Well, if you would, open your Bibles to the book of Ruth, chapter one. Just, uh, so you know, those of you that have been praying for my mom, I want to thank you on behalf of my family. She went to be with the Lord on September the eighth at two thirty in the morning, so, uh, you can stop praying. And we just appreciate your support over the last year especially. Um, the Lord is just working such marvelous things out. Uh, my father, who's eighty two, has already got somebody to buy the house. He's moving into a condo with, uh, w- where there are three families from the chapel, so I, he's, he's really being taken care of well down in South Florida. It was a privilege, uh, to be able to preach at my mother's funeral. Uh, it was rather difficult, uh, at times to stand there in front of her and, and share the word of God, but, uh, I come from a large blended family. There, there are seven kids, and, um, as far as I know, I believe that I'm the only one who's saved, so it was a privilege to be able to stand up and to preach and to share what biblical belief and faith is. Well, I want to talk to you this morning about a subject that all of us have to grapple with. It starts at the very first of our Bible and ends in the very back part of our Bible. You are in Ruth chapter one, right? Ruth chapter... The front is, I don't know about the back. I- I'm getting all these looks in the back like, where are we? What are we doing? We're in Ruth chapter one. That- that's page three sixty six in an Oxford wide margin, if you have one. If you don't, you'll have to go through and find your own. We want to talk this morning, I'll start again, about a subject that really is important to everyone here, whether you're a Christian or you're not a Christian, whether you're young or whether you're old, it's something that the Bible starts with in the very beginning, and it ends with in the last chapter, and it's this, the importance of making decisions properly. I just came back from South Florida. We had a youth rally, and this is what the Lord put on my heart. Uh, it bothers me when I work in our high school, and it bothers me when I do my youth work in the summertime at camps, and this is part of why we're starting a discipleship camp, which will be in January and also in May, is because we need to understand the importance of making decisions properly. Every decision we make bears a consequence, whether positive or negative, whether it's a good one or a bad one. And I might tell you also that we're instructed in the Bible that not only does each one have a consequence, but it doesn't just affect ourselves. Like, remember before I was a Christian saying things like, well, it's my life, I'll do with it what I want. It only affects me. It's a decision that I'll make, and it only affects me. Well, those aren't true. And as much as I like to say those things, and as much as people like to say them back to me now, it's not true. Your decision will affect three ways. One, it will directly affect yourself. Number two, it will directly affect others. And number three, it will directly affe- affect the glory of God. That's why ev- every decision you make will have that great impact. So this is a subject we need to find the biblical principles of, because if you don't know the biblical principles of making decisions and the importance of those decisions, you could possibly live your life and waste it. You could possibly get all the way to the end of your life, whether that's ten years old, fifty years old, seventy eight years old, or even older, you possibly could look back and think, I really did made a waste of my life because I did not make decisions properly. And so this is a subject that we really, and the reason I say we is because even myself, I can study this and I can put it together, and guess what? I still fight it every day. We get up, how many decisions do you think you make a day? I mean, I, I have no idea, but I know this, from the time your eyes open till the time you consciously or unconsciously fall asleep, eh, you are making one decision after another. And how many of those decisions do we just do or arbitrarily, without thinking, make, without ever asking, what does the Lord want, or what is the best for me, for others, and for people down the road? Now remember, the Bible starts with Adam, and it starts with a decision, and that decision was made wrong. And the Bible reminds us that that one bad decision did not only affect him, but it affects his family, as we see Cain later, and it affect all of mankind, and you're sitting here, it affected you, because in Romans it reminds us that by one man, that's Adam, sin entered into the world, therefore we're all sinners, and death by sin, therefore we all die. It affected every human being down the hu- the the whole line for humanity. And you say, well, I'm not as important as Adam. Well, Adam didn't think he was very important either. He he didn't know what was coming down the road. He didn't see years down the road and realize, man, this is going to affect Cain, this is going to affect his offspring, and this is going to affect eight thousand years down the road, other people who are coming. And I believe sometimes if we'd understand that principle, we would make decisions properly, more accurately to the will of God. Now, we can also not make a decision and think we're making a decision. You know what I mean by that? We can run from our problems. In other words, we can just