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Appendix B Typical Temperance Addresses By Ellen G. White
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comprehend the spiritual meaning of the long fast of the Son of God.
Never can we understand the strength and bondage of appetite until
we discern the character of the Saviour’s conflict in overcoming
Satan, and thus placing man on vantage ground, where, through the
merit of the blood of Christ, he may be able to resist the powers of
darkness, and overcome in his own behalf.
After this long fast, Christ was in a famishing condition, and in
His weakness Satan assailed Him with the fiercest temptations. “The
devil said unto him, If Thou be the Son of God, command this stone
that it be made bread.” Satan represented himself as the messenger
of God, claiming that God had seen the willingness of the Saviour to
place His feet in the path of self-denial, and that He was not required
to suffer further humiliation and pain, but might be released from the
terrible conflict that was before Him as the Redeemer of the world.
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He tried to persuade Him that God designed only to test His fidelity,
that now His loyalty was fully manifest, and He was at liberty to use
His divine power to relieve His necessities. But Christ discerned the
temptation, and declared, “It is written, That man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word of God.”
When tempted to the unlawful gratification of appetite, you
should remember the example of Christ, and stand firm, overcoming
as Christ overcame. You should answer, saying, “Thus saith the
Lord,” and in this way settle the question forever with the prince of
darkness. If you parley with temptation, and use your own words,
feeling self-sufficient, full of self-importance, you will be overcome.
The weapons which Christ used were the words of God, “It is writ-
ten;” and if you wield the sword of the Spirit, you also may come
off victorious through the merit of your Redeemer.
Satan More Successful With Man
—The three leading tempta-
tions by which man is beset were endured by the Son of God. He
refused to yield to the enemy on the point of appetite, ambition, and
the love of the world. But Satan is more successful when assailing
the human heart. Through inducing men to yield to his temptations,
he can get control of them. And through no class of temptations
does he achieve greater success than through those addressed to the
appetite. If he can control the appetite, he can control the whole
man.