The Witness of Those Who Overcame—While speaking, we asked those to arise who had been addicted to the use of tobacco, but had entirely discontinued its use because of the light they had received through the truth. In response, between thirty-five and forty arose to their feet, ten or twelve of whom were women. We then invited those to arise who had been told by physicians that it would be fatal for them to stop the use of tobacco, because they had become so accustomed to its false stimulus that they would not be able to live without it. In reply, eight persons, whose countenances indicated health of mind and body, arose to their feet.—The Review and Herald, August 23, 1877.
(Te 61.1)
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Warn Against Presumption—Parents, warn your children against the sin of presumption. Teach them that it is presumption to educate an appetite for tobacco, liquor, or any hurtful thing. Teach them that their bodies are God’s property. They are His by creation and by redemption. They are not their own; for they have been bought with a price. Teach them that the body is the temple of God, and that it is not to be made strengthless and diseased by the indulgence of appetite.
(Te 61.2)
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The Lord did not create the disease and imbecility now seen in the bodies and minds of the human race. The enemy has done this. He desires to enfeeble the body, knowing that it is the only medium through which mind and soul can be developed for the upbuilding of a symmetrical character. Habits which are contrary to the laws of nature, war constantly against the soul.
(Te 61.3)
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Those who profess to be the followers of Christ, yet have this terrible sin at their door, cannot have a high appreciation of the atonement and an elevated estimate of eternal things. Minds that are clouded and partially paralyzed by narcotics, are easily overcome by temptation, and cannot enjoy communion with God.—The Signs of the Times, January 6, 1876.
(Te 64.1)
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If Christ and the Apostles Were Here—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?”James 3:15. —The Sanctified Life, 24.
(Te 64.2)
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Were Peter upon the earth now he would exhort the professed followers of Christ to “abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.”1 Peter 2:11. And Paul would call upon the churches in general to “cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”2 Corinthians 7:1. And Christ would drive from the temple those who are defiled by the use of tobacco, polluting the sanctuary of God by their tobacconized breaths. He would say to these worshipers, as He did to the Jews, “My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.”Mark 11:17. We would say to such, Your unholy offerings of ejected quids of tobacco defile the temple, and are abhorred of God. Your worship is not acceptable, for your bodies which should be the temple for the Holy Ghost are defiled. You also rob the treasury of God of thousands of dollars through the indulgence of unnatural appetite.—The Signs of the Times, August 13, 1874.
(Te 64.3)
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Tobacco-Using Priests Would Have Suffered Death—The priests, who ministered in sacred things, were commanded to wash their feet and their hands before entering the tabernacle in the presence of God to importune for Israel, that they might not desecrate the sanctuary. If the priests had entered the sanctuary with their mouths polluted with tobacco, they would have shared the fate of Nadab and Abihu. And yet professed Christians bow before God in their families to pray with their mouths defiled with the filth of tobacco....
(Te 64.4)
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The Christian’s Responsibility—“Know ye not,” Paul asks, “that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”1 Corinthians 3:16, 17. Man is God’s workmanship, His masterpiece, created for a high and holy purpose; and on every part of the human tabernacle God desires to write His law. Every nerve and muscle, every mental and physical endowment, is to be kept pure.
(Te 142.1)
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God designs that the body shall be a temple for His Spirit. How solemn then is the responsibility resting on every soul.... How many there are, blessed with reason and intelligence, talents which should be used to the glory of God, who willfully degrade soul and body. Their lives are a continual round of excitement. Cricket and football matches and horse racing absorb the attention. The liquor curse, with its world of woe, is defiling the temple of God.... By the use of liquor and tobacco men are debasing the life given them for high and holy purposes. Their practices are represented by wood, hay, and stubble.(1 Corinthians 3:12). Their God-given powers are perverted, their senses degraded, to minister to the desires of the carnal mind.
(Te 142.2)
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The drunkard sells himself for a cup of poison. Satan takes control of his reason, his affections, his conscience. Such a man is destroying the temple of God. Tea drinking helps to do this work. Yet how many there are who place destroying agencies on their tables.
(Te 142.3)
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No Right to Cripple One Organ of Mind or Body—No man or woman has any right to form habits which lessen the healthful action of one organ of mind or body. He who perverts his powers is defiling the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Lord will not work a miracle to restore to soundness those who continue to use drugs which so degrade soul, mind, and body that sacred things are not appreciated. Those who give themselves up to the use of tobacco and liquor do not appreciate their intellect. They do not realize the value of the faculties God has given them. They allow their powers to wither and decay.
(Te 142.4)
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