Section 7—Fees and Wages

Exorbitant Fees

Traditions and customs have become so interwoven with the belief of the medical profession that physicians need to be taught the very first principles of the way of the Lord. The physician ministers to the body in healing, yet all the work is the Lord’s. He must cooperate with the physicians, else there cannot be success.

Please read carefully the fifteenth chapter of Exodus. The Lord gave Moses a message of encouragement for the children of Israel. They did not deserve the good He had done and was doing for them, yet He made a covenant of mercy with them, saying, “If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.” Read also the seventh^L, eighth^L, and twenty-eighth chapters of Deuteronomy^L.

God’s Lesson For Israel

The Lord had a lesson to teach the children of Israel. ‘The waters of Marah’ were an object lesson, representing the diseases brought upon human beings because of sin. It is no mystery that the inhabitants of the earth are suffering from disease of every stripe and type. It is because they transgress the law of God. Thus did the children of Israel. They broke down the barriers which God in His providence had erected to preserve them from disease, that they might live in health and holiness and so learn obedience in their journeying through the wilderness. They journeyed under the special direction of Christ, who had given Himself as a sacrifice to preserve a people who would ever keep God in their remembrance, notwithstanding Satan’s masterly temptations. Enshrouded in the pillar of cloud, it was Christ’s desire to keep under His sheltering wing of preservation all who would do His will.

It was not by chance that in their journey the children of Israel came to Marah. Before they left Egypt the Lord began His lessons of instruction, that He might lead them to realize that He was their God, their Deliverer, their Protector. They murmured against Moses and against God, but still the Lord sought to show them that He would relieve all their perplexities if they would look to Him. The evils they met and passed through were part of God’s great plan, whereby He desired to prove them.

“When they came to Marah, ∙∙∙ the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, and said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord that healeth thee.” Exodus 15:23~26^L. Though invisible to human eyes, God was the leader of the Israelites, their mighty Healer. He it was who put into the tree the properties which sweetened the waters. Thus He desired to show them that by His power He could cure the evils of the human heart.

In Christ’s Stead

Christ is the Great Physician, not only of the body, but of the soul. He restores man to his God. God permitted His only-begotten Son to be bruised, that healing properties might flow forth from Him to cure all our diseases. Physicians are to act in Christ’s stead. Every physician who has planted his feet upon the Rock of Ages draws from the Great Physician his restoring power. Christ’s plans are to be carried out more definitely by the Christian physician.

As Christ was about to leave His disciples, those who were to represent Him to the world, He gave them a new commandment. “A new commandment I give unto you,” He said, “That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one for another.” John 13:34~35^L. That love they knew not until they saw the suffering and death of Jesus Christ upon the cross of Calvary. The new commandment of love was given in behalf of the weak, the wretched, the helpless.

To the heart of Christ the very presence of trouble was a call for help. The poor, the sick, the desolate, the outcasts, the discouraged, the desponding, found in Him a compassionate Saviour, a Mighty Healer. “A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory.” Isaiah 42:3^L, Matthew 12:30^L. Christ identifies His interests with those of suffering humanity, and He tells us that whatever we do to relieve a sufferer, we do for Him ∙∙∙ .

There are great lessons to be learned by all who minister for Christ. The Sabbath mark must be placed upon God’s commandment-keeping people. The Sabbath, if kept in the spirit of true obedience, will show that all God’s commandments are to be practiced, “that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.” Exodus 31:13^L.

The Source of the Physician’s Skill

The Lord has His eye upon every human being, and He has His plans concerning each one. He would have His commandment-keeping people a distinguished people, who practice the holy precepts specified in His word. He would have the members of the medical profession expel from their practice everything which has been brought in by selfishness, avariciousness, injustice. He has given wisdom and skill to physicians, and He designs that nothing savoring of robbery and injustice shall be practiced by those who make the law of Jehovah the rule of their life. By His own working agencies He has created material which will restore the sick to health. If men would use aright the wisdom God has given them, this world would be a place resembling heaven....

We all need a far higher, purer, holier trust in God. Every physician should be true and honest. He is not in any case to defraud his patients. If he performs a simple operation, he is to charge a simple price. The charges made by other practicing physicians are not to be his criterion. The diseased bodies over which he works are God’s property. He has said, “Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:20^L.

The exorbitant price charged by physicians in this country [Australia], when called upon to attend suffering humanity is robbery, fraud. God gave physicians their wisdom and skill. It is not man who saves life; it is the Great Restorer. But poor men are often charged for services they never received....

