Elder (Christianity)

“ They need to live their religion, to go forth with pure hearts and clean hands, and then preach the Gospel by the power of God sent down from heaven. They should touch not and taste not of sin, and when they return they should come pure and clean, ready to meet the Saints with open countenances. To all appearance, the Elders on missions have been in the habit of making their pockets a matter of more consideration than the souls of men. I am not going to suffer this any longer.
I want every Elder to make his calculations to get rich here, and not go abroad to get riches from the Saints there. ”

“ We pray our heavenly Father that our brother's most intense desires may be fully realized, and that not only he, but every other Elder in the church of Christ may be prospered in the glorious calling whereunto they have been called. ”

“ In every professional life there are daily occurrences that try men's tempers. But by the grace of God, our brother was enabled to adorn the doctrine of God, our Saviour, and to live unspotted from the world. As all elders have to mingle more with the world than a minister, how essential it is that the outside world should see that their walk and conversation be as becometh the Gospel of Christ.
Again: another qualification of an elder, is, that "he should be a prayerful man." Our brother had all through life cultivated a spirit of prayer. This "is the Christian's vital breath." ”

“ And an elder shall be detailed off for him who shall be capable of saving souls, who shall altogether intently watch over him, and make it a care to see if he reverently seek God, if he be zealous in the service of God, in obedience, in suffering shame. ”

“ It is no wonder, then, that everybody loved him—his young men in the various Bible-classes especially. Eternity alone will reveal the amount of good he accomplished by his kind, gentle, meek, cheerful, and quiet spirit.
Servant of Christ, well done; you rest from your labor, and your works do follow you.
Let us look at his work as a ruling Elder of the Church of Christ.
Paul, in writing to Timothy, says: "Let the elders that rule well, be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine" (1 Timothy v. 17) . An elder is one who rules the house of God. ”

“ The elder he grows, he is a stair lower from God; and, like his first father, much worse in his breeches. [3] He is the Christian's example, and the old man's relapse; the one imitates his pureness, and the other falls into his simplicity. Could he put off his body with his little coat, he had got eternity without a burden, and exchanged but one heaven for another. ”

“ They are called elders, say some, because for the most part they were chosen out of the elder sort of men: others better, from the maturity of knowledge, wisdom, gifts, gravity, piety, &c., which ought to be in them. This name elder seems to have rule and authority written upon it, when applied to any church officer; and it is by the Septuagint often ascribed to rulers political, elders in the gate, Judges viii. ”

“ Well, gentlemen, the duties of elders have never been very clearly defined in the church. But latterly they have settled down to this. The younger elder is to brush down and harness the pastor's horse when he wishes to ride out, and the elder is to accompany him, when he goes out of town, and pay his bills. ”

“ We may say of such persecutors, in the words of the Dhammapada—
260. "A man is not an elder because his head is grey; his age may be ripe, but he is called old in vain," and many would at once be able, if they tried, to remember the names of some who, in a Christian community, have abandoned their principles, or their learning, as soon as they became bishops or elders of the church. ”

“ The individual elder is left largely to the guidance of the spirit of his calling, with which he should be imbued. If he fail to cultivate that spirit, which is the spirit of energy and application, he will soon become torpid, indolent and unhappy. Every missionary should strive to devote part of {455} each day to study and prayerful thought on the principles of the gospel and the theology of the Church. ”

“ They will know, whether they know that the doctrine is true or not, that the influence is good, and that whether they have much language or little they have the Spirit of God with them, and it will accompany every faithful Elder of Israel. ”

“ So long as one solitary Elder, however unlearned, obscure or possessing an honest heart, remain alive upon the earth, these holy and sacred truths will be avowed and vindicated, order and proper authority continue their peaceful and happy reign, and Elders with hearts overflowing with love and heaven born-zeal, go forth to the nations, churches spring up in every land and clime, Saints increase and multiply and gather together ”

“ If we send an Elder to preach the Gospel and he travels the earth over, when he returns we know where he has been and what he has been doing, and if he has been guilty of that crime to which the world is so much addicted he can not keep it ”

“ These should be the feelings of every Elder that goes forth to preach the Gospel to the nations.
Put it down in your memories, let it be written on the tablets of your hearts that, outside of the religion we have embraced, there is nothing but death, hell and the grave. Every excellency, blessing, comfort, happiness and light, and everything that can be enjoyed by an intelligent being, is for us, if we live for it. ”

“ But ere long others among them saw more light and insisted that elders were not essential to the being of a church, that the church existed before its eldership, and that where the church is the Lord’s table should be spread on the first day of every week, irrespective of the presence of an ordained elder. ”

“ Our mission as Elders should be from now on to vie with each other in doing the works of righteousness, and in living humble and pure lives. In this we will find wealth and joy, and I desire to say to you that the Elder, the Priest, Teacher or Deacon—and the term Elder covers every man bearing the Melchisedek Priesthood—who neglects these things, will be found sorrowing ”

“ The brethren and sisters from the old countries frequently place great confidence in the American Elders who have been their pastors, but some trifling thing occurs that does not appear right to them, and they say in a moment, That Elder is not a Latter-day Saint." Judge no man. A person who would say another is not a Latter-day Saint, for some trifling affair in human life, proves that he does not possess the Spirit of God. ”

“ Elder C. is a man with whom we have formed an intimate acquaintance, and know that he is a peaceable, circumspect, devout man of God; and that wherever he may travel and proclaim the gospel, he will do it without infringing upon the lawful privileges of any, and that such men are sure to rouse the indignation of Satan, and his emissaries who labor for hire and make merchandise of souls!
We have not received our usual number of letters from the elders and churches, and shall not in consequence, be able to give our usual lengthy summary. ”

