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.
The Lord desires the younger laborers to gain wisdom, strength, and maturity by association with the aged laborers who have been spared to the cause. Let the younger men realize that, in having such laborers among them, they are highly favored. Let them show great respect for the men of gray hairs, who have had long experience in the development of the work. Let them give them an honored place in their councils. God desires those who have come into the truth in later years to take heed to these words.
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.”
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Chapter 58—Care for Workers
Some provision should be made for the care of ministers and others of God’s faithful servants who through exposure or overwork in His cause have become ill and need rest and restoration, or who through age or loss of health are no longer able to bear the burden and heat of the day. Ministers are often appointed to a field of labor that they know will be detrimental to their health; but, unwilling to shun trying places, they venture, hoping to be a help and a blessing to the people. After a time they find their health failing. A change of climate and of work is tried, without bringing relief; and then what are they to do?
These faithful laborers, who for Christ’s sake have given up worldly prospects, choosing poverty rather than pleasure or riches; who, forgetful of self, have labored earnestly to win souls to Christ; who have given liberally to advance various enterprises in the cause of God, and have then sunk down in the battle, wearied and ill, and with no means of support, must not be left to struggle on in poverty and suffering, or to feel that they are paupers. When sickness or infirmity comes upon them, let not our workers be burdened with the anxious query: “What will become of my wife and little ones, now that I can no longer labor and supply their necessities?” It is but just that provision be made to meet the needs of these faithful laborers and the needs of those who are dependent on them.
Generous provision is made for veterans who have fought for their country. These men bear the scars and lifelong infirmities that tell of their perilous conflicts, their forced marches, their exposure to storms, their suffering in prison. All these evidences of their loyalty and self-sacrifice give them a just claim upon the nation they have helped to save—a claim that is recognized and honored. But what provision have Seventh-day Adventists made for the soldiers of Christ?
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Workers Neglected
Our people have not felt as they should the necessity of this matter, and it has therefore been neglected. The churches have been thoughtless, and, though the light of the word of God has been shining upon their pathway, they have neglected this most sacred duty. The Lord is greatly displeased with this neglect of His faithful servants. Our people should be as willing to assist these persons when in adverse circumstances as they have been willing to accept their means and services when in health.
God has laid upon us the obligation of giving special attention to the poor among us. But these ministers and workers are not to be ranked with the poor. They have laid up for themselves a treasure in the heavens that faileth not. They have served the conference in its necessity, and now the conference is to serve them. When cases of this kind come before us, we are not to pass by on the other side. We are not to say, “Be ye warmed and filled” (James 2:16), and then take no active measures to supply their necessities. This has been done in the past, and thus in some cases Seventh-day Adventists have dishonored their profession of faith and have given the world opportunity to reproach the cause of God.
Providing Homes for Workers
It is now the duty of God’s people to roll back this reproach by providing these servants of God with comfortable homes, with a few acres of land on which they can raise their own produce and feel that they are not dependent on the charities of their brethren. With what pleasure and peace would these worn laborers look to a quiet little home where their just claims to its rest would be recognized!
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The duty we owe to these persons has been referred to again and again, but no decided action has been taken in reference to it. As a people we should feel our responsibility in this matter. Every church member should feel an interest in all that concerns the human brotherhood and the brotherhood in Christ. We are members one of another; if one member suffers, all the members suffer with him. Something must be done, and the conference should have spiritual discernment, that they may understand the privileges and comforts that these worn-out workers need and deserve.
Our Sanitariums a Refuge for Workers
Often these ministers need special care and treatment. Our sanitariums should be a refuge for such and for all our worn workers who need rest. Rooms should be provided where they can have a change and rest, without continual anxiety as to how they are to meet the expense. When the disciples were worn with labor, Christ said to them: “Come ye yourselves apart, … and rest awhile.” Mark 6:31. He would have arrangements made whereby His servants now may have opportunity to rest and recover strength. Our sanitariums are to be open to our hard-working ministers, who have done all in their power to secure funds for the erection and support of these institutions, and at any time when they are in need of the advantages here offered they should be made to feel at home.
