WEBVTT - It Will Come Together 0:00:01.680 --> 0:00:03.760 All right, we're not holding hands. I don't know how 0:00:05.080 --> 0:00:08.039 we are on the spectrum of being able to, but 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:11.080 can we at least touch the shoulder of the person 0:00:11.119 --> 0:00:15.240 on either side of you? That'll work? Baby steps, Baby steps, 0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:21.960 baby steps. Pray this out loud. Lord. The person I'm 0:00:22.040 --> 0:00:28.560 touching needs you more than I do because they're a mess, 0:00:29.560 --> 0:00:33.520 So bless them today in Jesus' name. Come on, give 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:45.320 God praise. How y'all doing? Welcome? Welcome? Just kidding. You're 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:49.320 a mess and you know it too. How many of 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:52.800 you think that you are the least spiritual person on 0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:56.120 your row? Raise your hand? How many of y'all think 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:59.560 there's nobody in this room that read the Bible less 0:00:59.600 --> 0:01:02.600 than I do this week? Raise your head? All right? 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:09.000 Oh man, such a weird icebreaker for me to say that, 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:13.319 isn't it. I'm just excited to be here. I told 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:16.319 the Lord after we weren't able to have public meetings 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:18.280 that I wouldn't take it for granted when we could 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:28.200 get back together. So if you'll notice, maybe you don't 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:31.440 like this, but I go longer now. I take my time, 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:38.200 and there's multiple reasons for that. One thing. I think 0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:40.360 if you're going to spend three hundred and fifty dollars 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:45.760 filling your tank with gas to drive to church. I 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:49.040 ought to at least give you more than a little dabba, 0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:53.320 do you? And the other reason for that is that 0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:56.240 the Holy Spirit has really been doing a work in 0:01:56.280 --> 0:02:01.800 my heart. And the natural overflow of that is I 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:05.520 just find myself less and less thinking of preaching like 0:02:05.560 --> 0:02:10.880 a performance. And what I think now more is that 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:13.840 the Lord would make me a vessel. Tell him you'll 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:20.640 call him back that in about three hours when I 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:22.799 finish with this message, tell him you'll call him back 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:28.920 for me. Hey, won't take that long. But now I 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:33.320 think about myself, Lord, make me a vessel for what 0:02:33.400 --> 0:02:36.360 you want to give your people. And I love that 0:02:36.520 --> 0:02:39.520 because it's not up to the box how good the 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:43.400 pizza tastes. So if I can just be a box 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:45.799 to get you what God wants you to eat today, 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:49.920 that'll be great. And yes, I just called the Bible 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:52.600 pizza because Jesus said I am the Bread of life, 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:56.000 and he didn't say what kind of bread. So anyway, 0:02:57.040 --> 0:02:59.359 y'all remember book It used to get the personal pan 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:04.440 pizza for book It. It's gonna be a personal word 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:07.520 for you today. All right, I'm in a good mood. 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:10.919 That's bad news for the devil. I'm happy and ready 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:17.680 to drink. Hey, real quick check if you would and 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:20.799 see if we're coming to a city near you. Elevation 0:03:21.040 --> 0:03:24.920 Nights dot com. It'll be cities such ass but not 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:32.959 limited to, Indianapolis, Chicago, Boston, Newark, Columbus, Grand Rapids. Why 0:03:32.960 --> 0:03:36.080 did you say that so loud? Grand Rapids? You're from there, 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:38.840 You're coming over in a couple of weeks. Good, you 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:41.520 got your ticket. It's not free. You can't just show up. 