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In Gaining Victory Over Appetite, May 14
And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of
God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered
and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:3, 4
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The great trial of Christ in the wilderness on the point of appetite was
to leave man an example of self-denial. This long fast was to convict
men of the sinfulness of things in which professed Christians indulge.
The victory which Christ gained in the wilderness was to show man the
sinfulness of the very things in which he takes such pleasure. The salvation
of man was in the balance, and to be decided by the trial of Christ in the
wilderness. If Christ was a victor on the point of appetite, then there was a
chance for man to overcome....
Christians, who understand the mystery of godliness, who have a
high and sacred sense of the atonement, who realize in the sufferings of
Christ in the wilderness a victory gained for them ... would be greatly
strengthened by earnestly and frequently comparing their lives with the
true standard, the life of Christ.... The amusements which lead to levity
and forgetfulness of God, can find no sanction in the example of Christ,
the world’s Redeemer, the only safe pattern for man to copy if he would
overcome as Christ overcame.... Man now has the advantage over Adam
in his warfare with Satan; for he has Adam’s experience in disobedience
and his consequent fall to warn him to shun his example. Man also has
Christ’s example in overcoming appetite, and the manifold temptations of
Satan, and in vanquishing the mighty foe upon every point, and coming
off victor in every contest
The habits of eating and drinking are the most difficult to overcome
because Satan binds you securely to his chariot car
All who give themselves to the service of Christ will follow the exam-
ple of Christ, and will be perfect overcomers
[142]
46
The Review and Herald, October 13, 1874
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47
Manuscript 20, 1894
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48
Manuscript 176, 1898
.
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