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CONTROLLING THE APPETITES AND PASSIONS
Abstain from fleshy lusts, which war against the soul," is the language of the
apostle Peter (1 Peter 2:11). Many regard this text as a warning against licentiousness
only, but it has a broader meaning. It forbids every injurious gratification of appetite
or passion. Let none who profess godliness regard with indifference the health of the
body, and flatter themselves that intemperance is no sin, and will not affect their
spirituality. A close sympathy exists between the physical and the moral nature. Any habit
which does not promote health degrades the higher and nobler faculties. Wrong habits of
eating and drinking lead to errors in thought and action. Indulgence of appetite
strengthens the animal propensities, giving them the ascendancy over the mental and
spiritual powers.
It is impossible for any to enjoy the blessing of sanctification while they are selfish
and gluttonous. Many groan under a burden of infirmities because of wrong habits of eating
and drinking, which do violence to the laws of life and health. They are enfeebling their
digestive organs by indulging perverted appetite. The power of the human constitution to
resist the abuses put upon it is wonderful, but persistent wrong habits in excessive
eating and drinking will enfeeble every function of the body. In the gratification of
perverted appetite and passion even professed Christians cripple nature in her work and
lessen physical, mental, and moral power. Let these feeble ones consider what they might
have been had thy lived temperately and promoted health instead of abusing it.
NOT AN IMPOSSIBLE STANDARD
When Paul wrote, "The very God of peace sanctify you wholly" (1 Thess. 5:23), he
did not exhort his brethren to aim at a standard which it was impossible for them to
reach; he did not pray that they might have blessings which it was not the will of God to
give. He knew that all who would be fitted to meet Christ in peace must possess a pure and
holy character. "Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.
Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run,
not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but 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 castaway" (1 Cor. 9:25-27). "What? know ye not that your body
is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your
own? For ye are brought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God's" (1 Cor. 6:19, 20).
AN UNBLEMISHED OFFERING
Again, the apostle writes to the believers, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto
God, which is your reasonable service" (Rom. 12: 1). Specific directions were given
to ancient Israel that no defective or diseased animal should be presented as an offering
to God. Only the most perfect were to be selected for this purpose. The Lord, though the
prophet Malachi, most severely reproved His people for departing from these instructions.
"A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where
is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you,
O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? Ye offer
polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say,
The table of the Lord is contemptible. And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not
evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor;
will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts. . . . Ye
brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering:
should I accept this of your hand? saith the Lord" (Mal. 1:6-13).
Though addressed to ancient Israel, these words contain a lesson for the people of God
today. When the apostle appeals to his brethren to present their bodies "a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God," he sets forth the principles of true
sanctification. It is not merely a theory, an emotion, or a form of words, but a living,
active principle, entering into the everyday life. It requires that our habits of eating,
drinking, and dressing be such as to secure the preservation of physical, mental, and
moral health, that we may present to the Lord our bodies, not an offering corrupted by
wrong habits, but "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God."
STIMULANTS AND NARCOTICS
Peter's admonition to abstain from fleshly lusts is a most direct and forcible warning
against the use of all such stimulants and narcotics as tea, coffee, tobacco, alcohol, and
morphine. These indulgences may well be classed among the lusts that exert a pernicious
influence upon moral character. The earlier these hurtful habits are formed, the more
firmly will they hold their victim in slavery to lust, and the more certainly will they
lower the standard of spirituality.
Bible teaching will make but a feeble impression upon those whose faculties are benumbed
by self-gratification. Thousands will sacrifice not only health and life but their hope of
heaven before they will wage war against their own perverted appetites. One lady who for
many years claimed to be sanctified, made the statement that if she must give up her pipe
or heaven she would say, "Farewell, heaven; I cannot overcome my love for my
pipe." This idol had been enshrined in the soul, leaving to Jesus a subordinate
place. Yet this woman claimed to be wholly the Lord's!
LUSTS THAT WAR AGAINST THE SOUL
Wherever they may be, those who are truly sanctified will elevate the moral standard by
preserving correct physical habits, and, like Daniel, presenting to others an example of
temperance and self-denial. Every depraved appetite becomes a warring lust. Everything
that conflicts with natural law creates a diseased condition of the soul. The indulgence
of appetite produces a dyspeptic stomach, a torpid liver, a clouded brain, and thus
perverts the temper and spirit of the man. And these enfeebled powers are offered to God,
who refused to accept the victims for sacrifice unless they were without a blemish! It is
our duty to bring our appetites and our habits of life into conformity to natural law. If
the bodies offered upon Christ's altar were examined with the close scrutiny to which the
Jewish sacrifices were subjected, who would be accepted?
