Importance of a medical diagnosis or examination, before treatment

Why do you need a diagnosis before treatment?

A medical diagnosis is very important; it is a complex medical step involving the patient’s history, personal exams, and testing. In various cases, there are multiple diagnoses completed by varying doctors. This process helps to develop a comprehensive understanding of the patient’s ailments, and right treatment.

This also applies to Christianity; we need to test our faith, to examine ourselves as to whether we are in the faith. “Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.” 2 Corinthians 13:5 NKJV

Self-Examination

“There is a necessity for close self-examination, and to closely investigate in the light of God’s word, Am I sound, or am I rotten, at heart? Am I renewed in Christ, or am I still carnal at heart, with an outside, new dress put on? Rein yourself up to the tribunal of God, and see as in the light of God if there is any secret sin, any iniquity, any idol you have not sacrificed. Pray, yes, pray as you have never prayed before, that you may not be deluded by Satan’s devices; that you may not be given up to a heedless, careless, and vain spirit, and attend religious duties to quiet your own conscience…..” –Messages to Young People, p. 83

“Would all professed Christians use their investigative powers to see what evils needed to be corrected in themselves, instead of talking of others’ wrongs, there would be a more healthy condition in the church today. Some will be honest when it costs nothing; but when policy will pay best, honesty is forgotten. Honesty and policy will not work together in the same mind. In time, either policy will be expelled, and truth and honesty reign supreme, or, if policy is cherished, honesty will be forgotten. They are never in agreement; they have nothing in common. One is the prophet of Baal, the other is the true prophet of God. When the Lord makes up His jewels, the true, the frank, the honest, will be looked upon with pleasure. Angels are employed in making crowns for such ones, and upon these star-gemmed crowns will be reflected, with splendor, the light which radiates from the throne of God.

“The Lord is testing and proving His people. You may be just as severe and critical with your own defective character as you please; but be kind, pitiful, and courteous toward others. Inquire every day: Am I sound to the core, or am I false-hearted? Entreat the Lord to save you from all deception on this point. Eternal interests are involved. While so many are panting after honor and greedy of gain, do you, my beloved brethren, be eagerly seeking the assurance of the love of God and crying: Who will show me how to make my calling and election sure?

“Satan carefully studies the constitutional sins of men, and then he begins his work of alluring and ensnaring them. We are in the thickest of temptations, but there is victory for us if we fight manfully the battles of the Lord. All are in danger. But if you walk humbly and prayerfully you will come forth from the proving process more precious than fine gold, even than the golden wedge of Ophir. If careless and prayerless, you will be as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.” –Counsels for the Church, p. 179

“Bitter Disappointment in the Day of God—The great mass of professing Christians will meet with bitter disappointment in the day of God. They have not upon their foreheads the seal of the living God. Lukewarm and halfhearted, they dishonor God far more than the avowed unbeliever. They grope in darkness, when they might be walking in the noonday light of the Word, under the guidance of One who never errs (Letter 121, 1903).” –The Seventh-day Adventist Commentary, vol. 7, p. 970

God is pleased with honest converted people

“And said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3

“Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in My name receives Me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh!” Matthew 18:4–7

“By ‘little ones’ Christ does not mean babies. Those to whom He refers are ‘little ones which believe in Me’—those who have not gained an experience in following Him, those who need to be led like children, as it were, in seeking the things of the kingdom of heaven.” –Evangelism, p. 341

“Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”  Luke 13:24. When we recognize God’s goodness, even in our daily struggles and disappointments, then we can truly know God.

“The love and grace of God! Oh precious grace! more valuable than fine gold. It elevates and ennobles the spirit beyond all other principles. It sets the heart and affections upon Heaven. While those around us may be engaged in worldly vanity, pleasure-seeking, and folly, the conversation is in heaven, whence we look for the Savior; the soul is reaching out after God for pardon and peace, for righteousness and true holiness. Converse with God and contemplation of things above transform the soul into the likeness of Christ.” –The Review and Herald, May 11, 1886

“There is no such thing as a truly converted person living a helpless, useless life. It is not possible for us to drift into heaven. No sluggard can enter there. If we do not strive to gain an entrance into the kingdom, if we do not seek earnestly to learn what constitutes its laws, we are not fitted for a part in it. Those who refuse to co-operate with God on earth would not co-operate with Him in heaven. It would not be safe to take them to heaven.” –Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 280

Seek God Daily

“Walk in all humility of mind, distrustful of self, seeking wisdom from the God of wisdom, that all your ways and methods may be in firm and close connection with the ways and the will of God, that there may be no confusion.” –Evangelism, p. 341

“We are not safe if we neglect to search the Scriptures daily for light and knowledge. Earthly blessings cannot be obtained without toil, and can we expect that spiritual and heavenly blessings will come without earnest effort on our part? The mines of truth are to be worked. Says the psalmist, ‘The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple’ (Psalm 199:130).

