In this sermon, the preacher discusses the hardships and sacrifices that Christians may face for their faith. He emphasizes that believers may be ridiculed, persecuted, and considered the scum of the earth, but they should still follow the example of Paul and be willing to endure these challenges. The preacher also highlights the importance of seeking the truth and hungering for God's blessings, as demonstrated by the story of Ruth. He encourages listeners to let go of their past and fully commit their hearts to God, just as they would in a marriage.

This message is one of the Times Square Church pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge, P.O. Box 260, Lindale, Texas, 75771, or calling 903-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to friends. Winning Christ. You know, there's some that are sitting here tonight say, I know without a doubt the Lord has won my heart. He has all of me. I've given him everything. That's wonderful. But you see, if you're married, if you're in love, it's not enough. My wife has won my heart. I have to have her heart. We both have to have each other's heart. There has to be a winning of the heart. How many that are sitting here right now that can say, Jesus, I thank you for taking my heart. My heart's been given to you. But what about winning his heart? How many are there here tonight that have not been able to see as Paul the apostle that you have not yet won the heart of Jesus? He has won your heart. You have given him your heart. You've given him everything. But have you yet won his heart? That's what Paul said, that I may win Jesus Christ. That I may win Christ. Now, Paul was completely captivated by Jesus. He had eyes only for the Lord. For Paul, his ministry and everything was all about Jesus. In fact, one of the reasons Paul never married, he said that so that he could care for the things that belong to the Lord, how I might please the Lord. Then he went on to say that we may walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, that I may win his heart, that I may be completely pleasing to him. I'm going to ask you, do you believe that this is scriptural, that it's possible for us to win the heart of Jesus? Absolutely to win his heart. I want you to deal with this tonight as the Holy Spirit begins to talk to us. There is a benevolent love for all mankind, the love of God, the love of Christ for the whole world. That's a benevolent love, but there's another kind of love. It's called affection. It's an affection. It's not just a legal thing. It's not just a benevolent thing. It's a very personal thing. It has to do with our affections, and that's what Paul's speaking about. This love that I'm talking about is expressed in the Song of Solomon. Song of Solomon 4, don't turn to verses 9 and 10. Thou hast ravished my heart. Remember here, the bride is a type of the church, and Solomon is a type of Christ in the Song of Solomon. And listen to what the bridegroom was saying to the bride. Thou hast ravished my heart, my spouse. Thou hast ravished, that means you've stolen my heart in Hebrew. You've stolen my heart with one of your eyes, with one chain of your neck. How fair is thy love, my spouse? How much better is thy love than wine? Then he says, turn thine eyes away from me, for you have overcome me with your eyes. Can you imagine Jesus saying that? I see such love in your heart toward me. You have stolen my heart. That's what the bride is saying to the bridegroom. That is what the church, Jesus is saying right now. You have stolen. Jesus is saying to his church, you have stolen my heart with one eye. Remember we have an eye that is single, the single eye to the Lord. He said with one eye, you have captured my heart. You've stolen my heart. That's in the Song of Solomon. I and my beloved, the bride said, I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me. His desire is toward me. There's a mutual affection between Jesus and me. The bride is saying there's something very, very special in this love. I'm saying that the bride of Christ will consist in the last days of a holy people, living so pleasing to the Lord, so obedient, so separated from everything else in this world. His heart will be ravished, and in fact, the Hebrew says, you will unheart me. You will unheart me. You'll take my heart out of me. You will absolutely steal my heart. The Lord said, I am going to, literally, I fall in love with my bride. I am in love with you, because you have stolen my heart with your eye, just one eye. Now the book of Ruth was a wonderful message preached by Sister Conlon a few weeks ago. I want to take you in a different route in this. I want to show you very clearly from the book of Ruth. Now this is a prophetic book, very few commentaries see anything more than the Lord reaching out, and this is a parable of the Lord reaching out to the Gentiles. Since Ruth was a Moabite, a Gentile, this is a story of Christ reaching out to the Gentiles through the gospel, especially the gospel