SATAN came to Adam and Eve with the temptation, “Ye shall be as gods.” This same temptation comes to all the members of the human family. Naturally, man is not willing to be what God desires him to be. He is not willing to act his part in meekness and lowliness, as did the great Exemplar. Christ laid aside his royal robe and kingly crown, and clothed his divinity with humanity, that he might stand at the head of the human race.
In man's behalf Christ volunteered to pass over the ground where Adam fell, and, by living a life of perfect obedience, place the race on vantage-ground. Power was vested in him for the redemption of mankind. Yet he did not exalt himself. He humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even the death of the cross. “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Only through faith in Christ's name can the sinner be saved. He is the head of the new creation. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the prophet, priest, and king of all regenerate humanity. He is Immanuel, God with us. The eternal Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and of his fulness have all we received. He is the author and finisher of our faith. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”
Faith in Christ is not the work of nature, but the work of God on human minds, wrought in the very soul by the Holy Spirit, who reveals Christ, as Christ revealed the Father. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. With its justifying, sanctifying power, it is above what men call science. It is the science of eternal realities. Human science is often deceptive and misleading, but this heavenly science never misleads. It is so simple that a child may understand it, and yet the most learned men can not explain it. It is inexplicable and immeasurable, beyond all human expression.
All who search the Scriptures with humility of heart will be taught of God. “Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. For they call themselves the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; the Lord of hosts is his name. I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.”
Read the whole of this chapter,—the forty-eighth of Isaiah. It has been pointed out to me as a representation of the true condition of those, who, though they have had the truth, line upon line, precept upon precept, have refused to hear and receive the testimonies of warning that God has given. They have hindered the work and cause of God with misrepresentation, falsehood, and heresy, and when the Spirit of God has spoken, they have said, “It is naught, it is naught.”
“Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; . . . lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. Thou hast heard, see all this; and will ye not declare it? I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. . . . Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened; for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously.”
“For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. . . . For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another. Harken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.”
The Lord continues to carry forward his work of redemption in the hearts of his people, not because of the goodness and devotion and purity that he sees in those in high places; not because they have feared the Lord; but for the glory of his name, lest the enemies of the truth should triumph.
The Lord has borne long with the waywardness of his people, with their persistency in carrying out their own way,—a way of self-exaltation suggested by the tempter. If they repent, and turn decidedly from their evil ways, they will become monuments of his almighty power and his abounding grace. They will become witnesses for the truth, establishing that which once they tore down. If they will repent, and make straight paths for their feet, that the lame be no longer turned out of the way, God will have mercy upon them.
The Lord desires those who have the light of truth to be wholly worked by the Holy Spirit. The truth is to be taught as Christ taught it. If he had desired us to cherish new views of God and heavenly things, he would have plainly given them to us by revelation. Let not God's servants allow their eyes to be blinded by the sophistries of the enemy. Let them not allow themselves to be led to accept theories that are contrary to the Word of God.
The word of the Lord is yea and amen. Teach the truth in the way that it is taught in the Bible. Teach it with clearness and in the fervency of the Spirit, because you have first talked with God, and have had the burden of the message laid upon your soul by the ministration of the Spirit. Then the truth will be proclaimed in its purity. There will be no tares mingled with the seed sown. The truth will commend itself to men and women of good judgment.
Thousands who have never heard the truth are starving for the bread of life. They want light from heaven. Were the truth presented to them in love, the Holy Spirit would move upon their hearts, leading them to accept it. But while these are waiting for the truth, there are backsliders in our churches, men and women who are acting as sinners. These, if not soundly converted, will soon be punished as sinners.
Let no one present beautiful, scientific sophistries to lull the people of God to sleep. Clothe not the solemn, sacred truth for this time in any fantastic dress of man's wisdom. Let those who have been doing this stop and cry unto God to save their souls from deceiving fables.
It is the living energy of the Holy Spirit that will move hearts, not pleasing, deceptive theories. Fanciful representations are not the bread of life: they can not save the soul from sin.
Christ was sent from heaven to redeem humanity. He taught the doctrines that God gave him to teach. The truths that he proclaimed, as found in the Old Testament and the New, we today are to proclaim as the word of the living God.
