Health Reform and the Third Angel’s Message
203
Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 10
He who cherishes the light which God has given him upon health
reform has an important aid in the work of becoming sanctified through
the truth, and fitted for immortality.
Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 38-39
John the Baptist was a reformer. To him was committed a great
work for the people of his time. And in preparation for that work, all
his habits were carefully regulated, even from his birth. The angel
Gabriel was sent from Heaven to instruct the parents of John in the
principles of health reform. He “shall drink neither wine nor strong
drink,” said the heavenly messenger; “and he shall be filled with the
Holy Ghost.”
John separated himself from his friends, and from the luxuries of
life, dwelling alone in the wilderness, and subsisting upon a purely
vegetable diet. The simplicity of his dress—a garment woven of
camel’s hair—was a rebuke to the extravagance and display of the
people of his generation, especially of the Jewish priests. His diet, also,
of locusts and wild honey, was a rebuke to the gluttony that everywhere
prevailed.
The work of John was foretold by the prophet Malachi: “Behold,
I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and
dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers
to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.” John
the Baptist went forth in the spirit and power of Elijah, to prepare the
way of the Lord, and to turn the people to the wisdom of the just. He
was a representative of those living in the last days, to whom God
has intrusted sacred truths to present before the people, to prepare the
way for the second appearing of Christ. And the same principles of
temperance which John practiced should be observed by those who in
our day are to warn the world of the coming of the Son of man.
Unpublished Testimonies, November 19, 1895 (Healthful Living,
36.1)
This work we begin to comprehend better,—the light given years
ago,—that health reform principles would be as an entering wedge