of Saint Paul. But it's much, much more than that. The book of Ruth, turn to the first chapter of the book of Ruth, please. This is a prophetic book, and I want to show you how we win Christ just as Ruth won her husband. We win Christ in the same way. It's totally prophetic, and I want you to go through this with me tonight. Now it's a true story, and I believe it to be absolutely prophetic, and you're not going to find it in any of your Bible commentaries whatsoever. It has to be revealed by the Holy Spirit. It's more than historic. Now Paul said that everything you read in the Old Testament is a pattern for us, upon whom the ends of the world have come. Paul said, now all the things happen unto them as examples. They're written for our instructions upon whom the ends of the world have come. They're written for our instruction. Now in the Old Testament, you read about, it's very, very clear, thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Paul reads that and says, that's not written about oxen. That's written for us. You're not going to bind the servant of the Lord. He's got to have liberty. He's got to be financed. The work of God has to be financed. In other words, those servants of the Lord, all these Old Testament truths are being applied to us in these last days. So it is with the book of Ruth. That's an application for those who want to understand how to win the heart of Jesus. The Bible begins in verse 1. Now it came to pass the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land. There was a famine in Judah at the time. Now Elimelech and his wife Naaman, two sons, Malon and Silion, fled to Moab. There's no bread. There's no food. There's a famine. So they flee into Moab where there was bread. There was corn. And they stayed there for over 10 years. The two sons, Maraheathen wives, Orpah and Ruth. Now the word Moab means a place of idolatry, a place of idolatry. They left Judah, the place of blessing, and they go down hoping to find relief in the land of idolatry. Now folks, the first thing that happens when you go into idolatry is death. The two sons die. Folks, we're talking about a famine. We're talking about a lack of truth. This is any church, it's any home where there is no truth coming forth, where there's a famine of the truth of God. There's no true bread coming forth. What happens? Idols take a hold of the heart. Your young people die, literally die. Sons die. And that's what happened. The two sons of Elimelech dies and his two sons die. And Naaman is left alone with these two daughter-in-laws, Orpah and Ruth. Now remember the Israelites were forbidden to marry Moabite women lest they turn away your heart from the Lord. And that's probably what happened to the two sons of Elimelech and Naaman because their hearts were captured by the idolatry of Moab. And that's a type of what happens in the spiritual world. Folks, this amazes me. The number one complaint, our mailing list right now is approaching 800,000. One of the largest mailing lists, one of the largest in the United States now. And we hear from all over the world. And they talk about how dead their churches are. And folks, it's a shame that my newsletters that go out across the country should be for people the only truth they get sometimes. They say, this is the only. I wait. We have people say, I stand at the mailbox and I rip it open and read it before I get back into the house. They're so hungry. There's a starving. And folks, when there are churches where there's no bread, there's a famine of the Word of God. There's nothing but death. The young people die. There's a spiritual dearth over the whole place. And back in Judah, the scripture says, this is after 10 years, 10 years they're in Moab, in the place of idolatry. And the Bible says, the Lord visited his people in giving them bread. Verse 6, read it if you will please. 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. Folks, what is bread? It's the truth that sets you free. It's truth that feeds your soul. It's truth by which you grow. And she said, there's a rumor. I've heard a rumor that down in Judah, God has come back. The Lord has returned and there are blessings. There's bread. And she decides to get up. There's a hunger in her heart. She gets hungry. She gets thirsty. She said, I'm tired of this foolishness. I'm tired of this idolatry. I'm tired of this emptiness. Where are you tonight? Are you in a place where some man, some woman, some friend or a circle of friends have your heart? They become idols to you? Is your way of life, some habits, some problems, they've taken a hold of your heart and there's an idol there? How long has it been since you've allowed the Word of God to grip your heart and convict you and convince you? Where are you tonight? Are you in Moab, this place of idolatry? Well folks, some of you are here tonight because somebody invited you and they probably said you need to come to Times Square Church because the Spirit of the Lord is there. And that's