Oh, how I long to see those who claim to be medical missionaries honoring the Great Exemplar, whose life declares what is comprehended in the claim to be a medical missionary! I would that they were learning the Saviour’s meekness and lowliness. My heart aches to think that Christ is so greatly disappointed in His followers. They bear a name that their daily life does not give them the right to bear.
(MM 21.1)
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We must be sanctified, soul and body, through the truth; then we shall honor the name, medical missionary. Oh, this name means so much! It calls for a representation altogether different from the representation given by many who bear it. Soon these will understand how far they have departed from the principles of heaven, and how greatly they have grieved the heart of Christ.—Letter 117, 1903.
(MM 21.2)
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When all our medical missionaries shall live the renewed life in Christ Jesus, and shall take His words as meaning all that they are designed to mean, there will be a much clearer and more comprehensive understanding of what constitutes genuine medical missionary work. And yet this line of work can best be understood by practicing it in simplicity. The unfolding of this work will have a deeper meaning to them after they obey the holy law engraven on tables of stone by the finger of God, including the Sabbath commandment, concerning which Christ Himself spoke through Moses to the children of Israel....
(MM 21.3)
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God’s servants who are doing genuine medical missionary work have a most solemn, sacred responsibility resting upon them to keep in view Christ’s life of unselfish service. They should turn their eyes from everything else, and look unto Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of their faith. He is the Source of all light, the Fountain of all heaven’s blessings. To every medical missionary worker I am instructed to say, Follow your Leader. His is the way, the truth, the light, the life. He is the One whose example we as true medical missionaries must follow.
(MM 21.4)
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In the love and fear of God, let the physicians have meetings for counsel, and talk up the best ways and means of serving the Lord in their branch of His great work. Let them bring together all their intelligence and skill, that they may be a help to one another. I know that there are ways by which they can come into harmony so that no one shall follow his own independent judgment.—Letter 26a, 1889.
(MM 49.1)
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The intelligent Christian physician has an increasing knowledge of the connection between sin and disease. He is constantly striving to perfect his knowledge of the relation between cause and effect. He sees the necessity of educating those who are taking the nurse’s course to be strictly temperate in all things, because carelessness in regard to the laws of health, a neglect to properly care for the body, is the cause of much of the disease on our world. A failure to care for the living machinery is an insult to the Creator. There are divinely appointed rules which, if observed, will keep human beings from disease and premature death....
(MM 49.2)
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When a physician sees that the ailment which has taken hold of the body is the result of improper eating and drinking, yet neglects to tell the patient that his suffering is caused by a wrong course of action, he is doing the human brotherhood an injury. Present the matter tenderly, but never keep silent as to the cause of the affliction.—Letter 120, 1901.
(MM 49.3)
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Christ was a Seventh-day Adventist, to all intents and purposes. It was He who called Moses into the mount and gave him instruction for His people ∙∙∙ . In awful grandeur Christ made known the law of Jehovah, giving, among other charges, this charge: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”Exodus 20:8. My brother, you have not placed upon the Sabbath the sanctity that is required by God. Irreverence has come in, and an example has been set that the Lord does not approve. He is not honored and glorified.
(MM 49.4)
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There will always be duties which have to be performed on the Sabbath for the relief of suffering humanity. This is right, and in accordance with the law of Him who says, “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.”Matthew 9:13. But there is danger of falling into carelessness on this point, and of doing that which it is not positively essential to do on the Sabbath.
(MM 50.1)
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Unnecessary traveling is done on the Sabbath, with many other things which might be left undone. “Take heed,” saith the Lord, “to all thy ways, lest I remove My Holy Spirit because of the lax regard given to My precepts.”“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Bear in mind the charge to remember. Do not carelessly forget, “Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work.”Exodus 20:8, 9. In this time all the duties necessary to prepare for the Sabbath are to be done.—Letter 51, 1901.
(MM 50.2)
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The temptations that come to a physician are great, for he is often pressed beyond measure, overworked, overwearied. But if he will commit the keeping of his soul to God as unto a faithful Creator, he will find rest and peace. A soothing influence from Jesus will come to him.