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:44.880 It's not like just regular church night because the arena's 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:46.480 not free, so we got to pay for it. So 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:49.560 but you'll be there all right. Great, and you're here 0:03:49.600 --> 0:03:58.200 today from Michigan, God bless you Michigan. All right, that's 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:02.720 gonna be that's going to be awesome. I loved it 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:05.520 so much last year. I really needed it after ministering 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:09.600 in an empty room for so long through COVID, to 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:12.000 get out and see the way that people have been 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:16.320 impacted by our church and see it firsthand. I needed it. 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:20.840 I felt like it. I was like something just came 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:23.000 alive inside of me, like it needed to be watered 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:26.039 and after we came back, I was just fired up 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:28.440 and full of life. So that's why I'm going back 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:31.200 selfishly just to do ministry because I get more out 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:33.120 of it than I could ever give. And I wish 0:04:33.200 --> 0:04:35.840 you could all come, but anyway, you get to come 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:41.760 every week. So what are you worried about? And I 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:44.760 wish we could have this conversation just one on one 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:48.040 from the Word of God today. That would be ideal 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:50.599 because I could walk you through it a little different. 0:04:51.360 --> 0:04:52.920 But we'll have to do the best we can with 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:54.680 just all of us. And I want to take you 0:04:54.760 --> 0:05:05.280 to the Book of Ruth, chapter four, verse nine through seventeen. 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:09.480 I want to say what's up to Taylor Shidel at 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:13.599 Elevation Columbia. He texted me before I got up that 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:16.080 he was praying for me while I was preaching, And 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:20.919 that's why I'm shouting him out. I'm reciprocating. I appreciate 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:23.599 your prayers too, as I preached today that I would 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:27.000 be effective, that I would be effective for who God 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:34.520 wants me to reach. Never preached a sermon from Ruth before. 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:36.640 Hollywalked by the other day and saw my Bible open 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:45.240 to Ruth. She said Ooh, Ruth. And my reluctance to 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:47.880 preach on Ruth isn't just because it's a book about 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:54.760 a woman. I'm not a sexist. I think it's one 0:05:54.800 --> 0:05:58.360 of those stories that just to give you a sliver 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:01.320 or one scene of the story, like it doesn't do 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:05.760 justice to the beauty of the whole thing. But still 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:09.279 God directed me here and just sucked me in. And 0:06:09.320 --> 0:06:12.880 so I'm going to do my best today just from 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:14.360 not trying to be cute. But I just want to 0:06:14.360 --> 0:06:23.159 show you one truth from the book of Ruth. I guess, 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:27.000 but let's look at this together. Ruth Chapter four, verse nine. 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:32.680 Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people today, 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:37.800 you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:43.600 the property of Alimelech, Killion and Maylon. I have also 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:49.240 acquired Ruth the Moabi Meylon's widow as my wife, in 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:52.720 order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:56.600 so that his name will not disappear from among his 0:06:56.680 --> 0:07:00.640 family or from his hometown. Today, you are witnesses verse eleven. 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:04.679 Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:10.160 we are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:15.440 is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:21.120 together built up the family of Israel. May you have 0:07:21.320 --> 0:07:26.080 standing in Ephratha and be famous in Bethlehem through the 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:28.640 offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman. May 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:33.160 your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:37.480 to Judah. That's a blessing right there. That's a blessing 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:40.400 right here. Tell somebody next to you, I'm stepping into 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:43.840 a blessing. I'm stepping into a blessing. I'm stepping in. 0:07:44.080 --> 0:07:46.440 Tell them give me some room because I'm stepping into 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:50.800 a blessing. I need six feet because I'm stepping all right, 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:53.120 all right, But that's not the word. That's not the 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:58.200 word today, because we need to read the next verses. 