the, that's the word that got around. God is moving again in Judah. God is moving. There's bread. There's no more famine there. And folks, I want you to know that at Times Square Church, there's not been a famine of the Word of God. The Word of the Lord has been coming forth and not just Times Square Church, but there are spots all over the United States. Now I admit that there are few in number, but all over the world, there are places now where the Word of God is coming forth in power and unction and anointing and revelation and the hearts of the people are being satisfied and being filled and the Word gets around. Hey, come, there's food, Judah. God has visited His people. If you really have a heart for Jesus, you can't walk in and sit through a meeting like this tonight that we've had where the Spirit of the Lord is present. You can't just sit there without acknowledging God has visited New York, not just in this church. There are other churches in this city that God has visited, but truly God has visited us. Hallelujah. And so there's a hunger in her heart. She said, there's something of past memories. Oh, some of you used to be so on fire for God. You had such a hunger and a thirst for the Lord and here you sit tonight starved. Some of you people, when you first came to Times Square Church, you were spiritual, you were a spiritual skeleton. You had no meat on your bones. You were empty, you were dry, you were thirsty, you were hungry, and the Word of God has put life into you. Hallelujah. Folks, this church doesn't do any advertising. We don't spend one dollar on advertising in this church. Not a dollar in advertising. Not that I know of, except word of mouth. God has visited His people. Glory be to God. That's why I love coming to Times Square Church. I know, I know that when Pastor Carter's preaching and those that are in this pulpit, there's going to be a word, there's going to be coming bread. Bread is coming forth. God has given His people bread. She arose with her, verse 6 and 7, she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return. Wherefore, she went forth out of that place, for they went on their way to return. Oh, may God stir some hearts tonight to say, I'm going to return. I want to go back. I want to go back to where I had my soul satisfied. Once again, the Lord is visiting His people. He gave them bread. Now, during the famine, there were people who stayed in Judah. Folks, there are remnant all over the world today. They're in the midst of a famine, but they held on. Folks, there have been a remnant of God's people in America especially, and in Canada, in North America, that have endured the ego-tripping of television evangelists. They've endured candy-cotton preaching. They have endured foolishness in the pulpit. They've endured preachers who brought entertainment into the pulpit and tried to pawn that off as God's blessing, and all they saw was somebody in the pulpit who wanted to pack the pews, and they have endured all kinds of insults. They have endured all kinds of deadness. They just stayed true to the Lord, but hallelujah, God saw them through. Some of you went through that. God brought you through, and He put you back in a place of blessing and anointing. I wonder how much we take it for granted. I don't take it for granted. I thank God for being a part of what He's doing here in New York City. I don't take it for granted. God planted you in the seat where you're at now. You ought to give Him glory and praise, not because who we are, but who He is. Now you see this picture of Naoma and Orpah and Ruth going toward the place of blessing as a type of those who get stirred, and they want to change, and they make this move back to where God is working, and so they're heading back to the place of blessing now, and they're going to stop at the border. Naoma, Orpah, and Ruth reach this border, and it's a decision time. Will Orpah and Ruth go with Naoma into fullness? Are they going to break away from the old past? Now, their names give you a clue. Orpah means stiff-necked. Ruth means friend, companion. Naoma means grace, and there's a confrontation at the border. Naoma decides to test these two daughters-in-law, and folks, grace will test you. Oh, yes, to see if you're going to have a resolve to go on to holiness. Naoma's saying it's going to take more than emotion to see them through because it's going to be hard. She knew it's going to take more than emotional decision, so she turns to them in verse 8 and 9, chapter 1, verse 8 and 9, and Naoma said, verse 8, unto her two daughters-in-law, go, return each to her mother's house. The Lord deal kindly with you as you 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 lifted up their voice, and they wept. Now, see, at this point, both Orpah and Ruth remain steadfast. They lifted up their voice, they both wept, they both said to her, surely we will return with thee unto the people. You see, there are people that come to this church, and the Holy Ghost stirs