(Walla Walla, WA – June 26, 2004)
Introduction
Let’s look at 2 Peter 3:1818But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. (2 Peter 3:18) for an opening verse. “Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” We can see from this verse that spiritual growth is what God wants in our Christian lives. But when we look out at the Christian community as a whole, we see that this is not always the case with every Christian. Some believers make straightforward and rapid progress, while others don’t seem to make much progress at all. It’s a fact; some people, after getting saved, grow rather quickly in divine things, and others seem to progress more slowly? If we had it marked on a progress chart, the line would be almost vertical for some, while with others it would waiver up and down. Have you ever wondered why this is so? I believe that there are reasons why we make progress at a different pace.
Some suppose that it’s because we all have different levels of intelligence. Others will tell us that it has to do with whether you are studious or not—often excusing themselves by saying that they are not studious. And then some imagine that you need to have a gift for it, and not all Christians have been given that gift. Friends, there is no truth to those ideas. Don’t believe them for a minute. There are answers to this question in the Word of God, and I want to look into it this afternoon, and see if we can learn something for our own lives.
This verse that we’ve read at the close of Peter’s second epistle is an exhortation to the saints to “grow in grace.” We could desire nothing better for you, dear young people and for all of us—that we would “grow in grace.” Growth is the development of the moral features of Christ in His people, and “grace” is the soil in which we grow.
You know, growing in divine things is far different from growing in natural things. Whether it is growth in mankind physically, or in the animal kingdom, or in the vegetable kingdom, one thing for sure is that you’ve never heard of anyone exhorting them to grow. You don’t go outside and say to the plants in your garden, “Now grow!” Nor do you take your pet dog or cat and tell it to grow. Who ever heard of someone taking their son or daughter into a room and saying to them, “Now grow?” No, it’s something that takes place naturally. But when it comes to the Christian’s spiritual development, it’s very interesting that there is an exhortation to the saints to “grow.” I believe that it is because growth in spiritual things is not all a one-sided thing that God alone takes care of. There is something for us to do in this matter, and God would have us to be responsibly exercised about our part in it.
Someone said it’s like building a fire. Now I don’t know a whole lot about building fires, but I do understand that there is a right way and there is a wrong way. You can set the kindling in such a way so that when you light the fire, it really catches hold and burns well. You can also arrange the sticks, and whatever else you have to burn, in a haphazard way so that you don’t get a good fire going. I believe it’s just the same in the things of God. We need to have certain principles in place in our lives so that the Spirit of God can take the things of God and apply them to our hearts and lives so that there would be some real serious growth. And I believe that the presence of such things in one’s life is the reason why some make more rapid progress than others. Simply put, if there are some here who feel that they haven’t made much progress in their Christian lives, I believe that it’s because certain of these principles are missing in their lives.
RUTH—a New Convert
I want to look at this subject by way of type—that is, as it’s found typically in the life of an individual in the Old Testament. The elements necessary for growth and progress are illustrated beautifully in this person. Her name is Ruth. (It’s interesting that there are only two women whose names are a title to a book in the Bible: they are Ruth and Esther. There are some striking contrasts between the two. I’m not going to take them up this afternoon, but one of them is that Esther was a Jewish maiden who married a Gentile king. Ruth, on the other hand, was a Gentile maiden who ended up marrying a Jewish prince.)
There are many precious principles in these Old Testament books that we can draw from for our Christian path. It’s striking how Ruth made such rapid progress in the things of her new-found God, and among His people. I would like to look at her life and see what the secret was for her rapid progress. I’m not going to read the whole book; I’m just going to read a few verses here and there, and lift out the salient points in her life, and then make some practical applications from them for our lives.
I think we’ll begin at verse 6 of chapter 1, where there has already been tragedy in the family of Elimelech. There were three deaths in the family. And at this point the family is bereft of the men, and is left with three widows—Naomi, Ruth, and Orpah. “Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited His people in giving them bread. Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother’s house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me. The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and 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 ye go with me? Are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have a husband also tonight, and should also bear sons; would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me. And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah 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 unto her gods: return thou after thy sister-in-law. And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or 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 ought but death part thee and me. When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her. So they two went until they came to Bethlehem.”