say, well, I know I've got to make a decision, I'll just turn my back on it and walk away. Uh, you're in doing so, you're making a decision, and that's what happens in the book of Ruth. The book of Ruth opens in chapter one. Now, I am not going to use the book of Ruth in the traditional sense that we use it with a kinsman redeemer, but the book of Ruth opens with Elimelech having to make a decision, Naomi having to make a decision, Ruth, Orpah, all the way through, and there are good decisions and bad decisions. There are those who will run from it, there are those that'll just ignore it, like Naomi, until finally God gets them to a place where they just can't ignore it anymore. And so let's read Ruth chapter one and let's look at some of these things and see if we can't pull some, some really good principles out of here, starting at verse one. Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land. Now you have to understand that when you see the phrase, now it came to pass, that something's going to happen. That phrase is used five times in the Old Testament, and every time it's used, something dramatic is going to take place. So that, that's just a key, that's a trigger. In the days when the judges judged that there was a famine in the land. There it is, a famine. Now, we have had in Virginia, uh, twenty one inches of drought. We're twenty one inches, or were twenty one inches behind before this depression came up. We know a little bit about a drought, but not what was happening here. Not to the point where our vegetation died and our fruit died and our, and all the crops died, and then the pestilence came, and then the locusts came and consumed everything. And there was a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, that went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, his wife, and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his sons Mahlon and Chileon, Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. They came to the country of Moab, and they continued there. And Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left of her two sons. And they took themselves wives of the women of Moab, and the name of one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years, and Mahlon and Chileon 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. Now notice the word then. It's a, it's an important point. Finally, she's going to do something. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had learned in the country of Moab how the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread. Wherefore, she went forth out of the place where she was of her two daughters-in-law with her. They went on their way to return unto the land of Judah, and Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her own 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 your house of your husband. Then she kissed them, they lifted up their voice and wept, and they said unto 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 yet any more sons in my womb that you may be with your husbands? Turn again, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. And if I should say I have no hope, if I should have a husband also tonight and should also bear sons, would you tarry for them till they were grown? Would you stay for them from, from living husbands? Nay, my daughters, for it grieves me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me. And they lifted up their voice, and they wept again, and Orpah kissed her mother and in law. But Ruth clave to her, and she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law has gone back unto her people and unto her gods. Return thou after your sister-in-law. And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, nor 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 aught but death part thee and me. It's a marvelous story, isn't it? But it's more than a story, it's an actual true event. This actually happened in the lives of living people. Now, when you read your Old Testament, remember this, that the names have significance, that nothing happens without a reason. The people in the Old Testament of the, uh, Jewish faith spent a lot of time before the Lord praying and looking and seeking a name, and they would name their children. And it's amazing when you start, and you can do this, you can get a Hebrew dictionary of names, and you can look up what the names mean. It's very interesting because there's a word picture taking place in the book of Ruth, and God is painting the word picture. If we were to read this and be able to read the Hebrew language, uh, we would realize what God was doing, but being in the English, we don't. God is dealing in the lives of individuals here, and that's what God does to every individual alive. He deals with us, he moves with us, he tries to get us to have a personal relationship with him. He tries to do so by using the word of God. Well, when the word of God is not being adhered to, then he'll use our circumstances. Now, uh, some things you just have to, uh, go back and look at later. You might want to write them down. I'll try to explain them to you because time won't allow us to do this in great detail. The first thing we have to realize is this: in the Old Testament, Israel was told that nothing happens to them by accident. If you go back later on and look at Deuteronomy chapter twenty eight, you'll find this, that there are twenty eight verses in that chapter, I believe. It says this in the first