Advent Movement Survey 2

Shut and Open Door

Study given by W. D. Frazee - December 1, 1961

In our second study on the Advent Movement Survey, we are going to look at the shut door
some more, because with this question of the shut door is bound up the integrity of this
movement and the integrity of the Spirit of Prophecy.

The birthday of this movement is October 22, 1844. But that day comes down in our history
as the day of, what? The great disappointment. The text for that day was what? Daniel
8:14. Let’s say it together:

“And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred
days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed” Daniel 8:14.

The twenty-three hundred days mean what? Twenty-three hundred years. The believers
back then believed that those days began when? 457 B.C. and therefore they ended in?
1844. They believed that the sanctuary to be cleansed was what? This earth, and that the
cleansing of the sanctuary had reference to what? What event? The coming of Jesus, to do
what? To cleanse the earth, by fire.

Now, you can readily see that when Christ did not appear, there was one of several
conclusions to come to. One, was to conclude that the whole thing was a mistake, and that
nothing happened; nothing was intended to happen. That just somebody got an idea. That
was one conclusion; just give the whole thing up. Another conclusion would be, “Well, we
were mistaken about the time in the spring of 1844, maybe we are mistaken again about the
time.” And so that class would set to figuring again. Some of them did. They came up with
the conclusion that He would come in the fall of 1845. And others, later on, selected other
dates, and so on. It was a re-figuring of the dates.

But now there were those who could not bring themselves to conclude that that movement
was a mistake, neither could they bring themselves to find anything wrong with the time. As
they studied and re-checked, they said, “No. God was in that movement and the time was all
right. Therefore, since God was in it, and since the time checks out, there must be some
mistake in our idea about the what? The event to take place. For, obviously, the event that
we thought would happen didn’t happen. That is clear.” And, of course, as they studied the
sanctuary, they found that this earth was not the sanctuary. That the sanctuary is where? In
heaven. And that the cleansing of the sanctuary involves the investigative judgment and the
blotting out of the sins of God’s people. That all developed over a period of years.

Now, my point is, (This is very important!) the integrity of this movement is bound up with
the inspiration of what was called the seventh month movement. There was a great power in

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that movement. It swept over the land with a great influence. The Spirit of God was in it. I
say, the Spirit of God was in it. If that was so, the question arose in many minds, how could
there be a disappointment? But you remember we have already noted that in the experience
of the disciples who were closest to the Savior, there was a great disappointment. Where did
that take place? At the cross, the fourteenth of Abib in year 31. As Jesus and His disciples
came up to that Passover, and as Christ allowed Himself to be received by the populace, and
seated upon the colt He rode into Jerusalem, what did the disciples expect? That Christ
would be what? The king; that He would set up the kingdom right there. And instead, as the
Passover came, they saw Him where? On the cross.

Now, they didn’t know it, but that was, in a sense, the setting up of the kingdom. That was a
great step; a vital step. In fact, without the cross, there would have been no kingdom for the
disciples, right? And so in 1844, dear friends, when they were expecting Jesus to come,
what He did do on the twenty-second of October entered vitally in to His return to this earth.
As the cross was something that must take place before the kingdom could be set up, so the
entering into the most holy to cleanse the sanctuary was something that must take place
before the kingdom could be set up.

Let’s look at it in another way, for a moment. Suppose that Jesus instead of dying on the
cross had set up the kingdom back then, at the Passover in 31, and had taken His place upon
the throne. How many of those disciples could have shared the kingdom? None. Why not?
Well, there were two reasons. Obviously, they weren’t ready, were they? But not only that.
Could any of them enter into that kingdom without the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, as
atonement for sin? Did they see that? No, they didn’t. But was it important? Did they see
it afterward? Yes.

