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Review and Herald, Vol. 77, No. 47.

OFFER UNTO GOD THANKSGIVING

Review and Herald

Nov 20, 1900

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 20, 1900

OFFER UNTO GOD THANKSGIVING.

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE.
“I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth all thy marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou Most High.”
We should ever remember that thanksgiving is the fruit of true, willing obedience. The Lord is the object of our worship, and to praise his holy name shows respect for his efficiency. God says, “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me.” “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith relies upon God as being able and willing to save to the uttermost all who come to him. As we speak of God’s power, we show that we appreciate the love that is so constantly shown us, that we are grateful for the mercies and favors bestowed on us, and that the whole soul is awakened to a realization of God’s glory.
The absence of praise and thanksgiving pleases the enemy of God. The line of demarcation between those who utter the holy name of God in blasphemy, and those who praise him with heart and with voice, is clear and distinct. He who is truly converted will glorify God as he beholds the wonderful things of his creation, the brightness of the sun, moon, and stars, the changing beauty of the heavens. To him all nature will declare God’s mighty power. He will be led to give glory to his holy name.
Isaiah tells us what God is doing for us. “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my Spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench; he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.”
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. . . . I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. . . . When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.”
What greater encouragement and assurance than this could the Lord give his loyal, commandment-keeping people! Have we not every reason for changing our attitude toward God? Is it not our duty to show the world that we appreciate the love of Christ? As we produce the fruit of thanksgiving, we bear living evidence that by connection with Christ we are placed on vantage ground. God is the fountain of life and power. He can make the wilderness a fruitful field for those who keep his commandments; for it is for the glory of his name to do this. Thus he witnesses to Christianity. He has done for his chosen people that which should inspire every heart with praise and thanksgiving; and it grieves him that so little praise is offered. He desires to have a stronger expression of praise from his people, showing that they know they have reason for manifesting joy and gladness.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. . . . He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. . . . And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth. . . . And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.” As the grace which is in the soul flows out to others, more grace flows in to be given back to God in willing offerings.
The people of God need to be aroused to let their light shine forth. Christ said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” God’s people should be an animated people, filled with joy and gladness because they behold him who is invisible to the eyes of the world.
Our tongues should be used to express the appreciation in our hearts for God’s goodness. Thus God requires us to return to him gratitude offerings. But this is not the only way in which we are to praise God. We are to praise him by tangible service, by doing all we can to advance the glory of his name. By improving our intrusted talents, we are to offer God thanksgiving.
We are to glorify God by keeping his commandments. Christ said: “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world can not receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more.” Feeling no need of me, it is seeking for the perishable things of earth. “But ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.” How plain is the distinction here drawn between the two classes. Worldlings place their whole attention upon the gaining of worldly advantages. The mind is filled with the selfish thought, How can I secure these advantages for myself? How can I obtain more money? This is the god man worships. Men do not stop to think of the riches of which no earthly power can deprive them. They see not Christ, neither know him. They do not realize their great need of a Redeemer. They do not pray. They put Christ out of their lives as much as possible.
“But ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.” Christ is with his children, enlightening their minds and leading them to call upon him. As they do this, he hears their prayers and purifies their hearts. They see him as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. They do not walk in accordance with the ways of the world. They ask God for Christ’s sake to help them, and they receive the help they ask for. They are gifted by God with power to see the love and wonderful charms of Christ. They can never feel lonely or comfortless.
“At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thouwilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?” Let all mark the answer. “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” Wonderful indeed is this promise. Do we comprehend it? When a man becomes one with Christ, he has the mind of Christ. He is no longer antagonistic to God’s law, but lives in obedience to all his commandments. He walks in the footsteps of the Saviour.
But should he walk regretfully, because in his union with Christ he is called upon to practice self-denial and self-sacrifice? Think of what the Prince of heaven did to manifest his love for the Father and for us. He resigned his position as Commander in the heavenly courts, and clothed his divinity with humanity, that humanity might lay hold of humanity, and divinity grasp the throne of the Infinite. This he did to perfect the redemption of the human race. Those who receive him are adopted into the royal family as sons and daughters of God. They are made heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, to an immortal inheritance. Have they any cause for regret?
Christ has declared that the cross which makes the line of demarcation between his people and the world so distinct is not a cross of discouragement, but a cross of salvation. Love for the Saviour will lead us to acknowledge this. God has given human beings all that ministers to their happiness, and in return he asks them to lay their gifts and offerings on his altar. Shall we disregard this requirement? Shall we fail of offering God praise and thanksgiving in word and deed?

