The Ellen G. White Letters and Manuscripts: Volume 1

Ellen White's Methodist Environment

Ellen White's father, Robert, was an active leader in the Methodist congregation in Portland, Maine. Methodists believed sanctification was an instantaneous work of grace that progressed through the rest of one's life. It was sometimes called the “second blessing,” or the “second work of grace.” Sanctification was not a state of sinless perfection but rather the presence of perfect love and right intentions, or an “entire conformity to the will of God.” This “blessing” was something that the young Ellen earnestly coveted. She wrote: “The belief that Christ's coming was near stirred my soul to seek more earnestly for the sanctification of the Spirit of God.”⁹ At her uncle's home in Portland she found the freedom she sought: “As I prayed, the burden and agony of soul that I had so long endured left me, and the blessing of the Lord descended upon me like the gentle dew. I praised God from the depths of my heart. Everything seemed shut out from me but Jesus and His glory, and I lost consciousness of what was passing around me. The Spirit of God rested upon me with such power that I was unable to go home that night. When I awakened to realization, I found myself cared for in the house of my uncle.”¹⁰ 1EGWLM 921.1

Ellen White recalled that when she was “first struck down, some of those present were greatly alarmed, and were about to run for a physician,” but Ellen's mother, Eunice, who was familiar with the “wonderful power of God,” told them not to be concerned.¹¹ 1EGWLM 921.2

For six months following this blessing not a shadow clouded the teenager's mind, nor did she, to her knowledge, “neglect one known duty.”¹² Those six months continued during 1843, as Adventists were expecting the return of Jesus at any time. Years later Ellen White described the testimony she gave at a Methodist class meeting shortly after the above-mentioned experience: “I told the story of my great suffering under the conviction of sin, how I had at length received the blessing so long sought, an entire conformity to the will of God.”¹³ 1EGWLM 921.3

During the six-month period following her “blessing,” Ellen gave her testimony whenever she could. The night after receiving her great blessing at her uncle's home, she bore public testimony in an Adventist meeting, probably held in Portland's Beethoven Hall: “The simple story of Jesus’ love to me fell from my lips with perfect freedom, and my heart was so happy to be liberated from its bondage of dark despair that I lost sight of the people around me and seemed to be alone with God. I found no difficulty in expressing my peace and happiness, except for the tears of gratitude that choked my utterance as I told of the wondrous love that Jesus had shown me.”¹⁴ 1EGWLM 922.1

Levi Stockman, a Methodist turned Millerite preacher, was so affected by Ellen's testimony that he “wept aloud,” praising God for the blessing given to the girl so recently overcome with discouragement and fear. 1EGWLM 922.2

On the occasions that Ellen shared her testimony, she was “greatly blessed.” She wrote, “At times the Spirit of the Lord rested upon me with such power that my strength was taken from me. This was a trial to some. … Many could not believe that one could be so overpowered by the Spirit of God as to lose all strength.”¹⁵ They thought Ellen's demonstrations were from “over-wrought feelings” rather than the Holy Spirit. 1EGWLM 922.3