Power of Appetite
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life show man how to resist temptation will cheerfully deny self and
choose to be partakers with Christ of His sufferings.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Those who
overcome as Christ overcame will need to constantly guard themselves
against the temptations of Satan. The appetite and passions should
be restricted and under the control of enlightened conscience, that
the intellect may be unimpaired, the perceptive powers clear, so that
the workings of Satan and his snares may not be interpreted to be the
providence of God. Many desire the final reward and victory which are
to be given to overcomers, but are not willing to endure toil, privation,
and denial of self, as did their Redeemer. It is only through obedience
and continual effort that we shall overcome as Christ overcame.
The controlling power of appetite will prove the ruin of thousands,
when, if they had conquered on this point, they would have had moral
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power to gain the victory over every other temptation of Satan. But
those who are slaves to appetite will fail in perfecting Christian char-
acter. The continual transgression of man for six thousand years has
brought sickness, pain, and death as its fruits. And as we near the close
of time, Satan’s temptation to indulge appetite will be more powerful
and more difficult to overcome.
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