WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:02.000 Good morning. 00:00:02.720 --> 00:00:16.079 Such a joy to be with you this morning to worship our Lord and Savior who lived and died so that sinners like you and me from all across the world can find rest and worship him. 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:17.760 What a joy it is. 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:21.839 My name is John Prabaker, and I'm here with my wife Kelly Beth. 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:30.239 I came to the US 2013 for our studies at RTS in Jackson, and that's where we met. 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:38.799 And we've been sent by Mississippi Presbytery through Mission to the World to plant a church in Bangalore. 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:50.560 So we are part of a church planting team in the city of 12 million people in a country of 1.3 billion, 90% of whom have never heard the full gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:00:50.880 --> 00:00:55.439 And our mission is to take the gospel to as many people as we can. 00:00:55.600 --> 00:01:00.079 And since the local church is Jesus' idea, we want to plant one. 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:23.840 And we ask you that you join us in praying as we uh as uh as New City Fellowship, which was itself planted by PCA missionaries a few years ago, um, has uh is now uh multiplying to planting a new church in the middle in the northern part of the city, um in our neighborhood, actually, um where we live called Redeemer City Church. 00:01:23.920 --> 00:01:25.439 So please be in prayer for that. 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:32.239 We want to I want to thank you so much for supporting the work of the gospel in Bangalore and in India. 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:40.480 God has used uh your efforts and answered your prayers um in many small and big ways. 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:44.959 So thank you so much for your partnership with us in the gospel. 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:49.040 And I'm very grateful to get to preach God's word to you this morning. 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:54.400 So please turn in your Bibles to Ruth chapter one. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:58.400 Um Ruth chapter one, it's right after Judges. 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:05.120 Uh it's printed in one of your uh handouts as well, or you can thumb your way on your phone to it. 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:10.479 This is God's word. 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:15.919 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:23.599 And a man of Bethlehem and Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:32.080 The name of the man was Elimelech, and his and the name of his two and his wife, Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Malon and Kileon. 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:35.280 There were Ephraithites from Bet Bethlehem and Judah. 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:38.319 They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:43.759 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:49.919 These took Moabite wives, the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:58.879 They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Kilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:09.520 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:17.759 So she set out from the place where she was with the two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:24.000 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each of you to her mother's house. 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:28.719 May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:34.879 The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:38.719 Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. 00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:43.759 And they said to her, No, we will return with you to your people. 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:48.400 But Naomi said, Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:52.400 Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:57.120 Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:05.280 If I should say I have h hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, would you therefore wait till they were grown? 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:07.759 Would you therefore refrain from marrying? 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:14.879 No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me. 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:18.160 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:22.959 And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:28.639 And she said, See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. 00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:30.720 Return after your sister-in-law. 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:40.879 But Ruth said, Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you, for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:45.519 Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:49.600 Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:55.199 May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you. 00:04:55.680 --> 00:05:00.319 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:07.439 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem, and when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:10.399 And the women said, Is this Naomi? 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:20.800 She said to them, Do not call me Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:25.839 I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:33.360 Why call me Naomi when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me? 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:44.879 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab, and they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of Bali harvest. 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:59.120 Our Father and our God, this is your word, and we are your people, and here we are at your disposal to do what you will by your spirit to work in us. 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:16.319 So would you please lay the weight and the promises of the truths of your word with deep conviction in our hearts that our souls might be stirred to live for Christ our King and make Him known around the world? 