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Counsels on Health
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. Yet despite the insult
which man has offered Him, God’s love is still extended to the race,
and He permits light to shine, enabling man to see that in order to live
a perfect life he must obey the natural laws which govern his being.
How important, then, that man should walk in this light, exercising all
his powers, both of body and mind, to the glory of God!
God’s People to Stand in Purity
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.
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
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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 appetites 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.