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I keep fast by my young men, until they have mended all my harpests, and Naomi set up to root her daughter-in-law. It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with these maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field. So she came fast by the maidens of Boaz, to lean and to get in the barny harpests and the wheat harpests, and dwell with her mother-in-law. That is great. Our Heavenly Father, I thank you for your word and thank you for the Bible. Please confess your study with your wisdom and truth in this message regarding this year's cigar. The greatest in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, we're here in Ruth chapter 2, and we're continuing our series on the characters of Ruth. And so far we've looked at three different characters, Elimelech, Orpah, and Naomi. And today we're going to look at Ruth, and then we're going to conclude in two weeks with Boaz. And so let's go back to Ruth chapter 1 here for one second. And in case you're here and maybe didn't hear the first sermons, you're kind of coming into the middle of a series, a quick recap of what's going on in Ruth 1 is that Naomi is married to a man by the name of Elimelech, and Elimelech moves his family to Moab, so basically away from God's well-fed lamb Judah. And once they get to Moab, her husband Elimelech dies, and her sons die, and Naomi is left with her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. And Orpah decides to stay in Moab, but Ruth is going to be the one that actually goes with Naomi back at Bethlehem Judah. So notice what it says in Ruth 1, starting in verse 14. And they lifted up their voice and wept again, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clave on to her. And she said, So Ruth is going to make the decision to go to Bethlehem Judah. Now she's making some big sacrifices in her life, though. She is a young, widowed woman. And in general, the people from Judah were not going to marry women from Moab, especially if she's a young, widowed woman. So by making the decision to go back to Judah, there's a good chance, logically, she's never going to get married. And she's also a young, widowed woman in a day where most jobs you actually labored and worked really hard just to provide your needs, so it was much more difficult for a woman to provide her needs in that time period than it is today. Obviously today you have a lot of jobs where you sit at a computer all day and things like that. Before I moved here, before I moved to Sacramento, California, that's what I did all day. I was on Microsoft Excel for hours and hours every single day just looking at numbers. I love math. I don't know if that makes me a nerd, but that's what I did all day. And I was just on Microsoft Excel. But those jobs didn't exist thousands of years ago. The jobs that existed were going out to the field and sweating and working for hours and hours and hours. And look, I'm not being sexist. I'm just being honest. It's easier for a man to do that than a woman. It doesn't matter what the world tells you, it's easier for a man to do that than it is for a woman. And so obviously for Ruth, this is not going to be easy. She's making a big sacrifice to go back to Bethlehem, Judah. Now let's jump forward in the story to Ruth chapter 2, starting at verse number 1. It says starting at verse number 1, And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a mighty man of wealth of the family of Elimelech. And his name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field and glean ears of corn after him, in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go my daughter. And she went and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and her half was to life on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech. And so Ruth is out there working in the field. She's providing for the needs of her and her mother-in-law, Naomi, who was essentially like her mom at this time. And she's out there providing for her needs. Now if you go back to chapter 1, remember she just made a big decision to live for God. She forsook everything. Now naturally you might assume that if you decide to forsake everything that immediately you're going to be blessed. You see the first point we have today is this. When you decide to make a big decision for God, usually it actually starts off bad. It doesn't start off good. See in Ruth chapter 2 at the very beginning, she gets to Bethlehem Judah. She doesn't have all kinds of money waiting for her. No actually it starts off with her out in the field working very very hard at a very remedial job just to provide her needs. See people have this idea that if they decide to live for God, everything's going to work out smoothly from day one. That's not the way it works. It doesn't happen on day one, it doesn't happen on day two, it doesn't happen on day three. It might happen on three months, four months, five months. It might happen on one year, two years, three years. It doesn't happen from day one though. It actually is pretty tough from day one. Look if everything was just handed to you right when you started living for God, everybody would just test it out for a day to see if it worked out. Right? I mean everybody would just say I'm going to just go all in for God and I'll just get lots of money from day one. And look a lot of people kind of try that and it doesn't work out for them. And I think they expect everything's going to work for them. It does not work that way. Turn to Matthew chapter 8, Matthew 8. Now don't get me wrong, I mean God promises He's going to provide our needs. I mean that promise is there in the Bible. But if you have this idea that if you decide to go all in for God, the result is you're going to have lots of money from day one and this and that. Look we don't believe in a health and wealth gospel around here. We don't believe that you're automatically going to become rich when you decide to live for God. Look there's actually no guarantee. If you decide to live for God, you might never be blessed with more money than if you never lived for God. God didn't promise you to be rich. Look