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:18.639 In Jesus' name, Amen. 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:20.800 Home. 00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:23.439 Home. 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:30.800 So one word that but what what picture comes to your mind when you think of home? 00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:36.399 What emotions evoke in your heart when you think of home? 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:49.519 A place of excitement, a place where you belong, a place where you know the people, a place maybe where you can more than elsewhere be a little of yourself. 00:06:50.480 --> 00:06:54.319 A place where you are known by the others. 00:06:55.519 --> 00:07:04.240 Um a place, some of you, depending on your upbringing, is actually a place of pain, of hurt. 00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:11.439 So when you're out in the world and you're working on a Monday, you can't wait to get home. 00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:16.560 To be free from the regular stresses of life. 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:19.920 And to some degree suffering, even. 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:25.759 To go back home, find refuge, find rest. 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:31.279 Suffering and home have this unique relationship. 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:40.000 The extent and degree to which we engage with one, to that extent, will we long for the other. 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:46.160 To the degree to which we suffer, to that degree will we long for home. 00:07:46.959 --> 00:08:02.800 Uh as Kellibhut and I have traveled and lived in the US, now live in uh India, and if you uh were to talk to Laura and Foster, who who live in Italy and now are back for a brief period, or even the report we just heard, who moved to Atlanta. 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:05.199 You know, you talk about home. 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:09.120 Having lived in different places, what is home? 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:11.680 Is it where we live or where we grew up? 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:16.959 Uh but like my wife, whose dad is a Southern Baptist miss, they've moved around all over the place. 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:22.079 Uh, when you ask her where she's from, she has no idea how to answer that question. 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:24.639 Uh they've moved around quite a bit. 00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:34.799 But yet we all have this picture, this idea of what we want to find in a home, don't we? 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:38.159 We want it to be free of suffering. 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:42.480 We don't want to go home and experience more suffering, of course. 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:49.759 But yet, to whatever degree, it is still a place where there's relational conflict. 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:55.759 It is still a place where there's much pain to varying degrees. 00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:59.440 India is actually the Asia's suicide capital. 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:04.480 Bangalore is has one of one of uh India's highest suicide rates. 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:21.519 Because people leave their own native homes in their villages and towns, come to big cities in search of job opportunities to acquire wealth to some degree, to take care of their own families, in hopes maybe they'll find a better life. 00:09:21.840 --> 00:09:28.320 But you see, Bangalore, like much of the global cities of the world, we suffer from social fragmentation. 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:40.960 We are so lost in the sea of faces of 12 million people in Bangalore that people are longing for home but never really finding a place they belong. 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:46.159 So if you're here like that this morning, you're in the right place. 00:09:46.720 --> 00:10:08.399 Because both Bangaloreans and Birmingham are encountering three women who have gone through much suffering in their life, who also, like us, because it's a human need, have a longing for a home, but yet with three different expectations of such a home. 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:11.360 So we'll follow the narrative of these three women. 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:14.879 The first two will go by rather quickly than the third one, okay? 00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:17.679 The first one is Orpa. 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:21.840 Orpah, who settles for a lesser home. 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:25.919 You see, Orpah has grown up in Moab all her life. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:29.919 She's worshipped her gods, she's worshipped many gods. 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:35.919 They probably, as a family, had their own worship room, like many Indian Hindus. 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:39.120 Um, they have their own puja room, as they call it. 00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:43.440 She's worshipped them, she's sacrificed to them, she has a community. 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:55.279 But now when these when a son, when a Yahwehite son marries Orpah, naturally she's ostracized from her community. 00:10:55.600 --> 00:11:02.080 Because Yahwehites are exclusive, they don't worship the many gods, but the one true and living God. 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:17.279 She is she's been ostracized from her friends, and so she comes to this, enters this new home, this covenant household, hoping for a new life, maybe even a better life. 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:21.679 But you see, suffering has laid siege on this family. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:29.440 She's come home to this new family without a father-in-law, where the sons are the only hope. 