They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
To heal slightly is to treat a deadly spiritual wound on the surface, leaving sin unrebuked, conscience unawakened, and the hurt unhealed. To cry peace, peace is to declare people safe when God has not spoken peace, giving false reassurance to those in danger instead of calling them to repentance. There is no real peace while sin remains, for God has declared there is no peace for the wicked, and sin separates from Him until it is faced and put away. To call such concealment and soothing charity is counterfeit love; genuine love hates sin while loving the sinner, warns faithfully of danger, and points to Christ who takes sin away. Such false assurance lulls souls into fatal ease and carnal security until sudden destruction comes, so faithful watchmen must warn plainly, expose sin, and call for repentance and full submission to God.
Slight Healing Exposed
To heal slightly is to treat a deep spiritual wound on the surface, calling it cured while offering only assurances of peace and leaving the real harm untouched. It soothes sinners with promises that all is well, yet leaves sin unrebuked, consciences unawakened, and the hurt unhealed. Instead of plainly presenting truth and urging decision, it preaches smooth and deceptive things that keep people at ease in Zion rather than warning them of the danger they must face. To cover wrongdoing or call it good in this way is counterfeit charity, not true healing, for genuine charity warns of danger and points to Christ as the one who takes sin away.
There is no real peace while sin remains, because God has declared there is no peace for the wicked. Sin has not been faced and put away, and it separates people from God, so promises of peace that leave wrongdoing lightly treated do not heal. Those who refuse to hear and see, who remain corrupt and defiled in life while workers of iniquity are left unalarmed, will face judgment rather than find the peace they are promised. To reassure sinners that all is well while they continue in sin is to oppose God, who hates sin, and brings a curse rather than a cure.
This is Jeremiah's reproof of Israel against those who gloss over the sins of God's people. False religious leaders and prophets treat sin as a minor wound, make it seem less serious, spare people reminders of wrongdoing, and give false assurance of peace and prosperity while they remain unrepentant. Such flattering teaching lulls sinners into fatal ease instead of calling them to repentance and submission, and it opposes God's message while supporting rebellion against the servants sent to deliver it.
Apparent flourishing does not make that peace real. Churches that reject correction and choose worldly friendship, prosperity, honor, and security are deceived when they count these things as proof of God's favor, for teachers who overlook assimilation to the world and lack of love and forbearance prophesy smooth things that leave people in carnal security rather than advancing in light. Praising and idolizing people rather than honoring God helps conceal the need for alarm and correction, and those who want reassurance accept the soothing report and remain at ease. Institutional success can conceal the same trouble, as when apparent success and claims that all was well concealed pride, self-reliance, and the silencing of correction, which was false peace and not evidence of God's favor.
Such false reassurance betrays God's cause by strengthening evildoers rather than heeding truth. By minimizing sin and sparing confrontation and warning of punishment, it strengthens people in resisting true counsel and increases hostility toward those who faithfully warn them. In this way it supports rebellion and gives strength to resistance against the true prophet's counsel.
False Cry of Peace
To cry peace, peace is to announce peace where God has given none, offering false comfort to those whose condition remains wrong instead of confronting their danger. It treats a grave spiritual wound as if healed, quieting fears about exclusion from the kingdom while leaving people unprepared to enter it. It belongs especially to half-hearted persons who calm the fears of others and oppose plain testimony rather than rebuking sin, correcting wrongs, and separating the corrupt from the pure. It also belongs to messengers who flatter and suppress truth to gain approval or escape the cost of plain speech, which is insincerity and moral weakness rather than love. Faithful messengers instead warn plainly and refuse to excuse or soften evil.
Shepherds, watchmen, ministers, and teachers raise this cry over a worldly and unconverted people, soothing them amid spiritual sickness and danger instead of leading them to repentance. Their words encourage carnal pleasure and security, while corrupt hearts and unclean hands remain unalarmed and bodily defilement and pollution of soul continue. Such false assurance endures only until sudden destruction arrives, for proclaiming peace does not make sinners right with God while sin remains. Watchmen who resist warning and reproof prefer smooth messages that preserve ease to an alarm that exposes wrongdoing, so their claim that all is well is not true peace.