Habit

HABIT at first is but a silken thread, Fine as the light-winged gossamers that sway In the warm sunbeams of a summer's day; A shallow streamlet rippling o'er its bed; A tiny sapling, ere its roots are spread; A yet unhardened thorn upon the spray; A lion's whelp that hath not scented prey; A little smiling child, obedient, led. Beware! that thread may bind thee as a chain; That streamlet gather to a fatal sea; That sapling spread into a gnarled tree; That thorn, grown hard, may wound and give thee pain; That playful whelp his murderous fangs reveal; That child, a giant, crush thee 'neath his heel.”

WITH ALL THE HEART.

By F. W. Huddleson

F. W. HUDDLESON. (Brooklyn, N. Y.)
“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” Jer. 29:13.
Our Heavenly Father requires whole-hearted service. Nor does this requirement arise from any selfish motive to monopolize the affections of his children; but because, without such a surrender, our enjoyment can not be complete. Could we get a correct view of God's attitude toward his created subjects, we should find him longing to have us so related to him and to one another that our joy would be full. His is the attitude of an adviser, a protector. His superior knowledge fits him for pointing out the way that leads to everlasting happiness.
The way of the transgressor is hard. It is full of thorns; the white blossoms that border the path are the deadly nightshade of disappointment. Sin darkens, withers, and blights the soul. Death is the logical consequence of sin. It is the only wages of sin. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall be also reap.” Gal. 6:7. If he sows to the flesh, he ends his career in darkness. If he sows to the Spirit, light from the throne of righteousness illumines his pathway, and shows him where to place his otherwise faltering feet.
In the text we see the sinner seeking God with a longing desire to find. Every fiber of his being is enlisted in the search. His soul is yearning to know the right way. As the hunted fawn pants for the water brook, so the soul is thirsting to drink of the water of life. It is indeed tired of the treacherous quicksands of sin. The enemies of its peace and joy can be heard baying their near approach. Driven by these awful foes, it is seeking, longing, agonizing for God. He seems veiled in darkness. But no sooner is the whole soul enlisted in the search, than heaven-sent light breaks in; the way clears of every obstacle; and from our Father's throne a voice speaks, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden.” The arms of the Infinite are extended, and the soul finds that rest for which it longed.

THE WAY OF VICTORY AND PEACE.