Here we have a great test in the life of Ruth. The three widows set out to go to the land of Judah. But there was quite a difference between them: in one woman we have a grieving widow (“Naomi”), in another we have a leaving widow (“Orpah”), and lastly, we have a cleaving widow (“Ruth”).
“Naomi” was a returning backslider on the road to restoration in her life. She knew that she needed to be in the land of Judah, where God wanted her, and she was returning there. “Ruth” is a picture of a new convert who was making the God of Israel her personal God. And then, “Orpah” is a picture of a mere professor that would set out to make steps toward the God of Israel and His land, but being tested, she would go back from the profession she had made.
1) Commitment to the Lord
The first great thing that we see in Ruth is that she was characterized by a commitment to the God of Israel—a commitment that involved a clean break from the land of Moab. This kind of commitment is absolutely essential in the life of all believers—whether they were believers in Old Testament times, or they are Christians like ourselves. It’s beautiful to see Ruth making that confession of her faith. When Naomi heard it she couldn’t dissuade her from going to the land of Israel. Ruth’s commitment was very deep and real. It involved five things: she said, “Whither thou goest, I will go:” which meant that she was willing to take a new path in her life. “Where thou lodgest, I will lodge:” meant that she was willing to be in a new place. Then she said, “Thy people shall be my people;” which indicates that she was willing to be identified with a new people. She also said, “Thy God shall be my God;” which meant that she had accepted a new (divine) Person in her life—Jehovah. And lastly, “Where thou will diest, I will die, and there will I be buried,” indicated that she had a new prospect in her life, for Old Testament saints did not know about the Lord’s coming and the rapture of the saints. They lived for what was beyond death, which was eternity with their God.
Ruth’s confession involved:
A new path—the path of faith.
A new place—the land of Israel.
A new people—the children of Israel.
A new divine Person—the God of Israel, Jehovah.
A new prospect—eternity with Jehovah.
She had taken an entirely new direction in her life, and what a beautiful picture it is of commitment to the Lord! I believe that this is where it begins if we are going to make progress in the things of God. That is, we need to have commitment to the Lord in regards to the Christian path. You know, there is so much today in the Christian profession that is lackadaisical and indifferent—the very opposite of being committed. As one brother put it, “Just surfing along without much exercise one way or the other.” Sad to say, when there is no real commitment in our lives, then when the tests in the path come there is often failure and a lack of progress, because the roots of conviction are not very deep.
I would intreat every person here this afternoon to get serious about their Christian life. We need to get before the Lord in regards to commitment in the path. I realize that no exhortation by itself is going to do this; it’s only the power of God’s love and the greatness of the work that the Lord Jesus accomplished at the cross that is going to stir and pull at the cords of our hearts—as we sung together—“Lord, Thou hast drawn us after Thee, now let us run and never tire.” This is my great desire for every person here this afternoon—that the Lord Jesus would become more precious to your hearts, and it would evidence itself by commitment in our lives.
There was no half-hearted dabbling with Ruth. She didn’t take up with the path of following Jehovah lightly—like we see around us today in the Christian world. She made a commitment that involved leaving Moab behind. And we do not read that she ever made any contact with Moab again! That’s how thorough her choice for Jehovah was. She “burned her bridges” behind her. We are often told in business and in life, “You don’t want to burn your bridges behind you!” But we are here this afternoon to tell you that if you want to make progress in divine things, you need to “burn your bridges” behind you. You want to make a commitment to the Lord from which you’ll not go back. You know, it tells us in Hebrews 11 That “if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.” That wasn’t the case with Ruth. This woman was focused on her new life, her new place, her new fellowship with the people of Israel, etc.—SHE WAS COMMITTED. I hope that is the case with each of us this afternoon.
As we have illustrated in Ruth’s life, commitment to the Lord involves a clean break from the world, of which Moab is a type. Let me tell you what my uncle Stan used to say. He said, “I’ve never seen anyone get on in their souls who maintained a circle of friends outside the Lord’s people.” You may not like to hear that, but how true it is. If you have a fellowship of friends outside the Lord’s people, it will slowly drag you down. With such people you couldn’t possibly have the Lord’s things as your mutual interest because they don’t know Him or want those things. So, it would have to be something else—something other than Christ. May God give us the grace to break those links that are only going to hinder us. “He giveth more grace” (James 4:66But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. (James 4:6)).
