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.)
B God had something more for Ruth (Ruth 2.14)
1 She at and was satisfied.
a She was a nobody working in the field but she had the attention of Boaz - - - and she was about to be brought a blessing level.
b She was about to go from 30-fold (just enough) to the 60-fold (increase).
2 Someone near you has the ability to give you a promotion, advance, progress you.
a Move you from the level you are at now to a new level of increase.
b Everyone starts in the gleaning corners, but with Boaz (Jesus) on your side, you are going to come out of the corner and go into a higher level of blessing.
II The Sixty-fold blessing
A The very next day, Ruth awoke and walked into a new level of blessing (go from “just enough” which is 30-fold, to “INCREASE” which is 60-fold. That’s good, but not as good as 100-fold.)
1 Ruth 2:15-16 (NASB) 15 When she rose to glean, Boaz commanded his servants, saying, "Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not insult her. 16 "Also you shall purposely pull out for her some grain from the bundles and leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her."
a Boaz was breaking tradition, showing her special approval.
aa He told his men to leave her alone, let her pull wheat from the main field, drop “handfuls of purpose” fall where she is gleaning.
bb Don’t bring up the fact she’s not from here, she’s from Moab, don’t bring up her past.
b Boaz wanted to be sure Ruth’s past wasn’t brought up as she moved forward into the blessings he prepared for here.
aa When she was looking away, he’d have his men throw sheaves of grain on the ground near her . . . a sign of favor.
bb The boss recognized her hard work, and without asking, she got additional grain anyway. Increase!
cc Ruth was being blessed on purpose by Boaz.
2 Boaz was blessing Ruth on purpose as a show of his appreciation for her spirit and attitude.
a Ruth wasn’t working in the hot sun all day long to get Boaz’ favor, she would have kept working just as hard even if Boaz’ response to her asking for “favor” would have been, “You don’t deserve any special favor you ol’heifer.” . . . Ruth would have went right back to the field, gleaning her wheat for her and Ms. Naomi because that was her calling.
aa She was working hard because that was her calling.
bb Ruth was called! Chosen! Woman of destiny & she wasn’t lazy . . . she had needs to meet and people to help.
b Ruth went from the 30-fold blessing (just enough) to the 60-fold blessing . . . increase.
B Boaz made sure his reapers (other labors) didn’t remind Ruth of her past, hinder her progress.
1 Satan is the accuser of the brethern (Rev. 12.10), when he reminds of us our past, it hinders our progress into the future.
Revelation 12:10 (NASB) 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.
a Often, we have done things in our past that makes us think we’re not worthy of blessing, incapable of being blessing because we’ve made mistakes in our past.
b Good news, God is IN THE NOW!!!! (NOW faith is . . . )
Hebrews 11:1 (NASB) 1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
aa The devil can only remind you of your past, try to keep you a prisoner of your past, keep us in the graveyard of the past, he torments us. HE CANNOT DETERMINE YOUR FUTURE!!!!
bb Boaz wanted to make sure Ruth’s past wasn’t brought up as she moved forward into the blessings prepared for her.
2 If you are in the field working for your Lord, with the right heart/motive, God will recognize your hard work.
a Serving the kingdom by serving others . . . the Lord is looking for those who love souls, minister to the poor.
aa Proverbs 19:17 (NASB) 17 One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, And He will repay him for his good deed.
bb The Lord will reward those seek the harvest first!
Matthew 6:33 (NASB) 33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
b Ruth moved to the next level of increase . . . she didn’t work any harder, faster . . . yet she was receiving additional handfuls of purpose.
aa Ruth 2.17, an ephah was five gallons more than she had before.
Ruth 2:17 (NASB) 17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.
bb Ruth 2:18 (NASB) 18 She took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also took it out and gave Naomi what she had left after she was satisfied.
cc Before this she had “just enough” but now she had enough and then some.
c God is a God of increase.
aa God is all sufficient. He is El Shaddai and not El Cheapo.
bb The Lord is a God of INCREASE.
C The Will of God — Increase!
1 Before Satan attacks Job, Satan recognized the blessing of the Lord over everything Job touched (Job 1.10).
Job 1:10 (NASB) 10 "Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
2 The devil recognizes that progress/increase and with these things it enlarges your realm of influence . . . affects the decisions of others.
a People listen to those who have influence.
aa Influence comes by testimony, a track record.
bb Your testimony is the result of tests/trials.
b The Biblical Principle is that great testing comes before great blessing.
aa Moses spent 40 years alone in the wilderness before pastored over 3 million.
bb David lost everything at Ziklag before he took the throne in Mt. Zion.
cc Ruth lost her husband before she found her Boaz.