By J. G. Wilson

J. G. WILSON.
“The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” Rom. 7:12. It is spiritual, but man is carnal, sold under sin. Verse 14. The law demands perfect righteousness, and Jesus Christ is righteousness. Therefore the law demands Christ of every individual. But as “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” all are carnal, sold under sin, and therefore are not, and can not, be subject to the law of God.
Any one can see that although the law demands of everyone a life such as Jesus Christ lived here on earth, it does not, and can not, furnish that life to a single soul. Truly, “If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” Gal. 2:21. “If there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.” Gal. 3:21.
Dear brother, have you been toiling, striving, doing your best, to see the righteousness demanded by the law manifested in your life, and that by keeping the law? Are you satisfied with your efforts, or is there a conviction that something is lacking? Is it not true that all your efforts have failed to bring you that peace and rest for which your soul has been longing so many years? Be not discouraged; there are better things for the child of God than these fruitless efforts. But they will not come by a greater determination to do, nor by more painstaking efforts.
Let us for a moment examine the experience of ancient Israel. They saw that the law was good, and promised to keep it, just as we have done. Their intentions were good, but they failed; and we have done the same. What was the cause of their failure? Mark the answer, and you will know the cause of your own. They were natural men, earthly, carnal. The carnal mind, which is not, and never can be, subject to the law of God, was trying to subject itself thereto, and there could not possibly be anything but failure, and that continually.
Do you think that it is in vain that the Scripture says, “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: . . . neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned”? 1 Cor. 2:14. And do you not know that we, by our birth into this world, are only natural men? When we were born into this world, we were born of flesh; but Christ says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.” John 3:6. But “they which are the children of the flesh . . . are not the children of God.” Rom. 9:8. So we see that unless a man is born again, he is only flesh, only carnal, and therefore not subject to the law, which is spiritual.
Israel was natural. The law is spiritual. Israel tried to subject themselves to a law that had no place in their hearts. The result of their effort should teach us the utter uselessness of trying to subject ourselves to something that has no place in our hearts.
In the new covenant the law is written in the heart and mind of everyone who comes into the new-covenant relation. The writing of the law in the heart and mind means a new man—a new creature.
The agency by which God writes his law in the heart and mind is the Holy Spirit. 2 Cor. 3:3. And now we begin to see the necessity of receiving this heavenly Guest. For if we do not first receive him, the law can not be written in our hearts and minds; and if it is not written there, we are not subject to it, and can not be, and so, in the very nature of things, are transgressors. We may think we are commandment-keepers; but unless we receive the Holy Spirit, all our efforts to keep the law will amount to nothing.
Therefore it is evident that the most important thing is, and always has been, to recognize and receive the Holy Ghost. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we begin to realize what it means to be a Christian. We then know that it is to be just what Christ was here in this world. If our idea of Christianity falls short of what Christ was, we shall miss it just that much.
“But,” you say, “I can not live such a life.” True, you can not. Neither can any one else but Christ. That is why he is so anxious to come into our hearts by his Holy Spirit. The Father has one “only begotten Son,” and only one; and “whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin.” 1 John 3:9. So, brother, if you are born from above, it is not you, but Christ, that lives. This is the fact in the case. Will you receive it? And because you are born again, you are a son of God, and God is waiting for you to receive the Spirit of his Son into your heart, so that you will have not simply the name, but also the life, of the Son of God.
The apostles understood the correct method of gospel labor. First, they preached Christas the only Saviour, and then baptized the believers. Second, they instructed the believers in regard to the reception of the Holy Ghost, without which the lives of the believers would be variable, as was their own before Pentecost brought to them the fullness.
It is a fact that many of God's children stop just where the Samaritan believers were when Peter and John went to visit them—they believe and are baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 8:16), but go no further, and so miss the peace and joy of communion with God.
“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?” was Paul's question to the Ephesian believers. Paul did not believe in putting off to some future time the reception of this most precious gift. When the believers expressed their ignorance of even the existence of the Holy Ghost, Paul asked, “Unto what then were ye baptized?” Do you not know that all the steps you have taken are only preparatory to the reception, the baptism, of the Holy Ghost? Then they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and received the Holy Ghost, who was to be their teacher to lead them into all truth.
We talk of truth. But do you not know that without the Holy Spirit we are incapable of knowing the things of God? No man knows the things of God, but the Spirit of God knows them. 1 Cor. 2:11. As only the Spirit knows the things of God, it is evident that they can be learned only through the Spirit. Therefore the first thing to do after one has been born—has become a child of God by faith—is to recognize and receive the Spirit of the Son, and by that Spirit be taught the things of God.
“The end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart,” etc. 1 Tim. 1:5. And “love is the fulfilling of the law.” Rom. 13:10. Only when one is filled with love, is the law fulfilled in him. But we have no love, and can not produce it ourselves. But “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” Rom. 5:5.
The law without the Holy Spirit will do you no good, but the Holy Spirit supplies all that the law requires. Do not delay therefore, but receive the Holy Spirit now, and cease to struggle, to work, and—to fail.
The followers of Christ are to be one with him as he is one with the Father. What a union! One with Christ! Can you grasp the meaning of those three words? One with Christ! no longer two, but only one—Christ. “For to me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21); no longer I, but Christ. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Gal. 2:20.
We are dead, and it is Christ that lives, and the world is to see nothing but Christ henceforth. Oh, receive the Holy Spirit, and know the gift of God! You will not have to go over the same old experience year after year; but victory will be yours. Thank God for his unspeakable gift.

