Let Freedom Ring V, The Bible I Never Knew

My understanding that all the tickets are sold. I did tell you that was gonna happen. There might be scalpers out tonight. I never had that at a concert, I can remember here, but something new. But you can check, there might be a table for any left that would be available just at the end of the service today. One more thing. And I think this is important. This has been an important part of the previous two services. You know, when folks get up and talk about money and giving and we talk about ministry and all that can just be sort of blank. But I wanna put a couple of faces to that right now. And I'm gonna ask Bill and Nancy McIntyre to come up one more time to share because you know, they represent what so many times I talk about up here and other pastoral team members about just having the courage to talk to someone that God puts in your path and how your life can change because somebody reached out to you. Well, they're gonna share their story. They were really going nowhere in their lives and actually as you'll hear, we're at the very end when God stepped in and made a difference through a North Way member who reached out to him. Give him a warm welcome, Bill and Nancy McIntyre as they come to share. Thank you. You're a hard man to follow, Steve. Prior to coming to North Way, we were in trouble. We were fighting all the time and turned from God, became selfish meat people. We weren't happy and blaming each other. Divorce seemed to be the only way out as our relationship deteriorated. The transmission in my car died, a 1989 Pontiac Bonneville. Now, this car was my passion, but it wasn't practical to replace a transmission in a 10-year-old car that was developing other problems. So Bill was taking me back and forth from Mars to Oakland where I work at the University of Pittsburgh. Now, this meant four trips a day in a truck that was a gas hog. It was costing us too much to travel back and forth and only creating more problems in our lives. I was out in the yard when Kevin, our neighbor, came by and asked how things were. I told him about Nancy's car. Kevin volunteered to take Nancy to work since he worked at Duquesne, which is not too far from Pitt. During the ride to and from work, I began talking to Kevin about church and religion. We hadn't been to our former church for months. I knew we had to do something, and I wanted to find a church where we would be accepted as we were. Kevin began to tell me about North Way, and the more I heard, the more I wanted to see for myself what North Way was all about. I asked Kevin if Bill and I could attend one Sunday with he and Krista. It wasn't long after that first visit on July 28th that Nancy and I signed up for 101. Then on August 12th, during Pastor Jay's invitation, we both gave ourselves to Jesus. Tears were streaming down my face that day. I had never felt such a sense of peace and love. Since that day, I just routinely put tissues in my purse, for I never get through a service without crying, and I don't care who sees me crying when I commune with my Lord. Both Bill and I have become avid Bible readers. We never read the Bible much before. Now we can't get enough. We are very excited about what Christ is doing in our lives. Not only did we take 101, but 201, 301, 401, and also such courses as the three R's of spiritual growth, reading, writing, and reflection, and alpha, to name a few. We are leading a small group of people in a Bible study on Philippians. Bill and I both attend Alive Again to work on some other problems, anger and overeating, and Bill is involved in a Friday morning men's Bible study group. We just can't get enough of Jesus or North Way. Here we are accepted, welcomed, cherished, just as we are. We don't know exactly what our God has in store for us, but he brought us here and will show us the way, and it all started with a casual conversation. Thank you again. Thanks for staying. All three times. Oh, thank you. Are you coming tonight? Are you coming to the concert tonight? Okay. Thank you. There's such wonderful folks. I said, well, I hope I'll see you after the concert. He said, no way, we have our group tonight. Sorry, Steve. You know, it's about to change lives. We've been talking over the last number of weeks about freedom. We've been in a series called Lead Freedom Ring. We've been talking about freedom on the inside, not just freedom nationally and freedom from terror, but freedom on the heart. And I want to talk today about that. We looked a few weeks ago about freedom from evil and suffering and what that meant. Pastor Dave, two weeks ago, talked about freedom from worry. Last Sunday, I talked about the freedom that God wants to bring us from routine, that just, you know, when we lose our cutting edge and life just seems dull. But I want to talk about ultimate freedom today. I invite you to take out your outline. If you're a guest, we use these outlines to just kind of keep us focused. Guys, we've got a lot of feedback in these monitors here that's going to make my day really interesting if we don't find it. Yes, oh, it's the pregame show. There we go, thanks. Jesus said this, if you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth. And read it with me. And the truth will make you free. The truth will set you free. What kind of truth was Jesus talking about? I want to look at that today because this