Ruth Chapter 2:1-14

A lot of things that happen around here, they happen behind the scenes. There's a lot of people that work very hard here to do things that nobody else really sees them doing. See from my standpoint, you know, as I study and as I do things and I come out here and present these things, you guys kind of know a lot of what I do here.

But there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes. And if these people were doing it just to hear you say thank you, they'd have quit a long time ago. They're doing it because they know the Lord sees it all. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is the senior pastor of the bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina. God will bless us as we bless his people. Today, Pastor David shares examples of this as he continues in the book of Ruth chapter two. But before we begin today's teaching, many people think Christianity is a list of do's and don'ts, an impossible standard that beats you down and robs you of joy. But the truth is, God's Word is a lifeline of hope in troubled times. We want to help you rise above the difficulties of life by sending you a copy of Pastor David McGee's four-part teaching series, Living Life by the Book. This empowering resource shows you how to walk with God through everyday life and learn to experience joy, even in hard times. Living Life by the Book is our thanks for your generous gift today to help more people hear God's truth on this station and beyond so they can cross the bridge from death to life.

Please visit crossthebridge.com today to give and get your copy of Living Life by the Book. Now here's David McGee with part two of his teaching, The Lord Will Repay. We're continuing our verse by verse study through the book of Ruth.

So let's jump in. Ruth chapter two verse one says, there was a relative of Naomi's husband, a man of great wealth of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, please let me go to the field and glean the heads of grain after him and whose sight I may find favor. And she said to her, go my daughter. Then she left and she went and gleaned in the field after the reapers.

And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz who was of the family of Elimelech. Verse four, now behold Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, the Lord be with you. And they answered him, the Lord bless you. Now isn't that, look at the way they're greeting each other. Isn't that cool? Isn't that cool? The Lord be with you. The Lord bless you. Man, we need to greet each other like that more, don't we?

You know, some of our greetings leave a little bit to be desired. A couple of that we, you know, I used to say something to the kids when they would come in and leave the door open. You've probably said it right. What, you're raised in a barn? You're born in a barn? I said that one day and it was like the Holy Spirit said, the Son of God was born in a stable.

I said, man, I'll never use that one again. Verse five, then Boaz said to a servant who was in charge of the reapers, whose young woman is this? That's an interesting question. Please note, he did not say, who is this young woman? He said, whose young woman is this?

I think Boaz is perhaps captivated by this young lady. Verse six, so the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered and said, it is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. And she said, please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. So she came and has continued from mourning until now, though she rested a little in the house.

So the overseer, if you will, who's in charge of the reapers is explaining to Boaz, it sounds like he thinks he might be in trouble and he's kind of going, well, you know, this is what happened. But notice, says she came out in the morning and she's been diligent. She's been working hard. Again, speaks of Ruth's character. And notice that this whole thing opens up, again, because of the diligence of Ruth.

Saying is, when opportunity knocks, you got to get up and answer the door. I think that's important to realize and something we need to realize here, God's doing incredible work here. You need to understand too, that there has been a whole lot of very diligent people working a lot of hours here. The staff itself is filled with hardworking people. They don't just sit at home and say, well, God bless it and, you know, and I'll go in once a week and, you know, work a little bit.

No, no, no, no. These people pour themselves out on behalf of God for your sakes. Now, man, and the leadership pour themselves out.

And team leaders give themselves away. And God takes those efforts and he multiplies them and he blesses them. That's important for us to understand because I want to be in a place of balance. There's some people who overemphasize our responsibility and they say, well, it's all, you know, and they write such silly books as if it's going to be, it's up to me, which is total nonsense. And then the other side is, you know, people just sit back and they go, well, if God wants it to happen, he'll just make it happen.

Well, wait a minute. Maybe God wants you to do something. We want to make sure that we don't just sit around asking God to bless stuff. And we want to understand that that's not all up to us and have that balance of saying, well, God wants to bless us and God blesses diligence. So let's pour ourselves out on behalf of God.

Amen. Verse eight, then Boaz said to Ruth, you will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. And let your eyes be on the field, which they reap and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.

This is awesome. Boaz is offering his protection to Ruth. He's promised and he's promising to take care of her and to meet her needs.