KEEP YOUR TROUBLES TO YOURSELF.

By Josephine Pollard

Keep your troubles to yourself, Put them on an upper shelf; Far away as they may be Where no eye but God's can see.
Other people have their share Of affliction, pain, and care; Why should you, though sorely tried, Burden them with yours beside?
Give of treasures you possess, Loving care and tenderness, Cheerful smiles or sordid pelf, But keep your troubles to yourself —Josephine Pollard.

THE TRUE AUTHORITY FOR SUNDAY OBSERVANCE.

The following letter was published in the Catholic Press of Australia, Aug. 25, 1900. It puts in a plain way a truth that can not be published too often:—
SIR: It appears that some municipal councils in town and country are putting their heads together with a view to curtailing the outdoor amusements open to young Australia on Sunday. . . .
But there is something still wanting to a full statement of the untenable position taken by those sticklers for “Sabbath” observance. What right, anyhow, have these gentlemen as Protestants to lay down the law as to what is to be done or not done on Sunday? Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles. If the “Bible, and the Bible only, is the religion of Protestants,” if “whatever is not read therein nor may be proved thereby” has no claim on their faith or observance, what scrap of title can they show for all their dogmatic insistence as to the requirements of the Lord’s day? From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first. Thus Sunday observance is an incongruous adjunct of the Protestant faith, utterly out of keeping with its fundamental principle.
If any Sabbatarian wants to know the proper method of spending the Sunday, the Catholic Church is the natural source to apply to for information. Under her direction the Sunday supplanted the Jewish Sabbath, and she is, therefore, the best fitted to settle any dispute as to its claims. She has no sympathy with a Puritan or Scotch Sabbath, and still less with the “Continental Sunday” of German Lutherans and French infidels. She forbids all servile work, and requires the day to be devoted to public prayer and worship and hearing the word of God; but these duties fulfilled, she has no objection to such hours as remain being employed in any form of innocent outdoor amusement. This is the true view of Sunday observance. . . .
Yours truly,
M. LONG.

DON'T MAKE THE WRINKLES DEEPER.

Is father's eyesight growing dim, His form a little lower? Is mother's hair a little gray, Her step a little slower? Is life's hill growing hard to climb? Make not their pathway steeper, Smooth out the furrows on their brows— Oh, do not make them deeper!
There's nothing makes a face so young As joy, youth's fairest token; And nothing makes a face grow old Like hearts that have been broken. Much have thy parents borne for thee, Be now their tender keeper; And let them lean upon thy love— Don't make the wrinkles deeper.
—Selected.

A MESSAGE FROM THE MINT.