them, they, they have a measure of hunger and thirst, and they have made a start to a place of fullness in revelation of Christ, and they weep, they cry. There's some of you here that are living in sin, you're bound by sin, and in a way, you want out. Oh, you cry, you weep inside. Rivers of tears come down on your face. Thank God for that. That's a beginning, but you see, there's something going to happen here. They're getting close now. When, when you cross the line, there's a line that's drawn between Moab and Judah, between that place of idolatry, where something has your heart, and stepping over into the place of fullness and blessing, that line you have to cross. God draws the line, and when you cross that line, it's, I am going on. You either go on, or you go back. There's no middle ground. You can't live on the line. A lot of people trying to live on the line. They have half their heart toward, toward the place of blessing, the other part of their heart back with their idols in Moab. You have to make a choice. You already know for her, from her name, that Orpah, in spite of her tears, in spite of her strong words about going on, you know she's going to drop out. Outwardly, she's broken. Outwardly, she seems tender. She's speaking the right words. Yeah, I want Jesus. I know him. I'd really like to change. I'd really like to go all the way with Jesus, and that's the decision some of you gonna have to make here tonight in this church, in this service, right now, because the Holy Ghost is bringing you to the line. The Word of God that I'm preaching right now is confronting you because you're on the line. The Lord has been drawing you for a while. He's been pulling you. That's the Holy Spirit that's been at work at you, but Orpah does not know how powerfully her, her heart is held in the clutches of a circle of friends. See, they had left Moab. They'd said goodbye. Ruth and Orpah had said to all their friends, this is for it. This is life. We will never be back. We're going to Judah. And they laid everything down. We'll never see you again. This is it. They kissed their family and friends goodbye. They said, we're going all the way. Some of you thought you made that decision. You said, I give you my heart, Jesus. I'm going all the way. Orpah suddenly realizes, and so does Naomi, begins to realize she's weeping because she's torn between two loves. She sincerely wants to go on. She loves the fellowship of these sisters, but the tie to Moab has not been cut. And this is what God said of Israel. At birth, your cord was never cut. Your cord was never cut. Folks, it's not enough to be born. You have to have the cord cut. The cord has to be cut. And so Naomi realizes tears are not enough. Folks, I want to tell you something. There's more crying in beer than there is crying in church. You go to any bar room and they're crying in their beer. Oh, God save me. You ever hear expression crying in a beer? Tears are not enough. There is a decision that has to be made in the heart. It has to involve the will. Verse 11, 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. If I'm too old to have a husband, if I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should bear sons, would you carry for them till they were grown? She said, even if I could give birth, you going to wait another 20, 30 years for my babies to grow up so you could marry them? She's saying, you're going to be too old anyhow. That's what it means. You stay for them, for having husbands. Name my daughters, for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me. And they lifted up their voice and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, that Ruth, Clebender. And in the original, it says, and Orpah kissed her mother and went back. And went back. You know what entered her mind? She's saying, is this the only option in serving God? Rejection? Giving up everybody, everything? Is this the only option? Is it going to be, does it have to be suffering? Does it have to be hardship? Does it have to be poverty? Is this what is going to cost me? Is that the only option? And there's something in her heart said, no, that's not the only option. The other option is that I go back to my friends. I go back to the life that I lived. I've learned a lot of things. I love these people. I, in my heart, I won't give it up. But I have to do things my own way. I can't leave my friends after all. And her friends began to tug back at her heart. And suddenly she realized that she has idolatry. She still has the idol of affection for her friends. And I tell you, there are people sitting here tonight in this church, God bless your heart, you can't go on for God because there's an idol that's holding you of your past. It could be a friend, a circle of friends. It could be something or someone you won't give up that keeps you from going on. Something that has stolen your heart, some idol that has absolutely entwined your spirit, body, soul, and mind. And with all your tears, with all your