And so, look at October 22, 1844. Suppose that Jesus had come on the twenty-second day of
October 1844. How many of those people could have entered into the kingdom with Jesus?
None. Why not? They weren’t ready. Those who welcome the Savior at His appearing and
are translated must be keeping how many of the commandments? Was there at least one
that practically all of them were breaking? Ignorantly, it is true. But when Jesus comes the
second time, does He come to cover sins of ignorance? No. Those who welcome Him and
are translated, will have all that taken care of before He gets here, right? And so, were they
ready? Not in the sense of those who must be ready at His coming.

But that is only part of the answer. Was there something that had to take place in heaven,
before His coming could bring to His people here on earth what it was meant to bring? What
was that? The final atonement, right? The blotting out of sins; the cleansing of the
sanctuary. It was the very thing that William Miller and all the advent preachers had been
talking about. The text they used was correct. The time they figured out finally was correct.
But, they didn’t fully understand all that it involved. But note, it wasn’t clear off. That is
what I want you to see.

The cleansing of the sanctuary which they were preaching was involved in that return to
earth, to finally set up His kingdom, was it not? Yes, just as back then the coming of Christ
to Jerusalem, riding on the colt, was all a part of the fulfillment of prophecy, and His death
on the cross, when all eyes had been turned to Him, was all a part of the fulfillment of

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prophecy. In each case, there was a great swell of enthusiasm because men were looking for
something wonderful to take place, immediately. In each case there was a proclamation
based upon a prophecy, and the proclamation was correct. And in each case there was a
disappointment, because God’s people didn’t understand all that was involved.

But now, suppose that the preaching in 1844 was not inspired of God. Suppose that God did
not lead William Miller and Josiah Litch and Joshua Himes and Joseph Bates, and the other
preachers who were preaching the 1844 message. Suppose God didn’t lead them. Suppose
nothing particular happened on October 22, 1844. Then what is this movement? Well, I will
tell you, folks. We had better not go down in the basement, or let any visitors go down in the
basement, and look at the foundation, if that’s true. We had better be very careful how we let
people see the foundation of this movement, if that was all a mistake. But, oh thank God, it
wasn’t a mistake. It wasn’t a mistake at all. And it’s very, very important that we never,
never think that it was a mistake.

Look at Great Controversy now:

“Miller and his associates fulfilled prophecy and gave a

message which Inspiration had foretold should be given to the
world. ... The first and second angel’s messages were given at
the right time and accomplished the work which God designed
to accomplish by them” Great Controversy, page 405.

Was it a failure, then? No. It was a glorious success as God viewed it. Notice also:

“God did not forsake His people; His Spirit still abode with
those who did not rashly deny the light” Great Controversy,
page 407.

So, you can see, friends, that it is important, if we accept the Spirit of Prophecy, to see and
believe that the work of William Miller and those associated with him, was the right message
for the right time. That it was inspired of God.

But, now, coming back to the parable of the ten virgins, which we noted in our last study.
What, according to the parable, did they expect on October 22, 1844? The coming of the
Bridegroom. The question is, did He come? Did He? Did the Bridegroom come? Yes, He
came. Let’s get that very clear in our minds, friends, very clear.

“At the appointed time the Bridegroom came” Great

Controversy, page 427.

The sentence before, says:

“The proclamation, ‘Behold, the Bridegroom cometh,’ in the

summer of 1844 led thousands to expect the immediate advent
of the Lord. At the appointed time the Bridegroom came, not
to the earth, as the people expected, but to the Ancient of Days

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 in heaven, to the marriage, the reception of His kingdom.
‘They that were ready went in with Him to the marriage; and
the door was shut’” Great Controversy, page 427.

Did the Bridegroom come on October 22, 1844? You know the sad thing is, friends, (Watch
this point!) when the sun set that day and all heaven was doubtless thrilled with the
wonderful event that had just taken place - that Christ had entered within the veil to carry on
His closing work - as all the universe was thrilled with that, there wasn’t one soul here on
earth that was rejoicing. They were all, what? Weeping. How dim is the vision of men!