Let those who want the bread of life go to the Scriptures, not to the teaching of finite, erring men. Give the people the bread of life that Christ came from heaven to bring to us. Do not mix with your teaching human suppositions8and conjectures. I would that all knew how much they need to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God,—to make his words a part of their very lives! “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man,” Christ declares, “and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. . . . As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. . . . It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
We need spiritual strength. If we eat the Word of God, if we practise the teachings of Christ, we shall have life in ourselves. We shall be strong in the strength of God.
All for Christ
By John M. Hopkins
JOHN M. HOPKINS
“COME, Holy Spirit, fill my heart, And all my ransomed powers control, Until, renewed in every part, Christ rules supreme within my soul.
Yes, every fiber of my frame, Lord, I would consecrate to thee, To magnify thy holy name, Since thou didst give thy life for me.
My heart to be thy dwelling-place, My feet to walk thy peaceful ways, My lips to tell thy wondrous grace, And sound thy name in sweetest lays.
Till every word that I shall speak, Shall be just what my Lord would say, Were he to stand, holy and meek, In just my place in every way.
Till everything that I shall do, Shall witness to thy guiding power; In deeds of service kind and true, I follow Jesus every hour.
The Sanctuary
(Concluded)
DID anything happen in 1844 that marked the ending of the twenty-three hundred days? How many are there in the room who believed in the coming of the Lord in 1844? [Several hands were raised.] Was there anything in that message that gave you an experience different from what you had had before? — Yes. I remember that in the city of Worcester there was once a very profane man with whom I was acquainted. One day he said, “I want you to tell me why you keep the Sabbath.” We sat down together, and I went over just what I have gone over with you now in a few words, about the coming of the Lord as preached in 1844, and then about our seeing the sanctuary question and the Sabbath. When I looked up, tears were running down his face, and the thought occurred to me that he once believed it. I said, “Did you believe that the Lord would come in 1844?” “Yes,” he said, “and I would to God that I had the same experience now.” There was something in the experience of the people of God then that they could not forget. It continued with them; and wherever you find them to-day, there is still a responsive chord in their hearts. It brought a peace to their souls that they could not forget. When God does something, he leaves an impression that will last as long as the Spirit strives with men.
“Well,” says one, “the Lord did not come.” That is very true, and I suppose that the time argument was studied over by the disappointed ones more than ten thousand times to see where the mistake was, and it came out 1844 every time. Why did they think the Lord would come in 1844? They reasoned that the sanctuary was the earth, and the cleansing of the sanctuary, the cleansing of the earth; that the earth would be cleansed by fire, and the cleansing would take place at the coming of the Lord. They made the text read, Unto two thousand and three hundred days, or years, then shall the Lord come; and they believed it.
Did you ever hear people laugh about it, and say that men back there sold their farms? I have heard them say so, and that they would not be such fools as that. The only question is whether if they really believed it, they would act as if they did. The believers did sell their farms, and left their crops unharvested in the fields. One man in New Hampshire, Leonard Hastings, said, “I thought the Lord would come in the autumn of 1844, and I did not dig my potatoes. The neighbors talked about putting a guardian over me, but they finally concluded that as I was comparatively an old man and good citizen, it would be a disgrace, so they did not do it. That year the potatoes rotted in the cellars, and my neighbors who dug their potatoes lost them. But I waited until the time passed, and the potatoes in the ground were all sound, and I had potatoes to sell to the very ones who were going to put a guardian over me.” Wonderful experiences could be told with reference to that time.
God did not leave our enemies to find out our mistake. That is a wonderful thing; because the word “sanctuary” occurs in the Bible one hundred and forty-seven times, and it is not once called the earth; but we did not know it, and the Lord did not let the devil tell any one of it either. When our mistake was talked about, Professor Bush, of New York, said, “Those who attack William Miller on the time question attack him on his strongest point.” Why did he not see the sanctuary question? Because they had not found it out.
