Wednesday Night Bible Study

and praise the Lord everyone prise the Lord we greet you tonight in the wonderful name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the only name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved aren't you glad you know that name tonight I thought about the question that Pastor Whitley uh quoted someone had asked since God is everywhere why do we go to church because we're not everywhere that's right I'm not everywhere God is but we're not everywhere and Hebrews 10:2 2425 says now let us consider one another to provoke and to love and good work not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the matter of some is but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching for if we sin willfully after we've received the knowledge of the truth there remain no more sacrifice for sin it kind of sounds to me like forsaking yourselves uh assembling together uh you you're love to get into a position that you're sinning willfully when you know you should be gathered together and you don't gather together but he said not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together that's the joy of being in the house of the Lord is assembling uh ourselves together with one another all right tonight we are um embarking on a study that uh I decided that I've studied we're a couple of lessons behind and before this is over we may be further behind because um the first two lessons in this series is uh uh two books you need to read the book of Ruth and also you need to read the entire Book of Jonah and um the uh actually the the uh let's see the the topic of of the lesson is U series two God is faithful and I've got news for you that is a true statement God is faithful you don't have to worry about God's faithfulness God is indeed faithful and U tonight's lesson is uh uh Ruth and the delivery and I decided that I would just print out the whole book of Ruth of course there not but four chapters and um start out and see how far we get and starting at verse one now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land and a certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab he and his wife and his two sons and we could stop right there and spend the whole night studying that one verse there was a famine in the Land There is going to be uh the Bible speaks of uh seasons and there are seasons that you're going to go through we're going to have we're going to have a a hard times bad times and and we got to learn how to go through those times and um there was a famine in the land and a certain man uh a Bethlehem Judah he sojourned in the country of Moab now that word sojourn means a temporary visit a traveler and you're not going to stay it's just a visit so his uh his idea and his plan was he had a wife and two sons and and uh now Bethlehem the name of Bethlehem means the House of Bread the House of Bread it was going through a temporary famine and he decided he'd try to find some fine bread someplace else and he sojourned in another land the land of Moab which was an idolatry a land of idolatry and they they didn't worship Jehovah God they didn't worship the Hebrews God and he was just going down there his intentions were for a temporary stay until the famine was over and that in itself tells us a lot a lot of us move when we should be setting still when uh uh Abraham and lot were traveling together and and they became so prosperous that their herdsmen couldn't get along with one another Lots herdsman and Abraham's hman they were arguing over territory and Abraham told lot said uh we can't we can't get along so you you go with one way and I'll go the other and um lot looked and he saw the wellwater plains of Sodom and he saw the Green Grass and he saw all the the great potential and he chose the well-watered plains of Sodom Abraham took the mountains he took the what appeared to be the less desirable territory but and lot choosing as he did did not take into consideration the welfare of his family and and he he he went to Sodom and he he became the equivalent of Mayor of the town and he really was going great but he went into a Sin City and things turned bad because it was a a city filled with sin uh when the Angels came to his door to tell him to to get out of the city because God was going to destroy it the men of the city saw the angels and they came to his door and and lot had to bring them in inside because these were homosexual men and they were Desiring these strange men this is the kind of environment that lot took his family into and in so doing his wife as they were leaving his wife looked back turned to a pillar of salt he finally found a place and and he committed adultery with his own two daughters they got him drunk and what a terrible mess he got into by leaving Father Abraham now almc he was taking his family to sojourn into the land of Moab that word sojourn was he was only going for a little while but notice what it says and the name of the man was IMC and the name of his wife was Naomi the name of his two sons maon and chilon he I of which was the former name of Bethlehem of Judah and they came into the country of Moab and continued there now a lot of people now I don't blame anybody for uh looking out for what's best for your family but what's best for your family is not always what seems to be best H if you can move across the country and you can make a few more dollars an hour and yet you don't have a a a good church to go to and a place for your family to worship and you put