Withstand temptation ( 28 )
Quotations from the writings of Ellen G. White with the phrase . . .
| The experience of the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane contains a lesson for the Lord's people today. . . . They did not realize the necessity of watchfulness and earnest prayer in order to withstand temptation. Many today are fast asleep, as were the disciples. They are not watching and praying lest they enter into temptation. Let us often read and give careful study to those portions of God's Word that have special reference to these last days, pointing out the dangers that will threaten God's people. {HP 97.3} |
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| John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, received his early training from his parents. The greater portion of his life was spent in the wilderness. . . . It was John's choice to forego the enjoyments and luxuries of city life for the stern discipline of the wilderness. Here his surroundings were favorable to habits of simplicity and self-denial. Uninterrupted by the clamor of the world, he could here study the lessons of nature, of revelation, and of providence. . . . From his childhood his mission had been kept before him, and he accepted the holy trust. To him the solitude of the desert was a welcome escape from the society in which suspicion, unbelief, and impurity had become well-nigh all-pervading. He distrusted his own power to withstand temptation and shrank from constant contact with sin lest he should lose the sense of its exceeding sinfulness. {AH 133.2} |
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| It was John's choice to forgo the enjoyments and luxuries of city life for the stern discipline of the wilderness. Here his surroundings were favorable to habits of simplicity and self-denial. Uninterrupted by the clamor of the world, he could here study the lessons of nature, of revelation, and of providence. The words of the angel to Zacharias had been often repeated by his God-fearing parents. From childhood his mission had been kept before him, and he accepted the holy trust. To him the solitude of the desert was a welcome escape from society in which suspicion, unbelief, and impurity had become well-nigh all-pervading. He distrusted his own power to withstand temptation and shrank from constant contact with sin lest he should lose the sense of its exceeding sinfulness. {CT 445.3} {RH, December 17, 1903 par. 2} {10MR 253.1} |
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| The love of money is the root of all evil." Some who profess the truth do not withstand temptation on this point. Among worldlings in this generation the greatest crimes are perpetrated through the love of money. If wealth cannot be secured by honest industry, men will resort to fraud, deception, and crime in order to obtain it. The cup of iniquity is nearly filled, and the retributive justice of God is about to descend upon the guilty. Widows are robbed of their scanty pittance by lawyers and professedly interested friends, and poor men are made to suffer for the necessaries of life because of the dishonesty which is practiced in order to gratify extravagance. The terrible record of crime in our world is enough to chill the blood and fill the soul with horror; but the fact that even among those who profess to believe the truth the same evils are creeping in, the same sins indulged to a greater or less degree, calls for deep humiliation of soul. {4T 489.2} |
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| Mothers, when you yield to impatience and deal harshly with your children, you are not learning of Christ, but of another master. Jesus says, "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." When you find your work hard, when you complain of difficulties and trials, when you say that you have no strength to withstand temptation, that you cannot overcome impatience, and that the Christian life is uphill work, be sure that you are not bearing the yoke of Christ; you are bearing the yoke of another master. {CG 267.3} |
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| There are men of poverty and obscurity whose lives God would accept and make full of usefulness on earth and of glory in heaven, but Satan is working persistently to defeat His purposes and drag them down to perdition by marriage with those whose character is such that they throw themselves directly across the road to life. Very few come out from this entanglement triumphant. Brother -----, you are willing to experiment and try to prove that you will be an exception to the general rule. Joseph was one of the few who could withstand temptation. He showed that he had an eye single to the glory or God. He evidenced a lofty regard for God's will, alike when occupying the prisoner's cell and when standing next the throne. He carried his religion with him wherever he went and in whatever situation he was placed. True religion has an all-pervading power. It gives tone to everything man does. You need not go out of the world in order to be a Christian, but you may carry your religion, with all its sanctifying influences, into all you do and say. You may discharge well the duties belonging to the situation where God has placed you, by keeping the heart fixed upon heavenly things, and thus break the spell now upon you through unwise association. Had you followed the light you would now be able to escape the snares which those who discern not the will of God have laid to captivate your soul. {5T 124.1} |
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| Rising with painful effort, he staggered to the place where he had left his disciples; but he "findeth them sleeping." Had he found them praying, he would have been comforted. Had they been seeking refuge in God, in order that satanic agencies might not prevail over them, he would have been strengthened by their steadfast faith. But they had not heeded the repeated warning, "Watch and pray." At first they had been much troubled to see their Master, usually so calm and dignified, wrestling with a sorrow that was beyond comprehension. They had prayed as they heard the strong cries of the divine-human Sufferer. They did not intend to forsake their Lord, but they seemed paralyzed by a stupor which they might have shaken off if they had continued pleading with God. They did not realize the necessity of watchfulness and earnest prayer in order to withstand temptation. {RH, July 7, 1910 par. 9} |
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| "At ten o'clock (Sabbath morning) the carriage came to take us to the place of meeting. It is a good-sized hall. Its walls are iron and the hot sun resting upon it made it seem like an oven. We had about fifty assembled. I spoke to them from Hebrews 12:1-4. Although the heat was very great the Lord gave me much freedom in speaking. At twelve the carriage was at the door and we returned to our home with deep and earnest yearning of heart for the dear people whom we had dressed. We knew that many must have a true conversion to God or they would not be able to keep the truth or to withstand temptation. {EGWE 307.3} |
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| able to withstand temptation |
| For each of the classes represented by the Pharisee and the publican there is a lesson in the history of the apostle Peter. In his early discipleship Peter thought himself strong. Like the Pharisee, in his own estimation he was "not as other men are." When Christ on the eve of His betrayal forewarned His disciples, "All ye shall be offended because of Me this night," Peter confidently declared, "Although all shall be offended, yet will not I." Mark 14:27, 29. Peter did not know his own danger. Self-confidence misled him. He thought himself able to withstand temptation; but in a few short hours the test came, and with cursing and swearing he denied his Lord. {COL 152.2} |
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| When Christ on the eve of His betrayal forewarned His disciples, "All ye shall be offended because of me this night," Peter confidently declared, "Although all shall be offended, yet will not I" (Mark 14:27, 29). Peter did not know his own danger. Self-confidence misled him. He thought himself able to withstand temptation; but in a few short hours the test came, and with cursing and swearing he denied his Lord. {CC 321.2} |
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| For the self-confident there is a lesson in the history of the apostle Peter. In his early discipleship, Peter thought himself strong. When on the eve of betrayal, Christ forewarned his disciples, "All ye shall be offended because of me this night," Peter confidently declared, "Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended." Peter did not know his own danger. Self-confidence misled him. He thought himself able to withstand temptation; but in a few short hours the test came, and with cursing and swearing he denied his Lord. {YI, June 5, 1902 par. 6} |
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| I am constrained to say to you, The Judgment is to sit the books are to be opened, and every man is to be judged according to the deeds done in the body. You look upon things seen as of value, but he who is a citizen of the heavenly kingdom will be constantly looking at things not seen. The power of earth over the mind and character is broken. He has the abiding presence of the heavenly Guest according to the Saviour's promise, "I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." He walks with God, as did Enoch, in continual communion. Only he who walks with the Lord Jesus in this life will be translated or come forth from the grave changed from mortal to immortality, to dwell with Christ in the heavenly courts through eternal ages. There must now be manifest in us the Holy Spirit's working, a power that will enable us to withstand temptation. {1888 1502.1} |