Heavenly Father, I thank You for tonight, God, for Your Word, and for this house, to Your God, and for our Church, Lord.
I ask that You please be with us, brother. So thank You, God, and follow Your Spirit, God, and give us a tender heart to this message.
We love You. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Alright, we're here in Ruth chapter 2 this evening, and let me just say this before we get started on the sermon.
I was actually working on church accounting this afternoon, and I got a knock, or I got a, I heard the doorbell at my house,
and then all of a sudden I went, and I looked out the window, and it's brother Jim, and brother Jacob,
and my first reaction is like, how do they know where I live? And why are they here?
And all of a sudden I opened the door, and it dawned on me, oh, they're going soul winning.
So, I mean, I guess if we're accused of going soul winning all the time, and talking about soul winning all the time, guilty as charged.
You know, it is about soul winning here all the time. You know, throughout, yesterday, people were going soul winning all day long.
When we were playing soccer, we got somebody saved on the soccer court. It's about soul winning here, and it will always be about soul winning here.
Now, we're in Ruth chapter 2, and let me just start out with an introduction here.
You know, last Sunday night, pastor preached a great sermon about surrendering all, you know, basically giving all to God.
And in Ruth chapter 1, we see a perfect example of that, because Ruth just surrenders all to follow God.
She leaves her country. She leaves everything she knows. She leaves her family to follow after God.
She makes a big choice, you know. Orpah makes a bad choice. She decides to stay back, but Ruth surrenders all. She goes all in.
Now, when she goes all in, though, there are going to be some consequences as a result.
You know, Naomi's husband died. In an ideal situation, Alimelech would have been providing for that family, but he had passed away. He was dead.
Now, in an ideal situation after that, either the son Malon or the son Chilean would have taken in their mother and taken care of her, instead of shoving her into a nursing home.
But both the sons also died. So, when they go to this new country, it's just Naomi and Ruth. So, as a result, Ruth has to work.
Now, we have to understand, though, that doesn't mean that that's God's ideal situation.
It is not God's ideal situation for the wife to be out there supporting a family.
God's ideal situation is for a husband to work and provide for the family.
So, we can't look at Ruth chapter 2 and say, well, see, there you go. It's okay for the wives to go out there as well.
The Bible says, if any provide not for his own, and especially they of his own house, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel.
So, you see how it says, his, his, and he. It is the guy's job to provide for a family.
You know, in the NIV, it changes it from his, his, and he to their.
It changes if any provide not for their own, because the NIV takes the responsibility away from the guy.
Now, obviously, this woman, though, there is no man to provide.
Now, I understand some people might be in that sort of situation, but we see that Ruth is going out there to work to provide for her family, her and Naomi.
Now, you might see what she's doing here at Ruth chapter 2 and be confused, because she's out there gleaning in the field.
You might say, what is that talking about?
Because I remember the first time I read the Bible, I was like, I really don't get what that's talking about, because we don't live in that sort of world.
We live in a world where we've got a welfare office right over there.
That is not normal, and people see that, and they think it's normal.
And we in America, we're desensitized, and we think it's normal that a bunch of people are stealing money from other people because they're not working,
and they're not trying to work.
But that is not normal, and it's never going to be normal.
That is not God's system. That is not of God.
You know, my wife is from the Philippines, and they don't have a welfare system in the Philippines.
I wish I could record the conversation when I was explaining to her the system, because she was shocked,
because it doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
She's just like, how are these people surviving?
I was like, well, the government gives them money.
She's like, for what?
And I was like, for nothing.
And I said, I guess the goal is, if they get paid money, eventually they'll be a good, hard-working member.
And I remember she said to me, she's like, well, if the government's giving them money, why would they ever be motivated to work?
And I was like, man, I wish our government would get that.
I mean, because apparently they're just not that smart, because common sense will tell you,
it is stupid to just pay someone for doing nothing and expect they're going to start to do something.
But see, we see that, and we become desensitized.
You might walk outside in the morning after a service and see all these homeless bums who have destroyed their lives.
And let me tell you something, they've destroyed their lives from getting drunk and doing drugs.
They're there as a result of their own actions.
That's not normal, though.
The welfare system is not normal.
But what you see in Ruth chapter 2 is actually God's system.
See, man's logic is always going to fail.
God's system is perfect.
You know, we're not going to turn there for the sake of time, but in Leviticus 19, which we're actually going to be on on Wednesday night,
it talks about this, and Deuteronomy chapter 24, that when you had a field, you weren't supposed to take all of the food out of there.
You were supposed to leave some of that food for poor people.
As a result, poor people, they had an opportunity to get food, but here's the thing.
People didn't gather it for them and hand it to them.
They actually had to go out there and work hard to gather up the leftovers, gather up the remnant, gather up the food that was not taken,
gather up the food that was either forgotten or fell on the ground or wasn't wanted.
So as a result, they had to actually go out there and work hard to get their food.
And that makes sense, because here's the thing.
In some countries, there are lots of poor people that are not like these homeless bums out there.
They're just poor.
The Bible says there's going to be poor people among you.
It's a guarantee from God.
They're always going to be among us.
And in some countries, it's not like those people out there, they are working hard, they just happen to be poor.
Here, though, when you see people that are on the streets, those are the choices that they've made.
And here's the thing.
I understand that for various different situations, someone might be living off the government to some degree,
but at all costs, we should try to not have that happen.
We should try our best to get off that system.
We don't want to live off the government.
I'm against the government, so guess what?
I don't want to live off it.
I want to be self-supporting.
I don't want to have to expect the government to pay my bills.
I want to pay my own bills in life.
And see, Ruth had this attitude.
She said, I'm going to go to this country, and she was willing to take the remnant.
She was willing to take the leftovers.
The name of my sermon tonight is content with the crumbs.
Content with the crumbs.
We're going to see where that name comes from later on in this sermon.
But this woman, basically, when she went all in, she understood, you know what?
I'm going to have to accept the leftovers.
I'm going to have to accept the remnant.
I'm not going to necessarily be able to go out to Outback three times a week.
I'm not necessarily going to be able to go through the drive-thru at Starbucks every day.
Or have, you know, multiple cars.
Or have a nice house.
I might have to just accept that I do not have that much in life.
And she was okay with it because she said, thy God shall be my God.
She decided following God was so much more important to her than just having the best of life.
Turn to 1 Kings chapter 19.
And this is the sort of attitude we need to have in life.
We need to be willing to accept what we get in life.
Willing to accept the leftovers.
We don't always have to have the best of the best.
