Basic HTML Version
Tears And Conflict, March 27
Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and
temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews.
Acts 20:19
.
From the days of Adam to our own time, our great enemy has been exercising
his power to oppress and destroy. He is now preparing for his last campaign
against the church.
The better to disguise his real character and purposes, he has caused himself
to be so represented as to excite no stronger emotion than ridicule or contempt.
He is well pleased to be painted as a ludicrous or loathsome object, misshapen,
half animal and half human.
If Satan was so cunning at first, what must he be now, after gaining an expe-
rience of many thousands of years? Yet God and holy angels, and all those who
abide in obedience to all the Lord’s will, are wiser than he.
All who are actively engaged in the cause of God, seeking to unveil the
deceptions of the evil one and to present Christ before the people, will be able
to join in the testimony of Paul, in which he speaks of serving the Lord with all
humility of mind, with many tears and temptations....
The tempter has no power to control the will or to force the soul to sin. He
may distress, but he cannot contaminate. He can cause agony, but not defilement.
Satan cannot read our thoughts, but he can see our actions, hear our words;
and from his long knowledge of the human family, he can shape his temptations to
take advantage of our weak points of character. And how often do we let him into
[86]
the secret of how he may obtain the victory over us. Oh, that we might control our
words and actions!
Satan assailed Christ with his fiercest and most subtle temptations; but he was
repulsed in every conflict. Those battles were fought in our behalf; those victories
make it possible for us to conquer. Christ will give strength to all who seek it.
94