Let There Be Light by J. F. Coon, M. D.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 28, 1912

"Let There Be Light"

By J. F. Coon, M. D.

(Concluded)

J. F. COON, M. D.

THAT those who have not been blessed with the light that the Spirit of God has shed upon the question of drug medication should follow such a course as we mentioned last week is not surprising; but it is a lamentable fact that the ones who have been warned of the dangers and the unreliability of poisons in the treatment of disease are yet among those who have this unsatisfactory experience. Why is this? Is it because they are not informed as to what has been said on this important subject? If that is the case, they should reform, and become interested in what God in his great mercy has given directly to this people on this important question. For the benefit of those who may possibly never have had the opportunity to read the instruction referred to, we will quote from “Spiritual Gifts,” edition of 1864:—

“I was shown that more deaths have been caused by drug-taking than by all other causes combined. If there was in the land one physician in the place of thousands, a vast amount of premature mortality would be prevented. Multitudes of physicians, and multitudes of drugs, have cursed the inhabitants of the earth, and have carried thousands and tens of thousands to untimely graves. . . . Drugs never cure disease. They only change the form and location. Nature alone is the effectual restorer, and how much better could she perform her task if left to herself. But this privilege is seldom allowed her. If crippled nature bears up under the load, and finally accomplishes in a great measure her double task, and the patient lives, the credit is given to the physician. But if nature fails in her effort to expel the poison from the system, and the patient dies, it is called a wonderful dispensation of providence. If the patient had taken a course to relieve overburdened nature in season, and understandingly used pure soft water, this dispensation of drug mortality might have been wholly averted. . . . Nature alone possesses curative powers. Medicines have no power to cure, but will most generally hinder nature in her efforts. She, after all, must do the work of restoring. . . . The effect of poisons may not be immediately perceived, but it is doing its work surely in the system, undermining the constitution, and crippling nature in her efforts. They are seeking to correct an evil, but produce a far greater one, which is often incurable. Those who are thus dealt with are constantly sick, and constantly dosing. And yet if you listen to their conversation, you will often hear them praising the drugs they have been using, and recommending their use to others, because they have been benefited by their use. . . . They will take the various medicines, some of which are very powerful, although they know nothing of the nature of the mixtures. All the medicine they take only makes their recovery more hopeless. Yet they keep dosing, and continue to grow weaker until they die. . . . Every poisonous preparation from the vegetable and the mineral kingdom, taken into the system, will leave its wretched influence, affecting the liver and the lungs, and deranging the system generally. Nor does the evil end here. Diseased, feeble infants are brought into the world to share this misery transmitted to them from their parents.”—Pages 133-140.

With what supreme gratitude should every child of God accept the instruction given above. How earnestly should we seek to learn and understand all that has been said on this subject, that we may escape the terrible results that inevitably follow the administration of these fatal preparations. Certainly we are a favored people to be thus carefully warned of this popular danger; and we should remember that this increase of light brings with it an added responsibility. If we are benefited, there is laid upon us the responsibility of passing on to others the knowledge of that which brings the blessing, that God may be glorified in us.

For nearly fifty years this instruction, so explicit, so unmistakably clear and pointed, that no one can possibly misunderstand it, has been before us. What has been our attitude to it? Do we believe it, and shun the dangers it points out? Are we standing separate and apart from this death-trap that the enemy has set for the feet of the unskilled and uninformed? Has God been glorified before the unbelieving world, by our fidelity to him and the work he has given us to do? Alas! with sorrow and deep regret we must confess that we are recreant to our duty in this respect. Even when we have had opportunity to employ rational methods, we have in many cases gone to the enemies of God and his truth; and despite his warning so graciously given, we have employed the very men he has told us to shun, when sickness has made it necessary for us to seek relief. As a consequence we have reaped what we have sown, and to-day we are, physically, mentally, and spiritually, far from being what we might have been had we heeded the instruction given.

Nor does the mischief stop there, for God gives his light and blessing to us, that we may be a blessing to others. Therefore we have not only failed to derive the benefit he intended us to enjoy; but we have been unable to pass it on to others, that God might be glorified in us and in them. Notwithstanding this, we are yet the chosen people of God, and in his infinite goodness and mercy he is waiting for us to accept the responsibility he has given us.

This is the message of the Lord to us to-day, even as it was to Israel in days of old: “If Jehovah be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” Is it not time that we cast ourselves upon him, trusting in his guidance that we may be prepared to do his will? Can we not trust him who in mercy has gathered us from among the nations, and given us this wonderful message? Let us in faith and meekness consider all his goodness to us, as he has sought to lead us in the right way, and then with one heart surrender ourselves to his guidance, trusting implicitly the promise he has given. This surrender will bring his blessing, even though it be at the eleventh hour, and we shall triumph gloriously.

Walla Walla, Wash.