Alright, we're in Ruth chapter 1 here, and I've heard people preach through the book
of Ruth before, chapter by chapter, and books in the Bible, I've spent a lot of time studying
the book of Ruth, more than almost any book in the Bible, other than maybe a couple.
And so this is a book I've always thought was interesting by preaching by characters
instead of chapter by chapter, because everybody's heard sermons on Ruth, everyone's heard sermons
on Boaz, but when you look at characters like Elimelech, Naomi, and Orpah, you haven't really
heard sermons on them because there's not as much in the Bible about them, but there's
enough to preach a sermon.
And we'll see with Elimelech here this morning, because we're going to be talking about Elimelech,
he's the first character we'll talk about.
There's actually a lot we can learn from his life.
And when you look at the Bible, obviously we preach against false religions here, you
know, we just preached a whole sermon against the Pentecostal religion, but you know, when
you look throughout the Bible, most of the Bible is about characters and the choices
they make in lies.
Most of it's not against false doctrine, but it's really about characters who know what
the truth is, and sometimes you see them do what's right, and sometimes you see what they
do is wrong.
And we need to learn both sides.
You know, you look at certain characters that make good choices, we're going to see here
today that Elimelech was not a man that made good choices.
And we need to learn from his mistakes, okay?
And so the first thing I want you to see here is that Elimelech makes choices based on money.
He made decisions based on money.
Notice what it says in Ruth 1, verse 1.
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 Bethlehem Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and
his wife and his two sons.
And so there's a famine in the land.
He lives in Bethlehem Judah, and he decides to go to Moab.
He leaves God's people, he leaves a godly area to go to a wicked area.
Why would he do that?
There's a famine in the land.
What is the Bible trying to tell you?
Basically, he didn't have a lot of money, he panics, and he makes decisions based on
money.
He moves his family to a wicked area.
Okay, now turn to Genesis chapter 12.
Genesis 12.
Now you might say, Brother Specky, that sounds pretty familiar.
Well, here's the reason why it sounds pretty familiar.
Because you look at people in the Bible, and they often make the same exact choices.
There's no new thing under the sun.
Look, today, people oftentimes make the same choices.
They make choices based on money.
Now, I don't think it's wrong to make decisions that's partially based on money.
But if your entire decision is based on money, that's a good sign that you're doing something
wrong.
Okay?
If you decide that it doesn't matter what it is about serving God, I'm just going to
make my decisions based on money, and hope it works out, you're making the wrong decision.
Okay?
Now, what's funny about Elimelech is that this is after Genesis chapter 12.
Okay?
We're going to look at Abraham, who does the exact same thing.
He does it multiple times.
And, you know, Elimelech was a person who lived amongst God's people.
He knew this story, okay?
He should have learned from the failure of Abraham, but he doesn't learn.
Okay?
Genesis chapter 12, verse 10.
And there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn them.
For the famine was grievous in the land.
So Abram moves to Egypt.
Okay?
Now, is Egypt in the Bible a godly area?
No.
No, it's not.
He's leaving a godly area to go to an ungodly area.
Okay?
Now, honestly, when you look at any country around the world, I don't think any country
you can say is godly.
Okay?
No country's really following God's rules.
But, you know, in the Philippines, you do have areas where you can find good churches.
See, a modern-day application would be when you leave a great church to go to an area
where you don't know if there's a good church.
Say, Brother Stuckey, I just got this job offer, and I'm moving to, you know, wherever
in the Philippines.
And it's like, well, great.
You know, where are you going to go to church?
I don't know.
I'll just go to the best Baptist church I can find.
Look, you're making the wrong decision.
Right.
You're leaving a good church.
Just go somewhere.
Because of a job and you have no idea where you're going to go to church, you're making
the wrong decision.
Look, when you make decisions, mainly based on money, you're making the wrong decision.
Okay?
And look, you know, we preach this a lot here because you see people make those same decisions
over and over again.
Okay?
Right.
People make their decisions based on money.
We need to learn from the people in the Bible.
Abraham moves to Egypt.
Okay?
Well, notice what it says in verse 11.
And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai
his wife, Behold, now I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon.
Therefore shall come to pass when the Egyptians shall see thee.
They shall say, This is his wife, and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.
Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister, that it may be well with me for thy sake, and my
soul shall live because of thee.
So he decides to move to Egypt, and the first thing he does is he's being deceptive.
He's lying.
Okay?
Now, is lying the biggest sin in the world?
No, it's not.
Murder's obviously worse than telling a lie.
But, you know, lying is a good sign that you're on the wrong road.
Because people lie to cover things up.
He makes a choice, and immediately, what is he doing?
He's lying.
Okay?
He says, you know, Sarah's just my sister.
We're not married.
Okay?
Well, you know, you obviously are married to her.
You're just lying about that.
And when you start lying immediately, that shows that you're obviously doing something
wrong.
He's trying to cover up, you know, going into Egypt.
And, you know, that's what you see in life.
When you start going down a road of sin, you start noticing that you're more deceptive.
Because you're trying to cover up.
You know, you do something wrong, and you're going to tell a lie about it.
You know, you look at kids, for example.
You know, your kid does something wrong, and he lies about it.
Okay?
That's what people do.
Abraham, he decides to move his family based on money, and immediately he's telling a lie.
Notice what it says in Genesis chapter 12, verse 16.
Because one thing I want to show you here with Abraham, and I preached on this recently,
and I guess I wasn't really aware of this, but I guess a lot of churches, or most churches,
preached that Abraham went down to Egypt and God blessed him.