is an enormously relevant topic. Growth of Ism, as we know it, is rampant in America and it is growing. The decline of moral absolutes is something that should concern us all. George Bynum did a poll in January of 2000 that revealed that approximately 38%, I think it was, of the people in America believed that there was absolute moral truth. Since the 9-11 tragedy, since Americans were shocked and wondering what really does stability, define stability rather, that number's dropped to 22%. In other words, people are saying, I'm just not sure what is absolute anymore. And I don't know who or where to turn to find it. And I was absolutely just stunned by an exchange I saw. On television on Friday night, we'd come home from my son-in-law's surprise birthday party. We had a wonderful time and we're getting ready for bed and just kind of turned on the 11 o'clock news and flipped over to the O'Reilly factor. Is that okay? I mean, I know some of you probably think he's nuts. I don't watch it every night, but it happened to be on. And I didn't pay much attention to what he said for the first little bit, but then partway into the program, Dr. Jerry Falwell appeared on one of the screens. And O'Reilly basically had Dr. Falwell on to hear his side of what had happened since his comments of rather ill-timed comments, I might add, after the 9-11 event. And he did some finger pointing and so on, for which he apologized and repented and asked forgiveness. And he was just sharing how that affected him and the media had bashed him and people, all this kind of stuff. But then O'Reilly shifted. And this is what got my attention. And he said, well, I know there are all kinds of extremists out there, a lot of Muslim extremists out there who are causing us all these problems. And then he said this, he said, there's a lot of those extreme fundamentalist Christians out there too, Dr. Falwell. People who believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. He said, you can't tell me that you're one of those people that believe that a good practicing Muslim or Jew or any other person of another religion that he or she would go someplace other than heaven. You can't believe that, can you? And you could see Jerry Falwell just begin to move around. And I mean, he was really on the hot seat. Remember, he was there to try to kind of sort of put his reputation back in order. And O'Reilly throws, now let me ask you, how would you answer that question? Because if you answer it, what are you, as you really believe the Bible might teach, what are you now stereotyped as? Did you hear the language? Extreme fundamentalistic Christian. And there was some interesting exchange and they kind of just walked through it. Dr. Falwell ended up basically saying, well, you know, in essence, Bill, that is what I believe. And he just kind of rounded it off and deflected a little bit. And O'Reilly said, well, we'll see. Now that's true. But the bottom line of the discussion comes down to where do you get your authority? Because at the end of the day, loved ones, it's not what Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson or Billy Graham or Bill O'Reilly or Oprah or George Harrison or George Bush or anyone else says about what moral absolutes are or eternal life is. It's where you get your source of information. It comes down to where, you know, if what you think is different from what I think, it's just as valid. If my source is just me, then it doesn't matter. And we better get down to the reality that the reason why what we believe about the Bible is so important is because this is the source of our truth. This isn't just another book. This isn't just what we've kind of, this isn't just like the Quran is to the Muslim. Because if it's just this of equal value, then we don't have any other reason to believe that what we're hanging our entire eternal destiny upon is any more true than they do. That's why I challenge you. I challenge you, if you're a student, I challenge you to look into the historicity of the Quran or at least give the Bible a fair shake. Now, it's not my intention in this particular message to talk about, you know, things like biblical authenticity or literary criticism, all those kinds of things. But I can tell you that the three points I want to make here are very true. In fact, I've done messages on these points, that the Bible is true, number one, because I know historically it is born out. You know, folks, it's kind of funny. We take so many things for granted from history, particularly antiquity. How many of you grew up and, you know, you learned about the philosophical framework that is established in our culture by people like Plato and Socrates. You studied that in fourth grade or so. No, you didn't. You never heard about him in fourth grade. It just caught the hands of them. But you have heard of Socrates and Plato. But we accept their philosophical framework for our civilization as being very authoritative. But do you know how many documents that we have that we can trace back to being accurately transmitted from the pen of Socrates? Plato, 30, about 30. Do you know how many Bible parchments and documents we have authenticated as being originally from the scriptures as penned through the centuries? There's over 5,000 of them. And I've said in other messages, there's no book more authenticated, no book that you can trust as being more