The Sabbath in Our Sanitariums
[
Testimonies for the Church 7:104-109
(1902).]
I have been instructed that our medical institutions are to stand
as witnesses for God. They are established to relieve the sick and
the afflicted, to awaken a spirit of inquiry, to disseminate light, and
to advance reform. These institutions, rightly conducted, will be the
means of bringing a knowledge of the reforms essential to prepare
a people for the coming of the Lord, before many that otherwise it
would be impossible for us to reach.
Many of the patrons of our medical institutions have high ideas in
regard to the presence of God abiding in the institution they visit, and
they are very susceptible to the spiritual influences that prevail. If all
the physicians, nurses, and helpers are walking circumspectly before
God, they have more than human power in dealing with these men and
women. Every institution whose helpers are consecrated is pervaded
by divine power; and the patrons not only obtain relief from bodily
infirmities, but find a healing balm for their sin-sick souls.
Let the leaders among our people emphasize the necessity of a
strong religious influence being maintained in our medical institutions.
The Lord designs that these shall be places where He will be honored
in word and in deed, places where His law will be magnified and the
truths of the Bible made prominent. Medical missionaries are to do a
great work for God. They are to be wide-awake and vigilant, having
on every piece of the Christian armor, and fighting manfully. They are
to be loyal to their Leader, obeying His commandments, including the
one by which they reveal the sign of their order.
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The Sign of Our Order
The observance of the Sabbath is the sign between God and His
people. Let us not be ashamed to bear the sign that distinguishes
us from the world. As I considered this matter in the night season
recently, One of authority counseled us to study the instruction given
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