Let no one deceive himself with the thought that by getting away from society and association with men, he will be free from temptation. Remember that:
• Jesus met His fiercest temptations alone in the wilderness.
• Luther in his monk's cell suffered temptations greater than any that ever came to him among his companions.
There is no place on earth where one will not be exposed to temptations, and solitude in the monk's cloister or the hermit's cave gives one no immunity from it. God has placed men in the world and it is there that they are to do battle and gain the victory.
This is not saying that solitude is not at times good for Christians; far from it. The secret place of prayer is where the heavenly plant fastens its roots most firmly in the Divine soil.
But he who runs away from what is called "the world," in order to avoid temptations, thereby shows himself already conquered; and the weakness exhibited in his running away, will make him an easy prey to the temptations that surely follow him.
We are not to run into temptation. We are to avoid it when we can. But he who cannot overcome in the position where God has placed him, can most certainly not overcome anywhere else.--Present Truth, September 7, 1899--Timeline: II-3 (The Temptation)--Matthew 4:1-11.