Deceptive preachers can displace faithful gospel ministers, comforting and reassuring unthankful churches that resist warnings. By proclaiming peace they soothe hearers in spiritual danger and keep them from recognizing the peril they must see.
Teachers and people alike fall asleep, discerning no special cause for alarm in darkness and peril, while teachers prophesy smooth things and the multitude believes the report and rests at ease. Those wanting reassurance accept that report and remain comfortable, even when the church is assimilated to the world and lacking love and forbearance. Desire for smooth words leads to resistance against plain reproof and to overlooking the sins that make reproof necessary. Apparent flourishing does not make the peace genuine, especially when praising and idolizing persons rather than honoring God conceals the need for alarm and correction. The present testing time of scouring, purifying, warfare, and trial therefore increases the need for faithful teachers who stand and speak the whole truth with plain and pointed testimony, exposing sins and calling people to decide for truth.
This soothing work springs from seeking approval and shrinking from the cost of plain speech, flattering people and smoothing down the message while suppressing truth to win favor. It comes from insincerity and want of moral courage, not from love for others. True love seeks God's honor and the salvation of souls in danger, and therefore speaks God's truth plainly without excusing or softening evil.
Watchmen must not shrink from declaring the whole counsel of God. Nor must they substitute reassuring and emotionally stirring religion that leaves the heart unchanged. Such shallow reassurance keeps people from recognizing their need and fails to lead them into true godliness.
Counterfeit and Genuine Charity
To call the hiding of sin and the giving of false reassurance charity is counterfeit charity, for to say all is well while sin remains leaves the hurt unhealed. To promise peace when there is no peace, to call evil good or holy or harmless or truth, and to join in covering wrongdoing instead of faithfully warning of danger, is only to treat the wound superficially. Genuine charity does not cover sin or call it holiness. It hates the sin while loving the sinner, warns the sinner faithfully of danger, and points to Christ as the one who takes sin away.
Cheap affection covers sin and makes light of it to avoid hurting feelings, but true love must be joined with justice. It must not cover over what is brought to mind for correction, nor accommodate truth to convenience, but must arouse people to their true condition rather than reassure them that they are at peace when they are not. To use sympathy to shield a wrongdoer from reproof and to minimize the seriousness of sin obstructs the intended work of conviction, supports wrongdoing, and shares in the wrongdoer's guilt. To offer such sympathy to a guilty dying man who had not confessed was to daub a wall with untempered mortar, deceiving both him and those who supported him and bringing ruin by covering real guilt and danger instead of leading to confession and change.
To say peace, peace when people are in peril and cannot truly have peace is false comfort that leaves the hurt unhealed. When spiritual danger is seen, love and concern require honest speech, especially when souls are in danger and need help and correction. That honesty aims at restoring and healing rather than wounding.
Errors That Quiet Fear
Unfaithful ministers fulfill the verse by using false interpretations of Scripture to quiet the fears of those seeking salvation, hindering them from entering the kingdom. To declare peace when God has not spoken peace is to give shallow treatment to real spiritual danger and false assurance that all is well. Those who so mislead bear accountability for the harm done and for the souls thus turned aside.
The verse is fulfilled when ministers oppose the preaching that Christ is near and that the definite prophetic periods are about to end. Such shepherds profess to love Jesus yet do not love Him near, because their unchristian lives will not stand the test and they are not walking in the humble path. When the warning arouses people to see their condition and ask what they must do to be saved, these false shepherds refuse the saving message themselves and hinder those who would receive it, stepping between the truth and the people. Instead of correcting the people and leading them to salvation, they preach smooth things to lead them from the truth and to keep lovers of ease, content at a distance from God, in carnal security, proclaiming safety where there is none. In this they stand in the way of the work of God in union with Satan and his angels, which angels of God mark, and the blood of souls is upon them and covers the garments of these unconsecrated shepherds.
The same cry is uttered while the warning of Christ's near appearing is being given all over the land, when ministers oppose the doctrine of His soon coming and say He will not come for thousands of years. By saying peace when there is no peace they quiet the fears of sinners and backsliders and leave their spiritual danger unhealed. Those who hear the warning should prepare to meet Him rather than assume there is no urgency, lest they accept that assurance and be left unprepared to meet Him with joy.