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:35.279 So she marries one of them, and she finds somewhat of a friend in her mother-in-law, Naomi. 00:11:35.840 --> 00:11:42.559 They're reasonably close, as we can expect, as we can see from this passage, they're somewhat close to one another. 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:44.480 They like each other. 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:50.799 But you see, as hardship of life would have it, well, the son dies. 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:54.159 In fact, both the daughters-in-law lose their husbands. 00:11:54.399 --> 00:11:58.000 Naomi loses both her sons. 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:07.840 There is no future prospect in this culture for a home without a man who provides for them almost exclusively. 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:15.919 It's now up to these three women to make their way up in life, but Naomi is old, which means the daughters have now to work. 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:29.519 Orpah has now to work, and now they're on their way to not just a covenant commun covenant family, but a covenant community in Israel, back in Judah. 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:44.399 So they're probably walking towards the salt sea that's that divides Judah and Moab, and they're about to catch a ferry to go across into Judah, and it strikes Naomi, this is not your home, girls. 00:12:44.879 --> 00:12:46.799 You should go back home. 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:49.840 You don't belong to this new community. 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:52.399 We are exclusive people. 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:55.519 We worship this Yahweh. 00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:03.919 But as you can, as you've heard from Naomi's own lips, she doesn't think this Yahweh is that is all that very good. 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:12.080 She encourages Orpah and Ruth to go back to their gods, to go back to their family. 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:21.600 You just you just recant, you denounce the Yahweh religion, the Yahweh faith, and then you go back and they'll welcome you back. 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:36.480 And perhaps, she says, You may find rest, you may find menukah in Hebrew, you may find a home with them because you're sure not to find it with Yahweh. 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:43.600 And Orpah, having heard Naomi's able defense, gives in. 00:13:44.879 --> 00:14:21.360 So the options before her are Yahweh and his promise of a Messiah who will rid the world of all sin and misery and all suffering, and rid people like Orpah, even, of all tears and agony and of all relational conflict, all of that on one hand, along with some suffering, to temporal relief, some material comfort, some belonging, only to lose out on the eternal home. 00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:24.639 And Orpah settles for less. 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:27.840 She settles for a lesser home. 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:42.399 You see, Orpah is a case in point of someone who has considered the truth claims of Christianity, and there are many in the US and in India who have considered the truth claims of Christianity, but the cost is too heavy. 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:45.440 The cost is too much. 00:14:46.960 --> 00:15:01.120 To suffer ostracization from my own community, to be disowned by my family, that cost is too much, a burden, too much to bear. 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:04.159 I'd rather have orpah things. 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:16.720 I'd rather have some material comfort, some temporal good, with maybe a little bit of suffering than risk all of that. 00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:23.840 On this journey, when I've already suffered so much suffering, how is the home gonna be any better? 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:30.559 So Orpah settles for a lesser home. 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:38.480 Perhaps you're here this morning and you have had one goal in life to make it big. 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:41.279 It's the American dream. 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:57.200 It's to study well, work hard, uh while you have energy in your body, make a ton of money, make get a bigger home, have a little bit of a family, and get a few cars and settle well. 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:00.159 And that's your idea of a home. 00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:08.799 To alleviate as much natural suffering and stresses of life as possible in this world. 00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:12.159 Maybe that's your idea of home. 00:16:12.559 --> 00:16:20.240 And you see, Orpah would be on your side, who settled for a much lesser home. 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:30.960 We have been offered a much grander home, a much bigger home where there is much safety and security. 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:37.200 And Naomi is that one woman who, in this story, has been in that home. 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:45.679 She's grown up in that household, having tasted the promises of Yahweh as a little child, as a little covenant daughter. 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:48.399 She's grown up hearing of all these promises. 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:52.080 But in this story, it's remarkable. 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:55.679 She's blind to a beautiful home. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:58.799 She's gone through a lot in life. 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:11.039 She's left her home with her people, her community, her friends, and all of that social setting to this new country with her husband. 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:15.599 She's fled with her two little sons, Mahlon and Kilion. 00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:18.319 Great names for your sons, by the way. 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:20.799 Um, she's fled with them. 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:30.240 I'm sure it was a hard decision, but you see, you want to sympathize on the one hand, and yet the context gives a bigger picture of what's going on. 