Food for Life – Sedentary Workers

Every day men in positions of trust have decisions to make upon which depend results of great importance. Often they have to think rapidly, and this can be done successfully by those only who practice strict temperance. The mind strengthens under the correct treatment of the physical and mental powers. If the strain is not too great, new vigor comes with every taxation. But often the work of those who have important plans to consider and important decisions to make is affected for evil by the results of improper diet. A disordered stomach produces a disordered, uncertain state of mind. Often it causes irritability, harshness, or injustice. Many a plan that would have been a blessing to the world has been set aside, many unjust, oppressive, even cruel measures have been carried, as the result of diseased conditions due to wrong habits of eating.

“Here is a suggestion for all whose work is sedentary or chiefly mental; let those who have sufficient moral courage and self-control try it: At each meal take only two or three kinds of simple food, and eat no more than is required to satisfy hunger. Take active exercise every day, and see if you do not receive benefit.

“Strong men who are engaged in active physical labor are not compelled to be as careful as to the quantity or quality of their food as are persons of sedentary habits; but even these would have better health if they would practice self-control in eating and drinking.

“Some wish that an exact rule could be prescribed for their diet. They overeat, and then regret it, and so they keep thinking about what they eat and drink. This is not as it should be. One person cannot lay down an exact rule for another. Everyone should exercise reason and self-control, and should act from principle.

“Our bodies are Christ’s purchased possession, and we are not at liberty to do with them as we please. All who understand the laws of health should realize their obligation to obey these laws which God has established in their being. Obedience to the laws of health is to be made a matter of personal duty. We ourselves must suffer the results of violated law. We must individually answer to God for our habits and practices. Therefore the question with us is not, ‘What is the world’s practice?’ but, ‘How shall I as an individual treat the habitation that God has given me?’ ” The Ministry of Healing, 309, 310.

“Men and women cannot violate natural law by indulging depraved appetite and lustful passions, and not violate the law of God. Therefore He has permitted the light of health reform to shine upon us, that we may see our sin in violating the laws which He has established in our being. All our enjoyment or suffering may be traced to obedience or transgression of natural law. Our gracious heavenly Father sees the deplorable condition of men, who, some knowingly but many ignorantly, are living in violation of the laws that He has established. And in love and pity to the race, He causes the light to shine upon health reform. He publishes His law, and the penalty that will follow the transgression of it, that all may learn, and be careful to live in harmony with natural law. He proclaims His law so distinctly, and makes it so prominent, that it is like a city set on a hill. All accountable beings can understand it if they will. Idiots will not be responsible. To make plain natural law, and urge the obedience of it, is the work that accompanies the Third Angel’s Message, to prepare a people for the coming of the Lord.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 69.

Who Am I?

The room was dimly lit. On one of the walls there were a number of posters, a picture of a pop musician, and another of a sportsman; all of which had served as windows into a longed-for reality. Along another wall there was a desk with a few school books on it, but the central feature of this desk was a small but powerful stereo system. Indeed, this was the room of a teenager which showed all the signs of ambition, turbulence, and, yes, dreaming.

An immense battle was raging in the young man’s heart, a battle of destiny, a moment of truth. “I never thought I would do something like that,” he muttered as he stared at the floor. His self-concept was being severely tested. So intense was the battle that he sought comfort from the posters on the walls which had helped him so many times before and diverted his mind from the harvest he was now reaping.

The air was filled with a sense of desperation. His mind was grasping for tokens that would stabilize his state of mind: academic, athletic, articulate were some of the tokens he grasped for, but they now seemed powerless to help him. A sickening cloud descended on him and started to squeeze out his sense of ambition. It kicked open the prized places of the heart and stole its treasure, and then it made for the most sacred chamber of all—hope. He had spoken to his mother in a way he promised himself he never would. This was the final straw that made him realize that he was not the person he wanted to be. He did not like himself and he wanted to change, but it seemed hopeless.

This experience is not unique to this one man. Many of us come to a crisis in our lives where we realize, “Hey, I am not the person that I want to be; I don’t like myself and I want to change,” but how often does it seem hopeless!

Depression is the single greatest curse afflicting our society today. The Director General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Gro Harlem, said in an address, “… initial estimates suggest that about 450 million people alive today suffer from mental or neurological disorders. … Major depression is now the leading cause of disability globally.” This is an enormous problem! In 1998 and 1999 one million suicides were committed each year; 10–20 million attempts every year, or up to 38 attempts every minute. Suicide in the United States for males between the ages of 35 and 49 is the number three cause of death. So what on earth is going on? What is so depressing about life that millions of people are choosing to die rather than face another day?

