that were languishing; they were dormant and unbelieving. I asked the angel if Zion should languish. Said the angel, She is rising never to fall again. God has stretched out His hand the second time to recover the remnant of His people.^{3
Cf. Isa. 11:11, 12: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people. … And he shall … gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”} I saw some that meet together at the conferences at Oswego [New York] and vicinity were not right. They do not partake of the spirit of the lovely Jesus; they have not vital godliness, and unless they soon partake of the spirit of Jesus and have their hearts sanctified by the truth they profess to believe, they will be purged out of the camp of Israel. I saw there needed to be a searching of heart among them.1EGWLM 203.4

Said the angel, Thou art upon the enchanted ground.⁴

An allusion to the allegorical “Enchanted Ground” found in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Of all the dangers awaiting Christian pilgrims on their journey, none are greater than those facing them in the Enchanted Ground, where the very air makes travelers drowsy, inviting a sleep from which there will be no awakening.

See: John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress, p. 209.

Dost thou not see it? Awake and arise and put on the strength of the Lord. The powers of darkness are rising. Art thou rising? Is it not getting the victory over thee? I was pointed back to the children of Israel in Egypt. I saw when God worked through Moses before Pharaoh, the magicians came up and said they could do the same, (that they could work the same miracles). I saw the same work was going on now on the earth that the magicians carried on anciently. I saw the signs and mighty wonders of the devil have increased within a few months ten fold and it will still be on the increase and spread.^{5
The language of this paragraph seems to be a general reference to spiritualism. The “rappings” in the house of the Fox sisters in Hydesville, near Rochester, New York, had first started on March 31, 1848. See Ellen White's vision of March 24, 1849, for her earliest extant warning against the phenomenon (Ms 1, 1849 [Mar. 24]). It was not until November 1849, however, when the first public demonstrations of spirit contact took place in Corinthian Hall, Rochester, that spiritualism began to sweep the country “like a prairie fire.” This would harmonize well with Ellen White's statement here, some eight months later, that “the signs and mighty wonders of the devil have increased within a few months ten fold.”
For one account of the rapid spread of spiritualism in 1849 and the early 1850s, see Paul Kurtz, The Transcendental Temptation, pp. 322-325.} And unless Israel is constantly rising and is growing in grace and in the knowledge of the truth, the powers of darkness will get the victory over them.1EGWLM 203.5

I saw we must be daily rising and keep the ascendancy above the powers of darkness. I saw singing to the glory of God often drove the enemy away and shouting would beat him back and give us the victory.⁶

See: Appendix article “Ellen White and Religious Enthusiasm in Early Adventist Experience”; EGWEnc, s.v. “Ecstatic Experiences.” See also cautions in the vision of December 25, 1850 (Ms 11, 1850) against “unhealthy and unnecessary” excitement.

I saw there was too little glorifying God, too little childlike simplicity among the remnant. I asked the angel why there was not more faith and power in Israel. Said he, Ye let go of the arm of God too quick. Press your petitions to the throne and hold on by living faith. Believe ye receive the things ye ask for, and ye shall have them.1EGWLM 204.1

I was then pointed to Elijah. He was subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly. His faith endured the trial. Seven times he prayed before the Lord, and at last the cloud was seen. I saw we had doubted and wounded Jesus by our unbelief. God's people are rising, said the angel, never to fall again. Be careful said the angel, lest the branches be cut off and others are raised up in their stead. I saw some would bear fruit and work to the glory of God. I saw we must keep close to Jesus and fast and pray if we could not get the victory over the powers of darkness.1EGWLM 204.2

I then saw Brother Gorsline [Richard Gorsline],⁷

Identity: Ellen White is probably referring to “R. Gorsline,” who is the only “Gorsline” mentioned in the Review during the period 1850-1863 for whom a first name is given. James White at a later date records that “Richard Gorsline” left a legacy to the church of $470.87. Census records for 1850 indicate a “Richard Gorsline” living in Oswego, New York, whose age corresponds with that found in Richard Gorsline's obituary in the Review. Taken together, these items indicate strongly that Ellen White is referring to Richard Gorsline of Oswego, New York.

See: Search term “Gorsline” in Words of the Pioneers; Eld. James White, An Appeal to the Working Men and Women in the Ranks of Seventh-day Adventists, p. 52; 1850 U.S. Federal Census, “Richard Gorsline,” New York, Oswego, Oswego City, Ward 2, p. 170; obituary: “Richard Gorsline,” Review, July 19, 1864, p. 63.

that he had wounded and torn the hearts of God's people. I saw he had been stubborn and rebellious, and unless he changed his course entirely, the church should disfellowship him, for he has been a dead weight to the church.1EGWLM 204.3

Said the angel, Jesus’ work is almost finished in the sanctuary. It is no time to be stupid⁸

In the sense of “lethargic.”

now; a quick work will the Lord do upon the earth, the four angels will soon let go the four winds.^{9
The loosing of the “four winds” (cf. Rev. 7:1) indicates the time when Christ's intercession has ceased, general probation has closed, and a “time of trouble” begins. “I saw that the four angels would hold the four winds until Jesus’ work was done in the sanctuary, then the seven last plagues will be poured out” (Ms 2, 1849 [Jan. 17]).
See: EGWEnc, s.v. “Plagues, Seven Last,” “Time of Trouble.”} Said the angel, Beware how thou treadest enchantment all around thee, East and West, North and South. If Satan can get thee to slumber now, he is sure of his prey. I saw some in Israel had been half starved for food, and when the present truth^{10
See: EGWEnc, s.v. “Present Truth.”} was presented to them they ate it with thankfulness and gratitude like half-starved children.1EGWLM 205.1

Said the angel, Can ye stand in the battle in the day of the Lord? Ye need to be washed and live in newness of life. (Then I saw those whose hands are now engaged in making up the breach and are standing in the gaps¹¹

An allusion to the theme of restoration and, in particular, the restoration of true Sabbath observance, found in Isaiah 58:12: “Thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.” As early as 1846 Sabbatarian Adventists saw their task as that of restoring long-neglected truths, including the Sabbath, before the Second Advent.