accurate than this book that I'm holding in my hand. History proves it out. Second, the continuity of the message. There's no book that comes close to the Bible written over 1,500 years by 40 different authors. And yet the message from cover to cover is the same. It's the message of God's love to lost man through the person of his son. It's the message of grace through faith in Jesus Christ. And the third reason why I believe the Bible is true is because, well, you've heard it today. The evidence has changed lives. People like Bill and Nancy McIntyre and thousands of others whose lives were changed because they took seriously what was in this book. They read it, they encountered it, they discovered that it was true. So I believe the Bible is true for those reasons. And I believe that Jesus, when he says this, is absolutely true. He says, anyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. How many want to be wise in this culture in this day in which we live? I don't want to be drifting around. I don't want to be just taking my cues from what's going on in the culture. But you've got to get in the book on a regular basis. Studies show that approximately a third of us read the Bible outside of church and about 15% of us read the Bible on a daily basis. That's what studies say. But I would submit to you that most of us treat the Bible like a piece of home exercise equipment. Guys, bring out that piece of home exercise equipment. How many of you have some piece of home exercise equipment in your basement or garage? Most all of us at one time or another have been sucked in by some kind of infomercial or something. We found something like this beauty. This is called the power rider. Now, the way this happens is simply this. We look at ourselves and we just don't like what we see in the mirror after a while. Or maybe the doctor gives us a report that's not very good. And we start the oughts. I ought to get in shape. And we start thinking about it. But we really don't know anything about it. Now, after this message today, can I say that there's some of you who are going to say, I ought to start reading the Bible. I ought to start getting serious about God's Word. And you won't know anything about it. Step two is though, your ought translates into action. And one day you just decide, I'm going to go ahead and get one of those power riders. And so you make the toll-free number and they ship it to you. And it lands on your porch and it just stays there. I'll submit to you, if you go home and look at the Post Gazette and under the classifieds, under the fitness items for sale, you'll find a whole bunch of different, all of them, and they'll say, it's still in the box, still in the box. Why? Because people buy them and then they realize, I don't have time to even set the thing up, let alone get on it. Some of you have gone out and bought beautiful $80 Bibles, Bibles that you'd be proud to put in your coffee table. But you know, you don't really have time to get into it. If you open the pages, they would still kind of have a crackle to them. It's kind of that way. But then there's some of us who finally get serious and I'm going to say, I'm going to get on the Power Rider and go. I tried this before the service, I'm not going to do it again. This is, I mean, just the motion of that just doesn't sit real well with me. I know who owns the Power Rider, I don't know what they were thinking when they ordered it, but anyhow. And we go like crazy, you know, for 45 minutes or an hour, we just go and we're sweating and we're dying. But we're at least on the path. And then, you know, we get up the next morning at 5.30 and we try it again. How long does that kind of last usually? That kind of routine for exercise, that lasts what? Maybe a few days, maybe a week if you're really devoted. And you finally say, you know what, this can't be right. It's tearing me down, it's not building me up. And you give it up. Can I say there are probably people that will say, well, I'm going to take the Bible seriously and starting tomorrow, past your day, I'm going to get up and I'm going to read for an hour. I'm going to get up at five o'clock, four o'clock. And that'll last for a few days, maybe a week. And then you'll add two more reasons why you won't be in God's word, guilt and failure. I trust that we'll get past those reasons. I trust that we'll get past those hangups. And that for some of us, the Bible will become more than just sort of an ornament. For some of us, it'll become more than like a piece of equipment. We just stick away in some part of our house because you know what? It just reminds me of what I can't do. God's word is to be life to us. And I want to just quickly address five misconceptions that I've discovered over the years. And by the way, for some of you who are brand new, and I know that most of you are newer to all this, are probably sitting in the back. I've got some things for you. And for those of you near the front who think, well, I got the Bible pretty figured out. I have a couple of questions to ask you as well. Let's look at them. Number one, there are a lot of people who tell me here at North Way that they feel like they need a pastor or a priest to teach them God's word. The tradition in our part of the world around here is pretty strong to support that. You're taught as a child not to necessarily, that you couldn't really