Okay?
Now, this part I'll agree with.
Abraham went down to Egypt and he got filthy, stinking rich.
Okay?
We'll see that from the Bible.
But it was not God's blessing, it was the curse.
It's called breathing what you sow.
Sometimes God gives you what you want.
You decide you want something, God says no, God gives it to you, and it destroys your life.
And that's what we're going to see here in Genesis chapter 12.
We can notice what he's doing is wrong right off the bat.
Because he's leaving because of a famine, and he's immediately lying.
When you're going against God's will, God's not going to bless you.
Right.
You're immediately lying.
Okay?
Notice Genesis 12, verse 16.
And he entreated Abraham well for her sake, and he achieved an oxen, and he asses, and
men servants, and maid servants, and she asses, and camels.
So he gives Abraham all these things.
Okay?
Because he likes Sarai, he likes Sarah.
And so Abraham's given all these things.
Right after he's told, right after he lies, he immediately gets a lot of money.
Back then your money was not in pesos or dollar bills.
Your money was in how many oxen you had, how many camels you had, how many sheep you had.
Okay?
And so he immediately gets rich right when he goes down to Egypt, verse 20.
And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they sent him away and his wife and all
that he had.
So once all of a sudden he's caught lying, Pharaoh sends him away.
Okay?
He sent away, his wife sent away, and notice in all that he had.
Did he leave with everything Pharaoh gave him?
Yes, he did.
Because the Bible's very clear in all that he had.
Four verses earlier, he's given all these things from Pharaoh when he tells a lie.
When he goes against God's will, he leaves a godly area to go to a wicked area, then
he lies, and then all of a sudden he gets rich from Pharaoh.
Okay?
And notice in verse 20, he leaves with all that he had.
Okay?
We're not counting this here.
What does the word all mean?
It means all.
Okay?
It means all.
So he left with all of it.
Okay?
Verse 1 of chapter 13, it reiterates this.
And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and lot with him
into the south.
And Abram was very rich in cattle and silver and gold.
Remember, he was worried because there was a family.
He was worried, I can't provide the needs for my family.
He moves to Egypt, he goes against God's will, he's lying, and he gets filthy stinking
rich.
He gets rich.
Okay?
Now, why would God bless him for the decisions he made?
That doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
What's clear is that he becomes rich.
Okay?
Now, you could just look at that and say, well, it seems like God blessed him.
We got to keep on going with his life.
Because he looked further on with his life, and this money was a curse from God.
It wasn't a good thing.
It actually destroyed his life.
Now, let's look at verse number five.
Genesis 13, verse five.
And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents.
And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together, for their substance
was great so that they could not dwell together.
So Abram and Lot both have all these camel, all these sheep, all these asses, all these
men servants, all these maid servants.
Now they can't dwell together.
Why?
They have too much.
Yeah.
Okay?
They didn't have too much when they went down to Egypt.
They leave Egypt, and they are rich.
Okay?
Now, I'm not going to go on for sake of time, because there's a lot to preach in this sermon.
But what ends up happening with Lot's life?
He chooses Sodom and Gomorrah.
Why?
Because it was well watered like the land of Egypt.
Now, how did he learn about Egypt?
Well, Abram brought him to Egypt.
And all of a sudden, he looked at Egypt, and he said, man, this is beautiful.
There's all these plants.
There's vegetation.
It's a great area.
Sodom and Gomorrah was just like Egypt.
And so why did he go to Sodom and Gomorrah?
Because it looked beautiful.
It was well watered like the land of Egypt.
He learned that because Abraham brought him down there.
All of a sudden, they have too much stuff.
And what happens?
They have to separate.
They have too much.
You say, man, if I just had money, it would fix all my problems in life.
Well, show me the verse in the Bible that says money's going to fix all your problems.
Because I don't know about you, but you look at most rich people in the world, and they
got a lot of problems.
Yeah.
Right?
I don't know.
That guy that I saw this morning, I asked my wife who it was.
I didn't know it was that chocolate sodomite who died.
I'm sure she was rich.
Chocolates or whatever.
Who calls them that?
Yeah.
What kind of a name is that?
And this famous comedian.
When my wife said this guy's best friends with Vice Gonda, I was like, okay, I know
what kind of guy this is.
You don't have to say anything else.
That tells me what kind of guy.
I use that term guy very loosely.
That tells me what kind of guy that this chocolate guy is.
And so she's like, I'm sure that guy was rich.
But do you really think that guy was happy before he died at what, 46?
You know, the wicked people should not live out half their days, the Bible says.
Do you think that guy's going to be happy having all that money?
No, I'm sure he was miserable.
Because when you're a wicked person, you're going to be a miserable person.
But money does not fix your problems.
And we need to hear this preached over and over again because we naturally assume money
will fix our problems.
And because everywhere we go, the world's obsessed with covetousness, and they tell
you money will fix your problems.
It won't fix your problems.
It will oftentimes destroy your life.
Being rich is not necessarily a good thing.
Look at the people in the Bible that become rich and powerful.
Good people.
Godly people.
And then what happens after that?
Not so godly anymore.
Having lots of money, having lots of power, that's not really something that God intended
for us.
And you know what?
If you're someone that God's blessed, you work hard, and you're someone who can control
your money, and you use it for the Lord, and you can still serve God.
Hey, there's nothing sinful about that.
Because people in the Bible, Job was a rich person.
But he was a rare exception who could actually handle that money.
