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174
Medical Ministry
the person of His afflicted ones. He says, “I was an hungered, and ye
gave Me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink: I was ...
naked, and ye clothed Me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited Me
not.” And when the surprised inquiry comes, When saw we Thee
thus? the answer, “Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of
these [who were afflicted and needed your sympathy], ye did it not
to Me.” “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are
sick.” They that are rich need not your favors, but they that are poor.
The bruised and wounded, the lame of the flock, are among us, and
these test the character of those who claim to be children of God.
Leading Others to Perdition
Angels of God are watching the development of character. They
are weighing moral worth. If you bestow your attentions upon those
who have no need, you are doing the recipients harm, and you will
yourself receive condemnation, rather than reward. Remember that
when by your conversation you descend to the level of frivolous
characters, you are encouraging them in the path that leads to perdi-
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tion. Your unwise attentions may prove the ruin of their souls. You
degrade their conceptions of what constitutes Christian life and char-
acter. You confuse their ideas, and make impressions that may never
be effaced. The harm thus done to souls that needed to be strength-
ened, refined, and ennobled, is often a sin unto death. They cannot
associate these men with the sacred positions which they occupy.
The ministers, the officers of the church, all are regarded as no better
than themselves. Then where is their example?
God calls upon all who claim to be Christians to elevate the
standard of righteousness, and to purify themselves even as He
is pure. “Be ye holy in all manner of conversation.” “If ye then
be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above.... Set
your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye
are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ,
who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in
glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth;
fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence,
and covetousness, which is idolatry: for which things’ sake the wrath
of God cometh on the children of disobedience.” “Wherefore gird