when I moved to California to be trained to be a pastor or trained to be an evangelist, I'll tell you the first thing that suffered was my bank account. When I got there I didn't just like fly through the roof with my Bank of America account. I didn't. Instead it actually went down. Why? It's expensive to move. It's not easy. And like I didn't come with some rich job when I got there. Look there's no guarantee when you decide to live for God you're going to make a lot of money. And unfortunately that's not preached enough so we kind of have this idea that's the way it's going to work out. This is one reason why I never try to convince people to move here. Because people automatically assume when they move to a church everything's going to work out smoothly. Here's the reality. You move to a church, God's going to bless you for that but you know you're not going to just be rich from day one. You might not even be happy from day one. In fact when you get here some things might go wrong. And what I've seen over and over again is people move somewhere to be a part of a church. Obviously God's going to support them for that but then they move away six months later when it doesn't work out. Well it's just like God never promised you're going to be rich from day one. And see this is the sort of preaching people need so they're prepared. It's like when people get married. Look marriage is a wonderful thing. Everyone in this room who's married you would agree with that. But look when you get married that first year is not the easiest thing. The first year is going to be your roughest year. When you get married you say if I was only married I'd always be happy. No actually once you get married you have problems as well. It's actually going to be more difficult. Now I mean it's worth it. I love being married. I love having a wife. I love having a son. But if you expect that when you get married everything's going to be perfect you know you've been lied to. You're sadly mistaken because nobody who's married can honestly say that they never have any problems. That's a lie. That is not true. People do have problems when they get married sometimes. Now obviously you're supposed to stay together. But it's not just perfect. Look when you decide to live for God it does not start off with you just having everything working out. Actually it often starts the other way. And that's something we need to know ahead of time. So we're ready when we decide to live for God. So whatever it is in life if you decide to make a decision to live for God just realize that. It's worth it. You just got to fight through it. Those first couple months could be tough. God is blessing you but it's going to take a little while. When Ruth got here her life certainly was blessed. We know that. We see the conclusion of the matter. But when it first started her life did not end up with lots of money and everything perfect. She was out there working hard in the field doing a manual laboring job. It doesn't start off with you being rich from day one. Now in Matthew chapter 8 notice what it says in verse 18. Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him he gave commandment to the part under the other side. And a certain scribe came and said unto him Master I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. Boy this is a statement that's probably been made by tens of thousands hundreds of thousands of people through the years. Hey I'll follow you Lord wherever you go whatever you want me to do. Verse 20. And Jesus said unto him the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests but the son of man hath not where to lay his head. What is Jesus saying? Hey there's no guarantee we're going to sleep tonight. It could be on a rock out in the wilderness. You don't know where you're going to end up sleeping. He says I don't have this comfy bed. I don't have this rich apartment I'm going home to. Just realize that. What's the result? People choose not to follow. Okay. Verse 21 and 22. And another of his disciples said unto him Lord suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him follow me and let the dead bury their dead. And what is he showing you? He's showing you there's no guarantee of being rich and also sometimes you do have to separate from family to a degree. He says let the dead bury their dead. Okay. There was somebody who just yesterday morning I woke up and I had a Facebook message. Someone who said they're thinking about moving to Manila. They live in the United States. Okay. And so I told them what I tell everybody. I said you know that we'll pray for you about it but I said you know make sure you visit here first to see if you like it. Make sure you know that you're going to know how you're going to provide for your family and make sure your wife's going to be happy about it. Okay. Because look if you move somewhere and your wife doesn't like it you're making a bad choice. Nine months at a time. Happy wife, happy life. Everyone who's married you got that memorized. Happy wife, happy life. Look when I moved to Sacramento, California there were several areas I considered moving to be trained to be a pastor. I picked the one where I thought my wife would be the most comfortable. That's the decision I made. You say why? Because I knew all the areas I liked the church and I felt like I could grow more. But you know honestly when you're married a very important decision is is your wife going to fit in here? Because otherwise your life's going to be miserable. If your wife's life is miserable you're going to hate your life. Okay. I'm giving good marriage advice here this morning. I'm preparing you guys ahead of time. But you know that's the truth. I'm just trying to model what Jesus did in the Bible. He didn't try to convince people to follow him. He did every once in a while when there were certain people handpicked. But other people came up to him and he just told them the truth. See that's how we always must be as preachers. We just need to tell people the truth and let them make good decisions based on what the truth is. Now I hope that person does move here. We would love it if somebody moved to