But go back 1800 years before, when Christ at 3:00 o’clock Friday afternoon expired, and
His last words, “It is finished,” rang through the universe. What song was heard in heaven?
“Now is come salvation.” Yes. All the universe was thrilled that the enemy had been
vanquished and Christ was conqueror. But what about His people here on earth? Ah, my
friends, that was indeed a dark Friday, and probably the saddest Sabbath in all the history of
this world, for God’s people.

You see how each time what God had promised took place, and all heaven was thrilled with
it. But God’s people here on earth didn’t see. But in each case, thank God, they saw it
afterward. All right.

At the appointed time the Bridegroom did what? Came. All right. But now, back there in
Matthew 25 it says:

“The Bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with
him to the marriage: and the door was shut” Matthew 25:10.

We were looking at that in our last study. We are going to look at it some more today. Was
the door shut in 1844? Was it? What I am going to read now is going to mix us up a little,
but we had just as well get mixed up now. Great Controversy:

“When the work of investigation shall be ended, when the

cases of those who in all ages have professed to be followers of
Christ have been examined and decided, then, and not till then,
probation will close, and the door of mercy will be shut. Thus
in the one short sentence, ‘They that were ready went in with
Him to the marriage: and the door was shut,’ we are carried
down through the Saviour’s final ministration, to the time
when the great work for man’s salvation shall be completed”
Great Controversy, page 428.

Is the door shut yet? Not according to this. Don’t forget this sentence. So in the final sense,
according to this page, the shutting of the door involves what they thought for a time it
involved back then and that is, what? The close of probation. That is the final application of
that statement “and the door was shut.” Notice what it says again:

“Thus in the one short sentence, ‘They that were ready went in

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 with Him to the marriage: and the door was shut,’ we are
carried down through the Savior’s final ministration, to the
time when the great work for man’s salvation shall be
completed” Great Controversy, page 428.

By the way, are people still going in to the marriage, or did they all go in, in 1844? Are they
still going in? Yes. Great Controversy:

“They that were ready went in with Him to the marriage: and
the door was shut.” They were not to be present in person at
the marriage; for it takes place in heaven, while they are upon
the earth. The followers of Christ are to “wait for their Lord,
when He will return from the wedding.” Luke 12:36. But they
are to understand His work, and to follow Him by faith as He
goes in before God. It is in this sense that they are said to go in
to the marriage” Great Controversy, page 427.

How do we go in to the marriage? Understand His work and follow Him by faith. Now,
they were going in back then as they saw these things. And notice the last line on page 427:

“And all who through the testimony of the Scriptures accept

the same truths, following Christ by faith as He enters in
before God to perform the last work of mediation, and at its
close to receive His kingdom--all these are represented as
going in to the marriage” Great Controversy, page 427.
Are people still going in to the marriage? Well, I am glad, friends. I am glad. But can you
go in to the marriage through a shut door? Why, no. Nobody can go in through a shut door.

Now, if that confuses you, you had better be confused, because those are facts. And now
let’s go back to 1844. Was there a shut door in 1844? How do you know? Well, let’s make
it easy. Let’s go to Selected Messages, Book 1:

“I am still a believer in the shut-door theory. ... I was shown in

vision, and I still believe, that there was a shut door in 1844”
Selected Messages, Book 1, page 63.

Putting those two sentences together, the one in Great Controversy and the one in Selected
Messages; was there a shut door here in 1844?. All right. Shut door. And down here just
before we get to the city, at the close of probation, is there another shut door? All right.
Now, did the shutting of the door back here in 1844 involve a close of probation for some
people? Yes. And the shutting of the door down here will involve a close of probation for,
whom? For everybody. But, there was a shut door in 1844; there is a shut door ahead of us
at the close of Christ’s mediatorial work.

