The Word God Said - “God’s People Only Speak What God Has Already Said” - Jeremiah 1:1-12

If you would, please turn to Jeremiah. At the

same time, we're going to go through the doctrinal

focus. Jeremiah, and then you're also going to

turn to John 12. John 12, and then mark your

Bibles, and then we'll start there. Westminster

Confession. Of the Holy Scripture, chapter 1,

section 4. Let's read together. The authority

of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to

be believed and obeyed, depends not upon the

testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon

God, who is the truth itself, the author thereof,

and therefore it is to be received, because it

is the word of God. All right, so why is this

an important topic? Well, we live in some very

wild days. I mean, I've seen more prophets come

out of the woodwork this year than I've ever

seen. That's kind of wild. And a lot of men and

women, which is interesting, claim they hear

a word from God, but it never matches the word

of God. So that's a pause for all of us. It should

be a pause for you. That someone hears a word

from God, but then it does not match the word

of God. And we go, he's a prophet. Let me say

it this way. If I lived in the Old Testament

as a proclaimer, a messenger of God, and I got

one word wrong, they would stone me to death.

Stone me to death. I would be killed. In our

society, a man or a woman claimed that they have

a message from God. They not only get one word

wrong, they get it wrong, period. And they're

called prophets. Why? Why? And why in Christendom

do many believe what they say? And keep going

back to these people. It's because they don't

know the truth. And so God's people only speak

what God has already said. Real true prophet.

A messenger from God only speaks what God has

already said. There is nothing more that we need

besides the word. There's no new revelation.

Okay? So we're going to ask the Lord that he

would guide us through his word as we read Jeremiah

and John, that we would come to understand the

importance of speaking only what God has already

said, not creating some new revelation. So Father,

we come before you and we thank you. We thank

you for your word. We thank you that your word

is living and active, sharper than a two -edged

sword, divides bone and marrow, soul and spirit,

judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart

of man. We thank you that we can come before

you knowing that you have represented yourself

through your word, through your church, and that

you have given your church everything for life

and godliness, which is your word. We thank you

that... You have inspired your word that you

have, you have through the inspiration guided

men to write exactly what you have said. So Lord,

as we open up your word and go through Jeremiah

and John, and we see Jesus, help us to see that

even Jesus only spoke what you have said. We

praise you and thank you for your faithfulness

and goodness in Jesus name. Amen. So let's read

some very important statements here. I want you

to notice we're going to go through verse one

through 12, and then we're going to go to John

44 through 50. The words of Jeremiah, the son

of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth

in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of

the Lord came in the days of Josiah, the son

of Ammon, king of Judah, in the 13th year of

his reign. It came also in the days of Joachim,

son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of

the 11th year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah,

king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem

in the fifth month. So here's the idea I want

you to get. God sent his word to Jeremiah. In

these three particular time periods. Specifically

up until the captivity of Jerusalem. Why? Because

there will be a period of time when God will

not be speaking. And he doesn't speak through

just anybody. He speaks through this one boy.

Now the word. Of the Lord came to me saying,

before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

And before you were born, I consecrated you and

I appointed you a prophet to the nations. Then

I said, ah, Lord God, behold, I do not know how

to speak for I am only a youth. But the Lord

said to me, do not say I am only a youth for

to all. Then the Lord put out his hand and...

Touched my mouth and the Lord said to me, behold,

I've put my words in your mouth. See, I have

set you this day over nations and over kingdoms

to pluck up, to break down, to destroy, to overthrow,

to build, and to plant. And the word of the Lord

came to me. Jeremiah, what do you see? And I

said, I see an almond branch. And the Lord said

to me, you have seen well, for I am watching

over my word to perform it. Turn to John 12,

44. And Jesus cried out and said, whoever believes

in me, believes not in me, but in him who sent

me. Whoever sees me, sees him who sent me. I

have come into the world as light so that whoever

believes in me may not remain in darkness. If

anyone hears my words and does not keep them,

I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge

the world, but to save the world. The one who

rejects me does not reject my words as a judge.