“The Word of God must not be kept apart from our life. It must be entertained in the mind, welcomed in the heart, and be cherished, loved, and obeyed. We need also much more knowledge; we need to be enlightened in regard to the plan of salvation. There is not one in one hundred who understands for himself the Bible truth on this subject that is so necessary to our present and eternal welfare.” –Selected Messages, bk. 1, p. 359

Not One in Twenty Prepared

“It is a solemn statement that I make to the church, that not one in twenty whose names are registered upon the church books are prepared to close their earthly history, and would be as verily without God and without hope in the world as the common sinner. They are professedly serving God, but they are more earnestly serving

mammon. This half-and-half work is a constant denying of Christ, rather than a confessing of Christ.

“So many have brought into the church their own unsubdued spirit, unrefined; their spiritual taste is perverted by their own immoral, debasing corruptions, symbolizing the world in spirit, in heart, in purpose, confirming themselves in lustful practices, and are full of deception through and through in their professed Christian life. Living as sinners, claiming to be Christians! Those who claim to be Christians and will confess Christ should come out from among them and touch not the unclean thing, and be separate.” –Christian Service, p. 41

“There is not one in one hundred who understands for himself the Bible truth on this subject [justification by faith] that is so necessary to our present and eternal welfare.” –Selected Messages, bk. 1, p. 359

God is always with the faithful people

“The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saves such as be of a contrite spirit.” Psalm 34:18

“Real sorrow for sin is the result of the working of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit reveals the ingratitude of the heart that has slighted and grieved the Saviour, and brings us in contrition to the foot of the cross. By every sin Jesus is wounded afresh; and as we look upon Him whom we have pierced, we mourn for the sins that have brought anguish upon Him. Such mourning will lead to the renunciation of sin.” –The Desire of Ages, p. 300

“True character is not shaped from without, and put on; it radiates from within. If we wish to direct others in the path of righteousness, the principles of righteousness must be enshrined in our own hearts. Our profession of faith may proclaim the theory of religion, but it is our practical piety that holds forth the word of truth. The consistent life, the holy conversation, the unswerving integrity, the active, benevolent spirit, the godly example, these are the mediums through which light is conveyed to the world.” –Ibid., p. 307

“‘For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.’ [Matthew 5:20]. The righteousness here taught was conformity of the heart and life to the revealed will of God. Jesus taught that the law of God should regulate the thoughts and purposes of the mind. True godliness elevates the thoughts and actions; then the external forms of religion accord with the Christian’s internal purity; then those ceremonies required in the service of God are not meaningless rites, like those of the hypocritical Pharisees.

“Many religious teachers of today are themselves breaking the commandments of God, and teaching others to do so. In place of those holy commandments, they boldly teach the customs and traditions of men, regardless of the direct testimony of Christ that such ones should be ‘least in the kingdom of Heaven.’ Jesus declared to the multitude assembled to hear Him, to the Pharisees, who sought to accuse Him of lightly regarding the law, and to the people of all time, that the precepts of Jehovah were immutable and eternal.” –The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 2, p. 218

“We must never forget how hard it is to remove long-cherished errors from the minds of men, which have been taught from childhood. We must bear in mind that earth is not heaven, and that there will be discouragements to meet and to overcome, but forbearance and tenderness and pity should be exercised toward all who are in darkness. If we bring them to see the light, it will not be solely by arguments, it must be by the work of the grace of Christ on your own hearts, revealed in your own characters with firmness, yet with the meekness and simplicity of Christ. Through much prayer you must labor for souls, for this is the only method by which you can reach hearts. It is not your work, but the work of Christ who is by your side, that impresses hearts.”–Evangelism, p. 341

Let us be careful, the day of final judgment is coming

“You are inclined to exalt yourself, to cherish a spirit of censoriousness. You show contempt for those who are chosen of God and precious, because they differ with you in some things. It is in the order of God that in some things they should differ with you. But because they do not agree with you in all your plans, you sometimes feel that you want nothing to do with them. Do you realize the danger of despising Christ in the person of His saints? God is light, and when He gives instruction to human beings that does not please them, shall they regard with scorn and contempt the messenger who, as a faithful steward, has had courage to speak to them the truth? Will you, my brother, become the enemy of the Lord’s messenger, and say many things that are untrue of the one who has told you the truth? . . .

“I tell you the truth; I lie not. You need a renewed heart. Pray that your eyes may be anointed with the heavenly eyesalve, that you may discern the true character of your religions faith and experience. Have you that faith which works by love and purifies the soul? Are you striving to reach the standard that God has set before you? If you choose, you can make the Word of God of no effect to many souls, leading them away from the safe path. But I want you to stand on vantage ground before God. I want you to sit at the wedding feast, clad in the wedding garment,—the righteousness of Christ.” –Battle Creek Letters, p. 69

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Philippians 2:12

“Many will not receive the seal of God because they do not keep His commandments or bear the fruits of righteousness.” –Maranatha, p. 241. “While the seal of the living God will be placed upon those only who bear a likeness to Christ in character.” –The Review and Herald, May 21, 1895