Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
The verse warns against enemies of the cross who corrupt God's people under a guise of light and must not be encouraged. Their god being their belly means appetite rules them so they live to eat rather than eating to live, making self and perverted taste their god in gluttony, intemperance and earthly-minded habits. Their glory being in their shame means they take pride in degrading sensual indulgence that corrupts thought, speech and character while appearing respectable to the world, and their minding earthly things means thoughts and affections fixed on gain, pleasure and finite objects until gain is mistaken for godliness. Their end is destruction of body and soul, for violated physical law brings suffering, disease and death, and self-indulgent gluttons have no part in the immortal inheritance. Therefore the stomach must not be made a god, but appetite must be governed by principle to God's glory in sanctification of soul, body and spirit.
The Enemies Described
The verse warns against enemies of the cross of Christ who endanger God's people, appearing in garments of light as in Paul's day to exert a corrupting influence that must not be encouraged, and Paul warns against them with weeping. They oppose the cross and live for appetite and earthly things, headed for destruction, treating indulgence of appetite as their god and taking pride in what is shameful. Their end is destruction because their god is appetite, their glory is shame, and they mind earthly things instead of heaven.
Their God is their belly means appetite rules them so they live to eat rather than eating to live, serving the stomach and making self and perverted taste their god. This is being minded toward earthly things, and includes gluttony in eating and drinking and intemperate, reckless habits that harm health. Serving self in this way reaps the consequences of violating nature's laws, for abusing the body to gratify lustful appetites enslaves to passion and leads to degradation and self-destruction, and the transgressed laws become a source of torment. Intemperate eating puts bodily desire first and disregards health and life, bringing sickness as consequence.
This bondage enslaves professed worshipers to tobacco and liquor and other unnatural desires uncontrolled by reason or judgment. The clamor of appetite prevails over natural affection, so appetite which they have in common with brutes controls them, and they will satisfy tobacco and liquor before family need or the treasury of God, while Satan works in these last days with greater power through appetite and passions to bring men into bondage and thus accomplish their ruin. Indulgence weakens the will, damages body and mind, stupefies the senses, chains victims in habit difficult to overcome, destroys clear perception so sin and corruption are not distinguished from truth and holiness, and leads to craving for something stronger, fermented wines and liquors, all of which are intoxicating. Unholy appetites increase until indulgence becomes habit, with Satan as advocate and Satanic power upon the mind overcome by appetite, destroying the image of God in man and leaving the world revolted and corrupted, yet holy angels aid those who vigorously maintain the conflict with no tame message to destroy the worship of these idols. Ministers set apart to minister in sacred things who defile themselves with tobacco cherish it as an idol to which every high and sacred consideration must bow, professing to serve and worship God while violating the first commandment by having other gods before the Lord, and such service cannot be acceptable to a holy God who is still a God of cleanliness and requires purity of heart and personal cleanliness.
The same idolatry appears in food and drink, for meat-eaters make gods of their bellies, with flesh-eating linked to excited appetites and passions and to impaired intellectual and moral character. Excessive highly seasoned animal food, especially pork, produces a feverish condition and impure blood, and using ale for temporary stimulation can lead to continued use, stronger drink, and increasing excess. Labor and time are consumed in obtaining and preparing rich highly seasoned food, so eternal concerns and the care and instruction of children become secondary, while such food harms health, sours the temper, and clouds reason. Indulgence of tea, coffee, tobacco, liquor and overeating at dinners and suppers overworks digestion and leaves the stomach protesting. Sabbath-keepers who waste on rich food means that should be put in the treasury of the Lord make themselves sickly among the saints by indulgence, destroy health of body, ruin constitution, destroy mind, and keep pride and idols instead of laying them aside. The remedy is to deny unhealthy appetite, eat plain coarse nourishing food with little grease to God's glory, ask blessing only on food congenial to nature, pray as Solomon prayed for convenient food and act accordingly, eat only twice a day without excess or eating between meals, eat slowly with thorough mastication, and take open-air exercise after eating, so there is no need to prescribe by weight or measure out precise quantities.
