FREDERICK M. ROSSITER, M. D
By Frederick M. Rossiter
The Gospel of Health—No. 1
FREDERICK M. ROSSITER, M. D
The gospel, Paul tells us in Rom. 1:16, is the power of God unto salvation. It represents all that is necessary to make the perfect man. The perfect man is one who has developed the three phases of his nature; namely, the spiritual, the mental, and the physical. In the study of the development of life we observe that the physical is the first that matures in man. At twenty-five a man or woman has fully matured physically and should be in the prime of physical health and vigor. Not so, however, with the mental and spiritual powers. They have made only a beginning. It is not necessary that a man should be stronger physically at fifty than he is at twenty-five, but it is necessary that the health be preserved and guarded carefully in order to develop the mental and spiritual powers to the highest degree of efficiency not only at fifty but for later years of service. The world is only too full of men and women who stop growing mentally at twenty-five, and the spiritual life has hardly made a beginning. At fifty very few men and women can endure what they could at twenty-five, but at fifty a man or woman should be in the very prime for mental and spiritual endurance. Only too often, however, this is not the case, and for various reasons; it is principally due to sickness or loss of physical power. Poor health and physical debility not only rob one of the active desire for mental and spiritual progress, but actually produce the obstacles making such progress laborious and difficult. From this it does not follow that the strongest men and women have the greatest minds and the deepest spirituality, but there must be a proper poise between the three. If a person with a weak and sickly body has great mentality and spirituality, as we sometimes observe, what might he be if he had abounding health? It must be apparent to all that good health is the very foundation to a successful life, whatever the calling may be. In 3 John 2 we read, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” Not only is our Heavenly Father concerned about our health and wishes us prosperity, but he has given us abundant light and knowledge so that we actually may have good health if we desire to have it. Never in the history of the race have men had such knowledge pertaining to health and the prevention of disease as they have today. There is a reason for this. More is expected from this generation of Christians than of any preceding age or people. I do not believe that this is the only reason why there is so much light on the subject of health. The middle-aged portion of the race are dying off faster than ever before, and all chronic diseases are rapidly on the increase. The individual as a unit has less disease-resisting powers. Then, we are living in a world of compensations. A hundred years ago wheat stood up long enough after it was ripe so that men could cut it all with a cradle, now it falls to the ground so soon after being ripe that self-binders are necessary to save the crop. A few hundred years ago human beings were carried off by the millions because of insanitary conditions, and of those that survived these conditions, there were more persons out of every hundred that lived to an advanced age than at the present time. In the days of Moses God gave to Israel definite knowledge concerning the laws of sanitation and the preservation of health, but in the closing days of the gospel message the light of truth shines much brighter. Light causes growth. Can we show progress commensurate with the light given? Vegetation will grow in prolonged darkness, but it is not a healthy growth. One reason why we have not made more progress in healthful living is because each one has tried to apply the principles to his neighbor instead of making an intelligent personal application of it. Soul prosperity is an individual matter. There are outside means by which spiritual growth can be assisted, but after all it is the personal application of the Bible truths that gives the results. So health is an individual matter. All the Biblical and scientific knowledge in the world on the subject of health will not give us abounding health unless it is made personal and adopted into the life as a practical matter. “As thy soul prospereth,” the apostle says. If the physical health of most people were no better than their soul prosperity, what a state this present generation would be in, and among professed Christians, too! But even the physical condition of the nations today is the cause of considerable alarm among scientists; yet in the church and in the world the physical health is better than the spiritual conditions. When the individual health of the soul and body is put on a higher plane, we shall witness a power and efficiency in the message that we have not yet seen. When Israel was on the border of the promised land and ready to go over, we are told that there was not a sick nor feeble person among that great host. Through a period of forty years, under testing trials and adverse circumstances, they had learned obedience to the statutes and commandments of the Lord. These statutes covered the physical as well as the spiritual. With the giving of obedience was the promise that no sickness should come upon them. But you will notice from the record that most of this great host died prematurely because of sin. What a terrible mortality there must have been in the camps of Israel during that forty years in the “great and terrible wilderness,” and all because of sin. Sin affects the physical life and cuts short our usefulness, even though we repent of the sins. Does the Lord expect less of the people in the last days who are being prepared for the promised land? These things were written for us, for our admonition and learning. As the gospel dispensation is greater than the former one, and as the latter rain will be more abundant than the Pentecostal showers, so the work of the closing message is greater than that of any former period. It has far more searching requirements and is more far-reaching in its final results. For these reasons the gospel of health and the practical application of the principles of right living have a very important bearing at the present time. Health is an asset of the message that we cannot afford to jeopardize with the liabilities of sickness and premature decay. Men and women need physical vigor and vitality in order to cope with the tests of endurance to which the body is often subjected in carrying this message to a successful issue. This is true in temporal matters; it is more true in spiritual things. The Lord’s declaration to Zerubbabel (Zech. 4: 6, 7) is equally his declaration to this people: “Then he [the angel] answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain.” It is an easy matter for the Lord to make a plain out of the great mountains of difficulties? to make plains it is to let the Lord smooth out some of our mountains of difficulties? to make plains out of our mountains of worries and troubles, many of which never happened? If we should, we should have more energy and clearer minds to devote to successful missionary work. The success of the work depends upon the power and spirit of the Lord. We need to pray more. If we did this, we should save physical force and have more energy of body and mind with which to meet the issues, and we should have more joy and gladness in it all. If we prayed more, we should have fewer doubts, less worry and fear, and hence more physical and spiritual vitality. Luther said that to know how to pray well was the better half of work. We have been told that “prayer is the most holy exercise of the soul,” and anything that exercises the soul, the very highest of all the mental forces, imparts health and vigor to the body. This is a well-recognized law of psychology.