Called To Righteous Judgment

God calls for physicians who will make reforms in the methods of treating the sick. He calls for physicians who will cooperate with Him. He calls for righteous judgment among medical practitioners, who are acting in His stead. The physician who loves his brother as he loves himself will not charge exorbitant prices. A change must take place. It is just as essential that there be reforms in medical lines as in other business lines. There is grave overreaching in the charges made by lawyers and doctors. The Lord views all these things. No tradition, custom, or practice condemned by God must be followed by the believing physician. He is God’s servant, working in Christ’s stead, as His representative, and his work, his weights and measures, pass in review before God. The commandments of God must be the physician’s standard. He must measure his daily life by principles of the law.

The Cleansing of the Temple

Christ rebuked the Pharisees and doctors of the law because of the dishonest practices which they had brought into the temple courts. These men influenced the buyers and sellers to purchase cattle at the lowest prices, and then to sell them for a high price to those coming from a distance, who could not bring their offerings with them and were therefore compelled to buy them in Jerusalem. As these men sat at the table, counting the money they had gained by robbery and extortion, Christ stood before them. His eye flashed with indignation as He saw the fraudulent transactions which were carried on. Picking up a scourge of small cords which had been used to drive cattle to the temple, He drove out those who sold and bought, and overthrew the tables of the money changers and the seats of them that sold doves, saying, “It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.” Matthew 21:13^L.

Then the Restorer practiced His medical missionary work. “The blind and the lame came to Him in the temple; and He healed them.” Matthew 21:14^L.

The marketplaces, the merchandise stores, need cleansing. Courts of justice, lawyers’ offices, the medical fraternity, need purifying. Shall we say that the medical missionary work needs cleansing? Christ, who came to our world to reveal the Father’s heart of tender compassion, has shown us the methods which Sabbath keepers are to follow in their work. These are plainly specified in the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah^L. God will not be a party to any dishonest transaction. The soul who keeps the Sabbath is stamped with the sign of God’s government, and he must not dishonor this sign. By closely examining the word of God, we may know whether we have the King’s mark, whether we have been chosen and set apart to honor God. Please read Deuteronomy 6:4-9^L and Ezekiel 20:12-20^L ∙∙∙ .

God will never, never allow any man to pass through the pearly gates of the City of God who does not bear the signet of the faithful, His government mark. Every soul who is saved will cherish pure principles, which proceed from the very essence of truth. He must fasten himself by golden links to the everlasting power and love of the God of truth. He must be loyal to the principles of God’s word, loyal to the everlasting covenant which is a sign between man and his Maker.

A Conscience Taught of God

Righteousness, high and elevated, is to control the conduct. Strength of mind, learning, power of influence, will not give man his eternal life insurance papers. God weighs the action. Each must form an individual character after the likeness of Christ. He must have a conscience taught of God. He must see behind every promise the All-powerful One, with whom he must work as an agent to do His will. If man will not take this position, he will make shipwreck of faith. God will never insure a man for everlasting life whose anchor is not securely fastened to heaven’s unalterable law. He must reveal the Christ working in him, in his doctrinal precepts, in his practical obedience.

The soul that converses with God through the Scriptures, who prays for light and opens the door of his heart to the Saviour, will not have evil imaginings, worldly scheming, or ambitious lust after honor or distinction in any line. He who seeks for the truth as for hidden treasure will find it in God’s means of communication with man, His word. David says, “The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” Psalm 119:130^L. This does not mean those who are weak in intellect, but those who, whatever their position, have a true sense of their need of conversing with God as did Enoch. The word of God will ennoble the mind and sanctify the human agent, enabling him to become a co-worker with divine agencies. The elevated standard of God’s holy law will mean very much to him, as a standard of all his life practice. It will mean holiness, which is wholeness to God. As the human agent presses forward in the path cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in, as he receives Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour, he will feed on the bread of life. The word is spirit and life, and if it is brought into the daily practice it will ennoble the whole nature of man. There will be opened to his soul such a view of the Saviour’s love as portrayed by the pen of Inspiration that his heart will be melted into tenderness and contrition.

We are to see and understand the instruction given us by the great apostle, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby,” (1 Peter 2:2^L) in perception, in likeness to the character of Christ. Development of character, growth in knowledge and wisdom, will be the sure result of feeding on the word.

What Would Jesus Do?

