The Providence of God in Redemption - Love's Resolve Part 2

Temple Baptist Church - 9-1-2019

Ruth 1:14-22

Introduction:

A.  Last week, we saw Ruth’s resolve in verses 14-17. 

1.  Ruth chose the right way.  “Whither thou goest, I will go.”  Salvation is a change of direction.  Ruth had been given the easy choice of returning to her people but chose the harder path of following Naomi to a land where she had never been.  “I have decided to follow Jesus; I have decided to follow Jesus; I have decided to follow Jesus; no turning back, no turning back.”

2.  Ruth chose the right lodging.  “Where thou lodgest, I will lodge.”  Salvation is a changed life.  Living a life for Christ, not “lodging” with the world. 

3.  Ruth chose the right people.  “Thy people shall be my people.”  Salvation is an identification with the people of God.   not the people of the world.

4.  Ruth chose the right God.  “Thy God my God.”  Salvation is all about the true and living God.  The “god of this world” blinds the minds of those who chose not to seek Christ but the true and living God illuminates the minds of those who come to Him by faith.

5.  Ruth chose the right future.  “Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried.”  Salvation is such a live choice.  People are given the choice to either follow the things of the world and remain in a lost condition or to follow the Lord in the things of God and be saved.  “I’d rather have Jesus than silver and gold; I’d rather have Jesus than riches untold; I’d rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today.”

B.  Look at verses 18-19.  “When she (Naomi) saw that she (Ruth) was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.  So they two went until they came to Bethlehem.”

1.  Here in Ruth, chapter 1, we find the First Mention of “stedfast” in any form.  Ruth was “steadfastly minded.”

2.  The Last Mention of “stedfast” in any form is found in 2 Peter 3:17:  “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.”

3.  Here, we find the possibility of falling from steadfastness. 

C.  Many people begin the journey, but only a few complete it. 

1.  “Change and decay in all around I see” can be applied to so-called “Christianity” in our day.  So many people claim to be saved but never live for Christ. 

2.  They walk the aisle and pray the prayer but never experience the true conversion that both demands and commands our lives.

D.  Ruth was “stedfastly minded” and never looked back.  Steadfastness takes three things:

1.  It takes A Real Conversion.  Born again!   Saved!  Converted!

2.  It takes A Real Conviction.  The only life worth living in the light of eternity is a life lived for Christ.

3.  It takes A Real Commitment.  Despite the circumstances that may one day shroud our way:  NO TURNING BACK; NO TURNING BACK!

E.  A verse of Scripture comes to mind when I read this account of Ruth’s steadfastness.

1 Corinthians 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

F.  Steadfastness takes BOTH Commitment and Resolve!  It is moment by moment as the child of God faces hardship and uncertain days.

1.  Ruth was steadfast in her Commitment to a New Direction.  She is willing to follow Naomi wherever she goes. She is willing to leave Moab behind forever, cutting all ties to her old way of life. 

2.  Ruth was steadfast in her Commitment to a New Leadership.  She is willing to submit to Naomi and to allow Naomi to guide her life. This is seen in the various times that Naomi gives Ruth advice concerning the manners and customs of Israel.

3.  Ruth was steadfast in her Commitment to a New Life.  She is willing to give up all the old ways of Moab and to conform her life to the way people live in Israel. She is ready to make a dramatic change in her life, conforming her life to a new life in Christ.

4.  Ruth was steadfast in her Commitment to a New Family.  Ruth’s family will now be a new one as she becomes one with the Nation of Israel.  She is ready to claim a new lineage.

5.  Ruth was steadfast in her Commitment to the True God.  This is perhaps the greatest statement Ruth makes. She is willing to give up the gods of Moab and follow the true and living God of Israel. This statement is her declaration of faith in Jehovah God.

6.  Ruth was steadfast in her Commitment to a New Future.  She tells Naomi that she is willing to commit to this new plan for life for as long as she lives. She even invokes the curse of God upon her life if she lets anything, but death come between her and the commitment she has made (Verse 17).

Conclusion:  Ruth’s commitment to a new life, both physical and spiritual, should be a pattern that God’s children also follow.  

The Providence of God in Redemption - Love’s Resolve

Temple Baptist Church - 8-25-2019

Ruth 1:1-18

Introduction: 

A.  The Book of Ruth is one that has fascinated and thrilled people through the years.  A beautiful story of a young Moabite girl named Ruth who married into a Jewish family and ultimately is found in the lineage of our Lords Jesus Christ.