weeping, with all your promises, you can't change your heart until you get the idol out. The idol was still there. The Bible says she wept again and she, she hugs her mother-in-law and she kisses her and she goes back. And folks, you never hear her name mentioned again. She has nothing to do with God's eternal purpose anymore. She's absolutely forgotten. Folks, that's what happens. People who go back, they have nothing to do with God's plan and purpose. They're left to themselves and their idolatry and they die in their sins. And many of them, many most lose their souls. But folks, Ruth, hallelujah, companion, friend. Listen, they lifted up their voices and wept and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law but Ruth claimed her. And she said, behold, thy sister-in-law has gone back unto her people and unto her gods. Return thou after thy sister-in-law. She says, Ruth, if you just turn her quick, you can catch Orpah. She's just a little way down the road. She's going back. Go back with her. Go, you can catch her. Go back with your sister. Go back with your step-sister. Go back with her. Bible says, she said no. And she claimed to Naoma. And the picture in Greek, or the picture in Hebrew is one who's on her knees clutching, the Bible says, around her waist and holding on as if to say, I'll not let you go. And folks, that's what it takes to win the heart of Jesus. Where you say, I don't care who goes back. I don't care who backslides. I don't care if the whole world goes back. Lord, you have my heart. I'm going with you. I'm going all the way. Hallelujah. Naoma, Ruth said, entreat me not to leave thee, but to return from falling unto thee. For whither thou goest, I will go. And where you lodge, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people. Thy God, my God. Where you die, I'll die. And there I'll be buried. The Lord do so also to me, and more also, if what but death part thee and me. She says, nothing but death will ever part us. Hallelujah. Boy, I wish I could have been there and seen Naoma's face. How she must have rejoiced. Hallelujah. Ruth, claim unto her. Wonderful, wonderful truth. Verses 16, 18 we just read. Let's go on now. As soon as Ruth crosses over, she is now on the road to winning Christ. That's what it means. She's about to win Christ. She's about to take the heart of Jesus because her Boaz is our Christ. He's called the wealthy man, but who's more wealthy than our Christ, who owns the cattle on a thousand hills and all the gold in the hills? He owns it all, folks. All the real estate in New York. These people don't own it. God owns the whole thing. She's free now, but she's poor. You know this gospel of success? You come and give your heart to Jesus, you could be satisfied and happy. That's not what the Bible says. Ruth is poor as a church mouse. I mean, she has nothing. Naoma has nothing. She's lost inheritance. She's lost everything. She's absolutely poverty stricken. And Ruth says to Naomi, let me go into the field and glean. Now, only the poorest went into the fields, and it was commanded by the law of Moses that when they harvested their field, they left the four corners unharvested so that the poor maids could gather. The poor and the maids would gather it, and they were supposed to leave. They were not to, in other words, they were not to harvest it and pick it to the last draw, but they were to leave bushels full on purpose for those who were poor. And God blessed those who did it. And there's no money. They're just absolutely poor. And it looks like Ruth has made a poor bargain. Her devotion takes her all the way to the place of visitation. And I'll tell you what, often the place of visitation brings you to the place of poverty. It'll bring you to spiritual poverty, for sure, where there's nothing left but Jesus. Spiritual poverty means that you have no spirituality of your own. You have nothing to offer Him. You come with nothing but love. That's all that she has. She has a great love for God. Hallelujah. Now, you need to take a good look at Ruth as she has her little basket, and she heads down the road toward the open fields. You take a look at her. She's penniless. She's poverty-stricken, but she has a song in her heart. You know what Paul said? And this is the preaching of the cross. For we are made a spectacle unto the world and to the angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake. We both hunger and thirst. We're naked. We're buffeted. We have no certain dwelling place. We labor, working with our own hands. We are reviled and persecuted. We're defamed. We're made as a filth of the world, as the offscouring. We get the brush off, is what he's saying. We're considered the scum of the earth. And then he has the audacity to say, be like me. This is the end of side one. You may now turn the tape over to side two. Be followers after me. To what? To be called the scum of the earth? Yes, he said, come. That is diametrically opposed to the prosperity preaching in America