In our churches there is this running theme
of winning souls to “hasten the Lord’s return”. But there is a major error in
our thought process. We cannot in our own strength “win” souls to Christ. The Holy
Spirit is to lead us in this work. And the Holy Spirit is not leading and will
not lead us in our present condition. The prophet for our time gave us this
warning:
“There is a message regarding health
reform to be borne in every church. There is a work to be done in every school.
Neither principal nor teachers should be entrusted with the education of the
youth until they have a practical knowledge of this subject. Some have felt at
liberty to criticize and question and find fault with health reform principles
of which they knew little by experience. They should stand shoulder to
shoulder, heart to heart, with those who are working in right lines. {6T 370.2}
The subject of health reform has been presented in the churches; but the
light has not been heartily received. The selfish, health-destroying
indulgences of men and women have counteracted the influence of the message
that is to prepare a people for the great day of God. If the churches expect
strength, they must live the truth which God has given them. If the members of
our churches disregard the light on this subject, they will reap the sure
result in both spiritual and physical degeneracy. And the influence of these
older church members will leaven those newly come to the faith. The Lord
does not now work to bring many souls into the truth, because of the church
members who have never been converted and those who were once converted but who
have backslidden. What influence would these unconsecrated members have
on new converts? Would they not make of no effect the God-given message which
His people are to bear? {6T 370.3}
Let all examine their own practices to see if they are not indulging in
that which is a positive injury to them. Let them dispense with every
unhealthful gratification in eating and drinking. Some go to distant countries
to seek a better climate; but wherever they may be, the stomach creates for
them a malarious atmosphere. They bring upon themselves suffering that no one
can alleviate. Let them bring their daily practice into harmony with nature's
laws; and by doing as well as believing, an atmosphere may be created about
both soul and body that will be a savor of life unto life. {6T 371.1}
Brethren, we are far behind. Many of the things which the church should
do in order to be a living church are not done. Through the indulgence of
perverted appetite many place themselves in such a condition of health that
there is a constant warring against the soul's highest interests. The truth,
though presented in clear lines, is not accepted. I wish to set this matter
before every member of our churches. Our habits must be brought into conformity
to the will of God. We are assured, "It is God which worketh in you,"
but man must do his part in controlling appetite and passion. The religious
life requires the action of mind and heart in harmony with the divine forces.
No man can of himself work out his own salvation, and God cannot do this work
for him without his co-operation. But when man works earnestly, God works with
him, giving him power to become a son of God.
When persons are spoken to on the subject of health, they often say:
"We know a great deal better than we do." They do not realize that
they are accountable for every ray of light in regard to their physical
well-being, and that their every habit is open to the inspection of God.
Physical life is not to be treated in a haphazard manner. Every organ, every
fiber of the being, is to be sacredly guarded from harmful practices. {6T 372.1}”
This message to us was specifically about
our diet. Many churches now have potluck on Sabbath after service to facility
fellowship. Do our dish offerings, portion sizes and meal timing align with
what we know to be God’s health directives?
“Ministers of Christ, professing to be
His representatives, should follow His example, and above all others should
form habits of strictest temperance. They should keep the life and example of
Christ before the people by their own lives of self-denial, self-sacrifice, and
active benevolence. Christ overcame appetite in man's behalf, and in His stead
they are to set others an example worthy of imitation. Those who do not feel
the necessity of engaging in the work of overcoming upon the point of appetite
will fail to secure precious victories which they might have gained and will
become slaves to appetite and lust, which are filling the cup of iniquity of
those who dwell upon the earth. {3T
490.2}
Men who are engaged in giving the last message of warning to the world,
a message which is to decide the destiny of souls, should make a practical
application in their own lives of the truths they preach to others. They should
be examples to the people in their eating, in their drinking, and in their chaste
conversation and deportment. Gluttony, indulgence of the baser passions, and
grievous sins are hidden under the garb of sanctity by many professed
representatives of Christ throughout our world. There are men of excellent
natural ability whose labor does not accomplish half what it might if they were
temperate in all things. Indulgence of appetite and passion beclouds the mind,
lessens physical strength, and weakens moral power. Their thoughts are not
clear. Their words are not spoken in power, are not vitalized by the Spirit of
God so as to reach the hearts of the hearers.
{3T 490.3}
As our first parents lost Eden through the indulgence of appetite, our
only hope of regaining Eden is through the firm denial of appetite and passion.
