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November 2024
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God wants us to be Vegan – Are you?

Firstly, consider various Spirit of Prophecy statements – others will be reviewed later.
When things are repeated twice they are deemed to be important – so this list of SOP quotes is very important:
Grains and fruits prepared free from grease, and in as natural a condition as possible, should be the food for the tables of all who claim to be preparing for translation to heaven.
12 SOP references: [12 = Governmental Perfection – God’s Power & Authority]
CCh 223.1 – CD 63.3 – CD 314.3 – CD 355.1 – CH 42.2 – CH 621.2 – HL 78.5 – 1MCP 236.1 – 2T 352.1 – TSDF 26.7 – TSDF 87.3 – TSDF 132.3
Vegetables, fruits, and grains should compose our diet. Not an ounce of flesh-meat should enter our stomachs. The eating of flesh is unnatural. We are to return to God’s original purpose in the creation of man.
8 SOP references: [8 = Unity – New Beginning(s)]
CD 380.2 – MM 229.5 – TSDF 78.3 – TSDF 85.8 – TSDF 132.1 – TSDF 142.9 – PC 40.4 – SpM 258.5
Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables constitute the diet chosen for us by our Creator.
12 SOP references: [12 = Governmental Perfection – God’s Power & Authority]
CG 380.1 – CCh 222.1 – CD 81.2 – CD 310.2 – CD 313.1 – CD 363.1 – MH 296.1 – TSDF 82.11 – TSDF 86.5 – TSDF 124.3 – TSDF 125.3 – PHJ, July 1, 1905 par. 5
Men and women cannot violate natural law by indulging depraved appetite and lustful passions, without violating the law of God.
1 SOP reference: [1 = Unity – Singleness]
CTBH 9.1
The Lord intends to bring His people back to live upon simple fruits, vegetables, and grains.
11 SOP references: [11 = Chaos – Judgement]
CD 81.4 – CD 322.5 – HL 78.3 – HL 96.2 – HL 282.2 – MM 277.1 – TSDF 68.1 – TSDF 125.7 – PH031 5.1 – PC 362.1 – SpM 45.3
In grains, fruits, vegetables, and nuts are to be found all the food elements that we need.
12 SOP references: [12 = Governmental Perfection – God’s Power & Authority]
CD 92.2 – CD 310.3 – CD 313.4 – MM 267.4 – TSDF 20.10 – TSDF 65.4 – TSDF 82.12 – TSDF 87.2 – TSDF 124.2 – TSDF 125.9 – TSDF 132.2 – 1SAT 354.1
The body should be servant to the mind, and not the mind to the body.
12 SOP references: [12 = Governmental Perfection – God’s Power & Authority]
CG 398.3 – CD 33.1 – 2MCP 394.4 – PP 562.1 – Te 138.2 – 1T 486.3 – TSDF 26.1 – TSDF 160.7 – TSDF 187.7 – TMK 86.5 – RH, September 23, 1884 par. 11 – RH, April 30, 1914 par. 5
“lower passions” “higher powers”
27 SOP references: [27 = Holy Truth]
AH 127.2 – AH 327.1 – CG 382.1 – CG 446.2 – CCh 107.3 – CCh 137.1 – CCh 235.6 – CD 404.2 – CH 133.2 – CH 617.2 – HP 198.5 – RC 144.2 – 2T 348.1 – 2T 697.1 – 9T 159.2 – TSB 84.2 – TSDF 26.12 – TSDF 80.8 – TSDF 174.7 – BLJ 220.3 – BLJ 316.3 – RH, May 17, 1887 par. 8 – RH, March 3, 1910 par. 3 – ST, August 11, 1887 par. 5 – ST, March 1, 1899 par. 7 – 5MR 408.1 – SpM 209.2
Avoidance of / abstinence from tea, coffee, and all spices and flesh meats
13 SOP references: [13 = Apostasy – Depravity – Rebellion]
CG 381.2 – CD 239.2 – CD 468.3 – 3T 21.1 – TSDF 11.6 – TSDF 104.5 – TSDF 130.1 – TSDF 135.5 – TSDF 148.5 – HR, December 1, 1870 par. 8 – ST, February 17, 1888 par. 5 – PH159 44.2 – 20MR 373.2
The eating of flesh meats has made a poor quality of blood and flesh.
8 SOP references: [8 = Unity – New Beginning(s)]
CD 387.1 – HL 63.1 – HL 99.2 – HL 182.4 – 2T 61.1 – TSDF 28.8 – TSDF 77.1 – TSDF 174.4
It is not well to eat fruit and vegetables at the same meal. If the digestion is feeble, the use of both will often cause distress, and inability to put forth mental effort. It is better to have the fruit at one meal, and the vegetables at another.
8 SOP references: [8 = Unity – New Beginning(s)]
CD 112.3 – CD 394.3 – MH 299.7 – TSDF 17.6 – TSDF 132.8 – PHJ, July 1, 1905 par. 13 – YI, May 31, 1894 par. 7 – 18MR 84.1 [with a slight varation]
The health reform is closely connected with the work of the third message
27 SOP references: [27 = Holy Truth]
CTBH 9.1 – CTBH 121.4 – CCh 214.2 – CD 32.2 – CD 69.1 – CD 74.3 – CD 74.4 – CD 76.6 – CH 20.3 – CH 452.3 – HFM 41.1 – MM 266.3 – PaM 71.3 – 1T 486.2 – 1T 559.2 – 3T 161.1 – TSDF 87.5 – TSDF 87.8 – TSDF 88.3 – TSDF 88.9 – TSDF 187.6 – TSDF 191.4 – RH, April 30, 1914 par. 4 – RH, May 7, 1914 par. 5 – PH138 1.1 – 5MR 134.3 – SpM 136.4
The health reform, I was shown, is a part of the third angel’s message and is just as closely connected with it as are the arm and hand with the human body.
7 SOP references: [7 = Spiritual Completeness / Perfection – Sanctification]
CD 32.2 – CD 74.3 – LDE 80.4 – 1T 486.2 – TSDF 87.8 – TSDF 187.6 – RH, April 30, 1914 par. 4
Now, consider Gematria:
    Simple  
Phrase Hebrew English English Gematria Meaning
Gematria Gematria Gematria  
The Diet Of Mankind 421 948 158 FEAR OF DEATH
Flesh Diet 247 528 88 RIGHTEOUS AFFLICTED
Meat Diet 254 462 77 THE FALSE PROPHET
All Meat Diet 295 612 102 DESTITUTE & ABANDONED
Red Meat Diet 343 624 104  WORKERS DIVIDED
High Cholesterol 463 984 164 APOSTATE RELIGION
Pork Diet 318 588 98 RELIGIOUS LEADER BLIND
Piggy Diet 601 612 102 DESTITUTE & ABANDONED
All Fish Diet 272 630 105 STRENGTH IN SUFFERING
Tea Is A Drug 497 630 105 STRENGTH IN SUFFERING
A Cup Of Coffee 395 612 102 DESTITUTE & ABANDONED
 
So the typical diet of man does not have God’s blessing.
 
Now consider the diet that God chose for mankind:
Vegan 753 294 49  TIME OF THE END
Garlic 120 300 50  FIRE: Purify: Persecution
Seeds 194 312 52 GOSPEL WORKER
Herbs 185 312 52 GOSPEL WORKER
Go Vegan 810 426 71 JUDGE(S)
Vegan Diet 871 522 87 SAINTS ASSEMBLY
Good Health 253 570 95 VOICE OF GOD
Vegan Now 1743 606 101 REBELLIOUS CAST OUT
Eat No Flesh 325 630 105 STRENGTH IN SUFFERING
No Flesh Food 329 714 119 LOVE THE LAW
Man To Be Vegan 981 714 119 LOVE THE LAW
Live Longer 936 714 119 LOVE THE LAW
Change To Vegan 967 732 122 CITY OF PEACE
Change To A Vegan 968 738 123  DEVOTED TO THE LORD
Health Message 370 738 123  DEVOTED TO THE LORD
The Health Law 1176 738 123  DEVOTED TO THE LORD
Obedience To God 334 738 123  DEVOTED TO THE LORD
Go Vegetarian 1004 744 124 DEADLY TRAP ESCAPED
Vegetables Heal 969 744 124 DEADLY TRAP ESCAPED
Meatless Diet 459 792 132 ANOINTED
Vegan Egg Honey 1275 810 135 SPIRITUAL GIFTS
Bloodless Diet 449 846 141 TEACHABLE
No Meat Or Fish 469 858 143 FACTIONS – A small organized dissenting group within a larger one
Fleshless Diet 452 858 143 FACTIONS – A small organized dissenting group within a larger one
To Eat God’s Food 517 876 146 FREE OF ALL BONDS
To Eat Best Food 563 882 147 FATHER’S POSSESSION
Excellent Health 640 924 154 GOD IS JUDGE
Restore Health 552 924 154 GOD IS JUDGE
Vegan Eggs Honey 1365 924 154 GOD IS JUDGE
No Meat Nor Fish 509 942 157 CHOSEN PEOPLE
Appetite Modified 457 942 157 CHOSEN PEOPLE
Translate Vegan 1190 954 159 FAITHFUL CHURCH
Life Longevity 1371 966 161 PURIFIED CHURCH
 
An obvious improvement – and a message from God to His people.
Now consider God’s Word:
Psalm 133:1 A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant [it is] for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
Ephesians 4:2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
Ephesians 4:3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Ephesians 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Genesis 1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, [and] the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed [is] in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
Genesis 1:12 And the earth brought forth grass, [and] herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed [was] in itself, after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.
Genesis 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
Genesis 1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein [there is] life, [I have given] every green herb for meat: and it was so.
Genesis 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Genesis 9:3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
Genesis 9:4 But flesh with the life thereof, [which is] the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
Exodus 10:14 And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous [were they]; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.
Exodus 10:15 For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
Leviticus 3:14 And he shall offer thereof his offering, [even] an offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that [is] upon the inwards,
Leviticus 3:15 And the two kidneys, and the fat that [is] upon them, which [is] by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away.
Leviticus 3:16 And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: [it is] the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savour: all the fat [is] the LORD’S.
Leviticus 3:17 [It shall be] a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.
Leviticus 7:22 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Leviticus 7:23 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat.
Leviticus 7:24 And the fat of the beast that dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn with beasts, may be used in any other use: but ye shall in no wise eat of it.
