Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue [fortitude]—2. Pet. 1:5.

  One great difficulty with the Lord’s people is that, even when determined for a right course and thus resisting the temptation, they do not take sufficiently positive action. Many say to the tempter, I have concluded not to yield at this time. Thus they leave in their own minds an opportunity open by which the tempter may return. Our Lords course was the proper one: we should dismiss the tempter once and forever. We should take our stand so firmly that even the Adversary would not think it worthwhile to come back at us along that line; “leave me, Adversary, I will worship and serve my God alone”.