It was in November 20, 1857 that Ellen White was given a vision of the future shaking, [see article “The Future” Review and Herald, December 31, 1857; also recorded in Early Writings, p. 269-271].
She describes a tremendous experience that the people of God were having, especially being freed to lay “hold of the truth,” and she asked the angel, “What had made this great change?” The angel answered, “It is the latter rain, the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, the loud cry of the third angel.” As far as we know this the first time she used the term; “the loud cry of the third angel.”
The next time she used this phrase in the Review and Herald was November 22, 1892, in an article “The Perils and Privileges of the Last Days.” Here some four years after the Minneapolis conference, she wrote, “The time of test is just upon us, for the loud cry of the third angel has already begun in the revelation of the righteousness of Christ, the sin-pardoning Redeemer. This is the beginning of the light of the angel whose glory shall fill the whole earth.” In a sermon she had given the previous summer, she had also stated unequivocally, “the third angel's message is swelling to a loud cry….” {1888 p. 959}.
What you are holding in your hands, dear reader, is Ellen White's testimony concerning the messengers of the loud cry, as well as the message itself.
The statements given here span some eleven years, and are mostly from The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials (referenced at the end of each paragraph as “EGW 1888 Materials”), given in chronological order. Concluding statements from other sources include, her opening address to the General Conference session in 1901, W. W. Prescott's testimony about Minneapolis at the same meetings, a letter written later that year to P. T. Magan, and lastly an article that she wrote in the Review and Herald, Dec 15, 1904 entitled “A Call to Repentance.”
Emphases, bracketed insertions, and ellipses are used to maintain the focus of the topic at hand. We encourage the reader, if possible, to read the entire documents from which these extracts are taken.
It is our prayer that this material will bring conviction to the hearts and minds of our readers, and that they will join with that third angel and the angel in Revelation 18:1 in giving the loud cry to a perishing world.
Fourth Angel Publishers