Indulgence of Appetite
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In the games referred to, but one was sure of the prize. In the
Christian race, says the apostle: “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly.”
We are not to be disappointed at the end of the race. To all those who
fully comply with the conditions in God’s word, and have a sense of
their responsibility to preserve physical vigor and activity of body, that
they may have well-balanced minds and healthy morals, the race is not
uncertain. They all may gain the prize, and win and wear the crown of
immortal glory that fadeth not away.
The apostle Paul tells us that “we are made a spectacle unto the
world, and to angels, and to men.” A cloud of witnesses are observing
our Christian course. “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about
with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and
the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the
race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher
of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of
God.”
The world should be no criterion for us. It is fashionable to indulge
the appetite in luxurious food and unnatural stimulus, thus strengthen-
ing the animal propensities, and crippling the growth and development
of the moral faculties. There is no encouragement given to any of the
sons or daughters of Adam that they may become victorious overcom-
ers in the Christian warfare unless they decide to practice temperance
in all things. If they do this they will not fight as one that beateth the
air.
If Christians will keep the body in subjection, and bring all their
appetites and passions under the control of enlightened conscience,
feeling it a duty that they owe to God and to their neighbors to 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
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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. This warfare is open to all who will engage in it.
I was shown the case of Brother B, that a cloud of darkness sur-
rounds him. The light of heaven is not in his dwelling. Although he
professes to believe the truth, he does not in his daily life exemplify its
sanctifying influence upon the heart. He does not naturally possess a
benevolent, kind, affectionate, courteous disposition. His temperament