To get the thing very clearly before us: what door was shut in 1844? The door of the holy
place. What door is shut here at the close? The door of the most holy place. Now just get
that down, if it isn’t clear, get it down. It’s for you to study, because that’s it. And that is

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why it is perfectly all right to speak of a shut door in 1844 and yet, to speak of the door being
shut down here. This was the door of the holy place that was shut in 1844, and this is the
door of the most holy place that was to be shut at the close of Christ’s mediatorial work.

“I am still a believer in the shut-door theory. ... I was shown in

vision, and I still believe, that there was a shut door in 1844”
Selected Messages, Book 1, page 63.

Now, notice that this involved not merely something that took place in heaven, but an
experience in the hearts of men on earth, for she says:

“I was shown in vision, and I still believe, that there was a shut
door in 1844. All who saw the light of the first and second
angel’s messages and rejected that light, were left in darkness.
And those who accepted it and received the Holy Spirit which
attended the proclamation of the message from heaven, and
who afterward renounced their faith, and pronounced their
experience a delusion, thereby rejected the Spirit of God, and it
no longer pleaded with them” Selected Messages, Book 1,
page 63.

All that, dear friends, is involved in that expression in the first vision of Ellen Harmon, given
in December, 1844, that the advent people traveling on this path from 1844 on to the city
had, what set up behind them? A bright light. And the angel told her that the bright light
was, what? The midnight cry. And what was the midnight cry? “Behold the Bridegroom
cometh on the twenty-second of October, 1844. Go ye out to meet Him, and go in with Him
to the marriage, because the door is going to shut and the marriage is going to take place.”

Was that the right message for the right time? Was that the right time for that message?
Yes. And so, those who accepted that message were to walk in the light of that truth all the
way along. And those who held fast, eventually came to see that all that they had taught
from God’s word was true and was correct and right on time, although their understanding of
it enlarged as they studied. They came to see, for example, that while the date was correct,
the coming of the Bridegroom was, where? In heaven instead to the earth. It was the
beginning of the cleansing of the sanctuary instead of the close of the cleansing of the
sanctuary. And instead of it being (Mark this!) the closing of the door, finally, the door of
probation to all for all time, it was the closing of the door to those who had rejected the first
and second angels’ messages and to those who renounced their faith in the experience that
God had given them. They came to see that instead of it being the closing of the door of
mercy, finally and forever, it was the closing of the door of the first apartment.

I mentioned in our study last week and I want to spend a few minutes on this now, that with
this subject is wrapped up our faith in the inspiration of Ellen White, as a prophet.
Remember this, we can acknowledge, and we should acknowledge, that our spiritual
forefathers back then, in 1844 and 1845 and 1846 and 1847 and 1848, and several more
years, had a limited view of some of these things. We can acknowledge that they were
mistaken on some points. We can acknowledge that Ellen G. White, in her personal views,

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had similar limitations to those of her brethren. But we cannot acknowledge, we cannot
admit, that what she saw in vision was a mistake, because if we do that, then we have lost the
inspiration of this movement.

Now, don’t misunderstand me. I don’t mean we should be afraid to admit a thing like that, if
it were the truth. But if we should find that it was true that she was mistaken in the visions,
that the visions were a mistake, then where would we be as far as the inspiration of this
movement is concerned? Why, we would be at sea without chart or compass. So, it is
important that we understand what Sister White saw in vision and what she wrote back then,
and differentiate between that and what she and some of her brethren believed. Now, she
herself does that on page 63, of this book, Selected Messages:

“For a time after the disappointment in 1844, I did hold, in

common with the advent body, that the door of mercy was then
forever closed to the world” Selected Messages, Book 1, page
63.

Does she admit she believed it? She believed for a time:

“That the door of mercy was then forever closed to the world.
This position was taken before my first vision was given me”
Selected Messages, Book 1, page 63.

How old was she then? Seventeen years old.

“It was the light given me of God that corrected our error, and
enabled us to see the true position” Selected Messages, Book 1,
page 63.

