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108
S.D.A. Bible Commentary Vol. 5
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 Spirit of
Prophecy 2:47
).
Satan Could Not Move John
—The childhood, youth, and man-
hood of John, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah to do a
special work in preparing the way for the world’s Redeemer, was
marked with firmness and moral power. Satan could not move him
from his integrity (
The Review and Herald, March 3, 1874
).