them in an environment that may lead them away from God you're making a very poor decision a very poor decision if a man would gain the whole world the Bible said and lose his soul what has he profited or what what would he give in exchange for his soul so before you pull up roots and and and you pull up stakes and move because you can find a better job make a few more dollars you better look out first of all about the welfare of your family while this was intended to be a so Journey they went and continued there there's a many of family uh they didn't mean to leave the house of God permanently but when they got away it wasn't too long till they lost the interest and they lost the desire to go to the house of God and LIC Na's husband died now here they are died in the land of Moab I've got on my marker at at Linhurst cemetery is my grave plot and the only thing I've got beside my name is be thou faithful unto death you see we didn't start this trip for just a a short journey I I I've been Apostolic since I went to the altar when I was seven years old I got the Holy Ghost when I was 11 i b was baptized in Jesus name and I've been preaching the same message for 75 years and with a day they lay me out there and L her Cemetery you can say Bishop M was still preaching repentance water baptism in Jesus name the infilling of the Holy Ghost with evidence of speaking in tongues he still believed in Holiness he still believed in the same Apostolic message when you lay him down to rest but they sojourned into Moab into the land of Moab and there they were and and elmc died I want you to know I sure I I thought a lot the there was a young Prophet that that uh God told him to go and to not turn to the right hand nor to the left and um he was met and said would you go home with me no he said I couldn't I can't go because uh God told me not to turn to the right hand to the left but it came to an old prophet and the old Prophet said son come and go home with me and oh he said I can't do it because God told me not to turn to the right hand to the left and he said now son now wait a minute you're a young Prophet I'm an old Prophet I I know how to how to hear from God and you're just a young Sprout now listen God told me to tell you to go home with me and and and let have dinner with me and let me minister to you so the young man gave into to it but while he was visiting with the old false prophet the false prophet began to prophesy that he would not reach his destination that he would be slain and when he left the old prophet's house he hadn't got very far till a lion met him and slew him and the old Prophet said his sons to gather up the corpse and they buried this young man in the old prophet's grave let me tell you something it's going to be a sad thing for folks that once we're Apostolic once believe the truth and they'll be buried in a false prophets tomb they'll be buried in a worldly person's tomb they leave what they know was the truth they leave what was right and that young Prophet died and was buried in a false prophet's tomb I want you to know this Prophet this bishop of this preacher when you bury me I want to be buried in an Apostolic preacher's tomb or grave that says be thou faithful unto death and that should be the goal of every one of us well so be it and limc Na's husband died and she was left and her two sons and that took them wives of the women of Moab the name of the one was orpa the name of the other was Ruth and they dwelt there about 10 years well this so Journey has already slipped into a decade 10 years and they meant for just to be a short while please listen to me now before you get rattled and and shaky and uncertain and and and start moving around be be be be careful because you may find yourself going further than you meant to go going deeper than you meant to go and getting further away from God and further away from the family of God stay with the that's why I said forsaking not the assembling of yourselves together as a manner of some is you see the day approaching we need each other I need you and you need me and we need each other to encourage each other in the in the work of the lord well and now then these two sons took Heathen wives wives of the moabites be careful now God has a way of turning our mistakes into successes and that's the that that's the end of the story but between there and now there's a story to be told if you're not careful you expose your children your your daughters or your sons to a work crowd and the next thing you know you they find themselves marrying out of the faith and and you're going to lose them now these two boys married more by girls and by and by what happened and maon and chillan died also both of them and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband then she arose with her daughters-in-law and that she might return from the country of Moab for she had heard in the country of Moab how the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread let me tell you something you're running away from the house of bread when you leave the house of God you're running away from the the the the Fantastic table of goodies when you leave the house of God and go into the land of the moabites and the country how they heard in the country of of Moab how the Lord that visited his people in giving them bread news to you news for you the famine is not going to last forever God's Got A Brighter Day for you you're going to make it you're going to get through this problem you're going to make it you're