![]() Surely there is no situation where a human being feels more helpless. ![]() I do not know if you have ever been in a situation where you have dealt with someone who has been possessed of an evil spirit. He had already brought this boy to the leaders of the Christian church. That is what happened to the father in Mark 9. After this pattern has been repeated over and over again, people sometimes become discouraged. I visit with them in their homes and in the hospitals. I am not talking about something imaginary. Maybe they quit for three months, and then it overpowers them again. Maybe they quit for a month then it overcomes them again. Or maybe they are more successful than that. Have you ever met somebody who has a besetting sin in his or her life that they cannot overcome, and that person declares, “I am going to quit”? Mark Twain said, “It is not hard to quit smoking I have quit a thousand times.” So the individual quits the sin for a week then the habit overcomes them again. This is a man whose son has had a problem since childhood that he cannot overcome. ![]() And if you are able to do anything, please help us and have compassion on us.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘If you are able, all things are possible to the one who believes.’ ” And often times he has cast him into the fire and into the water that he might destroy him. And I brought him to your disciples that they might cast it out, but they were not able.’ And answering, he says to them, ‘Oh faithless generation, how long am I going to be with you? how long am I going to endure you? bring him to me.’ And they brought him to him and seeing him, the spirit immediately convulsed him and falling upon the earth he wallowed, foaming, and Jesus questioned the father saying, ‘How long a time is this that he has been like this?’ And he said, ‘Since childhood. And he said to them, ‘What are you arguing with them about?’ And a certain one answered him, out of the crowd, ‘Teacher, I brought my son to you having a dumb spirit And wherever he seizes him it dashes him and he foams at the mouth and he gnashes his teeth and he wastes away. And immediately the crowd, seeing him, was greatly amazed, and running towards him they greeted him. Jesus and the three disciples-Peter, James, and John-are coming down from the mountain, and it says, in verses 14–23, “Coming to the disciples they saw a great crowd around them and scribes arguing with them. The record of the transfiguration of Jesus is recorded in Mark 9:2–13. If that is how you feel, consider what happened the morning after the transfiguration of Jesus. They think they will never make it and believe they are stuck. They become depressed, and they feel discouraged. They are presented the standard, and they begin to weep. While all of this is true, I want to give you a word of encouragement. Jesus is coming to take a people, and these people are going to have clean hands and pure hearts, without one spot or blemish. There are also many Bible verses that apply to this study. There are many Spirit of Prophecy quotations on this subject. I have been studying Psalm 24 for quite some time and investigating the Spirit of Prophecy on the subject of clean hands and pure hearts. You will hear about the necessity of overcoming sin. When you attend historic Seventh-day Adventist meetings, you will hear about the New Testament doctrine of perfection. That is not what the Bible says, and that is not what the Spirit of Prophecy says.īecause people will go to hell as a result of what they have been taught and believed, historic Seventh-day Adventist preachers have said, “We have to tell people the truth, and we have to engage in a war with this false doctrine.” That is what we have been doing. There are ministers who are telling people that they will sin until Jesus comes, and then they will go to heaven. Ministers have been teaching in Seventh-day Adventist churches that all one must do to be saved is just believe in Jesus-one can go on sinning and be saved anyway. We must proclaim the truth to have a clear conscience. We have been fighting, not because we enjoy it, but because a war is going on, and we must fight in order to have a clear conscience. It involves people who we have loved so dearly, those who we just cannot bear to fight, and yet we must because of the apostasy. The most painful thing about this war is that it involves our own brethren. We, in historic Adventism, have been involved in a spiritual war.
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