our church. But I just want to make sure they make the right decision. I mean it's a big decision to move from one country to another. That's a huge decision. You've got to count the cost in life. And see what I've seen happen through the years is people move to a church. It doesn't feel perfect for them. Six months later they go somewhere else or they go back home. And it's like you need to make sure you count the cost ahead of time. Make sure it's the right choice because of the fact with big decisions it does not always start out right. Jesus doesn't tell this guy not to follow him. I'm sure he wanted him to follow him. He's just saying hey here's the reality of the matter. Okay you don't have some rich job waiting for you. I don't know where I'm going to sleep tonight. That's what he tells them. Turn to Matthew 9. A great example of the Bible in the Old Testament is Elisha. Elisha is told to follow Elijah and what does he do? He forsakes everything. He basically not only quits his job but he destroys the ability to go back to his job. And he basically says goodbye to his family and just follows Elijah. He goes all in. Going all in is great. You just need to make sure that you know the decision you're making. Because if you're not 100% set on it you're going to end up regretting it. That's usually the way it works. You have to just decide hey I'm doing this to live for God. If you're doing a decision to live for God you're making the right decision. But you have to realize that does not guarantee you're going to be rich on the other side or everything's going to be perfect. It doesn't always work that way. Matthew 9 verse 9. And as Jesus passed forth from thence he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom. And he saith unto him follow me and he arose and followed him. Here's an example Matthew of a guy who has a good job. Now I don't think that Matthew has the godliest job sitting at the receipt of custom. He's kind of working for the government. And the government like every government basically steals from the people that live in their country. I don't think he has the godliest job. But what that shows you is people are in all kinds of jobs in life. Throughout this room people have different jobs. And I'm sure some of you say I wish I had a different job because there's some things I do that I'm not really comfortable with. That doesn't mean you're a bad person. Matthew in the Bible was not necessarily in the godliest job. And Jesus hand picked him and said this guy is the good for the world. But Matthew is forsaking a good paying job. He's actually making decisions to say you know what I don't care about the money. I'm just going to go all in and serve God. This is what Ruth does. Now when Matthew forsakes his job sitting at the receipt of custom. Does all of a sudden he has all this money that pops in right after Ruth? He left a good job so certainly God would look down and say man I'm going to give you a lot of money for making that decision. It's not the way it works. When Matthew leaves a good paying job what happens? You know what? He doesn't have good money on the other side. Before I moved to California I had a very good career. On the other side I was blessed to get to work for a church which I don't regret at all. Look I didn't make as much money working for a church as I would have in my old career in the actuarial field. It's just reality but that's okay because I didn't make the decision to move to California for the sake of money. When it comes to living for God, Ruth makes this decision and turns back to Ruth 1. It's always a great decision to live for God. I'm not trying to dissuade you from deciding to make a decision on living for God. I'm just trying to give you the reality of the matter. If you decide to make that sort of decision do not expect it's going to be perfect. Because if you expect that you're going to end up being very disappointed. And you're going to think, man I thought I'd move here, I thought I'd make this decision and everything in life would be perfect. Life is never perfect. Life is never perfect. You say, man I got married it's going to fix all my problems. No it won't. You say, oh man we had a child that fixes all the problems. No it doesn't. You say, man I moved here I got this job it's going to fix everything. No it won't. You'll always have problems. That's the truth. And look I know this is negative preaching. But this is reality. And I know this is not what Joe Goldstein is going to tell you. But this is what we need to hear. Because if we think everything in life is going to be perfect. You're going to end up just throwing them in the towel of living for God. Because you were lied to. By some pastor, some priest, some preacher, whatever. The reality is things don't always work out perfectly in your life. That's what we see in the Bible, that's what Jesus said. Now I want you to understand another thing. About Ruth's life. And Ruth is in all of these four chapters. I'm kind of just picking certain things out of her life. But something that's a common thread that was also with Naomi we talked about. Is that Ruth never blames God for her situation in life. Now one reason why she doesn't blame God is simply because Naomi never blamed God. Look if the people around you always honor the Lord. And pray to God and read the Bible. What does it cause you to do? It causes you to read the Bible. It causes you to pray. Look we're part of a church that goes soloing quite a bit. Now before you were part of this church. You probably didn't go soloing as much. Why? Because you weren't around people doing that as well. See when you're around people doing something. That's probably what you're going to end up doing. You say well you know what's my life going to be like in five years? Well just let me meet your five best friends. And the way they act is probably how you're going to act five years. The people you're around is who you're going to be like. Make sure you pick your friends wisely. Because if you pick people that are a bunch of drunks and fornicators and drug addicts. Don't be surprised if your life ends up going down that road. You