Ellen Gould White
What does Ellen White write about...
Ellen Gould White über: "Where does Ellen G. White write that God sometimes empties us first in order to fill us afterward?"
Answer
Ellen G. White addresses this thought, among other places, in her book Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists (p. 214), quoting the Puritan preacher John Flavel: "When the Lord intends to fill a soul, He first empties it." In other passages she also emphasizes that we must be emptied of our own self so that Christ can fill that space with His Holy Spirit and His fullness.
God empties the soul first in order to fill it
»Christ is ready to help all those who feel their neediness; but if someone is satisfied with himself, the Savior will pass by him. Flavel said: "When the Lord intends to fill a soul, He first empties it; when He intends to make a soul rich, He first makes it poor; when He intends to exalt a soul, He first lets it feel its own misery, its lack, and its nothingness.«
Emptying the self creates room for God's Spirit
»We cannot cling to our own self and at the same time be filled with God's fullness. We must be emptied of our self. [...] As soon as we present our emptied being to the Lord Jesus and His cause, He will fill this emptiness with His Holy Spirit. Then we can trust that He will give us of His fullness.«
Liberation from the self as a prerequisite for the work of the Spirit
»Until the soul is emptied of the self and the Holy Spirit takes possession of it, you will not be ready for the coming of Christ. [...] God calls men and women to empty their hearts of the self. Then His Spirit can enter unhindered.«
Original Sources (English)
Stephan Krol
Founder of EGW Vision
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Hello, I am Stephan Krol. I started this Ellen White website to make the writings of Ellen G. White and the Adventist pioneers easier to access for everyone.
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