3 God is a God of increase . . . He’ll never leave you with less than what you had for long.
a For a time it may seem you’re on a decline, have less than you had before.
b Keep determined, stay in the corners of the gleaning field, minister to the need of others and ignore your own . . . knowing that eventually God will increase you.
c He’s promised to meet our need (30-fold), but I want enough . . . and then some, INCREASE (60-fold).
d We’ve learned about the 30-fold blessing (Just Enough), 60-fold blessing (Increase. Have enough and are satisfied with a little left over.)
aa The highest level of blessing is the 100-fold level (total provision, as well as the means where you become a blessing to others.)
bb It’s in this realm of increase to where your “cup is running over” Ps. 23.5 . . . it’s where you’re blessed in order to be a blessing.
Psalm 23:5 (NASB) 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.
cc When Boaz (Jesus) is with you, you will eventually move to the highest level of increase.
III Moving to the Highest Level of Blessing
A Be working for your redeemer.
1 Moses, as well as David, were busy shepherding, Levi was tax-collecting & Peter was running trout lines all night long in Galilee when their blessing/calling came . . . the 100-fold blessing does not come to couch potatoes/pew warmers.
a The 100-fold blessing is for those who will WORK in the field (Matt. 20.6).
Matthew 20:6 (NASB) 6 "And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he *said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day long?'
b Ruth was steady working when God’s plan for her began to come into focus (Ruth 2.21).
Ruth 2:21 (NASB) 21 Then Ruth the Moabitess said, "Furthermore, he said to me, 'You should stay close to my servants until they have finished all my harvest.'"
2 Your 100-fold blessing is connected to the field we’re working in.
B Stay where you are until your mission is over (Ruth 2.22).
Ruth 2:22 (NASB) 22 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, "It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maids, so that others do not fall upon you in another field."
1 All fields (church, ministries) are not the same.
a Ruth could have jumped from field to field, but she remained true to one persons field, Boaz.
b People get frustrated/disgusted with a church, minister, member . . . I’ll show them, I’ll change churches/withhold tithe, I’ll show them . . . I’ll go someplace else!
aa They leave before their appointed times & wind up miserable.
bb They wind up missing their blessing.
2 Never make your decisions to change fields just because another place seems better, or because your tired of where you are. (Your blessing can only continue when you are where the Holy Ghost wants you.)
C Listen for instruction & wait on the Lord
1 Ruth knew how to listen to those who had experience in their relms of expertise.
a Ruth 2:23 (NASB) 23 So she stayed close by the maids of Boaz in order to glean until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
b Don’t jump from church to church trying to find the perfect pastor, next blessing . . .
aa Where has God planted you? Where does the anointing flow the best?
bb You must be @ the right place, right time, right people to see the potential for increase.
c Ruth refused to move to another field . . .
aa First, she’d have to start at the bottom (prove herself all over again.)
bb In Boaz’s field, she was moving forward toward her destiny - - - she must have sensed that something good was in the works.
2 She knew it would require time (W-A-I-T)
a So few have the patience/guts to wait on the Lord.
b If you get a call to ministry, don’t quit your job/leave home believing God will open some mysterious door.
c God will open the right door when the time is right . . . until then, do what your supposed to do until the appointed time.
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My name is Mike Fogerson, and I pastor a Southern Baptist Church in Chester, Illinois. I have been a long-time user of Sermon Central and truly appreciate its content and contributors. Some of the best sermons I’ve ever preached have been reworked material from this website. As you use the material from my sermon bank, understand that it is work that has been done from not just myself, but from hundreds of other pastors as well. If you see part of your message, or a bunch of your message with my name on it and this upsets you, please email me and I will quickly respond and cite you as the main source. My intent is not to claim someone’s work as my own. I am disclaiming up front that I use the resources from Sermon Central and appreciate the tool. I simply want all those who use my work to know that some of these messages were inspired by the Holy Spirit working through other pastors. Because I do use the messages of other pastors I waive all claims of originality or origin of creativity for the messages posted under my messages. I pray God blesses your preaching ministry for the glory of His Kingdom.
Respectfully,
Mike Fogerson
