Writings Barricaded by a "Thus Saith the Lord"

 

Before reading any of Ellen's written works, it is important to be aware that Ellen claimed all of her writings in her letters, diary entries, papers, testimonies, and books held truth and the authority of God. If one is to put their faith in Ellen as a true messenger of God as the Spirit of Prophecy, they must believe what she herself testified; to take every one of her writings as from God Himself. Paul, however, stated that the scriptures have already provided everything a believer needs in order to understand salvation and live a life of obedience. If, as Ellen claimed, a person is required to obey her testimonies in addition to what is already taught by God in scripture, then Paul was incorrect. 

 

Scripture:

  • “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:14-17

 

 

Ellen G. White:

 

Divine Origin of Visions

     

    • “In the line of my work I speak the things the Lord gives me. And in my words to you I would ...[not] dare to say that the Lord did not move me to make the remarks which I made in that talk all the way through.” Letter 18d, (890) https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/14056.5573001#5573008 

     

    • “Men may get up scheme after scheme and the enemy will seek to seduce souls from the truth, but all who believe that the Lord has spoken through Sister White and has given her a message will be safe from the many delusions that will come in these last days.” Selected Messages 3:83, 84 (1906) https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/39.238#246  

     

    • ”What a battle I am obliged to fight! My brethren seem to judge me as taking positions that are not necessary. They do not see that God in His own wisdom has made revelations to me which cannot successfully be contradicted or disputed. Nothing can rub out that which has been presented to me and imprinted on the tablets of my soul. All the oppositions or gainsaying to make my testimony of none effect only compels from me, by the urgency of the Spirit of God, a more decided repetition, and to stand on the light revealed with all the force of the strength God has given me.” Manuscript 25, 1890, p. 1. ( Untitled Manuscript, January 7, 1890.) https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/59.1135#1141

     

    • “As inquiries are frequently made as to my state in vision, and after I come out, I would say that when the Lord sees fit to give a vision, I am taken into the presence of Jesus and angels, and am entirely lost to earthly things. I can see no farther than the angel directs me. My attention is often directed to scenes transpiring upon earth.” Selected Messages, Book 1, Ch 2 https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/98.174#175 

     

    • “During this whole time I could not understand the reasoning of the brethren. My mind was locked, as it were, and I could not comprehend the meaning of the scriptures we were studying. This was one of the greatest sorrows of my life. I was in this condition of mind until all the principal points of our faith were made clear to our minds, in harmony with the Word of God. The brethren knew that when not in vision, I could not understand these matters, and they accepted as light direct from heaven the revelations given.” Selected Messages, Vol 1, p. 207 https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/668.1131#1133 

     

    • “At times I am carried far ahead into the future and shown what is to take place. Then again I am shown things as they have occurred in the past. After I come out of vision I do not at once remember all that I have seen, and the matter is not so clear before me until I write, then the scene rises before me as was presented in vision, and I can write with freedom. Sometimes the things which I have seen are hid from me after I come out of vision, and I cannot call them to mind until I am brought before a company where that vision applies, then the things which I have seen come to my mind with force. I am just as dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord in relating or writing a vision, as in having the vision. It is impossible for me to call up things which have been shown me unless the Lord brings them before me at the time that He is pleased to have me relate or write them.” Spiritual Gifts 2:292, 293 (1860). https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/98.174#176 

     