Abstemiousness in diet and control of all the passions will preserve the
intellect and give mental and moral vigor, enabling men to bring all their
propensities under the control of the higher powers and to discern between
right and wrong, the sacred and the common. All who have a true sense of the
sacrifice made by Christ in leaving His home in heaven to come to this world
that He might by His own life show man how to resist temptation will cheerfully
deny self and choose to be partakers with Christ of His sufferings. {3T 491.1}
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Those who overcome as
Christ overcame will need to constantly guard themselves against the
temptations of Satan. The appetite and passions should be restricted and under
the control of enlightened conscience, that the intellect may be unimpaired,
the perceptive powers clear, so that the workings of Satan and his snares may
not be interpreted to be the providence of God. Many desire the final reward
and victory which are to be given to overcomers, but are not willing to endure
toil, privation, and denial of self, as did their Redeemer. It is only through
obedience and continual effort that we shall overcome as Christ overcame. {3T 491.2}
The controlling power of appetite will prove the ruin of
thousands, when, if they had conquered on this point, they would have had moral
power to gain the victory over every other temptation of Satan. But
those who are slaves to appetite will fail in perfecting Christian character.
The continual transgression of man for six thousand years has brought sickness,
pain, and death as its fruits. And as we near the close of time, Satan's
temptation to indulge appetite will be more powerful and more difficult to overcome. {3T 491.3}”
Our neglect in this point is not the only
demonstration of our loss of conversion. Failure in this one point inevitable
leads to failures in other points, dress, music, recreation, devotion, commitment
to truth, attitudes toward fellow Christians and non-Christians. “The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life”
(1 John 2:16) are all the pitfalls we are currently in, as a church, because we
are not conquering where Adam fell – diet. This was Satan’s first temptation
for Jesus:
“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit
into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty
days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came
to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made
bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Matthew 4:1-4”
Jesus, our Example, overcame in this point
with the Word – “It Is Written” – and we too need to fortify our minds with the
Word of God so that we can overcome. We need to set our feet on God’s road and
by faith know that He is transforming us. But until we are imbued with the
Spirit of God we cannot, with any hope of God’s blessing, carry out mass
evangelistic campaigns. Because our church is in the deplorable condition we
currently find ourselves in any soul “won” to the truth would be as Jesus
described to the Pharisees:
“But woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye
neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and
for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater
damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye
compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him
twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Matthew 23:13-15”
There is a heavy work that needs to be done
within our ranks as Seventh-day Adventists. We have been entrusted with the
message of the utmost importance in this life, and like ancient Israel we are
failing. We are not living up to the light entrusted to us, and God is measuring
us for our fitness to perform the actual final work (Revelation 11:1). This
final work does not happen without the “Latter Rain” outpouring of the Holy
Spirit. We need to have an upper room experience like the 120 disciples at the genesis
of the Christian Church.
“Then returned they unto Jerusalem from
the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey. And
when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both
Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and
Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of
James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication,
with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. Acts
1:12-14”
“And when the day of Pentecost was fully
come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly
there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all
the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues
like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with
the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them
utterance. Acts 2:1-4”
The Holy Spirit will only fall on us when we are in one accord – united in faith and obedience . God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). We as individuals and as a people need to be fully submitted God. Committed to obeying whatever directives He give us no matter how things appear to our senses. Only then will the Holy Spirit be poured out (Acts 2:37-40).
Therefore, we have a task. Every time we
pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Lord is responding to us just
as He did when Joshua fell on his face before God after the initial loss at Ai:
“And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get
thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, and
they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have
even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also,
and they have put it even among their own stuff. Therefore the children of
Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before
their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more,
except ye destroy the accursed from among you. Up, sanctify the people, and
say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of
Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst
not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from
among you. Joshua 7:10-13”
As God instructed Joshua, we need to sanctify
ourselves because The Lord coming among us to clean house.
“Behold, I will send my messenger, and
he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall
suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom
ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. But who may
abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is
like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit as a
refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge
them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in
righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto
the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years. And I will
come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the
sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against
those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and
that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of
hosts. For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not
consumed. Malachi 3:1-6”
This is the only way we will be able to
stand before the enemy. We are seeking to run before we can walk (Jeremiah 12:5).
As individuals we need to pray for God’s cleansing. As church communities we
need to pray for cleansing. As a worldwide church we need to pray for
cleansing. With God’s guidance we need to seek out every abominable, accursed
practice; every cherished sin; every false idea; everything that is unlike God
and ask Him to remove them all from our lives (Psalm 139:23, 24). And we need to cooperate with
Him the entire way. This, is our current task. Until this is done the Spirit
will not be present in full measure to finish this work.
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