200
Testimonies for the Church Volume 6
of life to the sufferer. Notwithstanding the obstacles and difficulties to
be met, this is the solemn, sacred work of the medical profession.
True missionary work is that in which the Saviour’s work is best
represented, His methods most closely copied, His glory best pro-
moted. Missionary work that falls short of this standard is recorded in
heaven as defective. It is weighed in the balances of the sanctuary and
found wanting.
Physicians should seek to direct the minds of their patients to
Christ, the Physician of soul and body. That which physicians can
only attempt to do, Christ accomplishes. The human agent strives
to prolong life. Christ is life itself. He who passed through death to
destroy him that had the power of death is the Source of all vitality.
There is balm in Gilead, and a Physician there. Christ endured an
agonizing death under the most humiliating circumstances that we
might have life. He gave up His precious life that He might vanquish
death. But He rose from the tomb, and the myriads of angels who came
to behold Him take up the life He had laid down heard His words of
triumphant joy as He stood above Joseph’s rent sepulcher proclaiming:
“I am the resurrection, and the life.”
The question, “If a man die, shall he live again?” has been an-
swered. By bearing the penalty of sin, by going down into the grave,
Christ has brightened the tomb for all who die in faith. God in human
form has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. In
dying, Christ secured eternal life for all who believe in Him. In dying,
[231]
He condemned the originator of sin and disloyalty to suffer the penalty
of sin—eternal death.
The possessor and giver of eternal life, Christ was the only one
who could conquer death. He is our Redeemer; and blessed is every
physician who is in a true sense of the word a missionary, a savior of
souls for whom Christ gave His life. Such a physician learns day by
day from the Great Physician how to watch and work for the saving of
the souls and bodies of men and women. The Saviour is present in the
sickroom, in the operating room; and His power for His name’s glory
accomplishes great things.
The physician can do a noble work if he is connected with the
Great Physician. To the relatives of the sick, whose hearts are full of
sympathy for the sufferer, he may find opportunity to speak the words
of life; and he can soothe and uplift the mind of the sufferer by leading