“ They do not know the difference, neither do they understand the day of their visitation. They possess not the Spirit of God; they are wallowing in the mire of sin and groping in the darkness of unbelief and death. ”

“ You must labor for faith: and when any thing troubles you that you can not understand or believe, come to me, and do not express doubts to any of the brethren.' The Elder then put on my eyes a pair of spiritual golden spectacles, to make me see spiritual things. ”

“ Elder Welcome was one of the old-fashioned sort not so common in these days, a good man, but stern and somewhat harsh. He preached only the terrors of the law, dwelt much upon the doctrines, the decrees, election, predestination, and eternal punishment, and rarely lingered over such themes as the fatherhood of God, his love to mankind, and his wonderful gift to a lost world. ”

“ Almost any Elder in this Church can preach the Gospel, if he is humble before God; he can tell all that the wicked would need to hear from the Old and New Testament. Many of the Elders are scholars, and when they preach we expect to hear almost a Bible and a half preached before they get through ”

“ There are occasions when they are quite proper and in place, but in our every-day conversations it is sufficient honor to address any brother holding the Melchizedek Priesthood as elder. The term elder is a general one, applying to all those who hold the higher priesthood, whether they be apostles, patriarchs, high priests or seventies ”

“ Believing in God, they have put their trust in him. They have trusted him for their food and for their raiment in travelling to the ends of the earth without purse of scrip, to proclaim to a fallen world the great principles that have been revealed from heaven for the salvation of the human family. There is not, to-day, on this wide world, an example of disinterestedness and self-abnegation equal to that which has been exhibited by the Elders of this Church for the last thirty-five years, and not only by the Elders, but by their wives. ”

“ In the first place we would advise the Elder, or whatever else he may be, never to lose sight of his high calling of God in Jesus Christ—never to forget the authority of that portion of the Priesthood which has been conferred upon him. ”

“ The eldership in the apostolic local churches was always plural. There is no instance of one elder in a local church. The functions of the elders are: to rule ; 1 Timothy 3:4,5; 5:17 to guard the body of revealed truth from perversion and error Titus 1:9 to "oversee" the church as a shepherd his flock ; Acts 20:28; John 21:16; Hebrews 13:17. 1 Peter 5:2. Elders are made or "set" in the churches by the Holy Spirit Acts 20:28 but great stress is laid upon their due appointment ”

“ He has always supported Elder Darling's meeting—the Elder is an excellent man, and he will continue to support him; but he is not perfectly suited with the Elder's preaching; it wants heartier life, and a more evangelical power and effect; and he knows of many who hunger for a gospel of larger faith and charity; which shall feed and refresh the people, and raise their aims and views; which shall identify religion more with a pure and benevolent character ”

“ The expression, and style, and love, intimate that the penman was the same with that of the foregoing epistle; he is now the elder, emphatically and eminently so; possibly the oldest apostle now living, the chief elder in the church of God. An elder in the ancient house of Israel was reverend, or to be reverenced, much more he who is so In the gospel Israel of God. An old disciple is honourable; and old apostle and leader of disciples is more so. ”

“ The god of this world has dominion over the souls of men to an unlimited extent. Let an Elder go among them to preach without purse or scrip, and tell them so, and they will immediately say, "We can believe your religion a great deal better than we can believe that you come to preach without having your salary paid. ”

“ The elder now states to us verbally, that he was well received by the brethren where there were any, and that it is due to all where he travelled to say, that he was kindly received and hospitably entertained. Truth and reason are the best weapons to combat prejudice and error. Time, patience and perseverance on the part of the saints are necessary to overcome these, and all other opposing barrier to the truth. The elder has had full congregations of hearers, has preached in a great many places, and baptized five sine he wrote us, making 29 in all since he left home in April last. ”

“ Are the elders of the Covenanted Church worthy of their predecessors? Do they measure up to the standard of fortitude in the faith, self-immolation for the truth, intelligence in the Scriptures, enthusiasm in Christ, and hopefulness that has no sunset? Are they leaders of the people in every good enterprise? Are they defenders of the flock against all defection? Are they carrying the banner of Christ forward, even beyond the ministers, where the testimony for King Jesus requires it? For all faithful elders, seats in glory are prepared round about the throne of God. ”

“ Paul says “Rebuke not an elder, but exhort him as a father,” it is quite clear that he is speaking simply of elderly men, and not of persons holding the office of an elder: for he goes on at once to speak of the treatment of younger men, and also of older and younger women. ”

“ The elder informs us that he is now about to leave Ia. where he has labored the most of the season thus far since he left here. We trust he has been usefully employed, and that the Lord has blessed his labors. We think few are more successful in proclaiming the truths of the Gospel then elder Hinkle. ”

“ If we are Elders we should seek to magnify our calling in every particular, and put away from us every evil and satisfy ourselves that we are accepted of God, living so that it will be a pleasure as well as a duty to carry out the will of God in all things. ”

“ The old men, who elsewhere are usually obdurate and stubborn, and answer that they are now too old to learn the doctrine and begin a new manner of life, here used this very same argument to induce me to baptize them, saying: 'Father, consider that we are already old, and soon shall end our lives; do not let us die without baptism, since we are so anxious to be Christians.' With this good disposition on their part, I began to preach to them, and our Lord was pleased that they should all become Christians. ”

“ And thus it is, as we are taught, in this dispensation, the Elders of this Church are engaged, while in the spirit world awaiting their resurrection, in preaching to the millions of human beings who once lived upon this earth, but who died in ignorance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They preach to them as living Elders now hope, this heavenly message which comes to them freighted with so many glorious promises, and feeling humble and contrite they receive the truths which they are taught and live as best they can according to the light given to them. ”