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Section 11—The Sanitarium Family
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are to carry forward at this time. This ministry, rightly performed,
will bring rich blessings to the church.—
Testimonies for the Church
6:266
.
The Physician Not Exempt
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
.
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
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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.
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 gener-
ations, 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.
Let there be no robbery of God in tithes and offerings, no dese-
cration 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