This kind of commitment reminds me of a story I heard, that happened many years ago concerning the explorer Cortez. When he landed with his fleet of eleven ships in Vera Cruz, on the shores of Mexico, he had one singular objective—to conquer that land. The first thing he did when he got his seven hundred men on shore was to set fire to all eleven of his ships! As his men stood on the shore and looked at the ships aflame, and then saw them sink to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, they realized that there was no turning back. There was only one direction to go—forward. What a graphic illustration from history of being committed to going forward, and forward only. Yet we do not see much of that among Christians today. We Christians seem to dabble in divine things. Christian’s today seem to want to keep one hand on the life they once lived before conversion, and one hand on the Lord’s things—and it just doesn’t work—they don’t make progress. It is one of the greatest hindrances to going on. So if you want to make progress in your Christian life—which we hope every one here does—you want to apply each of these points that we are going to look at in the life of Ruth to our lives; then you’ll have good success.
Another story comes to mind regarding Napoleon. We know from history that he was involved in many battles in Europe, but there was one particular battle that illustrates our point here. He was being overpowered by the enemy troops, so he ordered his drummer to beat “retreat.” (In that day that was the way they marshalled their troops, for there was no such thing as a radio.) Anyway, his drummer did not respond; so Napoleon repeated his command. Again, there was no sound that came from the drum. So Napoleon went over to him and said, “Beat retreat!” The drummer replied, “Sir, you never taught me that beat.” That struck Napoleon, and it spurred him on to one of his greatest victories. We need a little of that kind of decisive commitment in our Christian lives. Someone said that the Christian path is worth it even if it was ten thousand times harder! What a privilege we have to walk in the Christian path and bear the Name of Christ before the world. May God give us to have that kind of commitment in our lives.
2) Diligence to Gather Food
Let’s read in the second chapter, and note some more things that Ruth was characterized by. “And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go my daughter. And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech. 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 servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish 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 sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house.”
Here we have a second thing that characterized Ruth—her diligence to gather food. She had come in among the people of God and was taking advantage of the national “poor law” in Israel. We learn from Leviticus 19 that the children of Israel were not to glean their fields after they had reaped them. This was to allow for strangers, such as Ruth, and poor folk in Israel to gather something for themselves so that they wouldn’t starve. They could go out and pick up the bits and pieces that were left behind so that they could get something to eat. This was God’s law, and it exemplifies His heart that cares for His people.
In this chapter, “Boaz” is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. The “field,” the place where they gathered food, is a type of the Word of God, where we gather spiritual food for our souls. The “servant” that was set over the reapers is a type of the Spirit of God. He was in Boaz’s field to guide and direct the affairs of Boaz. Notice: he is unnamed, which is consistent with the types of the Spirit throughout the Scriptures. The Spirit of God is not here in this world to draw attention to Himself, but to Christ, and thus, He is happy to put Himself behind the scenes. Then we find that there were “reapers” and there were “gleaners” in the field. In every Bible reading meeting I believe you’ll find reapers and gleaners. The reapers are those who are experienced in the harvest. They go ahead of the rest and cut down the grain. They are a picture of those who have some knowledge and gift in ministering the Word, who can teach us things concerning Christ. The gleaners are those of us that would follow along behind the reapers and pick up precious pieces of spiritual food in the meetings, whereby we are fed spiritually.
Now, the thing we are to learn from this is that we need to have a desire to be found in God’s Word, if we’re going to get fed. That’s what is so beautiful about Ruth. When she went out, it happened that she came upon the field of Boaz. And the servant brought her into contact with Boaz. Similarly, when we take up with the Word of God with the exercise of getting spiritual food for our souls, the Spirit of God directs us to Christ. The Bible says, “When He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come. He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall shew it unto you” (John 16:13-1413Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. 14He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. (John 16:13‑14)). Ruth met Boaz in his field! And that’s where you’ll find Christ—in the Word of God. I believe this is how we become acquainted with our blessed Lord Jesus—by taking up with the Word of God and seeking to gather food for our spiritual needs. There is no place in Scripture, whether it is by type or by actual incident, that Christ doesn’t come before you in some way. This book (the Bible) is all about the Lord Jesus. Someone said that the Bible is just a lot of history, but that’s exactly what it is—it’s HIS-STORY—it’s all about Him!