understand the Bible on your own. Anyhow, you need someone to help you know what it means. And so you're not taught to read it. In fact, as I look around, some of you are sitting with your Bibles, but most of you don't have a Bible with you. We're just not used to it. Now, I don't want to lose my job here, but the fact is that the best Bible input you'll ever receive is not from me or Pastor Dave or any other person that you might look to to be a Bible teacher, as helpful as that might be. In fact, studies show this. Studies show that within 72 hours, you'll forget 95% of what I'm going to say this morning. Do you know how depressing that is? Do you know what it's like to work for 20 hours and to realize that you won't even get the parking lot before 80% of it's out of your head? You know, some of you are thinking, well, that's a good observation. Why don't we just call it a day now? Because you're not going to get any more done. I mean, let's just wrap it up. I'm not going to let that happen. I'm going to count on maybe the, who's, do I have any 5%ers here that'll just hang in there with me, take something out? The truth is though, that you'll hear and remember so much more when you learn to study the Bible for yourself. The reason is God will begin to speak to your heart through His Word. And I love the fact that once you understand how to navigate through the basics of the Bible, which I'll tell you about in just a second, you know, there's real stories of real people. There's adventure, there's challenge, there's heartache. There's loss and brokenness. There's dreams and victories. There's sin, sex, and violence. For those of you who like things ripped from the headlines, it's all in here. And today's Bibles are so much more user-friendly, if you will. They're designed to help. It's like some Bibles have like a mini seminary, you know, attached to them in the notes section of these things. It's like intimidating sometimes. And I was at my cell group a while back and we were talking about something in the Old Testament and we talked about the Hittites. And in my small group, I don't teach. I have a small group leader and he does the teaching. He does a great job. But we were talking and they said, well, what about the Hittites, Pastor James? I said, well, a moment to step up and shine. And someone beat me to it. They flipped in their study Bible and had all the genealogies of the Hittites and the geography of where they were from and little photographs of each one of them as they used to walk through. It was just like, where do they get these things? And then there's the whole computer thing. There's the, those of you in the computer software stuff on the Bible, it's unbelievable. You can, I mean, you can be almost virtual reality into the Holy Land kind of thing. So you can learn the Bible. And that really speaks to the second point. People say to me, I just really can't begin to understand it. It overwhelms me. That's the term I hear, it overwhelms me. And you know what? If you just pick up a Bible and let it flop open, I mean, it can be kind of overwhelming, can't it? I mean, if you fall into some of these, if you fall into an Old Testament chapter here, you know, and here's things that, terms I don't understand and stuff that doesn't make sense. It's all out of context. And you get, it just gets a little bit overwhelming. And so you put it aside because you figure you don't understand. I have a question for you. How many other baby boomers, you know, folks kind of in my basic age category, you felt that way about the home computer? Really, I mean, there was a few people early on that got it, but most of us, you know, the non-techie types, I mean, it wasn't until like the mid nineties that I realized, hey, I better get used to this thing because it's not going away. And I just, I remember like people who knew what they were doing, they just would come in and be so adept. And I would come in and try to find what button I have to hold down long enough for the screen to come on, you know? And then there was all this language I didn't understand, gigabytes and RAM. And, you know, I got delete down real well. That just seemed to work. But it's weird because, you know, you get on a computer and the screen would come up and you'd want to change the screen to something else and it would lock. And then you'd try all these things that you think would work and nothing worked. And you'd call the one little guy, he's back there kind of waiting for your call, and comes out and says, oh yeah, it's just this. And he pushes one button and it all goes away. And you wonder, now how did you know to push that button? Where did you get that? Because that's what I need so I don't get stuck here and get so frustrated. And they just don't tell you. They just rather have you suffer for a while. It's just kind of their mission. Well, the computer. But, you know, over time, over time, and with just some diligence, I learned how to use a computer. You know, I can do like really wild things. I email, I get that. And I can call up a webpage or whatever. Why? Because over time I've learned it. It's the same with the Bible. You start basically and then you just begin to grow in it. Don't be overwhelmed. Take a step. If you read one verse, it's 1 31,000th of the Bible. But let me give you a frame of reference here, a little factoid for those of you so