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:04.160 So Boas took Ruth, and she became his wife. When 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:06.440 he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:09.640 and she gave birth to a son. The women said 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:15.080 to Naomi, Praise be to the Lord, who this day 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:20.320 has not left you without a guardian redeemer. May he 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:26.040 become famous throughout Israel. He will renew your life and 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:30.120 sustain you in your old age. For your daughter in law, 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:32.679 who loves you, and who is better to you than 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:36.440 seven sons has given him birth. Then Naomi took the 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:40.679 child in her arms and cared for him. The women 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:45.720 living there said, Naomi has a son. Naomi has a son. 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:49.400 You're never gonna believe it. But she who was gone 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:52.400 for over ten years because of the famine and came 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:57.720 back bitter, is holding a son. And they named him Obed. 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:03.000 And who's the father of Jesse see the father of David. 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:05.199 And this is what the Lord told me to tell 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:14.880 you today as our message, it will come together. Who 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:19.280 felt that when I said it? It might be online? 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:21.920 Put it in the chat, put it in the comments 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:25.600 right now. Or tell your six foot three neighbor it 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:30.240 will come together. Tell your five foot four whoever's standing 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:32.880 next to you. I'm trying to say, just make the declaration. 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:37.319 It will come together. In Jesus' name. You may be seated. 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:44.080 It will come together. Kind of one of those cliches 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:46.040 that I don't like when people say stuff like that 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:50.280 to me, it'll come together. I'll be stressed about a 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:56.280 sermon and Hollio say it'll come together. I'll be like, yeah, 0:09:56.600 --> 0:10:01.760 that sounds good. I mean, that's that's that's just a 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:06.800 millimeter better than when life gives you lemons or lemon Yeah, 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:12.839 how does it go? Make lemonade? Cliches? Cliches? And yet 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:15.959 I don't mean it in that trite way because it 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:19.000 could sound like that, I know you lost your job. 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:23.680 It'll come together. Could you tell the power company that 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:29.960 for me? Oh, I know you're single. Their friends are married. 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:33.800 Don't worry. The Lord has a bow as for you. 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:41.760 I'm not gonna do it. I'm not gonna do it. 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:43.959 I'm not gonna do I'm not gonna do it. I'm 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:45.960 not gonna do it. She wants me to do it, 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:49.559 I'm not gonna do it. There's an old thing online 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:53.000 that says, while you're waiting for your bow, ass, don't 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:58.520 settle for brogue as poor as all that. I'm not 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:06.079 gonna do it. Temptresses. It's the whole thing. It's a 0:11:06.120 --> 0:11:08.720 whole thing. In Christianity, the Book of Ruth is usually 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:12.560 identified by chapter one, verse sixteen, and it's always into 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:16.760 King James at a wedding. This is the famous verse 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:18.439 of Ruth. All right, you're gonna know it. When I 0:11:18.440 --> 0:11:20.160 say it, You're like, huh, what's it about? You'll know 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:21.520 when you see it. Put it on screen. This the 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:26.040 King James, where it says whither thou goest I will go? 