Their glory is in their shame means they take pride in what is shameful, with sensual indulgence degrading nature, corrupting thoughts, speech and character, perverting judgment and revealing degradation even in words and countenance. They may be highly regarded by the world while low and vile in God's sight. To mind earthly things means thoughts, desires and affections are fixed on earth, including impure love, devotion to finite objects and pursuit of worldly gain, so temporal things engross attention, darken understanding to mistake gain for godliness and self-will for God's will, and cause forgetfulness of God. This applies to professed Christians occupied with gain and to parents who must keep clear the contrast between followers of Jesus and people whose god is this world, whose worldly path leads to death, and not let children drift toward the world through example, advice, silence, or consent. It applies to ministers whose large business enterprises divide interest and dim spiritual perception so the mind and heart become occupied with earthly things, Christ's service takes second place, and they shape their work for God by circumstances instead of shaping circumstances to meet the demands of God.
Destruction and Reform Call
Their end is destruction in body and soul, for those who oppose the cross and live for appetite and earthly things, treating indulgence as god and taking pride in what is shameful, are headed for that ruin. Gratifying lustful appetites to serve self and make the stomach god enslaves to passion and drags beings made in God's image lower and lower, weakening physical, mental and spiritual strength, while abused and transgressed laws become torment and bring degradation and self-destruction. Indulging perverted appetite by gratifying taste purchases a meal at immense cost to health and sweetness of life, at the expense of a fevered system, loss of appetite, loss of sleep, suffering, acute disease and death, which is the sure penalty of violated law. Contrary to eulogies that carry such self-murderers directly to heaven at death, gluttons will never enter the pearly gates of the golden city of God nor be exalted to the right hand of Jesus, whose life was constant self-denial and sacrifice, but a place is appointed for them among the unworthy where they can have no part in the better life and the immortal inheritance, and they will lie down in sorrow.
Making appetite god degrades and enslaves, blunts the perceptive faculties so eternal things cannot be appreciated or rightly valued, and hinders health, morals and good Christian character. Sensual indulgence degrades nature, corrupts thoughts and speech, obscures the image of God, corrupts character, perverts judgment and weakens intellect, so that degradation is revealed even in words and countenance, and though such persons may be highly regarded by the world they are low and vile in God's sight. Intemperance in eating and reckless living without studying how to live healthfully transgresses the laws of human being and brings diseases of various forms by one's own wrong course, and the suffering that follows comes from that wrong course and not from God, though sufferers seldom credit the true cause and wrongly think God the author of sickness. Such indulgence to satisfy cravings weakens the powers that could serve God and brings irritability, confused thinking and unsteady nerves, and those who transgress God's laws in the physical organism will also violate the law spoken from Sinai and will not be governed by principle in other things. When thoughts, desires and affections are fixed on earth, devotion to finite objects and worldly gain degrades the soul, temporal things engross attention and cause forgetfulness of God, and understanding is darkened to mistake gain for godliness, sin for grace, the world for God, self-will for God's will, so that God cannot be glorified in the life.
Knowingly rejecting light on health to satisfy cravings is worship of perverted appetite instead of God, having other gods before the Lord. Men set apart to minister in sacred things who defile themselves with tobacco cherish it as an idol to which every high and sacred consideration must bow, professing to serve God while violating the first commandment, and such service cannot be acceptable to a holy God who is still a God of cleanliness and requires purity of heart and personal cleanliness. Unholy appetite and intemperance of every kind hold human beings as in a vise and end in destruction, for tobacco is unclean and narcotic, stupefying the senses, chaining the will, holding victims in slavery of habit difficult to overcome, destroying clear perception so sin and corruption are not distinguished from truth and holiness, and leading to craving for something stronger, fermented wines and liquors, all intoxicating, until indulgence becomes habit with Satan as advocate and Satanic power upon the mind overcome by appetite, destroying the image of God and leaving corruption and revolt. The verse calls instead not to make self god in any way but to sanctification of soul, body and spirit, for God chose His people from eternity to be holy with conscience purged from dead works to serve the living God, and gave Himself to die to purify them from all iniquity, and He will carry on this work of perfection in those who allow themselves to be controlled by Him, surrounding them with the atmosphere of heaven for their good and His name's glory. The conflict against this self-destructive evil must be vigorously maintained with no tame message, holy angels aiding those who engage to destroy the worship of these idols, and overcoming this idolatry of appetite is individual work that must be done to be prepared for the loud cry of the third angel.