In our world today, people feel like they're owed something.
They feel like, you know, I get my four-year degree in college.
I'm going to get out. Six figures within a couple years.
I'm going to have this and that.
We feel like in America, because we've been blessed financially, that we're owed something.
But you know, God expects you to work hard for everything you get in life.
And we need to be willing to be content with the crumbs.
We need to be willing to accept the leftovers.
The first area we're going to look at, we need to be content with the crumbs when it comes to your profession.
Or your job or your work.
With your profession, you need to be willing to be content with the crumbs.
Basically, you take the best thing you can get.
And 1 Kings chapter 19, look at what it says in verse 19.
So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth.
And Elisha passed by him and cast his mantle upon him.
And he left the oxen and ran after Elisha and said,
Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee.
And he said unto him, Go back again, for what have I done to thee?
Now, Elisha has been told that he's supposed to anoint Elisha.
But I'll be honest, Elisha probably had a lot of guys come up to him and say,
You know what, I'm going to follow you.
And there's people that say that all the time, Oh, I'm going to go soul winning every week.
Or I'm going to move to Verity Baptist Church, I'll be there within a couple months, and it doesn't happen.
A lot of people make empty promises that never take place.
So with his response, in my mind, I feel like he's saying,
Well, you know, he doesn't really know if Elisha's really going to do it.
He's probably heard a lot of people say, Let me just do this one thing, and then I'll follow you.
But Elisha makes good on his promise. Look at verse 21.
And he returned back from him and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them,
and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat.
Then he arose and went after Elisha, and ministered unto him.
So he does go after Elisha, and you know, he destroys his old job.
He slays the yoke of oxen. He basically says, You know what, I'm done with that.
I'm going to follow God, forget about my old life, I'm going to go all in.
And there's two parts I want to look at when it comes to our profession.
One is in terms of moving to a great church.
You know, there's a lot of people at this Red Hot Preaching Conference that would move here tomorrow,
if they would understand this, if they would be willing to get a job that was not the most desirable job.
See, it's not that you can't find a job in Sacramento.
Anybody can find a job in Sacramento.
There's young men at our church that have found jobs multiple times like this,
because they actually went out there and they looked for that job.
Anybody can find a job, but here's the thing, people want a certain job.
They don't want a leftover job.
So many people that were here at the Preaching Conference and listened to those sermons,
they would move here if they had a nice job waiting for them.
I promise you that's the case.
There are lots of people that hate their churches, that it's dead as can be, the preaching is boring,
they don't have a man of God up here, they don't go soul wedding,
and they want to get out of their church more than anything, but you know what,
they're not willing to take the leap of faith and expect God's going to provide.
Do you really think that when Peter was walking on the water and he lost his faith,
that Jesus is going to be like, Well, I guess you're going to drown, buddy.
Of course he's going to step in. He's the only one who got out of the boat.
And if somebody makes the move, I mean, how many people have moved here and God did provide?
Every single person that decided to make that move, God stepped in and God provided.
And he will provide, but you have to be willing to make that move.
And there's a lot of people that, you know what, if they would be willing to accept the leftovers
and take a job that maybe not is as good as their current job,
where they might have to work 50, 60, 70 hours a week and fight hard and move up in the company
and trust God's going to provide and that God, as he says, is going to promote you,
you know, if you're working hard, there'd be a lot of people moving here tomorrow.
I promise you that. And not just at this church.
Faith Award Baptist, you know, Word of Truth, steadfast, all the churches in our movement,
tons of people would move there overnight if they had a nice job waiting for them.
But they don't want to just come here and then just get kind of a secondary job.
They're not content with the crumbs. They want the best of the best.
But you know, if you're going to move to a new area or if you're kind of younger
and you don't have as much experience, you're going to have to start from the bottom and work your way up.
And the college system makes you feel like, because I graduated from college,
they make you think, man, I'm going to get out there and set the world on fire in just a few years.
And when I got out of college, it was a rude awakening.
I was like, man, it's not as easy as expected.
Because they make it sound like, man, the college system, once you go through these steps,
you get your four-year degree, you're going to get out, you're going to make all kinds of money.
But it's not going to work like that in today's society.
Maybe in the past our country was blessed enough. It's not like that today.
You have to be self-motivated to make it.
And there are tons of people that they would move here overnight
if they knew there was a great job waiting for them.
Turn to 2 Thessalonians 3.
And I'm pretty sure the Bible says it's good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
You know, one of the biggest problems we have in this country is just lazy people.
And the generation we have that's coming up is incredibly lazy to the past generation.
Why do churches not go soul winning? It's laziness.
They don't want to go out there and do the work.
Even people in our movement you see, younger people, by and large, most people are lazy.
And I'll admit, you know, I was lazy when I was in college.
The system doesn't stress to you how hard you have to work.
And it's this kind of preaching that changed my life.
Don't get mad at me for getting up here and preaching the Bible.
If the shoe fits, you need to wear it.
If you're not working hard, if you're lazy, hey, if the shoe fits, wear it and fix your life.
Because this sort of preaching is trying to save your life.
And people get mad at this sort of preaching when you're trying to fix someone's life that's messed up.
God expects you to work hard.
Look at 2 Thessalonians 3.
Let's look at verse number 10.
It says in 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 10,
For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should eat.
Let me read that one more time.
For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should eat.
Let me just read that just one more time.
I just want to make sure.
I heard some people changing the pages.
I want to make sure that you're looking.
I want you to see this.
For even when we were with you, this we commanded you.
It didn't say it's optional.
This we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should eat.
You say, Brother Stuckey, if somebody outside needed bread to survive,
someone who's not willing to work and has just gone on drugs their whole life, would you give them money?
Would you give them food?
No, I would not.
Because the Bible says it's commanded that if you don't work, you should not eat.
I remember when I was in college as a freshman, a naive freshman in college,
because in West Virginia, we don't have a lot of homeless people.
There's a lot more homeless people here than where I was in West Virginia.
The big cities is where you're going to generally see a lot of homeless people.
And I remember somebody came to me with his story, and it sounded good because it was new to me.
And he talked about how, I don't even remember what he said, but I remember feeling guilty for him, feeling really bad.
And I gave him like $10 or $20 because I thought, man, I'm really blessed financially.
You know, I got out of my class, and just like an hour later, the guy had this big bottle of booze in his hand.
And I learned a lesson there.
If I had known the Bible better, I would have known what the Bible says about it.
But I mean, I wasted my money.
And actually, I didn't just waste my money.
I helped that guy keep his problem going.
