A Look At Loyalty

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A LOOK AT LOYALTY Heritage Place Church of Christ Dr. J. Wayne Kilpatrick October 31, 2010

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Loyalty is a rare commodity in today’s world.

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There is a lack of loyalty in the workplace. Church leaders grieve its disappearance in churches. Its absence is a major cause of family problems and the diminishing number of long-term marriages.

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Ruth 1:1-18 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man's name was Elimelech, his wife's name Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there. 3 Now Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons.

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4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband. 6 When she heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to

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return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah. 8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back, each of you, to your mother's home. May the Lord show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me.

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9 May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.“ Then she kissed them and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, "We will go back with you to your people." 11 But Naomi said, "Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands?

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12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me — even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— 13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord's hand has gone out against me!"

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14 At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her. 15 "Look," said Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her." 16 But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.

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Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. NIV

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Ruth 1:14-18 At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her. 15 "Look," said Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her." 16 But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."

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YOU CANNOT HAVE LOYALTY WITHOUT LIBERTY Ruth 1:15 "Look," said Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her." NIV

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Loyalty cannot be demanded, coerced, or purchased. “You can buy a man’s time; you can even buy a man’s physical presence at a given place; you can even buy a number of skilled muscular motions per hour or day. But you cannot buy enthusiasm; you cannot buy initiative; you cannot buy loyalty; you cannot buy devotion of hearts, minds and souls. You have to earn these things.”

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A lack of loyalty was the issue in John 6. John 6:67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?" NKJV Loyalty cannot exist without liberty – the freedom to walk.

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Ruth 1:1 Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled… NKJV Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. NKJV

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Uncommitted liberty seems great, but when it exists with no loyalties, it leads ultimately to loneliness and misery. YOU CANNOT PUT CONDITIONS ON LOYALTY

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Ruth 1:16 But Ruth said: "Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God.” NKJV

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Matthew Henry "He’s got no background, you don’t know where he’s come from." She said, "Yes, I know, but I know where he’s going and I want to go with him."

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Verse 16 “Where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God, my God." YOU CAN’T COUNT ON LOYALTY UNTIL YOU KNOW WHAT A PERSON WORSHIPS

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Everybody worships somebody or some thing. Every person on the earth has a God with either a big “G” or a little “g”! What you worship makes all the difference in the world as far as direction.

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2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

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If you date and marry a non‑Christian, that unequal yoke will eventually force you to one of two things: Conflict or Compromise! Don’t commit loyalty to a person until you know what he/she worships!

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YOU CANNOT PUT AN EXPIRATION DATE ON LOYALTY Verse 17 "Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried."

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Today, more than ever, we need loyalty that lasts! Verse 17 "Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me."

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"The friendship that can cease has never been real." "I want you to understand and be fully aware of my feelings concerning the marriage covenant which we are about to enter. I have been taught at my mother's knee, and in harmony with the Word of God, that the

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marriage vows are inviolable, and by entering them I am binding myself absolutely and for life. The idea of estrangement from you through divorce for any reason at all (although God allows one‑‑ infidelity) will never at any time be permitted to enter my thinking. I'm not naive in this. On the contrary, I'm fully aware

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of the possibility, unlikely as it now appears, that mutual incompatibility or other unforeseen circumstances could result in extreme mental suffering. If such becomes the case, I am resolved for my part to accept it as a consequence of the commitment I am now making, and to bear it, if necessary, to the end of our lives together.”

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May we be people of lasting loyalty.