Agitation of reform in eating and drinking develops character and unerringly brings to light those described, who shrink back when health reform restricts lustful appetite and cling to loved health-destroying indulgences even when sin is pointed out and idols shown, staying joined to their idols until left alone. Being healed does not give permission to indulge as one wishes, but calls for turning from sin and self-indulgence. Those whom the Lord has graciously healed must not become presumptuous that healing frees them from restricting diet so they can eat and drink as they please and link themselves with the self-indulgent practices of the world, but must restrict diet and reform, doing as Christ commanded after healing to go and sin no more. If after much light people cherish wrong habits, indulge self, refuse to reform and determine to gratify perverted appetite at any cost, God will not miraculously save them from the consequences of indulgence, but they will suffer the sure consequences of transgression, lie down in sorrow, and erelong need in body and soul the restoring power of God.
Not making the stomach a god means eating and drinking from principle after light has come, carefully guarding appetite and governing it intelligently to God's glory, rather than letting eating, drinking and dressing dominate thought until the mind becomes self-centered. Living to eat rather than eating to live gives food and drink control over life, damages the digestive organs, destroys happiness and ultimately brings ruin. It means denying unhealthy appetite and refusing to waste on rich food means that belong in the Lord's treasury, for Sabbath-keepers who so indulge make themselves sickly, destroy health of body, ruin constitution, destroy mind, and keep pride and idols instead of laying them aside, and those who make their bellies a god, if saved at all, will know pinching want unless they deny appetite and eat to God's glory. Good health requires denying unhealthy appetite, eating plain coarse nourishing food with little grease, asking blessing only on food congenial to nature, praying as Solomon prayed for convenient food and acting accordingly, and then God blesses. It requires eating plain nourishing food only twice a day and not in too large quantities, tasting nothing between meals, eating slowly with thorough mastication, and taking proper exercise in the open air after eating, so there is no need to prescribe by weight or measure precise quantities.
The verse warns against enemies of the cross who corrupt God's people under a guise of light and must not be encouraged. Their god being their belly means appetite rules them so they live to eat rather than eating to live, making self and perverted taste their god in gluttony, intemperance and earthly-minded habits. Their glory being in their shame means they take pride in degrading sensual indulgence that corrupts thought, speech and character while appearing respectable to the world, and their minding earthly things means thoughts and affections fixed on gain, pleasure and finite objects until gain is mistaken for godliness. Their end is destruction of body and soul, for violated physical law brings suffering, disease and death, and self-indulgent gluttons have no part in the immortal inheritance. Therefore the stomach must not be made a god, but appetite must be governed by principle to God's glory in sanctification of soul, body and spirit.
The Enemies Described
The verse warns against enemies of the cross of Christ who endanger God's people, appearing in garments of light as in Paul's day to exert a corrupting influence that must not be encouraged, and Paul warns against them with weeping. They oppose the cross and live for appetite and earthly things, headed for destruction, treating indulgence of appetite as their god and taking pride in what is shameful. Their end is destruction because their god is appetite, their glory is shame, and they mind earthly things instead of heaven.
Their God is their belly means appetite rules them so they live to eat rather than eating to live, serving the stomach and making self and perverted taste their god. This is being minded toward earthly things, and includes gluttony in eating and drinking and intemperate, reckless habits that harm health. Serving self in this way reaps the consequences of violating nature's laws, for abusing the body to gratify lustful appetites enslaves to passion and leads to degradation and self-destruction, and the transgressed laws become a source of torment. Intemperate eating puts bodily desire first and disregards health and life, bringing sickness as consequence.