Did her visions sometimes run contrary to her own thinking? Why, yes.

If this paragraph I have just read were all that we had to study on the matter, we could
probably stop right here. It would be very simple. But I want you to notice something Sister
White says. She freely admits that at first she believed that the door of mercy was shut for
the world in 1844. But she says that that position was taken before the first vision, and:

“It was the light given to me of God that corrected our error,
and enabled us to see the true position” Selected Messages,
Book 1, page 63.

Now, the critic says that Sister White’s own visions helped to confirm the early advent
believers in the idea that the door was shut. And they point to this expression in the first
vision which you will find in Word to the Little Flock, after introducing the midnight cry:

“Others rashly denied the light behind them and said that it
was not God that had led them out so far” Word to the Little
Flock, page 14.

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This is also in Early Writings, page 15, much of it:

“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 into the dark and
wicked world below” Word to the Little Flock, page 14.

Then comes the sentence that’s in Word to the Little Flock:

“It was just as impossible for them to get on the path again and
go to the city, as all the wicked world which God had rejected”
Word to the Little Flock, page 14.

And the critics of the Spirit of Prophecy say, that proves that Ellen G. White believed (Ellen
Harmon at this time), and that the vision confirmed those who accepted it in believing that
all the world was rejected. Let me read it again:

“It was just as impossible for them to get on the path again and
go to the city, as all the wicked world which God had rejected”
Word to the Little Flock, page 14.

This is a very interesting expression, friends. You’d do well to ponder over it. You would
do well to ponder over the precise wording of it. I rather think that if you had been back
then, and had believed that the world was rejected in 1844 when they rejected the message,
and that Christ was no longer a high priest for the world, I rather think that as you read the
vision you would probably think that the vision confirmed it. Now, I think it is just as well
to admit that.

“It was just as impossible for them to get on the path again and
go to the city as all the wicked world which God had rejected”
Word to the Little Flock, page 14.

It is interesting how Sister White, herself, years later, (and that is when this is written)
explains that. I accept her explanation without any difficulty. I always think that a person’s
writing is best explained by themselves. Wouldn’t you think so? And especially when we
understand that this is an inspired writing. It is in Early Writings, it is in Word to the Little
Flock, and it is here (in Selected Messages). It is best to let inspiration explain itself. After
quoting this, (and by the way, you who do not have Word to the Little Flock you can get the
sentence I have just read from page 62 of Book 1 of Selected Messages.

“It was just as impossible for them” Selected Messages, Book

1, page 62,

(She puts in brackets)

“{Those that gave up their faith in the ´44 movement} to get

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 on the path again and go to the city as all the wicked world
which God had rejected. They fell all the way along the path
one after the other” Selected Messages, Book 1, page 62.

Notice how she takes up the critics charges:

“It is claimed that these expressions prove the shut-door

doctrine, and that this is the reason of their omission in later
editions. But in fact” Selected Messages, Book 1, page 62,

Watch:

“They teach only that which has been and is still held by us as
a people, as I shall show. For a time after the disappointment
in 1844 I did hold, in common with the advent body, that the
door of mercy was then forever closed to the world. This
position was taken before my first vision was given me, It was
the light given me of God that corrected our error, and enabled
us to see the true position.

“I am still a believer in the shut-door theory, but not in the

sense in which we at first employed the term or in which it is
employed by my opponents” Selected Messages, Book 1,
pages 62, 63.

Now, watch: She says, writing years later, “I am still a believer in the shut-door theory but
not as my opponents stated and not as we first believed it.” Did her own understanding of
her own visions become clearer as time when on. She admits that. Then she shows the shut
door in Noah’s day, Abraham’s, and Christ’s day. Then she quotes the text in Revelation 3
about the shut door and the open door.