half, in the first fourteen verses, if you do all that I command you this day and keep all of my commandments, that the following things will happen. The heavens will open, the earth will bring forth its fruit, your womb will open, you'll have blessing from children, the earth will give forth its abundance, you'll never have lack. He goes on and talks in those verses of how he'll protect from the famine, protect from the pestilence. What God is saying to the Israelites is, as my people, I promise that in places of obedience, you will have all you ever need to live comfortably. Now, that's not for us today so that we can say, okay, I'll obey the Lord and get all the goodies. That's not what it's for. It is a material picture of a spiritual principle, that when I live in obedience in my relationship with the Lord, that I will enjoy the fullness of all that God has for me. But when I don't, the second half of that chapter says, but if you do not keep, and there's that little word all again, all of these commandments that I command you this day, the following will happen. The heavens will be brass, I'll shut up the rain, I'll send forth the locust, I'll s- I'll close up the womb, you'll not have children. I mean, just incredible promises for obedience, incredible warnings for disobedience. And what God was simply saying is, Israel, nothing happens by accident when you have a relationship with me. I will make this happen. I will withhold this from you. Now, it would have been easy to, to be an Israelite, wouldn't it? Would you know when you were being disobedient? Sure. You get thirsty, you get hungry, and things are going wrong. You just start to realize, you know, there's something wrong in my life. Well, we open up this book, and it says there was a famine in the land. Now you have to understand the famine is there for a reason. And here's the play on words in the h- it says Bethlehem. The word Bethlehem, the name of that city means Beth, means house of bread. Bethlehem is called that because it's the house of bread. Now there's the play on word. There was a famine in the house of... It's saying this, there was no bread in the bakery. The house of bread, which is a bakery, had no bread. Uh, there's a problem. Now, it would have been easy for the people of God at this time to deal with it. What was the proper decision to make? Well, if you'll turn with me to second Chronicles, that great portion, we probably can say it from memory, but with people here visiting, we want to look at it and just make sure that it's really real. 2 Chronicles chapter 7. I don't believe that the, that the world understands the very nature and character of our God, and the reason I say that is because we as Christians don't really understand it, and if we don't understand and are not portraying it, then how can we expect people outside to understand it? And it's this, that Micah the prophet would say, who is a God like unto thee, full of mercy, quick to pardon? We do not, because you know why? Because when we hold grudges, we hold them for a long time. When people do things that hurt us, we want to pound the flesh. God's not like that. Here's what God says, verse thirteen, second Chronicles seven thirteen. If I shut up heaven and there be no rain, famine, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, famine, or if I send pestilence among my people, famine. That means there's no refreshment, no reward, and no rest. If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek my face, turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, I will forgive their sin, I will he- heal their land. And God simply says this, all they got to do at any moment is turn back to me. Lord, we're sorry. Lord, we sinned. Lord, we're, we repent. Lord, forgive us. Bam, he says, I'll let it all flow again. That's how quick it is. He doesn't say, I'll give you a year's probation. I'll give you two years probation. And you know, if you clean up your act and you show me after two years, then I'll go ahead and do something in your life again. Oh, this is marvelous. This is the very nature and character of our God. And that's why we, as the people of God, should be quick to forgive and quick to pardon and full of mercy. Because that's the way our God is. And I'm thankful for that. You know, the, the, the prophet Isaiah, in talking to Israel, the prophet says to Isaiah, you will burn in that day, I will set you afire. I will use the Assyrians, there'll be a rod in my hand, and you'll say, I don't know why we're burning. You won't even know why. But when you go through the fire, I will be with you. And you think, wait a second, you set them on fire to discipline them for your sin? What are you going to do there? Well, God says, I'm going to go through the experience with you. Why? Because the first time you cry out, as it says this, his ear is turned and his eye is looking. He's waiting for the cry. All he does, see, see, we, we discipline our children to get rid of our bad emotions, don't we? That's why it leads to abuse. Uh, we, uh, listen, Hebrews twelve tells us that we discipline our children for our own reasons. Man, get over here, you're going to get it. Get what? And then they say things like, this is going to hurt me more than you. Right, that's why I'm crying and you're laughing. That's not why it happens. But that's not the way God is. God doesn't put a s- one more stroke than than needed to get the repentant heart to turn back and say, Lord, I'm