This bondage enslaves professed worshipers to tobacco and liquor and other unnatural desires uncontrolled by reason or judgment. The clamor of appetite prevails over natural affection, so appetite which they have in common with brutes controls them, and they will satisfy tobacco and liquor before family need or the treasury of God, while Satan works in these last days with greater power through appetite and passions to bring men into bondage and thus accomplish their ruin. Indulgence weakens the will, damages body and mind, stupefies the senses, chains victims in habit difficult to overcome, destroys clear perception so sin and corruption are not distinguished from truth and holiness, and leads to craving for something stronger, fermented wines and liquors, all of which are intoxicating. Unholy appetites increase until indulgence becomes habit, with Satan as advocate and Satanic power upon the mind overcome by appetite, destroying the image of God in man and leaving the world revolted and corrupted, yet holy angels aid those who vigorously maintain the conflict with no tame message to destroy the worship of these idols. Ministers set apart to minister in sacred things who defile themselves with tobacco cherish it as an idol to which every high and sacred consideration must bow, professing to serve and worship God while violating the first commandment by having other gods before the Lord, and such service cannot be acceptable to a holy God who is still a God of cleanliness and requires purity of heart and personal cleanliness.
The same idolatry appears in food and drink, for meat-eaters make gods of their bellies, with flesh-eating linked to excited appetites and passions and to impaired intellectual and moral character. Excessive highly seasoned animal food, especially pork, produces a feverish condition and impure blood, and using ale for temporary stimulation can lead to continued use, stronger drink, and increasing excess. Labor and time are consumed in obtaining and preparing rich highly seasoned food, so eternal concerns and the care and instruction of children become secondary, while such food harms health, sours the temper, and clouds reason. Indulgence of tea, coffee, tobacco, liquor and overeating at dinners and suppers overworks digestion and leaves the stomach protesting. Sabbath-keepers who waste on rich food means that should be put in the treasury of the Lord make themselves sickly among the saints by indulgence, destroy health of body, ruin constitution, destroy mind, and keep pride and idols instead of laying them aside. The remedy is to deny unhealthy appetite, eat plain coarse nourishing food with little grease to God's glory, ask blessing only on food congenial to nature, pray as Solomon prayed for convenient food and act accordingly, eat only twice a day without excess or eating between meals, eat slowly with thorough mastication, and take open-air exercise after eating, so there is no need to prescribe by weight or measure out precise quantities.
Their glory is in their shame means they take pride in what is shameful, with sensual indulgence degrading nature, corrupting thoughts, speech and character, perverting judgment and revealing degradation even in words and countenance. They may be highly regarded by the world while low and vile in God's sight. To mind earthly things means thoughts, desires and affections are fixed on earth, including impure love, devotion to finite objects and pursuit of worldly gain, so temporal things engross attention, darken understanding to mistake gain for godliness and self-will for God's will, and cause forgetfulness of God. This applies to professed Christians occupied with gain and to parents who must keep clear the contrast between followers of Jesus and people whose god is this world, whose worldly path leads to death, and not let children drift toward the world through example, advice, silence, or consent. It applies to ministers whose large business enterprises divide interest and dim spiritual perception so the mind and heart become occupied with earthly things, Christ's service takes second place, and they shape their work for God by circumstances instead of shaping circumstances to meet the demands of God.
Destruction and Reform Call
Their end is destruction in body and soul, for those who oppose the cross and live for appetite and earthly things, treating indulgence as god and taking pride in what is shameful, are headed for that ruin. Gratifying lustful appetites to serve self and make the stomach god enslaves to passion and drags beings made in God's image lower and lower, weakening physical, mental and spiritual strength, while abused and transgressed laws become torment and bring degradation and self-destruction. Indulging perverted appetite by gratifying taste purchases a meal at immense cost to health and sweetness of life, at the expense of a fevered system, loss of appetite, loss of sleep, suffering, acute disease and death, which is the sure penalty of violated law. Contrary to eulogies that carry such self-murderers directly to heaven at death, gluttons will never enter the pearly gates of the golden city of God nor be exalted to the right hand of Jesus, whose life was constant self-denial and sacrifice, but a place is appointed for them among the unworthy where they can have no part in the better life and the immortal inheritance, and they will lie down in sorrow.