Leviticus 7:25 For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast, of which men offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, even the soul that eateth [it] shall be cut off from his people.
Leviticus 7:26 Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, [whether it be] of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings.
Leviticus 7:27 Whatsoever soul [it be] that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.
Leviticus 17:10 And whatsoever man [there be] of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.
Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh [is] in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it [is] the blood [that] maketh an atonement for the soul.
Leviticus 17:12 Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.
Leviticus 17:13 And whatsoever man [there be] of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust.
Leviticus 17:14 For [it is] the life of all flesh; the blood of it [is] for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh [is] the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.
Leviticus 19:23 And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of.
Leviticus 19:24 But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the LORD [withal].
Leviticus 19:25 And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I [am] the LORD your God.
Leviticus 19:26 Ye shall not eat [any thing] with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.
Deuteronomy 6:1 Now these [are] the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do [them] in the land whither ye go to possess it:
Deuteronomy 6:2 That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
Deuteronomy 12:16 Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.
Deuteronomy 12:23 Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood [is] the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.
Deuteronomy 12:24 Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water.
Deuteronomy 12:25 Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do [that which is] right in the sight of the LORD.
Deuteronomy 15:23 Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water.
1 Samuel 14:31 And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon: and the people were very faint.
1 Samuel 14:32 And the people flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew [them] on the ground: and the people did eat [them] with the blood.
1 Samuel 14:33 Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the LORD, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed: roll a great stone unto me this day.
1 Kings 3:14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.
Isaiah 65:21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit [them]; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
Proverbs 13:2 A man shall eat good by the fruit of [his] mouth: but the soul of the transgressors [shall eat] violence.
Proverbs 28:9 He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer [shall be] abomination.
Song of Solomon 6:11 I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, [and] to see whether the vine flourished, [and] the pomegranates budded.
Matthew 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
John 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
John 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
John 6:56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
John 6:57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
John 6:58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
John 14:17 [Even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
John 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every [branch] that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
John 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
John 15:5 I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
John 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast [them] into the fire, and they are burned.
John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
John 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
John 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and [that] your joy might be full.
John 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1 John 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
1 John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, [even] our faith.
Romans 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Romans 6:13 Neither yield ye your members [as] instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness unto God.
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service.
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
1 Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1 Corinthians 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which [temple] ye are.
1 Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
1 Corinthians 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring [it] into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
Philippians 3:12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Philippians 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Philippians 3:16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
Philippians 3:17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.
Philippians 3:18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, [that they are] the enemies of the cross of Christ:
Philippians 3:19 Whose end [is] destruction, whose God [is their] belly, and [whose] glory [is] in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
Philippians 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Philippians 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Revelation 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
Revelation 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Revelation 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Revelation 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Revelation 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Revelation 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Revelation 3:22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Revelation 22:1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Revelation 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bare twelve [manner of] fruits, [and] yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree [were] for the healing of the nations.
 Finally, look at those other Spirit of Prophecy relevant quotations:
The health reform is one branch of the great work which is to fit a people for the coming of the Lord. It is as closely connected with the third angel’s message as the hand is with the body. The law of ten commandments has been lightly regarded by man; yet the Lord will not come to punish the transgressors of that law without first sending them a message of warning. Men and women cannot violate natural law by indulging depraved appetite and lustful passions, without violating the law of God. Therefore he has permitted the light of health reform to shine upon us, that we may realize the sinfulness of breaking the laws which he has established in our very being. Our heavenly Father sees the deplorable condition of men who, many of them ignorantly, are disregarding the principles of hygiene. And it is in love and pity to the race that he causes the light to shine upon health reform. He publishes his law and its penalties, in order that all may learn what is for their highest good. He proclaims his law so distinctly, and makes it so prominent, that it is like a city set on a hill. All intelligent beings can understand it if they will. None others are responsible. To make natural law plain, and to urge obedience to it, is a work that accompanies the third angel’s message. {CTBH 9.1 1890}
435. Meat is not essential for health or strength, else the Lord made a mistake when he provided food for Adam and Eve before their fall. All the elements of nutrition are contained in the fruits, vegetables, and grains.— R. and H., 1883, No. 19. {HL 96.1 1897}
It is a mistake to suppose that muscular strength depends on the use of animal food. The needs of the system can be better supplied, and more vigorous health can be enjoyed, without its use. The grains, with fruits, nuts, and vegetables, contain all the nutritive properties necessary to make good blood. These elements are not so well or so fully supplied by a flesh diet. Had the use of flesh been essential to health and strength, animal food should have been included in the diet appointed man in the beginning. {TSDF 132.10 1926}
651. Among those who are waiting for the coming of the Lord, meat eating will eventually be done away; flesh will cease to form a part of their diet. We should ever keep this end in view, and endeavor to work steadily toward it. I cannot think that in the practice of flesh eating we are in harmony with the light which God has been pleased to give us. All who are connected with our health institutions especially should be educating themselves to subsist on fruits, grains, and vegetables. If we move from principle in these things, if we as Christian reformers educate our own taste, and bring our diet to God’s plan, then we may exert an influence upon others in this matter, which will be pleasing to God. {CD 380.4 1938}
653. Those who have received instruction regarding the evils of the use of flesh foods, tea, and coffee, and rich and unhealthful food preparations, and who are determined to make a covenant with God by sacrifice, will not continue to indulge their appetite for food that they know to be unhealthful. God demands that the appetite be cleansed, and that self-denial be practiced in regard to those things which are not good. This is a work that will have to be done before His people can stand before Him a perfected people. {CD 381.2 1938}
655. Greater reforms should be seen among the people who claim to be looking for the soon appearing of Christ. Health reform is to do among our people a work which it has not yet done. There are those who ought to be awake to the danger of meat eating, who are still eating the flesh of animals, thus endangering the physical, mental, and spiritual health. Many who are now only half converted on the question of meat eating will go from God’s people to walk no more with them. {CD 382.1 1938}
The Christian life is constantly an onward march. Jesus sits as a refiner and purifier of His people; and when His image is perfectly reflected in them, they are perfect and holy, and prepared for translation. A great work is required of the Christian. We are exhorted to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Here we see where the great labor rests. There is a constant work for the Christian. Every branch in the parent vine must derive life and strength from that vine, in order to yield fruit. {1T 340.4 1861}
I saw that angels of God were looking sorrowfully toward you. They had left your side and were turning mournfully away, while Satan and his angels were grinning in exultation over you. If you had yourself battled with your doubts and not encouraged the devil to tempt you, by talking out your unbelief and loving to dwell upon it, you would not have attracted the fallen angels about you in such numbers. But you chose to talk your darkness; you chose to dwell upon it; and the more you talk and dwell upon it, the darker and darker you grow. You are shutting out from you every ray of heaven’s light; and a great gulf is coming between you and the only ones who can help you. If you proceed in the way you have started, misery and woe are before you. God’s hand will arrest you in a manner that will not suit you. His wrath will not slumber. But now He invites you. Now, just now, He calls upon you to return unto Him without delay, and He will graciously pardon and heal all your backslidings. God is leading out a people who are peculiar. He will cleanse and purify them, and fit them for translation. Every carnal thing will be separated from God’s peculiar treasures until they shall be like gold seven times purified. {1T 430.2 1861}
I was shown that the work of health reform has scarcely been entered upon yet. While some feel deeply and act out their faith in the work, others remain indifferent and have scarcely taken the first step in reform. There seems to be in them a heart of unbelief, and, as this reform restricts the lustful appetite, many shrink back. They have other gods before the Lord. Their taste, their appetite, is their god; and when the ax is laid at the root of the tree and those who have indulged their depraved appetites at the expense of health are touched, their sin pointed out, their idols shown them, they do not wish to be convinced; and although God’s voice should speak directly to them to put away those health-destroying indulgences, some would still cling to the hurtful things which they love. They seem joined to their idols, and God will soon say to His angels: Let them alone. {1T 486.1 1861}
The health reform, I was shown, is a part of the third angel’s message and is just as closely connected with it as are the arm and hand with the human body. I saw that we as a people must make an advance move in this great work. Ministers and people must act in concert. God’s people are not prepared for the loud cry of the third angel. They have a work to do for themselves which they should not leave for God to do for them. He has left this work for them to do. It is an individual work; one cannot do it for another. “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” Gluttony is the prevailing sin of this age. Lustful appetite makes slaves of men and women, and beclouds their intellects and stupefies their moral sensibilities to such a degree that the sacred, elevated truths of God’s word are not appreciated. The lower propensities have ruled men and women. {1T 486.2 1861}