And I'm not sure, and we don't know at this point if he's totally captivated, if he's interested in a relationship, or if he's just trying to love on somebody that's in a very vulnerable position. I mean, here she is from, she's a Moabitess. The Moabitess, you remember, the Moabites had wanted Balaam to curse the people of Israel. He said, I can't curse him. He ends up blessing them. But then he sits down and goes, okay, but if you really want to captivate him, what you want to do is send your young women in there and do your acts of worship and captivate the men. So the Moabitess, they weren't of a good reputation. They were of a foreign land and she's in this place and she's in a very vulnerable place and she's really probably expecting to be looked down upon and looked askance at, and yet God takes one of the most powerful men in the area and grants her favor with him.

This is really cool. It's a great, great story. And I think God sometimes tests us by seeing how we treat those who are vulnerable. Because you know, I mean, it's, if you perceive somebody to be of equal strength, of course you're going to treat them well. Or if you think somebody is stronger than you, of course you're going to be nice to them, right? But when somebody is vulnerable, how do you treat them? You may have heard the corporate adage, if you watch how somebody treats a waiter or a waitress, a lot of times you'll see what their emotions are towards the human race in particular.

And that might be a massive overgeneralization, but there's some truth in that. So he's demonstrating his love towards, I don't know if it's a romantic love or he just sees her vulnerability and is trying to minister to her. We're not sure. But look at her response in verse 10. So she fell on her face, bowed to the ground and said to him, why have I found favor in your eyes? Because you should take notice of me since I am a foreigner.

See Ruth is an outcast and she's a stranger. And she's saying, why are you being good to me? Why are you being nice to me?

Why are you loving on me? It's really an amazing story. It's an amazing book, but this is an amazing story. When you start to look at Boaz and Ruth, I don't think anything in fiction even compares with it.

It's almost as amazing as the story we find ourselves in. Oh yeah, Boaz was a very powerful man and well-respected and whatnot. And Ruth was a Moabitess, but we're involved in even a better story than that. See, God is a perfect God.

You want to talk about power? He created the heavens and the earth. Do you think that God pursued you because there was some spark of innate human goodness? A spark of innate human goodness in you? That wasn't it. Do you think that God pursued you because there was just some gift and talent that he was poverty-stricken for and couldn't find him, somebody else?

That wasn't it. And over and over, yeah, I'm brought back to this place of looking to the Lord and saying, you know what, why have I found favor in your eyes? I think about it every Thursday night and Sunday morning and most days in between. Lord, why have I found favor in your eyes? That you would love me, that you would pursue me, that you would pick me up when I have fallen, that you would point me in the right direction. See, we can be captivated by the romance of this story, but you know what, man, be captivated by the romance of Jesus towards you because even as messed up and as scarred up and as scarred up as perhaps only you know that you are, Jesus knows that and he loves you. And I think every one of us has to come to that point and go, you know what, why have I found favor in your eyes? Book of Romans puts it like this, that God demonstrates his own love towards us and that why we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. It's because he loved us. You can look at the Bible and you can look at our own lives.

I mean, this is the reality. I'm going to get you in a whole lot of trouble with me right now. We are rebellious, we're stubborn, we're prideful, we're arrogant, we get off track so quickly, we're easily distracted, we're getting to trouble so easy. Those are our good points. And God loves us. May the wonder of it all just sink into your heart and into your mind. Next time you stumble, next time you fall, that you would just stop and think, I messed up again, but God loves me. Why have I found grace in your sight? Indeed. Verse 11, and Boaz answered and said to her, it has been fully reported to me all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband and how you left your father and your mother in the land of your birth and have come to a people whom you did not know before.

So guess what? In this little town of Bethlehem, people were talking. People were talking about Ruth and Naomi and how Ruth came to be there and you realize, you know, people talk and it's not always bad things.

People sometimes talk about the good things that happen in your life and we always think they're talking about the bad things, but sometimes they talk about the good things. You're listening to Pastor David McKee on Cross the Bridge. He'll be back with more in just a moment, but first there's so much waiting for you at crossthebridge.com. If you haven't visited crossthebridge.com yet, come by today and check it out. While you're there, you can sign up for Pastor David's free daily devotional. Listen to more teachings from Pastor David and read about what God's doing through your support to proclaim his word through radio, internet, and mobile technologies. Also, you can give online to help encourage more people in their faith on this radio station and beyond. And when you do, please request your copy of Pastor David's four-part teaching series, Living Life by the Book, as our thanks for your generosity.

Visit crossthebridge.com today. Now back to today's teaching. In verse 12, the Lord repay your work and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge. He says, you know what? God sees. God sees you left your mother and your father. God sees and hears that you said to Naomi, your God will be my God. God sees you pouring yourself out. That's important for us to remember. Hebrews 6, 10, and I love this verse. It says, for God is not unfair. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other Christians as you still do. God sees. God knows. And that's of such comfort.