    • “While in Roosevelt, New York, August 3, 1861, different churches and families were presented before me." ..."In the last vision given at Battle Creek I was shown that an unwise course was taken at —— in regard to the visions at the time of the organization of the church there. There were some in —— who were God’s children, and yet doubted the visions. Others had no opposition, yet dared not take a decided stand in regard to them. Some were skeptical, and they had sufficient cause to make them so. The false visions and fanatical exercises, and the wretched fruits following, had an influence upon the cause in Wisconsin to make minds jealous of everything bearing the name of visions. All these things should have been taken into consideration, and wisdom exercised. There should be no trial or labor with those who have never seen the individual having visions, and who have had no personal knowledge of the influence of the visions. Such should not be deprived of the benefits and privileges of the church, if their Christian course is otherwise correct, and they have formed a good Christian character. Some, I was shown, could receive the published visions, judging of the tree by its fruits. Others are like doubting Thomas; they cannot believe the published Testimonies, nor receive evidence through the testimony of others; but must see and have the evidence for themselves. Such must not be set aside, but long patience and brotherly love should be exercised toward them until they find their position and become established for or against. If they fight against the visions, of which they have no knowledge; if they carry their opposition so far as to oppose that in which they have had no experience, and feel annoyed when those who believe that the visions are of God speak of them in meeting, and comfort themselves with the instruction given through vision, the church may know that they are not right. God’s people should not cringe and yield, and give up their liberty to such disaffected ones. God has placed the gifts in the church that the church may be benefited by them; and when professed believers in the truth oppose these gifts, and fight against the visions, souls are in danger through their influence, and it is time then to labor with them, that the weak may not be led astray by their influence. It has been very hard for the servants of God to labor in ——, for there has been a class of self-righteous, talkative, unruly ones there, who have stood in the way of the work of God. If received into the church, they would tear it to pieces. They would not be subject to the body, and would never be satisfied unless the reins of church government were in their own hands. Brother G sought to move with great caution. He knew that the class who opposed the visions were wrong, that they were not genuine believers in the truth; and therefore, to shake off these clogs, he proposed to receive none into the church who did not believe the third angel’s message and the visions. This kept out some few precious souls who had not fought against the visions. They dared not unite with the church, fearing that they should commit themselves upon that which they did not understand and fully believe. And there were those at hand ready to prejudice these conscientious ones, and to place matters before them in the worst possible light. Some have felt grieved and offended because of the condition of membership, and since the organization their feelings of dissatisfaction have greatly increased. Strong prejudice has governed them. I was shown the case of Sister H. She was presented before me in connection with a professed sister who was strongly prejudiced against my husband and myself, and opposed to the visions." ..."Since Sister H has been at ——, she has despised the visions, and has related hearsay reports, as though she knew that they were true. She has resisted no influence calculated to injure me. She did not know but that the visions were of God; she had no personal acquaintance with the humble instrument; and yet she has united with unconsecrated ones in —— to exert a strong influence against me. They have strengthened one another by loving and reporting false stories coming from different sources, and in this way have nourished their prejudice. There can be no union between their spirit and the spirit of the messages which the Lord sees fit to give for the benefit of His humble people. The spirit which dwells in their hearts cannot harmonize with the light given of God. Many poor souls do not know what they are doing. They unite their influence with Satan’s forces, and aid him in his work. They manifest great zeal and earnestness in their blind opposition, as though they were verily doing God’s service by fighting against the visions. All who desire to do so can acquaint themselves with the fruits of these visions. For seventeen years God has seen fit to let them survive and strengthen against the opposition of Satan’s forces, and the influence of human agencies that have aided Satan in his work.” Testimonies for the Church, vol.1, p. 328 https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/116.1570#1571 

     

    • “The question is asked, How does Sister White know in regard to the matters of which she speaks so decidedly, as if she had authority to say these things? I speak thus because they flash upon my mind when in perplexity like lightning out of a dark cloud in the fury of a storm. Some scenes presented before me years ago have not been retained in my memory, but when the instruction then given is needed, sometimes even when I am standing before the people, the remembrance comes sharp and clear, like a flash of lightning, bringing to mind distinctly that particular instruction. At such times I cannot refrain from saying the things that flash into my mind, not because I have had a new vision, but because that which was presented to me perhaps years in the past has been recalled to my mind forcibly.” The Writing and Sending Out of the Testimonies, 24 https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/98.174#180 

     

    • "As the Spirit of God has opened to my mind the great truths of his Word, and the scenes of the past and the future, I have been bidden to make known to others that which has thus been revealed.” The Great Controversy - Introduction / Selected Messages, Book 3, p. 48 https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/132.21#53 

     

     

    Divine Origin of Writings

     

    • “As soon as I take my pen in hand I am not in darkness as to what to write. It is as plain and clear as a voice speaking to me, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go.” “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct [make plain] thy paths.” Manuscript 89 (1900) https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/14065.8721001#8721013 

     

     

    Divine Origin of Diaries and Letters

     

    • “On the twenty-sixth of November I shall be seventy-eight years old... I am now looking over my diaries and copies of letters written for several years back.... I have the most precious matter to reproduce and place before the people in testimony form. While I am able to do this work, the people must have things to revive past history, that they may see that there is one straight chain of truth, without one heretical sentence, in that which I have written.This, I am instructed, is to be a living letter to all in regard to my faith.” Letter 329a (1905) https://m.egwwritings.org/pt/book/8117.1#9 

     

     

