Temptations Are Not Excuses
Satan's temptations are not to be accounted an excuse for one wrong act. There is no excuse for sinning. A holy temper, a Christlike life, is accessible to every repenting, believing child of God.HLv 205.4
As the Son of man was perfect in His life, so His followers are to be perfect in their lives. Jesus was in all things made like unto His brethren. He became flesh, even as we are. He shared the lot of man; yet He was the blameless Son of God. He was God in the flesh. His character is to be ours.HLv 205.5
Christ is the ladder that Jacob saw, the base resting on the earth, the topmost round reaching heaven. If that ladder had failed by a single step of reaching the earth, we should have been lost. But Christ reaches us where we are. He took our nature and overcame, that we, through taking His nature, might overcome. Made “in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Romans 8:3), He lived a sinless life. Now He bids us by faith in Him attain to the glory of the character of God.HLv 206.1
We are to be perfect, even as our “Father which is in heaven is perfect.”HLv 206.2
Jesus had shown in what righteousness consists and had pointed to God as its source. Now He turned to practical duties. Let nothing be done to attract attention or win praise to self. Give in sincerity, for the benefit of the suffering poor. In prayer, commune with God. In fasting, go not with the heart filled with thoughts of self.HLv 206.3
Service rendered in sincerity of heart has great recompense. “Thy Father which seeth in secret will reward thee openly.” By the life we live through the grace of Christ the character is formed. The attributes of the character of Christ are imparted, and the image of the Divine begins to shine forth. Men and women who walk and work with God are surrounded with the atmosphere of heaven. For these souls the kingdom of God has begun.HLv 206.4
“No man can serve two masters.” Bible religion is not one influence among many others; it is to pervade the whole life.HLv 206.5
“If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body will be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.” He who desires to know the truth must be willing to accept all that it reveals. To be wavering and halfhearted in allegiance to truth is to choose error and satanic delusion.HLv 206.6
Worldly policy and the principles of righteousness do not blend into each other, like the colors of the rainbow. Between the two a clear line is drawn by God. The likeness of Christ stands out as distinct from that of Satan, as midday in contrast with midnight. And only those who live the life of Christ are His coworkers.HLv 206.7
All who have chosen God's service are to rest in His care. Christ pointed to the birds flying in the heavens, and to the flowers of the field, and asked: “Are you not of more value than they?” RSV. The little brown sparrow is watched over. The flowers, the grass, share the notice of our heavenly Father. The great Master Artist has taken thought for the lilies, making them outshine the glory of Solomon. How much more does He care for man, who is the image and glory of God. As the sunbeam imparts to the flowers their delicate tints, so God imparts to the soul the beauty of His own character.HLv 207.1
In the book of God's providence, the volume of life, we are each given a page. That page contains every particular of our history. God's children are never absent from His mind. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow.” RSV. God does not give His children all the directions for their life journey at once. He tells them just as much as they can remember and perform. Strength and wisdom imparted are for the present emergency.HLv 207.2
“Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Do not think yourself better than other men and set yourself up as their judge. You cannot discern motive. In criticizing him, you are passing sentence on yourself; for you show that you are a participant with Satan, the accuser of the brethren. See 2 Corinthians 13:5; 1 Corinthians 11:31.HLv 207.3
The good tree will produce good fruit. So the fruit borne in the life testifies as to the character. Good works can never purchase salvation, but they are an evidence of the faith that works by love and purifies the soul. The reward is not bestowed because of our merit, yet it will be in proportion to the work done through grace.HLv 207.4
Thus Christ set forth the principles of His kingdom. To impress the lesson, He added an illustration. It is not enough, He says, to hear My words; by obedience, you must make them the foundation of your character. If you build on human theories, your house will fall. By the winds of temptation and trial it will be swept away. But these principles that I have given will endure. Receive Me; build on My words.HLv 208.1
“Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” RSV.HLv 208.2