All May Become Conquerors Through Christ, July 19

“Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” Jeremiah 13:23^L.

We know that intemperance is in our world everywhere. There is no sin in eating and drinking to sustain us physically, and in doing that which is for our spiritual good. But when we lose eternity out of our reckoning, and carry these necessary things to excess, that is when the sin comes in. We see on every side such crime, such iniquity. Is it not time that we shall begin to study for ourselves? ...

Satan is represented by the serpent. The tempter is everywhere, on every side, and when God says ye shall not, what is the result? In many instances in the place of obeying the voice of warning, people listen to the tempter. And in the place of all the attractions that Satan presents they have woe and misery....

When Christ came into our world as a babe in Bethlehem, the angels sang out, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”(Luke 2:14^L)... Satan with all his synagogue—for Satan claims to be religious—determined that Christ should not carry out the counsels of heaven. After Christ was baptized, He bowed on the banks of Jordan, and never before had heaven listened to such a prayer as came from His divine lips.... The glory of God, in the form of a dove of burnished gold, rested upon Him, and from the infinite glory was heard these words, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17^L. The human race is encircled by the human arm of Christ, while with His divine arm He grasps the throne of the Infinite One. The prayer of Christ cleaved right through the darkness and entered where God is. To each of us it means that heaven is open before us. It means that the gates are ajar, that the glory is imparted to the Son of God and all who believe in His name....

Christ entered into the wilderness with the Spirit of God upon Him, to be tempted of the devil.... Satan left the field as a conquered foe. Our Saviour passed over the ground and was victor....

What has He done for the human family? He has elevated us in the scale of moral value. We may become conquerors through our Sufficiency. There is hope for the most hopeless, in Christ.... What did Christ come here for? To represent the Father. What a heart of love and sympathy! ... When God gave His Son, He gave all heaven. He could give no more.—Manuscript 27, 1893 (Temperance, 283-287).