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:39.200 The reason why Elamelech fled with his family is because God was visiting his people with judgment. 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:44.400 They had, they are living in times of the judges, that's what verse 1 says. 00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:47.839 And you remember what the last verse of Judges is? 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:51.839 Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. 00:17:52.400 --> 00:17:55.279 That's a terrible place to be, by the way. 00:17:55.599 --> 00:18:16.000 And just to give an example, if you were to walk out here right now, I mean, not right now, stay till the end of worship, but after worship, you were to go out and the just imagine that for some reason the government of Alabama said, we're gonna suspend all traffic laws for one day, which means you can do what you want. 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:23.759 If you want to drive on the left side of the road, as we do in India, you can do it, but you can stay on the right side if you want. 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:28.960 Or if you want to ride a car, that's okay, but if you want to write drive a bulldozer, why not? 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:35.759 Uh, or if you want to stop at a red light, you may, but if you feel like going, go for it. 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:38.960 Just imagine the chaos that'll ensue. 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:43.759 It doesn't, it's not too far from that that Bangalore is, by the way. 00:18:43.839 --> 00:18:45.680 It's it is kind of chaotic. 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:51.440 Um, but imagine the chaos if everyone did what was right in their own eyes. 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:59.359 But then spiritually, spiritually, each of us did what was right in our own eyes. 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:11.440 And so Elamelech, whose name means my God is king, contrary to his name, flees from his king and runs to Moab, an enemy of Israel. 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:21.759 He finds, he seeks to find refuge for him and his family from God with God's enemies. 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:25.200 What a miserable state that is. 00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:37.279 And Naomi, throughout this passage, she doesn't seem to be encouraging these little these girls to go with her to the new land, right? 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:39.440 She's discouraging them on the contrary. 00:19:39.519 --> 00:19:41.839 She's saying, There is no good in that land. 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:43.759 Don't don't come with me, girls. 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:45.359 Go back to your gods. 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:49.759 You know, my God is king and all of that, but I'm not sure he's good. 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:51.839 Go back to your gods. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:58.960 Maybe they'll be better to you and kinder to you than my Yahweh has been to me. 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:03.680 And because of your relationship with me, you have suffered the brunt too. 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:13.839 I mean, that's like you and me saying, walking out the street, telling people about Jesus and saying, but life is gonna be hard. 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:15.359 Go back to your gods. 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:17.599 There's no point in worshiping Jesus. 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:21.680 Naomi makes for a lousy evangelist. 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:22.319 Really? 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:24.640 She really does. 00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:42.000 And so if you're here and receiving some correction from God directly or through a formal church disciplinary process, don't run. 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:47.599 The reason you're being disciplined is because the father loves you. 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:49.920 Stay. 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:57.039 Receive the temporary rod of correction so that you may save your soul eternally. 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:00.480 That's the hope we have, right? 00:21:01.359 --> 00:21:05.119 Don't be like Elimelech who who ran away with his family. 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:07.200 You know, C.S. 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:14.480 Lewis says we can ignore pleasure, but pain insists on being attended to. 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:23.440 God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:28.240 It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world. 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:43.119 And contrary to the suffering of life rousing a deaf world at the deaf ears of Orpah and Naomi, Orpah settles for less and it blinds Naomi's eyes. 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:45.680 She scales her eyes up. 00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:52.160 She is so discouraging to both Orpah and Ruth. 00:21:52.799 --> 00:22:00.880 And so we come to our third woman of the story, Ruth, who enters a A home. 00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:06.400 She has gone through hard providence, like Orpah, and to some degree with Naomi. 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:09.119 She has lost her husband too, like Orpa. 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:22.000 She's a Moabite, which means she has been ostracized from her community and potentially even kicked out of her family because they're so exclusive Yahweh people. 00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:25.200 She's experienced a lot of hardship. 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:27.279 She has no sons either. 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:29.680 She needs to figure out life. 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:47.839 And yet, contrary to suffering, pulling Orpa away, pulling her away like Orpah, or blinding her eyes like Naomi, it catapults her forward into deeper trust in Yahweh and his promises. 