That I have spoken will judge him on the last

day. Isn't that interesting? For I have not spoken

on my own authority. But the father who sent

me has himself given me a commandment. What to

say and what to speak. I know that his commandment

is eternal life. And what I say, therefore I

say as the father has told me. Now. Why is this

important? Because there's a lot of dudes out

there speaking for God. A lot of people out there

speaking for God. How do you know which ones

are from God and which ones aren't? See, God

is the only one who sends his word. Christ is

the word sent. We need nothing else. There's

nothing new. There's no revelation. There's no,

I had a dream. There's none of that. God's word

is the dream. God's word is the word. God's word

is enough. It's all we need. There's nothing

else that man needs. Man does not live by bread

alone, but by every word that comes from the

mouth of God. We talked about this for like two

weeks now, right? Why? Why do we feel like we

have to come up with something different or new?

To me, every time I open the word, it's new.

It should be new to you. John 1 .14. And the

word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we

have seen his glory. Glory as the only son from

the father. Full of grace and truth. You guys

know what John 1 .1 says. In the beginning was

the word. The word was with God. And the word

was God. Christ is the word incarnate. And even

Christ. Only spoke what the father told him to

speak. Isn't that interesting? The God of all

creation who created you and I, who holds all

things together in his hands, only speaks what

the father speaks. He doesn't even speak his

own thing. But we got men who claim they speak

for God, speaking their own thing. And we're

on this road because I am very concerned we're

living in a, not just a post -Christian America,

but a anti -truth America. And the only thing

that stems the tide that plugs the hole is the

church. And she must. Stand on the truth. In

Jeremiah 1 -3, the words of Jeremiah, the son

of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth,

in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of

the Lord came. Did the word of the Lord come

to you? It did, through Christ. That's the point.

There's nothing else we need. The word of the

Lord did come to us and he gave us his word.

And in his divine preservation, not only has

preserved these 66 books, but he has preserved

his word from generation to generation. The word

of the Lord came in the days of Josiah, the son

of Ammon, king of Judah, in the 13th year of

his reign. It also came also in the days of Joachim,

the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end

of the 11th year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah,

king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem

in the fifth month. You know, there's one thing

that the church will never go without that Israel

did. God stopped speaking to them. But God never

stopped speaking to his church. Because he speaks

through his word. How many of us go to him and

ask him to speak through his word? Do we spend

the time in it to hear what he has to say? Lord,

teach me your ways that I may know you and have

favor with you. Where do we learn his ways? In

his word. Second principle. God is the only one

who anoints those who speak on his behalf, not

man. God anoints the man. God appoints the man.

God ordains the man. No one else. John 12, 44

through 45. And Jesus cried out and said, whoever

believes in me, believes not in me, but in him

who sent me. And whoever sees me, sees him who

sent me. Do you see that? Even Christ, who is

the second person of the Trinity, God incarnate,

was sent by the Father. He was God's. He was,

in reality, The one who was appointed since the

beginning of time to come and give his word.

Jeremiah 1, 4 -6. Now the word came to me. The

word of the Lord came to me. Do you see that?

The word of the Lord came to me. Saying, before

I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before

you were born, I consecrated you. I appointed

you as a prophet to the nations. Then I said,

ah, Lord God, behold, I do not know how to speak

for I am only a youth. What's the reality here?

That God before time has set aside men and preachers

and those to bring the word and has consecrated

them since before being born for the purpose

of proclaiming the gospel and the truth of the

word to the people. And it's interesting because

if we claim that God is providential and God

is sovereign, then we really need to come to

the reality that God is the one who chooses that.

Just because one seems gifted doesn't mean he's

right. There's a lot more to it than that. Principle

number three, the one whom God sends speaks only.

