An Evil Work
Some of our brethren have done a work that has wrought great injury to the cause. The knowledge of methods for the manufacture of health foods, which God gave to His people as a means of helping to sustain His cause, these men have disclosed to worldly businessmen, who are using it for personal gain. They have sold the Lord’s goods for personal profit. Those who have thus disclosed the secrets in their possession in regard to the preparation of health foods have abused a God-given trust. As they see the result of this betrayal of trust, some will sorely regret that they did not keep their own counsel and wait for the Lord to lead His servants and to work out His own plans. Some who obtain these secrets will scheme to hedge up the way of our sanitarium food work, and by misrepresentation will delude to their injury those who patronize them.
The health food business should not be borrowed or stolen from those who, by its management, are endeavoring to build up and advance the cause. Dr. Kellogg, with the help of others, has, at a large outlay of means, studied out the processes for the preparation of certain special foods, and has provided expensive facilities for their manufacture. This work has taken a great deal of precious time, for many experiments have had to be made. And it is right that those who have thus labored and invested their means should be allowed to reap the fruit of their labor. As the Lord’s steward, Dr. Kellogg should be allowed to control a reasonable income from the special products that he, by the blessing of God, has been enabled to produce, that he may have means wherewith to make appropriations for the advancement of the work of God as occasion may demand. Let no one having learned the secrets of their composition take up the preparation of these special foods and sell them for personal profit. Let no one give the impression that they are working in harmony with those who in the first place prepared these foods for sale, when they are not. No one has a right to engage in the manufacture of these foods in any selfish way. Let us all come near the Lord and with humble hearts seek to glorify Him in every act.
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I have a warning for those who have a knowledge of the methods of manufacturing the special health foods produced in our factories. They are not to use their knowledge for selfish purposes or in a way that will misrepresent the cause. Neither are they to make this knowledge public. Let the churches take hold of this and show these brethren that such a course is a betrayal of trust and that it will bring reproach on the cause.
Let not those who have been and are employed in the work of making the health foods first prepared by Dr. Kellogg, or by any other pioneer in this work, disclose to others the secrets of the manufacture of the special foods; for thus they defraud the cause of that which should be used for its advancement. I beseech you, my brethren, to make straight paths for your feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way. Do not place information in the hands of those who, from lack of conscientious regard for health reform, may place impure articles on the market as health foods.
Stand on the side of righteousness in all your transactions; then you will not appear to disadvantage before God or man. Do not enter into any dishonest practices. Those who take up the manufacture of sanitarium health foods for personal profit are taking a liberty to which they have no right. Thus great confusion is caused. Some are now manufacturing and selling goods that profess to be health foods, but that contain unwholesome ingredients. Again, the foods are often of so inferior a quality that much harm is done to the cause by their sale, those who buy them supposing that all health foods are similar.
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No one has any right to take advantage of the business arrangements that have been made in regard to sanitarium health foods. Those who handle the foods devised by Dr. Kellogg at large expense should first come to an understanding with him, or others who are working in harmony with him, and learn the best methods of handling these foods. He who enters selfishly into this work, at the same time giving his customers the impression that the profits on the goods he sells are used to aid benevolent enterprises, while in reality they are used for personal interests, is under the displeasure of God. By and by his business will fail, and he will get things into such a tangle that his brethren will have to buy him out to save the cause from disgrace.
The Lord is greatly displeased when His service is dishonored by the selfishness of those engaged in it. He wills that every part of His work shall be in harmony with every other part, joint connecting with joint.
The Lord wants His people to stand far above selfish interests. He wants them to conquer the temptations they meet. He calls for the communion of saints. He desires His workers to stand under His supervision. He will plane and polish the material for His temple, preparing each piece to fit closely to the other, that the building may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Heaven is to begin on this earth. When the Lord’s people are filled with meekness and tenderness, they will realize that His banner over them is love, and His fruit will be sweet to their taste. They will make a heaven below in which to prepare for heaven above.
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Chapter 27—Educate the People
St. Helena, California,
August 20, 1902.