These workers should not at any time be charged a high price for board and treatment, neither should they be regarded as beggars, or in any way made to feel as such by those whose hospitality they receive. To manifest liberality in the use of the facilities God has provided for His worn and overworked servants is genuine medical missionary work in His sight. God’s workers are bound to Him, and when they are received it should be remembered that Christ is received in the person of His messengers. He requires this, and is dishonored and displeased when they are treated indifferently or dealt with in a small or selfish manner. God’s blessing will not attend close dealing with any of His chosen ones. Among the medical fraternity there has not always been a keenness of perception to discern these matters. Some have not regarded them as they should. May the Lord sanctify the perception of those who have charge of our institutions, that they may know who should have true sympathy and care.
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That branch of the cause for which these worn-out laborers have worked should show an appreciation of their labor by helping them in their time of need, thus sharing largely with the sanitarium the burden of expense.
Some workers are so situated as to be able to lay by a little from their salary, and this they should do, if possible, to meet an emergency; yet even these should be welcome as a blessing to the sanitarium. But most of our workers have many and great obligations to meet. At every turn, when means are needed, they are called upon to do something, to lead out, that the influence of their example may stimulate others to liberality and the cause of God be advanced. They feel such an intense desire to plant the standard in new fields that many even hire money to help in various enterprises. They have not given grudgingly, but have felt that it was a privilege to work for the advancement of the truth. By thus responding to calls for means, they are often left with very little surplus.
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The Lord has kept an accurate account of their liberality to the cause. He knows what a good work they have done, a work of which the younger laborers have no conception. He has been cognizant of all the privation and self-denial they have endured. He has marked every circumstance of these cases. It is all written in the books. These workers are a spectacle before the world, before angels, and before men, and they are an object lesson to test the sincerity of our religious principles. The Lord would have our people understand that the pioneers in this work deserve all that our institutions can do for them. God calls upon us to understand that those who have grown old in His service deserve our love, our honor, our deepest respect.
A Workers’ Fund
A fund should be raised for such workers as are no longer able to labor. We cannot be clear before God unless we make every reasonable effort in this matter, and that without delay. There are some among us who will not see the necessity of this move, but their opposition should have no influence with us. Those who purpose in their hearts to be right and to do right should move steadily forward for the accomplishment of a good work, a work that God requires to be done. There are many who are at their ease, who have postponed the work of doing good with their substance; but shall it be so longer? Shall we love money so well that we will bury it in the earth?
God calls for the co-operation of all in this enterprise. The affluent should give of the abundance; but if they give grudgingly, longing to have every dollar to invest in some worldly enterprise, they will receive no reward.
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The humble gift from the poorer class is not, in the sight of God, inferior to the larger offerings of the more wealthy. The Lord will add His blessing to the gift, making its errand of love fruitful in accordance with the wholehearted cheerfulness with which it is bestowed. The mites from every source should be carefully cherished.
The ardor of the youth is now needed. They should put away vanity and restrict their wants. I would urge upon them and upon all our people that the money usually invested in unnecessary things be put to a higher, holier use. Do what you can toward creating a fund for the aged ministers, worn out with constant labor and care. Consecrate all that you have to the Lord. Do not use your money to gratify self. Put it into the Lord’s treasury. Do not allow means to pass out of your hands merely to gratify the wishes of yourselves or others. In your expenditure consider that it is the Lord’s money which you are handling and that you must render to Him an account of its use.
To the aged, who are losing their hold on this life, I appeal to make a right disposition of your Lord’s goods before you fall asleep in Jesus. Remember that you are God’s stewards. Give back to the Lord His own while you live. Do not fail of attending to this while you have your reason. As age comes upon us, it is our duty to make a disposition of our means to the instrumentalities that God has established. Satan is using every device to divert from the Lord’s cause the means so much needed. Many are binding up their talent of means in worldly enterprises, when the cause of God needs every dollar to advance His truth and glorify His name. I ask: Shall we not lay up for ourselves treasure in heaven, in bags that wax not old? I would especially urge the aged who are soon to make a disposal of their means to remember those who have ministered faithfully in word and doctrine. Place your means where, should health and life fail, they can be invested in the cause of God. Thus they will be put out to the exchangers and be constantly accumulating.
