The Penn's Grove record., 1906-07-06
THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. r. H. CARSON.
subjectl The Story of Ruth.

ing from the book of Ruth. Among
other things he said:
We miss a great deal of the beauty
and power of the Bible because of
the manner in which we are accu9-
toned to read it. There are very few
who take time to read a whole book
through at q single sitting. We dip
into Scripture as if it were a book of
fate, reading q verse here and another
there. so it is not surprising that we
rise from the exercise having received
but little help and spiritual refresh
ment. There is no royal road to
knowledge. There is no way to gar
ner the lessons which Holy Scripture
teaches save through that steady and
persistent searching of which our Saw
ious spoke when He said, Search the
Scriptures, for they are they which
testify of Me-"
1t is our hope this evening to point
out some of the beautiful lessons con-
tanned in one little book of the Bible,
in one Of the most delightful stories
ever presented for contemplation by
the mind of man. | refer to the book
Of Ruth. Its very place in the sacred
canon makes it a memorable piece of
literature. 1t is. as you know, pre-
ceded by the book of Judges, and fol-
lowed by the book of Samuel. These
books are concerned almost exclusively
with the national history of Israel
with the wars, defeats, humiliat lions,
murmuringS, complainings, repinings
and repentances of the people. They
are not, in the main, pleasant reading.
Their pages are red with blood, and
violence, and rapine, and lawless deeds,
the Interchangeable consequences of a
nation forgetting God and neglecting to
do His will.
1t is a great pleasure, therefore, to
turn from these books that tell of the
ups and downs of national life, and
fix the attention upon the charming
story of Ruth. That little book pic
lures domestic life; it gives us a
glimpse into the quiet, everyday habits
and customs of the mel and women
of that time. and we see them in their
homes, in the harvest fields, at the
festivals, and at religious services.
Biography is, ] think, the favorite
reading matter. We are deluged with
a food of fictitious biography i'll the
shape of novels which come by thou
sands from the printing press every
year. 1t is an easy, but not very
profitable kind of reading. for in the
majority of cases there is a great deal
Of unreality, too great an absence of
the lifelike, and too little of what we
know to be a common experience.
1t is not so, however, in the book Of
Ruth. There we have life truly de-
picted; there We meet with men and
women as we find them to-day-not an
gels and not demons, but erring, endur-
ing, faithful and not unblest.
1t is not my intention to enter upon
the story. l trust that you all know
it, or that if you do not, that you will
take a quiet half hour this very even
ing, and peruse that little book, which,
in its superiority, is as far removed
from our modern stories as the east
is from the west.
In coming into touch then, with this
piece of sacred literature, and consid-
ering for our edifcation some of the
lessons which it teaches, we see first of
all the superiority of character. The
two chief figures in the story are Boaz
and Ruth, and it is their characters
that make them such. There Is not
i'll the whole range of literature a bet
ter type of manly, healthy religion
ludH Is eAGlJDllltu III Tic vase VI oONLs
You remember that scene in the har-
vest field. He went down to his reap
ers, and his salutation without any
cant or insincerity, was, "The Lord be
with YOU" Ny friends, when such q
greeting as that can take place be-
tween master and men. it testifes to
the presence of a religion that leaves its
mark upon very act, and upon all the
conduct of life. 1t is the men like
BoaZ who are the ornament and glory
of religion; the men whose beliefs in
huence them all in the manifold con-
Germs of life. in the forum, in the mar
ket place, abroad as we'll as at home.
Our Lord tells US who are to be &C
counted blessed. 1t is not the mere
hearers of His word, nor they who can
cry. "Lord, Lord" and affirm that they
have prayed in public places. 1t is
BLESSED are the doors Of the Word"
and blessed they alone. Such in his
day was Boaz-a man of kindly feel
ings, pure heart, strong conviction, true
purpose, and the benediction of the
Most High was. upon him.
Such, too, was Ruth, with her loving,
tender, considerate heart-one Of the
fairest characters in the whole range
of Hebrew Scripture.
And the most noteworthy fact in this
connection is that these characters
were produced amid surroundings and
an environment that would have dis
couraged the average person. 1t was
a lawless time; restraints were weak.
ened or entirely removed, and men be.
came a law unto themselves. Such a
condition of society is not favorable to
the cultivation and development of the
nobler virtues, and yet, amid such a
state of things, we have the stirring
example of these two who bravely
maintained the testimony and did the
right. 1t is not at all unusual to hear
men blame their surroundings for theil
errors and mistakes; it is, indeed, the
common way by which we seek to con
done our failings. but the Reuse is moi
valid. Some men, it is true, are more
strongly tempted than others; some arr
in places that require a strong heart, {
firm faith, an mistaken confidence il
God and in the power of Christ il
order that they may be kept from thu
evil that prevails around them; but nt
man, if his purpose be true, can eve
be wholly overcome. There is III
temptation that hath befallen any maj
but what is common, and always. will
the temptation there is a way of es
cape if, trusting in the grace divine ant
in the strength omnipotent. our hear
and wills be set on delivery.
Amid surroundings most u~nfavorablt
these two saints went on from strength
to strength, growing in grace and il
favor, both with God and men, be
cause sheir hearts were right and thei
spirits true. By their example W,
should be taught; we should not weak
~ blAme our place or condition TO
our fsilures. but. looking up to God, W,
should ask Him to search and try us
to SEQ if there is any wicked way in us
and sead us in the way everlasting
But we learn again, from the story
the place of good works in the religion
life
l do not think we would have hear,
of Boaz and Ruth if their religious lif
had consisted of faith alone. 1t is thei
deeds, the results, in daily life, of thei
faith that is especially dwelt upon. i
this rpsnect the book of Ruth make