In order to be fitted for translation, the people of God must know themselves. They must understand in regard to their own physical frames that they may be able with the psalmist to exclaim: “I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” They should ever have the appetite in subjection to the moral and intellectual organs. The body should be servant to the mind, and not the mind to the body. {1T 486.3 1861}
I was shown that there is a much greater work before us than we as yet have any idea of, if we would ensure health by placing ourselves in the right relation to life. Dr. A has been doing a great and good work in the treatment of disease and in enlightening those who have all their lives been in ignorance in regard to the relation that eating, drinking, and working sustain to health. God in His mercy has given His people light through His humble instrument that in order to overcome disease they must deny a depraved appetite and practice temperance in all things. He has caused great light to shine upon their pathway. Shall those who are “looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works,” be behind the religionists of the day who have no faith in the soon appearing of our Saviour? The peculiar people whom He is purifying unto Himself to be translated to heaven without seeing death, should not be behind others in good works. In their efforts to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, they should be as far ahead of any other class of people on the earth as their profession is more exalted than that of others. {1T 487.1 1861}
Some have sneered at this work of reform and have said it was all unnecessary, that it was an excitement to divert minds from present truth. They have said that matters were being carried to extremes. Such do not know what they are talking about. While men and women professing godliness are diseased from the crown of their head to the soles of their feet, while their physical, mental, and moral energies are enfeebled through gratification of depraved appetite and excessive labor, how can they weigh the evidences of truth and comprehend the requirements of God? If their moral and intellectual faculties are beclouded, they cannot appreciate the value of the atonement or the exalted character of the work of God, nor delight in the study of His word. How can a nervous dyspeptic be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh him a reason of the hope that is in him, with meekness and fear? How soon would such a one become confused and agitated, and by his diseased imagination be led to view matters in altogether a wrong light, and by a lack of that meekness and calmness which characterized the life of Christ be caused to dishonor his profession while contending with unreasonable men? Viewing matters from a high religious standpoint, we must be thorough reformers in order to be Christlike. {1T 487.2 1861}
There are but few as yet who are aroused sufficiently to understand how much their habits of diet have to do with their health, their characters, their usefulness in this world, and their eternal destiny. I saw that it is the duty of those who have received the light from heaven and have realized the benefit of walking in it, to manifest a greater interest for those who are still suffering for want of knowledge. Sabbathkeepers who are looking for the soon appearing of their Saviour should be the last to manifest a lack of interest in this great work of reform. Men and women must be instructed, and ministers and people should feel that the burden of the work rests upon them to agitate the subject and urge it home upon others. {1T 488.2 1861}
God leads his people on step by step. He brings them up to different points which are calculated to manifest what is in the heart. Some endure at one point, but fall off at the next. At every advanced point the heart is tested, and tried a little closer. If the professed people of God find their hearts opposed to the straight work of God, it should convince them that they have a work to do to overcome, or be spued out of the mouth of the Lord. Said the angel, “God will bring his work closer and closer to test them, and prove every one of his people.” Some are willing to receive one point, but when God brings them to another testing point, they shrink from it and stand back, because they find it strikes directly at some cherished idol. Here they have opportunity to see what is in their hearts that shuts out Jesus. They prize something higher than the truth, and their hearts are not prepared to receive Jesus. Individuals are tested and proved a length of time to see if they will sacrifice their idols, and heed the counsel of the true Witness. If they will not be purified through obeying the truth, and overcome their selfishness, their pride, and evil passions, the angels of God have their charge,–“They are joined to their idols, let them alone,”–and they pass on to their work, leaving them with their evil traits unsubdued, to the control of evil angels. Those who come up to every point, and stand every test, and overcome, be the price what it may, have heeded the counsel of the true Witness, and they will be fitted for translation by the latter rain. {4bSG 34.1 1864} and they will receive the latter rain, and thus be fitted for translation. {LHU 375.2 1988} & {Mar 43.3 1976}
Your business is of a character that is not friendly to an advance in the divine life, but is one that will hinder the growth of grace and the knowledge of the truth. It has a tendency to lower, to debase the man, to make him more animal in his propensities. The higher powers of the mind are overpowered by the lower. The brutish part of your nature governs the spiritual. Those who profess to be fitting for translation should not become butchers. {2T 60.3 1868-1871}
Your family have partaken largely of flesh meats, and the animal propensities have been strengthened, while the intellectual have been weakened. We are composed of what we eat, and if we subsist largely upon the flesh of dead animals we shall partake of their nature. You have encouraged the grosser part of your organism, while the more refined has been weakened. You have repeatedly said in defense of your indulgence of meat eating: “However injurious it may be to others, it does not injure me, for I have used it all my life.” But you know not how well you might have been if you had abstained from the use of flesh meats. As a family, you are far from being free from disease. You have used the fat of animals, which God in His word expressly forbids: “It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.” “Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings. Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.” {2T 60.4 1868-1871}
You have flesh, but it is not good material. You are worse off for this amount of flesh. If you should each come down to a more spare diet, which would take from you twenty-five or thirty pounds of your gross flesh, you would be much less liable to disease. The eating of flesh meats has made a poor quality of blood and flesh. Your systems are in a state of inflammation, prepared to take on disease. You are liable to acute attacks of disease and to sudden death because you do not possess the strength of constitution to rally and resist disease. There will come a time when the strength and health you have flattered yourself you possessed will prove to be weakness. It is not the chief end of man to glorify his stomach. You have animal wants to be supplied; but because of this necessity shall man become all animal?{2T 61.1 1868-1871}
You have set for your children a table of unwholesome food, cooked in an unhealthful manner. You have placed flesh meats before them, and what is the result? Are they refined, intellectual, obedient, conscientious, and religiously inclined? You know this is not the case, but entirely the contrary. Your manner of living has strengthened the animal of your nature and weakened the spiritual. You have transmitted to your children a miserable legacy, a depraved nature rendered still more depraved by your gross habits of eating and drinking. Your table has completed the work of making them what they are. The sin lies at your door. You know that they are not religiously inclined, that they will not submit to restraint, but are inclined to disobedience and to disrespect your authority. Your eldest son especially is corrupt, partaking to a great degree of the animal. Scarcely a trace of the divine can be seen in his organism. You have brought up your children to indulge their appetite when they please and as they please. Your example has taught them that they live to eat, that the gratification of appetite is about all that is worth living for. There is a work for you to do, Brother H. You have been like a man asleep or paralyzed. It is time that you make a mighty effort to save the younger members of your family. The influence of your eldest son is only evil over them. Correct your table. A depraved, stimulating diet is strengthening the animal passions of your children. Of all the families I am acquainted with, yours most needs to dispense with flesh meats and grease, and learn to cook hygienically. {2T 61.2 1868-1871}
You, my dear brother and sister, can have a much better condition of health than you now enjoy, and can avoid very many ill turns, if you will simply exercise temperance in all things–temperance in labor, temperance in eating and drinking. Hot drinks are debilitating to the stomach. Cheese should never be introduced into the stomach. Fine-flour bread cannot impart to the system the nourishment that you will find in the unbolted wheat bread. The common use of bolted wheat bread cannot keep the system in a healthy condition. You both have inactive livers. The use of fine flour aggravates the difficulties under which you are laboring. {2T 68.1 1868-1871}
I come again to Christians. If all who profess to obey the law of God were free from iniquity, my soul would be relieved; but they are not. Even some who profess to keep all the commandments of God are guilty of the sin of adultery. What can I say to arouse their benumbed sensibilities? Moral principle, strictly carried out, becomes the only safeguard of the soul. If ever there was a time when the diet should be of the most simple kind, it is now. Meat should not be placed before our children. Its influence is to excite and strengthen the lower passions, and has a tendency to deaden the moral powers. Grains and fruits prepared free from grease, and in as natural a condition as possible, should be the food for the tables of all who claim to be preparing for translation to heaven. The less feverish the diet, the more easily can the passions be controlled. Gratification of taste should not be consulted irrespective of physical, intellectual, or moral health. {2T 352.1 1868-1871}
God’s people will separate themselves from the unrighteous practices of those around them, and will seek for purity of thought, and holy conformity to his will, until his divine image will be reflected in them. Like Enoch they will be fitting for translation to Heaven. While they endeavor to instruct and warn the world, they will not conform to the spirit and customs of unbelievers, but will condemn them by their holy conversation and godly example. Enoch’s translation to Heaven just before the destruction of the world by a flood, represents the translation of all the living righteous from the earth previous to its destruction by fire. The saints will be glorified in the presence of those who have hated them for their loyal obedience to God’s righteous commandments. {1SP 65.1 1870}
The people who are at war with the law of the great Jehovah, who consider it a special virtue to talk, and write, and act, the most bitter and hateful things, to show their contempt of that law, may make high and exalted profession of love to God, and apparently have much religious zeal, as did the Jewish chief priests and elders; yet in the day of God, found wanting will be said by the Majesty of Heaven. By the law is the knowledge of sin. The mirror which would discover to them the defects in their character, they are infuriated against, because it points out their sins. Leading Adventists who have rejected the light are fired with madness against God’s holy law, as the Jewish nation were against the Son of God. They are in a terrible deception, deceiving souls and being deceived themselves. They will not come to the light lest their deeds should be reproved. Such will not be taught. But the people who profess to keep the law of God, he corrects, he reproves, he points out their sins, and lays open their iniquity; because he wishes to separate all sin and wickedness from them, that they may perfect holiness in his fear, and be prepared to die in the Lord, or for translation to Heaven. God will rebuke, reprove, and correct them, that they may be refined, sanctified, elevated, and finally exalted to his own throne. {PH011 19.1 1870}
God is leading out a people and preparing them for translation. Are we, who are acting a part in this work, standing as sentinels for God? Are we seeking to work unitedly? Are we willing to become servants of all? Are we following our great Exemplar? {5T 30.1 1882-1889}
There are many ways of practicing the healing art, but there is only one way that Heaven approves. God’s remedies are the simple agencies of nature that will not tax or debilitate the system through their powerful properties. Pure air and water, cleanliness, a proper diet, purity of life, and a firm trust in God are remedies for the want of which thousands are dying; yet these remedies are going out of date because their skillful use requires work that the people do not appreciate. Fresh air, exercise, pure water, and clean, sweet premises are within the reach of all with but little expense, but drugs are expensive, both in the outlay of means and in the effect produced upon the system. {5T 443.1 1882-1889}