Because see, if people realize that there's money coming, they're not going to ever be motivated to work hard.
But if they realize, man, I'm going to die unless I go out there and work, guess what?
They'd find a way to work.
They'd find a way to humble themselves and go to jobs, go somewhere and get a job rather than being lazy.
But when we keep that problem going, they're never going to end it.
And the Bible says if you don't work, neither should you eat.
And I'll be honest, you know, I believe it would take something major for me to just decide I'm going to sit around and do nothing all day.
For one, it's pretty boring when you have nothing to do all day.
And I'll be honest, you know, when I have a day off sometimes, you know, you're working hard, you're just waiting for that day off.
If I don't have it planned out what I'm going to do that day, oftentimes I just sit around and waste my time and I'm miserable.
You know, doing nothing.
You'll see some of the most miserable people are people that retire and they don't have a plan for when they retire
and they just have all this empty time and they're not happy.
How about people that win the lottery? Does that fix their life?
No, they end up getting a divorce two years later.
When people don't have something to do, it ruins their life.
God's system was for us to work. That's what God wants.
And that is going to fix your life.
And look at what it says in verse 11.
For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.
You see, when you don't work, the result is you're going to walk disorderly.
I mean, we've already seen that and heard that from the mini sermon before this sermon.
You know, if you don't work, you're going to end up walking disorderly. It's for any of us.
I mean, think about David, a man after God's own heart.
Before he committed adultery, the Bible says at the time kings go forth to battle.
Well, guess what? He didn't go to battle.
He had free time, so guess what?
He couldn't sleep because you know what? The sleep of a laboring man is sweet.
The sleep of a lazy man, you're going to wake up throughout the middle of the night.
You know, the sleep of a laboring man is sweet.
And guess what? David wasn't working. He was lazy, couldn't go to sleep.
He ends up committing adultery.
And see, that's the thing. It doesn't matter who you are.
You could be someone who's a child of God, a man after God's own heart.
But if you have too much free time, you have nothing to fill it with, you're going to get into trouble.
I promise you that would happen to me if I had all this free time.
I would end up getting into trouble and doing stupid things.
You know, an idle mind is the devil's workshop.
If you have a bunch of free time, it's not a good thing.
You know, and the Bible says, it's right there after verse 10,
that we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly,
working not at all, but are busybodies.
Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ,
that with quietness they work and eat their own bread.
Eat their own bread. That means you go out there, you work,
and the money you make, you buy your own bread.
Don't take bread from my pocket.
Don't sit here and not try to work at all.
And get every excuse for why you don't want to work.
And then you're going to take my bread because you're too lazy to work.
And you put every excuse up there.
But the bottom line is that if you're just simply living off the government
and not trying to get off it, and there's no real reason,
you don't have massive health things up to prevent you,
you know, you're stealing.
Because you're not eating your bread, you're taking somebody else's bread,
and that's what the government's teaching you.
But, you know, that's a wicked philosophy.
This welfare system, show it to me in the Bible.
You will not find it.
The Bible says, eat your own bread.
And let me tell you something, there was a time when I got a job,
and then all of a sudden they called me a couple days later and said,
actually, you can't start for eight weeks.
You know, I was actually a public school teacher for one year.
And I had to do a fingerprint clearance card.
So all of a sudden it's like, well, great, I just left my old job.
So what did I do for eight weeks?
Did I just sit around there and stare at the wall?
No, you know, I got a job at a car wash making minimum wage.
Because at least it's some money,
and the other thing is I don't want to stare at a wall all day.
You know, I'm not going to just go in there and do nothing for eight weeks.
Man, I got to do something with my life.
You know, rather than just sitting around and doing nothing,
you know, we ought to work hard.
And here's the thing.
It's amazing that when you preach sermons,
a sermon that can really help change someone's life,
they just tune out because they get offended so easily,
when this can fix their life.
And if people would get the concept of working hard,
it would change their life.
Because I'm honest with you.
I was a lazy person in college.
I was very lazy, and this sort of preaching changed my life
where I was like, man, God really, you know,
lays down the hammer when it comes to being lazy.
If you don't work, you shouldn't even eat.
Pretty intense.
And you don't hear that from any politicians.
They'll give every excuse in the book,
but you don't see an excuse from God.
God expects you to work hard.
Turn to Philippians chapter 4.
And so the first area we saw here this evening
about we need to be willing to take the leftovers
and be content with the crumbs,
is with our profession.
Basically, you take the best job you can get.
Now, here's the thing.
If you have an ability to get a nice job,
take a nice job.
If you got a job where you're going to make six figures,
by all means, take that job if it doesn't take you out of church.
But if you can't get that job, you know what you don't do?
You don't just sit around and do nothing and say,
well, I'm not going to get a job unless I get the really nice job.
That's ridiculous.
You take the best job you can get.
And the younger you are, you probably have less experience.
You might not be able to get a great job.
And the bottom line is we just need to take the best job we can get.
No matter who you are in here, take what you get.
You say, well, it would be degrading if I worked at a fast food place.
You know, there's plenty of people that do that to survive.
You know, as long as God's providing your needs, that's fine.
You know, whatever job, and if you can get a better job than that,
you take a better job than that.
But if that's the best you can get, you take that.
You take the best job you can get.
That was the attitude of Ruth.
Think about what she did.
You know, when you think about her gathering up the food that's left in the field,
you know when you buy, like, a bag of grapes at a store,
and, you know, if you don't eat them fast enough,
there's always the wrinkled ones at the very bottom of the container?
I don't like wasting food, so I'm always in a tough position.
Am I going to eat the very bad tasting grape that I already paid for,
or am I going to let it just go to the trash, you know?
Nobody wants those grapes in the bottom.
But here's the thing.
Ruth said, you know, I'll take whatever.
I'll take whatever's falling on the ground.
I'll take whatever as long as it provides my needs.
Because I guarantee they weren't just leaving the best.
They were taking the best.
You're getting the leftovers.
You're getting the scraps.
But she said, you know what?
That's okay.
Because she decided following God is far more important to me.
Following God.
And honestly, since the Bible says He commands you to work,
that's called following God, doing what He actually says.
So it's just like, you know, if it takes, you know, working at a fast food job,
that's the best you can do, you do it.
Because that's what the Bible, that's what He, He says He commands it.
And when He says He's heard it, it's like a really bad thing.
He's like, I've heard this really terrible, terrible thing.
There's people not working and walking disorderly.
But since we live in a country that's kind of rich compared to other countries,
and we've got the welfare system, we think it's normal.
