Jehovah consecrated Jeremiah and ordained him as “a prophet unto the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). Since a prophet, by definition, is a “spokesman” or a “speaker,” he must be concerned with what he is to speak. Jeremiah was not left alone to determine the message he was to deliver. He writes, “Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth” (Jeremiah 1:9).

The message Jeremiah was to deliver was the message God gave him. Specifically note God said to Jeremiah “I have put my words in thy mouth.” The words that poured from the prophet’s mouth were not his own but were in fact the words of God Himself. His message was divine in origin.

Paul declared, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). It seems that some thirty-eight hundred times the Bible makes reference to some form of “God said” or “thus says the Lord.” Paul wrote, “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:37). He also thanked God that the Thessalonians received his preaching “…not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God…” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

In a previous post we noted sermons should have “content.” Here we learn the content of the sermon must be filled with the word of God! If not, we have not learned to preach like Jeremiah. But add to that the fact that when we are preaching we have a grave responsibility. It is not to entertain or enthrall an audience with our oratory skills. Like Jeremiah of old, we are to preach a divine message. Our audience must hear a message from God!