What the Lord commands and nothing else. This

is important. Because you can't speak anything

outside of the scripture. Why? Because the scripture

is the final authority in all things. It is the

word of God. Even in translation. God has divinely

preserved it. And you can clearly distinctly

see the differences. of those that are bad translations

versus those that are good translations. Because

the good translations speak the truth consistently,

regardless if it's King James to ESV. It's not

just the King James. And so we also have men

who say that that's the only word of God. See,

Scripture says, Jesus says, My sheep know me

and they know my voice. We know his word if we

belong to him. And we also proved that out last

week. Because you cannot know the word and understand

the word unless the spirit of God is present

in your life. It's impossible outside of the

spirit of God to know and hear the word of God.

1 Corinthians 2 .14. Along with all the scripture

we read last week. Look what it says here. John

12, 46. I have come into the world as light so

that whoever believes in me may not remain in

darkness. What brings us out of darkness? Christ,

his word. Your word is a lamp unto my feet and

a light unto my path. So in Jeremiah 1, 7 -8,

it says this, But the Lord said to me, Do not

say I'm only a youth. For to all to whom I send

you, you shall go. In other words, you don't

have a choice, Jeremiah. Where I tell you you

will go, you're going to go. I kind of like Jeremiah.

He doesn't have a debate with God, unlike Moses.

Moses was like, yeah. And he said, fine, I'll

give you Aaron. Remember that? Yeah. Moses is

a little braver than Jeremiah, I think. Jeremiah

just knows. Okay. And wherever I command you,

whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do you

see that? Jeremiah only speaks what God has commanded.

So should that not also be the litmus test for

all of those men who claim to be prophets and

speak something outside of the word of God? Verse

eight, do not be afraid of them for I am with

you to deliver you, declares the Lord. Jeremiah,

you're going to go and you're going to speak

and they're going to get upset. They're going

to want to kill you. That's what Elijah said.

Elijah said that. Haven't these people killed

all your prophets? But don't worry, I'm with

you, Jeremiah. Why? Principle number four, the

word of God is the final, is and has, I was supposed

to put end there, is and has. The final authority

over all things. By it, God sets free, judges,

gives life, and destroys. Isn't that interesting?

That's how powerful the word of God is. Look

what it says in John 12, 47 through 48. If anyone

hears my words and does not keep them, I do not

judge him, for I did not come to judge the world,

but to save the world. The one who rejects me

and does not receive my words has a judge. The

word that I have spoken will judge him on the

last day. What is the judge? The word of God.

The word of God judges us. That's why it is sharper

than a two -edged sword. I mean, it literally

judges my thoughts and intentions. It knows what

I'm thinking and why. I'm thinking it. Do you

know why you think the way you think? I don't

think there's a single person that understands

why we think the way we think. I don't understand

sometimes. Like, why am I thinking that? But

God knows. Jeremiah 1, 9 through 10. Then the

Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And

the Lord said to me, behold, I have put my words

in your mouth. Anyone who says they received

a vision or a prophecy from the Lord needs to

be very careful what they are about to say. Because

here, God put his words in Jeremiah's mouth,

and Jeremiah only spoke exactly what God said

he should speak. And that's important. Would

we not agree? So, see, I have set you this day

over nations and over kingdoms to pluck up and

to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to

build and to plant. Why is he saying that? I've

put my word in your mouth so that when I send

you over the nations and over the kingdoms, you

can pluck up and break down, destroy and overthrow.

It's because the word of God, purpose of the

word of God is to reveal to you the condition

of your heart. It's to show you that there is

a holy, righteous God that you have to answer

to. And if anything, it should break me to the

point and pluck me to the point that I turn to

God in repentance away from my sin. That it should

be destroyed and overthrown. When the word of

God comes, the word of God comes to build and

to plant. So though I'm using an individual description

here, the reality is it's the same for every

nation and kingdom. And what you see in our world

today is the turning away, the nations turning

away from the king of all kings, thinking they

can rule and govern themselves. So much to the

point that they've turned away from sound biblical

truth to fallacies and mythology and false philosophy.

