05.08. Choosing to Believe- Ruth
Choosing to Believe- Ruth
It was Sunday morning and the little boy got ready to go to church with his parents. They entered the little church and sat together and his mother gave him paper and crayons to occupy his attention and keep him quiet. The pastor stated several times that a person must be born again. As the preacher spoke he became louder and louder as he repeated the phrase often "born again, born again, born again" with increasing emphasis. The little boy looked up at the preacher as the words caught his attention. When the service ended the little boy looked up at his mother with a perplexed and confused look. He patted his mother’s who was 7 months pregnant and asked "Is that going to be me"? The same question came from a grown man named Nichodemus. Floyd Robertson
Life is full of faith. When I was small my mother was fixing a chair that needed to be recovered and I can flying in and flopping down and hit the floor. I had faith the chair would hold me but it was not there.
We exercise faith each time we breathe a breath of air or take a drink. We trust it will not be poison. When we get in our car we exercise faith that it will start. It is only a teenager dreaming of driving that just sits in a car. Today we go to a story that is often talked about because of how wonderful is as a love story between a widow named Ruth and a land owner named Boaz. We are going to look at the first part of the story today to see that we all face the cross roads of belief.
I- The Story:
A man named Elimelech and his wife Naomi lived in Bethlehem. There arose a famine and they moved to Moab. They had two sons who took wives named Ruth and Orpah in the land of Moab. As the course of events transpires Elimelech dies as well as his two sons. This leaves three women widowed, Naomi, Ruth and Orpah. Naomi now hears that there is again bread in the land of Israel and plans to return. She talks with her daughter in laws and does everything she can to persuade them to not return with her. She tries to convince them to go back to following their pagan gods.
Ruth 1:1-18 Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. 2 And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. 3 And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. 4 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. 5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. 6 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 that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread. 7 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. 8 And Naomi said unto her two 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. 9 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. 10 And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. 11 And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? 12 Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons; 13 Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me. 14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her. 15 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. 16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: 17 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. 18 When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.
II- Lessons:
1- God is the one who is in the saving business. Naomi did as bad as she possibly could do in witnessing and still Ruth expressed faith. Three times we have a record of her trying to get them to turn their back from her God to pagan gods.
8 "Go, return each to her mother’s house..." In verse 10 they told her they would go with her.
11 "Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me?"
15 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.
Beloved it is God who does the drawing and the saving of souls. When Christ told Nicodemus that he must be born again he acquainted the work of the Holy Spirit of God to the work of the wind. While not seen it certainly was felt.
2- Some will make decisions to not follow faith in God. There are really only two choices, the living God or dead ones. Orpah turned and went back to the pagan gods. Beloved we must be strong in our beliefs and not waver and say well maybe there is other ways.
· 56% say a good person can earn their way into Heaven
·44% say all people experience the same outcome after they die, regardless of their religious beliefs ·31% believe that Hell is a literal, physical place, 37% say it is separation from God
· 39% say it doesn’t matter what faith you embrace because they all teach the same lessons
· 53% contend that if a person is good enough, or does enough good things for other people, they will earn their way into Heaven. One-third of all born again Christians (34%) accept this notion.
Barna Research Group, Ltd., Oxnard, CA
3- Some will make the decision to follow God. These are the nuggets that we mine like a gold miner. We see that Naomi failed in her attempt to discourage Ruth. Faith was strong in her heart. She was going with her.
Judges 1:22-23 And of some have compassion, making a difference: 23And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Beloved we need to not be discourage by rejection. Some will make the decision to follow Christ.
4- Why should we accept God and His plan for salvation? Because there is no other hope. Paul told us 1 Corinthians 15:13-19 "But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 15Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. 16For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 19If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable."
Imagine a ship filled with people crossing the Atlantic. In the middle of the ocean there is an explosion. The ship is severely damaged and slowly sinking. Most are dead, and the rest are rushing for the lifeboats. Now suppose one man doesn’t know about the lifeboat, so he does not get aboard. He doesn’t have knowledge, so he is not saved. Suppose another man knows about the lifeboat and believes it will save his life, but he is grief-stricken over seeing his wife killed, so he chooses not to get aboard and dies with his wife. He has knowledge and mental assent, but he is not saved. Others believe the lifeboat will save them, and they get into the boat. They are saved by faith, that is they have knowledge, mental assent, and trust. However, it is not their faith that saves them—no matter how much they have. It is the boat. Saving faith trusts Christ, and Christ saves. Evangelism, A Biblical Approach, M. Cocoris, Moody, 1984, p. 77.
So having faith in not good enough. It is the object of faith, faith in the right God. The Bible says in Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
III- Stewardship of Faith:
Pass faith along and be strong in what we believe. We know the story turns out well. Ruth makes the statement that is a profound statement in Ruth 1:16-17 "And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: 17 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."
Many years ago a small Jewish boy asked his father, "Why must we surrender our Jewish faith and start to attend Lutheran services here in Germany? The father replied, "Son, we must abandon our faith so that people will accept us and support our business adventures!" The young lad never got over his disappointment and bitterness. His faith in his father and in his religion were crushed. When the lad left Germany he went to England to study at the British Museum where he formed his philosophies for life. From those intensive investigations he wrote a book that changed the world called, "The Communist Manifesto. From that book one-third of the world fell under the spell of Marxist-Lenist ideology. The name of that little boy was Karl Marx. He influenced billions into a stream that for 70 years ruined, imprisoned and confused many lives. Today, that system of thinking is crumbling, but only after people got a good look at its tragic consequences. The influence of this father?s hypocrisy multiplied in infamy. Without godly faith, all of us are subject to distortions in our perspectives.