going to make it just keep right on brother Spencer MCU reminded me today when his son was on his deathbed sister mul and I we talked and and it looked like he had very little time and we throw enough clothes together and jumped in the car and headed to Michigan and drove without hardly stopping till we got there and we got got in the uh it was in Cleveland Ohio where in the hospital and we got there just and when we walked in the room they had just pronounced him dead and there brother Spencer was holding cor's a chin together and cor's last Revival was scheduled to be here with us in Knoxville when he got sick and and went to the hospital well brother Spencer reminded me what I told him I said brother Spencer you will never get over this but you will get through it you'll never get over it but you will get through it and I got news for you whatever you have to go through you're going to you're going to go through you may not get over some things but if you hold on to God you're going to go through it and you're going to be victorious because you got a Victorious god well [Music] Hallelujah um and naom said unto her two daughters-in-law go return each to her mother's house and the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me the Lord grant you that you may find rest each of you in the house of her father of her her husband then she kissed them and they lifted up their voices and wept and they said to her surely we will return with thee unto thy people and Naomi said turn again my daughters why will you go with me are there not yet more sons in my womb that you may uh may be your husbands turn again my daughters go your way for I'm too old to have a husband if I should I have hope if I should have a husband also uh tonight and should also bear Sons would you te for them till they were grown and she's just kind of being uh uh uh giving a a ridiculous uh uh scenario and said you you you you couldn't wait from day my daughters for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is going out against me and they lifted up the voice and wept again and and orphan kissed her mother-in-law but Ruth clave unto her and she said behold thy sister in-law is gone back unto her people and to her Gods return Thou after this your thy sister law and Ruth said entreat me not to leave thee or to return from following after thee for where thou goest I will go and where thou lodgest I will Lodge thy people shall be my people and thy God shall be my God where thou D will I die and there will I be buried the Lord do so to me and more also if ought but death should part thee and me now God is a God of all power and and he's the beginning and the end and everything in between he can take our mistakes and turn them into Victory if we will listen to him and let God move in our behalf and Ruth said entreat me not to leave thee now Ora she she she went back but Ruth said whether thou goest I'll go and whether thou Lodge I will Lodge and said thy people shall be my people and the most important thing she said was thy God shall be my God she committed herself to leave idolatry and go with a woman that had a true god Jehovah that she could go and she vowed that she would do so and she said unto them call me well uh so they too went until they came to Bethlehem and it came to pass when they were Come to Bethlehem that all the city was moved about them and they said is this Naomi and she said unto them call me not Naomi call me Mara for the almighty ha dealt very bitterly with me I went out full and the Lord had brought me home again empty I want to keep this in in your mind I want you to keep on and not let this slip there's there's good that's going to come out of this story and you all probably already know it but as we review and research it but uh she she's she saiding I went out full and the Lord's brought me home again empty um be careful before you make a move that you may be moving out of the will of God be careful of being out of the will of God um I I had an experience many years ago um brother one of our elders brother uh Elder Charles Summers he's one of the the finest men greatest men uh he's in unable to come to church he's out at the soldiers home now and he's having uh serious health issues but um there was a a a church up in I believe it's in uh Illinois uh the the organization that kind of put out feers for I think they called them disciples or helpers or something that you're going and become a helper to somebody that's starting a new work and and brother Summers came to me and said brother m i I would like to go and and and help this brother that's starting a new church and um and he said with with your blessings I I I'd like to go and I said if you feel that's what you want to do and you prayed about it then then then you do so well he went and and and of course uh um Nathan was a little boy and and Tabitha she was just a little they were just a little bitty things then well they were there for a few months and the preacher uh lost his burden and and and he closed up and and moved away and I got the most pitiful letter that brother Summers didn't leave searching for more money or searching for fame or anything he left to go to help somebody start a new work and he said brother Mel can I come back home well absolutely you can come back home certainly we were so glad to have him and his family back now I'm telling you a story of reality of some things that that that has that has uh uh transpired well he got back here and um he was looking for a