When you read, use whatever means you can to get the truth. And I have no problem with those that want to make a note in the Bible meetings. There are some that will tell us that we shouldn’t make notes. Mr. Kelly wrote a book about his acquaintance with Mr. Darby; and somewhere in it he says that no one made more notes than Darby! He always seemed to be making notes—when he was out walking, or even visiting with someone. I’m not saying that you have to make notes, but use every available means that you can to help you get and remember the truth. A Chinese proverb says, “When I hear it, I forget it; when I see it, I remember it; but when I write it, I understand it.” The point behind this is that if you get more of your senses involved in the learning of the truth, the better chance you’ll have of grasping it, and remembering it. I believe Mr. Darby has an article, and somewhere in it he speaks of the value of writing. Even if you don’t give what you’ve written to anyone, but just keep it for personal use—writing something out is helpful to your process of learning. Someone aptly said, “Our thoughts become unscrambled at the end of a pencil.”
What a beautiful picture this is here of Ruth having this desire to gather food. This second great thing in the life of Ruth is what we all need in our lives—a hunger for spiritual food. And we can only get it from gleaning in the Word of God. This is another reason why some make progress rapidly, while others sort of stumble along. Now, we realize that the young here may not have the appetite that the older ones have—and we’re not suggesting that the head of John Darby should be put on the shoulders of the young people. You are a young person, and God understands that—but there still should be some exercise in your life to glean from the Word of God.
Now young people, I really hope that you get this message loud and clear. It’s going to be the difference between whether you’ll make progress in your Christian life or not. You need spiritual food for your soul. You may say (if you’re honest), “But I just don’t have much of an appetite for it.” Well, you need to understand the reason why: it is because you have two natures. A Christian is different from all other creatures in God’s creation—he has two natures. An angel doesn’t have two natures; and an animal doesn’t have two natures. The man that’s lost in this world certainly doesn’t have two natures—he only has a fallen nature. But a Christian is unique—he has two natures. One nature, received when we are born again, is higher than that of an angel, for it is the very life of Christ. His other nature is fallen and is lower than a beast—for fallen men will do immoral things that even a beast wouldn’t do. And friends, neither nature can be improved! One is so bad that it cannot be improved; and the other is so good it also can’t be improved. And regardless of what influence you put upon these natures you cannot change their basic desires. One wants Christ and His things, and the other wants sin and the world.
Brother Jim Lantz told me a story that illustrates this point very well. When he was a boy he had an opportunity to go to his uncle Walter’s farm for the summer. His uncle Walter had all kinds of livestock: he had cows and pigs, horses and hens, geese—and he had a little pond there for them and everything. Anyway, one day there was an awful ruckus in the hen house, and by the time they got over there they could see what had happened; some predator had gotten in there—either a fox or a mongoose, I can’t remember what he said it was—and had made off with a mother duck. They saw that she had been sitting on a nest full of eggs. So Jim’s uncle Walter took those eggs and went over to a hen that was sitting on her eggs, and he put them under her. Jim said to his uncle, “Will that work?” His uncle said, “Well, we’ll see if it does.”
Sure enough, a couple of weeks later they hatched. And that hen nursed them, and there came a day when she led her brood out of the hen house. He said it was the most interesting sight. She came out and there was this long line of chicks behind her. After they got a little way along, all of a sudden, half of her brood made a sharp right turn toward the pond of water! She made a lot of squawking at them, but they didn’t pay any attention—they spotted water, and being ducks by nature, they went straight for it! Regardless of all the nurturing that hen had given to those little ducklings, it didn’t change a thing. That’s just like the Christian’s fallen nature; regardless of how much culture and moral teaching you give it, there will be no change. It goes straight for sin, as it always did. Thankfully, we have been born of God and have another nature that has an interest and a capacity for divine things.