“I was shown in vision, and I still believe, that there was a shut
door in 1844. All who saw the light of the first and second
angels' messages and rejected that light, were left in darkness.
And those who accepted it and received the Holy Spirit which
attended the proclamation of the message from heaven, and
who afterward renounced their faith and pronounced their
experience a delusion, thereby rejected the Spirit of God, and it
no longer pleaded with them” Selected Messages, Book 1,
page 63.

Now, watch:

“Those who did not see the light, had not the guilt of its
rejection. It was only the class who had despised the light from
heaven that the Spirit of God could not reach. And this class
(the rejected class) included, as I have stated, both those who

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 refused to accept the message when it was presented to them,
and also those who, having received it, afterward renounced
their faith. These might have a form of godliness, and profess
to be followers of Christ” Selected Messages, Book 1, pages
63, 64.

Who might? The rejected ones. These that fell off the path and these that had never been on
the path because they rejected the midnight cry. These, here they are down here in this
world. Let’s make two classes of them here. One, those that never accepted the midnight
cry. They heard it but they rejected it. Two, those that had accepted it but they rejected it
afterward because they felt they had been disappointed and couldn’t explain it, so they
denied that midnight cry. They fell back into the dark and wicked world below. Now notice,
for I am going to read that that is all she was looking at in this vision. Those in the world
that had rejected the message in 1844 and those who turned their backs on it afterward. That
is what she was looking at:

“These two classes are brought to view in the vision - those

who declared the light which they had followed a delusion, and
the wicked of the world who, having rejected the light, had
been rejected of God. No reference is made to those who had
not seen the light, and therefore were not guilty of its
rejection” Selected Messages, Book 1, page 64.

Do you see? It’s clear, if you accept her explanation. But, if the critic wants to criticize her,
here is an opportunity for him to do it. When we’re told that every position of our faith is
going to be searched into, this is something that many of you are going to meet sooner or
later: that Ellen G. White taught that she was shown in vision that the door was shut in 1844,
and that that meant that the whole world was rejected. And when someone gets out Word to
the Little Flock or a quotation from it and reads to you, “It was just as impossible for those
who rejected this message after 1844 to get on the path again and go to the city, as all the
wicked world which God had rejected,” you had better be sure you understand this
explanation of it.

Now, it could have been worded in something that sounds almost the same and it would have
been entirely different. Suppose that she had said all the world had been rejected. See, isn’t
that what it says? No, that isn’t what it says:

“It was just as impossible for them to get on the path and go to
the city as all the wicked world which God had rejected” Word
to the Little Flock, page 14.

She doesn’t say how big that was.

Doubtless, it was thousands of people that had heard and rejected the message of William
Miller and those, who with him, gave the advent message and the midnight cry. Thousands
of people, doubtless, had closed their probation. But she says here that she didn’t even see in
that vision those who had not the light. The two classes she saw as being rejected were the

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ones that had heard the message and rejected it, and those who afterward, having been
disappointed, turned from the light and fell back into the dark and wicked world below. Any
question on that point? All right.

But now, the critic says, “Yes, but didn’t she have visions from time to time in the 1840s,
1845, 1846, 1847, 1848, 1849, that confirmed the pioneers in believing that the door was
shut? What do you think about it?” Yes, that’s correct. She did. She certainly did. And we
had better look at a few of them. Look at page 45 of Early Writings (Present Truth, page 22
is the one to put with that). Here is one of the quotations used by the critics of the Spirit of
Prophecy:

“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, and could not see it; for the
time for their salvation is past” Early Writings, page 44.

Now, it would be interesting if each one of you had the opportunity to put down on paper
what you think that means. This vision was given in the 1840s, given March 24, 1849. You
can see that at the beginning of page 42 in Early Writings. You notice she is talking about
the shut door:

“I was shown that the commandments of God and the

testimony of Jesus Christ relating to the shut door could not be
separated” Early Writings, page 42.

Was she teaching the shut door back there in 1849? Yes. And did she say the following?

“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, page 45.