But I'll tell you what.
In other countries, they wouldn't consider this normal.
In the Philippines, they wouldn't consider this normal.
Because those people would just end up dying.
Because nobody's just going to hand them.
Well, here's your hundreds of dollars for the month for your food.
You'd have to work and do whatever you can to get food to survive.
In Philippians chapter 4, the second point I want to look at is with possessions.
The first thing we saw is with our possessions.
The first thing we saw is with our profession or our job.
We need to be willing to be content with the crumbs.
Take the best you can get.
Take the leftovers.
Look at Philippians chapter 4.
We're going to look at possessions.
It says in verse 11,
Not that I speak in respect of one,
for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content.
I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound.
Everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry,
both to abound and to suffer and eat.
We see that Paul says, you know what?
As long as I have just something, I'm fine.
He says with possessions I can have the bare minimum.
He says I know how to abound, but he also knows how to be abased.
He says I'm willing to accept whatever.
And you look at Paul's life.
Paul went everywhere.
Do you really think he had a really great job waiting for him in a nice house,
in a nice car everywhere he went?
He did what he could to survive.
He was willing to live a very simple life.
So not just with the profession we take,
but here's the thing.
We need to be willing to accept the leftovers in our life when it comes to our possessions.
You know, when you're newly married, you know, when you're younger,
you probably don't need a really fancy house.
You probably don't need a fancy car.
If you can afford that, hey, great.
That's great.
And, you know, maybe you're a young person who does have a lot of money.
Then get the nice house.
Get the nice car.
But you know what?
I'll tell you what's much better than having to worry every single month
if you're going to be able to pay your bills is getting in a very modest place
and being able to pay the bills every month.
You know, when I told the story about the soul winners knocking at our door,
then afterwards I saw there was six of the people from our church
out there talking.
They're like right out in front of our house.
So I went out and gave them water and everything.
And people saw my house.
It's a modest house, and I'm not embarrassed by it.
And I told them what I paid for it.
I didn't pay a lot for it.
But, you know, it's something that was definitely in our price range,
and it was the best thing for us.
It's a pretty small house.
It's a modest house.
I am not embarrassed by that.
I am not embarrassed not having a big possession.
I don't need a fancy place.
And honestly, we looked at other houses that were more expensive,
and quite honestly, when I was thinking in my head how much I'm going to pay for a month,
I was like, I would rather pay several, you know, a few hundred less
and feel pretty comfortable than rather being stressed out all the time.
Because I know what happens to me when I get stressed out about money.
I do stupid things.
That's with any guy, especially when you're providing for a family.
When you're stressed about money, you do stupid things like moving to Moab,
like Limelik did.
You know, you do stupid things like leaving a great church and then going after money.
You do a lot of stupid things when it comes to money.
And so I didn't want to be in that sort of position.
I said, you know what, I'm willing to accept less possessions.
I have my modest house, you know, we have one car.
You know, and here's the thing.
People think that they're owed a nice vacation every year.
Where does it say that in the Bible?
I mean, if you go on a vacation every year, hey, great, if you can afford that, praise the Lord.
But you're not owed a nice vacation every year.
I don't remember seeing that in the Bible.
Once again, that comes back to living in America
where you're used to people going on nice vacations all the time.
Like I said, if you can afford it, go on it.
But if you can't afford it, then don't go on it.
Don't feel like I got to waste $2,000 I don't have to destroy my life.
If you can't afford it, then don't go on it.
And once you have more money, then you can start going on nice vacations.
But if you don't have the money, don't go on them.
Turn to Matthew 15.
You know, I was going to do my best to preach a short sermon.
We're already at 24 minutes, so I guess that's probably not going to happen.
But anyways, while you're turning to Matthew 15,
I'll read in Hebrews 13.5, it says,
Let your conversation be without covetousness,
and be content with such things as ye have.
For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
You know, this attitude that you need everything in life
and you're not content with what you have,
it causes you to be a really bitter and angry person.
When you expect everything...
I mean, look at a kid who gets everything they want in life.
They end up being a rebellious punk when they grow up.
They end up being a bad kid when they grow up,
when you hand them everything in life.
You know, you have to be willing to work hard for things.
In Matthew 15, let's look at verse number 21.
Matthew 15, verse 21.
It says,
Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coast,
and cried unto him, saying,
Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David.
My daughter is grievously vexed with the devil.
But he answered her not a word.
And his disciples came up beside him, saying,
Send her away, for she crieth after us.
So the disciples are saying,
Hey, get rid of this woman.
We don't want her around.
And Jesus has not said anything to her yet,
but look at what it says in verse 24.
But he answered and said,
I am not sinned but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Then came she, and worshiped him, saying,
Lord, help me.
But he answered and said,
It is not me to take the children's bread,
and to cast it to dogs.
Now, notice in verse 24 how he says,
I am sinned under the lost sheep.
You know, I am not sinned but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
But then in verse 26, look at what he says to that woman.
He basically calls her a dog.
I mean, that's pretty strong language.
I mean, Jesus is trying to prove a point here,
both to his disciples and to this lady.
But this lady was a very sharp lady,
because look at what she says.
She's really thinking.
She says, and she said,
Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs,
which fall from their master's table.
So what is she saying?
She's like, Yeah, you know what?
I'm okay with being called a dog,
but here's the thing.
You know what a dog does?
They get down right underneath the table,
and they beg for scraps all night long.
And they will take whatever comes, right?
Dogs will eat pretty much anything that comes.
And she says, I'm okay with that.
I just want a crumb for me, Jesus.
And as a result of getting this crumb,
look what it says in verse 28.
Then Jesus answered and said unto her,
O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee,
even as thou wilt.
And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
Because this woman was okay with just getting the leftovers,
just getting the scraps.
She said, I might not end up being
the greatest Christian in the world,
or get the most blessings from God,
but I just want my daughter healed.
And she said, I'll just wait here
just for a blessing from God.
I'll take the leftovers.
I'll take the crumbs.
She was content with her crumbs,
and her daughter was healed as a result of this.
And this is the sort of attitude we have in life.
Don't think that we're something special.
Don't think we're something special
just because you're saved.
You know, you still are expected
to obey God's commandments.
Don't think, oh, I don't need
to obey God's commandments.
I can be lazy, you know, whatever.
God expects you to work hard.
He expects you to be content
with the things you're given.
So the first thing we saw is with profession.
You know, we also saw with possessions.
Turn to Matthew 20.
And the third thing we're gonna look at
is your part or your role in church.
