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Follow Christ and Defeat the Enemy, July 6
For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
1 John 2:16
, NKJV.
Many of the people of God are stupefied by the spirit of the world, and are
denying their faith by their works. They cultivate a love for money, for houses and
lands, until it absorbs the powers of mind and being, and shuts out love for the
Creator and for souls for whom Christ died. The God of this world has blinded their
eyes; their eternal interests are made secondary; and brain, bone, and muscle are
taxed to the utmost to increase their worldly possessions. And all this accumulation
of cares and burdens is borne in direct violation of the injunction of Christ, who
said, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.”
They forget that He said also, “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven”; that
in so doing they are working for their own interest. The treasure laid up in heaven
is safe; no thief can approach nor moth corrupt it. But their treasure is upon the
earth, and their affections are upon their treasure.
In the wilderness, Christ met the great leading temptations that would assail
humanity. There, singlehanded, He encountered the wily, subtle foe, and overcame
him. The first great temptation was upon appetite; the second, presumption; the
third, love of the world. The thrones and kingdoms of the world, and the glory
of them, were offered to Christ. Satan came with worldly honor, wealth, and
the pleasures of life, and presented them in the most attractive light to allure and
deceive. “All these things,” said he to Christ, “will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down
and worship me.” Yet Christ repelled the wily foe, and came off victor....
The example of Christ is before us. He overcame Satan, showing us how we also
may overcome. Christ resisted Satan with Scripture. He might have had recourse to
His own divine power, and used His own words; but He said, “It is written, Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of
God.” If the Sacred Scriptures were studied and followed, the Christian would be
fortified to meet the wily foe; but the Word of God is neglected, and disaster and
defeat follow.—
Counsels on Stewardship, 209, 210
.
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