Did she say that? Are you looking at it there? What does it mean? Now, that’s a hard one
for some people. Well, it came to be seen that it was hard, so you will notice that following
that is a footnote in which there is an explanation, in her own words, for this difficult thing.

By the way, are there things in the Bible that are difficult? Are there? Does that prove the
Bible isn’t inspired? No. In fact, it is one of the proofs it is inspired, isn’t it? That’s right.
Did Peter say about the apostle Paul’s writings that there were some things that Paul wrote
that were hard to be understood? Did he say that some people took those things and used
them to their own destruction? That’s right. All right, so don’t forget that.

Ellen G. White is in good company when she writes some things hard to be understood. The
apostle Paul was of that family and all the prophets wrote things that were hard to be
understood. In fact, some of them wrote some things that were hard to be understood by
themselves. You remember that, don’t you? The apostle Peter tells us that the prophets

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searched diligently to understand what they had written. All right.

So it is all right for Sister White to add some footnotes in some of the later editions to try to
explain more clearly what she had been shown earlier. But remember this, friends, you
never have to apologize in public for what Sister White wrote. You never have to do that. If
you don’t understand it, just say so, but don’t try to apologize. It is all right like she wrote it.

In the paragraph underneath, you will see how she explains it:

“The ‘false reformations’ here referred to are yet to be more

fully seen. The view relates more particularly to those who
have heard and rejected the light of the advent doctrine. They
are given over to strong delusions. Such will not have ‘the
travail of soul for sinners’ as formerly. Having rejected the
advent, and being given over to the delusions of Satan, ‘the
time for their salvation is past’” Early Writings, page 45.

Is she talking about everybody in the world? Why, no! She is talking about those who have,
what? Rejected the light. The time for their salvation is past. So it is not only in 1844 that
people meet a closed door. Whenever people persistently reject light and instead embrace
the power of Satan, they come at last to the point where the time for their salvation is, what?
Passed. She says that is what this is talking about. Then she adds:

“This does not, however, relate to those who have not heard
and rejected the doctrine of the second advent” Early Writings,
page 45.

If we believe what she says, that settles it. If we don’t and want to cavil, we can cavil.

Now, I want to come to another very interesting statement of Sister White’s on this point,
that sounds like the door is shut, and it is. This is in the little Present Truth, page 64. This is
in the issue of March, 1850, and you, who have this, either in the little form or in this large
facsimile form, I want you to make a careful study of it. It is a very short communication, in
the second column of page 64. I am going to read, and listen carefully, for many of you
don’t have this:

“My dear brethren and sisters, this is a very important hour

with us. Satan is come down with great power, and we must
strive hard and press our way to the kingdom. We have a
mighty foe to contend with, but an Almighty Friend to protect
and strengthen us in the conflict. If we are firmly fixed upon
the present truth and have our hope like an anchor of the soul
cast within the second veil, the various winds of false doctrines
and error cannot move us. The excitements and false
reformations of this day do not move us, for we know that the
Master of the house rose up in 1844 and shut the door of the
first apartment of the heavenly tabernacle, and now we

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 certainly expect that they will go with their flocks to seek the
Lord, but they shall not find Him. He hath withdrawn Himself
within the second veil from them. The Lord has shown me
that the power which is with them is a mere human influence
and not the power of God” Present Truth, page 64.

Now look at that! Here is a little band of just a few score people in 1850, and here is a
young woman who says she had a vision. She says Jesus has shut the door at the place
where almost all the so called Christian people are praying and getting their power; that
Christ has shut that door and they can’t get any help there anymore. She says the light and
power is in another place, in the door of the most holy.

She says that all those things that are going on out there, that they claim to be the power of
God, they don’t bother us at all. They don’t move us. No matter how great revivals they
have, and no matter what great works of healing they claim to have, and no matter what
power seems to come in their meetings; we know that the Master of the house rose up and
shut the door in 1844. We know; therefore those things don’t move us. Oh friends, I wish
every one of us could say this as firmly as she said it. I wish we could all understand what is
involved in that shut door in 1844.