We present to all our workers, our ministers and physicians, the necessity of careful consideration in all their work, perfect and entire obedience to the precepts of the word of God. Carefully inquire at every step: How would my Saviour act in this line of work? What impression will I leave upon the people? I am to yoke up with Christ in the work as a restorer of health to the body, the mind, the heart, the soul. How careful should every physician be to represent the Master! ...

New Methods

It is time for the people of God, those who wear the sign of His kingdom, and whose authority is derived from “It is written,” to work. The world is the field of our labor, and we are to strive to give the last message of mercy to the world. Our every action is being watched with jealous eyes. Be on guard as physicians. You can serve the Lord in your position by working with new methods and discarding drugs.

As reformers we are to reform the medical practice by educating toward the light. Our work is to be done in the full recognition of God. We are to practice the strict principles of mercy and justice. Our work is not to be as a garment put together with basting threads. We must imitate God’s perfection. “Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” 1 Corinthians 3:9^L. We are to make the foundation of every building thorough and solid, as for eternity.— Manuscript 63, 1899.

Represent Upright Principles

Honesty, integrity, justice, mercy, love, compassion, and sympathy are embraced in medical missionary work. In all this work the religion of the Bible is to be practiced. The Lord does not want anyone to labor as His representative who follows the wrong customs and practices of worldly physicians in treating suffering humanity. Our physicians need to reform in the matter of making high charges for critical operations. And the reform should extend farther than this. Often an exorbitant sum is charged for even small services, because physicians are supposed to be governed in their charges by the practices of worldly physicians. Some follow worldly policy in order to accumulate means, as they say, for God’s service. But God does not accept such offerings. He says, “I hate robbery for burnt offering.” Isaiah 61:8^L. Those who deal unjustly with their fellowmen while professing to believe My word, I will judge for thus misrepresenting Me.

As these things were presented before me, my Teacher said: “The institutions that depend upon God and receive His cooperation must ever work according to the principles of His law. To charge a large sum for a few minutes’ work, is not just. Physicians who are under the discipline of the greatest Physician the world ever knew must let the principles of the gospel regulate every fee. Let mercy and love of God be written on every dollar received.”

When our sanitariums are conducted as they should be, a large medical missionary work will be done. Everyone will do his work in such a way and with such a spirit that he will shine as a light in the world.

God calls for practical Christlike work. The patients who come to our sanitariums are to see carried out the principles laid down in the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah^L. Those who have accepted the truth are to practice it because it is the truth. In the work of God in our institutions the truth is to be preserved in all its sacred influences.

Religious Principles to be Maintained

The medical practitioner should in all places keep his religious principles clear and untarnished. Truth should be paramount in his practice. He is to use his influence as a means of cleansing the soul by the healing beams of the Sun of Righteousness. When a time comes that physicians cannot do this, the Lord would have no more medical institutions established among Seventh-day Adventists. High prices are current in the world; but correct principles are to be brought into our work. The Bible standard is to be maintained. The way of the Lord, justice, mercy, and truth, is to be followed. No exorbitant bills are to be sent in for slight operations. The charges made are to be proportionate to the work done.

The work done in our medical institutions is to be true to the name, “Medical Missionary Work.” We do not want the Lord to think ill of us because we misrepresent the work of Christ. God has not given us permission to do a work which will not bear the investigation of the judgment. He does not want any institution established by His people to bear a reputation similar to that borne by Ananias and Sapphira. Desiring to gain a reputation for self-sacrifice, liberality, and devotion to the Christian faith, Ananias and Sapphira sold their property, and laid part of the proceeds at the feet of the apostles, pretending they had given it all. They had not been urged to give all they had to the cause. God would have accepted part. But they desired it to be thought that they had given all. Thus they thought to gain the reputation they coveted, and at the same time keep back part of their money. They thought they had been successful in their scheme; but they were cheating the Lord, and He dealt summarily with this, the first case of deception and falsehood in the newly formed church. He slew them both, as a warning to all of the danger of sacrificing truth to gain favor.

We are not to misrepresent what we profess to believe in order to gain favor. God despises misrepresentation and prevarication. He will not tolerate the man who says, and does not. The best and noblest work is done by fair, honest dealing.— Manuscript 169, 1899.

The Percentage Plan a Snare

The Lord showed me that you made a decided mistake in taking, in addition to your regular wages, all the money that you obtained from your eye, ear, and throat work. This was a snare to you. It had a misleading influence upon you. Your great desire for display led you into extravagance....