In his book, The Mind Game, Phillip Day gives this very revealing statement: “In times gone by, caring family members gathered around and gave the depressed relative the assurance and attention to talk things through. … Today, with the fracturing of the family unit, the denigration of religion, and the separation of many families from each other with the hectic pace of 21st century life, psycho-analysis has simply taken over the task of counseling that used to be carried out by caring relatives or the neighborhood minister. I strongly believe that this has had a deleterious effect on our society.” Phillip Day lists three factors that play into this: the fracture of the family unit, the denigration of religion, and the separation of many families from one another in the hectic pace of 21st century life—the pivotal factor being the fracturing of the family unit.

David Van Biema, commenting on this topic, said; “A generation unlike any other has come of age, one in which millions have been marked by a profound and early sorrow. They are the children of divorce. They are just the front rank of a seemingly endless phalanx.” Jim Conway, in his book, Adult Children of Legal and Emotional Divorce, describes in vivid detail the pain and loss suffered by thousands who have suffered the effects of a fractured family either legally or emotionally. One of the key attributes he describes is the insecurity and the constant question of “Who am I?” and “Am I worth loving?” These questions drive to the very source of the human dilemma—a sense of significance. Does anyone really care about me? Am I worth anything? How did these questions come to embed themselves in the human psyche? To answer that question we need to go back to the very beginning.

Suddenly Eve found herself staring at the forbidden tree. “Why has God forbidden us to eat from this tree?” she wondered. The fruit looked so inviting. Suddenly she heard a voice coming from the tree. Satan, seeing his opportunity, tempts her through the medium of a serpent: “Did God really say that you must not eat from every tree in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1.) Satan is both enticing Eve to debate and placing doubt in her mind about the literalness of God’s Word. Eve is no match for Satan, however. She accepts the challenge by repeating the words that God has spoken, but she is now deeply in trouble. Her own curiosity, combined with the opening challenge of Satan, left her unprepared for his following statement, “You will not surely die.” (Genesis 3:4.) This was a statement that caught Eve unaware, and Satan, seeing that he has immobilized his prey, now with devastating precision drives home his winning blow. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5.)

The concept that Satan introduced to Eve contained the seed of the curse that now plagues all of the children of Adam—the struggle for significance. A concept that sounds so liberating provides the VERY substance of the chains that enslave the human soul in misery and darkness. The question remains: Who am I?

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though He is not far from each one of us. “For in him we live and move and have our being.” As some of your own poets have said, “We are his offspring.” Acts 17: 24–28. What an answer. We are the offspring, or children, of the God of the universe! Here is a God who is intimately involved with every one of our lives as a father to his children!

If we live in Him, it is simple logic that we cannot live without Him. Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5. This means that we can’t do anything physically, mentally, or spiritually without our heavenly Father. We are totally and utterly dependent upon Jesus for everything in the same way a newborn baby is upon its parents.

Consider the amazing organ—the heart. It works as a pump to circulate the blood through our bodies, without a break, decade upon decade. What is amazing about the heart is that the pulsing of the heart does not appear to be aided by anything outside itself. The muscle of the heart can contract and relax without any direct stimulus from the nervous system. It has what is called an intrinsic regulating system. As an anatomy textbook puts it, “The conduction system is composed of specialized muscle tissue that generates and distributes the electrical impulses which stimulate the cardiac muscle fibers to contract.” The Bible tells us that this energy comes directly from God. (Refer to Acts 17:28.) We are intimately connected to God, and totally dependent on Him every second of our lives. God is actively, knowingly, and lovingly supplying us the electrical charge that keeps our hearts beating. The King of kings keeps every one of the over six-and-a-half billion hearts in the world beating.

We hear so much about love; songs are written about it, websites devoted to it, magazines full of it. The world is looking for love. So why are there so many lonely people, why so many people falling out of love? Because they believe the lie that Satan told Eve so long ago that you have life in yourself, you don’t need any external force to depend on; you won’t die! You don’t need to look outside of yourself for any power. If you don’t understand that love, joy, peace, and all those other attributes come from the Spirit of God and reach out to the source, then you are just like a doll with batteries in the back: you can only perform while the batteries are charged; you are dependent on successes and excitement to charge the batteries. But sometimes life does not dish up success and excitement; what then? What if you don’t attain the goal you set for yourself or what others expect of you? In Satan’s kingdom you are considered a loser, but if your power comes from God, you are a winner whether you achieve or do not achieve, by the world’s standard, because it is not you who is in control of those things.

