Spiritual Words from The Great Controversy by Ellen White

This is a brief summary of some of the spiritual words explained by Ellen White in the Great Controversy.  Contact me for a complete list.

The Saviour inquired of his disciples if they understood these things. They answered, “Yea, Lord. Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.” In this parable, Jesus presented before his disciples the responsibility of those whose work it is to give to the world the light which they have received from him. The Old Testament was all the Scripture then in existence; but it was not written merely for the ancients; it was for all ages and for all people. Jesus would have the teachers of his doctrine diligently search the Old Testament for that light which establishes his identity as the Messiah foretold in prophecy, and reveals the nature of his mission to the world. The Old and the New Testament are inseparable, for both are the teachings of Christ. The doctrine of the Jews, who accept only the Old Testament, is not unto salvation, since they reject the Saviour whose life and ministry was a fulfillment of the law and the prophecies. And the doctrine of those who discard the Old Testament is not unto salvation, because it rejects that which is direct testimony of Christ. Skeptics begin with discounting upon the Old Testament, and it takes but another step to deny the validity of the New, and thus both are rejected.  {2SP 254.1}
The Jews have little influence over the Christian world in showing them the importance of the commandments, including the binding law of the Sabbath, because in bringing forth the old treasures of truth, they throw aside the new ones in the personal teachings of Jesus. On the other hand, the strongest reason why Christians fail to influence the Jews to accept the teachings of Christ as the language of divine wisdom, is because, in bringing forth the treasures of his word, they treat with contempt the riches of the Old Testament, which are the earlier teachings of the Son of God, through Moses. They reject the law proclaimed from Sinai, and the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, instituted in the garden of Eden. But the minister of the gospel, who follows the teachings of Christ, will gain a thorough knowledge of both the Old and the New Testament, that he may present them in their true light to the people an inseparable whole–the one depending upon and illuminating the other. Thus, as Jesus instructed his disciples, they will bring forth from their treasure “things new and old.”  {2SP 255.1}
In looking abroad over the various fields where he had labored, Jesus was filled with compassion for those scattered ones who had accepted him as their Saviour, and looked to him for the bread of life. They seemed to him like sheep to be left without a shepherd, when he should ascend to Heaven. Before his sufferings and death, it was necessary that he should commission his disciples to go forth as his representatives, that the believers might look to them as divinely appointed teachers, so that in the approaching time of darkness and discouragement they would not be left without counselors. Calling the twelve about him, he said to them; “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest.” As yet the disciples had little experience in preaching the practical truths received from their Lord; but they had been his companions for several months, and he had occasionally sent them forth to labor by themselves for a short time, to prepare them for their future mission when he should no longer be with them. But he now separated them in pairs, and sent them away from him in different directions. He delegated to them the power of working miracles, but they were in no case to employ this power for their own exaltation or advantage. They were to be gone but a few days, and they were not sent among strangers on this first tour, but among their brethren who were to prepare their way that they might have access to the people, many of whom earnestly desired to know more of the doctrines of Christ.  {2SP 255.2}

Incense = Prayers
GC 19  There, for ages, holy prophets had uttered their messages of warning. There priests had waved their censers, and the cloud of incense, with the prayers of the worshipers, had ascended before God.

Ladder = Connection with Heaven
GC 19  There rested the base of that mystic ladder connecting earth with heaven (Genesis 28:12; John 1:51)–that ladder upon which angels of God descended and ascended, and which opened to the world the way into the holiest of all.

Gift = All of Heaven
GC 19  When remonstrance, entreaty, and rebuke had failed, He sent to them the best gift of heaven; nay, He poured out all heaven in that one Gift.  {GC 19.1}

Vine = Israel
GC 19  It was Christ that had brought Israel as a goodly vine out of Egypt. Psalm 80:8. His own hand had cast out the heathen before it.

Fruitful hill = Israel
GC 19, 20  It was Christ that had brought Israel as a goodly vine out of Egypt. Psalm 80:8. His own hand had cast out the heathen before it. He had planted it “in a very fruitful hill.”

Hedge = angels
GC 20  His guardian care had hedged it about. His servants had been sent to nurture it.

Vineyard = Christ’s care
GC 20  “What could have been done more to My vineyard,” He exclaims, “that I have not done in it?” Isaiah 5:1-4.
CG 20  He came in person to His vineyard, if haply it might be saved from destruction.

Dig = Christ’s effort
GC 20  He digged about His vine; He pruned and cherished it. He was unwearied in His efforts to save this vine of His own planting.

Prune = Christ’s effort
GC 20  He digged about His vine; He pruned and cherished it. He was unwearied in His efforts to save this vine of His own planting.

Bound = blind, lame, deaf, lepers, dead
GC 20   For three years the Lord of light and glory had gone in and out among His people. He “went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil,” binding up the brokenhearted, setting at liberty them that were bound, restoring sight to the blind, causing the lame to walk and the deaf to hear, cleansing the lepers, raising the dead, and preaching the gospel to the poor. Acts 10:38; Luke 4:18; Matthew 11:5.

Tide = love
GC 20  The waves of mercy, beaten back by those stubborn hearts, returned in a stronger tide of pitying, inexpressible love.

Jerusalem = chosen, treasure
GC 21  The loss of even one soul is a calamity infinitely outweighing the gains and treasures of a world; but as Christ looked upon Jerusalem, the doom of a whole city, a whole nation, was before Him–that city, that nation, which had once been the chosen of God, His peculiar treasure.
Jerusalem = last day world
GC 22  Christ saw in Jerusalem a symbol of the world hardened in unbelief and rebellion, and hastening on to meet the retributive judgments of God.

