Sermon: God's Word Brings the Hammer

<p><b>God's Word Brings the Hammer</b></p><p></p><p>Sermon preached by Pastor Julius Buelow for Trinity 8 at Mt Olive Lutheran in Lincoln, NE on July 26, 2026.</p><p></p><p>Sermon text, Jeremiah 23:16-29:</p><p></p><p> 16This is what the LORD of Armies says. </p><p> Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. </p><p> They are giving you false hope. </p><p> They proclaim visions that come from their own hearts </p><p> and not from the mouth of the LORD. </p><p> 17They keep saying to those who despise me, </p><p> “The LORD has said that you will have peace.” </p><p> And to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, </p><p> they say, “No harm will come to you.” </p><p> 18But have any of them stood in the council of the LORD, </p><p> to see and hear his word? </p><p> Who has listened to his word and heard it? </p><p> 19Look, a storm from the LORD! </p><p> His wrath has gone out, </p><p> like a whirlwind twisting down, </p><p> whirling over the heads of the wicked. </p><p>20The LORD’s anger will not turn back until he has completely fulfilled the purposes of his heart. In later days you will understand it fully. </p><p> 21I did not send these prophets, yet they ran. </p><p> I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. </p><p> 22But if they had stood in my council, </p><p> they would have made my people hear my words, </p><p> and they would have turned them from their evil ways </p><p> and from their evil deeds. </p><p> 23Am I a God who is only nearby, declares the LORD, </p><p> and not a God far away? </p><p> 24Can anyone hide in secret places </p><p> so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. </p><p> Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD. </p><p>25I have heard what the prophets who prophesy lies in my name have said. They say, “I have had a dream! I have had a dream!” 26How long will this be in the hearts of these lying prophets? These prophets proclaim the fantasies of their own hearts. 27They think they can make my people forget my name with the dreams each one tells his neighbor, the way their fathers forgot my name because of Baal. 28Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream. But let the one who has my word speak my word faithfully. </p><p>What has chaff to do with grain? declares the LORD. 29Is not my word like a fire? declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?"</p><p></p><p>Holy Bible: Evangelical Heritage Version (Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Publishing House, 2019), Je 23:16–2