Basically, you know,
the responsibilities you have.
You need to be willing to be content,
you know, with the opportunities you get,
even if it's not the most prestigious opportunity.
In Matthew chapter 20, look at verse 25.
It says, But Jesus called them onto him
and said, Ye know that the princes
of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them,
and they that are great exercise dominion
over them, and they that are great exercise dominion
and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
But it shall not be so among you,
but whosoever will be great among you,
let him be your minister,
and whosoever will be chief among you,
let him be your servant,
even as the Son of Man
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister,
and to give his life a ransom for many.
And so the Bible says that when Jesus came,
he didn't come to be ministered unto.
He came to minister.
And I'll be honest with you.
If you look at the people
that are leaders at this church,
you know, we all do the remedial tasks
that are out there as well.
It's not like we expect someone to come up
and shine our shoes before the service.
That's never happened.
I would think that's kind of weird
if somebody came up and just started shining my shoes.
You know, we do the same remedial task,
and when Jesus was around,
did he not do some remedial tasks?
You know, he was willing to do whatever.
He came to be a servant,
and he expected his closest followers
to be just like him.
He expected them to be servants as always.
He says, If you really want to be chief,
you're going to be servant to all.
If you really want to be lifted up,
you're going to humble yourself more than anyone.
That's the principle throughout the entire Bible.
You want to be lifted up,
you've got to be willing to be humbled first.
You've got to be a humble person.
Turn to John chapter 13.
While you're turning to John 13,
let me read Malachi 1-10
while you're turning to John 13 where it says,
Who is there even among you
that would shut the doors for naught?
Neither do you kindle fire on mine altar for naught.
I have no pleasure in you, sayeth the Lord of hosts,
neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
And Malachi 1 where he's constantly rebuking them
and throughout Malachi chapter 1,
pretty much through the whole book,
he's saying there's no one who's even willing
to shut the doors or kindle fire for naught.
Basically, they're only going to do it
if they get something out of it.
He's like, People won't even shut the doors,
they won't kindle fire.
And I'll be honest,
I don't really think this is a problem here.
I think there's a lot of people
that are willing to serve at this church.
But I'm still going to preach it
because this ties into the sermon.
We want to make sure this is always the case.
But he looked and he said in Malachi 1
that people were not even willing
to shut the doors for naught.
Can you imagine if we were in a situation
that nobody was willing to ever take out trash,
nobody was willing to ever clean anything,
nobody was willing to do anything,
nobody was willing to drive the church van?
Our church would not prosper.
It could only grow so much
because you'd have to have
just a few people doing all the work.
And honestly, most churches out there,
it's really 20% that do 80%.
Now here, I honestly believe
there's a lot of people that do pitch in
and do what they can,
and they say, Hey, you know what?
I don't need the most prestigious job.
It's like, How can I serve?
I can't tell you how many people
have come to me before and just said,
Hey, is there anything I can do?
And then honestly,
when there's someone
who has that sort of heart,
there's going to be something
found for them to do.
God has something
so they can get rewards
and be a great help to the church.
In John 13, look at verse 5,
this is probably the great example
other than Jesus dying on the cross
of humbling himself,
where it says in verse 5,
After that he poureth water into a basin
and began to wash the disciples' feet,
and to wipe them with a towel
wherewith he was girded.
Then cometh he to sleep,
and then cometh he to Simon Peter,
and Peter saith unto him,
Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
I'd probably have the same reaction as Peter.
I'm just like, My Lord is washing my feet.
Is there really anything more humbling
than washing someone's feet?
That's a pretty humbling thing
that Jesus was willing to do.
But then you have a lot of people at churches,
they're not willing to do anything,
unless they get credit for it.
If they get credit, man, they'll do everything.
Everything, as long as everybody sees
all the works they do.
The Bible says,
You ought to be willing to do things from your heart.
Even if nobody sees,
not getting any credit,
not telling anybody about it,
but just say, You know what?
I'm going to do what I can to serve.
And see, that's the example Jesus was leaving us.
Turn to Romans chapter 10.
And so the first thing we saw is,
with our profession,
we need to be content with the crumbs.
The second thing is, with our possessions.
The third thing is with our part in church.
But the fourth thing is with preaching the gospel.
Turn to Romans 10,
and look at verse number 13,
a very famous passage.
It says in verse 13,
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach except they be sent?
As it is written,
How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace
and bring glad tidings of good things.
Now it says in verse 15,
How shall they preach except they be sent?
You know, if you do not have a church
that's sending you out to preach the gospel,
you're not going to be much of a soul winner.
You have to have a church that has the zeal
that's sending you out to preach the gospel.
But, you know, I've been to a lot of churches,
and there's probably a lot of people
that have been to independent Baptist churches.
You show up at soul-winning time,
and there's like eight or ten people,
and then the pastor's like,
Oh, who are you going soul-winning with tonight?
You know, where are you going soul-winning?
And it's just like, I don't know.
I figured you would tell me where I'm going soul-winning
or who I'm going soul-winning with.
But a lot of churches, they do things differently.
But at a lot of churches, they don't send you anywhere.
They just say, well, you know, go wherever you want to go.
They don't send you anywhere.
But here's the thing.
At Verity Baptist Church, we do send people.
We send them to certain areas.
And we've got to get away from this attitude,
well, every week's got to be Del Paso Heights.
Every week I need the best.
I don't want the crumbs.
I don't want North Natomas,
where it's hard to get people saved.
I'm not willing to do the hard thing.
I want the easy job,
where everybody's willing to listen.
You know, we need to be willing to be content
going to North Natomas, South Natomas, Rio Linda.
I don't care if we've knocked it five, six times.
I don't care if we knock it a couple times every single year.
The area you're sent, you go out there with zeal,
and you go out there preaching the gospel.
And it's not always going to be Del Paso Heights,
because there are plenty of people here that have money as well.
It's not just Del Paso Heights.
There's a lot of different areas to go.
And the area that we choose to make our scope,
when you get that map, you go.
Don't have this attitude, well, I just want the good map.
I just want to go to the nice area,
you know, send Brother Stocky or somebody else
to North Natomas to clean that area up.
Ain't nobody getting saved there anyway.
Let me go to Del Paso Heights.
Don't have that attitude.
And you know, I'll be honest, that's an attitude.
I've had times where I thought to myself,
oh, man, it's North Natomas week.
And honestly, it's just like I need to realize
that's a bad attitude to have for any of us.
We need to realize that, you know, and honestly,
the last time I went to North Natomas, I got somebody saved.
