Jeremiah spoke bluntly. He was upset, like the Lord, with Judah. God's
people had made alliances with heathen people, bowed to many gods, and only
went thru the motions of worshiping Him. They failed to call for genuine
repentance.
Judah hated and even killed prophets who spoke God's Word and His call to
repent. They wanted to hear they were God's chosen people no matter WHAT they
did and God would ALWAYS bless and rescue them (Chapter 21).
Judah ignored 722 BC when the Assyrians wiped the ten northern tribes of
Israel off the map. They had false faith.
The nearer the punishment came, the worse society got. The more they were
warned to repent, the more they hated the preachers. Luther wrote, 'when it is
God's will to inflict punishment, He hardens their hearts so they may be
destroyed without any mercy, as in Sodom.' Luther's Works, American Edition
35:279-282.
This section of Jeremiah warns about false prophets who preach damnable
and evil messages of social justice AND prosperity gospel.
Social justice is the idea that because a family or group was oppressed in
the past, they now get special treatment by the Lord rather than the equal
justice this nation was founded on. (Think of the statue of the blindfolded
lady with the scales: that is equal justice). (See Ezekiel 18:20).
Prosperity gospel is not good news. It sees no danger in sin, and may even
encourage sins! It says we are good, and if we live nicely, or we follow
certain ideas or actions, God must automatically bless us. These words are
preached in some 'Christian' churches!
In both cases, those lies were broadcast as truth (v.16-17). Liars put
their dreams (25) of how they WANT the world to be, in place of how God says
the world is and ran to proclaim their lies (21).
This time was less than 2 generations after Hilkiah the priest
rediscovered God's Book of the Law hidden in the Temple. Then a Bible was read
to King Josiah (633 BC) and there was a spiritual renewal thru the power of
God's Word. Evil leaders after him misled God's people again. God used the
Babylonians in 597 to stop the Egyptians AND conquer Judah. The people refused
to repent. In 589 BC Babylon laid siege to Jerusalem, and in 586 BC the city
was crushed. God did punish them utterly.
Are morals private? What does God say? "Can any one hide themselves in
secret so I can't see?" (v23, Ps 139:7). The LORD sees all. Private curses
and 'every idle word' (Matthew 12:36) is heard by God and is worthy to be
punished in hell. "Consenting acts between adults", or any twisting of terms
going against any of God's Commands in private deserves just as much hellfire
as actions done in public. No sin is hidden.
False prophets (both men and women who speak in the place of God with
their own messages) hope to speak so much they will convince others to follow
them & then to forget God's holy Name (v.27). They still speak today: thru
music, radio, internet, movies, iPods, friends, families, and even some church
pulpits.
If flood waters would wash out a bridge, does anyone think we should put
up a sign to say "go fast and jump"? No! We should each also warn people of
the dangers of hell.
Should bottles of ant poison be relabeled as "candy" and given to
children? No! Then why should people feel it is okay to relabel sin as
"mostly harmless"? We should not. Rebellion against God - sin - is a terrible
poison.
God's Law has to be preached to unrepentant sinners no matter how painful
or unpopular it may be. Christ did not come to bring piece, but divisions;
even in families.
The LORD says, "let the person who has My word speak My word faithfully."
(28) That means you (and me). Then comes Jeremiah 23:29.
"'Is not My word like fire,' declares the LORD, 'and like a hammer that
breaks rocks in pieces?'" (God's Law) is the thunderbolt of God by which He
hurls to the ground both manifest sinners and false saints (hypocrites), and
allows no one to be in the right (it declares no one righteous); but He drives
them all together to terror and despair. This is not active contrition or
manufactured repentance, but passive contrition (torture of conscience), a true
sorrow of heart, suffering and sensation of death. (Smalcald Articles, part 3
section 3).
God does not "love the sinner but hate the sin." God does not send sins
to hell; He sends sinners. God's justice against sin is equal: every sin, and
each of us are worthy of hell - not success & popularity.
God's faithful word is this: we are saved from God's eternal wrath only
by His mercy alone. The Son of God, Christ, lived a flawless, perfect life in
our place. Then He took the burden of every damnable sin of mine, yours, and
the entire fallen world into Himself on the cross. Christ paid the penalty
once for all (Hebrews 10:10).
God's Word is a fire. It does not come to burn us up, but to refine us
and to burn away our impurity. The Holy Spirit works to burn way the faithless
living and Christ-less beliefs in us to leave behind His pure metal of faith.
God's Word is a hammer that breaks our hard hearts of stone so He can put
in us a clean heart, a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26). It is like a
hammer that shapes and forms our lives from useless lumps to valuable tools.
He changes us so we will live by Christian faith, not by our desires or what we
see. (2 Corinthians 5:7).
But it is not God's Law that gives us life. God does not owe us anything
for our obedience. (Job 41:11). Only God's total forgiveness of the Gospel
gives us life. The Law only and always accuses (AP IV 38), and all our
goodness can not make us right with God, or make Him love us or bless us.
(Isaiah 64:6). (Unpreached side note: 2 Chronicles 7:14 is a promise made to
Solomon's time, not ours, because that Temple is gone. Wholesale repentance of
every subject or citizen of the USA will not change God's laws of economics.
Repentance does not make God love us: Christ on the cross does.)
God's faithful word is this: His declaration of the complete forgiveness
of Christ's work is freely given to us in the humble forms or means of His Word
and the Sacraments. We gather in His House not so much to give God anything as
to first and foremost receive His blessings of forgiveness, life, salvation,
hope, courage, mercy, and all the rest.
We come with repentant souls, empty of any self-made goodness. God
declares us forgiven of our sins and puts Christ's perfect righteousness on us.
He fills our emptiness with Himself so we will be complete in Him.
Does that mean that with faith we will be spared hard times? No.
Jeremiah was put in a prison pit, disgraced by foes and friends, and had to
survive horrible things. Look at Hebrews 11 and consider Moses. He gave up a
life of privilege after 40 years, lived in poverty for 40 years, and led the
Children of Israel for 40 years. He lived by faith, even when it meant
hardships.
While the USA is NOT God's chosen nation like Judah or ancient Israel, God
does set up His Laws for all the world. When any individual does not follow
them, there are certain consequences: likewise for every nation. God uses
those hardships to test and to strengthen our Christian faith. Some say we may
be going into such a time of testing. Will you live in repentance and the
forgiveness of Christ? Or will you follow other gods like your own dreams; or
the dreams of false prophets. As a Christian, you will decide.
Our LORD God, Who fills heaven and earth, has called us to Christian
faith, gathered us as His people, and continues to enlighten each of us
personally and individually with the power of the Gospel. He does not want us
just acquainted or aware of our-repentance and His-forgiveness of Christ's
cross. He wants us filled with faith, hope, and love so we will live here as
His people and hereafter in His glory. He knows what is best for our faith,
and He will protect His little flock. God grant us such steadfast faith, in
the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Pastor Michael Harman,
St. Peter LCMS - Newell, IA
vacancies at ...
Immanuel, Pomeroy
First Evangelical, Fonda
(Italicized text in parenthesis was not spoken, as usual,) and not all Bible
references are shown. I'm posting at CAT41.org because I haven't posted in a
while, and it is not the final draft because I won't have time to post later
with the other references or hymns or other stuff. If anyone wants to check,
the Concordia Pulpit 1986 has a vaguely similar outline and one illustration in
common: but there is enough unique material for me to feel okay to post it.
Yes, I know there is more Law than Gospel here; and if you want to use this
sermon, you need to do something about that.
