Hope for the Tempted
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to Jesus and believing in him, and becoming a partaker of the divine
nature.
Look at the condition of the men who give themselves up to in-
temperance. Littleness, earthliness, degradation, mark their entire
character. This is the result of their evil course. They have been walk-
ing in the way of their own heart, and in the sight of their own eyes,
and are filled with their own devices. Their wretched homes are a hell,
made so by themselves. “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap.” [
Galatians 6:7
.] Shall these men charm you? Would you sink
into ignorance and debasement, and become besotted, like them? Shall
the habits and practices of these debased creatures, who bear scarcely
a trace of the moral image of God, be your pattern? Is not the picture
of their degraded condition enough to make you shun the first step in
the same direction? Would you desire to be shut out of heaven with
such company?
Let me say to him who is struggling to overcome, God presents
before you a strong hope, that you may lay hold on eternal life. Lose
no opportunity of becoming a man. When you look at yourself, and
realize the strength of temptation, you feel so weak in moral power
that you say, “I cannot resist.” I tell you, you can resist, you must resist
temptation. Although you may have been overcome, although moral
debasement may have marked your course, it need not always be thus.
Jesus is your helper. In his strength you can overcome the beguiling
power of appetite. Summon will-power to your aid.
The will is the governing power in the nature of man. If the will is
set right, all the rest of the being will come under its sway. The will is
not the taste or the inclination, but it is the choice, the deciding power,
the kingly power, which works in the children of men unto obedience
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to God or to disobedience.
You will be in constant peril until you understand the true force of
the will. You may believe and promise all things, but your promises
and your faith are of no account until you put your will on the right
side. If you will fight the fight of faith with your will-power, there is
no doubt that you will conquer.
Your part is to put your will on the side of Christ. When you yield
your will to his, he immediately takes possession of you, and works
in you to will and to do of his good pleasure. Your nature is brought
under the control of his Spirit. Even your thoughts are subject to him.