There is to be a people fitted up for translation to heaven, whom Enoch represents. They are looking and waiting for the coming of the Lord. The work will go on with all those who will co-operate with Jesus in the work of redemption. He gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. God has made every provision that they should be intelligent Christians, filled with a knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. A theoretical knowledge of the truth is essential. But the knowledge of the greatest truth will not save us; own knowledge must be practical. God’s people must not only know his will, but they must practice it. Many will be purged out from the numbers of those who know the truth, because they are not sanctified by it. The truth must be brought into their hearts, sanctifying and cleansing them from all earthliness and sensuality in the most private life. The soul temple must be cleansed. Every secret act is as if we were in the presence of God and holy angels, as all things are open before God, and from him nothing can be hid. {RH, May 24, 1887 par. 1}
In this age of our world the marriage vows are often disregarded. God never designed that marriage should cover the multitude of sins that are practiced. Sensuality and base practices in a marriage relation are educating the mind and moral taste for demoralizing practices outside the marriage relation. God is purifying a people to have clean hands and pure hearts to stand before him in the Judgment. The standard must be elevated, the imagination purified; the infatuation clustering around debasing practices must be given up, and the soul uplifted to pure thoughts, holy practices. All who will stand the test and trial just before us, will be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped, not participated in, the corruptions that are in the world through lust. The works of Satan are not half discerned, because purity and holiness do not mark the life and character of those who claim to be ministers of Christ. Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, we are thus fortified against the temptations of Satan. Christ and his purity and his matchless charms should be the soul’s contemplation. There is spiritual power for all, which they may have if they will, that they may resist temptation, that duty may be done and the soul hold fast its integrity. Those who feel their need of being strengthened by might by God’s Spirit in the inner man, will not lose their integrity. Earnest prayer and watching thereunto will carry them through temptations. We must be united to Christ by living faith. {RH, May 24, 1887 par. 2}
Those who have had the light upon eating and dressing with simplicity, in obedience to physical and moral laws, and who turn from the light which points out their duty, will shun duty in other things. If they blunt their consciences to avoid the cross which they will have to take up to be in harmony with natural law, they will, in order to shun reproach, violate the ten commandments. There is a decided unwillingness with some to endure the cross and despise the shame. Some will be laughed out of their principles. Conformity to the world’s customs and practices will separate the soul from God. There are in the Christian world many who think more of the praise of those who love not God than of the favor of Heaven. These will yield to temptation, and become more firmly wedded year by year to worldly fashions and indulgences of perverted appetite than they are to healthy bodies, sound mind, or sanctified hearts. {ST, August 11, 1887 par. 6}
God is proving us, as he tested and proved Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, on the point of appetite, to develop what is in our hearts. Are we Christians? then we will eat and drink to the glory of God. Pride, self-indulgence, and love of the world have separated many from God. The principles of truth are by a large class virtually sacrificed, while they profess to love the truth. Christians should wake up and act with determined effort, for their influence is telling upon and moulding the opinions and habits of others. They will bear the weighty responsibility of deciding by their influence the destiny of souls. {ST, August 11, 1887 par. 7}
The Lord, by close and pointed truths, is cleaving out a people from the world, and purifying them unto himself. Pride and unhealthful fashions, the love of display, the love of approbation,–all must be left with the world, if we would be renewed in knowledge after the image of him who created us. “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” {ST, August 11, 1887 par. 8}
That which should excite the greatest alarm is that we do not feel or sense our condition, our low estate, and that we are satisfied to remain as we are. We should flee to the word of God and to prayer, individually seeking the Lord earnestly, that we may find him. We should make this our first business. {ST, August 11, 1887 par. 11}
The members of the church are responsible for the talents committed to their trust, and it is impossible for Christians to meet their responsibilities unless they occupy that elevated position that is in accordance with the sacred truths which they profess. The light that shines upon our pathway makes us responsible to let that light shine forth to others in such a manner that they will glorify God by good works. {ST, August 11, 1887 par. 12}
Enoch walked with God three hundred years previous to his translation, and the state of the world was not more favorable for the perfection of Christian character then than it is today. How did Enoch walk with God? He educated his mind and heart to ever feel the presence of God, and when in perplexity his prayers would ascend to God to keep him, to teach him his will. “What shall I do to honor thee, my God?” was his prayer. His will was merged in the will of God, and his feet were constantly directed in the path of God’s commandments. Enoch was a representative of those who shall be on the earth when Christ shall come, who will be translated to Heaven and never taste of death. It is fitting that we pray, as did David, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” {ST, December 29, 1887 par. 11}
If we are the servants of Christ, we must fight against the evils of this degenerate age. While lawlessness of all kinds is sweeping over our world like a flood, we must take a decided stand on the requirements of the Bible, or we shall be swept away into moral and physical ruin. We must have moral strength to place ourselves, with firm determination, in opposition to the iniquity that abounds, or we shall be overcome. It is our privilege to understand the laws of this wonderful structure, the human habitation, that God has given us. Mind and body should be preserved in the best possible state of health that we may take up our work in the world. I know that much can be done toward building up a good condition of health. I have had five shocks of paralysis, and God, in his mercy, has raised me up, to take my place in the work he has given me to do, and to try to benefit others by my experience. Light was given me, and I saw the reason for my feeble health. I was astonished that I had so long remained in ignorance in regard to the laws of life. My habits were out of harmony with the conditions that are necessary to health. My food had not been of a proper kind to give vitality and strength to the system. It was highly seasoned, and stimulating rather than nutritious. The physicians said that I might die at any time, and I resolved that if I died, I would die in attempting to correct my injurious habits of life. I resolved to place myself on a platform of strictest temperance. I did not use tea or coffee or any kind of intoxicating wine or liquor, so I did not have these habits to overcome; but I had used flesh and spices, eating hearty meals three times a day. I had to educate myself to enjoy the simple, healthful grains and fruits that God has provided for the wants of man. But I found that all the sacrifice I had to make was doubly repaid in renewed health of body and mind. I had used pepper and mustard in my diet; but these should not be put into the human stomach. The delicate membrane becomes inflamed, the healthy tone of the stomach is lowered, and the appetite is perverted, the taste loses its discernment, and the delicious flavors of grains, vegetables, and fruits become insipid and unpalatable. {ST, February 17, 1888 par. 5}
I see that in this country [England] wine and beer, as well as tea and coffee, are placed upon your tables. Could you realize the injurious effects of these things, you would banish them from your board. Luxurious living and the use of wine and beer corrupt the blood, inflame the passions, produce disease, and hasten you to your graves. The faculties are benumbed. The moral perception is blunted, and the mind becomes incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong; the animal passions are strengthened, and gain supremacy over the intellectual and spiritual nature. {ST, February 17, 1888 par. 6}
It is only through Christ that his people can resist temptation, and become men and women of high and holy purpose, of noble integrity, who will not be swayed from truth, right, and justice. The Christian must be much in prayer. Prayer takes hold upon Omnipotence, and gains us the victory. It was thus that Enoch walked with God. And those who thus make Christ their daily companion and familiar friend will feel that the powers of an unseen world are all around them, and by looking unto Jesus they will become assimilated to his image. {BEcho, October 1, 1889 par. 10}
At the time of Christ’s first advent, the race had already so degenerated that not only the old, but the middle-aged and the young, were brought from every city to the Saviour, to be healed of their diseases. Many labored under a weight of misery inexpressible. {CTBH 8.1 1890}
“Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? for ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” [1 Corinthians 6:19.] When men take any course which needlessly expends their vitality or beclouds their intellect, they sin against God; they do not glorify him in their body and spirit, which are his. {CTBH 8.3 1890}
We are in a world that is opposed to righteousness, or purity of character, and especially to growth in grace. Wherever we look, we see defilement and corruption, deformity and sin. How opposed is all this to the work that must be accomplished in us just previous to receiving the gift of immortality! God’s elect must stand untainted amid the corruptions teeming around them in these last days. Their bodies must be made holy, their spirits pure. If this work is to be accomplished, it must be undertaken at once, earnestly and understandingly. The Spirit of God should have perfect control, influencing every action. {CTBH 8.5 1890}
Ignorance is no excuse now for the transgression of law. The light shines clearly, and none need be ignorant; for the great God himself is man’s instructor. All are bound by the most sacred obligations to heed the sound philosophy and genuine experience which God is now giving them in reference to health reform. He designs that the subject shall be agitated, and the public mind deeply stirred to investigate it; for it is impossible for men and women, while under the power of sinful, health-destroying, brain-enervating habits, to appreciate sacred truth. Those who are willing to inform themselves concerning the effect which sinful indulgence has upon the health, and who begin the work of reform, even from selfish motives, may in so doing place themselves where the truth of God can reach their hearts. And, on the other hand, those who have been reached by the presentation of Scripture truth are in a position where the conscience may be aroused upon the subject of health. They see and feel the necessity of breaking away from the tyrannizing habits and appetites which have ruled them so long. There are many who would receive the truths of God’s word, their judgment having been convinced by the clearest evidence; but the carnal desires, clamoring for gratification, control the intellect, and they reject truth because it conflicts with their lustful desires. The minds of many take so low a level that God cannot work either for them or with them. The current of their thoughts must be changed, their moral sensibilities must be aroused, before they can feel the claims of God. {CTBH 9.2 1890}
The apostle Paul exhorts the church, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” [Romans 12:1.] Sinful indulgence defiles the body, and unfits men for spiritual worship. He who cherishes the light which God has given him upon health reform, has an important aid in the work of becoming sanctified through the truth, and fitted for immortality. But if he disregards that light, and lives in violation of natural law, he must pay the penalty; his spiritual powers are benumbed, and how can he perfect holiness in the fear of God? {CTBH 10.1 1890}
Men have polluted the soul-temple, and God calls upon them to awake, and to strive with all their might to win back their God-given manhood. Nothing but the grace of God can convict and convert the heart; from him alone can the slaves of custom obtain power to break the shackles that bind them. It is impossible for a man to present his body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, while continuing to indulge habits that are depriving him of physical, mental, and moral vigor. Again the apostle says, “Be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” [Romans 12:2.] {CTBH 10.2 1890}
