A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF THE DIGESTIVE PROCESS by David Paulson; W. S. Sadler

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 1, 1901

A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF THE DIGESTIVE PROCESS

By David Paulson; W. S. Sadler

(Concluded) *

A PARALLEL BETWEEN PHYSICAL DIGESTION AND SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION BY FAITH

Faith has been termed the great digestive agent of the soul. Each of the digestive juices is connected with a special digestive organ. In carrying out the comparison, let us seek to learn from what place faith exercises its marvelous transforming influence upon the spiritual food of the soul. Rom. 10:10 probably answers our question: “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Man believes with the heart, and not merely with the head. Just as the proteid food element can never be digested in the mouth, so man will never be able to lay hold of truth, and prepare it for entering into his character, if it gets no further into his experience than his head—the reason. It must go to the heart, there to be acted upon by faith, before it will in reality become a part of his own experience.

FAITH THE MORAL TRANSFORMING AGENT

“For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” Heb. 4:2. Faith is to the soul what all the digestive fluids are to the body. The heart is to the moral nature what all the organs of digestion are to the physical man. The persons to whom the word of God was of no profit were those who failed to have faith mixed with it. Their hearts were not right, therefore their faith was either inferior in quality or decreased in quantity, and, as a result of this derangement, the word of God—their moral food—did not profit them. Notwithstanding the fact that they ate, yet they experienced “leanness of soul”—they had moral indigestion. “The just shall live by faith;” and when faith is absent, heaven’s most glorious truths and its mightiest providences prove only stumbling stones and rocks of offense.

So powerful is the action of some of the digestive fluids that a very small amount is able to transform almost an unlimited quantity of the particular food element which it acts upon; and so a finite amount of faith—as it were but the size of a mustard seed—is able to transform mountains of difficulties and obstacles into triumph and victory. God himself supplies us with faith. “For by grace ye are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” Eph. 2:8. The overcoming faith of the Christian is the faith of Jesus. It is the faith that goes hand in hand with the keeping of the commandments of God. Divine faith in the human heart transforms the character after the divine similitude.

HOW FAITH IS STIMULATED

1. By the Flavor of Truth.—Just as the Creator has arranged characteristic flavors for every food substance, so He has put a flavor into every divine truth; and just as these food substances stimulate the flow of the digestive juices, so the flavor of truth—the spirit of truth—is that which, above everything else, calls out the exercise of faith and the activities of the soul.

2. By the Word of God.—“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Rom. 10:17. Here we learn that hearing the word stimulates the faith by which the word is to be accepted, transformed, and made a part of our moral nature. What a beautiful parallel is here observed between the spiritual and physical world! The saliva, gastric juice, and other of the digestive fluids are especially stimulated by the presence of those food elements which it is their special work to act upon; and so faith is stimulated and strengthened by the presence of that which it must believe and accept—the word of God. The very thing that faith must accept is the very thing that exercises, stimulates, and strengthens it.

3. By Prayer.—“But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.” Luke 22:32. Christ, speaking to Peter, says that He prayed for him, that his faith fail not. Constant communion with Heaven is one of the greatest secrets of a strong and active faith.

HOW FAITH IS HINDERED

1. By Failure to Walk in the Light.—“Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.” 1 Tim 3:9. The conscience must be kept pure, or else faith will be greatly hindered in its work of laying hold of spiritual nourishment and transforming it into moral character. Failure to walk in the light is sure, sooner or later, to give rise to symptoms of unbelief, which are sure indications of moral indigestion; that is, a state of spiritual experience in which light and truth are not properly woven into the character, and hence have become matters of profession rather than possession.

2. By a Bad Conscience.—“Holding faith, and a good conscience, which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck.” 1 Tim. 1:19. Faith must be held in a good conscience, or else it will become so weakened as to lead to its own shipwreck.

A SPIRITUAL LESSON FROM PEPSIN

We have learned that a small quantity of pepsin is able to digest almost an infinite amount of proteids, provided the pepsin is in an acid medium; that is, provided hydrochloric acid is present. And so faith requires a particular medium in which to act, and this we find in James 2:26: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” Faith, although but the size of a grain of mustard, is able to move mountains when there is present with it the disposition to obey—the commandment-keeping disposition. But when this medium of living works is removed, then faith is dead, it is powerless; and, like the pepsin without the acid medium, it is shorn of its transforming possibilities. A man will never be justified by a faith that is not strong enough to enable him to live up to what he professes. Works do not save us. “The just shall live by faith;” but without works faith is dead. Of those who are about to be translated it is not written, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God,” or, “Here are they which have the faith of Jesus,” but, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

Many are endeavoring to have themselves justified by presumption. Nevertheless it sometimes follows that faith may be true, and healthy, and strong, and yet its possessor be unable to put his finger on many of the corresponding works he would expect to see. Digestion, when in a normal condition, is an unconscious process; we never know that we are digesting food unless something goes wrong. We are unconscious of our digestion until it becomes indigestion; and so the soul that is living by faith, humbly trusting in God moment by moment, may not be aware of any great transformation going on within its experience. The process, if normal, is unconscious, but nevertheless genuine.

ELEMENTS OF FAITH

There are three great things that faith must grasp: (1) God’s work for us; (2) God’s promises to us; (3) God’s attitude toward us.

1. Confidence.—“But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house we are, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” Heb. 3:6. Let faith lose its confidence, and it loses its power. Confidence accepts God’s work for us. It believes that He who has begun the work is able to finish it. It is because our faith is confiding that it is possible for us to believe that “all things work together for good,” according to the promise in Rom. 8:28. “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Phil. 1:6. The strength of our confidence depends upon our keeping the eye of faith fixed upon Jesus. “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” Heb. 12:2, 3. We shall not become faint and weary if we continue to look at Him. Then, too, if we have confidence in Him, we shall be free to ask of Him the things we need. “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.” 1 John 3:21. Our confidence in God is hindered just to the extent that we have confidence in the flesh. “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” Phil. 3:3. To just the extent that we distrust ourselves, we shall have confidence in God; and just to the extent that we doubt Jesus, we shall have confidence in the flesh.

2. Hope.—Hope is another of the elements or accompaniments of faith. “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel.” Col. 1:23. If we would continue in the faith, we must not be moved away from our hope. Hope has especially to do with having faith in the veracity of God, in accepting His promises, and believing they are for us. “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.” Heb. 6:19. Hope is the anchor of the soul. How is our hope strengthened? Read Rom. 15:4: “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” Hope is built up through patience and comfort of the Scriptures; in other words, patience and Bible study, or patient Bible study. On the other hand, our hope is greatly weakened and hindered by a desire to walk by sight. “And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of Him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by Him.” Luke 23:8. He did not hope in

the promises of God, but hoped to see some miracle. His hope was not linked with faith, but rather was associated with sight. Let us believe, as did Abraham, and hope even against hope, rather than fall into the error of seeking for signs and wonders.

3. Trust.—Trust has to do with God’s attitude toward us. “He that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat.” Prov. 28:25. The trusting soul is the one that has fed itself to fatness upon the things of God. Distrust is one of the sure means of producing leanness of soul. “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.” Heb. 10:35. “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” John 13:17. If you know God trusts you, it will be a simple matter for you to trust Him. The only way to be sure that you can trust God is constantly to keep yourself in that attitude where God can trust you.

Trust is greatly hindered by fear, and fear is always the offspring of wrongdoing. “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation.” Isa. 12:2. Fear of duty, fear of persecution, fear of answering the call of God, is sure death to trust. The truest trust is born of the greatest fearlessness.

Copyrighted, 1900, by David Paulson and W. S. Sadler.