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:28.800 You got to get the wether in there for the 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:32.920 marriage vows. Then that sounded like a wedding. Whither thou goest? 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:35.280 You never said whither in your life. But now you're 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.320 about to commit your whole self to somebody, and you 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:41.840 breaking out words you never use, whether thou goest I 0:11:41.880 --> 0:11:45.640 will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge? People 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:47.840 shall be my people, By God, my God, I'm not 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:51.920 making fun of that verse. That verse in itself is 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:57.400 a sermon in itself. It is a sermon in itself. 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:02.960 That one verse shows you that when you decide who, 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:08.560 you decide where, when you decide, Now, this is not 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:11.160 how we think we think I need to decide where 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:13.839 I'm going to college. No, no, no, that's not as 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:17.880 important as who you hang out with when you get 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:23.000 to college, wherever you go to college, right. I teach 0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:28.320 that all the time, that because who will ultimately identify 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:32.840 not only where you end up physically, Like Holly wouldn't 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:34.480 be in Charlotte if she had married me, because she 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:36.199 wouldn't have been a pastor's wife, or if she had 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:38.559 maybe the guy JJ she was talking to, he ends 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:48.760 up somewhere else. And when when you say yes to someone, 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:52.760 you say yes to something that you don't know about 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:54.880 at the time. I'm the same with God. When you 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:57.520 say yes to God, He'll take you places that you 0:12:57.600 --> 0:13:00.439 never thought you would go when you say yes to Him. 0:13:00.679 --> 0:13:03.320 Who you say yes to who you say no to 0:13:04.040 --> 0:13:11.000 is very important, really important. Tell somebody it will come together. Now. 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:12.960 I want you to get that in your mind so 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:15.280 we can get it passed your mind into your spirit 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:18.120 so that you hear it differently. When I finish in 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:21.800 a few minutes, then you hear it right now. Because 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:26.360 we are all standing in a space in our life 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:32.680 where we are needing clarity on some things. And maybe 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:35.640 you're not in the same situation as Naomi and Ruth, 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:39.760 both of them being widows, were completely dependent on the 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:43.560 kindness of someone else. And maybe it's not that bad 0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:48.000 in your life. Ruth not only lost her husband when 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:54.640 she lost her Maelon, but Naomi lost her son. Naomi 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:58.959 had already lost her husband, a Limelech, and they were 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:02.319 already in a strange place. Now I want to talk 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:06.000 to you about this, because when you read a Bible 0:14:06.080 --> 0:14:11.000 verse in isolation, it's almost impossible to really make sense 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:14.400 out of it. And I want you to have that 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:16.680 app on your phone where they give you the verse 0:14:16.720 --> 0:14:19.880 every day. But I don't want you to always read 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:24.240 the scriptures in isolation, because if you just take it 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:27.280 in isolation, sometimes we don't even read the whole verson 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:30.520 we quote it, and then we think that it didn't work. 