say that would never happen to me. Well it wouldn't happen to you right now. But if you befriend those people now in a couple of years. Oh yeah it could happen to you. Now Naomi never blamed God. And the result is that Ruth doesn't blame God. Now when you hear people that always complain. What is your natural reaction? You have something you want to complain about. Look we all have something we want to complain about. Now let me just spend 30 minutes right now complaining about everything I have. Look we all have things we could complain about. And if you're around people that always complain. What happens to you? You start to complain. Is this church perfect? No it's not. If somebody complains about something. You're going to complain about something. And yeah you know what. Let's start making a list. There's lots of things we could fix here. It's not a perfect church. It's never going to be. I'm trying to show you though that you know what. Naomi didn't complain. She didn't blame God. What happens? Ruth doesn't blame God. Now I want you to see something else though in Ruth 1 verses 16 and 17. And Ruth said, And treat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee. For whither thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people and thy God my God. Where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if odd but death part be in me. What she said in verse 16 is, Where thou lodgest I will lodge. Basically where you sleep, where you live, the house you have is where I'm living. So whether or not it's this grand mansion, or whether or not it's a really small house, that you have all kinds of cockroaches and bugs and mice or whatever coming through. She says, I'll live wherever you live. I will lodge where you lodge. Now ask yourself this question. Do you believe that Ruth was lying? I don't believe she was lying. And she backed it up with her actions. Now a lot of times people get emotional, and they feel like they'll follow God forever. We just saw that in that video. But see Ruth actually backed it up with her actions. She says, I'm going to lodge where you lodge, and she backs it up with her actions. Because she realizes when she's going to Bethlehem Judah, she's probably not going to have a nice place to live. It would probably be a lot better in Moab with her parents, like Naomi suggested she do. But she says, you know what? I'm going to forsake all and follow God. And see what I want you to understand is, a reason why Ruth did not blame God, is she had already made a commitment and a decision to forsake everything if necessary. I'm sure Ruth wanted to be blessed in the latter end, but she had already made a decision that, even if I'm not, I'll just go all in. So she's not going to blame God because of the fact she had already decided, even if it goes miserably, I'm going all in. This is the attitude we need to have. We need to make decisions. We need to realize the decision we're making, and just go for it, all in. And say, no matter what happens, God, I'm going all in. That is the decision that Ruth makes. She says, where thou lodges, I will lodge. Where thou diest, will I die? She's basically saying, you know what? I'm going to adopt the people. I'm going to adopt the culture. I'm going to follow the laws of God. Your God's going to be my God. Your land's going to be my land. Now, if you've ever met, my wife spent three years in the United States. My wife likes the Philippines a lot more than the United States. There's no question about that. Most women especially, they like the area where they're from. That's the way it works. As a guy, if you're married here, you might feel like, hey, I could move wherever and be happy. Maybe that's true. But honestly, that's much less likely with a lady. That's the way it works. Most women, they like to be where they're from. And so Ruth deciding to move to a foreign country where she doesn't know everybody, she doesn't know the way things work, this is a big decision she's making. Moving to another country is not easy. Look, I'm very happy with how things are going here in the Philippines. But if I were to sit up here and say, it's been super easy for me, it hasn't always been. Sometimes I've felt awkward. Sometimes I've felt nervous. I don't know what I'm doing. Yeah, there's tons. I'm just like, man, you know. And I speak some Tagalog, but I'm not perfect at it. And sometimes I say things in English. And we're both speaking English, and it's like somehow we're missing it because of accents or something. Look, if I were to say that I never felt awkward and it was always perfect, I'd be fine. But it's a lot easier for a guy to go through that than a lady. The Bible says men are the stronger best. That's the way it works. That's one reason why I always suggested to people, move where your wife is going to feel comfortable. Now turn to Philippians 4, Philippians 4. So what I'm trying to do is help you understand the big decision Ruth made. Now, in this room, we don't compare people spiritually against each other. But if we were to look in the Bible, Ruth is one of the godliest ladies in the entire Bible. Now, I'm not saying if you're a lady in this room that you fit everything she does perfectly and you're as godly as her. People like this in the Bible are people we look up to as someone we try to follow after and do what they do. It's kind of like in Proverbs 31. You say, I'm married. And it's like, man, I've read Proverbs 31 and my wife is not just like the virtuous woman. Proverbs 31 is like the perfect woman. It's the perfect woman. Of course your wife's not perfect. It's giving you the examples of what a virtuous woman would be. Yeah, if your wife fails in some of those things, of course she does. Because Proverbs 31 is the perfect template of what life is supposed to be like. You can't look at that and expect that your wife's going to fit everything 100%. It's the same with being a man. We see characters in the Bible we try to emulate and be like. Yeah, you know, we fail sometimes. We're not perfect. But we strive to be like them. Now, in Philippians 4, verse 11, the Bible reads, this is Paul the Apostle speaking. This is