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Testimonies for the Church Volume 6
When the crisis has passed and success is apparent, be the patient
a believer or an unbeliever, let a few moments be spent with him in
prayer. Give expression to your thankfulness for the life that has been
spared. The physician who follows such a course carries his patient to
the One upon whom he is dependent for life. Words of gratitude may
flow from the patient to the physician, for through God he has bound
this life up with his own; but let the praise and thanksgiving be given
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to God as to One who is present though invisible.
On the sickbed Christ is often accepted and confessed; and this
will be done oftener in the future than it has been in the past, for a
quick work will the Lord do in our world. Words of wisdom are to
be on the lips of the physician, and Christ will water the seed sown,
causing it to bring forth fruit unto eternal life.
We lose the most precious opportunities by neglecting to speak
a word in season. Too often a precious talent that ought to produce
a thousandfold is left unused. If the golden privilege is not watched
for, it will pass. Something was allowed to prevent the physician from
doing his appointed work as a minister of righteousness.
There are none too many godly physicians to minister in their
profession. There is much work to be done, and ministers and doctors
are to work in perfect union. Luke, the writer of the Gospel that bears
his name, is called “the beloved physician,” and those who do a work
similar to that which he did are living out the gospel.
Countless are the opportunities of the physician for warning the
impenitent, cheering the disconsolate and hopeless, and prescribing
for the health of mind and body. As he thus instructs the people in the
principles of true temperance, and as a guardian of souls gives advice
to those who are mentally and physically diseased, the physician is
acting his part in the great work of making ready a people prepared
for the Lord. This is what medical missionary work is to accomplish
in its relation to the third angel’s message.
Ministers and physicians are to work harmoniously with earnest-
ness to save souls that are becoming entangled in Satan’s snares.
They are to point men and women to Jesus, their righteousness, their
strength, and the health of their countenance. Continually they are
to watch for souls. There are those who are struggling with strong
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temptations, in danger of being overcome in the fight with satanic
agencies. Will you pass these by without offering them assistance? If