So it's not like there's nobody that's going to get saved there.
Yeah, it's more difficult, but you know what?
There's some areas that are more difficult
and some areas that are easier.
And if you get the map that sends you to a bit more difficult of an area,
be excited for the opportunity to preach the gospel.
I mean, it's great that God's giving us this opportunity.
It's a great opportunity wherever you go,
even if it does take six, seven, eight hours
knocking in one area to get somebody saved.
Praise the Lord that you have the opportunity
to change someone's eternal destiny.
Be content with the crumbs.
Be happy with whatever area you get to go knock.
Turn to Matthew chapter 23.
And while you're turning to Matthew chapter 23,
let me just read in Acts 5-42 where it says,
And daily in the temple and in every house
they cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.
Now, our church is located in this area,
so we have a certain area that we go to.
Obviously, we're not going to drive out two hours on a Saturday
to, you know, preach the gospel in our normal soul-winning.
We have a certain area that we knock,
which has been recently criticized
because we need to be willing to just drive out
way out there to people that are more receptive.
But, you know, the Bible says in every house,
we preach the gospel.
So in the area that we have that is in our scope
that we've determined is the area to reach people,
we need to be willing to knock every house,
every house in North Natomas.
Not just, well, let's just take the good ones
and leave the leftovers, just send them all to hell.
No, we need to be willing to knock every house.
And guess what?
In six months, there's new people living there.
In six months, there's different people at home
when you knock.
In six months, some people have gotten older.
Maybe kids are a little bit older.
You can now preach the gospel to them.
We need to be willing to be content with the crumbs
and knock the tougher areas as well.
In Matthew 23, look at verse 15.
And I had already thought about this sermon a couple weeks ago.
I actually heard part of Pastor Anderson's sermon
where he talked about this exact thing I'm about to talk about.
And he used a great verse to explain it.
In Matthew 23, verse 15, it says,
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For you compass sea and land
and make one proselyte, and when he is made,
you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
You know, it's mentioned about the scribes and Pharisees
that they would go to the ends of the world
just to convert another one to their false, you know, wicked ideas.
And when you think about this soul-winning marathon
we have coming up in the Philippines,
there might be some people that are really excited to go there
and say, man, I'm going to go there.
I'm going to be zealous and knock the door.
I'm so excited to go there and preach the gospel.
But don't forsake this area and say,
well, I'm just going to go to this exciting trip.
I don't want the crumbs, you know, here in Sacramento.
I just want the nice Philippines where you can just go.
It's a special trip.
I mean, praise the Lord for the trips to Mexico to the Philippines,
but don't forsake the normal soul-winning.
Don't say, well, this is the leftovers. I don't want it.
Be excited about this soul-winning as well,
because guess what?
If nobody knocked the doors here,
the trip to the Philippines would never happen.
If nobody knocked the doors here, this church would never go
and the trip to Mexico would never happen.
If nobody was willing to knock the doors every week,
zealously, just every week, just deciding to knock the doors routinely,
we'd never be able to go on exciting trips.
We never would have gone to San Jose.
We never do these things.
So we have to be willing to knock at all places.
In our normal week, take it seriously.
I mean, it's a big deal to get the people saved around this Sacramento area.
Don't think that this is just, oh, these are the crumbs.
I don't want it.
Hey, if you've got something more exciting on the horizon, I'll do it,
but I'm not going to do your every week soul-winning.
No, we need to be going soul-winning every week like the Bible commands.
And we've got to realize it is a great opportunity every single week.
And I don't want to dissuade someone from wanting to go to the Philippines.
Go to the Philippines.
That's great.
But go soul-winning every week before the Philippines trip.
Go soul-winning every week as much as you can,
as much time as God has allowed you, depending on your stage of life.
Go soul-winning and take it seriously.
Don't just wait for these special opportunities.
Because honestly, isn't that what we always complain about other Baptist churches,
other churches that don't go soul-winning every week,
but they have this big event where they're just going to knock every door in the community,
but they never go soul-winning in their week-to-week routine?
I don't want to be like the old IFB movement that's dying
and is on life support right now and is not getting revived any time soon.
I want to be part of this new movement that says every single week,
we're going to go out there zealously and try to get people saved.
And honestly, a lot of people are down in West Sac,
but there was a lot of people saved there yesterday in West Sacramento
because there's a lot of people that said, let's not knock West Sacramento anymore.
There was a lot of people saved yesterday in West Sacramento.
And the fields are white under harvest everywhere
because there's always people that are willing to listen.
There are people out there that are willing to listen and will get saved.
Turn to 1 Samuel 19.
So first we saw with our profession we need to be willing to be content with the crumbs,
with our possessions, our material possessions in life, our part or our role in church,
and also with preaching the gospel.
But let's look at the fifth thing, and that's with preaching sermons.
With preaching sermons, you need to be willing to be content with the crumbs.
Look at 1 Samuel 19, verse 18.
So David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him.
And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Nahoth.
And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Nahoth and Ramah.
And Saul sent messengers to take David.
And when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying,
and Samuel standing as appointed over them,
the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.
And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise.
And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also.
Then when he also to Ramah and came to a great well that is in Seshu,
and he asked and said, Where is Samuel and David?
And one said, Behold, they be at Nahoth and Ramah.
And he went there to Nahoth and Ramah, and the Spirit of God was upon him also.
And he went on and prophesied until he came to Nahoth and Ramah.
In 1 Samuel 19, we have essentially what amounts to basically a preaching night.
You know, a bunch of guys are getting up there, and they're preaching.
And so Saul basically sends people after David, and the first group gets there,
and they hear the Word of God, and guess what?
It impacts their life.
And they're like, Man, what are we doing?
And then they start prophesying.
And it happens over and over, and eventually Saul goes.
So what it shows you is this.
The sermons and the things that were being preached, it impacted them in a great way.
They heard the Word of God proclaimed boldly, great preaching from the Word of God.
They were learning, they were edified, they were excited for the things of God.
They're motivated to live a good life.
They're motivated to do what's right.
Now, here's the thing.
That's how it ought to be at every preaching night in today's world, too.
When you hear the sermons, they impact your life.
But you know what I've noticed with a lot of people that say they're going to be pastors one day?
They don't take those opportunities very seriously.
They look at it as, Well, this is just a crumb.
I'm not going to take this sermon very seriously.
Maybe if I get to preach on a Sunday morning, I'll take it seriously.
Maybe I'll preach on a Sunday night, and I'll take it seriously.