Unfaithful ministers also fulfill the verse by crying peace to quiet every aroused fear, telling the people that all the world is to be converted instead of warning them of the hour of the plagues. To tell people they are safe when they are not gives false comfort instead of healing their spiritual danger, failing to warn of coming judgment. Those who do warn of that hour they call fanatics and evil men who would ruin the people.
A false theory of sanctification heals only slightly by claiming peace where no peace exists. It whitewashes souls in darkness, error, and pride, giving corrupt hearts an appearance of being good Christians and possessing holiness while leaving them unchanged. It does not bring evil to light nor reprove and rebuke wrong, but clothes men and women of corrupt hearts in a garb of sanctification so they are looked upon as examples to the flock. Thus acting as Satan's agents, they allure and deceive honest souls into a by-path away from the force and importance of the solemn truths of the third angel's message.
Other forms of the same cry are proclaiming a temporal millennium before Christ returns, for there is no temporal millennium in which to postpone the urgent final work of saving souls. Believers must test such teachings by the Bible and prepare for Christ's coming rather than accept postponement. The verse also condemns telling people to ignore the warning of the Lord's approaching day and to continue in godlessness, self-glorification, and pleasure, giving false comfort instead of awakening them to danger. It applies to religious leaders and guides who cry peace while turning people from the truth and the binding claims of God's law, including the Sabbath, thereby encouraging them to remain in rebellion and risk missing the way to heaven. Such reassurance is given by appealing to the Fathers while refusing to examine Scripture or acknowledge God's law, keeping people from truth and leaving them in danger. Accommodating truth to circumstances and conveniences is the same slight healing, lessening truth's power and influence, hindering the church, and opening the way to still wider departure from truth.
Consequences for Deceived and Deceivers
False reassurance of peace when there is no peace lulls sinners into fatal ease and carnal security instead of leading them to heed God's voice. It treats a serious spiritual wound as minor and leaves it unhealed while promising peace and prosperity to people who remain unrepentant. For those who have long resisted and opposed God, such soothing quiets the conscience into the sleep of death. Churches that reject correction and choose worldly friendship, prosperity, honor, and security are deceived when they count those things as proof of favor, for the soothing message keeps them in carnal security rather than advancing them in the light. Against this flattering teaching stands the faithful work of warning sinners and calling them to repentance and submission.
That false assurance lasts only until sudden destruction comes, because words that encourage carnal pleasure and security instead of repentance leave spiritual sickness unhealed in a worldly, unconverted people. Telling people to regard themselves as secure leaves them blind to their need of Christ. Such security rests on mistaken confidence in their own merits and in their own understanding of God, with people falsely assuring themselves and others that all is well when there is no true peace.
Mere profession of following Christ gives no peace and secures no place with Him when a person does not live as He commands. To claim peace with God on that ground is false reassurance. Like the foolish virgins in the parable, foolish believers take God's promises for granted and cry peace while believing themselves secure when they are not. Their profession cannot prepare them for His coming, and they are shut out.
Unfaithful ministers cry peace to quiet every aroused fear, telling the people that all the world is to be converted instead of warning of the hour of the plagues. They give false comfort instead of healing spiritual danger, and call those who do warn of that hour fanatics and evil men who would ruin the people. When the plagues bring fearful agony, the deceived turn upon those ministers with bitter hate and reproach them for keeping them from the truth that would have saved them from that awful hour. The ministers do not escape wrath, and their sufferings are tenfold greater than their people's.
Offering superficial healing and reassurance where there is no peace instead of standing with truth betrays sacred trust. Smooth assurances of peace can soothe a conscience convicted of sin while leaving the wound unhealed, acting as a soothing plaster rather than true healing. Such words give excuse to turn from truth and lay aside Christ's yoke, encouraging resistance to light and avoidance of the cross of obedience.