Jesus, seated on the Mount of Olives, gave instruction to his disciples concerning the signs which should precede his coming: “As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” [Matthew 24:37-39.] The same sins that brought judgments upon the world in the days of Noah, exist in our day. Men and women now carry their eating and drinking so far that it ends in gluttony and drunkenness. This prevailing sin, the indulgence of perverted appetite, inflamed the passions of men in the days of Noah, and led to wide-spread corruption. Violence and sin reached to heaven. This moral pollution was finally swept from the earth by means of the flood. The same sins of gluttony and drunkenness benumbed the moral sensibilities of the inhabitants of Sodom, so that crime seemed to be the delight of the men and women of that wicked city. Christ thus warns the world: “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” [Luke 17:28-30.] {CTBH 11.1 1890}
Christ has here left us a most important lesson. He would lay before us the danger of making our eating and drinking paramount. He presents the result of unrestrained indulgence of appetite. The moral powers are enfeebled, so that sin does not appear sinful. Crime is lightly regarded, and passion controls the mind, until good principles and impulses are rooted out, and God is blasphemed. All this is the result of eating and drinking to excess. This is the very condition of things which Christ declares will exist at his second coming. {CTBH 12.1 1890}
The Saviour presents to us something higher to toil for than merely what we shall eat and drink, and wherewithal we shall be clothed. Eating, drinking, and dressing are carried to such excess that they become crimes. They are among the marked sins of the last days, and constitute a sign of Christ’s soon coming. Time, money, and strength, which belong to the Lord, but which he has intrusted to us, are wasted in superfluities of dress and luxuries for the perverted appetite, which lessen vitality, and bring suffering and decay. It is impossible to present our bodies a living sacrifice to God when we continually fill them with corruption and disease by our own sinful indulgence. {CTBH 12.2 1890}
Knowledge must be gained in regard to how to eat and drink and dress so as to preserve health. Sickness is the result of violating nature’s law. Our first duty, one which we owe to God, to ourselves, and to our fellowmen, is to obey the laws of God. These include the laws of health. If we are sick, we impose a weary tax upon our friends, and unfit ourselves for doing our duty either in the family or to our neighbors. And when premature death is the result, we bring sorrow and suffering to others; we deprive our neighbors of the help we might have rendered them; we rob our families of the comfort and help which they should have received from us, and rob God of the service he claims of us to advance his glory. Then are we not, in a high sense, transgressors of God’s law? {CTBH 12.3 1890}
It is not the will of God that men and women should die prematurely, leaving their work unfinished. He would have us live out the full measure of our days, with every organ free to do its allotted work. Many complain of the providences of God when disease and death remove members of the household; but it is unjust to charge God with what is but the sure result of their own transgression of natural laws. {CTBH 90.1 1890}
Many are unwilling to put forth the needed effort to obtain a knowledge of the laws of life and the simple means to be employed for the restoration of health. They do not place themselves in right relation to life. When sickness is the result of their transgression of natural law, they do not seek to correct their errors, and then ask the blessing of God, but they resort to the physicians. If they recover health, they give to drugs and doctors all the honor. They are ever ready to idolize human power and wisdom, seeming to know no other god than the creature, — dust and ashes. {CTBH 112.3 1890}
Appetite. — Providence has been leading the people of God out from the extravagant habits of the world, away from the indulgence of appetite and passion, to take their stand upon the platform of self-denial, and temperance in all things. The people whom God is leading will be peculiar. They will not be like the world. If they follow the leadings of God, they will accomplish his purposes, and will yield their will to his will. Christ will dwell in the heart. The temple of God will be holy. Your body, says the apostle, is the temple of the Holy Ghost. God does not require his children to deny themselves to the injury of physical strength. He requires them to obey natural law, in order to preserve physical health. Nature’s path is the road he marks out, and it is broad enough for any Christian. With a lavish hand God has provided us with rich and varied bounties for our sustenance and enjoyment. But in order for us to enjoy the natural appetite, which will preserve health and prolong life, he restricts the appetite. He says, Beware! restrain, deny, unnatural appetite. If we create a perverted appetite, we violate the laws of our being, and assume the responsibility of abusing our bodies and of bringing disease upon ourselves. {CTBH 150.4 1890}
Some are not impressed with the necessity of eating and drinking to the glory of God. The indulgence of appetite affects them in all the relations of life. It is seen in the family, in the church, in the prayer-meeting, and in the conduct of their children. It is the curse of their lives. It prevents them from understanding the truths for these last days. {CTBH 151.2 1890}
160. Excessive eating of even the best of food will produce a morbid condition of the moral feelings. . . . Wrong habits of eating and drinking lead to errors in thought and action. Indulgence of appetite strengthens the animal propensities, giving them the ascendency over the mental and spiritual powers. . . . Everything that conflicts with natural law creates a diseased condition of the soul.–R. and H., 1881, No. 4. {HL 41.2 1897}
161. Irregularity in eating and drinking, and improper dressing, deprave the mind and corrupt the heart, and bring the noble attributes of the soul in slavery to the animal passions.–H. R. {HL 41.3 1897}
163. A religious life can be more successfully gained and maintained if flesh meats are discarded; for a meat diet stimulates into intense activity lustful propensities, and enfeebles the spiritual and moral nature.–U. T., Nov. 5, 1896. {HL 41.5 1897}
164. Children reared in a healthful way are much more easily controlled than those who are indulged in eating everything their appetite craves, and at all times. They are usually cheerful, contented, and healthy. Even the most stubborn, passionate, and wayward have become submissive, patient, and possessed of self-control by persistently following up this order of diet, united with a firm but kind management in regard to other matters.–H. R. {HL 42.1 1897}
165. The Lord requires a living sacrifice of mind, soul, body, and strength. All that we have and are is to be given him, that we may answer the purpose of our creation.–U. T., Aug. 25, 1897. {HL 42.2 1897}
166. True sanctification is not merely a theory, an emotion, or a form of words, but a living, active principle, entering into the every-day life. It requires that our habits of eating, drinking, and dressing be such as to secure the preservation of physical, mental, and moral health, that we may present to the Lord our bodies, not an offering corrupted by wrong habits, but a “living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.”–R. and H., 1881, No. 4. {HL 42.3 1897}
167. It should ever be kept prominent that the great object to be attained through this channel is not only health, but perfection and the spirit of holiness, which cannot be attained with diseased bodies and minds. This object cannot be secured by working merely from the worldling’s standpoint.–T., V. I, p. 554. {HL 42.4 1897}
168. A diseased body causes a disordered brain, and hinders the work of sanctifying grace upon the mind and heart.–H. R. {HL 42.5 1897}
169. If man will cherish the light that God in mercy gives him upon health reform, he may be sanctified through the truth, and fitted for immortality.–T., V. III, p. 162. {HL 43.1 1897}
170. If Christians . . . obey the laws which govern health and life, they will have the blessing of physical and mental vigor. They will have moral power to engage in the warfare against Satan; and in the name of him who conquered appetite in their behalf, they may be more than conquerors on their own account.–T., V. IV, pp. 35, 36. {HL 43.2 1897}
436. The Lord intends to bring his people back to live upon simple fruits, vegetables, and grains. He led the children of Israel into the wilderness where they could not get a flesh diet; and he gave them the bread of heaven. “Man did eat angels’ food.” But they craved the flesh-pots of Egypt, and mourned and cried for flesh, notwithstanding the promise of the Lord that if they would submit to his will, he would carry them into the land of Canaan, and establish them there, a pure, holy, happy people, and that there should not be a feeble one in all their tribes; for he would take away all sickness from among them. . . . The Lord would have given them flesh had it been essential for their health, but he who had created and redeemed them led them through that long journey in the wilderness to educate, discipline, and train them in correct habits. The Lord understood what influence flesh eating has upon the human system. He would have a people that would, in their physical appearance, bear the divine credentials, notwithstanding their long journey.– U. T., Nov. 5, 1896. {HL 96.2 1897}
Remember that your children will follow closely the example that in word and deed you set them. Live lives that will help them to prepare for translation into the courts above, when the last trump shall sound, and Christ shall come to gather his faithful ones to himself. Do not neglect your children. They are your first care. The home is to be their first school. And in this school you yourselves are to learn lessons that will prepare you better to work for their salvation and for the salvation of others. These lessons will be of the highest value to you in your religious experience. As you labor successfully for your children, you are working out your own salvation, and God is working in you, to will and to do of his good pleasure. {SW, January 19, 1904 par. 7}
Many persons bring disease upon themselves by their self-indulgence. They have not lived in accordance with natural law or the principles of strict purity. Others have disregarded the laws of health in their habits of eating and drinking, dressing, or working. Often some form of vice is the cause of feebleness of mind or body. Should these persons gain the blessing of health, many of them would continue to pursue the same course of heedless transgression of God’s natural and spiritual laws, reasoning that if God heals them in answer to prayer, they are at liberty to continue their unhealthful practices and to indulge perverted appetite without restraint. If God were to work a miracle in restoring these persons to health, He would be encouraging sin. {MH 227.3 1905}
To those who desire prayer for their restoration to health, it should be made plain that the violation of God’s law, either natural or spiritual, is sin, and that in order for them to receive His blessing, sin must be confessed and forsaken. {MH 228.1 1905}
Disease never comes without a cause. The way is prepared, and disease invited, by disregard of the laws of health. Many suffer in consequence of the transgression of their parents. While they are not responsible for what their parents have done, it is nevertheless their duty to ascertain what are and what are not violations of the laws of health. They should avoid the wrong habits of their parents and, by correct living, place themselves in better conditions. {MH 234.1 1905}
God has endowed us with a certain amount of vital force. He has also formed us with organs suited to maintain the various functions of life, and He designs that these organs shall work together in harmony. If we carefully preserve the life force, and keep the delicate mechanism of the body in order, the result is health; but if the vital force is too rapidly exhausted, the nervous system borrows power for present use from its resources of strength, and when one organ is injured, all are affected. Nature bears much abuse without apparent resistance; she then arouses and makes a determined effort to remove the effects of the ill-treatment she has suffered. Her effort to correct these conditions is often manifest in fever and various other forms of sickness. {MH 234.3 1905}
“It is our privilege to be preparing for translation. Why do we not so prepare our hearts that we will receive the promise? My brethren and sisters, yield your whole body and soul to the Lord. Rest in the arms of your compassionate Saviour. Let no one hear from your lips words of complaining or of judging. The Lord has not placed you on the judgment-seat. You have a battle to fight, and you can make it much more severe by turning away from Christ. Seducers, with a scientific problem, are to be guarded against more carefully than any other peril that we may meet. The effort of seducers has been to undermine confidence in the truth of God. Unless we are on our guard, the enemy, disguised as an angel of light, will lead us astray. It is when Satan appears as an angel of light that he takes souls in his snare. Many Scriptures will be misapplied by these teachers so that they will be used as a robe of righteousness to cover dangerous theories. As the people of Ephesus lost their first love, they increased in a knowledge of scientific theories originated by the father of lies. The Saviour warns us all to repentance so that we may stand right with God.” {AUCR, October 1, 1906 par. 1}