inclined for pictures. One verse would take you 1 31,000th of the way. That's equal to taking one step in a 17.5 mile run. 17.5, that's not even a marathon. That's two thirds of a marathon. So you can start through the Bible and quicker than you realize it, you start picking up steam and the whole thing can just begin to come alive to you. People say to me, number three, I've become overly familiar with God's word. This can be so subtle and so dangerous. And though you may not feel spiritual hunger, your soul still needs some nourishment. Jesus said it this way. It is written, man does not live on bread alone, but on every word, circle every word that comes from the mouth of God. In the Bible, there are two kinds of revelation. There's what's called logos or general revelation of the word and rhema, everyone say rhema. Rhema, rhema has to do with the specific disclosure of God about situations or circumstances or conditions concerning you. And what you live for every day, loved one, is to open God's word and find rhema, find revelation from God for you for that day. That's what God wants for you. There are times when I'll read my Bible and I'll be reading just sort of, you know, through like a New Testament epistle and I'll read something about confessing and the spirit of the Lord will stop me and say, that's a time, right there, it says right here, confess your false one, that you need to go to somebody and make a word of confession to them. Or there'll be sometime I'll be reading and it'll talk about Peter had boldness and he stood up in front of a crowd and it'll be just before I'm about to go present something to some group of people I feel a little bit anxious about. How many of you have felt that same kind of experience when the Bible speaks to life that day? That's really empowering, that changes us in powerful, powerful ways. And lest you think you might be too far to ever get there, let me just use one more illustration. How many have read the book, The Prayer of Jabez? What a phenomenon, wasn't it? I mean, what an amazing book. Never had a Christian book gone to the top of the New York Times bestseller list and stayed there for several weeks. Dr. Bruce Wilkinson wrote the followup book called The Secrets of the Vine. And I only share this because he'd been a Christian for a number of years, 15 or more years, when he had one of these dry spells where he just felt overly familiar with God and somehow he had a conversation with a man that he names in the book. And then here's a commitment that he made following this conversation. He said, I made three simple commitments to the Lord for the next year. Now I have to tell you, don't necessarily do what he just did unless you're mature enough to take those commitments seriously. But listen to what happened. He said, I'm gonna get up every morning at five and read my Bible. I'm gonna write a full page in a daily spiritual journal and I'm gonna learn to pray and seek him until I find him. I still remember the first line in my first spiritual journal. Dear God, I don't know what to say to you. You know, there's nothing like honesty. It's so much better than saying, you know, God, I'm doing okay in most areas, but you know, I'm a little dry. No, just say, you know what? I don't know the first thing to say. Because God already knows your true condition. Day after day, he writes, I would look at what I'd written. On every page, I saw the real reason my busy Christian life now left such a bland taste in my mouth. I'd become an expert at serving God, but somehow remained a novice at being his friend. But I stayed with it. By the middle of the second month, that's just six weeks, things started to shift. Can you just get a picture of this? It was as if a great presence, capital P, walked into my room in those early morning hours and sat down near me. My rambling journal entries gradually became personal confessions to the listener. His passion for me, his purposes for my life, not just for the idea of my life, but for that particular day, hour, and minute began to rise up from the pages of the Bible. Friends, that is Bible reading as it was meant to be. And I would submit to you that one of the reasons why perhaps God found somebody that he could entrust a worldwide bestseller to is because they were listening to what he wanted to say. People also say, number four, that I've learned to hear more than God's word, so I'm not sure that I need it as much. They replace the word with their experiences. Now, this does not probably apply to that many of you, but how many times have I heard people say things like, well, you know, I'm really hearing a lot from the Lord in dreams and visions. I'm getting all these kinds of mysterious things from God. And I say, well, there's nothing wrong with that until that starts to supplant or take the place of God's word in your life. Because when that happens, you're in very shaky territory. It becomes very dangerous when those experiences transcend the authority of God's word, because all of a sudden now, you're the interpreter of what really is truth. You're the one through whom you push the filter of how valid something is. Jesus didn't do that. In fact, there's a wonderful story in Luke 24. I'll just mention it. You might want to look it up later on. In Luke 24, the disciples, two disciples are walking on the road to Emmaus after Jesus' death. And Jesus