I don't think I could handle being a millionaire.
If I was rich, you know what?
I'd probably destroy my life.
It would probably get to my head.
Most of us, that's the case.
And so just because God allows you to be leaner than you want, that does not mean that God's
cursing you.
He might be blessing you.
We don't see the end picture.
If we're serving God, and reading the Bible, and going to church, and going soul winning,
and trying to obey God's rules, God's going to bless you for that.
We know that.
We can realize what the Bible says, and God's going to bless you for that.
And his promise is he's going to provide your food and raiment.
He didn't say he was going to make you rich.
And being rich is not necessarily a good thing.
For Abraham, it wasn't a good thing.
Because him and Lot have to separate, and Lot's life is destroyed inside of the world.
But it doesn't just stop there.
There's more consequences for Abraham's decisions.
Go to Genesis 16.
If you remember, there's a situation with Abraham called Hagar.
Now let me ask you a question.
Where did Hagar come from?
Well, let's see what it says in Genesis 16 verses 1 and 3.
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bare of no children.
So they are struggling to have children.
And she had an inmate, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
So she's not able to have children. She has an inmate.
And so she has the attitude, well, I can have a child through them.
When you're on the outside looking in, you look at that and say,
what kind of decision are you making?
You're having your husband cheat on you to have a child.
But the truth is, when it comes to having kids,
my wife and I, we got married.
We wanted to have kids for a while, and we struggled with it.
It was a very difficult time.
Obviously, for women, that's what they want.
They want to raise a family.
Especially when you're a part of a movement like this,
you love God, you want to serve God.
Look, that's a tough situation.
My wife and I, we dealt with it for several years.
People assume we're going to have kids,
and then everyone wants to give me their advice.
Everybody's got their advice, and it's like,
look, you don't need to give us advice.
We're fine.
I'm just trying to help you guys out.
If you run into people, don't give advice if it's not askable.
Because it's a sensitive subject, and you're going to offend someone.
I know that from personal experience.
Sometimes it's not best to give advice.
Sometimes it's just good to say,
hey, I'm praying for you, brother, I'm praying for you, sister.
But if it's not something you've experienced,
it's probably not best to give your opinion.
I'm just trying to help you out because
I know from personal experience.
That's a subject you just don't want to touch.
Just pray for it.
That's the best thing you can do.
I want you to notice in Genesis 16
how it says in verse 2,
And Sariah said unto Abram,
Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing.
I prayed thee, going on to my maid,
and maybe that I may obtain children by her,
and Abram hearkened with the voice of Sariah.
So Sariah has this opinion,
God's preventing me from bearing children.
No, he's not preventing you from having children.
Because if you're in God's will and you're doing what's right,
he's not going to prevent you from having children.
Now, if you're willingly going against God's rules,
it's possible he could prevent you from having children.
But usually when people are struggling to have children,
it's not because they're doing anything wrong.
It's just because that was God's choice for whatever reason.
Sometimes it takes time, you've got to wait.
Verse 3,
So where does Hagar come from?
She comes from Egypt.
Okay?
So Pharaoh goes down there,
or not Pharaoh, but Abraham goes down there,
he gets rich, and that ruins his life,
but also he gets Hagar from Egypt.
Look, when you make decisions based on money
you're making the wrong decision.
We see the end result,
and look, you cannot look at this story and say
Abraham was blessed because he had money.
That's a very short-sighted view of this chapter.
You have to look at it and see, did it really help his life?
The answer to that is no.
Now, let me just use this as an example to help out
because I know that there's churches that preach this,
that they were blessed when they got all that money.
You know, when I preach sermons,
I do my best to preach the truth.
I try not to make any mistakes.
You must read the Bible for yourself
to double check everything I say.
It is possible I could preach something
I've heard preached over and over again
and I could be wrong on it, okay?
There's a lot of Baptist churches that preach
that Abraham was blessed.
Why do they preach that?
Because they heard it preached themselves,
and they just keep repeating it
without actually looking at the Bible.
So when I preach something, I encourage you
look in the Bible to see if what I'm saying is true
because I will make mistakes.
As much as I try to always preach the truth,
I'm going to make mistakes.
Okay, I want you to read the Bible
and double check everything.
So we see the story of Abraham,
which is very similar to Ruth chapter 1.
Elimelech had the story of Abraham.
Elimelech has the story of Abraham
and also his son Isaac.
He has these stories where you make decisions
based on money, and it ruins your life.
He was aware of those stories.
He knew that story.
He had heard it preached, and guess what?
He still made decisions based on money.
Look, there's no new thing under the sun.
I'll point you to this all the time,
and there will still be people in this room
that will choose to make decisions based on money,
not make decisions based on living for God.
That's the reality of it.
That's why you've got to keep preaching it
because you see that there's no new thing under the sun
and Elimelech makes the same foolish decisions.
Now turn to Romans 13.
Romans 13.
I guess you've got to decide what you want in life.
Do you want to be rich and get to go on vacations
or do you want to have a good marriage,
live a life for God, and be happy?
Do you want to be rich and go on vacations
or do you want to be a good husband,
good wife, serve God, love God, and be happy?
Look, if you're living a life of sin,
you're not going to be happy,
especially when you know the truth.
The Bible says, happier ye if ye do them.
When you know the truth, happier ye if ye do them.
Would you rather be rich and be miserable
like all the rich people out there,
or would you rather have less money
and you know what, love the Lord and serve God.
That's the choice you've got to make.
And the world tells you money's going to make you happy.
