p. 1 | Untitled article by I. Sanborn

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, February 18, 1868

FromReview and Herald, Vol. XXXI, No. 10

HOLINESS TO THE LORD. 1

By I. Sanborn

BY ELD. I. SANBORN.

Text. “Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.” 1 Pet. ii, 11.

Here we find the apostle addressing a people which he recognizes in verse 9 as holy people. Let us read: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light; which in time past were not a people [that is, not a people of God], but are now the people of God; which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.” Verses 9, 10. Then come the words, “dearly beloved,” which shows that some one has great love for them. God says that he so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Jno. iii, 16. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. . . . Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 1 John iv, 9, 11. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 1 John iii, 16. Oh! what matchless love! No wonder Peter says, Dearly beloved, as strangers and pilgrims. And why call them strangers? Because they have no real home in this world, and because they have taken upon them the obligation of keeping the holy law of God, the ten commandments, and the faith of Jesus, which means all his teachings, by which he requires us to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.

We understand that the term, soul, here should be understood to mean the whole man, as in Gen. ii, 7, where God says he formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man [thus formed of the dust] became a living soul [or living man]. Here we see the term, soul, means the entire man. Then the lusts spoken of by Peter war against the man, mind and body; therefore, God speaks of a converted man as being a new creature; old things [including our sinful lusts] are passed away, and all things are become new. 2 Cor. v, 17. And Jesus speaks thus to this converted man: If a man love me he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him. Jno. xiv, 23. Here we can plainly see that Jesus measures our love to him by our acts of obedience. He said to the apostles, All power is given unto me in Heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. Amen.

Now, as Jesus loves us so dearly that he has given his life for us, and says that if we love him we will keep his words, spoken by his apostles and prophets, we will therefore hear him, through his apostles, and believe that he will help us to keep his words.

First, then, we will hear Paul: Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is HOLY, which temple ye are. 1 Cor. iii, 16, 17. Here we can plainly see the way in which Jesus and his Father make their abode with his people, that is, by his Spirit. And remember, he calls the body the temple, not of an immortal soul, but of his Spirit, which he has promised conditionally, that is, if we do not defile our bodies with fleshly lusts.

Says Paul again, What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price? 1 Cor. vi, 19. Why are we not our own? Because we have been purchased with the blood of Jesus, and as we yield ourselves his servants, he begins to reign in us to will and to do of his own good pleasure. Phil. ii, 13. Therefore, you see it will not do for us to set up our wills; for if we do, the Spirit of God will be withdrawn from us and we be left to perish with our wills. But we will hear Paul again: What agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore, come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit [the mind], perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2 Cor. vi, 16-18; and vii, 1. Here the Lord makes an entire separation from sin and uncleanness a condition of our acceptance with him, and of being his sons and daughters. Then may the Lord help all who read these lines to not grieve the Spirit of God away from them by indulging in the pride of life or in the lusts of the flesh, but remember Him who with a crown of thorns upon his head suffered that he might redeem us from these evil things. Therefore, says Peter, likewise ye wives be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives, while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear; whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold, and of putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women, also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him Lord; whose daughters ye are as long as ye do well. Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. 1 Pet. iii, 1-8.

Here the believing wife's duty in regard to her dressing and her deportment toward her husband, and her husband's duty toward her, are clearly set forth.

But there is still something else included in Paul's language in 2 Cor. vii, 1, where he exhorts believers to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh. It seems to me that Paul in one of his visions must have had a view of the dreadful filthy habit of using tobacco, so commonly indulged in by this last generation of people, out of which the Lord is now fitting up a peculiar people to meet his Son when he comes to make up his Father's jewels. Right here I wish to ask a plain question: Do you think that any of his peculiar people who will be ready to meet Jesus when he comes will be found using tobacco in any form? I think I hear many thousand voices saying, No, never! Then may the Lord help many who have not yet done so, to cleanse themselves from this filthy, lustful habit, which, by its narcotic poison, is warring against the soul, stimulating the nerves of the body, deranging the

powers of the mind, and involving a vast waste of time and money.

But we must not forget that there are other lusts of the flesh from which we are required to abstain, and one is the use of coffee and tea. But some may say, What harm is there in using these stimulants? Answer. First, they are poison, and therefore destroy, in a certain degree, the digestive organs, causing headache, &c. Listen a moment to medical authority on this subject. Dr. Coles says coffee is a narcotic stimulant, bearing some resemblance to opium, and so powerful is its action that it is considered and used as a most certain antidote to poisoning from opium; and it can readily be seen that unless it was an article of much power itself, it could never overpower such a poison. Coffee should never be drunk as a luxury or beverage. Tea is another objectionable article, because of its stimulating properties. Like alcohol, it increases beyond its healthy and natural action the whole animal and mental machinery, after which there comes a reaction—a corresponding languor and debility. The washerwoman becomes exhausted and must have her bowl of tea to recruit her energies instead of giving Nature a chance to recover herself.—Philosophy of Health.

Thus people make themselves believe that tea is a good thing. So it is; but only to kill people.

Professor C. A. Lee, of New York city says, A strong decoction of green tea speedily destroys life in the inferior animals, even when given in small doses.

Dr. Trall says, From a pretty close observation, I am fully satisfied that the general prevalence of female weaknesses, a phrase including an extensive and formidable class of ailments, is in a great measure attributable to warm teas.—Encyclopedia, Book I, pp. 311, 312.

Do not all tea-drinkers know that, as a general thing, a strong cup of tea just before going to bed will keep them awake most all night, and the longer they drink it the more nervous they become, until the stomach and nervous system become a perfect wreck, all on account of the gratification of this fleshly lust, which is thus warring against the soul? Therefore, says Paul, Whether, therefore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 2 Cor. x, 31.

I understand the way to glorify God is strictly to obey him in all things; for Jesus says, If a man love me he will keep my words. Jno. xiv, 23. The Father says, Come out from among them, and be separate, and I will receive you. 2 Cor. vi, 17. Peter says, Add to your faith virtue, and to virtue, knowledge, and to knowledge, temperance. The addition of this grace to our faith will clear away all the tobacco, coffee, and tea. Then we can add patience, and to patience, godliness, and to godliness, brotherly-kindness, and to brotherly-kindness, charity, or love, which is the crowning grace; for if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall. What a promise! Who of the readers of this article want the benefit of this promise? I do; yea, I must have it. Then let us cleanse ourselves and abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, for so an entrance shall be ministered unto us abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.