Finally a man by the name of O. R. L. Crosier, wrote in the Day Star an argument that the sanctuary was in heaven, as straight as it has ever been published since, and that Christ entered the most holy place of the sanctuary to cleanse the sanctuary from the sins of God’s people in 1844, and that the day of investigative judgment began at that time.
But did we catch it up, and herald it to begin with? — No. When I first began to keep the Sabbath, I gathered letters that were written at this time by Elder James White and his wife, and I have them in a book. I was looking them over the other day, and I saw in a letter something like this: That they had made it a subject of prayer before they dared to advocate that the sanctuary was in heaven. Finally the testimony came through the Spirit of God that the view taken in regard to the sanctuary was correct. Then they began to preach it. How different from the course followed by those who think they have new light at the present day. They were careful not to introduce anything that had not a solid foundation in the Bible. They were laying the foundation for the structure of a faith that would gather souls from every part of the earth. God gave them a spirit of carefulness that they might not weave into the structure any error. We have never had to renounce one position thus taken.
I could relate circumstances of like nature by the hour. The book “Early Writings” was largely a compilation of testimonies to prove positions taken after much fasting and prayer. To my certain knowledge, nearly every point made in “Early Writings” was made after some new point of truth had first been searched out, and had been made a subject of prayer. Then the Spirit of God set his seal to it that it was truth.
“But,” says one, “is there no new light?” Of course there is new light, and I expect we shall get new light throughout eternity. Just as long as life lasts, there will be an unfolding of the truths of the Bible. But new light will never upset the past truth. It makes it more clear. I see these faces before me, and as I see them, I can not help thinking how you would rejoice if you could only see what God is unfolding, but do not get switched off from the old truths by some new-fangled notion. Let me quote you a text in the third chapter of Genesis and the fifteenth verse, when man was first driven from the garden of Eden: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” How much of the gospel is in that? Is it not all there? Well, if you get all the gospel there, why do you need anything more? The whole Bible is an unfolding of that scripture, and every prophet has been unfolding that precious truth. Has it denied that truth? — No, indeed. But it has made that truth clearer and clearer, and it will continue to do so until Satan’s head is bruised, and he and all who sympathize with him go into the lake of fire.
It has been thus in every reform that has ever been. How much of the gospel of the first advent of Christ may be rejected in these last days? — Not a word of it. How much has changed? — None at all. When the great apostle saw this, he exclaimed: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” And so the third angel’s message is the same old story, it is “the everlasting gospel.” It is a resetting of eternal truths. It is a taking up of the old gospel truths and placing them in the framework of truth. You can never mix the third angel’s message with error. You never can mix the work of God with the world.
Let me illustrate it. We believe in baptism, and we have the same formula as the Baptists. Both baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Suppose I go into a Baptist church and preach baptism. When I preach baptism, I would have to preach what sin is, and then I would have to preach the law. How long would they let me stay there and preach the law? You can not return to the truths that are held by different denominations, and be saved by them. You can not take the truth out of the framework9of truth, and go back to your former experience, and be saved. Why? — Because God has placed it in the framework of truth, and now salvation is in a system of truth.
I wish to tell you how happy we were when we received the light on the sanctuary question. It converted me. I want to tell you who have grown gray in the third angel’s message to cling to the fundamental principles that made us a separate and distinct people. What has made us a separate people? — The chief corner-stone is the sanctuary question.
“Well,” says one, “I got the Sabbath from the Bible.” I want to tell you, If you do not clinch your argument in that sanctuary question, you will be shaken out. I have seen scores give up the Sabbath,—simply keeping the Sabbath outside of the framework of truth will not save you. Now you may think that is strong language, but you have only to look over the past. Noah built his ark for the saving of himself and house. Don’t you suppose there were other people who offered sacrifices back there? But could they make a profession loud enough to save them if they did not have an interest in that ark? Could they have faith enough to save them? I want to tell you that when God gives a message, he walls that message all around, and it is all right. It will prove salvation to every one who takes it. You may take certain truths out of it, and you may think you are going to be saved by them, but you prepare yourself for some delusions.
