The Fullness of the Gospel by Ole Andres Olsen

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 29, 1914

The Fullness of the Gospel

By Ole Andres Olsen

— No. 4

It Should Be Revealed in Every Institution Connected With This Closing Work

O. A. OLSEN

“We are nearing the end of this earth’s history, and God calls upon all to lift the standard bearing the inscription, ‘Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.’ He calls upon his people to work in perfect harmony. He calls upon those engaged in our medical work to unite with the ministry; he calls upon the ministry to cooperate with the medical missionary workers; and he calls upon the church to take up their appointed duty, holding up the standard of true reform in their own territory, leaving the trained and experienced workers to press on into new fields. No word is to be spoken to discourage any, for this grieves the heart of Christ and greatly pleases the adversary. All need to be baptized with the Holy Spirit; all should refrain from censuring and disparaging remarks, and draw near to Christ, that they may appreciate the heavy responsibilities which the coworkers with him are carrying. ‘Press together; press together,’ are the words of our divine Instructor. Unity is strength; disunion is weakness and defeat.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI, page 292.

“God’s purpose for his institutions today may also be read in the purpose which he sought to accomplish through the Jewish nation. Through Israel it was his design to impart rich blessings to all people. Through them the way was to be prepared for the diffusion of his light to the whole world. The nations of the world, through following corrupt practices, had lost a knowledge of God. Yet in his mercy God did not blot them out of existence. He purposed to give them opportunity for becoming acquainted with him through his church. He designed that the principles revealed through his people should be the means of restoring in man the moral image of God.

“Christ was their instructor. As he was with them in the wilderness, so after their establishment in the Promised Land he was still their teacher and guide. In the tabernacle and the temple his glory dwelt in the holy Shekinah above the mercy seat. In their behalf he constantly manifested the riches of his love and patience.

“God desired to make of his people Israel a praise and a glory. Every spiritual advantage was given them. God withheld from them nothing favorable to the formation of character that would make them representatives of himself.

“Their obedience to the laws of God would make them marvels of prosperity before the nations of the world. He who could give them wisdom and skill in all

cunning work would continue to be as their teacher, and would ennoble and elevate them through obedience to his laws. If obedient, they would be preserved from the diseases that afflicted other nations, and would be blessed with vigor of intellect. The glory of God, his majesty and power, were to be revealed in all their prosperity. They were to be a kingdom of priests and princes. God furnished them with every facility for becoming the greatest nation on the earth.”—Id., pages 221, 222.

“As we near the close of time, we must rise higher and still higher upon the question of health reform and Christian temperance, presenting it in a more positive and decided manner. We must strive continually to educate the people, not only by our words but by our practice. Precept and practice combined have a telling influence.”—Id., page 112.

The proclamation of the gospel to all the world as outlined in the threefold message of Revelation 14, is now in process of fulfillment. In the accomplishment of this work many agencies will be employed, and the fullness of its power is to be revealed. Much will be accomplished through the circulation of literature, but the first and foremost is the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom, and with that the medical missionary work is most closely connected. Christ is our example, and of him we are to learn.

“Christ, the Great Medical Missionary, is our example. Of him it is written that he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. He healed the sick and preached the gospel. In his service, healing and teaching were linked closely together. Today they are not to be separated.”

“The gospel minister should preach the health principles, for these have been given of God as among the means needed to prepare a people perfect in character. Therefore health principles have been given to us that as a people we might be prepared in both mind and body to receive the fullness of God’s blessing. The medical missionary work has its place and part in this closing gospel work.”

“The Christian physician has a high calling. With his fuller knowledge of the human system and its laws, he is in a position to preach the gospel of salvation with much efficiency and power.

“The first and chief object of the gospel and all that pertains to it is to seek to save that which is lost. The ministry of the gospel, whether by the minister or the physician, is to reach out to man a helping hand wherever it is needed. It is to minister to the sick and suffering physically as well as to the sin-sick soul.

“Here the gospel minister and the Christian physician unite, and the Bible worker in her visit from house to house as well.”

“The nurses who are trained in our institutions are to be fitted up to go out as medical missionary evangelists, uniting the ministry of the word with that of physical healing.”

“The purpose of our health institutions is not first and foremost to be that of hospitals. The health institutions connected with the closing work of the gospel in the earth stand for the great principles of the gospel in all its fullness. Christ is the one to be revealed in all the institutions connected with the closing work, but none of them can do it so fully as the health institution where the sick and suffering come for relief and deliverance from both physical and spiritual ailment. Many of these need, like the paralytic of old, the forgiveness of sin the first thing, and they need to learn how to ‘go, and sin no more.’

“If a sanitarium connected with this closing message fails to lift up Christ, and the principles of the gospel as developed in the third angel’s message, it fails in its most important feature, and contradicts the very object of its existence.

“At the same time our health institutions are also to be training centers for preparing and training workers.” “There should be companies organized and educated most thoroughly to work as nurses, as evangelists, as ministers, as canvassers, as gospel students, to perfect a character after the divine similitude. To prepare to receive the higher education in the school above, is now to be our purpose.”—Mrs. E. G. White, MS.

From this study it would appear, first, that the great work to be done for the world is the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom; second, that every line of work, such as medical missionary, health reform, publishing, the circulation of literature, schools, city missions for the training of workers, and all and every agency that will contribute to the saving of the lost and the building up of God’s kingdom in the world, is comprehended in the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom.

Chicago, Ill.