the greatest evangelist who ever lived. This is the man who traveled all over the world. And he already spoke all of the languages. It wasn't as big of an adjustment for a guy like Paul the Apostle, because he already spoke the languages. He could fit in anywhere, just from day one, just boom, just converse with everyone. Verse 11, not that I speak in respect of one, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. He says, I have learned in whatsoever state. Now, when it says whatsoever state, it's not saying, hey, whether it's California or New York. What it's saying is, whatever situation I'm in in life, I've learned to be content or happy. But the key is when he says, I have learned. Paul the Apostle, the greatest evangelist who ever lived, who traveled all over the place, what he said was, he had to learn to be content. You say, Brother Stuckey, I'm not happy with some situation in my life. Learn to be content. You can learn. You say, my life's miserable. You can learn to be happy. That's what the Bible says. And as a believer, it's really not that complicated that it's going to help make you happier. If you know these things, happier ye if you do them. If you follow the rules of the Bible and the commandments, it's going to make you happy. Now, I'm not saying you're going to be perfectly happy, but what I'm trying to help you understand is this. You don't need to go on antidepressant medication. If you're not the happiest person in the world. You can learn to be content like Paul the Apostle, who did not use antidepressant medication. Learn to be content. That's what the Bible says. Now, those might be tough words, but that's what the Bible says. That's what Paul the Apostle says. You can learn to be content. Now, I know that if you go to one of these fancy seminars with this millionaire up here speaking about how to be happy, he'll just go on and on for hours about this and this and this. But what the Bible says is learn to be content and follow God's commandments. That's what's going to make you happy. That's what's going to make you happy as a believer, as someone who believes in the Lord. But there's nothing that makes you more depressed than when you break God's rules and you know it's wrong and you choose to disobey. It vexes your soul, as the Bible says. You feel vexed from the inside. Philippians 4, verse 12. 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 deep. I can do all things through Christ's good strength in me. Now, I understand that you have all these athletes that tattoo Philippians 4, 13 on their chest. This heavyweight bot, Manny Pacquiao didn't do this, but probably Floyd Mayweather did. He tattoos that on his chest and right before he fights a fight he says, I can do all things through Christ's good strength in me. It's like, well, I don't think that verse that can really apply to being somebody unconscious. I don't think that's what God meant. What he's saying is no matter what situation you are in in life, you are going to be happy. That's what Paul the Apostle is saying. And that is the truth. That's what the Bible says. You can learn to be happy. Whether you abound and you have lots of money and you have whatever food you want and you go to all these nice restaurants or whether or not, you know, the nicest place to go, oh, here's Jollibee. You can learn to be happy. Okay? Now, turn to Ruth chapter 2, Ruth 2. Say, why'd you have to make fun of Jonathan? That's my favorite restaurant. Yeah, I know. It's my wife's favorite. I'm the one preaching and I don't like it. So, chalking it is. But anyways, in Ruth chapter 2, verse 8, let me show you another reason why Ruth does not blame God. Ruth 2, verse 8, the Bible reads, Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Here's thou not my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens. So, notice what Boaz said to Ruth. He says, abide here fast by my maidens. Now, what is he saying? Well, a maiden is talking about a young lady. Okay? Ruth was not the only woman out there walking in the field. There's actually a lot of women. You say, well, Ruth's situation was she was a young widowed woman. Is she the only woman who was a young widowed woman? I'm not sure, maybe. But there was also a lot of other women there who I'm sure would have loved to be married and staying home raising the kids that weren't, that were out in the field working with Ruth. She was not the only woman. See, one thing that can help us not blame God is realize other people are going through the same troubles you are. It doesn't matter what you're going through in life, you're not the only one. Whether or not they're just people that never got married, whether or not things didn't work out well, whether or not maybe they're married and they have to work because they just don't have enough to make ends meet, there's plenty of people in that situation. It doesn't matter where you go, there's people in every country, every place that are in that situation. It's not the perfect situation for Ruth. But you know what? Most of us aren't in a perfect situation. We're in whatever situation we are. You just got to live in the situation you are. There's an ideal situation, and we preach to strive to be in that situation. But you know, the reality is a lot of us aren't in that situation, and that's fine. You just got to make ends meet with the situation you're in. And Ruth could look at other women that are out in the field, other women just like her, and say, you know what? I wish I was married to my husband that died, my mom who died. I wish I was still married to him and he could provide. But there's these other women here who have never been married, and they're out here working just like I am. And no matter who you are in this room, you're not the only one in your situation. Go down to verse number 22. We'll see this again. And they only said unto Ruth her daughter-in-law, It is good my daughter that thou go out with his maidens, that they need thee not in any other field. So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest, and dwell with her mother-in-law. Now, you know, you say this seems strange to me, brother Stocky, because