(MM 50.3)
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Infidel physicians abound. They refuse to be illuminated by the light which irradiates others. They exalt self, and they lose spiritual and eternal advantages. But medical practitioners who have the influence of the truth upon the mind and heart are skilled in the use of remedies for the sin-sick soul as well as the body. They can with the wisdom of heaven speak words that will cause melody in the soul because of spiritual growth.
(MM 50.4)
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You are a shepherd of the soul as well as a physician of the body. You need divine aid, and you may have it if you will come to the Lord as a little child. You may have a rich experience. But you must not wear yourself out by overworry and overtaxation. If you are balanced by the Holy Spirit, you will seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. You will place yourself in a position where the truth for this time can come in clear, distinct rays of light to you. You will see the truth as it bears upon the present time, and your experience will be in complete harmony with the message of the third angel....
(MM 50.5)
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We all have very much to be thankful for; let us open our lips in praise and thanksgiving to God. Let us come nearer to the Lord Jesus, and acknowledge our daily obligations to Him. He has made it possible for us to secure for ourselves a very happy life even in this world of sin, and holds out the hope of being continually in His presence in the kingdom He is preparing for His people. Should not these thoughts call forth from us praise and thanksgiving?—Letter 260, 1907.
(MM 214.1)
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Genuine medical missionary work is bound up inseparably with the keeping of God’s commandments, of which the Sabbath is especially mentioned, since it is the great memorial of God’s creative work. Its observance is bound up with the work of restoring the moral image of God in man. This is the ministry which God’s people are to carry forward at this time. This ministry, rightly performed, will bring rich blessings to the church.—Testimonies for the Church 6:266.
(MM 214.2)
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Often physicians are called upon on the Sabbath to minister to the sick, and it is impossible for them to take time for rest and devotion. The Saviour has shown us by His example that it is right to relieve suffering on this day; but physicians and nurses should do no unnecessary work. Ordinary treatment, and operations that can wait, should be deferred till the next day. Let the patients know that physicians must have one day for rest. The Lord says, “Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations.”Exodus 31:13.
(MM 214.3)
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Let no man, because he is a physician, feel at liberty to disregard this word of the Lord. He should plan his work so as to obey God’s requirements. He should not travel on the Sabbath except when there is real suffering to be alleviated. When this is the case, it is not a desecration of the Sabbath for physicians to travel upon that day; but ordinary cases should be deferred.
(MM 214.4)
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God created the world in six days and rested upon the seventh. He sanctified and blessed the seventh day and made it His sacred memorial. “Wherefore,” He declares, “the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.”Exodus 31:16. Those who do this, keeping all of God’s commandments, may claim the promises contained in Isaiah 58:11-14. The instruction given in this chapter is full and decided. Those who refrain from labor on the Sabbath may claim divine comfort and consolation. Shall we not believe God? Shall we not call holy the day which He calls holy? Man should not be ashamed to acknowledge as sacred that which God calls sacred. He should not be ashamed to do that which God has commanded. Obedience will bring him a knowledge of what constitutes true sanctification.
(MM 215.1)
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Let there be no robbery of God in tithes and offerings, no desecration of His holy time. Man is not to do his own pleasure on God’s holy day. He has six days in which to work at secular business, but God claims the seventh as His own. “In it,” He says, “thou shalt not do any work.”Exodus 20:10. The servant of God will call sacred that which the Lord calls sacred. Thus he will show that he has chosen the Lord as his leader. The Sabbath was made in Eden, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. God has placed it in our charge. Let us keep it pure and holy.— Manuscript 162, 1897.
(MM 215.2)
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Those who, from whatever cause, are obliged to work on the Sabbath, are always in peril; they feel the loss, and from doing works of necessity, they fall into the habit of doing things on the Sabbath that are not necessary. The sense of its sacredness is lost, and the holy commandment is of no effect. A special effort should be made to bring about a reform in regard to Sabbath observance. The workers in the sanitarium do not always do for themselves what is their privilege and duty. Often they feel so weary that they become demoralized. This should not be. The soul can be rich in grace only as it shall abide in the presence of God....
(MM 215.3)
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