Medical Ministry

The Duty of Truthfulness

Never, never should the physician feel that he may prevaricate. It is not always safe and best to lay before the invalid the full extent of his danger. The truth may not all be spoken on all occasions, but never speak a lie. If it is important for the good of the invalid not to alarm him lest such a course might prove fatal, do not lie to him.... MM 38.3

Religious faith and principles have become deteriorated, mingled with worldly customs and practices, and for this reason pure and undefiled religion is rare. The soul, the precious soul, is of value, and it must be made white in the blood of the Lamb. The strength and grace of God was provided at an infinite sacrifice that you might be victorious over Satan's suggestions and temptations and come forth unsullied and unpolluted as did Joseph and Daniel. Let the life, the character, be the strongest argument for Christianity, for by this will all men be compelled to take knowledge of you that you have been with Jesus and learned of Him. The life, the words, and the deportment are the most forcible argument, the most solemn appeal, to the careless, irreverent, and skeptical.... MM 38.4

You all need a living religion, that you may stand as God's witnesses, proclaiming to the sick that sin is always followed with suffering; and while combating pain and disease, you should plainly lay before them that which you know to be the real cause, and the remedy—“Cease to sin;” and point them to the sin-pardoning Saviour.—Manuscript 4a, 1885. MM 39.1