“I made a promise for ten minutes, and then I prayed and fought the temptation. I continued this process until the sun was seen coming up, when I threw the tobacco into the fire and have not touched it since. That night was a night of struggle, but thank God I came off victor.”
1 Corinthians 15:57 (NKJV) "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV) "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."
Romans 8:37 (NKJV) "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."
Ephesians 6:10-11 (NKJV) "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
1 John 5:4 (NKJV) "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith."
Isaiah 41:13 (NKJV) "For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’"
A case has just come to my mind to the point. A man who attended one of my meetings in the State of Michigan in America had made himself almost a wreck both in body and mind by the use of liquor and tobacco. I appealed to him to resist the evil in the strength of a risen Saviour. He was bowed down from the effects of his appetite. His dress was in keeping with his shattered condition, and to all appearance he had passed the line to be helped. But he tremblingly arose in the congregation and said, “Mrs. White, you have an interest for me, and I will have an interest for myself.” {Ms 26, 1887, par. 25}
Six months later he came to my home and with tears, and a countenance beaming with joy, grasped my hand. I did not recognize who he was. He said, “Do you not know the man in an old blue coat who rose in your congregation and said that he would try and reform?” When the facts were presented I was astonished, for the reason that he looked ten years younger; and instead of being bowed down, he stood erect. {Ms 26, 1887, par. 26}
I was anxious to know what course he took to wean himself from his former habits. He stated that he went home with a quid of tobacco in his mouth. He took it in his hand and he promised that he would not touch it for five minutes. “Then,” he said, “I made a promise for ten minutes, and then I prayed and fought the temptation. I continued this process until the sun was seen coming up, when I threw the tobacco into the fire and have not touched it since. That night was a night of struggle, but thank God I came off victor.” {Ms 26, 1887, par. 27}
This man became superintendent of a Sabbath school. He could tell by experience what bondage these evils had brought him under, and he could warn the youth from becoming contaminated with this vice; and those who had been overcome as himself he could point to Christ as a source of help in gaining the victory. {Ms 26, 1887, par. 28}