If I preach on a Wednesday night, I'll spend a lot of time.
But if it's just a leftover sermon for a preaching night,
20 minutes it takes to write me, and then I'll just get up there and wing it.
And there's that sort of attitude from people.
I remember someone who's no longer with our church
that bragged about how it took 30 minutes to write his sermon.
I was just thinking, Yeah, I could kind of tell.
I didn't tell them that, but it's just like, here's the truth.
You can tell when someone doesn't prepare for their sermons.
You can tell when they do not spend much time and put much effort into it.
When they're just rehashing the exact same thing, there's no passion in it.
There's nothing new brought to the table.
Because even a sermon on soul winning, you can bring something new to the table.
I'm not talking about a new doctrine, but a way of explaining stuff where it's edified.
And I'm not saying this is everybody, because I think it's the minority.
But you'll notice that at preaching nights,
whether it's our church, or Faithful Word, or Steadfast,
you can tell that some people put their heart and soul into that sermon.
They spend a couple hours for 10 minutes.
Because they said, This is not just a crumb. I'm going to take it seriously.
But then I hear other people preaching, and I'm like, Yeah, that was probably about 15 minutes.
He probably just wrote that sermon.
And it doesn't even sound like he knows the passage that well.
And honestly, it's pretty obvious.
If you've read your Bible several times, or if you have experience preaching,
you can kind of tell when someone put effort into it, and when they didn't.
And honestly, I think I'm known for my big pet peeve is shallow soul winning.
But honestly, I think it's becoming shallow preaching.
Where people think that they're going to set the world on fire,
but they don't put any energy into their sermons.
They don't spend time writing, because I'll be honest.
On a 10 minute sermon, I spend at least two hours on my sermons.
Unless my schedule is just really crazy.
I will look over it, and practice it, try to memorize verses, read the chapter over and over.
Because I look at it as a big opportunity.
Any opportunity behind the pulpit is a big opportunity.
Any opportunity, it is a big thing.
You need to take seriously.
Don't take it seriously.
Hey, that's up to you, but it's going to be obvious.
And if God looks down at you, and you're not taking any opportunity like that seriously,
do you really think you're going to get the opportunity to be a pastor one day, and preach sermons?
And honestly, at the Red Hot Preaching Conference, there were several sermons that I thought were great.
That people really put a lot of energy, and I learned things.
And I love preaching when I actually learn stuff.
And honestly, when somebody who's saved, who's read the Bible, they spend time on a sermon,
I guarantee you they can teach me something.
Because I don't know this book, you know, from beginning to end.
I still learn in the sermons that I preach, even for people that have been saved one year,
if they put time and energy.
But if they don't put any time into it, guess what?
I don't learn, and other people don't learn.
And here's the thing.
It's funny because one of the big problems we have with the old IFB movement is what?
That they don't teach us anything.
Right?
That it's the same sermon over and over and over.
But here's the thing.
If you're just repeating a sermon on the Sodomites, we're not learning anything either.
Because we already heard that preached from Pastor Mendez and Pastor Anderson like five times.
You know what I mean?
If you preach just the exact same thing they already preached, you're just as guilty as
what you're saying the old IFB movement is like.
You're not feeding the people.
You need to actually spend some time and energy.
And honestly, it is amazing when I'm reading something and God just opens up my eyes to something.
And I'm like, man, I've never seen that.
I've never noticed that.
That will work perfectly in a sermon.
And I'm always excited to preach it, but I'm just saying, you know, if you're going to
preach it one day, you need to put some real energy into the ten minute opportunities.
Don't look at that as just a leftover opportunity.
And don't think it goes unnoticed either.
It goes noticed.
You know, after every preaching night, in my mind I'm thinking, okay, this guy takes
his sermon seriously, this guy doesn't.
And I remember those things.
I guarantee you Pastor does too.
It's obvious who's putting energy into the sermons and who's not.
Don't fall into this trap of saying, well, I can just get up there and wing it and yell
and just pound the pulpit and it's going to be great, right?
It's going to be obvious if you didn't put any energy.
You know, I like to learn in preaching.
I'll tell you a story of me from a long time ago.
You know, this was, you know, over seven years ago.
I remember I went to a preaching night one time and it was me and like six other guys
preaching.
And I was probably the most experienced person preaching that night.
And I put less time and energy into that sermon than I've ever put into any sermon before.
I really kind of had this sort of attitude.
I'm just going to get up there and wing it and set the world on fire, right?
And I was preaching on a very common passage that you hear at a lot of independent fundamental
Baptist churches.
But I did a really shallow job in my sermon.
And I thought I'd go up there and be fine.
And once I got up here, I realized, man, I'm not that prepared because I was fumbling over
my words.
It wasn't structured.
I was thinking, this doesn't even make sense.
I knew.
I just really bombed.
And I remember that the pastor, after all the preaching was done, you know, he's really
respectful and kind and stuff, but he talked about take your preaching seriously.
Now, I don't know if he's primarily talking to me, but I guarantee you I'm the number
one guy you saw.
At least that's the way I looked at it.
Because I knew, you know, I did not really take my sermon that seriously.
And it showed.
And I should have been an example to guys preaching for the first time.
Bunch of guys preaching for the first time, and I didn't really take my sermon that seriously.
And I took heed because there were some harsh words, but I was like, man, that's what I
need to hear.
And that's what we have to do when we hear the hard preaching.
When you hear something and you're guilty, don't get mad at the person preaching.
Because I've said some statements here that could offend some people.
But, you know, that's the way preaching is.
God's Word, if you read it, that can offend you.
Are you going to just not read the Bible ever again?
Because you might get offended on, I get offended on almost every page of the Bible.
I'm like, man, I'm guilty of that and that and that.
I mean, you need to be willing to take it.
And if the shoe fits, wear it.
If you're someone who gets a chance to preach, take every opportunity seriously.
If you don't take it seriously, it's going to be obvious.
And you're going to get up here one of these times, and it's not going to go as well as
you expect.
Because you spent like 30 minutes instead of at least a couple hours on it.
And honestly, when you first get a chance to preach, you really ought to put a lot of
effort.
Because when you're new at preaching, it's difficult.
It's difficult to structure a sermon.
And if you think a 10-minute sermon is difficult, imagine preaching a 30, 40, 50-minute sermon
or an hour to make it structured and make sense.
It takes a lot of time.
It takes a lot of energy.
And that's why we don't have a lot of pastors, because it's a lot of work.
And you've got to be willing to do that work.
When you get a chance to preach, don't look at it as a leftover.