Why? Because a lot of things that happen around here, they happen behind the scenes. There's a lot of people that work very hard here to do things that nobody else really sees them doing. See, from my standpoint, as I study and as I do things and I come out here and present these things, you guys kind of know a lot of what I do here.

But there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes. And if these people were doing it just to hear you say thank you, they'd have quit a long time ago. They're doing it because they know the Lord sees it all. And the Lord will be faithful to reward. The first life lesson, God will bless those who care for his people. God will bless those who care for his people without exception. As you begin to pour out on God's people, as you begin to pray for God's people, as you begin to serve with and serve God's people, God will bless you for that. Now, whether you pour out for an hour a week or two hours a week or a day a week, God will see that and God will reward that.

And Ruth had begun to care for Naomi and God saw that and God said, you know, I'm going to bless her. Let's understand something because we get a little confused sometimes about this concept. About rewards. First Corinthians chapter 3 verse 8 says, Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. So you're rewarded according to what you do for the Lord.

Colossians speaks of this in 323-224. It says, And whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ. That's something important for us to remember. If you serve here, yeah, you're helping other people, but you're serving the Lord.

Remember that. Because see, let me assure you something. There will come a time when God will test you. And if you're doing it for other people, God will test that. And you'll stop. You'll quit. See, we started the home Bible study and it was just me and my wife and the three children and I was doing it because God told me to do it.

Not for the reward of other people. And occasionally, you know what will happen around here is I'll be walking around the church and somebody will be doing something and they'll be like, hey pastor, I'm vacuuming. And I'm going, oh.

And I appreciate them vacuuming, but you know what I know in my heart? God's going to test that. God's going to test it. And if their motivations are wrong, God has a way of purifying those motivations. If you've ever stepped out to serve the Lord, you've seen this happen. You've seen that happen where God tests that.

Now, let's understand something. Salvation is by grace alone. In other words, when you come to the Lord and ask Him to forgive you of your sins, God does not say, okay, give me a list of your good works.

No, no, no, no, no. Your entrance into heaven has nothing to do with what you do for the Lord. You get in by grace and grace alone.

We need to be clear on that. As a matter of fact, we need to be so clear that Jesus tells us the story that people will be coming to the entrance of heaven and they'll be going, well, yeah, but I did this and I did that and I did this and I did that. And He's going to look at them and say, what, you didn't do enough?

No, He looks at them and says, I never knew you. So knowing Him, being saved is by grace and grace alone. But heavenly rewards are different. Heavenly rewards are according to Scripture based upon what we do for Him. And if you're pouring yourself out for Him, then you will reap heavenly rewards.

You are storing up heavenly rewards. So we need to understand that we are saved by grace, but there is the concept of rewards being, according to these last couple of Scriptures and many others, according to our own labor. And to remember that it's Jesus that we serve. And you're going to have, as you step out to serve, you're going to have adversity. It's going to happen as you're tested in your motivation and you're tested in what you want to do for the Lord and as you serve Him. And you know what, sometimes we bail right before God blesses.

Don't do that. You know, life on the road, I could tell you so many stories about God coming through. And when we first started, it was such a, there was just so many instances where I was on pins and needles about what was going to happen. Because we just never knew week to week, month to month, day to day, what was going to happen. And sometimes, to be honest, I would get anxious. Oh Lord, what are you doing?

We need this and we need that and the motor home needs this and it's broken. And you know, reminding Him of things I'm sure He already knew. And then God would come through every time.

And I'll be honest with you, I got tired of that sheepish feeling. Whenever God came through, you know, and I would be like, well, I knew you were going to come through God. And then the Lord says, you knew I was going to come through. I thought you were going to come through God. You thought I was going to come through.

I was hoping you were going to come through God. I love the story Pastor Chuck tells. He was bivocational. He's pastoring and working a job at the grocery store. And, you know, and they were going through a really hard time and he was kind of moping around the house. And then somebody called and said, hey, you know, God laid on my heart, send you guys a check.

I'm sending you a check for $412. And it was the exact amount that they needed. So, you know, Pastor Chuck hung up the phone. He was like, oh, praise God. Thank you, Jesus. I just so appreciate you Lord. And in that still small voice, the Lord said, hey, you know, he's going to send it. Oh Lord, don't do that.