place to live and there was a man that built a nice big fine brick home but out to the side was his first home was a a little much less expensive and and it was a pretty little place but it was very dear to him and he didn't want to rent it to brother Summers because he brother Summers had two children and um brother Summers explained to him my children are well behaved and we'll take good care of your house and and and so the man rented it to him and um I got a call it was about midnight or somewhere after and brother summer said brother mol I need to talk to you tonight yes he said you know that house I told you about the man said that he didn't want to rent to me because I had two children I told about they were well he said we got a station and he' driven all day back and forth back and forth getting moved in and and he was tired and wore out it was late at night and his last load he pulled up to that little house and his foot slipped off with the break and hit the guest and he ran that station wagon clean through the wall of that house knock the knock the the the kitchen sink Off the Wall out in the middle of the floor and and he called me and told me what had happened and I said brother Summers what what can I do he said I just need a little Comfort I just need a little comfort and I thought well he he's such a faithful man so I got we went over there that night and sure enough it was a sadl looking situation of kitchen sink out the floor near the the wall caved in and and I said brother Summers uh this is not the end God's got a God got something for you I said brother Billy Wilson is a good Carpenter and and and I talk to him and and he'll help you and and you can tell that man just exactly what happened and you're going to repair that house and this was brother uh Jerry brother Jerry Wilson's father brother Billy Wilson and he went over there then they met the man and they put that house back together better than it was and and and through it all brother Summers learned the carpenter trade and became a a skilled uh Carpenter himself but what I'm telling you if you'll just put your life in the hands of God you may have some ups and downs and some disappointments but God's got the answer well let's go on and uh uh naom said I went out full and the Lord has brought me home again empty why then called ye me Naomi well I'm going to say this here brother Summers brother brother uh Nathan Summers uh he's been doing uh repair work around this church for years uh uh air conditioning specialist and heating specialist and and they they're intill in the faith Tabitha and and Nathan and their children uh in fact sister mol and I will be going to the funeral of of brother summers's I guess his daughter-in-law's father tomorrow there there still in in the faith and there's nothing more important than keeping your family in the house of God and in the faith so Naomi returned and Ruth the moabites her daughter-in-law with her uh which returned out of the country of Moab and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley Harvest and Naomi had a Kinsman of her husbands a mighty man of wealth a family of ELC and his name was Boaz and Ruth the Moab said unto Naomi Let Me Now go to the field and glean ears of corn after him and those in whose sight I shall find Grace and she said unto her go my daughter now uh Ruth said now uh here was two two wiow women now and she said uh I'm going to go find someplace I can gleaning a field is where you go behind the the the harvest that's harvested the the Grain and what they leave behind they would that they would glean the fields and she said I want to go and ELC had a wealthy Kinsman and his name was Boaz and he owned property was very wealthy and very honorable and so Ruth went to his field to to glean and she went and came and gleaned in the field after the Reapers and her haer she happened what was her her luck she happened was to lie on a part of the field the belonging to Boaz who was of the Kindred of immc and behold Boaz came from Bethlehem and said unto the Reapers the Lord be with you and they answered him the Lord bless thee then said Boaz unto his servants that was set over the Reapers whose damsel is this and the ser that was sent over the Reapers answered and said it is the mootsh damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab and she said I pray you let me glean and gather after the Reapers among the Sheep so she came and hath continued even from morning until now that she tered a little in the house then said Boaz unto Ruth hearest thou not my daughter da go not to glean in another field neither go from F but abide here fast by my maidens let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap and go Thou after them have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee and when thou art a thirst go to the vessels and drink of that which the young men have drawn then she fell on her face and bowed herself to the ground and said to him why have I found Grace in thine eyes that thou should us take knowledge of me seeing I am a stranger and Boaz answered and said unto her it hath fully been showed me all that thou has done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thy husband and how thou has left thy father and thy mother and the land of thy Nativity and art come unto a people which thou knowest not here toor 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 now we're seeing God is miraculously moving in a area that Ruth had not expected to happen but notice what's