Well, go ahead, go for it.
See how it works out.
We have the Bible, we should know.
Romans 13.
Notice what it says in verses 13 and 14.
Let us walk honestly as in the day,
not in rioting and drunkenness,
not in chambering and oneness,
not in strife and ending,
but put me on the Lord Jesus Christ
and make not provision for the flesh
to fulfill the loss of the road.
Now one thing I preached in sermons
and I'll preach again is this,
yes, you know what,
you shouldn't live your life for money
but you do need to provide
and it's smart when you're young
to try to save up money
and put yourselves in a good position.
See the Bible says make not provision for the flesh
and the truth is
that if you don't put yourself in a good position
financially, you are much more likely
to make foolish decisions based on money.
Right.
So if you put yourself in a good position,
look, if Abraham was already rich,
do you think he'd care about famine?
Now I'm not saying we should strive to be rich
but what I'm saying is
if he had more,
he wouldn't have worried enough.
Now he shouldn't have worried anyway
but what I'm saying is
that you that are young,
save up money now.
Don't waste all your money
because you're going to look at one day
and you're like,
man, I've got to provide for a family.
You didn't prepare yourself
and you know what,
you will make decisions based on money.
Prepare now.
Don't make provision for the flesh
because if you put yourself
in certain situations,
you're likely to screw up.
People have this attitude
that I'm so spiritual
that I can be in any situation
and do what's right.
I can just go to a bar
and just,
I don't have to worry about sinning
because I'm just so spiritual.
No, a smart person doesn't put themselves
in those positions.
No.
Okay.
When you make provision for the flesh,
it's possible you'll commit those sins.
You say,
well, how do you know it's possible?
Because most sins are common to man.
Most sins are things
that any of us could commit.
You say,
is it possible for someone
to commit adultery?
Yes, it is.
Right.
You say,
well, don't put yourself
in a position to do that.
Right.
Don't put yourself
in a position
where you're alone
with some woman
you're not married to
in a room.
That would be stupid.
You say,
well, I wouldn't commit adultery.
Well, maybe you wouldn't,
but it would be stupid
to put yourself in that position.
No.
You don't make provision
for the flesh.
No.
Okay.
Now, turn to,
turn back to Ruth 1.
Turn back to Ruth 1.
So, really,
the entire book of Ruth
starts off
from verse number 1
where Elimelech
chooses to move
his family
down to Moab.
Okay.
That's how the whole book unfolds.
That's the reason
why we have the book
is because it started
with Elimelech
making the choice
to move based on money.
Now, we can presume
that Elimelech
was a believer
that he's in heaven today,
but just because you're saved
doesn't mean
you're going to make
good choices.
Okay.
So, it makes choices
based on money,
but I want you to notice
something else
in Ruth 1, verse 1.
Now, it came to pass
that there is a famine
in the land
and a certain man
of Bethlehem, Judah
went to Sojourn
in the country of Moab.
He and his wife
and his two sons.
Now, I want you
to notice that
where it says
went to Sojourn.
What does it mean
to Sojourn?
It does not
mean
to live somewhere.
You know what it means?
It means
to live somewhere
temporarily
with the intent
to retire.
There's a big
difference here.
Elimelech
did not move
with the intention
to permanently
be in Moab.
He moved
with the intention
to be there
for a short time
and then come back.
That's what Sojourn
means.
Okay.
The Bible talks about
the time of the
Sojourning of the
children of Israel.
They weren't
in the Promised Land yet.
That wasn't
their intended destination.
They were just
Sojourning until
they got
to the Promised Land.
Okay.
You look at that word
Sojourn
throughout the Bible.
I mean, that was
one of the things
that the Sodomites
said to Lot.
He planned to be there
for a time period
to save up money
and once I have
a lot of money
then I'll start living
for God.
You say, why would
people do that?
They do the same
thing today.
Most people when
they make decisions
based on money
it's not intended
to be a permanent
decision.
Very rarely
is it intended
to be a permanent
decision.
Usually they say
I'm just going
to do this
for a time period.
That is what
was in the mind
of Elimelech.
He said he
didn't want to
live in Moab.
Why would
he want to
live in a wicked
area?
It wouldn't
make any sense.
Nobody wants
to move to a
foreign land.
I mean, even
if you're a
backslidden person
does anyone
want to live
in a country
with 99% Muslims?
I don't care
how backslidden
you get.
You don't
want to be
around people
that don't
even claim
Christianity.
You want
to be somewhat
a wicked area
but he chose
to move because
there was a
famine for a
time period.
Not permanently.
That was his
intention.
People do
the same things
today.
They say,
Brother Stuckey,
you just don't
understand.
My schedule
is so difficult
right now.
I don't
have time
to read the Bible.
I'm so busy
and one day
Brother Stuckey
I'm going to
start reading
the Bible.
I'm going
to start reading
the Bible.
What?
Because if you
preach it all
the time and
you're not
reading the Bible
now you're
going to shock
me if you
start reading
the Bible one
day.
You're right.
It will
surprise me.
People always
make this decision.
I'm just going
to live this
life of sin
for now.
For now I'm
going to live
this life of sin
and one day
I'm going to
get out.
Brother Stuckey
did he return
to Bethlehem Judah?
No he didn't.
He intended
to return.
He never did.
When people
have the intentions
to do something
one day I'm
going to be a
soul winner
Brother Stuckey.
Man it's
going to surprise
you.
I'm going to be
out there knocking
the doors,
bringing people
to church,
getting people
saved.