Faithful Warning and Present Duty
Faithful messengers must warn plainly rather than excuse or soften evil, because to declare peace where God has not spoken peace is to treat a serious spiritual danger as if it were healed. Such flattering and truth-suppressing speech comes from wanting approval and avoiding the cost of plain speaking, and it is insincere, morally weak, and not true love, while true love seeks God's honor and the salvation of souls in danger. Instead of preaching smooth things and leaving wrongs uncorrected, God's servants must expose sins, rebuke wrong, arouse people to their true condition, and urge them to decide for truth, repentance, and submission, leaving the result with God. Faithful watchmen must speak honestly about sin and call God's people to leave what is unclean and be clean, to forsake worldly attachments and sin and give themselves wholly to God, since reassurance that ignores that need is false. The present is a time of scouring and purifying, warfare and trial in which God's people are tested and proved, and in days of darkness and peril when multitudes of teachers prophesy smooth things, see no cause for alarm, and lull the sleeping multitude to rest at ease, this makes greater the necessity for teachers who stand and speak the whole truth with plain and pointed testimony. Those at fault for treating wounds superficially through too little instruction and failure to lead into a thorough work of truth in the heart must humble themselves deeply before God and let that work correct and purify them. When covering over is put away and confronted honestly, His wrath may turn from Israel and He may again work powerfully among them. The work of saving souls is urgent with no temporal millennium in which to postpone the final work, so to refuse false reassurance honors God, while to give it dishonors Him. Believers must test teachings by the Bible and prepare for Christ's coming rather than accept a coming temporal millennium before His return, and now is the time to cultivate character for heaven, distrust self and human strength, and seek God's help. The same warning forbids muffling God's message for those turning away, who must face wrongdoing and heed warning instead of being told all is well when there is no peace. It required the church at Jackson to have its wound fully exposed and purged rather than treated as minor, addressing sin thoroughly and separating from those rejecting correction, and it required Brother Church to become a changed man, since his condition was not right, before he could bless the church. In Battle Creek it condemned praising influential men while overlooking worldliness and failures of love and forbearance, keeping people complacent instead of leading them to repentance, and it forbade lending teachers' names to draw students to a course at the Battle Creek Sanitarium against caution, since that would support a deceptive plan.
To heal slightly is to treat a deadly spiritual wound on the surface, leaving sin unrebuked, conscience unawakened, and the hurt unhealed. To cry peace, peace is to declare people safe when God has not spoken peace, giving false reassurance to those in danger instead of calling them to repentance. There is no real peace while sin remains, for God has declared there is no peace for the wicked, and sin separates from Him until it is faced and put away. To call such concealment and soothing charity is counterfeit love; genuine love hates sin while loving the sinner, warns faithfully of danger, and points to Christ who takes sin away. Such false assurance lulls souls into fatal ease and carnal security until sudden destruction comes, so faithful watchmen must warn plainly, expose sin, and call for repentance and full submission to God.
Slight Healing Exposed
To heal slightly is to treat a deep spiritual wound on the surface, calling it cured while offering only assurances of peace and leaving the real harm untouched. It soothes sinners with promises that all is well, yet leaves sin unrebuked, consciences unawakened, and the hurt unhealed. Instead of plainly presenting truth and urging decision, it preaches smooth and deceptive things that keep people at ease in Zion rather than warning them of the danger they must face. To cover wrongdoing or call it good in this way is counterfeit charity, not true healing, for genuine charity warns of danger and points to Christ as the one who takes sin away.
There is no real peace while sin remains, because God has declared there is no peace for the wicked. Sin has not been faced and put away, and it separates people from God, so promises of peace that leave wrongdoing lightly treated do not heal. Those who refuse to hear and see, who remain corrupt and defiled in life while workers of iniquity are left unalarmed, will face judgment rather than find the peace they are promised. To reassure sinners that all is well while they continue in sin is to oppose God, who hates sin, and brings a curse rather than a cure.
This is Jeremiah's reproof of Israel against those who gloss over the sins of God's people. False religious leaders and prophets treat sin as a minor wound, make it seem less serious, spare people reminders of wrongdoing, and give false assurance of peace and prosperity while they remain unrepentant. Such flattering teaching lulls sinners into fatal ease instead of calling them to repentance and submission, and it opposes God's message while supporting rebellion against the servants sent to deliver it.
