THE PHYSICAL FOUNDATION FOR SIN.
By G. H. Heald
“Satan knows that he cannot overcome man unless he can control his will. He can do this by deceiving man so that he will co-operate with him in transgressing the laws of nature.”—Mrs. E. G. White, Jan. 11, 1897. This most important statement gives a key to Satan’s hold on the human race. The enemy has no control over a will which has not been yielded to him. “To whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness.” Rom. 6:16. Satan’s only power on those not already under his control is his power to deceive. He began his work on this earth by deceiving Eve: “The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” He will continue to deceive until cast into the bottomless pit, when his deceptions will cease for one thousand years. Rev. 20:3. “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations.” Rev. 20:7, 8. His work is always a work of deception. Man’s only protection against the deception of Satan is to know and believe God’s word. “It is written” is more than a match for all Satan’s temptations. But if man is not fully established on the rock of God’s word (Matt. 7:24), he is deceived by the enemy, yields to his suggestions, and thus becomes his servant. One of the most common deceptions to which man is subjected is that against which we are warned in Gal. 6:7: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption.” Man is constantly being deceived with the thought that he can ignore the laws of health, and yet avoid the penalty. Being thus deceived, man co-operates with Satan by transgressing the laws of health, which are the laws of God. As the ostrich, when it has its head in the sand, feels safe because it cannot see its pursuers, so man feels safe in the violation of the laws of his being, because he does not realize in his body an immediate punishment of his rashness. “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” Eccl. 8:11. The world teems with diseases in myriad forms. The sons of men come to an untimely end through transgression, and yet few are wise enough to detect the cause and avoid it. “A prudent man forseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.” Prov. 22:3. But what has a man’s care of his body to do with his service to God?—Everything. In the first place, God commands it. He, the Creator of our bodies, requires that they be kept in perfect condition for His service. “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: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Cor. 6:19, 20. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Cor. 10:31. Again: it is impossible to worship God properly, or to understand Him, with a mind clouded by ill health, the result of improper living. It is impossible to glorify God when body and mind are warped through misuse. It is impossible for a nervous dyspeptic to manifest patience, forbearance, and other Christian virtues under trying circumstances. Only those who by temperance have maintained a sound mind in a sound body can glorify God. The Master, casting His eye down the ages, saw just prior to His second coming a condition similar to the time of the flood—men eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage; and this in excess, as is indicated by His warning to His own followers who are living in the last days: “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting [overeating], and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” Luke 21:34. Foreseeing the tendency to gluttony which would characterize the last days, the Lord has faithfully warned His people; so the gospel of health, the health reform message, while applicable in all ages, is present truth for this generation. Many, even of those who profess to be looking for the soon-coming Lord, have been deceived into believing that the care of the health is a matter of minor importance, whereas the Lord has admonished us: “As we near the close of time, we must rise higher and still higher upon the question of health reform and Christian temperance, presenting it in a more positive and decided manner. We must strive continually to educate the people, not only by our words, but by our practice.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI, page 112.