Milford chronicle., 1903-01-30

that crisis were you not willing to lei
that family physician give to you any
advice he could? If that physician at
that time had come and prayed at your
bedside and as Christian doctor had
told you about the love of the Good
Physician Christ, would you not have
listened to him and have gladly said
amen"
Young man about to enter the medical
profession, by the recital of this simple
scene, a specimen Of the experience
which at some time or other takes
place in almost every home, l want
you to fully realize your glorious gOs-
| pei opportunities. l want you to be
able, like the good old DR.. Luke, to go
to the patients bed with prescription
suggested by your medical books in one
hand and a spiritual prescription taken
/ from your Bible in the other hand. /
want you to be a glorious Christian
physician. like DR.. John Brown of Scot
land or DR.. Rush of Philadelphia or
DR.. James Y Simpson of anesthetic
fame or like Bishop Matthew Simpson,
who learned how to be the greatest
Methodist preacher of his day by being
first a practicng Christian physician
and by praying at the bedsides of his
sick patients. Your gospel work can
be made glorious for God and for the
betterment of the world if you will
here and now promise to love and live
for the Good Physician. who ut Laza-
rus tomb called the dead back to life.
Medicines Chief FriumDhs.
But the purpose of the medical pro-
fession is not only to make the sick
well, but also to prevent the well from
getting sick. We are all ready to agree
that the chief duty of the good lawyer
is to keep his clients out of court. Why
should we not be ready to confess that
the chief purpose Of the doctor is to
keep his patients as long as possible
out of the hospital and the sickroom?
That the chief triumphs of the med .
ical profession have been won during
the last century in the prevention of .
disease rather than in the cure there is .
no doubt. How have the great plaques .
which used to sweep over Europe been
halted? BY the power of the sword?
No. BY the power of the bacteriol-
ogist's microscope and the physicians
pen. Dr. Earle, leading professor in
the Chicago College of Physicians and
Surgeons told me that when he first
commenced his practice in Chicago 80
per cent of all his patients sicknesses
were due to bad water and poor drain
age. With the improvement of Chica
go's drainage system that 30 per cent
Of sickness is being gradually eliminat-
ed, Why is the longevity of the hui
man race being increased year by year?
Because people do not work as hard as
they used to work? Oh, no! An aver
age man today goes through more hard
work and nerve exhaustion and excite
ment in week than his grandfather
did in a whole year. The longevity
of the human race is increasing in
spite of the strenuous life we lead 1t
is increasing because the doctor, year
by year. is telling us how to eat, how
to dress and in what kind of houses we
should live
Young man about to enter the medical
profession. you are soon to be one OF
the great band of teachers of physical
hygiene. Can you not be leader in
spiritual hygiene also? Your calling
opens for you the door of many homes.
1t not only opens for you the front
door but also the closet door. in which
hang the bleached bones Of a family
skeleton. You are to be the recipient
IF the hearts secrets as no one else in
he community. You will have ycur
inger upon the pulse of a community
md will ultimately know whether i.
beats sinfully fast or sinfully slow.
Viii you not say the right gospel word
o that young man who is doing what
le ought not to do? viii you not speak
warning word to that wife. that
mother. that child. who may be drifting
ntO sin? They will gladly take Chris
ian advice from you. which perhaps
hey would not take from a minister
hey may say, ~ minister is merely
working for his salary" but they will
now that you are disinterested in
peaking i'm the name of the Lord Je
US. In Christ's name will you not try
o prevent sin as well as to cure sin
fter it has already come?
have been trying to show you the :
lorious opportunities of Il Christian
hysician's life. But now there comes
yer me the overwhelming thought that
erhaps you are not Christian yOuns &.
IAN. Perhaps you may be very bril- q
ant in your medical studies. but have +
ever yet confessed the name of Jesus ,
hrist .
Are You n Christiany J
'Yes," answers some young man in ]
" audience that is the truth. Since L
came to Chicago I have only been 2
nee or twice in a city church We 0
edical students have to work so hard
lat when Saturday night comes we v
re dead tired out. so l always take 4
y Sabbath for rest and fun" Alas, a
know only too well that what you
~ may be true; that your life may be
cry similar to the hundreds and thou
,R