B.  The amazing thread of truth found in our Bible shows the redemption of Ruth at exactly the right time in history.

C.  In Genesis, chapter 19, we find that the Moabite and Ammonite people were the result of the incestuous relationships between Lot and his two daughters.  Under the Law, a Moabite or an Ammonite were not allowed to enter the congregation of the LORD until their tenth generation.

Deuteronomy 23:3  An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever:

D.  In the genealogy our Lord Jesus Christ—found in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 3:32-34—we discover that Booz (Boaz) was the tenth generation after Abraham!  Lot was the nephew of Abraham, so the genealogy began with Abraham’s children.  Lot and Isaac were first cousins and, therefore, in the same generation.  Since Lot is not found in the genealogy of Christ, we will count the generations from Isaac.  Isaac (1), Jacob (2), Juda (3), Phares (4), Esrom (5), Aram (6), Aminadab (7), Naasson (8), Salmon (9), Booz (10).

Luke 3:32-34  Which was the son of Jesse, which was the son of Obed, which was the son of Booz, which was the son of Salmon, which was the son of Naasson,  (33)  Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Juda,  (34)  Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham, which was the son of Thara, which was the son of Nachor,

E.  Thus, the Book of Ruth is a Book of Redemption!  God redeemed a Moabite girl and placed her into the genealogy of our Lord.  Ruth was David’s great-grandmother.

F.  I want to introduce the Book of Ruth this morning with 6 simple points.

1.  A Famine

2.  A Family

3.  A Failure

4.  A Funeral

5.  A Faith

6.  A Future

1.  A Famine.

a.  Famines in the Bible are almost as old as the history of mankind with the first in Genesis, chapter 12.

Genesis 12:10  And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.

b.  Famines were caused by either of two things:

(1)  Climate Change.  Ah, you have heard this phrase many times lately.  Climate has always changed!  In my lifetime, I can tell you of extremely cold times with much snow and extremely hot times with little snow.  Every 15 years or so, we go from one extreme to the other.  When is the last time that we have had day after day of 100+ degree temperatures?  Now, if it gets to 97-96, we think it is hot and it is but I remember well, back in the 1960’s, day after day of over 100 degrees.  Famines in the Bible can be caused by extremely hot but dry weather.

(2)  The Judgment of God.  God has also used famines as judgment.  Our story begins with the opening statement: “Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled.” 

Judges 21:25  In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

2.  A Family.

a.  Elimelech – “God is my King.” 

b.  Naomi – “Pleasant.”

c.  Mahlon – “Sickly or Weak.”

d.  Chilion – “Pining or Failing.”

3.  A Failure.

a.  Elimelech failed to trust God during the famine and took his wife and two sons to Moab.

b.  Elimelech took his family from Bethlehemjudah, “The House of Bread.”

c.  Down to Moab – “God’s Washpot.”

4.  A Funeral.

a.  Elimelech died in Moab, leaving Naomi with her two sons.

b.  Naomi remained in Moab for ten more years after the death of her husband.

c.  Her two sons married in Moab to Moabite women.

(1)  Orpah – “Declining, nape of the neck.”

(2)  Ruth – “Friend.”

d.  Both Mahlon and Chilion also died in Moab.

5.  A Faith.

a.  We find that 4 choices are made in this story: two bad choices and two good choices.  Faith is a choice!

b.  Two bad choices:

(1)  Elimelech – a bad choice to go to Moab.  Verse 1.

(2)  Orpha – chose to return to her people and to their gods.  Verses 14-15.

c.  Two good choices:

(1)  Naomi - heard that God had restored the blessing of bread in Bethlehemjudah and began her journey home.  Verses 6-7.

(2)  Ruth -  chose to remain with Naomi and go to Bethlehemjudah.  Verses 15-18.

6.  A Future.

a.  A Future Journey – “wither thou goest, I will go.”  Verse 16.

b.  A Future Home – “where thou lodgest, I will lodge.”  Verse 16.

c.  A Future People – “thy people shall be my people.”  Verse 16.

d.  A Future Faith – “thy God my God.”  Verse 16.

e.  A Future Death – “Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried.”  Verse 17.

Conclusion:  God took a bad beginning, made by bad decisions—both by Lot and Elimelech—to bring a young Moabite girl into faith in Christ and the blessing of the Genealogy of our Lord.

Job 14:4  Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.