Chapter 46—Reasons for Reform
The Facts of Faith 2:148, 149
The body, which God calls His temple, should be preserved in
as healthy a condition as possible. Many act as though they had a
right to treat their own bodies as they please. They do not realize
that God has claims upon them. They are required to glorify Him in
their bodies and spirits, which are His. While they give themselves
up to the gratification of unhealthy appetites, and thus bring disease
upon themselves, they can not render to God acceptable service. None
should remain in ignorance of God’s claims. All His promises are
on conditions of obedience. All should work for themselves. They
should do that which God requires them to do, and not leave God
to do for them that which He has left for them to do. It is a sacred
duty which God has enjoined upon reasonable beings formed in His
image, to keep that image in as perfect a state as possible. Those who
bring disease upon themselves, by self-gratification, have not healthy
bodies and minds. They can not weigh the evidences of truth, and
comprehend the requirements of God. Our Saviour will not reach His
arm low enough to raise such from their degraded state, while they
persist in pursuing a course to sink themselves still lower.
All are required to do what they can to preserve healthy bodies
and sound minds. If they will gratify a gross appetite, and by so doing
blunt their sensibilities, and becloud their perceptive faculties so that
they can not appreciate the exalted character of God, or delight in the
study of His word, they may be assured that God will not accept their
unworthy offering any sooner than that of Cain. God requires them to
cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of the Lord. After man has done all in his power to
insure health, by the denying of appetite and gross passions, that he
may possess a healthy mind, and a sanctified imagination, that he may
render to God an offering in righteousness, then he is saved alone by a
miracle of God’s mercy, as was the ark upon the stormy billows. Noah
had done all that God required of him in making the ark secure, then
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