Right Arm

The Right Arm

The Principles of Health Reform

A. PRINCIPLES OF HEALTH REFORM: 10 -12

10. DO NOT MAKE THE USE OF FLESH MEAT A TEST OF FELLOWSHIP.

“God calls upon those for whom Christ died to take proper care of themselves, and set a right example to others. My brother, you are not to make a test for the people of God, upon the question of diet; for they will lose confidence in teachings that are strained to the farthest point of extension. The Lord desires His people to be sound on every point in health reform, but we must not go to extremes.” CDF 205.

“While we do not make the use of flesh meat a test, while we do not want to force any one to give up its use, yet it is our duty to request that no minister of the conference shall make light of or oppose the message of reform on this point.” CDF 401.

“We are not to make the use of flesh food a test of fellowship, but we should consider the influence that professed believers who use flesh foods have over others.” CDF 404.

“We should consider the situation of the people, and the power of lifelong habits and practices, and should be careful not to urge our ideas upon others, as if this question were a test, and those who eat largely of meat were the greatest sinners.” CDF 462.

“Questions are coming in from brethren and sisters making inquiries in regard to health reform. Statements are made that some are taking the light in the testimonies upon health reform and making it a test. They select statements made in regard to some articles of diet that are presented as objectionable--statements written in warning and instruction to certain individuals who were entering or had entered on an evil path. They dwell on these things and make them as strong as possible, weaving their own peculiar, objectionable traits of character in with these statements and carry them with great force, thus making them a test, and driving them where they do only harm.” 3SM 285.

“The question whether we shall eat butter, meat, or cheese, is not to be presented to anyone as a test, but we are to educate and to show the evils of the things that are objectionable. Those who gather up these things and drive them upon others do not know what work they are doing. The Word of God has given tests to His people.” 3SM 287.

“Tea, coffee, tobacco, and alcohol we must present as sinful indulgences. We cannot place on the same ground, meat, eggs, butter, cheese, and such articles placed upon the table. These are not to be borne in front, as the burden of our work. The former--tea, coffee, tobacco, beer, wine, and all spiritous liquors--are not to be taken moderately, but discarded. The poisonous narcotics are not to be treated in the same way as the subject of eggs, butter, and cheese.” 3SM 287.

“I eat only two meals a day. But I do not think that the number of meals should be made a test. If there are those who are better in health when eating three meals, it is their privilege to have three. I choose two meals. For thirty-five years I have practiced the two-meal system.” CDF 178.

While it is true that a minister who “disregards the Health Reform unfits him to stand as the Lord’s messenger” (refer to 6T 378, 9T 159-160); those who are lowering the standard of Christianity are not to be supported by tithe (refer to 3T 553), are we then to advocate that those ministers who eat flesh meats due to some unavoidable circumstances, have disregarded the health reform principles? and have lowered the standard? No! Health Reform does not consist merely of diet but also includes exercise, water, air, etc.

We read of Mrs. White suggesting a meat diet for a minister and his family:

“Now I wish to tell you something of what the Lord has shown me, in my own case and a score of others, in reference to diet. Some years ago Elder Loughborough's family were living very much as yours have been, discarding salt, and rigidly following a certain course they had marked out. All were dyspeptics. Elder Loughborough did not have strength to perform his ministerial labors, and the children ate double the amount of food they should have had, because the wants of the stomach were not met.

“I was shown that the ideas they had received in regard to diet were not to be carried out as they had been. All ate largely, and yet were unsatisfied. Nature, I saw, had a heavy tax put upon her, and yet was not nourished. I have not time now to state all the particulars, but I was shown that death would be the result unless a change was brought about at once. But Elder Loughborough's wife was possessed of a conscientiousness that was painful, an affliction to herself and all connected with her. Sick and suffering as she was, her conscience--which certainly could not have been a sanctified conscience--held her to the extreme course she had adopted.