Be excited about that opportunity.
Have the attitude of Ruth that says, man, this is a great opportunity.
Turn to Ruth chapter 2.
So the five things we looked at tonight was with our profession, our possessions, our
part in church, preaching the gospel, and preaching sermons.
Those are areas of life we need to be willing to accept the leftovers.
Accept what God's given you.
Be excited about it.
But I want to show you the conclusion of the matter here in Ruth 2.
Let's see what happened to Ruth's life because she was willing to accept the leftovers.
We're going to see how that applies to all these points.
Look at Ruth chapter 2, verse 7, where the Bible reads,
And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.
So she came and hath continued even from the morning until now that she tarried a little in the house.
Now, in verse 7, it's not actually her talking.
It's the servant set over the reapers recapping what she had said to him before she started working.
The servant is talking to Boaz in verse number 7.
He's recapping what she had said.
She was very respectful.
And she came and said, can I just glean after the reapers among the sheaves?
She said, I just want the leftovers.
And then we see in verse 8 that Boaz actually talks to Ruth after that.
It says in verse 8,
Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not my daughter?
Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence,
But abide here fast by my maidens.
Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them.
Have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee?
And when thou art a thirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.
See, this lady is out there working extremely hard, and Boaz wants to help her out.
He says, drink of that which the young men have drawn.
Now she's getting an opportunity to drink water that she was not working for herself.
You know, Boaz is really helping her out.
He understands this lady's taking a big leap of faith in her life.
He wants to help her. He's seeing that she's working hard.
Then it says in verse 10,
Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him,
Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?
And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been showed me all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband,
and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother in the land of night and nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.
The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel,
under whose wings thou art come to trust.
See, Boaz had heard everything this woman had done in her life.
She looked and said, Man, I'm a woman of Moab.
Who am I that I'd get any sort of opportunity?
But Boaz knew exactly everything that she had done.
And isn't that the way it is in life?
You think that what you're doing is going unnoticed, but it actually is not going unnoticed.
Eventually that word is going to spread.
If you just work hard, you know, it's going to end up spreading.
You don't have to promote yourself.
It's going to end up getting out there.
And Boaz has heard, and he says this, The Lord recompense thy work.
He's basically saying, You deserve to be rewarded for how hard you're working.
And then in verse 13,
Then she said, Let me find favor in thy sight, my lord, for that thou hast comforted me,
and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaids.
And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar.
And she sat beside the reapers, and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was suffice, and left.
And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying,
Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not.
Notice verse 16, And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her,
and leave them that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.
So Boaz says this, You know, not only let her glean out there with all of you,
you know, drop some of it for her, so it's easier for her.
And you have to understand, God's law said that you're not supposed to reap the entire field,
but it doesn't mean everybody was following that law.
There's a good chance they were trying to gather up everything.
He makes it a point to say, Hey, don't take everything from her.
And he says, Make it a point to allow some of it fall, so it's easier.
See, if you're gleaning a field, it's easier if it's all in one area,
than if you're getting a little piece here, and a piece there.
If it's all in one area, it's going to make it a lot easier.
And then it says in verse 17, So she gleaned in the field until even,
and beat out that she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.
And she took it up, and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned,
and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed.
And her mother-in-law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned today, and where wrought is thou?
Blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee.
You can notice from her reaction that she gathered up a lot more than she would have gotten.
You can tell how Bo has helped her, because Naomi's amazed.
She's like, Where did you glean today? Because she gathered up a lot.
She brought home a lot. She was amazed how much she had brought home.
And then it says, And she showed her mother-in-law with whom she had wrought,
and said, The man's name with whom I wrought today is Boaz.
And Naomi said unto her, Mother-in-law, Blessed be he of the Lord, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead.
And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin to us, one of our next kinsmen.
So basically what you see in this story is that Boaz sees everything he does,
and he says, You know what? You deserve to be recompensed for the hard work you've done.
Here's what you've got to understand through the points we went through tonight.
You know, if you're willing to humble yourself and take the job that nobody wants,
because that's the best you can get, guess what?
God sees it. And here's the thing. Boaz is a picture, you know, in the Bible of the Lord.
And what you have to understand is when God sees you working hard,
when God sees you willing to take whatever job, and you just are willing to work hard, guess what?
God is going to recompense you for your work.
But if he sees you as someone who's just lazy, that's never going to work, not going to work hard at all.
God's not going to look down and say, Man, you deserve to be rewarded for that.
But God looks down at someone who's willing to work hard and says, I'm going to make sure that person is provided.
The people that have decided to move here across the country or make a great decision to leave their job to come here to this church,
do you really think God's going to look at the work they did and the choice they made and say, Man, yeah, good luck making it?
Of course he's going to provide for what they've done.
And if you're willing to work hard, God's going to provide you.
It applies to your profession.
You know, a lot of people in here who have nice jobs, who have nice possessions, they didn't always have that.
They started off with less money.
They started off with whatever job they could get.
They started off with very little in life.
They couldn't afford a house, but because they worked hard, God recompensed their work, and now they do have more money, and they can afford it.
It's like this with anything, preaching the Gospel.
You know, some people think, Oh, one day I'm going to be an evangelist.
If you're not willing to knock the tough doors here, are you going to do the tough work by going to another country and preaching the Gospel?
Are you going to do the tough work by going to another state or city and start a church?
Because here's the thing, you might look at that and say, Well, that's not the same thing.
No, here's the thing.
North Natomas is the tougher area of soul winning.
And if you can't handle that, you're not going to handle it in the ministry or go into some other country or some other state and then starting some great work.
It's not going to happen.
You know, if you expect God to bless you in that way, you need to be willing to knock whatever.
I have knocked areas before where I went eight straight hours.
I remember knocking eight straight hours in one area and zero people saved.
Zero people saved.
In Mesa, Arizona, I went eight hours knocking, and I was by myself.
You think North Natomas is tough?
Mesa, Arizona, go talk to Mormons all day.
Good luck.
You know, it's a lot tougher.
But you know, when God sees people that are willing to do the tough work, God is going to bless them and give them better opportunities.
And it's the same thing with preaching sermons as well.
If God sees that you're going to take all of these sermons seriously, and you don't just look at it as a leftover opportunity,
but you actually take it seriously and spend time, God's going to be like, man, that's someone I could use one day.
That's someone who one day that guy could be a pastor and start some great work somewhere.
Let's close in a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be in your house this evening and ask you to just help us all apply this sermon to our lives, including myself, God.
And we just pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.