Moving Forward In Favor Series

Introduction:

A You and I are not ministering in the limelight of a national ministry, where thousands of people know what we are doing (Perry Stone’s, Ron Philipp’s, Damon Thompson’s, Rick Pino’s, John MacCarther’s, John Piper’s, John Kilpatrick’s)

1 God called those guys to be those guys, I believe He’s called us serve faithfully where God’s assigned us . . . where we’re at.

a Most of the time, what we do for the kingdom goes unnoticed, unrewarded, unacknowledged.

b Your level of blessing may be at 30-fold (Matt. 13.8,23).

Matthew 13:8 (NASB) 8 "And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.

Matthew 13:23 (NASB) 23 "And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."

aa You may be serving in an isolated corner of the field, nobody’s paying attention.

bb Yet you keep right on working/striving because you’re on assignment from God (not to be noticed, rewarded, acknowledged).

2 Ruth, like all of us, start at a 30-fold blessing . . . just working in the corners of the field.

a She’s gleaning in the field, not for herself, but for her mother-in-law, Naomi (unselfishness, altruism, servant’s heart). . . which was one of the things that caught Boaz’ attention.

aa Boaz was related to Naomi’s dead husband and the only way Naomi could get back her ground is if one her kin was willing to buy it back for her. (Kinsmen redeemer)

bb Boaz was a type/shadow of Jesus, our Kinsmen redeemer, who would buy us out of slavery with the price of His own blood shed on calvary.

b Boaz saw Ruth’s unselfishness and marked her for increase.

aa He saw her in the corner, made sure she was protected from the wrong men/women because she was laboring in his field.

bb Jesus sees you in the corner, heart and He’s protecting you and He has you marked for increase.

B When Boaz began to recognize Ruth’s presence,

Ruth 2:10 (NASB) 10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him, "Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?"

1 Notice his answer in Ruth 2.11.

Ruth 2:11 (NASB) 11 Boaz replied to her, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know.

a Ruth had a lot going against her . . .

aa She was a woman, widow, poor, from Moab (lost her identity).

bb You know what most women would have been doing? Hunting for a husband, but not Ruth, and it was that very reason that made Boaz take notice of her.

b Boaz saw that Ruth was willing to leave Moab, come to Bethlehem, work in the corner of the fields in order to minister to her hurting mother-in-law.

2 God is about use Boaz to bring unexpected favor into Ruth’s life.

a Ruth 2:12 (NASB) 12 "May the LORD reward your work, and your wages be full from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge."

b Ruth wasn’t working in the corner to get noticed, recognized, rewarded . . . she was there to serve somebody else and that is what got her noticed, recognized, rewarded.

I Favor Moves You Forward.

A Ruth asked Boaz “Let me find favor in your sight.” (Ruth 2.13).

Ruth 2:13 (NASB) 13 Then she said, "I have found favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and indeed have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants."

1 Favor is a special approval, special dispensation of grace . . . let me have something that I wouldn’t get otherwise.

a Ruth 2.14, He welcomed her to the regular workers table.

Ruth 2:14 (NASB) 14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, "Come here, that you may eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar." So she sat beside the reapers; and he served her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and had some left.

b She was out-of-place, not everyone was allowed to go there . . .

2 Wile she was in the gleaning field she had “just enough” to get by, meet her basic need, for her daily bread . . . 30-fold blessing (most Christians live at this level.)