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A Lesson in Temperance, December 15
He shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor
strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.
Luke 1:15
.
God had called the son of Zacharias to a great work, the greatest ever committed
to men. In order to accomplish this work, he must have the Lord to work with him.
And the Spirit of God would be with him if he heeded the instruction of the angel.
John was to go forth as Jehovah’s messenger, to bring to men the light of God.
He must give a new direction to their thoughts. He must impress them with the
holiness of God’s requirements, and their need of His perfect righteousness. Such
a messenger must be holy. He must be a temple for the indwelling Spirit of God.
In order to fulfill his mission, he must have a sound physical constitution, and
mental and spiritual strength. Therefore it would be necessary for him to control
the appetites and passions. He must be able so to control all his powers that he
could stand among men as unmoved by surrounding circumstances as the rocks and
mountains of the wilderness.
In the time of John the Baptist, greed for riches, and the love of luxury and
display had become widespread. Sensuous pleasures, feasting and drinking, were
causing physical disease and degeneracy, benumbing the spiritual perceptions, and
lessening the sensibility to sin. John was to stand as a reformer. By his abstemious
life and plain dress he was to rebuke the excesses of his time. Hence the directions
given to the parents of John—a lesson of temperance by an angel from the throne of
heaven.
In childhood and youth the character is most impressible. The power of self-
control should then be acquired. By the fireside and at the family board influences
are exerted whose results are as enduring as eternity.... The habits established in
early years decide whether a man will be victorious or vanquished....
As a prophet, John was “to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and
the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the
Lord.” In preparing the way for Christ’s first advent, he was a representative of
those who are to prepare a people for our Lord’s second coming. The world is given
to self-indulgence. Errors and fables abound. Satan’s snares for destroying souls
are multiplied. All who would perfect holiness in the fear of God must learn the
lessons of temperance and self-control. The appetites and passions must be held
in subjection to the higher powers of the mind. This self-discipline is essential to
that mental strength and spiritual insight which will enable us to understand and to
practice the sacred truths of God’s Word. For this reason temperance finds its place
in the work of preparation for Christ’s second coming (
The Desire of Ages, 100,
101
).
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