sorry. Now, I say that because if you apply Second Chronicles chapter seven to the book of Ruth, when the famine came in the land, all the people had to do was say, Lord, this famine's not an accident. We've sinned. We've done grievous things in your sight. There's no rest, there's no food. We're, we're just a mess. Lord, we're sorry. And guess what? God promised, I'll open the heavens. I'll bless you again. It's that simple. But I don't know what it is about us. We just refuse to believe God. We, we refuse to do God's way, and it seems so simple we don't even want it. Now, so guess what happens? Elimelech runs. Now, before I would be too little or too hard on Elimelech, when you have a family and you have young kids, most of the time you'll do anything to help them. And maybe his thoughts were, well, the people aren't repenting, we're not going to see blessing, let's go. It was wrong, though. It was, I don't care how we justify our decisions, and we can always justify our dec- decisions, can't we? Well, you know my parents. Well, you know my job. Well, you know my circumstances. We didn't have any hope. I believe this, that if Elimelech would have stayed, turned to the Lord and said, Lord, this is happening, you can provide for me even in a drought, and I'll show you how that's possible tonight. And show you how that's possible from another portion of scripture, that God individually would have blessed him, provided for him amongst the drought. Do you believe that God can prepare a table for you in the presence of your enemies? I hope you do. That's Psalm twenty three. He promises he can do that. He can do it in the presence of a drought. Listen, Elimelech, as man of the home, should have said, listen, this is a decision I've got to make according to the will of God, as illogical as it seems, as unpopular as it seems, listen, I've got to take my place and say, Lord, this is happening because I've sinned. And when he did, there would have been blessing again. Oh, it's a fearful thing to be the man of the house. Ladies, don't, don't ever, don't ever think you're, you're in a, in a bad place. It's a fearful thing when you've got to be responsible. Elimelech was responsible. That's the biblical pattern. Now, guess what Elimelech means? Means my God is king. El, you know, you know, amazing study of names, and here's the thing, you know, you look at like Joel, it comes from two words, Jehovah and El, Elohim, together, Joel. Elijah is the opposite, El Jah. And so they all mean my God is king, belovale. What do the other names mean? Well, it says this, that he had a wife named Naomi. Naomi means pleasant. It says that he had two sons, Mahlon, meaning song, and Chileon, meaning complete. Now here's a marvelous picture. Now watch. When God is king in my life, I'm pleasant, there's a song, and there's completeness. I'm satisfied. Is that true? It's true. That's the biblical print. That's the picture God has pe- Look, in the house of bread, when everything's right and you're being blessed, God is king, he's on the throne, you're making decisions according to the will of God, things are pleasant, there's a song, you're complete, you're satisfied. But listen, eh, you make the wrong decisions. When he made the wrong decision, who was the first to die? Elimelech. You know, when you make a bad decision, you know the first thing to die in your life? God is king. You know why? Stop and think about it. God is saying, do this and this will happen, do this and it won't happen. Now, if you believe he's king, you're going to do what he says. When you don't do that and you don't make that decision, you're saying you're not king in my life, God as king dies. And when God as king dies, when we read through there, guess what? Verse five, Mahlon and Chileon also died. The song goes out the window, the pleasant goes out the window. There's nothing worse than a disobedient Christian, like a squeaky wheel. And you know, you meet them. I- I mean, I was that way for a whole year in Danville. I remember about nineteen eighty and ninety, if you were to stop me on the road and ask me, how are things going, uh, you wouldn't do it if you knew me, and if you did it after five minutes, you'd be backpedaling. You know what I mean by a squeaky wheel? How you doing today? Well, let me tell you. And then you're just trying to do this, and okay, well, I gotta go, well, I'll see you tomorrow, and nice talking to you. And then after a while, you learn not to ask them that anymore. You just say, good day, brother. How isn't it good? And you just keep going by. Uh, Christians are terrible when they're out of the will of God. Elimelech dies. You say, that's awful strong. No, God is, listen, God in the Old Testament is putting in flesh a spiritual picture so that all of us can see it. He wants you to know, you make a wrong decision, God as king is going to die. You make a wrong decision, it's going to lead to the not only affecting your life. How did it affect him? He, he died. You say, but he was just trying to provide for his family. He was just going to sojourn there. Yeah, look at verse one. He wanted to sojourn there, but then it says on later on that he dwelt there ten years. He continued there. Because a bad decision leads to another bad decision. They get comfortable there and they stay there, and it leads to a long period of time. And in that period of time, he will directly affect his family. Let me tell you how. His two sons will marry two Moabites.