However, having a new nature that has the capacity for divine things will not be enough to make us to grow. The great exercise for us as Christians is to learn to feed that new life; then we will grow. And the food that nourishes the new life is Christ. The Lord Jesus said, “He that eats My flesh and drinks My blood has life eternal, and I will raise him up at the last day: for My flesh is truly food and My blood is truly drink. He that eats My flesh and drinks My blood dwells in Me and I in him” (John 6:54-5654Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. (John 6:54‑56) – J. N. Darby Trans.). He was speaking figuratively, of course. But the great point here is that you need to have a quiet time in your life each day where you take up the Word of God and let the Spirit of God bring Christ before your soul; and thus, feed your new life. Once you learn to do this, you’ll find that it is a most blessed thing.
But, as we’ve said, we have another nature that desires other things, and we have to be careful not to feed it, for in doing so it will dominate us. If we feed the fallen nature we can expect that it’s going to rear its ugly head and begin to assert itself in our lives with its desires. And one of the things it doesn’t want to do is feed upon the Word of God. Personally, I believe that we spend too much time in the realm of the flesh—all of us, not just the young people. That’s the reason why there is often a struggle, and a lack of appetite for the Word of God. So, how important it is that we feed the new nature.
I’m not so concerned about young people who may have a little of this world still clinging to them—kind of like Moses when he fled from Egypt. You remember the story; Jethro’s daughters identified him as an Egyptian by the way he looked, but he really was a child of God. At any rate, if there is a real desire to drink in the Word of God, I know that those things in time will find their place in the junk pile. But if there isn’t that inner life of communion, with the Scriptures open, there is going to be a sad departure from the path sooner or later. Now, I am not excusing worldliness among the people of God; what I am saying is that if there is a daily intake of the Word of God, eventually the person will become exercised, and those things will be put off. But I am afraid that with many—and I grieve over this, dear young people—while we may see marks of the world upon you, we don’t see any interest in taking in the Word of God. And I know that if this continues in your life where it will take you, and I am concerned about that. You need to get this message loud and clear this afternoon—you need to take up the Word of God and feed on it.
I believe that if you take up the Scriptures and begin reading, God will whet your appetite, and your hunger will become greater as you continue. I know it’s difficult when you first start—you’ve been out playing or whatever, and when you first open the Scriptures it’s a little difficult to get going. That’s because there is a need for the washing process to take place in our souls because of our daily contact with defilement. But once you get past that, the sweetness of the Word of God will be experienced. You need to just stick to it a bit—through the first 5 or 10 minutes—and you’ll find that the Lord will make Himself precious to you while you read and meditate.
So, if you don’t have much of an appetite for the Word of God, it’s probably because you are in the habit of feeding the other nature, and the appetite of your new nature has been squelched. There is going to be a tremendous struggle in our lives involving this issue of the two natures. We are told that “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” But we are also told that if we “walk in the Spirit,” we “shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16-1716This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. (Galatians 5:16‑17)).
3) Good Companions
Now, let’s move along through some other points. We have looked at two things thus far; firstly, a commitment to the God of Israel that involved a clean break with the world; and secondly, the need for diligence to gather food. Now, let’s look at verse 8 of chapter 2 for a third point. “Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, 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 athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.”
Isn’t this beautiful. Boaz speaks directly to Ruth; and you know, the Lord Jesus wants to speak to you. That’s what is going to happen when you have your “quiet time” with the Scriptures open. We see here that Boaz gives Ruth some instruction, some counsel—some very good counsel, I might add. It was that she needed to have some good companions. This brings us to the third point that I want to put before you—the need for the right kind of companionship. Boaz said, “Abide here fast by my maidens.” He didn’t want her to be wandering around in other fields. She followed his counsel and kept company with the right kind of persons. It was another component to Ruth’s rapid progress.
There is a great lesson here for us. It’s been said that your companions are like the buttons on an elevator; they can take you up or they can take you down! If you keep company with those that are careless and indifferent about the things of Christ (those who have not really made a commitment to the Lord), they are not going to be a help to you. They will not take you up, only down. On the other hand, if you keep company with those who have an interest in divine things, they’ll stir you up, and spur you on in the things of God.