Foundation = law
GC 22  The great sin of the Jews was their rejection of Christ; the great sin of the Christian world would be their rejection of the law of God, the foundation of His government in heaven and earth.

Blind = pride, unbelief
GC 24  For centuries the Jews had vainly endeavored to show wherein the promise of God given by Haggai had been fulfilled; yet pride and unbelief blinded their minds to the true meaning of the prophet’s words.

Stone temple = Rome
GC 25   Herod the Great had lavished upon it both Roman wealth and Jewish treasure, and even the emperor of the world had enriched it with his gifts. Massive blocks of white marble, of almost fabulous size, forwarded from Rome for this purpose, formed a part of its structure; and to these the disciples had called the attention of their Master, saying: “See what manner of stones and what buildings are here!” Mark 13:1.
To these words, Jesus made the solemn and startling reply: “Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Matthew 24:2.

Destruction of Jerusalem = last days
GC 25  The prophecy which He uttered was twofold in its meaning; while foreshadowing the destruction of Jerusalem, it prefigured also the terrors of the last great day.
GC 36  The Saviour’s prophecy concerning the visitation of judgments upon Jerusalem is to have another fulfillment, of which that terrible desolation was but a faint shadow. In the fate of the chosen city we may behold the doom of a world that has rejected God’s mercy and trampled upon His law.

Unfruitful tree = Jewish nation
CG 27  The parable of the unfruitful tree represented God’s dealings with the Jewish nation.

leaven = idolatry
GC 43  The foul leaven of idolatry, thus brought into the church, continued its baleful work.

Abel = True Christians
Cain = ungodly
GC 46  The early Christians were indeed a peculiar people. Their blameless deportment and unswerving faith were a continual reproof that disturbed the sinner’s peace. Though few in numbers, without wealth, position, or honorary titles, they were a terror to evildoers wherever their character and doctrines were known. Therefore they were hated by the wicked, even as Abel was hated by the ungodly Cain.

Furnace = wicked revealing their true character
GC 48  “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise.” 2 Peter 3:9. He does not forget or neglect His children; but He permits the wicked to reveal their true character, that none who desire to do His will may be deceived concerning them. Again, the righteous are placed in the furnace of affliction, that they themselves may be purified; that their example may convince others of the reality of faith and godliness; and also that their consistent course may condemn the ungodly and unbelieving.

Shield = Scripture
GC 51  Satan well knew that the Holy Scriptures would enable men to discern his deceptions and withstand his power. It was by the word that even the Saviour of the world had resisted his attacks. At every assault, Christ presented the shield of eternal truth, saying, “It is written.” To every  suggestion of the adversary, He opposed the wisdom and power of the word.

Wilderness = true church
GC 64  “The church in the wilderness,” and not the proud hierarchy enthroned in the world’s great capital, was the true church of Christ, the guardian of the treasures of truth which God has committed to His people to be given to the world.

Mountain = righteousness of God, law, God’s creative power, assurance of His protecting care
GC 66  God had provided for His people a sanctuary of awful grandeur, befitting the mighty truths committed to their trust. To those faithful exiles the mountains were an emblem of the immutable righteousness of Jehovah. They pointed their children to the heights towering above them in unchanging majesty, and spoke to them of Him with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning, whose word is as enduring as the everlasting hills. God had set fast the mountains and girded them with strength; no arm but that of Infinite Power could move them out of their place. In like manner He had established His law, the foundation of His government in heaven and upon earth. The arm of man might reach his fellow men and destroy their lives; but that arm could as readily uproot the mountains from their foundations, and hurl them into the sea, as it could change one precept of the law of Jehovah, or blot out one of His promises to those who do His will. In their fidelity to His law, God’s servants should be as firm as the unchanging hills.
The mountains that girded their lowly valleys were a constant witness to God’s creative power, and a never-failing assurance of His protecting care. Those pilgrims learned to love the silent symbols of Jehovah’s presence.

Pasture = Word of God
GC 68  hey fed the flock of God, leading them to the green pastures and living fountains of His holy word.

Fountain = Word of God
GC 68  hey fed the flock of God, leading them to the green pastures and living fountains of His holy word.

Ark = the Word of God
GC 69  Men have been unwearied in their efforts to obscure the plain, simple meaning of the Scriptures, and to make them contradict their own testimony; but like the ark upon the billowy deep, the word of God outrides the storms that threaten it with destruction.

Gold = scripture
GC 69  As the mine has rich veins of gold and silver hidden beneath the surface, so that all must dig who would discover its precious stores, so the Holy Scriptures have treasures of truth that are revealed only to the earnest, humble, prayerful seeker.

Silver = scripture
GC 69  As the mine has rich veins of gold and silver hidden beneath the surface, so that all must dig who would discover its precious stores, so the Holy Scriptures have treasures of truth that are revealed only to the earnest, humble, prayerful seeker.

Light = understanding
GC 72  They saw the plan of salvation clearly revealed in the sacred pages, and they found comfort, hope, and peace in believing in Jesus. As the light illuminated their understanding and made glad their hearts, they longed to shed its beams upon those who were in the darkness of papal error.

Darkness = error
GC 72   As the light illuminated their understanding and made glad their hearts, they longed to shed its beams upon those who were in the darkness of papal error.

Bread of life = salvation
GC 73  The Waldenses longed to break to these starving souls the bread of life, to open to them the messages of peace in the promises of God, and to point them to Christ as their only hope of salvation.