Embedded Files
Purpose: To reveal the Divine source of life and true health, also that of sickness and death.
Introduction: “Those who have the light and do not follow it, but disregard the requirements of God, will find that their blessings will be changed to curses, and their mercies into judgments” – CD 379.
1. The Source of True Health
CD 117 “Man came from the hand of His Creator perfect in organization and beautiful in form….a body heir to no disease, and a soul bearing the impress of Deity… “God endowed man with so great vital force that he has withstood the accumulation of disease brought upon the race in consequence of perverted habits and has continued for 6000 years…” E.G. White.
“I am the Lord that healeth thee” Exodus 15:26 “He (God) is the owner of the whole man” –Youth Instr. Sept. 7, 1893
Psalms “Obedience to them must be made a matter of personal duty. Ignorance in these things is sin” –CD 18.
Therefore True Health “is the result of obedience to law”- MH128.
Said God: “I kill and make alive. I wound and I heal” – Deut 32:39.
“Paul was a health reformer. Said he, “I keep under my body and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast away…if Paul was in danger from intemperance, we are in greater danger, because we do not feel and realize as he did…” CD 133.
2. The Source of Sickness and death
“Satan is the originator of disease” Health Living p. 60 “Sickness, suffering, and death, are the work of an antagonistic power. Satan is the destroyer; God is the restorer…Satan has control of all whom God does not especially guard. He will favor and prosper some, in order to further his own designs; and he will bring trouble upon others and lead them to believe that it is God who is afflicting them” – CH 168, 460. “Satan will work in these latter days through his evil agencies to make it appear that the is the great healer…Men under the influence of evil spirits will work miracles.
They will make people sick by casting their spell upon them, and will then remove the spell, leading others to say that those who were sick have been miraculously healed. This, Satan has done again and again” CH 461
A “Press Conference” Report: Watch out!
. CCh 101-102. “Satan exults to see the human family plunging themselves deeper, and deeper, into suffering and misery. He knows that persons who have wrong habits, and unsound bodies, cannot serve God so earnestly, perseveringly, and purely as though sound. A diseased body affects the brain. With the mind we serve the Lord. The head is the capital of the body. Satan triumphs in the ruinous work he causes by leading the human family to indulge in habits which destroy themselves and one another; for by this means he is robbing God of the service due Him. Satan is constantly on the alert to bring the race fully under his control.
His strongest hold on man is through the appetite, and this he seeks to stimulate in every possible way.
“Satan’s Most Destructive Device:
“Satan gathered the fallen angels together to devise some way of doing the most possible evil to the human family. One proposition after another was made, till finally Satan himself thought of a plan. He would take the fruit of the vine, also wheat, and other things given by God as food, and would convert them into poisons, which would ruin man's physical, mental, and moral powers, and so overcome the senses that Satan should have full control. Under the influence of liquor, men would be led to commit crimes of all kinds. Through perverted appetite the world would be made corrupt. By leading men to drink alcohol, Satan would cause them to descend lower and lower in the scale. Satan is taking the world captive through the use of liquor and tobacco, tea and coffee. The God-given mind, which should be kept clear, is perverted by the use of narcotics. The brain is no longer able to distinguish correctly. The enemy has control. Man has sold his reason for that which makes him mad. He has no sense of what is right.
“Our Creator has bestowed His bounties upon man with a liberal hand. Were all these gifts of Providence wisely and temperately employed, poverty, sickness, and distress would be well-nigh banished from the earth. But alas, we see on every hand the blessings of God changed to a curse by the wickedness of men. There is no class guilty of greater perversion and abuse of His precious gifts than are those who employ the products of the soil in the manufacture of intoxicating liquors. The nutritive grains, the healthful, delicious fruits, are converted into beverages that pervert the senses and madden the brain. As a result of the use of these poisons, thousands of families are deprived of the comforts and even the necessaries of life, acts of violence and crime are multiplied, and disease and death hurry myriads of victims to a drunkard's grave.
