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Counsels on Health
No Change in God’s Cause
There is to be no change in the general features of God’s cause.
It is to stand out as clear and distinct as prophecy has made it. We
are to enter into no confederacy with the world, supposing that by
so doing we could accomplish more. My brother, if you stand in the
way to hinder the advancement of the work on the lines that God has
appointed, you will greatly displease Him. The warning message is to
be given, and after you have faithfully accomplished your part of the
work, you are not to hinder others of the Lord’s servants from going
forth to do the work that they should do. Laboring for the degraded
and fallen is not to be made the principal and all-important line. This
work is to be combined with the work of instructing the churches. Our
people are to be taught how to help the needy and the outcast.
No line of our faith that has made us what we are is to be weakened.
We have the old landmarks of truth, experience, and duty, and we are to
stand firm in defense of our principles, in full view of the world. With
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hearts filled with interest and solicitude, we are to give the invitation
to those in the highways and the byways. Medical missionary work
is to be done. But this is only one part of the work that is to be
accomplished, and it is not to be made all and in all. It is to be to
the work of God as the hand is to the body. There may be unworthy
ones connected with the ministry, yet no one can ignore the ministry
without ignoring God.
My brother, you are represented to me as in danger of standing
apart from our people, feeling that you are a complete whole. But
if you bind yourself up with those of your own mind, apart from the
church, which is Christ’s body, you will make a confederacy that
will be broken to pieces, for no union can stand but that which God
has framed. Those who are receiving an education in medical lines
hear insinuations from time to time that disparage the church and the
ministry. These insinuations are seeds that will spring up and bear
fruit. The students might better be educated to realize that the church
of Christ on earth is to be respected. They need a clear knowledge of
the reasons of our faith. This knowledge they must have in order to
serve God acceptably. Line upon line, precept upon precept, they must
receive the Bible evidence of the truth as it is in Jesus.