today. Come to Jesus and get rich. That's out of the pits of hell. It wasn't the gospel of Jesus Christ whatsoever. Paul was saying, Paul was told, come to me and give everything and I'll show you how much you're going to suffer for my sake. Oh, but in that suffering is the glory of God. In that suffering is the revelation of who he is. And out of it comes power and might and revelation and truth. Hallelujah. Now don't feel sorry for Ruth because she's about to win Christ. Go to chapter two. You don't feel sorry for this woman. Verses three to five. And she went and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And her You know what that means? By chance. I believe the writer of this must have been grinning from ear to ear when he wrote it. Believe that it was by accident or by chance that she landed in Boaz's field. By hap. She's walking down with her basket and she's headed toward the fields and she's singing, thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me. Now the Bible doesn't say that, but I know human nature. I know what it was like when I got saved. You know what it was like. So excited, giving everything to Jesus. Oh, thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. And she does nothing. And she's passed one field and the Holy Spirit said, not there. And she goes another one. But, but, Lord, look at all of that. Out in the reaps of grain over here. And the Lord says, no, keep moving. And she keeps moving. And all of a sudden there's an urge to go over to this field. And she just goes over to this field and it just happens to be Boaz's field. One of the wealthiest men in Judah. By hap, the Bible says, by accident. Oh, I love that. You see, when you give everything to Jesus, you not only feel his heart, you get his favor. You get direction. She was directed right into the field of Boaz. She's only there half a day. And, and she's picking up this grain and she's just singing and rejoicing in the Lord. And along comes this rich, wealthy man, Boaz. And he says, who's that woman? Love at first sight. Just like that. Who is she? She's, the virtue was piercing out of her eyes. Young men were looking at her and she wasn't paying any attention. She was absolutely in love with her Lord. Boaz says, who is this woman? It gets better. She just happened. Supernaturally led by the Holy Spirit. Isn't that wonderful? Supernaturally led. This man was smitten. One eye of this woman. One look in his face. She had stolen his heart. You know what he says? Immediately he says, don't go and glean in any other field. Stay right here. Don't go anywhere. Have you heard Jesus say that to you? Please don't go anywhere. Stay with me. Don't move. I love you. Don't go anywhere. Don't go back to anybody. Don't go back to the way. Stay with me. I've heard that. I heard it today. I hear it right now while I'm preaching. Stay by me. Go no place else. You're in a place of blessing. You don't know it, but you're going to get blessed. Stay where you're at. You know what? He had to have her nearby. He said, when you come back tomorrow. And he told the fellas. He told the reapers. He said, start leaving some stuff. Handfuls on purpose. Drop it on purpose. So that she can go home full. She goes. When she starts leaving, he's right there I'm sure and says, tomorrow? Oh yeah, I'll be here. No place else? My field? Yes. You're going to stay here? Yes. She's in love with him. And he's in love with her. He couldn't wait till the next day to see her eyes. And she goes back to Naoma. And Naoma looks at all of that. I mean, there's a month's supply of grain. She's burning down. You see, when you get the favor of the Lord, you come to church loaded down. Look what the Lord has done for me. Look what God has done. He's blessed me. He's honored me. When's the last time you've come into the house of God not looking down? Not depressed? But going around to everybody. Guess what God did? Lord has been blessing me. Lord's been. I'm so sick and tired of hearing people say, I'm so down. I'm so depressed. She didn't come home depressed. She said, look what God has done. She goes back the next day and you know what Boaz says? I have warned the young men not to touch you. That's the protection of the Holy Ghost. I'm not going to let any demon touch you. No devil going to touch my people. You're mine. Devil, hands off. Hands off, devil. Hands off. She's mine. Don't even look at her. That's the protection you have when you win the heart of Jesus. When you cross the line, say, Lord, no more of this world. There's nothing standing between you and me now, Lord. I'm going all the way. Then the Lord says to the devil and all demons, hands off. Hands off. You talk about sanctification. Oh boy. Hallelujah. Do you think any one of those young men dare look at her? Not with Boaz glaring at him. Think any demon going to touch you with my God glaring at him? Then he says, Ruth, if you get thirsty. See, only the men were allowed to drink from the vessels. He said, when you