Under the law of Moses the observance of the laws of sanitation and hygiene were a religious duty.
There were very strict and thorough provisions made for bodily cleanliness. There were regulations for the purification of the house and camp.
There were explicit directions in the selection of proper food and of clean and unclean animals.
There was a separation and seclusion of all persons afflicted with contagious diseases.
In recent years the laws of sanitation have been perfected to a very high state of efficiency.
The Board of Health and its officers have been recognized as of great importance in every community.
Their efforts in the prevention and control of contagion have been exceeded only by that of the medical profession.
The prevention of disease by maintaining personal cleanliness has saved the lives of thousands.
If we apply these thoughts to our spiritual welfare, we will readily see that spiritual disease and death can best be avoided by prevention.
When we analyze the various means of prevention which are applied by the laws of sanitation they offer a striking parallel to our spiritual growth and welfare.
Cleanliness
Spiritual cleanliness must be applied to our bodies, external and internal.
The use of water as a means of spiritual purification occupies a prominent place in the Scriptures.
Nicodemus, who came to Jesus by night, was very promptly reminded by the master that “except a man be born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
Peter reminds us also that the race in Noah’s day was saved by water, “the like figure even baptism does also now save us.”
Baptism (a burial in water) is an ordinance by which we make a public confession of our faith and a profession of the name of Christ.
Its immediate benefit is the remission of our sins, and we arise from waters cleansed from all past sins. We then have a High Priest, a mediator, through whom we can draw near with a true heart, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Note the water is pure.
Spiritual sanitation requires clean, pure water, a figure of the word of God.
The Master expressed the desire to cleanse his church with the “washing of water by the word;” and his disciples were “clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.”
The word of God in its purest state is alone able to make us wise unto salvation. This is the water the master told the woman of Samaria about. Living water, which if a man drink he shall never thirst and shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
His words, like living water, must abide in us and control all our conduct, our speech, our actions, our life.
It will be like a vaccine or antitoxin which a physician injects into our system to prevent disease. It will establish a state of immunity, which will protect us from spiritual disease and death. We must scrape away the flesh and let the word get into our system.
Almost all forms of contagious diseases are caused by minute “germs” or microbes which cannot be seen by the human eye. Likewise it is the unseen faults, the secret sins that kill the spiritual life and growth. So the Psalmist pleads “Cleanse thou me from secret faults.”
And again, “How shall a young man cleanse his way, by taking heed thereunto according to Thy word.” The word of God will not only prevent spiritual disease but it also stimulates spiritual growth and development. Paul exhorts us to “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
Israel was warned by Isaiah (1:16), “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings, cease to do evil; learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. A thorough and regular application of the word will remove all hypocrisy and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The Master bitterly denounced the filthy spiritual condition of the scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 23:23-27).
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint, anise, and cummin, but have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith. Ye make clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
“Cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter that the outside may be clean also.”
Spiritual Refreshment
The Master has reminded us of the value of the word and its refreshing effect upon our lives. We need to drink freely of the water of life and get it direct from the Bible in its natural purity because there is much drinking water in the world that is not pure. It is impure because of the foreign substances in it.
There are plenty of spiritual refreshments handed out in the world but they are unsanitary, unfit for spiritual health because of the foreign substances in them. “Prove all things; hold fast to that which is good.”
Spiritual Food
The value of good, nourishing food needs no emphasis. Pure nourishing spiritual food is a vital necessity to spiritual growth and health. The best spiritual food is that which comes, like the manna, from above; for “the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” Jas. 3:17. The Master (Jno. 6:48) calls himself the bread of life, the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die.” By observing regularly the assembly for the breaking of bread as he commanded we are nourished spiritually and gradually absorb more and more of the spirit of Christ.
The elders of the early Christian churches were urged to feed the flock of God and Peter said this could be done best by being examples to the flock. This is important. A good example is better than an exhortation.
Therefore, Christ’s commandments are a thousand times more emphatic because he himself obeyed them. Merely hearing or knowing our duty is of no value unless acted upon. Unless they are a guide to our lives, it will be like eating food and not getting any nourishment from it. Undigested food only produces distress and poisons in the system.
He who is a hearer only and not a doer of the word will experience much distress and discomfort.
Ventilate Your Mind
Pure air and sunshine are the best germ killers in the world, their beneficial influence has never been disputed.
Is there such a thing as a spiritual atmosphere? It is the result of proper association with those who do good and seek truth. Lives, to whom the commandments of Christ are as a lamp and the laws of God as a light to their feet.
The real test of a person’s thoughts is the “Law and the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isa. 8:20.
Many can testify to the tonic effect the light of the gospel has had upon their inner spiritual life. The gospel Paul relates, “was hid to those who were lost; that the God of this world had blinded their minds, lest the light of the gospel should shine unto them.”
If we open our minds to the glorious sunshine of the gospel our lives will be brightened with the hope of a better day to come.
The laws of sanitation require pure air as well as pure water and pure food. Air becomes impure because of lack of ventilation.
Most of the religious atmosphere in this world needs ventilation; it has become contaminated with the breath of men. It needs the purifying influence of the light of God’s Word.
Spiritual Pollution
When the apostle Paul bid farewell to the believers in Ephesus he warned them against false doctrines which some of their own members would bring in, and our Lord said some would teach for doctrine the commandments of men.
The history of the Christian church confirms this for we find Greek mythology everywhere prevalent. Paul at Athens saw their idolatry of many fictitious deities, they had Mars as the god of wars, Cupid as a god of love, etc., but Paul reminded them “there be many gods and lords, there is but one God our Father and Creator”.
Later on (325 A.D.) the doctrine of the trinity arose and was adopted after much discussion. In spite of the first commandment “the Lord your God is one God”.
Exercise Thyself Unto Godliness
As the muscles and organs of the body become stronger by use, so spiritual strength can be developed by applying the word of God to every action in life. Paul exhorted the young man Timothy, “Exercise thyself unto godliness: for bodily exercise profiteth little but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is and that which is to come.”
When Paul was accused before Felix, he replied, “Herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and men.” And when we get into difficulties and troubles accept them in the right spirit. Though “no chastening for the present seemeth joyous but grievous, nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby.”
We have seen the importance of spiritual health. We have seen the importance of the prevention of spiritual disease. We have seen the value of spiritual sanitation.
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One