Luther's Words: The Message of Jeremiah to Our World

From Jeremiah we learn, among other things, that as usual, the nearer the punishment is, the worse people become, and that the more one preaches to them, the more they despise the preaching.  Therefore we understand that when God intends to inflict punishment, He lets people become hardened, so that they are sure to be destroyed without any mercy and do not appease God's wrath with any repentance…..So it goes everywhere nowadays.  Now that the end of the world is drawing near, people rage and rave most horribly against God, blaspheming and damning God's Word, though they know that it is God's Word and the truth…..It is a wicked, miserable time - even worse than the time of Jeremiah.