    Divine Origin of Articles in the Paper

    • “When I went to Colorado I was so burdened for you that, in my weakness, I wrote many pages to be read at your camp meeting. Weak and trembling, I arose at three o’clock in the morning to write to you. God was speaking through clay. You might say that this communication was only a letter. Yes, it was a letter, but prompted by the Spirit of God, to bring before your minds things that had been shown me. In these letters which I write, in the testimonies I bear, I am presenting to you that which the Lord has presented to me. I do not write one article in the paper expressing merely my own ideas. They are what God has opened before me in vision—the precious rays of light shining from the throne...I was much in prayer and burdened with anxiety and grief. But the Lord swept back the darkness at one time while I was in prayer, and a great light filled the room. An angel of God was by my side, and I seemed to be in Battle Creek. I was in your councils; I heard words uttered, I saw and heard things that, if God willed, I wish could be forever blotted from my memory. My soul was so wounded I knew not what to do or what to say. Some things I cannot mention. I was bidden to let no one know in regard to this, for much was yet to be developed.  I was told to gather up the light that had been given me and let its rays shine forth to God’s people. I have been doing this in articles in the papers. I arose at three o’clock nearly every morning for months and gathered the different items written after the last two testimonies were given me in Battle Creek. I wrote out these matters and hurried them on to you; but I had neglected to take proper care of myself, and the result was that I sank under the burden; my writings were not all finished to reach you at the General Conference. Again, while in prayer, the Lord revealed Himself. I was once more in Battle Creek. I was in many houses and heard your words around your tables. The particulars I have no liberty now to relate. I hope never to be called to mention them. I had also several most striking dreams. ” Testimonies for the Church, Vol 5, p. 67 https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/113.310#337 

     

     

    Divine Origin of Testimonies

    • "In ancient times God spoke to men by the mouth of prophets and apostles. In these days he speaks to them by the testimonies of his Spirit. There was never a time when God instructed his people more earnestly than he instructs them now concerning his will and the course that he would have them pursue.” Testimonies for the Church 5:661. https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/100.2866#128 

     

    • “It is not alone those who openly reject the testimonies, or who cherish doubt concerning them, that are on dangerous ground. To disregard light is to reject it... Many are going directly contrary to the light which God has given to His people, because they do not read the books which contain the light and knowledge in cautions, reproofs, and warnings. The cares of the world, the love of fashion, and the lack of religion have turned the attention from the light God has so graciously given, while books and periodicals containing error are traveling all over the country. Skepticism and infidelity are increasing everywhere. Light so precious, coming from the throne of God, is hid under a bushel. God will make His people responsible for this neglect. ” Testimonies for the Church, Vol 5, p. 680 https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/113.3312#3313 

     

    • "I am instructed to say to our churches, Study the Testimonies. They are written for our admonition and encouragement upon whom the ends of the world are come. If God’s people will not study these messages that are sent to them from time to time, they are guilty of rejecting light. Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, God is sending instruction to His people. Heed the instruction; follow the light. The Lord has a controversy with His people because in the past they have not heeded His instruction and followed His guidance.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 2, p. 191 https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/73.1851#997 

     

    • “Those who carefully read the testimonies as they have appeared from the early days, need not be perplexed as to their origin. The many books, written by the help of the Spirit of God, bear a living witness to the character of the testimonies.” Letter 225 (1906) https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/14071.7929001#7929010 

     

    • “As the end draws near and the work of giving the last warning to the world extends, it becomes more important for those who accept present truth to have a clear understanding of the nature and influence of the testimonies, which God in His providence has linked with the work of the third angel’s message from its very rise.” Testimonies for the Church 5:654 (1889).  https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/39.238#245  

     

    • "Dear Brethren and Sisters,  The Lord has again manifested Himself to me. June 12, 1868, while speaking to the brethren in the house of worship at Battle Creek, Michigan, the Spirit of God came upon me, and in an instant I was in vision. The view was extensive. I had commenced to write the fifth volume of Spiritual Gifts; but as I had testimonies of a practical nature which you should have immediately, I left that work to prepare this little pamphlet. In this last vision I was shown that which fully justifies my course in publishing personal testimonies. When the Lord singles out individual cases and specifies their wrongs, others, who have not been shown in vision, frequently take it for granted that they are right, or nearly so. If one is reproved for a special wrong, brethren and sisters should carefully examine themselves to see wherein they have failed and wherein they have been guilty of the same sin. They should possess the spirit of humble confession. If others think them right, it does not make them so. God looks at the heart. He is proving and testing souls in this manner. In rebuking the wrongs of one, He designs to correct many. But if they fail to take the reproof to themselves, and flatter themselves that God passes over their errors because He does not especially single them out, they deceive their own souls and will be shut up in darkness and be left to their own ways to follow the imagination of their own hearts. Many are dealing falsely with their own souls and are in a great deception in regard to their true condition before God. He employs ways and means to best serve His purpose and to prove what is in the hearts of His professed followers. He makes plain the wrongs of some that others may thus be warned, and fear, and shun those errors. By self-examination they may find that they are doing the same things which God condemns in others. If they really desire to serve God, and fear to offend Him, they will not wait for their sins to be specified before they make confession and with humble repentance return unto the Lord. They will forsake the things which have displeased God, according to the light given to others. If, on the contrary, those who are not right see that they are guilty of the very sins that have been reproved in others, yet continue in the same unconsecrated course because they have not been specially named, they endanger their own souls, and will be led captive by Satan at his will. " Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 112  https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/120.457#3091 