Apparent flourishing does not make that peace real. Churches that reject correction and choose worldly friendship, prosperity, honor, and security are deceived when they count these things as proof of God's favor, for teachers who overlook assimilation to the world and lack of love and forbearance prophesy smooth things that leave people in carnal security rather than advancing in light. Praising and idolizing people rather than honoring God helps conceal the need for alarm and correction, and those who want reassurance accept the soothing report and remain at ease. Institutional success can conceal the same trouble, as when apparent success and claims that all was well concealed pride, self-reliance, and the silencing of correction, which was false peace and not evidence of God's favor.
Such false reassurance betrays God's cause by strengthening evildoers rather than heeding truth. By minimizing sin and sparing confrontation and warning of punishment, it strengthens people in resisting true counsel and increases hostility toward those who faithfully warn them. In this way it supports rebellion and gives strength to resistance against the true prophet's counsel.
False Cry of Peace
To cry peace, peace is to announce peace where God has given none, offering false comfort to those whose condition remains wrong instead of confronting their danger. It treats a grave spiritual wound as if healed, quieting fears about exclusion from the kingdom while leaving people unprepared to enter it. It belongs especially to half-hearted persons who calm the fears of others and oppose plain testimony rather than rebuking sin, correcting wrongs, and separating the corrupt from the pure. It also belongs to messengers who flatter and suppress truth to gain approval or escape the cost of plain speech, which is insincerity and moral weakness rather than love. Faithful messengers instead warn plainly and refuse to excuse or soften evil.
Shepherds, watchmen, ministers, and teachers raise this cry over a worldly and unconverted people, soothing them amid spiritual sickness and danger instead of leading them to repentance. Their words encourage carnal pleasure and security, while corrupt hearts and unclean hands remain unalarmed and bodily defilement and pollution of soul continue. Such false assurance endures only until sudden destruction arrives, for proclaiming peace does not make sinners right with God while sin remains. Watchmen who resist warning and reproof prefer smooth messages that preserve ease to an alarm that exposes wrongdoing, so their claim that all is well is not true peace.
Deceptive preachers can displace faithful gospel ministers, comforting and reassuring unthankful churches that resist warnings. By proclaiming peace they soothe hearers in spiritual danger and keep them from recognizing the peril they must see.
Teachers and people alike fall asleep, discerning no special cause for alarm in darkness and peril, while teachers prophesy smooth things and the multitude believes the report and rests at ease. Those wanting reassurance accept that report and remain comfortable, even when the church is assimilated to the world and lacking love and forbearance. Desire for smooth words leads to resistance against plain reproof and to overlooking the sins that make reproof necessary. Apparent flourishing does not make the peace genuine, especially when praising and idolizing persons rather than honoring God conceals the need for alarm and correction. The present testing time of scouring, purifying, warfare, and trial therefore increases the need for faithful teachers who stand and speak the whole truth with plain and pointed testimony, exposing sins and calling people to decide for truth.
This soothing work springs from seeking approval and shrinking from the cost of plain speech, flattering people and smoothing down the message while suppressing truth to win favor. It comes from insincerity and want of moral courage, not from love for others. True love seeks God's honor and the salvation of souls in danger, and therefore speaks God's truth plainly without excusing or softening evil.
Watchmen must not shrink from declaring the whole counsel of God. Nor must they substitute reassuring and emotionally stirring religion that leaves the heart unchanged. Such shallow reassurance keeps people from recognizing their need and fails to lead them into true godliness.
Counterfeit and Genuine Charity
To call the hiding of sin and the giving of false reassurance charity is counterfeit charity, for to say all is well while sin remains leaves the hurt unhealed. To promise peace when there is no peace, to call evil good or holy or harmless or truth, and to join in covering wrongdoing instead of faithfully warning of danger, is only to treat the wound superficially. Genuine charity does not cover sin or call it holiness. It hates the sin while loving the sinner, warns the sinner faithfully of danger, and points to Christ as the one who takes sin away.