I thought throughout the Bible, the Bible speaks about the man staying home, or not the man staying home, but the man being out there working, and the wife staying home and raising the kids. Yes, you know what? Throughout the Bible, that's what it teaches, the best situation. But guess what? It's never been that situation for everybody. Right. It never has. Now, I understand that there's certain shows or whatever you see of the mom staying home. Obviously, it's a lot easier, especially back in the time without washers and dryers, where it took a lot of time just to take care of the house. It took so many hours. I do believe that's the best situation. I think that's the ideal situation. But the reality is, no matter what decade you've been in throughout human history, many people were not in that situation. Many godly people were not in that situation. That's the reality. And so, look, when I've preached hard about how you've got to strive for men to provide for your families, I try to set a good tone of what I think is the best way, with the understanding that a lot of us aren't in that situation, and there's various reasons why. But Ruth, she wasn't the only one. There was other maidens in the field. You say, man, I wish I was married. Look, a lot of people wish they were married. Before I was married, I wanted to be married. But I wasn't the only one who wasn't married. There's plenty of other soul owners that aren't married. There's plenty of other people. You say, man, I wish I had a better job. Look, plenty of people are in the same situation as you. That's just the reality. Now, turn back to Ruth 2. Let's look at verse 4. And we'll quickly finish up here with these last three points. Ruth 2, verse 4. And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, and the Lord blessed thee. Then said Boaz unto a servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabites damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab. So the person who is set over the reapers, this is someone Boaz has put in charge to basically oversee everything, he's basically going to update Boaz on what is taking place. So in verse number 7, this is not Ruth speaking. This is his servant basically repeating what Ruth had said earlier. So in verse 7, and she said, this is not her speaking, this is what she said earlier. And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheens. So she came and hath continued, even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house. So what does the servant say to Boaz? She came from the morning until now, and she tarried a little in the house. What does he say? He's saying she only took a little time off. She basically was out there working all day long. Now, I think this is a novel concept to a lot of people in the Philippines, because I've seen construction sites where you get here, you know, and it's like 1 p.m. and they're still asleep. No exaggeration on my part, are you? 1 p.m.? It's like you're still asleep. It's a wonder why you don't have all kinds of money. I mean, it's a shock that you just don't have all this money raining down from heaven. Look, I mean, if you wake up at 1 p.m. and then take five 15-minute breaks over the course of five hours, yeah, you know what, you're probably not going to have a lot of money. God expects you to work hard and say, well, Brother Stuckey, if I work hard, though, I'm not going to make any more money. I have a set salary, and I'm allowed to get all this time off. Well, turn to Ephesians 6, and let's find out who's right about this, because we base what we believe not on logic or man's wisdom. We base it on what the Bible says. Because, look, I've been at jobs. My office job before I moved to California, you were allowed just, I think it was two 15-minute breaks a day, and then you were allowed a 30-minute lunch break. You were allowed an hour off during the day. You split it off into multiple breaks or an hour-long lunch. But there's one exception to that. If you smoke cigarettes, you are allowed to take a 15-minute break every hour, and that was fine. It's like, well, I guess I should just go and smoke my first cigarette so I can just take time off work. So you have all these people that are supposed to be working, and they're always just outside smoking cigarettes, and that 15 minutes turns into 30 minutes, and then all of a sudden you have people that are answering calls for them. And it's like, you know, my job is to do math all day, and I'm doing the job of being an operator or secretary. You say, is that a situation unique to you? I'm sure that happens all of the work, where people are just lazy on their job and don't do the work. Why don't they do the work? Well, because they're going to get paid the same salary whether they do the work or not. That's what their wisdom is. What does it say in Ephesians 6 verse 5? If you're a servant or if you work a job, look, you're supposed to obey your master or the person making the rules. It's just like having a son. My son's supposed to obey my rules. And so when you work a job, the person that's your boss, they make the rules for you. But notice what the Bible says at the end of verse 5, See, when we work, no matter who our boss is, our ultimate boss is the Lord. As believers, we need to keep that in mind because you can work on your job and not get caught being lazy, but look, somebody caught you being lazy up there. God caught you being lazy if you don't put in the time. Look, if you sign on to work this many hours and you just choose not to do it because you're going to get paid the same amount, no matter what, somebody caught you being lazy. Verse 6, What does it mean with I service as men pleasers? It means when the boss is around, you're like typing at your computer and then just getting everything done and making it look like you're really busy. And then all of a sudden, once they're gone, you're just like, alright, time to take a nap. Time to get on my cell phone and not do anything. You say, does that happen? Oh, it happens all the time in an office. And anyone who's worked in an office, they know this is the case. Now, your natural flesh will get mad