We investigate the singular limit of a third-order abstract equation in time, in relation to the complete second-order Cauchy problem on Banach spaces, where the principal operator is the generator of a strongly continuous cosine family. Assuming that an initial datum is ill prepared, the initial layer problem is studied. We show convergence, which is uniform on compact sets that stay away from zero, as long as initial data are sufficiently smooth. Our method employs suitable results from the theory of general resolvent families of operators. The abstract formulation of the third-order in time equation is inspired by the Moore-Gibson-Thompson equation, which is the linearization of a model that currently finds applications in the propagation of ultrasound waves, displacement of certain viscoelastic materials, flexible structural systems that possess internal damping and the theory of thermoelasticity.