Making appetite god degrades and enslaves, blunts the perceptive faculties so eternal things cannot be appreciated or rightly valued, and hinders health, morals and good Christian character. Sensual indulgence degrades nature, corrupts thoughts and speech, obscures the image of God, corrupts character, perverts judgment and weakens intellect, so that degradation is revealed even in words and countenance, and though such persons may be highly regarded by the world they are low and vile in God's sight. Intemperance in eating and reckless living without studying how to live healthfully transgresses the laws of human being and brings diseases of various forms by one's own wrong course, and the suffering that follows comes from that wrong course and not from God, though sufferers seldom credit the true cause and wrongly think God the author of sickness. Such indulgence to satisfy cravings weakens the powers that could serve God and brings irritability, confused thinking and unsteady nerves, and those who transgress God's laws in the physical organism will also violate the law spoken from Sinai and will not be governed by principle in other things. When thoughts, desires and affections are fixed on earth, devotion to finite objects and worldly gain degrades the soul, temporal things engross attention and cause forgetfulness of God, and understanding is darkened to mistake gain for godliness, sin for grace, the world for God, self-will for God's will, so that God cannot be glorified in the life.
Knowingly rejecting light on health to satisfy cravings is worship of perverted appetite instead of God, having other gods before the Lord. Men set apart to minister in sacred things who defile themselves with tobacco cherish it as an idol to which every high and sacred consideration must bow, professing to serve God while violating the first commandment, and such service cannot be acceptable to a holy God who is still a God of cleanliness and requires purity of heart and personal cleanliness. Unholy appetite and intemperance of every kind hold human beings as in a vise and end in destruction, for tobacco is unclean and narcotic, stupefying the senses, chaining the will, holding victims in slavery of habit difficult to overcome, destroying clear perception so sin and corruption are not distinguished from truth and holiness, and leading to craving for something stronger, fermented wines and liquors, all intoxicating, until indulgence becomes habit with Satan as advocate and Satanic power upon the mind overcome by appetite, destroying the image of God and leaving corruption and revolt. The verse calls instead not to make self god in any way but to sanctification of soul, body and spirit, for God chose His people from eternity to be holy with conscience purged from dead works to serve the living God, and gave Himself to die to purify them from all iniquity, and He will carry on this work of perfection in those who allow themselves to be controlled by Him, surrounding them with the atmosphere of heaven for their good and His name's glory. The conflict against this self-destructive evil must be vigorously maintained with no tame message, holy angels aiding those who engage to destroy the worship of these idols, and overcoming this idolatry of appetite is individual work that must be done to be prepared for the loud cry of the third angel.
Agitation of reform in eating and drinking develops character and unerringly brings to light those described, who shrink back when health reform restricts lustful appetite and cling to loved health-destroying indulgences even when sin is pointed out and idols shown, staying joined to their idols until left alone. Being healed does not give permission to indulge as one wishes, but calls for turning from sin and self-indulgence. Those whom the Lord has graciously healed must not become presumptuous that healing frees them from restricting diet so they can eat and drink as they please and link themselves with the self-indulgent practices of the world, but must restrict diet and reform, doing as Christ commanded after healing to go and sin no more. If after much light people cherish wrong habits, indulge self, refuse to reform and determine to gratify perverted appetite at any cost, God will not miraculously save them from the consequences of indulgence, but they will suffer the sure consequences of transgression, lie down in sorrow, and erelong need in body and soul the restoring power of God.
Not making the stomach a god means eating and drinking from principle after light has come, carefully guarding appetite and governing it intelligently to God's glory, rather than letting eating, drinking and dressing dominate thought until the mind becomes self-centered. Living to eat rather than eating to live gives food and drink control over life, damages the digestive organs, destroys happiness and ultimately brings ruin. It means denying unhealthy appetite and refusing to waste on rich food means that belong in the Lord's treasury, for Sabbath-keepers who so indulge make themselves sickly, destroy health of body, ruin constitution, destroy mind, and keep pride and idols instead of laying them aside, and those who make their bellies a god, if saved at all, will know pinching want unless they deny appetite and eat to God's glory. Good health requires denying unhealthy appetite, eating plain coarse nourishing food with little grease, asking blessing only on food congenial to nature, praying as Solomon prayed for convenient food and acting accordingly, and then God blesses. It requires eating plain nourishing food only twice a day and not in too large quantities, tasting nothing between meals, eating slowly with thorough mastication, and taking proper exercise in the open air after eating, so there is no need to prescribe by weight or measure precise quantities.