about that and want to be lazy as well. That's what our natural flesh will do. You'll feel like, you know what, they're doing this and not having any problems and they're not getting in trouble. Why should I work hard? The reason why you should work hard is because your boss is the Lord. God is the ultimate boss. And look, God has the ability to give you a raise or a promotion. He also has the ability to let you be the person who gets fired from the company if you're lazy. Look at what it says in verse 8. No, no, whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And so what the Bible says is that we work and our boss is the Lord. It doesn't matter what your job is. Your boss is the Lord. It doesn't matter what your job is. God's the one who sees every single thing you do. He's the one who can promote you. He's also the one who can bring them down. Now, turn back to Luke 2. And so what do we see with Ruth? Ruth was an incredibly hard worker. She barely even took a break. Now, if you're outside working in the sun all day, it's pretty hard not to take a break. It's not an easy job. I mean, anyone who's worked out in the sun all day, even I've worked out in the sun all day, it's difficult. Even if you're not doing a lot of moving, just the sun itself will just wear you out. But you know, this lady realizes I need to provide for my family, and she works hard, and she was only taking a little break in the house in a very small amount of time. Why? She was a hard worker. Well, what I want you to understand with our fourth point is this. God sees our sacrifice. Now, I want you to understand, and I'm not going to get into this for the sake of time, but Boaz is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's a lot of people that in a lot of ways will picture Jesus and give you a lot of symbolism. Boaz is one of those people. Obviously, he was a real man, but a lot of things he did, you could see Jesus doing similar things later on. And so what it says in Ruth 2, verse 11, 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 thy husband, and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother in the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. And so Boaz says, I'm aware that you left Moab to come to Bethlehem, Judah. You say, well, how did he become aware of that? Look, new spreads. That's the way it works. She didn't have to just stand on top of a house and say, hey, guess what I did differently for saying everything to serve God. She didn't do that. New spread. See, that's why you don't need to promote yourself and talk about all the great things you do, because people aren't going to find out anyway. And look, it means a lot more when somebody else promotes you than it can promote yourself. People don't like you if you're always telling everyone how great you are. Especially when it comes to spiritual things, because it comes across as hypocrisy, because that's something that obviously you do not to be seen as men. So look, Ruth was not one of those people. But even still, Boaz saw every single thing she did and heard about everything she did. He was aware that she pursued everything to serve God and to help out Naomi. Now turn to Genesis 31. We'll get a few more places. And so I want you to understand something, that God sees our sacrifice. He sees what we do. And this can be a good thing or a bad thing. God's seeing everything we do. If you're obeying God, it's a great thing. If you're not obeying God, it's not a good thing. Genesis 31, starting in verse 10. And it came to pass at that time that the cattle conceived that I lifted up mine eyes and saw him dream. And behold, the ram that sleeped upon the cattle were ring-streaked, speckled, and grizzled. And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob, and I said, Here am I. He said, Lift up now mine eyes and see all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ring-streaked, speckled, and grizzled. For I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. So what does the Bible say? It says the Lord saw that Jacob was being oppressed by his boss. Laban was ripping off Jacob. Jacob should have been paid more money. He was getting ripped off. And the Lord saw that. Now the Lord allowed Jacob to be ripped off for a long time. But eventually, he steps in and helps him out. So it can be a good thing that God sees everything you do. But let's go to Exodus 32. Let's see an example of a bad thing when God sees everything you do. And so in Exodus 32, there's a famous chapter of the golden calf. And notice what it says in verse 7. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go get thee down, for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. Now I'd imagine if I was Moses, this is kind of hard to believe. Because obviously the people rebelled a lot. This is pretty bad. I mean, people have been gone for a short time and they're making a molten calf into worshipping. It's like, what about Aaron? What about my older brother? Wasn't he doing... I mean, he's the one who's the leader. How are they doing this? I mean, Aaron let it took place. Verse 9, See, the Lord says, I have seen this people. See, the Bible says not to do things with eye service being men pleasers. But look, if you choose to only do good things if it's seen or known, then do it all the time. Because God sees everything you do. I mean, go ahead and just do it if you're being seen. Guess what? You're being seen. Okay? It's like, you know, little kids, you know, they get in trouble, they put a blanket over their head. And they feel like, well, nobody knows. I put a blanket over my head, nobody can see me, nobody knows what's going on. But we as Christians act the same way. I mean, the Lord sees every single thing we do. And if we remember that, it might change the way we act. Now turn back to Ruth too. Let's finish off. And the last thing I want you to see is how God rewards Ruth. Now, you definitely get a good picture of this in the latter chapters of the book of Ruth. But I just want to show you in Ruth chapter 2, maybe some verses that maybe you have noticed, maybe you haven't noticed before, and give some clarity on them. In Ruth 2 verse 12, the Bible reads, 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. And so, this is Boaz speaking, and he sees her work, and he says, you know, the Lord recommends. You know, you deserve a full reward. You're working hard, you made a sacrifice. You deserve to be rewarded for this. Verse 13. Then she said, Let me find favor in thy side more, for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thy handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thy 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 horn. And she did eat, and was sufficed, and left. And so Boaz basically gives her a free meal. Yes, very kindly of him. She gets a free meal. She gets fed. And so, you know, Boaz does give her a bit of a reward. Notice what it says in verse 15. 