Don't say that, Lord. I know he's going to send it because he said he was going to send it. The Lord said, oh, okay. So when a man gives you his word, he's going to meet your need.

You're jumping around the house. But when I told you I was going to meet your need, you're moping. And he said, wow, Lord, let me never again do that.

Let me realize that you're a big enough God to take care of every need that I had. The sad thing in this book is that Orpah bailed. You know, the last chapter, the one that married Naomi's other son turns back and goes back to Moab. And it makes me wonder, man, what kind of blessings did she miss out on?

Why? Because she bailed because of the hardships. And then it's sad to see because I think a lot of times we do, people bail right before God's getting ready to pour out his blessing on them. It gets tough and I understand it gets tough, but man, don't get weary and well-doing because you never know when there's going to be that breakthrough moment when God is just going to dump blessings all over you.

And a lot of times right before that point, it gets the hardest. And Orpah bailed and she missed out on a major blessing. In verse 13, then she said, let me find favor in your sight, my Lord, for you have comforted me and have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I'm not like one of your maidservants. So she noticed she was different and being different can be a very good thing. Verse 14, now Boaz said to her at mealtime, come here and eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.

So she sat down beside the reapers and he passed parched grain to her and she ate and was satisfied and kept some back. This is an interesting picture. The reason this is an interesting picture is it talks about vinegar.

Vinegar in that day was made from soured wine, made from grapes. So Boaz is inviting her to take part and to eat bread and to have wine. I think it's an interesting picture.

Why? Because those are the two elements that we use in communion, the bread and the wine. And there's a picture here that we're going to see develop more and more as we go through the book of Boaz being a type of, or a picture of Jesus. Ruth really has nothing to offer him, just like we have nothing to offer Jesus.

Yet Boaz pursues Ruth, encourages Ruth, seeks her out, speaks to her, calls her name, encourages her, tells her he's going to support her and look after her needs, just like Jesus does with us. And from the get-go, he says, you know what? Come on and sit down. Let's have bread and wine. Let's have bread and this vinegar, which they would dip the bread in the vinegar. They still do sort of that same thing.

Sort of that same thing today. Or maybe you've been to Italian restaurants that bring out the oil and they bring out the, you know, sometimes there's balsamic vinegar or stuff in there. Actually, every time you see that, you should think of Jesus.

You know why? Because that concept kind of came through the Romans and through the Greeks. And the Greeks would dip, take the bread and Jesus being born in the house of bread, Bethlehem, and he said, I am the bread of heaven. You take the bread and you dip it in the oil. Now the Greeks had an interesting word for that, Christos, because you were anointing your bread with oil. See, Christos is the anointed one is what that word means. It's the Greek word for the Hebrew word Mashiach, which is Messiah. So every time you go to a restaurant and you take that bread and you dip it in oil, think of the anointed one. Think of Christos.

Has nothing to do with the book of Ruth. I was just throwing that in. That's a freebie.

We're not going to charge you for that one. But here's Boaz saying, hey, come and eat bread and the fruit of the vine and be blessed. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking him to help you to live for him. Now, God wants you to pray this prayer so much that he died to give you the opportunity and the ability to ask him to forgive you.

Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me that I could be forgiven. And I believe you were raised from the dead that I could have a new life. And I've done wrong things. I have sinned and I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer, according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. Jesus said he would not turn anybody away who comes to him. And he came for those people who knew they needed forgiveness. Those who were sick, not the righteous.

So congratulations, friend, you just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can call us toll free at 877-458-5508 to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ. Do you ever feel beaten down or even crushed by the difficulties of life? We all do sometimes, but Jesus offers a life of hope and we want to help you embrace it. Discover how Christ empowers you to rise above life circumstances with Pastor David's four-part teaching series, Living Life by the Book. This uplifting resource takes you through the Book of Ruth to reveal how the simplicity of living for Jesus can bring you joy, even in the darkest times. Living Life by the Book is our thanks for your generous gift today to help more people hear God's truth on this station and beyond so they can cross the bridge from death to life. Please visit crossthebridge.com today to give and get your copy of Living Life by the Book. You know each day comes with its share of stresses, so what better way to wake up than with an encouraging word from the Lord? Visit crossthebridge.com and sign up now for David McKee's email devotionals. Each devotion includes a scripture and a message from the heart of David McKee. It's easy and it's free. Sign up today at crossthebridge.com. Thanks again for listening. Join us next time as we continue in the Book of Ruth.