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The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 2
thoughts, and awakening them to the necessity of forming righteous
characters. John would bring the people up to the standard of divine
perfection. He studied the peculiarities of minds, that he might know
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how to adapt his instructions to the people.
John did not feel strong enough to stand the great pressure of
temptation he would meet in society. He feared his character would be
molded according to the prevailing customs of the Jews, and he chose
the wilderness as his school, in which his mind could be properly
educated and disciplined from God’s great book of nature. In the
wilderness, John could the more readily deny himself and bring his
appetite under control, and dress in accordance to natural simplicity.
And there was nothing in the wilderness that would take his mind from
meditation and prayer. Satan had access to John, even after he had
closed every avenue in his power through which he would enter. But
his habits of life were so pure and natural that he could discern the foe,
and had strength of spirit and decision of character to resist him.
The book of nature was open before John with its inexhaustible
store of varied instruction. He sought the favor of God, and the Holy
Spirit rested upon him, and kindled in his heart a glowing zeal to do
the great work of calling the people to repentance, and to a higher and
holier life. John was fitting himself, by the privations and hardships
of his secluded life, to so control all his physical and mental powers
that he could stand among the people as unmoved by surrounding
circumstances as the rocks and mountains of the wilderness that had
surrounded him for thirty years.
The state of public affairs when John’s work commenced, was
unsettled. Discord and insurrection were prevailing, when the voice
of John was first lifted up, like the sound of a trumpet pealing forth
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from the wilderness, thrilling the hearts of all who heard with a new
and strange power. John fearlessly denounced the sins of the people,
saying, “Repent ye; for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Multitudes
answered to the voice of the prophet, and flocked to the wilderness.
They saw, in the singular dress and appearance of this prophet, a
resemblance to the description of the ancient seers, and the opinion
prevailed that he was one of the prophets risen from the dead.
It was the purpose of John to startle and arouse the people, and
cause them to tremble because of their great wickedness. In simplicity
and plainness he pointed out the errors and crimes of men. A power