Old Mr. Hayhoe used to say, “I’ve not been called to choose my companions—the Word of God chooses my companions for me.” He was referring to Psalm 119:6363I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts. (Psalm 119:63) which says, “I am a companion of all them that fear Thee, and of them that keep Thy precepts.” There are two things in that verse: those that fear God, and those who also keep His precepts. Now that qualifies what kind of companions we are to have. Note: it doesn’t say, “I am a companion of every other Israelite in the land.” Neither does Scripture say that we should be a companion of every Christian. The reason for this is that we are in a day of ruin and failure, and there are many Christians that have little or no interest in the things of God. They will not be any help to us in the path of faith. We are told in Proverbs 5:1414I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. (Proverbs 5:14), “I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.” In these days, you don’t have to go out into the world to find trouble; you can find it among those who profess the Lord’s Name.
That’s why there is such a thing as separation in the house of God. We all know that Christians ought to walk in separation from persons in the world—those outside the house of God, but not many Christians realize that we need to practise separation in the house of God too. This, as I have said, is because the house of God is in ruins today. You can turn to Second Timothy 2:19-22 and read about it there. Yes, there are many who profess to know the Lord, and say they are Christians, but are careless as to the path. These are not the kind of companions that you want to have. That verse in Psalm 119 says “precepts,” which is a word used to describe the smallest details in the law. This then is referring to someone who is fastidiously conscientious about keeping the smallest principles of Scripture. It tells me that that is the kind of person I am to be a companion of. You say, well, that will make the path awfully narrow. Well that may be, but that’s the kind of care we need to have when it comes to our companions.
We find here, that Boaz’s maidens had a singular occupation—and that was to glean in the harvest. And Ruth had that interest too, so they had that mutual interest to follow after the reapers, and to glean what they could. Boaz didn’t want her to be drawn away into some other field. If she had gone to another field she would still have been in the land of Israel. She still would have been among those that were professedly the Lord’s people, but they might have had different objectives than what Boaz had. If we could put it this way: there are many fields in the Christian profession today—all there are professing to be following the Lord. But God has allowed you to be among those who are gathered to the Lord’s Name; and the word to you is, “Go not to glean in another field.”
How many times have we seen young people go off to some church denomination because they have lots of people there with a good volleyball group, and all this kind of thing. But what happens is that they get drawn away. It grieves us to see such a thing, because the young people don’t seem to understand that there needs to be carefulness in the kind of companions with whom we walk. Now, we have had in our Bible meetings that we need to have “love unto all the saints” (Eph. 1:1515Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, (Ephesians 1:15)); and I heartily endorse that. The Word of God says it in at least two or three places; but while we are to have broadness of affection for all the people of God, we are to have narrowness of feet with regards to the path.
Who are your companions, may I ask? Who are those that you associate with—even here at this conference? Are they those that have an interest in the Scriptures and are following along with what is being taught in the meetings? Or are they those whose thoughts wander far from the subject in the meetings—like some, passing notes back and forth among themselves? You can always tell who those people are because their heads keep turning from side to side while the meeting is in progress—chatting with this person and that. As one brother confessed, “As a young person, I was present in body, but absent in mind.” What a sad confession that is! Well, we are glad you are here this afternoon, and we hope that your ears are open with an interest in the things that are being brought before us in these meetings.
4) Not Dwelling on Negative Things
Let’s jump on now to verse 15, “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 she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.” Boaz gave a special command to his reapers who were reaping down his field. He said, “Make sure to leave “handfuls of purpose” for this new convert that is among us.” That’s a word, I believe, to the brethren who have the responsibility in the meetings of teaching the Word of God—to make sure that all might get fed by the things being taught. That means that things need to be explained so that they are easily understood—so that there is something for the young people and the new converts. Now I’m not advocating that we bring the Bible meetings down to the level of a Sunday school class. I know that some people think that if there are a couple of young people in the audience that we should take everything down to their elementary level. No, that is not what Boaz told his reapers to do. Their main objective was to cut down the field, but at the same time, they were to not forget the gleaners—leaving handfuls on purpose so that they could get something too.
We can’t expect the young to understand everything; but if they pay attention, they will get something. However, sometimes we get into a habit of speaking in “shorthand” in the meetings, and then we leave everybody behind. An example of that would be one brother saying, “That would be like the Romans 7 experience.” And another brother says, “Yes, that’s true.” And without stopping to explain what they are referring to; then they move on to some other point. Many who are there who don’t know what that chapter is about are left behind. Let me ask you now, “How many of you young people here know what the Romans 7 experience is?” Probably not too many. Most would say, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Brethren, if we keep using “shorthand” people will eventually give up trying to follow us in the meetings. That’s when the young people “tune us out;” and that’s not a good thing.
