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me." Naomi is genuinely concerned. She wants the best for these two young ladies. Well, we see the daughter's response here. I'm not trying to hasten along. The daughter's response, verse 14, they lifted up their voice and wept again. Again, even more so is the idea, Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law. She loved this old woman. But her arguments made sense. Her reasoning made sense. She would indeed return to the home of her birth. She kisses Naomi and returns to the house of her youth. Within the simple words, but, Ruth, Cleve, clung to her. Ruth would not let go of Naomi. This word, the clave, is that word cleave. It means that she would stick to her. Guess where else we find this word in the Old Testament? No other place but in Genesis chapter 2 in verse 24, where we read there, "...therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh." Naomi cleaved to her mother-in-law. The idea of the word means to be stuck together, to cleave. to not let go. We find Naomi making one last plea to Ruth in verse 15. And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people and under her gods. Return thou after thy sister-in-law. Let me read that again. And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people and under her gods. Return thou after thy sister-in-law." What's Naomi say? Go back to your people. Go back to your gods. Return. Follow your sister back to your homes. But the story doesn't stop there, does it? We see Ruth's determination in verses 16 and 17. These are the first words recorded in Ruth that come from Ruth. This is the first narrative, the first words that we hear from her mouth. And even from this very first statement from Ruth, we become enamored, we become impressed with her quality and her character. The kind of person that Ruth is immediately. is displayed to us. Let's read those verses again. And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee. For whither thou goest, I will go, and whither thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people. Thy God shall be my God. Where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me." Those are amazing words that come from anyone in any commitment. in the human relationship. Amazing words to say the least. They are both beautiful and sincere. And as we say, the quality, the character of Ruth is immediately revealed to us. Beloved, these aren't just pretty words or an emotional play. Ruth in these words answers every obstacle that Naomi has put up to convince her to return to her people. Every argument that Naomi had raised, Ruth answers here with her own commitment. Ruth essentially says, I have no home, no protection to offer you. Excuse me, Naomi said that to Ruth. She's essentially saying, I have no home. I have no protection to offer you." She tells her what? Go back to your people. Go back to your people. And how does Ruth answer her? Whither thou goest, I will go. Where thou lodgest, I will lodge. What's she saying? She's telling Naomi, I don't care what your situation is. I don't care that we're penniless. I don't care that we don't have a roof over our head. I don't care. I'm going with you. I like it. Of course, Naomi tells her as well to return to her people. To return to her people. You'll be going, Naomi says, you'll be going among a very different people than the people here of Moab. Naomi's people were obviously different from Ruth's people in Moab. The folk of Bethlehem Judah, the Hebrews, were far, far different than the Moabites. There was no way There was no way of knowing whether Ruth would be accepted at all by the people of Bethlehem. And what does Ruth answer? Again, without knowing what would happen tomorrow, Thy people shall be My people. Thy people shall be My people. Ruth is saying, I'll take whatever comes. rain or shine, good or bad, reception or rejection, rejoicing or persecution, whatever comes my way with you, I will take it. I'm going to stay with you." Beloved, this meant that she was giving up all of her own roots. All that she had learned from birth, she was turning her back on. Essentially, she was turning her back on everything that she was. Think about that. Think about that. It would be like a born Texan moving to Oklahoma and giving up all claim to being a Texan. Yeah, they're chuckles. A fat chance, you say, huh? Put yourself in Ruth's shoes here. This is an amazing young woman to make the declarations that she's making here. Naomi, he's told her to go back to her own God, to her own gods. She says, my Jehovah, essentially, my Jehovah is not like your gods. And indeed, he was not. The God of Israel was very different than the many gods that the Moabites worshiped. But Ruth replies very simply, thy God shall be my God. Turning her back on Kabosh and Asherah and all the rest of the Moabite gods. She turns her back on the idolatry of Moab to follow the God of the Hebrews. Beloved, it's quite possible, it's quite possible that after spending that time living there with Naomi, that she is now declaring her faith in the God of the Hebrews. her faith in Jehovah. But as well, we find here that Naomi cannot promise any of the needs of life. She has nothing, materially speaking, to offer Ruth to take care of her. Ruth's answer to her is amazing. She commits her life She commits her life to this old woman. She says, Whither thou diest, will I die. Now think about that. This is a young woman. The companion now of this agent Naomi. And she has literally committed to her, I am with you for life. and not only for life, for death. Whither thou diest will I die, and there in that place will I be buried." Wow. To top all this off, just So Ruth could communicate to Naomi how serious she was, how sincere she is about all that. She says, the Lord, the Lord, do so to me and more also, if ought but death, if ought but death part thee and me. What a commitment. What a commitment. Ruth gives up everything to go with Naomi to take care of her. Hey, Ruth understands. She knows what's ahead in that sense. Naomi is aged. It's going to be up to Ruth to take care of this dear lady. Now, get this. She declares before the God of Israel. She declares before the Hebrew God this covenant with Naomi. Wow. Ruth makes here a permanent covenant with Naomi. When I'm dealing with premarital counseling, and we don't necessarily deal with this passage, but when we deal with that marriage covenant, We make the emphasis upon the fact that when that young couple, or sometimes also young couple, takes those marital vows, that it is a, now listen to this, a final act. It's an act of finality till death do us part. Beloved, that's the same commitment that we find Ruth making to her mother-in-law. Wow! Wow! What kind of covenant promise did Ruth make to Naomi? Well, let me ask you this. What is Ruth asking of Naomi here? Right. Nothing. She isn't asking Naomi to fulfill anything in this covenant except to let her come along. I would liken this then to the unconditional covenant that our God, our Savior has made us. Huh? It's