“Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter: Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.”-Ezekiel 13:10-11
The painful truths of life are the most difficult to face. Death, sickness, regret, loss, and the list goes on. They are realities in our lives, and it can be easier to ignore them, than face them. Likewise, there are some truths in scripture that are painful, and difficult to face; such as judgment, sacrifice, suffering, providence. These are truths that are contrary to a carnal nature that desires only comfort and focuses solely on your own estimation of existence. The agony comes when truth is in direct confrontation with oneself. When the truth conflicts with what you want to be true.
It is the task of the Christian, and by extension the preacher, to remain faithful to the truth of scripture. In words, thought, and deed. However, the temptation to “prophesy lies” and to preach the part of scripture and not the whole is very real. So is the temptation to live the part and not the whole. It can be a burden to preach hell, judgment, sacrifice, and suffering. To reach down into the weightier matters of scripture and speak plainly on topics that bring offense (sin, hell, affluence, sodomy, alcohol, dress/modesty, gender roles in the home, to name a few.). It is far more comfortable to bring scripture that we believe will unify and not divide. For truth to be truth there must by contrast be falsehood. If one is living in this falsehood then they are contrary to the truth, and therefore division is inevitable. This division is not meant to destroy but to convert. For the sinner, backslider, or complacent Christian to see the error and repent. In order to build a sure house, built on sure foundations, the entire truth must be entirely presented. To try to build up God’s house any other way is to build up a house with untempered mortar. Weak, wet, mortar. Uncured, and lacking strength. A house such as this is doomed to fail. No matter the skilled labor that built it or the intelligence of the design; it won’t hold. For: “except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it.” Christ said a house built on sand will fall. A house built on rock will stand. Jesus’s words, all of them, are solid. His words on love carry the same truth as his rebuke of sin. His exhortation to judge not is as much a brick in the foundation as beware of false teachers. The sum of them are instrumental in building something greater and stronger than we understand. The more “comfortable” parts of scripture such as: love, grace, mercy, blessings, and of course heaven; must be preached in part with the uncomfortable, painful parts. This is tempered mortar; it is the sum of the whole working together to create a solid foundation that the Master builder sees. He recognizes the grand plan and understands the final structure. Furthermore, he understands what must go into it to make it stand. This is true of the individual life with Christ, and the collective body of Christ; that is to say His church. God designed, and Christ taught a gospel of substance. A sure gospel we can build on lives on and stake our future, our children’s future, and our immortal soul on. A gospel that will stand in the face of all adversity. This cannot be so unless the whole of it is preached. To renounce the whole truth is to lay bricks with untempered mortar.
That is what these preachers were doing and are still doing. Preaching peace to a people who would not see peace, and prophesying lies to gain the hearers. They were hunting souls for their profit. Building up a following that will not stand. Why will it not stand? Because God is against it. The Lord said, I will not let the souls go; he desires the soul that desires Him, and how can it if the preaching of the Word is not a reflection of who God is? Of whom Christ is? The truth preached in love is more powerful than any other means of winning souls; because it is backed by the Holy Ghost. It is the Holy Ghost that brings the power of the gospel right to the human heart. It is with the Holy Ghost that we instruct, persuade, and win souls. Without it the church is lost and the efforts are in vain. God alone holds these truths and God alone gave them to His Son Jesus. Jesus taught, and is teaching through the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, with the blessing of holy scripture. To deny their validity or preach the part of a whole is to deny God himself and grieve the Holy Spirit whereby we are saved. “There is no peace saith my God to the wicked.”