what is transpiring the Lord recompense thy Work and a full reward be given thee of the Lord thy uh Lord God of Israel under whose wings thou come to trust then she said let me find favor in thy sight my lord for that thou has comforted me and for that thou Hast spoken friendly unto thy handmaid though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens and Boaz said unto her at Meal Time Come Thou hither and eat of the bread and dip thy Marshall in the vinegar and she sat beside the Reapers and he reached her por parched corn and she did eat and was sufficed and left and when she was risen up to glean Boaz commanded his young men saying let her glean even among the sheaves and reproach her not and let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her and leave them that she may glean them and rebuke her not so she gleaned in the field until even and beat out that what she had glean and it was about an eot of barley and she took it up and went into the City and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned and she brought forth and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed and her mother-in-law said unto her where hast thou glean today and where roest thou Blessed Be he that did not 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 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Blessed Be he of the Lord who ha not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead and naom said to her the man is near kin un us and one of our next Kinsmen and Ruth the mo said he said unto me also Thou shalt keep fast by the my young men until they ended all my Harvest and naom said un Ruth her daughter-in-law it is good my daughter that thou go out with this with his handmaidens that uh they meet thee not in any other field so she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of The Barley Harvest and of the wheat Harvest and dwelt with her mother-in-law then Naomi her mother-in-law said unto her my daughter daughter shall I not seek rest for thee that it may be well with thee and now is not Boaz of our Kindred with whose maidens thou was behold he went with barley tonight in the threshing floor now I want you to notice mother-in-law giving her daughter-in-law uh some good advice and this sounds like a concerned mother giving her daughter some advice she said wash thyself therefore and anoint thee and put th said put on some good smelling perfume wash yourself and therefore and anoint thee and put thy rment upon thee and and get thee down to the floor but make not thyself known unto the man until he shall have done eating and drinking and it shall be when he lith them that thou shalt Mark the place where he shall lie and thou shalt go in and uncover his feet and lay thee down and he will tell thee what Thou shalt do and she said unto her all that thou sayest unto me I will do and she went down unto the floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law B her and when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was mered he went to lie down at the end of the Heap of corn and she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay her down and it came to pass at midnight that the man was afraid and turned himself and behold a woman lay at his feet and he said who art thou and she answered I am Ruth thy handmaiden spread therefore thy skirt over thy handmaiden for thou art a near Kinsman are you folks getting bored with all this reading we like to hear the rest of this story well it's very interesting and he said blessed be thou the Lord my daughter for thou has showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning in so much as thou Fest not young men whether poor or Rich and now my daughter fear not I will do to thee all that thou requirest for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman and now it is true that I am thy near Kinsman how be it there is a Kinsman nearer than I Terry this night and it shall be in the morning that if he will perform unto thee the part of a Kinsman well let him do the kinsman's part but if he will not do the part of the Kinsman to thee then will I do the part of the Kinsman to thee as the Lord liveth lie down until morning and she lay his feet until morning and she rose up before one could know another and he said let it not be known that a woman came into the floor also he said bring the veil that thou Hast upon thee and hold it and when she held it he mixed six measures of barley and laid it on her and she went into the City and when she came to her mother-in-law she said who art thou my daughter and she told her all the man had done to her mother-in-law said who art thou now I was uh studying this and I looked through my notes and um uh I preached them or I I dedicated East to the Lord and this was my text here uh who art thou my daughter who are you who e who are you honey and um here's what uh uh Ruth said and she said uh the six measures of barley gave it he me for he said unto me go not empty into thy mother-in-law then said she sit still my daughter now who are you my daughter you're a motis you're a widow you're you're you're helpless in this world you left home this morning a poor Widow gleaning in the field of a rich man who are you well I'm not a poor widower now you see I'm coming home I'm engaged to a rich man I'm engaged to to Boaz and and in my message I said to Ashley East who are you honey are are are are you uh one of these rock and roll singers or are you I think I even use the the the term uh uh the Miss Clinton that was