I have been shown that a great amount of suffering might be saved if all would labor to prevent disease, by strictly obeying the laws of health. . . . Many have expected that God would keep them from sickness merely because they have asked him to do so. But God did not regard their prayers because their faith was not made perfect by works. God will not work a miracle to keep those from sickness who have no care for themselves, but are continually violating the laws of health, and make no effort to prevent disease. When we do all we can on our part to have health, then may we expect that the blessed results will follow, and we can ask God in faith to bless our efforts for the preservation of health. He will then answer our prayer, if his name can be glorified thereby. But let all understand that they have a work to do. God will not work in a miraculous manner to preserve the health of persons who are taking a sure course to make themselves sick, by their careless inattention to the laws of health. . . . {RH, April 2, 1914 par. 17}
In order to preserve health, temperance in all things is necessary,–temperance in labor, temperance in eating and drinking. . . . The body, which God calls his temple, should be preserved in as healthy a condition as possible. . . . God requires his people to be laborers together with him. He requires them to “abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul,” and present their “bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,” which is the only service he will accept from reasonable mortals. Jesus has stooped very low in order to reach man in his low estate. And God requires of man to make earnest efforts, and deny self, that he may preserve his vigor of mind, and elevate himself, and imitate the example of him in whom was no guile. Then will he be benefited with the atonement of Christ. As the Lord bade faithful Noah before the flood, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark,” he will, previous to the time of trouble, say to his faithful saints, who have been preparing for translation, “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.” {RH, April 2, 1914 par. 18}
The development of evil in this age of the world is largely due to the indulgence of depraved appetite. The animal passions are excited and strengthened by that which is placed in the stomach for food. We are built up from that which we eat. Physicians should study from cause to effect. The animal propensities should not be educated and strengthened to rule the whole being. {TSDF 26.2 1926}
In grains, fruits, vegetables, and nuts are to be found all the food elements that we need. If we will come to the Lord in simplicity of mind, He will teach us how to prepare wholesome food free from the taint of flesh-meat. {TSDF 87.2 1926}
Much of the prejudice that prevents the truth of the third angel’s message from reaching the hearts of the people, might be removed if more attention were given to health reform. When people become interested in this subject, the way is often prepared for the entrance of other truths. If they see that we are intelligent with regard to health, they will be more ready to believe that we are sound in Bible doctrines. {TSDF 87.4 1926}
This branch of the Lord’s work has not received due attention, and through this neglect much has been lost. If the church would manifest a greater interest in the reforms through which God Himself is seeking to fit them for His coming, their influence would be far greater than it now is. God has spoken to His people, and He designs that they shall hear and obey His voice. Although the health reform is not the third angel’s message, it is closely connected with it. Those who proclaim the message should teach health reform also. It is a subject that we must understand, in order to be prepared for the events that are close upon us, and it should have a prominent place. Satan and his agents are seeking to hinder this work of reform, and will do all they can to perplex and burden those who heartily engage in it. Yet none should be discouraged at this, or cease their efforts because of it. The prophet Isaiah speaks thus of one characteristic of Christ “He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in the earth.” Then let not His followers talk of failure or discouragement, but remember the price paid to rescue man that he might not perish, but have eternal life. {TSDF 87.5 1926}
Ministers and people must make greater advancement in the work of reform. They should commence without delay to correct their wrong habits of eating, drinking, dressing, and working. I saw that quite a number of the ministers are not awake upon this important subject. They are not all where God would have them. {TSDF 87.6 1926}
One important part of the work of the ministry is to faithfully present to the people the health reform, as it stands connected with the third angel’s message, as a part and parcel of the same work. They should not fail to adopt it themselves, and should urge it upon all who profess to believe the truth. {TSDF 87.7 1926}
The health reform is a branch of the special work of God for the benefit of His people. {TSDF 88.1 1926}
Health reform is as closely related to the gospel as the arm is to the body; but the arm can not take the place of the body. The proclamation of the gospel message, the commandments of God, and the testimony of Jesus, is the burden of our work. This message is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and is to go to the whole world. The presentation of health principles is to be united with the proclamation of this message, but it is not in any way to take the place of it, or be independent of it. {TSDF 88.2 1926}
The health reform is closely connected with the work of the third message, yet it is not the message. Our preachers should teach the health reform, yet they should not make this the leading theme in the place of the message. Its place is among those subjects which set forth the preparatory work to meet the events brought to view by the message; among these it is prominent. We should take hold of every reform with zeal, yet should avoid giving the impression that we are vacillating, and subject to fanaticism. {TSDF 88.3 1926}
The self-denial, humility, and temperance required of the righteous, whom God especially leads and blesses, is to be presented to the people in contrast to the extravagant, health-destroying habits of those who live in this degenerate age. God has shown that health reform is as closely connected with the third angel’s message as the hand is with the body. There is nowhere to be found so great a cause of physical and moral degeneracy as a neglect of this important subject. Those who indulge appetite and passion, and close their eyes to the light for fear they will see sinful indulgences which they are unwilling to forsake, are guilty before God. {TSDF 88.4 1926}
The sanitariums which are established are to be closely and inseparably bound up with the gospel. The Lord has given instruction that the gospel is to be carried forward; and the gospel includes health reform in all its phases. Our work is to enlighten the world; for it is blind to the movements which are taking place, preparing the way for the plagues which God will permit to come upon the world. God’s faithful watchmen must give the warning. . . . {TSDF 88.5 1926}
Health reform is to stand out more prominently in the proclamation of the third angel’s message. The principles of health reform are found in the word of God. The gospel of health is to be firmly linked with the ministry of the word. It is the Lord’s design that the restoring influence of health reform shall be a part of the last great effort to proclaim the gospel message. Our physicians are to be God’s workers. They are to be men whose powers have been sanctified and transformed by the grace of Christ. Their influence is to be knit up with the truth that is to be given to the world. In perfect and complete unity with the gospel ministry, the work of health reform will reveal its God-given power. Under the influence of the gospel, great reforms will be made by medical missionary work. But separate medical missionary work from the gospel, and the work will be crippled. {TSDF 88.6 1926}
Our sanitariums and our churches may reach a higher, holier standard. Health reform is to be taught and practiced by our people. The Lord is calling for a revival of the principles of health reform. Seventh-day Adventists have a special work to do as messengers to labor for the souls and bodies of men. {TSDF 88.7 1926}
The progress of reform depends upon a clear recognition of fundamental truth. While, on the one hand, danger lurks in a narrow philosophy and a hard, cold orthodoxy, on the other hand there is great danger in a careless liberalism. The foundation of all enduring reform is the law of God. We are to present in clear, distinct lines the need of obeying this law. Its principles must be kept before the people. They are as everlasting and inexorable as God Himself. {TSDF 89.1 1926}
The body is the only medium through which the mind and the soul are developed for the upbuilding of character. Hence it is that the adversary of souls directs his temptations to the enfeebling and degrading of the physical powers. His success here means the surrender to evil of the whole being. The tendencies of our physical nature, unless under the dominion of a higher power, will surely work ruin and death. {TSDF 89.3 1926}
The body is to be brought into subjection. The higher powers of the being are to rule. The passions are to be controlled by the will, which is itself to be under the control of God. The kingly power of reason, sanctified by divine grace, is to bear sway in our lives. {TSDF 89.4 1926}
John the Baptist was a reformer. To him was committed a great work for the people of his time. And in preparation for that work, all his habits were carefully regulated, even from his birth. The angel Gabriel was sent from Heaven to instruct the parents of John in the principles of health reform. He “shall drink neither wine nor strong drink,” said the heavenly messenger; “and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.” {TSDF 89.7 1926}
John separated himself from his friends, and from the luxuries of life, dwelling alone in the wilderness, and subsisting upon a purely vegetable diet. The simplicity of his dress–a garment woven of camel’s hair–was a rebuke to the extravagance and display of the people of his generation, especially of the Jewish priests. His diet, also, of locusts and wild honey, was a rebuke to the gluttony that everywhere prevailed. {TSDF 89.8 1926}
The work of John was foretold by the prophet Malachi: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.” John the Baptist went forth in the spirit and power of Elijah, to prepare the way of the Lord, and to turn the people to the wisdom of the just. He was a representative of those living in the last days, to whom God has intrusted sacred truths to present before the people, to prepare the way for the second appearing of Christ. And the same principles of temperance which John practiced should be observed by those who in our day are to warn the world of the coming of the Son of man. {TSDF 89.9 1926}
This work we begin to comprehend better,–the light given years ago,–that health reform principles would be as an entering wedge to be followed by a religious influence. To voice the words of John, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” {TSDF 89.10 1926}
I have been instructed that we are not to delay to do the work that needs to be done in health reform lines. Through this work we are to reach souls in the highways and the byways. {TSDF 89.11 1926}
The principles of health reform have the highest authority, and deserve a wider sphere than has yet been given them by many who profess present truth. {TSDF 89.12 1926}
The work of health reform is the Lord’s means for lessening suffering in our world and for purifying His church. Teach the people that they can act as God’s helping hand, by cooperating with the Master-worker in restoring physical and spiritual health. This work bears the signature of heaven, and will open doors for the entrance of other precious truths. There is room for all to labor who will take hold of this work intelligently. {TSDF 90.1 1926}
Keep the work of health reform to the front, is the message I am instructed to bear. Show so plainly its value that a widespread need for it will be felt. Abstinence from all hurtful food and drink is the fruit of true religion. He who is thoroughly converted will abandon every injurious habit and appetite. By total abstinence he will overcome his desire for health-destroying indulgences. {TSDF 90.2 1926}
I am instructed to say to health-reform educators, Go forward. The world needs every jot of the influence you can exert to press back the tide of moral woe. Let those who teach the third angel’s message stand true to their colors. {TSDF 90.3} 1926
The stomach, when we lie down to rest, should have its work all done, that it may enjoy rest, as well as other portions of the body. The work of digestion should not be carried on through any period of the sleeping hours. After the stomach, which has been overtaxed, has performed its task, it becomes exhausted, which causes faintness. Here many are deceived, and think that it is the want of food which produces such feelings, and without giving the stomach time to rest, they take more food, which for the time removes the faintness. And the more the appetite is indulged, the more will be its clamors for gratification. This faintness is generally the result of meat-eating, and eating frequently, and too much. The stomach becomes weary by being kept constantly at work, disposing of food not the most healthful. Having no time for rest, the digestive organs become enfeebled, hence the sense of “goneness,” and desire for frequent eating. The remedy such require, is to eat less frequently and less liberally, and be satisfied with plain, simple food, eating twice, or, at most, three times a day. The stomach must have its regular periods for labor and rest, hence eating irregularly and between meals, is a most pernicious violation of the laws of health. With regular habits, and proper food, the stomach will gradually recover. {TSDF 126.3 1926}