Yeah it's
going to surprise
me because
we preach on it
every week at
the Bible.
When I preach
about something
and I preach
to you to
quit listening
to rock music
and you
heard me preach
it one time
and you
don't quit.
You heard me
preach it twice
and you don't
quit three times,
four times,
five times.
Yeah it's
going to shock
me if on the
37th time I
preach about it
you finally
decide to make
that decision to
quit listening
to rock music
because you're
at the
same time.
But
that's the
reality of it
and look
you know
a lim Aleppo
he had
the intention
of returning
he never did
ok.
What are
some good
modern day
examples of
this?
In our
country the
best modern
day example
is being
an OFD.
Why is it
the best example?
Because 95%
of Filipinos
I mean, most people, most people we know that live in the United States that are from the Philippines do not like the United States.
Now, they might tell you they do, but they're lying to you.
You say, well, how do you know that? Because of the fact, I've been around plenty of Filipinos in the U.S.,
that when they talk to you, they try to get everybody to move to America, but you talk to them off the record,
they hate it, and they plan to return once they make a little bit more money.
They don't like it in the U.S. Why? Because most people like where they're from.
That's what they know. That's what they're used to. That's what they like.
It feels normal to them. They feel comfortable.
Look, most people, they like where they're from.
People that moved to be an OFW or people who moved to America from the Philippines, most of them don't like it.
Now, I understand there's some exceptions, but trust me, I've talked to plenty of Filipinos when it's off the record,
and then they'll try to get everybody to move, but then they'll talk about how miserable they are in the U.S.
Oh, man, I miss home so much. That really shows that they don't want to be there.
Why did they move to America? They moved for one reason. Money, money, money.
That's the reason why. That's the reason why most people go to be an OFW.
And so the intention is always to return a little like intended to return,
but honestly, most people, they go down that road and they never do return.
And here's the thing. Even if you do return, if you decide to move based on money, even if you do return,
your heart might still be going after money. You understand? Just because you came back, you said,
I made it. You didn't necessarily make it. Because Abraham came back, he had money,
but Hagar came down the road, there were still consequences to his actions of going after money.
So sometimes the effects might be later on, but you've learned bad character traits or bad habits.
They get passed on to you. Look, moving based on money is never a good thing.
Now, Elimelech never did return. Don't we always say that sin will always keep you longer than you want to stay?
He intended to leave Moab and come back and serve God. Elimelech never did.
He died in Moab. And look, I believe the guy's probably in heaven, but you know,
there's plenty of people I want to meet in heaven. Elimelech is just kind of, man, you're a failure in life.
He destroyed your entire family because you were worried there was a family.
Now turn back to Luke 1.
See, that's why when I preach on the doubts of the family, I talk about money quite a bit. I talk about it in two sermons. Why?
Because honestly, I believe the number one reason why people quit living for God is based on money.
That's my opinion. Most people, I think, is based on money, especially with men.
Obviously, as the man, the one who's providing for your family, look, you get stressed out about money sometimes.
I've been stressed out about money plenty of times. You get stressed out, and you're liable to make bad decisions based on money.
You know, when you look at Luke 8 with the parable of the sower, there's many people that don't bear fruit.
And one of the things it mentions is being choked with riches. I believe that's the number one thing.
Because if I were to look at my life, it would be extremely unlikely for me to one day just decide I want to listen to Aerosmith and Rock Music.
I mean, that was so long ago, I didn't see myself making that decision.
But I could see myself getting stressed out about money and making bad decisions based on money.
See, I don't see me living a worldly life. Obviously, I have things that I can work on, but I started to clean up my life a long time ago.
But I've still been stressed out about money. I mean, every year you get stressed out at various times.
You can still make foolish decisions based on money. And people do it all the time.
I know plenty of people that were at Verde Baptist Church and they left because they made foolish decisions based on money.
And they wouldn't even say that was the reason why, but when you look on the outside, it's like, okay, it's pretty obvious.
You decided, your heart went after money, you got scared, you got couches or whatever, and you made foolish decisions.
Now I want you to notice something else in Luke 1 verse 1.
So we see he makes decisions based on money. We see that he intends to only sojourn or live for a time period in Moab.
But I want you to notice something else in Ruth 1 verse 1, where it says,
And a certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to sojourn.
I want you to also notice that a limb-like is the person in that family held responsible.
Because the whole family moved in Moab, but it says a certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to sojourn.
Naomi moved, Malan moved, Kylian moved, they all moved, but who's the one held responsible?
A limb-like. The Bible says a certain man.
Verse 3,
And a limb-like, Naomi's husband, died and she was left in her two sons.
You say, well, how do you know that the Bible's holding a limb-like responsible?
Well, a few reasons. One, it mentions a certain man.
Two, who is the person struck down dead?
A limb-like.
Looks like he's being judged by God for the decision he made.
He's the one who's struck down dead, and it mentions a limb-like.
And the truth is that when you're married as the husband, you're the head of the home.
And if you make decisions based on money, that's your decision to make.
You could ruin your entire family's life.
The guy is the one responsible.
That's the truth.
Now, turn to Romans 5.
Now, we'll talk about Naomi here in a couple weeks.
I'm not going to talk about her now.
What we don't see in the Bible is we don't really see the opinion of a limb-like's wife or their kids too much.
We read the chapters in Ruth and kind of get an idea about Naomi's feelings, but it's really kind of hard to tell.
We're not 100% for sure.