With what care should Christians regulate their habits, that they may preserve the full
vigor of every faculty to give to the service of Christ. If we would be sanctified, in
soul, body, and spirit, we must live in conformity to the divine law. The heart cannot
preserve consecration to God while the appetites and passions are indulged at the expense
of health and life. Those who violate the laws upon which health depends, must suffer the
penalty. They have so limited their abilities in every sense that they cannot properly
discharge their duties to their fellow men, and they utterly fail to answer the claims of
God.
When Lord Palmerston, premier of England, was petitioned by the Scotch clergy to appoint a
day of fasting and prayer to avert the cholera, he replied, in effect, "Cleanse and
disinfect your streets and houses, promote cleanliness and health among the poor, and see
that they are plentifully supplied with good food and raiment, and employ right sanitary
measures generally, and you will have no occasion to fast and pray. Nor will the Lord hear
your prayers while these, His preventives, remain unheeded."
Says Paul, "Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,
perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 7:1). He presents for our
encouragement the freedom enjoyed by the truly sanctified: "There is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit" (Rom. 8:1). He charges the Galatians, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye
shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16). He names some of the forms of
fleshly lust --"idolatry, . . . drunkenness, . . . and such like" (verses 20,
21). And after mentioning the fruits of the Spirit, among which is temperance, he adds,
"And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and
lusts" (verse 24).
TOBACCO
James says that the wisdom which is from above is "first pure" (James 3:17). If
he had seen his brethren using tobacco, would he not have denounced the practice as
"earthly, sensual, devilish" (verse 15)? In this age of Christian light, how
often the lips that take the precious name of Christ are defiled by tobacco spittle and
the breath is polluted with the stench. Surely, the soul that can enjoy such uncleanness
must also be defiled. As I have seen men who claimed to enjoy the blessing of entire
sanctification, while they were slaves to tobacco, polluting everything around them, I
have thought, How would heaven appear with tobacco users in it? God's word has plainly
declared that "there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth"
(Rev. 21:27). How, then, can those who indulge this filthy habit hope to find admittance
there?
Men professing godliness offer their bodies upon Satan's altar and burn the incense of
tobacco to his satanic majesty. Does this statement seem severe? Certainly, the offering
is presented to some deity. As God is pure and holy, and will accept nothing defiling in
its character, He must refuse this expensive, filthy, and unholy sacrifice; therefore we
conclude that Satan is the one who claims the honor.
Jesus died to rescue man from the grasp of Satan. He came to set us free by the blood of
His atoning sacrifice. The man who has become the property of Jesus Christ, and whose body
is the temple of the Holy Ghost, will not be enslaved by the pernicious habit of tobacco
using. His powers belong to Christ, who has bought him with the price of blood. His
property is the Lord's. How, then, can he be guiltless in expending every day the Lord's
entrusted capital to gratify an appetite which has no foundation in nature?
An enormous sum is yearly squandered for this indulgence, while souls are perishing for
the word of life. Professed Christians rob God in tithes and offerings, while they offer
on the altar of destroying lust, in the use of tobacco, more than they give to relieve the
poor or to supply the wants of God's cause. Those who are truly sanctified will overcome
every hurtful lust. Then all these channels of needless expense will be turned to the
Lord's treasury, and Christians will take the lead in self-denial, in self-sacrifice, and
in temperance. Then they will be the light of the world.
TEA AND COFFEE
Tea and coffee, as well as tobacco, have an injurious effect upon the system. Tea is
intoxicating. Though less in degree, its effect is the same in character as that of
spirituous liquors. Coffee has a greater tendency to becloud the intellect and benumb the
energies. It is not so powerful as tobacco, but is similar in its effect. The arguments
brought against tobacco may also be urged against the use of tea and coffee.
When those who are in the habit of using tea, coffee, tobacco, opium, or spirituous
liquors are deprived of the accustomed indulgence, they find it impossible to engage with
interest and zeal in the worship of God. Divine grace seems powerless to enliven or
spiritualize their prayers or their testimonies. These professed Christians should
consider the source of their enjoyment. Is it from above, or from beneath?
To a user of stimulants, everything seems insipid without the darling indulgence. This
deadens the natural sensibilities of both body and mind and renders him less susceptible
to the influence of the Holy Spirit. In the absence of the usual stimulant he has a
hungering of body and soul, not for righteousness, not for holiness, not for God's
presence, but for his cherished idol. In the indulgence of hurtful lusts, professed
Christians are daily enfeebling their powers, making it impossible to glorify God.
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