At half past two o’clock P.M. I spoke to a full house [at Adams Center, N.Y.].... We were gratified to meet the aged servants of God on this occasion. We have been acquainted from the rise of the third angel’s message with Elder [Frederick] Wheeler, who is now nearing eighty years. We have been acquainted with Elders [H. H.] Wilcox and [Chas. O.] Taylor for the last forty years. Age is telling on these old standard-bearers, as well as upon me. If we are faithful to the end the Lord will give us a crown of life that fadeth not away.
(2SM 223.1)
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The aged standard-bearers are far from being useless and laid aside. They have a part to act in the work similar to that of John. They can say, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:1-7).
(2SM 223.2)
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This was the spirit and life of the message that John bore to all in his old age, when he was nearly one hundred years old. The standard-bearers are holding fast their banners. They are not loosening their hands on the banner of truth until they lay off the armor. One by one the old warriors’ voices become silent. Their place is vacant. We see them no more, but they being dead yet speak, for their works do follow them. Let us treat very tenderly the few aged pilgrims remaining, esteeming them highly for their works’ sake. As their powers are becoming worn and enfeebled, what they do say is of value. As precious testimony let their words be treasured. Let not the young men and the new workers discard or in any respect show indifference to the men of hoary hairs, but let them rise up and call them blessed. They should consider that they have themselves entered into these men’s labors. We wish that there was much more of the love of Christ in the hearts of our believers for those who were first in the proclamation of the message.—Manuscript 33, 1890.
(2SM 223.3)
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Counsel to Those Who Have Grown Gray in Service
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While you are anxious to do all that you possibly can, remember, Elder Haskell, that it is only by the great mercy and grace of God that you have been spared these many years to bear your testimony. Do not take upon yourself loads that others who are younger can carry.
(2SM 224.1)
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It is your duty to be careful in your habits of life. You are to be wise in the use of your physical, mental, and spiritual strength. We who have passed through so many and such varied experiences are to do all that it is possible for us to do to preserve our powers, that we may labor for the Lord as long as He permits us to stand in our lot to help to advance His work.
(2SM 224.2)
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The cause needs the help of the old hands, the aged workers, who have had many years’ experience in the cause of God; who have seen many going into fanaticism, cherishing the delusion of false theories, and resisting all the efforts made to let the true light shine forth in the darkness to reveal the superstitions that were coming in to confuse judgment, and to make of none effect the message of truth that in these last days must be given in its purity to the remnant people of God.
(2SM 224.3)
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Many of the tried servants of God have fallen asleep in Jesus. We greatly appreciate the help of those who are left alive to this day. We value their testimony. Read the first chapter of First John, and then praise the Lord that notwithstanding your many infirmities you can still bear witness for Him....
(2SM 225.1)
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We can easily count the first burden bearers now alive [1902]. Elder [Uriah] Smith was connected with us at the beginning of the publishing work. He labored in connection with my husband. We hope always to see his name in the Review and Herald at the head of the list of editors; for thus it should be. Those who began the work, who fought bravely when the battle went so hard, must not lose their hold now. They are to be honored by those who entered the work after the hardest privation had been borne.
(2SM 225.2)
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I feel very tender toward Elder Smith. My life interest in the publishing work is bound up with his. He came to us as a young man, possessing talents that qualified him to stand in his lot and place as an editor. How I rejoice as I read his articles in the Review—so excellent, so full of spiritual truth. I thank God for them. I feel a strong sympathy for Elder Smith, and I believe that his name should always appear in the Review as the name of the leading editor. Thus God would have it. When, some years ago, his name was placed second, I felt hurt. When it was again placed first, I wept, and said, “Thank God.” May it always be there, as God designs it shall be, while Elder Smith’s right hand can hold a pen. And when the power of his hand fails, let his sons write at his dictation.
(2SM 225.3)
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I am thankful that Elder [J. N.] Loughborough can still use his abilities and his gifts in God’s work. He has stood faithful amid storm and trial. With Elder Smith, my husband, Brother Butler, who joined us at a later period, and yourself [S. N. Haskell], he can say, “That which was from the beginning, ... that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:1-3).
(2SM 225.4)
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It is with feelings of satisfaction and of gratitude to God that we see Elder [G. I.] Butler again in active service. His gray hairs testify that he understands what trials are. We welcome him into our ranks once more, and regard him as one of our most valuable laborers.
(2SM 226.1)
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May the Lord help the brethren who have borne their testimony in the early days of the message, to be wise in regard to the preservation of their physical, mental, and spiritual powers. I have been instructed by the Lord to say that He has endowed you with the power of reason, and He desires you to understand the laws that affect the health of the being, and to resolve to obey them. These laws are God’s laws. He desires every pioneer worker to stand in his lot and place, that he may do his part in saving the people from being swept downward to destruction by the mighty current of evil—of physical, mental, and spiritual declension. My brethren, He desires you to keep your armor on to the very close of the conflict. Do not be imprudent; do not overwork. Take periods of rest.
(2SM 226.2)
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The church militant is not the church triumphant. The Lord desires His tried servants, as long as they live, to advocate temperance reform. Unfurl the temperance banner. Teach the people to practice strict temperance in all things, and to be champions in favor of obedience to physical laws. Stand firmly to God’s truth. Exalt before the people the banner bearing the inscription, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12)....
(2SM 226.3)
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A few of the old standard-bearers are still living. I am intensely desirous that our brethren and sisters shall respect and honor these pioneers. We present them before you as men who know what trials are. I am instructed to say, Let every believer respect the men who acted a prominent part during the early days of the message, and who have borne trials and hardships and many privations. These men have grown gray in service. Not long hence they will receive their reward....
(2SM 226.4)
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The Lord desires His servants who have grown gray in the advocacy of truth to stand faithful and true, bearing their testimony in favor of the law.
(2SM 227.1)
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God’s tried servants must not be put in hard places. Those who served their Master when the work went hard, those who endured poverty and remained faithful in the love of the truth when our numbers were small, are ever to be honored and respected. Let those who have come into the truth in later years take heed to these words. God desires all to heed this caution.—Letter 47, 1902.
(2SM 227.2)
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God calls upon His aged servants to act as counselors, to teach the young men what to do in cases of emergency. Aged workers are to bear, as did John, a living testimony of real experience. And when these faithful workers are laid away to rest, with the words, “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord” (Revelation 14:13), there should be found in our schools men and women who can take the standard and raise it in new places.
(2SM 227.3)
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While the aged standard-bearers are in the field, let those who have been benefited by their labors care for and respect them. Do not load them down with burdens. Appreciate their advice, their words of counsel. Treat them as fathers and mothers who have borne the burden of the work. The workers who have in the past anticipated the needs of the cause do a noble work when, in the place of carrying all the burdens themselves, they lay them upon the shoulders of younger men and women, and educate them as Elijah educated Elisha.
(2SM 227.4)
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David offered to God a tribute of gratitude for the divine teaching and guidance he had received. “O God, thou hast taught me from my youth” (Psalm 71:17), he declared. Those who in the history of the message have borne the burden and heat of the day, are to remember that the same Lord who taught them from their youth, inviting them, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me” (Matthew 11:29), and giving them the light of truth, is just as willing to teach young men and women today as He was to teach them.
(2SM 227.5)
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