     

    • “Dear Brother Church: In the night season I was visited by a heavenly messenger who said, “Follow me.” …”Your case was also presented before me, and I saw that you were not walking in the light.”...Brother Church, you claim to believe the testimonies in regard to health reform, and you make your belief in this matter quite prominent. You have respect for the testimonies because you believe that God has spoken, but have you heeded the light that has been given to you through this instrumentality? Do you accept only that portion which meets your own ideas, and turn away from that which rebukes your error? God has given light to you in testimonies written in the plainest language, so that you could not misunderstand their import had you a desire to do so.” …”Your work should be, from this time forth, to make your calling and election sure by adding grace to grace.” … "This is your work, Brother Church, and if you neglect to do it you will lose your soul.” …“I was pained when I heard that you stated what strong faith you had in the testimonies and how you had advocated them, when I knew how inconsistent were your actions with this profession." ... "Which will the church at Fresno accept, the words of the testimonies of God’s Spirit or the statements of Brother Church? How much value can I place upon your profession of faith in the testimony? How can I measure your belief in the word of God? Brother Deiver accepted the testimonies upon temperance in eating, but he rejected them when they laid out before him in clear lines the duty of paying tithes, of making gifts and offerings to the cause of God. Of what weight were his professions of faith in the testimonies when he gave not the least heed to their practical teachings? He withheld from God His own; he was an unfaithful steward of the goods that the Lord had entrusted to him.” … “If you really believe the testimonies, you will not be partial in your observance of the messages, exalting one part—one portion—because it suits your own ideas and rejecting another because it fails to meet your mind and reproves a course of action that you choose to follow.” … “I know things were not all right at the Health Retreat, for I have had the matter placed before me by divine power, and have worked diligently to set things in order. Brother Church, you knew this, but in order that you might have an excuse to build an institution in Fresno, contrary to the light which God has given you, you sought to represent the Health Retreat in a bad light. In this instance you again have shown your lack of faith in the testimonies. God has signified His purpose that there should be an institution in St. Helena, but you have labored to build up that which God has shown should not be built up.” Letters and Manuscripts, Vol 6, Letter 8 (1890) https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/14056.5046001#5046001 

     

    •  "Some found fault with one thing, and some with another, as did the murmurers among the children of Israel when Moses was their leader. Some were censuring our course, saying that we were not as conservative as we ought to be; we did not seek to please the people as we might; we talked too plainly; we reproved too sharply. Some were talking in regard to Sister White’s dress, picking at straws. Others were expressing dissatisfaction with the course that Brother White pursued, and remarks were passing from one to another, questioning their course and finding fault. An angel stood before these persons, unseen by them, busily writing their words in the book which is to be opened to the view of God and angels.”... "For the future, I shall not belittle the testimonies that God has given me, to make explanations to try to satisfy such narrow minds, but shall treat all such questions as an insult to the Spirit of God. God has seen fit to thrust me into positions in which He has not placed any other one in our ranks. He has laid upon me burdens of reproof that He has not given to any other one.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, p. 312 https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/119.1436#1442  

     

    • “The enemy has made his masterly efforts to unsettle the faith of our own people in the testimonies, and when these errors come in they claim to prove all the positions by the Bible, but they misinterpret the Scriptures. They make bold assertions, as did Elder Canright, and misapply the prophecies and the Scriptures to prove falsehood. And, after men have done their work in weakening the confidence of our churches in the testimonies, they have torn away the barrier, that unbelief in the truth shall become widespread, and there is no voice to be lifted up to stay the force of error. This is just as Satan designed it should be, and those who have been preparing the way for the people to pay no heed to the warnings and reproofs of the testimonies of the Spirit of God will see that a tide of errors of all kinds will spring into life. They will claim Scripture as their evidence, and deceptions of Satan in every form will prevail.” Letter 109, 1890, p. 5. (To W. C. White and J. E. White and wife, December 6, 1890.)  https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/59.1135#1138 