get thirsty, go to the vessels and drink to the full. That's what we're doing right now. We're just drinking it in. We've come to the vessel. Hallelujah. We've come to Him. And he says, drink to the full. Boy, her heart was going pitter-patter. She was just, her heart was pounding. She goes home and says, guess what, Naomi? She said, you don't have to worry about me in those fields. You don't have to pray for me anymore. Because I want to tell you, he laid the law down. He said, nobody in those fields are allowed to look at me, let alone touch me. And not only that, guess where I'm drinking? I'm drinking where the men drink. I'm drinking to the full. Verse 10 and 12. Hallelujah. The Lord recompensed thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. There it is, folks. There's the secret. This was the reason he loved her so. He said, you've put yourself under my Father's wings, under the wings of God. And that's why Jesus so loves us, that we have put our trust in the Heavenly Father. That's when we steal the Lord's heart, when we trust His Father to the full. Hallelujah. And that's where all the blessings are released. Hallelujah. Now, she ends up marrying this man, by the way. You know what she did? She was told by Noah, he's going to be sleeping in the field tonight when you go. You sleep in his field. Now, there was a custom of the day that the servant always slept perpendicular to the feet of the master to keep his feet warm. He would have a cloak, a coat over, but the servant, those who worked for the master, would lay perpendicular and warm his feet. She goes, and he's got a cloak or something, and they're fully clothed, but he would know what this meant, because when a kinsman was to redeem the inheritance, it would take a covering, a cloak, and put it over the shoulders of the woman that says, I'll be your covering, I'll be your covering. So, she goes to Boaz, he's sleeping in the field, and she sneaks in, and she just lays down perpendicular to his feet, he's probably got bare feet at the time, and she just lays there and pulls a bit of the covering over her, and suddenly he wakes up, he looks at his wife, and he says, I know what he says, I knew it was going to come to this. And he takes that cloak and puts it over her shoulder and says, yes, from now on, I'll redeem everything that's against you. I'll redeem your inheritance, I'll be your covering. And before ten witnesses, he stands in the marketplace, and he redeems all of the debts that were against the inheritance of Naoma, all the kinsmen were given an opportunity, there are no charges, she's totally redeemed, Naoma and Ruth are totally free now, and that's what the cross of Jesus did, he said, I'll be your covering, I'll be your kinsmen, I redeem you, there's no law against you, there's nothing the devil can do, nobody. You are legally, legally free, not only are you legally free, but I love you. Get a baby, and you know what the baby's name was? The baby's name was Obed, the father of Jesse. And who was Jesse? The father of David. And who's the son of David? Uh-huh. Did she win him or not? Out of her seed. Oh, yes, she won Christ. You win Christ by the choices you make that are pleasing to him. And it has to do with faithfulness and clinging only to him, the heart that says, will this please him? Hallelujah. Folks, with this I close, if I can stand while I close. Folks, look this way just a moment. Thirty-eight years ago, I first came to New York, no money, just like Ruth, just full of love for Jesus. No money, didn't know where to go, what to do. I want to tell you, if you read the cross of Switchblade, because I had won the heart of Jesus, I'd spent a whole year alone with the Lord, almost night and day. I'd spent a whole year in his presence. I had marked a Bible page to page. I had learned his heart. And I came here under supernatural pull of God. And that's thirty-eight years ago. And folks, the first thing he did for me when I got to New York City, I had to sleep in a car at first. I slept in a Bronx in a car. I slept in Harlem in a car. I wouldn't do it now for any money in the world. But I'll tell you, I had a trust in my Lord. Oh, I would if I had to, if I had the same faith I had then. But I'll tell you something. In thirty-eight years, I know, if you read the cross of Switchblade, he led me here, he led me there. He led me up into Spanish Harlem to meet the gang leaders that had murdered a polio victim. He led me to one gang after another. He led me to Nicky Cruz. He led me to Sonny Argonzoni. He led me, he led me, he led me. And he's still leading. Folks, in thirty-eight years, he has met every need. He has led me. He has guided me. And it has been the most amazing thing. I stand now, at sixty-four years of age, amazed, absolutely amazed at the goodness and the favor and the blessing of my Jesus. You know where all that comes from? Just loving him with all your heart, saying goodbye to the world. Saying, Lord, I'm going all the way with you. All