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Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene
his practice contrary to the laws of health. The Lord our God assures
us that he is waiting to be gracious; he invites us to call upon him
in the day of trouble. Furthermore, the teaching of these physicians
is continually leading away from the principles God has given us in
regard to health, especially on the diet question. They say we are not
living as we ought, and prescribe changes that are contrary to the light
God has sent. Brethren, how can the Lord let his blessing rest upon us
when we are going right upon the enemy’s ground?
Why is it that men are so unwilling to trust Him who created
man, and who can, by a touch, a word, a look, heal all manner of
disease? Who is more worthy of our confidence than the One who has
made so great a sacrifice for our redemption? Our Lord has given us
definite instruction, through the apostle James, as to our duty in case of
sickness. When human help fails, God will be the helper of his people.
“Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church, and
let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;
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and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him
up.” [
James 5:14, 15
.] If the professed followers of Christ would, with
purity of heart, exercise as much faith in the promises of God as they
repose in satanic agencies, they would realize, in soul and body, the
life-giving power of the Holy Spirit.
God has granted to this people great light, yet we are not placed
beyond the reach of temptation. Who among us are seeking help from
the gods of Ekron? Look on this picture—a picture not drawn from
imagination. In how many, even among Seventh-day Adventists, may
its leading characteristics be seen! An invalid, apparently very con-
scientious, yet bigoted and self-sufficient, freely avows his contempt
for the laws of life and health, which divine mercy has led us as a
people to accept. His food must be prepared in a manner to satisfy his
morbid cravings. Rather than sit at a table where wholesome food is
provided, he will patronize restaurants, because he can there indulge
appetite without restraint. A fluent advocate of temperance, he disre-
gards its foundation principles. He wants relief, but refuses to obtain
it at the price of self-denial. That man is worshiping at the shrine of
perverted appetite. He is an idolater. The powers, which, sanctified
and ennobled, might be employed to honor God, are weakened, and
rendered of little service. An irritable temper, a confused brain, and
unstrung nerves are among the results of his disregard of nature’s laws.