We don't really know whether or not she wanted to move or whether she didn't want to.
The Bible doesn't really tell us this.
Now, we know that a limb-like made that choice, and maybe his family agreed with it.
Maybe they didn't. We don't really know.
What we do know is that a limb-like is held responsible.
He's the one who ends up dying.
He's the head of the home, and he's the one the Bible specifically points out as saying a certain man, a Bethlehem Judah.
Now, let me say this, that when it comes to being married, look, if you're a woman in this room, and you're married,
and your husband provides for your family, but he does not chase after money, you're blessed.
Because a lot of husbands won't provide, and then a lot love money.
They are publicists.
Look, if you've got someone who's neither of those, you should feel very blessed.
Because honestly, even when it comes to believers, most believers, they'll chase after money.
If you have somebody that you're married to that chooses to love God and chooses to live his life for God rather than money,
you should be happy, because that's not what most people do.
And the truth is, you're going to be happier living for God than you are having a lot of money.
All of us think that if we had just a little bit more money, we'd be happy.
I feel that way. All of us do.
But the truth is, it doesn't make you happy.
And it doesn't really matter what it is in life.
People that work out all the time.
People, they're benching, they're trying to get to benching 300 pounds.
Man, they'll be happy once they bench 300 pounds, right? No.
Because once they get to 300 pounds, guess what? I want to bench 325.
Once I get to 325, I want to bench 350.
It's never enough.
When I was in college, I worked out all the time, and my friend made that comment to me one time,
because I was really trying to get in good shape, and I guess I was always complaining.
But man, I wish I could do this.
And he's like, you're never going to be happy.
It's like, that's the truth. We always want a little bit more.
It doesn't satisfy.
A little bit more money is not going to make you happy.
That's the truth.
If you find a guy who loves the Lord first and foremost, you should be happy.
Because if you find a guy who loves the Lord, he'll love you more than someone who doesn't love the Lord.
See, the world will tell you, man, you need to find a guy who doesn't love the Lord.
And that guy's going to make you happy. No, he won't.
What Bible are you reading?
Don't you make your decisions based on the Bible rather than your Disney movie?
Rather than watching The Notebook and learning your doctrine from that?
Look, that sort of guy is not going to make you happy.
The person that's going to make you happy is the person that loves God.
And look, there's not a long list of people that love God.
If you find someone who loves God...
And it's the same on the other side.
If you find a wife that loves the Lord, and she chooses to love God first and foremost,
you should be happy that you found someone who loves the Lord.
It's especially important for a woman because of the fact the husband is the head of the home.
And when it comes down to it, the husband makes the final decisions.
Now, look, I don't intend to move my family to another country,
but if I decided one day to pull in a little act and just say, hey, we're moving to Moab,
look, you know, my wife would have to be along for the ride.
And that's why it's important you marry someone who's not going to make foolish decisions based on money.
It's not going to make foolish decisions, but actually loves God and says,
I'm going to live my life for God first and foremost.
That's the sort of person you want to marry.
That's the sort of person you ought to be happy with because, look, there's not a whole lot of them.
I mean, when it comes to Metro Manila, our church probably has the most people in this room.
That's the truth, that when it comes to living for God, most people do not want to live for God.
Now, notice what it says in Romans 5 verses 13 and 14.
And in Romans 5 verse 13, the Bible reads,
For until the law of sin was in the world, but sin is not imbued when there is no law.
Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses,
even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression,
who is the figure of him that was to come.
Now, let me ask you a question. Who was it that sinned first? Was it Adam or Eve?
Who did the serpent beguile? Eve.
Right? After that, Adam ate of the fruit.
Why does the Bible mention Adam in Romans 5?
Well, because here's the reason why. Adam's the head of that household,
and he was told things by God that he needed to pass on to his wife.
He didn't do it. He didn't do a very good job on it.
And when you're the head of that household, you are responsible.
Look, if my son grows up and becomes a wicked kid,
I'm not qualified to be behind this pulpit, and I am responsible.
If my wife just decides to just hate the Lord, I am a very responsible wife,
because I am the head of the household.
And God is going to hold me responsible.
Alimelek was responsible. Why?
He was the head of that home. It wasn't Naomi.
I mean, I don't think it was Naomi's idea, but let's say it was Naomi's idea.
Let's say it was Naomi's idea. It doesn't matter. It's still Alimelek's fault,
because he makes the final decision.
So, turn to Ruth 1.
You say, what ought to be the response from a wife whose husband chooses to commit foolish decisions like this?
Well, it depends. If your husband tells you that he wants you to commit a sin,
then you don't obey your husband.
But when it comes to anything else, you are to obey your husband.
Now, this isn't really a sermon on marriage, but that is what the Bible says.
We'll have those sermons at other days.
But look, Alimelek, he makes a decision, and his wife had to follow him.
It wasn't her fault that they went to Moab.
The Bible doesn't really tell us what she thought, but look, she had to follow her husband.
And if he made that decision to move to Moab, which he's responsible, it was probably his idea.
He's the one who struck down debt. Look, his wife had to follow him.
And honestly, the God we think for her to do was just to follow him.
Now, what a wife can do is she can talk to her husband and just say,
hey, honey, I don't think this is a good idea, and here's the reason why.
But if the guy makes the final decision, the wife is supposed to follow him.
That's what the Bible teaches.
And this is not popular preaching, but you know, nothing we say in this church is really popular preaching.
We're pretty much the only church that's going to say anything the Bible says.
That is what the Bible says, though, that the husbands are the head of the home.
