Video Ministries

Press Together! Press Together!

Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that
shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Matt. 24:12, 13.

God has selected a people in these last days whom He has made the
depositaries of His law, and this people will ever have disagreeable tasks
to perform. "I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how
thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say
they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: and hast borne,
and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not
fainted." It will require much diligence and a continual struggle to keep
evil out of our churches. There must be rigid, impartial discipline
exercised; for some who have a semblance of religion will seek to undermine
the faith of others and will privily work to exalt themselves.

The Lord Jesus, on the Mount of Olives, plainly stated that "because
iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." He speaks of a
class who have fallen from a high state of spirituality. Let such utterances
as these come home with solemn, searching power to our hearts. Where is the
fervor, the devotion to God, that corresponds to the greatness of the truth
which we claim to believe? The love of the world, the love of some darling
sin, has weaned the heart from the love of prayer and of meditation on
sacred things. A formal round of religious services is kept up; but where is
the love of Jesus? Spirituality is dying. Is this torpor, this mournful
deterioration, to be perpetuated? Is the lamp of truth to flicker and go out
in darkness because it is not replenished by the oil of grace? . . .

Self-esteem and self-sufficiency are killing spiritual life. Self is lifted
up; self is talked about. Oh, that self might die! "I die daily," said the
apostle Paul. When this proud, boasting self-sufficiency and this complacent
self-righteousness permeate the soul, there is no room for Jesus. He is
given an inferior place, while self swells into importance and fills the
whole temple of the soul. This is the reason why the Lord can do so little
for us. Should He work with our efforts, the instrument would appropriate
all the glory to his own smartness, his wisdom, his ability, and he would
congratulate himself, as did the Pharisee: "I fast twice in the week, I give
tithes of all that I possess." When self shall be hidden in Christ, it will
not be brought to the surface so frequently. . . .

It is only when we are careful to carry out the Master's orders without
leaving our stamp and identity upon the work that we work efficiently and
harmoniously. "Press together," said the angel, "press together"
(Testimonies, vol. 5, pp. 538, 539).

>From Lift Him Up - Page 310

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