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The “Shut Door” Documents

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    1851 Publication

    While praying at the family altar, the Holy Ghost fell upon me, and I seemed to be rising higher and higher, far above the dark world. I turned to look for the Advent people in the world, but could not find them—when a voice said to me, “Look again, and look a little higher.” At this I raised my eyes and saw a straight and narrow path, cast up high above the world. On this path the Advent people were traveling to the City, which was at the farther end of the path. They had a bright light set up behind them at the first end of the path, which an angel told me was the Midnight Cry. This light shone all along the path, and gave light for their feet so they might not stumble. And if they kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, who was just before them, leading them to the City, they were safe. But soon some grew weary, and they said the City was a great way off, and they expected to have entered it before. Then Jesus would encourage them by raising his glorious right arm, and from his arm came a glorious light which waved over the Advent band, and they shouted Hallelujah! Others rashly denied the light behind them, and said that it was not God that had led them out so far. The light behind them went out leaving their feet in perfect darkness, and they stumbled and got their eyes off the mark, and lost sight of Jesus, and fell off the path down in the dark and wicked world below. Soon we heard the voice of God like many waters, which gave us the day and hour of Jesus’ coming. The living saints, 144,000 in number, knew and understood the voice, while the wicked thought it was thunder and an earthquake. When God spake the time, he poured on us the Holy Ghost, and our faces began to light up and shine with the glory of God as Moses’ did when he came down from Mount Sinai.—A Sketch of the Christian Experience and Views of Ellen G. White, 10, 11.SDD 53.5

    The 1846 and 1847 printings of Ellen White’s first vision included the sentence emphasized above. The 1851 printing of the same vision omitted the sentence. Why was it omitted? Ellen White no doubt realized that the passage had been misunderstood by some of her readers, as well as by herself. At first she and her friends had apparently limited their missionary outreach to the “household of faith.” However, as the years passed, she witnessed the power of God at work not only on “the Little Flock,” but on others as well. This led her to a more complete comprehension of what she had written in her first vision. Apparently, in order to avoid any further misunderstanding, she eliminated the passage in her 1851 printing of her early visions. (See entry No. 9, above, for Ellen White’s understanding of her first vision as described in 1883. Also see Selected Messages 1:61-62, for her discussion of this omission.)SDD 54.1

    Ellen White did not delete all the passages which had given rise to misunderstanding. In her 1851 book she included, for example, the following paragraph:SDD 54.2

    I saw that the mysterious signs and wonders and false reformations would increase and spread. The reformations that were shown me were not reformations from error to truth. My accompanying angel bade me look for the travail of soul for sinners as used to be. I looked, but could not see it; for the time for their salvation is past.—Early Writings, p. 45. See entries 38 and 39 above.

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