October, 1937
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
376
L. EDWIN JBARJNES, M.D., . . . . Chicago, III., . . . physician and surgeon since 1910 . . . specialist in diseases of the eye, ear, nose, and throat . . . a lover of the Word of God and the “ blessed hope” of the Lord’s return.
stows on each patient who commits his case and his cause to Him.” Coming to the Great Physician for Treatment It is fatal to reject the diagnosis of God and to refuse the treatment of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is also fatal to attempt to apply any other remedy. You certainly would not prescribe quinine to reduce a dislocation at the shoulder. You know that this treatment would not avail. Your years of study and of rich experiences have told you that certain diseases as well as specific maladies require certain definite remedies. God has been dealing with souls through out the centuries. He knows exactly what will do the work in your case. It is well to accept His decision. “ God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.” Nothing else that He could give would put away sin or satisfy the soul. Christ is God’s panacea for every trouble in your heart and life. The result of accepting God’s gift and God’s remedy is found in the remain der of the verse: “ . . . that whosoever be- lieveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). W e know you are very busy, Doctor; but do take a little time from your many duties to get alone with your Lord and let Him prescribe this blessed remedy for your soul. We do not want to see you be lost and go out into the outer dark after you have shown such kindness to us. Oh, make Christ Jesus your Lord and Saviour and thus be fitted to dwell with God forever! “ Turn ye, turn ye . . .; for why will ye die . . .?” (Ezek. 33:11). “ Him that com- eth to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). “ When Morning Gilds the Skies” When morning gilds the skies M y heart, awaking, cries, May Jesus Christ he praised! Alike at work and prayer, To Jesus I repair; May Jesus Christ he praised! The glad notes of this morning song ex press the joy of an awaking world. Like a bird, the song rises upward and sings its praise to God___ We know nothing of the author of these splendid verses, except that he was a German. The hymn originally had many stanzas and appeared, without the writer’s name, in a German song book, in 1828. But we do know the man, Rev. Edward Caswall, who translated the song’s grace and beauty into English.. . . Mr. Cas wall was a man of many gifts and much culture. “Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee” is his translation of an exquisite early Latin hymn. The melody for “When Morning Gilds the Skies” was composed by a famous Eng lish musician, Sir Joseph Barnby, in 1868. . . . Like Sir Arthur Sullivan, who wrote the air for “ Onward, Christian Soldiers,” Barnby was knighted by Queen Victoria, in 1892, in honor of his work in music.—From Stories of Hymns W e Love, by Cecilia Margaret Rudin; John Rudin & Co., Inc., Chicago; price $1.00.
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8,9). The Eloquence of Results You point with pride to difficult cases that you have been the means of restoring to health. You give these as samples of your skill, and it is right that you should. W e are glad that you have been successful and that you have these testimonials to your ability and power. The Lord Jesus asks you to consider His record as a Physi cian of souls. He asks you to look at those whom He has saved. He has said: “Though ye believe not me, believe the works” (John 10:38). Look at the lives that He has trans formed. Look at the men and women whom He has restored to godliness and holiness. Then bring your case to Him, and let Him do this for you. God grant that you may. The Fatal Penalty of Rejecting Diagnosis and Treatment Perhaps you have had patients, Doctor, who did not accept your diagnosis. I knew of such a case myself. A young woman began coughing slightly and went to see a celebrated lung specialist about her case. He examined her carefully and announced to her and to her father that she had a case of tuberculosis that was of a rather virulent type. She resented the diagnosis and said, “ You cannot frighten me at all with your statements. I do not have tuber culosis; it has never been in our family, and you are only telling me this in order to get a large fee for treatment.” She stalked out of the office indignant and offended. After a few weeks during which the cough increased in its severity, she was taken by her father to another physician, who was also a specialist well known and honored in the city. He made a careful examination and confirmed the diagnosis of the first physician. Again the young woman rebelled, refused to accept the findings, and left the office indignant and scoffing at the doctor and his diagnosis. The father of the young woman ordered the back porch of the home converted into a sleeping porch with proper curtains and other arrangements to keep out wind and rain. He placed the daughter there and continued to. give her cough remedies pur chased from the druggist. The cough con tinued to grow worse day by day. The young woman was losing flesh rapidly, and all of the effects of a rapidly spreading tubercular infection were manifested. The father decided to take his daughter to a western health resort and ordered a beautiful tent that was to be waterproof, weatherproof, and bugproof. The tent was never opened by this father, for the young woman died on .the train en route to the western sanitarium. She had refused the diagnosis; therefore, she failed to accept the remedy. The results were fatal. The doctor knew they would be fatal. Both of these excellent physicians warned her that her attitude would produce only disaster. Now, Doctor, you too, may reject God’s diagnosis, and may become indignant when our Lord reveals the condition of your heart and mind. But would it not be wiser to face'the issue? You will soon be going
9 “Doctor Barnes, how can you be lieve anything so unreasonable as the Bible? Th inking men and women are casting it aside.’ “May I ask you
one question, Doc tor? When did you read the New Tes tament portion of your Bible?’’ “ Dr. Barnes, to be honest with you, I never have read it through.*’ “ Doctor, what would you think of a physician who deliberated on a subject he knew nothing of?’’ “ Barnes, that’s a straight question, I admit.’’ “Doctor, I beg you to read the New Testament through. ‘Prepare to meet thy God,’ and DO IT NOW ! Your first requisite is to know that you are con demned already, as you will find by reading carefully John 3 and Romans 3. If you acknowledge your need, then there is a way to escape damnation by accepting Christ Jesus as your Substi tute as in Romans 5 :8: *God commend- eth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. To apply that truth to yourself, read Romans 10:9: ‘If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.’ Do it now, Doctor, and you will be prepared to meet your God.” out to meet the Lord in judgment, and when you stand before the Lord, no rebellion will be permitted, and no opposition will be allowed. In that day, you simply will have to bow your head and accept the un happy results of your choice—your refusal to bow to the diagnosis, and your failure to receive the treatment. Do let me urge you again to believe God and come to His great Physician, His Son, for the forgive ness of sins and the gift of eternal life. Patients whom you have delivered from great sicknesses and dangerous illnesses, be come your best advertisements. They tell of you to their relatives and friends. They show the excellent results of your careful and correct diagnosis and are happy to praise you as a careful, kind, and successful physician. W e are glad that they do. We are happy to see that you are successful. We want you to be so. But this fact only makes us Come to you in a more urgent way to say, “ Doctor, please d° not neglect your own case while you are helping others. You need a Saviour. You need to be trans formed. You need to be forgiven. Do come to Christ and let Him grant you this rich blessing which He so graciously be
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