God has furnished man with abundant means for the gratification of natural appetite. He has spread before him, in the products of the earth, a bountiful variety of food that is palatable to the taste and nutritious to the system. Of these, our benevolent heavenly Father says that we “may freely eat.” We may enjoy the fruits, the vegetables, the grains, without doing violence to the laws of our being. These articles, prepared in the most simple and natural manner, will nourish the body, and preserve its natural vigor without the use of flesh-meats. {TSDF 131.9 1926}
Vegetables, fruits, and grains should compose our diet. Not an ounce of flesh-meat should enter our stomachs. The eating of flesh is unnatural. We are to return to God’s original purpose in the creation of man. {TSDF 132.1 1926}
If we plan wisely, that which is most conducive to health can be secured in almost every land. The various preparations of rice, wheat, corn, and oats are sent abroad everywhere, also beans, peas, and lentils. These, with native or imported fruits, and the variety of vegetables that grow in each locality, give an opportunity to select a dietary that is complete without the use of flesh-meats. {TSDF 132.5 1926}
There should not be a great variety at any one meal, for this encourages overeating, and causes indigestion. {TSDF 132.7 1926}
It is not well to eat fruit and vegetables at the same meal. If the digestion is feeble, the use of both will often cause distress, and inability to put forth mental effort. It is better to have the fruit at one meal, and the vegetables at another. {TSDF 132.8}
The meals should be varied. The same dishes, prepared in the same way, should not appear on the table meal after meal and day after day. The meals are eaten with greater relish, and the system is better nourished, when the food is varied. {TSDF 132.9}
Great care should be taken when the change is made from a flesh-meat to a vegetarian diet to supply the table with wisely prepared, well-cooked articles of food. So much porridge eating is a mistake. The dry food that requires mastication is far preferable. The health food preparations are a blessing in this respect. Good brown bread and rolls, prepared in a simple manner yet with painstaking effort will be healthful. Bread should never have the slightest taint of sourness. It should be cooked until it is most thoroughly done. Thus all softness and stickiness will be avoided. {TSDF 132.13 1926}
For those who can use them, good vegetables, prepared in a healthful manner, are better than soft mushes or porridge. Fruits used with thoroughly cooked bread two or three days old, will be more healthful than fresh bread. This, with slow and thorough mastication, will furnish all that the system requires. {TSDF 133.1 1926}
When we realize the requirements of God, we shall see that He requires us to be temperate in all things. The end of our creation is to glorify God in our bodies and spirits which are His. How can we do this when we indulge the appetite to the injury of the physical and moral powers? God requires that we present our bodies a living sacrifice. Then the duty is enjoined on us to preserve that body in the very best condition of health, that we may comply with His requirements. “Whether, therefore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” {TSDF 161.1 1926}
If the Saviour of men, with His divine strength, felt the need of prayer, how much more should feeble, sinful mortals feel the necessity of prayer,–fervent, constant prayer! When Christ was the most fiercely beset by temptation, He ate nothing. He committed Himself to God, and through earnest prayer, and perfect submission to the will of His Father, came off conqueror. Those who profess the truth for these last days, above every other class of professed Christians, should imitate the great Exemplar in prayer. {TSDF 161.2 1926}
Again: when we eat immoderately, we sin against our own bodies. Upon the Sabbath, in the house of God, gluttons will sit and sleep under the burning truths of God’s word. They can neither keep their eyes open, nor comprehend the solemn discourses given. Do you think that such are glorifying God in their bodies and spirits, which are His? No; they dishonor Him. And the dyspeptic–what has made him dyspeptic is taking this course. Instead of observing regularity, he has let appetite control him, and has eaten between meals. Perhaps, if his habits are sedentary, he has not had the vitalizing air of heaven to help in the work of digestion; he may not have had sufficient exercise for his health. {TSDF 161.6 1926}
My brother, you have much to learn. You indulge your appetite by eating more food than your system can convert into good blood. It is sin to be intemperate in the quantity of food eaten, even if the quality is unobjectionable. Many feel that if they do not eat meat and the grosser articles of food, they may eat of simple food until they can not well eat more. This is a mistake. Many professed health reformers are nothing less than gluttons. They lay upon the digestive organs so great a burden that the vitality of the system is exhausted in the effort to dispose of it. It also has a depressing influence upon the intellect; for the brain nerve power is called upon to assist the stomach in its work. Overeating, even of the simplest food, benumbs the sensitive nerves of the brain, and weakens its vitality. Overeating has a worse effect upon the system than overworking; the energies of the soul are more effectually prostrated by intemperate eating than by intemperate working. {TSDF 161.8 1926}
The digestive organs should never be burdened with a quantity or quality of food which it will tax the system to appropriate. All that is taken into the stomach, above what the system can use to convert into good blood, clogs the machinery; for it can not be made into either flesh or blood, and its presence burdens the liver, and produces a morbid condition of the system. The stomach is overworked in its efforts to dispose of it, and then there is a sense of languor, which is interpreted to mean hunger, and without allowing the digestive organs time to rest from their severe labor, to recruit their energies, another immoderate amount is taken into the stomach, to set the weary machinery again in motion. The system receives less nourishment from too great a quantity of food, even of the right quality, than from a moderate quantity taken at regular periods. {TSDF 162.1 1926}
There is great need of instruction in regard to dietetic reform. Wrong habits of eating and the use of unhealthful food are in no small degree responsible for the intemperance and crime and wretchedness that curse the world. {TSDF 175.5 1926}
The mind does not wear out or break down so often on account of diligent employment and hard study, as on account of eating improper food at improper times, and of careless inattention to the laws of health…. Diligent study is not the principal cause of the breaking down of the mental powers. The main cause is improper diet, irregular meals, and a lack of physical exercise. Irregular hours for eating and sleeping sap the brain forces. {TSDF 175.11 1926}
God desires us to reach the standard of perfection made possible for us by the gift of Christ. He calls upon us to make our choice on the right side, to connect with heavenly agencies, to adopt principles that will restore in us the divine image. In His written word and in the great book of nature He has revealed the principles of life. It is our work to obtain a knowledge of these principles, and by obedience to co-operate with Him in restoring health to the body as well as to the soul. {TSDF 186.10 1926}
Had the Israelites obeyed the instruction they received, and profited by their advantages, they would have been the world’s object-lesson of health and prosperity. If as a people they had lived according to God’s plan they would have been preserved from the diseases that afflicted other nations. Above any other people they would have possessed physical strength, and vigor of intellect. {TSDF 186.11 1926}
By departing from the plan divinely appointed for their diet, the Israelites suffered great loss. They desired a flesh diet, and they reaped its results. They did not reach God’s ideal of character or fulfill His purpose. The Lord “gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.” They valued the earthly above the spiritual, and the sacred preeminence which was His purpose for them they did not attain. {TSDF 187.1 1926}
Our bodies are Christ’s purchased possession, and we are not at liberty to do with them as we please. All who understand the laws of health should realize their obligation to obey these laws, which God has established in their being. Obedience to the laws of health is to be made a matter of personal duty. We ourselves must suffer the results of violated law. We must individually answer to God for our habits and practices. Therefore, the question with us is not “What is the world’s practice?” but, “How shall I as an individual treat the habitation that God has given me?” {TSDF 187.2 1926}
I was shown that if God’s people make no efforts on their part, but wait for the refreshing to come upon them and remove their wrongs and correct their errors; if they depend upon that to cleanse them from filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and fit them to engage in the loud cry of the third angel, they will be found wanting. The refreshing or power of God comes only on those who have prepared themselves for it by doing the work which God bids them, namely, cleansing themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. {CD 33.3 1938}
37. The failure to follow sound principles has marred the history of God’s people. There has been a continual backsliding in health reform, and as a result God is dishonored by a great lack of spirituality. Barriers have been erected which would never have been seen had God’s people walked in the light. {CD 33.4 1938}
Shall we who have had such great opportunities allow the people of the world to go in advance of us in health reform? Shall we cheapen our minds and abuse our talents by wrong eating? Shall we transgress God’s holy law by following selfish practices? Shall our inconsistency become a byword? Shall we live such unchristianlike lives that the Saviour will be ashamed to call us brethren? {CD 33.5 1938}
Shall we not rather do that medical missionary work which is the gospel in practice, living in such a way that the peace of God can rule in our hearts? Shall we not remove every stumbling block from the feet of unbelievers, ever remembering what is due to a profession of Christianity? Far better give up the name of Christian than make a profession and at the same time indulge appetites which strengthen unholy passions. {CD 34.1 1938}
God calls upon every church member to dedicate his life unreservedly to the Lord’s service. He calls for decided reformation. All creation is groaning under the curse. God’s people should place themselves where they will grow in grace, being sanctified, body, soul, and spirit, by the truth. When they break away from all health-destroying indulgences, they will have a clearer perception of what constitutes true godliness. A wonderful change will be seen in the religious experience. {CD 34.2}
38. It is of great importance that individually we act well our part, and have an intelligent understanding of what we should eat and drink, and how we should live to preserve health. All are being proved to see whether they will accept the principles of health reform or follow a course of self-indulgence. {CD 34.3 1938}
Let no one think that he can do as he pleases in the matter of diet. But before all who sit at the table with you, let it appear that you follow principle in the matter of eating, as in all other matters, that the glory of God may be revealed. You cannot afford to do otherwise; for you have a character to form for the future immortal life. Great responsibilities rest upon every human soul. Let us comprehend these responsibilities, and bear them nobly in the name of the Lord. {CD 34.4 1938}
To every one who is tempted to indulge appetite I would say, Yield not to temptation, but confine yourself to the use of wholesome foods. You can train yourself to enjoy a healthful diet. The Lord helps those who seek to help themselves; but when men will not take special pains to follow out the mind and will of God, how can He work with them? Let us act our part, working out our salvation with fear and trembling,–with fear and trembling lest we make mistakes in the treatment of our bodies, which, before God, we are under obligation to keep in the most healthy condition possible. {CD 35.1 1938}
469. Nicely prepared vegetables and fruits in their season will be beneficial, if they are of the best quality, not showing the slightest sign of decay, but are sound and unaffected by any disease or decay. More die by eating decayed fruit and decayed vegetables which ferment in the stomach and result in blood poisoning, than we have any idea of. {CD 309.6 1938}
470. A plain, simple, but liberal supply of fruit is the best food that can be placed before those who are preparing for the work of God. {CD 310.1 1938}
471. Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables constitute the diet chosen for us by our Creator. These foods prepared in as simple and natural a manner as possible, are the most healthful and nourishing. They impart a strength, a power of endurance, and a vigor of intellect, that are not afforded by a more complex and stimulating diet. {CD 310.2 1938}