Cheap affection covers sin and makes light of it to avoid hurting feelings, but true love must be joined with justice. It must not cover over what is brought to mind for correction, nor accommodate truth to convenience, but must arouse people to their true condition rather than reassure them that they are at peace when they are not. To use sympathy to shield a wrongdoer from reproof and to minimize the seriousness of sin obstructs the intended work of conviction, supports wrongdoing, and shares in the wrongdoer's guilt. To offer such sympathy to a guilty dying man who had not confessed was to daub a wall with untempered mortar, deceiving both him and those who supported him and bringing ruin by covering real guilt and danger instead of leading to confession and change.
To say peace, peace when people are in peril and cannot truly have peace is false comfort that leaves the hurt unhealed. When spiritual danger is seen, love and concern require honest speech, especially when souls are in danger and need help and correction. That honesty aims at restoring and healing rather than wounding.
Errors That Quiet Fear
Unfaithful ministers fulfill the verse by using false interpretations of Scripture to quiet the fears of those seeking salvation, hindering them from entering the kingdom. To declare peace when God has not spoken peace is to give shallow treatment to real spiritual danger and false assurance that all is well. Those who so mislead bear accountability for the harm done and for the souls thus turned aside.
The verse is fulfilled when ministers oppose the preaching that Christ is near and that the definite prophetic periods are about to end. Such shepherds profess to love Jesus yet do not love Him near, because their unchristian lives will not stand the test and they are not walking in the humble path. When the warning arouses people to see their condition and ask what they must do to be saved, these false shepherds refuse the saving message themselves and hinder those who would receive it, stepping between the truth and the people. Instead of correcting the people and leading them to salvation, they preach smooth things to lead them from the truth and to keep lovers of ease, content at a distance from God, in carnal security, proclaiming safety where there is none. In this they stand in the way of the work of God in union with Satan and his angels, which angels of God mark, and the blood of souls is upon them and covers the garments of these unconsecrated shepherds.
The same cry is uttered while the warning of Christ's near appearing is being given all over the land, when ministers oppose the doctrine of His soon coming and say He will not come for thousands of years. By saying peace when there is no peace they quiet the fears of sinners and backsliders and leave their spiritual danger unhealed. Those who hear the warning should prepare to meet Him rather than assume there is no urgency, lest they accept that assurance and be left unprepared to meet Him with joy.
Unfaithful ministers also fulfill the verse by crying peace to quiet every aroused fear, telling the people that all the world is to be converted instead of warning them of the hour of the plagues. To tell people they are safe when they are not gives false comfort instead of healing their spiritual danger, failing to warn of coming judgment. Those who do warn of that hour they call fanatics and evil men who would ruin the people.
A false theory of sanctification heals only slightly by claiming peace where no peace exists. It whitewashes souls in darkness, error, and pride, giving corrupt hearts an appearance of being good Christians and possessing holiness while leaving them unchanged. It does not bring evil to light nor reprove and rebuke wrong, but clothes men and women of corrupt hearts in a garb of sanctification so they are looked upon as examples to the flock. Thus acting as Satan's agents, they allure and deceive honest souls into a by-path away from the force and importance of the solemn truths of the third angel's message.
Other forms of the same cry are proclaiming a temporal millennium before Christ returns, for there is no temporal millennium in which to postpone the urgent final work of saving souls. Believers must test such teachings by the Bible and prepare for Christ's coming rather than accept postponement. The verse also condemns telling people to ignore the warning of the Lord's approaching day and to continue in godlessness, self-glorification, and pleasure, giving false comfort instead of awakening them to danger. It applies to religious leaders and guides who cry peace while turning people from the truth and the binding claims of God's law, including the Sabbath, thereby encouraging them to remain in rebellion and risk missing the way to heaven. Such reassurance is given by appealing to the Fathers while refusing to examine Scripture or acknowledge God's law, keeping people from truth and leaving them in danger. Accommodating truth to circumstances and conveniences is the same slight healing, lessening truth's power and influence, hindering the church, and opening the way to still wider departure from truth.