By William T. Ellis

William T. Ellis, in Forward.
THE lack of money preaches sermons to most of us; yet a visit to the government institution where money is made, and where it abounds in bewildering quantities, is a still better revealer of spiritual truths. Everything in the mint is a figure. So real are the deeper meanings of the processes through which metal goes in becoming currency, that one almost overlooks their first purposes.
The most distinct general impression which one bears away from the mint is that of testing by fire. The experience is a lesson in the philosophy of the furnace. Every grain of metal that comes out of the mint has passed through the fire.
First of all, is the fire of testing. In the small retorts adjoining the assayer's office the metal is tried in little clay crucibles. There its quality is determined. As you look, you can see the vapors curling upward from the crucible; these you are told are the impurities. The gold and silver of the mint are proved by fire.
Next there is the fire of refining and for mixing. The gold or silver must be freed from impurities, and then it must be amalgamated with other metals to make it good currency. It gets the right proportions in the fire. The crucibles of gold boil and bubble away at a furious rate, like a kettle of clothes on washday. What fearful heat! Yet it is the salvation of the gold; thus it becomes coin to provide food for the hungry and clothes for the naked. If the seething mass could speak, it might rebel; but after it has received the government's stamp, it blesses the hot experience that gave it power to become the servant of man.
Not only does the fire test and refine and purify and fuse together the necessary constituents of a good coin, but it also anneals. After the coin has been melted, rolled, and cut into strips, it is placed in annealing furnaces, to temper, toughen, and harden it. Thus it is fitted to stand the wear and tear of currency.
Is it because the gold is not regarded as precious that it goes into the furnace so often? Ah! it is subject to fire because it is precious. In the fierce heat of the furnace it loses nothing but impurity, and its own value is increased.
Because God puts us into fiery furnaces are we no longer dear to him? It is because we are dear to him that he gives us this experience. Thus he rids us of our impurities and imperfections. Thus he tests our souls. Thus he gives us characters of purity and durability. In the furnace he fits us for service. He can not use us—we can not be ready to receive his stamp—until his furnace has first done its work with us.
God is a refiner; for this we love him, because we are his treasure, and he wishes us to be pure and serviceable.

CAN EVERY CHURCH HAVE A SCHOOL?

Union Conference Record.
A SCHOOL is required where there are children to be taught. The word of the Lord says, “Train up a child in the way he should go.” An important part of the child's character comes through the school which he attends. If he attends a Christian school, then may the parent expect that his child is there receiving a Christian training.
Concerning the teaching, the prophet says, “All thy children shall be taught of the Lord.” God's commandment as here declared can not be fulfilled if only the children near our large churches are provided with the privileges of a Christian school. To comply with this commandment it is necessary to do as the Testimonies advise: “There should be schools established wherever there is a church or company of believers. Teachers should be employed to educate the children of believers.”
Just now the question is not with reference to the need of such schools, or to the duty of churches to provide them; for the need is apparent, and the duty should be admitted. But the inquiry is, How can the right thing be done?
There are a number of supports upon which these schools depend. It is not difficult to establish a school where the church is large in numbers, and there is proper co-operation on the part of officers and members to bring it about. But the work is more difficult where these conditions do not prevail. The question is, Can all our churches have schools?
It is believed that if all persons and influences that have to do with this matter, maintained the attitude toward this subject which the Lord advises, it would be possible to have a school in every church where there are children to be educated. The first essential is to sense the importance of such a school. Could all realize that in these times of peril the salvation of the children depends upon having a Christian training, a much greater effort would be made to establish these schools. If the value of a soul could be estimated at its real worth, the problem would be solved. This would reveal to us the possibility of having schools in all our churches.
One of the greatest difficulties which has to be met in carrying out the Lord's instruction in matters of education arises from the fact that many have graduated on the negative side of nearly every question. They are wise as to the things they can not do. But to do they have no knowledge. They load themselves down with brakes to check the wheels of progress, when they should have their harness fitted on for pulling. All should study how the needful thing can be done, and not spend so much time in pointing out how it can not be done.
We must remember that it is not impossible for God's people to do what he says should be done. Is it not our place to go forward, stepping in the direction the Lord has told us to go?
In the matter of support the method that prevails in most churches is to have those who send the children meet the entire expense of the school. This is not as it should be. A church school should be supported by the whole church. The brother and the sister who have no children to educate should help bear the burden of expense just as they bear their portion of the expense of the church in everything else. If such support can be secured, it will of itself solve the question of finance to a great degree.

S. O. JAMES

By S. O. James

If Satan tells you that you are a badly abused person, remember that he is telling many others the same story.

S. O. JAMES

God’s Unstinted Love and Grace

God has poured out his love unstintedly, as the showers that refresh the earth. He says, “Let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together.” “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.” “Of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.”—Mount of Blessing.

