A Neglected Warning^{*1904, Testimonies for the Church 8:81-85.}

“Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; a blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: and a curse, if ye will not obey.” Deuteronomy 11:26-28.3TT 226.1

“And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto My commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; and then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and He shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you.” Verses 13-17.3TT 226.2

“Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the doorposts of thine house, and upon thy gates: that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.” Verses 18-21.3TT 226.3

If Seventh-day Adventists had walked in the way of the Lord, refusing to allow selfish interests to control them, the Lord would greatly have blessed them. Those who have remained in Battle Creek^{*With the establishment of the publishing work at Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1855, the organization of the General Conference there in 1863, the opening of the Western Health Reform Institute in that city, in 1866, and the building of Battle Creek College in 1874, many Seventh-day Adventist families congregated there, creating conditions unfavorable to the best religious experience. During the nineties not a few messages of instruction had sounded a call to Seventh-day Adventists not needed in Battle Creek, to disperse that they might carry the light to many unwarned regions. Some heeded the counsel; others did not.
[White Trustees.]} contrary to the will of the Lord have lost the valuable experience and the spiritual knowledge they might have gained through obedience. Many of them have forfeited the favor of God. The heart of the work has become congested. For a long time the warning has been given, but it has not been heeded. The reason for this disobedience is that the hearts and minds of many in Battle Creek are not under the influence of the Holy Spirit. They do not realize how much work there is to do. They are asleep.3TT 226.4