Consider Jesus when He was taken into custody and tried as a malefactor. To all outward appearances He looked like a loser; His friends had left Him, and it even appeared as if His Father had forsaken him; but He wasn’t a loser, He was a winner. It is a wonderful privilege to be a part of God’s kingdom.

“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid: you are worth more than many sparrows.” Luke 12:6, 7. In these verses Jesus is explaining the principles of His kingdom. We have a formula for what makes people significant in that kingdom. What makes them count, what makes them worth something, what makes them valuable? In an earthly sense, sparrows have little value; you could buy five of them for two pennies, but Jesus makes a contrast and says, “Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.” The contrast here is that because God remembers the sparrows, they are very valuable in God’s Kingdom. He goes further and compares how much God thinks about us as compared to sparrows: “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Can you imagine anyone being interested in you enough to monitor the number of hairs on your head? Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows.”

In God’s kingdom, worth and significance are gained from simply realizing that God lovingly thinks about us continually. We are definitely on His mind. He is giving us life, making our hearts beat, and actively pouring His love into our lives so that we can enjoy life, and He imparts to us rich gifts, talents, and abilities for our satisfaction, enjoyment, and service for others. Here is the secret of God’s kingdom, the secret of significance. It is the key that unlocks the enslaving kingdom of worthlessness and depression.

“Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.” Psalm 40:5.

If our value is determined by the loving thoughts that God has toward us, by the fact that our Father is the King of the universes, then this text tells us that we are priceless; it says that His plans and thoughts for us are greater than can be declared or numbered. How does it feel to be priceless? It can only be as good as your belief in the truth that God loves us so much regardless of how good or bad we are. Whenever you are tempted to doubt your worth, just look at the sparrows and believe that you are worth more than many sparrows.

There is nothing more critical than the sense of a close family to safeguard us from the ever-widening jaws of depression and worthlessness. A family can be a place where you are accepted for who you are, where you can be yourself and forgiven for your mistakes. Jesus opens for us a vital picture of the kingdom of God when He taught us how to pray. Jesus said, “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven …’ ” [Matthew 6:9.] Jesus did not say to pray “Dear God,” or “Your hallowed majesty,” or “Dear King” as our first reference point, but rather, “Our Father.” The Kingdom of God is a family.

“And lo a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” [II Peter 1: 17.] These words are deeply significant, for right here God lays out the core nature of His kingdom. “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” There are many ways that God could have introduced His Son, like: This is the Creator of the universe, listen to Him; or, This is your king, obey Him, but He said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” God proclaims the identity of His Son in the terms of a family rather than the terms of a king or ruler. “This is my Son” gives identity; “whom I love, and am well pleased” bespeaks of His value. In God’s kingdom, significance and worth are determined by our relationship to Him. This is in total contrast to Satan’s kingdom, where significance and worth are determined by your successful performance and achievements, as judged by yourself and others around you. In the Kingdom of God, He is our Father and we are His children, and that is our identity. You are known by Whom you belong to rather than what you do. The fact that God loves His children and pours out blessings upon them continually, is thinking about them constantly, and wants to be close to them gives them an incredible sense of value.

In God’s kingdom your identity and value are as enduring as the everlasting, never-changing God Himself. Regardless of success or failure, the relationship remains constant and your worth secure.

In Satan’s kingdom, your worth is about as secure as the stock market after Sept 11—extremely volatile, totally insecure and bound to crash! There are no guarantees that you will always succeed, neither is there a guarantee that the people around you will always be there for your encouragement, or applaud your efforts. To safeguard our individual identity and to save us from entering into a life of despair, discouragement, worthlessness and death, God has enshrined in the heart of His kingdom a law that will safeguard relationships. It deals with two types of relationships: The relationship between us and our heavenly Father, and the relationship between each of us as brothers and sisters in the kingdom of God. This is why Jesus said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37–40. These two great commandments are designed to safeguard our Identity and Value as children of God. These two commandments are a summary of the Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments are vital in preventing you from losing your self-worth. Within the kingdom of God the Ten Commandments are understood in the context of relationships. If you sever those relationships, you are destroying your identity, and when you destroy your identity, death is yearning to embrace you. So sin (which the Bible defines as the breaking of the Law, I John 3:4) destroys our identity and value. When identity and value are gone, the soul longs for death. This is exactly the reason why depression and suicide are the greatest problems in society today. Sin is the robber of our identity and value as children of God.