Duty to be Holy and Uncorrupted

Only that which is pure and lovely and of good report is it safe for us to follow. Human beings are under the most sacred obligations to God to be holy and uncorrupted; for they have been bought with a price, even the precious blood of the Son of God. By their baptismal vows they are solemnly pledged to do nothing which will bring an evil report upon the Christian name. Before the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the professing Christian pledges himself to discourage pride, covetousness, unbelief. And as the true Christian seeks to fulfill this pledge, he grows in self-distrust. Constantly he places more dependence upon God. His reverence and love for the Saviour continually increase, and he is a living witness for his Master. He realizes what it means to be a child of God. He has a realizing sense that the cleansing blood of Christ secures for him pardon and elevation of character. In spirituality he grows like the lofty cedar. Daily he holds communion with God, and he has a treasure-house of knowledge from which to draw. He is mighty in the knowledge of the Scriptures. His fellowship is with the Father and the Son, and he knows more and still more of the divine will. He is filled with a constantly increasing love for God and for his fellowmen.—Letter 46, 1901.

Care in Expenditure

If physicians feel that they do not receive sufficient wages, their circumstances should be examined. If their work is too heavy, others should be brought in to share their responsibilities, and they should be given less to do. We are engaged in an important work, and great care must be exercised in the use of means. There is a world to receive the light. Souls unwarned are perishing. If increased wages are paid to those who ought to be satisfied, this will result in keeping out other laborers whose services are needed, but who, because of the lack of means, cannot be employed.— Manuscript 59, 1912.

The Policy Principle a Dishonor to God

There are those who will suggest to you that in order to be successful in your profession you must be a policy man; you must at times depart from strict rectitude. These temptations find a ready welcome in the heart of man; but I speak that which I know. Do not be deceived or deluded. Do not pamper self. Do not throw open a door through which the enemy may enter to take possession of the soul. There is danger in the first and slightest departure from the strictest rectitude. Be true to yourself. Preserve your God-given dignity in the fear of God. There is great need that every medical worker get hold and keep hold of the arm of Infinite Power.

The policy principle is one that will assuredly lead into difficulties. He who regards the favor of men as more desirable than the favor of God will fall under the temptation to sacrifice principle for worldly gain or recognition. Thus fidelity to God is constantly being sacrificed. Truth, God’s truth, must be cherished in the soul and held in the strength of heaven, or the power of Satan will wrest it from you.

Never entertain the thought that an honest, truthful physician cannot succeed. Such a sentiment dishonors the God of truth and righteousness. He can succeed; for he has God and heaven on his side. Let every bribe to dissimulate be sternly refused. Hold fast your integrity in the strength of the grace of Christ, and He will fulfill His word to you.— Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 485-486

Promises for Self-Sacrificing Workers

Let everyone work on the principles of self-sacrifice. Work while the day lasts; for the night cometh, in which no man can work. As God’s people work earnestly, humbly, self-sacrificingly, they will gain the rich reward of which Job speaks: “When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; ∙∙∙ the blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.” Job 29:11~13^L. Christ will be acknowledged as the Creator and Redeemer. Those who are laborers together with God will be recognized and appreciated. The recognition of the faithful servants of God detracts not one iota from the gratitude and praise we offer to God and to the Lamb.

When the redeemed stand around the throne of God, those who have been saved from sin and degradation will come to those who worked for them with the words of greeting, “I was without God and without hope in the world. I was perishing in corruption and sin. I was starving for physical and spiritual food. You came to me in love and pity, and fed and clothed me. You pointed me to the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world.”—Letter 74, 1901.

Prepare for Eternity

Make your life preparation for eternity. You have not a moment to lose. Do you keep God’s commandments? Do you fear to offend Him? Do you feel your dependence on Christ? Do you realize that you must be kept every moment by His power? Is your life filled each day with submission, contentment, and gratitude?

Medical missionary workers are acknowledged by Christ, not because they bear the name they do, but because they are under the guardianship of the Chief Missionary, who left heaven to give His life for the life of the world. He says, “If ye love Me, keep My commandments ∙∙∙ . He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love Him, and will manifest Myself to Him.” John 14:15, 21^L.

Then, as witnesses for God, give proof that you are under the discipline and training of the great Medical Missionary; that you have placed yourself in His hands, to manifest His Spirit, to show to the world the sacred character of His great work, and to reveal to unbelievers the advantage of being under His guardianship.