Now, I want you to go now to Early Writings, pages 258 to 261 and I want you to see
something very similar to this, and study it very carefully. It is the chapter “A Firm
Platform.” I will be looking at part of this in a coming study, but the part that I want you to
see now is on pages 260 and 261.

After tracing down the history of the Jews, how they rejected John the Baptist, rejected
Jesus, and therefore they rejected Pentecost, and couldn’t see their way into the sanctuary,
where Christ had entered at His ascension, what did they do when the veil was torn in two?
Why, they just went right on as if nothing had happened, didn’t they? And yet, that door
where God had met people for hundreds of years was all done, as far as God was concerned,
wasn’t it? But the Jews kept right on offering their useless sacrifices on those altars. They
didn’t know that the great sacrifice had been offered and that Christ had opened the
sanctuary in heaven. Now watch:

“I saw that as the Jews crucified Jesus, so the nominal

churches had crucified these messages, and therefore they have
no knowledge of the way into the most holy, and they cannot
be benefitted by the intercession of Jesus there. Like the Jews,
who offered their useless sacrifices, they offer up their useless
prayers to the apartment which Jesus has left” Early Writings,
page 261.

Oh, think of it, friends. Were there back there, are there tonight, thousands of prayers going
up that get to the dead letter office, as far as heaven is concerned? What is the matter? Now
I am going to give you a study on this, in connection with prayer, Friday night. I hope you
will all bring your notebooks. Take the notes, because I am going to connect up what I am
studying with you tonight, with this prayer study we have been having. It is vital, friends. If

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you want power in prayer, there is power in prayer, in understanding where to address your
envelope, because this says:

“Like the Jews, who offered their useless sacrifices, they offer
up their useless prayers to the apartment which Jesus has left”
Early Writings, page 261.

Does it make any difference that there was a door shut in 1844? What door? The door of the
holy place. But, thank God, there is an open door, but which door is it? The most holy. It
makes a difference. Early Writings:

“We must send up our petitions in faith within the second veil”
Early Writings, page 72.

Where do you send your prayers if you understand this? Within the second veil. Now put
down in your notes, Early Writings, page 54 to 56, and study this for your life, friends, these
two pages. The name of the little chapter is “End of the 2300 Days.”

I want to tell you something about this. This is Sister White’s second vision. It was given in
February of 1845 and when first published, the name of it was “The Coming of the
Bridegroom.” Now, you remembered they had been disappointed in October 22, 1844. She
had her first vision in December of 1844. This second vision was in February of 1845. This
is it. “End of the 2300 Days” it is called here, and I want you to see what’s here.

You will see Jesus in the holy place with His Father. You will see the change of ministration
in 1844. You will see people praying before 1844. You will see them praying after 1844.
And you will see two classes of people after 1844: those who are still sending their prayers
to the holy place and those that are sending their prayers to Jesus, in the most holy place, and
they are both getting answers.
But one class that is still sending their prayers to the holy place where Jesus used to be, Satan
has taken hold and he is answering their prayers. It says that they are getting light and
power, much power, but no sweet love, joy and peace. Read it there! And, oh, when I think
what has come in Babylon all these hundred years and more since 1844, I think, my dear
friends, of how much power that is called the Holy Spirit has been poured out upon
commandment breaking people, and they call it the power of God. When I think of dear
people in the remnant church that wish we had something like that, I say, “God deliver us.”

“The excitements and false reformations of the day do not

move us, for we know that the Master of the house rose up in
’44 and shut the door of the first apartment, and now we
certainly know they will go with their flocks and herds to seek
the Lord, but they shall not find Him. He has withdrawn
Himself from them within the second veil. The Lord has
shown me that the power which is with them is a mere human
influence and not the power of God” Present Truth, page 64.

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