p. 12 | FREDERICK M. ROSSITER, M. D

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Oct 2, 1913

FREDERICK M. ROSSITER, M. D

By FREDERICK M. ROSSITER, M. D.

The Gospel of Health—No. 3

FREDERICK M. ROSSITER, M. D

Job said, “I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” Chap. 23:12. We have yet to learn that “the word of God is quick, and powerful,” and when received by a living, active faith imparts a vitality to the body that nothing else can do. When we gain this experience in the gospel message the loss of a meal or so will not be attended with the fear that one is going to starve to death. Some people even have to eat something just before going to bed so as to be sure not to starve before morning!

Moses, in recounting the forty years’ experience before the people, said, “And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger; and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.” Deut. 8:3. Again, “Your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.” Chap. 29:5. If the word of the Lord will keep shoes and clothes from wearing out, that word will certainly sustain our bodies if we are living in harmony with him. That same word that kept shoes and clothes from wearing out, also kept Moses from wearing out. We read that “his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.”

I believe from these scriptures there is something for us that we have not yet availed ourselves of—something for us that we do not have, because we are not prepared to have it. When we come to recognize that the word of the Lord is a necessary part of the means to sustain the daily physical forces, there will be a new power in life for service, and a new power to make no provision to fulfil the lusts of the flesh, and when we eat and drink, or whatever we do, we will do all to the glory of God.

“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?” 1 Cor. 6:19. God does not dwell in temples made with hands, but he did make provision to dwell in temples of his own making. In many of the temples of this world there are false gods and false doctrines, and so in the temples that God made for the dwelling of the Holy Ghost, other gods reign and false doctrines are taught. The two cannot dwell in the same place at the same time.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Rom. 12:1. We are to present our bodies a living sacrifice. A sacrifice to be a sacrifice must cost something. Read 2 Sam. 24:24. David had sinned by numbering the people, and so a three days’ pestilence had been sent upon the people. The hand of the destroying angel was stayed at Jerusalem, and then the prophet Gad directed David to offer up a sacrifice on the threshing-floor of Araunah. Araunah offered David his threshing-floor, the threshing instruments and the oxen for the sacrifice; and verse 23 says, “All this, O king, doth Araunah give unto the king.” And King David said unto Araunah, “Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price; neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.”

Both of these men reveal a beautiful spirit, and one in which both of them were very greatly blessed. David did not propose to offer a sacrifice for his own sins of something that was given to him,—something that cost nothing. Many would have been willing to accept Araunah’s offer, but not so with David. How many of us are making offerings to the Lord that cost nothing? It is very evident that if we get into the kingdom of God we will have to make an offering that will cost us everything. We should begin now.

A body marred by self-indulgence, and one that is unclean mentally and physically, is not a suitable sacrifice. To make a living sacrifice it is necessary to practise self-denial in all the appetites and passions and as long as we live in the flesh, and this will cost us something. To many this cost is so great that they will never make the effort. Others get tired of making the sacrifice and give it up and drift into darkness. There are times when the sacrifice seems a very easy one, but when the enemy of our souls tempts us on our weak points, then the sacrifice is made only with effort. If our sacrifice is to be made acceptable, we must practise self-denial in everything that interferes with the health and that prevents us from bringing our bodies and minds up to the greatest degree of efficiency for service.

Paul says that this is a reasonable service. God has given us everything; why should not we give him all? To present him our bodies in this sense is worth more than all the gold and silver in the world, and he can do more with the offering than he could with the material wealth of the world.

The verse quoted from Romans contains wonderful statements, and has a meaning that applies to us as never before. In these words is the very core of health reform. We should make this living sacrifice that God calls for, and it is an individual matter; my sacrifice will not help you. The more we make this living sacrifice, the more we can worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. The more we make this sacrifice, the more means there will be with which to complete the work, and the more missionaries there will be who will want to go to other places. It is because we are the “sons of God” that we wish to make this self-denial by faith, for the “just shall live by faith.”