Little Bitty Boiler & A Great Big Whistle

Excerpt from J Vernon McGee Thru the Bible...

Ruth 1:14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.

Both Orpah and Ruth cried with Naomi. Tears, even when faced with the gospel, does not mean anything. A person who cries when hearing the gospel and dedicates him or herself to God may or may not be saved. When these tears are in accordance with God’s norms and standards, then they result in a change of mind (which is repentance) which is salvation

Let me make that clear: you are not changing your mind about your sins; you are not changing your mind about serving God—you are changing your mind upon where you place your trust.

If your sorrow leads to a faith which is on the finished work of Christ, then that is a repentance, or a change of mind, which is in accordance with the norms and standards of God.

If your sorrow leads you simply to a point where you eschew your sins and dedicate your life to serving God, and that your faith is still upon yourself and your works, then that is the sorrow of the world which produces death.

A lot of people come to a place where they’re under conviction, and they intend to change—or at least they say they do—and they shed a few tears, but they keep right on going the same way. And that’s exactly what Orpah did. She shed the tears right along with Ruth, but she didn’t turn around and go to Bethlehem and make a stand for God. No, she went back to idolatry. And a lot of folk are like that today—they just shed tears. Tears are not repentance, friend, although they may be a by-product of repentance.

My Dad used to tell about a steamboat which plied on the Mississippi River years ago when he was a boy. He said it had a little, bitty boiler and a great big whistle. When this boat was moving upstream and blew its whistle, it would start drifting downstream, because it didn’t have enough steam to do both. There are a lot of folk like that today. They have a great big whistle and a little, bitty boiler. They have never come to a saving knowledge of Christ. Oh, they’ll shed a lot of tears over their sins—they blow their whistle—and they’re very emotional. They love to give testimonies full of emotion, but their lives don’t measure up. I know several men who can make people weep when they get up and give their testimonies. They have tears in their voice, but I wouldn’t trust those men at all. I don’t think they’re born-again men at all, just emotional, that’s all. They are like Orpah.