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I call upon the church as a whole, and upon its members individually, to render to God His own entrusted capital with interest. Thus you will have treasure in heaven. Let your hearts be true to Jesus. Although you may feel that you are the least of all saints, yet you are members of Christ’s body, and through Him you are identified with all His human agencies and with the excellence and power of the heavenly intelligences. None of us liveth to himself. To each is assigned a post of duty, not for his own narrow, selfish interests, but that the influence of each may be a strength to all. If we really believed that we were individually a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men, would we not as a church manifest a very different spirit from that which we now manifest? Would we not be a living, working church?
The small and the larger streams of beneficence should ever be kept flowing. God’s providence is far ahead of us, moving onward much faster than our liberalities. The way for the advancement and upbuilding of the cause of God is blocked by selfishness, pride, covetousness, extravagance, and love of display. The whole church is charged with a solemn responsibility to lift in every branch of the work. If its members follow Christ, they will deny the inclination for display, the love of dress, the love of elegant houses and costly furniture. There must be far greater humility, a much greater distinction from the world, among Seventh-day Adventists, else God will not accept us, whatever our position or the character of the work in which we are engaged. Economy and self-denial will furnish many in moderate circumstances with means for benevolence. It is the duty of all to learn of Christ, to walk humbly in the self-denying path in which the Majesty of heaven trod. The whole Christian life should be one of self-denial, that, when calls for help are made, we may be ready to respond.
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As long as Satan works with unremitting energy to destroy souls, as long as there is a call for laborers in any part of the wide harvest field, so long will there be a call to give for the support of the work of God in some one of its many lines. We relieve one need only to make way to relieve another of like character. The self-denial required to obtain means to invest in that which God values most highly will develop habits and a character which will win for us the approbation, “Well done,” and make us fit to dwell forever in the presence of Him who for our sake became poor, that we through His poverty might inherit eternal riches.
Men in positions of responsibility are in danger of becoming crushed under the many burdens that they bear, but the Lord does not press on anyone burdens too heavy to be borne. He estimates every weight before He allows it to rest upon the hearts of those who are laborers together with Him. To every one of His workers our loving heavenly Father says: “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee.” Psalm 55:22. Let the burden bearers believe that He will carry every load, great or small.
Jesus consents to bear our burdens only when we trust Him. He is saying: “Come unto Me, all ye weary and heavy-laden; give Me your load; trust Me to do the work that it is impossible for the human agent to do.” Let us trust Him. Worry is blind and cannot discern the future. But Jesus sees the end from the beginning, and in every difficulty He has His way prepared to bring relief. Abiding in Christ, we can do all things through Him who strengthens us.
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Because of unconsecrated workers, things will sometimes go wrong. You may weep over the result of the wrong course of others, but do not worry. The work is under the supervision of the blessed Master. All He asks is that the workers shall come to Him for their orders, and obey His directions. All parts of the work—our churches, missions, Sabbath schools, institutions—are carried upon His heart. Why worry? The intense longing to see the church imbued with life must be tempered with entire trust in God; for “without Me,” said the great Burden Bearer, “ye can do nothing.” “Follow Me.” He leads the way; we are to follow.
Let no one overtax his God-given powers in an effort to advance the Lord’s work more rapidly. The power of man cannot hasten the work; with this must be united the power of heavenly intelligences. Only thus can the work of God be brought to perfection. Man cannot do God’s part of the work. A Paul may plant, and an Apollos water, but God gives the increase. In simplicity and meekness man is to co-operate with divine agencies, at all times doing his best, yet ever realizing that God is the great Master Workman. He is not to feel self-confident, for thus he will exhaust his reserve force and destroy his mental and physical powers. Though all the workmen now bearing the heaviest burdens should be laid aside, God’s work would be carried forward. Then let our zeal in labor be tempered with reason; let us cease our efforts to do that which the Lord alone can accomplish.
Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 7 pp. 289-298