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. And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not. See, what Boaz was, or what Ruth was doing in this field, was basically, she was getting the leftovers. She was getting the food that was not desired by anybody. Nobody wanted it. Okay? Because they go to a field, and pick out all the good stuff, and there'd be certain things they either missed, or they just weren't good. You know, if you have a bunch of grapes, not all the grapes are going to be good. Right? Some are going to be bad. And basically, she was getting the leftovers. Okay? And other parts that were missed. So it's not like all the food was in one location. He actually worked really hard just to find the food, and pick it up. Okay? But what does Boaz say to his young men? He says, Let also fall some of the handfuls of purpose for her. What is he saying? He's saying, basically, make sure you drop some fruits and vegetables, and food for her to pick up. Basically, make it easy for her. Basically, just put all the food in one location. You know, here's some strawberries here. Here's this here. And basically, she can easily gather it, rather than working really hard just to find anything that's a leftover. So she not only got lots of fruits, and vegetables, and whatever that was out there, but she also got good fruits, good vegetables, and good food. Okay? That's what's going on with Boaz. Now, we can see this confirmed in the next several verses, because verse 17 about reeks. So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned, and it was about an eef 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 preserved after she was sufficed. And so basically, she has a reserved amount. She's eating whatever. She's got hers, and she's giving Naomi a lot. So basically, she's been very successful. She's gotten a lot of food when she's been out there. And you can tell this from the reaction of Naomi. And her mother-in-law said under her, Where as thou gleaned today, and where wroughtest thou, lest it be he that did take knowledge of thee. 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 so she gets to Naomi, and Naomi's blown away by how much she got. She said, Where did you get this at? She's shocked. What? She was expecting just barely enough to survive. And it would have been the leftovers. And what happens, Ruth comes back, and she's gotten all kinds of food. And it's good food. We say, What lessons can we learn? Look, when God sees what we do, we say, Brother Stuckey, my job, I make this much money a month. Yeah, but you know, God can find a way to make that money last. God can find a way to let handfuls of purpose come to you that you didn't expect. You say, Brother Stuckey, I got to quit this job because I don't make enough money. Now, that might be true. It would depend on the situation. It would depend on what job you have. I'm not saying that is or isn't true. What I'm saying is the possibility might be that that might be the right job for you. Because you're able to serve God, you're able to love the Lord, and God's going to step in and help provide food from an area you weren't expecting. Look, this is one of the good things about not having a lot of money. Because when you have less money, you rely on God more. That's the way it works. See, Naomi is extremely thankful for this food. But look, if you go to Robinson's grocery store and just get all kinds of fruits and vegetables and bring it home, and you have no problem, you have the money to do that, you probably wouldn't be as thankful if this happened to you as Ruth was, Naomi. They didn't have as much, so they were more thankful. Sometimes God allows us to go through trials, so we will be more thankful. We will rely on Him more. That's what we see in this story. There's a lot of things that we can learn from the life of Ruth, but I guess if there's anything I would want you to take away from this sermon, maybe something that people haven't always thought about is this, they know when you decide to live for God, it's not going to be easy for them. I understand a lot of people might tell you that, or they might make you think that, but that's not reality. That's not what the Bible teaches. That's not what you've ever seen with anyone in your life. It doesn't start off perfect from day one. When you decide to make decisions to live for God, it could be tough for a while. It's important for us to realize that because when it gets tough, you can't say, well, you know what, maybe I made the wrong decision because of the fact I don't have lots of money, I don't have this, I don't have that. God never promised you you'd become rich if you served. At the very beginning when you start to serve God, it usually starts off difficult. It doesn't usually start off easy. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here in your house today and just getting to see the life of Ruth and the character we can all look up to and admire God. Help us to pattern our lives more like her, to have that great faith and to go on to serve God and count the costs and be able to make that decision, God, and rely on you more. Help us as we're studying through this year and ask you to bless the rest of this day, bless the food we'll partake in, and also bless the soul when you later, God. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Psalm 118. Psalm 118.