And I think as a church, just in general, the

church in America has to come to the realization

that we are living in a post -Christian society.

And the only stem, again, of this onslaught is

the church. And the only thing the church can

do is to preach the entirety of the truth. Because

by that, people will turn and repent. And by

that, we can build and plant. And Jesus even

uses the example of planting. The farmer who

sows the seed. He sows the word of God called

the gospel. So, fifth principle. God watches

over his word to accomplish and succeed in which

he sent it. Look what it says in 49 to 50. For

I have not spoken on my own authority, but the

father who sent me. Has himself given me a commandment.

What to say and what to speak. And I know that.

His commandment is eternal life. Do you hear

that? Remember I talked last week about the gospel.

And that the reality of the gospel. Is a command.

To salvation. And you can't obey a command. Unless

the spirit of God is present there. It requires

God for us to be obedient. But here, and I know

that his commandment is eternal life. Have we

ever heard, talked about the reality of the commandment

of the gospel? Not just to go and preach it,

but to come. God commands, he calls, and he wants

you here. And what I say, therefore. Jesus says,

I say as the Father has told me. And that's exactly

what Jesus says in Mark chapter 1. Repent and

Mark 1 · chapter mention

believe the gospel. It's a command. It's an imperative.

It's not an option. Especially for those who

belong to him. And in Jeremiah 1, 11 through

12, very similar. And the word of the Lord came

to me, saying, Jeremiah. What do you see? And

I said, I see an almond branch. Now that's a

whole nother sermon. Not going there. We'd be

here at least another 30 minutes. All right.

Well, probably longer, but we're not going to,

but it's not going to do the almond branch thing

right now. Jody will tell you, we were sitting

in the office because I go through sermon prep

with her and I'm thinking through stuff. And

she was like, well, the almond branch. And I'm

like, oh, and if we go and look up the almond,

it's a whole nother thing. Verse 12, then the

Lord said to me, you have seen well. Here's the

point. For I am watching over my word to perform

it. This should terrify every preacher in the

pulpit. That when you don't rightly handle the

word of God, God is watching over his word. And

he will make sure it accomplishes what he intends.

But to us who handle the word, As preachers,

we should tremble in awe and respect. And this

is one of the things that really brings me trepidation

for these men who claim to be preachers and prophets

and pastors who don't take in the responsibility

of it. There are several prophets, quote unquote

prophets out there. Pastors and teachers. And

so I want you to be careful when you watch on

YouTube. Prophets who claim they're prophets.

If they don't preach the word, if they don't

teach the word, if they don't proclaim the word,

run. They're not prophets. If it doesn't exactly

match the word of God, run. Because they're not

prophets. If a preacher preaches a message outside

of the word, run. He's not a preacher. If a pastor

shepherds his people outside of the word, run.

He's not a shepherd. If a teacher teaches anything

outside of the word, run. He's not a teacher.

But the scripture says in the last days, many

will turn and heap up teachers who tickle their

ears. Because they don't want the truth. And

the only way for you to know the truth is spend

time in it. And if you're a believer in Christ.

The very truth has set you free. So my challenge

to you is to get into the word. Read it. Listen

to it. Study it. Meditate on it. Memorize it.

Whatever you need to do to get it. You need to

eat the word. Father, I want to thank you so

much for your faithfulness. We give you praise,

honor, and glory. We thank you for your word.

And we thank you that you've made it very clear

that your word is to be proclaimed exactly as

you intended it to be proclaimed. We give you

praise, honor, and glory that what you have sent

your word to do, it will... That you watch over

your word to ensure that it is performed. We

give you praise. Help us to hold fast to the

word of God. Hold fast to the sound doctrine.

To the teachings of the apostles. And to spend

time listening to your beautiful words. We praise

you and we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Please

stand as I bless you.