Intoxicating Wine. The wine that Christ made from water at the marriage feast of Cana was the pure juice of the grape. This is the "new wine found in the cluster," of which the Scripture says, "Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it." Isaiah 65:8.”- E.G. White: Counsels for the Church.
TM p. 472-475 “As the people of God approach the perils of the last days, Satan holds earnest consultation with his angels as to the most successful plan of overthrowing their faith. He sees that the popular churches are already lulled to sleep by his deceptive power. By pleasing sophistry and lying wonders he can continue to hold them under his control. Therefore he directs his angels to lay their snares especially for those who are looking for the second advent of Christ and endeavoring to keep all the commandments of God.
“Says the great deceiver: "We must watch those who are calling the attention of the people to the Sabbath of Jehovah; they will lead many to see the claims of the law of God; and the same light which reveals the true Sabbath reveals also the ministration of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, and shows that the last work for man's salvation is now going forward. Hold the minds of the people in darkness till that work is ended, and we shall secure the world and the church also.
"The Sabbath is the great question which is to decide the destiny of souls. We must exalt the sabbath of our creating. We have caused it to be accepted by both worldlings and church members; now the church must be led to unite with the world in its support. We must work by signs and wonders to blind their eyes to the truth, and lead them to lay aside reason and the fear of God and follow custom and tradition.
When once we have the power, we will show what we can do with those who will not swerve from their allegiance to God…. and now that we are bringing the Protestant churches and the world into harmony with this right arm of our strength, we will finally have a law to exterminate all who will not submit to our authority. When death shall be made the penalty of violating our sabbath, then many who are now ranked with commandment keepers will come over to our side.
"But before proceeding to these extreme measures, we must exert all our wisdom and subtlety to deceive and ensnare those who honor the true Sabbath. We can separate many from Christ by worldliness, lust, and pride. They may think themselves safe because they believe the truth, but indulgence of appetite or the lower passions, which will confuse judgment and destroy discrimination, will cause their fall.
"Go, make the possessors of lands and money drunk with the cares of this life. Present the world before them in its most attractive light that they may lay up their treasure here and fix their affections upon earthly things. We must do our utmost to prevent those who labor in God's cause from obtaining means to use against us. Keep the money in our own ranks. The more means they obtain, the more they will injure our kingdom by taking from us our subjects. Make them care more for money than for the up building of Christ's kingdom and the spread of the truths we hate, and we need not fear their influence; for we know that every selfish, covetous person will fall under our power, and will finally be separated from God's people.
"Until the great decisive blow shall be struck, our efforts against commandment keepers must be untiring. We must be present at all their gatherings. In their large meetings especially our cause will suffer much, and we must exercise great vigilance, and employ all our seductive arts to prevent souls from hearing the truth and becoming impressed by it. "I will have upon the ground, as my agents, men holding false doctrines mingled with just enough truth to deceive souls. I will also have unbelieving ones present who will express doubts in regard to the Lord's messages of warning to His church. Should the people read and believe these admonitions, we could have little hope of overcoming them. But if we can divert their attention from these warnings, they will remain ignorant of our power and cunning, and we shall secure them in our ranks at last. God will not permit His words to be slighted with impunity. If we can keep souls deceived for a time, God's mercy will be withdrawn, and He will give them up to our full control. We must cause distraction and division. We must destroy their anxiety for their own souls, and lead them to criticize, to judge, and to accuse and condemn one another, and to cherish selfishness and enmity. For these sins, God banished us from His presence; and all who follow our example will meet a similar fate’."- E.G. White (TM p. 472-475)
Conclusion
(i) “By departing from the plain precepts and commandments of God, and giving heed to fables, the minds of many are preparing to receive these lying wonders…” IT.302.
(ii) We should pray, study to understand God’s healing and to claim His blessings by strict obedience to the laws of health.
(iii) “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
If any man defiles the temple of God, he shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” – 1Cor. 3:16.
End of Lesson 1
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