LIMAVADY INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH
SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 25 JULY 2021
RUTH 1 VERSES 1 - 7
Revival comes when God revisits his people once again. It is not a sensation we can have in a meeting. God does it in response to our hunger for God. During the period of Judges there was a low social and spiritual climate, one of the lowest points in the history of Israel. A time when sin came into the people's lives and hearts. A period of disappointment and time of turning backs on God. God would then send captivity to the people and deliverance would come through a man or a woman. This went on for 400 years. The spirit of the age of that time was evident in the time of Ruth. Judges 21 verse 25 "in those days there was no king in Israel, every man did that which was right in his own eyes." Revival came to the heart of Naomi. She made her way back to the land of blessing. Elimelech and his wife Naomi sat down one night. There was a famine in the land they were living in. They hadn't much to eat, to keep their family together. They began to hear about how there was plenty in the land of Moab. They decided to pack up and go down into the land of Moab to stay there for a while. What did that mean for Naomi and Elimelech and their 2 boys? They left the place where God would have them to be in, where they knew the calling of God. It is dangerous to go against that. Bethlehem Judah was called the house of bread. Here they were living in the house of bread and moving to a pagan land to be satisfied. Some times that is what happens. Some times we do thing to satisfy ourselves. We feel that if we were in such a place we would be happy and glad. We are willing to walk away from the people and promises of God, wiling to leave that all behind. Her husband and 2 sons died and Naomi made a decision - verse 6 - she would return to Bethlehem. What was she told? Whenever she went back to Bethlehem the people didn't know her. Similar to the prodigal in the New Testament who took his fathers money spent it on in riotous living then made a decision to go back to his fathers house.
Notice this witness was a faithful witness. Someone said this was an angel who came from heaven to tell her directly to go back but we are not told that specifically. Maybe it was a traveller who told here what was happening in Bethlehem. This witness wanted to tell others - what a tremendous witness. Rather than sitting back with this message he realises people needed to hear. Maybe it was a family member. He wanted to go down and tell the family in Moab what God was doing. He wanted to share this blessing. Isn't that revival - when God does something for us. We want to tell others what he has saved us from. Whenever we realise the love and mercy of God in sending his son into the world to die on the cross for our sin we want to tell that to our loved ones and family circle. Remember the man who lived among the tombs cutting himself. No-one would go near him. One day the Lord met with him. He wanted to follow Jesus wherever he went but Jesus told him to go home and tell his family, his neighbours and community of the great things God had done for him. We read the story in the Old Testament of the city of Samaria being under seige. 4 lepers sat on the outside gate. They gazed on the enemy camp every day. They thought to themselves 'if we went down to the camp and they took pity on us and fed us that would be good. If however we were put to death what would we lose?' They decided to go down. As they went down there was no enemy, but there were tables of food prepared. They began to eat and ate their full. 2 Kings 7 verse 9 when their stomachs were full they turned to one another "we do not well: this day is a day of good tidings ... come that we may go and tell the king household." They were faithful in their witness and it took 4 men to go down and tell what God had done. 4 other men carried their friend to Christ, let him down through the roof on a stretcher, set him down at Jesus' feet and as a result God healed that man. We need to be faithful witnesses for Christ today.
A faceless witness - verse 6. "For she had heard" not told who it was that told Naomi the message . We don't know anything about it. Those on the outside of the gates of Samaria were faceless men but they proved what God could do. They took news back to their own camp. We are called to be faithful people Paul said writing to some of the churches he never visited. The woman at the well told the local men "come see a man that told me all things whatsoever I have done, is this not the Messiah?" The people flocked to her and saw who this man was. A result of her faithful witness. In the great revival movements we see some of the main characters - Whitfield, John and Charles Wesley, think of others like Duncan Campbell and Nicholson - named people but there are those others who are not named. People who have prayed that God would move in a mighty way - Duncan Campbell told the story of one man, a butcher who he had prayed with in a back room. This butcher explained God had laid it on his heart to pray for Greece. 'Why would God lay it on your heart to pray for Greece, do you even know where Greece is? Duncan Campbell asked. The butcher replied 'No but God knows and God asked me to pray for them.' 2years later Duncan Campbell was in a meeting listening to a man preaching the word of God. He paused to give an illustration on such a time when he was visiting Greece and was asked to preach. God began to move in the assembly. People got saved, committed their lives to Christ. That man was asked to stay on for 2 years and teach the people. Duncan Campbell sat down and counted it out, worked back to the day he spoke to the butcher praying for Greece. A nameless man, a faceless witness.
A fearless witness. Maybe this news came through a good friend. What did it mean for the messenger - it meant that he would enter into a pagan land where God was not worshipped. He spread this news of what God was doing back in Bethlehem. Fear would be on him, he might be arrested and possibly put to death. When this famine came this family made a bad decision but this witness was thinking about them. Maybe he remembered the day when they said they were going to go to Moab. When he heard the news of how God had visited his people again in Bethlehem he had wanted to rush off and tell others about this good news. He didn't sit back. He wanted to go, he was wiling to go, such devotion and desire to tell this family, Is there a little family you could tell today? Is there a man or woman you could tell about God and what he has done for you? Is there someone today you could say 'I would love to see you saved.' The way of the trangressors is hard. They need encouragement. CT Studd said 'some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell but I want to run a rescue ship within a yard of hell.' Someone once asked a prison visitor what he did. 'I do a very dangerous work'. They replied 'what do you mean you do a dangerous work.' 'Well I try to get as near the gates of hell as possible and turn as many back as I can.' This was a fearless witness. Naomi said "do not call me Naomi but Marah meaning bitterness." She had been through so much and was now coming back to the land she loved. God desired for her to hear. God desires to hear from you the blessing you are enjoying. He wants you to go that person and bring them back to the Lord. He didn't hold that against Peter when he had turned his back on the Lord and denied him 3 times. The angel on the resurrection morning said to the woman"go and tell his disciples and Peter." The onus is on us to tell.
It was a fruitful witness. Whenever Naomi heard the news she arose and returned to Bethlehem. This was a dangerous witness. We are called to witness and it is a very dangerous task. She became a hindrance to her own daughters-in-law. The witness brought the message. God had visited his people. The message was welcomed and received. It prompted her to come back to the Lord. Is there someone you know still on the broad road today? Maybe one day they did walk on the narrow way, enjoyed the things of God once but now they are waiting for the messenger to tell them the news of what God has done. His word was heard and received. The woman at the well left everything to follow the Lord. There was only one thing on her mind - to tell the people of Samaria. Lets not think of revival today. Pray for it in our hearts that we might be soul winners, the witnesses for Christ today.
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