A medical missionary is not of value to the cause of God unless all the principles embraced in the name that he bears are developed in his life. The gospel of Christ is to be brought into the daily life. We are to make our life in this world an example, as far as we possibly can, of what the life in heaven will be. This Christ expects of all who claim to be medical missionaries. They are not to cherish one principle that bears a taint of selfishness. They are to stand before the world as followers of Christ, partaking of His self-denial and humiliation and heralding His coming.—Letter 63, 1903.

Advice to a Young Physician

The Lord has given you your work. He expects you each week to interview yourself, to find out how you are trading on your Lord’s goods. Are you putting to the tax your mental, moral, and physical powers in an effort to please the Lord, who desires you to accumulate talents by a correct use of those He has given you? Your being a physician in no case releases you from the necessity of practicing economy. There are new fields to be entered, and to enter these fields requires the closest economy. Will you enter these fields as you have entered----, content to let others practice self-denial and lift the cross, while you indulge your fancies, spending money lavishly to make a show? God requires you to accomplish good with every jot of your influence. Then will be seen the most blessed results.

You need to learn the art of using your talents for the glory of Him who has lent them to you. This requires study and prayer and consecration. Some seem to have no idea of the science of handling money. They allow hundreds of dollars to pass through their hands without producing anything for God....

Cultivate Integrity, Self-Denial, and Humility

God calls upon you to straighten yourself out. Be a man. Put away your extravagance. Extravagant ideas must not be indulged under the name of medical missionary work. It is high time that we became Christians in heart. Integrity, self-denial, and humility should characterize our lives....

There is a great work to be done. Are you doing all you can to help? God has given us a commission which angels might envy. Medical missionary work is to be done. Thousands upon thousands of human beings are perishing. The compassion of God is moved. All heaven is looking on with intense interest to see what stamp medical missionary work will assume under the supervision of human beings. Will men make merchandise of God’s ordained plan for reaching the dark parts of the earth with a manifestation of His benevolence?

Medical missionary work is a sacred thing of God’s own devising. After Adam’s transgression a costly price was paid to rescue the fallen race. Those who will cooperate with God in His effort to save, working on the lines on which Christ worked, will be wholly successful. The church is charged to convey to the world, without delay, God’s saving mercy. We are not to cover mercy with selfishness and then call it medical missionary work.

The Church an Angel of Light

We have no time to waste. God has provided a means of recovery for sinners. By unselfish work His truth is to be represented. This is the trust He has given us, and it is to be faithfully executed.

When will the church do her appointed work? She is represented as an angel of light, flying through heaven with the everlasting gospel to be proclaimed to the world. This represents the speed and directness with which the church is to prosecute her work. In the medical missionary work Jesus is to behold the travail of His soul. Human beings are to be snatched as brands from the burning.

Heaven is Watching

But a change has come that has hindered the work which God designed to move forward without a trace of selfishness. All heaven is watching with intense anxiety to see what is to be the outcome of the work which is so large and so important. God is watching, the heavenly universe is watching; and souls are perishing. Is the enterprise of mercy through which in the past God has manifested His grace in rescuing and restoring, to become a matter of selfish merchandise? Shall the instrumentality ordained by heaven to bring good to man and glory to God be lost through improvident expenditure? Shall God’s agency of blessing be used by those who profess to believe the truth in buying and selling and getting gain?

The experience of apostolic days will come to us if men will be worked by the Holy Spirit. The Lord will withdraw His blessing where selfish interests are indulged; but He will put His people in possession of good all through the world if they will use this for the uplifting of humanity. His work is to be a sign of His benevolence, a sign that will win the confidence of the world and bring in resources for the advancement of His kingdom.

A Contagious Example

God will test the sincerity of men. Those who will deny self, take up the cross, and follow Christ will have a continual work to do in the line of restoring the fallen human order. Those who sacrifice for truth make a great impression on the world. Their example is contagious and convincing. Men see that there is in the church that faith which works by love and purifies the soul. But when those who profess to be working for God seek to benefit themselves, they greatly retard the work and cast a reproach upon it....

Divine Authority to be Acknowledged

Never forsake the true standard, even though to cling to it makes you a beggar. God has set up a high standard of righteousness. He has made a plain distinction between human and divine wisdom. All who work on Christ’s side must work to save, not to destroy. Worldly policy is not to become the policy of the servants of God. Divine authority is to be acknowledged. The church on earth is to be the representative of heavenly principles. Amid the awful confederacy of injustice, deception, robbery, and crime she is to shine with light from on high. In the righteousness of Christ she is to stand against the prevailing apostasy.—Letter 38, 1901.