“I was shown that the Lord would have them study from cause to effect and see that it was best to break up a routine in which the system was not nourished. It was a mistake to discard salt altogether as they had done; it would be better for them to use it moderately; that instead of eating so largely of gems and potatoes, and gravies, and strong sauce, they would be benefited by using a little meat two or three times a week. Well, Elder Loughborough changed his diet and began to gain in strength. His wife made no change, and she died about a year after I had labored with them so earnestly.” Letter 19a, 1891. (To H. C. Miller, April 2, 1891) 5MR 401-402. (Please note that Elder Loughborough was a well-known pioneer of SDA and served a number of times as conference president.)

If the use of flesh food is not to be a test for God’s people, what then is the test?

3SM 287: “The keeping of God's holy law, the Sabbath, is a test, a sign between God and His people throughout their generations forever. Forever this is the burden of the third angel's message--the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

11. EXTREMISTS MUST NOT RAISE A FALSE STANDARD, AND MAKE EVERYONE ADHERE TO IT.
“And while we would caution you not to overeat, even of the best quality of food, we would also caution those that are extremists not to raise a false standard, and then endeavor to bring everybody to it.” CDF 208.

What is our standard?

“God's holy law is the only standard by which we can estimate divine affection. If we do not accept the law of God as our standard, we set up a standard of our own.” 1SM 311.

“Here is the test of every man's profession. We cannot accord holiness to any man without bringing him to the measurement of God's only standard of holiness in heaven and in earth. If men feel no weight of the moral law, if they belittle and make light of God's precepts, if they break one of the least of these commandments, and teach men so, they shall be of no esteem in the sight of Heaven, and we may know that their claims are without foundation.” GC 472-473.

In the time of Christ, the rabbis and Pharisees went to extremes and raised a false standard.

“Other laws had been perverted by the rabbis in like manner. In the directions given through Moses it was forbidden to eat any unclean thing. The use of swine's flesh, and the flesh of certain other animals, was prohibited, as likely to fill the blood with impurities, and to shorten life. But the Pharisees did not leave these restrictions as God had given them. They went to unwarranted extremes. Among other things the people were required to strain all the water used, lest it should contain the smallest insect, which might be classed with the unclean animals. Jesus, contrasting these trivial exactions with the magnitude of their actual sins, said to the Pharisees, "Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel." DA 617.

Luther called fanaticism plague.

“Luther at the Wartburg, hearing of what had occurred, said with deep concern, "I always expected that Satan would send us this plague." He perceived the true character of those pretended prophets, and saw the danger that threatened the cause of truth. The opposition of the pope and the emperor had not caused him so great perplexity and distress as he now experienced. From the professed friends of the Reformation had risen its worst enemies. The very truths which had brought peace to his troubled heart had been made the cause of dissension in the church.” 4SOP 147.

Individuals and even churches have been victims of this plagues, and thru their fanatical practices – poor health, sallow complexion and unbalanced minds were the result. Daniel and his associates, after their 10-day trial, have shown better results.

“At the end of the ten days' trial the result was found to be the opposite of the prince's fears. "Their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat." In personal appearance the Hebrew youth showed a marked superiority over their companions. As a result, Daniel and his associates were permitted to continue their simple diet during their entire course of training… In physical strength and beauty, in mental vigor and literary attainment, they stood unrivaled. The erect form, the firm, elastic step, the fair countenance, 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.” PK 484-485.

12. MAKE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CLEAN AND UNCLEAN FOODS.

“Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you. And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you: This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth: To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.” Leviticus 11:8,10, 46-47.

What example we can get from Peter’s vision regarding his eating habit?

Acts 10:13-14: “And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.”

What will happen to those who disregard the express command of God and eating abominable things?

Isaiah 66:17: “They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.

Who are those who profaned the holy things?

Ezekiel 22:26-28: “Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.”

These priests or false teachers made no difference between the clean and unclean; they have placed the clean food mentioned in Leviticus on the same level with the unclean.

Let us take some example about the Christ’s diet:

Luke 24:41-42: “And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them.

Isaiah 7:15: “Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.”