By the standards of the world, success and failure are the deciding factors of a person’s worth. But the King of kings says something different. He says that we are His children, and as His children we are recipients of His unlimited love and power. It is our connection to Jesus, whose love has been proven to an unfathomable degree, which gives us our worth.

Adapted from the book, Identity Wars.

Pastor Adrian Ebens lives and ministers in Australia. He is dedicated to sharing his faith to help people understand their true value and relationship to a loving Father in Heaven. He can be contacted through his website: www.maranathamedia.com.

Babylonian Captivity

In the first chapter of Daniel is described a scene of captivity. After the reign of Solomon, the kingdom was divided. The nation of Israel was made up of ten tribes, and the nation of Judah made up two tribes. Comparing the history of both nations, Israel was more rebellious and was eventually destroyed by the Assyrians. Judah was also destroyed, but before that, while under the rule of Jehoiakim, the city was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, who took many captives among whom were the royal seed. It was the purpose of the king to educate these young men, the princes, and turn them into Babylonians.

Before the coming of Christ, the people of God are going to face another captivity, one of economic boycott, social restraint, and political and religious pressure that will be applied to enforce the mark of the beast.

Are you ready for captivity? Do you know what it means to be under captivity, under the control of another nation? Like it or not, many of us will face this captivity. Under his rule, the last day spiritual king of Babylon will do all in his power to try to change your body, your mind, and your soul.

The Bible says in Daniel 1:3, “And the king spake unto Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes.” When Babylon besieged Judah, they captured the young people, but not just any young people; they were the king’s seed and their princes.

Satan’s primary attack in these last days is also against the best. Are you a child of the King of the universe? Satan wants to capture the children of God, those who are the apple of His eye. The Bible says that if it is possible, Satan will deceive the very elect (Matthew 24:24). The more devotion and dedication you give to God and the more faith you put in God’s hand, the more danger you present to the devil and the greater persecution you may face. But you should have no fear, because perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18).

Daniel 1:4 tells us what kind of children Nebuchadnezzar sought: “Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.” The blemish here mentioned is physical blemish, without even a bad odor in their mouth.

“The erect form, the firm, elastic step, the fair countenance showing that the blood was uncorrupted, the undimmed senses, the untainted breath—all were so many certificates of good habits, insignia of the nobility with which nature honors those who are obedient to her laws.” Reflecting Christ, 121. These young men were a picture of health, were physically fit, and mentally equipped. And although that text does not mention their spiritual condition, it was also in excellent condition. These young men were captured because Satan hated them because they were physically, mentally, and spiritually well-balanced and strong.

You may be physically fit, but if you are spiritually weak, Satan does not want to bother capturing you, because you are already captured. You might be mentally strong and skillful in knowledge and science, yet, if you are spiritually weak, Satan does not want to bother you because you are already weak, and he wants you to stay that way. His target is anyone of any age who is totally dedicated to God.

Notice what the king planned to do with these young people. The very first thing attempted was to teach them a new language, the Chaldean language, the Babylonian language. The Bible states in Matthew 12:34, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” That means the words that you speak express your heart or your mind, so your words are closely related to your mind.

Every language reveals the character or personality of that culture. In order to speak Chinese and communicate properly, you have to speak with a Chinese mentality. If you speak Spanish, it must be with a Spanish mentality, not with a Korean or American mentality. By teaching these young men the language of the Chaldeans, they were being educated to have a Babylonian mind, to think like a Babylonian.

Then the king provided for them food. “And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king.” Daniel 1:5.

Food is to build the body, and the young captives were offered a Babylonian diet. I can imagine on that beautiful Babylonian table a big pig with an apple in its mouth surrounded by the wines of Babylon. This kind of diet was not healthy according to God’s word. Praise God for the stand of Daniel! He purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself. This decision was not made when he arrived in Babylon but before he got there. To stand strong as did Daniel, before going into captivity, you had better make that purpose and decision.