You remember when David undertook to move the ark? The thirteenth chapter of First Chronicles tells about it. He talked it over with the leaders, and all of them united heartily, and said, Let us move the ark. All Israel sang praises. The Philistines put it on the new cart with a gold offering. They let the milch kine start off, and they went right toward Israel in an opposite direction from their calves. God accepted the Philistines, and so David thought that if all Israel were to unite with him, and the ark was put on a cart, just as the Philistines did, it would be right. God excused the poor Philistines because they did not know any better. But when the oxen stumbled, and the ark shook, and it seemed that it would go over, Uzzah thought he would steady it, and God smote Uzzah. David did not dare take that ark home. He thought he had better go home and repent, and he did. That mistake made him afraid to take the ark home, lest he should die, as Uzzah did. But after he repented, then he undertook to move the ark. He said that the Lord visited them because they did not seek him after due order, and that they would put the ark on the priest’s shoulders, and then David composed that sweet song which was sung as they entered Jerusalem: ‘Lift up ye gates, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in.’ An answer comes back from within the walls, ‘Who is this King of glory?’ Will that song ever be sung again? It was sung when Christ took with him to the heavenly courts that company that he took from their graves. When you and I are taken to heaven, it will be sung again. I want to tell you that when God does something, he does it forever, and it stands forever.
When the people of God looked over the sanctuary question, and found there was a sanctuary in the heavens, and saw the temple of God open in heaven, they saw something else. By faith they lifted the cover of the ark, and saw the ten commandments. When one sees the ten commandments that way, he has hold of something. They began to study the Bible to see if the first day was the Sabbath, and to their surprise they found that the Bible taught all the way through that the seventh day was the Sabbath. But they got it out of the sanctuary, and that is where we must get it, and where we must see it. The Seventh-day Baptists have the seventh-day Sabbath, but it will not save them. They do not see the Sabbath in the sanctuary. Many among us are keeping the Sabbath only on the same arguments used by the Seventh-day Baptists. All such will be shaken out unless their Sabbath-keeping is anchored within the veil of the heavenly sanctuary.
Some may ask, Was not the ark in the heavenly sanctuary always open? — No, indeed. Under the sounding of the seventh angel, the prophet says that the temple of God was open in heaven, and there was seen the ark of his testament. The investigative judgment has begun already. It began in 1844. If that judgment has been going on sixty years, why are we not interested in it? and what will it lead us to do? — It will lead us to examine our own hearts to see if our thoughts, if our sympathies, if our interests, are with God and his work on earth. If so, we shall wish every sin confessed and lodged in the heavenly courts; for Christ is about to bring all sins out and lay them on the head of the scapegoat,—the devil,—and he will bear them away. If you do not confess them, they will never go there, and you will never gain the experience that comes to those who confess their every sin, and consecrate their entire being to the service to God. It is worth more than your farms. It is worth more than your bank stock. It is worth more than any interest in this world to have your interest centered in Jesus Christ as he pleads before the ark in the heavenly sanctuary.
I have heard a great deal said in our meetings about the Holy Spirit. We need it; but do you know what comes first? It is overcoming every besetment. If you wait for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to give you the victory over your besetments, you will fail. I verily believe, my friends, that because we are drifting away from the old landmark, the heavenly sanctuary, we have lost the spirit of confessing our sins and getting just right before God. I feel in my own soul that not one who lives until the time of trouble will be saved unless he makes it his special business to get right with God and have every sin confessed and blotted out by the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is something in this sanctuary question that should interest every soul. The spirit of prophecy, in ‘Early Writings,’ page 119, says: ‘Many who embraced the third message had not an experience in the two former messages. Satan understood this, and his evil eye was upon them to overthrow them; but the third angel was pointing them the way to the heavenly sanctuary.’ Those who follow as he points the way will have something that will hold them in the time of trouble.
We need something more than simply a surface experience. You may talk about the Lord’s coming as flippantly as you please, you may believe that Christ forgives your sins, but unless there is a heart-searching, unless there is a deep changing of the very habits and passions of the soul, and your impulses go out continually after God, you will make a failure. Shall we make a failure? May God forbid. We want to make a success in life. My friends, we want to make a success, and to do it, we must overcome our besetting sins. You may say, How can I do it? Did not Jacob do it? You never hear any more about Jacob’s trickery and treachery after he prevailed with God that night.
