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Testimonies for the Church Volume 3
the agreeable excitement, until indulgence becomes habit, and there
is a continual craving for stronger stimulus, as tobacco, wines, and
liquors. The more the appetite is indulged, the more frequent will be
its demands and the more difficult of control. The more debilitated the
system becomes and the less able to do without unnatural stimulus, the
more the passion for these things increases, until the will is overborne,
and there seems to be no power to deny the unnatural craving for these
indulgences.
The only safe course is to touch not, taste not, handle not, tea,
coffee, wines, tobacco, opium, and alcoholic drinks. The necessity for
the men of this generation to call to their aid the power of the will,
strengthened by the grace of God, in order to withstand the temptations
of Satan and resist the least indulgence of perverted appetite is twice
as great as it was several generations ago. But the present generation
have less power of self-control than had those who lived then. Those
who have indulged the appetite for these stimulants have transmitted
their depraved appetites and passions to their children, and greater
moral power is required to resist intemperance in all its forms. The
only perfectly safe course to pursue is to stand firmly on the side of
temperance and not venture in the path of danger.
The great end for which Christ endured that long fast in the wilder-
ness was to teach us the necessity of self-denial and temperance. This
work should commence at our tables and should be strictly carried
out in all the concerns of life. The Redeemer of the world came from
heaven to help man in his weakness, that, in the power which Jesus
came to bring him, he might become strong to overcome appetite and
passion, and might be victor on every point.
Many parents educate the tastes of their children and form their
appetites. They indulge them in eating flesh meats and in drinking tea
and coffee. The highly seasoned flesh meats and the tea and coffee,
which some mothers encourage their children to use, prepare the way
for them to crave stronger stimulants, as tobacco. The use of tobacco
encourages the appetite for liquor, and the use of tobacco and liquor
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invariably lessens nerve power.
If the moral sensibilities of Christians were aroused upon the sub-
ject of temperance in all things, they could, by their example, com-
mencing at their tables, help those who are weak in self-control, who
are almost powerless to resist the cravings of appetite. If we could