A study of the life of Jesus reveals that there were two places He must enter at the end of His life. Calvary is always remembered, but there was also the Garden of Gethsemane. Gethsemane was the place of His decision. Calvary was the hill of His sacrifice and His action. One place was to make a decision; the other place was to carry out that decision. So before you go to Calvary, you had better go to Gethsemane. Daniel went to his own Gethsemane. As he crossed the desert, he prayed, “God, no matter what is going to happen to me, I am not going to defile myself before You. God help me.”

Every person must make that decision day by day, choosing to follow Jesus all the way with grace and power, because character cannot be built overnight. When captivity comes, character will be tested. Where are you standing; on the Rock or on the sand (Matthew 7:24, 26)?

The king provided mental education—Babylonian mind. The king provided physical education—Babylonian diet. “Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego.” Daniel 1:6, 7.

What was the purpose of the name changes? What was wrong with Daniel and Hananiah and Mishael and Azariah? They were good names. Dan means judge. El means God. So every time Daniel is spoken, it reminds that God is judge. Daniel’s name was changed to Belteshazzer, meaning Bel is god. Mishael means who is like God; Meshach means who is like Venus. Hananiah means God is grace. Shadrach means command of Aku. Azariah means helped by God; Abednego means servant of Nabu.

The new Babylonian names reflect the names of Babylonian gods. A person’s name refers to character. Having a Babylonian god in the new names indicates that the Babylonian nation wanted them to have the Babylonian character and worship Babylonian gods. Changing their names was an attempt to change their spiritual condition from worshiping the true God to worshiping idols made by man’s hand.

The Babylonians tried to change three things of their captives: mental, physical and spiritual. When Satan attacks, he attacks your body, mind, and soul, which encompasses everything! That is exactly what Satan tried to do in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3:4 the Bible says, “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.” He told Eve that even if she would commit sin, she would not die. If you cannot die, you are immortal. His claim was that even though she may sin, she would be immortal. Satan was lying to her about immortality of the soul. Today immortality of the soul is called spiritualism. Right there in the Garden of Eden Satan introduced to Eve spiritualism. But not only that—“For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods.” Verse 5. Eating is related to the physical body. Eye opening experience is connected to receiving a new understanding, which deals with the mental. That word gods is related to spiritual.

Satan was telling Eve, I have something better for your body. I have something better for your mental condition. I have something better for your spiritual condition. All three things he offered to her, and she listened to the serpent.

“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food [physical], and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise [mental], she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” Verse 6. What happened to her spiritual condition? She lost it. Satan had attacked all three areas—physical, mental, and spiritual.

If Satan gets your body, he has your mind. If he has your mind, he’s got your soul, because they are all connected. Your body is the house of the mind; the mind is the house of the soul. He attacks all three. This is the very reason why Jesus came to this world, to restore man physically, mentally and spiritually—three areas—and also, socially.

“And Jesus increased in wisdom [which is mental], stature [which is physical], and in favour with God [which is spiritual] and man [which is social]” (Luke 2:52). Jesus had a perfectly balanced education—intellectually, physically, socially, and spiritually.

These are the four basic needs of man. In this world, everyone has these four—physical, mental, spiritual and social—and each individual starts out with their cup empty. It is imperative to know what is needed to fill these empty spaces.

Usually the felt need is not so much spiritual, but physical and social. People usually forget about the mental and the spiritual needs even though they also are searching for something. That is why people turn to New Age, yoga or meditation and all of the strange religions that are in the world today. People know that they are missing something in their life but are often unaware of the greatest thing that they are missing—God.

One time when doing evangelistic crusade meetings, a free massage and free blood pressure check were offered to attendees. The crusade meeting leaders went to where the people were, set up the tables and chairs and put up a sign saying, “Free Massage.” In no time, that place was flocked with people. When you show concern about a person’s body, they are open to hear what you have to say about their soul. The people are open to listen to causes when they are suffering from high blood pressure. The usual causes are high fat intake, high protein, cholesterol, unclean food, no exercise, alcohol, tobacco, soda, sugar, and things like this. Their body is clogged up with junk, and when you tell them, they listen. After their blood pressure check, they receive a massage.

A massage feels good, so while the individual was feeling good, they would be given literature on health, present truth, the Sabbath, and the Three Angels’ Messages that they could take to their home, and every time they looked at it they would think of that good massage. When invited to the meeting, the people would come.