We need that humbling of soul before God, that laying hold of him, that can come only as we realize that our sins must be lodged in the heavenly sanctuary in order for Christ to bring them out and lay them on the head of Satan. Shall we fail? Probably there is no audience, meeting together as we meet here, that does not contain some who will be subject to the seven last plagues; for there are those who never will take pains to study into these things and seek what is necessary. The Lord forgives our sins, but faith must take in what Christ is doing in heaven for us personally. He is doing something for me personally. He is confessing my sins to the Father, just as I confess them here on the earth, and I wish to emphasize the fact that it will not be safe to rely on any experience that does not come from the sanctuary and the work of our High Priest in heaven. Nothing else will answer.
May God bless you, my brethren and sisters, and give you his Holy Spirit. O that we could see a real breaking down and putting away of our sins right here now! We want to make an effort such as we have never made to be in closest sympathy with our Lord Jesus Christ. ‘Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you.’ May God help us to have an experience that is founded upon his Word, and then finally when the work is over, when probation ends, may God grant that we may be saved with an everlasting salvation in the kingdom of God.
Introduction of Health Principles
By J. O. Corliss
Experiences of Former Days—No. 15
Introduction of Health Principles
J. O. CORLISS
THE obvious necessity for certain reforms is that which gives vigor to their promulgation, and makes them really effective. Bare theories of reform do not change men's habits for the better, because they are devoid of power. To fit men for the trying scenes of closing events, it was manifest that a reform in diet, rules of sanitation, and methods of caring for the feeble must be inaugurated. In order that this might take fast hold upon those who needed it, this was permitted to be ushered in in the most practical way.
As the cause enlarged, and fewer were found to bear the increasing burdens, more fell upon Elder White than he could long bear up under. Having charge of the publishing work, bearing editorial responsibilities, being a preacher at large, and general counselor for all branches of the work, in due time nervous prostration came, paralyzing the brain power. Even the tongue refused to perform its wonted duty, and the once-strong man was as nearly a complete wreck as it seemed possible to become, and yet live.
It was a distressing time for both family and friends. A terrible gloom was cast over the work, and few seemed to know what was best to do under the circumstances. This was God's opportunity, and he used it for the good of the work at large. It was known by some that a health institution, or what was then known as a “water cure,” existed at Dansville, N. Y., conducted by Dr. Jackson, and it was suggested that Brother White be taken thither for treatment. As soon as the necessary arrangements could be made, he was therefore conveyed to Our Home on the Hillside in Dansville. Besides Brother White's family, Elder Loughborough accompanied him to that place, and remained during the three months of Elder White's treatment, to assist as he was needed.
Marvelous as it seemed to many, the diet and treatment administered in that institution brought a partial restoration to Elder White's shattered nerves, and upon his return to Battle Creek, the project of installing a similar establishment for our own people—minus the wrong features shown there—was set on foot. Light on the subject of healthful living had been given as early as 1863 through the spirit of prophecy, and so several articles in line with the design that were printed in the REVIEW AND HERALD.
In casting about, the most suitable location to be found was in the western suburb of Battle Creek. This consisted of a few acres of land, and a private dwelling, occupied by Judge B. F. Graves, of the Supreme Court of Michigan. This was purchased and fitted up for the work to be done, and Dr. H. S. Lay, who had been to Dansville for training, was installed as head physician, having as associates Dr. Fletcher Byington, and a little later, Sister Phoebe Lamson. The plant was incorporated under the name of The Western Health Reform Institute, and opened early in August, 1866, with a single patient. As an advertising medium a monthly journal was started, with the title of The Health Reformer, the first number of which bears date of August, 1866. It contains excellent contributions from Mrs. E. G. White, Elders Andrews, Waggoner, Cottrell, and D. T. Bourdeau. In fact all the original articles, except the editorials, were from ministers in the field, who were studying health principles, with the Bible as their principal text-book.