652. It is not the chief end of man to gratify his appetite. There are physical wants to be supplied; but because of this is it necessary that man shall be controlled by appetite? Will the people who are seeking to become holy, pure, refined, that they may be introduced into the society of heavenly angels, continue to take the life of God’s creatures, and enjoy their flesh as a luxury? From what the Lord has shown me, this order of things will be changed, and God’s peculiar people will exercise temperance in all things. {CD 381.1 1938}
654. It is for their own good that the Lord counsels the remnant church to discard the use of flesh meats, tea, and coffee, and other harmful foods. There are plenty of other things on which we can subsist that are wholesome and good. {CD 381.3 1938}
Those who indulge in meat eating, tea drinking, and gluttony are sowing seeds for a harvest of pain and death. The unhealthful food placed in the stomach strengthens the appetites that war against the soul, developing the lower propensities. A diet of flesh meat tends to develop animalism. A development of animalism lessens spirituality, rendering the mind incapable of understanding truth. {CD 382.3 1938}
The word of God plainly warns us that unless we abstain from fleshly lusts, the physical nature will be brought into conflict with the spiritual nature. Lustful eating wars against health and peace. Thus a warfare is instituted between the higher and the lower attributes of the man. The lower propensities, strong and active, oppress the soul. The highest interests of the being are imperiled by the indulgence of appetites unsanctioned by Heaven. {CD 382.4 1938}
Every living Christian will advance daily in the divine life. As he advances toward perfection, he experiences a conversion to God every day; and this conversion is not completed until he attains to perfection of Christian character, a full preparation for the finishing touch of immortality. {ML 249.7 1952}
We should educate ourselves, not only to live in harmony with the laws of health, but to teach others the better way. Many, even of those who profess to believe the special truths for this time, are lamentably ignorant with regard to health and temperance. They need to be educated, line upon line, precept upon precept. The subject must be kept fresh before them. This matter must not be passed over as nonessential, for nearly every family needs to be stirred up on the question. The conscience must be aroused to the duty of practicing the principles of true reform. {CG 361.2 1954}
Cooking is no mean science, and it is one of the most essential in practical life. It is a science that all women should learn, and it should be taught in a way to benefit the poorer classes. {CCh 222.5 1957}
Let us make intelligent advancement in simplifying our diet. In the providence of God, every country produces articles of food containing the nourishment necessary for the upbuilding of the system. These may be made into healthful, appetizing dishes. 379 {CCh 222.6 1957}
Fruits, grains, and vegetables, prepared in a simple way, free from spice and grease of all kinds, make, with milk or cream, the most healthful diet. 382 {CCh 222.8 1957}
Natural means, used in accordance with God’s will, bring about supernatural results. We ask for a miracle, and the Lord directs the mind to some simple remedy. We ask to be kept from the pestilence that walketh in darkness, that is stalking with such power through the world; we are then to cooperate with God, observing the laws of health and life. Having done all that we possibly can, we are to keep asking in faith for health and strength. We are to eat that food which will preserve the health of the body. God gives us no encouragement that He will do for us what we can do for ourselves. Natural laws are to be obeyed. We are not to fail of doing our part. God says to us, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12, 13). {2SM 346.4 1958}
We cannot disregard the laws of nature without disregarding the laws of God. We cannot expect the Lord to work a miracle for us while we neglect the simple remedies He has provided for our use, which, aptly and opportunely applied, will bring about a miraculous result. {2SM 346.5 1958}
There should be a continual effort to imitate the society we expect soon to join; namely, angels of God who have never fallen by sin. The character should be holy, the manners comely, the words without guile, and thus should we follow on step by step until we are fitted for translation. {FLB 69.6 1958}
Enoch had temptations as well as we. He was surrounded with society no more friendly to righteousness than is that which surrounds us. The atmosphere he breathed was tainted with sin and corruption, the same as ours; yet he lived a life of holiness. He was unsullied with the prevailing sins of the age in which he lived. So may we remain pure and uncorrupted. He was a representative of the saints who live amid the perils and corruptions of the last days. For his faithful obedience to God he was translated. So, also, the faithful, who are alive and remain, will be translated. They will be removed from a sinful and corrupt world to the pure joys of heaven. The course of God’s people should be upward and onward to victory. {FLB 350.3 1958}
God created man for His own glory, that after test and trial the human family might become one with the heavenly family. It was God’s purpose to re-populate heaven with the human family, if they would show themselves obedient to His every word. {CC 21.5 1970}
There is no Bible sanctification for those who cast a part of the truth behind them. There is light enough given in the word of God, so that none need err. . . . Jesus, considered as a man, was perfect, yet He grew in grace. “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” Luke 2:52. Even the most perfect Christian may increase continually in the knowledge and love of God. . . . {Mar 89.5 1976}
Young and old, God is now testing you. You are deciding your own eternal destiny. {Mar 43.5 1976}
Put Temptation to Death.–The lower passions have their seat in the body and work through it. The words flesh or fleshly or carnal lusts embrace the lower, corrupt nature; the flesh of itself cannot act contrary to the will of God. We are commanded to crucify the flesh, with the affections and lusts. How shall we do it? Shall we inflict pain on the body? No; but put to death the temptation to sin. {1MCP 236.2 1977}
The corrupt thought is to be expelled. Every thought is to be brought into captivity to Jesus Christ. All animal propensities are to be subjected to the higher powers of the soul. The love of God must reign supreme; Christ must occupy an undivided throne. Our bodies are to be regarded as His purchased possession. The members of the body are to become the instruments of righteousness.— MS 1, 1888. (AH 127, 128.) {1MCP 236.3 1977}
The third angel is leading up a people, step by step, higher and higher. At every step they will be tested. {LHU 375.5 1988}
Through personal effort joined with the prayer of faith, the soul is trained. Day by day the character grows into the likeness of Christ; and finally, instead of being the sport of circumstances, instead of indulging selfishness and being carried away by light and trifling conversation, the man is master of his thoughts and words. It may cost a severe conflict to overcome habits which have been long indulged, but we may triumph through the grace of Christ. He invites us to learn of Him. He would have us practice self-control, and be perfect in character, working that which is well pleasing in His sight. “By their fruits ye shall know them” is His own standard of judging character. {LHU 376.2 1988}
If we are true to the promptings of the Spirit of God, we shall go on from grace to grace, and from glory to glory, until we shall receive the finishing touch of immortality. {LHU 376.3 1988}
Any unnecessary burden placed on the stomach will becloud the brain. Come to a meeting like this, eat a hearty meal, take no exercise, and your ideas are good for nothing. You are sleepy. You do not really understand the propositions to which you assent. Bring your diet into conformity with natural laws, and a great change will be seen. {6MR 309.3 1990}
The design of the truth is to elevate the receiver, to purify him from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. I was shown that we are looked upon as a degraded people. We are a sect everywhere spoken against, and unless we do take an elevated position, we are miserable representatives of the truth and we stand in the way of those who would believe the truth. Our lives, our acts, must be so circumspect and faultless as to commend the truth to unbelievers, especially to those who have any disposition to receive it. The truth is to elevate, to cleanse, to purify, to sanctify, to fit us for translation, prepare us for the company of holy angels, sinless beings in the kingdom of God. {5MR 291.2 1990}
Some who have lacked order, cleanliness and elevated feelings, look upon those who have refined taste and neatness and order as being proud. They feel uncomfortable because others do not come down to their level. This is all wrong. The truth does not bring us all down on a level, but brings us all up on a level. You are too careless, too neglectful of your person and apparel. God calls for a reform on your part. You are a hindrance to others embracing the truth. You must begin to work and reform. God cannot approve and bless you, until you can be a better example and better represent the truth. Take a more elevated position. {5MR 291.3 1990}
Unbelievers are disgusted with anything in Sabbathkeepers which looks like slackness and uncleanness. Every act, every deed must be studied. All our course must be so that it cannot be censured justly. We must take every appearance [of] evil away from those who are watching us. {5MR 292.1 1990}
The truth is designed to elevate the receiver, to refine his taste and sanctify his judgment. There should be a continual aim to imitate the society we expect soon to associate with–angels of God who have never fallen by sin. Our characters should be holy, our manners comely, our words without guile, and we should go on step by step until we are all fitted for translation. There is a work to be done to attain to this. Add to our faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, etc.–Letter 18, 1861, pp. 2, 3. (To Brother H. G. Buck, January 19, 1861.) {5MR 293.1}
The work of consecration must go forward and upward, elevating the mind, elevating the speech. Thus we become more and more heavenly minded, better prepared for translation. “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Man is to be perfect in his sphere, as God is perfect in his sphere. How can we attain so lofty a standard? The required perfection is based on the perfection of Christ. In Him is our righteousness. He spoke these words, and he was by birth a human being, though allied to divinity. Every provision has been made that man should be a partaker of the divine nature. God never issues a command without furnishing the grace essential to carry it out. He says, “Without me ye can do nothing.” –Ms 157, 1898, pp. 1, 2. (“Be Ye Therefore Perfect,” typed December 5, 1898.) {6MR 5.2 1990}
In order to prepare for entrance into this beautiful city, we must now be clothed with the wedding garment–with the robe of Christ’s righteousness. We must stand before Him without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. You have not been appointed to talk about others’ faults. While probation still lingers, every soul ought to be washing his own robe of character, and preparing for translation. {7MR 268.4 1990}
In these last days, especially, should all seek to elevate their lives, for they are fitting for translation and must be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing–perfect before God, pure in heart and life, holy–and then will their light shine. You need not imitate the fashions of the world in order to have influence, but in order to have influence you must all take an exalted position that your influence may tell. You who are looking for Christ’s coming should be the most orderly, systematic, cleanly people upon the earth; but it has not been thus. Some have acted as though it was no matter what they wore, how their houses or persons appeared, and that these slovenly manners were tokens of humility. Instead of this it is a true sign hung out to unbelievers of what is within; you are judged accordingly. God help you to arise.–Letter 23, 1868, pp. 2,3. (To “Dear Friends in Burlington,” April 27, 1868.) {9MR 280.2 1990}
I have not had meat in my house for years. But do not give up the use of meat because Sister White does not eat it. I would not give a farthing for your health reform if that is what it is based upon. I want you to stand in your individual dignity and in your individual consecration before God, the whole being dedicated to Him. “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” {13MR 202.2 1990}
I want you to think of these things. Do not make any human being your criterion. You have a body which is fearfully and wonderfully made. That body should be most carefully dealt with. The physical system must be kept in perfect order, that the brain power may be keen and strong. {13MR 203.1 1990}
Proper regulation of their diet, abstinence from tea, coffee, and all spices and flesh meats, gaining an intelligent knowledge of temperance, would be medicine above all drugs. {20MR 373.2 1993}
Mothers need to be instructed on this point. Sweet cake should be kept off the table, for it is an injury to the stomach and liver. The sweets that children eat harm the life-current. By the laws of the home everything that renders the blood impure should be discarded from the table. Especially should little children be given wholesome food. They should be given no tea or coffee. Their food should not contain spices or any kind of seasoning. The plainest food is the most wholesome and keeps the temple of God in the most healthy condition. {1SAT 215.1 1994}