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 they 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 bought 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
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.