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:49.440 Do you see that here? 00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:53.039 The way she says, Don't urge me to leave you, woman. 00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:55.839 She doesn't say that, but it sounds like it. 00:22:58.079 --> 00:22:59.759 Where you go, I will go. 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:01.759 Where you live, I will live. 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:04.160 Your people are my people. 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:06.319 Your God are my God. 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:08.400 Where you die, I will die. 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:09.839 And there will I be buried. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:13.599 And until death parts me, woman, no one's gonna take me from here. 00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:18.559 You see that sense of intense commitment in Ruth? 00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:21.119 So you have to ask the question. 00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:23.839 All of them seem to have gone through suffering. 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:37.920 All of them have an expectation of a home because Naomi says, Perhaps you can go back and the Lord may grant that you find rest, she says in verses 9 and 10. 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:48.240 And that word really is a place, home, a secure, safe haven, free from this kind of suffering where you can actually rest. 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:51.920 All of them have this longing for home. 00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:54.640 All three of them have experienced suffering. 00:23:54.960 --> 00:24:04.960 How is it we must ask that Ruth experiences something different to say what she does? 00:24:05.519 --> 00:24:06.720 What is it? 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:14.880 You see, Ruth has heard of Yahweh's promises. 00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:17.200 She has heard. 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:25.359 She has read, she has probably heard from Naomi about the stories of God's redemption from Exodus. 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:40.240 How God has parted the Red Sea and after four hundred years of slavery, has brought them remarkably by splitting the ocean and led them through the promised land. 00:24:40.960 --> 00:24:49.920 And yet, this God would make a people so rebellious, his own people. 00:24:50.720 --> 00:25:02.240 Time and again, Naomi has told Ruth and Orpa perhaps even that you know, we have been so bad and such bad people to God. 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:07.119 We have disobeyed him and dishonored him, and yet he loves us. 00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:18.960 He's a God, Ruth must have heard somehow that he's a God slow to anger, rich in love, and abounding in covenant love. 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:33.839 She must have heard that Abraham was chosen from among the lot of the world through whom redemption might be played out in this world as we know it. 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:38.400 And Ruth hears all of that and she says, Sign me up. 00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:42.000 I want in on that news. 00:25:43.119 --> 00:25:47.119 I want to be a part of the story. 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:53.200 And your lousy evangelism, Naomi, is not gonna stop me from that. 00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:58.319 Isn't it such an encouragement to us that God can use lousy evangelists? 00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:00.559 It really is. 00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:03.680 That God can use lousy evangelists. 00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:11.279 And this Ruth, she sees that, she sees a great hope in the gospel. 00:26:12.640 --> 00:26:42.319 She sees, she hears of the story, and she says, wait a minute, unlike Elimelech, and this is the gospel, my dear friends, unlike Elimelech, who fled from suffering, your Savior and Roots left his home with his father, entered our place, this world of suffering, and when we weren't even asking for forgiveness, purchase forgiveness for us. 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:43.200 Amen. 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:59.599 When Naomi was so forcefully discouraging of Ruth to settle for less, tempting her, and Orpah gave in, and Ruth probably fought with all her might. 00:26:59.759 --> 00:27:01.440 Jesus is better than Ruth. 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:04.079 He fought against Satan. 00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:13.119 If you and I had 50 years to prepare, to have a battle plan to go to war against someone, that would be good, wouldn't it? 00:27:14.079 --> 00:27:18.240 Satan had thousands of years to prepare for this time against Jesus. 00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:21.440 He gathered up all of his best tactics. 00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:26.160 He brought the best of his legions to fight against against Jesus. 00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:28.799 And he was defeated. 00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:35.920 From the garden to the cross, he was defeated. 00:27:36.799 --> 00:27:39.680 Christ is victorious. 00:27:40.319 --> 00:27:44.319 This gospel, my friends, Ruth wanted in. 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:46.960 And she says, I want in. 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:51.680 And this gospel is for everybody who would have it. 00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:53.039 How do we know that? 00:27:53.200 --> 00:27:56.640 Because you see, Ruth is a Moabite woman. 00:27:57.599 --> 00:28:00.079 Let me give you a refresher on the history here. 00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:05.359 Ruth belongs to a very scandalous people group. 00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:12.480 She belongs to the people group that came out of Moab, a man named Moab. 00:28:13.359 --> 00:28:15.759 Do you know whose son Moab is? 00:28:16.480 --> 00:28:23.519 He is the son of the elder daughter who, after she slept with her father Lot, gave birth to him. 