See: P. Gerard Damsteegt, Foundations of the Seventh-day Adventist Message and Mission, pp. 138, 139, 250-253.

that have formally, since ’44, broken the commandments of God and have so far followed the Pope as to keep the first day instead of the seventh, would have to go down into the water and be baptized in the faith of the shut door and keeping the commandments of God, and in the faith of Jesus^{12
Damsteegt notes that “the phrase ‘the Sabbath and the shut door’ was frequently used” at this time “to identify the specific theological position of Sabbatarian Adventists.” See also his discussion of the integration of Sabbath, shut door, and sanctuary in the visions of Ellen White after 1849.
See: Ibid., pp. 153-155; introductory article “The ‘Shut Door’ and Ellen White's Visions”; EGWEnc, s.v. “Shut Door.”} coming to sit on the throne of His father David and to redeem Israel. I also saw those who have been baptized as a door into the professed churches will have to be baptized out of that door again,^{13
See: EGWEnc, s.v. “Baptism.”} and into the faith mentioned above, and all who have not been baptized since ’44 will have to be baptized before Jesus comes, and some will not gain progress now until that duty is done and then they must live anew unto God and serve him faithfully.)1EGWLM 205.2

Said the angel, Will ye sink and let others take the stars to your crown? I told the angel I could not endure to see any in Israel sinking. Thou Advocate, save the purchase of Thy blood. What more can we do for Thee? Oh, that we had more to give to the lovely Jesus; more to render to Him for His merciful kindness unto us. We will do anything, we will go anywhere, only lend us strength from the Sanctuary.1EGWLM 205.3

The angel said, Some tried too hard to believe; faith is so simple ye look above it. Satan has deceived some and got them to looking at their own unworthiness. I saw they must look away from self to the worthiness of Jesus and throw themselves just as they are, needy and dependent and unworthy, upon His mercy and draw by faith, strength and nourishment from Him.1EGWLM 206.1

Said the angel, The desolations of Zion are accomplished. I saw he took away the first and established the second, that is, those who were in the faith would become rebellious and be purged out and others who had not heard the Advent doctrine and rejected it would embrace the truth and take their places.¹⁴

It is of interest that the affirmation, some paragraphs earlier, of “the faith of the shut door and keeping the commandments of God” is followed by this recognition of accessions to the movement of those “who had not heard the Advent doctrine and rejected it.” This highlights the need for careful analysis of how Ellen White and others used the term “shut door.”

See: Introductory article “The ‘Shut Door’ and Ellen White's Visions”; EGWEnc, s.v. “Shut Door.”

1EGWLM 206.2

Said the angel, Will ye lack faith? Climb up; take hold; never let go of the promises of God, for they are sure. Ye have been discouraged too quick.1EGWLM 206.3

I begged strength of the angel as I saw I must come back to this world. I covenanted to live unto God. I begged of the angel not to let me feel again the awful anguish of seeing some in Israel sinking. He said strength should be given me to endure all that God should lay upon me.1EGWLM 206.4

I then saw Brother Chapin [Roderick R. Chapin]¹⁵

Identity: Although several persons with the surname “Chapin” appear in the Review during the 1850s, all seven mentions of “Chapin” for whom first names are given during the period before 1852 are of “R. R. Chapin.” Therefore it is likely that this is the person Ellen White is addressing. By 1854 R. R. Chapin had joined the oppositional “Messenger Party” and several of his letters appear in The Messenger of Truth signed “R. R. Chapin, Greece, New York.” The 1850 census for Greece lists his name as “Roderick Chapin.”

See: Search term “Chapin” in Words of the Pioneers; Joseph Bates, “From Bro. Bates,” Review, Aug. 15, 1854, p. 6; R. R. Chapin, “Who Are the Remnant,” The Messenger of Truth, Oct. 19, 1854, p. 2; 1850 U.S. Federal Census, “Roderick Chapin,” New York, Monroe County, Greece, p. 153.

that he had been rescued from the jaws of the lion as a bird is rescued from the snare of the fowler. I saw God had felt after him while he was in darkness and he had but just escaped with the skin of his teeth and all his work at Hamilton [New York] must be taken back before he can gain progress. I saw he must make square work for eternity. I saw his soul was worth more than ten thousand worlds like this. I did praise and adore God that He had borne with Bro. Chapin and finally had stretched out His arm in that dark spot and brought him to the light that he might discover the darkness he had been in.^{16
There is no indication here or elsewhere of the nature of the “darkness” that R. R. Chapin had been involved in. It may be that Chapin's problems in 1850 were similar to those that led to his break with the movement in 1854, which included the rejection of Ellen White's visions.
See: EGWEnc, s.v. “Messenger Party.”}1EGWLM 206.5

This is written in haste. Excuse bad writing.1EGWLM 207.1

Published in PT

Ms 5a, 1850