running for president is that who you are no who are you and I put words in her mouth you see I'm the mother of a of a Apostolic woman and her husband's a great preacher and I'm the daughter to him and my grandfather is a pastor of a great church I might have been just another child born but God saw fit to bring me into an Apostolic family and my my grandpa is an Apostolic Jesus name preacher and I I talked about all the things that she was because she was born into the right family I want to tell you something God's got something in store for your children our children if we'll lead them in the path of righteousness then she said sit still my daughter until thou knowest how the matter will fall for the man will not be in rest until he finished the thing this day I'm trying to get this finished before my time's up then went Boaz up to the gate and set him down there and behold the kidsman of whom Boaz spake came by five unto whom he saido such a one turn aside sit down here and he turned aside and sat down and he took 10 men of the Elders of the city and said sit ye here and they sat down and he said in the Kinsman Naomi that has come again out of the country of Moab sth a parcel of ground which was our brother imc's and I thought to advertise thee saying buy it before the inhabitant and therefore the Elders of my people if thou will redeem it redeem it but if thou will not redeem it then tell me that I may know for there is none to redeem it besides thee and I am after thee and he said I will redeem it there was one closer to Ken he said I then said Boaz what day thou buest the field of the hand at the hand of Naomi thou must buy also of Ruth the madus his wife the wife of the the dead to raise up the name of the Dead upon his inheritance and the Kinsman said I cannot redeem it for myself lest I Mar my own inheritance redeem thou my right to thyself for I cannot redeem it now this was the manner in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing for to confirm all things a man plucked off his shoe and gave it to his neighbor and this was a testimony in Israel therefore the Kinsman said to Boaz buy it for thee so he drew off his shoe and Boaz said to the elders and to the people ye are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was limc and all that was chons and maons at the hand of Naomi moreover Ruth of moabitas the wife of Malon have I purchased to be my wife to raise up the name of the Dead upon his inheritance that the name of the Dead be not cut off from among his Brethren and from the Gate of this P Place ye are witnesses this day and all the people that were at the gate and the elders said we're Witnesses the Lord make the woman that come into this house like Rachel and like Leah which to did build the house of Israel and do thou worthily in E eph this and which is bethle and he be and he became famous in Bethlehem and let thy house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar be to Judah of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman so Boaz took Ruth and she was his wife and when he went in her the lord gave her conception and she be a son now we're bringing this to a close I want you to listen how brought God brought the story to a close and the woman said to naom and blessed be the Lord which hath not left thee this day without a Kinsman that his name may be famous in Israel and he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life and a nourisher of thine old age for thy daughter-in-law which loveth thee which is better to thee than seven sons hath borne him and Naomi took the child and laid it in her bosom and became nurse unto it and the woman woman and the women her neighbors gave it a name saying there is a son born to Naomi and they called his name OED he is the father of Jesse the father of David you think about what what God turned this into now these are the generations God took this Heathen girl that was willing to follow after Naomi and let her God be her God and God allowed her to marry Boaz and they became the parents of OED OED was the father of Jesse Jesse was the father of David and David is called the man after God's Own Heart and we know the son of David by his name and that name is Jesus Christ aren't you glad you know him would you stand to your feet with you right now what God can do God can take our mistakes God can take our mishaps God can take our sorrow and turn it into rejoicing and here was a here was a heathen girl that she chose to accept naom as God and in so doing she became the the the ancestor of our Lord Jesus Christ because Jesus was born into that family of the son of David aren't you glad you know him tonight father we thank you tonight for your goodness and mercy we thank you for this beautiful story of how you brought to pass such a great and glorious event that is so important in our lives today we're thankful oh God that there's not a one of us in this building I don't it doesn't matter how deep in sin we may have gone it don't matter our reputation when we come to you and turn our lives over to you we become a brand new person Lord you called it being born again and indeed we are born again of the water and spirit and now then we're no longer Sons of Satan but we're now the sons of God and we thank you for it let the word of God sink deep into our hearts tonight as we leave this place and may we go rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God God in Jesus name we pray amen and amen shake hands be friendly you're dismissed in Jesus name