Chapter 1—Adventist Pioneers
Respect the Aged Pioneers
To the aged pioneer laborers who have been connected with the
work of the third angel’s message almost from its beginning, whose
experiences in it date nearly from the passing of the time in 1844, the
Lord says: “Your help is needed. Do not take upon yourselves loads
that others who are younger can carry. 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. You who have passed through so many
and such varied experiences are to do all that it is possible for you to
do to preserve your powers, that you may labor for the Lord as long as
He permits you to stand in your lot and place to help to advance His
work. ”...
The cause needs the help of the old hands, the aged workers, who
have had years of experience in the cause of God; who have watched
the development and the progress of the message in its various lines;
who have seen many go into fanaticism, cherishing the delusion of
false theories, resisting all the efforts made to let the light of truth
reveal the superstitions that were coming in to confuse minds and to
make of none effect the message which in these last days must be
given in its purity to God’s remnant people.
Many of the tried servants of God have fallen asleep in Jesus. Let
the help of those who are left alive to this day be appreciated. Let
their testimony be valued. The good hand of the Lord has been with
these faithful workers. He will uphold them by His strong arm, saying:
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“Lean on Me. I will be your strength and your exceeding great reward.”
Those who were in the message at its beginning, who fought bravely
when the battle went hard, must not lose their hold now.
The most tender interest should be cherished toward those whose
life interest is bound up with the work of God. Notwithstanding their
many infirmities, these workers still possess talents that qualify them
to stand in their lot and place. God desires them to occupy leading
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