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:35.600 It's not that Romans eight twenty eight isn't true. All 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:39.640 things work together for the good. You just stopped in 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:44.120 the middle of the verse. Is said all things work 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:48.120 together for the good of them that love God and 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:52.360 are called according to His purpose. Means that God doesn't 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:56.160 decide what is good in your life based on your preference, 0:14:56.840 --> 0:15:00.200 but his purpose. So then you go through something and 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:03.880 this isn't good. This isn't good. How can this be good? 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:06.680 God isn't God is good, and this isn't good. What's 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:10.640 going on? I thought it was all good? God didn't 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:14.760 say that. In the Bible. God didn't say that. He 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:22.200 said all things work together for the good of those 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:25.080 who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:32.520 So his purpose comes first, not my preference, go ready. 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:38.920 His purpose comes first, not my plan. What happens to 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:43.600 us is we get addicted to a plan, and if 0:15:43.640 --> 0:15:45.960 it doesn't fit the plan, we want to throw it 0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:50.600 back to God and say fix this. But God doesn't 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:53.640 start with the picture called your plan when he is 0:15:53.720 --> 0:15:59.960 building the pieces of your life. He's God. He's God. 0:16:01.000 --> 0:16:04.160 And the truth of the matter is, you can't really 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:10.320 judge your life in isolation. You can't really know when 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:16.920 you're going through something, whether it's good or not. Don't 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:22.760 judge it just yet. One scripture says, judge nothing before 0:16:22.800 --> 0:16:28.400 the appointed time. Judge nothing before the appointed time, when 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:30.800 God will reveal hidden things and bring them to life, 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:34.160 and the secret things will be laid bare. Judge nothing, 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:41.280 no thing. All things work together for the good of 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:44.040 them that love the Lord. Now, if you love something 0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:46.760 else more than you love the Lord Romans eight twenty eight, 0:16:46.800 --> 0:16:50.400 is going to be hard for you, because if you 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:55.520 love popularity more than you love God, when people leave you, 0:16:55.520 --> 0:16:59.040 you will think that's not good. But if you love 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:03.880 the Lord's purpose more than you love popularity, sometimes you 0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:08.400 will praise God not for who stays with you, but 0:17:08.440 --> 0:17:13.840 for who leaves you. Because you believe that the Lord 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:22.320 is leading my life. Wow, wow, Wow, it will come together. 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:26.439 We make the mistake of thinking that everyone who starts 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:29.800 with us will stay with us, and it doesn't happen 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:33.040 that way. This is not a sermon about abandonment or divorce, 0:17:33.080 --> 0:17:36.960 but I do want to talk about those issues because well, 0:17:37.000 --> 0:17:40.160 in the Book of Ruth, you have this woman named 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:45.520 Naomi who goes to a place called Moab where there 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:48.520 is something to eat for her family, and through no 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:53.200 fault of her own, she watches her husband and her 0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:56.920 sons ten years later die in front of her eyes. 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:02.320 Her two daughters in law are committed to stay with her, 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:08.399 Ruth and Orpah. And there's a reason that this is 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:15.880 not called the Book of Orpa because she left. There 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:19.600 is a reason that I said turn in your bible 0:18:20.320 --> 0:18:26.960 to the Book of Ruth, because Ruth stay. Put this 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:34.320 in your heart. Whoever left you in your life, whoever 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:38.680 walked away from you in your life, was not part 0:18:38.840 --> 0:18:44.120 of God's purpose for your current season. It doesn't mean 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:47.840 they're bad, it doesn't mean they're evil. It doesn't mean 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:50.320 you need to make a voodoo dollins stick a pin 0:18:50.400 --> 0:18:52.480 in they're left ear trying to get them to have 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:54.800 an earache. It doesn't mean anything. I don't mean you 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:56.920 need to talk crap about them. It doesn't mean that 0:18:56.960 --> 0:18:58.960 you have to want them to fail. It doesn't mean 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:00.600 you have to go out and buy new car to 0:19:00.640 --> 0:19:02.480 show him you made it and drive by their house 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:05.320 and they're not even home. It doesn't mean any of that. 