the way. Now let's talk, let's talk clearly to some of you that are at the line now. God's dealing with you. Are you going to go all the way? Jesus is saying, are you going to go all the way with me? Now he says, I love you with everything there's possible to love you with. I've died for you. I've been mediating for you. I've been praying for you. I've been sending people to you. I have hovered over you. I've protected you so that you didn't die in your sins up to this moment. You could have died any moment. You could have been in hell now. But the Lord in his mercy and his love. But are you willing now to go with him and say goodbye to all your sins and all your pasts? And say, Lord, I'm going all the way with you. I want to go to the place of favor and blessing and fullness in Christ. Oh, what a life that is. With all of its pain and testing and sorrow, sometimes poverty. This woman came to great riches in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah. He'll give you a new heart tonight. Why don't you step out of your seat right now and come and let me pray with you. And folks, you have to make that decision. Nobody else can make it for you. You come because you say, I want to go all the way. With her up in the balcony, step out. Go to the stairs on either side. Come on down here now. The Lord wants to have this settled. No more halfway stuff. It's all the way or nothing. You can't stay at the border. You can't stay at the crossing. You cross the line. That's it. Come on. Get in close. Make room for those that are coming down. Move in close if you will, please. Hallelujah. Let's wait for just a moment, please. You say, Pastor David, how can I go on? What do I have to do to go all the way? Well, what did Ruth do? She really in her heart says, Lord, help me to say goodbye to my past, to all my friends, to everything that's been clutching my heart and robbing me and destroying me. I'm going to say goodbye to all of that tonight with your help. If you'll say goodbye in your heart, He'll come and implant in you not only the power but the desire to do it. If you'll give Him your will right now and say, Lord, that's what I want. I don't want to go back. How many of you can say in your heart, I don't want to go back to what I was. I don't ever want to go back to what I was. That's right. All right. That's the beginning. Ruth put her arms around Naomi which means grace. I embrace your grace, Lord. I embrace your mercy. I know you love me. That's what it means. I know you love me. You mean so much to me. I want to stay with you. It's the mercy of God, the grace of God that so cared about you. He brought you to this service tonight, many of you. And He said, tonight I'm going to change you. Tonight I'm going to give you a new heart. Tonight you're going to go back and never be the same. There's going to be a change. It's a great change. What's that choir number? There's been a great change in me? Later. Get it ready. Because there's going to be a lot of people changed here tonight. It's been a great change. Now look at me, please. You're at that line. It's a step of faith. It's your will. It says, I'm going to do it by the grace of God. Jesus, I'm giving you my heart. I'm giving you my life. I'm not going to cry a river of tears anymore until I give you my heart. And then the cries that come out of you will be joy. You'll weep with joy. If you're sorry for the way you've been living, if you're sorry for your sins, if you're sorry for your stubbornness, if you're sorry for the idols that are in your heart, just raise both hands to heaven right now. Just lift up both hands. I want you to pray this prayer with me. It'll be the beginning. If you say it from your heart. Jesus, take the idols away. Every person and everything that has brought me down, that's been holding me, that has a grip on me, I give it over to you, Jesus. I need your power now. I give you my sins, all my failures, all my habits, all my lust, everything of the past, I put it in your feet. Right at your feet. Forgive me and cleanse me. Now give me a new heart. Jesus, by faith, I say to you and to this whole world, Jesus, I'll follow you. I'm going with you. I give you my heart, my confidence. I put myself in the trust of your wings. I believe you will lead me and keep me by your grace. I love you, Jesus. I want to win your heart. Now just tell him how much you love him right now. Lift up your hands and tell him, I love you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Give him thanks. Give him thanks right now. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. I glorify you. Oh, Holy Ghost, make the miracle real. Change hearts. Change lives. Break the chains of sin. Break the chains of iniquity right now. Break the power of sin. Break the power of the devil. Break the power of the enemy. Break the power of Satan, Jesus. Break the power of the devil. Break it. Set people free right now. Free in Christ. Free in Christ. Glory. This is the conclusion of the tape.