Wherever the truth is proclaimed, instruction should be given in the preparation of healthful foods. God desires that in every place the people shall be taught to use wisely the products that can be easily obtained. Skillful teachers should show the people how to utilize to the very best advantage the products that they can raise or secure in their section of the country. Thus the poor, as well as those in better circumstances, can learn to live healthfully.
From the beginning of the health reform work, we have found it necessary to educate, educate, educate. God desires us to continue this work of educating the people. We are not to neglect it because of the effect we may fear it will have on the sales of the health foods prepared in our factories. That is not the most important matter. Our work is to show the people how they can obtain and prepare the most wholesome food, how they can co-operate with God in restoring His moral image in themselves.
Our workers should exercise their ingenuity in the preparation of healthful foods. None are to pry into Dr. Kellogg’s secrets, but all should understand that the Lord is teaching many minds in many places to make healthful foods. There are many products which, if properly prepared and combined, can be made into foods that will be a blessing to those who cannot afford to purchase the more expensive, specially prepared health foods. He who in the building of the tabernacle gave skill and understanding in all manner of cunning work, will give skill and understanding to His people in the combining of natural food products, thus showing them how to secure a healthful diet.
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Knowledge in regard to the preparation of healthful foods is God’s property and has been communicated to man in order that he may communicate it to his fellow men. In saying this I do not refer to the special preparations that it has taken Dr. Kellogg and others long study and much expense to perfect. I refer especially to the simple preparations that all can make for themselves, instruction in regard to which should be given freely to those who desire to live healthfully, and especially to the poor.
It is the Lord’s design that in every place men and women shall be encouraged to develop their talents by preparing healthful foods from the natural products of their own section of the country. If they look to God, exercising their skill and ingenuity under the guidance of His Spirit, they will learn how to prepare natural products into healthful foods. Thus they will be able to teach the poor how to provide themselves with foods that will take the place of flesh meat. Those thus helped can in turn instruct others. Such a work will yet be done with consecrated zeal and energy. If it had been done before, there would today be many more people in the truth and many more who could give instruction. Let us learn what our duty is, and then do it. We are not to be dependent and helpless, waiting for others to do the work that God has committed to us.
In the use of foods we should exercise good, sound common sense. When we find that a certain food does not agree with us, we need not write letters of inquiry to learn the cause of the disturbance. Change the diet; use less of some foods; try other preparations. Soon we shall know the effect that certain combinations have on us. As intelligent human beings let us individually study the principles and use our experience and judgment in deciding what foods are best for us.
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The foods used should be suited to the occupation in which we are engaged and the climate in which we live. Some foods that are suitable in one country will not do in another.
There are some who would be benefited more by abstinence from food for a day or two every week than by any amount of treatment or medical advice. To fast one day a week would be of incalculable benefit to them.
I have been instructed that the nut foods are often used unwisely, that too large a proportion of nuts is used, that some nuts are not as wholesome as others. Almonds are preferable to peanuts; but peanuts, in limited quantities, may be used in connection with grains to make nourishing and digestible food.
Olives may be so prepared as to be eaten with good results at every meal. The advantages sought by the use of butter may be obtained by the eating of properly prepared olives. The oil in the olives relieves constipation; and for consumptives, and for those who have inflamed, irritated stomachs, it is better than any drug. As a food it is better than any oil coming secondhand from animals.
It would be well for us to do less cooking and to eat more fruit in its natural state. Let us teach the people to eat freely of the fresh grapes, apples, peaches, pears, berries, and all other kinds of fruit that can be obtained. Let these be prepared for winter use by canning, using glass, as far as possible, instead of tin.
Concerning flesh meat, we should educate the people to let it alone. Its use is contrary to the best development of the physical, mental, and moral powers. And we should bear a clear testimony against the use of tea and coffee. It is also well to discard rich desserts. Milk, eggs, and butter should not be classed with flesh meat. In some cases the use of eggs is beneficial. The time has not come to say that the use of milk and eggs should be wholly discarded. There are poor families whose diet consists largely of bread and milk. They have little fruit and cannot afford to purchase the nut foods. In teaching health reform, as in all other gospel work, we are to meet the people where they are. Until we can teach them how to prepare health reform foods that are palatable, nourishing, and yet inexpensive, we are not at liberty to present the most advanced propositions regarding health reform diet.