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:11.960 It just means, can I preach. God doesn't build my 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:19.480 life on people who left. So one thing I'm learning 0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:21.400 to appreciate at the stage of my life is the 0:19:21.440 --> 0:19:26.160 providence of God. The providence of God. The providence of God. 0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:30.439 The plans of man and the providence of God are 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:35.199 two totally different things. The man directs his steps in 0:19:35.280 --> 0:19:41.280 his mind, God orders his steps in real life. And 0:19:41.320 --> 0:19:45.840 so maybe I'm preaching to somebody today who is like Naomi. 0:19:47.440 --> 0:19:50.840 You know, when we walked into Ruth chapter four, it 0:19:50.880 --> 0:19:54.680 looked like everything was going good, and on the surface, 0:19:55.640 --> 0:19:57.840 it sounds like this is a moment to be happy, 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:01.879 and it is. It is if you look at it 0:20:01.920 --> 0:20:06.879 in isolation. But understanding what led up to this moment, 0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:10.520 I think gives me a greater appreciation for who God 0:20:10.560 --> 0:20:14.080 is and what he is able to do. Let's look 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:15.920 at it a little deeper, because even the Book of 0:20:16.000 --> 0:20:22.920 Ruth is an interesting book. You have Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 0:20:23.560 --> 0:20:29.080 and then Ruth first Samuel, second Samuel, first King's second Kings. 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:36.800 What's Ruth doing between all those big books? Why is 0:20:36.840 --> 0:20:41.399 there a book in the Bible about one woman from Moab? 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:48.720 Moab is not Bethlehem. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, not Moab. 0:20:50.359 --> 0:20:53.320 Moab was not even seen. I could do this real quick. 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:56.880 Moab was like you went to school in Chapel Hill 0:20:57.400 --> 0:21:01.480 and you are cheering in four coach. K You see 0:21:01.480 --> 0:21:05.320 what I've said, That level of hatred right there. You 0:21:05.640 --> 0:21:07.199 felt it coming through the room. And this is a 0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:09.879 local illustration. Okay, I could use another one somewhere else. 0:21:12.280 --> 0:21:20.480 What is a woman from Moab doing between the five 0:21:20.520 --> 0:21:22.919 covenants in the Bible? Write down the word covenant in 0:21:22.960 --> 0:21:26.040 your notes, please. Covenant is a concept we would do 0:21:26.119 --> 0:21:29.040 well to understand in our current contemporary society. We don't 0:21:29.119 --> 0:21:31.720 understand it at all. We don't understand commitment at all. 0:21:31.880 --> 0:21:35.040 We just understand convenience. Even when we say marriage vows, 0:21:35.080 --> 0:21:37.440 we don't really mean half of what we're saying. We're saying, 0:21:37.480 --> 0:21:39.439 as long as you make me happy, I'll be with you, 0:21:39.560 --> 0:21:41.760 And we don't really mean what we're saying. And I'm 0:21:41.760 --> 0:21:44.560 not saying that to shame anybody. I'm just saying sometimes 0:21:44.560 --> 0:21:49.800 we would do well to understand these verses in their context. 0:21:51.160 --> 0:21:54.359 Because God made a covenant with Noah. He said, I 0:21:54.400 --> 0:21:56.520 never fled the earth again. That's the first covenant. There 0:21:56.520 --> 0:22:00.880 are five covenants. The Bible is structured around five covenants. Covenant, 0:22:00.960 --> 0:22:03.080 I will never flood the earth again. It means there's 0:22:03.080 --> 0:22:06.880 going to be a limit on human evil. The Abrahamic Covenant, 0:22:07.040 --> 0:22:09.080 which God said, I'm gonna make a nation out of you. 0:22:09.359 --> 0:22:11.800 Count the stars if you can, count the sand if 0:22:11.800 --> 0:22:14.960 you can, and Abraham goes one, two, three, four, five 0:22:15.080 --> 0:22:17.159 to seven, eight nine. This is going to take a 0:22:17.200 --> 0:22:20.080 long time, God, And God said, exactly, it's going to 0:22:20.160 --> 0:22:22.240 take a long time for me to show you what 0:22:22.320 --> 0:22:24.800 I'm going to do through you, and your descendants will 0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:27.600 be as numerous as the sand on the sea shore, 0:22:27.920 --> 0:22:30.400 if you can believe it and receive it, even though 0:22:30.440 --> 0:22:33.600 you are past child bearing years. I am gonna bring 0:22:33.640 --> 0:22:36.560 forth a life out of your wife's dead wound. That 0:22:36.680 --> 0:22:39.639 will bless the whole world, and I will bless you 0:22:39.680 --> 0:22:42.960 and you will be a blessing. That's the Abrahamic Covenant. 