Consequences for Deceived and Deceivers
False reassurance of peace when there is no peace lulls sinners into fatal ease and carnal security instead of leading them to heed God's voice. It treats a serious spiritual wound as minor and leaves it unhealed while promising peace and prosperity to people who remain unrepentant. For those who have long resisted and opposed God, such soothing quiets the conscience into the sleep of death. Churches that reject correction and choose worldly friendship, prosperity, honor, and security are deceived when they count those things as proof of favor, for the soothing message keeps them in carnal security rather than advancing them in the light. Against this flattering teaching stands the faithful work of warning sinners and calling them to repentance and submission.
That false assurance lasts only until sudden destruction comes, because words that encourage carnal pleasure and security instead of repentance leave spiritual sickness unhealed in a worldly, unconverted people. Telling people to regard themselves as secure leaves them blind to their need of Christ. Such security rests on mistaken confidence in their own merits and in their own understanding of God, with people falsely assuring themselves and others that all is well when there is no true peace.
Mere profession of following Christ gives no peace and secures no place with Him when a person does not live as He commands. To claim peace with God on that ground is false reassurance. Like the foolish virgins in the parable, foolish believers take God's promises for granted and cry peace while believing themselves secure when they are not. Their profession cannot prepare them for His coming, and they are shut out.
Unfaithful ministers cry peace to quiet every aroused fear, telling the people that all the world is to be converted instead of warning of the hour of the plagues. They give false comfort instead of healing spiritual danger, and call those who do warn of that hour fanatics and evil men who would ruin the people. When the plagues bring fearful agony, the deceived turn upon those ministers with bitter hate and reproach them for keeping them from the truth that would have saved them from that awful hour. The ministers do not escape wrath, and their sufferings are tenfold greater than their people's.
Offering superficial healing and reassurance where there is no peace instead of standing with truth betrays sacred trust. Smooth assurances of peace can soothe a conscience convicted of sin while leaving the wound unhealed, acting as a soothing plaster rather than true healing. Such words give excuse to turn from truth and lay aside Christ's yoke, encouraging resistance to light and avoidance of the cross of obedience.
Faithful Warning and Present Duty
Faithful messengers must warn plainly rather than excuse or soften evil, because to declare peace where God has not spoken peace is to treat a serious spiritual danger as if it were healed. Such flattering and truth-suppressing speech comes from wanting approval and avoiding the cost of plain speaking, and it is insincere, morally weak, and not true love, while true love seeks God's honor and the salvation of souls in danger. Instead of preaching smooth things and leaving wrongs uncorrected, God's servants must expose sins, rebuke wrong, arouse people to their true condition, and urge them to decide for truth, repentance, and submission, leaving the result with God. Faithful watchmen must speak honestly about sin and call God's people to leave what is unclean and be clean, to forsake worldly attachments and sin and give themselves wholly to God, since reassurance that ignores that need is false. The present is a time of scouring and purifying, warfare and trial in which God's people are tested and proved, and in days of darkness and peril when multitudes of teachers prophesy smooth things, see no cause for alarm, and lull the sleeping multitude to rest at ease, this makes greater the necessity for teachers who stand and speak the whole truth with plain and pointed testimony. Those at fault for treating wounds superficially through too little instruction and failure to lead into a thorough work of truth in the heart must humble themselves deeply before God and let that work correct and purify them. When covering over is put away and confronted honestly, His wrath may turn from Israel and He may again work powerfully among them. The work of saving souls is urgent with no temporal millennium in which to postpone the final work, so to refuse false reassurance honors God, while to give it dishonors Him. Believers must test teachings by the Bible and prepare for Christ's coming rather than accept a coming temporal millennium before His return, and now is the time to cultivate character for heaven, distrust self and human strength, and seek God's help. The same warning forbids muffling God's message for those turning away, who must face wrongdoing and heed warning instead of being told all is well when there is no peace. It required the church at Jackson to have its wound fully exposed and purged rather than treated as minor, addressing sin thoroughly and separating from those rejecting correction, and it required Brother Church to become a changed man, since his condition was not right, before he could bless the church. In Battle Creek it condemned praising influential men while overlooking worldliness and failures of love and forbearance, keeping people complacent instead of leading them to repentance, and it forbade lending teachers' names to draw students to a course at the Battle Creek Sanitarium against caution, since that would support a deceptive plan.