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:26.160 It's a scandalous past. 00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:34.559 And yet, with such a horrible past, she comes and finds a new home with this Yahweh. 00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:37.279 My dear friends, this gospel is for you. 00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:42.319 The offer of a better home is for you. 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:55.359 The grandest of dreams of this world pales in comparison at best with the offer that Jesus is offering to you and to me right now. 00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:01.039 This gospel is worth risking everything for. 00:29:02.640 --> 00:29:15.519 And that's what compelled Ruth to go on this journey despite the suffering that she had, despite the looks around, everything that there was around her was discouraging. 00:29:15.680 --> 00:29:18.160 If she had only had to set eyes on that. 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:35.200 Not a kind of home that's having a lot of sin with each other like we do now, and we do have to bear with one another. 00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:39.759 But what what we've been promised is much better than what we are living now. 00:29:40.319 --> 00:29:46.400 What we have now is only a down payment of what we are to experience soon. 00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:53.039 Jesus has promised that the heavenly Jerusalem will descend. 00:29:54.240 --> 00:29:59.200 People from every tribe, tongue, and nation will be in that home. 00:29:59.680 --> 00:30:02.559 Ruth will be in that home. 00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:09.200 You Gentiles and a Gentile like me will be in that home. 00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:14.160 Jews who have trusted in Christ will be in that home. 00:30:15.119 --> 00:30:22.960 The Lord's table that we are about to partake here is a feast that Christ has set for everybody. 00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:33.440 When Jesus sits down to eat with us, there'll be all kinds of shades of people there. 00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:38.559 That is our hope, my dear friends. 00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:40.960 We want that. 00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:45.759 Don't settle for anything less than that. 00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:57.839 And whatever it takes to make this gospel known to as many people as possible, wherever we are, let's make it happen. 00:30:59.839 --> 00:31:06.480 Some of you, it might mean that you sacrifice a bigger amount of your paycheck than you already are. 00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:15.599 That giving to the church or giving to missions is not the last thing on your budget, but it's one of the first things in your budget. 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:21.759 It's not something that you get to to see how much is left after everything else and then get to it. 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:22.319 No. 00:31:23.359 --> 00:31:29.200 It might be that God is calling you to put it up higher up in your budget. 00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:36.720 For some of you, it may be that God is even calling you to go to the mission field. 00:31:37.119 --> 00:31:45.359 It might be an international student ministry like we've heard in another part of the country, or maybe even in this city, to reach out to the international students. 00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:50.160 But it may be that you're called to relocate to another country. 00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:59.680 And it may be that you may be called to relocate to another country where you may be asked to give your life up for this gospel. 00:32:00.640 --> 00:32:02.319 Are you okay with that? 00:32:03.920 --> 00:32:12.640 Parents, are you okay with encouraging your children with this mission, with this gospel in mind, and as the motivation? 00:32:14.079 --> 00:32:20.880 And if it means that you sacrifice your relationship, are you okay with that? 00:32:21.680 --> 00:32:25.519 Is this gospel worth that relationship? 00:32:26.160 --> 00:32:31.039 Is this gospel worth your comfort, my dear friends? 00:32:32.079 --> 00:32:37.200 Brothers and sisters, Christ has given his all. 00:33:02.400 --> 00:33:08.079 That he yells out, no one comes to God except through me. 00:33:08.319 --> 00:33:12.960 I want my fellow countrymen to come and experience this love. 00:33:13.759 --> 00:33:22.720 Our missionaries here, they want to experience their students or the gullets in Italy, their Italian friends, to come and experience this love. 00:33:24.319 --> 00:33:27.680 This love of the Father in Christ. 00:33:28.960 --> 00:33:31.680 That's worth risking everything for. 00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:45.200 And if you're here and you have never tasted this love, I beg you. 00:33:47.440 --> 00:33:58.079 Come home to the Father who has loved this world and given up his son for you and for me. 00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:01.279 Come home. 00:34:02.640 --> 00:34:04.000 Let's pray. 00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:11.920 Our Father and our God, we thank you for this glorious gospel. 00:34:14.079 --> 00:34:23.760 That we can go to any corner of this world that I would be here and worship you the same way that I did a few weeks ago in Bangalore. 00:34:23.920 --> 00:34:53.519 What a glorious gospel! And yet, Father, there are so many who are yet to hear of this glorious news, to taste your love, find this eternal home where they can be free from suffering one day, free from their own sin, and experience your eternal love forever. 00:34:54.400 --> 00:35:02.400 Oh God, oh God, send more people to the ends of the earth to proclaim the gospel. 00:35:03.519 --> 00:35:13.519 Send more church members from this congregation as missionaries to the ends of the earth for the sake of the gospel. 00:35:14.320 --> 00:35:21.039 Oh Father, your love and to proclaim it is worth sacrificing our lives for. 00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:39.280 Oh God, may the gospel compel us to live holy lives and to sacrifice all that we tend to hold dear to make Christ known across the street and around the world. 00:35:39.920 --> 00:35:41.440 In Jesus' name. 00:35:41.760 --> 00:35:42.400 Amen.