But, as in some other things, this has all changed, and contributions from ministers are now seldom seen in our health journals. This, however, may be partially accounted for on the ground, that, as medical men have multiplied in our ranks, who can write on health principles from technical standpoints, the ministers have felt excused for the reason that they are not so well qualified to do this as medical men. Be this as it may, it is the belief of some, that were ministers to contribute regularly to this line of literature, it would be relieved, in some measure, from a seeming inflexibility, which refuses to bend itself to the level of the common reader.
But notwithstanding the apparent change of front adopted by both ministers and those in control of health literature, the spread of health principles has not ceased in any degree from the time of their introduction among our people. Without entering upon statistics, it may be safely said that these principles have now encircled the earth through the missionary efforts of those who stand for the truth of the last days.
Gideon Bands
By George B. Thompson
We like the spirit of the recommendation recently passed by the young people in one of our largest churches, in which they banded themselves together to assist to the extent of their ability “in carrying on this mighty missionary campaign which is to know no cessation until this gospel of the kingdom is carried to every nation, tongue, and people.”
It is just such Gideon bands as these that should be organized everywhere. With three hundred consecrated soldiers, Gideon won a complete victory over the Midianites, who “lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude.”
In the ranks of this denomination there is an army of not less than ten thousand noble young people, qualified to enter upon just such a campaign as is outlined above,—a campaign in which the Commander will never sound the note of retreat, and which will not end until the banner of victory is unfurled upon the last rampart of the foe. Such an organized host of young soldiers, wholly consecrated to God’s service, will constitute an army invincible to any forces which they will encounter. One can chase a thousand, and “two put ten thousand to flight.” At this ratio ten thousand are able to cope with at least fifty million.
For threescore years the work of this message has been in progress, and some of the true soldiers of the cross are stationed in about every nation under heaven. Now there is the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, indicating that these united forces are on the move as never before to invade the remaining territory, finish the work, and go home forever.
We do not want to see any of our young people miss the joy of a part in this work. It is no time now for them to be looking for a position in the secular pursuits of the world. They should enlist in the army of the Lord, to fight under a Captain who has never met a defeat. To what more noble purpose could parents dedicate their sons and daughters?
To-day in the far East a terrible conflict is being waged, and some of the bloodiest battles in history are being waged, and thousands of young men are perishing on the field of carnage in loyalty to their country. Shall they be more loyal to their ruler than we are to our Commander? They labor for a corruptible crown, we an incorruptible.
A special campaign has been planned and a forward movement commenced against the entrenched forces of the enemy. A call is extended to all the young men and women to volunteer for service till the close of the war. We feel convinced that this call will not fall on stony ground. Our hearts have been stirred as we have read of the old Scotch missionary, who after an active campaign of a quarter of a century among the millions of India, fainted while pleading for help before the General Assembly in Edinburgh for the benighted people of this dark land. When he revived he was carried to the platform, and in a trembling voice said, “Fathers and mothers of Scotland, is it true that you will not let your sons go to India? I have spent twenty-five years of my life there. I lost my health, and I have come back with sickness and shattered health. If it is true that we have no strong grandsons to go to India, I will pack up what I have, and be off to-morrow, and I will let those heathen know that if I can not live for them I will die for them.” This is the spirit which should actuate us in the closing days of the controversy against sin.
Do you long for rest beyond the din of the raging conflict? So do I. Yet there is something better even than this. You have heard, perhaps, of the man, who, homesick and discouraged in his work, dreamed that he died, and was taken to heaven where he beheld all the glory and indescribable beauty of the celestial home11of the redeemed. When he had finished, One whom he recognized as the Redeemer, came to his side in a shining chariot, and bade him enter. He was taken to a place where, looking over the battlements of heaven, he could see the dark, lost planet from which he had come. Then the Saviour said, “Will you remain up here, and enjoy these mansions that I have prepared, or go back to yon dark earth, and warn these men, and tell them about me, and my kingdom, and the rest that remains for the people of God?” Which do you prefer?
The greatest privilege open to mortals is to give themselves for the lost. Your own spiritual life depends on your active efforts for souls. God will grant you his Spirit as you go forth in the field to seek the lost sheep. Do not delay beginning this work, but enter at once into an active warfare, and thus hasten the coming of the Lord.