in his resurrected bodily form appears alongside them and they're talking and he engages them in conversation. And they say, well, haven't you heard about what's happened in Jerusalem? And he said, well, yes, I have. So we thought this was the Messiah. And I love this next verse. I put it on your outline. He says in 27, and beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself. Now, here's my point here, loved ones. Here's Jesus in person beside these disciples. Wouldn't you think that he would have preferred to just say, hey, look, guys, experience me, touch me. Here I am, talk to me about what's happening. But instead, the Bible says that he told them all about himself through the scriptures. Why did he do that? The only explanation that satisfies me is that he was sending a message to us who live today because that same spirit of Jesus is here. And that same spirit will reveal the same presence to this generation 2,000 years later. It's wonderful when the disciples say, a little bit later on, when their eyes are open and they see him and they say this, did not our hearts burn within us when he told us the stories of himself? How many of you have experienced the Lord's presence burning within you when you've read his word? That's when you know that you're really touching the heart of God. Never let your experiences or visions or dreams take the place of scripture. And finally, people say to me, I don't get anything out of it. I mean, I try, but I don't. I try really hard, but it doesn't work for me. Can I say this? There are days that it happens for me that way. There are some days that I'll read what I'm supposed to read for a given day. And I just say, well, you know, Lord, I'm not getting a whole lot out of that. But over time, I've learned three things that have helped me to grow. I'm just gonna share these in closing with you. I'm refreshed when I learned the difference between reading and studying. Now, reading is good, but studying is so much better. And it begins with the willingness, first of all, just to take this Bible and use it as sort of your own personal guidebook. I mean, some of us grew up saying, this is the holy Bible. And therefore, we're not supposed to do anything, but just treat it very, like something holy. And it would be unthinkable to mark it up. Well, let me suggest something to you. Get a highlighter and a pen. If I was, every Bible that I have on every page has something marked on it. And I have probably a couple dozen Bibles like this that I've, you know, every couple of years, I get a new one. And I mark it up and I have, you know, little Xs and I have little circles that this is you. And I have, you know, underlines and things. I got to do this and wow over here and a date. And, you know, it's okay because now it's God's message to me. You need to do that with your Bible. You know, it's no great trophy to have a Bible with no markings in it, you know? It's like somebody, like a football player showing up as coach, hey, coach, look how clean my uniform is. Doesn't work, that's not the point. So take some notes. And I've said this many times over the years, these little legal pads or whatever you use, a day timer, whatever you use, maybe your computer. Write down just one thing that you got out of that day. You read the Bible saying, the Lord's speaking to me about being more compassionate. I need to be more compassionate in this circumstance. The Lord's speaking to me about sharing with my neighbor. Just write it down. And then you go back and review what God's been saying. And you know what you'll find? You'll begin to see themes. God's been working on a part of your character. He's making his word alive to you. Second, learn the difference between reading and meditating. Learn to meditate on God's word. When you hear the word meditation, what do you think of? Let's all do it together. Kind of like gazing into the sunset, you know, and humming. That is the opposite of biblical meditation. Meditation in the Bible, and there's a lot of verses about it. Meditation has to do with focusing your mind on what God's word says. And however you do that, whether it's just by memorization, which is very, very helpful, or by writing down. I love those little things with adhesive on those little Post-it notes. I put them everywhere in my wallet. I mean, any place I tend to look often just to remind me of a promise I'm holding on to. I can't tell you how important it is. Why? Because what happens in your mind will determine what happens in your soul. The battleground for the hearts of people starts up here. Make no mistake, we're in a battle and the enemy wants to flood our minds with everything imaginable other than God and his word. I had a breakthrough. I shared this with you a while back. A few years ago, I was feeling dry and I began to realize one of the reasons was I was letting my day be filled when I had three moments with talk radio. How many of you travel a good deal? You're in the car a lot. You have a choice to make, don't you? You can just scour the dial and see if you can find one of your favorite radio people, or you can choose to put worship CDs, teaching tapes or CDs in, and nourish your spirit and there'll be an enormous difference. Let me just suggest to you in the strongest of terms, what happens in your mind. I wrote the verse, your life is shaped by your thoughts, Proverbs 4.23.