Facing the Book

When the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 3:7, “Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,” he’s quoting from Psalm 95 but is really relaying, “It’s not the psalmist who writes it, it’s the Holy Spirit that says it.”

Inspiration is God speaking the words so that what is written down is what God says. When He quotes Psalm 95, He’s quoting what’s written down. When He quotes Isaiah 6, He’s quoting what’s written down. The same goes for Psalm 41 and Psalm 110, for just two more examples.

Another great passage for this biblical testimony is in II Peter 1:16-21, when Peter makes reference to being an eyewitness at the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17.

In essence, Peter says, “We were up there and I can testify to the truthfulness of that. When we talk about Christ coming back and His coming in the kingdom, we haven’t just been telling you cunningly devised fables or stories we’ve made up. I mean, man, we were eyewitnesses to all this stuff! We SAW the majesty! We SAW the glory! We HEARD the heavens open and God the Father say, ‘This is my beloved Son in whom I’m well-pleased.’ ”

Verse 19-21 reads, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
[20] Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
[21] For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

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Jordan explains, “He’s simply saying that even though you’ve got the eyewitness account and, ‘I was there but I’ve got something that’s more sure than the eyewitness account. You see, the eyewitness accounts mean nothing when you compare them with the Book and the written account of the Word of God. We have a more sure word of prophecy.’

“The Word of God written down is more sure, dependable, steadfast than any eyewitness account. Human experience is NEVER the basis of your faith. Your faith always has to be in the Word of God.”

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Jordan continues, “Some of you have probably heard somebody swear, ‘But I heard him speak in tongues.’ Others will tell you they’ve had the experience themselves of speaking in tongues. I’ve told you all about my friend Down South who once bought a book from a guy in California on how to speak in tongues. The friend didn’t believe he could do it, went into the closet, turned the light off, shut the door, did what the book said and did it! While he was doing it, he was thinking, ‘I don’t believe I’m doing this!’ and yet he WAS doing it. And he couldn’t stop! Finally he wound down and got out of the closet and said, ‘Man, I’m gonna burn that book up! That’s dangerous!’

“If you base your faith on experience-oriented things, you’re never going to have any sure foundation. What he’s saying is experience is not nearly as safe. You see, people, if your experience, and what you can see, what’s happened to you, crosses what God Almighty says in that book, throw out your experience! You’re too easily deceived by sight. ‘We have a more sure word of prophecy.’ Eyewitness accounts don’t mean a thing when you compare them to the book.

“Verse 20 says that ‘no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.’ Private means it doesn’t have its own interpretation; it’s not its own idea of what it’s supposed to say. It’s not its own ideas.  ‘For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.’

“In other words, it didn’t come because the men wanted to write it down, it came because God told them to. It didn’t have human origin.

“That guy back in I Kings 13 didn’t even know he was going to do it. He’s sitting there have a meal with this young guy, wanting to get some pointers on how you get the king to do what you want him to do. You see, it’s not of human origin.

“The definition of inspiration as it’s found in II Tim. 3:16 has to do with the fact all scripture comes right out of the mouth of God. There’s a reason god did it that way.”

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Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Jordan says, “God has given man a point of contact with Himself and that point of contact is the written Word of God. God’s design in inspiration is to make His word equal to Himself. So that when you’re dealing with God, you’re dealing with His word. And when you’re dealing with His word, you’re dealing with God.

“God’s design is to make the living word and written word equal with one another. That’s the authority of that Book. That’s why it’s called God’s Word. The Word of God is quick, it’s alive--it’s living. Therefore it can work in our lives. It produces things in our lives. You don’t have the Word of God in your heart and soul without it producing. It affects you. You know that.

“It works effectually, Paul says, in you that believe. It’s living and powerful. It’s got energy; it’s got strength. It’ sharper than any two-edged sword with the ability to separate between the soul and the spirit. Sometimes you and I can’t do that. We look at things, and boy I tell you, being able to separate between the soul and spirit without the Word of God—you wouldn’t know there was a difference between them.

“It says it’s a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. That word ‘discerner,’ it’s the idea of a critic. In other words, when you read the Bible, it reads you. Now there isn’t any other book around like that. It’s a different kind of book.

“You see when you read the Word of God, God has given to His Word the attributes of God Himself. Therefore the word can discern, it can READ you because God can. When you come to that Book, folks, the motive that you come with it will find out. And it will give you back just what you come for!

“He says in verse 13, ‘Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight.’ That’s God’s sight. ‘But all things are naked and open.’ That’s God. But the antecedent is the Word of God. You see, what He does is He personifies the Word of God and so the reference there is to God and to God’s Word.

“God’s design is that when you’re dealing with this Book, you’re not just dealing with any other book, you’re dealing with God’s Book, therefore it can go inside and read your heart. As they say out in the world, ‘It’ll read your meter.’

“You notice He says the Word of God is ‘sharper than any two-edged sword.’ Come with me to Revelation 19:11. It reads, ‘And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.’

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“The person is the Lord Jesus Christ, of course, and He had a name. The name is the Word of God. Jesus Christ is equal to the word. You say, ‘Why would John call Christ the Word of God? The reason he does it is God’s design in His Word is that He’s equal to the Word so John can use the terms interchangeably.

Revelation 19:15 says, “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”

Jordan explains, “You see it goes out of His mouth. You see, folks, when you’re facing the Lord Jesus Christ, as these people are, you know what you’re facing? It’s just like facing the Book. Listen, when you sit and read that Book, that’s like God Almighty sitting across the table from you talking to you. And when you read it, don’t you ever forget that! Now, if you won’t forget that, you’ll fall in love with that book in a way you never did before. And it will consume you. It will pull and tug at you and you won’t ever want to get too far away from it.

“But don’t you ever forget that when that Book begins to deal with you, that’s why it’s doing it. If God Almighty were to stand here tonight and say something to you and you’d do it because He stood here and said it to you, and you wouldn’t do it because that Book said it to you, there’s something wrong with you spiritually. It’s the same difference and that’s the design.”