Mind, Character, and Personality Vol. 2 - Second Advent Revival

everything to advance the work. The fact that they have grown old and gray in the
service of God is no reason why they should cease to
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exert an influence superior to the influence of men who have far less knowledge of the
work and far less experience in divine things. {2MCP 750.4}
Though worn and unable to bear the heavier burdens that younger men can and
should carry, their value as counselors is of the highest order. They have made
mistakes, but they have learned wisdom from their failures; they have learned to avoid
errors and dangers, and are they not then competent to give wise counsel? They have
borne test and trial, and though they have lost some of their vigor, they are not to be
pushed aside by less-experienced workers who know very little about the labor and
self-sacrifice of these pioneers. The Lord does not thus lay them aside. He gives them
special grace and knowledge.--7T 287, 288 (1902). {2MCP 751.1}
To Be Honored and Respected.--The old standard-bearers who are still living
should not be put in hard places. Those who served their Master when the work went
hard, who endured poverty and remained faithful to the truth when our numbers were
small, are ever to be honored and respected. I am instructed to say: Let every believer
respect the aged pioneers who have borne trials and hardships and many privations.
They are God's workmen and have acted a prominent part in the building up of His
work.--7T 289 (1902). {2MCP 751.2}
To Be Treated as Fathers and Mothers.--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.--RH, Mar 20,
1900. (2SM 227.)
752 {2MCP 751.3}
Counsel to Old and Tried Gospel Laborers.--May the Lord bless and sustain our
old and tried laborers. May He help them to be wise in regard to the preservation of
their physical, mental, and spiritual powers. I have been instructed by the Lord to say to
those who bore their testimony in the early days of the message: "God has endowed
you with the power of reason, and He desires you to understand and obey the laws that
have to do with the health of the being. Do not be imprudent. Do not overwork. Take
time to rest. God desires you to stand in your lot and place, doing your part to save men
and women from being swept downward by the mighty current of evil. He desires you to
keep the armor on till He bids you lay it off. Not long hence you will receive your
reward." --7T 289 (1902). {2MCP 752.1}