a covenant where Ruth has promised to fulfill all of the obligations. And our God has made a light covenant to us. What do we have to offer? What has He asked of us except our faith? to trust Him, to believe in Him, to be that One who would meet all of our needs. Ruth makes a similar covenant here with her mother-in-law, an unconditional covenant. Naomi need do nothing but allow her to go with her. Wow! It's hard to elevate either of these two ladies above the other. for their sacrifice and their concern for each other is truly beautiful. Naomi. Naomi is ready to give up the companionship and the help of her faithful daughter-in-law to return to Bethlehem. Now listen, destitute and alone. She's more concerned for the needs of those two young ladies than she was for her own needs. She was willing to make that trek back to Bethlehem, Judah, alone and impoverished. Ruth. Ruth is prepared to leave her homeland behind. To leave the family of her birth behind. To leave her religion behind. And folks, to leave all worldly hope behind. Now, I want to take just a couple minutes here, change gear just a bit, as we would finish up tonight. And ask a question. It's very obvious. that these two ladies love each other. They care about each other. Their care for each other transcends their care for themselves. They love each other. And so I ask the question tonight, what's love? What is love? Now, I wouldn't limit this exclusively, but we do indeed see two primary emotions, fear and love. Of those two emotions, love is a very positive and fear, very negative. But, beloved, it's a beautiful thing that love has the ability to overcome fear. Love has the ability to negate fear. And we see that even in our story. But I'm grateful that as we would look into the Word of God, we see in 1 John 4, verse 18, where it says, There is no fear in love. It's an interesting thought. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." Now, beloved, we could spend a good while trying to explain all that. But suffice it for this evening to say simply this. Fear cripples us. Fear paralyzes us. Sometimes the fear of the unknown. Sometimes the fear of the future. Sometimes this fear, that fear. And what do we find ourselves? We find ourselves drawing in, drawing back. Sometimes finding ourselves where we're unable to respond to that fear. Even paralyzed by our fear. But I'm so thankful that God is not the author of fear. II Timothy 1.7, it says, For God hath not, now listen, For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Beloved, that's the verse God used to pry me out of my fear. of walking away from that secular job and entering the ministry. Huh? God used that verse one night in a preaching meeting just like this, where God broke through the fear. He's not the author of fear. He's not the author of fearfulness is the idea of the Word. He's not that One that will cripple us with fear. But no, rather, He's the One that will enter in. He's the One that will enter in and do for us out of power and of love and of a sound mind. He delivers from fear through His love, through His mercy, through His great working in our lives. As God would be pleased to conquer our fears, as we would grow and mature in Him, we have the ability, hey, we have the ability to transcend the fears, to overcome the fears. Can you imagine what was going on in these ladies' lives as they stood there at the crossroads, whether to return to Bethlehem, Judah, or to stay there in Moab? What was going on? Hey, can we even imagine how Ruth's heart pounded as she was saying those words? And she was saying no to everything that she knew, everything that she was, and saying yes to go forward with Naomi. I'll battle that all the way through this teaching. Huh? What was the victory? Her love. Her love. Her love for Naomi. And might I dare suggest, her newfound faith and love for Naomi's God. It triumphed over her fears. It had victory over the fears. Can you imagine this young woman? She had no clue what it was like in Israel. She had no idea what it would be like to move into the area of Judah, let alone to move into the city. Hey, I'm sure along the way she had heard the story of what it was like to live in Bethlehem. I'm sure Naomi had shared with both Orpah and Ruth those stories. But it's one thing to hear the stories. It's a whole other thing to commit your life to the place that you've never seen. And all the questions, all the fears that might go with it. But her love. Her love for Naomi overcame it all. What a beautiful, beautiful illustration. A real-life illustration for us. My prayer, beloved, as we even continue on through this story, these events, is that we might allow the character, the quality, the spirit, might we say even the attitude of Ruth to instill and inspire us. Beloved, might we rise to this kind of love. Yes, this kind of love for our Dear ones, our families, our spouse, our children, our brothers and sisters in Christ, might there be a reality of our commitment to others? But, beloved, I'm convinced with all my heart, we'll not know that kind of commitment. We'll not know that commitment to any other human being until we first understand and experience this kind of love and this kind of commitment to Naomi's God. Our God, the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm praying. My prayer is that Jim Turner would be impacted by the story of Ruth. That every one of us at Metropolitan might be stirred in our hearts for our God and for each other. Let's stand together, beloved. Father, thank You ever so much for Your mercy to us. Lord, this evening, as I consider the events that we've even so quickly looked at tonight, Lord, I pray that, Lord, You'd stir. I thank You for recording them, first of all. Lord, I'm just grateful that we could open Your divine Word tonight and read them as fresh and new and beautiful to our hearts. Father, I pray that, O Lord, we might be inspired by such sacrificial, unconditional love. Might, Lord, we be pleased, O Lord, help us, that we would be ready and quick to love, to love, to see Your love cast out all fear, Lord, that we wouldn't be afraid to step out, to serve, to do, to act, to respond to whatever the need might be. Lord, we love You tonight. And Lord, I understand so very well in my own heart that it was Your love, Your love that floods our hearts, our lives, that transcended the fear. that indeed Your perfect love casts out that fear of tomorrow, that fear of what the future holds, that fear even of what eternity holds because of what Jesus, because of what Your Son did for us. Thank You, Lord. Thank You for Your mercy. Thank You for Your grace. Thank You for Your love. In Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Brother John. Page 157. I hear the Savior say, Thy strength indeed is small. Child of weakness, watch and pray. Find in Me thine all in all. Jesus paid it all All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. Lord, now indeed I find Thy power and Thine alone. can change the leper's spots and melt the heart of stone. Jesus paid it all.