In one small town, there was a man who owned the biggest hotel. He was so impressed by the work that was being done that he asked, “Where are you having meetings every night?” When told that the meeting was in a nearby hall, he said, “That hall is not good enough for you; come to my hotel.” The hotel was right next to the park, so after completing the medical missionary work, the meeting was opened at the hotel and it was packed with people. They wanted to hear the message, the gospel. Jesus gives us a perfect example how to work for the people for their body, mind, and soul, and their social well-being.

In Matthew 9:35 the Bible says, “And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues [teaching is dealing with mental], and preaching the gospel of the kingdom [which is spiritual], and healing every sickness and every disease among the people [which is physical].” Jesus gave us the example of working with all three—mental, spiritual and physical. Balanced education prepares us to give a balanced ministry, which is so important, because it helps the people to really obey God’s commandments.

In Mark 12:30 the Bible says, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” Heart is referring to your thoughts and your feelings. The heart encompasses everything. “Love the Lord thy God … with all thy soul” is for spiritual, “and with all thy mind” is for mental, “and with all thy strength” is for physical. You are to keep God’s commandments with your body, your mind, and your soul—with everything. Satan is trying to destroy your body, destroy your mind, and destroy your soul. God is trying to restore your mind, restore your body, and restore your soul.

This is the great controversy, and as you are working for the people, all those areas must be covered. Every church should be a place of education, training, nurturing and guiding. People should be able to come to church and get healing. It should not be an unusual thing to have a clinic right next to a church.

The church should be a center of missionary effort. Church should not be a day care center for lukewarm Christians; it is not a place of babysitting sleepy church members. All church members should become living, active, moving agents of God.

To get ready for the coming of Christ, all aspects of your life have to be prepared. I understand there is no way to have a perfect body without any problems. Sometimes you may be diseased, but as far as possible you are to keep your body healthy. Some individuals may be slow in thinking, forgetful, not clear, not focused, not intelligent yet, by the grace of God, the Bible says, as you fear God, you begin to have the wisdom of God (see Psalm 111:10). So we can, by the grace of God, increase physically, mentally, and spiritually.

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23. Here are those three things again—mind, soul and body. Why are those three things being repeated over and over again? What was previously read in Genesis about the life of Christ, and now in the writings of Paul, are those three things mentioned again and again and again. The Bible says you are to “be preserved blameless.” In other words, the condition of your body, soul, and mind should be preserved. The word preserved means keeping it in good condition until Jesus comes.

There is no way you can think or believe that you can just continue in the life of corruption, in a life of iniquity until Jesus comes. The Bible says He is able to preserve you blameless until the coming of Christ. It is clear on this point. “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” Verse 24. It is not you that does it. God is faithful; if He has called you to become blameless, preserved, whole, sanctified, dedicated to God and to love God with all your soul, mind, and heart, He is able to do it for you.

“The very best you can do will not merit the favor of God. It is Jesus’ worthiness that will save you, His blood that will cleanse you. But you have efforts to make. You must do what you can on your part.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 167.

“No man can of himself work out his own salvation, and God cannot do this work for him without his cooperation. But when man works earnestly, God works with him, giving him power to become a son of God.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 21, 38.

You must allow Him to do it. You must surrender your heart, your mind, your soul, and your body—everything to Him. When Jesus died, He died to purchase your body. Jesus died to purchase your mind. Jesus died to purchase your soul. He paid the price to buy every part of you.

Notice the message that needs to go out to the world in these last days, the Three Angels’ Messages. “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people saying with a loud voice [this is the message that needs to go to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, and notice the message], Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Revelation 14:6, 7.

Observe how verse 7 encompasses the three areas of body, mind, and soul. It is interesting to observe that the “fear God” message is connected to your mental development, because the Bible says that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10). And also the “give glory to Him” message is connected to your physical health, because 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” The “worship Him that made” message certainly refers to the spiritual connection with your Creator. You can easily observe the elements of balanced education in the first angel’s message.

Notice what the mark of the beast is trying to do in the last days to God’s people in Revelation 14:9: “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship …” What is that? Spiritual. In other words, in the last days people will follow the beast spiritually. And the Bible continues to say, “… worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead … .” What do you have in your forehead? Mind. People will follow the beast, not only spiritually, but they will also follow him mentally and receive the mark of the beast in their forehead or in their hand. In the Bible, hand represents physical. People will follow the beast physically.