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Let the diet reform be progressive. Let the people be taught how to prepare food without the use of milk or butter. Tell them that the time will soon come when there will be no safety in using eggs, milk, cream, or butter, because disease in animals is increasing in proportion to the increase of wickedness among men. The time is near when, because of the iniquity of the fallen race, the whole animal creation will groan under the diseases that curse our earth.
God will give His people ability and tact to prepare wholesome food without these things. Let our people discard all unwholesome recipes. Let them learn how to live healthfully, teaching to others what they have learned. Let them impart this knowledge as they would Bible instruction. Let them teach the people to preserve the health and increase the strength by avoiding the large amount of cooking that has filled the world with chronic invalids. By precept and example make it plain that the food which God gave Adam in his sinless state is the best for man’s use as he seeks to regain that sinless state.
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Those who teach the principles of health reform should be intelligent in regard to disease and its causes, understanding that every action of the human agent should be in perfect harmony with the laws of life. The light God has given on health reform is for our salvation and the salvation of the world. Men and women should be informed in regard to the human habitation, fitted up by our Creator as His dwelling place, and over which He desires us to be faithful stewards. “For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” 2 Corinthians 6:16.
Hold up the principles of health reform, and let the Lord lead the honest in heart. Present the principles of temperance in their most attractive form. Circulate the books that give instruction in regard to healthful living.
The people are in sad need of the light shining from the pages of our health books and journals. God desires to use these books and journals as mediums through which flashes of light shall arrest the attention of the people and cause them to heed the warning of the message of the third angel. Our health journals are instrumentalities in the field to do a special work in disseminating the light that the inhabitants of the world must have in this day of God’s preparation. They wield an untold influence in the interests of health and temperance and social purity reform, and will accomplish great good in presenting these subjects in a proper manner and in their true light to the people.
The Lord has been sending us line upon line, and if we reject these principles we are not rejecting the messenger who teaches them, but the One who has given us the principles.
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Reform, continual reform, must be kept before the people, and by our example we must enforce our teaching. True religion and the laws of health go hand in hand. It is impossible to work for the salvation of men and women without presenting to them the need of breaking away from sinful gratifications, which destroy the health, debase the soul, and prevent divine truth from impressing the mind. Men and women must be taught to take a careful view of every habit and every practice, and at once put away those things that cause an unhealthy condition of the body and thus cast a dark shadow over the mind. God desires His light bearers ever to keep a high standard before them. By precept and example they must hold their perfect standard high above Satan’s false standard, which, if followed, will lead to misery, degradation, disease, and death for both body and soul. Let those who have obtained a knowledge of how to eat and drink and dress so as to preserve health impart this knowledge to others. Let the poor have the gospel of health preached unto them from a practical point of view, that they may know how to care properly for the body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Section 4—The Publishing Work
“Lift up a standard for the people…. Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh.” Isaiah 62:10, 11.
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Chapter 28—God’s Purpose in Our Publishing Houses
Witnesses for Truth
“Ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord,” “to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God.”
Our publishing work was established by the direction of God and under His special supervision. It was designed to accomplish a specific purpose. Seventh-day Adventists have been chosen by God as a peculiar people, separate from the world. By the great cleaver of truth He has cut them out from the quarry of the world and brought them into connection with Himself. He has made them His representatives and has called them to be ambassadors for Him in the last work of salvation. The greatest wealth of truth ever entrusted to mortals, the most solemn and fearful warnings ever sent by God to man, have been committed to them to be given to the world; and in the accomplishment of this work our publishing houses are among the most effective agencies.
These institutions are to stand as witnesses for God, teachers of righteousness to the people. From them truth is to go forth as a lamp that burneth. Like a great light in a lighthouse on a dangerous coast, they are constantly to send forth beams of light into the darkness of the world, to warn men of the dangers that threaten them with destruction.
Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 7 pp. 129-138