     

    • “Some have taken the position that the warning, cautions, and reproofs given by the Lord through his servant, unless they come through special vision for each individual case, should have no more weight than the counsels and warnings from other sources. In some cases it has been represented that in giving a testimony for churches or individuals I have been influenced to write as I did by letters received from members of the church. There have been those who claimed that testimonies purporting to be given by the Spirit of God were merely the expression of my own judgment, based upon information gathered from human sources. This statement is utterly false…In a recent dream I was brought before an assembly of people, some of whom were making efforts to remove the impression of a most solemn testimony of warning that I had given them. They said: “We believe Sister White's testimonies; but when she tells us things that she has not directly seen in vision in the particular case under consideration, her words are of no more account to us than the words of any other person." The Spirit of the Lord came upon me, and I arose and rebuked them in the name of the Lord. I repeated in substance that which I have presented above in regard to the watchman. This, I said, is appropriate to your case and to mine. Now if those to whom these solemn warnings are addressed say, “It is only Sister White's individual opinion, I shall still follow my own judgment,” and if they continue to do the very things they were warned not to do, they show that they despise the counsel of God, and the result is just what the Spirit of God has shown me it would be—injury to the cause of God and ruin to themselves. Some who wish to strengthen their own position will bring forward from the Testimonies statements which they think will support their views, and will put the strongest possible construction upon them; but that which questions their course of action, or which does not coincide with their views, they pronounce Sister White's opinion, denying its heavenly origin and placing it on a level with their own judgment. If you, my brethren, who have been acquainted with me and my work for many years, take the position that my counsel is of no more value then the counsel of those who have not been specially educated for this work, then do not ask me to unite with you in labor; for while you occupy this position, you will inevitably counteract the influence of my work. If you feel just as safe in following your own impulses as in following the light given by God's delegated Servant, the peril is your own; you will be condemned because you rejected the light which Heaven had sent you…the Lord came to me in the night season and spoke precious words of encouragement concerning my work, repeating the same message that had been given me several times before. With regard to those who have turned from the light sent them, He said: “In slighting and rejecting the testimony that I have given you to bear, it is not you, but me, your Lord, that they have slighted.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol 5, p. 687-688 https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/113.3326#3327 

     

     

     Divine Origin of Books

     

    • “The Conflict of the Ages Books: Sister White is not the originator of these books. They contain the instruction that during her lifework God has been giving her. They contain the precious, comforting light that God has graciously given his servant to be given to the world…The Lord has declared that these books are to be scattered throughout the world. There is in them truth which to the receiver is a savor of life unto life…in the future, these truths are to make the gospel plain to many others, revealing to them the way of salvation.” The Review and Herald, Jan 20, (1903) / Colporter Ministry, ch 20 https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/821.22459#22473 

     

     

     

    • "I was moved by the Spirit of the Lord to write that book…The Lord has set before me matters which are of urgent importance for the present time and which reach into the future. The words have been spoken in a charge to me, “Write in a book the things which thou hast seen and heard, and let it go to all the people; for the time is at hand when past history will be repeated.” I have been aroused at one, two, or three o'clock in the morning with some point forcibly impressed upon my mind, as if spoken by the voice of God...I was shown... that I should devote myself to writing out the important matters for volume 4.” Letter 1 (1890) /Colporter Ministry, ch 20 https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/14056.20043633#7194008 

     

     

    • “God gave me the light contained in The Great Controversy and Patriarchs and Prophets and this light was needed to arouse the people to prepare for the great day of God. These books contain God's direct appeal to the people. Thus He is speaking to the people in stirring words…I know that the statement made that these books cannot be sold, is untrue. I know; for the Lord has instructed me that this is said because human devising has blocked the way for their sale. It cannot be denied that these books were not the product of any human mind; they are the voice of God speaking to his people." Manuscript 23, (1890) / Colporter Ministry, ch. 20 https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/14056.6062001?ss=eyJwYXJhbXMiOnsicXVlcnkiOiJtYW51c2NyaXB0IDIzIDE4OTAiLCJsYW5nIjoiZW4ifSwic2dfaW5kZXgiOiIwIn0%3D#6062013 

     

    • “Let there be an interest awakened in the sale of these books (Desire of Ages, Great Controversy). Their sale is essential… Those who make a careful study of the instruction contained in them, and will receive it as from the Lord, will be kept from receiving many of the errors that are being introduced. Those who accept the truths contained in these books will not be led into false paths.” Letters and Manuscripts, letter 229(1903) https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/10175.1#12