And, you know, honestly, in today's world, in most households, who's the head of the home?
It's the wife. That's what you usually see.
We have a bunch of guys that, you know what, they don't have any guts.
They're not willing to stand up for the truth.
The Bible says that the husband is the head of the home, and wives are to submit to their husbands.
Now, if they're telling you to commit a sin, yes, you don't obey that.
But if they're not telling you to commit a sin, guess what? You obey that.
So you say, well, before I'm married, what do I need to decide about the person I married?
Well, as a wife, is that someone you're willing to follow?
Is that someone you look at and you say, I care about that person, and I think that person's going to lead me down a good road in life of loving the Lord?
And if that's someone you enjoy spending time with, and you find them attractive, and you say, I could follow that person,
and they make good, smart decisions of loving the Lord, yeah, you've found a good person.
As a husband, you've got to find someone who's willing to follow you.
You know, if you can't get them to listen to anything you say now, it's going to be pretty hard for them to get married as well.
So there's kind of two sides to this.
But honestly, even though the husband needs to take the head, in today's world, the world has confused women more than men.
Look at the way people are dressed when you go down the street.
Now, I don't know, there's a lot of guys dressed here as baklava in this country, so I don't know.
But the world has done a real number on women, teaching them that they'll be happy by working a job and being outside the home and everything like that.
And quite honestly, the world's convinced women not to obey their husbands at all and not to respect their husbands at all.
Now, let me explain something about the word submissions.
The Bible says you're supposed to submit to your husbands.
You say, Brother Stuckey, you know, I submit to my husband because I go soloing every Sunday.
Well, let me ask you a question.
Let's say you weren't married, would you go soloing every Sunday?
Yes, I would because I love the word.
Then you're not submitting.
See, submitting is when you're doing something you don't want to do.
Do you understand the difference there?
You say, Brother Stuckey, we both read the Bible.
Yeah, but you would read the Bible if you weren't married to him.
You're not submitting.
You're not doing something you don't want to do.
Submitting is when there's something you don't want to do and you do it because your husband asked you to do it.
That's what it means by submitting to your husband.
Basically, you have one idea.
You say, I want to do this.
I think we should do this.
Your husband says, no, we should do it like this.
And you say, you know what?
That's what my husband says.
I'm going to obey him because that's what the Bible says.
And you say, well, I don't like obeying my husband.
Well, you're just disobeying the Bible.
Because that's what the Bible says.
Now, obviously, there's a balance here where, you know, husbands need to be loving to their wives and lay down their wives for their wives.
That's what the Bible says.
We should realize that we're married to the weaker vessel, the Bible says.
Obviously, women do get more emotional at times.
We need to remember that.
But when it comes to the wives' part, they need to submit to their husbands once you get married.
And so you have to ask yourself that question before you're married.
Is this someone I'm willing to submit to?
It's obviously what the Bible teaches.
But, you know, it's hard for people in today's world because it's not what you see in today's world.
When you go out in the normal public, it's not common.
Now, I'm sure that the world's always been fighting against this.
But especially in today's world, the women are usually the heads of their own.
That's a sad reality.
But look, it's not biblical.
It's not a godly thing.
The wives are supposed to submit to their husbands.
So when it ends up happening, well, Naomi married a guy who lived his life for money and he destroys their life.
Now, we're not going to go into all of this during this sermon, but we'll see actually here in verse number 5.
I want you to see that your decisions do affect other people.
So he lives his life based on money, makes decisions based on money with the intent of one day returning.
He's held responsible.
And even though he dies and he's out of the picture, his decision has permanent repercussions.
Ruth 1, verse 5.
And Malan and Kylian died also both of them.
Both of them.
And the woman was left and her two sons and her husband.
So what it's basically saying is that the woman who had two sons and a husband,
she's in a foreign land where she doesn't know anybody and now, guess what?
She doesn't have a husband.
She doesn't have any sons.
Now this woman has to provide for a family.
She doesn't have sons to help her out.
Look, if your husband dies, the kids should step in there and try to help out their moms in that situation.
Because the moms are going to be in a tough position to provide.
In this situation, her sons I'm sure were helping her out.
But notice what it says in verse 5.
Now they're dead.
This all goes back to Elimelech deciding to move based on money.
And she's in a foreign land where she doesn't know anyone.
Look, it's one thing for a guy to move somewhere, you know, in some foreign country where he doesn't know anyone.
But look, most women do not feel comfortable moving to a foreign area where they don't know.
As guys who feel like you can serve God anywhere, when it comes to women, it's not as easy for them.
Whenever I give people advice on where to live if they get married, I tell them, number one, besides having a great church,
is move where your wife will feel comfortable.
Look, if there was someone who told me they were thinking about moving here,
but they said their wife didn't feel comfortable here, they'd rather move to Davao,
I tell them that you should move to Davao because there's a good church there.
And because of the fact that they're not going to feel comfortable here and not be happy, you're better off moving there.
When we move to Verity Baptist Church, you know, one of the big reasons why we move there is
I thought that was the area my wife would be most comfortable in.
Most wives are not going to be comfortable living in Moab where they don't know anybody.
And Naomi, you can see from her reactions, she's not happy either.
And so her sons die, and all of a sudden, she's left on her own in a foreign area.
Now turn to 2 Samuel 12.
This is one thing we should remember when we're considering committing sins.
When we know there's something wrong, and we're just choosing to disobey God,
you must realize that the decisions you make and the sins you commit, they affect other people.
