Lesson 9: Nothing That Defileth

 A Healthy Lifestyle for Your and Your Family

Lesson 9: Nothing That Defileth

1. When Jesus returns to take His faithful children home, what people will he leave behind? Revelation 21:27

2. What will God do to those who defile the body temple? 1 Corinthians 3:17

3. How can the body be defiled? 

A. Daniel 1:8

B. Leviticus 11:42-44

C. Leviticus 18:20

D. Leviticus 18:23

E. Ezekiel 20:7

F. Ezekiel 22:11

4. What has been defiled by the people? Isaiah 24:5

5. What have they done to defile it? Isaiah 24:5, last part.

6. What leads a person to transgress God’s laws? James 1:14

Lust: A desire to gratify the senses; bodily appetite; overmastering desire. Notice that lust is not always associated with sex.

7. What is the source of all lust? 1 John 2:16

 “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof” Romans 6:12.

The gratification of the appetites or lusts leads people to do things which defile the body temple. The Bible says that this is sin and leads to death.

8. Peter lists seven characteristics we must have to be like Christ. What are they? 2 Peter 1:5-8

9. To knowledge must be added what? 2 Peter 1:6

Temperance is self-control. To be temperate means to never use or do that which is harmful and use in moderation those things which are good. “And to temperance patience.” A person who indulges in intemperate behaviour has great difficulty being a patient person. 

“You will have a healthy mind if you are temperate in eating and drinking and in labor. Temperance in all things is required. Make a decided move. God requires it of you. Adopt strict temperance in all your habits. Leave off stimulating, hurtful indulgences” E. G. White.

10. What do some people make their god? Philippians 3:19

“Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them” 1 Corinthians 6:13.

11. What does the indulgence of appetite cause people to do? Romans 16:17-18

12. What results from overeating? Proverbs 23:21, last part

Eating a large, heavy meal puts many people to sleep, but sleeping immediately after a meal is harmful to the body. The stomach will work for the next 4 to 5 hours digesting the meal that was eaten, and if the meal was in excess, its work will be longer and harder. When you lay down to sleep, your stomach’s work should be finished, so it too, can rest (children under 2 years of age are the exception).

13. How are we to eat and drink? 1 Corinthians 10:31

“And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?” Zechariah 7:6 

The diets of many people are full of foods and beverages that are harmful to the body. A diet high in fat contributes to many diseases. Beverages and foods containing caffeine are harmful to the body and to the mind. All these things are to be left alone by the person who wants to keep their bodies pure. 

14. What besides alcoholic beverages can make people drunk? Ecclesiastes 10:17

15. What food does the Bible associate with drunkenness? Proverbs 23:20

16. Are all plants safe for humans to eat? 2 Kings 4:38-40

17. Who is responsible for the poisonous plants which exist in our world? Matthew 13:27-28, 39.

“He [God] causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth” Psalms 104:14.

18. Moses warned the Children of Israel not to do what? Deuteronomy 29:18

Gall: hemlock, a poisonous plant, probably the poppy (from which comes opium, heroin, and the pain killer morphine).

Wormwood: regarded as poisonous, hemlock.

For thousands of years the worship of pagan gods has been associated with the use of substances which alter thinking, moods, and often reducing or destroying a person’s will power. If the Children of Israel followed after the nations around them and began to serve idols, they would also begin the practice of the rituals using these drugs; and to have them, they must grow the plants they were made from.

19. Where was hemlock likely to grow? Hosea 10:4

When a garden is plowed, almost immediately unwanted plants we call weeds begin to spring “up in the furrows of the field.” 

20. What did Jesus do when offered vinegar mixed with gall? Matthew 27:34

Jesus refused to use any substance that would have interfered with His mental processes. Today many poisonous plants are used by the human population. The coca plant is the source for cocaine; poppies yield heroin; marijuana and tobacco leaves are dried, cured, and smoked. All these substances cause harm to the body and to the brain and interfere with thinking processes.

21. In how many things does the person striving for the mastery practice temperance? 1 Corinthians 9:25

A temperate person practices temperance in all things. His diet will be of good quality and he will eat regular meals. He will not overwork, and will get sufficient rest. He will balance life with a mixture of brain (sedentary) work and physical labor.

22. What regard did Paul have for his body? 1 Corinthians 9:27

23. How can we accomplish this? Romans 8:13-14

“And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness” Romans 8:10.

24. Who does the Bible say will die the second death? Revelation 21:8

The sorcerers on this list are those who use mind and mood altering drugs and supply them to others. The word “sorcerers” is translated from the Greek word “pharmakon” from which comes our English word “pharmacy.” Pharmakon means a drug, a spell giving potion; a druggist or poisoner, and by extension, a magician. If we want to be in heaven, we cannot use those things which harm mind and body.

“Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” Colossians 3:2.

Next Lesson: A Sound Mind