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A Living Sacrifice, September 24
Luke 1:13-15
;
Luke 3:1-9
With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an
act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice,
consecrated to him and acceptable by him.
Romans 12:1
, Phillips.
The Lord has been calling the attention of His people to health reform. This
is one of the great branches of the work of preparation for the coming of the Son
of man. John the Baptist went forth in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare
the way of the Lord....
John separated himself from friends and from the luxuries of life. The
simplicity of his dress, a garment woven of camel’s hair, was a standing rebuke
to the extravagance and display of the Jewish priests, and of the people generally.
His diet, purely vegetable, of locusts and wild honey, was a rebuke to the
indulgence of appetite and the gluttony that everywhere prevailed.... Those
who are to prepare the way for the second coming of Christ are represented by
faithful Elijah, as John came in the spirit of Elijah to prepare the way for Christ’s
first advent. The great subject of reform is to be agitated.... Temperance in all
things is to be connected with the message, to turn the people of God from their
idolatry, their gluttony, and their extravagance in dress and other things.
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....
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. Whoever turns from the
light in one instance hardens his heart to disregard the light upon other matters.
Whoever violates moral obligations in the matter of eating and dressing prepares
the way to violate the claims of God in regard to eternal interests. Our bodies
are not our own. God has claims upon us to take care of the habitation He has
given us, that we may present our bodies to Him a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable
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Testimonies for the Church 3:61-63
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