THE GOSPEL THE POWER OF SALVATION.
By J. C. Ottosen
Experiences in Connection with the Medical Missionary Work at Skodsborg.
ALL those who know from experience what a wonderfully blessed thing it is to be saved from sin will also know that deep desire that is awakened in the Christian’s heart to bring the same good news to some one who is sitting in darkness and in the shadow of disease and death. And of all the blessings of life, nothing can be compared with that of being an instrument in the Lord’s hands to save souls. What a precious work it is to preach the everlasting and perfect gospel, which contains salvation for the whole man,—body, soul, and spirit. From my own experience I know that we do not need to use many words in order to awaken an interest in the patients’ hearts to seek after God. If we are imbued with the Spirit from on high, the patient will know it; and if he is susceptible to the influence of the Spirit of God, he will soon be seeking for more light. How often patients, before I say anything to them, will say to me, “O doctor, won’t you pray for me before you go?” or they will say, “Doctor, will you not read the Bible with me before you leave?” And those moments that I have spent reading the Bible and praying for the sick, kneeling with them to seek God, are some of the most precious of my life. I have been speaking to large congregations on practical religion or special topics of present truth, expounding the prophecies, and showing their fulfillment in history. Sometimes, while standing before a congregation, the Spirit of God has come specially down upon me in blessing and freedom. But if I were to make any choice in these experiences of special blessings, I rather think I should give preference to those interviews with the patients. And I assure you that it is one of the most blessed things now and then to receive a letter from a former patient, containing statements something like these: “How I long to be back at the sanatorium, to the hearth of love and peace that became so dear to me, yes, a Bethel where the Lord in His mercy remembered my downcast soul, where I found forgiveness of sins, and had all the wounds of my heart healed,”—and then to know that I was an instrument in the hands of God to lead that soul to Christ. And how anxious we should be always to be in such a position that the Lord can send just such ones to us as He knows will accept the truth when it is presented to them in the right way. In these countries, where our denomination is looked down upon as a “sect,” it is astonishing to see how the principles of the gospel inspire confidence in the hearts of the people, and that to such an extent that people sometimes travel a thousand miles to come to an institution where there are Christian physicians. Of course, it is true that we now and then hear some one laugh and sneer at a physician’s being a “priest,” as they say here; but what does that matter as long as one single experience in the things of God is worth more than the approval of all the world? Under these circumstances it is an easy thing to bear the scorn of unbelievers. Now and then a patient comes to our office and says, “Doctor, I have come here not only to seek help for my physical infirmities, but principally because I knew that you believe in God, and because I feel that I am just as much in need of spiritual as of physical help.” And when such open their hearts to God, and let the Sun of Righteousness in, it is wonderful to watch the improvement that follows. Sometimes we find that those who apparently take no interest in spiritual matters are deeply moved upon by the Spirit of God. I was greatly surprised one day. A prominent business man came into my office to talk with me. Suddenly he arose, with tears running down his face, and said, “O doctor, I am so glad that you have faith in God, and that you are a Christian physician. I know many physicians to be good men, but I cannot have any confidence in them as long as they do not believe in God.” I shall never forget the season of prayer we had together. Just the other day I went to see a patient with whom I have not had many talks, but who has been reading some of our literature. I was quite agreeably surprised to hear him say, “I am fully persuaded that you have the truth, and I am now an Adventist.” It is a blessed thing to see one after another accept the truth and join the Church; but this is only a small part of the result of our work that will be revealed in after-time. And this encourages us to continue to sow the seeds of truth, looking to Him who has said, “My word . . . shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please.” J. C. OTTOSEN.