Sowing for Physical and Spiritual Health

By David Paulson; W. S. Sadler

David Paulson & W. S. Sadler

Flesh Foods.

The fundamental necessity for eating is to secure strength. Suitable food must contain strength-producing substances in such a condition that the digestive juices can digest them, and thus prepare them for assimilation by the system. At the same time care must be exercised to see that our foods contain no harmful or poisonous substances that shall have a tendency to neutralize their food value.
The impression is fast gaining ground that the great purpose in living is merely to secure a sufficiency of something to eat, and enough clothes to wear. The struggle for bread and raiment is so intense that thousands of men toil from morning till night simply to satisfy these two wants. With this necessity continually before them, it is not strange that this thought becomes firmly fixed in their minds, and the question of securing food and raiment becomes paramount. How frequently this question is raised: If an animal is not to be eaten, for what purpose was it created? Those who ask this question seem to forget that there are scores of animals in the world that no one ever thinks of eating. And yet all these creatures either fulfill some useful function or are sad reminders of the curse that is resting heavily upon the earth. In the selection of food, many regard the gratification of appetite as more essential than the nourishing of mind and body.

Condition of the Food Elements in the Animal.

It may be laid down as a fundamental truth that the whole plant world is engaged in building up food, while the entire animal world is just as busily engaged in tearing it down. Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables are all magazines of energy, which nature has stored up to be utilized by the animal kingdom. In the plant we find two things—living substance and nutrient material. The animal resembles the plant to the extent that it also has living substance; for every fiber is living and nutrient material, which is being used to build up the animal; but, in addition to these two things, the animal contains what the plant does not—a stream of waste products. So when we eat the animal, we not only eat the fuel, but we eat the ashes as well. We not only take the pure stream of nutriment, but along with it we are compelled to take into our systems this polluted stream of sewage.
Under the influence of the sunlight, nature is all the time building up food in the plant world; while under the influence of nerve impulses, whether it be in man or animal, the plant food which has been eaten is all the time being torn down. For the same reason that there is more energy above Niagara Falls than there is below, the highest and purest form of energy and strength is found in the plant world. In an animal these food substances are gradually transformed into a substance that is more or less inferior. God bids us to “eat for strength,” and to “eat that which is good;” and it is certainly a privilege to take our foods fresh from the hand of nature, before they have become contaminated with animal blood.

The Importance of Securing Unadulterated Spiritual Food.

In order to obtain the nourishment contained in meat, it is necessary to take into the system the various poisonous substances that are always found in animal tissue. The Lord undoubtedly intended man to secure his nourishment direct from the hand of nature in an unadulterated and unpolluted state; and so with the nourishment of the soul. The Bible is the source and standard of our spiritual food. This is an age when the world is well-nigh filled with books; some of them are excellent, some good, and others not so good. Nearly all these books contain some truth of Bible origin, but along with it the reader is compelled to strain through his mind a large volume of matter in no way suited to the nourishment of his soul or to the upbuilding of his moral nature. We can say nothing against the truth which these books may contain; but error is so liberally mixed with the truth that such literature loses its value as moral food and spiritual nourishment. And yet it is this very kind of moral food that the world is calling for most loudly at the present time. Religious novels, and other literature with a semireligious background, are being widely circulated just now. The soul that attempts to subsist upon this kind of moral food is sure to become emaciated and diseased, just as the man who attempts to sustain his physical nature by subsisting upon flesh foods, which, although they contain some nutritive elements, are so heavily laden with disease-producing products as to render them unsuitable for food.

The Poisons That Produce Death in the Animal.