The point I want to focus on here is that Ruth separated the wheat from the chaff when she was in Boaz’s field. The wheat is what is valuable for food, but chaff is something that is worthless; and that’s why the farmers separate it from the wheat in a process called winnowing. There can be, sad to say, at times, something among the people of God that answers to chaff—things that are negative and profitless. It could be in a meeting or after a meeting. It is important, therefore, that we don’t dwell on what is negative or profitless. It could be the failures and shortcomings of the saints, etc. Ruth was careful not to take the chaff home, and we can learn a lesson from it.
There are some people that seem to be always occupied with a negative line of things. It seems that they’re always talking about some trouble or shortcoming of a brother or a sister, and it’s wearisome after awhile. Dear brother or sister, if that is you, my next comment is for you; Those who are occupied with failure will turn out to be a failure! If you make that sort of thing your diet, it will hinder your progress.
Ruth wisely separated the wheat from the chaff, and she took the wheat home. Very often we can bring home some problem or trouble that we have seen at the meeting; and we dwell on that. It doesn’t do any good for the spiritual health of our souls. How important it is then not to be in the habit of dwelling on the failures and negative things among the Lord’s people.
It may be something as simple as gossip. You know, there is a Turkish proverb that says, “He that will gossip to you, will gossip about you!” There was a brother that always seemed to be dwelling on negative things, and Mr. Hayhoe said to him, “If you have to be blue all the time, can you at least be a pretty blue!” There is just no good reason for us to be swallowed up with that sort of thing. I understand, of course, that the brethren have a responsibility to look into problems that pertain to the assembly, if need be, but I’m not talking about that. The normal Christian experience is to be occupied with the positive and heavenly things that have to do with Christ, of which the wheat answers. That should be our diet, and especially if we are young. You don’t need to get involved with the things that the older brethren have to deal with, if there are problems. This is a real danger. There have been promising young brothers who have been spoiled by getting occupied with something negative among the saints. As a result they got drawn into a conflict, thinking that they would act for God, but not understanding all the issues involved, and they have gotten slain in the process.
5) Desire to Share Spiritual Food
Let’s go on to verse 18, “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 (from the meal in verse 14) after she was sufficed. And her mother-in-law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned today? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother-in-law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man’s name with whom I wrought today is Boaz.” The point I want to make here is that Ruth had an interest in sharing the food she had gathered. She was not just gathering food for her needs, but she wanted to share it with her mother-in-law. This is a wonderful thing—to get into the Scriptures, and then share something of what you’ve learned or gleaned from the meetings with somebody else!
This is another thing that helps us to make progress. You might say, “How does sharing make you grow?” Well, the Scripture says, “He that watereth shall be watered also himself” (Prov. 11:2525The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. (Proverbs 11:25)). And another verse, “There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth” (Prov. 11:2424There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. (Proverbs 11:24)). If we share what we do have, God performs a little miracle in our life; and what happens is that you understand that particular truth you are sharing better. I don’t know how it happens, but I can testify to the fact that it is true. Spiritual food, in this sense, is completely the opposite of natural food. You see, if I had a pie here, and wanted to share it with someone, and I gave a piece of it to them, what would happen is that I would end up with one piece less. Now, if you like pecan pie like I do, you may not want to do that! But in divine things it doesn’t work that way. You can share thoughts you’ve enjoyed from the Word of God and you won’t lose it—you still have it! In fact, you actually have it a little bit better—you actually gain something by sharing it. Mr. Darby made the comment that he didn’t feel that he really understood a passage or subject until he had spoken on it 4 times! When I first read that comment, I thought, “What?” But after thinking about it, I think I know what he meant. So I’m encouraging you to share what you’ve learned with others, and you’ll find that it will be a blessing to your own soul. Every one of us needs to have an outlet for the things we take in.