0:22:44.240 --> 0:22:47.679 Then you've got the Davidic Covenant, which God made with David, 0:22:47.800 --> 0:22:51.040 the second King israel head. You remember Saul, the one 0:22:51.080 --> 0:22:53.520 that the people wanted, and then David, and he's like, 0:22:53.600 --> 0:22:56.879 this is my guy right here, He's after my heart 0:22:57.119 --> 0:23:00.160 and he said, I'm going to establish a throne from you. 0:23:00.400 --> 0:23:03.280 Now you forgot about the Mosaic Covenant where God had 0:23:03.320 --> 0:23:05.879 to bring his people out of Egypt, and then the 0:23:06.080 --> 0:23:09.280 New Covenant. How many thank God for the blood of 0:23:09.359 --> 0:23:15.920 Jesus that lets me know that I can't keep the law, 0:23:16.440 --> 0:23:19.080 and what the law was powerless to do in that 0:23:19.160 --> 0:23:23.600 it was weakened by my flesh. God did by sending 0:23:23.920 --> 0:23:27.639 his son Jesus, the son of David, to be a 0:23:27.680 --> 0:23:32.240 sin offering in my place, and upon Jesus was placed 0:23:32.320 --> 0:23:35.960 all of my transgression and all of my shame. So 0:23:36.080 --> 0:23:39.719 whatever shame I carried into church today as a child 0:23:39.720 --> 0:23:43.760 of the New Covenant, I carried it illegally because Jesus 0:23:43.800 --> 0:23:46.920 took it. And whatever he took he intends to keep 0:23:47.000 --> 0:23:49.400 and deal with. So I've got to give it back 0:23:49.440 --> 0:23:55.600 to him over and over and over. Because God has 0:23:55.840 --> 0:24:02.200 already made up his mind about me. He already made 0:24:02.280 --> 0:24:06.960 up his mind about me. He's not looking to see 0:24:07.040 --> 0:24:09.840 if I get it right or if I get it wrong. 0:24:10.720 --> 0:24:16.399 He made a purpose for my life, and it will 0:24:16.440 --> 0:24:22.560 come together. Say it, it will come together. I feel 0:24:22.640 --> 0:24:24.919 like preaching this like this cod Orange revival. But you 0:24:24.960 --> 0:24:28.320 won't help me touch three people. Tell them it will 0:24:28.640 --> 0:24:32.359 come together. It will, it will. I know it's taken 0:24:32.400 --> 0:24:35.400 a while. I know it's been on layaway and delay, 0:24:35.640 --> 0:24:37.960 and there's a shipping thing, and I know they can't 0:24:38.000 --> 0:24:40.159 get it to you like they were supposed to. And 0:24:40.240 --> 0:24:42.760 I know your three years past the due date of 0:24:42.800 --> 0:24:46.399 when you expected God to do it. But if Naomi 0:24:46.560 --> 0:24:51.359 encourages me about one thing, it's that after she lost 0:24:51.600 --> 0:25:01.320 everything she held, dear God still had something for I'm 0:25:01.320 --> 0:25:09.200 glad about it. I love that verse that they said 0:25:09.200 --> 0:25:15.600 in the blessing. They said in verse eleven, Ruth four eleven, 0:25:16.480 --> 0:25:19.440 this is the one that got me. We are witnesses. 0:25:20.000 --> 0:25:22.080 May the Lord make the woman who is coming into 0:25:22.119 --> 0:25:25.919 your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up 0:25:25.960 --> 0:25:32.440 the family of Israel, that sounds so nice. Rachel and Leah, 0:25:33.040 --> 0:25:39.720 who together teamwork makes the dream work. They together built 0:25:39.800 --> 0:25:43.159 up the House of Israel. And I remember they're saying 0:25:43.200 --> 0:25:48.440 this hundreds of years after it happened. They're saying this 0:25:50.119 --> 0:25:54.520 after they have the benefit of seeing the blessing fully matured. 0:25:55.920 --> 0:26:00.119 They are saying this like a parent who is ninety's 0:26:00.160 --> 0:26:03.400 one years old and all their kids have kids now, 0:26:03.680 --> 0:26:06.080 and they have lived long enough to know, don't stress 0:26:06.080 --> 0:26:11.359 about that. It's all right. Please, please don't worry yourself 0:26:11.400 --> 0:26:15.720 that much about that. It's all right. See, we don't 0:26:15.720 --> 0:26:20.320 get to live through that lens. We don't get to 0:26:20.359 --> 0:26:22.960 live through the lens of knowing that Rachel and Leah 0:26:23.040 --> 0:26:25.600 built up the House of Israel together. We don't get 0:26:25.600 --> 0:26:28.760 to live through the lens of Naomi knowing I'm gonna 0:26:28.760 --> 0:26:32.199 hold a baby named Obed in my arms, even though 0:26:32.240 --> 0:26:36.960 I'm gonna cry for years about my husband, only to 0:26:37.040 --> 0:26:42.080 lose my sons. Because see, we don't taste life as 0:26:42.160 --> 0:26:50.920 a meal. We experience the ingredients in isolation. In God's mind, 0:26:51.000 --> 0:26:57.360 your life is a meal. In God's life, your God's mind, 0:26:57.520 --> 0:27:02.200 your life is Thanksgiving Day. What the y'all el on Thanksgiving. 0:27:02.240 --> 0:27:04.240 I might come over put it in the chat. What 0:27:04.359 --> 0:27:07.960 y'all got at Thanksgiving? Is? What do you like at Thanksgiving? 0:27:07.960 --> 0:27:10.439 What do you have at Thanksgiving? Mac and cheese? I 0:27:10.520 --> 0:27:14.000 might come? Can somebody do better than that? Mac and 0:27:14.080 --> 0:27:17.000 cheese and sweet potatoes? Now? Like sweet potatoes or a 0:27:17.000 --> 0:27:20.439 sweet potato thing with marshmallows in it? Yeah? Because I 0:27:20.520 --> 0:27:22.679 really just had the sweet potatoes are the middleman for me. 0:27:22.720 --> 0:27:25.720 I just want the marshmallows on top of the sweet potatoes, honestly. 0:27:25.760 --> 0:27:27.840 So yeah, that's good. That's good. I might come. What else? 0:27:27.880 --> 0:27:30.960 What do y'all have at Thanksgiving? See? I don't know. 0:27:31.119 --> 0:27:33.399 I'm making everybody hungry. I'm losing my audience. This is 0:27:33.480 --> 0:27:39.199