G. B. THOMPSON.
Chairman S. S. and Young People’s Department.
The Preparation of Food
By G. H. Heald
G. H. HEALD, M. D.
“MANY who adopt the health reform complain that it does not agree with them; but after sitting at their tables, I came to the decision that it is not health reform that is at fault, but the poorly prepared food!”
To a greater extent, perhaps, than is generally realized, the health and the morals of the family depend upon the cook. Not that good cooking can change a sinner into a saint; but bad cooking can come very near destroying the purposes of a well-meaning Christian.
It has been said that it was a dyspeptic condition that caused Calvin to burn Servetus, and think that thereby he was doing God a service. No doubt much of the malevolence and persecution which has blackened the history of so-called Christianity was largely the product of bad digestion.
It has been said that there was never a triumphant Christian death where the trouble was below the diaphragm. This may not be strictly true, but it illustrates the general observation that dyspepsia leads to gloominess and other unchristian characteristics.
And dyspepsia is largely, but not entirely the result of poor cooking. If the cook knows nothing of food values, food combinations, digestibility, etc.; if she judges of her success merely by her ability to please the palate of her guests, the result is bound to be an ailing family. This is the reason a knowledge of hygienic cookery has been urged upon our mothers and sisters.
“The proper cooking of food,” we are told, “is ‘a most essential requirement, especially where meat is not made an article of diet. Something must be prepared to take the place of meat, and these foods must be well prepared, so that meat will not be desired.’” Right here is the explanation of why many who once gave up the use of meat have gone back to it again. They did not find a good substitute, because of failure to master the principles of hygienic cooking, which includes a knowledge of physiology, food requirements, and food values. We are told that those who profess to be health reformers “should become good cooks. Those who can avail themselves of the advantages of properly conducted hygienic cooking schools, will find it a great benefit, both in their own practise and in teaching others.”
Again: we are told that “it is a religious duty for those who cook to learn how to prepare healthful food in different ways, so that it may be eaten with enjoyment.” “Skill must be united with simplicity. To do this women must read, and then patiently reduce what they have read to practise. Many are suffering because they will not take the trouble to do this.”
Almost anybody can cook after a fashion when meat is an important part of the bill of fare. As long as the stimulant is there, it matters not so much about the accompaniment. A person may get along for weeks on meat and potato, bread and butter, with tea or coffee. These require not much skill in their preparation, and the stimulation may take the place of good cooking.
Leave the larger part of these accustomed articles out of the bill of fare, and it requires much skill to prepare a menu which will not leave the partaker with a feeling of goneness, an unsatisfied feeling, as though the meal had not been completed.
Some try to make up for quality by quantity, and largely overeat. Now of the two evils, a moderate amount of meat is to be preferred to an immoderate amount of starch foods.
Others, in place of overeating, go to the other extreme. They are conscientious, and perhaps not so much to blame as their instructors in health reform who have left them only partly instructed. It is natural to infer that, if it is wrong to indulge the appetite in meat, tea, coffee, spices, sweets, and all those things we like most, denial of the appetite is in itself a virtue, and anything that ministers to the pleasure of the palate must belong with “the flesh pots of Egypt.”
The conclusion reached (and this is no imaginary case, for I have seen it12work this way in the homes of earnest seekers after truth) is that the more insipid and tasteless the food is, the more healthful it is; and hence the attempt to render food palatable and tempting is not only time lost, it is a snare of the enemy. So some of our good people are on a fare which may have given foundation to the report that Adventists starve themselves.
Such people can never be fully nourished, and can not do their best work, mentally or physically. As I intimated before, the fault lies with the instructors who advocated the disuse of meat and stimulants if they did not take time to give a good insight into the true principles of healthful living.
Most of these evils are the result of faulty cooking. It is for this reason that we are told, “It is the positive duty of physicians to educate, educate, educate, by pen and voice, all who have the responsibility of preparing food for the table.”
“There is religion in good cooking, and I question the religion of that class who are too ignorant and careless to learn to cook.”
An article will follow on the benefits which may result from good cooking.