There are two different types of education competing against each other in the last days. There is God’s balanced education: physical, mental, and spiritual. But Satan, by his education of mental, physical, and spiritual, is the worldly way of developing the body, the mind, and the soul. God is calling you to go back to the old paths, to His way, which is the good way, the narrow way, the way of salvation (Jeremiah 6:16).

When you get ready for these last day events, you must get ready physically, mentally, and spiritually. Otherwise the mark of the beast is calculated in such a way that it will get you wherever you are weak; whether you are weak spiritually, whether you are weak mentally, or whether you are weak physically, he will get you. You have to put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:11).

Are you hearing the word of God? You must examine your life daily to see if you are developing physically or if you are damaging your body. Are you working just too hard and not getting enough rest, or are you eating or drinking something that you know is damaging your body? You need to examine, and make sure every day to seek and to develop to the glory of God.

Are there certain things in your house that are not helping you mentally? These may include a novel, some magazines, or video games. Are you holding on to certain things that are destroying your mind; certain kinds of music, certain television programs that you are watching, or allowing your imagination to grasp? Things like this are destroying your mind.

If you are serious about the Second Coming, if you are serious about the Three Angels’ Messages, if you are serious about loving God with your body, mind, and soul, consider Jesus on the cross, bleeding, as He cried out, “My child, I gave all for you; give all for Me.”

Whatever is destroying your life today, if you are truly serious about it, you must hold it up before Jesus, and say, “Jesus, help me to give this up. If it is tobacco, help me to stop, today. If it is wine, help me to stop this very day. If it is certain magazines, help me to burn them. If it is music, help me to break them and put them in the trash. If myself is an idol, if I worship myself, and I spend more money on myself, oh God, please help me to worship You. Tear away any idols from my heart, and let God’s throne sit at my heart, that I may worship and follow only Christ.”

Who knows, perhaps God is not sending people to your fellowship because you are not ready to preach the Three Angels’ Message. You are not ready physically; you are not ready mentally, and you are not ready spiritually. There are people out there waiting to come to Jesus, but God does not want to discourage those people by your poor example. They are too precious to be discouraged in these last days. If you are serious about the love of Christ, surrender all to Jesus.

As Jesus is cleansing the sanctuary in heaven, let God cleanse your heart first. Let God then cleanse your family. Let Him cleanse your church so that you are ready to cry aloud, “Fear God, give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come, and worship Him,” and when you make this cry, it will be powerful.

Thank God for the Bible and for Jesus Christ who is trying to restore us physically, mentally, and spiritually. Now is the time to submit all to Him.

Mental Purity

“As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”

Proverbs 23:7

In a material sense man is a thinking machine. Thoughts evaporate from a healthy brain like light from a burning lamp. They flow involuntarily, and are fed from the surrounding elements in which we live. Our five senses take cognizance of such things as they come in contact with. Whatever the eye looks upon or the ear hears, sends a throb of a similar character through the brain. Profane or vile words, or obscene pictures, will leave thoughts generating in the mind that we dare not utter. Again and again they will flash upon us until the soul is corrupted or, if seeking the purity of heaven, divine help is implored to drive them away. The promise of seeing God is only to the pure in thought (Matthew 5:8).

We live in the sphere of our material surroundings. We are known by the company we keep and the books we read; but God “searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts” (I Chronicles 28: 9). To keep ourselves pure necessitates a total abstinence from other men’s sins, and a continual warfare against the passions of life, inflamed, as they are, by daily contact with the evil temptations around us. On the street or in public gatherings, the vulgar and profane exercise but little respect, and one is continually subjected to these annoyances. The mind is polluted, the public morals are continually being corrupted; and this generation is rapidly attaining to the condition of man as he was before the flood, when “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). The advertising illustrations on placards, the public show-bills, the theatrical display of nudity, the wily schemes of Satan that meet the eye and the ear on every hand, betoken the evils of the days in which we live, and are fast ripening the tares for the harvest of God’s wrath (Matthew 13:30).

It is hardly possible to escape the sight and sound of these things, although we strictly guard our fireside and maintain pure conditions around the home circle. The only sure remedy is a strict education in moral duties, and the cleansing power of God’s Spirit:—

“Vice is a monster of so frightful mien.

As to be hated, needs but to be seen.

Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face.

We first endure, then pity, then embrace.”

The Review and Herald, June 2, 1891.