As the Servants of Christ

Whatever work we do, we are to do it for Christ. There are many kinds of temporal work to be done for God. An unbeliever would do this work mechanically, for the wages he receives. He does not know the joy of cooperation with the Master Worker. There is no spirituality in the work of him who serves self. Common motives, common aspirations, common inspirations, a desire to be thought clever by men, rule in his life. Such a one may receive praise from men, but not from God. Those who are truly united with Christ do not work for the wages they receive. Laborers together with God, they do not strive to exalt self.

In the last great day decisions will be made that will be a surprise to many. Human judgment will have no place in the decisions then made. Christ can and will judge every case; for all judgment has been committed to Him by the Father. He will estimate service by that which is invisible to men. The most secret things lie open to His all-seeing eye. When the Judge of all men shall make His investigation, many of those whom human estimation has placed first will be placed last, and those who have been put in the lowest place by men will be taken out of the ranks and made first.— The Review and Herald, July 31, 1900.

Heart-Searching Questions

I ask those who live in the vanity of self-indulgence, Will you continue to act as if there rested on you no responsibility to practice self-denial? For what purpose are you living? What good are you accomplishing? Can you afford to live for self? Can you gain eternal life while you live thus? Has not God a place and a work for you? Is there not something more for you to do than merely to please and gratify self?—Letter 4a, 1902.

Two Classes of Servants

From a sermon, Grimsby, England, Sept. 19, 1886.

In the last days there are to be only two parties, the one on the right hand and the other on the left, and Christ says unto one, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was anhungered, and ye gave Me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me in: naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me.” And they answer, When saw we Thee thus and ministered unto Thee? And Christ says, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.” But to those on the left He says, “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew 25:34-41^L.

The first class had Christ interwoven into their character, and they were not conscious of anything they had done. “Come, ye blessed of My Father,” is the benediction, “inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 25:34^L. So we see Christ identifies His interests with fallen man. He turns to those on the left hand and says, “I was an hungered, and ye gave Me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in: naked, and ye clothed Me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited Me not.” And then they ask Him, “When saw we Thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee?” And the answer comes, “Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me.” Matthew 25:42-45^L. Not the greatest but the least.

Well, now we want to bring Christ into our everyday life. Those who had not fed the hungry, or clothed the naked, or visited the sick, were not conscious of it, and why? Because they had educated and trained themselves in the school of self-indulgence, and the result was they lost heaven and the eternity of bliss which they might have had had they devoted their powers to God.— Manuscript 16, 1886.

A Commendation for Soul Winners

There will be a blessed commendation, a holy benediction, on the faithful winners of souls. They will join the rejoicing ones in heaven, who shout the harvest home. How great will be the joy when the redeemed of the Lord shall all meet, gathered into the mansions prepared for them! Oh, what rejoicing for all who have been impartial, unselfish laborers together with God in carrying forward His work in the earth! What satisfaction will every reaper have when the clear, musical voice of Jesus shall be heard, saying, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world!” (Matthew 25:34^L) ∙∙∙

The Redeemer is glorified because He has not died in vain. With glad, rejoicing hearts, those who have been colaborers with God see of the travail of their soul for perishing, dying sinners, and are satisfied. The anxious hours they have spent, the perplexing circumstances they have had to meet, the sorrow of heart because some refused to see and receive the things which make for their peace, are forgotten. The self-denial they have practiced in order to support the work is remembered no more. As they look upon the souls they sought to win to Jesus, and see them saved, eternally saved,—monuments of God’s mercy and of a Redeemer’s love,—there ring through the arches of heaven shouts of praise and thanksgiving.— The Review and Herald, October 10, 1907.

Gain That Is Loss

God will surely turn aside any advantage gained by selfish, unjust dealing. My brother, your senses must be cleansed and sanctified. We must reach a higher standard. We must watch, we must pray, always standing ready for action.—Letter 13, 1902.

For Further Study
Fees and Wages:
Counsels on Health, 302-320 (Testimonies for the Church 7:206-209, Testimonies for the Church 8:142-144).
The Desire for High Wages:
Counsels on Health, 299.
A Lesson from Solomon’s Reign:
Prophets and Kings, 61-65.
Remuneration for Physicians and Ministers Compared:
Testimonies For The Church 1:640, 641.
Institutional Wage Proportional to Prosperity:
Testimonies for the Church 8:142, 143.
"Not Bribed With Wealth or Frightened by Poverty":
Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 302.
Simplicity and Economy:
Counsels on Health, 319, 320.
Equitable Wages for Women:
Counsels on Health, 365.