6) Willingness to Receive Correction
Now let’s look at verse 21 for another point, “And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest. And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter-in-law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field. So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother-in-law.” Here we have Ruth making a mistake—sometimes called “Ruth’s mistake.” In verse 8, Boaz had said unto her, “Abide here fast by my maidens.” When she went home and told her mother-in-law all that had happened to her that day, she was so excited about it that somehow she had gotten some things confused. She as much as said, “On top of all this food that he allowed me to glean, he told me to stay fast by his young men!” She probably thought that that was a good idea—after all, there is that natural attraction. But the older sister, Naomi, who was now restored, said, “I don’t think he told you to do that. I think that it would be best if you stayed fast by his maidens.” And it says, “So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz.” The point I want to make here is that she was willing to receive correction and to profit from it!
This is another great thing that you need in your life—being open to correction. We all need to be corrected at some time, but some people have the greatest difficulty with this—they just can’t or won’t be corrected. Nabal was one of those kinds of people. It was said of him, “He is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him” (1 Sam. 25:1717Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him. (1 Samuel 25:17)). We’ve all met people like that, but the Lord doesn’t want us to be that way. The older we get the harder it is for us to receive correction. But let’s remember, we are never beyond correction. If it’s a case of learning the truth, and we haven’t got our doctrine exactly right, we should be willing to be adjusted on it without taking personal offence. If it is a practical matter that we are at fault in, we should also be gracious enough to receive the correction, and not to harbour ill feelings about it.
There are those that have been in the path longer than you have, just as Naomi had been in the path longer than Ruth; and they know better than we do what would be best for us. And we need to be willing to hear them out if they have something to say to us. Ruth could have said, “I’m not going to listen to her because she’s failed.” No, some of those that have failed and have been restored are more effective in what they say, because they have been truly humbled by it, and have learned the lesson of it deeply.
7) The Practice of Self-judgment
Now for our last point, let’s look at chapter 3:1, “Then Naomi her mother-in-law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? And now is not Boaz our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor. Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor.” We see here, Ruth, under the direction of Naomi, washing and anointing herself, and then approaching Boaz. This is a picture of the maintenance of communion, which involves self-judgment. It points to the fact that we need to be clean in order to come into the presence of the Lord.
You know, the Lord cannot have communion with us if we are dirty. If we have contracted defilement in the path, and we have gotten out of communion, we need to go through the exercise of washing ourselves. It has often been said that we need to keep short accounts with God. This means that if we fail and sin—it may be something as little as a wrong thought, or something that we have said—we need to confess it to the Lord quickly. The Apostle John says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:99If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)) Don’t let it go, thinking that you’ll deal with it at the end of the week. By then, it could develop into something greater, because there is a course to sin. This practise is called self-judgment. The Bible says, “If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.” It is necessary for the maintenance of communion. In that way, we wash ourselves (or perhaps I should say, the Lord washes us—John 13:8-108Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. 9Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. 10Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. (John 13:8‑10)), and continue our fitness to have communion with Him.
The great result was that Ruth got near to Boaz. And that speaks of something that we all should want—nearness to Christ! This is another essential thing we need to have in our lives if we are going to make progress in our Christian lives.
Summary
May God give you the exercise of heart to want to have all of these great elements we’ve seen in Ruth in your Christian life. They truly are the key to rapid progress.
• Commitment to the Lord that involves a clean break with the world.
• Diligence to gather spiritual food from the Word of God.
• Good companions.
• Not dwelling on negative things.
• Sharing what we have gleaned.
• Willingness to accept correction.
• Maintenance of communion through self-judgment.
Now, I go back to answer the question that I opened the meeting with—as to why some people make such rapid progress in divine things, and others do not. If we’re not growing spiritually, the only logical conclusion is that there must be something hindering it. Our lives must be missing some of these important elements illustrated in the life of Ruth. Perhaps it’s not making a clean break with the world, or maybe a lack of diligence in gathering food from the Word of God, or perhaps it’s our companions that are the problem. These are things we can be exercised about.
May God give us the grace to deal with whatever it is that might be hindering our progress, so that we’ll “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
B. Anstey
(Adapted)
The Key to Progress as Seen in the Life of—RUTH
B. Anstey
First Printed Edition – June 2004
Printed Version – 1.0
Printed in Canada
First eBook Edition—May 2021
eBook Version – 1.1
Note: all Scriptures quoted are from either the King James Version (KJV)
or the J. N. Darby Translation, unless otherwise noted.
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