Ordinary beef tea, which is simply the concentrated waste material contained in flesh foods, has a certain stimulating property. Many drunkards are just as well satisfied to get a cup of beef tea, as they are to get a glass of whisky. In medical practice the class of patients that were formerly given beef tea are now given strychnine. In the animal the waste products are dissolved by the fluids of the body, thus forming a large share of the poisonous substances contained in the secretion of the kidneys. At death this process ceases, and an accumulation of waste products not yet dissolved is left in the animal’s body. For this reason it is scarcely possible to imagine a more filthy drink than beef tea. Laboratory experiments show that it contains practically the same substances as are found in the secretion of the kidneys. It is a fact that if a piece of meat is placed under a hydrant and a stream of water allowed to run over it for several hours, or for a sufficient length of time to cause the blood and waste matter to be all washed away, it is practically colorless and tasteless; and yet that which has now been left behind is the really nourishing portion. The color, taste, and flavor of meat are largely due to the blood and waste matter it contains.
The greatest argument that can be produced in favor of the use of the flesh of animals for food is that it gratifies the taste; but it is the blood and the poisonous substances which tickle the palate, while the real food substance of meat is almost as tasteless as so much yarn. The scripture which exhorts us to eat that which is good (Isa. 55:2) certainly could not be applied to flesh foods. There are few persons who would have the courage to drink blood from a tumbler, or be willing to eat a piece of nice white bread after it had been dipped in blood, even if the larger part of the blood was allowed to drain away. Yet every piece of meat that is eaten under ordinary circumstances is exactly represented by that piece of bread colored and saturated with blood. We should bear in mind that God commanded Noah not to eat blood hundreds of years before the ceremonial system was instituted, and that this command was reiterated, and was put in the very bosom of the code of instructions given to the Gentile Christians years after the ceremonial system had faded away. Acts 15:20, 29; 21:25. If Christians would take the pains to carry out these instructions, they would eat flesh only when dire necessity compelled it, instead of making it a daily article of food.

Stimulating Properties of Animal Waste Products.

The waste products in meat have a certain stimulating effect similar to those of tea, coffee, and liquor; and those who eat flesh foods experience this stimulating effect long before the meat has had time to digest. Food must first be digested and assimilated before we can derive benefit from the nourishment it contains. The man who lives on flesh secures a temporary exhilaration, and thinks he is strong; while the man who is living upon the products of the earth must wait for his strength until he has had time to digest his food. But the former person is the one who is deceived; for a man is made tired by the waste products that are gradually being formed in his system. If he eats the waste products formed in the animal, when these become absorbed into his blood, the temporary stimulus passes away, and he is doubly tired; while the man who lives on the right kind of diet has verified in his experience the words, He “shall run, and not be weary;” “walk, and not faint.” In the great competitive foot races, which have taken place in Europe and in certain places in America, this fact has been proved again and again during the last few years.
The man who is living upon the natural products of the earth is storing up something in his system that will continually liberate strength as it is needed, while the man who is living upon flesh foods is seeking to live upon the remnants of the strength that is left in the food after the animal had used his portion. There is also this additional disadvantage: he must eliminate not only the waste products made in his own system, but also those which were made in the animal, and which were contained in the meat he ate. To fix this point thoroughly in mind, it is only necessary to consider the fact that the animal needs a complete set of eliminating organs to constantly carry away poisons, otherwise it would soon be drowned in the stream of its own waste matter. Wheat, apples, nuts, etc., do not require eliminating organs to carry off waste products; for they manufacture none.
Careful laboratory experiments have demonstrated that the toxicity—that is, the poisonous quality of the secretion of the kidneys—is increased nearly fourfold when a person who is living upon a non-flesh diet begins to eat flesh foods. In health every organ of the body has reserve strength, and can accomplish more than is ordinarily required of it; and so healthykidneys are able, for a considerable length of time, to eliminate not only the waste products of the man, but also those contained in the portion of the ox which the man ate. But suppose this man is upon the very verge of Bright’s disease. How quickly such a presumptuous course on his part may carry him over! There are thousands all over this country who from various indiscretions in diet and in other habits of life are on the very brink of serious disease, and only need to have another weight placed upon their already overworked systems to quickly force them into the grave. Unfortunately many persons treat their stomachs just as penny-in-the-slot machines are treated: they simply put something in, and then expect the stomach to supply health, regardless of what they put in.
Copyrighted, 1900, by David Paulson and W. S. Sadler.
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