These two verses are being used to justify their extreme view that Jesus never eat the fish but only the honeycomb because they said that Isaiah predicted that Jesus’ food is “butter and honey”. If we will take this extreme position, we cam likewise conclude that Jesus never ate fruits, vegetables, or grains during His entire life. How fanatical isn’t it!

Whether Christ did eat or did not eat fish is not the question for us today. As God, He has the right to do as He pleases.

“The Lord is regarded as cruel by many in requiring His people to make war with other nations. They say that it is contrary to His benevolent character. But He who made the world, and formed man to dwell upon the earth, has unlimited control over all the works of His hands, and it is His right to do as He pleases, and what He pleases with the work of His hands. Man has no right to say to his Maker, Why doest Thou thus? There is no injustice in His character.” 2SM 333.

For the sake of balancing the extreme fanatical view with regard to Christ’s diet, Jesus did eat flesh in the time of Abraham.

Genesis 18:1-8: “And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said. And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.” (please read PP138-139 citing that the Son of Man or Jesus was among the three tired wayfarers.)

The three years famine brought Israel to want. For months Elijah hidden in brook Cherith, fed on bread and flesh brough by ravens. We are not to do away with the principles of health reform neither must extreme views be taken when circumstances arise to warrant the use of flesh. A correct understanding of health reform will lead to acquiring a balanced mind a practical, intelligent application of its principles in our lives.

1 Kings 17:6: “And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook”.

(Elijah represents those who will be translated to heaven without seeing death in the last days)

PK 227: “Elijah was a type of the saints who will be living on the earth at the time of the second advent of Christ and who will be "changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump," without tasting of death. 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52… Elijah, representing those who at the close of earth's history will be changed from mortal to immortal and be translated to heaven without seeing death.”

The so-called “health reformers” and fanatics removed the distinction between clean and unclean foods. Hence, they made it appear that if one eats flesh, even of the clean foods, he has sinned against God. Moreso, they went further by stating that if one is not a vegetarian he will not be saved.

What does the Lord say when sins are committed?

“But sin is sin, whether committed by the possessor of millions or by the beggar in the streets.” 4T 311.

“If God excuses one man, He may excuse all.” 4T 251.

“Sin is sin whether committed by one sitting on a throne, or by one in the humbler walks of life.” 3BC 1147.

“There is not one standard for the poor and another for the rich; for all will be tested by that law, which bids us to love God supremely and our neighbor as ourselves.” 4BC 1181.

“We need clear discernment, that we may measure sin by the Lord's standard and not by our own. Let us take for our rule, not human opinions, but the divine word.” 5T 337.

“Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4.

“Overtaxing the stomach is a common sin, and when too much food is used, the entire system is burdened. Overeating is the sin of this age. The word of God places the sin of gluttony in the same catalogue with drunkenness. When we eat immoderately, we sin against our own bodies.” CDF 131, 133, 136.

“What a thought! Gluttons in heaven! No, no; such will never enter the pearly gates of the golden city of God. Such will never be exalted to the right hand of Jesus, the precious Saviour, the suffering Man of Calvary, whose life was one of constant self-denial and sacrifice. There is a place appointed for all such among the unworthy, who can have no part in the better life, the immortal inheritance.” CDF 126.

“Intemperance a Sin” CDF 43-44.

“Poor Cooking a Sin. It is a sin to place poorly prepared food on the table, because the matter of eating concerns the well-being of the entire system…” CDF 251.

“Scanty, ill-cooked food depraves the blood by weakening the blood-making organs. It deranges the system, and brings on disease, with its accompaniment of irritable nerves and bad tempers. The victims of poor cookery are numbered by thousands and tens of thousands. Over many graves might be written: "Died because of poor cooking;" "Died of an abused stomach." CDF 257.

“Excessive indulgence in eating, drinking, sleeping, or seeing, is sin.” CDF 141.

What was the foundation of Babylon’s sin?

“God ascribes the fall of Babylon to her gluttony and drunkenness. Indulgence of appetite and passion was the foundation of all their sins.” CDF 147.

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