Especially when it comes to being married and having a family,
you must realize that if you choose to live a bad life, you will affect your husband,
you will affect your wife, you will affect your kids.
You're not just harming yourself, you're harming other people.
It says in 2 Samuel 12 verses 14-15, this is referring to after David commits adultery,
how be it, in 2 Samuel 12 verse 14,
how be it because by this deed I was given a great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme,
the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
And Nathan departed unto his house, and the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David,
and it was very sick.
So David chooses to commit adultery, and guess what?
His child ends up dying.
We don't have time to go through the rest of David's life, but that's not the only repercussion he had.
He had a lot of repercussions.
You reap what you sow.
You commit a big sin, you have a big punishment.
He commits a huge sin, he has a huge punishment.
Several punishments.
And so you see that as a man, the decisions you make, it's going to affect your family.
But turn to Genesis 27.
The same is true for women as well.
And when it comes to Genesis 27, I mean probably a better place to look at it,
it's just with Sarah telling Abraham to marry Hagar,
because Abraham takes Hagar as his wife.
It says it's a concubine in some places, it's a wife in other places,
because a wife, a concubine is a wife.
It's a bond made that becomes your wife, that's what the Bible shows you.
But you see that that was obviously a foolish decision that she made,
and that sin does affect their entire family.
Now in Genesis 27, notice verse 6, another example.
And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying,
Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,
Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat,
and bless thee before the Lord before my death.
Now therefore my son, obey my voice, according to that which I command thee.
Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats,
and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth.
And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat,
and that he may bless thee before his death.
And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother,
Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.
My father for adventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver,
and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing.
So Jacob says that if I do this, I'm going to seem like a deceiver.
You know why you're going to seem like a deceiver?
Because you are a deceiver.
I mean, if you're lying, then yes, you're deceiving.
You will seem like a deceiver.
Notice what his mom says.
And his mother said unto him,
Upon me be thy curse, my son.
Only obey my voice, and go fetch me now.
Look, his mom can say all she wants that let that curse be upon me.
The curse isn't fully common on people.
Yeah, you get judged for your sins.
You're telling your son to commit a sin and do something foolish and lie,
but it's going to affect other people as well.
And you can say all day long, hey, just let that curse be upon me.
No one's going to pass along to everyone.
See, if you in this room choose to commit a big sin,
your husband, your wife, your kids, they will be affected by it.
Everybody's going to be affected by it.
Our church is going to be affected by it.
You choose to commit big sins.
You go down a life of committing sins.
People will be affected by it.
It's not just going to be you.
Now turn back to Ruth 1.
Let's look at one more place.
Ruth 1.
So what's the main thing we see from Elimelech's life?
It really just comes down to the fact that he decides to chase after money.
He decides to live his life based on money.
Elimelech knew the stories of the Bible.
He knew the stories of Abraham and Isaac, and yet he didn't learn his lesson.
The sad reality is that, you know, Christians, we hear the same things preached,
we read it in the Bible, and what do we choose to do?
The same things that Abraham did.
The same things that Elimelech did.
Look, if you in this room don't make decisions based on money,
it's going to destroy your life.
That is a foolish decision.
It can be part of your choices.
You can say, well, you know, there's an area where there is a good church,
and I've got a better job.
Hey, that's fine.
You've got a great church there.
But, you know, you're going to leave a church like this
to move to somewhere where there is no good church.
You're going to ruin your life.
And, you know, I'm not saying that just because I want to keep you here.
I mean, the truth is, you will ruin your life.
Look, if you have a job offer to go to an area where there's a great church,
and, you know, you say, man, I've got a great job offer to go to Sacramento, California.
Yeah, you know, there's a great church there.
But, you know, you're going to leave here to just go to some random place
where you don't know if there's a good church.
You don't know if you can serve God.
You're making the wrong choice, okay?
Notice what it says in Ruth 1, verse 6.
Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab.
So they decided to return from Moab to go back to Bethlehem, Judah.
Why is that?
Well, for she had heard in the country of Moab
how the Lord had visited His people in giving them bread.
Here's what I want you to understand in closing.
God will always visit His people in giving them bread.
Right.
He will not make you starve to death.
He will always visit His people in giving them bread.
Now, people realize that.
They see a priest.
They doubt about it.
But here's what it is.
It's not that people don't realize that they're going to have food to provide their needs.
The thing is, well, I don't want to live a lifestyle like that, though.
I don't want to live a lifestyle where I'm dirt poor.
Look, there's a lot of countries where people are a lot poorer than here in the Philippines.
Right?
That's the truth.
People aren't that poor in this country.
Now, from a perspective of America, then yeah, you look at a place like this in Sweden.
America's a rich country.
Okay?
But look, the reality is there are a lot of countries that are a lot poorer than this.
Okay?
People are not that poor here.
But people decide, you know what, I don't want to live that sort of lifestyle.
I want to make sure I get to go on a vacation every year.
I want to make sure I get to eat at the nice restaurants and do all these things.
Well, you know, go ahead and do that.
But, you know, God said He's going to provide your needs.
He's going to provide your food and raiment.
He didn't promise you you'd be rich.
And you know what?
The sad reality is that this is probably the number one reason why people quit living with God.
You know, I plead with you.
Don't be like a limo.
Don't live your life deciding everything based on money.
You will live your life.
Let's close with a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today.
And I just get to see the life of a limo and the lessons we can learn from God.
And all of us can learn from this, myself included, that sometimes we do get stressed out about money.